Book Review: Big Chickens Fly the Coop by Leslie Helakoski

Book: Big Chickens Fly the Coop
Author: Leslie Helakoski
Illustrator: Henry Cole
Published: 2008

Four chickens have a burning desire to see the farmhouse with their own eyes. So they climb out of their coop and set off. The path to the farmhouse is fraught with peril (horses! dogs!! tractors!!!), but the siren call of adventure is just too strong for these indomitable birds.

This book made me giggle. While it’s on the long side for storytime, I think that the rhythm of Cole’s words and the structure of the story will captivate kids. And check out the vocabulary! The chickens don’t just run away from the dog in the doghouse, they flounce, trounce, and body-bounce.

As if the words aren’t enough for you, there’s always the art. The chickens are deliciously silly as they squawk and flap, and there’s one spread of them after a retreat back to the coop, splayed over their perches in post-trauma exhaustion, that would make a stone crack a grin.

Want a book with peril, adventure, and chickens all in one? Try Big Chickens Fly the Coop.

Book Review: Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude by Kevin O'Malley

Book: Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude
Author: Kevin O’Malley
Illustrators: Kevin O'Malley, Carol Heyer, Scott Goto
Published: 2005

Once upon a time, there was a princess who had eight ponies she loved very much. (Oh, brother!) But one day, a terrible giant began stealing them, one by one! What’s a princess to do? What she really needs is . . . a cool motorcycle dude!

This book is just plain fun. The two storytellers each attempt to tell their own tale, but they influence each others’ versions until the story produced is something bigger than both of them. But don’t make the mistake of thinking they aren’t going to keep arguing!

I really liked the three different art styles used. It’s subtle, but it gets across not only an indication of which story is being told, but also the feel of each story. The girl’s story (by Carol Heyer) is all fine lines and delicate colors, a real fairy-tale look with the beginning scenes set mostly indoors. The boy’s story (Scott Goto) is in oils, darker colors and all outdoors. O’Malley himself works in a third, more comic-book style to show the two youthful narrators (who look to be in fourth or fifth grade).

This is a pretty fun book for all ages to sit down and read, but I can also see teachers using this book to discuss the writing process. The story changes as the boy and girl duke it out over whose character is coolest. There’s even an opening to discuss gender differences and how the stereotypes are twisted around as the story continues.

Kids of both genders in my library love this book, and you will too.

Book Review: Very Hairy Bear by Alice Schertle, ill. Matt Phelan

Book: Very Hairy Bear
Author: Alice Schertle
Illustrator: Matt Phelan
Published: 2007

The very hairy bear has so much to do! In the spring, he fishes, in the summer, he hunts for honey, in the fall, he eats blueberries. And through it all, he doesn’t mind getting water, honey, or blueberries all over his hairy bear body, or his no-hair nose. But what about the wintertime?

What I loved first about this book was Matt Phelan’s bear, who is very hairy indeed. Done in soft pastels, the bear has a whimsical grin and enough flyaways on his shaggy bear coat to drive a hairdresser to drink. The bear’s world is also rendered in soft, lovely colors that express the beauty of nature.

On to the words, which match the gentle illustrations perfectly. While many picture books like to use a rhythmic rhyming style, a la Dr. Seuss, Schertle chooses internal rhymes and lots of alliteration, so that it flows like free verse. Check this one out:

Each summer,
he’s a sticky, licky honey hunter
with his bare nose deep
in the hollow of
a bee tree.

This is such a soothing book. With the repetition of words like “hairy bear” and “no-hair nose,” and with the winter hibernation at the end, use this for a bedtime story that will put your little one (hairy or not) right to sleep.

Book Review: Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler

Book: Jazz Baby
Author: Lisa Wheeler
Illustrator: R. Gregory Christie
Published: 2007

Jazz Baby is the luckiest baby in the world. See, Jazz Baby was born into a musical family. Mama, Daddy, Brother, Sister, Cousins, Aunties, Uncles, and even the neighbors get in on the fun as Jazz Baby bops.

This is the kind of books that makes you want to dance while you listen, or sing while you read. I could practically hear the rhythm and tones in my head, reading it to myself. It feels as if there should be a CD with it, but on reflection I'm kinda glad they didn't go that way.

