Isabella Girl on the Go

Isabella Girl on the Go by Jennifer Fosberry
Illustrated by Mike Litwin
Published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
2012

     Isabella, the same creative and adventurous girl from My Name is Not Isabella, is back.  This time around Isabella is spending the day in her backyard with her father. She imagines herself as an archaeologist, a queen, an artist, a warrior, and even an astronomer. Along the way, she takes readers on a beautiful journey to some of the most renowned  world monuments and places: the pyramids of Giza, the Eiffel Tower, Chichen Izta, the Great Wall of China, and the Taj Mahal, among others.
     Her father keeps asking her to help around the backyard, but Isabella has bigger plans and an imagination to take her there.  The illustrations by Litwin are wonderful. There are wonderful details to captivate readers in each page, like the buttons that make Isabella's stuff animal eyes and that reappear throughout the illustrations. Or you can try to figure out where did Isabella get her inspirations for each journey (like the  tomato plant that turns into the Eiffel Tower or the wooden fence that becomes the Great Wall). At the back of the book, there is a description of all the places Isabella visited as well as a list of resources to learn more about them.  Great book to share with all the girls in your life!

When Giants Come to Play

When Giants Come to Play by Andrea Beaty
Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Published by Harry N. Abrams
2006

     I dare you to open up When Giants Come to Play, read the first lines and look at the gorgeous illustrations by Hawkes and not fall immediately in love with this book! I know I did.

Sometimes, on a summer morning, when the sun shines just so and the wind blows like this and like that on its way to somewhere else, giants come to play. 

     They come to play with Ana and they do all kinds of things together. The play hide and seek, marbles, catch and even jump rope. "On mild days, they gather flowers in the garden," and enjoy a cup of mint tea and chocolate cake.  Those days when the giants come to play, leave Ana wishing they would just decide to stay.
     When Giants Come to Play is gorgeous.  Andrea Beaty has written a beautiful lyrical prose, that sings to the joys of friendship and imagination.  Hawkes illustrations are captivating, and will make you wish his two giants would come to visit you as well.  One of my favorite illustrations accompanies this text:  "When giants come to play, they dangle their toes in the cool shady pond and whisper secrets until their shadows grow long and sleepy."  Great read loud.

The Skywriter

The Skywriter by Dennis Haseley
Illustrated by Dennis Nolan
Published by Roaring Book Press
2008

     "Charles was kneeling by the dollhouse. He was talking to the figures, and they were talking back. He was just a little boy then."  Charles would play with his three figurines: the airplane man, the soldier, and the baker.  They would talk about flying on a plane, writing letters in the sky and visiting far-off lands.
     As the years go by, Charles gets older and can't hear the figures talk anymore. One day, while he's cleaning his play room to prepare it for a new baby brother, he finds the figures again. He packs all his old toys in a box to be thrown out.  That night, he goes back to the toys and though he can't hear them, he plays with them. He thought it was all a bit silly, but before he goes back to bed, he grabbed some chalk and on a scrap of paper he wrote "Here we go!", the same words that the airplane man would say he wanted to write in the sky.  After he leaves, the toys come out of the playhouse and see the words written in their sky.  The next morning, Charles runs to the curb and rescues the three figures before the garbage truck gets there.
     The Skywriter is a heartfelt story about growing up. I couldn't help thinking about Toy Story as I read the book.  The illustrations by Nolan are amazing. I especially loved the contrast of the lifelike images of Charles and his sister and brother, and the image of the figures coming alive.

The Amazing Adventures of Bumblebee Boy

The Amazing Adventures of Bumblebee Boy by Jacky Davis
Illustrated by David Soman
Published by Dial Books for Young Readers
2011

     Sam, aka Bumblebee Boy, is  ready for all sorts of adventures at home. He has pirates to defeat, fire dragons to capture, and Giganto the Giant Saber-Toothed Lion to tame.  And he wants to do it all alone because "Bumblebee Boy wants to fly alone!" The problem is that his little bother Owen wants to be just like Sam, he wants to be a "soup hero too."  Will Bumblebee Boy let Owen join in and become his sidekick?
     Bumblebee Boy, a character introduced in the popular series Ladybug Girl, stars in his own adventure.  The funny thing is that for me, the star of the book is Owen, the little brother.  His persistence throughout the story, adding layers to his costume to become a "soup hero" like his older brother, is endearing and will bring a smile to the face of every reader.  I especially enjoyed the details of his cape being made from the classic blanket newborns get at the hospital.  The Amazing Adventures of Bumblebee Boy turns out to be a delightful story of the power of imagination and sibling relationships. Great read aloud.     

