The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

Rating: 4.5 blooming stars

Our family has a serendipitous relationship with Peter Brown.  On one of our first trips to the library, Ben grabbed a random book off of the shelf.  That book was The Flight of the Dodo; the entire book is about birds pooping from the sky.  Ok, not entirely, but I just didn't get it.  I thought that the author needed about five more books through which he could mature...I also thought it was the first book I'd read where the illustrator should stick to illustrating.  Know your strengths and weaknesses, right?  Well, I was wrong on that one.

Fast forward about six months.  Lorelei, Ben, and I were at a big ol' bookstore, trying to find a book for Lorelei's friend who was undergoing surgery that day.  I wanted to find an inspiring book that would captivate her attention while her body recovered.  I came across The Curious Garden, totally by luck.  (It seems like large book stores are frustrating places to find good children's books.  They stock what sells, rather than the gems that many people don't know about.  Bring back the local little shops!  I'd have to drive 30 minutes to get to the closest one!  Sigh.  Maybe in my next life.  Or do I just want to be Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail"?)  I picked it up, even though the last Peter Brown book I picked up reminded me too much of my diaper-changing day job.

Anyway, Peter Brown definitely got it right this time.  Inspired by a true story, the book is about curious little, red-headed Liam who lives in a dark, dreary city and decides to add some green to it.  He finds a sad, struggling little garden and decides to take care of it.  Eventually, the gray city becomes alive with green.  The illustrations are just wonderful--I was truly swept away in them. 

I think that I'd be a fan of the book even if the story was just ok and the illustrations were just fine.  It has the word curious in it.  I want Lorelei and Ben to know that word inside and out!  And, like little Liam, I want them to act on their curiosity and maybe just maybe they'll add a little bit of joy to the environments in which they evolve.  My fingers are crossed!

Good job, Peter Brown!

How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen

How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague

Rating: 2 stars

We are pretty crazy about dinosaurs in this house right now.  From my perch here at the computer, I can see five books of our very own and I know there are three more from the library in the library stack in the playroom.  After reading a dozen or more dinosaur books, I am a little confused about the role that they should take in kids books.  Should they be soft and cuddly like the triceratops in The Littlest Dinosaur, funny as can be like those in Dinos on the Go, cute but still pretty fierce like Dinosaurs Galore, fun playthings that sometimes come alive as pets like in Sammy and the Dinosaurs, or...pretty scary and huge and not-so-nice like in How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?

As you can see from my low rating, I don't think that Jane Yolen quite got it right this time.  This series of books is so popular--and this book in particular--that I am left scratching my head.  In this book, dinosaurs do a bunch of not-so-nice things like slap their parents hands, throw sand, mope through nap time, flood the house, and a bunch of other things that I'd prefer not Lorelei and Ben visualize.  Then, the parents forgive the dinosaurs when they blow kisses, or clean up, or hold their hand.  I am lucky to have kids who don't do all of those things (yet?!) and while of course I'd love them as they did all those things, I surely don't want to encourage it.

So I'm perplexed on this one.  Help!  Are they favorites in your house?  If so, what do you like about them (or what do your kids like about them)?  I just don't understand why every list I've ever found (practically) recommends this book!

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox, illustrated by

Rating: 5 shining stars

I'm not sure how I forgot to review this book.  I know that I shouldn't give every book a five star rating...shouldn't I mix in some 2s and 3s to somehow gain credibility because I hold the ability to sneer at a book?  I just can't!  There are way too many incredible ones to waste time on the not-so-great ones (which are still probably special to someone else).

Anyway, this is one book that we don't own but Lorelei and Ben have both found it on their own in the library, so we check it out at least once a month in the board book or hardcover edition.

I started off this venture with Mem Fox's Reading Magic, a book for adults/parents/caregivers/teachers that explains how reading aloud to the little ones in your life can really change their world.  I inhaled the book as if it was my favorite flavor of Ben & Jerry's (Phish Food if you must know) and immediately got myself a library card and started checking out the books on her list at the end of the book.  The connection with Reading Magic and Where is the Green Sheep? is the illustrator: Judy Horacek.  (To read more about the connection and the origin of the idea behind the book, check it out here.)

The text is silly and simple but works wonderfully.  Judy Horacek just takes the text a notch above with her silly but simple drawings illustrating opposites--sheep doing everything, from shooting themselves out of cannons, acting as a one-sheep-band, basking in the sun, singing in the rain, and taking a bubble bath.  Throughout the whole book, the text asks the reader "Where is the green sheep?  Where is that green sheep?"  It's like a kid's first suspense novel!  And, amazingly, it works on the fourth or tenth or twentieth read as well! 

