Tag: Walter Foster Jr

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds, Healthy Preschoolers!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I’ve been loving the books that publisher Walter Foster Jr. has put out the last several months. They’ve been promoting writers, artists, and concepts that introduce kids to different ways of looking at life: different colors, languages, and songs, for a few. There are two more books out this month that speak to young readers once more; this time, addressing mental and physical health. Let’s take a look.

ABC: Mindful Me (ABC for Me), by Christiane Engel, (March 2018, Walter Foster Jr.), $16.95, ISBN: 9781633225107

Recommended for readers 3-6

Christiane Engel’s ABC for Me series is so good for young readers and listeners. Her Baby Signs book illustrates the ABCs by introducing readers to simple sign language words that parents and children can use to communicate together; with ABC: Mindful Me, children learn the ABCs of being present and aware of themselves and the world around them. Using rhyme and child-friendly illustration, little ones learn about compassion and Zen; yoga and mandalas. There are even activities for caregivers and kids to work on together: make a mandala using found objects; make a gratitude tree, engage in some deep breathing and meditation. An index at the end helps us grownups refer to the 26 different “mindfulness pillars” introduced throughout the book. It’s a nice addition to young reader collections, and could be a good add to storytimes (especially yoga storytimes) and social discussions about empathy and kindness to ourselves and others.

 

My First Book of Pilates: Pilates for Children, by Rida Ouerghi/Illustrated by Elsa Fouquier, (May 2018, Walter Foster Jr.), $16.95, ISBN: 9781633225893

Recommended for readers 3-6

This is SO cute, and so perfect for my toddler/preschool yoga kids. An introduction to Pilates, this fits right in with books like Downward Dog with Diego, where kids learn simple yoga poses through animal illustrations. My First Book of Pilates offers a little more information, introducing readers to 12 Pilates poses, one per spread. On the left hand page, Rida Ouerghi and Elsa Fouquier use creative visualization to show us anthropomorphic explanations that make perfect sense to kids – imagine being a boat floating on the water; imagine rolling around like a hedgehog – and on the right hand page, an illustrated child recreating the Pilates pose, with simple instructions. There are some helpful tips at the beginning of the book to get your kiddos started. Absolute fun, and absolutely adorable! During a storytime, you can easily add some mindfulness practice in with the imagines, too: ask the kids to close their eyes and envision themselves floating on the water, rolling like a ball, or feeling their legs become strong, like trees.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Nature reveals its magic in The Magic Garden

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Magic Garden, by Lemniscates, (March 2018, Walter Foster Jr.), $16.95, ISBN: 9781633225138

Recommended for readers 4-7

Just stepping outside on any given day can reveal magic: leaves changing color on the trees; the tiniest caterpillar eggs on a leaf, or a chrysalis opening to release a butterfly into the world. In The Magic Garden, a young girl named Chloe takes her garden for granted, until one day, it decides to get her attention: throughout the season, branches wave, birds weave nests and spiders weave webs, bees dance, and the cycle continues.

How often do we actually stop and notice what’s going on around us? The Magic Garden speaks to the ubiquitous of nature and to how we move within nature without seeing the wonder around us. Award-winning author, illustrator, and designer Lemniscates’ mixed media, collage, and digital artwork come together to bring a textured, colorful world to readers, and popular questions about nature at the end of the book – Why do fireflies glow? Why do bees dance? – make this an enticing read-aloud that works in a science setting as easily as it would in a storytime setting. It invites children to stop and look at the world around them and ask why. This is the perfect story to accompany a nature journal craft I’ve had pinned to my Pinterest boards for over a year now: read the story, let kids make their journals, and have them go out and fill them!

 

 

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Explore the Starry Skies!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Starry Skies: Learn About the Constellations Above Us, by Samantha Chagollan/Illustrated by Nila Aye, (April 2018, Walter Foster Jr.), $16.95, ISBN: 9781633225091

Recommended for readers 4-6

I remember my first book on constellations. It’s still around today: Find the Constellations, by H.A. Rey (the Curious George author!); and it endures because it’s diligently updated (5 updates, including a 2017 version) and because constellations are fascinating. They’re pictures in the sky; they’re maps in the sky; they’re stories, waiting to be revealed. Starry Skies is a great companion – an introduction to constellations for the preschool set – to the well-loved Rey book.