Pigaroons

Pigaroons by Arthur Geisert
Illustrated by Arthur Geisert
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company
2004

     The Pigaroons are the descendants of Spanish pirates, and like their forefathers they love to steal things.  On the other side of the river, lived the River Patrollers, honest, hardworking, and champions of the yearly ice sculpture contest.  Every year, the River Patrollers would cut out a large block of crystal clear ice from their pond to carve the sculpture for the festival.  But this year, their ice block was stolen overnight by, who else, but the Pigaroons!
     The Pigaroons are good ice sculptures themselves and they create a magnificent carving of Hernando de Soto, the famous Spanish explorer. They are sure they will win the first prize this time.  But on the other side of the river, the River Patrollers are coming up with a very ingenious plan to make sure the Pigaroons don't get away with their crime.
     Arthur Geisert brilliant etchings will captivate readers of all ages who will savour the details that complement the text so perfectly.  Like all his books, Pigaroons is a celebration of ingenuity and creativity. If you haven't seen any of his books, you are seriously missing out!  He's a genius!

Jeremy Draws a Monster

Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty
Illustrated by Peter McCarty
Published by Henry Holt and Company
2009

     Jeremy lived on the top floor of an apartment building. From his window he could see kids playing outside, but Jeremy never joined them. He never left his apartment and never went outside. One day Jeremy took "his fancy pen" and drew a large blue monster. Immediately the monster starting making all kinds of demands: "draw me sandwich", "a toaster", "a checkerboard," "a comfortable chair." He never asked nicely, he never said thank you.  Jeremy got tired of the monster so he finally drew him a one way bus ticket and a suitcase, and to make sure he didn't miss the bus (and never come back), Jeremy walked him outside all the way to the bus stop.  While he was outside, the other kids saw him and asked him to join them and play. And he did.
     Jeremy Draws a Monster is beautifully illustrated by Peter McCarty with ink and watercolors.  Each page has a large white background which allows the characters to really pop, especially the large blue monster.  The story is humorous and entertaining and at its core it shows the power of imagination triumphant over the monster: Jeremy's imagination brought out the monster, and while it ended up causing him trouble, Jeremy held onto the power with his wit and creativity (loved the "one way ticket" solutions).  Delightful read aloud!

The Heart and the Bottle

The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers
Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
Published by Philomel Books
2010

     "Once there was a girl, much like any other whose head was filled with all the curiosities of the world." Her grandfather would sit in his armchair and read to the girl, opening to her a world of wonder, inspiring her imagination and creativity.  "Until the day she found and empty chair." With her grandfather's passing the little girl found that the only way to protect her heart from pain was to put it in a safe place. "So, she put it in a bottle and hung it around her neck." While that helped the sorrow at first, she soon began to forget about the curiosities and wonders of the world. She grew up.  And then she met someone younger who was still curious about the world and she felt it was time to take her heart out of the bottle.
     The Heart and the Bottle is painfully beautiful.  As I read it the first time I immediately choked up and had to go back and read it a second time to absorb all its gorgeous imaginary and illustrations.  The way Jeffers showed the girls imagination is just magical.  We see her laying in the grass next to her grandfather, whose dialogue bubble shows a picture of a constellation, while hers shows her seeing the sky as a bumble bee on fire.  And then there's the heartbreaking image of her drawing on paper a bunch of doodles and, as she runs to show her grandfather, we see that in her head the picture is of her with a whale...and that when we turn the page to find the empty chair where grandpa used to sit.  The thing about The Heart and the Bottle is that it feels like it's more for us the adults than for children; to reminds us to keep the inner child alive. The illustrations will entertain the young readers though, even if they don't quite "get it". Such a beautiful book!

