Little Owl Lost

Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton
Illustrated by Chris Haughton
Published by Candlewick Press
2010

     Owls are trendy, or so I've heard. They're supposed to be the new chicken or something like that. So here I have my first owl book, Little Owl Lost.  And...yes, this little owl is very, very likable.
     Little owl and his mom are perched atop a tree, eyes closed, sleeping.  Little owl starts leaning over the edge and before he can react, he falls off.

As he bounces all the way down to the ground (in a scene that gave me some Angry Bird flashbacks), little owl realizes he doesn't know where his mother is and he's lost. A squirrel who saw him fall comes to his help, as a bear, a rabbit, and a frog, observe in the background.  "Don't worry, little friend. I'll find your mommy. What does she look like?" Little Owl describes his mom as big so the squirrel takes him to the bear. He then describes his mother's pointy ears, so squirrel takes him to the rabbit. He tells him about his mom's big eyes, so squirrel takes him to the frog. Thankfully frog knows where to find little owl's mommy.  Mother owl, squirrel, frog and little owl get together to celebrate atop the tree, and as little owl closes his eyes again, he starts to lean over the edge...
     Little Owl reminds you of the classic Are You My Mother? but with a more contemporary touch given by its digital media illustrations and it's short simple dialogue.  It's funny and young readers will connect to little owl and his search for mommy.  Sweet read aloud for the lower grades and to set up as a mini readers' theater.

Shhh!

Shhh! by Valeri Gorbachev
Illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev
Published by Philomel Books
2011

     His baby brother is sleeping so he knows he needs to be really quiet.  He makes sure he doesn't jump around or sing. "I walk on my tippy-toes." He goes around telling everyone to shhh! He tells the clown to stop laughing, the knights to stop fighting, the tiger to quiet down his roars, the pilot to ground his buzzing plane, the train conductor to stop the train, and the pirates to stop firing their cannons. "When my baby brother sleeps, it is so quiet in my house. I can even hear a fly!" He makes sure nothing wakes him up, because "I love my baby brother so."
     Shhh! is a tender book about the love of a big brother for his baby brother.  I really like the way the story is set up. At first, when the boy is telling us all the things he makes sure are quiet so as not to wake his baby brother up, we see him -in Gorbachev's beautiful illustrations- facing the pirates, knights, train...as if they were real.  And then we see him sitting on a loveseat and next to him there is a toy clown like the one he had just told to be quiet before.  As his baby brother wakes up, he see the boy interacting with all those characters who are now his toys, entertaining the baby.  Gorbachev complements his story with his illustrations.  It's a delightful book to share with all those big brothers out there. 

All the Way to America

All the Way to America by Dan Yaccarino
2011

     Dan Yaccarino tells the story of his family starting with his great-grandfather's journey from Sorrento, Italy to New York City.  When his great-grandfather came to New York he brought with him a little shovel he used in the fields in Italy.  As the different generations of Yaccarinos prosper in the US, the shovel gets passed down from fathers to sons always becoming a part of their new life and endeavors.  The shovels goes from the fields, to being used to measure flour and sugar, dried fruits, olives (as the family became store owners and restaurant owners), to pour salt outside of Dan's father's barbershop, all the way back to the ground as a shovel used by Dan's son, Michael, to grow vegetables in their city apartment's terrace.  Through all the years, the message passed down through the generations of Yaccarinos is to work hard and value family.
     All the Way to America is a moving family tale and a great read-aloud to introduce personal narratives as well as immigration units. It will be a fantastic conversation starter, that will have kids asking their parents where do their families come from...At the end of the day, we are a nation of immigrants.  

But I Wanted a Baby Brother!

But I Wanted a Baby Brother! by Kate Feiffer
Illustrated by Diane Goode
2010

     Oliver had always wanted a baby brother.  When his parents come back from the hospital, they are holding in their arms Oliver's new baby sister. "Oliver tried looking happy" but he knew it was a mistake. Why didn't everyone else notice there had been a mistake?  So Oliver asked his parents "Will I ever get a baby brother?"  Instead of the answer he wanted to hear, Oliver's parents kept mentioning how adorable his baby sister was.  She was cute, "she gurgled...kicked...smiled...and slept...like a baby brother. But sometimes she wore dresses and that was bad."  Her name was Julie, which was cool because Oliver could secretly call her Julian.  Regardless, Oliver decided that the only solution was to find a way to exchange his baby sister for a baby brother.  He tried trading with friends, looking for a baby boy at the playground, even switching her for another baby while at the zoo. But the truth was that no other baby was as sweet, smart, calm or fast as Julie. And now she had even learned to throw a ball.  Oliver had fallen in love with his sister, just in time to find out his mom is having another baby...
     But I Wanted a Baby Brother! is sweet and very funny.  Oliver's adventures and the situations he finds himself in while trying to find a baby brother to trade for Julie are hilarious.  Goode's watercolor illustrations are wonderful and complement the story adding a lot of details and comic tones.  A great book to read aloud and to share with kids expecting a baby sibling.

