Review (Book) - Just Right for Christmas by Birdie Black

"When the king comes upon a bolt of beautiful red cloth, he knows that it's just right to make a beautiful cloak for the princess. After the sewing maids finish their work, the scraps are set out and quickly picked up by the kitchen maid, who will put them to good use. So begins a chain of trickle-down crafting and gift giving until even the tiniest mouse has something warm and cozy - something just right for Christmas." (inside jacket cover)

I had high hopes for this book judging by the cute illustration on the cover, but alas, Bertie Badger and his story only appear on six of the book's 26 pages. I became wary as soon as I opened the cover of the book and noticed the background of the endpapers/pages/leaves (whatever you want to call them) were  horribly pixelated.

While the story is nice, when I look for a Christmas book, I look for a book about Christmas. There definitely wasn't anything as offensive as the story of Jesus's birth in this book, but even the jolly old elf himself (aka Santa) didn't make an appearance. The only thing "Christmassy" about this book is the giving of gifts and the word "Christmassy" in regards to a piece of soft red cloth. This story could have just as easily applied to Hanukkah, birthdays, or really any day of the year that you just feel like being nice and giving a homemade gift to a friend. While it has good morals, this will not be a book I buy for my future children (and would not be inclined to suggest for a library collection either, as I simply didn't find anything special about it). There are plenty of other books that teach the same good values while actually being "Christmassy".

Amazon recommends this book for ages 3 and up. This is a fine age range, as approximately half of most pages contain the repeating phrase ""Oooh!" he/she said. "That cloth is so red and soft and Christmassy! It would be just right to...""

My rating:

Review (Book) - Clorinda Plays Baseball by Robert Kinerk

"Clorinda is a cow with big dreams and loving friends. With her friends Hop and Len, she practices from dawn till dusk in the hope that her day in the big leagues may come. Then Clorinda meets Deke, who also loves the game, and Clorinda finds that her calling is to make Deke a star. It isn't long before Deke signs with Bosstown, with Clorinda as his number-one fan. Hip-hip-hooray!
But when Deke gets to Bosstown, he can't find his spark without Coach Clorinda at his side. By the fastest way possible, the team sends for Clorinda. But the question remains, will Clorinda ever get to play?" (inside jacket cover)

Well, with an introduction like that, not much is left to be said about the book! Steven Kellogg's illustrations are a bit...softer (??? after taking two youth literature classes, you'd think I'd know by now how to better describe illustrations) than most of my preferred children's books, but they are still beautiful to look at. Robert Kinerk has written the accompanying story that that rhymes beautifully, though he does use a couple rather advanced words such as "deftly". I'm sad that Clorinda's dream of playing professional baseball was so short lived, but alas, such is life.

This book is meant for slightly older children, or just expect younger children to ask questions about the story and vocabulary. There are some great underlying themes throughout the book, including building up others and not being prejudiced towards anyone because of their "species...gender, or race" (p.28). Overall, this is a book I would enjoy trying to read with my own [hypothetical] children, even though I personally find baseball one of the most boring sports in existence. 

Amazon recommends this book for ages 4 and up.

My rating:

Review (Book) - Little Dog Lost by Monica Carnesi

"On a cold winter day, a curious dog wanders onto a frozen river. Suddenly, the ice starts breaking up, and soon the dog is adrift and traveling - the unwilling passenger on a fast-moving sheet of ice.
The dramatic rescue of this little lost dog, who traveled seventy-five miles in two days, is a true story that will warm readers' hearts." (inside jacket cover)

This book will be appealing to young children even without knowing the history of Baltic, the Polish pooch found in 2010 on an ice floe in the Baltic Sea; though, if you're interested, the note from the author in the back of the book is a one page history of Baltic's travels and rescue.

According to the copyright page, "the art was done in watercolor, pen and ink on Fabriano hot-pressed paper". The text in the book is minimal - really no more than 2 lines per page, with predominantly simple words (other than the proper nouns like the name of the river Baltic got lost on - the Vistula) that can also be used for reader response.

Amazon recommends this book for ages 3 and up, but I think this could be a cute addition to any puppy storytime starting at 2 years old, so long as you don't have children who would get over emotional about a dog being lost and alone.

