Category: picture books

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Uncategorized

Unplug with Dot and her Family!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Dot Unplugged, by Randi Zuckerberg/Illustrated by The Jim Henson Company, (Feb. 2020, Candlewick Press), $22.99, ISBN: 9781536209839

Ages 4-7

Wow, do we need this book now. Dot and her family are addicted to their screens, to the point where Scratch, the family dog, is feeling pretty neglected. A power outage reminds Mom that it’s the National day of Unplugging, so the family has to get creative in finding ways to have fun sans electricity. And boy, do they! They search their basement and find a spin game that encourages them to do something fun with each spin of the wheel: sing a song, craft something, the possibilities are pretty endless.

The National Day of Unplugging was March 6th, but Dot Unplugged is pretty relevant these days, too. Many of us are at home with our kids, and we’re going to need a break from screens. Dot Unplugged is a great way to show kids the fun and importance of family time, and how creative thinking makes things even better. Play a tabletop game; bust out some Lincoln Logs and some Legos; make up a game to play together. Family time is a great time to connect, laugh, and enjoy each other.

The digital, cartoony illustrations are fun, bright, and bold, really attracting the reader’s eye. There’s a list of 50 unplugged activities at the end of the book to give you a jumping off point. This one’s a fun add and a helpful one.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

It’s a Great Big Colorful World! Let’s see what’s in it!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

It’s a Great Big Colorful World!, by Tom Schamp, (March 2020, Prestel Publishing), $19.95, ISBN: 9783791374246

Ages 2-5

It’s concept book fun! Otto the Cat wakes up and wants to know why everything is so gray. Thank goodness Leon the chameleon is available to take Otto out and about and show him that gray is a color – and that there are so many other colors, too! They explore things that are gray, black, white, yellow, orange, red, pink, blue, green, and brown, showing that all colors are wonderful! Brown chocolate, burgers, and dogs; greenhouses and salads; blues music; there’s so much color in the world. Each spread has a riot of images to look through, with little facts and questions peppered about to prompt thought and discussion. A table of contents at the end guides readers to spreads on their favorite color. A fun choice for concept collections.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Uncategorized

One Mean Ant has a lot to complain about!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

One Mean Ant, by Arthur Yorinks/Illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier, (Feb. 2020, Candlewick Press), $22.99, ISBN: 9780763683948

Ages 4-7

See that guy on the cover? He is mean. I mean, MEAN. Leaves fall off trees, grapes shrivel into raisins, and dung beetles… well, you can guess what they do when he walks by. One day, this crabby ant is so focused on complaining and yelling at everyone around him that he wanders into the desert and discovers he’s totally lost. Luckily for him, a fly happens by. Unluckily for the fly, the ant starts yelling at him! The fly takes the ant’s lousy attitude in stride, and the two engage in a progressively funnier exchange that ends with a twist you won’t see coming, but will laugh out loud when you get there.

Arthur Yorinks has captured what it means to be in a lousy mood. Everyone will recognize and appreciate this Mean Ant, because we’ve ALL been there. Kids will laugh out loud, especially if you give it some spirit during a readaloud. The fly’s passive, sweet demeanor is a great foil for the ant, and their exchanges are laugh-out-loud hilarious as the story continues. My kiddo and I take turns being the ant and the fly when we read this together, and it’s pretty darned funny each time.

Sergio Ruzzier’s pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations have a great retro vibe, reminding me of picture books I grew up with: very ’70s Sesame Street watercolor schemes, and the facial expressions on the ant and fly are the perfect accompaniment to the story. Everyone will love One Mean Ant.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Abracadabra, katakurico! What’s in the Hat?

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Hat Tricks, by Satoshi Kitamura, (March 2020, Peachtree Publishing), $16.99, ISBN: 9781682631508

Ages 2-6

Meet Hattie, the magician! She’s going to perform a wonderful magic show, and you get the front seat! With every spread, readers guess what’s in Hattie’s magic hat! Mattie pops out first, and with each spread and the magic words, abracadara, katakurico… a surprise awaits! But we get hints peeking out from the hat, so readers can take a guess at who’s next to pop out of the hat. The shenanigans get progressively sillier, heading toward a grand finale that everyone will love.

I LOVE this book. It’s meant to be read out loud, and to a group! Satoshi Kitamura’s comic book-type artwork is colorful, with bold outlines and expressive faces. This book would work very well with some flannels, or small stuffed animals, too: just pull ’em out of a hat and watch the kids cheer. The movement in the book takes up the whole spread, with hilarious energy and action that will make kids squeal and giggle.

Originally published in the UK in 2019, I’m very happy to welcome Hat Tricks to our shores and hope Satoshi Kitamura gives us some more interactive books to read with toddlers and preschoolers.