The Boy Who Longed for a Lift

The Boy Who Longed for a Lift by Norma Farber

Illustrated by Brian Selznick

1997

     A boy's family welcomed a baby into their home, and as the parents focused on the new arrival, the boy embarked on a solo journey.  He walked a long way and as he got tired he cried, "Who'll offer me a ride? Who'll carry me far and wide?"   A brook carried him first, followed by a boat, a trout, a snail, a horseman, a gull and the rain.  Finally, he decided to continue his journey afoot until he made his way back home. "His father ran out, strong and swift, and gave the boy a lift." (This time around, the baby is the one being ignored.)

     The Boy Who Longed for a Lift is told in rhyme.  The illustrations by Selznick are wonderful and there are many hidden details to discover during careful readings; there are world landmarks drawn in some pages as well as clues as to what the boy will ride next.     The repetition and rhyme, as well as the adventure theme, make this a nice read aloud.

I Am Too Absolutely Small for School

I Am Too Absolutely Small for School (Charlie and Lola) by Lauren Child
2003

     Charlie has a little sister, Lola.  She's almost big enough to go to school, but Lola doesn't think so. "I am absolutely not Big. I am still quite small."  Charlie tries to convince her, to explain to her all the things she'll learn when she goes to school: she'll learn to count, read and write.  Lola always comes up with counter arguments, like not needing to learn how to write because she likes to talk on the telephone..."It's more friendly and straightaway."  Or not wanting to learn how to read because she has all her books memorized and if she can't remember them, she "can just make them up."  Lola was really worried that  she wouldn't have any friends at school. But Charlie finally convinces Lola by telling her that Soren Lorensen (Lola's invisible friend) will be going to school too.  Worried that her friend Soren would be too nervous to be alone, Lola decides that she will go to school to make sure he's OK and keep him company.
     The reason why I love I Am Too Absolutely Small for School (Charlie and Lola) and all the other books in the Charlie and Lola series is because of the relationship between the two siblings.  There's no competition between Charlie and Lola.  Charlie is loving and understanding; a great big brother.  Lola is funny and clever.  The Illustrations and the way the text is presented (curving, spiraling and spreading out all over the pages) makes it a lot of fun to read and share.  I really like the way Lola's invisible friend comes alive in the pages as a see-through character.  Great book to share at home and as a first day of school read aloud.

Grandpa Green

 

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith
Illustrated by Lane Smith
Published by Roaring Brook Press
2011
Caldecott Honor 2012

     A great-grandson walks us through a garden of shaped topiary trees as he tell us the life of his great-grandfather. Each topiary tree represents a part of his great-grandfather's life: trees in the shape of roosters (a childhood spent in a farm), the characters from the Wizard of Oz (the stories he read as a child), a tree with red fruits representing the time when he had chicken pox, canons and planes (time spent at the war), the Eiffel tower and a wedding cake (the time when he met the love of his life). As he walks through the stunning gardens, the boy gathers the tools, watering can, glasses, and the floppy straw hat that his great-grandpa has left scattered around. He's old and forgets things, "but the important stuff, the garden remembers for him."

     Grandpa Green will steal your heart. This is one of my favorite books of 2011. The illustrations of the topiary garden by Lane Smith are breathtaking. It's a story about family, memories and love. The final two images (the great-grandfather having the boy pose for a new topiary tree of him fighting a dragon, and the boy himself now taking on the garden and making a tree sculpture of his great-grandpa) are just gorgeous. I can't recommend this book enough. It's definitely on my shelf of favorites.