My favorite spread featured music notes mimicking instrumentalists (trust me, it makes sense when you see it). Try this one out on active little ones. It'll even work around bedtime, because in the last few pages the mood mellows and the very last, "Oh yeah . . ." begs to be whispered just as you turn out the light.

Technology in the Picture Book

Check out this rather neatokeen little slide show over at Slate.com, about the portrayal of technology in picture books. I went in expecting a diatribe on how picture-book authors are all nostalgia chasers, stuck in the past and it's time to move into the 21st century. But the commentary makes some valid points for why, in some books, telephones steadfastly have cords and earphones are still gigantic. At the same time, she points out a couple of books that realistically portray technology as an everyday part of a young child's life.

Thanks to Gail over at Original Content for the link.

Doom! Doooooooom!

Apparently the Picture Book is Dying. Don't tell the people who come flooding to my library to check out metric tons of the things, or the writers and publishers who keep putting out delicious picture books that I thrust upon those self-same parents with a manic glint in my eye. (Current favorite: Big and Little. Read it to 50 under-4s this morning and kept their attention throughout. Holy Hannah.)

Or maybe it's only in the UK?

Really, I think the only thing affecting the picture book is the same thing that affects every other sector of the publishing world: People buy what they know. So that's what libraries are for.

Thanks to Fuse #8 for the link.

Thank You, Bear

Book: Thank You Bear
Author: Greg Foley
Published: 2007

One day, Bear finds the greatest thing ever, something his friend Mouse will love. He finds a box.

But as he takes it around, showing it to the other animals on his way, none of them agree. It’s just a box, nothing special, and besides, he isn’t even holding it right. Poor Bear! He thinks it’s wonderful, but nobody else does. What will his friend Mouse think?

Okay, apparently I am a late convert to this title. I’ve had the sequel (Don’t Worry Bear) in my Blue Journal for a few weeks now, but I just got Thank You Bear today.

The spare art style and gentle story have put this on my list of All-Time Fave Storytime Books (along with Antoinette Portis’s Not a Box). I also love that Bear immediately thinks of giving the box to his friend, reflecting the sporadic (and seemingly illogical) generosity of young children. Any kid who has ever had their latest treasure disparaged by others will feel vindicated by the end of this book. Try it as a read-aloud or a read-together, because you'll want to cuddle by the end of it.

Uncle Bobby's at AfterElton.com

Can you guys tell I'm catching up on my Bloglines?

Check out this interview/review of Sarah Brannen's same-sex guinea-pig marriage tale, Uncle Bobby's Wedding, over at AfterElton.com. I haven't read this book yet, but I'm excited for it. Cuz, guinea pigs! Also, indications are that (as in Pija Lindenbaum's Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle), the title character's sexuality is not the focus of drama and angst.

Unlike many older LGBT-themed children’s books, such as Heather Has Two Mommies, [the book] doesn’t focus on a child struggling against negative views of her family. . . . This leaves Brannen free to concentrate on her other themes, and opens up the book to a wider audience.

Plus, look at that gorgeous spread of a garden wedding about halfway down the first page (with, again, guinea pigs!)

Thanks to KT Horning over at Worth the Trip for the link.

International Children's Book Day

Hey everyone, it's International Children's Book Day! So go read a book to an international child!

Uh . . . wait . . .

Seriously, it's a day put on by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) that coincides with Hans Christian Andersen's birthday. This year's theme is "Books Enlighten: Knowledge Delights" and the featured artist is a guy from Thailand whose name I have no hope of pronouncing (Chakrabhand Posayakrit), but I lovelovelove that poster.

Check out some of the messages from previous years too. Margaret Mahy was 2007.

Thanks to Little Willow over at Bildungsroman for the link.

Book Review: Millie Waits for the Mail by Alexander Steffensmeier

Book: Millie Waits for the Mail
Author: Alexander Steffensmeier
Published: 2007

Millie the cow loves one thing more than anything else. Is it grass? No. Is it mooing? No.

It's scaring the mail carrier!

