Category: picture books

Posted in picture books

Magnificent Creatures: Animals on the Move!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Magnificent Creatures: Animals on the Move!, by Anna Wright, (July 2018, Faber & Faber), $17.95, ISBN: 9780571330683

Ages 5-10

If you have readers who love beautiful illustration, this is a book for them (and you). Anna Wright’s Magnificent Creatures: Animals on the Move is all about beautiful design and illustrating movement and texture. Featuring 12 animals, from sea turtles and springboks, to Monarch butterflies and fireflies, each spread contains a brief explanatory paragraph on each animal, but the real star is the pen and ink illustration, enhanced with textiles to create stunning art. Springboks roam the African plains with striped and floral fabric bodies; checkered, chevroned, and polka dotted zebras spread out in search of food. Southern Carmine bee-eaters have a hint of gold crowning their feathered heads, and fireflies dance with gold leaf wings.

The art is beautiful and begs kids to use their own imagination, plus any scrapbooking paper, fabric, yarn, or ribbon you may have in your craft boxes, to create animals of their own. Could be a fun Summer Reading challenge! The text is easy to read and would be a nice, eye-catching addition to an animal storytime. There are some great, unique facts about each animal, too: every zebra’s stripe pattern is unique, like a human fingerprint; herring can swim in a school of up to 3 billion!

Pair this one with Helen Aphornsiri’s Drawn from Nature to let readers explore nature through artwork – from nature. Pair paper with leaves, flowers, sticks, and fabric to come up with 2-D and 3-D creations. Let your minds run wild! Get some more inspiration from Anna Wright’s website.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Doesn’t matter what you think you see, Lulu is a Rhinoceros.

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Lulu is a Rhinoceros, by Jason Flom & Allison Flom/Illustrated by Sophie Corrigan, (June 2018, Wicked Cow Studios), $16.99, ISBN: 9780692070987

Ages 4-7

Lulu may look like an bulldog to you and me, but when she looks in the mirror, she sees a rhinoceros. In her heart, her fluffy, soft fur is really thick skin, and her nubby little tail is actually whiplike. The only thing she needs is a horn: then everyone will know she’s really a rhino! But as she searches for her horn, others laugh at her and cruelly mock her; her Cinderella-like search for the perfect horn takes a few sweet, giggle-worthy turns, especially at the ice cream cart. When Lulu wanders into a rhino enclosure at a zoo, she meets a friend who uses common sense to see her for who she is, and they come together to form a mutually beneficial, wonderful, friendship.

This sweet story is perfect for everyone: in addition to addressing gender identity, Lulu speaks to readers who don’t feel like they quite fit in; readers who don’t want to go with the crowd. The message is strong: be true to yourself. It also extols the virtue of finding – or being – that one friend who can see through the exterior to who you are inside. The softly drawn artwork has muted colors, bringing a sense of calm to the story and allows readers to focus on Lulu’s internal dialogue. The story addresses social issues like introspection, friendship, social issues, tolerance, and yes, gender identity, and I love it. A portion of all the proceeds from sales of Lulu is a Rhinoceros are being donated to the African Wildlife Foundation to help protect Africa’s endangered wildlife and their habitat, so you’re doing two good deeds by buying the book! There’s an interview with authors Jason and Allison Flom (with real-life Lulu!) on the African Wildlife Foundation’s webpage. Pair this one with Bow-Wow Meow, by Blanca Lacasa.

Posted in picture books

Mid-Autumn Festival Reading: The Shadow in the Moon

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Shadow in the Moon: A Tale of the Mid-Autumn Festival, by Christina Matula/Illustrated by Pearl Law, (July 2018), Charlesbridge), $16.99, ISBN: 9781580897464

Recommended for readers 5-9

I know we’re just beginning summer, but there are great, fall-themed books getting ready to hit shelves any second! If you’re like me and need to plan your programs several weeks out, this is big help. The Shadow in the Moon is a book about the Autumn Moon Harvest, which happens from September 22-24 this year. Last year, I held a moon cake and tea party storytime that went so well, I’m hoping to do it again, and this is a new book that I can add to my reading list this year.

A family celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival together, with delicious mooncakes and other treats to enjoy. Two sisters ask Ah-ma, their grandmother, who the beautiful lady on their mooncake is, prompting Ah-ma to tell them the origin story of the Autumn Festival. She tells them about Hou Yi, the brave archer, his wife, Chang’e, and the thief who tried to steal the magic potion given to Hou Yi by the Immortals. The foods eaten during the Festival are a celebration of the story, with the mooncake taking center stage, in tribute to Chang’e.

