The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee

The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee

Beach Lane Books

Rating: 5 stars

It's Caldecott season, and this well-deserving book is being talked about a whole lot...will it win? We'll see...stay tuned on 2 February...

All will feel something when reading The Farmer and the Clown. It's the right balance of silly and somber, though maybe it's us adults who have felt loneliness and loss a whole lot more than kids (hopefully) who see the sobering side of the message...

A curmudgeon of a farmer toils alone in his field, pausing only to watch a train roll by. When something or someone falls out of the train, he's alarmed. He drops his pitchfork and runs right over. It's a boy-clown, with a big, painted-on grin. The surly man and the smiley boy size each other up, then walk hand-in-hand to his home to eat together. When washing up, the boy-clown washes his face, washes his face paint/brave face off to reveal a sad, scared little face.

The farmer tucks the boy in his own bed and sits with him all night so the boy isn't lonely, and then does his best to cheer him up. (There's nothing quite as charming as a grumpy man humbling himself for a child.) They work together at the farmer's farm all day long, playing as well as working, clearly enjoying each other's company. Clearly lighting up each other's life.

And then, suddenly, the train returns.

They bolt to it, wave like mad to get its attention, and the clown's family is ecstatic to see him and hug him and have him back.

And yet. Now the farmer, his curmudgeon face washed off to reveal a sweet man, is lonely again.

(And isn't that the worst kind of loneliness: when you've felt un-lonely and lit up and very loved and then suddenly BAM that other person is gone and you realize how quiet and sad your life is now? And the lonely cloud follows you, envelopes you like fog?)

Because the boy-clown does go. Of course he does. Only after a very sweet good-bye with our now-sweet farmer. They wave to each other as the train separates them.

Sweetly, the farmer is not left totally alone. A circus monkey hides behind his leg, ready to surprise him after we close the book. It's a good ending, and I the reader am left with a smile. At least a half-smile, but I'm relieved the farmer isn't totally alone.

I admit: the first time I paged through this book in the fall when it was released I teared a little. It is beautiful and, like I said, well-deserving of a Caldecott.

Draw! by Raúl Colón

Draw! by Raúl Colón

Rating: 5 stars

Last month the New York Times published their annual list (and I'm a lover of all lists, especially when they are lists of books, not to-dos) of Best Illustrated Books for 2014. Click HERE to access this great list. But watch out! Raúl Colón's gorgeous book Draw! is the first one, and when I looked at the illustration from it I knew I needed to see all of it. So don't expect to just look. Expect to buy. At least one. (I already owned Shackleton's Journey, or else I would have purchased that, too.)

Anyway.

Raúl Colón suffered from severe asthma as a child. Frequently, he'd find himself locked up indoors--for days on end--in order to hide from the pollen that made breathing difficult. But he endured those many hours on those many days away from the world by escaping into books and his own drawing (and sometimes comic books he wrote and illustrated himself). This wordless picture book is inspired by the hours he spent as a child trapped in his room but free in his imagination...

In Draw!, a boy is sitting on his bed, absorbed in a book about Africa. He puts the book aside and grabs his sketchbook, and draws himself walking, walking, walking into the book. (This transporting-into-a-book is something my kids talk about all the time. Are they alone? Do your kids do this?) The boy walks and walks until he sees an elephant. Gladly, it is a friendly elephant that poses for him and then gives him a ride rather than charges him.

The elephant becomes his guide as he walks around the grasslands, meeting and drawing giraffes, lions, gorillas, water buffalo, and a rhino that is the least friendly of the bunch (check out the cover, above left). His eyes and heart soak up the experience and he draws and draws and draws all these animals...until suddenly he is transported back to his original world, where he is presenting his animal artwork to his class.

The wordless story is fine. But the illustrations! They are inspirational works of art, each one.

I loved reading more about Raúl Colón and his technique in an interview on the fabulous School Library Journal blog. Here's what he has to say about how he draws each and every illustration in this book, and his others:

Usually I use colored pencil over watercolor wash. In this case, with the African images, I bought Pantone color papers, and I went straight onto the paper with Prismacolor pencils. The paper has a nice grain to it. If you’re going to use color pencils, it’s good to use a grain paper. 

I found the etching instrument by accident—something [a former] boss purchased when I worked at a  TV station in Fort Lauderdale, FL. It’s like a giant flat coin with prongs sticking out. First I sketch onto the paper. The boy’s pants may look brown, but there are actually layers of greens, purples, and blues, which make the colors appear much more vivid. (I learned this from the Impressionists, who put colors next to each other to enhance images.) After I know where everything goes, I start etching with this instrument—wherever I think I need movement or volume.