Hat Tricks has a starred review from Kirkus. There is a free, downloadable activity sheet available at the publisher’s website.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Izzy Gizmo returns with the Invention Convention!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Izzy Gizmo and the Invention Convention, by Pip Jones/Illustrated by Sara Ogilvie, (March 2020, Peachtree Publishing), $17.99, ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5

Ages 4-7

Readers met Izzy Gizmo, a little girl who loves to invent and create, two years ago. She’s finally back in Izzy Gizmo and the Invention Convention, where Izzy, Grandpa, and her best buddy, Fixer, are invited to Technoff Isle’s annual Invention Convention, where she’s up against other kids. They have to make a machine that will impress The Professor, and the winner becomes a member of the Genius Guild! Izzy’s ready to get down to business, but the obnoxious mean girl Abi von Lavish seems to be taking everything Izzy needs to create her invention – until Abi’s drill breaks and she discards it without a second glance. Fixer has an idea, but will Izzy see past her own frustration to understand?

Izzy Gizmo and the Invention Convention has all the fun and charm of the first book, with the added positive emphasis on making, repurposing, and recycling. In a time where Fix-It Clinics are popping up all over the nation – including libraries! – Izzy hits on a few important topics. Reusing and repurposing materials is the primary objective, but readers will also notice that while Izzy’s fellow competitors are using machines that eat up a lot of energy or cause pollution, Izzy’s using wind, manual (or bird), and solar power to make her Fix-It machine a success. And Izzy also speaks to readers about frustration, and how sometimes, our feelings can get away from us. She takes her irritation out on Fixer, only to be gently guided back in the right direction by Grandpa. The pencil, ink, oil pastel, monoprint, and digital illustrations are bright and give a real feel for the hustle and bustle of a science fair, with lots of movement and activity packed into each page. Perfect for Science Fair season and beyond, Izzy Gizmo and the Invention Convention is fun reading with smart lessons for all. Publisher Peachtree has free, downloadable activity sheets and a teacher’s guide available.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Excellent life advice: Eat the Cake!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Eat the Cake, by MH Clark/Illustrated by Jana Glatt, (Feb. 2020, Compendium), $16.95, ISBN: 978-1946873842

Ages 4-7

It’s time to celebrate? Celebrate what, you ask? Who needs a reason? Eat the Cake is all about picking a special day – it can be a birthday, a graduation, a special occasion, or just waking up and deciding this is YOUR day – and celebrating! Great things are coming your way, so relax, enjoy, and eat the cake!

This rhyming, upbeat story is all about embracing positivity; a new mindset; creativity, and being bold and brave. Brightly colored figures parade up, down, and all around the pages, throwing confetti, playing instruments, and celebrating the reader. The bright, happy colors pop off the bright white of the pages, really grabbing the reader’s attention and creative a fun, festive atmosphere. The story is a celebration of the reader/audience, encouraging them to “be so bright that the stars, watching all that you do, / look right down from the sky and start wishing on you”. How fantastic is that to read?

Play some upbeat music, give kids egg shakers, and let them celebrate themselves after reading Eat the Cake at storytime. Don’t limit the fun to the little ones, either: this works nicely with Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go! for a graduation reading at any age. Give this to a retiring colleague or family member to remind them to enjoy life and all they have ahead of them, or someone achieving a major milestone, or someone who just needs a pick-me-up. Eat the Cake is just too much fun.

MH Clark is also the author of Tiger Days, a great book about emotions, and Tiny Perfect Things, a lovely book about those small and perfect moments in our day.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Blog Tour: World So Wide

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Have you ever connected with a child and just wanted to celebrate every moment, every experience, every second of them? That’s the story at the heart of this gorgeous rhyming ode to life, Alison McGhee’s World So Wide.

World So Wide, by Alison McGhee/Illustrated by Kate Alizadeh,
(March 2020, Two Lions), $17.99, ISBN: 781542006330
Ages 2-6

A couple imagine their newborn’s first moments: first sights; first sounds; first smells; first touches. It’s an exploration of the senses, of nature, and the captivating, all-consuming love that parents and babies have for one another. Phrased with questions and answers: “What will be the first sights they see? / Sun and moon and sky… / the love in someone’s eye?”, the story moves in verse throughout the family’s life together; through toddlerhood, adulthood, and, to show the cyclical nature of life, parenthood again, with a new father, holding his baby as he was once held, overjoyed and completely in love.

