Library (and Bookstore) Round-up #12

Mini-reviews of some of the books we currently have checked out of the library or purchased recently.

Big princess.  Tiny king.

The Tiny King by Taro Miura.  There is something just incredibly charming about this book.  The illustrations are, as you can see, truly delightful.  I wish a toy company would sell blocks to resemble those seemingly used to "build" the tiny king's castle.  The story, about a lonely, tiny king, who marries a big princess, with whom he has 10 (size unspecified) children is a gentle tale about love seeing past physical differences and how material riches and power cannot take the place of family and love.  But it is never didactic. I love how the background changes from black to cheerier colors, as in the two spreads at below, as the king becomes surrounded with people who love him and whom he loves. 

Sad king.
Don't you wish they sold blocks like these?

Happy king.
I still want those blocks.

Bembelman's Bakery by Melinda Green.  The predictability of this tale of what happens when children are left to their own devices, only enhanced, rather than diminished, my daughter's enjoyment of it.  As soon as the mother instructed the children not to get in trouble while she was gone for a few hours, my daughter gleefully exclaimed, "Trouble!"  And as soon as the children determined to bake bread, she delightedly exclaimed, "Uh-oh!  Messy!"  But all turns out well in the end.  A shame this one is out of print.

What Is Part This, Part That? by Harriet Ziefert.  When I pulled this book off the library shelf, drawn to the bold, primarily primary colored art, I knew immediately that the illustrator had to be Tom Slaughter and I was right.  The art is done in his trademark style, not just reminiscent of but a cousin or even a sibling to that in Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow?  I was surprised to see the authors were different, because both books pose sorts of riddles.  Here though, the rhyming riddles are more metaphysical, reminding us that a conversation with a friend is "part listen" and "part say" and that a bath is "part wash" and "part play."  With flaps adding to the fun, this is a great read-aloud. 



Here I Am, story by Patti Kim, pictures by Sonia Sanchez.  The art in this wordless book about a young boy who is unhappy and even angry when he emigrates from Korea to the United States is beautiful but I could not follow the story and in fact, got certain plot points completely wrong.  I had to read the note at the end to understand that the red, cherry-like item the boy grasps is a seed from his homeland and I was sure that the boy had thrown it out the window at a little girl playing on purpose, rather than dropping it accidentally as the author writes at the end.  I think a wordless book is a failure (a strong word, I know) if the author intends it to tell a particular story and that story is not made clear from the pictures.  I am also a bit mystified that the "story" (not the text, as there is none) is by Patti Kim but the art by Sonia Sanchez.  Of course, without text there is still a story, but I can't remember any other wordless book where there is an author as well as an illustrator.  Perhaps that split accounts for the fact that I found the storytelling unsuccessful.  Is the failure on my part (entirely possible!!), or the book's?

The Bear's Song by Benjamin Chaud.  I love this book!  Here the reader follows a papa bear who follows his cub, who is following a bee, into the Paris Opera House (where they cause quite a stir) and finally, to the beehive and the honey he's been seeking.  The illustrations, on over-sized pages, are filled with detail and it is fun to search for the bee on every page.  A story of parental love and the new trend of urban beekeeping - quite a combination! 

London

New York

Dot to Dot by Malcolm Cossons.  The stories of a grandmother and granddaughter who share a birthday and a name (Dot) but who live an ocean apart are told from each of their perspectives - just flip the book over!  A sweet book about inter-generational bonds and modern, far-flung families. 

The Favorite Daughter by Allen Say.  In this, another winning autobiographical picture book from Allen Say, his daughter is torn between her American and Japanese heritages.  But she also grapples with a school art assignment, in which she has to depict one of the most-depicted structures ever, especially in her hometown, the Golden Gate Bridge.  Her father guides her through both challenges with his gentle wisdom.  With two photographs of his actual daughter, one as a toddler and one as a young adult, punctuating Say's artwork, this book is very special. 


The Cat at Night by Dahlov Ipcar.  This beautiful book alternates scenes of how and what we see at night with what a cat sees.  Just gorgeous. Unfortunately, not a single one of her books is available for borrowing from the NYPL.



What have you and your kids been reading?

Library Round-up #8

Mini-reviews of just a few of the 100+ books we currently have out from the library.

