Tools Rule! by Aaron Meshon

Tools Rule! by Aaron Meshon

Rating: 5 stars

Please don't tell him, but I got this book for Kiefer for his third birthday.  As of this blurry-eyed, early-morning typing, that's 19 days away.  I got it early so I could read it and tell you all about it.  I'll give it to him once I've dog-eared my favorite pages, underlined my favorite passages, and shared it with friends and strangers…  Ah, the joys of being a third child!

In Tools Rule! I was excited to see:

1. A book on tools!  They are hard to find.  In fact, I can only think of two others that I've found over the years: I Love Tools! by Philemon Sturges and Tools by Taro Miura.  It's as if no one else's child has walked around with a pint-sized version of a saw, driven his mama crazy by hammering nothing and everything, and dreamed of using his daddy's drill some day.  Seriously--more tool books, authors!
2. Another book by Aaron Meshon.  We loved his debut children's book Take Me Out to the Yakyu--it was informative and clever, simple and sweet.  We are busting it out again, not for baseball-obsessed Ben but for Lorelei, whose first grade class is studying Japan right now.

Tools Rule! is another adorably illustrated book where a bunch of scattered, messy tools organize themselves to come together to build a shed in order to, well, organize themselves.  The story is mostly told through word bubbles; the tools talk to each other and to themselves and say what's going on or what needs to happen.  Throughout the book there is a little bit of traditional text that acts like an all-seeing narrator.  I do wish that there was more of it to provide a little more structure as the tools, well, build their structure.

But Kiefer will neither notice nor care about a detail like that.  And who is this book for, anyway?  He'll see the big tools jump out on the pages and chuckle as the ruler wakes up his tool friends and spurs them to action.  He'll see the tools using teamwork to build a shed and then cheer at the finished product.

And Meshon thoughtfully gave me, the reader-parent, plenty of opportunities to chuckle as well: He makes puns with the tool names throughout the book.  "Saw?  Saw?  Where is Saw?  I just saw him!" or Clamp saying, "My advice? Let's get a grip on things." or when Hammer tells Nail that he's needed to build a wall and, as Hammer hammers, Nail says, "OK!  Ouch!  OK! OK! Ouch! OK! Ouch!"  Just makes me smile.  I appreciate that, but it also makes this book interesting for an advanced reader like Lorelei, who is ready to seek and find silly play-on-words like Meshon throws in.

At the end, when the toolshed is finished and each  tool is nestled in their own cubby or hook, spot or nook, they say good night to each other.  And then they snore in their own unique ways: "Pourzzz" for Pail, "Bangzzz, bangzzz" for Hammer, "Drillzzzz" for Drill…  See? Doesn't that make you smile, too?

A very cute book with very tough and witty characters! I look forward to reading it twice a day for 30 days straight!


P.S.  I have to include my non-tool-toting but oh-so-funny dad's comments to me after he read this:

I believe that Meshon actually is a ghost writer for Home Depot and Lowes, a covert plot to convince people that tools, and therefore projects that cost money and take up too much time, are cool. 

I have no evidence yet for my belief.  I'm working on it.

Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon

Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon

Rating: 5 stars

This book manages to tie together a whole lot of what I love about life (learning about and appreciating another culture) within the basic story line of what Ben loves about life (baseball).

This is a children's book done really, really well.  A boy loves baseball: in America, and in Japan.  As we turn the pages, on the left we see an American baseball scene and on the right we see a Japanese baseball scene.  His American pop pop takes him to watch baseball; his Japanese ji ji takes him to watch yakyu.  In America, Pop-Pop gets him a giant foam hand; in Japan Ji Ji gets him a giant plastic horn.

In America, the pitcher throws a 95-mile-per-hour fastball.
In Japan, the toushu throws a 153-kilometer-per-hour sokkyu.

The book has a wonderful rhythm to it, and the examples are simple and straightforward, all things that most kindergarten-ish-age kids can understand and relate to.  The simple comparing and contrasting that is happening about a game that we kids all know about and most love is fantastic.  This book has been written and/or edited well, and boils down the huge cultural differences between two countries' love of the same sport in such a manageable, impressive way.  And with cute illustrations to boot!

(Speaking of illustrations, chances are that you've seen Aaron Meshon's work before.  He's designed a whole lot of stuff for Crocodile Creek and Mudpuppy, brands we know and love in our house.  Click here to see his stuff.  We have several neat-o puzzles and placemats by Meshon, so the illustrations in this book were familiar to us in a great way.)

Here I am, pointing out...something interesting!

Ben's fifth birthday was yesterday, and this is the book I read to his junior kindergarten class.  They seemed to like it a whole lot, even though it was the item on the schedule that stood between them and cookies.  One of Ben's classmate is Japanese and has been to Japan.  Alas, he's not yet been to a baseball game there--only his big brother has!  Anyway, it was a great book for a group of kids to read and talk about a little...they even broke out in song ("Take Me Out to the Ball Game")!

If I had them on my hands, I'd shake my foam #1 finger around and blow my giant plastic horn to get everyone's attention, then holler out: "You did great, Aaron Meshon!  What a fantastic first children's book!  More, please!"