Reading

Review: Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier

| Tasha

open this little book

Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier, illustrated by Suzy Lee

Open the full-sized picture book and inside you find a series of nesting books, each smaller than the one before.  The stories in the books also nest with one another.  First the reader opens the Little Red Book and discovers ladybug who is opening the Little Green Book where frog is the character.  On and on it goes, until the story reaches a little twist in the little books.  Then the stories unwind as the books are closed one by one.  It’s impossible to not be charmed by the design and concept.

Debut author, Klausmeier has created a seamless partnership with illustrator Lee.  The book is so much a marriage of their work that one might think it was done entirely by one artist.  The story is simple yet fully engaging.  The problem you may have with little listeners is having them slow down opening the next book in time to read the words on the page.  Lee’s illustrations add to the charm, hearkening back to vintage picture books but still carrying a modern vibe.  The scale of the books is perfection, like opening a Russian nesting doll.

Engaging, interactive and oh so much fun, this book looks at colors, sequence and a love of reading.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Reader by Amy Hest

| Tasha

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The Reader by Amy Hest, illustrated by Lauren Castillo

A young boy walks through the snow with his dog and a suitcase in his hand.  He gets his red sled with runners and heads out.  They climb a large hill, leaving straight lines in the snow from the sled as the dog bounds ahead.  Once at the top, they stop for a snack of toast and warm drinks.  Around them the snow continues to fall.  Finally, the suitcase is opened.  The boy pulls out a book to share with his dog, about friendship.  He reads it aloud, the two of them together at the top of a snowy hill.  When they are done, they pack everything back up and climb on the sled for the ride back down the hill.  Together.

Hest has written a book that is filled with falling snow but also warmed by the friendship of a boy and his dog.  Though the title gives a hint at what is in the case, readers will still be surprised to have them read it out in the falling snow.  Hest incorporates beautiful little details: the sound of crunching and sipping, the sound of the boy reading at the top of the hill, the hard work of getting up the high hill.  These all create a feeling of time, moments that are to be treasured because they are so beautiful.

Castillo’s illustrations are done in pen and ink and watercolor.  Against the white of the snow, all of the colors pop.  The brown of the dog, the red boots, the smears of color on the suitcase: all are cheery bright against the white countryside.  The illustrations have a wonderful jaunty feel to them, celebrating this close friendship and reading books.

A wonderful mix of snow and story, this book is a rich winter delight.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Bear in the Book by Kate Banks

| Tasha

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The Bear in the Book by Kate Banks, illustrated by Georg Hallensleben

A little boy sits in bed reading a book with his mother.  It’s a book about a bear getting ready to sleep for the winter.  The boy and his mother share the story together, talking about the pictures and the bear.  The bear eats and eats, getting ready to hibernate until he finally curls up and falls asleep.  Then the snow comes, and the little boy can almost feel the cold from the page of the book.  He looks closely at the pictures and finds hidden animals in the snowy landscape.  The snow continues and the boy snuggles in closer, the bear sleeps on.  As spring nears, the boy gets sleepy.  Just as the bear is about to wake up, the boy falls asleep for the night.  Now it’s his turn to sleep long and deep in a cozy bed.

This book is pure joy.  It celebrates both the written word and the art of the picture book.  Even more so though, it celebrates the connection built by sharing a book right before bed.  Just as the boy could feel the winter emanating from the page, here you can feel the warmth and coziness.  With my librarian hat on, I am delighted to see a book that models what reading aloud to a small child should look like.  There should be conversations about the pictures, questions and answers about what is happening in the story, looking at the colors on the page, finding hidden animals, and much more activity than simply reading a story aloud. 

Hallensleben’s illustrations have a gorgeous rough texture to them.  The paint is lovely and thick, resulting in rich colors that add to that feeling of warmth and home.  They also bridge the connection between the book and the family reading together, flowing seamlessly back and forth, uniting as an entire story.

Highly recommended, this is a book that will have you curled up and sharing it with your own little one immediately.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Lonely Book by Kate Bernheimer

| Tasha

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The Lonely Book by Kate Bernheimer, illustrated by Chris Sheban

When the book first arrived at the library, it was shiny and new.  It was placed on display and a long list of children waited to read it.  Then the book was moved to the regular children’s shelves with other books that were not so new too.  It was still happy, since it got checked out often.  But as the book grew older, it got checked out less and less.  It had a tear and was missing its last page.  Then one day, a girl found the book, read it and loved it.  She took it home, carried it to school with her, and even shared it at show and tell.  The book felt loved again.  But the next story time, the girl chose a different book and forgot the special book.  She remembered when she got home, but the library was already closed.  Then when she got to the library a week later, the book was gone, withdrawn and meant for the book sale.  This is a sentimental but gorgeous book that every person who has ever loved a book will enjoy.

When I started this book, I was not a fan.  I worried that it would tip into the saccharine and overly sweet.  It is sentimental, as I mentioned above, but it never tips too far into that mode.  Instead I found myself reading a book that brought me back to the joy of discovering books as a child and finding myself closely attached to them.  I still can’t have a logical discussion of the Little House on the Prairie series, since I read them to tatters as a little girl.  I love this book for bringing me back to that.

Sheban’s art is soft and dreamy.  There are often books that glow with the wonder inside of them, something that book lovers will really appreciate.  This is a quiet book, and the art supports that, depicting quiet time reading and bonding with a story.

A great gift for any book-loving child, I think this book will speak most to adults who look fondly back on the books of their childhood.  Perhaps a holiday gift for your favorite librarian or reading teacher.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Schwartz & Wade.