The best page is near the end, where you turn the page and suddenly you see dozens of sheep doing everything--parachuting, crying, singing wildly, having a tea party, eating birthday cake, doing a cheerleader-type pyramid, snorkeling, and a bunch of other things I'm surprised I can't remember.  Lorelei (through her eloquent little sentences) and Ben (through grunts and rude pointing) insist I describe what each sheep is doing on these two fun pages.

Of course I won't tell you where the green sheep is.  Go find out for yourself!

My Friends by Taro Gomi

My Friends by Taro Gomi

Rating: 5 learn-from-me stars

Some years ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I lived in Thailand as a Peace Corps Volunteer and loved my crazy existence and experience there.  While a friend visited me from the US during my two and half years in rural Uttaradit; I soon realized that there were two types of people in this world.  Some of us go to a new place or meet a new person and ask, "What can I learn from them?" and there are another group of people who look at a new place or meet a new person and ask, "Why do they do it like that?"

When I became a mother, I knew that it was super important to me to teach my kids to be in the first group, just like I am, as well as my husband, partner-in-crime, and their father.

During a visit to my step-sister's house, I discovered a little children's book that I'd never seen before and fell in love with it: My Friends.  It is a simple little book where a little girl learns from everything and everyone around her.  I don't have the book in front of me (I will soon!) but here's what I remember: "I learn to jump from the cat, I learn to swing from the monkey, I learn to read from my teachers, I learn to love from friends like you."  And the illustrations are just simple and beautiful.  Just simply beautiful.

This will be another of my go-to gift books for babies because it is such a wonderful message: Look around you, and learn from everything and everyone.  Now!

The Littlest Dinosaur by Michael Foreman

The Littlest Dinosaur by Michael Foreman

Rating: 3.5 stars

Who knew that dinosaurs could be born as preemies?  I had no idea till I read this book. 

The eponymous (that's the biggest word I'll use all week) littlest dinosaur is littler than everyone else, and is sad about it.  He goes to a big hill to make himself feels big, and often sees the biggest dinosaur on a neighboring hill, looking as sad as the littlest dinosaur feels.  One day the littlest dinosaur's family gets caught in the mud and the littlest dinosaur rescues them, despite his small size, with the help of the biggest dinosaur, who finally feels useful despite his large size.

It's cute and the littlest dinosaur is pretty lovable.  I'm not jumping up and down, but this is a fun addition to a large stack of dinosaur books that have been piling up around our house during the past few trips to the library.  It's definitely one to buy or check out a dozen times or more if you've got a little one who is, well, the littlest kid in his playgroup/class.  We first read The Littlest Dinosaur's Big Adventure, by the way, which was also in the same category...cute, worth checking out and worth reading a few times.

When Santa Turned Green by Victoria Perla

When Santa Turned Green by Victoria Perla, illustrated by Merla Kantarevic

Rating: 4.5 inspirational and optimistic stars

Yes, that's right.  It's June.  And I'm writing about a Santa book.  That's because our neighbor thoughtfully ignored our "no gift, please" invitation to Lorelei's birthday party and gave us this book.  Of course we appreciated it, being the booky folks we are.  I was pretty surprised myself to find the Santa book on the other side of non-Christmas wrapping paper, but we dug right in because we don't really know what seasons are around these parts.

This is our first really environmental book.  I'm a green person myself, but I haven't really been deliberately teaching about the environment to our kids.  I mean, Lorelei and Ben know what goes into the recycling bin (no, not the dog's bone) and the compost pile (no, not your little brother, Lorelei) and we walk the half mile to the mailbox instead of driving there.  We make sure we turn out the lights when we leave the room, and we try not to waste water, even though our new Dora soap makes hand washing something we could do for hours.  We are lucky to have woods outside our doorstep, and we talk a lot about planting trees, and we plant a bunch each year on our property.  We talk about the importance of rain and reusing water.  I give myself a 8 or something on a scale of 1 to 10.  (We have two non-hybrid SUVs, so I'll never earn a perfect score until we get rid of them.)

I am not exactly sure how to rate this book.  Of course, I applaud the effort improving our ozone layer and of course am behind the idea of getting children involved.  And the book does a great job of selling the idea to kids: First, the author brings in the big guns: Santa!  There's nothing that gets a preschooler's attention like Santa, even in June.  Second, Ms. Perla explains how our environment needs a miracle, and kids have the ability to believe in miracles.  Ok, I'm on board with that.  Third, kids are encouraged to do small things, like the things I mentioned that we do in our house, along with even bigger things, like making recycling a part of their school and not drinking bottled water and stuff.  Good, good, good!  I like this.

I guess my hold up, and why it doesn't get a perfect score in my book, is the part of the book in between the beginning, when Santa's icicles are melting on his head, and he realizes that all the glaciers around the North Pole are melting, and the ending, when Santa/the author encourages kids to do lots of small things because together, so that we can all make a difference.  That middle part when I was suddenly explaining to Lorelei and Ben about the ozone layer...I fully expected my husband to start chuckling in the next room.  It is a really, really big concept to someone who is just understanding the whole outer space thing.  (Lorelei asked me why her friend's daddy wasn't home during a recent playdate; she asked if he was in space.  "I don't think he's an astronaut, Lorelei, I think he was just at work.") 

