Picture Books

My Friend Earth by Patricia MacLachlan

| Tasha

My Friend Earth by Patricia MacLachlan

My Friend Earth by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Francesca Sanna (9780811879101)

Newbery-award winning author MacLachlan writes a lyrical story about her friend earth. Earth awakens in the spring to the busy sounds, seeing the seeds, insects and birds around her. She tucks in animals, reunites mother and child, and tends to the rich prairies. She visits the tundra and heads underwater where she guards all of the creatures. She creates rain to fill the streams and blows autumn winds across the trees. She sprinkles snow on the land in winter, watching over the hibernating animals. Then she falls asleep herself until spring comes again.

Earth here is shown as a young girl, playful in her relationship with nature and the seasons. MacLachlan’s text is marvelously detailed, pulling small elements of each season out to linger over along with Earth herself. This book is specifically focused on Earth Day without it only being able to be used then. It’s a book that celebrates our earth any day.

Sanna’s gorgeous illustrations are built into cut pages here. Readers awaken Earth themselves, glimpse her peeking through leaves, peer underwater at her side, and blow in the wind with the leaves. The cutouts are cleverly done, representing the changing locations and seasons with their forms. Sanna’s art is bold and lovely, showing a young brown-skinned Earth playfully interacting in the world.

Lush and lovely, this is an Earth Day charmer. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Chronicle Books.

The Society of Distinguished Lemmings by Julie Colombet

| Tasha

The Society of Distinguished Lemmings by Julie Colombet

The Society of Distinguished Lemmings by Julie Colombet (9781682631560)

The lemming society had a lot of rules to follow in order to belong. In their warren of tunnels, there was no wild behavior, no growling, no rolling and no mud. Lemmings also had to walk on their hind legs and use utensils to eat. But Bertie got tired of all of the rules, the fine dining, the musical performances and the noise, so he headed up to the surface. When he got outside, he met a bear! After trying to get the bear to act like a lemming, Bertie tried the things the bear wanted to do. With the bear’s help, Bertie started to realize that he actually enjoyed things like rolling in the flowers, climbing trees and jumping in puddles. When Bertie is gone too long, all of the other lemmings come outside too. They try to change the bear and make him eligible to join the lemming society, but he doesn’t conform well to their rules. Eventually, they dismiss him to make their new plans and are off on a vacation as a group. When they are gone, Bertie realizes that they are headed for their doom! Perhaps a big bear could save them all?

The fussy and particular Society of Distinguished Lemmings is depicted here with plenty of peculiarities, a list of their rules, and other odd things that they insist upon. The fussiness and high expectations add up to a very stifling but also funny lemming existence. The introduction of Bertie and his quest for a new friend and a new way of life is refreshing. A bear is just the right creature to be a little bit dirty and very active. The contrast between lemmings and the bear could not be clearer or done with more merriment.

The illustrations are cleverly done with plenty of details about the lemming society revealed through the images themselves. There are lots of little asides in the illustrations through speech bubbles that add to the whimsical nature of the rule-following lemmings. 

A funny look at breaking the rules, making new friends and finding oneself. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Peachtree Publishing. 

Salma the Syrian Chef by Danny Ramadan

| Tasha

Salma the Syrian Chef by Danny Ramadan

Salma the Syrian Chef by Danny Ramadan, illustrated by Anna Bron (9781773213750)

Salma and her mother moved to Vancouver from Syria together. Salma’s father is still in Syria and planning to join them soon. Mama seems worried and tired all the time now, not smiling the way she did in the refugee camp with her friends. Salma tries many things to get her mother to smile or even laugh, but nothing seems to work. She heads to the Welcome Center and her teacher has her think about the last time she saw her mother happy. Salma realizes that it may be Syrian food that her mother is missing, since the last time she smiled she had been carrying a bowl of foul shami. So Salma decides that she will make her mother foul shami to bring back her happiness. Salma must figure out how to take the recipe in Arabic and get others to understand what she needs. She realizes that she can draw the various vegetables and ingredients and show them to the people at the supermarket. With her ingredients, now she must do the cooking, but not without plenty of help from others at the Welcome Center who are missing delicacies from their own lands too.

