Welcome Autumn!

Autumn is finally here and I am really looking forward to cooler temperatures, colorful trees, sitting by the fire on Sundays, and getting out my knitting needles and yarn. Mind you, yesterday it was eighty degrees here in southern Oregon, which made the day feel more like summer than autumn, but one can hope that this situation will change soon.

Over the years I have reviewed many books about autumn. Some are stories, while others are nonfiction titles about this wonderful season. Do visit the Through the Looking Glass Autumn Days Book Collection page to find books that have a delightful autumn flavor.

Picture Book Monday with a review of Rufus the Writer

The amazing thing about writing stories is that the writing process ends up being a gift to the person who creates the story, and the story itself is a gift to those who read it. In today's picture book you will meet a boy who loves to write stories, and who happily gives his stories away to the people he cares about.

Rufus the Writer

Elizabeth Bram

Illustrated by Chuck Groenink

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Random House, 2015, 978-0-385-37853-6

One day Rufus is lying in the grass looking up at the summer sky when he gets an idea. Instead of having the usual summer lemonade stand he will have a story stand. Rufus runs indoors to gather up what he needs, and he sets up a table outdoors, which he covers with a cloth. He makes a sign for his story stand and lays out paper, pencils, and colors. Rufus then goes and changes his clothes. After all, a writer has to look the part!

   Millie and Walter come by and they invite Rufus to go swimming with them. He explains that he has to take care of his story stand. Walter asks to buy a story and when he asks what the fee will be Rufus tells the little boy to bring him “a special shell from the beach.” After his friends leave, Rufus writes his fist story stand tale, one that will be perfect just for Walter.

   Rufus is working on illustrating his first story when his friend Sandy comes up with some wonderful news. His cat Rainbow has had kittens. Rufus offers to write a story for Sandy so that he can buy one of the kittens. Sandy says that Rufus can have the kitten for free, but Rufus still insists on writing a story in payment, and this is what he does. He writes a story all about a man who discovers that cats are far more important that things.

   The next story Rufus works on is for his sister Annie, who is going to be having her birthday the next day. A story will be a perfect gift; a personal gift unlike any other.

   In this charming picture book we meet a boy who understands how precious stories are. We watch as he carefully crafts tales that will suit the people he is writing them for. Children will enjoy seeing how Rufus’ stories are unique, and how each one has its own flavor, voice and illustrative style.

Poetry Friday with a review of Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems

Getting used to a new school can be very unnerving. I remember how I felt when I moved from my familiar elementary school to the big high school. I was suddenly in school with much older youngsters (the seventeen and eighteen year olds were huge). I had to figure out how to get to many different classrooms, I had more homework, and I had to get used to being with children I did not know at all.

Today's poetry title explores what just such a transition is like for a girl who is going to middle school for the first time. The poems take us through her first middle school year and we share the may low and high points that she experiences.

Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems

Kristine O’Connell George

Illustrated by Debbie Tilley

Poetry

For ages 9 to 12

Clarion, 2002, 978-0618152506

It is September again and a new school year at a new school has begun. For some it is time full of dread, and for others it is a time that they have been looking forward to. Before the first bell rings, a girl sees friends whom she knew when she was in elementary school. Some look the same, and some have changed over the summer. Then the bell rings and “everyone scatters, / each of us going / our separate ways.”

    Now the confusion begins. A locker won’t open, she gets lost, she is late because she is lost, and by the time she finds her homeroom all she wants to do is to hide in “the last row.” Then, when the bell rings again, the confusion starts all over as she swims “upstream” against the flow of students to get to her next class. As the crazy day unfolds, even the inside of the girl’s locker start to look comfortingly cozy. At least the locker is “a space all my own.”

   At lunchtime she has no idea where to sit. Her friends from last year have changed and now there all these new people that she has to deal with, people she doesn’t know at all. She sees Margo, but Margo doesn’t see her and soon is gone. Then she sees Kori, the friend from second grade who moved away but who is now back. A familiar face at last!

   Middle school is different from elementary school on so many levels. Not only is it bigger, louder, and very confusing, but she is soon loaded down with homework, textbooks, and a musical instrument.

   As the days go by, some things, like math, friends, and books from the library, make her days brighter and better. Other things, like the flute that refuses to play properly, the gossips, and the snobs, make the days worse. Middle school is a very yes and no, good and bad, sort of place.

   Using a series of wonderful, relatively short, poems, the author of this book takes us into the world of a new middle school student. We follow as she falls for a boy, takes and aces tests, learns phrases in French and Spanish from her friends, and learns how to find her way around what, at first, is a very alien environment. With humor, candor and sensitivity, the author gives us slices of a year in the girl’s life, and we are left knowing that though there were hard times, she comes out of it stronger and happier than she went in. 

Picture Book Monday with a review of Boom Snot Twitty: This way that way

When a group of friends get together to plan an outing of some kind it can, sometimes, be very hard to get those friends to agree on what they are going to do. One person wants to go shopping, another wants to go to a museum, yet another thinks that they should go for a hike. Today's picture book shows us what happens when two friends cannot agree about how to spend their day. Readers will be delighted when they see how this story works out.

Boom Snot Twitty: This way that way
Doreen Cronin
Illustrated by Renata Liwska
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 6
Penguin Random House, 2015, 978-0-670-78577-3
Boom the bear, Twitty the robin, and Snot the snail are all ready “to find the perfect spot to spend the day.” Boom is ready to set off “this way,” Twitty wants to go “that way,” and Snot, well Snot doesn’t say anything other than “Hmmm.”
   Boom says that he has got everything he needs to spend the day playing on the sand and in the water at the beach. Twitty has brought her hiking boots, binoculars, camera and rope so that she can go hiking in the mountains. Snot has brought snacks.
   Snot asks her friends what they want to do when they get to their perfect places and Boom and Twitty tell her. Then Boom and Twitty start to argue until Boom is hungry and Twitty is tired. It is only then that the friends, for friends they are even when they are not agreeing with each other, realize that Snot is missing.
   This sweetly funny book reminds children that even if your friends are not exactly like you, you can, if you make the effort, find common ground so that everyone is happy. After all, what you do when you are together does not really matter that much. What matters is that you are together, in each other’s company. Children will love the way in which Snot, the quiet one, is the friend who makes the right choice about where the perfect place is.

