Happy Easter!

 Happy Easter! Have a wonderful Bunny Day

Poetry Friday - A review of UnBEElievables

Many children are interested in bees. The fact that these insects are social, and that they work together for the good of the hive sets them apart. In today's poetry picture book, Douglas Florian takes us into a bee hive to visit  the queen, the workers, and the drones. He combines artwork, poems, and sections of informational text to give children a unique book experience.

UnBEElievables

Douglas Florian

Poetry Picture Book

For ages 6 to 8

Simon and Schuster, 2012, 978-1-4424-2652-8

Welcome to the hive of some busy honeybees. They are delighted to have a visitor, and are eager to show you around. The guards will “greet you when you arrive,” and then you can begin your bee adventure.

   As you move through the hive you will meet some of the bees who live there. There is the queen bee who lays two thousand eggs every day. She is fed royal jelly by her “doting daughters,” but her sons, the drones, never show any care for their hard working mother. Their role is to find a queen bee in another hive and to mate with her.

   All the work in the hive is done by the worker bee sisters. They feed the queen, the drones, and the babies. They also clean, keep the hive cool on hot days, and make repairs. All day long they work and they never have time to do any “Miss-bee-having.”

   There are also the bees who leave the hive and whose job it is to collect nectar. These busy insects are “A summer sensation,” working hard when the weather is warm to bring pollen and nectar to the hive.

  Often told from the point of view of the bees themselves, the poems in this book are amusing and informative. Each poem is accompanied by a full page illustration and a short piece of text that further explores the topic presented in the poem. The author wraps up our hive visit by telling us that many thousands of honeybee colonies have disappeared. It is believed that some kind of disease is responsible, and as Douglas Florian explains, we all need to do what we can to protect honeybees “not only for the sake of bees and their honey” but also because both wild and cultivated plants needs bees to pollinate them. 

Fiction Wednesday - A review of Mouse and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends

I am always looking for interesting new books that will appeal to children who are moving on from beginner readers to chapter books. The book I have reviewed below is an excellent example of a well-written chapter book, and it one in a series of stories about Mouse and her best friend Mole. I have been enjoying the titles in this series ever since they started coming out a few years ago, and I am always delighted when the author, Herbert Wong Yee, brings us a new book. 

Mouse and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends

Wong Herbert Yee

Fiction

For ages 5 to 7

Houghton Mifflin, 2009, 978-0-547-15222-6

   Mole loves spring because spring is when the birds come back, and he is “simply mad about birds.” One blustery spring day, Mole and his best friend Mouse set off together to try to find some birds so that they can add new drawings to their “bird books.” At first, they cannot seem to find any birds, but when Mole uses his bird whistles, several birds turn up. Unfortunately, Mole has a habit of stepping on noisy things like dried leaves, and twigs, and the birds are always scared away. Mouse and Mole are going to have to take drastic measures if they want to be able to get close to some birds.

   Early the next morning, Mouse comes to Mole’s house and the two friends get to work. Mouse’s plan sounds ridiculous, but Mole is willing to give it a try. Using pieces of fabric and glue, Mole and Mouse disguise themselves to look like birds. After all, birds aren’t afraid of birds, and if Mouse and Mole look like birds, then they should be able to get near their feathered friends. At least that is the theory. Who knows what will happen in practice.

   In this award winning book, Herbert Wong Yee tells a story that is funny and at the same time meaningful. Children will see how two friends are able to work as a team, despite their differences, and how, in the end, they create something special together.

   This is the fourth Mouse and Mole title. With its four short chapters, its charming illustrations, and its engaging story, this book is perfect for young children who are ready to read chapter books.

Picture book Monday - A review of The Word Collector

People collect all kinds of things. My daughter collects panda paraphernalia. She has panda toys, pencils, bags, plates, and pictures. My husband loves maps, in particular ones of vineyards and wine regions. I collect books, of course. In today's picture book you are going to meet a very unusual little girl who collects words.

The Word Collector

Sonja Wimmer

Translated by Jon Brokenbrow

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 8

Cuento De Luz, 2012, 9788415241348

Luna is a very special little girl who lives in a lighthouse in the clouds. In her spare time, she collects words the way “other people collect stamps.” She loves all kinds of words and delights in their sounds and meanings.

   Then one day she notices that her precious words are starting to disappear. She asks the clouds and birds what is happening to the words, and they explain that people are “too busy” to bother with the wonderful words, and that they are forgetting about them. The words are disappearing because the people “don’t think that they are important any more.”

   After a sleepless night full of worry, the little girl decides that she has to do something. She cannot let all those wonderful words disappear for ever. She packs all her words in a big suitcase and sets off on a very special journey.

   Children who like words that sing and hop, words that are long and complicated, will love this very unique picture book. The text is incorporated into the delightful collage artwork so that Luna’s story dances across the pages.

   This book not only celebrates the written word, but it also explores the idea that sometimes giving away the things you love is even better than collecting them for yourself. 

April is National Poetry Month!