My rating:

Review (Book) - The Pirates Next Door by Jonny Duddle

"When a pirate family, the Jolley-Rogers, move to Dull-on-Sea, rumors of their shocking behavior starts spreading through the neighborhood. But, with few other children to play with, Matilda is thrilled to meet the fascinating new family next door!" (inside jacket cover)

I LOVE THIS BOOK! While I enjoyed The Pirate Cruncher (Duddle's first picture book) more, I would still be quick to try to use this book in a pirate storytime for older kids. 

The illustrations are gorgeous; even my artist husband was captivated by the pictures in these books, and enough so that he has actually read both of Duddle's books to me (I love getting storytimes for myself)! The story is a cute one about overcoming stereotypes and treating others the way you want to be treated (even if they don't treat you that way), accompanied by gorgeous digital media illustrations and set in the fun font styles of Aunt Mildred and Tree Persimmon. Some of the words used are a bit more nonsensical (as in the style of Dr. Seuss), but most of the words are understandable, though might need a bit of defining for younger audiences. I successfully used The Pirate Cruncher a couple of summers ago with a camp group of children 5-11 years old, and this book is on about the same level. 

I'm hoping that the "Starring : The Jolly Rogers" means that Duddle plans on writing and illustrating many more of these books!

Amazon recommends this book for ages 3 and up, but I think the book might be a bit long for a 3-year-old, with some of the words being too complex.

My rating:

Review (Book) - The Very Fairy Princess: Here Comes the Flower Girl by Julie Andrews

"Aunt Sue is getting married, and Gerry could not be more thrilled - especially since she's been chosen to be the flower girl! Gerry is determined to add her special touch to all the preparations. She paints glittery signs, decorates the cake with lots of pink, and helps her brother make fancy favors. When the wedding doesn't go exactly as she's planned, Gerry comes to realize that what matters most on such a special day is the sparkle that comes from inside - happiness and love." (inside jacket cover)

One word : GLITTERRRRRRR!!!11omgzzzsotuhedcywtcifw

*Ahem*...Anywho...yeah...the glitter alone on the front of this book is quite likely to attract any girl's attention.

The pictures are very Fancy Nancy-esque (done in ink and color pencil on Kaecolor paper), though they are not quite as bright. Really the whole book is reminiscent of Fancy Nancy (and what girl isn't a fan of those books?), although Geraldine doesn't seem to care about being quite as fancy as Nancy, so long as she has her fairy wings and wand.

The things I dislike about this book are the illustrations - I don't think they are as clean and crisp or as well done as Fancy Nancy - and some of the text. It's hard to verbalize, but some of the words on the page are emphasized by being written in ALL CAPS (I have no problem with that in picture books), but also look...shakily written? A _LITTLE LI^KE TH_IS. I don't see myself using this book in a storytime, but despite its flaws it is written by the fabulous Julie Andrews...I would still be quick to recommend this series to all fans of books like Fancy Nancy and/or Pinkalicious.

My rating:

 

(only 2.5 if your copy doesn't have glitter on the cover)

Review (Book) - Sign Language ABC by Lora Heller

"Learn how to say your ABCs with your hands!
Use the sign language alphabet to...
~ Share messages with friends
~ Spell something top secret
~ Talk - without speaking - in a quiet place" (inside jacket cover)

I recently learned that alphabet books are supposedly valuable in any children's storytime, as it promotes early literacy. So, I guess it's a good thing that I already enjoyed using them in my storytimes! This book is great for any storytime then, because it's a very general one that will likely be able to fit in with any theme.

While the author seems to have intended the book for a slightly older audience (in her notes she says things like "use sign language to help practice spelling any word you want, sending messages across the playground, etc."), but I would not hesitate to use this book with even the youngest children. It is your typical alphabet book (i.e. "A is for Astronaut, B is for Bird"), including a variety of words that should already be familiar to young children, as well as fun, albeit slightly exaggerated illustrations. On each page, there is also an illustration of what your hand should look like if you are signing each letter. At the end of the book is a page with the entire sign language alphabet.

