Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson

 Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman

Rating: 3.5 stars

I have a soft spot in my heart for these Bear books by Karma Wilson.  Bear Snores On  is the book that created this book-crazy mindset that we're all still in; I memorized the whole book after reading it to Lorelei every night when she was a newborn.  Amazingly, that same copy of the book is still in tact and sits in Kiefer's book basket in his room.

I am always eager to check out a new book in the Bear series--there are eight in all--and grabbed this book on the "New Books" shelf in our library about a month ago.

I was disappointed when the first page had Bear's words: "I am bored, bored, bored."  What?!  Bored?  That's a bad word in our house.  If you say it twice, you have the opportunity to clean something...because if you can't find something to do (or read!), then I'll help you find something to do.

But besides the fact that Karma Wilson uses the dreaded B-word, it's a cute book.  Bear is bored so he decides to make a feast for his friends.  But his cupboards are empty.  Luckily the usual suspects appear at his cave and all have food to share.  To each one, Bear says "Thanks!"  The group ends up sharing a big meal together, smiling and chewing and laughing, just as I hope you are doing this Thursday.

(Though if a bear is at your table...I think you're in trouble.)

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman

Rating: 5 stars

What do you do while nursing or feeding a newborn?  "They" (who are they anyway?) say to talk to him, sing to him, read to him.  For me, I can't keep talking.  Either a) the quiet is so peaceful or b) I don't want to add to the crazy array of sounds we are already forcing Kiefer to listen to.  So, when it's just me and him, I read to him.  My husband laughs: "Starting him early?"  You betcha! 

Even Jonathan remembers this book and, if pressed, he could probably recite some of it.  It was Lorelei's bedtime book for months.  I'd read it every night--if traveling, I'd recite it from memory.  Kiefer now gets the same book--amazingly, our original is in tact.  It survived Ben's phase of eating books.

Karma Wilson has produced a book with a great rhyme and sweet message--one that resonates with me, the youngest child: no one wants to be left out!  A bunch of animals gather in Bear's den while he hibernates, and they party all night until suddenly Bear wakes up.  They all think he's mad but in fact he just wants to join in.  They invite him to eat and play with them until Bear is the only one who is not sleeping.

Luckily, Karma Wilson has saved my kids from complete boredom by writing more Bear books: Bear Wants More, Bear Feels Scared, Bear's New Friend. and Bear Feels Sick.  They are all great, but the original is my favorite.  Kiefer will soon agree.  He just has to hear it 7,538 more times.

Whopper Cake by Karma Wilson

Whopper Cake by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Will Hillenbran

Rating: 5 messy stars!

We've checked this out before. Maybe twice before. Lorelei, Ben, and I all get a kick out of it, but maybe it's because the grandpa is called "Granddad," just like our Granddad (my dad), and the Grandma's birthday is in mid-July, just like our Grandma's (my stepmother), and their personalities are also pretty similar to the quirky, wacky characters in the book. This book is so much fun!

Without Hillenbran's fun illustrations, the poem alone would probably have Lorelei and Ben rooting for more. I mean, I do like to pat myself on the back whenever possible, but when there's a southern accent to jump into and lines like "Grandad was itchin' to traumatize the kitchen" who WOULDN'T jump into character and start hollarin' and yellin' as if I were wearin' overalls and bakin' ten foot high cakes myself! I love almost all of Karma Wilson's books, but THIS one just takes the cake! It is my all-time favorite!

So let's just talk about Hillenbran's illustrations: They are just sloppy enough so that they, too, give the feelin' that you and your kids are in this messy kitchen where, from time to time, you have to duck so that a stick or two of butter or a dozen or three dozen eggs don't come flyin' your way and knock you upside the head. There are splatter marks all over the pages of the book, just like the oil stains and chocolate drippings on your favorite recipes in that old recipe box you've had for too long. They are fun and bright and messy--this man was born to illustrate children's books!

