Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell

Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell, illustrated by David Catrow

Rating: 5 stars

Molly Lou Melon is inspired by her late grandmother to forego fancy dolls and action figures, store-bought dollhouses, and plastic race cars.  Instead, her grandmother used her imagination and the stuff on hand to create toys.  So Molly Lou Melon does just that.  She creates dolls out of the flowers and leaves and twigs in her backyard, she designs a dollhouse with the weeping willow in the yard, and she whips up a turbo race car with a garage full of boxes and paper and wheels and such.

Then one day, she gets a new neighbor, Gertie.  Though there's no mention of it in the text, in the illustrations the reader sees that Gertie always has a crutch by her side.  Quietly, the author and illustrator tell us that Gertie is physically disabled.  Right away after meeting, Gertie complains that she is "bored, bored, BORED!"  So Molly Lou Melon invites her over to play.

At first, Gertie brings over her fancy dolls and action figures, store-bought dollhouses, and plastic race cars.  She is quickly blown away by the hand-made stuff that Molly Lou Melon has dreamed up and created.  After inviting Molly Lou Melon over to watch some shows on her big-screen TV, only to be turned down by Molly Lou Melon because Molly Lou Melon is watching the clouds on her SKY-wide screen, Gertie ditches her electronic and store-bought stuff and joins Molly Lou in the land of imagination, creativity, and make believe.

A sweet story, illustrated by the fantastic David Catrow, about two people who don't seem very compatible but with time and openness and a constant, warm welcome to join them in their world (while respecting the world that the other lives in), a friendship blossoms.  I love how, on the second to last page, Gertie shows up on Molly Lou Melon's doorstep with her own handmade doll with hollyhock skirt and violets for hair.  Now it is Molly Lou Melon's turn to be blown away.

Three cheers for sweet friendships and fewer store-bought toys, and loads of time to create and imagine and just...PLAY with those friends.


P.S.  This is a sequel to Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon which is also really good.  Stand Tall is about how Molly Lou reacts when she gets teased for her small stature.  The two books are ones that are recommended for children with disabilities and/or used to teach empathy for children whose bodies or minds are slightly different from able-bodied kids.  These are definitely some good books to have around and talk about!

The Boy Who Wouldn't Share by Mike Reiss

The Boy Who Wouldn't Share by Mike Reiss, illustrated by David Catrow

Rating: 4 stars

Last night my dear Ben lost his bedtime show.  Again.  In our house, if a child gets three strikes during the day, they lose a show.  It happens quite a bit with young Ben, who has a difficult time controlling his eruption-like reaction when something doesn't go his way.  He's working on it, he's working on it... And, in the meantime, we sit and read books while the other kids watch a show.

So, his loss is definitely my gain.  I mean, I should have been cleaning up, but...who is going to pass up a boy in a lap with a big pile of books?  Not me.

We read four books last night together.  The Boy Who Wouldn't Share was one of them.  The rhyme itself is great: "Edward was a frightful boy / who wouldn't share a single toy. / Even with his sister, Claire, / Edward simply would not share."

The illustrations themselves are even better.  The wickedly funny, exaggerated stuff that comes from David Catrow's Crayolas are so great.  (Here are all the books I've reviewed with his illustrations.)  They fit well here; he's given Douglas a permanently sourpuss face with pouty eyes that magically seem to know when Claire is getting close to any of his toys.

But the story itself is really good, too.  Claire tries again and again to borrow something. She wants so desperately to play with her big brother!  Finally she sits on the outskirts looking in at Edward, who has somehow managed to bury himself--happily--with his toys.

Then their mom brings up fudge.  And he can't reach it.  So delighted Claire receives the whole plate.

With the whiff of dessert in the air, Douglas knows he's been "made bad choices."  The deep, crabby scowl lifts off of Douglas's face as he encourages her to take, hold, hug his toys.  He apologizes, sincerely. "And Claire who did not hold a grudge, / helped him out and gave him fudge."

In wonderful child-fashion, she forgives Douglas quickly and completely.  Claire knows she needs to forgive him.  She knows she should share.  She knows he deserves another chance to make better choices.

