Apologies for my absence for so long

It has been quite some time since I have posted, but I hope you are still enjoying my blog.  I hope to post more frequently in the future but until then please enjoy this lovely video =)

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

For my birthday my Mom and Dad like to give me both Caldecott and Newbery Award winners, so this year I got the most recent ones. 

Some of you may recognize Jon Klassen's name from his other work I Want My Hat Back

My mother read this before giving it to me and when I opened it with my friends and family around, we had an impromptu storytime, because the book is hilarious!

The little fish is a thief, he stole the poor sleeping big fish's hat (who doesn't love a giant fish with a tiny hat!).

Of course the tiny fish knows that if he gets caught he will be a goner so he is swimming away to hide from the big fish, though he doesn't think he'll catch him!

Ah the old finder's keepers losers weepers argument , of course fish know this!

Now Klassen's has received criticism before for his works because they do have questionable endings.  They are meant to be humorous, and yes they may be a little dark, but I can tell you there wasn't a dry eye at our storytime, we barely made it through each page without bursting into laughter.

So I believe if you explain to your children the idea behind it, and that yes there are consequences for actions (though maybe not quite so extreme) there shouldn't be a problem!

Tea Rex by Molly Idle

I recently discovered this charming book on the Penguin & Putnam website and just had to order it based on the idea alone!

A little girl named Cordelia invites her friend "Mr. Rex" over for a tea party and explains all the etiquette that should be followed.

 

Of course these are things that should be followed regardless of whether your guest is a person, or a large T-Rex.  

The concept is adorable and the pictures as well as the story are an enjoyable read, particularly for adults who understand these behaviors and can find the humor in a T-Rex attempt to follow them.

And if you invite a friend to your house of course they should invite you in return!

 

This new book is sure to become a favorite both for boys and girls of any age, and helps to teach a few manners in a roundabout way.

"I can't" said the ant by Polly Cameron

Now that I'm just about finished with classes I'll have more time to devote myself to this blog!  That being said I present one of my Dad's favorite books to read when I was little.

 "I can't" Said the Ant is a rhyming story that takes place in the kitchen where a teapot has been dropped because it was too hot.  Everything in the kitchen reacts to the noise, from the cleaning supplies to the the bread, each one's reaction rhyming with their name.  

An ant happens to come across this scene and repeatedly tries to help put the teapot back on the counter, but finds he's not quite able to on his own.  Through encouragement by the inhabitants of the kitchen and with some help from the spiders and the other ants they are able to mend her broken spout and put her back in her rightful spot.

 This story is an enjoyable read, not just because of the variety of rhymes ""Form a battalion," said the scallion." but also because it teaches the important lesson of teamwork.  Yes the ant can't help Miss Teapot on his own, but he doesn't give up, he finds another way to assist her, with the help of others. 

I highly recommend this book, it is a simple story and the rhymes make it fun and enjoyable for all ages, and it never hurts to start teaching children about teamwork early!

April Fool's!

Little Golden Books for your little gamers!

Happy April Fool's Day! Sadly these are not real, but they should be!

Though you can order prints of these from the artist's website

After an incredibly long hiatus!

Okay I'm back! School and work got in the way of things and then I got a little lazy, but I'm back and I have a great post for everyone today!

BABYLIT BOOKS!

Babylit is a wonderful series developed by Jennifer Adams and illustrated by Alyson Oliver.  The idea is adult literature for children simplified into board book fashion.  I stumbled across these in a catalog when I still worked at the bookstore, and made sure that we got them in, because if nothing else I was going to purchase them for myself. 

Initially there were only Romeo & Juliet and Pride & Prejudice, and being the Jane Austen fan that I am, I of course needed to buy these to put away for future use.  R&J and P&P are both counting books, number 1-10, of course these are for children so there is no mention of the tragic end of R&J. 

They are adorable and brightly illustrated with the number and the words on one page and the pictures on the other. 

 
Of course the a big appeal of these books for the adults who love the originals is that they can get the few subtle jokes in the illustrations. 