So what do you do when you're done reading a book like this? If you live in my house, you get right up, put your favorite apron on (and, if you're Ben, put your sister's second favorite apron on) and head right over to the play kitchen to fix yourself up some whopper cake. Because there's a recipe on the last page to help you along! Now, don't get too excited, because you actually don't have an excuse to use the truck bed as a mixin' bowl like Granddad does because the recipe actually doesn't call for 10 dozen eggs and 5 boxes of cocoa and 10 bags of flour. We've not made it yet, but since this book seems to be about the birthday of OUR Grandma, we've already got a plan to buy her this book (who says children's books can't be for 64 year old kids?) and make her The Whopper Cake! Anyway, today we went to the kids' new kitchen (thanks, Grammy!) and Lorelei propped up the book, with the recipe page open, just like I prop up my recipes in my grown-up kitchen. Ben and Lorelei mixed away and tucked the "cake" in their little oven. They were good about setting a timer--buttons are the best part of life right now--but they forgot about the whopper cake in the oven because we all went outside to play.

Maybe tomorrow we'll pick up where we left off: We'll read it again and then go get the whopper cake in their oven, where it probably perfectly and magically baked all night long, and then put the icing on it with shovels and oars, just like Granddad does!

Sleepyhead by Karma Wilson

Sleepyhead by Karma Wilson, illustrated by John Segal

Rating: 5 stars

We thank Cheerios for helping us find this book. Cheerios had a promotion sometime in late 2009 where they attached a free book to each cereal box. We don't eat a lot of Cheerios, but I saw that this book was by Karma Wilson, one of our favorite authors, so I had to buy the box with the book attached. I can't believe that the flimsy little paperback, complete with Spanish and English (kudos to Cheerios for that), has held up for so long in our read-happy house.

Sleepyhead is one of the most soothing books I've read. It truly lulled Ben to sleep for a few months, and Segal's illustrations amuses Lorelei everytime. It's a simple little tale of a mama putting her baby bear to sleep, but he keeps asking for one more thing: (From memory) "One more comfy, cozy cuddle; One more kiss, and one more snuggle!" It is adorable. I only wish that it would come out in a board book, so that it could become one of my go-to books for newborns (along with a Miracle Blanket, which are truly godsends--we were introduced to them by my best friend Stacey when Ben was born).

The other wonderful thing about this book is the illustrator, John Segal. Turns out that he has a bunch of wonderful books that he's written and illustrated himself! We've almost read all of them at our own local library, though I'm sure there are more than those they can supply us. His illustrations somehow match simple with structured--I think what I mean is that he makes them whimsical but still realistic. I like my kids to be able to recognize what animals are in the pictures, you know? Sleepyhead is full of gorgeous illustrations by an artist whose fan club I'd join.

Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo by Karma Wilson

Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Doug Cushman

Rating: 2 stars

Lorelei just ran up to my husband and said "Don't say I didn't warn you!" He looked surprised, then looked at me, and I told him what book it is from--one of the many Karma Wilson books lying around, Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo. There are a few good lines like "Don't say I didn't warn you!" (but that's the best) in this book, and the illustrations are really fun.

BUT it might be a little scary for some little folk. I have to chuckle at myself as I type that...a preschooler book about a zoo that might be too scary? But there are some little ones in our life that are pretty sensitive to some things that you wouldn't quite expect. Here's the story: A little girl shouts in a zoo because her ice cream falls off her cone. This sad yell causes a huge stampede of animals that chase after her--think lions and zebras and apes and bats and foxes and bears chasing after a little 4 year old. The animals then shake the keys out of the zookeeper and lock up the little girl and the other humans in a cage. That might just MIGHT be a bit much for some little kids. Ok, now that I typed this I can understand why it really might be too scary for some kids.

The other BUT in this post/review is that, um, well, you might want to take this review with a grain of salt. Because the copy of the book we got from the library is, um, kind of missing the last page. So we don't know how it ends. I mean, it's pretty obvious--on the left-hand side of the page are three humans, locked up in the cage, glaring accusingly at the right-hand side of the page. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's the little girl with her empty ice cream cone. So let me know if you actually do read the book. Let me know how it ends! I'll be on the edge of my seat until then.

