Tag: illustrated

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

A little post-Halloween fun: Bear’s Scare

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Bear’s Scare, by Jacob Grant, (June 2018, Bloomsbury), $16.99, ISBN: 9781681197203

Ages 3-6

Bear keeps a tidy house for himself and his friend, a stuffed bear named Ursa. He loves to clean the house every day, but one day, he notices something: a cobweb! As he searches his home, he notices another web! And another! Convinced he has a spider problem, Bear works himself into a frenzy – the spider is covering the house with webs! It’s making it sticky mess! – and tears his home apart, searching for the spider. The pictures belie what Bear imagines is happening, as we see the spider very politely knitting, painting, and reading a book as Bear turns his house upside down. In his panic to get the messy spider out of his house, Bear traps Ursa’s arm under a chair and tears it off when he pulls her. Stunned into realization, Bear focuses on getting Ursa some first aid, only to discover that the spider has stitched Ursa’s arm together with its own silk. Bear discovers that getting to know someone is a much better way to determine one’s character, and embraces his new friend – who invites some more new friends to visit.

Bear’s Scare is an adorable story about how our own perceptions can get away from us, and the havoc it wreaks. The charcoal and crayon artwork lends a hand-crafted feel to the story, with digital coloring adding a depth of warm color. Bear is a deep navy blue; he stands out against his earth-toned home yellow spider neighbor. Pages are mostly bright white, with the artwork standing out against the background, with some full bleed spreads, usually for a more dramatic moment. The plain black font lets the artwork tell the full story while the text is there to let the storyteller be as tongue-in-cheek as they want to be.

Bear’s Scare is adorable fun with a smart message about friendship and judging others on appearances. It’s a nice add to picture book collections where kids enjoy a little wink, wink, nudge, nudge humor.

See more of Jacob Grant’s artwork and information about his books at his website.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Heads and Tails – an animal who’s who guessing game

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Heads and Tails, by John Canty, (Oct. 2018, Candlewick), $16.99, ISBN: 9781536200331

Ages 2-6

Ready for a guessing game? Heads and Tails gives readers clues, plus a rendering of an animal’s hindquarters, to help them figure it out. Every spread offers a watercolor rendering of an animal’s rear end, with three typewriter-font clues (emphasized with color), to help them guess. On the following page, the animal’s front end is revealed! The clues are descriptive: “I have long furry ears and a small nose. I live in a burrow in the ground. I have a white fluffy tail. I am a…” The reveal and the “I am a…” phrase is set in a handwritten, large black font, making this a good storytime read that clues kids in and follow along. The artwork is done is subdued watercolors, and all illustrations are adapated from 19th-century artwork. The tails are more opaque, less detailed, than the heads, almost like a fade-in to the animal reveal. There are two curve balls thrown in, which left my first grader and I scratching our heads, but it seems like it was a chance to draw out the mystery. The final mystery guest is the reader himself or herself: “I love to play. I learn new things every day. I am growing. I am… ME!”

This one’s a nice choice for toddler storytimes; there are few words, short sentences, and the chance to let kids call and act out their favorite animals. It’s a nice additional add for the artwork, which is lovely. I’d pair this one with Simms Taback’s fold-out animals books, which provide similar clues and reveal each animal through vertical and horizontal page unfolding. My toddler times love a dramatic reveal! Display with other fun Who-Am-I books, like my old reliable, Katie Davis’ Who Hops?, another guessing game story, albeit with a lot more laughs and a similar reveal at the end. And there’s always Steve Jenkins’ Who Am I?

Posted in picture books

Henry is Kind encourages acts of kindness

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Henry is Kind: A Story of Mindfulness, by Linda Ryden/Illustrated by Shearry Malone, (Oct. 2018, Tilbury House Publishers), $16.95, ISBN: 9780884486619

Ages 5-8

Henry is a young boy whose teacher, Mrs. Snowden, assigns a Kindness Project. The students have to illustrate a kind act they’ve done for someone – or something – that week. Henry’s friends all do wonderful things, like cleaning up litter, setting the table, and giving balloons to siblings, but Henry is upset because he can’t think of a single kind thing he’s done. Luckily, his friends are all there to remind him about the kind things he’s done for them, like reaching books on high shelves, sharing snacks, and talking to a new student. Mindfulness and heartfulness educator Linda Ryden’s story speaks to younger kids that may not always recognize the everyday ways they demonstrate kindness to one another. Henry is Kind encourages kids to seek out ways to be mindful and kind to one another while recognizing that even the seemingly smallest acts are meaningful, remembered, and appreciated.

Shearry Malone’s illustrations are soft and expressive, featuring a comfortable classroom decorated with encouraging slogans like, “You could play with someone who looks lonely”, “Plant kindness and gather love”, and my favorite, “Don’t believe everything you think”. There is diversity among the kids and teacher.