But the farmer keeps getting broken packages, and the mail carrier has cow-filled nightmares. They both decide it's time to do something about Millie's bad habit. So on the same day, they both carry out their respective plans. Can anything change Millie's ways?

It's always fun to see one animal behaving like another (with resultant havoc). Millie sneaks around the farmyard, hiding in the most unlikely places, tail all but wagging in the anticipation of the fun to come. The mail carrier, for his part, looks like a nervous wreck (as well he might, with a one-ton animal scaring the bejeebers out of him on a daily basis).

This book was especially fun to read over again because of the illustrations. Steffensmeier draws with a gleeful energy that perfectly matches the offbeat story. I loved the omnipresent chickens, which pop up everywhere. My favorite was the one perched with admirable sangfroid on the back of a speeding tractor, with a cup of something-or-other at its side.

If you're the type who's fond of a moral, you can use this book to talk about the consequences of our actions, and how what we consider good clean fun might be very harmful to others. Luckily, it doesn't beat you over the head with a Message for the Kiddies, and you can read about Millie, the mail carrier, and the (female!) farmer for the giggles that are sure to come.

Well, It's About Time

Picture this: Children's book art gains mainstream acclaim

A neat article from the AP about how children's picture book art is gaining cred in art circles. I do wish they'd shown a few illustrations, especially when they're talking about Ezra Jack Keats or modernism. But hey, it's good to see it there at all.

Full disclosure: Until I took a course in children's lit in library school, I tended to skip over illustrations too. Silly me.

Thanks to Kids Lit for the link.

Book Review: A Child's Guide to Common Household Monsters by James Otis Thach, illustrated by David Udovic

I've been meaning to add something to Poetry Friday for a long time now, but I don't read much of the stuff. Since this is a picture book with rhyming text, I'm calling it poetry.

Book: A Child's Guide to Common Household Monsters
Author: James Otis Thach
Illustrator: David Udovic
Published: 2007

Late at night, a little girl sneaking a midnight snack hears creepy noises. It’s probably the wind, right? Or the cat! But the author assures us:

But now perhaps you’re old enough to finally know the truth,
Your house is full of monsters, from the basement to the roof!

Knowledge being power, the girl steels herself to peek underneath her bed at the gangly, orangutanish monster who lives there, eating her socks. He’s not so bad, but what about the monster in the closet? Each monster is terified of the one who comes next, until the final basement monster. And who is the basement monster scared of?

This picture book combined clever poetry (the slightly clumsy rhyme of truth/roof is made up by the kooky turn of phrase about “music to his nose”) with a common preoccupation among the audience and a reassurance that nobody is ever as scary as they seem, once you get to know them.

Luckily, they matched the cute story with gorgeously detailed illustrations. One thing that I noticed on my third or fourht perusal was that once the little girl meets the monsters, they are drawn as if they are three- or four-year-olds, compared to the girl’s seven or eight. The closet monster clutches a teddy bear, the under-bed monster sucks his finger, and they all cling to the girl in their journey through the house.

My favorite illustrations were the four dual-page vertical spreads. Good choice, Udovic and/or layout guys. I could spend all day studying the little details in each picture. (Follow the progress of the under-bed-monster’s roller skates as he traverses the house, for instance.)

One last thing: I’m not entirely sure why the little girl seems to have blue-streaked hair. It’s a bit of minor weirdness that caught my eye in this otherwise delightful picture book.

Great for readalouds (I tried it out on a preschool, who loved it), kids dealing with monster fears, and kids after a safe shivery time.

Book Review: Ballerino Nate by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Book: Ballerino Nate
Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, ill. R.W. Alley
Published: 2006

After Nate sees his first ballet, he announces to his parents that he wants to learn to dance. Mom and Dad are supportive, but big brother Ben warns him that “Boys can’t be ballerinas. They never, ever, ever can.” And if they could, they’d still have to wear a tutu. Ben is in second grade and knows almost everything. Nate is horrified at the idea of wearing a pink dress, or a flower in his hair. Isn’t there a way he can dance and be a boy?

This is a valuable book for the encouragement it gives to young male dancers. Nate takes no guff from his open-minded parents for his ballet madness; instead it all comes from his brother, who swears up and down that boys simply cannot dance. While not every aspiring young ballet dancer is going to encounter this percentage of support, it was a good idea to concentrate the discouragement in one character.