 

Kate Alizadeh’s digital illustrations paint pastel landscapes of flowery fields and family rooms; parents gently holding a baby and staring lovingly at one another. Paired with Alison McGhee’s ode to parental adoration, World So Wide comes together as a beautiful exploration of parenthood through the senses, through nature, and the future. The family appears multicultural, with a brown-skinned mom and a white, fair-haired dad. I adored Alison McGhee’s Someday; she has a gift for speaking to what’s in my heart as a mom, and she does it again with World So Wide. She takes those small moments that we wish could last forever, and gives them a voice, so we know we’re not alone. World So Wide is a lovely storytime choice, and I’d consider this a good baby shower gift, too.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Red Red Red helps during meltdown time

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Red Red Red, by Polly Dunbar, (March 2020, Kane Miller), @14.99, ISBN: 9781684640263

Ages 2-4

Originally published in the UK in 2019, Red Red Red is a rhyming story about a toddler on the verge of a meltdown when a mission to reach a highly-placed biscuit (we call ’em cookies on this side of the pond) and falls down, getting hurt. If you know toddlers like I know toddlers, you know that the meltdown is mighty. In this case, the little one is hurt and still has no biscuit to show for the pain. This is cause for an apocalyptic-level meltdown, and we see it unfolding, spread by spread. Mom asks if the little one’s okay, leading to blame (“Yes! I had a bump. / It made my cry. / The biscuit jar / war up too high!”); dismay (“My socks are down. / My pants are twisted. / I want… / I want… / I WANT / A BISCUIT!”); and ultimately, the tantrum. The toddler rails against the cursed cookie jar, roars, and thumps their head on the floor. This kid is SEEING RED. Luckily, Mom is there to save the day, and provides some calming wisdom; she acknowledges her child to stop engaging in self-destructive behavior and encourages them to count to 10. The panels illustrate each number with an angry red scribble as the little one counts their way to solace; the fonts become less black and bold, more gray, almost ethereal, and the angry red scribbles lessen, becoming little sprinkles as the little one learns to self-comfort and goes from rage to relaxed. Mom and little one do some deep breathing, the little one gets that cookie, and all is well once again.

Red Red Red wonderfully depicts a meltdown from beginning to end, with a positive workaround that parents and caregivers can put into action. The toddler depicted is genderless, making them accessible to any reader, and the illustrations are boldly outlined with light, pastel colors, really letting that angry red blast off the page and make a statement. Even the endpapers get into the story, with angry red scribbles greeting readers as they open the book; as the book concludes, tantrum over, the back endpapers show childlike drawings of red hearts strung across the pages.

A very helpful book to have on hand (we adults need to remember this stuff, too) for parents, educators, and caregivers. We get frustrated, too, and seeing this mom keep her cool as she comforts and guides her little one through a tantrum is a helpful reminder that two people getting mad leads nowhere. Display this one with book like Zachariah Ohora’s No Fits, Nilson!; two of my favorites are still Mo Willems’ Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! andHow Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen.

Posted in picture books

Blog Tour: Feast of Peas by Kashmira Sheth

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I love a good folk tale, and Kashmira Sheth has certainly given me one with her newest book, Feast of Peas!

Feast of Peas, by Kashmira Sheth/Illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler,
(March 2020, Peachtree Publishing), $17.99, ISBN: 978-1-68263-135-5
Ages 5-8

Set in India, Feast of Peas is about Jiva, a farmer who works in his garden “until the sun turned as red as a bride’s sari”, tending to his crops; he’s most excited, though, for his peas. He can’t wait for them to grow, so he can gobble them up. He loves peas! But so does Jiva’s friend, Ruvji, who stops by to see how Jiva’s crops are faring. As Jiva sings his Feast of Peas song, Ruvji stands close by, imagining his own yummy feast of peas… and when Jiva discovers that his peas are going missing, Ruvji is right there, suggesting culprits from rabbits to ghosts. Jiva’s precautions don’t protect his poor peas, so Jiva must take matters into his own hands… and wait until he discovers who the thief is!

 

Feast of Peas is so much fun! Kashmira Sheth’s storytelling style is perfect for a storytime setting. She includes easily recognizable folktale elements, like everyday situations, a puzzling problem, and a solution that neatly concludes the story. Her writing style draws readers into the story, and there’s fun repetition in the interplay between Jiva and Ruvji and their daily routines: Jiva’s work in the garden; Ruvji’s daily visits; Jiva’s song, “Plump peas, sweet peas, / Lined-up-in-the-shell peas. / Peas to munch, peas to crunch, / I want a feast of peas for lunch”, and Ruvji’s response, “Peas are delicious. I would enjoy a feast of peas”. A ghost story is played for laughs, and friendship and sharing win the day at the end of the story. Jeffrey Ebbeler’s artwork brings Kashmira Sheth’s story to life with acrylic illustrations giving readers earth tones, characters with expressive faces and body language, and delicious plates of Indian food! Peapods and peas decorate the endpapers, stoking readers’ appetites.

