Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang

Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang

Rating: 4.5 stars

This is a simple counting and bedtime book that works really well.  Despite the fact that most countdowns are pretty exciting things, this countdown is calming and comforting and will hopefully result in a sleeping child, just like the one at the end of this book.

But you've got to know the background of the book to fully appreciate it.  When her daughter was two, the author spent a few weeks away from her--it was the first time she'd spent such a significant amount of time apart.  One night, in the middle of the night, Ms. Bang woke up and wrote this down as a poem to her daughter.  Luckily for us, her daughter thought it'd be neat if the poem her mama had written for her was published for other (less creative) parents to read to their (still deserving) children.

(So...if I'd like to write a good children's book, I need to go away for two weeks and keep a notebook by my bed.  Sweet!  I'll let my husband know I'll be going to Jamaica for two weeks in February.)

Another really interesting tidbit: The author made the father and daughter black; her publisher told her that she'd likely cut her audience, and thus her paycheck, in half.  Of course, she chose to do it anyway and, wonderfully, it has sold equally "to both white and black, and all shades in between."

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!

Do Princesses Scrape Their Knees? by Carmela LaVigna Coyle

Do Princesses Scrape Their Knees? by Carmela LaVigna Coyle, illustrated by Mike Gordon

Rating: 4.5 stars

This book, more than any other I've read, makes me realize how important it is to read good books to our kids.  Not just any books, but books with good messages, quality characters, and engaging illustrations.  This book really gave me food for thought about all the books we've read so far in our reading adventure, and how this book will make me really choose even more wisely than I have in the past few years.

You know who loves this book more than Lorelei?  Ben!  It cracks me up when he pulls out a book with "princess" on the cover, but then again, it's so fitting--because this book is about a little brother who is trying to keep up with his big sister.  The big sister is, wonderfully, letting him tag along.  She teaches him to try again, to believe in himself, and to dream big.  It is the first book of the sibling/new baby books that I'm going to focus on for most of my next bunch of blogs. 

When I was about six years old, my big sister said I was corroded.  I had to look the word up in order to see if it was an insult or not.  Of course it was, and of course it was just an example of a normal sibling relationship.  My sister did and does love me fiercly, I know, but my relationship with her makes me tell Loerlei almost every day how important it is that she encourage, praise, and teach Ben.  He looks up to her more than she will ever know--I say that as the mom who is always watching them, and the little sister who knows how much I still look up to my big sister.

So I really try to find and bring home books that highlight good, quality, loving interaction between siblings.  Yes, I realize that all kids--even my angels--will fight and argue and bicker in the next five or six decades.  Their closeness will come and go, and their love with be shown in different ways.  But there are way too many books out there that show sisters calling their brothers "Stupid" or brothers shunning their sisters because "girls play princess, not ball."  All books teach; I want books that teach behavior and lessons that compliment what Jonathan and I are teaching our kids.  Lorelei is still learning how to be a big sister, so finding good books that illustrate (literally and figuratively) how to be a wonderful big sister is a priority.

This is definitely one! 

I do have a soft spot in my heart for this author, not just because she's from Colorado, which is the only place I'd be tempted to choose over our home in Virginia.  Her first book, Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?, was inspired by her daughter, Annie.  I follow her blog and enjoy her infrequent reflections on her writing and memories and parenting.  I really wish her books were stories, not just a series of questions and answers, but those are minor infractions that are easily overlooked. 

In My Heart by Molly Bang

In My Heart by Molly Bang

Rating: 3.5 stars

This book is definitely not "traditional"--the family, as you can see on the cover, is multi-racial, and the drawings remind me of modern surreal art that, honestly, I'm not super fond of.  It's not one that my pretty conservative but still wonderful stepfather would fully appreciate, but it's not meant for his generation.

Despite the fact that I don't love, love, love this book, it is a really great book and, for some out there, will be a very important book.  After reading When Sophie Gets Angry: Really Really Angry I was pretty intrigued by Molly Bang.  So I ordered a handful of her books the following week to see what other sort of stuff she writes.  I like this one--it is worthwhile and heartfelt and special.  So definitely check it out, and let me know what you think.

This is the author's favorite book she's ever written--that's saying something right there when she's written dozens of children's books and won the Caldecott a few times.  On her website, she states that she was inspired by two situations when she wrote this book: adoptive kids who "don't come from their Mommy's bellies" and kids whose parents both work.  The book is a lullaby-like story reassuring kids that they remain in their parents' hearts, regardless of the proximity of the child and parent at the time.  And regardless of the birth parent.  It is a special, special book, and one that must comfort many adoptive children out there.

We like it for a different reason.  Lorelei is so into letters--just, literally, letters.  Lorelei will find Js in the woods when we walk the dogs, Os in her cereal and fruit...you get the idea.  She loves how Molly Bang uses images to write the letters.  I took a few pictures to show what I mean, because I don't think I'm doing the artwork justice... 

(I also am a little disappointed that the typed text is the same as that used in Fancy Nancy books.  It's just an unfortunate coincidence.  While I don't mind that whole series, this is a book of a higher caliber, and I wish I didn't think of a frilly little girl while reading this book to Lorelei and Ben.)