What really made this book stand out for me, however, were the illustrations. You get the sense that every character is fully thought out and defined in Alley’s mind as he draws, because almost every character is doing something instead of being stock figures in the background. Illustrations of Nate’s ballet class include a little girl whose tutu is falling down and a classmate noticing, another little girl practically jumping up and down for her teacher’s attention, girls stretching in the hallway. None of this is mentioned in the text; instead, it’s all there to make Nate’s world that much more real.

However, Nate is the star of the book, and has the best pictures. As befits a seven-year-old bitten by the dancing bug, he is rarely still, and everything seems to be high drama. Check out the four-picture combo when his brother drives him to tears with the insistence that he’ll have to wear a pink tutu. Nate’s eyes widen in horror, he falls on the floor to cry, he hurls himself at his father, sending newspapers flying. In the last illustration, Nate is folded up double on the floor, boneless, with one forlorn tear dripping down his nose, as desperately brokenhearted as only a seven-year-old can be. The only part of his body higher than floor level is his arm and hand as he clutches his father’s finger.

The only quibble I have (and it’s a relatively minor one) is Alley’s decision to make all his characters anthropomorphized dogs. I’m not sure whether this is a decision to soften the effect of a dancing little boy, or he just chose to do it this time. It just struck me as weird. He does it well, including all different breeds and making full use of their physical characteristics. (Nate’s dance teacher, for instance, is one of those really elegant dogs with the long ears that look like a sweeping, glamorous mane of shampoo-model hair.)

Get this book for the pint-sized dancer in your life, male or female. Or read it yourself for a sweet story and a grand time perusing the illustrations.

Real Owl Babies!

Remember the adorable Owl Babies by Martin Waddell?

Check out the picture attached to this article and tell me that art doesn't imitate life.

NYT nominates the Best Illustrated Children's Books 2007

You guys, I've just started writing 2007 on my checks and now they're doing best book round-ups. Dang it.

Anyway, here's another one from the New York Times, this time of the Best Illustrated Children's Books. Notice that canny wording? That's so they can slip in stuff like The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Peter Sis's The Wall, and Shaun Tan's The Arrival. Good choices all, just not the preschool-oriented fare that the words "picture book" imply.

And as Fuse #8 noted, they messed up a little by including my favorite-ever Not a Box by Antoinette Portis, which was actually published 2006. I'm not going to say anything though, because the more publicity for one of my favorite bunnies, the better.

ETA: I don't know how they did it last year, but kudos to the NYT for taking advantage of a slideshow format and showing us the marvy illustrations that are the reason these books are on the list in the first place.

Review: Cock-a-Doodle-Hooo by Mick Manning

Book: Cock-a-Doodle-Hoooooo!
Author: Mick Manning
Illustrator: Brita Granströ
Published: 2007

One rain-soaked, shivery night, an owl wanders into a henhouse. He was just looking for somewhere warm and cosy to sleep, but the hens are shocked when they wake up. He can’t stay unless he can act like a rooster, they tell him. But the owl really wants to stay! With the help of the speckled hen, he learns to strut and peck, and even attempts to hoot . . . but it’s only by being himself that he gains a place in the henhouse.

This is hardly a new story, but the way Manning goes about it is charming. The suspicious hens reminded me of a clutch of fussy little old ladies, and their speech-ballooned comments on the poor owl’s shortcomings helped that along.

Granström’s soft pencil-and-watercolor illustrations bring the owl’s story to life. My favorite was the cover-one brown-and-black owl, surrounded by red and white hens. I fell in love with this book because of its simple story of someone who doesn’t fit in, no matter how hard he tries.

Review: The Book of ZZZs by Arlene Alda

Book: The Book of ZZZs
Author: Arlene Alda
Published: 2005

Some people sleep during the day. Some people sleep at night. Some people sleep late in a pile of blankets, and some take afternoon naps in a hammock. This book was made for bedtime or naptime lulling, even for the stubborn kids that refuse to close their eyes no matter what you do. They’ll get so intrigued by the flamingo, sleeping one-legged, and the twin infants (one sound asleep, one clearly fighting it) that the urge to copy the subjects of the photos will sneak up on them before they know it.