And so she does.

Doggone Dogs by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by David Catrow

Doggone Dogs by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by David Catrow

Rating: 3.5 stars

Ben and I just read this book.  I think we said "dogs" one too many times, because my doggone dog Guidry came over and joined us.  Guidry is just as much a character as the full-of-life dogs on the pages of these books.  Leave it to David Catrow to give us ten different dogs, each one hilariously unique in their own way.  He is so talented!

But it's a winning combination, really, because Karen Beaumont is an author who is good to have in your pocket if you go to the library without a clue (an overwhelming thing, definitely).  Her books are always great, silly rhymes--Baby Danced the Polka is my favorite but there are a bunch of good ones.  And Catrow has a zany way about him that makes characters--human or animal--jump off the page and into your imagination.

Doggone Guidry.  He's either hyper or asleep.

When considering a book to review, I usually choose one that offers a good message or ties into what we are doing in our lives.  But sometimes there's a reason to read and review a book that is just entertaining.  That's it, and that's all.  (Right now my husband and I are in debate: are more violent superhero books okay for Ben?  I think that they're not, and he thinks that ANY book is okay.  The jury is still out on this one...actually, wouldn't a jury be helpful in a marriage?  There'd be no person who was right or wrong...oh I am totally getting off track here...)

Anyway, this book IS highly entertaining, with it's slobbering canines romping like crazy through the park, hardly able to see where they are going with fur in their faces, eyes shut with glee, or inability to focus on anything but flowers to pee on.  The word "delightful" is surely overused in the kidlit review world, but that is what this book is: doggone delightful.

Woof!

I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont

I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by David Catrow

Rating: 4.5 stars

I am conducting an experiment.  If I read this book to Lorelei so frequently, until the message becomes embedded in her soft, pale skin, until the words roll of out of her smiley mouth, and until she can triumphantly leap as wildly as she does now in front of any group of people, will she resist the frightening abyss of middle school girlhood?

Sigh.  Lorelei's not much past 3 and I'm already concerned.  I dodged those years because I was wonderfully entrenched in horses.  I couldn't get enough of them, any my parents (wise them!) encouraged me wildly.  It was as if I put my head down to concentrate on my Dressage tests and, next thing I knew, I was in high school.

Over the weekend I read a fantastic article in the New York Times about an all girls camp that aims to readjust, if only a little, the self-esteem and pride that many girls lose during their middle school years.  What an understatement to say it's worth a read--click here to access it.  (The gal in charge is so inspirational!  I am asking for her two books on girlhood for Christmas.  That's right--barely August and I'm working on my Christmas list.)  Hopefully our little family and the larger ones in which we sit, plus our friends and neighbors and our soon-to-be chosen preschool will help Lorelei in these early formative years so that self-esteem is rarely an issue.  I think I'd be really crazy if I typed "never," though that is my wish.

This book is, as the inside flap says, "at once serious and silly" as it describes a little girl's ode to herself.  She declares her love for herself: "I like me wild. / I like me tame. / I like me different / and the same" while David Catrow's wacky illustrations impress and amuse everyone in the room.  This is a great book.  I'll be reading now, and tomorrow, and the day after that, and for every week next month, and then next year at breakfast for three months straight, and...

Wet Dog! by Elise Broach

Wet Dog! by Elise Broach, illustrated by David Catrow

Rating: 5 wet stars

Since I berated Elise Broach's sibling/new baby book What the No-Good Baby is Good For the other day, I had to applaud this awesome book.  This book is SO fun to read that I am constantly requesting Lorelei and Ben to request it.  The rythym makes me want to be a professional story teller at our local library.  I tap my toes and slap my knee.  David Catrow's images once again make me laugh out loud; I know all too well what happens when a wet dog shakes its stinky hair and lets loose a rainshower of dog drizzle.

If your child has a dog in her life, there is no way you can pass this one up!  Especially if that dog is a hairy one like our Golden Retriever was growing up.  (We have short-haired weims now...I'll never go back to the long-haired dogs, or so I say today.)  It is such a funny book! 