We're fans of this author/illustrator for sure. I'm embarrassed that this is the first time I've mentioned him on this blog! If you're curious about his work, definitely check out more books by him. (Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates is my personal favorite.)

Fox's Garden by Princesse CamCam

Fox's Garden by Princesse Camcam

Rating: 5 stars

One cold and snowy night, a fox gets lost among endless woods and drifts of snow. She runs past one house, but gets scared off by the look of fright in the woman's eyes.  She runs up to another home, but gets kicked off by an angry old man. Not knowing where else to go, the fox finds a greenhouse open and available, so she goes in to get out of the cold.

She doesn't realize a small boy watches her from his window.  He gathers some food and follows her inside, and realizes that the fox is not alone.  She now has a small gathering of kits around her, nursing quietly among the flowers in the greenhouse.

The boy offers what he can: a basket of gifts. Then he slowly returns to his room; he doesn't further interrupt the fox or wait for her to pay him any attention.

While the boy sleeps, the fox and her kits carry large plumes of flowers from the greenhouse to the boy's house.  They all jump quietly through the window, and plant them in his room. Then, the fox family is off through the night.

The boy wakes to their grateful abundance of flowers in his own room.

--

There is something extremely special about this wordless picture book.  I'm not entirely sure what it is--I just can't put my finger on what makes this book so magical. Princesse Camcam (I'm sure you're not shocked to hear it's not her real name, but it is a pen name you're not likely to forget--she was born Camille Garoche in southwest France) creates her own paper-cut dioramas that she then lights up and photographs. This gives the illustrations a unique sense of depth as you turn the pages of her book.

The story, so elegantly and gently placed before the reader, is simple and straightforward. The adults in this book are not open to helping the fox, yet the small boy opens his heart and gives what he can to the fox. His thoughtfulness does not go unnoticed; the fox thanks him simply with a magical bouquet. The big lesson: kindness begets kindness.

The world needs more of this lesson.  The world needs more of books like these. This is truly one of the most beautiful books I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle

Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle

Rating: 5 stars

Delightful.  Delight-filled!

Here's a feisty, silly bathing beauty, happy to mimic a regal, haughty flamingo while he dances regally, ignorant of his human shadow.  Using lift-the-flaps, Idle brilliantly shows the girl mock the flamingo and then--pull the flap down!--she looks away innocently when the flamingo looks back at her accusingly.  The reader shares the secret of the feisty little girl; the two know what the flamingo doesn't!

Flora copycats the flamingo...

Six pages in and the flamingo has the girl figured out.  One loud squawk leaves the girl tumbling, humbled from her little joke.  But just a few turns later and the flamingo forgives, forgets, and reaches for Flora.  And then...and then!...a lovely duet between the master leading his pupil through a complicated, beautiful dance.  The girl is ecstatic--the look of delight on HER face is so precious.

They dance beautifully until they cannonball into the water in one joyous, silly splash!

This book is so very worthy of the Caldecott honor it received just a few weeks ago.  And it reminds me of the great opportunities wordless picture books provide.  All three of my kids--Lorelei (6 1/2) who is reading advanced chapter books, Ben (5) who is reading solidly, and Kiefer (2 1/2) who is delighted (word of the post) to identify "his letter" K--like this book and all of them can get something out of it.  As a wordless picture book, it is accessible to all of them.

...and is found out in this adorable picture.

Here is a sampling of activities you can do with a wordless picture book:

• Have the child tell the story--even Kiefer can look at a picture and describe what is going on, and then he sometimes pretends to read by adding imaginary stuff or adding tidbits from his day or another book.
  
• Use Post-It notes (Ben's favorite thing right now) to write a story.  You can stick them right onto the pages!
  
• Have your child tell you more about the character. Why is the girl dancing?  How does she feel when the flamingo pushes her away?
  
• Look at the structure behind the book--Lorelei is ready to do this.  What happens in the beginning? What is the problem/conflict?  How is it resolved?  Words don't get in the way in wordless books...
  
• Challenge your reader to write or draw or think up a sequel to the book.  What other animals could this girl dance with or, for breakdancing Ben, what animal could best breakdance with him if he was in a storybook?

Some other great wordless picture books (including my all-time favorite, Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola, can be found on my blog here and even more here).