The other reason why I think I can't fully appreciate this book: I'm a stay-at-home mother.  I don't work.  I don't have to say good-bye to my kids each morning and reassure them that I love them, because I can tell them all day long, any day and everyday.  And, while this works for me and works for my family, it sure doesn't work for everyone!  So this book really provides a wonderful, comforting read to those families whose kids are in daycare of one sort or the other.

But it is, without a doubt, interesting and worth reading.  The artwork alone provides a different sort of image, and I love, love, love how colorful (skin and attire!) the people in the pictures are, and I love how creative those cool letters are!

I Love School! by Philemen Sturges

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

Rating: 4.5

There really isn't much to this big series of books, but they are each so cute and engaging that they're worth a blurb here and a check out there.  They are basic, introductory books on which you can expand if you want--or, if you're just pooped, you can just read it and save the extension exercises for another day. 

I do learn a few facts with every book; on the front and back inside cover are fun tidbits about school: that the world's largest peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich contained 150 pounds of peanuts and 50 pounds of jelly.  Or that more than 450,000 school buses transport close to 24 million students in the U.S. to school every day.  I appreciate that Sturges throws this stuff in for the older reader--whether that's 4 or 5 or, in my case, 34.

Since Lorelei is starting preschool in just five or six weeks, I am keeping a constant flow of books about school, about starting school, about making friends at school, and anything that has any positive vibe about school.  I really do think she'll do fine in the transition--when we moved from the Mommy and me gymnastics class to the "big girl" Mommy-sits-on-the-sides class she didn't look back once, and her crying fits of "I don't want to do that!" disappeared completely.  So I think she's ready.  I think.  I hope.  Am I ready?  I don't know.

The other books in this series:
I Love Trucks!
I Love Trains!
I Love Bugs! (review here)
I Love Tools!
I Love Planes!

Off Go Their Engines, Off Go Their Lights by Janice Milusich

Off Go Their Engines, Off Go Their Lights by Janice Milusich, illustrated by David Gordon

Rating: 4.5 stars

Sometimes Ben is just a lucky guy, even at the library.  As any almost two year old does, he thinks that pulling a lot of books off of a shelf is way cool.  Of course, I try to discourage such destructive behavior at both at home and at the library--but especially at the library!  At home, sometimes it's just easier to give him the ten minutes to create the mess he so desires...and clean up after bedtime.

This is one book that Ben grabbed, randomly, without seeing its cover, from the stacks.  It's a really nice bedtime book for boys (and girls) who are fairly vehicle-crazy--that's Ben!

Milusich writes the story with a soothing, quiet tone.  A taxi picks up a mom and her son, and they pass by a pumper truck, a dump truck (Ben's favorite), a brown delivery truck, a police car, and an ice cream truck; she explains what they do in one line, and puts them to sleep with another.  One by one you say good night to each truck, and on the last page the mom says good night to her son.

It does have a lot of words in it, so if you've got an impatient little guy/girl on your lap, you might want to wait till 2 or older for this one if you're going to read it at bedtime.

While we've never read it at bedtime (I had to stop taking library books to bed because Ben kept wanting them in his crib, and I'd have several repairs to do in the morning.  When he learns that ripping is not synonymous with reading, we'll change the rule about where library books can and cannot go), we've read it a lot, and Ben "reads" this book by himself a few times a day.  Ben even wiggled himself into Jonathan's lap over the weekend with it.  Our male weim, Guidry, even had to get in on the action, so I couldn't resist taking a picture of all the boys in our family reading together.

Big Al by Andrew Clements Yoshi

Big Al by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Yoshi

Rating: 5 fishy stars

An old friend recommended this book to me--she said that she used to read this book to her kindergarten class on the first day of school every year.  I was intrigued...it must teach a good lesson and be pretty captivating, right?

Yes and yes!

Big Al is the friendliest fish in the whole wide ocean, but he was pretty scary--he has googly eyes, big, sharp teeth, and is brown and monster-like.  He attempts to make friends (he hasn't a single one) by covering himself with seaweed, wiggling himself into the sand to look small, changing his color to match other fish, but nothing works.  So he "cries big salty tears into the big salty sea."  Poor guy!  To say that Yoshi makes him looks forlorn is an understatement.  But, after another failed attempt to make a single friend, a net catches a huge school of fish.  Big Al chomps the net and saves them, making him a friend to all.  I LOVE the picture of happy Big Al!  How can you not love a big galoot of a fish with a heart of gold?

I think the only drawback to this book is that, as I stated before, Big Al is pretty scary.  While we had it from the library Ben and Lorelei rarely chose it on their own to read.  But I would choose it and put it among the books designated for meal time or bed time or nap time, and they always enjoyed it.  For this reason, I think it is best used like my friend used, in school and to teach the oh-so important lesson of befriending even the odd-looking and odd-acting fish in the sea. 

Please, please, please let just half of the kids on Earth learn this!  What a better place schools would be.


P.S.  The illustrator, Yoshi, has a fantastic website at which you can purchase the print of happy Big Al and four other images from the book.

Wiggle by Doreen Cronin

Wiggle by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Scott Menchin

Rating: 4 stars

This is a great little book, well deserving of a few sentences here.  It definitely is in the category of lift-the-mood book because the funny dog urges all listeners to "get their wiggle on" (my words, not Cronin's) in funny ways.  Ben starts wiggling as soon as we get out the book.