Beginning with the sentence, “Every night, the sky is filled with stars that tell a thousand stories,” Starry Skies launches into spreads features a different individual starring in his or her own story: a boy battles a dragon (Draco); a cat sees herself as Leo, the lion; a girl gets ready to fly on Pegasus. Each spread features a black sky, dotted with stars, and a white line drawings of the dreamers and their constellations. It’s a preschool-friendly entry to stargazing, astronomy, and mythology. Readers enjoy 14 constellations in all, plus a star map of the for the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter seasons.

 

Posted in Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Fun concept books: ABC French, Alphabet Boats and This is London!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

This is such a great Spring for toddler and preschooler books! I’m super excited about new concept books for my collection; I never feel like I have quite enough. It’s always great to find a fun new take on the ABCs, too – take a look for yourself!

ABC French (Little Concepts), Illustrated by Daniel Roode,
(Feb. 2018, Quarto Group), $12.95, ISBN: 9781633224124
Perfect for readers 2-6

Fantastique! A picture book that introduces kids to a different language is always fun! ABC French illustrates the names of animals (and a few objects) , all dressed for a circus parade. The alphabet goes according to the French word – C is for chien (dog), D is for dauphin (dolphin) – and offers the English translation underneath. Each letter is highlighted in a brightly colored circle at the top of the page. The digital illustrations are bright and fun, with a strong sense of play that will appeal to kids and their caregivers – you may pick up a word or two, yourself! I really enjoy this Little Concepts series from Walter Foster Jr./Quarto Group; their ABC Baby Signs book, released back in October 2017, teaches kids and parents alike how to use sign language to communicate simple words and ideas.  You may recognize artist Daniel Roode’s illustrations from his Broadway Baby book, My Favorite Things.

 

Alphabet Boats, by Samantha R. Vamos/Illustrated by Ryan O’Rourke,
(Apr. 2018, Charlesbridge), $14.99, ISBN: 9781580897310
Perfect for readers 3-7

I’m most familiar with Samantha R. Vamos thanks to her book, The Cazuela That the Maiden Stirred (2011, illustrated by Rafael López), and was happy to discover that she and artist Ryan O’Rourke have several other alphabet vehicle books available: 2013’s Alphabet Trucks, and 2015’s Alphabet Trains! Alphabet Boats introduces readers to all sorts of new boats, from airboats (watch out for gators!) and barges to water taxis and zebecs. The text is in rhyme, giving read-alouds a nice cadence to flow with. There is a brief description at the end of the book for each type of boat named – who knew that Very Slender Vessel was really a type of boat? Ryan O’Rourke’s Adobe Photoshop illustrations have lively movement to them and include each letter smartly worked into the art: alligators munch on letter As; catamarans sport the letter C on their sails; a tugboat tugs a boat loaded with Ts. Kids who love vehicle and transportation books will enjoy this series, for sure. Find fun printables on Samantha R. Vamos’ author page.

 

L is for London, by Paul Thurlby, (Apr. 2018, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky),
$19.99, ISBN: 9781492660934
Perfect for ages 3-8

L is for London speaks to me as an Anglophile (although, why no Doctor Who references… no T is for TARDIS?). I love Paul Thurlby’s vintage-looking art – any of these illustrations could be tourism posters for London – and the book provides a little history on each spread, with an explanation of the illustration. From the iconic Abbey Road to the London Zoo (he needed something for Z), every spread provides something to love. There’s a sneaky little fox hiding in each spread, so challenge readers to find them all. The endpapers feature some well-known British figures: the marching Royal Guards, black taxis, red phone boxes, and red mailboxes. It’s a great way to introduce younger readers to other countries, and pairs so well with some of my favorite books by Miroslav Sasek: This is London, This is Paris, This is New York. Thurlby is an award-winning illustrator with a nice collection of concept books, including NY is for New York and Paul Thurlby’s Alphabet.