Hooray for Flora, the Flamingo, and Molly Idle!

Journey by Aaron Becker

Journey by Aaron Becker

Rating: 5 stars

Lorelei is now in first grade.  When I started this blog, she was not yet three (click here for the first time she appeared in a blog post).  Back then, we shared books that we found together in the library.  I'd order a bunch that I'd found on some list somewhere, and she'd just look around the library and grab ones that looked pretty neat.

These days, we share books in a different sort of way.  She often tells me about books and, since she knows I have a children's book blog, she suggests books for me to write about.  She searches on her own, in her own school library.  She brings them home for me or points them out at our local library when we go together.

Journey is one of the books she recommended to me.  She told me, in a gushing, girly sort of way: "Oh MOM!  You've just GOT to read this book!  Well, not read.  There aren't any words.  But the pictures are just AMAZING!  You've just GOT to put it on your blog."

Well, okay then.  I will!

I understand why Journey captured her imagination.  It makes me want to gush and use annoying all-caps to explain what a MASTERPIECE it is!  The book was recently awarded as a Caldecott Honor book...and it is so, SO worthy of the award.  It is one of the most magical books I've ever had on my lap.  It is an invitation to jump in and dream of what could be possible if you turned on the light switch to your imagination.

Take a minute (actually only 52 seconds) to watch this:

The girl seems frustrated that no one will play with her, so she creates and enters a magical world.  That you probably already know.  But let me tell you what the best part of the book is so that you parents who want to use books to teach will make sure to put this one on your list.

The girl enters a magical world in which she finds a purple bird that is in a cage, seemingly as lonely as the girl was in the first few pages of the book.  She takes a risk and rescues, then releases the bird, only to be imprisoned in the same cage herself.  And, to make things worse, she's dropped the magical red marker that she's used to create this world.  It is a low moment for her.

(I love that the low moment appears in the book--what a lesson for our kids to realize that life has these, too!  And that the challenge becomes: well, what now?  I like books where the characters rescue themselves and get themselves out of the low point, but...Journey has a neat resolution, too.)

And then, the bird appears.  With the red marker held gently in its beak.  The girl helped the bird escape, and now the bird has turned around to help her.  The bird then leads the girl through its magical world, and back to its creator: a boy, with a magical purple marker.  A friend.  Who also believes in magic.

Like the recent book Oliver, this book is about finding a friend that gets you.  And it's a story with sprinklings of self-determination and kindness and karma-filled goodness.  Definitely one to buy for the shelf, definitely award-worthy, definitely a great recommendation from my fellow bookworm and daughter, Lorelei.

Where's Walrus? by Stephen Savage

Where's Walrus? by Stephen Savage

Rating: 4.5 stars

Here is a fun book--not much to it, though it's a great one to get kids laughing which, in my book, is always a wonderful sound.

Stephen Savage has drawn for us a series of illustrations of what a walrus does to fade into the background after escaping from the zoo.  As the zookeeper chases him from city place to city scene, the walrus tries to camouflage himself.  See for yourself in the images I have grabbed thanks to my buddy Google...

There is nothing funnier to Ben than me pretending not to see something that he sees so very clearly.  So when I say "I don't see a walrus!" he erupts in giggles and yells in his loudest inside voice (therefore making it a questionable inside voice):  "THERE MOMMY!  THERE!  THERE!!!"  I'm tempted to use size 38 font so you truly understand how loud and excited the response is!

Because there are no words, you can make up your own or just play dumb like me, which is always a hit at our house.

Sometimes the point of a book--or an activity, or a whole day--should be pure fun.  Not educational, not anything but f-u-n fun.  That is what this book is.  Oftentimes mom friends ask me for hints or suggestions to get their kids into reading. I often suggest books like these--ones that are pure fun, where the images are captivating and silly and make you want to turn the page to read the next one.  Maybe this one will be the "gateway book" that helps your child really get excited about books...or maybe it's just one in a long line of great ones they are already talking about in offensively loud decibels while your youngest child naps...

The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher by Molly Bang

The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher by Molly Bang

Rating: 2.5 stars

Ever look at a piece of artwork and just wonder... Huh?


That's what I think about this, a Caldecott winner from a few years back.  It's a wordless picture book (hey, I was just talking about those the other day...click here if you missed it) full of eerie, odd, spooky pictures.  It reminds me of the magical realism that Isabel Allende uses in her novels, but just doesn't seem to work here.  For us, anyway.