Arlene Alda (wife of actor Alan) uses photographs that feature human and animal sleepers of all ages to accompany simple, almost lullabyish prose. Not only kittens and puppies, but also flamingos, meerkats, a toddler on Daddy's shoulders, and grown-ups in hammocks populate these pages. My personal favorite was the cover shot which featured a baby seal, his chin propped up on a smooth boulder as he snored away. Everyone looks so comfortable that it tempted me to lay my head down and catch a few winks myself. Pick this up the next time you need a bedtime story for all ages.

Picture Book Meme

A couple of weeks ago, 2nd gen librarian came up with a meme that's taken me this long to finish. Why?

Umm . . . I don't really remember any picture books from when I was little. I don't know why this should be, except that I jumped into longer stuff very, very early.

This is very embarrassing.

I had to call my mom. Here's what she said:

The Popcorn Book by Tomie dePaola
I remember this nonfiction book very vividly for some reason. I remember the way that popcorn exploded all over the page, and the illustration of the little demon in the popcorn getting madder and madder as he heated up. The story not so much, but I still love Tomie dePaola's artwork.

Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard, illus. James Marshall
Oh my gosh! I felt sooooooooo smart because I knew that Miss Nelson and Miss Viola Swamp were the same person. That crafty Miss Nelson!

Corduroy by Don Freeman
Now reminded, I vividly recall my envy of Corduroy. He got to wander the department store on his own, at night! Even if that ol' security guard did catch him when he tried to pull the button off the mattress and knocked a lamp over.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
I don't remember adoring this book but my mom swears I did. Her theory is that it was the holes and the different sizes of page, and the huge variety of the caterpillar's meals. I still like reading it today.

Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parish
Loved the humor of this. (Mom again.) I still have a real soft spot for Amelia Bedelia, and the language play inherent in the books. I talk to people about idioms and figures of speech, but I think it's the same thrill I got when reading Miss Nelson is Missing, that I knew something the character didn't. Of course, I enjoy a good havoc, and Amelia Bedelia brought the havoc.

So that's it. Thanks for tagging me! It brought back memories. I tag anyone who's reading this who hasn't done it yet.

Book Review: Tiger Can't Sleep by S.J. Fore

Book: Tiger Can't Sleep
Author: S.J. Fore
Published: 2006

. . . and neither can the little boy whose closet Tiger is hiding in. Every time he starts to drift off, he hears another noise . . . the bonk-bonk of a bouncing ball, the crunch-crunch of potato chips, even the tap-tap, oompah, boom-boom-crash of a one-tiger band. Will Tiger--and more importantly, the little boy--ever get to sleep?

I love to use this at music or bedtime storytimes. It's always a hit for two reasons. Kids identify with the mischievous tiger, who is always surprised and contrite at the amount of noise he’s making. They also get to take a parent’s part through the little boy with such lines as “TIGER! That does it! Don’t make me come back over there!” Any parent--and any kid--knows what it will finally take to get the tiger to sleep.

Not a Box

I’ve been thinking for awhile that I should start talking up some of my favorite preschool books. I talk about chapter books and teen fiction all the time, but I come across so many amazing picture books that I decided I had to start sharing.

Book: Not a Box
Author: Antoinette Portis
Published: 2006

Why are you sitting in a box?
It’s not a box.

Of course it’s not! Anybody can clearly see that it’s a racecar. But apparently the narrator is blind, because he keeps asking the bunny protagonist what she is doing with the box. The bunny answers, increasingly irritated, that it’s NOT a box . . . it’s a mountain! a burning building! A balloon! An elephant!

Okay, I have to say right here and now . . . I love this book. While it may not be the most eye-catching spine on the shelf (cardboard brown), the boldness and simplicity of the front cover make it a beautiful display, and the story inside is just about as interactive as you could wish. Portis’s art clearly delineates the real from the imagined, but also emphasizes the richness of the bunny’s imagination.

The androgyny of both narrator and bunny (the pronouns I used above were strictly for the sake of clarity) also makes this as broad-appeal as possible.

And by the way . . . it’s not a box.