Here's a little example of the quick rhyming scheme: "Snakes are one big wiggle. / No wings. No tails. No feet. / Some wiggles are worth waiting for / Wiggle, wiggle, tweet!"  Simple.  Cute.  Catchy.  Fun to read aloud!

Doreen Cronin, of Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type fame, has a huge list of books that are just fantastic.  We've only met a few that are duds for us, but I just think Lorelei and Ben are a little too young for them.  She's definitely one of those go-to authors for us on the days when I forgot to order books ahead of time.  You really can't go wrong!

Ella Takes the Cake by Carmelo D'Amico

Ella Takes the Cake by Carmela D'Amico, illustrated by Steve D'Amico

Rating: 5 stars--maybe 6!

This is the third book in a wonderful series by a Seattle-based husband and wife team about a shy little elephant named Ella.  If you're looking for a gift for a three- or four-year old little girl, get these!  Just buy the whole set and you'll provide them with beautiful pictures, sweet stories, and important lessons. 

This particular Ella book, Ella Takes the Cake, is the favorite of one of Lorelei's little friends, Ella--the girl, not the elephant.  Ella the girl has good taste!  In this book, it's summer vacation and Ella really wants to help out in her mother's bakery.  Her mother keeps her from helping as much as she wants to--the oven is too hot, the knife is too sharp--but finally the delivery elephant forgets to pick up the most important cake, and Ella offers to deliver it by herself.

Here are things that make this book SO RIGHT:

• The to-be-delivered cake is gorgeous and enormous, yet Ella is willing to give it a shot.  (Go, Ella!  Dream big!)
• Her mother says yes--she trusts her little daughter with a big task.  (We should all do this!  Let's start a trend to actually have enough faith in our kids to let them do Big Things, even if it scares us a little.)
• Ella takes some detours, yes, but they are sweet and responsible ones, like taking a stack of books to the library for an older elephant.  (The day after we read this book, I found myself offering to return library books for our neighbor, who was going on vacation.)
• She catches up with the delivery man, who offers to "take the cake from here" to its final destination, but Ella sweetly says, "I'd like to finish what I started."  (Oh, to have that sentence come out of every child's mouth!)
• The recipient of the cake is impressed, and Ella returns home, very proud of herself.  And her mother is almost as proud of her.  (There's something about accomplishing a goal that seemed unreachable at some point--that's what I like about distance running.)
• The last line: "That's what Ella likes to do best...be a good helper."  (I realize this might be sickeningly sweet to some, but I much prefer something like this than a witty-sarcastic line.  There will be enough of those in the teenage years...)

These are quality stories.  But I'm not done yet--just a few more sentences!  The artwork in them is just beautiful.  This one is by far my favorite because the illustrations begin even before the title page--the front and back inner cover is a map of the mysterious Elephant Islands.  Lorelei likes to trace the route that Ella takes to the lighthouse, then back again. (That's what she's doing in the picture.)

This is a really terrific series--not one to miss!

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Elise Broach

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Elise Broach, illustrated by David Small

Rating: 5 dino-mite stars

This is such a fun book.  Our neighbor got it for Ben, for Lorelei's birthday.  You know you've got a great friend when both of your kids get a gift on one of their birthdays.

The gist of the book is simple:  One day a little boy and his mother go out for their "boring" route of errands and...WAIT.  I have to stop here and tell all children's book authors to stop saying that errands are boring.  Let's call them riveting and fun and exciting, as we pretend they are in our house!

Anyway, at each stop, they get a dinosaur with their purchase.  At the doughnut shop, then leave with a triceratops.  At the doctor, a stegosaurus.  At the barber, a pterosaur.  And on the way home, the little boy can't help but feed a baby hadrosaur that runs alongside his car some doughnuts, so that "little" guy follows the car home, too.

His mother is, understandably, fairly distraught at the thought of keeping four dinosaurs.  But then, crafty as all moms are, she figures out ways for them to help with the household chores.  So, they stay.

The fantastic illustrations of David Small deserve a round of applause, too.  Small makes the dinosaurs giant--check out the image on the right.  The triceratops, and the other dinosaurs, practically leap out on to your lap!  What talent!  The way that he contrasts the exasperated mothers and the delighted kids as mother-kid combos tote around their new dinosaurs is really funny.

I have to say that I feel an affinity towards Elise Broach.  Maybe because she is super educated and started writing children's books when her youngest (of three) kids was a year old.  She points out on her website that she started writing books when she was in grade school, and her "parents, teachers, and school librarians showered me with totally unjustified encouragement, saying they knew my books would be on their shelves one day."  Just goes to show you what some quality, surely justified encouragement can do to child.

I'm Bad! by Kate and Jim McMullan

I'm Bad! by Kate and Jim McMullan

Rating: 3.5 stars

Yesterday as I was cleaning up the kitchen, I watched as a hawk swooped down in front of me to a spot where an unlucky chipmunk must have been peeking its head innocently out from under a bush.  This huge hawk kind of squatted, with his talons on something, and rolled its neck around as if looking for someone to which he could gloat.  I was captivated but wanted Lorelei, who was coloring on the other side of the kitchen, to see.  So I grabbed her, hoping not to break the spell, and showed her.  Just as we dashed back to the window, the hawk took off in front of us, and we watched him powerfully flap through an opening into our woods.