 

Happy first of April! April is National Poetry Month here in the United States. There are all kinds of fantastic resources out there that you can share with your children to make April a wonderful poetry-filled month. Some of these are:

• Poetry resources from Scholastic
• Poetry resources from Reading Rockets
• Resources from The Academy of American Poets
• Reviews of Poetry Books right here on TTLG

Poetry Friday - A review of Let's Celebrate!

Since I moved to America, I have learned about and experienced all kinds of holidays that I did not know about when I was a child. I have celebrated Cinco de Mayo, Halloween, Hanukkah, Diwali, and Chinese New Year with friends and family, and I have greatly enjoyed every single festive occasion. Today's picture book looks at twenty-four holidays from around the world, some of which might be new to you.

Let’s Celebrate! Festival Poems from around the world

Edited by Debjani Chatterjee and Brian D’Arcy

Illustrated by Shirin Adl

Poetry Picture Book

For ages 7 to 10

Frances Lincoln, 2011, 978-1-84780-087-9

   There is a good chance that somewhere in the world, at this moment, people are celebrating a festival day. There are so many holidays that many of us have never even heard of, and many that we are aware exist but that we nothing about. For this colorful poetry collection, the editors have selected twenty-nine poems that celebrate a variety of festive days that are celebrated in countries around the world.

   We begin by hearing from the dragon who is taking part in a Chinese New Year parade. The dragon tells us about how it dances in the street “on caterpillar feet.” Its red, green and gold scales “shiver,” and though it is fierce looking, it reassures us that “you’ve nothing to fear” from the “King of the Chinese New Year.”

   Next we are transported to the United Kingdom, where children and their families celebrate Pancake Day by making pancakes. They make the batter, heat the pan, and pour the batter in. Then it is time to try to toss the pancake. Will the family members soon be “peeling / Pancakes off the kitchen ceiling?”

   Later in the book, we encounter the bright paint colors of Holi. Holi is an Indian festival day when people throw colored powder and water on each other. It is joyous day when everyone gets to be a prankster, and when everyone has a reason to be silly. To the sounds of sitars and tablas, people pelt each other with colorful “sparkling powers” and “happy splashes.”

   Children and their families are sure to enjoy the pictures and poems in this special book. The poems were written by poets from around the world, and some are modern, while others are older. Most were written in English, but a few were written in other languages and were translated for us.

   At the back of the book, readers will find brief explanations of the twenty-four holidays that are mentioned in the book.

   

Fiction Wednesday - A review of Pinch and Dash

In our house, my husband is the one who really loves hot and spicy food. He used to spice up the food I cooked when it was in the pot. He has since learned that this is not such a good idea, and he spices up his meals at the table instead with a dash of hot sauce here, and a pinch of cayenne power there.

Today's fiction title is a chapter book that tells the story of two friends who try to cook a meal together and who encounter a problem. 

Pinch and Dash Make Soup

Michael J. Daley

Illustrated by Thomas F. Yezerski

Fiction

For ages 6 to 8

Charlesbridge, 2012, 978-1-58089-347-3

   Pinch is hungry, and he fancies having a bowl of soup to eat. He looks in his refrigerator and sees that it contains a potato, some spinach, and some cheese, but he does not feel like making some soup himself because he is feeling lazy. He is also feeling too lazy to walk down to the Chat and Chew restaurant to get a bowl of soup. There is only one solution to this problem; Pinch is going to visit his friend Dash because Dash is always cooking something delicious.

   Sure enough, when Pinch arrives at Dash’s house, Dash is in his kitchen and he is cooking something. Dash explains that he is making skinny soup, in other words, “soup with not much in it.” Dash invites Pinch to join him, which is exactly what Pinch wants to do. There is a problem though. Dash’s soup is a bit too skinny. It needs to be “fattened up.” Pinch offers to go to his house to get the potato that is sitting in his fridge. When it is clear that one potato has not quite done the trick, Pinch gets the spinach, and then he gets the cheese from his house. Now the soup is sufficiently “fat,” but Pinch feels it is lacking seasoning. Dash refuses to let Pinch put any pepper or hot sauce into the soup, and the friends squabble about who has the right to season the soup.

   This amusing young reader’s chapter book not only contains an humorous story, but it also explores the idea that sometimes you have to make compromises for the sake of your friends. Children will chuckle when they see what lazy Dash does to get the kind of soup that he wants.

Picture Book Monday - A review of One Cool Friend

Children like to think that they are the only people who can have secrets that are fun and interesting. They never imagine that their grownups might have "cool" secrets of their own, because grownups and the word "cool" simply do not go together. This picture book shows to great effect that there are times when grownups can be pretty interesting people, and it is not wise to underestimate them. Oh, and you will also get to meet a rather clever penguin in this story, which I am sure will delight readers who have a soft spot for penguins.

One Cool Friend

Toni Buzzeo

Illustrated by David Small

Picture Book

For ages 6 to 8

Penguin, 2012, 978-0-8037-3413-5

   Elliot is a not your average kind of boy. He wears a neat suit black suit, a white shirt, and a black bow tie. He does not enjoy the usual pursuits popular with children, so when he father suggest going to the Family Fun Day at the aquarium, Elliott agrees to go more out of politeness than anything else.