I just don't get it.

The Grey Lady gets strawberries from the market and walks home to share them with her grandchildren.  Along the way, a spooky, blue creature tries to steal them away, but the grey lady morphs into different objects in order to hide from the strawberry snatcher.

At least that's what I think happens.

We've read a bunch of Molly Bang books, and I expected a step out of the normal from her.  We especially appreciated her When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry with its vibrant pictures and unique spin on what to do to regain control of yourself.

But this one?  I'm sort of dumbfounded.  I'm going to return it to the library and check it out again in a few months...maybe I'll get it a little more then...?  Or, like that crazy artwork, I'll leave it to The Experts to fully get and appreciate.

Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola

Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola

Rating: 5 yummy stars

This is, by far, my favorite wordless picture book.  I love, love, love it.

It's a simple story: a woman wakes up thinking about pancakes.  She assembles the ingredients--the traditional way.  No grocery store run for her.  She milks the cow, churns the butter, gathers the eggs, collects syrup from the tree.  Just as she's ready to make the pancakes, she realizes her dog and cat, who are also hungry, ate all the ingredients!  She's bummed.  But then...sniff, sniff...she realizes her neighbors woke with the same idea.  So she trudges through the snow, invites herself in, and eats a bunch of their pancakes (hopefully not all of them!).

As always, Tomie DePaola's drawings are funny and sweet, straightforward and inviting.  Nothing fancy in this book, just simple drawings for a simple story.

I'm usually not a fan of books without words, and can empathize when I hear other parents complain of them.  At the end of the day, when you're counting down the seconds until the door is closed on your day as a parent, who wants to actually think of the words to a story?!  I hear ya.

BUT they are important...  Here are a few reasons why (feel free to add your own, and tell me which ones you like to read with your kids/students):

• Kids imagine and create their own words and stories.
  
• Kids can "read" them by themselves, giving you a bit of a break and them a boost of confidence on their own path to literacy.
  
• As always, you can practice prediction and sequencing.
  
• For budding artists, having a wordless, cartoon-like book can inspire them to write/draw a book of their own.

But don't forget the best part of all about this particular book: it inspires you to make pancakes!  Hear are my two favorite healthy recipes in case you're in need of a new taste:

From my favorite restaurant in Atlanta, the Flying Biscuit, click here to get their oatmeal pancakes.  They soak overnight in buttermilk...yum, yum.  Top with peaches like they do, and a little maple syrup.  Definitely half the recipe, unless you are feeding a small army or the Dugger family!

From Cooking Light, click here to get a recipe for whole wheat pancakes.  We add blueberries to ours and usually dip them in honey.  They freeze really well (freeze individually) and become my go-to dinner when I need to get dinner on the table in 5.4 minutes or less.

(Also, see those labels at the end of this post?  Click on "wordless books" to see my reviews of a bunch of other wordless books, including the great Polo series, which are great for traveling in the car...)

Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman

Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman
Rating: 4.5 stars

Barbara Lehman has churned out a bunch of books with super interesting drawings, and without words.  If you're looking for another wordless picture book to add to your collection or check out from the library, definitely take a look at her collection.  We've looked at most of her books, and this is our favorite.  Her others are good, especially the award-winning The Red Book.  But they are better for a slightly older crowd, I think; I think Lorelei will start appreciating them in another 6-8 months or so.

Why read wordless picture books?  Here are a few reasons; a child can:

• "Read" a book all by herself, without any help from a grown-up
• Create a new and unique story each time they "read" it
• Adds her own words to the story, thereby practicing vocabulary and sentence structure
• "Read" the book TO you (I like to pretend that Lorelei has to read a book to me before I go to sleep, so she covers me up with a blanket and chooses a book to read to me.  Win-win situation!)
• Practice if-when and sequencing concepts

This book is a really good one, and shows the tale of a little boy who seems lonely on a rainy day in a big ol' mansion without any siblings or playmates.  He finds a key and realizes it unlocks a treasure chest which has only a ladder inside.  He climbs down and walks through a long tunnel, then surfaces on a little island where the sun is shining a group of smiling children are smiling, as if waiting for him.  They play together until the sun goes down, and the boy returns to his own cold house for dinner.  The next day he returns to the treasure chest and ladder, and meets the group of children in the tunnel--they were en route to find him.  He's overjoyed to bring them to his house, where they play together happily.