Crazy!  Lorelei was impressed, but I couldn't contain my excitement.  "Did you see that?  Did you see that?  WOW!"  I kept saying.  I explained to Lorelei that he was looking for lunch and, I guessed, he found some.

If your kids don't realize that cute chipmunks are lunch for someone else, then maybe you should hold off on this book.  Because this big, bad Tyrannosaurus Rex is just looking for lunch.  His prey keeps foiling him again and again until he finds his mother, a bigger and badder Tyrannosaurus Rex.  She gives him "take out," which is a small dinosaur that she places at his feet.  He feasts on it (that part is actually not seen--you read "Gobble, snarf, yum, gobble" and I think it's pretty obvious to even kids what is going on) and then curls up with the bone on the next page, declaring "I love my mommy."

At what point do we teach kids about the life cycle?  I think the answer is when we must, whenever that is in your respective family.  For us, it begins a little earlier because our dogs have already turned up with prizes of their own--a chipmunk here, a baby raccoon there, a toad or a newt.  They are always hunting something.  So, for us, this book was pretty entertaining, as all of Kate and Jim McMullan's books are.  But, if you'd rather wait to teach that everything is someone else's lunch, maybe don't check this one out!

When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang

When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang

Rating: 4.5 stars

I wasn't sure about a book where the cover shows a little girl who looks ready to yell at me.  But an old friend--we're talking horseback-riding-through-the-pineapple-fields old friend--suggested it to us.  So of course we had to check it out.

I was still worried during the first few pages (of course I didn't preview it, I just plunged right ahead during breakfast one morning) when Sophie grabs a gorilla from her sister and resists sharing the toy.  She "roars a red, red roar" (yikes!) and looks like a volcano about to erupt (double yikes!).  What does Sophie do when she's really, really angry?

She runs. 

She runs to the woods, to her favorite birch tree, which she climbs and sits on its sturdy branches, and lets the breeze lift her hair and her mood.  She stares at the sea and finds solace in nature.  She listens to the birds, chipmunks, owls, and squirrels and lets them calm her.  Then she goes home, where everything is back together again.

My reading of Last Child of the Woods by Rirchard Louv resulted in a relocation to a house on several acres with creeks and trees and deer and butterflies.  In case you've not heard of it or read it yourself, Richard Louv

cites multiple causes for why children spend less time outdoors and why they have less access to nature: our growing addiction to electronic media, the relinquishment of green spaces to development, parents’ exaggerated fears of natural and human predators, and the threat of lawsuits and vandalism that has prompted community officials to forbid access to their land. Drawing on personal experience and the perspectives of urban planners, educators, naturalists and psychologists, Louv links children’s alienation from nature to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, stress, depression and anxiety disorders, not to mention childhood obesity.

I know that was a long quote, but I had to put a small plug in for this book. 

Anyway, When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry is a good introduction to this concept that nature is important, that in nature one can find solace.  Just an hour ago, Lorelei and Ben and I sat on our front porch and had lunch.  It was one of the first meals at home during which we've not read a book, but we did listen to cicadas and helicopters and watch our neighbor get a delivery, then wondered out loud what new thing they purchased.  Then we pretended there were owls swooping through the trees.  My fingers are crossed that they always have the ability to, like Sophie, turn to nature for comfort.

This book also encourages conversation about what to do when the inevitable happens: when you get angry, what do you do?  My dad, an actual philosopher (among other things), always said that you might not be able to control the circumstances, but you can control your reaction to them.  Of course I'd like to pass that wisdom on to my kids!  But we're at the stage now where I'm simply trying to stop Ben from biting poor Lorelei when he's angry!  Baby steps, baby steps.  But at least I know what my goal is.

One less-positive note: I don't love the illustrations.  This is a Caldecott winner, so I guess that the committee, along with swarms of other grown ups and kids, including my old pal Heather and her kids, liked it.  Lorelei and Ben respond well to the strong, vibrant pictures, so...there's a reason for them.  And there are many reasons to read this book.  Enjoy!

Marianna May and Nursery by Tomie DePaola

Marianna May and Nursery by Tomie DePaola

Rating: 5 white stars

A little while ago I sent out a broadcast to my family and friends and asked them: what are your/your children's favorite children's books?  I got a dozen good suggestions, and I'll be sharing them with you during the next week.  My aunt sent me the name of this book; her daughter (now a rising senior in high school) loved it when she was little.  The copy we are reading seems like it had been in some deep dungeon-like part of the library because it was brown and looked fairly filthy.  I wasn't very sure about it, despite the fact that it's Tomie DePaola and we love Tomie DePaola.

Reminder: Don't judge a book by its cover, even a dirty one.

This is a gem!  It is a sweet tale of a rich little girl whose parents hire a nanny for her called Nursery (why that is her name is beyond me--it is so puzzling to me) to care for her.  Little Marianna May only wears white dresses, she she is forbidden to roll in the grass, make mud pies, eat orange ice and strawberry ice cream like she wants to because she'll get dirty.  Instead of all this fun stuff, Nursery tells her to sit on the front porch swing and stay clean.  So there she sits, all day long.

