garden

Board Book Reviews

| Tasha

American Modern Books shared two new board books that are coming out in September.  Both have a modern art vibe that is captivating:

colors harper counting in the garden

Colors by Charley Harper

This is the third board book by Harper and follows his alphabet and counting books.  Here the colors correspond to animals and natural colors in the illustrations.  There are red birds, blue water, orange leaves, and a yellow moon.  There are also some more man-made items in the book like fire hydrants, cars and hats.  The design here is very successful with the small size of the board book format creating a very nice frame around the illustrations.  There is also a lot of variety in the images, though all are thoroughly modern.

Counting in the Garden by Emily Hruby, illustrated by Patrick Hruby

This counting book counts visually as well as in the text of the book.  Steadily count from 1 to 12 with items from the garden.  After each new number is counted, readers turn the page to see that item added to the garden.  What starts as a green and brown, but fairly open and plain field becomes robust and crowded with plants.  The illustrations are strong with plenty of color and lots of energy.  They have modern lines and are very clean and clear.

These two books are sure to please parents looking for books that they too will enjoy reading again and again. 

Reviewed from copies received from AMMO.

Where Is Catkin?

| Tasha

Where Is Catkin? by Janet Lord, illustrated by Julie Paschkis

Catkin heads out to hunt in the garden.  He sees and hears different animals in the garden but he can’t catch them.  There is a cricket, a frog, a mouse, a snake, and a bird.  After Catkin pounces them they disappear from view.  But sharp-eyed readers will be able to spy them hiding.  Finally, Catkin climbs a tree to catch a bird, but goes too high.  Now it is Amy’s job to find Catkin in the garden and rescue him!

The first thing you will notice about this book is its amazing illustrations.  Done in an almost Slavic motif, they are rich, deep colored and stylized.  As Catkin pounces an animal it appears in the yellow and red border, adding another layer to this book.  Lord’s text is brief and invites young readers to participate in the seeking and finding of the animals.  Readers will enjoy spotting not only the animals in the text, but also insects and other animals. 

A richly illustrated seek-and-find book that is perfect for the youngest listeners.  I would suggest using this with only a very small group, because the pleasure of the book is to look closely at the illustrations and talk about them. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Peachtree Publishers.

Also reviewed by Beth Fish Reads, 7 Imp, and We Love Children’s Books.