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.

A Pet for Petunia

A Pet for Petunia by Paul Schmid
2011
Ages 3-7

     Petunia really, really, wants a pet.  The problem is that she doesn't want any pet, not a regular, classic pet anyway, like a cat or a dog...she wants a skunk.  Why? Because she doesn't just like skunks, she loves them: "they have cute little noses", "big black eyes," they're "black and white and they have STRIPES!"  For Petunia, skunks are "perfectly awesome."   As you can imagine, her parents want nothing to do with Petunia's pet wish.  She can beg and look as cute as she wants, she won't get a skunk. "Why not?" she asks.  "They stink," say her parents.
     After this statement from her parents, Petunia looses it and gives an intense (and hilarious) speech complaining about the unfairness of their negative response.  It really sounds like it's coming out of a five year old's mouth.  The font starts really big and gets progressively smaller as she runs out of steam and decides that she must "naturally" leave home, because "a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do..."  Funny enough, who should Petunia come across while running from home in the forest but a skunk.  "And with a gasp, Petunia smells the worst smell she has ever smelled in her whole entire life."  She runs back home and decides her stuffed animal skunk will be good enough pet for her...until she sees a porcupine.      
     Petunia is adorable.  Her little purple striped outfit matches perfectly with her love for the striped skunk (maybe I'm just glad to see a girl loving purple instead of pink).  The text flows and the changes in font style and size make it a great guide for a read aloud.  I hope to see more of Petunia.
   

Man on the Moon (a day in the life of Bob)

Man on the Moon: (a day in the life of Bob) by Simon Bartran
2002

     Bob gets up everyday at six o'clock, has breakfast and heads to the rocket launchpad to go to work.  Bob works on the moon. He's the moon's custodian, making sure its surface is spotless and ready to be visited by curious tourists everyday.  He gives them guided tours and tells them all about the moon.  "Sometimes people ask him about aliens, and Bob explains patiently that there aren't any."  After all the tourists have left, Bob does a final check and heads back to Earth.
     Okay, so aside from the fact that Bob has a super cool job going to the moon everyday, you can tell by the text that it's a pretty simple premise with deadpan text.  But believe me, this book is a blast.  The magic of Man on the Moon: (a day in the life of Bob) lies in the illustrations.  Simon Bartran wrote it and also illustrated it and made a perfect dialogue between the two: while the text is straightforward and bland, the illustrations are witty, entertaining and hilarious.  While Bob insists there're no aliens anywhere, we can see them everywhere, in every page.  My son was laughing hysterically, finding aliens and making fun of Bob's obliviousness.  Great random library pick (I love when that happens...when a book just seems to call you from the library shelves...pick me!)

Mitchell's License

Mitchell's License by Hallie Durand
Illustrated by Tony Fucile
2011

"Mitchell was three years, nine months, and five days old when he got his license." He never wanted to go to sleep so his dad came up with a master plan: to let Mitchell drive to bed. Mitchell's drivers license allows him to drive his dad all over the house by riding on his shoulders. He checked the car's tires (dad's shoes), the engine (through dad's belly button), the windshield (dad's glasses) and using dad's ears as his steering wheel, they take off running all over the house. Their final destination: Mitchell's bed. And so begins a new routine to be perfected night after night, always culminating with an exhausted dad and a sleepy Mitchell tucked safely in his bed.
Mitchell's License is a blast. Riding on dad's shoulders and pretending that he's a car is full of clever and funny situations. My son loves this book and all the funny images, like when Mitchell drives his father into a wall, or when he takes him to the gas station (the kitchen) to fill up (with chocolate chip cookies). The illustrations by Tony Fucile (who also illustrated Bink and Gollie by Kate diCamilo) are hilarious. This is a great book for fathers and sons to share at bedtime.

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Childhood books

     Today I'm doing something a bit different.  It's my birthday so instead of writing about one picture book, I figure I would make a quick list of the most important books of my childhood (picture books, chapter books and young adult books...basically any book that meant something to me and that I read before high school.  So here it goes in no particular order:

The Adventures of Tintin by Herge

Asterix the Gaul by Gosciny

Frederick by Leo Lionni

Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

The list goes on an on...but many of them I read in Spanish and are sadly out of print so I promise further research to include them later. Happy Birthday to me!

Flossie & the Fox

Flossie and the Fox by Patricia McKissack
Illustrated by Rachel Isadora
1986

     Big Mama asks Flossie, a young girl from Tennesse, to take some eggs to Mix Viola. "Seem like they been trouble by a fox. Miz Viola's chickens be so scared, they can't eve now lay a stone."  Flossie is not quite sure what a fox looks like: "I disremember ever seen one."  Big Mama answers. "Chile, a fox be just a fox."  Flossie heads to the woods with her basket of eggs. She soon runs into the fox, and after polite introductions, she tells the fox she doesn't believe he is who he says; he needs to prove to her that he is indeed a fox.  The fox cannot believe Flossie isn't frightened.  "I aine never seen a fox before.  So why should I be scared of you and I don't even-now know you a real fox for a fact?" Fox tries to prove to Flossie over and over that he is a fox, but she always disproves it, frustrating the fox to no end.  His fur is thick and luxurious, but Flossie says that so is a rabbitt's.  His nose is long, but so is a rat's.  His tail is fluffy and bushy, but so is a squirrel's says Flossie.  Soon, they both find themselves at the entrance to Miz Viola's home, where one of her hounds goes after the fox.  The young girl turns around with a huge grin on her face knowing she has outsmarted the fox.
     Flossie and the Fox is a really fun read.  Its language, full of southern dialect charm, makes it a joy to read aloud.  You can her Flossie and her sing song tone driving the poor fox insane.  The illustrations are beautiful and a perfect complement to the story.  Young readers will fall in love with Flossie right away, and will laugh at fox's attempts to convince Flossie that she should be afraid of him.  Great story to talk about dialects in the classroom.  
   

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach retold by Carmen Agra Deedy
Illustrated by Michael Austin
2008

     My mom hates cockroaches...hates them with a passion.  Growing up in the tropics, you deal with them on a daily basis, even in the most posh environment. That said, I think she might like them for a second if she reads this beautiful retelling of the classic cuban folktale.
     "Martina Josefina Catalina Cucarach was a beautiful cockroach. She lived in a cozy street lamp in Old Havana with her big, lovable family."  She was already 21 days old so she was ready "to give her leg in marriage."  Every woman in her family had something to give her (a seashell comb, a shawl), but nothing compared with her Abuela's gift: she gave her "un consejo increíble, some shocking advice." She told her to spill coffee on her suitor's shoes to help her find a good husband.  "It will make him angry! Then you'll know how he will speak to you when he loses his temper."  As suitors line up to try to convince Martina to pick them as a husband, she follows Abuela's advice and spills coffee on them on purpose.  Each suitor has a different reaction: the rooster screams that he'll teach her better manners when she's his wife; the pig tells her she'll have to clean after him for the rest of her life; the lizard was so mad he practically confesses he just wanted to eat her.  When she's ready to call it a day and head back inside, she notices a little mouse.    His name was Perez and had a voice "warm like honey" and Martina was immediately enamored. Abuela brought out two coffee cups so Martina could try the Coffee Test, and as she was about to spill it on the mouse he did it to her first.  Martina "was too delighted to be angry" and just asked him how he know about the Coffee Test.  "Well, mi amor, my love...I too have a Cuban Grandmother."
     It's impossible not to have a smile on your face while you read this delightful folktale.  The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, so much so, that it even makes cockroaches look stylish.  The drawing of the city and the animals have an Old Havana feeling to them.  This is a wonderful retelling, a real find.