When I Was Small  by Sara O'Leary, with illustrations by Julie Morstad.  My 5-year-old picked this gem out at the library by herself.  With its old-fashioned, vintage feel and beautiful illustrations, as well as its understanding of childhood, it reminds me of works by Charlotte Zolotow.  A young boy asks his mother to tell him about when she was "small."  Not young, small.  And so the mother interprets the request literally, and poetically tells him about when she and her doll were the same size, when she could wear a daisy for a sunhat, and lived in a dollhouse.  Lyrical, beautiful, original.  This one's going on my to-buy list.  I'll also be placing a hold on When You Were Small by the same pair at the library and checking out anything else by either the author or the illustrator, as well as the publisher, Simply Read Books.

Please, Louise! by Frieda Wishinsky and Marie-Louise Gay.  This story about an older brother, Jake, who wishes that his little sister Louise were a dog because she just won't stop bothering him is spot-on in its portrayal of sibling relationships.  When Jake thinks that his wish came true, he realizes how he should have been more careful about what he wished for.

Oonga Boonga also by Frieda Wishinsky. Another book about older-brother-younger-sister siblings.  Here, the older child is the only one who can comfort his baby sister.  This is a nice, empowering read for a new older sibling.  The baby here is also named Louise, so I thought this might be the same pair of sibs as in Please, Louise!, but alas, the older brother here is Daniel.

How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman, illustrated by Allen Say.  The story of how the author's American sailor father and Japanese mother met and tried to master each other's eating habits is a charming tale of overcoming and even embracing cultural differences as well as showing what unites us all.

I Gotta Draw by Bruce Degen.  The seemingly autobiographical story of a boy who loves to draw, the real heroine here is the teacher who finally realizes that she has to change her teaching methods rather than punishing her student for doodling.  When she lets him spell words as he draws them and incorporates his art into other areas of learning, she finds it has enormous benefit for him as well as the rest of her class.  I love how it shows that teachers learn from their students.  The dedication, while ambiguous, is, I bet, to the real teacher on whom the fictional teacher is based.

Goldilocks and Just One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson.  Another book that turns the Goldilocks story on its head (like Mo Willems's Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs which I review here), this one inverts the story so that it is a bear who makes himself at home at someone else's apartment.  The unexpected twist at the end adds to the humor.

No Bears by Meg McKinlay, illustrated by Leila Rudge.  Ella thinks bears have no place in books.  A book needs pretty things and funny things, and even scary things - as long as those scary things are not bears.  Of course, the joke is on Ella...

Chloe and the Lion.  This Mac Barnett-Adam Rex collaboration is my favorite of theirs so far.  In it, the the author directs the illustrator how to illustrate his story about Chloe and the lion and predictably, conflict ensues.  Suddenly, Chloe and the lion themselves get into the act to complain about the plot and how they are depicted.  Unique and funny.

Have you read any of these?  What did you think?

(Un)welcome Guests

 

I would not be too happy if a mouse decided to visit me.  But in A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker,
curmudgeonly Bear learns the value of companionship when an originally unwelcome mouse visits him and won't take no for an answer.  My kids literally laughed out loud each time the persistent mouse returned and the mouse's Britishisms (he wants "a spot of tea," is "terribly sorry" and says Bear has been "most kind") in a book which appears to have no connection to England made me chuckle.  With a story both humorous and heartwarming, this is one of my new favorites.  Apparently Becker has since written two more Bear and Mouse stories and a third will be published in September.  I've put the two published ones on hold at the library and am interested to and see how they measure up to the first.

In Bernard Waber's Do You See A Mouse?, the title character has invaded a fancy hotel, a hotel that cannot, does not, harbor a mouse!  And so it employs two inept mouse-catchers. Can you find the mouse when they can't?

Although the two books above make no secret of the fact that the mouse keeps reappearing, a popular theme in children's books is a hidden mouse who appears on each page.  Classics such as Goodnight Moon and Good Night, Gorilla employ this device as do some (all?) of the books in the adorable touch-and-feel Usborne series That's Not My [Lion, Monkey, etc.] (my favorite is That's Not My Monster).  I'm sure there are others - if you know of any, please tell me about them!

In the meantime, enjoy these (thankfully fictional) mice.