When a Dragon Moves In

When a Dragon Moves In by Jodi Moore
Illustrated by Howard McWilliam
2011

     A boy is enjoying a beautiful sunny day at the beach.  With his swimming trunks on, wearing a towel as a cape, and with pail and bucket in hand, he builds a large sandcastle.  "If you build a perfect sandcastle, a dragon will move in." The boy and his imaginary dragon have a wonderful day at the beach: swimming, flying kites and roasting marshmallows.  He tries to convince his family that the dragon is real by showing them a feather from his wing (a seagull feather) and one of his sharp teeth (a broken shell), but they don't believe him.  When he starts getting in trouble for eating all the food (because the dragon was hungry) and for spraying his sister with sand (because she says there is no such thing as a dragon), the boy gets scolded by his parents: "I think we've had enough of this dragon business." The boy destroys his sandcastle and orders his dragon to leave.  There is always tomorrow to build a new perfect castle.
     When a Dragon Moves In is a fun read aloud.  It follows the familiar structure of "if you...then."  I've used this type of book in my classroom and had students create their own "if, then" picture books and they have a blast.  The Illustrations by McWilliam are wonderful (I loved his work on the delightful I Need My Monster).  Kids will enjoy the dragon's antics and the boy's imaginative play.

My Bear Griz

My Bear Griz by Suzanne McGinness

2011

     "My name is Billy and I love bears."  Billy named his bear Griz because he is, of course, a Grizlly Bear.  Together they explore the world, eat peanut-butter-and-honey-sandwiches (much better than PB&J, if you ask me), play hide-and-seek (Billy usually wins that one) and look at the stars.  Griz is great to cuddle up to when you need to take a nap and he's also a great listener, so Billy can tell him all his secrets (like the fact that he's afraid of the dark).  Griz and Billy are best friends. Is Griz a real Grizzly Bear?
     My Bear Griz is a sweet tale of friendship perfect for children 2-6 years old.  The illustrations by McGinness are striking.  There is a great contrast between the size of Griz and the size of the boy, which makes the large bear take over most of the pages.  The illustrations are mixed-media with pen, ink, watercolors, collage (Billy's crow is made out of newspaper cut outs), and digital aplications (imitating a child's handwriting).  There is a mix of text and dialogue bubbles ("handwritten" by Billy) which add interesting details to share during the reading.  My Bear Griz is about creative play and friendship. The final twist in the story, will capture the affections of young readers.  

That's How!

That's How! by Christoph Nieman
2011

     Around ten years ago I was in Spain visiting relatives, and one of my uncles gave us a tour of his town.  Everywhere we went he had a great story to tell about the place and its history.  At one point I turned around and asked my cousin how his father knew so much about the town and he said to me in Spanish: "He knows a bit, and what he doesn't know, he makes up."  I've thought about that quote many times since, especially when my four year old goes around asking his favorite questions: why? and how does that work?  And today, I found the perfect picture book to go along with the "how does that work?" question.
     In That's How! a girl is always asking a boy how do different things work.  The boy always replies "Hmm...let me think." And in the next page we see him come up with a very imaginative answer to the question and saying "that's how!"  Always getting a "Wow!' in return from the girl.   So, how does an airplane work? Well, according to the boy the plane is filled with chickens furiously flapping their wings. And a train? A monkey is making soup and three other monkeys are running on a conveyor belt trying to reach the pot.  And my favorite, how does a digger work?  There is a pink rabbit inside holding a long alligator whose jaws do all the digging. 
     That's How is a blast.  It will have kids rolling at the crazy explanations the boy comes up with and will get their imaginations going with other explanations they can come up with themselves.  As for me, when my boy asks me how something works and I don't know, I'm using the rabbit-alligator explanation.   

Red Wagon

Red Wagon by Renata Liwska

2011

     Lucy, a young fox, just got a brand-new red wagon and she's dying to play with it.  Her mother tells her that she can take the wagon to the market to do some grocery shopping.  Lucy is less than thrilled with the idea of running errands with the wagon instead of playing with it, but she goes anyway.  She has treacherous trip to the market, with rain, crashes, spills, and repairs. And at the end of trip, she's exhausted and finally free to play with her wagon. Unfortunately, she's so tired she cuddles up with a book inside her wagon and falls asleep.