The wet dog you see panting on the cover goes on a quest to get wet, and he bumps into a bunch of different people who can help him achieve this goal.  A guy washing a limousine, a lady making bouquets of flowers, some guys making music by a lake.  They all shoo him away immediately when he starts to shake and get them wet, and he goes on his way: "pat-a-pat, pat-a-pat, pat."  All the people he encounters are actually going to a wedding, which the wet dog easily crashes with his dog drizzle.  All the grown-ups are dismayed by the wetness of the wet dog, but a little baby welcomes him: "More, wet dog, more!"  Soon the baby's laughter is contagious, and the grown-ups are all getting in on the wet fun.  In the end, instead of getting yet another "Shoo!  Go on now, SHOOO!" the wet dog hears: "Hoo-ray, wet dog!  Hoo-ray!"

Lorelei and Ben love how the entire wedding party and grown-ups just jump into the lake with the giggling baby and wet dog--David Catrow is such a favorite in our house, but this might be my favorite of his books of all the ones we've read.  (Click on the tab below to see his other books I've reviewed.)  Elise Broach is also at her best here; most of her books are simple prose, but this is a sing-songy poem reminiscent of a banjo folk song, hence the aforementioned foot-tapping and knee-slapping. 

Dog lovers (especially miniature ones): you've just got to read it!

Our Tree Named Steve by Alan Zweibel

Our Tree Named Steve by Alan Zweibel, illustrated by David Catrow

Rating: 4 stars

The bean bag chairs at the library were available this week, so we were hanging out at the end of the alphabet and came across this book.  I recognized the illustrator as David Catrow, who also illustrated the fun I Ain't Gonna Paint No More (review here) and Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon (review coming one day). 

This is a nice little book about a family who moves in and plans to cut down all the trees to build their new house, but all of them fall in love with one tree, which the littlest kid (who can't say tree) names "Steve."  Steve quickly becomes part of their family--he helps them jump rope, holds the underwear proudly when the dryer breaks down, is the background for family pictures, and is the center of all outdoor activity. 

Then, sadly, a storm puts an end to Steve.

But the family uses the wood from Steve to build a treehouse in a different tree in the yard, so Steve lives on, and keeps on giving.

This is a cute little book, and one that I really appreciate because our house is surrounded by huge trees.  I also am a huge letter writer, and this book is the first children's book that I've come across that is written as a letter.  The parents are writing their three children about Steve, and reminiscing about how Steve came into their lives, before telling them of his tragic ending.  The kids are staying at their grandparents' house, and their parents want to forewarn them before they arrive home to Steve the Stump.

This is a cute little book, one worth checking out and reading a few times, maybe before planting a Steve of your own!

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by David Catrow

Rating: 3 stars

Well, this one isn't for my twin neices, who once disappeared in my sister's basement for a few minutes, saying things like "You're my partner in crime." My sister--crazily--didn't suspect anything. They emerged, one relatively unscathed but the other's three year-old limbs were completely colored on. Completely. Her entire face, hands, and feet--anything that was not covered up with clothes--was drawn on. And her sister had done a great job filling in between the ears, I mean lines.

So this book, with the super-fun illustrations by Catrow, might not be for those kids who might think that painting themselves from head to toe is a good idea. I'm being serious here! This is your official warning for the book. If you do have kids in your life who will listen to the simple rule "Wait till your Dad is home and I'm out with my friends to paint yourselves completely." then get them this book. It is really funny, and Lorelei and Ben both think that painting your arm with ants is downright hilarious. If they get a tatoo like this in the future, I'll know which book to blame. This book is an example of fine text but incredibly illustrations. When the little painter's mother takes the paint away and hides in the closet, the entire picture is just black and white, devoid of all color because the baby picasso has been robbed of her tools. But then she creates a ladder for herself to rescue the paints and resume the mess and the bold colors and craziness continue.

Super cute. Fun to add to a gift of art supplies, which is how it landed on our very full shelves.