When Charlie McButton Lost Power

When Charlie McButton Lost Power by Suzanne Collins
Illustrated by Mike Lester
2007

     Charlie McButton loved computer games and things that involved handsets and bots.  When the power went out during a thunderstorm, Charlie McButton freaked out.  What was he supposed to do?  His mom told him he should find something without a plug to play. Maybe he could read, sing or play with clay.  No way.  So he found and old handheld game console but when he tried to turn it on it didn't have batteries.  He looked for batteries everywhere and then he saw his sister walking around with her doll, a talking doll.  Knowing that the doll had to use batteries to talk, Charlie pounced on it, ripped it out of his sister's hands and made her scream.  He ended up in a time out and from his chair he yelled at his sister so loud that:

Her eyes filled with tears and she gave them a rub.

She went to the bathroom and hid in the tub.

Then Charlie McButton felt totally rotten

And couldn't help thinking some things he'd forgotten

     Charlie thought about all the good times he'd had with his little sister and went looking for her to make her happy.  They played together all afternoon, building forts, playing hide-and-go-seek, and pretending to be wizards and trolls. By the time the power came back, Charlie thought about being able to turn on his computer again...but then again, he might also find dragons with his little sister instead.
     When Charlie McButton Lost Power is written in rhyme.  The story is very entertaining and relatable for most kids. The rhymes flow with ease and humor.  The illustrations capture the characters well.

PS: Suzanne Collins as in the author of Hunger Games and Gregor the Overlander.

 

The Shivers in the Fridge

The Shivers in the Fridge by Fran Manushkin
Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
2006

     The Shivers are freezing!  There's Papa Shivers, Mama, Grandpa, Grandma and little Sonny.  They live inside a fridge but they don't know it.  All they know is that there are some monsters (people's hands) that cause earthquakes and make things (produce) appear and disappear. One by one, all the Shivers go out to explore and are taken by the "monster". The last one remaining is little Sonny Shivers. "I'm going to face those monsters and make them give my family back!" Sonny waited and waited until at last, an earthquake stroke and a monster's hand pulled him out of the fridge.  The monster, a human boy, says "Mom! Look what I found! The last magnet!" As Sonny was placed on the fridge's door, he enjoyed a "warm reunion" with his whole family; all the magnets enjoyed their new view knowing they'll never shiver again.
     The Shivers in the Fridge is quirky, a bit dark, and definitely fun.  The illustrations are great and help kids figure out what's truly going on.  They are filled with details to be enjoyed over multiple readings. Can you figure out how the Shivers ended up in the fridge?

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco
1994

     Patricia's older brother could do everything better than her.  He could run the fastest, get the dirtiest, burp the loudest and spit the farthest.  It drove her nuts!  And Richie would push her buttons even more saying "I'm four years older than you...Always have been and always will be."  Her babushka told her one night that if you made a wish on a shooting star it would always come true, so she stayed up until she saw one and wished that she could do something better than her brother.  The following day, Richie and Patricia went to a carnival.  She ran straight for the merry-go-round and decided she would stay and ride it longer than Richie.  She rode it for so long that she fell off the merry-go-round right into some bottles.  When she woke up she was laying in bed surrounded by her family and she found out that her brother had carried her all the way home and called the doctor.  That's when their relationship changed.
     My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother is a warm tale of sibling rivalry and family memories.  I love using this book in the classroom as an introduction to writing personal memoirs.  I read it for the first time to my four year old son and he loved it.  Being an older brother himself, he laughed at Richie always one-upping his little sister and also related to the final show of brotherly love.  When we finished reading the book he said: "that's because an older brother's job is to protect his little sister, you know that?"  So there you go, a great book for the classroom and home.  

Blackout

Blackout by John Rocco
Illustrated by John Rocco
Published by Hyperion Book
2011
Caldecott Honor 2012

     "It started out as a normal summer night.  The city was loud and hot." Inside an apartment building, a young boy reaches for a board game to play with his family. But they are all busy: his sister's on the phone, his mom's on the computer, and his dad's cooking. He climbs the steps up to his room and starts playing videogames when suddenly, "The lights went out. All of them." The whole city is dark and quiet at first. The family stayed inside for a while, playing with shadows on the wall and contemplating the idea of playing the board game together, but it got "too hot and sticky to sit inside." They went up to the rooftop and then they saw the lights (stars) and people from the neighborhood up on the roofs. "It was a block party in the sky." Downstairs, on the sidewalk, the party continued. A restaurant was handing out free ice cream, the fire hydrants were opened and people were making music. "And no one was busy at all." When the lights came back on "everything went back to normal." Until the young boy, to the delight of his family, has the brilliant idea of turning the lights off, and they all sat down to finally play the board game.
     Blackout is one of my favorite picture books to have been published this year. I love Rocco's illustrations and pacing. It captures perfectly what it felt like to be in New York City during the last big blackout. It was a block party! The sense of family extended beyond the walls of the apartments to include whole neighborhoods. We were almost sad when the lights came back on... Lovely book.