   At the aquarium, Elliot eschews the exhibits that attract all the other children, and instead he wonders off on his own. Which is when he finds the penguins. He loves the way the Magellan penguins look with their “tidy black feather tuxedos” and their “proper posture,” so he goes to where his father is sitting and asks if he can have a penguin. His father gives Elliott a twenty-dollar bill, and then Elliot goes to the penguin enclosure and picks out the smallest penguin. Eliott’s father thinks that his son is going to buy a toy penguin in the gift shop, and it never occurs to him that Elliott has a real penguin in his backpack when they leave the aquarium.

   Taking care of an animal that is used to cold temperatures, ice, and lots of water is not an easy thing to do when you live in a house. Especially when you are not too keen to let your father know that there is a penguin in residence. Elliott and his penguin, Magellan, manage very well for a while, and then the unthinkable happens.

   Children will laugh out loud when they see how Elliott acquires his unusual pet, and when they then see what he does to take care of it. They will love the extremely surprising ending, and will enjoy going back through the book to find the clues that suggest that Elliott’s father might have a secret of his own.

   With a beautifully written and minimal text, and David Small’s wonderfully expressive illustrations, this is a picture book that readers of all ages will enjoy reading. Anyone who has a fondness for penguins must add this title to their penguin book library.

Poetry Friday - A review of Mixed Beasts

Can you imagine what an animal would look like if it had the body of a bumblebee, and the head, paws, and tail of a beaver? No, neither could I until I read today's poetry title. Perhaps imagining such a thing does not interest you. Why would anyone want to waste their time imagining such an animal? Well, I can tell you from personal experience that seeing what a Bumblebeaver looks like is not a waste of time at all. Don't believe me? Then look through this book and you will see for yourself. On its pages you will meet some very strange looking creatures, and you will read some wonderful poems that will make you smile, or maybe even laugh.

Mixed Beasts, Or a Miscellany of Rare and Fantastic Creatures

Kenyon Cox
Illustrated by Wallace Edwards
Poetry Picture Book
For ages 7 to 10
Kids Can Press, 2005, 978-1553377962
Professor Julius Duckworth O'Hare (Esquire) is a zoologist who likes to travel around the world to study rare and peculiar creatures the like of which most of us have never heard of. We are very lucky because Kenyon Cox and Wallace Edwards have combined their considerable talents to introduce us just some of the bizarre animals that the Professor saw on his travels. Be advised that some of these creatures are rather startling to look at, but I am sure that you will be intrigued by them.

   Perhaps the most interesting of the animals in this book is the octopussycat. Though it is not cuddly, it is certainly fascinating because each its eight arms can work independently. The Bumblebeaver is another curious creature. It is able to make "mud-houses with his tail / Or gather honey with his nose." If you think that that is peculiar, then you should see a Creampuffin. This animal is half bird, and half dessert, and can in fact can be eaten in its 'raw' form.

   This picture book of delightfully ridiculous verse introduces readers to thirteen highly unlikely looking animals, each one of which is shown in a very unusual setting. The verse is lively and rhyming, reminiscent of some of the verse found in the Alice in Wonderland books. When readers investigate the illustrations closely they will find that other peculiar creatures inhabit the artwork. These animals are shown in an illustrated listing in the back of the book. Readers will also discover one last surprise on the very last page of the book, one which will go a long way to explain who (and what) Professor Julius Duckworth O'Hare is.

Fiction Wednesday - A review of Beezus and Ramona

I know that countless American children have grown up listening to, and then reading, the Ramona books. Unfortunately, I was not able to have this experience. For some reason the books in this superlative series never crossed the Atlantic. I cannot imagine why they were not available in Europe when I was growing up, but they weren't. I moved to the U.S. in 1991, and soon after I met Ramona for the first time. Despite my adult status, I love the Ramona stories, and I know I would have loved then when I was a child too. Just in case there are some of you who have somehow missed reading about Ramona and her family, here is a review of the first title in the collection.

Beezusand Ramona

Beverly Cleary
Illustrated by Tracy Dockray
Fiction
For ages 8 to 10
HarperCollins, 1990, 038070918X

Beezus Quimby has a problem - her four-year-old sister. Ramona is the kind of child who does exactly what she wants and heaven help anyone who tries to change her mind. For example, at the moment, Ramona is fixated on one book, “The Littlest Steam Shovel.” Everyone in the family, with the exception of Ramona of course, is sick of the book. Desperate for some respite from Scoopy the steam shovel, Beezus takes Ramona to the library. Surely Ramona will pick a new kind of book, a book that everyone will like? Alas for Beezus and her parents, for Ramona decides to borrow “Big Steve the Steam Shovel.”

   As her little sister finds endless ways to make her life miserable, Beezus finds herself getting angry again and again. Even worse, she discovers that there are moments when she really does not like her little sister at all. There are times when she wishes she could have a break from Ramona. Does this mean that she is a bad person and a bad sister?

   Any child who has been around an annoying younger brother, sister, cousin, or friend will appreciate the six stories in this book. The problems that Beezus and Ramona have to deal with are of the everyday variety; they are the kind of problems that children can relate to. At the same time they are also funny and highly entertaining.

   This is the first title in a series of books about Ramona Quimby.