The only criticism I have to make about this book is that some of the lines on the hands (i.e. around each finger) are not particularly distinctive, which may make the hand illustration confusing to younger children who are trying to correctly imitate what is in the picture.

Amazon recommends this book for ages 4 and up, but I think I've made myself pretty clear where I stand on this issue.

My rating:

Review (Book) - Kite Day by Will Hillenbrand

"What a day! 
Bear can't believe it. 
It's the perfect day to make and fly a kite with Mole! 
But a surprise is waiting for the two friends on their windy-day adventure." (inside jacket cover)

I'm not sure what to say about this picture book...it is one that I could definitely live without, but at the same time, would be willing to try using in a storytime with a wide range of themes from bears to birds or friendship to rain.

The story is super short - there are typically only two lines of (larger) text per page. I think these sentences would be easily understood even by toddlers, but worry that some children will not be able to follow what is happening in the pictures at the same time without a little prompting (then again, I tend to enjoy asking the children if they notice what is happening in the pictures anyway). In the meantime, the accompanying pictures are well done, using bright colors in a soft hue. (Does that even make sense? I'm so NOT an artist...) I would be interested enough to pick up another Bear and Mole story.

Do you have any experience reading or using this book? Please share your experience with me if you have!

My rating:

.5

Picture Book Month

Last year was my first attempt at spreading the word about Picture Book Month, and it went about as good as could be expected for November being such a busy month for me what with getting married and everything. This year's November (as I expect every year's will be) is also going to be a busy one for me between an anniversary trip and finally going up north to see my family for Thanksgiving. I will still attempt to schedule as many posts for November as I can comfortably write featuring picture books. This year I discovered this calendar :

I'm honestly not really sure what it means, even after reading the post about it, but I have decided I will use the subjects as a guideline for the picture books I review. So, for as many days in November as I can, I'm going to review a picture book on each of the subjects that have been published in 2012 and are available from my local library system.

Review (Book) - Lots of Dots by Craig Frazier

The concept of this book is similar to The Loud Book (reviewed here), only children learn about various forms of dots, as opposed to loud noises.


While I feel like this is a book I could have illustrated using Windows' good old "Paint" program, it's very colorful (so it should be eye-catching to the kids), yet simple, and I think the premise is great. 


This book would be excellent for kids learning their shapes. I personally can't wait to use it in a storytime, as I see an excellent opportunity to not only ask the children what shape they're looking at (circles, obviously), but also what the circle is a part of (i.e. peas in a peapod, petals on a flower, etc.).


Sorry for the short review, I seem to be very scatterbrained today. If you have read this book, now would be an excellent time to share your own opinions to fill in my blank spaces.


I cannot find an age recommendation on Amazon, but I would not personally hesitate using this book for anyone age 2-5. In fact, I just had a co-worker use this book in her shapes program for ages 2-5 last week.


My rating:

Review (Book) - Best Buds by Maxwell Eaton III

I read this book as an eBook on my iPhone (first off, I do not recommend this - it made everything very small, even for me) while my fiance drove his best man and I to Orlando last weekend, so there was no summary on a non-existent jacket. So, I will do my best to sum it up - 


This book in the "Adventures of Max and Pinky" series concentrates on how Max and Pinky are best buds. Max is a boy who looks very much like Charlie Brown; Pinky is a pig who is obsessed with marshmallows. They do everything together, until one day when Pinky does not show up for "Adventure Day"...


This book was really cute. The pictures are very simple and resemble a comic strip. The story is simple as well and can either be read to younger kids by reading only the main text on the page, and to older children by incorporating the thought and/or speech bubbles found on most pages. Adults as well will enjoy the side notes in the dialogue balloons (at least I did). The author is hilariously random - a polar bear in the middle of the lake? Whose butt resembles a giant marshmallow? LOVE IT! I can't wait to read the rest of the series.


Amazon recommends this book for ages 5 and up, but I can easily see myself using this book for our 3-5 year-old storytime.


My rating:

Review (Book) - Who Has These Feet? by Laura Hulbert

"Find out why these feet, and those of eight other animals are perfectly adapted to their habitat.
With brightly detailed paintings and a simple, informative text, this fun guessing game will have children looking at feet in a whole new way!" (inside jacket cover)


While the inside jacket flap pretty much describes the entire book, I will go on a mini-rant about how much I love this book! I can't wait to read it to a group of kids - I love playing guessing games with them.