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

Happy Mail rejuvenates the lost art of letter-writing

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Happy Mail, by Eunice Moyle, Sabrina Moyle/Photographs by Alex Bronstad, (Sept. 2017, Walter Foster Jr.), $14.95, ISBN: 9781633223677

Recommended for readers 9-13

Remember pen pals? Remember passing notes to your friends in class, or writing letters to your friends over summer vacation? I see kids with smartphones, texting one another now, and miss the creativity that came from letter writing. Letters between my pen pals and I were works of art, customized for the recipient. Luckily, handmade seems to be making a comeback, and Happy Mail is a book that wants to bring the art of “snail mail” back.

Part workbook, part guide to writing letters, Happy Mail includes over 40 tear-out cards, projects, and writing prompts to get kids’ creative juices flowing. A section on tools introduces readers to different types of pens and markers, for decorating letters; there are worksheets that let kids practice different lettering styles, and there are templates that kids can cut out to create emoji-based notes. (Heads-up: yes, this is a middle grade book, but there’s a poop emoji demonstrated on a card that reads, “You are the…” – get the meaning of my meaning? – but it’s cute, and overall, very kid-friendly.) I love the “list letter” idea, where you cut a piece of paper into strips to list all the great things about your friend, that will unfold as they open the card and read. There are fun techniques, like watercolor washing paper or masking fluid and watercolor paint to create your own personalized stationery style.

This isn’t a great choice for libraries, for obvious reasons, but it IS a great choice to give to kids, to get them in the habit of writing again. Have them write to a cousin, a friend, a relative who could use a pick-me-up. I want to create a program where the kids in my library write letters to the kids in one of my coworkers’ libraries – as soon as we work the logistics of that out, I’ll blog about it. In the meantime, maybe I’ll just go back to writing letters to my friends again. Remember how awesome it was to get mail that wasn’t bills?

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

Out-There Nonfiction

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

There is such great nonfiction being published these days. Nonfiction used to conjure pictures of boring textbooks with walls of words, with a handful of old black and white photos. Today? Nonfiction includes video game guides, crazy stories about our bodies, animals, planets, and the freaky ways famous people died. And that’s just scratching the surface. Kids’ nonfiction sports full-color illustration or photographs, text that understands how kids read and learn, and takes all interests into consideration. Series nonfiction, like the Who Was/What Was series from Penguin makes history compulsive readable, and No Starch Press has full-color STEM and tech books that teach kids everything from coding in Scratch to explaining the sciences using manga comics. I love building a good nonfiction section; these are a few of the books on my current shopping list.

Behind the Legend series, by Erin Peabody/Illustrated by Victor Rivas and Jomike Tejido, little bee books
Good for readers 9-12

 

This series is so good. I’ve read Werewolves and Zombies, and love the way Erin Peabody weaves history with pop culture to present a paranormal guide that kids will love reading and learn from. There are black and white illustrations throughout; cartoony, bordering on downright freaky. Zombies delves deeply into the history of slavery and its ties to the rise of the zombie legend and the practice of voudou; Peabody also talks about the walking dead being very old news; they were showing up in Mesopotamia long before Robert Kirkman ever thought up Rick Grimes and his band of survivors. Werewolves talks about the history of animal lore and famous “were-beasts” in history, like the Gandillon siblings – a French brother and sister who were convinced they were wolves and acted accordingly. Harry Potter, Scooby-Doo, and Twilight all get a shout-out in this fun look at werewolves. There are further sources for kids who want to read further. Other Behind the Legend books include Dragons, the Loch Ness Monster, and Bigfoot. This is an absolute must-add set for kids who love themselves some pop culture paranormal reading (and half the price of most series nonfiction, library-bound books).

