Tag: Prestel Publishing

Posted in Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Tween Reads

Pets and Their Famous Humans… perfect for animal lovers

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Pets and Their Famous Humans, by Ana Gallo/Illustrated by Katherine Quinn, (Apr. 2020, Prestel Publishing), $17.95, ISBN: 978-3-7913-7425-3

Ages 8-12

People love their pets. They’re our babies, our muses, our best friends. Pets and Their Famous Humans takes a look at 20 famous pet-human duos throughout history. There are dogs and cats, sure, but there’s also Dorothy Parker’s crocodiles, adopted by the writer when they were left in a New York taxi. There’s Grip, Charles Dickens’ talking raven (who you can also visit, albeit stuffed, in the Free Library of Philadelphia), Granizo, Frida Kahlo’s fawn, and Babou, Salvador Dali’s ocelot. There are pampered pooches and cats, like Archie, Andy Warhol’s dachshund, who had a gold Tiffany & Co. charm on his collar, and Karl Lagerfeld’s cat, Choupette, who sported a diamond-encrusted collar and had her own assistant. Many of the pets were their human companions’ muses, sitting with them and inspiring artwork, or support animals, providing unconditional love and a calming presence.

Each spread offers a biographical spread on the celebrity pet, with a small bio on their companion human. Color paintings of each famous human-pet pairing, which one can easily imagine hanging in one’s salon. This is a fun choice for animal lovers.

 

Posted in Middle School, Non-Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads, Young Adult/New Adult

A little bit of Flower Power goes a long way

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Flower Power: The Magic of Nature’s Healers, by Christine Paxmann/Illustrated by Olaf Hajek/Translated by Jane Michael, (Apr. 2020, Prestel), $19.95, ISBN: 978-3-7913-7399-7

Ages 9-14

People have turned to flowers and plants for healing and food since the dawn of time. Flower Power: The Magic of Nature’s Healers presents 17 flowers that we still use for their healing properties, whether they’re available as teas, herbal medicine, or spices. Christine Paxmann begins with an author’s note on the human history of our relationship with flowering plants, from hunter-gatherers who learned through trial and error which were poisonous and which were beneficial (and tasty), to the ancient shamans, who began boiling, crushing, and mixing flowers and seeds together, to today’s consumer, who can walk into just about any store to pick up an herbal tea, cough drop, or spice to add to their food.

Each flower enjoys its own spread here, with an interesting profile discussing history and uses on the left-hand page, and on the right, a painting by illustrator Olaf Hajek. It’s really Olaf Hajek’s illustrations that are the stars of the show here: inspired by folk art, Renaissance paintings, and fairy tale illustrative style, each flower is bright and bold, with a touch of the fantastic and surreal, and immediately draws readers to the pages. These could easily be in a gallery as in a book.

The 17 flowers include names that are readily familiar, like the artichoke, dandelion, pineapple, and ginger; lesser-known appearances introduce readers to such plants as the Mary thistle, Madonna lily, and rowan. Flower Power is a nice reference book for readers interested in learning more about flowering plants and their uses and is a thoughtful add to STEM and nonfiction collections for middle school and high school. Flower Power is translated from the work’s original German.

Posted in Toddler Reads

Board book fun: Yum Yummy Yuck and A Mischief of Monsters

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know I love a good board book: they’re easily portable and ready for a storytime, or to quietly hand to soothe a fussy kid during travel time, storytime, or anytime. They’re sturdy and can hold up to the Mary Poppins-like madness that is my purse, or a toddler’s exploring hands and mouth. And they’re just adorable. Here are two new ones to enjoy.

 

Yum Yummy Yuck, by Cree Lane & Amanda Jones, (Sept. 2019, Prestel Publishing), $9.95, ISBN: 9783791374055

Ages 0-3

Love Leslie Patricelli’s Yummy Yucky? This book takes things a hilarious step further, giving kids some foods that are “yum”, some that are “yummy”, and then… well, some stuff that’s just “yucky”: boogers, for instance, are yucky, no matter what your 2-year-old tells you. Each “yucky” comes with a little lesson: use a tissue; band-aids are for ouchies; there will be regrets if you try to eat sand; and toothpaste gets spit out, for starters. Minimalist art in bright colors, with a wry sense of humor translated through artwork and sparse text make this a hilarious read-aloud that you and the kids will love reading again and again. Like it says on the back cover, this is a “book for the kid who likes to eat boogers”. Priceless.