Pete's a Pizza

Pete's a Pizza by William Steig
1998

     Pete was in a really bad mood because, just when he was ready to go outside to play with his friends, it started to rain.  His father, noticing that Pete looked miserable, "thinks it might cheer Pete up to be made into a pizza."  Pete's father lays him down on the kitchen table and starts pretending that he's pizza dough, kneading him, stretching him, and even tossing him up in the air.  The game continues until the pizza has all the toppings (with a tickled session in between steps) and it's placed in the oven (the couch). "It's time to slice our pizza," said Pete's father. "But the pizza runs away," and as his parents capture him and hug him, Pete sees that the sun has come out so he can go outside and play.
     This entertaining story about pretending to be pizza dough is based on a game that William Steig used to play with his younger daughter.  I'll guarantee you that once you read it out loud at home, you'll be asked to play it as well.  The illustrations are simple with ink and watercolors over a white background which pair perfectly with the text.  Pete's a Pizza is also published as a board book, so you can share it with the youngest ones at home.  A fun game/tale by the amazing Steig.
  

Hurricane

Hurricane by David Wiesner
1990

     David and George are preparing to ride out a hurricane with their parents inside their home.  They experience it for the first time: the house creaking against the wind, the lights going out.  It's an adventure.  They have supper by the fireplace that evening and as they go to bed, the two brothers share all they know about hurricanes.  The next morning they walk outside their home to look at the damage left behind by the hurricane.  One of the two old elms in their back yard has been completely uprooted and lays across their yard and all they way into their neighbor's.
     Up to this point in the story David Wiesner's watercolor illustrations are quite realistic.  But once they brothers discover the fallen tree, Wiesner transports us into magical worlds imagined by the boys with the tree as the protagonist.  They imagine being in the jungle one day, then the tree becomes a boat sailing the seven seas, a spaceship, a hiding spot.  "The tree was a private place, big enough for secret dreams, small enough for shared adventure."  When workers come to remove the tree, the brother's are heartbroken. Last we see them, they are looking up at the remaining elm, hoping the rain might bring new adventures.
     Hurricane is successful in two very different ways: describing the experience of riding out a hurricane from the point of view of children, and also in showing the imaginative play world of kids. The illustrations are fantastic.  Great one to read on a stormy summer night.

How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?

How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen
Illustrated by Mark Teague
2009
Age 4-8
     
      "You woke in the morning in such a bad mood...then sat at the table and fussed with your food. But then you blew kisses and waved from the door.  I love you, I love you, my dinosaur."  If you're not familiar with the How Do Dinosaurs...? series, dinos take the place of children in classic situations, displaying typical child behaviors.
     There are many books in the How do Dinosaurs... series but there is something special about How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?  It might be the fact that I find it calming to read out loud with my son after a difficult day, or the fact that this is the book in the series that my son seems to identify with the most:  "Mami, I do that too...and I'm also cranky in the mornings, just like the dinosaurs."  It's a great book to share with your kids to let them know that as parents, our love is unconditional, and that even when they make mistakes and misbehave, at the end of the day we'll always love them. It also shows that our children might drive us crazy but then they always find a way to show us how much the love us. The illustrations by Mark Teague are wonderful and there is a side lesson on dinosaurs since their scientific name is included on each illustration.

Tell Me the Day Backwards

Tell Me the Day Backwards by Albert Lamb
Illustraded by David McPhail

     "Let's play that game we used to play that summer" says little Timmy Bear to Mama Bear as he gets ready for bedtime.  The game is to retell the day backwards.  Timmy Bear starts going back through all the details of his adventure filled day.   The day ended with a relaxing picnic but soon we find out that Timmy had a scary incident:  Papa Bear had to rescue Timmy Bear from the river.  As he retells the story, always prompted by Mama Bear asking "what happened before that?", we are able to reconstruct the whole day.
     Tell Me the Day Backwards is an exciting and sweet tale that will have you and the kids wanting to play the game yourselves during bedtime.   The watercolor illustrations are beautiful.   The story provides  a great exercise to use in the classroom as well, not only the idea of telling a story backwards, but following the cause and effect pattern throughout the retelling.