 

Don’t Read This Book Before Bed, by Anna Claybourne, (Aug. 2017, National Geographic Kids),
$14.99, ISBN: 978-1-4263-2841-1
Good for readers 9-12

The kids in my library love creepy. Most kids do, right? It’s that safe scare, the adrenaline rush, the squeal of the “eeeeeewwwwwww!” that you can make while safely in your seat, surrounded by family, friends, or your stuffed animals or action figures. It’s being able to turn to your friend and say, “Look at this!” and watching your friend freak out, too. NatGeo knows this, and Don’t Read This Book Before Bed (which is exactly what kids will do) is chock full of freaky stories that will keep them reading and saying, “NO WAY!” Think of it as the Lore podcast, for kids. Haunted castles? Check. Freaky dolls? (Robert the Doll, profiled in here, actually has both a podcast and episode of Lore dedicated to him.) Check. Aliens and fish people? Right this way. Each story has a “fright-o-meter” to let readers know how scary this is going to get, and quizzes help readers figure out their phobias (I love a good flow chart), test whether or he or should would be a good ghostbuster, or take apart the mysteries of science. My library’s copy is rarely on the shelf.

 

50 Wacky Things Humans Do: Weird & Amazing Facts About the Human Body, by the Walter Foster Jr. Creative Team/Illustrated by Lisa Perrett,
(Dec. 2017, Walter Foster Jr.), $14.95, ISBN: 9781633223967
Good for readers 7-10

Our bodies do some wild stuff. A sneeze moves at about 100 miles per hour. (Think about that, next time someone doesn’t cover their nose and mouth when they sneeze near you.) If someone tickles you and you put your hand on theirs, it’ll send a message to the brain that stops the tickling sensation. Wrinkly bathtub fingers help us grip things better. Readers will learn all of this and more in 50 Wacky Things Humans Do, written in a similar vein to the chunky, digest-sized NatGeo Kids fun fact books. Wacky Things features one fact per spread and one colorful, fun illustrations; good for intermediate-level readers.

 

Evolution: How Life Adapts to a Changing Environment, by Carla Mooney/Illustrated by Alexis Cornell,
(Nov. 2017, Nomad Press), $17.95, ISBN: 978-1-61930-601-1
Good for readers 9-12

Nomad Press has enjoyed shelf space in my library for a while. They have great science project books and consistently win awards because they blend hands-on projects with text readability. Evolution is a great update to Nomad’s collection and my science projects shelf. First of all, the book is in color; my Nomad books have normally been black and white, and this is as eye-catching on the inside as it is on the cover. The book progresses from a basic overview of evolution and how it works, through natural selection, species and speciation, through to classification and human evolution. Twenty-five projects allow kids to map early human migration; find sidewalk fossils (awesome for my urban library kiddos), and research an endangered species and create a plan to save it. There’s a glossary, lists of resources, and an index. I love this new direction Nomad seems to be taking and want to see more! Great for library shelves.

 

 

Posted in Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Board and Picture Book Rundown!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I started this post in Hershey, PA while I attended KidLitCon17 – which was amazing, but kicked my butt! – so I’m finishing up now that I’m back home and getting ready to great a new week. More to come on the conference, but for now, let’s talk board books! I’ve been on a board book kick at work, having weeded a bit of the collection, so let’s take a look at a few that have just hit shelves. I’m on the lookout for fun, new, and different board books to get in front of the littles, and to keep up the momentum for my Mother Goose lapsit storytime. The Rodgers & Hammerstein board books are a must, and these look like big fun, too.

