In the Night Garden by Barbara Joosse, illustrated by Elizabeth Sayles.

Three girls play in the night garden.  One is a bear, who eats berries from the branches.  Another is a whale cruising slowly through the sea.  The last is a sled dog who howls to the wintry sky.  Until bedtime arrives.  The bear pulls on her fuzzy pajamas, the whale spouts water in the bath and the sled dog pulls her covers up tight.  Their adventures are not finished, continuing in their dreams.

The art and poetry here dance together, as imagery comes to life on the page.  Sayles’ illustrations are deep colored and blissful as the girls play together, fading to an ethereal dreaminess by the end of the book.  Joosse’s poetry is accessible for young readers, but not childlike.  Her words are strong and evocative.

A great introduction to poetry for children, this book captures vivid imagination and the joy of play directly onto the page.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea

Shea of the charming New Socks returns with another winning picture book for toddlers and preschoolers.  Dinosaur meets each challenge in his day with a huge ROAR!  He wins again and again against dire threats such as leaf piles, the big slide, spaghetti and even talking grownups!  But there is one thing he has trouble defeating: bedtime.  Will Dinosaur be able to overcome it this time?

Shea manages to translate the toddler experience directly to the page.  With few words, a bright red dinosaur with a mouth full of pointy teeth, and rhythm and repetition, he has created a perfect story to share with toddler groups.  Getting the children to join in the ROAR-ing will be no trouble.  Getting them to stop may be! 

Highly recommended for children ages 2-4.  Share this title when they are headed outside and let the ROAR-ing commence!

Keisha Ann Can! by Daniel Kirk

Bright colored illustrations and a wonderful rhythm raise this picture book to the top of a crowded field of school-related picture books.  Keisha Ann heads through her day at school, introducing children to waiting in line, sharing, helping others, imaginative play and other pieces of a day in a classroom.  The concepts are offered without lecturing in a friendly, bouncy style.  Smiling children of all colors play side-by-side happily on all of the pages.  The focus of the book is on the children rather than the teacher, showing youngsters exactly what a day at school consists of.

Kirk’s text is exactly the right length to be shared with 3-year-olds anticipating heading to preschool or kindergarten classes.  The bounce and movement in the text adds to the pleasure of the book, instilling a feeling of happiness about school.  Kirk’s illustrations are large, vibrant and filled with color.  Perfect for sharing with a preschool group.

Recommended for ages 3-5.  Children will see themselves on the pages and be able to imagine themselves there, which is all one could ask for an introduction to school.

Traction Man Meets Turbodog by Mini Grey

The amazing Traction Man returns and along with his trusty friend Scrubbing Brush brave the Northwest Slope of Mt. Compost Heap.  Unfortunately, on the journey, Scrubbing Brush is caught in the Sinking Mud of the Pond and gets caked in dirt.  While they are resting after their adventure, Scrubbing Brush is replaced by the beeping, talking TurboDog.  However, TurboDog really isn’t up for the sorts of adventures Traction Man has.  He gets sand in his gears, isn’t any good at stealth missions, and only likes to watch himself on TV.  But Scrubbing Brush has disappeared and can’t be found anywhere.  Traction Man is despondent until he hears a very faint bark coming from The Dark and Terrible Underworld of the Bin.  No one has ever survived the garbage bin.  Now it is up to Traction Man to see if he is brave and skilled enough to meet this horror and save his friend.

This second Traction Man book is just as charming as the first.  Grey’s small touches in the illustrations make the world she creates all the more alive and interesting.  Her text begs to be read aloud with a great strong Traction Man voice.  Humor is at the heart of the book, directed at gimmicky sales and not the world of imagination, making the book all the more effective.

Highly recommended, this book is great fun and guaranteed to have children listening intently and laughing along.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Doctor Meow’s Big Emergency by Sam Lloyd

The author of Mr. Pusskins has a new series.  This first in the Whoops-a-Daisy World series, follows a day with Dr. Meow and her trusty ambulance driver, Woof.  When the phone rings saying "Emergency, emergency,"  Dr. Meow finds that Tom Cat has fallen out of a tree.  Off she rushes with Woof driving to find him.  They take him back to the hospital, x-ray his broken leg, and put on a cast.  In the end, even Mr. Bird, who was being chased by Tom Cat when he fell, is in a happy mood.