So often picture books depict the end of a family’s story as leaving the refugee camp. It is a pleasure to see a picture book grapple with how it feels to have come to a new country as a refugee and having your family still separated. The clear connection of food and culture is beautifully depicted here. Salma’s enthusiasm for her solution to her mother’s sadness and worry is moving, giving her something to focus on and actually do to help. The difficulty of the recipe and its many steps serves as a great challenge for Salma, and one that will bring her community together to help.

The illustrations have borders and geometric shapes that echo the tiles of Syria and Damascus. The color palettes change as the emotions on the page change, with blues showing the worry and concern and merry yellows flooding the pages with community and hope.

A marvelous look at food, family and community. Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Annick Press.

Hello, World! by Ethan Long

| Tasha

Hello, World by Ethan Long

Hello, World! by Ethan Long (9781250191755)

The first in the new Happy County series, this picture book invites plenty of exploration by readers. The bright colored and vibrant pages are filled with details for children to explore. The text in the book invites readers to look for specific things, but it’s also great fun to just explore this world on your own too. Some pages are filled with noises, others with a quest for a great spot to nap, still others with restaurants with signs to match. Turning the page may reveal an up-close look at a specific character or a wider view of the entire community.

Inspired by Richard Scarry, this updated version is brighter and funnier. It also offers a wider variety of activities to engage in. The text is funny, filled with puns, and has a merry tone that invites readers to really have fun. The illustrations are colorful and filled with marvelous details yet still have a simpler feel to them.

A great book for a trip, this one will keep children happily busy for some time. Worth exploring together too! Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy provided by Henry Holt & Co.

Don’t Feed the Coos! by Jonathan Stutzman

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Don't Feed the Coos by Jonathan Stutzman

Don’t Feed the Coos! by Jonathan Stutzman, illustrated by Heather Fox (9781250303189)

The team behind Llama Destroys the World return with a book that’s for the birds. The book cleverly begins with the tone of Give a Mouse a Cookie but quickly turns it into a cautionary tale about feeding “coos” or pigeons. If you do feed one coo, more will come. You may try to escape, but they will follow you all the way home. No matter what you do, they will still stay with you. And because you have fed the coos, they will make coo poos. Everywhere. You will try everything to get rid of them and nothing will work. So you will accept your fate and make them part of the family. Until one day, you return with them to the park…

There is something so just right about the style of Stutzman’s writing. His tongue-in-cheek is clear but he also clearly cares about writing a superb picture book for children at the same time. That balance is not an easy one to create and sustain. Here, he pays homage to a favorite picture book style, yet also plays with it enough to break it just enough to make it fresh and interesting again.

Fox’s illustrations are bold and graphic. They use white space strategically, playing up the humor of an existence filled with pigeons and how that will change everything. The coos are adorable, until the pooing starts.

A clever and funny delight. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Henry Holt & Co.

My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano

| Tasha

My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano

My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki (9781534427228)

A little girl talks about her new friend, who just might also be her best friend too. The two of them play together at the park, quacking like ducks, running around, and even siting quietly. Her friend knows how to turn leaves into skeleton hands and fix flowers that have been stepped on, kind of. The two draw together, and the little girl realizes they might just be best friends. They hide together during hide and seek, trying to muffle their giggles. When the little girl pretends to be a pickle, her friend laughed and laughed. They may like different kinds of ice cream, but they can still be best friends. Perhaps tomorrow they can learn each other’s names!

Fogliano perfectly captures the wonder of meeting a kindred spirit as a child and spending an entire day together laughing and playing. Her writing shows all of their shared activities and how they help the two girls bond closely together, despite just having met. Silly things like pretending to be a pickle serve to prove they have the same sense of humor, so that taste in ice cream flavors can be ignored. The ending of the book is clever and sets just the right moment, showing deep understanding of children.

Tamaki’s illustrations are marvelous. She shows the two girls playing and laughing together. They are done in a modern limited color palette of pinks, greens and browns that show the girls in fine-lined detail with very expressive faces. It’s like getting to play along with them yourself.