 

 

 

A Mischief of Monsters: A Book of Noises and Actions, by Roger Priddy, (July 2019, Priddy Books), $8.99, ISBN: 9780312528829

Ages 0-3

Well, what else would you call a group of silly monsters? A Mischief of Monsters is adorable, tactile, silly fun. Rhyming monsters snore, roar, squelch, belch, leap, creep, and more across the pages of this board book, which sports raised shapes and cutouts on each page, letting little fingers (and toes) roam and explore. Different sound effects on ever page make for great storytime reading, and the goofy, colorful monsters encourage kids to shriek with giggles, not fright. The pages are super tough, and will be able to take a beating from multiple readings and play. Priddy Books are always good for toddlers – I’ve been reading them to my own kids for years. The Priddy Books webpage has free, downloadable coloring sheets and puzzles, too. A Mischief of Monsters is a great add to your lapsit Halloween storytimes, or anytime.

 

Posted in Non-Fiction, picture books

History via foldout timeline: A Brief History of Life on Earth

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Brief History of Life on Earth, by Clémence Dupont, (Apr. 2019, Prestel Publishing), $24.95, ISBN: 9783791373737

Ages 6-10

A book that touts the claim, “Book folds out the length of a triceratops”, on the cover is a book that I’m going to stop and read. A Brief History of Life on Earth attempts to put the changes our little blue dot has been through into perspective by creating a foldout book that stretches through time and unfolds to reveal the formation of volcanoes and glaciers; the development of aquatic life, to the dinosaurs, early mammals, and modern humans, ending with a modern-day lakeside scene. Each spread folds out, accordion-style; the illustrations are colorful. Each spread has the noted age and time period (Hadean Age, 4.6 to 4 billion years ago; Proterozoic Age, 2.5 billion to 540 million years ago), and a brief, descriptive paragraph. Upon reaching the end of the Holocene Epoch (11,700 years ago to the present day), readers can flip the page over and look through a timeline of Earth’s first 4.6 billion years, really giving kids an idea of how recently we humans arrived on the scene. The book unfolds to a full 26 feet (8 meters), allowing you to see a truly visual timeline. Just get a lot of volunteers in a large space to hold the pages!

This is a handy book for classroom and library reference, and a fun gift for science fans. In circulation, I know my copy would be dead within the first 3-5 circs. But would I buy a copy to use during science storytimes or Discovery Club sessions? Heck, yes. It’s fun, eye-catching, and informative.

A Brief History of Life on Earth was originally published in the UK in 2017. Reference Readalikes would include the Wallbook Timeline books by Christopher Lloyd and the Welcome to the Museum series.

Posted in Intermediate, Non-Fiction

Explore our natural world with Wilderness: Earth’s Amazing Habitats

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Wilderness: Earth’s Amazing Habitats, by Mia Cassany/Illustrated by Marcos Navarro, (Apr. 2019, Prestel Publishing), $19.95, ISBN: 9783791373720

Ages 6-12

There are incredible wildernesses all over the world. Wilderness: Earth’s Amazing Habitats is an introduction to 16 rare plant and animal habitats across the world, from the Amazon Rainforest in South America to the Tropical Rainforest of New Guinea. It’s also a call to action, reminding readers that these wildernesses require protection to keep them safe; Mia Cassany cites deforestation and human intervention as having a disastrous impact on the habitats and the species that live within. So let’s take a look at, as author Mia Cassany says, “the most stunning nature show on earth”!

Beautifully illustrated endpapers bring you into the book with large, colorful tropical leaves – and eyes peeking out of the darkness – drawing you into the wildnerness from the beginning. An opening spread contains an author note on the importance of conservation and preservation, and a world map includes illustrated points where habitat is located. Two-page spreads feature stunning, full-bleed illustrations of every habitats; a brief description gives readers an idea of location and species inhabiting each spot, but it’s the art that’s front-and-center here. Bright, colorful, and lush, we see lowland gorillas peering out of the brush in Kahuzi-Biéga National Park in the Congo; a colorful, day-glo spread starring a panda, wild golden monkeys, and golden pheasants in China’s Qinling Mountains, and a stunning gecko camouflaged against leaves in the tropical rainforest in Madagascar. Back matter provides animal names, locates them on the page (they can be hard to spot!), and a brief, informative paragraph on each.

