Loving school

MARTHA BUNNY LOVES SCHOOL by Clara Vulliamy. Albert Whitman, 2013.

Martha Bunny's first day of school has arrived. But her baby brother bunnies want to go along (packed in her new backpack), so Martha has to find a way to make them happy while she is at school.

Animals and their Adventures

OLYMPIG by Victoria Jamieson. Dial 2012.

Olympig athlete
Competes but wins no event
But at least he tries.

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THE DUCKLING GETS A COOKIE by Mo Willems. Hyperion 2012.

Duckling gets cookie
Pigeon is upset of course
How can he get one?

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THOSE DARN SQUIRRELS FLY SOUTH by Adam Rubin with illustrations by Daniel Salmier. Clarion 2012.

Those darn squirrels flew south
Old Man Fookwire misses them
So he heads south, too.

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Be very careful with this book: it bites!

OPEN VERY CAREFULLY: A BOOK WITH BITE by Nick Bromley with illustrations by Nicola O'Byrne. Nosy Crow, 2012.

The Ugly Duckling
Has much to fear from creatures
That can bite and snap!

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A year in the life

EIGHTH GRADE IS MAKING ME SICK by Jennifer Holm with illustrations by Elicia Castaldi. Random House, 2012.

Ginny Davis' year as an 8th grader is replete with changes: a stepfather (Step-Bob), a pregnant mother, a new house, and a brother who gets into serious trouble. All this and more is delivered through a novel that is a hybrid of graphic novel, realia, picture book, and more. Lists, emails, screenshots, post-its, and other ways of transmitting the text make this a book that will attract a wide range of readers. Ginny is a fully developed character: we come to know her from this snippets of insight into her life, her thoughts, her feelings. This is the mark of an incredibly talented duo whose combined efforts have created a unique whole. <464>

Eek! Mice!

LIBRARY MOUSE: A MUSEUM, ADVENTURE by Daniel Kirk. Abrams, 2012.

Sam and his friend Sarah leave their home and travel to the incredible world of the museum that connects to their library dwelling place. Sam takes along his journal to record his exploits. While visiting the museum, Sam and Sarah make some new (and unexpected) friends and uncover a world of art. <363>





LOVE, MOUSERELLA by David Ezra Stein. Nancy Paulsen Books, Penguin 2012.

Mouserella writes a lengthy letter to her grandmother letting her GrandMouse know how much she misses her in the three days since she has been gone. Ingenious aspects of the book (it opens vertically and not horizontally for starters) will make this one emerging readers and writers will enjoy. <364>

Puzzles in Picture Books

WUMBERS by Amy Krouse Rosenthal with illustrations by Tom Lichtenheld. Chronicle Books, 2012.

I adore the William Steig books C D B! and the sequels. Rosenthal and Lichteheld team up to create a book that uses numbers the way Steig used letters (and he is acknowledged in the dedication to the book). So Tom Lichtenyheld is the illustr8or and Rosenthal has wri10 the book. Get it? Clever use of letters and numbers and illustrations await the reader who loves to decode. <341>





OH NO! NOT AGAIN! (OR HOW I BUILT A TIME MACHINE TO SAVE HISTORY) (OR AT LEAST MY HISTORY GRADE) by Mac Barnett with illustrations by Dan Santat. Disney/Hyperion, 2012.

When our intrepid heroine gets an answer wrong on her history test, she constructs a time travelling vehicle intent on going back in time to change history so that her answer will now be correct. Of course, there are going to be complications, right? Bright comic illustrations and minimal text are a perfect way to encourage readers to tell more of the story themselves. This is a companion to OH NO! (OR HOW MY SCIENCE PROJECT DESTROYED THE WORLD) so be certain to recommend both books. <342>

In time for Dad's special day

DADDIES DO IT DIFFERENT by Alan Sitomer with illustrations by Abby Carter. Disney/Hyperion, 2012.

Just in time for Father's Day, Alan Sitomer offers a new picture book about how fathers sometimes approach things differently from mothers. From getting dressed (maybe things do not need to match?) to grocery hopping and making breakfast and even taking a bath: daddies do it different. Carter's illustrations enhance the humor with their frenetic movement and silly details. Buy this one for the Dad in your life. <357>

Blues

It always an interesting confluence when books connect in my "need to be blogged" stack. I wonder if they migrate toward one another when I am not looking? Hmmm...