     The magic of Red Wagon lies in the way Liwska's beautiful illustrations (she also illustrated the gorgeous The Quiet Book) complement and add to the story.  While the text seems to tell a straight forward tale of Lucy's journey to the market and back, the illustrations show the imaginative world of Lucy and her friends.  When the rain starts coming down hard, the illustrations show Lucy and her friends riding the wagon, which has turned into a boat, sailing over huge waves and encountering pirates.  During the long walk to the market, we see the little red wagon turn into a gold rush covered wagon, a circus trailer, a train, and even a rocket ship.  There is a great contrast between the simple text and the detailed illustrations that portrait Lucy's playful imagination.  Red Wagon is beautiful and will appeal to young ones that delight in imaginative play.   

A Few Blocks

A Few Blocks by Cybele Young
2011

     It's time for Viola and her younger brother Ferdie to head out to school.  Ferdie doesn't feel like going, "not now, maybe never."  So Viola grabs his coat and says, "Ferdie, look! I found your superfast cape! Quick -put on your rocket-blaster boots and we'll take off!"  And so their journey towards school begins, imagining they are speeding faster than a jet through the city.  Anytime Ferdie gets tired and stops walking, Viola uses her imagination to keep her brother going.  Until Viola needs some help of her own.
     A Few Blocks is a very memorable book.  Cybele Young illustrations are stunning. She uses 3-D paper sculptures to create the world imagined by the two children.  The sculptures are made with paper cut outs of urban images of the children's neighborhood.  It's an amazing thing to see -which of course adds to the fantasy of the text itself.  Viola's love and patience for her brother makes it also a very tender story.  I love this book.  
   

My Rhinoceros

My Rhinoceros by Jon Agee

2011

      There are many exotic pets out there. But one you don't expect a kid to buy is a rhinoceros.  As he himself said, "I didn't really know what I was getting into."  His rhino was quiet and shy, and mostly kept to himself.  The biggest problem was that it just didn't do the things you would want your pet to do: it didn't fetch or rollover. "He didn't do anything [...] Maybe he was a clunker. Maybe I should have bought a hippopotamus instead."  A lady told him that rhinoceros only do two things: pop balloons and poke hole in kites.  So, when a couple of robbers were getting away from a bank heist, one in a balloon and another in a kite, the rhinoceros sprung into action.  Who would have thought a rhinoceros could do so much?   

     My Rhinoceros is a delightful read aloud full of humor and wonder.  Agee's timeless illustrations are wonderful as usual.  This quirky tale will awaken children's imaginations who will surely ask for more than one reading.   

     

Other books by Jon Agee on this blog:

The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau

Milo's Hat Trick

The Retired Kid

Magic Box

Magic Box by Katie Cleminson
2009

Eva received a special box for her birthday. She jumped inside and when she came out she had become a master magician. Her first trick was to wish for a pet named Monty. Monty turns out to be a rather large polar bear. Next she pulls rabbits out of hats, makes things float, and throws herself a huge party with delicious food and an animal band. There's tons of dancing and, "when everyone had danced their socks off, Eva shut her eyes, clicked her fingers...and everything vanished..." Not quite.
Magic Box's illustrations are the stars of this picture book. They have a classic feeling to them with thick black outlines and coal shadows over clean white backgrounds that contrast with splashes of paint in bright colors. It's a book full of joy with an enchanting character. The picture of Eva clicking her fingers in her final act of magic is just gorgeous, and the page with Monty the polar bear dancing with Eva just makes me smile. Sweet.