This is a beautiful coffee table book, and a nice addition to your natural history collections. It’s not a standalone book, but a gorgeous companion book to any unit on habitats and nature studies.

 

Posted in Uncategorized

Board Books, Board Books, Board Books!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

There’s a whole bunch of great board books out, and I love it!

Cat & Mouse, by Britta Teckentrup, (March 2019, Prestel Publishing), $14.95, ISBN: 978-3-7913-7374-4

Ages 0-4

This die-cut, rhyming book is adorable! A cat and mouse play a game of hide and seek, with die-cut squares on each page letting little ones find the mouse, and explore with their fingers as well as their eyes and ears, as they go along. Cat and mouse wreak havoc across each spread, upending furniture and running up and down stairs: will the cat catch the mouse? I read this to my storytime group and wiggled fingers through the squares, let the little ones peek through the holes, and stuck my nose through one or two to mimic a cat sniffing for a mouse, all to tremendous giggles. This is an adorable storytime read, and a great pick for sensory and explorative reading. The artwork is loaded with shapes and colors to identify, making this a book you can really engage your little ones with.

 

Who is Afraid of Little Wolf?, by Yayo Kawamura, (Apr. 2019, Prestel Publishing), $12.95, ISBN: 978-3-7913-7381-2

Ages 0-3

Little Wolf is bored and wants to play, but it seems like no one wants to play with him: the squirrel, rabbit, and fox all tell him their moms won’t let them play with wolves! Just when Little Wolf starts to cry, a little bee invites him to play. Seeing Wolf and Bee play together, the other animals realize that there’s nothing to be afraid of, and join the game. At sunset, Little Wolf and his new group of friends sit in a cuddled group, enjoying one another’s company after a big day of playing hide and seek. A sweet, simple story about overcoming prejudice, Who is Afraid of Little Wolf is a story that has a big message for little eyes and ears. Bold, colorful artwork and friendly animal faces make this instantly appealing to young readers and listeners, and gives a face to the fallout of predetermined ideas.

 

I Want My Hat Back, by Jon Klassen, (March 2019, Candlewick Press), $8.99, ISBN: 978-1-5362-0757-6

Ages 2-5

This is one of my favorite picture books of ALL TIME, and now it’s available in board book form! The darkly hysterical tale of a bear, a hare, and a hat is complete here; just in smaller format for littler fingers. The illustrations are beautifully, perfectly recreated here. My 6-year-old asked me if this was a “backpack copy” for him to bring to school, and darned if I didn’t say, “Wow… you may be onto something here”. Start your younger readers off right: give them Jon Klassen board books! (PLEASE say we’ll be getting Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s Triangle, Square, and Circle trilogy in board book at some point!)

Do you have crafts after storytime? Use this free, downloadable activity kit to let the kids make their own red hat, recreate their own forest story scene, and more.

 

Wild Bios: Frida Catlo, by Courtney Acampora & Maggie Fischer/Illustrated by Lindsay Dale-Scott, (Jan. 2019, Silver Dolphin Books), $7.99, ISBN: 978-1-68412-558-6

Ages 2-5

This is the cutest new board book series! Wild Bios puts an “animalistic twist” onto famous figure biographies by adding cute animals and wink, nudge puns to the biographical text. Here, we’ve got artist Frida Kahlo’s life with a feline spin: Frida Catlo was born in Meowixco City, painted self-pawtraits, and married fellow artist Doggo Rivera. A sweet way to introduce art to your little ones (I think it’s time for me to revisit my Art Storytime) and the puns will keep older siblings and adult caregivers chuckling at storytime. The bright, festive artwork is fun to look at, and Frida’s even got a little unibrow. Make sure to mention that Friday Kahlo loved animals – display and booktalk Monica Brown’s Friday Kahlo and Her Animalitos handy. Let the little ones draw afterward!

 

The Story of Rock, by the Editors of Caterpillar Books/Illustrated by Lindsey Sagar, (May 2019, Silver Dolphin Books), $8.99, ISBN: 978-1-68412-509-8

Ages 0-5

Perfect for music storytime, this rhyming look at the history of rock music starts – as it should! – with rock’s roots in blues and features some of the most iconic names in rock history, including Chuck Berry, Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, the Ramones, and more. The blues, through the rockabilly ’50s, the psychadelic ’60s, punk, hair metal, grunge, and ska are all here, with sweetly illustrated, friendly faces and instruments. Add this to your music shelf with board books like What is Punk?, Brandon Stousy’s What is Music? and We Are Music, Amazing Me! Music, by Carol Thompson, and Baby Loves to Rock! by Wednesday Kirwan.