The illustrations are beautiful. Each page has the text "Who has these feet?" (obviously accompanied by an illustration of an animal's feet) in a large, fun, kid-friendly font, followed by a two page spread of the entire animal and a short, one-sentence explanation of why the animal has feet like that. This more educational sentence can be omitted for the very young so that this book can be read to a wide span of ages.


Amazon recommends this book for ages 3 and up, but as I just mentioned, I think this book can be easily adapted to appeal even to 2-year-olds.


My rating:

Review (Book) - The Little Little Girl with the Big Big Voice by Kristen Balouch

"In this vibrantly illustrated book, one loud little girl searches high and low for a friend to play with, but her BIG voice scares all of the animals! One by one, an elephant, a snake, and a crocodile run away from her. She finally finds the perfect playmate-one who doesn't mind her "roaring" voice." (inside jacket cover)


One thing's for sure - this definitely is a vibrantly illustrated book. Yet, I still don't really care for the pictures, because they are drawn in such a way that I'm not sure the kids would even know what they were supposed to be. For instance, on the first page with the picture of the elephant, I think the elephant more resembles a dachshund with a trunk for a nose who is missing his front legs.


Still (especially for our "Noise" week coming up), I would like to try reading this book to the kids. It will be interesting to see if they can determine from the pictures that the little, little girl is scaring away all of the animals with her voice, as there are no noise sounds written on the page (i.e. ARRRRRGH!, EEEEEK!, etc.). This also makes me wonder if I should go ahead and make these strange/loud noises to make the kids laugh, or if I should wait and see if they catch on themselves.


I couldn't find an age recommendation for this book on Amazon, but the publishing company (judging by the inside jacket cover) seems to think this book would be best for ages 2-5.


My rating:

.5

Random note: I love that she "comes upon a snake swinging in the tree" - can you say Sally the Swinging Snake? 

Review (Book) - The Hole in the Middle by Paul Budnitz

"This is a story about music, picnics, cake, loneliness and togetherness.
It's about a boy who felt empty, and how he became a good friend and made himself whole again." (inside jacket cover)


This book had very colorful pictures with an Oriental vibe, and there are lots of little things to see on each page (my favorite being the badminton game taking place through the main character's hole).


While children would probably see this book simply enough to fit in nicely to a friendship-themed storytime, I personally am confused about what exactly this book was about (as if the summary given on the jacket flap wasn't random enough). Is this book about a boy who fills the emptiness inside him with a good friend or by being a good friend? Is this book a children's book about adult themes such as finding a soul mate to fill the emptiness inside you? And if any of these are true, how many religious fanatics will this book upset over the fact that a "higher power" is not what fills the emptiness inside a person? Or, is this book supposed to be a legend about where belly buttons came from? (Read the book, you'll see what I mean.) 


I guess overall this book would be cute for kids, (a good story on how to be a good friend) but I'm your stereotypical female who overthinks things, and I think I'm just in an overthinking mood tonight.


Amazon recommends this book for ages 3 and up.


My rating:

.5

(Still in need of a picture of a half-crown)

Review (Book) - I Must Have Bobo! by Eileen Rosenthal

"When Willy woke up, there was TROUBLE. Where was Bobo? Willy loves Bobo. Willy NEEDS Bobo. But Earl loves Bobo too." (inside jacket cover)


BEWARE, this review will have spoilers -


So, Willy is a young boy who has a monkey stuffed animal named Bobo for a "security blanket". Since Bobo is such a multi-functional animal, helping Willy with everything from being brave to identifying bugs...well, you can see why Willy NEEDS Bobo. The problem is that Willy's cat Earl also loves to cuddle with Bobo.


I originally picked this book up to read because of the title. My soon-to-be (in just two days!) sister-in-law calls outrageously stupid situations "bobo", so I just had to see who MUST HAVE something so stupid. But alas, the book was not stupid at all. I thought it was delightfully cute. (I may even have to buy this book for her for Christmas).