Until the ice guy comes up with a block o' ice on his shoulder and sees she's not having fun.  He tells the maid who tells all the other hired help in the house that Marianna May isn't having fun, and they cook up the grand idea of dying all her dresses unique colors for all her favorite pastimes.  The last few pages are of her wearing a green dress while she rolls in the grass, a brown dress while she makes mud pies, an orange dress...you get the idea.

Lorelei just gets this story.  She understands how sad it would be if she was forced to sit on the front porch swing everyday, all day long.  She understands how silly it is to have all white dresses--she knows that Ben has just one white shirt, and it's new.  And it's a gift--I'd buy him a green or brown one before a white one!  Anyway, this is a sweet little story and I'm so glad to not just have read it with my daughter, but that Lorelei knows that it is "Cousin Abby's favorite book," too.  When families are spread out all over the country--or all over the world, as my family has been a number of different times--it's so important to me to grasp any and all connections we can!

Slither, Swoop, Swing by Alex Ayliffe

Slither, Swoop, Swing by Alex Ayliffe

Rating: 3.5 stars

I've realized my blog posts have been getting quite lengthy.  Being succinct is not in my genes.  But I'll try.

We know and love Alex Ayliffe from his illustrations in Margaret Mayo's fantastic books.  But this one is all his.  There's really not much to it--each page is one verb, with a bunch of animals acting it out. 

But it has become one of Ben's favorite bedtime books.  He likes to act out each verb/page.  He moves back and forth for "swing," as if he's on a tire swing; he grabs hold of his own leg tightly for "cling;" and of course "flap" he flaps his wings...I mean arms...wildly.  Then the last one is "run" and he runs around his room in a circle.  No wonder he takes awhile to actually fall asleep!  Maybe I should get a better bedtime book.

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? 

Not All Princesses Dress in Pink by Jane Yolen and E.Y. Stemple

Not All Princesses Dress in Pink by Jane Yolen and E.Y. Stemple, illustrated by Anne-Sophie Languetin

Rating: 4.5 stars

Lorelei and I went for a "girls outing" today to Barnes and Noble.  I had seen this book a few days before, on my morning out--I spent two hours of it at the bookstore, and part of that in the children's section.  That's when I found this book.  I'm not a huge Jane Yolen fan (though she's hailed as the "Hans Christian Anderson" of America), but this one I really liked.

Because it's the anti-princess princess book!  And that's why I really do love it.

Each page shows a different girl or group of girls doing something tomboy-ish or something that's traditionally ungirly.  They swap fancy shoes for soccer cleats or use power tools to build boats or cars.  The text is a long, fun poem with lines like: "Some princesses wear their jewels / while fixing things with power tools."  The last page is a dance party, where all the princesses bust their moves on the dance floor, including one that hip-hops in overalls.  Ha!  Love it!  And in all the beautiful pages, all of the anti-princesses wear sparkling crowns.

I nearly shoved the book onto Lorelei, but she did end up choosing the book when I asked her what she'd like me to read to her.  Of course, it was a) only after reading the requisite Dora book (ugh) and the other princess book I found by Julie Andrews, The Very Fairy Princess, b) because it was a princess book that she wanted to read it.  She listened dutifully and then went back to playing with the train table.  I asked her if she liked it and she said, "Not really.  Princesses do wear pink, you know."

Sigh.  The princess marketing blitz has already seeped into my sweet 3 year old.  I will keep fighting back!  I will win!  I will win!

The Bear Scouts by Stan and Jan Berenstain

The Bear Scouts by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Rating: 5 stars

We have a soft spot in our collective family heart for the Berenstain Bears.  Well...except for the most recent ones by Mike Berenstain, whose books must make his father roll in his grave.  (Seriously!  In the last one we read, Brother called Sister a twerp.  Thanks, Mike.  That's what I want my daughter to learn.)  But before I go off on a tangent about how much I dislike the most recent books in the long series of great books, let me go back to the beginning.

The first books they wrote are the I Can Read It All By Myself books.  Do you remember them from when you were a kid?  My dad still has a bunch of them at his house, and Lorelei and I both happily dive into them each time we're there.  One of these days I'm going to smuggle them home with us...  These were some of my favorite books growing up, and I wonder if I have an emotional connection with them because they were some of the first books I read by myself. 

So I'm thrilled to the core to see Lorelei get so excited about this set of books.  Since we read all of the longer Berenstain Bear collection, even the ones I don't like by young Mike, I was really happy to remember about the original ones.  But I kept forgetting to order them from the library.  Then, a few library trips ago, we came across the I Can Read It Myself section and...ka-bam!...we found about eight of them, right there in front of us.  Lorelei looked as if she was reuniting with an old friend she'd not seen in awhile.  She just started making a big stack by our library book bag.  "I want this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, too!" 

We read them over and over and over again, and I'm really tempted to buy the whole lot of them so that she and Ben can read them anytime they want, and then store them at their house for their kids and grandkids.  But, as of now, I'm being good and not buying them.  We'll see how long this good spending behavior lasts.