Poetry Friday with a review of Poems in the Attic

When I was a child my Aunt D used to tell me stories about the childhood that she and my father shared in India. I love those stories because they helped me better understand who my father was and why he grew up to become such a thoughtful, bookish man who was fascinated by people.

In today's poetry title you will meet a little girl who gets to know her mother better by reading a collection of poems that her mother wrote when she was a child. The litter girl finds out about the adventures that her mother, had and about the challenges that she faced. The free verse and Japanese tanka poems that cover the pages in this book give readers the opportunity to shift between the child of the present and the child of the past.

Poems in the Attic

Nikki Grimes

Illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon

Poetry Picture Book

For ages

Lee and Low, 2015, 978-1-62014-027-7

One day a seven-year-old girl goes into the attic in her grandmother’s house to explore. She finds a cedar box full of poems that her mother wrote when she was seven years old. As the daughter of a military man, Mama moved around a lot, and she had many memorable experiences. Now her daughter can read about these experiences in her mother’s poems.

   She reads about how her mama, when she lived in California, went to the beach with her father to see the Grunion Run. Together Mama and her father saw “slim fish, silver as new dimes” wriggling onto the beach where they laid their eggs.

   She reads about how Mama and Grandma made paper bag luminaries when they lived in Mexico, and how they used the bags, with their “scalloped” tops and happy painted faces, to decorate the path leading up to their adobe home. Grandma even teaches the little girl the “kind of magic she and Mama used to make / every December, in New Mexico.” Through their craft activity they have a wonderful time together connecting with the past.

   Looking through a photo album the little girl see a picture of her mother with a snowman “that stands taller than she.” The child also reads her mother’s poem, in which Mama describes how she used the skies her father gave her to shuffle around her back yard in the snow. In her dreams she was “flying downhill.”

   Often Mama’s father was away from the family for months, and when they lived in Colorado Mama had to bring a photo of her father to school for Bring Your Dad Day because he was away. The little girl is sure that Mama must have missed her father very much during those long separations.

   When she reads her mother’s poem describing how she and her family members went canoeing when they lived in Virginia, the little girl understands why her mother has so many pictures of kayaks and canoes on their walls at home.  

   In this remarkable book every spread gives readers a free verse poem that captures the little girl’s feelings as she gets to know her mother through her poems. On the facing page readers will find her mother’s poems. The mother’s poems are written in the Japanese tanka format, which use five lines. There are five syllables in the first and third lines, and seven syllables in the second, fourth, and fifth lines.

   It is fascinating to see how Nikki Grimes uses poems to tell a story that is powerful and poignant, and that celebrates the connection that a child shares with her mother; a connection that reaches back into the past.

Picture Book Monday with a review of Here comes the Tooth Fairy Cat

Many children are eager to meet Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. They are curious to see what these marvelous characters are like, and perhaps to even petition them for more presents, chocolate eggs, and money. In today's picture book you will meet Cat, a feline who is not content with getting things from these characters. Cat wants more; he wants to do their job for them and become the hero of the moment.



Here comes the Tooth Fairy Cat

Deborah Underwood

Illustrated by Claudia Rueda

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Penguin, 2015, 978-0-525-42774-2

Cat has lost a tooth and like all self-respecting people (and cats), he puts his tooth under his pillow so that the tooth fairy will come. In the morning Cat finds a coin under his pillow, but he is not happy because he was hoping that he would get to meet the tooth fairy. Cat, who is a very determined fellow and who likes scheming, decides that he is going to find a way to get the tooth fairy to come back. He does not have another tooth to leave under his pillow, so he puts the tooth of comb there instead.

   Not surprisingly, the tooth fairy does not come. Shame on cat for thinking he could trick her! Cat is scowling at the tooth from the comb when the doorbell rings. When he opens the door, Cat finds that there are two packages and an envelope on the doorstep. The envelope contains a letter from the tooth fairy. She commends Cat for trying the comb tooth trick, and then says that if he helps her “with a few deliveries” it might be possible for them to meet face to face.

   In the larger box Cat finds a tooth fairy costume, and in the smaller box he finds someone, Mouse, who is going to help him. It would appear that Cat is not the only one to try the comb tooth trick on the tooth fairy. Mouse did the same thing.

   Cat and Mouse are given the job of retrieving three teeth for the tooth fairy, but the jobs turn out to be a lot trickier than they imagined it would be. Not only are the retrievals difficult, but Cat and Mouse have to figure out how to work together!

   Once again Cat, who is naughty sometimes but who is also very lovable, is given the chance to take on a new role. Cat likes to think that he is pretty sneaky, but it turns out that this time there is someone around who is even sneakier than he is.

   Throughout the book the narrative is told in the form of a conversation between Cat and a hidden reader. This interesting format, and the wonderfully expressive illustrations, makes this a picture book that is sure to delight readers of all ages. In addition to exploring the nature of cooperation, it offers up a reminder that one should never try to pull a fast on a fairy.

Poetry Friday with a review of For Laughing Out Loud: Poems to tickle your funny bone

I have been working very hard these last few days and am, therefore, rather stressed. I can feel it in my shoulders and know that I need to relax, but how? Last night my husband cracked one of his word pun jokes and made me laugh. It was almost as if someone had flipped a switch. I immediately felt less tight, and the feeling lasted. Clearly laughter really is good for you!

To help you bring laughter into your lives I bring you a book that was put together just so that you would laugh!

For Laughing Out Loud: Poems to tickle your funny bone 

Selected by Jack Prelutsky

Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

Poetry Picture Book

For ages 5 to 8

Random House, 1991, 978-0394821443

When he set about choosing poems for this collection, poet Jack Prelutsky was interested in finding poems that would make his readers “laugh out loud.” Actually, he wanted even more than that. He wanted his readers to “crow for weeks” and “laugh until you cry.”

   Now, this may seem like a rather peculiar thing to want to do, but making people laugh is a wonderful goal to have. Surely the world would be a better place if we all smiled, giggled, and chuckled a little (or a lot) more.