A warm look at first friendships. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Magnificent Homespun Brown by Samara Cole Doyon

| Tasha

Magnificent Homespun Brown by Samara Cole Doyon

Magnificent Homespun Brown by Samara Cole Doyon, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (9780884487975)

Celebrate the magic of the color brown in this book filled with poetic words and enticing illustrations. Deep secret brown is the color of the river currents and also the little girl’s eyes. It is the color of her eyelashes which are the same brown as the shadows of the hemlock trees in the woods where they hike. Amber brown is the color of honey and the color of her hair. Radiant brown is the color of the sand at the beach and the color of her skin. Brown is the color of caramel and cocoa, the color of warm family moments on icy cold days and the color of fall leaves and laughter. 

Doyon’s poetry is approachable and accessible for young readers who will see themselves not only reflected on the pages but celebrated for all of their colors. Doyon’s poem is not simple, she insists on looking deeply at the colors and moments that connect us all, the laughter and the love in our families, and the beauty of African-American skin. She has created a picture book that delights in turning what society sees as a negative into a joyous positive party.

The illustrations are pure delight, as you can see from the cover. They take warm autumnal colors, which of course include brown, and create a book that glows in the reader’s hands. Skin color is celebrated, as is diversity in the African-American community. There is pure joy in the illustrations that matches the positivity of the text.

A positive look at African-American families, skin colors and experiences. Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

A Voice Named Aretha by Katheryn Russell-Brown

| Tasha

A Voice Named Aretha by Katheryn Russell-Brown

A Voice Named Aretha by Katheryn Russell-Brown, illustrated by Laura Freeman (9781681198507)

Explore the life of one of the greatest singers of all time in this picture book biography of Aretha Franklin. Aretha grew up in a family filled with music and talking. She was a shy little girl, but even from a young age had an incredible singing voice. Her parents left one another when she was a child, and she lived with her father. She adored her time with her mother until her mother died when Aretha was 10. She used music to express her feelings, moving to New York City at age 18. It was the turbulent 1960s where clubs and venues were still segregated for the most part. Aretha made sure to not ever be tricked out of being paid as well as paying attention to venues where everyone was allowed. She was popular but all of her albums flopped until she made some of her most iconic songs and became the Queen of Soul.

Told in a warm and welcoming tone of someone sharing the life story of a beloved family member, this picture book biography captures the way so many people feel about Aretha Franklin and her joyous impact in their lives through her music. The text is accessible and shares the hardships of Franklin’s life and career, displaying her resilience in the face of disappointment as well as her savviness about business and civil rights. The digital art in the book is full of bright and deep colors that pop on the white backgrounds.

A grand picture book biography for the Queen of Soul. Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Bloomsbury.

The Wolf in Underpants Freezes His Buns Off by Wilfrid Lupano

| Tasha

The Wolf in Underpants Freezes His Buns Off by Wilfrid Lupano

The Wolf in Underpants Freezes His Buns Off by Wilfrid Lupano, illustrated by Mayana Itoiz and Paul Cauuet (9781541586949)

This is the second Wolf in Underpants book. Winter has arrived in the woods and everyone is bundled up to play in the snow, enjoying winter activities, and eating cheese fondue to stay warm. Everyone is having a great time, except the wolf. When he walks through town, he declares “They’re freezing!” Everyone gets worried, because he seems quite angry. So they decide that it must be his feet that are cold and have the owl knit him some socks. When they send a small animal to deliver the socks, the animal disappears. The next day, the wolf is still upset and the town decides he must need a hat. But once again the animal delivering it disappears. Meanwhile, the rumors in town are multiplying and it is decided that the wolf has gone rogue! But when they burst into the wolf’s home, they discover something they never expected.

Originally published in French, this picture book is a fascinating look at privilege and need. It also look deeply at assumptions about those who may be more wolf-like than others and accepting differences. That is all packaged in a book that is packed with humor and plenty of witty asides. Younger readers will realize the villagers are making a mistake with their decisions, but still won’t quite be certain what the wolf is up to either. It’s a wonderful dynamic of the story and really makes the book a page turner right to the end.

The illustrations are done in a mix of picture book pages and graphic novel frames. The pages are filled with animals talking, huge stores of food and marvelous details of things like the bakery and cheese factory. The illustrations are detailed and create a vibrant village for readers to explore.

A great picture book about privilege, prejudice and kindness. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Lerner.