I should write a blurb about the books, I guess!  They are great because the text is simple and the story is always funny and straightforward.  I do feel a little sorry for Papa Bear, whose character is the blubbering fool-type, though he always comes out all right in the end.  Most of the books have just Small Bear; Sister is not born yet.  And, funnily enough, Mama and Papa Bear are pretty skinny!  Are Stan and Jan trying to tell us that we all get pudgy when we get married and have a family?! 

A word on these two pictures.  Along with the Berenstain Bear books we checked out (The Bear Scouts is the first on the stack in the first picture), we checked out a whole lot more.  I went a little crazy, I admit, and came close to the 50 book maximum.  Who does that?!  We do.  Anyway, Lorelei doesn't nap but has quiet time, a minimum of 40 minutes reading books quietly.  Sometimes it lasts 2 hours!  She reads each book one at a time, reciting it if she knows it by heart or making up the words if she doesn't.  She almost always follows along the text with her cute little finger, even if there is little similarity between the words coming out of her mouth and those in the book.  These pictures were taken by GrandBill, who was half of the babysitting team while my husband and I scooted away to Colorado, of Lorelei during her quiet time one day.  I like the triumphant "after" shot, after she read those two dozen books!

Pete's a Pizza by William Steig

Pete's a Pizza by William Steig

Rating: 5 pepperoni stars

Ok, stop what you're doing and order this book.  Right now.  It is such a wonderful book!  It's the book equivalent of a tummy tickler hill--it makes you giggle with each turn of the page.  Lorelei was laughing by page 5 and didn't stop until the end.  Every family should have a few books on your shelf of books that make everyone laugh--these are the types of books worth the purchase price.

Here's the story: Pete is sad because it's raining out and he can't go play ball with his friends.  So his dad cheers him up by making him into a pizza.  That's it!  Each page is a simple illustration of Pete's dad, and then his mom, who simply can't sit by and watch this funny game, making Pete into pizza.  He kneads Pete, stretches him out, then tosses him up in the air, pizzeria-style.  Then he adds tomatoes, cheese, and pepperoni.  Pete tries to keep a straight face but every now and then Pete the pizza can't help but laugh, to which his father replies: "Pizzas don't laugh!"  They "bake" Pete on the sofa, but right before they slice him up, Pete runs away. 

Ben likes reenacting this part.  He is very good at running very fast, especially if someone is after him with an imaginary fork and knife.  Don't worry, it doesn't happen very often.

This is such a fun book!  Definitely check it out at the very least, but consider buying it, too. 

P.S. Thanks for the recommendation, Beth!

My 100th post! And a book raffle!

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A FREE CHILDREN'S BOOK!

This is my 100th blog post.  Hooray!  I thought that, to make it a little bit more fun than just a regular review, I'd hold a raffle.  Anyone who comments on this blog post is eligible, and I'll choose one person on my birthday, next Saturday, 31 July. 

If you win, you can choose ONE of the books I've blogged about in July.  (The exception being Have You Seen Trees? because it's out of print.  Oh, and only ONE of the Fancy Nancy books if you'd really want one of those.)  I'll probably add a good 15 more books between today and my birthday, so you'll have even more to choose from!

All you have to do is comment--and make sure I have a way of contacting you!  I'm pretty sure that most of you I know and contact via email or Facebook.  But if I don't know you (and how excited am I at the prospect of a non-family member or friend glancing at this blog!) please attach your name and email address so I can contact you to get your address.  I'm also kind of curious about who reads this...so let me know if who you are!

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

Rating: 5 blind stars

This is a different type of children's book.  It's a book-turned-guessing game, and your kids play along with the seven sight-impaired mice, who are trying to figure out what animal is near the watering hole. 

One at a time, each mouse scurries around one part of the animal--on Monday, its toe; on Tuesday, its trunk; on Wednesday, its tusk, and so on.  And then they guess what it is.  Monday's mouse thinks it is a pillar while Tuesday's mouse is sure it's a snake but Wednesday's mouse believes it is a spear.  The final mouse scurries along each and every part and declares, along with your kids: An elephant!  The book doesn't end there.  An additional page states: the morale of the story: "Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole."  What fine advice!

Ben and Lorelei have enjoyed this book, and it's a great book to read aloud.  It helps that I am a ham; my hand became the mouse and I "scurried" up and down Lorelei and Ben's arms and legs and heads and made guesses about what I was touching each time, with my eyes closed, of course.  It's a good book to read because there are so many ways to use it to make hypotheses, predictions, and guesses.  It also could be an example of how to write a fable, something that I'm sure is a required activity in grade school...maybe second grade?  It also teaches the days of the weeks and ordinal counting, so there's a lot of information within the pages of this book.

I also have to brag here: this is the only book I've ever read in Thai.  My reading is not so good, probably because the language is fun to speak but a bear to read and write.  I can do it, but...as you can see children's books are all that I got through!

We Planted a Tree by Diane Muldrow

We Planted a Tree by Diane Muldrow, illustrated by Mike Lynch

Rating: 3.5 stars

I'd love to flip through this book as I review it--that's what I normally do--but it's in Ben's room, and he's fast asleep.  Library books usually stay in our playroom, but this book has been in Ben's room for the past week.  We read him two books before naptime and bedtime; he gets to choose, and he has been choosing this one.  Twice.  Twice a day.  So...I think it's okay that the book is not next to me, because the images are pretty clear in my mind!