   Throughout the book poems of all kinds offer readers amusing anecdotes, stories, and descriptions to enjoy. There are limericks galore, and poems that parody other poems. There are long poems and short ones. There are poems by famous poets such as Michael Rosen, Jane Yolen, and Ogden Nash. There are poems that Jack Prelutsky himself wrote.

   The topics that the poems explore are varied, and often they are quite ridiculous, which is exactly what you would expect in a collection of this kind. We read about a man who collects pancakes and whose whole house is decorated with examples of his edible collection. What is nice about this man is that he is a generous collector who is quite willing to let visitors take some of his pancakes home with them; so long as they “say nice things about them.”

   The pancake collector is only one of many odd characters who appear on the pages. There is Hughbert who glued himself to the floor, and Chester who, when his sweater unravels, disappears altogether. Beanbag Jim is so loose and limber that he appears to be quite boneless.

   Readers will also find a recipe for rhinoceros stew, and will learn how to make a snowflake soufflé. They will hear from a dodo who is terrible sick, and they will even find a poem that consists of a list of rules, one of which is, “Do not bathe in chocolate pudding.”

   This is the kind of book a reader can dip into at will. There will always be something that will appeal, no matter what kind of mood the reader is in; and there is always something that will, at the very least, make the reader grin.

Picture Book Monday with a review of The Good Little Book

This may sound strange to some of you ,but I have close relationships with a few of my books. They have become friends, companions who comfort me during hard times. The familiar words offer solace when the world feels unfriendly and confusing.

Today's picture book explores the relationship that one little boy has with a book, and readers will be intrigued to see that the story does not, perhaps, turn out the way they it would.

The good little book
Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Marion Arbona
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Tundra, 2015, 978-1-77049-451-0
There once was a good little book that rested on a shelf in a study alongside many other books. Unlike many of the other books, the good little book did not have a flashy cover, nor had it been awarded medals. It was just a modest little book.
   One day a boy came into the study, and he was not in a very good mood. He was in trouble and had been told to “think things over.” The boy did this, for the briefest of times, and then he started to look around the study. He found the good little book, opened it, and started to read. In no time at all the boy was swept up by the narrative in the book, and he barely noticed time passing. He read the book from cover to cover and then read it all over again.
   All through winter the boy went about his days with the good little book as his “loyal companion.” In spring the special connection between the book and its boy kept going, until one terrible day when the book fell out of the boy’s backpack and was lost. The boy was so worried about the book and spent hours looking for it. The boy was concerned that the book, which “did not have the skills that would help it in the dangerous wild or in the rushing streets,” would not be able to survive.
   The boy asked people for help, he put up lost book posters, and he searched the library; all to no avail. What he did not know was that the good little book was coping quite well, considering that it was small, unassuming, and helpless.
   This wonderful picture book beautifully captures the way in which a person can have a special relationship with a book. It also celebrates the way in which a book lives on within the hearts and minds of its readers, long after it has gone out into the world to find new readers.

Poetry Friday with a review of Neon Aliens Ate my Homework and other poems

School is about to start, or has just started, for children all over the world. Now that a new school year is here, somehow it seems very appropriate to post my review of Neon Aliens Ate my Homework and other poems. After all, it won't be long before the homework blues will start, when children will be wishing that they could find a handy alien to conveniently 'eat' their not-yet-done homework assignments.

Neon Aliens Ate my Homework and other poems

Nick Cannon

Poetry

For ages 6 to 8

Scholastic 2015, 978-0-545-72281-0

Ever since he was a boy, Nick Cannon has loved poetry, and poetry’s musical cousin, rap. He wrote his first rap-style poem when he was eight, and has been writing, in one form or another, ever since. Inspired by Shel Silverstein and by “the storytellers of the street,” Cannon has worked to create unique rhyming poems that will appeal to young readers. His hope is that his audience will discover for themselves how freeing it is to write.

   Cannon begins by honoring the man who had such a huge impact on his life. In his poem Remembering Shel, he thanks Shel Silverstein who “changed my life with just his words.” Cannon encourages readers to pick up one of Shel’s books and to discover for themselves the wonders that lie within.

   The poem that follows, Neon Aliens Ate my Homework, takes us into a story that is funny and that has a wonderful twist at the end. The poem is told through the eyes of a boy who is abducted by aliens from his home. The boy, fearing that the aliens are going to eat him, gives them his notebook and school backpack to munch on; but, alas, the aliens are still hungry. The boy then has no choice but to give them his “totally finished algebra worksheet.” Only them do the aliens let him go home.

   We go from this alien tale to a poem about the Gabulous Gazzor. This device is a five-armed robot that that does every chore that it is given. It can clean floors, do the grocery shopping, wash dishes and windows, and so much more. This seems all too good to be true but “just wait! There’s more!” because the machine does all these things without being a nuisance in any way. In short, folks, this is a machine that is “one of kind” and you should get one right now.

   Interspersed amongst the humorous poems, are poems of a different kind that address big world issues such as creativity, people who are “haters,” following in the footsteps of a much respected father, and lending a hand to those in need. These poems are both thoughtful and thought provoking. They give us a sense that though Nick Cannon loves to amuse his readers, he also likes to give them something to think about as well.

   Throughout the book the poems are illustrated by street artists who have shown their work “on walls all over the world.”

Picture Book Monday with a review of The Tweedles Go Online

Many of us love new gadgets. We want the newest phone, the newest computer tablet, the newest e-reader that has all the most up-to-date bells and whistles. We get so caught up in the new tech buzz that we forget that sometimes new technologies make our lives more complicated. Sometimes they even get in the way of things that make our lives happier and richer.

In this second Tweedles book, Monica Kulling brings back the wonderful family whose members are living in a time when new technologies are around every corner. Seeing how they cope with these technologies is amusing, and their experiences also serve as a reminder that we need to control our gadgets and not be controlled by them.