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon
Illustrated by Jake Parker
2011

     Awesome Man can fly, shoot positronic rays out of his eyes, smash all sorts of things, and has a trademark Awesome Power Grip.  He's "just basically awesome."  As with most super heroes, he has a secret identity which he uses to sneak up on unsuspecting enemies like Professor Von Evil.  When his enemies are able to get away, Awesome Man gets really angry (he might even kick a building down when that happens) and the one thing he can do to calm down is to sit on his Awesome bed and give himself a "ginormous Awesome Power Grip."  After a busy day defeating his nemesis, nothing makes Awesome Man happier than heading back to the Fortress of Awesome, and enjoying one of his mom's home cooked meals.  "I'm so happy to see her, I throw a power grip around her, too."
     Awesome Man will capture the imagination of super hero obsessed boys.  Awesome Man sounds like them, gets angry like them...it's them.  There are many clues along the way for readers to figure out that Awesome Man is really just a boy: there's the language he uses, but also a point when we can see him as a boy hiding from Professor Von Evil (though the illustrations cleverly make it look as if it is an grown man), or when he's defeating Flaming Eyeball and his shadow is a kid's shadow (there's a nice detail later on when the boy walks into his mother's kitchen and his shadow is now Awesome Man's).   The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man is a great book for super hero fans.

My Garden

My Garden by Kevin Henkes
2010

     A girl helps her mother in the garden.  She waters the plants, takes out the weeds, and chases away the rabbits.  And that's fine, but if she had her own garden, things would be quite different: flowers would keep blooming, change colors, and never die. "And if you picked a flower, another one would grow right back in its place." The rabbits would be chocolate and if you planted seashells or jelly beans, they would actually grow.
     My Garden is a great read aloud.  Children and students will daydream about the endless possibilities of what they could do/grow in their own magical gardens (cool writing prompt for the classroom).  The illustrations by Henkes are vibrant and there is something dreamlike about the navy outlines and the pastel colors.  I particularly loved the final images when the girl goes out to her mother's garden at night and actually plants a seashell, which as we look at the last page, it has begun to grow roots. Just beautiful!

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg
1984

     The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is a very special book.  Chris Van Allsburg, author of classic books like The Polar Express, Zathura and Jumanji, opens The Mysteries of Harris Burdkick with a long introdution.  In it he explains that the fourteen pictures we're about to see inside the book belong to Harris Burdick.  Harris Burdick brought the paintings to a children's book publisher explaining that each painting belonged to a different story and that if the publisher was interested in more, he would bring the stories the following day.  But he never came back and he was never heard from again.  And that's the mystery. Are those seemingly unconnected pictures Burdick's? or is Van Allsburg telling a story?
     The pictures are all in black and white and each one is accompanied by a title and a caption.  For example, the text "A Strange Day in July: He threw with all his might, but the third stone came skipping back" accompanies a gorgeous picture of a boy and a girl standing by a lake shore with the boy holding a pebble in his hand.  Each picture is a wonderful launching pad for our imagination.  This is a fantastic book to use in the creative writing classroom.  In fact, there is a special edition (The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (Portfolio Edition)) which offers loose pages of each "prompt" and picture which can be displayed around the classroom.  At home, you can spend hours coming up with different stories for each image.  This is a book you have to own.

The Secret River

The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Illustrated by Leo & Dian Dillon
2011

     Calpurnia lived in a dark forest in Florida. Calpurnia was her name "because she was born to be a poet."  Her dog's name was Buggy-horse, because he had an enormous stomach that made his back dip in the middle, "just like an old buggy horse."  Calpurnia loved poetry and everyday she would find inspiration in nature's little things, like the two birds singing outside her window, or the sun shining, or the oranges on the trees.

Lovely day,

come what may.

If I did not love

my mother 

and my father

I would run away.

Because it is a running-away

kind of day.

On that lovely day, Calpurnia finds out that the times are hard around the forest.  Her father makes his money selling fish at the market, but now there are no fish to catch. "I shall have to close my fish market, and things will go hard with all of us."  Calpurnia knows she must do something to help her family so she decides to go fishing herself.  Wondering what a fish would like to bite on, she decides to make some pink paper roses to use as bait.  On her way to the river she drops by Mother Albirtha's house, the wisest person in the forest.  Mother Albirtha tells her about the secret river; nobody knows where it is but "you will know the river when you see it. Just follow your nose."
     Calpurnia didn't know exactly what "follow you nose" meant, but she let nature guide her.  She saw a bunny and followed it, then a blue jay and then, there she was, in front of a river.  She sat by the cypress trees on its shore and stared at the river which was "singing as it ran by." The river was full of fish and Calpurnia asked them if they minded it if she caught some of them to save the forest from hard times.  She hopped on a boat tied to the bank and used her pink paper roses to catch as many fish as she could fit on the boat.  On her way back home she shares her fish with the animals she encounters (owl, bear, panther):

If somebody scares you, the thing to do

is give somebody something to do.