My Side of the Car

My Side of the Car by Kate Feiffer
Illustrated by Jules Feiffer
2011

     Sadie has been wanting to go the zoo since forever.  Every time they had plans to go the zoo, something would come up:  her mom tripped over a toy fire engine and they ended up at the hospital,  her dog got lost and they spent the whole day looking for him, and her grandparents showed up unannounced and they went to the museum instead of the zoo.  But not today, nothing was going to stop Sadie and her dad from making it to the zoo.  Sadie sits in the back of the car looking out the passenger side.  "We're finally on our way. We're having the best time ever. Until my dad says to me, 'Sadie, it's raining.'"  The thing is, Sadie looks out her window and it's not raining on her side of the car.  Sadie's father patiently reiterates that it is raining, actually pouring on his side of the window.  He keeps asking her "is it raining on your side of the car yet?"  But out Sadie's window all she sees are people "putting on their sunglasses and heading to zoos all over the world on my side of the car."
     My Side of the Car is perfect.  The rhythm and pace, the spot-on illustrations, the dialogue and humor, the story...all perfect.  This is a book to own and read, and re-read.  The father's sweet and patient disposition and Sadie's positive thinking and imagination are endearing.  The fact that the writer and illustrator are also a daughter and father team, and that it's based on an actual trip to a nature preserve when Kate Feiffer was young, make it even more special.  One to add to my favorites bookshelf.

The Carrot Seed

The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
Illustrated by Crockett Johnson
1945

     If you have been reading my blog, you know that the books I tend to write about are all fairly recent publications, 10 years old at most.  Today is different.  When I was trying to decide what book to blog about, my eyes kept going back to my little board book edition of The Carrot Seed.  As old as this book is, (first edition dates back to 1945) I only read it for the first time two years ago and it's been a family favorite ever since (I grew up abroad, so some of the books that everybody grew up with in the US, I have never read...and vice versa).
     "A little boy planted a carrot seed."  His mom, dad and brother keep tell him that nothing is going to come up, that the seed won't germinate.  But still, the boy tends to the patch were he planted the seed.  He waters it, weeds it and waits, and waits.  Still nothing comes up and his family insists that nothing will ever come up.  But the boy believes and eventually, a carrot came up "just as the little boy had known it would."  He never gave up, even when nobody else believed.  That's perseverance and dedication right there.  Aside from the story, I love the illustrations by Crocket Johnson (of Harold and the Purple Crayon fame).  The drawings all have a kind of sepia, mustard and rust tone to it, except for the carrot tree which comes up shooting straight to the sky with a bright green, and the gigantic carrot the boy is able to harvest which is a bold orange color.
     I will try to include from now on, those classic books that I get to rediscover.

Raising Dragons

Raising Dragons by Jerdine Nolen
Illustrated by Elise Primavera
1998

     Her Pa didn't know anything about raising dragons and neither did her Ma.  "Now me, I knew everything about dragons, and I knew that they were real."  One Sunday, during her before-supper walk, Cupcake finds a large egg inside a cave.  Although her Pa asks her to stay away, and she always minded her parents, she just couldn't resist and went to check the cave day after day, until the egg hatched with a Crack that "was louder than one hundred firecrackers on the Fourth of July", and a dragon poked through the shell. "It was love at first sight." Cupcake named the dragon Hank and soon they became inseparable.  Hank helped around the farm, plowing the fields, tending the crops and even fanning away the heat that was threatening the tomato crops.  When the corn crop seem to get too large for the family to manage, Hank turned it into popcorn using his fire breath and the family was able to sell it for a profit.  Hank earned the love and appreciation of Ma and Pa.  Soon, though, Cupcake knew it was time for Hank to go.  He had grown to be a full size dragon and the farm wasn't right for him anymore.  Cupcake found an Atlas that charted a dragon island and flew there on Hank's shoulders.  She left him there, but not before Hank gave her more dragon eggs to bring back home to raise, just like she had raised him.  "The same way Pa knew that farming was in his blood, I knew that raising dragons was in mine."
     Raising Dragons has a fabulous final sentence: "There are some things you just know."  Although her parents doubt her at first and think that she's imagining things, Cupcake knew deep inside her heart that she was meant to meet a dragon and eventually become in charge of raising dragons.  This is a beautiful tale of friendship and perseverance.  The illustrations are gorgeous, the language has a nice tone and rhythm and the story is very sweet.