The Tweedles Go Online
Monica Kulling
Illustrated by Marie Lafrance
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Groundwood, 2015, 978-1-55498-353-7
One day Mama is preparing to make pickles when her neighbor, Gladys Hamm, comes rushing in and she is in a very excited state. With great pride Glays tells Mama that she now has a telephone installed at her house. She uses the newfangled device to order her groceries and to talk to her sister whenever she wants to.
   That evening Mama announces that the Tweedles are “going online;” they are going to get a telephone. Her daughter Franny is delighted, but her husband and son are less sure about the wisdom of getting a phone. Frankie is far too interested in taking care of the family’s electric car to care about a telephone, which cannot even be driven. Papa doesn’t like the idea that people will be able to hear his conversations. The idea of a telephone, with its lack of privacy, does not appeal to him at all.
   Soon enough the telephone is installed in the hall. When it rings for the first time fearless Franny answers it and then her mother talks to Gladys. She talks to her for so long that when she hangs up everyone else is the family has gone to bed.
   It soon becomes clear that the telephone may not be such a wonderful idea after all. Even Franny, who has wanted a phone for a while, begins to see that the machine might be more of a nuisance than a convenience.
   It is all too easy to become more than a little addicted to new and interesting technological devices. The problem is that they can take over our lives and cause us to miss out on the things in life that really do matter. With humor and sensitivity, Monica Kulling explores how one family copes when a new telephone is brought into their household. As the story unfolds, readers can see the writing on the wall, but they cannot be sure how the Tweedles are going to respond to this new technological crisis.

Poetry Friday with a review of Flicker Flash

These days many of us take artificial lights for granted. It is only when the power goes out that we realize what it is like not to have lights turn on at the flick of a switch. Here in southern Oregon we have been sitting under a pall of wildfire smoke for several weeks now, and though we still have electric lights, the sun is a pale hazy thing in the smokey sky, and often we cannot see the moon and stars at all. I miss nature's lights, which make our world such a beautiful place.

Today's poetry title celebrates lights of all kinds and I think I will go and light a candle now, to add a touch of bright sunshine to this room.

Flicker Flash

Joan Bransfield Graham

Illustrated by Nancy Davis

Poetry Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2003, 978-0618311026

Light, in its many forms, has a huge impact on our lives. The sun’s light greets us in the morning, and on many nights moonlight sends us off to bed. Under the covers children read another chapter of their new book by flashlight, while the flickering lights of fireflies dance in the darkness outdoors.

   In this unique poetry collection the author explores the many ways in which light touches us as we go about our days and nights. The poems are concrete poems, which means that the words are arranged on the page in such a way that they create a picture.

  For example, in her poem Candle, the text is placed so that it looks like the post of a candle, with the word candle at the top forming the flame. The poem that creates the word picture is beautifully composed telling readers of how the “quick, / exotic light, / a dancing / vision of the night” “helps erase” the darkness that is “slyly creeping / up my back.”

   In Cresent Moon, we see a simple poem smiling out at us from the page, a thin sliver of yellow in the night sky, and in Birthday Candles the words are arranged so that they look like a birthday cake, complete with four candles. The words that serve as the candles on the cake form the phrase “Happy Day” (twice) and the icing words describe how the candles are “Like shooting stars / that blaze the dark.” Even when the candles have been blown out the light from the faces “circled near” is still there.

   Other topics covered in these poems include the sun, a firefly, a match, a lightning bolt, a light bulb, a porch light, stars and the full moon, a spotlight, the light inside a fridge, a lighthouse light, and a lamp.

   Children will enjoy seeing how a poem can titillate both their eyes and their eyes, and they might even be inspired to write a light-filled concrete poem of their own.

Picture Book Monday with a review of Zen Socks

Jon Muth is an author and illustrator whose work is so beautiful and powerful that I feel very humbled every time I get to experience one of his creations. Today's picture book title is the third of his Zen books, and once again Stillwater the panda bear features in the narrative. 

Zen Socks

Jon J. Muth

Picture Book

Ages 6 and up

Scholastic, 2015, 978-0-545-16669-0

Leo and Molly love living in their neighbourhood, and one of the reasons why they like living where they do is because Stillwater lives across the road. Stillwater is a panda bear and he is a gentle, kind, and wise friend.

   One day Molly invites Stillwater to come outside to dance with her, and soon she and the bear, both clad in tutus, are happily doing ballet on the front lawn. Molly plans on becoming a ballet dancer like her aunt, and she will get her dream by practicing all day. She tells Stillwater how she will become famous and will “get flowers and lots of blue ribbons and tiaras and my name will be on posters with lots of glitter!” Stillwater suggests that it might take some time to attain this dream, but Molly is in a hurry to get the skill and fame she seeks.

   Stillwater then tells Molly a story about a young fellow called Jiro who wants to become a great swordsman like his father; so Jiro goes to see Banzo, the master swordsman, to learn from him. Jiro is impatient and eager to learn as fast as he can but instead of teaching him swordsmanship, Banzo makes Jiro work all day doing chores. Only after three years have passed does Banzo start to teach Jiro the skills he needs to have to wield a sword.

   Molly understands what Stillwater’s story means. She needs to practice diligently for “as long as it takes.” She must not rush a process that requires both hard work and patience.

   This lesson in patience is only one of many things that Molly and Leo learn from Stillwater. Through his actions and his stories, Stillwater helps the children understand that the root to happiness is not about getting “all the best things for ourselves.” They also come to see that we must keep doing the right and kind thing, even when it looks as if our actions seem inadequate in a world full of problems.

   In this, his third, Zen book, Jon, J. Muth helps us see how little life experiences can help us learn about the world and each other. Wisdom is there for us to find if we just take the time to look around and open our eyes. 

Poetry Friday with a review of Something Sure smells around here: Limericks

When I was young some of the first poems I got to know well were Edward Lear's limericks. Limericks are funny, easy to learn poems that children cannot help liking; and since they are short, they also are fun to write.

Something Sure smells around here: Limericks

Brian P. Cleary

Illustrated by Andy Rowland

Poetry

For ages 6 to 8

Millbrook, 2015, 978-1-4677-2044-1

What do you get when you combine a short rhyming poem with a joke? A limerick. These five line poems always have a rhythm, and the words at the ends of the first, second and last lines always rhyme. Though they are short, these amusing poems always tell a story of some kind that end with a ‘punchline’ that make readers smile, laugh…or groan.

   The author of this engaging book begins by offering his readers a description of what a limerick is and how such poems are constructed. In fact he walks us through the process, explaining what the “rules” of limericks are so that readers can write their own. He wraps up by reminding us that we should “have fun” when we are creating limericks.

