Preschool Reads – Page 23

Like breaks down our differences

Posted on July 28, 2022July 27, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Like, by Annie Barrows/Illustrated by Leo Espinosa, (Sept. 2022, Chronicle Books), $17.99, ISBN: 9781452163376

Ages 3-5

A young boy breaks down the differences between us in this amusing and giggle-worthy story. “We are people. Also known as humans”, he begins; “This makes us different from most of the things on Earth”. We are not, for instance, shaped like tin cans, but we are a little like swimming pools, because we have water and chemicals and dirt inside us”. The boy goes on to talk about things we are like, things that we have things in common with, but are not like (like an excavator, which can dig big piles of dirt and move them around, but cannot tell jokes or fry an egg), with laugh-out-loud observations that sound like they’ve come straight from a child’s mind. Ivy + Bean author Annie Barrows makes a strong point in the best of ways: “I am more like you than I am like most of the things on Earth. I’m glad. I’d rather be like you than a mushroom”. Like is a great story to start discussions of similarities and differences with young listeners. Pura Belpré Honor illustrator Leo Espinosa gives readers a visually exciting story with bright colors, diverse characters, and a biracial main character. Playful and funny, this will be popular at storytime.

Big Hedgehog and Little Hedgehog Take an Evening Stroll is a familiar bedtime story

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Big Hedgehog and Little Hedgehog Take an Evening Stroll, by Britta Teckentrup, (May 2022, Prestel Junior), $14.95, ISBN: 9783791375199

Ages 3-7

Big Hedgehog and Little Hedgehog are on their way home after an evening stroll, but Little Hedgehog continues to stop along the way to enjoy all the sights, sounds, and scents that evening has to offer. Big Hedgehog pauses their return each time, but it’s getting late: what to do? Every parent and caregiver knows this routine, whether at bedtime – when a little one wants one more drink of water, one more hug, or one other moment to stave off bedtime – or whether it’s “just one more minute” while doing something fun, be it at the playground or at a friend’s home. Britta Teckentrup sweetly captures those “but wait!” moments and creates a story where Big Hedgehog discovers the magic waiting when one lets themselves be led by a child, even if just for a moment. Britta Teckentrup’s artwork imagines warm sunsets and silver moonrises, with dense brown and green forests teeming with colorful flora and fauna. A wonderful story about pausing to enjoy the moment, and great for storytimes.

Big Hedgehog and Little Hedgehog Take and Evening Stroll was originally published in Germany in 2022. There will be another Big Hedgehog and Little Hedgehog story coming in May 2023.

picture books, Preschool Reads

Spend a relaxing read At the Pond

Posted on July 21, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

At the Pond, by David Elliott/Illustrated by Amy Schimler-Safford, (May 2022, Candlewick Press), $18.99, ISBN: 9781536205985

Ages 3-7

David Elliott adds to his poetry series with At the Pond, a meditation on a day in the life of all the animals who live in and around the pond. Red-winged blackbirds sing and a family of mallards have a morning swim; dragonflies buzz by and a water snake guards her nest. It’s a lovely glimpse at the natural world, alternating beautiful lyrics and amusing wordplay. One spread illustrating a frog’s lifecycle from tadpole to frog reads, “Polly! / Polly! / Pollywog! / Golly! / Golly! Golly! Frog!”; another, a reflection on a water strider: “…enigmatic / but prolific. / Each day / he writes / his story / in rippling / hieroglyphics”. Amy Schimler-Safford’s mixed media illustrations create spread after spread of alluring images with deep greens, blues, and browns setting the background for brilliant pops of color. A gorgeous book for nature lovers and a great accompaniment to discussions on ecosystems. Back matter includes more information about the flora and fauna that makes an appearance in the book.

Publisher Candlewick has a downloadable teacher’s guide for companion books in the poetry series. Education.com has coloring sheets and activity sheets to extend pond-related learning.

picture books, Preschool Reads

I’ll Go and Come Back stretches love around the world

Posted on July 18, 2022July 18, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I’ll Go and Come Back, by Rajani LaRocca/Illustrated by Sara Palacios, (March 2022, Candlewick Press), $18.99, ISBN: 9781536207170

Ages 3-7

A young girl named Jyoti visits her family in India, where she experiences some culture shock: it’s so different from home! But she and her grandmother, her Sita Pati, spend time together making sand art, going to the market, and playing games. When she leaves, she doesn’t say goodbye; in India, they say “Poitu varen”: “I’ll go and come back”. When Sita Pati visits Jyoti, she experiences a similar culture shock, but Jyoti is there to play, create, and shop with her. Told in a repeat narrative from Indian and American experiences, I’ll Go and Come Back reminds me of Margaret Chiu Greanias’s Amah Faraway, which I also loved. I enjoy the reverse narrative, where each character swaps roles to become the caregiver and guide to a new culture. Rajani LaRocca creates warmth between Jyoti and Sita Pati, brought to life by Sara Palacios’s gouache and acrylic artwork. Sita Pati and Jyoti holds hands and lean toward each other when they’re together, and readers get a peek into Indian culture, with touchstones like food, public spaces, and clothing. Endpapers look like colorful sari prints. I’ll Go and Come Back is a sweet grandparent-grandchild story that celebrates culture and familial relationships.