The illustrations are very simple. They remind me of a cross between Harold and the Purple Crayon (but with more colors) and Mo Willems's "Pigeon" books. The story is adorable - I love how Willy speaks to and through Bobo, and I love how Earl is always stealing Bobo away to cuddle with him. I even love how in the end, in true stuck-up cat fashion, Earl wins.


I would love to read this book to a school group of 4-5-year-olds and see if they can find Bobo, and if they answer the questions that Willy asks Bobo and Earl. Do you have any experiences reading this book to kids?


I couldn't find an age range on Amazon, but the publishing company (according to the inside jacket cover) appears to recommend the book for ages 3-6.


My rating:

Review (Book) - A Mango in the Hand by Antonio Sacre

"Today is a special day for Francisco. It is his saint day, which means it's time to celebrate with a feast! Francisco is most excited about dessert - delicious mangos, right from the tree. And he is finally old enough to go pick the mangos all by himself. 
But getting the mangos back home is not easy. There are lots of bees, and family members with whom to share. When it's finally time for the feast, Francisco has no mangos to offer! But as his papá assures him, "Mijo, no hay mal que por bien no venga. Nothing bad happens that good doesn't come of it."
This humorous, warm story filled with inspirational and universal proverbs will remind readers that "Es mejor dar que recibir. Sometimes, it's better to give than to recieve." (inside jacket cover)


Just in case you couldn't tell from the description above, this is a very lengthy book - definitely not for storytime (unless your attendees are Stepford children). However, if you have an older and/or patient child, this book may be worth looking into.


The story was lovely and taught good character, focusing especially on sharing and bravery. Though, while it is supposed to be "a story told through proverbs", some of the proverbs themselves were difficult for me to understand, let alone younger children. The story also makes me want to learn more about Cuban culture - for instance, I had always thought young children drinking café con leche was a stereotypical myth.


While the pictures were also cartoon-y cute, my favorite part of the book was how the author used Spanish words and phrases used to make the book somewhat bilingual. In case you can't figure it out (most of the sentences are repeated in English immediately after the Spanish), there is a "Glossary of Spanish words and phrases" at the end of the book.


Amazon recommends this book for 4 and up, but as I mentioned earlier, it would have to be a very patient 4-year-old.


My rating:

Review (Book) - ABC Kids by Simon Basher

I have enjoyed using ABC books in my storytimes (ABCDisney and ABCDrive have been two of my favorites) because it gives me a chance to interact with the kids by having them "help" me figure out what the next letter will be. Maybe I've been looking through the wrong ABC books, but I've never seen one quite as thorough as this.


This book can almost be read two separate ways for two entirely different age groups. Children at the "learning my ABCs" stage may find all of the pages on the right useful - there is one word beginning with the appropriate letter of the alphabet, accompanied by a picture and a letter line to show where in the alphabet the letter is located. Children who already know their ABCs but are beginning to learn how to read (or who just need to practice letter sounds) may find all of the pages on the left useful - there is a capital and lowercase version of the letter, as well as a sentence - each word beginning with the appropriate letter. 


I found the choice of illustrations interesting - they all remind me of Japanese (?) manga. I wasn't aware that was popular among readers this young.


What are your favorite ABC books?


Amazon recommends this book for ages 3 and up.


My rating:

Review (Book) - The LOUD Book! by Deborah Underwood

"BANG!

CRACKLE!

BOO!

Just as there are different kinds of quiet, there are also different kinds of loud:

Good louds (HOORAY!).

And bad louds (CRASH!)

And accidental louds that make you the center of attention (BURP!).

The Loud Book presents all of these kid-friendly noises in a way that is sure to make readers CHEER!" (inside jacket cover)

The only qualm I have with this book is the ending - there really isn't one. While the book opens with "there are lots of louds", then begins to describe (in list format) different kinds of loud noises, there is no conclusion. It just ends in the middle of the list. For all the reader knows, the last half of the book could have just been ripped out.

We are doing a week-long storytime theme of "Noise" come spring, and I can't wait to try this book. This book would be excellent for outgoing storytellers who can do good impressions of...well...loud noises. The pictures are cute, (slightly Suzy Spafford-ish, I think) the sentences are simple, and I think kids will get a kick out of listening to the imitations of LOUD sounds from slurping to burping (sure to get a combination of "eww gross!" and laughs) in the quiet library. I also plan on asking the children to make some of the noises with me.