   We then get to see for ourselves how much fun limericks are because the rest of the book is full of these laughter-filled poems. They all tell a humorous little story, and the closing line in each one will certainly put a smile on every reader’s face.

   This book is one in a series of titles about the many forms that poems can take.

Picture Book Monday with a review of Ally-Saurus and the first day of School

The first day of school, especially ones first day of school ever, can be a little scary. Figuring out what the rules are, learning where everything is, and getting along with children one has never met before is challenging. In today's picture book you will meet a little girl who is dinosaur mad, and who expects everyone else to be as dinosaur mad as she is. The problem is that the other children in her new class have other interests and therefore the point of connection that she expects to have with them just isn't there.

Ally-Saurus and the first day of School

Richard Torrey

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Sterling Children’s Books, 2015, 978-1-4549-1179-1

One morning, bright and early, a mother comes into her daughter’s room to wake up her up. It is the first day of school and she doesn’t want Ally to be late. Ally, from under her covers, tells her mother that her name is Ally-saurus.  When she gets dressed, Ally-saurus puts her pants on backwards so that her “dinosaur tail can stick out,” but Father makes the little girl put them on the right way round.

   When Ally-saurus gets to school she tells her new teacher to call her Ally-saurus rather than just plain old Ally. At every opportunity during the morning Ally-saurus talks about dinosaurs. She eats like a dinosaur at snack time, her nameplate for her cubby is dinosaur shaped, and when they talk about the weather she says that a cloud looks like a dinosaur. She even says that the word dinosaur begins with an A even though she knows perfectly well that the word begins with a D. Ally-saurus just loves dinosaurs, but it turns out that not everyone does. Tina and her two friends like princesses not dinosaurs, and it isn’t long before Ally-saurus starts to wish that she was back at home eating lunch with her toy dinosaurs.

   This delightful picture book celebrates the power of a child’s imagination.  It also explores the way in which children learn how to accept each other’s differences, and how those differences make our lives richer and happier in the long run. Children will also appreciate seeing the way in which Ally-saurus and the other children manage on their first day of school.

Poetry Friday with a review of Who’s that baby: New-Baby Songs

The arrival of a new baby is an exciting and often a somewhat chaotic time. Schedules are turned upside down as the new member of the family makes his or her needs known to all, and yet, of course, the baby is treasured and loved. Today's poetry title is a celebration of that new family member and most of the poems are told through the eyes of infants.

Who’s that baby: New-Baby Songs 

Sharon Creech

David Diaz

Poetry Picture Book

For infants to age 5

HarperCollins, 2005, 978-0811852319

When a new baby arrives in a household, parents are usually overwhelmed with joy and confusion. There is so much to learn about how to care for the baby - this little person who seemingly came out of nowhere to fill their lives with so many experiences and emotions.

   In this very special picture book Sharon Creech celebrates the arrival of a new baby. Her poems are so musical and lyrical that when they are read they are like a lullaby, a song just for a baby to listen to.

   Most of the poems are told from the point of view of the baby, which is charming and unusual. We hear from a little girl baby who is a “pearly girl / a bella, bella pearl am I.” Of course, we also hear from “a little boy / so full of joy.”

   One little baby tells us about how it is bundled up like a “baby burrito,” and another tells us about the way in which his father tosses him in the air as if he were a football.  Yet another new arrival tells us about its grandmothers, two big ladies who look at the baby “smiling their great big smiles.” We also meet a father who plays music for his infant “’cause he loves me,” and a mother who is warm, has “soft skin, “bright eyes,” and a “sweet smile.” The baby tells us how much it loves to be held close so that it can hear its mother’s “beat-beat heart.”

   This is the kind of poetry book that grownups will love to share with the new baby in their life. It was certainly written for babies and toddlers but it also feels as if was written for the grownups as well. 

Picture Book Monday with a review of I don't want to be a Frog

At some point almost everyone decides that they wish that they were different or like someone else. They wish they had curly hair, that they were taller, that they were rich, that they were athletic, that they were.... On and on it goes. In today's picture book you will meet a frog who wishes he were something else. He does not realize, at first, that being a frog might have its advantages.

I don’t want to be a Frog

Dev Petty

Illustrated by Mike Boldt

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Random House, 2015, 978-0-385-37866-6

One day a frog tells his father that he wants to be a cat. His dad explains that he can’t be a cat because he is a frog. The frog child announces that he does not want to be frog anymore. Being a frog is “too Wet.”

   The little frog then says that he wants to be a rabbit. He would be a perfect rabbit because he can hop. Long-suffering Dad points out that the little frog doesn’t have long ears, and you cannot possibly be a rabbit if you don’t have the right ears. Dad feels that being is frog is a perfectly fine thing to be, but the young frog thinks that being a frog is “too Slimy.”

   The young frog goes on to say that he would like to be a pig or an owl, and the father frog patiently explains why a frog simply cannot be these animals. Then a wolf comes along and he asks why the young frog is “so glum,” and the young frog explains why it wishes it could be a cat, rabbit, pig, or owl. They wolf responds by helping the frog to see that being a frog might have its disadvantage, but when a wolf is in the neighborhood it is a very good thing to be.

   All too often we wish we were something else. Being who we are is boring and not very interesting, and surely being someone else would be better. In this clever and deliciously funny picture book the author and illustrator show to great effect that sometimes the best thing to do is to embrace who you are right now. Others may seem to have a better life than you do, but they might not be as well off as they seem.

Poetry Friday with a review of One Leaf Rides the Wind

I really enjoy reading haiku, especially the ones that focus on nature and those that describe the special little moments that make our lives richer. Today's poetry title is full of haiku of this kind. It takes us into a beautiful Japanese garden where memorable sights and experiences await us.

One Leaf Rides the Wind

Celeste Davidson Mannis

Illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung

Poetry Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Penguin, 2005, 978-0756952136

Japanese gardens are places that have been carefully designed to create an environment that is peaceful and beautiful. They give the visitor the opportunity to take a break from the rigors of everyday life, and to connect with nature. In such a garden visitors can find the quiet that they need to “find that world of peace and tranquility within themselves.”