The Shadow and the Moon celebrates family and the tradition of storytelling, with beautiful, deep blues and bright colors throughout. The pencil and Photoshop art will capture readers’ eyes, and the ethereal storytelling invites readers to sit back and daydream about the beautiful Lady in the Moon and her brave archer. An author’s note further explains the Mid-Autumn festival and features a poem by one of China’s greatest poets, Li Bai. There’s also a recipe for mooncakes with red bean filling that is making my mouth water. A must-add to your holiday collections.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Not Yet, Zebra! is a study in the alphabet and patience

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Not Yet, Zebra!, by Lou Kuenzler/Illustrated by Julia Woolf, (June 2018, Faber & Faber), $16.95, ISBN: 978-0-571-34288-4

Recommended for readers 3-5

Little Annie wants to paint the alphabet, so her animal friends line up in alphabetical order. Except for Zebra, whose impatience results in adorable hijinks. This sweet rhyming alphabet story wanders through animal ABCs: aardvarks and bears, elephants and flamingos, gorillas and hamsters; Zebra pops up throughout the story, trying to pass for an earlier letter in the alphabet by donning animal disguises. When Annie finally gets to Z, poor Zebra is fast asleep! Well… tomorrow is another day, right, Zebra?

This is an adorable abecedary for preschoolers and kindergarteners, who will relate to the impatience of having to wait one’s turn. Zebra gives the saddest eyes, the nudgiest nudges, and the most creative disguises, all in an attempt to wheedle his way to the front of the line, but Annie catches our wily friend every time. This one’s fun to read aloud, and would make a great companion to my other favorite impatient friend, The Pigeon.

The endpapers feature our Zebra friend, contorting himself into all the letters in the alphabet, and the artwork is colorful and cartoony, nicely set against the subdued background pages. I’m always up for a good concept book for my collection; something that gets the ideas covered, but with a little fun; something that brings some personality to the narrative. Not Yet, Zebra brings the giggles, for sure.

Posted in Early Reader, Intermediate, Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction, picture books, Preschool Reads

Nibbles Does Nonfiction! Nibbles: The Dinosaur Guide!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Nibbles: The Dinosaur Guide, by Emma Yarlett, (March 2018, Kane Miller),  $16.99 ISBN 978-1-61067-643-4

Recommended for readers 4-8

Nibbles the Book Monster is a HUGE celebrity in my home, in my storytime, and now, in my kiddo’s classroom. More on that in a sec. So, Nibbles is a little yellow monster who loves to nibble books. In his first adventure, he nibbled his way through some fairy tales, but he wanted more. Enter Nibbles: The Dinosaur Guide, which combines solid nonfiction dinosaur information, including eras, scientific names (with pronunciation), and fast facts. This is no regular dinosaur book, though: Nibbles is on another adventure, chomping and nom nom-ing his way through the prehistoric era, irritating dinosaurs and spreading mayhem as he goes! Will Nibbles end up on the menu this time?

Nibbles: The Dinosaur Guide is full of the same flips and bite-sized page nibbles that makes the first book so much fun to read. Add to that, the hilarious bodily functions of dinosaurs (did you know that a single diplodocus fart could power a hot air balloon? You do now!) and a laugh-out-loud interaction with a T-Rex, and you have a dino book that kids will come back to again and again.

Now the fun part: I brought Nibbles: The Dinosaur Guide to my son’s kindergarten class for a storytime visit. The kids had a choice of books, and Nibbles got the overwhelming vote, so we got into circle time on the carpet and I read the story. The screaming. The hilarity. It was controlled pandemonium, and I loved every second of it. The best part of the visit was my reading the phrase, “I am the Prince of Parps!” (polite British speak for ‘fart’) and the one Scottish kid in my son’s class burst out laughing; his classmates said, “What’s a parp?”, so I looked at him and nodded. He proudly pronounced, “IT”S A FART!” and the class lost their minds. That, my friends, is how you embrace storytime.

Need more Nibbles in your life? Who doesn’t? Author Emma Yarlett’s webpage has printable activities aplenty. Go make a Nibbles bookmark!

Rocking Nibbles in the classroom

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Someone New shows students welcoming new friends

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Someone New, by Anne Sibley O’Brien, (July 2018, Charlesbridge), $16.99, ISBN: 9781580898317

Recommended for readers 4+

I’m New Here (2015) explored immigration from the points of view of three young newcomers: Maria, Jin, and Fatima. Someone New now flips the dialogue and shows us how new classmates perceive – and eventually befriend – these new kids in town. At first, Maria, Jin, and Fatima are shy, a bit withdrawn, and their classmates don’t know how to work with that. Understandable; these are kids we’re dealing with. Strong and honest statements like, “I feel uncomfortable”; “I don’t know what to do”; and “I can’t figure out to help” give kids words to put to the new feelings they may experience when meeting kids they don’t know.