Then they never bother you.

Sometimes they say "thank you."

     Calpurnia stopped by Mother Albirtha to thank her for all her help and give her some fish.  And then she made it home exhausted.  The next day her father took the fish to the market and the hard times became "soft times."
    Calpurnia tried to find the secret river again but she was unable.  Mother Albirtha explained to her that she found the river when it was truly needed and said: "You can go there any time you want to. In your mind. Close your eyes, and you will see it."
     The Secret River won the Newbery Honor in 1956.  It's a beautiful tale of magic, imagination and perseverance.  It's text is lyrical and full of gorgeous imagery. Calpurnia's little poems add a cadence of the time and place.  This new edition with illustrations by Leo and Diane Dillon is stunning.  The book begs to be shared out loud in the higher elementary grades. Wonderful!
 

Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat

Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat by Philip C. Stead
2011

     Jonathan loved the Big Blue Boat harbored at the wharf.  He would take his teddy bear, Frederick, and hold him up high so he could also see the boat.  They would stay at the wharf like that until sunset.  But one day, Frederick was gone. Jonathan's parents told him he was too big for stuffed animals so they had traded Frederick for a toaster, because "toasters are really useful."  "That day Jonathan walked to the old wharf alone."  He decided he had to find Frederick, wherever he was, so he embarked on the adventure of a lifetime as the only passenger and captain of the Big Blue Boat.  Along the way, he collects an interesting cast of passengers: a mountain goat (who helps him when the boat gets stuck on a mountaintop), a retired  circus elephant (because he could use an experienced traveler), and a whale (who helps them when they are about to sink). They even fight off pirates!  The Big Blue Boat and its crew reach a shore where they find an open shop attended by a girl who's holding in her arms none other but Frederick.  She tells them that Frederick is now her best friend and she wouldn't go anywhere without him.  "Jonathan smiled. After all, a big boat needs a big crew."
     Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat is a gorgeous book.  Jonathan's imaginative adventure in search of Frederick will delight young readers and Stead's beautiful illustrations on top of collages offer details for everybody to marvel over.

The World Champion of Staying Awake

The World Champion of Staying Awake by Sean Taylor
Illustrated by Jimmy Liao
2011

     It's little Stella's time to go to sleep, but her three stuffed animals are wide awake.  There's Cherry Pig, Thunderbolt the mouse, and Beanbag Frog and they all want to be the World Champion of Staying Awake.  Stella's rich imagination helps her tire them out one by one. She first makes them ride on her pillow and imagine they are sailing on a boat:

The pillow ship rocks

the pillow ship sways

the pillow ship sails 

across the waves

     The adventure on the boat is just what Cherry Pig needed to get tired and fall asleep. One down, two to go.  Next, Stella puts mouse and frog inside a shoe box and imagines they are on a train:

And as it chugs

and clatters and steams,

the train will carry you 

into your dreams...

     Thunderbolt Mouse is now exhausted and becomes the "world champion...of going to sleep."  And now that leaves Beanbag Frog. So Stella puts him on a basket and imagines he's flying on a hot air balloon:

The starship balloon

flies off and away

leaving behind 

the last of today

    Beanbag Frog is finally out. "Not a croak. Not a bounce. Not a hoppety-hop."  Stella carries them all to her bed, tucks them in, and might have become the world champion of staying awake...but she falls asleep as soon as her head touches her pillow.
     The World Champion of Staying Awake is a sweet bedtime story that combines prose and poetry.  The illustrations are beautiful and the main character, Stella, is creative and charming.  Wonderful book to include amongst bedtime favorites.