After the success of the first two, another pair followed: Alice in Wonderland, a colors book, and Jane Eyre, another counting book.  So far there are 9 books in total in the Babylit series, and I will be examining the other ones at a later time (when I can get my hands on them). 

I strongly urge you to purchase these adorable books, be they for your own children or for others. Start them reading the classics early...or if not reading at least the board book form is safe for tiny mouths. 

"Zombie in Love" Kelly DiPucchio

A little belated for Valentine's Day, but really every day is Valentine's Day when you read children's books!

This is an adorable story about a zombie named Mortimer.  Mortimer is looking for a date for the Cupid's Ball, but he has trouble with the ladies.

After several unsuccessful attempts at wooing women Mortimer decides to place a personal ad in the paper asking any hopeful applicants to meet him at the ball.

(As a joke for the parents the personal ad is done in the same style as the one in "Escape" by Rupert Williams)

Mortimer patiently waits for his date and just as he is about to give up on ever having a sweetheart he hears a crash in the punch bowl.

I love this story because its funny and sweet, and zombies are the big craze right now so children love this story.  The artwork is well done as it does take talent to make zombies look cute and sweet.  This story is so cute that I sometimes read it at both the Valentine's Day & Halloween story times.

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

This is one of my absolute favorite books of all time, in any genre.  It is the first book I give any of my friends who have baby girls (especially now that is available in convenient board book form).  The best way to describe it is as a child's guide to individual thinking.

Elizabeth is a beautiful princess engaged to Prince Ronald, until a dragon destroys her castle and kidnaps her prince.  Her kingdom in ruins and her prince gone, Elizabeth puts on a paper bag (the only thing she can find to wear) and sets after the dragon to rescue Ronald.

When she finds the dragon's lair she flatters him into showing off his fire breathing and fast flying, until all he can do is pass out from exhaustion.

Having defeated the dragon Elizabeth sets to rescuing Ronald, only to find Ronald is a snob and doesn't want anything to do with her: "Come back when you are dressed like a real princess."

Thankfully Elizabeth realizes that Ronald isn't the guy for her and decides she doesn't want to marry him, so she runs into the sunset on her own.

While most people view this as a book "for girls" I see it as a book for anyone.  There is nothing wrong with teaching both girls and boys that a princess can just as easily rescue a prince.  Rather than focus on the "feminism" of Elizabeth in the role of the prince or shining knight, I prefer to see it as the freedom to make your own decisions and being an individual.  If the roles had been reversed and Elizabeth was rude to Ronald about not looking like a real prince I would hope that he'd have the same reaction that she did.

The best reaction I have heard from reading this book was when I sent my young cousin a copy and her parents read it to her and when it reached the end she said "That's it? No happily ever after?"  Its better than happily ever after, its whatever Elizabeth wants it to be!

A Pet For Petunia, by Paul Schmid

I discovered this book more recently than my previous entries, but I find that I enjoy the story just as much as I would if it had been available for me as a child.

Petunia loves skunks, and even has a plush one to show how much she adores them.  She loves them so much that she begs her parents to let her have one as a pet.

Her parents are sensible of course, and they tell her she isn't allowed to have one. When pressed for a reason, they give the obvious answer: the smell.  Petunia can't believe that her parents would say such a terrible thing about such an adorable animal, and reacts in the typical manner of a child being told no.

Petunia runs away from home, into the woods where she encounters a skunk!  It's her wish come true...until she smells it!  She runs back home, silenced by the terrible smell, and curls up in bed with her plush skunk.

Thankfully, Petunia is not traumatized by the truth that skunks do in fact stink.  She still thinks they are adorable and is happy with her toy skunk, until she sees something else in the woods....(I won't spoil it, but I'm sure Petunia's parents wish she wanted a normal animal).

The art style is simple, and Petunia herself is adorably drawn: with messy hair, big smile and a purple striped dress, she looks like most little girls her age.  Like Petunia, I too have wanted improbable pets (tigers, seals, polar bears, and yes even skunks), so I completely understand her logic.  Petunia is most certainly a handful for her parents, and this won't be the last time she is seen (Petunia Goes Wild, a title that should come as no surprise).  This is a great book to read aloud to your kids, it's silly and enjoyable and it does, at least for a moment, dissuade children from having a pet like a skunk.