 
ABC for Me: ABC Baby Signs: Learn baby sign language while you practice your ABCs!, by Christiane Engel,
(Oct. 2017, Quarto Group), $16.95, ISBN: 9781633223660
Recommended for parents for kiddos 0-2
Sign language with babies has increased in popularity over the years. I used a couple of signs with my now high-schooler, and it blew my mind to see him communicating before he was fully forming words. It made things easier, too; he was able to express himself when he was hungry, for instance, and I was able to put together when he was fussy because he was hungry rather than running through a flow chart of options that always ended in tantrum. I use ASL in my toddler storytime to teach the kids a hello and goodbye song, so ABC for Me: Baby Signs is going in my distributor cart for my November order. This one goes in my Parenting collection, and I’ll use it in a storytime, too. With adorable illustrations and small call-outs with arrows and movement to show how to fully communicate signs, this book is a great new parent gift, too.
ABC Baby Signs is part of the ABC for Me series of board books, which includes ABC Yoga and ABC Mindful Me.
Little Concepts: ABC Color: Apricot, Burgundy & Chartreuse, 26 cool new colors are out on the loose!, 
Illustrated by Ingela Peterson Arrhenius, (Nov. 2017, Walter Foster Jr), $12.95, ISBN: 9781633223363
Recommended for readers 1-4
Primary colors are exciting, but why limit yourself? ABC Color introduces kids to the 64-crayon box, with colors like chartreuse, persimmon, and razzmatazz (it is too a real color). Each spread features two colors: they’re named on the left hand page, and the background design and accompanying illustration on the right page combine to create strongmen in striped singlets (scarlet and turquoise) or umber and violet (a reindeer by the light of a snowy moon). It’s just good fun, and a nice way to introduce even more complex words into a toddler’s or preschooler’s vocabulary. Get out the crayons and explore once you’re done! Kick your color by number worksheets up a notch!
The newest picture books I looked at are perfect for my littles, too. I can easily put these into my toddler storytime rotation and see the kids enjoying them.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star: Classic Nursery Rhymes Retold, by Joe Rhatigan/Illustrated by Carolina Farias,
(Sept. 2017, Quarto Group), $12.95, ISBN: 9781633222373
Recommended for ages 0-5
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is big in my storytimes (or anyone’s, really!), so a fun takeoff on the classic always brings some new life with it. Joe Rhatigan and illustrator Carolina Farias’ vision introduces readers to a group of cats that wants to hang out with their friend, the twinkling little star, but she’s so far away! Some ingenuity and teamwork, all in verse and to the tune of the original classic song, bring the friends together in the sweetest way that explains a lot. The song gets progressively sillier as the cats attempt their visit to the stars, offering readers the opportunity to work with facial expressions, gestures, and voice to make kids laugh along with you and the story. Perfect for a sing-a-long storytime. Make toilet paper roll rockets – DLTK Kids has an easy one that comes with a template.
GOA Kids – Goats of Anarchy: Polly and Her Duck Costume: + The true story of a little blind rescue goat,
by Leanne Lauricella/Illustrated by Jill Howarth, (Sept. 2017, Quarto Group), $17.95, ISBN: 9781633224186
Recommended for readers 3-8
Any book that includes the phrase, “Goats of Anarchy”, gets my attention. Polly and Her Duck Costume is the story of one of the Goats of Anarchy – a rescue for disabled and special needs goats in New Jersey – named Polly, a blind goat rescued when Leanne Lauricella adopted her and brought her to GOA. Polly loved being snuggled; it made her feel safe, so Lauricella came up with the idea of putting her in an adorable duck costume. It worked! When rescue goat Pippa joins the fold, she gets a duck costume, too. Eventually, the goats feel secure enough to go without their costumes, a testament to the safety and love they get at their home. A great book for kids because it’s adorable – there are baby goats wearing duck onesies! – and it leads into a discussion about special needs. Special needs readers will see themselves in Polly and Pippa, with their need for compression clothing to help them feel swaddled and secure; explaining to all kids that some children have sensory issues, and special clothes help them process their world at their own pace. The cartoony artwork is soft and sweet, almost reminding me of classic Golden Books artwork. There is a photo album starring Polly, Pippa, and Leanne Lauricella at the end of the book. Visit the Goats of Anarchy website to learn more about the organization, and link to their Instagram for more adorable pictures. There are more GOA books to come, including The Goat with Many Coats and Piney the Goat Nanny, about a rescue pig who comes to live at the sanctuary.  There’s a 2018 calendar due out, too!
Feather, by Cao Wenxuan/Illustrated by Roger Mello, Translated by Chloe Garcia-Roberts (Translated by)
(Oct. 201, Steerforth Press), $18.00, ISBN: 9780914671855
Recommended for readers 4-8