This book has a very small-town, old-fashioned feel that will appeal to adults and children alike.  Dr. Meow is a calm, rational character whose thrilling job is handled with just the right tone.  Allowing children to be excited about racing to the rescue, but also offering a calm reaction to an everyday crisis.  Lloyd’s illustrations and text work well together, filled with sunny yellow and bright reds. The text is equally friendly and warm. 

A lovely first visit to Whoops-a-Daisy World, I look forward to the others in the series.  Great read aloud potential for even toddlers because of the friendly nature of the book but also the amount of action.  Appropriate for ages 2-5.

 

Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie by Norton Juster, illustrated by Chris Raschka.

Return to the effervescent, colorful world that Juster and Raschka created in their award-winning The Hello, Goodbye Window.  Nanna and Poppy never quite know who is going to show up, Sourpuss or Sweetie Pie.  Their granddaughter can be either one.  At times she is kind, polite, respectful and a joy.  But at other times she is rude, angry, and hurtful.  This picture book looks with clarity and spunk at the temperament of a child and will be familiar to all children, all parents and all grandparents.

Raschka’s illustrations are just as evocative as in the first book.  They remain loose, brightly colored, and perfectly capture the emotions swirling through the book.  The pleasure of returning to these wonderful grandparents and their loving relationship with their creative granddaughter is particularly sweet.  Juster’s words capture the emotions of a small child with ferocity, delight and high contrast.  The book makes a great read aloud and will spark plenty of discussion about feelings and self-control.

If you loved the first book, you will adore this second outing.  This is a book to share with children, who will connect to it effortlessly.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

I Feel a Foot! by Maranke Rinck and Martijn van der Linden

This is a clever new take on the Blind Men and the Elephant story.  Here, five animals come across something strange on a dark night.  Turtle thinks it is a huge turtle because of the foot.  Bat thinks he feels a huge bat wing.  Octopus feels a long tentacle.  Bird feels a beak.  And finally Goat discovers a large goatee.  By the end, children will have figured out the animal easily, but the five animal friends are all surprised to find an elephant! 

The text and illustrations work perfectly together here.  The text is simple and great fun, though the tale has a timelessness about it, the text and dialogue have a modern, up-beat feel.  The illustrations really shine, especially against the dark background.  The colors are vivid and pop right off the page.  This is a perfect story time read for a large group because they will be caught in the mystery at first and the illustrations will project well to a big audience.

Highly recommended for story times, this would be a wonderful addition to elephant, turtle, bat, or even octopus themed programs!  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Who Made This Cake? by Chihiro Nakagawa, illustrated by Junji Koyose

Take the sweetness of baking a cake, mix it with construction vehicles, and populate it with charming tiny beings, and you have this book.  A family calls to order a birthday cake, and they spring into action.  The little people are about a quarter-inch tall as seen in scale with a stick of butter, so they need construction vehicles to make the cake.  Along the way, children will see the stages of baking a cake and will enjoy the fun and color of the tiny people using large machinery to do such easy work.

The illustrations are large and vibrant, but because of the small figures it is best to read this to one or two children at a time.  A large part of the fun is poring over the actions of the tiny people as they work hard to make this cake.  The illustrations make great use of white space and pops of color.  The story is secondary to the illustrations, and with few select words talks of the steps of baking.

Charming, delicious and clever, this book will appeal to all sorts of children.  From those who only want books with diggers to those who love to cook to the broad number of children who enjoy the tiny and interesting.  This book will zoom off of shelves all on its own.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin, illustrated by Rosana Faria.

This is a remarkable book.  One that offers insight into what it’s like to be blind.  It is a book about colors that contains only the color black.  Each color has a separate page with glossy raised pictures that are meant to be touched, not seen.  White text accompanies these images, describing what you are touching. 

Here’s an example of the text from the "green" page:

He says that green tastes like lemon ice cream and smells like grass that’s just been cut. 

Lovely, isn’t it?  Each page is like that, offering different ways to sense color and experience it. 

I applaud Faria, the illustrator, for not only taking on a colorless project, but creating images that when touched as just as evocative as when seen.  When we finished reading this book, my sons started trying to read the braille alphabet and traded back and forth going over the dark images again and again.  There is something wondrous in this book.

Highly recommended for art classes, diversity units, and just for the amazement of the book itself.  Sure to start discussions and interest, this could be nicely paired with Helen Keller’s biography.  Appropriate for a wide range of ages because of the fascination inherent in the book.  This could be used with even middle school students successfully.