Dog Heaven, Cynthia Rylant

I hadn't intended for my 2nd blog post to be on such a heavy subject. However, last weekend my family and I had to put Cuddles, our 17 year old Cocker Spaniel down, so this review is my tribute to him.

Losing a loved one is never easy, and it is difficult to explain to children without it being confusing, complicated or incredibly emotional.  To me this book is a great source of comfort in a difficult time: its simple ideas and artwork remind me of what I thought Heaven was like a child.  I have seen other books on death of pets and instead of being simple, easy to understand and helpful, they are tedious, full of facts and abruptly push the reader into moving on from their loss (As an example, The Tenth Good Thing About Barney by Judith Viorst, where the main character tries to come up with 10 good things about his cat Barney who died, and the last thing is that by burying Barney in the backyard he will help the flowers to grow).

The illustrations are done in acrylic, and are purposely made to look as though a child had drawn them.  By doing so, the readers are able to relate to the pictures and the story, as it looks like something they might draw or paint if they were asked what "Dog Heaven" might look like.

While admittedly the book does not deal directly with the loss of a pet, its purpose is to offer a small bit of comfort in a time of sadness, and in that Dog Heaven succeeds.  This book does its job whether the reader is religious or not; yes there are mentions of God and Heaven, but the purpose isn't to force religion down children's throats. Dog Heaven was written to give children a sense of comfort at the loss of their dog (or cat, there is the companion book Cat Heaven), and that small hope that someday they'll see their beloved pet again is exactly what this book provides.

The Baby Blue Cat Who Said No, Ainslie Pryor

Choosing one bedtime story was always difficult in my house, I had so many books how could I narrow down my choices to just ONE!  However, this book was one of my more requested bedtime stories, and it could only be read to me by my mom (she got the voices just right for this story, and my dad was notorious for giving male characters female voices and vice versa).  The Baby Blue Cat had a few other adventures (And The Dirty Dog Brothers, And The Whole Batch of Cookies, And The Smiley Worm Doll) but this was my first introduction to him, and his antics.

The story is simple enough: the Baby Blue Cat, unlike his well behaved siblings, doesn't want to do anything! He doesn't want to eat dinner, dessert or even have a bedtime story.  Mama Cat takes care of her other kittens and then returns to deal with the stubborn Baby Blue Cat, who still refuses everything.  Distraught, Mama Cat sits in the living room unable to deal with her willful kitten.  Baby Blue Cat of course feels guilty for his behavior and apologizes to Mama Cat, and decides that yes he will eat his supper, and his dessert, and would like a bedtime story.  So Mama Cat takes care of him and puts him to bed, only to say that he must be very tired (presumably from his stubborn behavior) which we all know the answer to her question has to be...NO!

I loved this story then and I still do now, probably because like Baby Blue Cat, I too could be defiant at times (which has not changed). 

It begins with a question:

And ends in a similar manner:

The simplicity of the story is its charm.  There is no long complicated plot with multiple characters or hard to pronounce words, there is simply the story with a beginning and an end.  The art matches the story perfectly, simple drawings and light colors which are used make the illustrations just as easy to follow as the story.

My one criticism with it lies with the response to Baby Blue Cats behavior.  Obviously Mama Cat has her hands full with four growing kittens, however Baby Blue Cat behaves rather rudely, and still manages to get dessert and a bedtime story.  Yes he does apologize for his behavior, but letting him have all the same things that the other well behaved cats got seems to me rather unfair to them.  This is a minor problem, and only one that I have realized as an adult and having worked with children.  I don't believe that rewarding bad behavior is the intention of this book, but I can see how it might come across to some people as though it is.

Sadly I've been forced to track extra copies of these books down through used book stores and websites because they were published once in hardcover (in the 1980's) and once in paperback (in the 1990's).  But if you manage to find this or any of the others in the series I highly recommend all of them!