   In this beautiful book readers can visit just such a garden with a little girl. In her company we see a leaf that “rides the wind,” and that moves so fast that she cannot catch it. We see two stone temple dogs, which she feels are “snarling over my shoulder.” The dogs will guard the garden from any kind of disaster.

   In the garden a collection of miniature bonsai trees make the little girl feel tall. She sees four birds take flight when a cat prowling on a roof scares them. The little girl visits a tea house where she finds a tray on which “seven sweet surprises lie.” After her snack she goes back outside where more delights await her.

   In this gorgeous book every spread offers readers a beautiful illustration, a haiku poem, and a short description of the garden feature that is being shown on those pages. A pair of notes at the back of the book tell readers what Japanese gardens are like, and what haiku poems are.

   This special poetry collection will give readers a taste of Japan that will stay with the reader long after the book has been read and its covers have been closed.

Picture Book Monday with a review of Stick and Stone

Friendship is a funny thing because it is unpredictable and sometimes it can develop between two people (or characters) who really are nothing alike; on the outside that is. That's the thing though, isn't it? Two characters may seem very different on the outside, but deep down a connection forms that is special. This is what happens between the characters in today's picture book.

Stick and Stone

Beth Ferry

Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

Picture Book

For ages 4 to 6

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015, 978-0-544-03256-9

Stick and Stone are both alone and lonely, and for both of them being alone is just “no fun. Then one day they are both at the park playing on the swings when Pinecone comes along and he makes fun of Stone when Stone falls off his swing. Stick cannot just stand by and let this just happen, so he steps in and tells Pinecone to “Vanish!”

   Pinecone walks off in a huff, and Stone is really touched that Stick “stuck up” for him. Stick explains that that is what Sticks do. It is also what friends do, and that is what Stick and Stone become: the best of friends. Together they have a grand time playing, wandering and exploring. They “laze by the shore” enjoying the sun and the sea air and watch dolphins frolicking in the water. What they never expect is that in the very near future they will be ripped apart and once again they will be alone.

   In this wonderful picture book we meet two characters who discover the joys of friendship, and who stand side by side through good times and bad. With its delightfully expressive illustrations and a minimal rhyming text, this book will charm children and their grownups and it serves as a tribute to the power of friendship.

Poetry Friday with a review of The Year of Goodbyes

Until about ten years ago I had never read a novel written in blank verse . The idea seemed rather strange at first, but then I had the privilege to review several wonderful books written in this style, and I started keeping my eyes open for such titles. Today's poetry title is one of these books, though in this case the story told is a true one and not a work of fiction. The narrative is powerful and often painful, and it beautifully captures the experiences a young girl had at a time when her world was falling apart.

The year of goodbyes
Debbie Levy
Poetry
For ages 10 and up
Hyperion, 2010, 978-142312901-1
In the 1930’s many of the young girls in Germany owned a poesiealbum, a poetry album that their friends could write in. The girls would take a friend’s poesiealbum home with them, and in their best handwriting they would write a little poem for that friend. Often the little gifts of words were decorated with drawings or stickers of good luck motifs such as four-leaf clovers and ladybugs. Jutta Salzburg was one of these girls who had a poesiealbum. What made her album so special was that the little notes of love, support, and friendship written on the pages helped Jutta get through a time when life in Germany was very hard for many of its citizens.
   Jutta’s story beings in 1938. Not that long ago Jutta’s life in Hamburg was ideal and full of happiness and hope. Then the Nazis came into power and ever since then the government has been eroding away the rights of Germany’s Jewish citizens. By 1938, Jutta and the other Jewish children had been forced out of the public schools and were now going to schools for Jews. The Jewish children can no longer play on the streets because it is not safe for them to do so. Jutta’s father no longer has a job, and he spends all of his time trying to find ways to get his family out of Germany to safety.
   With every passing day the situation in Hamburg gets more and frightening. Jutta and her friends and family members try not to dwell too much on what is going on around them, but how can they pretend that everything is normal when brown shirts march in the streets; when Jewish families start disappearing; and when they live in fear that they will end up in something called “a concentration camp?”
   In this remarkable book, Jutta Salzburg’s daughter pairs entries from her mother’s real poesiealbum with blank verse poems to give readers a picture of what it was like to be a young Jewish girl living in Hamburg in 1938. Sentiments or ideas mentioned in the poems are picked up and explored in the blank verse in the context of what was going on in Jutta’s life at that time. Presented chronologically, the blank verse help readers to see how Jutta’s life deteriorated as the Nazis set about ridding Germany and then Austria of its Jewish residents.
   In an afterword the author tells us more about her mother’s story and the history behind the narrative. We also find out that she did her best to find out what happened to all the girls whose poems appeared in her mother’s poesiealbum. There is also a timeline to help readers see how the Nazi persecution of Jews escalated over time, and how their actions were tied into the story of Jutta’s life in 1938. Readers will also find a collection of Jutta’s photos that help us to see what the characters mentioned in the book really looked like.

Picture Book Monday with a review of Pool

When I was a child, going to the pool was one of my favorite summer pastimes. I spent hours there, jumping in with the other kids, playing Marco Polo, and, diving off the diving board. When I needed a little space, I would swim to the deep end and sit on the bottom for a little while. It was always so quiet and restful down there. Today's picture book will take readers into the deep end of a swimming pool where they will encounter wonderful sights and see a friendship develop. 

Pool 

JiHyeon Lee

Wordless Picture Book

For ages 5 and up

Chronicle Books, 2015, 978-1-4521-4294-4

A boy arrives at the pool, which is empty and serene. Then, without warning, a pack of loud, boisterous people arrive with their balls, floating rings, and paddle boats. The pool is so full of people and their gear that the boy can barely see the water at all. Everywhere he looks there is chaos, and for a while he just watches. Then the boy dives in, going under the paddling legs of all the other people.

   Deep underwater the boy he meets a girl, and together they swim down into a magical world conjured up by their own imaginations. There, in the quiet away from the crowds, they find a place full of wonderful creatures, and in the process they find something that is priceless.

   The best thing about having an imagination is that it can take you anywhere. The sky is the limit. Better still, your imagination can brighten up a dull day and offer relief when something does not quite work out the way you hoped.

   In this wordless picture book the author takes readers into a world where anything is possible, and where something wonderful can happen that will last long after the threads of daydreams fade and drift away.