 

The Story of Rap, by the Editors of Caterpillar Books/Illustrated by Lindsey Sagar, (May 2019, Silver Dolphin Books), $8.99, ISBN: 978-1-68412-508-1

Ages 0-5

A companion to The Story of Rock, The Story of Rap starts off with rap’s beginning at a New York house party in 1973 and explains the genre’s sound: big bass, spoken word rhyme. Learn about rap icons, from Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC, and NWA; the protests, the East vs. West battle, and modern figures, including Jay-Z, and Kendrick Lamar. The emphasis on soul and social justice is here, and like the books says: “Rap is for the people, just like from the start, it’s more than music: it’s a work of heart”. The artwork is identical to The Story of Rock, with soft, cute, friendly faces and urban street wear; there’s some breakdancing, mixing and scratching at the turntables, and female representation (Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott are here, but where’s Queen Latifah?). Add this to your music board books, and keep up your readers’ music education.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Storytimes, Toddler

New Books at Storytime: The Song of Spring and New York Day & Night

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I had storytime today, and decided to test drive two brand-new (coming in March) books that I received for review. They went RESOUNDINGLY well!

The Song of Spring, by Hendrik Jonas, (March 2019, Prestel Publishing), $12.95, ISBN: 9783791373799

Ages 3-6

We started off with The Song of Spring, since the weather here in New York has been… interesting. (It was 3 degrees last week; yesterday, 65. Today, 45.) In this adorable story, a little bird watches other birds call to one another with their songs of spring. One little bird can’t remember his song of spring, but he really, really wants to find a friend, so he takes a shot at it, opening his beak and shrieking… WOOF. A friendly dog answers, but the little bird is looking for a bird friend, so he tries again. And again. Various oinks, moos, meows, mehs, and hee-haws later, the little bird has quite a diverse group of friends, but still, no bird, until a hilariously unexpected fart sounds, and a pretty little female bird sitting nearby says she’s looking for a friend, too. The new friends happily celebrate their good fortune in finding one another.

The Song of Spring is adorable and unexpectedly funny, with a well-timed joke that got the kids in my storytime cracking up. I made a big deal of the sound, waving my hand by my backside, and the kids loved that such a giant sound would come from such a teeny, tiny bird. The book is wonderfully interactive, giving kids the chance to call out the different animals and make their different sounds, each of which gets a big, bold, fancy scripted black font for emphasis. The artwork looks like mixed media or collage – you can see book pages and notebook paper in the artwork – and adds some fun interest to the watercolor artwork. The animals pop off the stark white background, and the plain black story font lets the reader do the reading while the artwork and animal sounds take center stage.

The Song of Spring is going in my storytime collection, for sure. I even had a mom ask me for my copy when I was done with storytime! (So it’s also going in my order cart.) Pair this with Bark, George! by Julies Feiffer, and Sandra Boyton’s classic Moo, Baa, La La La! for an out of this world animal sound storytime!

 

New York Day & Night, by Aurélie Pollet/Illustrated by Vincent Bergier, (March 2019, Prestel Publishing), $16.95, ISBN: 9783791373782

Ages 3-7

This one got a great reception, too. A cat named Sandy and a squirrel named Frankie let readers see New York City through their eyes: the cat, by night; the squirrel, by day. Each sees very different things, aided by translucent blue plastic sheets that turn the Empire State Building into a rocket, the Guggenheim Museum into a spaceship, or a construction worker into a flying superhero.

New York Day & Night plays with perspective, and the idea that we see things differently in the light of day. Sandy, a nocturnal cat, sees the fantastic; Frankie, a diurnal squirrel, chastises Sandy, and sheds light – literally and figuratively – on what’s really happening. Or is it? Who’s to tell, in New York, right? The artwork is done in blues, oranges, and black and white, making for stark images that pop right off the page, boldly outlined and with easily recognizable New York icons.

My storytime group LOVED this one; I got cheers and gasps from parents and kids alike as I showed them a monster that turned out to be an elevated train (the community here lives near our own Queens elevated train) and King Kong beating his chest over the jungle that turns out to be Central Park. My favorite came in at the end – but I’ll let you get the book yourself to enjoy that one.

