Picture Book Monday with a review of The Crayon: A Colorful Tale about Friendship

Crayons play a big role in the lives of little children. They are used to draw pictures of course, but they are also eaten, they are forgotten in cars and handbags where they melt on hot days, and they are often used to make crafts, sometimes in surprising ways. In today's picture book you are going to meet some crayons who are alive and who, like children, don't always know how to be a good friend.

The Crayon: A Colorful Tale about Friendship

Simon Rickerty

Picture Book

For ages 4 to 6

Simon and Schuster, 2014, 978-1-4814-0475-4

There are two little creatures, one of which is red and one which is blue. Red gets a blue crayon and he scribbles a blue design and asks Blue to look at what he has done. Blue then gets a red crayon and he scribbles a red design saying, “Look Red!” While Blue is busy creating his red artwork, Red scribbles on Blue’s page, on his “side,” and this infuriates Blue. What does Red think he is doing? Red is not supposed to cross over the page to poach on Blue’s territory.

   A dreadful argument breaks out and then something terrible happens, Red’s blue crayon breaks. Blue, seeing how upset Red is, gives him his red crayon. There are smiles all around, but Red is not quite finished with his mischief making.

   Figuring out how to get along with others is not always easy. Learning how to share and to include others is even harder. In this delightfully clever, minimal picture book the author shows his readers how two colorful creatures struggle to get along, and how they learn what it means to be a real friend.

Poetry Friday with a review of Another Day as Emily

When I was first presented with a novel written in blank verse, I was rather surprised. I had never encountered a novel with such a format before. When I began to read the book I was immediately hooked. Since then I have read several novels written in blank verse and my favorites are those written by Eileen Spinelli. I was therefore thrilled when I got her latest creation in the mail and I read the entire book one afternoon in one sitting. It is a delightful story, one that I think readers of all ages will enjoy reading.

Another Day as Emily

Eileen Spinelli

Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

Poetry

For ages 9 to 12

Random House, 2014, 978-0-449-80987-7

The summer vacation has begun and Suzy has so much to look forward to. Among other things there is the Fourth of July, her twelfth birthday (when she is going to go to a ball game), bike rides, and Tween Time at the library. Not to mention time spent with her friends Alison, Mrs. Harden, and Gilbert.

   One morning Suzy’s little brother Parker decides to ride his trike to Mrs. Harden’s house, which he is not allowed to do unless he tells someone first. Which he forgets to do. Normally Parker would get into trouble for doing this, but on this occasion he doesn’t. When he gets to Mrs. Harden’s house he sees that she is lying on the floor and that she is in trouble. Remembering what he learned in safety class, Parker dials 911. Suzy arrives just as Parker is saying “Emergency! Emergency!” into the phone. Suzy holds Mrs. Harden hand until the ambulance arrives and worries about the old lady, who is her “honorary grandmother.”

   Thankfully Mrs. Harden is all right, and Parker becomes a local “little hero.” He is interviewed for the local newspaper, is sent all kinds of gifts, and the mayor invites Parker to be in the mayoral car during the Fourth of July parade. Not surprisingly all this attention goes to Parker’s head. He decides that he is a “big hero” and he becomes rather insufferable.

   Suzy’s summer does not improve after this incident. Instead it gets worse. People, including Suzy’s mother, keep making a fuss over Parker. Gilbert is accused of being a thief even though there is no proof that he stole anything, and when Suzy and Alison audition for parts in a play, Alison gets a part but Suzy doesn’t. On Suzy’s birthday Parker disappears and Suzy’s dad has to cancel their baseball game trip because they have to look for Parker.

   Suzy decides that there is only one thing to do. She is going to stop being Suzy and she is going to start being Emily Dickenson. Suzy has been learning about Emily for her Tween Time people-from-the-1800’s project and she knows enough about the poet that she decides that being a recluse is just what she needs. Suzy gets some white dresses, she refuses to go out or use the phone, and she tries to spend her days doing what Emily Dickenson did. At first the novelty is enjoyable, but then Suzy starts to get lonely.

   Written using a series of blank verse poems, this delightfully sweet, poignant, and gently funny story will give readers a peek into the heart of a twelve-year-old girl. Suzy is starting to grow up and she is struggling to figure out who she is and what she wants. Her quirky personality and kind heart make her easy to identify with, and readers will find themselves hoping that Suzy finds her way.

  

   

Picture Book Monday with a review of Hank Finds an Egg

When I came across today's picture book for the first time I was completely captivated by the photos that fill the pages. There are no words in the book at all, and yet the story is rich and delightful. Readers of all ages will enjoy seeing what Hank does when he finds an egg.