An author note at the end offers ways to encourage mindfulness and heartfulness, and includes a list of additional resources to explore. It’s a bit word-heavy for younger independent readers, but this would be a nice mindfulness/kindness storytime selection or book discussion choice for a school-wide reading. Author Linda Ryden’s Peace of Mind website offers training for educators and caregivers and a Peace of Mind curriculum series. Videos help show kids how to engage in mindful breathing. Kiddie Matters has a free kindness scavenger hunt printable that lets kids check off acts of kindness as they complete them. With World Kindness Day happening on November 13, this is a great book and activity to keep in mind.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized

Bethan Woollvin’s Hansel & Gretel serves up just desserts

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Hansel & Gretel, by Bethan Woollvin, (Oct. 2018, Peachtree Publishers), $16.95, ISBN: 9781682630730

Ages 4-7

Bethan Woollvin’s back with another fractured fairy tale; this time, taking on brother-sister duo, Hansel and Gretel. We meet Willow, who, as Ms. Woollvin asserts multiple times, “is a good witch”. She only uses good magic, she takes care of her neck of the forest, she’s a nice witch. So when she sees Hansel and Gretel leaving breadcrumbs all over her forest floor, she politely asks them to help clean up their mess. They’re rude, and they blow her off. Then she catches them eating her home! But she figures they’re hungry, so she invites them in and cooks for them. Because Willow is a nice witch. After a few more indignities at these bratty children’s hands, Willow’s house collapses, and then Willow gets mad. And what happens when you push a nice witch too far?

Bethan Woollvin gives readers an uproariously funny tale of comeuppance in this latest fairy tale installment, flipping the whole Hansel & Gretel story on its head. Her trademark three-color art – in this case, orange, black, and gray – is bold and loaded with mischievous fun. Hansel and Gretel sport impish smiles and shifty eyes as they take over Willow’s home. There are loads of details to spot in the artwork, including a little mouse that stays around to watch the action unfold. The endpapers extend the story, as Willow watches the two careless siblings toss breadcrumbs in the opening papers and stands next to a very large black cat (read the story) and a candy castle – her home, rebuilt? – at the end.

I love Bethan Woollvin’s fairy tales. Give her more Grimm, please! Make your own Hansel & Gretel puppets by printing out these free activity sheets.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Two Halloween stories for your little monsters to love!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

10 Busy Brooms, by Carole Gerber/Illustrated by Michael Fleming,
(Aug. 2018, Doubleday), $7.99, ISBN: 9781524768997
Ages 2-6

Originally published in hardcover (2016), this board book version of the rhyming, counting story follows a group of little witches as they rescue one another from mischievous skeletons, ghosts, and goblins. The digital artwork is bold and bright, and the witches have eschewed basic black for jewel tones and fashionable hats. There’s some diversity among the witches, too; something always nice to see. One witch even sports a hijab under her hot pink pointy hat! The fonts are bold and white, set off against the nighttime backgrounds of each spread, and the numbers are brightly colored, large, and bold. It’s a fun story for little Halloweeners to enjoy, and the sturdy board book will hold up to multiple readings.

 

How to Scare a Ghost, by Jean Reagan/Illustrated by Lee Wildish,
(Aug. 2018, Knopf), $17.99, ISBN: 9781524701901
Ages 3-7

The team that brought you How to Babysit a Grandpa, How to Raise a Mom, and How to Catch Santa are here to teach readers How to Scare a Ghost! First, you have to attract a ghost. There are several different ways to do this. Then, you have to make sure you have a real ghost, and not some kid dressed up for Halloween. Once you’ve got those two points down, you’re ready to scare! But wait! You’ve gone too far, and you’ve really rattled your ghost? Okay, the book has that covered, too, with ways to comfort, play, and choose a costume for your ghost. A combined handbook and story, How to Scare a Ghost features a brother-sister duo and a friendly ghost enjoying a Halloween together. Endpapers offer a variety of kids and ghosts in a variety of costumes, and the digital art is upbeat and cheerful. This one’s a cute add to holiday collections and great for readers who are a little shy around monsters and spookier fare.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Bone Soup puts a Halloween spin on a classic!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Bone Soup: A Spooky Tasty Tale, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli/Illustrated by Tom Knight, (July 2018, Simon & Schuster), $17.99, ISBN: 9781481486088

Ages 4-8

Naggy, Craggy, and Scraggy are three hungry witches. Alas, their cupboards are bare, but for a single bone. A single bone, you say? Piff-Poof! Naggy Witch has a plan: Bone Soup, the perfect Halloween treat! The witches travel throughout the town, gathering delights from the local monsters: a bit of water here, an eye of a giant there, some old toenails and some slimy sludge, until the entire town has contributed to a bone-chillingly delicious meal for all! Based on the classic tale, Stone Soup, Alyssa Satin Capucilli puts a wonderfully fun spin on this perfect read for preschoolers and, Kindergartners (and more!).

