Tag: Diana Murray

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Zoom off to bedtime with Sleep Little Dozer

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Sleep, Little Dozer, by Diana Murray/Illustrated by Cleonique Hilsaca, (June 20245, Random House), $18.99, ISBN: 9780593119044

Ages 2-6

It’s been a full day for Little Dozer, but when Papa tells him, “Let’s roll! Time for bed!”, Dozer is concerned: Mama is working late! How will Dozer fall asleep? No worries: Papa knows the routine. This sweet rhyming bedtime story is just what a child needs when a parent is working late or traveling and another parent – maybe not the usual parent or caregiver – is left to handle bedtime. Papa Dozer is a large bulldozer with a bushy mustache; Little Dozer is a tiny bulldozer. The vehicles all have bold, friendly expressions and colors are soft, gentle, wonderful for bedtime. Much of the story is Papa’s bedtime rhyme, which Little Dozer chimes in on; it’s relatable to kids who have their bedtime routines down pat. Visions of numbered jeeps fill in for a human child’s “counting sheep”, and various vehicles bed down for the night as Dozer struggles with anxiety over not being able to sleep without Mom. Endpapers show truck-shaped clouds against a night sky. A very cute and comforting story that vehicle fans will ask for at bedtime, and a good addition to collections.

Pair with Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and Steam Train Dream Train, both by Sherri Duskey Rinker, for a fun pajama storytime.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

The new workplace: HELP MOM WORK FROM HOME

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Help Mom Work from Home!, by Diana Murray/Illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld (Oct. 2021, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), $17.99, ISBN: 9780316273657

Ages 4-7

With more parents working from home than ever before, Help Mom Work from Home! is a fun, rhyming readaloud that speaks to the work-life balance. A mom is working from home and her little one is right next to her, modeling everything from Mom’s hot beverage of choice to taking notes and important phone calls. Mom looks a little frazzled, though: it must be time for a break! Learning how to relax and take the chaos of home life as it comes, the story then leads into a look at making time for creative play and work – little one stacks cups as Mom packs boxes; they make deliveries together, they even straighten up their workplaces together. Endpapers show Mom’s packed schedule, with a childlike drawing of a solitary kid holding a red balloon scrawled across the calendar loaded with deadlines and meetings; back endpapers show a much happier schedule, filled with playdates, game nights, and library visits, and a drawing of Mom and child together, playing soccer. Is it an easy answer to the work/parent from home question? No, but it’s a helpful addition to the ever-increasing dialogue. A recognizable and relevant story with playful rhyme, Help Mom Work from Home! is a good addition to picture book collections. Visit Diana Murray’s author webpage for free printables including a word search and DIY desk nameplate.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Unicorn Day: All are welcome!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Unicorn Day, by Diana Murray/Illustrated by Luke Flowers, (June 2019, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), $17.99, ISBN: 9781492667223

Ages 3-7

It’s Unicorn Day! All the unicorns come out to play and show their unicorn pride; they shine up their horns, they fluff up their manes, and they sing the Unicorn Day song as they dance and celebrate. But what happens when a horse tries to fit in with a fake horn on Unicorn Day? Why, the unicorns embrace him and get back to celebrating! Unicorn Day is for everyone!

Sliding down rainbows? Raining cupcakes? A glitter fight? This is the best book ever! Unicorn Day is an adorable tale of fun, celebration, and inclusivity. No mean unicorns here! These unicorns know how to have fun and want everyone around them to feel as happy and loved as they do. The rhyming text has a festive feel, and Luke Flowers’ colorful, vibrant art will get your little readers up and marching. Alligators, octopus, even a yeti parade across the page, all sporting unicorn horns and megawatt smiles. I love the joyful feel of the story, and the positive message about making space for everyone. Author Diana Murray has a free, downloadable activity kit available that has everything you need for your own unicorn party, including tasty recipes, a pin-the-horn on the unicorn game, invitations, and name tags. This Craftiness is Not Optional post also has a cute step-by-step to make your own glittery unicorn horns using scrapbooking paper. Want to make unicorn balloons? Here’s a template from the Minidrops blog; the post is in German, but the pictures are there to guide you.

Slip this into your Pride storytimes, your unicorn storytimes, and your anytime storytimes. It’s feel-good storytelling, and a must-have for your collections!

Seriously, though, check out Diana Murray’s author website. I’ve been a fan for several years now; she’s got goodies attached to most of her book pages, and her books are consistently wonderful. Follow Luke Flowers on Instagram to see more of his adorable artwork, and because he’s a great guy who personalizes books at his signings. (My 7-year-old is still thrilled with his ‘Be T-Rexcellent’ message and drawing on his copy of One More Dino on the Floor.)

