concepts – Page 10 – Mom Read It

Do You See What I See? Vintage art meets children’s concepts

Posted on November 12, 2015August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Do You See What I See?, by Helen Borten (May 2016, Flying Eye Books), $17.95, ISBN: 9781909263840

Recommended for ages 4-8

One step up from basic concepts, Helen Borten’s Do You See What I See? takes children one step further, unpacking what feelings and ideas these fundamental concepts evoke in young readers:

“Lines that bend in a zigzag way seem to crackle with excitement. They make me think of thunderstorms and jagged mountain peaks. I see the huge jaws of a crocodile, wide open and bristling with teeth, ready to snap shut.”

Originally published in 1959, Mr. Borten’s beautiful, vintage artwork adds texture to the basics: lines, color, and shape, whether it’s by adding swirls to an ocean full of fish or wispy, thin spider webs above the thick bars of a lion’s cage. Ms. Borten artwork and evocative text inspires children to see the world around them “as a great big painting, full of lines and shapes and colors, to look at and enjoy”.

I’m thrilled to see this book back in print and can’t wait to introduce it to my family storytime. We can have a great discussion about what different pictures and colors make kids feel, and how changing one thing in a picture – a shape, a color, adding or taking something away – affects the whole picture. A must-have for collections where kids are ready to take the next step beyond Mouse Paint and Mouse Count.

Do You See What I See? isn’t out until May, but take a look at some more of the beautiful art from the book, and you can pre-order from Amazon. Check out the publisher’s website for some more books – they have books with amazing artwork.

Non-Fiction, Uncategorized

The Alphabet of Bugs is perfect for young nature buffs!

Posted on May 30, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Alphabet of Bugs: An ABC Book, by Valerie Gates/Photography by Ann Cutting (June 2015, Sky Pony Press), $14.99, ISBN: 978-1-63220-407-3

Recommended for ages 3+

Ready to go beyond ladybugs and butterflies? Then this is the book for you. Award-winning photographer Ann Cutting presents 26 different bugs in beautiful detail, with alphabetical alliteration by Emmy Award-winning art director Valerie Gates. From the Ailanthus Webworm Moth to the Zebra Longwing Butterfly, there are beautiful, detailed pictures with fun sentences that will kids will love to look at and giggle over again and again.

I’ve already ordered copies of this book for my libraries. The photos are amazing – so crisp and clear, with unbelievable detail. Each page has something exciting to see – a colorful page with a huge letter of the alphabet and a fun, alliterative sentence on the left side, and a full-page photo of an insect, against a colorful background to set off the picture, on the right. And what kids aren’t interested in bugs? The sentences make learning fun, and the book introduces kids to a world of insects they likely haven’t heard of before, expanding their world. There’s also a “Did You Know?” glossary with additional facts at the end of the book.

The Alphabet of Bugs hits stores on June 2. Visit Valerie Gates’ website to purchase a companion poster!

Toddler Reads

Learn to Count with Dracula!

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Little Master Stoker: Dracula, A Counting Primer, by Jennifer Adams/illus. by Alison Oliver (Gibbs Smith, 2012), $9.99, ISBN: 978-1423624806

Recommended for ages 0-3

I was in a great little indie bookstore this weekend, when I came across this lovely. Seeing as how I like a little of the unusual in my board books, I fell instantly in love. BabyLit, in case you aren’t familiar with them, produces gorgeous board books, based on the classics, for babies. They drill down basic concepts in each classic, perfect for little ones.

Dracula is a counting book. Going from 1 to 10, we count different objects present in the famous classic: 1 castle, two friends (Mina and Lucy), 3 wolves, 4 ships, 5 heroes (Harker, Seward, Turnbull, Morris, and Van Helsing), and more. The pictures are rendered in the sweetest detail with just a touch of baby goth. The art is mainly black, gray, and white, with accents of red as necessary. There are little winks to the grownups who will read this book over and over again – Dracula’s face on the Demeter flag, well-known character names and locations, a rat wearing a bat shirt – that will make you smile and chuckle. There’s a wonderful sense of humor in the book, which is as perfect for grownups as it is for children.

This is now in my toddler’s short stack of favorites. He carries it around with him and asks to read it several times a day. I can’t wait to fill out his classics bookshelf with more BabyLit, and I know for sure that I’m buying some of these for my storytime toddlers. How often do you get to read babies Frankenstein and Dracula, where they learn about basic concepts?

Check out BabyLit’s webpage for more titles, but don’t blame me if you end up buying a Pride & Prejudice playset. They’ve also got one of the best Pinterest layouts going, and you can check out some of their videos on Google+.