Super cute!  Unless your child is an only child and you live in a mansion when it rains all day, of course.  Then it might hit a little too close to home, and your child might be sad that there is no key, no treasure chest, and no group of kids waiting on the other side of a secret tunnel for him.  Then it might be a little sad. 

Polo: The Runaway Book by Regis Faller

Polo: The Runaway Book by Regis Faller

Rating: 5 (is 6 possible?) stars

All right, regarding me wanting to add a sixth star, there are definitely some better children's books out there--this is not our for-all-time, no-joke-about-it favorite book ever.  BUT the creativity in this book just knocks my socks off!  I'm really, really impressed and just am thankful that my kids and their budding imaginations can be inspired by this Regis Faller guy.

In case you're reading this from some warm place, it's been cold here in the US.  Really cold.  Northern Virginia usually has mild winters with 2 or 3 snowstorms that provide 3-8 inches with each storm.  And you can almost always count on a few random warm "relief" days during each winter month.

This year?  Not so much.  Today was the second day we reached 50 degrees since early December.  It has been C-O-L-D.  And then, last week, we got 8 inches of snow dumped on us.  School closed for three days, then we had a weekend, followed by two teacher workdays. That's SEVEN days home, in a row.  With temps so low it was tough to go out for longer than 15 minutes.  Add to that a case of pink eye (Lorelei) and strep butt (Ben).  Yes, you read that right.  Who knew it could appear in a place other than your throat?  Well, now you know.


Polo reads his book, before it gets snatched away!

 But we survived.  Thanks to the 47 books we checked out from the library the night before the snow fell!  We almost hit our 50 book limit!

What books do you want in your house, on your shelf, when you're snowed in?  This is actually a fun and useful question to me these days, in a nerdy sort of way of course.  And, getting back to the book I'm supposed to be writing about, this book is THE BOOK you want.  Actually, next time you see your local weather people ringing the alarm bells on a storm, just order up all of Regis Faller's books so you have them.  They are all wordless and so interesting--sometimes touching on Alice in Wonderland bizarre--and kids can "read" them by themselves.  About once a day, Lorelei would spend 5-10 minutes with this big book on her lap, following Polo with her finger, sometimes telling the story out loud to herself, or to one of the big sleeping weimaraners next to her.

Here's the thing about all the Polo books--they are all great, but this one and The Adventures of Polo are the longest by far--maybe three times the length of the others--so they make the best purchases if you're going to buy one for yourself or as a gift.

The Adventures of Polo by Regis Faller

The Adventures of Polo by Regis Faller

Rating: 4.5 wordless stars

We've stumbled into the world of Polo, an adventurous French pup whose imagination takes him to some pretty neat places.  I'm not a huge fan of wordless books...I once checked out a bunch because I read an article saying that it was The Thing To Do with 3-ish-year-olds, but I just wasn't into them.  Neither was Lorelei, so it was an easy genre of books to not check out again.

But we ordered this book, not realizing it was a wordless book until we got it home.  I'm so glad we made this mistake!  Lorelei sat and "read" it for ten to fifteen minutes when we first got home from the library.  She could easily follow along little canine Polo's adventures: laughing when he slid down a line and plopped onto a cloud, gasping in surprise as Polo sees what he thinks is a giant fish from inside a submarine, and wondering out loud what Polo was going to do on the next page.  The illustrations are charming and funny, full of slap-stick type humor that toddlers totally get.

The only negative thing is Polo's run-in with a polar bear.  He and his new friend of the feline variety find an igloo on top an iceberg with a scary polar bear inside.  The polar bear frightens them with his silent roar (this part is actually one of Lorelei's favorites) and the cat and Polo look scared.  But then the polar bear slips and falls off his iceberg and splashes into the cold water below.  That's not so bad, but Regis Faller adds a little picture of Polo and the cat laughing.  Boo.

But I can't end on a bad note.  I overlooked that not-so-great part and added my own words (the beauty of a wordless book): "Glad that he was ok after that fall!"  There are lots of things to love about this book: I love how Polo meets all different types of animals along his not-so-straight path from his tree house and back again.  He had a little imaginative adventure with each, waves good-bye, and sets off on his way, alone, until he pops into someone new.  I actually think it's a sweet message about friendship--how some friends stay a long time in your life and other friends just come for a short while and disappear into the woodwork. 

I also wonder if this book is a little gift to parents--it's a book children can "read" to themselves, after all, so maybe I'll check out a few more of the Polo books so I can get through The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest a little bit faster...