Hank Finds an Egg
Rebecca Dudley
Picture Book
For ages 5 and up
Peter Pauper Press, 2013, 978-1-4413-1158-0
One day Hank is walking in the forest when he finds an egg lying on the ground. He picks up the egg and soon figures out that it must have fallen out of a nest that is resting on a branch in a nearby tree. Hank is determined to do what he can to put the egg back in its nest, but there is a problem; Hank is very small and the nest is high up in the tree.
   Hank rolls a log over to the tree to stand on, but he still cannot reach the nest. Next, he builds a little ladder, but the nest is still too high up. The moon starts to rise and so Hank makes himself a little bed out of leaves and lights a fire. When it is time to sleep, he tucks the egg under the leaves next to him so that is stays warm. Maybe, in the morning, he will figure out how to get the egg back into its nest.
   In this remarkable wordless picture book we meet a little woodland creature whose compassion and determination to do the right thing warms the heart. To tell Hank’s story the author made Hank out of fabric and then photographed him in his woodland world. The photographs are beautiful, and Hank’s loving and generous character shines through.

Poetry Friday with a review of Mammalabilia

Douglas Florian is a master when it comes to writing short, often amusing poems about animals. I have reviewed several of his animal centric poetry books, and so far we have met animals that live in water, dinosaurs, reptiles and amphibians, and in his book Beast Feast we meet a collection of especially bizarre creatures. In today's poetry title he takes us into the lives of mammals.

Mammalabilia

Douglas Florian

Poetry Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004, 978-0152050245

Many of us are able to identify with mammals, perhaps because our pets are usually mammals. They are furry, have four legs, and give birth to live babies. Some of them even look a little like us, and we love to read stories about them.

   In this poetry collection poet and artist, Douglas Florian, introduces us to a wide variety of mammals, pairing clever little poems with his unique artwork. The poems come in many forms. There are rhyming poems, blank verse poems, concrete poems, and some of the poems contain word play elements that readers will find amusing.

   Our mammalian visit begins with the aardvark, which is without a doubt, a very odd animal. They are so odd that the poet believes that “Aardvarks look better / By far in the daark.” He is more complimentary about the ibex which “risk their necks / On scary, airy mountain treks,” and he thinks otters are “quite charismatic.”

   As they explore this book readers will enjoy ‘listening in’ when the poet asks a Bactrian camel a very important question, and they will find out what he thinks of gorillas, porcupines, the elephant, lemurs, and other mammals from around the world.

   This is one in a series of poetry books about animals that Douglas Florian has created.

Picture Book Monday with a review of Puddle Pug

Everyday I read articles online about people who refuse to share what they have, or who refuse to accept someone (or a group of people) who are different. These stories sadden me deeply. Thankfully, there are occasions when these exclusionary situations end and doors are opened. Today's picture book tells the story of a pug who loves mud puddles, and a pig who does not like to share her mud puddle.

Puddle Pug
Kim Norman
Illustrated by Keika Yamaguchi
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 6
Sterling, 2014, 978-1-4549-0436-6
Percy was a pug who loved puddles of all kinds. Any kind of puddle would do, and he loved the puddles he frequented so much that he even went so far as to put them on a map so that he would always be able to find them. Though Percy enjoyed the puddles he visited and though they were nearly perfect, none of them had all the qualities he was looking for. For some reason “something was always missing.”
   Then one day Percy saw a puddle that really was perfect. It was big and brown and deliciously muddy, and when he jumped in he was in pug heaven. Percy had found his “puddle paradise,” but there was a problem. A very large mama pig and her piglets were using the puddle, and the mama pig made it clear that Percy was not welcome. Nothing Percy did made the large pig willing to let the pug join her family in the muddy wallow.
   In this charming picture book children will meet a pug who finds the perfect puddle, only to discover that it is taken by a very unfriendly pig who will not share. Readers will find Percy and his love of puddles hard to resist, and they will be delighted to see what happens as the story unfolds.

Poetry Friday with a review of A pond full of ink

There are quite a few story poems out there that are delightful, though they tend to be rather long. Not that this is a bad thing, but young children often have relatively short attention spans. In today's poetry title readers will find some story poems that a quite short, many of which are deliciously funny.