There’s repetition here that invites readers to join in: “Piff-Poof!” Naggy Witches cries as each ingredient goes into the cauldron, and the witches chant, with each stop, “Trick-or-treat! Trick-or-treat! We’ve something unusually good to eat. It’s bone soup, soup from a bone. A savory morsel is all it needs!” Get the kids chanting, let them be little monsters or witches, and pull out a cauldron (it’s Halloween season, you can find a $1.99 trick or treat cauldron anywhere) to let them throw goodies in.The charcoal and pencil art is adorable, with green, crazy-haired witches, giant blue monsters, and googly-eyed mummies and skeletons. The fonts are big and readable, changing size and color for emphasis. There’s a recipe for Naggy Witch’s Bone Soup at the end of the book, with thoughtful substitution suggestions for those of us who may balk at juice of a toad or colored flies. Author Alyssa Satin Capucilli has a great storytime activity kit for free download on her site, complete with word games for older readers, and a printable recipe to hand out to parents. My kids and my library kids know and love Ms. Capucilli’s Biscuit books, so that could be a good intro when telling parents about the author.

This would be a great feltboard storytime activity, or you can get creative and make your own eyeballs (ping pong balls are good), toenails (cut up some index cards into slivers), and a bone or two (it’s Halloween, there are plush or plastic bones to be found everywhere). I love this story, and can’t wait to get it in front of a group of Kindergartners next week for a Halloween storytime!

 

Posted in Humor, picture books, Preschool Reads

This is a Hit! Whoopsie offers a goofy hero and wordplay

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

This Is a Whoopsie!, by Andrew Cangelose/Illustrated by Josh Shipley, (Oct. 2018, Lion Forge), $15.99, ISBN: 978-1-941302-87-3

Ages 4-8

Hot on the heels of May’s This is a Taco!, Andrew Cangelose and Josh Shipley are back to exploring the lighter side of wildlife with This Is a Whoopsie!, where readers meet a clumsy moose nicknamed… well, Whoopsie. Like This Is a Taco!, This Is a Whoopsie! intends to be a book educating readers on moose, but Whoopsie blunders through the book, tripping over logs and causing general chaos. He feels really bad about it, though. He doesn’t even think he should be the moose example for the story, but his blue bird buddy is there to cheer him on and get him through the book. The story plays with words and language in one series of spreads, where Whoopsie takes out a page of text and tries to reconstruct it, with hilarious results, with sentences like “Moose wear wild wigs and laugh all night with trampoline hamsters”. Blue bird finally suggests that Whoopsie tell stories about the times he’s fallen down and created silly scenarios, to boost his mood, and it works! Whoopsie gets to relive some funny situations, including some hilarious photobombs and an anecdote about wearing a camper’s underwear on his antler, and readers get a belly laugh.

The artwork is so much fun, from the brown endpapers that start off with antlers and pinecombs and finish with taco-covered underwear and tidy whities. In between, we have a cartoon moose with an expressive body – gangly limbs, top-heavy antlers, and a penchant for pratfalls. Little blue bird is stout and sweet. We get some good facts about moose, a sweet story about friendship, a charming and clutzy hero, and a little cameo from our friend, Taco the Squirrel.

Whoopsie! is a sweet story that kids will love. It’s a nice add to your picture book collections.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

We totally party when you sleep: Duck on a Disco Ball Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

In a book that plays on a kid’s night time FOMO (fear of missing out), Duck on a Disco Ball parts the bedtime curtain to show readers exactly what we parents do when we finally get kids down for the night. No, not the exhausted collapse onto the couch to fall asleep 10 minutes into our DVR’d backlog of The Flash, I mean THE PARTYING.

Duck on a Disco Ball, by Jeff Mack, (Nov. 2018, Two Lions),
$17.99, ISBN: 978-1-5039-0292-3
Ages 4-7

In what could be a scene directly out of my evening, a little boy stalls his bedtime with a litany of questions: “What if my duck needs a snack?” “What if there’s a huge party and I miss it?” Mom and Dad stand firm, and our little friend finally gives in – we think. See, he’s no one’s fool – he notices that “something is always just a little weird” in the mornings, so he decides to check out exactly what his parents are getting up to at night. Sure enough, Mom and Dad – and, in a stunning betrayal, Duck – are party animals, couch diving, throwing a party, and rocking out. A giant boulder sends the boy’s parent flying, cartoon-style, sky-high, and they land in their bed. By now, the boy falls asleep, too, and wakes up in the morning, not sure if he’s dreamed all of this… but he spies his duck behind the couch, near an electric guitar.