This beautiful book by celebrated Chinese children’s author and 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Award-winner Cao Wenxuan tells the tale of a feather trying to find its origin. The feather blows along with the wind, encountering different birds and asking, “Am I yours?”; the feather is usually ignored or brushed off. Just when Feather is about to give up hope, she spies a bird missing a feather… could it be? This beautifully illustrated and narrated story of searching for one’s origin, one’s place in the world, works on different levels for different age groups. For little readers, I’d pair this with Are You My Mother? and talk about families, who we are. For school-age children, this pairs with Jon Muth’s books, Zen Shorts and Zen Ties, offering a deeper look into daily life. The storytelling is meditative and the artwork is dynamic and beautiful. Both Wenxuan and illustrator Roger Mello are Hans Christian Anderson Award winners, and this pairing is wonderful. I’m hoping to see this one on my Mock Caldecott shortlist this year. Feather has starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus.

 

Seagrass Dreams: A Counting Book, by Kathleen M. Hanes/Illustrations by Chloe Bonfield,
(May 2017, Quarto Group), $17.95, ISBN: 9781633221253
Recommended for readers 4-8
This is a solid mix of concepts and nonfiction for readers who love ocean animals. Seagrass is rooted to the sea floor, long blades or narrow, hollow tubes, that provide food and shelter for a variety of animals. In Seagrass Dreams, readers meet and count barracudas, stingrays, dugongs, sea cucumbers, and more. Each spread provides the opportunity to count marine life and learn their numbers. Readers who can sit still a little longer can learn more about each animal through a descriptive paragraph. Back matter includes a recap of the animals, their scientific names, a glossary of new terms, and a map of seagrass meadow locations around the world. There are further references for readers who want to learn more. The illustrations are created with deep colors and movement; you can envision the seagrass waving underwater as the fish zip through the blades.  A nice addition to concept collections, especially where you have readers who love ocean books. Display and booktalk with Alison Formento’s These Seas Count! and Marianne Berkes’ Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef.

 

Posted in Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Broadway Baby board books will have you singing in no time!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

If you’re ready to add some new songs to your storytime and snuggle time routine, may I suggest this new series of board books from Walter Foster Jr? In what I hope is the first of a long line of board books, the Broadway Baby series introduces classic songs from beloved musicals to little ones. And what better way to start than with two songs from The Sound of Music?

Broadway Baby: The Sound of Music, My Favorite Things
Based on the song by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Illustrated by Daniel Roode,
(Sept. 2017, Walter Foster Jr), $16.95, ISBN: 9781633223356
Perfect for all ages!

Raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens… everything we love about the song, My Favorite Things, is illustrated here, perfect for sing-a-longs with the little ones. Illustrations are vibrant and move across each spread, enchanting readers as the song flows. Don’t worry about those dog bites or those bee stings – the dog and the boy seem to have made up just fine; ditto for the bees and the picnickers in their territory. Perfect for sing-a-long storytime!

 

Broadway Baby: The Sound of Music, My Favorite Things
Based on the song by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Illustrated by Miriam Bos,
(Sept. 2017, Walter Foster Jr), $16.95, ISBN: 9781633223349
Perfect for all ages!

Kids gather around a singer, just like the Von Trapp family kids gathered around Maria to learn this classic about musical notes. Each note gets its own spread, beautifully illustrated: Doe, a deer, a female deer, Ray, a drop of golden sun… they’re all here, and the characters love learning each note!

Each book ends with a note about the Von Trapp Family, Rodgers and Hammerstein, the legendary musical team, and their timeless creation, The Sound of Music. Yes, I’m raving, and with good reason. These books, these songs, make me smile just thinking about them. It’s going to come out in my storytimes, and hopefully, another generation will love them as much as I do. Side note: I showed my manager these books the other day, and after she finished joining me in a rousing rendition of My Favorite Things, proceeded to order a set for her new grandson.

Display these with some of your sing along board books, like Jane Cabrera’s series (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Wheels on the Bus, Baa Baa Black Sheep, so many more), and get some of your baby classics out there! I love the BabyLit series of board books and think they’d go really well with Broadway Baby. Now, let’s think of some other songs we’d like to see. How about Shall We Dance, featuring babies dancing with members of their families?