I really want to love this book.  If you took away the illustrations, I might give it a higher rating.  It's not that the illustrations are bad; I like them.  But they just don't seem to complement the text really well.  And the text is rolling, but...odd.  I don't know.  I love the cover, how two families--one western and one African--stare at the same tree.  And the book often brings us back to those two families, but it also bounces around all over the globe.  Shouldn't I like that the "we" is wholly inclusive?  Normally I'd like that, but I think that because the book ends with "We planted a tree and it grew up...and so did we" I think I'd like to see the same one or two families shown throughout the book.

I think I'm splitting hairs a bit, so I'll stop now.

Having gotten out the un-good parts of the book, let me tell you why I do like this book and why it's a really good one to remember come Earth Day or Arbor Day (also in April).  The book teaches kids the many wonderful things that trees provide for us: fruit, shade, and even more complicated things (in an uncomplicated way) like enriching the soil to improve a harvest.  It is a terrific educational tool for those of you formal educators out there and those of you like me, "just" parents.

I found on the cartoonist Mike Lynch's blog a cool sketch of one of the pages, actually my favorite page (but not Ben's--Ben likes the one of the baseball game that looks like it's being played in Atlanta).  It's a before, his first rendition of the illustration, and the after, as it appears in the book.  Pretty neat!  I find the processes of most things pretty fascinating.

Finally, here's a YouTube trailer about the book.  I think it's worth checking out (it's only 15 seconds long) if you're interested in the book.

Elmer and Rose by David McKee

Elmer and Rose by David McKee

Rating: 4.5 stars

This book will always make me think of Julia.  Julia is my friend's blue-eyed daughter who seems to be constantly smiling or laughing.  She's about two years older than Lorelei, so whenever I'm lucky enough to cross paths with Julia I feel like I get a sneak peek at what sort of girl Lorelei will be in two years, if I'm lucky.

Julia (and her mom and older brother) came over to our house for a playdate a few weeks ago.  In between some serious splashing in the hot summer sun and getting crumbs everywhere while eating blueberry bar, we managed to squeeze in some reading.  (What a good sign of a child's attention span when they can stop and concentrate on a book while there are seven children running around!)  I was reading a few books to my twin nieces and Lorelei when Julia shyly asked her mother something, who then encouraged Julia to come to me and ask.

"May I read you a book?" asked the sweet Julia.

WOAH!  I forgot that, at some point, kids can actually read themselves!  I know that this is the end result, but since our oldest is three, I'm still a very necessary part of the book reading activity.  But of course, I said yes and sat and listened to 4 1/2 year old Julia read Elmer and Rose.  I admit that I am pretty easily amused and impressed and satisfied in this world, but...I was deeply impressed when the tables turned and I was fortunate to listen to Julia read this book, an extension of the original Elmer, in her wonderful young voice.  As the other six kids ran around, mostly loudly, Julia and I sat.  And read.  I got to be the listener.  What a treat!

I do have to write a few sentences about the book.  It's good!  It is as if David McKee realized that all his books had lots of boys--good boy characters, ones we love like Wilbur and Kangaroo--and needed to gain the little girl's vote out there.  So what did he do?  Create a pink girl elephant!  Rose the pink elephant gets lost and Elmer and Wilbur help her find her way back to her all-pink herd.  The morale of this book is that everyone is unique, something that is a nicely illustrated with a funny patchwork elephant and now a pink one.

Definitely one to check out, even if you're not lucky enough to have Julia read it to you!

Red Truck by Kersten Hamilton

Red Truck by Kersten Hamilton, illustrated by Valeria Petrone

Rating: 5 stars

I just finished up my review of A Fly Went By , where I explained how, if you read this book to your kids, they will soon have a few vocabulary words that, while inevitable, are not exactly desirable.  Words such as kill, whip, and gun.  So maybe that's not the best book choice out there.

You should read this book to your child for the exact opposite reason--to add the word "hero" to his or her vocabulary.  Shouldn't all kids know it as soon as possible?  In this simple tale, a school bus gets stuck on a rainy and snowy day (it's called "wintry mix" here in the DC area) and Red Truck comes to rescue it.  "Splishy-splashy wet HOORAY! / Our hero for a rainy day... / is RED TRUCK!"

The friendly illustrations, while very cute, do crack me up a little.  Can you imagine the truck that would be required to rescue a school bus in those conditions in real life?  A Ford 250, or some gas guzzler, dude car like that.  Now that you've got that vision in your head, glance at the cover of the book.  Look at those dinky tires!  That just makes me smile, though I didn't share this little joke with the kids...I don't want it to be me who spoils the fun.

A Fly Went By by Mike McClintock

A Fly Went By by Mike McClintock, illustrated by Fritz Siebel

Rating: 2.5 stars

I need to learn to preview books before reading them to my kids!  I have learned this the hard way several times.  Once, I was "reading" a wordless picture book to Lorelei and was, obviously, describing the images on the pages in a story-like way.  A little boy and his dog went fishing, they saw a turtle, the dog went into the water to chase the turtle, they wrestled in the water and...then...oh, my...  I see a picture of the turtle floating, belly up, in the water!  How to explain this one?!  Um, the turtle floats on his back, looking up at the sky, and the boy goes in to the water to get the turtle, and then (oh, I see--the turtle was just playing dead) the turtle jumps up and they all become friends.  That was a library book I hid after a single reading. 