New York Day & Night is absolute fun, and a great way to extend a storytime by talking about colors, shapes, and city life. You can pair this with any books about a city: any of Kate McMullan’s truck books would pair well (I’m Big!, I Stink!); Julia Denos’ Windows; or Dave Eggers’ Her Left Foot are always good to go with.

I also read Have I Ever Told You, which I just wrote about a few days ago. It went over better with the parents than the babies; the artwork kept their attention for a little bit, but these were babies and toddlers; this one will be much better for a preschool and kindergarten storytime. I’ve read Hands Can to my babies and toddlers in the past, and it’s been a hit, so I’ll stick with that for the wee ones.

I also updated my songs for my Mother Goose Storytime (newborns to 18 months) and Toddler Storytime (18 mos-3 or 4 years) sessions. I try to change them up every season, so the families have time to get comfortable with the songs; I’ll insert one or two for different seasons or holidays, and I usually slot in a song in Mandarin and/or Spanish. (Mandarin for my community; Spanish, because I have a couple of Spanish-speaking families that I want to feel part of things, and because it’s fun to sing songs in different languages!)

And that was my storytime today!

Posted in Middle Grade, Non-fiction, picture books

Wonders of Nature opens a museum on your bookshelf!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Wonders of Nature: Exploration in the World of Birds, Insects, and Fish, by Florence Guiraud, (Oct. 2018, Prestel Publishing), $25, ISBN: 9783791373652

Ages 7-11

This book, originally released in French, is a stunning work of art. Inspired by 17th and 18th century natural history artwork, by scientists and explorers who hand-sketched their discoveries, Wonders of Nature is an illustrated “cabinet of curiosities”, as author/artist Florence Guiraud puts it, of the natural world. There are meditations on birds’ plumage and nests; butterflies and bugs’ wings; starfish families, and jellyfish. Seven chapters come together through 2-page spreads in watercolor and sketch artwork to create detailed, breathtaking illustrations of birds, insects, and sea life.

I’ve had the privilege of seeing some 16th and 17th century natural history sketchbooks – by the way, you can, too: the American Museum of Natural History has an online research library with Digital Special Collections, including selections from their Rare Book Collection – and one can easily see how the artwork is inspired by these early natural history explorers and scientists. This is such a great way to get kids interested in natural history; how to interest them in wandering around their local parks, zoos, and museums, notebook in hand, and encourage them to draw their world, their way.

Each section introduces a topic with informative text that entices the reader into turning the page; that turn of the page launches readers into exciting new worlds, with animals they may never have seen before. Each drawing is labeled, helping kids – and adults – expand their world. Each section concludes with a “random directory” that provides further nibbles of information about different fauna, with page references for easy location.

Learn your world, and share it. Wonders of Nature is a solid add to your natural history collections and a great gift for readers who love nature and art. Display and booktalk with Candlewick’s Welcome to the Museum books (Dinosaurium, Animalium, Botanicum, and others).

Posted in Intermediate, Non-Fiction, picture books

Ahoy! Great Ports of the World takes you on a tour

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Great Ports of the World From New York to Hong Kong, by Mia Cassany/Illustrated by Victor Medina, (Oct. 2018, Prestel Publishing), $14.95, ISBN: 9783791373553

Ages 5-11

Take a look at some of the world’s ports and explore different cultures! Great Ports of the World takes readers on a tour of some of the world’s most incredible seaports: Hamburg, over 800 years old; Hong Kong, where a container is being loaded or unloaded every single second; New York, with the Statue of Liberty welcoming ships in New York Harbor. There are 15 featured ports here; from New York, through Europe, Asia, and the Congo. Beautifully illustrated by Victor Medina, each spread offers a boldly illustrated, brightly colored port of call, with loads of little details that will keep readers entertained. The art is charming and fun, with a great vintage travel poster feel; it brings Mia Cassany’s brief, informative text to life, illustrating key points of cultural and industrial history for each site. You’ll see a cross-section of a cruise ship that includes a zoo and a discotheque in Barcelona, a mummy playing peek-a-boo in Egypt, and cats hanging out on the rooftops of London.

This is a fun book to have in your nonfiction collections, and an entertaining way to introduce port cities and the history of industry to young readers.