I'm a big, huge fan of Karma Wilson, but this is definitely my least favorite book of hers. Oh well--I guess they all can't be fantastic!

Dinos on the Go by Karma Wilson

Dinos on the Go by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Laura Rader

Lorelei's Rating: 3.5 stars

I was trying to write a bit this afternoon at a little table at our rented beach house. I asked my husband to watch the kids. He happily accepted, situating himself a room away from me, with a bunch of toys around him. On the table next to my computer was a stack of books. Within five minutes Lorelei was sitting across from me and Ben was sitting next to me, each with a book in their hands. It was cute, but I did want to get a little writing done, so I told Lorelei that she had to read to herself. She said okay, but then, after looking at each page for awhile asked me politely, "Mommy, which dinosaur is this?" or "Mommy, what is this word?" or "Mommy, will you read just this one part to me?" Clever girl.

I'm not a huge dinosaur person, but they are definitely a rite of passage for children, I think. I am sure I went through an interest in dinosaurs when I was a child--Mom, as my one faithful follower, is this true? I didn't expect Lorelei to be interested in them, and before her third birthday! Her decision to read Dinos on the Go today was helped by my husband's decision to turn on the cartoons earlier, just to see if there was anything good for her. There happened to be some dinosaur cartoon and she thought it was cute. So, now she can identify her T. Rex and Triceratops and Barosaurus. These are the dinos that Wilson chooses to include in her cute book, which I like but there are others of hers that I'm much crazier about.

This is a poem, which of course always makes me happy, and it is cleverly written and even more cleverly illustrated. What I like best about Wilson's writing and Rader's pictures are the things that they stick in for the older readers, parents included. For example, the sign on one truck is "Herb Ivore and Sons, Expert Gardening." Or the whole gist of the book--dinos are on the go because they're going to be extinct! Lorelei doesn't get that just yet, or the little jokes, but she does like how the barosaurus rides her bike (with a helmet--gotta love that nod to safety first) and the T. Rex barely fits on the sleeping berths on the train.

In all, a good book. But not one that we'll likely be checking out again and again from our library.

Princess Me by Karma Wilson

Princess Me by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Christa Unzer

Rating: 3.5 stars (is it a 5 and I'm just anti-princess?)

Ok, I'm not into princess books. I admit it. I just really shy away from them, and I've been known to sneak them back to the shelves after Lorelei chooses one from the library. It's not that I don't think that there are some redeaming qualities in these books, but...it's just that it's a slippery slope, this whole princess thing. Right? Or am I blowing it out of proportion? That is one of my favorite things to do. But right now as I type this Lorelei sits across from me with Princess Me; the only thing I can see are her little fingers, one of which disappears when she carefully turns a page. This princess book, I like.

First off, it's a poem, like almost all of Karma Wilson's books. Princess Me is a mostly sweet little girl--but she's also known to get "cross or blue"--whose parents are king and queen. I don't mind that reference to me being a queen...maybe that's why I like the book? Princess Me imagines that all her toys and dolls are her entourage, and they wear really beautiful dresses and capes and stuff that Lorelei, whose not exactly into dresses (can't imagine why) is captivated.

I have to add that while I wrote the two short paragraphs above Ben joined Lorelei and me. He's now sitting on a tall dining chair with a book (another Karma Wilson fave in this house, Dinos on the Go) "reading" along with her. If this post is a little skatter-brained it's because my eyes keep darting over to make sure he's still well-balanced on the chair. I better end before he falls off.

One more thought: This is one of my favorite books to give if the little birthday girl is into princesses. I don't want to deny an existing interest (preventing it isn't a big deal, apparently, in my book) so this is my nod to her interest and, usually, an introduction to one of my favorite authors. And sometimes I accompany it with some dirt in a bag so the little birthday princess is introduced to tomboy-hood, too. Just kidding.