Duck on a Disco Ball is a companion to Duck in the Fridge (2014), and is way too much fun! Kids will laugh at the premise, because they will see themselves – and so will my fellow tired parents! Who hasn’t been asked for the 8th glass of water, 4th trip to the bathroom, 6th round of Piggies, and 3rd “just one more story/song/kiss”? Go ahead: let the kids know what we do at night! The cartoony artwork and bright colors draw readers right in, and it’s a perfect storytime read. Get as silly as you want here – heck, make this a stuffed animal sleepover storytime selection, and set the kids up to see pictures of their stuffed animals getting into all sorts of mischief. Duck on a Disco Ball is fun, punny, and most of all, gives us grownups the chance to wink at our kids when we say that 15th goodnight to our kids. Always leave ’em guessing.

Jeff Mack is the award-winning author and illustrator of Duck in the Fridge; Mine!; Ah Ha!; Good News, Bad News; and the Hippo and Rabbit series. He has also illustrated many books, including If My Love Were a Fire Truck by Luke Reynolds. His books have been awarded the Texas 2×2, a Junior Library Guild award, a Colorado Bell Award, a Pennsylvania Family Literacy Award, a New York Public Library Best Book of the Year Award, and a Bank Street Best Book of the Year award. Jeff lives in Massachusetts. Visit him online at jeffmack.com. Jeff Mack_offers a free lesson in how to draw the duck right here!

Twitter: @jeffmackbooks
Facebook: JeffMackBooks

 

 

Want a shot at winning your very own copies of Duck in the Fridge and Duck on a Disco Ball? Enter this Rafflecopter giveaway (U.S. addresses, please!)

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Am I Yours? is an adorable dino guessing game

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Am I Yours?, by Alex Latimer, (Sept. 2018, Peachtree Publishers), $16.95, ISBN: 9781682630440

Ages 3-6

An icy prehistoric wind blows an egg out of its nest; it rolls, then lands, in the midst of a group of dinosaurs. As the egg begs for help in identifying its parents, each dinosaur offers a description of itself and asks the embryonic dinosaur if it shares the same trait: Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Triceratops, Corythosaurus, even Tyrannosaurus all try to help, but the poor egg is bereft: it doesn’t sound like any of these dinosaurs are its parents! In a melodramatic turn, the egg fears the chill night will be its last, but no worries: the setting sun presents a silhouette of the little pterosaur inside the egg, and the dinosaurs rejoice: they can reunite the family!

This adorable rhyming tale is a dinoriffic take on the “Are You My Mother?” theme. The dinosaurs are mostly familiar faces, and the rhyming and repetition allows kids to anticipate what will happen next. Dinosaurs are bright in color; pencil art that’s been digitized and finished with color and texture gives the artwork a mixed media feel. This would make an adorable flannel story – get yourself to the craft store! There’s a free downloadable matching game on Peachtree’s website.

Booktalk and display with Stephen Lomp’s Mamasaurus and Papasaurus, and Ed Young’s Seven Blind Mice.

Posted in Animal Fiction, Early Reader, Fiction, picture books, Preschool Reads

Stanley the Hamster heads off to school in his latest picture book adventure

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Stanley’s School, by William Bee, (Oct. 2018, Peachtree Publishers), $14.95, ISBN: 9781682630709

Ages 3-7

It’s another busy day at Stanley’s school, as he and his assistant, Hattie, get ready to welcome their students. The children follow their morning routine of hanging up their hats, bags, and teddy bears, and sit on the carpet while Stanley calls attendance. At storytime, they dress up: Sophie as a dragon, Little Woo as a knight, and Benjamin, a princess, complete with blue crown and tutu. There’s playtime, time in the garden, lunch, nap, and art to end the day, and Stanley brings his busy day to a close with supper and a bath.

The Stanley books are a hit because they’re adorable. They’re provide children with introductions to different careers, the direct, concise text is great for newly confident readers and for storytime, and the digital artwork is simple, attractive, and fun, with bright colors and bold lines. William Bee doesn’t limit gender roles in Stanley’s School, putting a kid named Benjamin in princess garb. (Jessica Spanyol’s Clive series is another good series that bucks genderized norms.)

Stanley’s School was on shelves in time for back-to-school, but it’s a great choice for storytimes now, because younger kids will recognize the students’ daily routine. It won’t be new and exciting or nerve-wracking; it’ll be familiar and comfortable. Let the kids tell you what else their daily routines include, and tell them yours. Do you, like Stanley, get home, eat, and go to bed? Maybe you play with a pet, or eat dinner with your family, or read to your kids. Stanley’s School is all about comforting routines, and a good add to your shelves.

There’s a school supply activity sheet free for download on the Peachtree website; you’ll find other Stanley activity sheets there, too. Stanley fans can find out more about Stanley’s world on the Peachtree Stanley Fan Site.