Review: Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown

| Tasha

WaitingForTheBiblioBurro

Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown, illustrated by John Parra

Inspired by a true story, this picture book shows the power of books and reading.  Ana is a small girl who lives in Colombia and adores books.  Her village is very remote though, so there is no library to go to.  Ana has just one book, given to her by her teacher, and she has read it over and over again.  Ana makes up her own stories that she tells her little brother at bedtime.  Then one day a man with two burros comes to their village.  The burros carry a library of books and he invites all of the children to select books to keep until he returns.  As she waits for the librarian to return, Ana creates her own book about him, his burros and his books.

Brown has created a book that is gentle and beautifully written.  Ana’s life is shown as loving and filled with blessings.  It will contrast vividly for American children with their own lifestyle.  Brown also focuses clearly on books and the power of reading and stories.  The story here is told clearly and warmly with sprinklings of Spanish throughout.

Parra’s illustrations have a lovely folk art feel to them.  Done in acrylics on board, they have a texture adds another dimension to the book.  The colors are bright, the storytelling portions filled with wild and amazing creatures, and the entire work makes a complete and unified package.

The entire book sings, revealing a different culture and the power of words (and librarians.)  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Tricycle Press.

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Read to Tiger

| Tasha

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Read to Tiger by S. J. Fore, illustrated by R. W. Alley

Turn on the light, curl up on the couch, open your book, you are ready to read.  But what’s that noise?!  A tiger is behind the couch chomping on gum!  This little boy has one naughty tiger to deal with just as he is settling in for a great read.  After the tiger stops chewing him gum loudly, the tiger growls pretending to be a bear.  Then the tiger starts practicing his karate, with great yells and high kicks.  The tiger then choo-choos past on a train.  And finally picks up the couch itself to look for his whistle.  Finally, the little boy has had enough but just then, the tiger gets a glimpse of the book the boy has been trying to read and its picture of a tiger.  Which may finally be what it takes to keep tiger quiet: a great story shared with a friend.

The humor of this book is evident from the very first encounter with the tiger.  Wonderfully, the zaniness increases as the story goes on, and children are definitely going to be laughing out loud by the time Karate Tiger leaps onto the page.  Fore has tapped into the glee that readers feel when they see the humor in a situation before the narrator in the book does.  They will delight in it.  Fore also has a wonderful pacing to the book with the tiger doing something disruptive, the boy correcting him, and then settling again to read his book, only to have the tiger do something even more outrageous.

Alley’s illustrations add to the action and wild abandon of the book.  Alley’s use of subtle colors next to bright allows readers to feel the snuggly reading time and then to be jolted in turn by tiger and his red and yellow coat in full action.  So much of the humor is visual here, and very successfully so.

If you are looking for a book about the pleasures of reading that is funny and filled with plenty of action, this is it.  Even better, it is the sort of book that itself proves exactly why reading is fun.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Viking.

Dog Loves Books

| Tasha

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Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates

Dog loves everything about books.  He loves their smell, their feel.  In fact, he loved them enough to open a bookstore.  He worked hard to prepare for the Grand Opening, but when he threw the door open no one was there.  Some people do come in, but they aren’t interested in buying books.  Dog was all alone with his books.  So what’s a Dog to do?  Read the books to pass the time!  So he doesn’t even notice that he’s alone anymore, but when a real customer is ready to buy a book, he is more than ready.

Yates has created a simple but spirited picture book that captures the love of books perfectly.  Her writing is brief and child-friendly, telling a complete tale in just a few words.  Her illustrations tell the rest of the story, including the mood of Dog who moves from great exuberance to near despair, his posture along showing his emotions. Nicely, the moments that Dog loses himself in stories are shown in double-page spreads with full backgrounds while the real life moments are shown in rounded illustrations with white space surrounding them.  This change again demonstrates the appeal of reading without ever becoming didactic about it.

A simple and cheerful book, this is one to add to your own book pile and share with other book lovers.   Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.

Also reviewed by:

It’s a Book – Subversive and Smart

| Tasha

It’s a Book by Lane Smith

This is signature Lane Smith in every possible way.  A donkey and a gorilla sit in a living room together.  The donkey has a laptop, the gorilla has a book.  The donkey is puzzled by this book.  How do you scroll?  Does it blog? Where is the mouse?  The gorilla answers again and again, “No, it’s a book.”  Finally, the donkey gets the book in his hands and refuses to give it back.  The gorilla stands up to leave, heading for the library when the donkey offers to charge it when he’s done.  All leading up to the final line: “You don’t have to… It’s a book, Jackass.”  This is like a long lead up to a perfect punch line. 

I shared this book with my sons, aged 9 and 13.  They both adored it.  They got the references to blogging, video games, charging and mice.  By the final line, they both had huge grins on their faces and both looked rather slyly at me to see if I had realized what I had said.  Then we all laughed and read it again. 

Smith has created a book that will be enjoyed by adults and older children.  Young children will not get the references to the technology and will not get the punch line.  So let’s not waste time discussing whether that last line is appropriate for  preschoolers or story times.  The entire book is not for them. 

Smith’s wonderful art is modern, sleek and yet has a timeless quality to it.  It is ideal for this mashup of technology and books.  The day I got it in the mail, I took it to one of our staff luncheons.  It was read aloud, everyone loved it.  I’m going to have it tucked with my things for the upcoming state library conference.  They will all enjoy it.  And I expect plenty of the same looks my sons gave me and plenty of laughter too.

A picture book for adults and older children, this is one to read aloud to librarians and teachers rather than the other way around. 

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

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