WATER SINGS BLUE: OCEAN POEMS by Kate Coombs with illustrations by Meilo So (Chronicle Books 2012) is a collection about a diverse assortment of creatures and features at the waterfront. Poems about whales and seagulls along with poems about tide pools and shipwrecks make for an interesting array of topics and forms and rhythms. <223>



SMALL BUNNY'S BLUE BLANKET by Tatyana Feeney (Knopf 2012) picks up the theme of blue and uses it for the color of a blanket that Baby Bunny loves. Mother believes the blanket will be even better once it is washed. Bunny disagrees and spends a lot of time getting the blanket back the way he likes, a trifle dirty and used, but perfect as a companion for all he does. <224>

How to connect? It is possible to talk about the blue colors and symbolism and associations we have with it even with young readers.

wealthy readers

What a wonderful time to be a child. There are so many books to welcome young readers into the world of words and books and pictures and magic. My colleague and friend (and often co-conspirator) Rosemary Chance designed a community outreach project for us to use in our children's lit classes. Project B.E.T.H. stands for Books Entering Texas Homes. Our grad students will identify families in their communities and send books home to start fledgling libraries in homes. All of the books I weed are going to Project B.E.T.H. for now. Since Krashen and other researchers tell us that having books in the home is key and we know that there are many kids who do not have access to books at home, we thought this was a natural fit. Some of the books I have been blogging about are already in bags set to go to B.E.T.H. soon. Books float on...



Mo Willems' continues to delight readers with his Elephant and Piggie books in LISTEN TO MY TRUMPET (Hyperion/Disney 2012). Piggie comes to elephant in a state of quivering excitement to share his new trumpet and the, um, noise it can make. Elephant searches for just the right words to tell his friend that the noises are not music. As it turns out, that is OK with Piggie. Find out why. <127>




OTTO THE BOOK BEAR by Katie Cleminson (Disney/Hyperion 2012) is the story of a bear who lives in the pages of a book. Little do his owners know that Otto can leave his book at night and explore the world around him. One day, though, Otto is left behind. How Otto solves his problem might seem a natural to adult readers, but kids will love watching Otto's efforts to find his home. <128>




Eileen Spinelli along with illustrator Megan Lloyd give readers A BIG BOY NOW (Harper 2012). A young rabbit declares he is a big boy now (should sound familiar to any parent). He can stay up later and do more now that he is older. However, taking the training wheels off his bike might be another matter. Needing comfort no matter how big we get is a lovely theme in this book. <129>

Beauty in the eye of the beholder

Jan Brett's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Putnam 2012) is a classic retelling of the fairy tale. The story of how Beauty comes to spend a year living with the beast should be familiar to many young readers from the Disney version. However, Brett sticks close to the more classic tale. Her illustrations are detailed and lush in color. The text, therefore, remains confined to the bottom of each page with pictures capturing most of the space. This would be a good choice for reading aloud to children. <180>





DAY BY DAY by Susan Gal (Knopf 2012) opens with three pigs making their way out into the world. The build a house brick by brick. They pant a garden row by row and make friends neighbor by neighbor. Check out the illustrations for little gems such as the titles of the books the pigs read at night (Charlotte's Web and The Three Little Pigs!). <181>

too much stuff

Have a pack rat who lives with you? I do, two of them. I think I might just have to share these picture books with them both.




Edward loves STUFF. In Margie Palatini's new picture book, STUFF (Katherine Tegen Books 2011), Edward becomes so consumed with is stuff that he does not have time or room for his friends or even his pets. Then, one day, Edward is trapped inside by all his stuff. Will someone be able to rescue him? Take a close look at the illustrations to see what Edward thinks is worth keeping, too. <38>





In STUCK by Oliver Jeffers (Philomel 2011), Floyd gets his kite stuck in a tree. In order to dislodge it, he throws one shoe and then another. They both become stuck. Soon, Floyd has lost a ladder, a boat, a whale, and sundry other things in the tree. How can he ever rescue his kite? <39>