A pond full of ink
Annie M. G. Schmidt
Illustrated by Sieb Posthuma
Translated by David Colmer
Poetry Picture Book
For ages 6 to 8
Eerdmans, 2014, 978-0-8028-5433-9
Many poems capture a ‘snapshot’ of a moment in time, or describe a place, an emotion, or a person or thing. Then there are poems that tell a story. Annie M. G. Schmidt is the kind of poet who excels at telling stories through poetry, and this collection will introduce readers to a few of her delightful creations.
   The first story poem we encounter is about a writer who writes stories from the moment when the “roosters crow” to the time when the “dinner bell rings.” He is such a prolific writer that he has a pond of ink at the bottom of his garden. A little inkwell simply won’t do for a man who has “made up ten thousand stories already.”
   Then there is the poem called Three Elderly Otters. These venerable gentlemanly creatures have always wanted to go boating, but, alas, they discover that all the boat rental places have signs in their boats that say “FORBIDDEN FOR OTTERS.” Perhaps a train ride would be pleasant, but the same sign is stuck to every window in the train. The otters, not surprisingly, are very discouraged, but there is one form of active entertainment that might work for them.
   Another amusing poem is about some furniture. A table and chair decide to go out for a walk, and since they have legs, this is something that they can do. A sideboard and a bookcase, in spite of all the things they have on their shelves and in drawers, decide to go along with them. However there are some pieces of furniture that cannot make the journey into the great outdoors.
   Throughout this charming volume delightful poems that are threaded through with fun are paired with charmingly original illustrations.

Picture Book Monday with a review of Pig and Small

On very rare occasions we make friends with a person who is just like us. Most of the time our friends have different interests, and different approaches to life, and we have to adapt or compromise if we want the friendship to flourish.

In today's picture book you will meet two animals who are very different and who have unique challenges to overcome.

Pig and Small

Alex Latimer

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Random House UK, 2013, 978-0-552-56543-1

One morning Pig notices that his nose is squeaking. His nose has never squeaked before and though it appears to be working properly, it never stops squeaking. Pig doesn’t find any information about Squeaky Nose Syndrome so he takes a good look at his snout and there, on the end of it, is a bug, and the bug is squeaking. In fact the bug is “waving and squeaking like mad,” which Pig realizes is Bug’s way of asking if Pig will be his friend.

   Pig gets out his tandem bike and the two new friends head for the park. Of course bug’s legs are too short to reach the pedals so Pig ends up doing all the work. When they get to the park Bug decides to thank Pig for the bike ride by giving Pig a cake that he made. Unfortunately, the cake is so small that Pig doesn’t notice or comment on the lovely decorations that Bug put on the cake. Pig just eats it whole in one gulp.

   Pig and Bug try to play chess, but the pieces are too heavy for Bug to move. Bug knits a pair of sweaters, one for himself and one for Pig, but Pig’s sweater is too small for him. Sadly, Pig and Bug realize that they just cannot be friends. They are just too different.

   Sometimes we make friends with people who are a lot like us and our friends almost become an extension of ourselves.  At other times we befriend people with whom we have some things in common, but who are also different from us in big ways.

   This often funny and very sweet picture book explores how two very different animals try to find common ground so that they can be friends. It is not easy, but it can be done.

Poetry Friday with a review of Everything is a poem: The best of J. Patrick Lewis

J. Patrick Lewis is one of my favorite poets. Somehow he is able to create a wide variety of voices in his poems so that each one has a unique tone and flavor. How he is able to do this to such great effect confounds me. Today's review title contains a diverse selection of his poems, and I think anyone who likes poetry will enjoy exploring this book.

Everything is a poem: The best of J. Patrick Lewis

J. Patrick Lewis

Illustrated by Maria Christina Pritelli

Poetry Picture Book

For ages 7 and up

Creative Editions, 2014, 978-1-56846-240-0

J. Patrick Lewis discovered what he calls “word magic” relatively late. He had been teaching college economics for thirty years before he realized that he was in the wrong line of work and he made a radical change, trading in figures for words. After years of struggle, J. Patrick Lewis finally got an acceptance and since then he has written eighty-five picture books and hundreds of poems.

   J. Patrick Lewis wanted to “write poems in a hundred voices” and to “explore everything under and over the sun in as many different ways as it’s possible to write poetry.” He has done both of these things many times over, and this collection of his poetry will give readers a feeling for his skill and his passion for poetry. The collection certainly demonstrates that he has the ability to “help unlock imaginations,” which is another of his goals.

   The poems are divided up into eight categories. These include poems about animals, people, reading, Mother Nature, and places. They come in many forms and do indeed have many different voice and tones. Some will make the reader laugh out loud, while others are more contemplative and will give the reader food for thought. Some tell fictional stories, while others serve as a tribute to a real person who contributed to the world in some way.

   For example in Baby Contralto we read about Marian Anderson who “brushed / Her voice / Across the air / In colors / Not seen / Anywhere.”  We can also read about Miles Davies, Roger Bannister (who broke the four-minute mile), Jesse Owens, and Rosa Parks.

   In the Mother Nature section we can read about a redwood that is six thousand years old. It “waved its arms about the sky / And sang a sea breeze lullaby,” until in 1977, the great tree “bid farewell,” and fell to the forest floor. We also meet a “her-i-cane” called Lorelie, who “twisted around the ocean” but who “never grew / into a proper her-i-cane.”