Since kids are so much smarter than we are, though, they figure it out quickly: Jesse, a blonde white boy, invites Maria to play soccer with his group and discovers that she’s really good! Jason, a dark-skinned boy, can’t read what Jin writes, but smiles, prompting Jin to smile back; eventually, Jin teaches Jason how to write his name in Korean – it’s like a secret code! – and they draw comics together. Emma, a blonde white girl, draws a picture of her classmate, Fatima, and her together, giving Fatima the comfort and safety she needs to open up to Emma about her family. Each of these new children have things to share; they just needed the safety of that first effort. As Jason learns, when Jin smiles at him, “Maybe a smile is like a superpower.” The watercolor and digital illustrations stand out against the plain white space to make these characters stand out.

Someone New tells its story in brief, eloquent sentences with word balloons that allow characters to communicate in their own words. It is a book that needs to be on every shelf in every library and school. You’ll notice I recommend this book for ages 4+; I think it’s a book that all adults should be reading right now. Pick up the award-winning I’m New Here and make sure you tell these stories to anyone within earshot. Someone New has a starred review from Kirkus.

Posted in Intermediate, Non-Fiction, picture books

Happy Pride! Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag, by Rob Sanders/Illustrated by Steven Salerno, (Apr. 2018, Random House), $17.99, ISBN: 9780399555312

Recommended for readers 5-8

The story of Harvey Milk, gay rights activist and the man behind the rainbow flag, gets to shine in this picture book biography. Written in short, readable sentences with quotes from Harvey Milk throughout, this is an inspirational story about a movement propelled by love. That’s it. Love, and the right to love, is at the heart of the gay rights movement, and while Harvey Milk dreamed of a world where we could all love whoever we choose, he also put that dream into action by speaking out, becoming involved in politics to help change laws, and finally, to rally the world behind a flag that is beautiful and bright and sends a message that reverberates to this day.

Pride is about the creation of the rainbow flag, and how the movement is still strong, even after Harvey Milk’s assassination. He shared his pride with the world, and gave us an icon.  In 2015, the day that the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marraige, the White House was awash in the colors of the flag, and you can find that flag in cities and countries all over the world: New York; Chicago; London; Singapore; Turkey; Russia. Biographical notes on Harvey Milk and Gilbert Baker, who actually designed the flag, timelines for both Harvey Milk’s life and the rainbow flag, and further research resources are available at the end of the book, as are photos of Harvey Milk, the Rainbow White House, and gay pride parades.

This is a strong picture book biography that speaks respectfully to readers and provides solid information on the gay rights movement, Harvey Milk’s role in it, and the origin of the iconic rainbow flag. It’s a must-have for picture book biography collections. Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag has a starred review from Shelf Awareness and rave reviews from School Library Journal, Out.com, Kirkus, and Gay Times magazine, among others.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Can you help Yoga Frog cheer up?

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Yoga Frog, by Nora Carpenter, (May 2018, Running Press Kids), $14.99, ISBN: 9780762464678

Recommended for readers 4-10

Yoga Frog likes to start his day off with some stretching, but sometimes he’s grumpy. He’s not much of a morning frog, and frankly, I don’t blame him. But Yoga Frog has a secret mood lifter for those tough to drag yourself out of bed mornings: yoga!

Yoga Frog introduces young readers to 18 different poses, each illustrated by our friend and guide, Yoga Frog. Each spread is brightly colored, with one page describing the pose, and the pose’s name in both English and Sanskrit; the facing page has our green amphibian yogi demonstrating the pose. Not every pose maps to its “real” English name; for instance, what grownups may know as “warrior” is “giraffe” here, in keeping with the nature-themed names. It doesn’t matter here, it’s gives the kids something fun to relate to and envision as they stretch and bend, releasing those endorphins and giving them a spot of Zen. The digital art is simple and sweet, with a big-eyed, friendly frog working his way through his asanas. A note to parents reminds caregivers about the benefits of yoga and breath awareness, and there’s a fun poster depicting the poses – not in order – that you can hang up and have kids refer to during a yoga storytime.

This nicely fits in with my yoga storytime books as a nice instructional. If you have a yoga storytime program, this is a nice add; ditto, if you need some yoga books for your collection. There’s a lovely emphasis on building childhood mindfulness lately – and it’s well-needed – so I’d jump on it.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Goodbye Brings Hello gets kids ready for life’s big moments!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Goodbye Brings Hello, by Dianne White/Illustrated by Daniel Wiseman, (June 2018, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), $17.99, ISBN: 9780544798755

Recommended for readers 3-5

Goodbye Brings Hello is all about those little goodbyes we experience as kids: the favorite shirt that fit just fine over the summer is just a little snug in the winter; moving from crayons to pencils; going from Velcro to shoelaces; and the big one: going from a small pre-k to elementary school. The book comforts to kids who may be a little nervous, or stressed, about these new milestones by illustrating a valuable point: for every goodbye, there’s a new hello. For every snug shirt, there’s a new jacket waiting to grow into. Leaving crayons to the realm of coloring books means that you’re learning to write with a pencil. Those Velcro-covered toes are now rocking in a new pair of cool sneakers! And as you move from preschool or kindergarten to elementary school, you’re getting ready to meet new friends, have new experiences, and share many, many hellos.