Posted in Uncategorized

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

As I write this, it’s almost 70 degrees in New York. In November. So what’s left to do when you’ve unpacked all your Fall and Winter clothes? Think SNOW. So, join me in thinking chilly thoughts with some of these books.

How to Build an Elf Trap, by Larissa Juliano, (Oct. 2018, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), $9.99, ISBN: 9781492663904

Ages 4-8

This fun nonfiction companion to Adam Wallace & Andy Ellerton’s How to Catch an Elf (2016) is all about STEAM for the holidays! Learn how to build 12 elf traps this Christmas, and take your pick of 12 bonus Christmas activities! Projects tend to run fairly simple, with most of the materials being found around the house. The projects encourage you to experiment with materials, too: swap things out! Add things! Take each construction and make it your own! Difficulty is measured in candy canes (1 for easy, 2 for intermediate, 3 for difficult) and Elf Appeal (how it will appeal to the elves you’re trying to nab). Projects are laid out step by step, with photos to guide you along, and digital artwork adds a fun flavor to the festivities. There are STEAM connections that explain how each project connects to science, and Did You Know? facts boxes add some fun Christmas facts throughout. Make an Elf Door, stick some tea light snowmen on your fridge (or locker), and get to work on your Elf Snatcher 500 while you snack on a Reindeer Cupcake.

Librarians and educators: PROGRAM IN A BOOK. This, my friends, is your December STEAM programming, right here!

One Snowy Day, by Diana Murray/Illustrated by Diana Toledano, (Oct. 2018, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), $17.99, ISBN: 9781492645863

Ages 3-7

Two siblings enjoy a snowy day in this rhyming counting story! The story begins, as the best ones do, with a snowfall, while two children of color sleep snug in their beds – until their ONE pup wakes them up! The kids rise and shine, play with the pup and eat their breakfast, then it’s time to go out and play, as sister and brother meet their SIX friends for some winter fun and games. The text is light and fun, counting everything from a pup to ten snowballs – and then we count backwards, from nine buttons on a snowman’s chest to one sleepy puppy at the end of the day. The children are a multicultural group, and the detail on their clothes and the scenery itself is breathtaking. The mixed media artwork brings winter scenery to life, from sweaters with intricate Fair Isle designs, and beautifully detailed snowflakes. One Snowy Day pairs up nicely with other snowy day books and makes a nice winter concept book for your shelves.

Holiday Heroes Save Christmas, by Adam Wallace/Illustrated by Shane Clester, (Oct. 2018, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), $10.99, ISBN: 9781492669708

Ages 4-7

Sourcebooks is rocking the Christmas picture books! This is the latest book by How to Catch… series author Adam Wallace, and this time, Santa needs help from his fellow holiday heroes! Santa’s too sick to deliver Christmas presents, so it’s up to the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Witch, and Leprechaun to save Christmas – but they’re not so great at this Christmas thing. The Tooth Fairy is hiding presents under pillows, and the Leprechaun is taking spare change from the houses they visit. Santa’s got to step in, but is it too late? Is Christmas done for? C’mon, you know it’s not. The gang gets their act together after a quick pep talk from Santa, and each hero plays to his or her strengths to make Christmas amazing! This is a fun story about teamwork, and a laugh out loud comedy of errors. (Psst… if you want to screen the movie, Rise of the Guardians, you can compare the heroes in the book versus the ones in the movie.) The digital art is bright, kid-friendly, and cartoony; end papers offer brief character descriptions of Santa and the gang. The book is set up with graphic novel-type panels and word balloons, so you can offer this one to your fledgling graphic novel readers to get them in the holiday spirit. This one’s a fun take on the “Santa needs help!” story theme, and should go over pretty well in libraries (and as a stocking stuffer).

Once Upon a Snowstorm, by Richard Johnson, (Nov. 2018, Faber & Faber), $16.95, ISBN: 978-0-5713-3928-0

Ages 2-7

A boy and his father go into the woods to hunt, and are separated during a snowstorm. The boy is rescued by a group of animals, who care for him and befriend him. When the bear in the group takes the boy back through the snow to find his father, Dad is grateful, and befriends the animals, too.

The art says it all in this stunning, wordless story. As father and son head into the woods, the snow comes down in the shapes of woodland animals: deer, foxes, hares, ethereal in their delicacy and beauty. Lost, the boy sleeps, shivering, under velvet skies with constellations creating animal shapes around him. When the animals accept the boy into their group, they dance, feast, and paint on cave walls; at that moment, the boy remembers his father and how desperately he misses him (Mom is present only in old family photos hanging in the home), signaling to his new friend, Bear, that it’s time to find Dad. At the story’s end, father and son enjoy a spring day, sitting on a hill with their animal friends.