Poetry Friday with a review of Doodle Dandies: Poems that take shape

Until relatively recently all the poems I had seen looked the same; pretty much. They were presented as columns of text that were divided to create stanzas. With one exception. A poem that appears in Alice in Wonderland is curved so that it looks like the tail of a mouse. When I saw it for the first time many years ago, I remember thinking that this was a very clever device . In the last few years I have noticed that more people are creating poems that are presented to create a 'picture.' Today's poetry title is full of such poems, poems that offer the eye something to look at.

Doodle Dandies: Poems that take shape

J. Patrick Lewis

Illustrated by Lisa Desimini

Poetry

For ages 5 to 8

Simon and Schuster, 1998, 978-0689810756

Most people are familiar with the form that poems usually take. More often than not they are divided into stanzas that are arranged on the page in a neat column.  Readers have become so used to this format that they think that is how poems have to be presented. The truth is that there are no rules. Poems can be formatted in all kinds of ways, and perhaps the most ‘extreme’ formatting options are those used when creating shape poems.

   Shape poems are arranged on the page to create an image, and the image somehow reflects the subject matter of the poem. Many years ago Lewis Carroll created a shape poem (also called a visual or concrete poem) called “The Mouse’s Tail.” The poem appeared in his book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and the words of the poem are presented in such a way that they look like a sinuous mouse tail that runs from the top of the page to the bottom.

   In this book J. Patrick Lewis gives readers twenty poems that delight both the ear and the eye. For each poem the illustrator has created multimedia artwork that provides the perfect backdrop for the word pictures. For example, for the poem “Umbrella” there is a picture of a girl wearing a bright yellow rain slicker and above her, sheltering her from raindrops, is an umbrella-shaped poem. The poem tells us that the girl keeps her umbrella “in the closet till the clouds get fat.” Then she brings the umbrella out because it “loves a rainy day.”

   Some of the poems are only a sentence or two long, while others offer readers more food for thought. The topics explored in the poems include a tiger, an oyster family, a snake, snow, and camels. The poems come in many forms. Some rhyme, while others do not, and you never know what the next page will bring.

   This is the perfect book to share with young readers who don’t realize that when it comes to poems, the sky is the limit. There are not rules about how they should look and sound, and they  can be playful, charming, amusing, and interesting.

Picture Book Monday with a review of Song for a summer night: A lullaby

When night falls in summer, something remarkable happens. The heat of the day starts to dissipate and new nighttime-only sights and sounds drift across lawns and streets. Today's picture book perfectly captures that special time when stars start to twinkle in the summer night, and when children and creatures come out of their homes to experience the magic of a summer night.

Song for a summer night: A lullaby
Robert Heidbreder
Illustrations by Qin Leng
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Groundwood Books, 2015, 978-1-55498-493-0
The day has “left the stage” and now the night is waiting “in the wings” for the summer evening show to begin. As the last of the sun’s glow leaves the sky, children gather in the windows overlooking the park, waiting for the special daily gift to begin.
   As the first stars appear in the sky, fireflies drift up from the grass and trees and fill the air with their “glint – glint” lights. Soon after, raccoons appear on the scene, waltzing onto the park stage in “tra-la-la time.” Owls add their hoots to the song of the night, as do the crickets. Even the local cats, with their “tails held high,” get into the spirits of things, adding their purrs to the “rhythmic refrain” as the light fades from the sky.
   Dogs too “bounce” onto the grass of the park, where they are joined by some of the children who are “spellbound” by the night “music” that is swelling all around them.
   In this beautiful book a lyrical rhyming lines of verse are paired with gorgeous illustrations to take us into a nighttime world that is full of magic and beauty. We see how precious the simple gifts of nature are on a summer night, and how the magic continues to resonate with children long after the sun has risen and a new day has begun.
   Children and their grownups are going to love sharing this very special picture book.

Poetry Friday with a review of Lemonade Sun and other summer poems

Summer is truly here in southern Oregon with hot days, singing cicadas, the smell of dust in the air, and children standing on sidewalks selling lemonade. Today's poetry book beautifully captures the experiences, sights, sounds, and smells of summer as seen through the eyes of young children.

Lemonade Sun and other summer poems 

Rebecca Kai Dotlitch

Illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist

Poetry Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Wordsong, 2001, 978-1563979446

It is summer, which means that it is time for “Popsicle Stains” and “Fudgesicle Fun.” This is the time of year when children make lemonade, that elixir of sunshiny days that is a perfect treat to sip on a hot day. Children who have a strong entrepreneurial spirit set up lemonade stands where they offer cookies, cake and sweet lemonade to passersby. Waiting for custom can be a tedious business though, and children often wish “won’t somebody buy something, / please?” as they wait.

   Thankfully, summer is also a time when children enjoy all kinds of wonderful activities. Blowing bubbles, playing marbles, skipping rope and playing hopscotch are just a few of the things that children like to do during the long lazy summer days.

   Then in the evening, under the light of the moon, fireflies are gathered until children have a “Twinkling treasure” in a jar. Stars “like splinters / of diamonds” sparkle overhead, and on special nights they are accompanied by the brilliant colors of fireworks, which explode in the sky with a “sparkle! flash” and a “CRACKLE- / POP!”

   In this wonderful book, summer is celebrated by pairing delightful image-rich poems with warm, expressive illustrations. Children and grownups alike will enjoy exploring the verse, which seem to radiate with sunshine and happy laughter.

  

Picture Book Monday with a review of Beach House

When I was a child, at the beginning of May, I would start looking forward to our first beach vacation of the year. We used to camp on a beach for two weeks or so in July, and those sun-filled days brought me some of the best memories of my childhood, which I still cherish today. Today's picture book perfectly captures the anticipation that a family of children experience when they set off for their summer beach vacation, and the joys that they share when they get there.

Beach House

Deanna Caswell

Illustrated by Amy June Bates

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Chronicle Books, 2015, 978-1-4521-2408-7

They have been waiting for a whole year, and now, at last, summer is here and they are going to the beach house. The van is loaded down with beach gear, suitcases, bikes, golf clubs, a surf board and who knows what else, and when the family arrives at the house, all that stuff has to be unloaded and put away. The ocean is calling as the children make beds and empty suitcases, as they look out of the window at the sand and the waves.