I’ll Go and Come Back has a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

picture books, Preschool Reads

The Little House of Hope is the story of America

Posted on July 15, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Little House of Hope, by Terry Catasús Jennings/Illustrated by Raúl Colón, (June 2022, Neal Porter Books/Holiday House), $18.99, ISBN: 9780823447169

Ages 4-8

A family arrives from Cuba and finds a home to call their own as they build their new lives in America. In time, La Casita – the little house – welcomes other family members and later, a family who needs a place to call home; together, they all work toward making the casita and America their new home. Terry Catasús Jennings was inspired by anger to write this story, after a realtor claimed to never rent to “Hispanics because they lived four families to a house and always destroyed the properties where the lived”. She was also inspired by the memories of growing up in her own casita. Here, the Definitely Dominguita author tells the stories of families who come here to be safe. In quietly passionate storytelling, she tells readers about the fears that spurred these people to leave their homes and come to the States, and she tells readers how these families all worked together to turn the house into a warm, loving casita: adults and children coming together to paint and clean, to mow lawns and make artwork, and how the casita inspired them. A father starts their own landscaping business. A mom starts a daycare in the casita. Another mother secures a job as a high school Spanish teacher, and a father becomes an accountant. A daughter uses her passion for collage to welcome new families to the casita, and when they’re ready to move on, sends them off with artwork to display in their home.

Pura Belpré medalist (2006) and Eric Carle Honor (2021) illustrator Raúl Colón pencil and watercolor artwork uses perspective and soft color to create beautiful moments: a family, looking up at la casita; gathered around a table, smiling; confiding in one another; a father, looking through the window and seeing a full home ready to welcome him. The Little House of Hope reminds us all that this is what America should be when we’re at our best.

picture books, Preschool Reads

Take your baby traveling with Feather Flores’s new picture book series!

Posted on July 14, 2022July 13, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Author and editor Feather Flores is breathing new life into a series of city-based books from Chronicle! Great for touristing families and residents alike, these rhyming looks at popular U.S. cities feature families of color enjoying the sights. Let’s take a look at two of them.

Los Angeles, Baby!, by Feather Flores/Illustrated by Asia Ellington, (Aug. 2022, Chronicle Books), $14.99, ISBN: 9781797207216

Ages 3-5

A family heads out to explore Los Angeles on a bright, sunny day! Mom and Dad buckle their daughter into the car and head out for adventure, visiting such sights as the Pier, famed restaurant The Grove, and the La Brea Tar Pits. At night, they head to historic Olvera Street and take in a show at the Hollywood Bowl. Lively rhyming text and vibrant digital illustration show diverse people enjoying the daily hustle and bustle of the city while pointing out some popular tourist sites. Endpapers feature different landmarks in bright and darker yellow, like Hollywood stars and shopping bags, film reels and the Hollywood Bowl. Start a travel storytime and have your kiddos make their own stars to create a Walk – or a Wall – of Fame at your library, and bust out the tissue paper and your papel picado templates for an Olvera Street-related craft.

Make a travel display or booktalk this to families looking for travel-related books. Consider displaying with Byron Barton’s Airport, Richard Scarry’s A Day at the Airport, Paul and Peter Reynolds’s Going Places, and Barefoot Books’s Amazing Places.

Texas, Baby!, by Feather Flores/Illustrated by David DePasquale, (Aug. 2022, Chronicle Books), $14.99, ISBN: 9781797207223

Ages 3-5

Yee-haw, cowhands! Join a family as they head out on a tour through the Lone Star State! Rhyming phrases, bold text, and a diverse cast of characters are just the beginning of what makes this such a fun and vibrant book for toddlers and preschoolers. A girl and her dad are the main characters here, stopping off at the Fort Worth Stockyards to take in a rodeo, visiting the Space Center at Houston, enjoying a Tex-Mex lunch, and visiting the Alamo. There’s BBQ, western dancing, and bluebonnets to give readers the full Texas experience. Endpapers show a mix of things to discover, from armadillos and ten gallon hats to space shuttles and cactus. Have paper bags and construction paper on hand for cowboy crafts, cardboard tubes for rocket crafts, and crayons for this Texas Bluebonnet coloring page.