The artwork alternates between panels and full bleed pages and is dreamlike in its subdued beauty. The endpapers bookend the story, with driving snow on the front papers, and a cave painting of the boy, his father, and the animals, playing together, on the back papers. The artwork is soft, and goes from the cold outdoor artwork to warm interiors both in the family home and in the company of the animals.

I love this book, and can’t wait to share it with my little readers, so I can hear their stories. This one’s a wonderful add to your winter collections – booktalk this one with Raymond Briggs’ wordless classic, The Snowman.

Posted in Preschool Reads

Ned the Knitting Pirate helped me get my knitting mojo back!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I used to be an obsessive knitter. Day and night, commuting, sitting at home, I’d have something on the needles, until… my mojo ran dry. I just couldn’t finish a project. I could start a project. If you love doing something and suddenly, one day, hit a rough patch, you know how much this stinks. It’s really been getting under my skin, really letting it get to me… and then, I saw a Tweet for a book giveaway.

Ned the Knitting Pirate, by Diana Murray/Illustrated by Leslie Lammle,
(Aug. 2016, Roaring Brook Press), $16.99, ISBN: 978-1596438903
Recommended for readers 4-10

 

You know how sometimes, it’s the craziest thing that gets you back on track? Well, that was seeing this cover. First off, pirates. I love pirates. And Ned is a knitting pirate! I retweeted the cover to my knitting friends (all in various stages of mojo and lack thereof), and the response was just as enthusiastic as mine was! When author Diana Murray contacted me to offer me a review copy, I jumped at the opportunity, and I’m so glad I did.

First of all, look at this art. It’s simply adorable. The endpapers start the fun, introducing us to a sea monster and a mermaid. The rhyming tale kicks right in, as we meet the crew of the Rusty Heap. They’re a scurvy bunch of pirates, “tougher than gristle and barnacle grit”… they brag about their pirate-y roughness time and again, only to have Ned cheerfully chime in that he knits every single time. The captain is not thrilled with this. Pirates don’t knit! Oh, really? He sure changes his tune when a sea monster attacks them, and the only thing that stands between the crew and Davy Jones’ Locker is Ned and his knitting prowess: he fires a blanket at the monster, which curls sweetly around him and sends him off to sleep. Like the best knits do!

I read this to my kiddo in full pirate voice (my throat felt like it died the death of a thousand cheese graters, but it was all worth it), roaring and singing seafaring songs and pointing to my guy to chime in, “KNIT!” when Ned piped up. We had a blast with this book! The only thing I can’t believe is that it’s been out for a year and I wasn’t aware of it until now.

The cartoony art is adorable, and the rhyming pirate tale is complete with seafaring terms that every buccaneer-in-training will take to heart and love. And let’s take a moment to adore the fact that Ned is a GUY WHO KNITS. And he’s proud of it! More power to you, Ned! Bust gender roles – knitting is not just for girls! – and use your smarts to save your crew, thus getting everyone (literally) on board with the sticks! There is nothing like the soft feel of a homemade blanket to immediately put you to sleep, unless you’re one of my kids in infancy; nothing worked then. (But at least they were warm and wrapped in love.)

Bottom line: Ned the Knitting Pirate is SO GOOD. The words are fun and catchy; you want to speak like a pirate when you read this book. It’s perfect for a read-aloud, whether you read about pirates (may I suggest How I Became a Pirate and Pirates Don’t Change Diapers, by Melinda Long) or about knitting (I love Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski and Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett), and it’s perfect for a feel-good read; you cannot be in a bad mood after sitting with this adorable book.

So, my knitting mojo? Well, after reading this book for the third or fourth time, Kiddo turned to me and said, “When are you going to knit me something?” And I felt awful, because I haven’t knit this kid anything. One single thing. And it’s time to remedy that. So I pulled together all my yarn, tracked down as many of my needles as I could, and together, he and I picked a dinosaur hat and a Grumpasaurus stuffy that I’m going to make for him. For the hat, I’m going to use the Antler Toque pattern from Tin Can Knits, because it’s cool and the cable pattern looks kind of like dinosaur plates; from there, I’ll knit up spikes to sew onto the hat, so he can be a Stegosaurus.

If you’re not a knitter, Ned the Knitting Pirate may just make you one. Enjoy. Check out Diana Murray’s author website for more info on her books (including the super-adorable Doris the Bookasaurus), news, and fun facts.