   Though these poems were written for children, readers of all ages will enjoy dipping into this collection. There is something on these pages for everyone. It would make a perfect gift for anyone who loves the magic that lies in words.   

Picture Book Monday with a review of the Mischievians

Most of the time my household runs smoothly. Occasionally a cat knocks something over, or a dog gets mud all over everything, but generally all is well. There are, however, a few annoying things that happen on a regular basis. Socks keep disappearing in the washing machine. I have no idea why this happens, but I have at least a dozen sock orphans in my closet that are waiting to be reunited with their twin. Then there is the fur problem. There is no way my pets shed that much fur. Every week I vacuum up enough fur to cover at least twenty large animals. Where does the extra fur come from?

If you have problems like these in your home, then you MUST read the book reviewed below.

The Mischievians
William Joyce
Picture Book
For ages 7 to 9
Simon and Schuster, 2013, 978-1-4424-7347-8
Two children are standing in their yard preparing to send a balloon, one with a message tied to it, up into the air. The message is a plea for help. The children need help because the scissors, car keys, TV remote, one sock, and their completed homework have all gone missing and their parents think that they are to blame.
   The balloon is just drifting up into the sky when the ground literally opens up beneath the two children’s feet. They are sucked down a tube and find themselves in a laboratory. A man there says that he is Dr. Zooper, and he tells the children that the problems that they have been experiencing are due to the “pesky creatures called Mischievians.” He points to a book and tells them that all the questions that they have are answered in the volume. The book was written by Dr. Zooper and it is an “encyclopedia of things that make mischief, make mayhem, make noise, and make you CRAZY!”
   The children begin by asking why their homework, their completed homework, so often disappears either at home or at school. It turns out that a little creature called a Homework Eater is responsible for these puzzling disappearances. Apparently, Homework Eaters are not eating homework to be mean. They are doing so because when they do eat homework they get smarter and they “love knowledge.” They love knowledge so much that they have even learned how to steal homework from computers.
   The children then go on to learn that Mischievians are also responsible for belly lint, blisters, sticky fingers, bad smells, itches in unreachable places, funny bone injuries, missing socks, yawns, and so many other things that are annoying and frustrating. Intriguing questions are answered and the children are not only enlightened by their visit to the doctor’s lab, they are also invited to help Dr. Zooper with his research.
   In this amusing picture book William Joyce’s wonderful illustrations are accompanied by a text that will appeal to anyone who has experienced one or more of the many things that Mischievians are responsible for. Problems that have, for so long, been a mystery will finally be explained, and readers might even be tempted to identify some new Mischievian species.

Poetry Friday with a review of S is for Sea Glass

I love living in my valley with its beautiful mountains and snow-fed streams, but I do miss spending days at the beach. If you go to the coast here in Oregon you better wear warm clothing because it is cold there for much of the year. Only crazy people swim and surf in the frigid Pacific waters on our coastline. I may be somewhat crazy, but I am not that crazy.

Today's poetry title takes us to sunny sands where we build sandcastles, eat ice cream, and throw sticks for dogs to retrieve. Now if only I could find a way to jump into the pages.

S is for Sea Glass: A Beach Alphabet

Richard Michelson

Illustrated by Doris Ettlinger

Nonfiction Picture Book

For ages 6 to 9

Sleeping Bear Press, 2014, 978-1-58536-862-4

For people who don’t live near the sea or ocean, going to the beach in the summer is often a delightful treat. There are so many things to do and to see. There are so many adventures waiting to be found. For some, creating a sand angel is the perfect way to start a seaside visit. All one has to do is to lie down on the sand and then open and close ones arms and legs as if one is “opening and closing a fairy-tale gate.”
   Of course a sojourn at the seaside would not be complete if one did not build a sandcastle. The more elaborate it is “with turrets and towers,” and perhaps with “parapets, arrow slits, keeps, and a moat,” the better. Kite flying is also a popular thing to do. At least with a kite you can be sure to have a “bite,” which cannot be said for fishing.  

   Humans are not the only ones who enjoy a vacation at the beach. Dogs also love to roll in the sand, “Dive into the surf,” sniff at everything and anything, fetch sticks, and run here, there, and everywhere.

   For every letter of the alphabet this book’s author gives his readers a poem that focuses on something that is associated with being at the beach. Each poem has its own flavor and voice, so readers find something new and different on every page. Some of the poems are amusing, while others are more contemplative. In the book there is blank verse, rhyming verse, haiku, and many other poetry forms to explore. Throughout the book the poems are paired with wonderful illustrations, all of which complement the poetry beautifully.