Absolute fun. Add Feast of Peas to your folk and fairytale sections, and ask your kids what they think the morale of the story is. Publisher Peachtree has a free, downloadable teacher’s guide that includes talking points about art, social studies, math, music, movement, and more.

 

Posted in picture books

Blog Tour: I Am Awesome! and Guest Post from Author Ryan K. Maule

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Ryan Maule, motivational speaker and host of the popular Expect Awesome Podcast, wants to make sure that all children get the positive self-esteem they need early so they can be the type of adults that live up to their God-given potential.

I Am Awesome!, by Ryan K. Maule/Illustrated by L.M. Phang,
(Jan . 2020, WestBow Press), $16.95, ISBN: 978-1-9736-8105-2
Ages 5-8

Enter I Am Awesome!, a story about two robots, Grace and Zeal, who meet a new invention who claims to be Awesome and not just Good. Author Ryan K. Maule was kind enough to share a guest post for today, so read on and enjoy.

3 Secrets to Teaching Your Kids to Choose Confidence Over Fear
By Ryan Maule, author of the children’s book I Am Awesome!

Being a parent of a child in grade school means constantly sitting on the edge of your seat. Changes are happening all the time that affect the way your child reacts and responds to everyday life situations. This makes parenting overwhelming, feeling like you’re just sitting around waiting to come up with answers to issues you didn’t realize would come up in the first place.

One of those changes seen regularly is a loss in self-esteem or confidence. Many parents face the dilemma of seeing confidence deplete with little to no understanding of what’s going on or how it happened. Most of the time we don’t even notice until the confidence has dropped so far that we wonder how it will ever recover!

So, what happened? If you’re like me, it’s easy to remember the moments where your child looked like they were absolutely unstoppable. I’ve seen my daughter take on roller coasters that made me nauseous, introduce herself to a group of strangers where I hoped to just blend in and get ignored, and perform, sing, and dance in front of crowds that make even the most confident of parents wonder “where did this kid come from?!” For a while it seemed like the only thing that scared her was Santa Claus.

But then, without notice or warning, she doesn’t have that confidence anymore. She doesn’t want to perform, she’s withdrawn, she doesn’t want to go on even simple child rides, or stand out at school or in small groups.

Where did the confidence go?

The reality is that these depletions in confidence are normal and common throughout not only the growing up process, but throughout your child’s entire life. These life tests never go away. The trick is to be able to recognize and label the problem that is always getting in the way. It can be called many things and summed up into one word: fear.

Fear is the main reason your children lose some or most of their self-confidence. It can be discovering the fear of death, the fear of judgement, the fear of disapproval, the fear of disappointment, the fear of embarrassment, or even the fear of simply failing. They could even just be scared in general. Fear is always present and will never fully go away. Fear is the amplifier of all the negative outcomes in every situation that we hold in the back of our mind.

The secret is to teach our children how to react to fear in order to maintain and build their confidence. To do this, I have three easy secrets to help your kids choose confidence over fear.

  1. Teach Your Children to Recognize and Admit Their Fears

Most situations where confidence is attacked are never recognized because we allow ourselves to get away with lying to each other. Instead of properly saying “I’m afraid of” or “I’m scared to,” we allow bad excuses and “I just don’t want to’s” to be acceptable answers. Teaching your kids to identify the thoughts and feelings that are fear-related helps them to create the potential for a stronger, more confident response.

  1. Make A Rule of No Hypotheticals

 This secret is one that all families should use and applies to both adults and children. Hypotheticals are imaginary negative outcomes and more commonly, fantasy worst-case scenarios. It’s so easy to think up disasters and failures and play them out like a movie in your mind. The answer is to not allow them. No hypotheticals means basing your decision on only the things that are facts and that you already know. By not allowing your worst-case scenario to impact your decision, you create opportunities where positive outcomes are truly possible.

  1. Discuss Past Successes!

When you’re in the moment, it’s hard to remember past experience. Sometimes all you need is a little reminder of great moments of past confidence to inspire more instances of future confidence!

“Do you remember that time you did this same thing and it went perfectly?!”

“Mom and I were so proud of you the last time you handled a situation like this!”

“You are awesome at this!”

“This is nothing for you!”

“You could do this in your sleep!”

By drawing on past successes, your children will start to see beyond the fear and see themselves conquering the world!

RYAN MAULE is the author of the children’s book I Am Awesome! He is also a nationally recognized and highly sought-after motivational speaker, host of the popular Expect Awesome Podcast, and the president of Integrity Doctors, the world’s largest chiropractic business organization. Over the last 15 years Ryan has traveled the world spreading the message of expecting awesome and building a stronger self-image in order to gain a God-powered confidence. Ryan is happily married to his awesome wife Amber and they live in Florida with their two awesome kids, Summer Grace and Nolan Zeal.

 

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