Simple, colorful art shows children going through their “goodbyes” and “hellos”, with rhyming text leading the reader through each scenario. There are diverse faces, smiling faces, and pensive expressions, all mirroring kids’ emotions at growing up and out of the familiar. The text is encouraging and upbeat, and the digital artwork is joyful, light, almost childlike in its presentation, opening the door to invite kids to draw their own hello/goodbye. This is a great end-of-year read for graduating pre-k and kinders, and a wonderful way to welcome new students in September: a nice, new Hello.

I’m adding this to my school year collection, and will make sure to booktalk this one to the teachers when they look for books to read to their new classes in September. This would be cute, paired with Adam Rex and and Christian Robinson’s School’s First Day of School.

 

When she was five, Dianne White said goodbye to her house and her teacher, Mrs. Dunlap, and hello to a new school, and her newest favorite teacher, Mr. Loop. She has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is the award-winning author of Blue on Blue. She lives in Arizona, where she writes full-time. For more information, and to download a free activity kit, visit diannewrites.com.
Twitter @diannewrites

 

Daniel Wiseman remembers saying goodbye to the training wheels on his bike, and saying a great big hello to skinned knees and elbows. But the freedom of rolling on two wheels was well worth the bumps and bruises. He still rides his (slightly larger) bike almost every day. Daniel loves to draw, and has illustrated several books for children. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Visit him at danieldraws.com.
Instagram @d_wiseman
Want a chance to win your own copy of Goodbye Brings Hello? Enter this Rafflecopter giveaway! U.S. addresses only, please.
Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

A little Joy goes a long way…

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Joy the Elf, by Carmen Gil/Illustrated by Zuriñe Aguirre, (June 2018, NubeOcho), $15.95, ISBN: 9788494692611

Recommended for readers 4-8

Mateo is a boy who loves his tiny elf friend, Joy. She can be found in the most unexpected of places; his daddy’s beard, or in the sound of his grandparent’s car when they arrive for a visit. But the mean Ragdoll Witch doesn’t want Joy hanging around, so she cast a spell on Joy to keep her away from Mateo, and proceeded to give the boy everything he wished for: a fancy tablet, cool roller skates, even a giant dragon. And the more Mateo got what he wished for, the more Joy disappeared, until she finally became invisible. A fish and a fairy got together and created a counterspell, which slightly altered the gifts to be a little off – a mountain bike became a boat trip with Mateo’s grandparents; a video game became a library book – and with each small, slightly off-kilter gift, Joy came back.

The moral of the story? If you get everything you want, you don’t appreciate it; find your Joy in the simplest of moments. Joy the Elf is a bit heavy on the moralizing, but it does open up a nice discussion about finding happiness outside of the expensive things in life. The collage artwork is colorful and eye-catching. Joy the Elf was originally released in Spanish in 2017.

 

Joy, by Corrinne Averiss/Illustrated by Isabelle Follath, (July 2018, words and pictures), $17.95, ISBN: 9781910277669

Recommended for readers 4-8

Fern is a little girl who loves her cheerful Nanna, but lately, Nanna’s been very down. She’s not baking yummy butterfly cakes, she’s not keeping up her home, and she just sits and looks very sad. Fern’s mom mentions that the joy has gone out of Nanna’s life, prompting Fern to seek it out and bring it back! She discovers all the places you can find joy, and brings them to Nanna. The message is wonderfully clear: joy is wonderful, but it’s not a given; sometimes, it needs an infusion. The best part? Joy is also something that can be shared!

Joy also enlightens readers to the issue of elder depression. Nanna shows the signs of someone dealing with depression: Nanna looks sad. She’s stopped her daily routine; she appears to have stopped cleaning her home, grooming her cat, taking care of her appearance. Her daughter, Fern’s mother, is worried, and Fern, being a child, takes the most direct course of action. No one is relying on a little girl to cure her grandmother; she’s acting appropriately for a child, and seeking out things that will make her grandmother happy again. It works, and now, Fern understands that sometimes, people can become sad. The artwork flows with the storyline; happy Nanna has a bright, clean home, with butterflies zooming around; sad Nanna and her home are depicted in darker gray and black shades. Fern’s quest for joy brings us back to bright color and upward movements. This is a book that opens up the chance for discussions about feelings and empathy, and the importance of our family relationships.