Do you have your own experiences of telling this story? Please share!

Amazon recommends this book for ages 4 and up. Because of the interactive potential, I think this age could be slightly younger.

My rating:

Review (Book) - Wow! Ocean! by Robert Neubecker

I will start out admitting that this may be a biased review - before I started reading the book, I noticed it was published by Disney·Hyperion.


I was wary at first with the cover art - the whale led me to believe that the illustrations in this book would be a little too...artsy (sorry, I've just seen too many kids neglect those kinds of books). But boy was I wrong. I thought this book was amazing. Other than the first page, which does an excellent job at providing the introduction to the story (her mountain-based family takes a trip to the ocean) in rhyme, it is very simple. There are always two words to a page, one of them always being "WOW!" (great for word-recognition).

What I liked best about this book is that it can be used for a very wide age-range. For instance, with a toddler group, the pictures are very colorful to hold attention and the words very short ("Wow! Fish!"). For an older group, almost every page has details of what the pictures are (instead of just "Wow! Fish!", they have labeled the tuna, the sailfish, the swordfish, etc.) so you can interact with them and see how much they know about sea creatures. Also, Izzy and Jo (the sisters/main characters of the book) are hidden on each 2-page spread (a couple open further, poster-style), so it may also be fun to turn the situation into one similar to "Where's Waldo?" and let them find the kids on each page.


I am very excited to use this and (now that I know what the WOW! books are like) other Neubecker books in my storytimes! Do you have any stories to share about these books?


Amazon recommends this book for ages 3 and up.


My rating:

Review (Book) - Cookiebot! by Katie Van Camp

"The Problem: Harry and Horsie want cookies, but the jar is way out of reach.
The Solution: Build CookieBot - the most amazing cookie-grabbing robot ever!
What could go wrong?" (inside jacket cover)


To otherwise summarize this book, I would suggest thinking Frankenstein + King Kong, but over cookies instead of Fay Wray. 


The illustrations of this book were probably the best part. It is very graphic novel/comic book-esque (it reminded me personally of Calvin and Hobbes). The pictures alone (as if the subject of cookies wasn't enough) should draw in reluctant young readers.


I can't really explain why, but I did not personally care for the telling of the story (I did enjoy the ending), though I can see boys (again, especially the reluctant readers) enjoying this book. 


Amazon recommends this book for ages 3 and up.


My rating: 

.5 

(I should probably get a half-crown picture)

Random Note: Other than the illustrations, my favorite part of the book was the "SUGAR CRASH!" (second to last page)

Review (Book) Scaredy Squirrel Has a Birthday Party by Melanie Watt

"Here's the story, in a nutshell:
I NEVER have big birthday parties. It's way too risky. I could be surprised by ponies or flying confetti.
So I take control of things by planning a small birthday celebration and putting on my finest suit. Then I suddenly have a change of heart and decide to add a special someone to my guest list.
Organizing a successful party for 2 requires attention to detail. But when it's party time - SURPRISE! - all my plans are thrown up in the air!
Will I survive this ordeal? Will I face the music? Will I party until I can't party any more?" (inside jacket flap)


If you have not yet read a Scaredy Squirrel book, (yes, he has his own series) you're missing out. Scaredy Squirrel books are always fun to read - the star character being a cute squirrel who is afraid of everything.


The pictures are cute; the font again is kid-friendly but legible; the story is predictable, but very comical with a sweet ending.


The only downside to this book is that it has so much detail in it that it takes an adult or very patient, older reader to absorb all the details - from one "DO" and seven "DONT'S" of partying to the one hour (and one minute)-long, 18-step "birthday party schedule". If an effort is put into attention to all these details, the reader will be rewarded with many giggles.


As with Mo Willems's books, I may try using this book in a storytime setting of a kindergarten-aged school group (on average, they tend to be more well-behaved and interactive than public groups in my experiences). Have you read this book to kids before? If so, please let me know what your result was!


Amazon recommends this book for ages 4 and up.


My rating: