So You Want to be a World Explorer? by Judith St. George

So You Want to be a World Explorer? by Judith St. George, illustrated by David Small

Rating: 4.5 stars

This book has a bunch of my favorite words: Plucky. Thrilling. Adventuresome. Gutsy.  Gusto. Risk. Spunky. Moxie.  These new vocabulary words are reasons enough to bring this book home from the library more than once!

We liked So You Want to be President? but didn't love it.  It seemed a bit disorganized, though the illustrations from the great David Small were too great to linger on that negative.  Judith St. George rectified her mistake and organized this book and So You Want to be an Inventor? and made them great, rather than good.  And the illustrations catapult them into amazing.  These are terrific books for the older picture book reader.  (Younger ones will still get drawn into the pictures, but there is just too much information for kids younger than 5, I think.)

In this book, after a brief introduction, Judith St. George takes one attribute of explorers (for example, they might make a discovery and not even know it; they make mistakes like everyone else; they must be risk takers; they must respect the natives) and gives two examples.  These examples are three to five short sentences, so we're going for breadth not depth here.  This is just to whet a child's appetite, to provide the briefest introduction, to pique their curiosity to this whole explorer stuff.  Or to provide some quality imaginative kid-planned explorations in their backyard, a local park, or even their bathtub.

As someone whose wanderlust led most of my decisions in my twenties, I like the idea of exploring different parts of the earth.  Therefore, I greatly appreciated St. George's broad definition of exploring.  At the end she includes gene exploration, something I would never have thought of.  She ends the book by inviting kids to start and keep exploring--what a way to spend your life!  I might just quit my day job.

I recently reviewed another book on exploring--the never-to-be-topped Lonely Planet has come out with books beyond guide books.  They are really interesting, and we keep our copy of How to be a World Explorer in the car.  It's perfect for long car rides where a kid's attention span might be challenged by a looooong car ride...  Yet another book that will help plant the travel bug in your child (for better or for worse!).

Wind-up Plane Book by Usborne

Wind-up Plane Book by Usborne

Rating: 4 stars

Has anyone seen these Usborne books?  They are new to us!  (Check them all out here.)  And they are new to newly four-year-old Ben, who had a very exciting birthday today.  I don't think he stopped grinning all day long.  Four!  Him!  Birthday!  Wow!  Everything had an exclamation mark on it today for Ben!

My sister got this book for him. Right away, we realized it was unique.  As you can see from the picture, it comes with a little airplane.  After Ben gleefully tore off the wrapping paper, we turned the thick board pages--I think there are just six double-spread pages in all--and saw tracks on two of the pages.  I took the airplane out and we pushed it along.  And then--enter another exclamation mark moment here!--we realized that it was a wind-up plane!  Wow!

(Yes, I should have realized it was a wind-up toy by the title, but...if you had one very excited birthday boy and his big sister and little brother doing their best to throw in their own exclamation mark-filled sounds whenever possible, you might have missed that, too.)

And so we tried it out (sorry for the odd angle):

Later, we actually read the book.  The book is Richard Scarry-esque (but with fewer factoids on each page) with an additional story.  This story is about Ben.  Ben!  "Just like me!  Ben!"  Ben takes a plane ride for the first time with his family, and he encounters all the sights and sounds that we grown-ups so quickly dismiss as commonplace.  It's a good book for kids like Ben who have been on an airplane once or twice and therefore still see it as a novel, exciting, almost magical thing.

Plus it's cool!  It has a wind-up airplane that comes with it!  Hopefully we won't lose it, like, tomorrow!


P.S.  Happy Birthday to one smiley, now snoozey Ben.

Away We Go! by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Away We Go! by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

Rating: 5 stars!

A friend of mine suggested we read more Dan Yaccarino books, so we checked out eight of them at the library.  Overkill?  Nah!  This one isn't written by him; like our first book with his name on the cover (Trashy Town), he illustrated this one.

I LOVE IT!  I am going to buy it for a few Christmas gifts.  Wait, after some Googling I just realized that I can't find it new anywhere except here, used (and a new one that would put me back $140!  It's good, but not that good).  That's a bummer. 

But it should be available at your local library, and it's really worth checking out for your little one.  Lorelei likes it, but it is really better for Ben's age (2) or even younger.  It has wonderfully bright, unambiguous pictures that we've looked at a dozen times already.  It's just your basic transportation book, with a little guide on the back on how to use it to teach your child a few things in addition to the idea that you can go places by bike, horse, hot air balloon, etc.

I Want to Be An Astronaut by Byron Barton

I Want to Be An Astronaut by Byron Barton

Rating: 5 stars

Byron Barton should definitely be required reading for little boys.  His Machines at Work and Building a House are some of our favorites, and we've read all his other books a number of times. 

A few weeks ago my husband encouraged me to get Ben out and do some more fun stuff with him like I did with both kids all summer long.  I love some gentle prodding like that to push me out of my comfort zone, so Ben and I dropped off Lorelei and went to the Air and Space Museum out by us, called the Udvar Hazy Center.  We had a great time, and Ben was totally amazed by all the airplanes, helicopters, and space shuttles.  Of course he's about a decade away from really having the attention span and desire to read all about each and every aircraft, and he's way too young to do the way-cool simulation rides that they have there.  But my husband was really right--it was a cool new thing that got Ben to really look around him and see something new. 

We had a great time walking through everything.  I loved the helicopters the best, and Ben loved the look out tower at the top where you can see planes take off and land from Dulles.  (It would have been my favorite had an airplane actually flown by us, but we were whisked away from it before we could see one because some fancy-schmancy diplomat needed the room cleared for his/her visit.  Humph.)

I let Ben choose two books at the gift shop--one for him and one for Lorelei.  This was his choice for himself, and it didn't surprise me at all.  We've checked it out from the library two or three times, and both kids love it.  The text is very simple and the pictures are bright and glossy and uncomplicated.  "I want to be an astronaut, / a member of the crew, / and fly on the shuttle / into outer space."

Who wouldn't want to do that?  And I wonder: what will be our kids' options for space exploration? 

Wind Flyers by Angela Johnson

Wind Flyers by Angela Johnson, illustrated by Loren Long

Rating: overall, 3.5 (3 for the author, 5 for the illustrator)

This is another book that makes me grateful that the author and illustrator have chosen to share their talents through children's books.

This is a book about the first all-black squadron created, thanks to pressure from the NAACP and other groups, in the U.S. Air Force.  The pilots were trained on an airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama, and flew in missions in North Africa.  The 332nd fighting squadron was the only escort group that never lost a single bomber to enemy fire.  The story is told by a little boy, whose great-great-uncle was a "wind flyer" or a "Tuskegee Airmen."  The story is appropriately serious, but not too serious.  Only once does the text mention the reason why the squadron was created: " 'Air Force didn't want us at first.  Only four squadrons like us,' he says, touching his mahogany face."  I love how subtlety and quietly the author lets Lorelei and Ben know about this difference--and about war, too.  She leaves it to me, the parent, to continue the lesson at home.  I accept.

I admit I don't love the actual text--more than once, I've flipped back to see if I missed a page because the story jumps around a bit more than I'd like.  I feel like it's two or three drafts away from a really great book.

But the illustrations.  The illustrations!!  They are illustrations that make children dream of flying, dream of doing something that they think is nearly impossible.  There is something magical about the pictures; I'm not sure what sort of pixie dust Loren Long has, but I'd like him to share it with me.  But he does!  Fortunately, Mr. Long has chosen to share his talents with children by illustrating some pretty amazing books.  I came across Otis in the bookstore a few months ago and I fell in love with the illustrator.  Click here to see his early sketches from the book; roll your mouse over the image and the final sketch will appear.  They are fantastic!  The illustrations in this book are just a gift to each child who reads it, and I'm extra appreciative that the gifts include images of black American heroes serving their country even when their country didn't fully appreciate them.

P.S.  I liked the first image of great-great uncle as a little boy, seeing if he could fly by jumping out of the barn into soft hay.  On the page before this, he jumps off the chicken coop.  We don't have these things on our property, and I'm not worried about Lorelei and Ben jumping off of tall things, but...it's good to know it's in the book if you've got a dare-devil in your care.

I Love Planes! by Philemen Sturges

I Love Planes! by Philomen Sturges, illustrated by Shari Halpern

Rating: 4 stars

I have a great friend who is completely addicted to Alexander McCall Smith's books.  Every time she sends out an update about what books she's read/is reading on the book group/website thingy we both belong to, one or two of his books are in there, with an apology (to whom?  I'm not sure!) that she knows she should stop but she just can't help herself!  They are so good!  There are so many!  She just can't stop!

Well, I finally understand.

These books are so good!  There are so many!  We just can't stop!  (Ok, there are actually not over a hundred, though I wish there were.  I think there are 8 or so.) 

These are quickly becoming equals to our Byron Barton favorites!  I really wish that they came in board books--if they did, I would definitely be buying them for a bunch of first birthdays for little boys.  The drawings and text and rhymes are so appropriate for a 1 or 2 year-old, and are the perfect little books to help kids get interested in books.  Because who doesn't love looking up in the sky to see if it's a helicopter or jet or Blue Angel or little propeller plane flying over us?!  I still do.

If you've got a little guy (or girl!) who is 2ish years old, just check out every single one of these.  We grab one or two every time we go to the library--sometimes they are new ones, and sometimes we've read them before.  It's like seeing an old friend, or being excited to meet a new one!

Air Show! by Treat Williams

Air Show! by Treat Williams, illustrated by Robert Neubecker

Rating: 4 stars

I am sure that Mr. Williams is a genuine chap, but...I kinda wish that there were fewer words in this book.  Because the illustrations are where it's at!  They are amazing!  Seriously, if you've got a little kid in your life who enjoys airplanes just a bit, there is no way you can pass up this book.  It is FANTASTIC.  Even with all those words.  What did the author think, that a story was required to accompany these images?

The story, I'm obligated to tell you, tells the story of Ellie and her brother, Gill; they go to the air show with their dad.  He takes them there in his plane, upping his cool factor a few points.  They check out lots of planes and Ellie even finds a stunt plane, with a female pilot, onto which she climbs for the ride of her life.  Then they fly home.

In doing my normal google search about a book, I found Robert Neubecker's blog.  On it is the story of how this book came to be.  Basically, the author met Neubecker at a book party for Wow! City! and said, "Hey, I've got some cool planes I can take you up in if you draw pictures for a book idea I've got."  Ok, that's not exactly how it happened.  But close. I do love about it is that Neubecker himself admits that he got into the details of the planes maybe a little more than the author intended.  I'm super glad he did that.  Check out these illustrations:

I'm thinking about getting the book just for this image.  I want to laminate it and set it out in front of Ben.  Maybe I'll put it in a cardboard box with cardboard wings.  I know Ben would sit in front of it for 15 minutes straight or more, pressing all the buttons and moving the controls up and down and, of course, making the appropriate sound effects that correspond with those buttons. Maybe I'd take this laminated sheet on our next airplane ride.  I know I'd embarrass my husband but that never stopped me before!

I love this one.  Lorelei and I could spend 10 minutes on this page, talking about the different parts of the plane, the number of planes, which ones are flying, which one her favorite is, which one we've seen before, why there's a pin up girl on one of them...well, maybe I wouldn't point that out.

And, as an Army brat, I love this one, too.  I guess it's fair that the Air Force has the big one...I guess.  But how cool that they are all labeled (in case the little reader has officially become obsessed and is no longer content with calling them "the silver one" or "the red one")! 

Seriously, this book is just COOL.  I think it will be part of the small collection of book we get our nephew for his birthday.  I do wish that I could give separate ratings in this case, because the illustrator gets a high 5 and the author, well, maybe his editor should get a lower score.  I wish that there were just fewer words so the pictures remain the high point.  That said, who needs to read them anyway? 

Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen

Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen

Rating: 5 stars

First, I just want to apologize to my neighbor for actually writing about this book. When I told her that I was blogging about books, and trying to shine the spotlight on the Great Ones, she looked at me with slightly wild, very serious eyes. "Don't tell everyone about Violet the Pilot," she said quietly. Now you need to know a few things: First, we live in the woods. There was no one around but our kids to hear her talk...well, maybe a deer or two, or a gang of bluejays. So I thought that was a bit funny. Second, um, not many people are actually reading these words I type, so I think the secret is still pretty much safe.

But don't make it be! Go out and find this book! It is wonderful, especially if you have a little girl in your life! Go get it! Make my neighbor get mad at me--your daughter will thank me!

I just had to get that out.

In all seriousness, this is a Great One. I mean, you know I'm a bit anti-princess and I definitely don't encourage super-duper, over-the-top girly ventures. Steve Breen has come up with the best heroine of them all: a quirky little eight year-old who is a mechanical genius. "By the time she was two, she could fix almost any broken appliance. By four, she could take apart the grandfather clock and completely reassemble it." I am curious how her parents found out that she could fix any broken appliance, and I do wonder how the dexterity of a four year-old would allow her to fix a grandfather clock...but my sarcasm aside, I do know how to suspend my disbelief and it's completely suspended by page 4.

Violet makes flying machines from spare parts she scrapes up from the junkyard next to her family's house. In part because she wants to, finally, be a bit cooler in the eyes of her tormentors at school, she enters a flying contest. She builds her own flying machine--"The Hornet," which does a test flight and everything--and flies off to the show, eager to see what she'll return with...maybe a blue ribbon? Instead of arriving, she flies over a river with in-need-of-rescue boy scouts. She doesn't think twice about whether or not she should help, but her successful rescue attempt makes her miss the air show completely. Her lone friend and dog, Orville, keeps her company as she sits on her bed in disappointment until the entire town comes to her house to reward and award her heroic efforts.

I just love Violet. She's smart and fearless, but also just wants to fit in (like we all do) at school. Breen sneaks in the best detail in one illustration of almost all the books I've read--Orville has a barf bag during the test flight. It makes me smile every time, not that I've pointed it out and therefore taught Lorelei the word "barf." I think that can wait till grade school, unless my husband gets to it before that. (The teaching, I mean, not the barfing.) The contraptions she creates are so unique and pulled together that Lorelei has a great time guessing what each thing is on each flying machine, including the Tub-bubbler, the Bicycopter, the Rocket Can, and Lorelei's favorite, the Wing-a-ma-jig.

A must-read. A must-buy. For every girl you know under the age of 8. Or maybe older!