Other Travel, Baby! (my own title; I didn’t see a name for the series yet) books in this series include Chicago, Baby! and Washington, DC, Baby! by Feather Flores. San Francisco, Baby! and New York, Baby!, both illustrated by Ward Jenkins, were released in 2012 and are still available.

picture books, Preschool Reads

A goat learns to share in No Nibbling!

Posted on July 13, 2022July 13, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

No Nibbling!, by Beth Ferry/Illustrated by A.N. Kang, (March 2022, Roaring Brook Press), $18.99, ISBN: 9781250762412

Ages 4-7

Derwood is a goat with a beautiful garden, but he’s always on guard: growing a garden is “risky business”, after all. A sweet – and smart! – bunny named Tabitha appears with a gleam in her eye and a rumble in her tummy. There is so much tasty food growing in the garden! Tabitha loves to chatter away with Derwood, slyly slipping in food-related puns – “Lettuce talk about something else”; Rabbits don’t really carrot one way or another”; “Romaine calm, Mkster Derwood” – and innocently convincing the goat he’s hearing things. The two slowly cultivate a sweet friendship, and Derwood lets down his guard and shares some of his bounty. An adorable story with delightful wordplay; kids will love the lovable curmudgeon and witty youngster. Anna Kang’s digital illustrations are expressive and softly colorful; endpapers feature some of Derwood’s crops, all sporting nibbles, across a green and white-checked tablecloth. The wordplay is colorful and bold, making this a great readaloud choice where you can emphasize the puns as Tabitha spouts them.

Read and display with some other fun books that play with language. I love Carson Ellis’s Du Iz Tak?, Dear Deer, by Gene Barretta, and David Ezra Stein’s Interrupting Chicken books.

picture books, Preschool Reads

My Dad is a Grizzly Bear sees grown-ups through kids eyes

Posted on July 11, 2022July 11, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

My Dad is a Grizzly Bear, by Swapna Haddow/Illustrated by Dapo Adeola, (May 2022, Red Comet Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781636550114

Ages 4-8

A little boy likens his father to a grizzly bear in this funny look at how we see our parents. Cartoony images show a giant grizzly bear chasing the boy and his sister; eating pancakes by the stack, and singing karaoke with the boy’s friends as the story progresses, in the boy’s voice: “He eats all the honey in the house. It drops off his pancakes and sticks to his whiskers. / He never leaves any for me because he is a grizzly bear”. The boy isn’t always put off by his dad, though – he and his sister giggle with glee as he chases them while the boy wields a water hose; as Dad “catches fish in his teeth” the boy is the one catapulting them from his fork. When the family goes camping and mom tells a scary story, Dad’s the one who saves the day with a big, warm bear hug. Kids will get a laugh as they think of people they know and what animals they could be: does someone hop around like a bunny? Or stretch like a cat? Or roar like a lion? A great book about dads and kids that we need more of: a fun-loving dad who’s there to rescue with a hug. Bright, colorful artwork, repetitive phrases, bold fonts, and a sweet story makes this a good storytime choice. Endpapers are a colorful splash of yellow pineapples on a pink background – just like Dad’s swim trunks on the cover. Download a free activity kit on Red Comet’s My Dad is a Grizzly Bear webpage.

Author Swapna Haddow is a popular, New Zealand-based author whose popular chapter book series include Dave the Pigeon and Ballet Bunnies. Visit her author webpage and join me in hoping more of her books appear on U.S. bookshelves. She’s also got loads of printable and fun activities. Dapo Adeola is a London-based illustrator and received the distinction of illustrator of the year at the 2022 British Book Awards. Follow him on Instagram for more of his artwork.

picture books, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Bustletown moves from seasons to times of day

Posted on July 11, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

All Around Bustletown: Nighttime, by Rotraut Susanne Berner, (Apr. 2022, Prestel), $12.95, ISBN: 9783791374901

Ages 2-5

Bustletown greeted visitors on American shores in 2019, with the debut of four oversized board books, showing the bustling town (get it?) through the four seasons. The latest Bustletown book shows readers what the town – still bustling! – looks like at night. The wordless seek-and-find book offers seven spreads where readers can see a library sleepover and a cross-section of a home’s residents getting ready to call it a night. Townspeople gather in the park to watch fireworks and a mischievous dog steals a woman’s hat. Familiar characters and locations resurface with yet another point of view, teaching concepts in a fun way. Challenges on the back cover ask readers to look for a nocturnal raccoon, sleeping horses, a neighbor sleeping outside, and more. Each spread reveals new details every time: there are so many things to see! Imaginative readers can look through previous Bustletown stories and tell their own stories about what the neighbors have been doing between each book. Create your own challenges for your readers: see what they’ll find.