   Then, at last, everyone heads for the beach. Carrying bags, pulling wagons, scampering and running, the two adults, three children, and the little dog begin their vacation. Games of Marco Polo are played, boogie boards are tried out, and castles with moats are built and washed away. As the sun sets they gather around a fire pit to roast hotdogs and toast faces. As the moon rises they wash off the sand and salt and fall into bed with “Rosy noses” knowing that outside the ocean and beach await them for another day of adventure.

   With wonderfully lush watercolor illustrations and a magical rhyming text, this picture book perfectly captures the simple pleasures of a summer beach vacation. The excitement that the family members feel is almost palpable, and readers will probably start wishing, as the narrative unfolds and blooms, that they too could splash in waves, build castles, and soak up salty air and warm sun.

Poetry Friday with a review of Sing a Season Song

For the last few days it has been blistering hot here in southern Oregon. I can't even remember what it feels like to be cold, or what rain sounds like when it is landing on the roof of my house. It was such a joy to read today's poetry title because, for a while, it took me to to spring, fall and winter; the lines of verse made it possible for me to experience these other seasons through works.

Sing a Season Song

Jane Yolen

Illustrated by Lisel Jane Ashlock

Picture Book

For ages 4 to 6

Creative Editions, 2015, 978-1-56846-255-4

It is winter and snow covers the ground and rests on the branches of the trees in the forest. An owl swoops through the air as a fox sleeps, curled up in its den. It is cold and “Icicle popsicles / drip, drop and dropsicles.” On the edge of the forest children are “snowballing”

   Then, at last, the temperatures start to rise. A “gossamer breeze” makes the flowers sway and the “pillows of lawn” ripple. Now is the time when we see baby animals everywhere and then, quite suddenly, spring is over and summer with its “shimmering days” is upon us.

   “Day shines at night” and “toes wiggle” where fish “wriggle.” Fireflies blink “off-again-on” in the dusk. After days of heat and warm nights, summer gently fades to be replaced by the golden colors, and busy days, of fall.

   In this incredibly lush picture book, Jane Yolen’s beautiful verse is paired with glorious, richly detailed illustrations to give readers a bookish experience of the seasons that is like no other. 

Picture Book Monday with a review of Ninja Bunny

Sometimes, when we take on a new cause, hobby, or interest, we have to make compromises to accommodate this new pursuit in our lives. If you want to play the piano, for example, you cannot have long finger nails. If you want to be a long distance runner, you have to work hard to keep keep your body lean and strong. In today's picture book you will meet a young bunny who wants to be a ninja. He has to work incredibly hard to attain his goal, and he makes rather significant changes in his life to do so.

Ninja Bunny

Picture Book

Jennifer Gray Olson

For ages 5 to 7

Random House, 2015, 978-0-385-75493-4

Many of us have dreams of being something different, something heroic even. One young bunny is just such a dreamer, but he is not willing to just dream, he wants to really become “A Super Awesome Ninja.” He dons the clothing that is suitable for his new role in life, reads a book about how to become a ninja, and then he does his best to follow the ten rules of ninjadom.

   Rule one says that “A super awesome ninja must always work alone,” and so the ninja bunny distances himself from his bunny friends. The second rule states that he must be “super sneaky.” Of course, there are times when being sneaky is not easy. For example, if you are being sneaky while you steal some carrots in the dark of night, you should not step on a rake that is lying on the ground and clock yourself in the face.

   Rule two is not the only rule that can at times be problematical. Being very strong, creating ninja weapons, being able to climb things, maintaining perfect balance, being able to fly and being able to escape are all skills that have to be acquired. Over time. With care. As you learn to acquire these skills you might have setbacks.

    Diligently the young ninja bunny works hard to learn the rules of his craft, only to discover that there is one rule that he cannot live by.

    In this delightfully funny picture book we watch (sometimes wincing) as a young bunny does his best to become a ninja, and we see that the path to ninjahood is not an easy one. What we come to appreciate most of all is that even great ninjas cannot always follow every rule in the book. Sometimes rules need to be bent so that ninjas can have something that is even more precious than ninja skills.

Poetry Friday with a review of Hypnotize a Tiger: Poems about just about everything

Today I am going to introduce you to a poetry book that is full of poems that are "about just about everything." The beauty of a book of this kind is that it can be dipped into at random. No matter what kind of mood you are in you will find something on the pages that will work for you, a poem that will suit you perfectly at that particular moment.

Hypnotize a Tiger: Poems about just about everything 

Calef Brown

Poetry

For ages 6 to 8

Henry Holt, 2015, 978-0-8050-9928-7

When it comes to books you can never quite be sure what kind of book mood you are going to be in on any particular day. Today might be a pirate adventure kind of day, but when tomorrow comes around you might be in the mood for a story about witches or wizards. Poems are the same way. Sometimes you are ready to take on a long, story poem full of rich language, and sometimes your brain is just too tired for such full-bodied material and you are eager to read something shorter and lighter.

   The solution to this book mood problem is a simple one: have lots of books of different kinds so that you can always find something that appeals no matter what mood you are in. Another approach is to have one book handy that is full of different kinds of stories.

   Calef Brown has taken the latter approach with this book. He has written poems about “just about everything” and they come in a variety of ‘flavors.’ Some of the poems rhyme and some do not. Some tells stories while others describe people, animals, or places. Most of the poems are humorous in some way, which gives the whole collection a warm and light-hearted feel. Having so many poems to choose from means that there will be always be something in this collection that readers will like, no matter what kind of day they are having.

   The poems are divided into topical sections, which can also be handy if you know exactly what you are looking for. If you wake up one morning wanting to read poems about animals, then the “Critterverse” section is the place to go. Perhaps you have a particular interest in cars and other vehicles at the moment, which will mean that you should immediately go to the “Poems of a particular vehicular nature.” Other topics include poems about people, poems about insects, schoolish poems, poems that are fact-packed, poems that have fun playing with words, foodie poems, and a few that are miscellaneously silly.

   Throughout the book the poems are accompanied by Calef Brown’s singular illustrations, which really do complement the poems to a T. Readers can dip in or browse, or they can read the book from cover to cover.