You'd think I learned my lesson!  Of course not.

We checked out this book, one of the I Can Read It Myself Beginner Books, in a fit of nostalgic hysteria--don't you remember this book?!  I think it was a good one...right?  Lorelei and I started reading it, and it starts off innocently enough.  A boy sits watching the sky, then a fly zooms by because he is chased by a frog, which wants to eat him.  The frog hops by because he is chased by the dog, which wants to grab him.  The dog runs by because he is being chased by a pig, which wants to bite him.  The pig runs from cow, and the cow and her calf run because "someone bad has made us run! / He wants to kill my Little One!"  Oh. 

Kill?!  I mean, I know it's part of life, and poor Lorelei and Ben have been introduced to animal death a few times because our crazy weimaraners have killed a cute baby raccoon (poor guy) and chipmunk (we'll miss him) in the past year, but...  Do I really read this to them?  I didn't.  I substituted "hurt" and moved on, thinking that once the fox who wanted to kill the little cow was out of the way, I'd be in the clear.

Nope.  No such luck.

Soon, the little boy yells at the fox and tells him that if he doesn't stop trying to kill the cow, the boy will whip him.  Great.  That's a word I want in Lorelei's vocabulary.  Whip.  And then, two pages later, we find out that the fox is running because a man with the gun wants to get him.  Great!  Another quality vocabulary word for my three year old: gun!  Her preschool teacher will be unduly impressed.

So, I'd steer clear of this book.  It's not that it's the worst out there, but there are so many other I Can Read It Myself books that you should be able to find another one quite easily.

Mama's Wild Child by Dianna Hutts Aston

Mama's Wild Child by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Nora Hilb

Rating: 4.5 stars

We went to the "big zoo" (compared with the local zoo 10 minutes away from us) this morning.  We had a great time, despite the heat, which provided the opportunity to enjoy a watermelon-frozen-thingie, a treat both kids thoroughly enjoyed.  Last week I checked out as many animal books I could find, with the added challenge that, crisis of all crises, we lost our library card so I couldn't pre-order our books.  We had to go and grab on the fly!  Luckily we found some good ones, including this one.

This is a flip-me-over book, so the blog entry could or should be called Father's Wild Child, too.  Basically, the book is about animal mothers or fathers and their babies.  Each page has a sweet, non-rhyming poem said in the voice of the human parent.  For example:

If I were your swan papa and you were my cygnet,

I would lead you across the lake,

and if you were cold or tired,

I would let you ride in my back,

between my wings,

where it is soft and safe.

And then, next to the image, is a random but super interesting fact about the animal.  For the swan, it is: "A mute swan father will take the first hatchling to the water while the mother keeps the nest of eggs warm."  Love the teamwork between the parents!  My kind of animal!

My favorite little factoid is about the ostrich; Aston explains that the black-feathered dad guards the nest of eggs at night while the earth-colored mama guards by day.  And another of my favorites and utterly fascinating is about the sea horse: "A sea horse father can finish giving birth to up to 1,500 fry in the morning and become pregnant again by evening."  Holy smokes!  That is bananas!  Absolutely incredible.

It is both sweet and informative--a rare combination in a children's book, I think--that really works.

Little Blue Truck Leads the Way by Alice Schertle

Little Blue Truck Leads the Way by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry

Rating: 5 beep! beep! beep! stars

This is the classic story of a country boy, or, in this case truck, coming into the fast-paced, rude, impatient, loud, and noisy city and teaching the other boys, or other vehicles, a lesson: how to take turns.  And then everybody just gets along and there are no more traffic violations for the rest of the city's lifetime.  That's it--no more, no less.

I can't say enough how much we all love this book.  Lorelei loves how all of the vehicles have faces with different expressions on them in each page--she cracks up at the limo's tongue when his engine dies.  Ben loves to find Little Blue, a bright little character, amidst all the buses and taxis and cars and trucks and motorcycles.  I love how there's a lesson to draw out: Everyone, not just the little brother and sister in our household, has to be patient and take turns.

But there's some magic in the pages.  It's that can't-put-your-finger-on-it stuff that makes one book about a truck brilliant and the other one silly.  Jill McElmurry's illustrations definitely have something to do with it.  They are captivating, especially to us non-city folk.  (I always glance up at those tall buildings whenever I'm downtown or in New York--they are just so impressively and oppressively high!). 

And Alice Schertle's poem like a song you can't get out of your head--but in a good way.  Sometimes I'll blurt out one line from it and Lorelei will follow up with the next line or two.  We wave to Little Blue as he leads the way (see picture) and we clap and cheer when the poem instructs us to do so.  I think that the first book is a little stronger than this one, but they are both so wonderful I'm left wondering how a beat up old truck could be so endearing.

This is a fantastic book for babies and toddlers, boys and girls, one that you can't go wrong in gifting to someone.  I'm going to try to resist the urge to buy it, but my confidence in myself is quite low because this, along with the prequel, Little Blue Truck (review here) is a Great One!