I find that the balance between teaching to and holding the attention of kids is one of the important things in fantastic children's books.  This book is close, but doesn't quite get it right.

But you know what, I don't think it's too early.  I think Lorelei got about .00035% of the idea.  But maybe during the next read she'll be at .0045%, and maybe in six months she'll be up to 5%.  And she definitely is impressionable, so if she thinks Santa encourages her to turn off the lights and wrap gifts in newspaper and compost even more stuff, that is a great thing!

This is a great Christmas gift.  Buy a dozen now and hand them out to everyone with kids, and their parents, too.  Check out the book/author's website if you have a few minutes to spare, because maybe miracles can happen, especially if adults join in with their little ones.

(And, when checking this book out on the web, I've realized what should have been obvious to me: There are a whole lot of green children's books.  So...stay tuned!  Hopefully our wonderful library has them, or has access to them.  Also...am curious if there's more I can/should be doing.  Feel free to share what you do!)

My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann

My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann

Rating: 5 trouble-making stars

When I started this whole let's-read-every-library-book-known-to-mankind thing, I thought that Caldecott books were It.  I was sure that those Wise Ones who sat on this committee knew all there was to know about children's books.  Of course, it was my mother who pointed out that the award wasn't even for the best book, just the best illustrations.  That's a very different thing.  I'm currently on the hunt for other awards out there to help me find really good and interesting books for our little family to read and evaluate...let me know if you know an award like this.

Anyway, I was pretty much down on Caldecott, especially after checking out the absolutely stunning The Lion and the Mouse last week.  The cover was so captivating and all of the pictures quieted even chatty Lorelei...we were smitten with the illustrations.  But we didn't love it.  It's just not a book for us, though plenty of people have purchased it and Jerry Pinkney is loving the publicity his book is getting from adults.  But as for my kids, they did love My Friend Rabbit despite the slightly sordid fact that it is a Caldecott winner as well. 

The book starts out with "My friend rabbit means well..." and a picture of a little Mouse flying through the air in his little airplane until Whump! he gets stuck in a tree.  Rabbit says, "Don't worry, Mouse, I've got an idea!" and runs out of the picture.  Mouse looks worried.  And we soon find out why.  Rabbit drags in an elephant.  Then a rhino.  Then an alligator with a squirrel on top.  Then he carries in with super-rabbit strength a hippo.  He stacks up all these animals one on top of the other in a hilarious long picture that requires the reader to turn the book sideways (always a hit in our house) to see.  Of course, the animals lose their balance and fall into one giant heap, which caused a giggle-fest everytime in our kitchen when we read it.  All the animals look like they're going to jump poor Rabbit, but Mouse flies his airplane to rescue his friend.  When Rabbit hugs him in appreciation, he puts his paws over Mouse's eyes and Mouse squeals "Rabbit!  I can't see!  Stop hugging me!"  And BAM! the airplane gets stuck in a tree.  Again. 

This is a delightful book with incredible pictures.  With minimal words, the animals are strong and clear and full of personality.  And I love, love, love the message of the book: That we should love our friends despite their shortcomings.  At least that's what our family took from this winner of a book. 

Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers

Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, illustrated by Marla Frazee

Rating: 4 stars

Not everyone is a baby person.  I mean, we were blessed with The Cutest Babies On Earth the moment they were born, but...not all babies had Lorelei's huge blue eyes, and no other baby had the cutest little round toes.  There's no way that there was another baby with dimples like Ben or had his same lop-sided grin from such a tiny age.  Wait?  What was that?  Every mother thinks that their baby is the cutest?!  WHAT?!  No way.

Well, Marla Frazee's amazing art is The Reason to check out this book.  She must have spent a year on it!  I actually tried to find out how long it took her because I was curious...there must be two hundred babies in this book, each with a different expression on its little face.  This is truly a book for the new millenium, and it's a wonderfully liberal take on families, too, which I love and deeply appreciate.  Look closely and you'll see, right next to the picture of cookie-cutter family in a house with a cute dog and white picket fence, a baby being pushed by two dads or a baby being rocked by the sleepy foot of one of two mothers collapsed on a bed.  I love that through her illustrations Marla Frazee is gently suggesting we expand our mind just a little bit.  In every picture there the baby is being wrapped in a gentle blanket of love, and MAN isn't that the most important thing of all?

In addition to this liberal definitely of family thing, there are just babies being carried in every single way imaginable, from Bjorn to sling to shoulders to chest to stroller.  Babies are being held by every single person, from grandparent to friend to mother to sister to dog (ok, I'm making that one up...just seeing if you're paying attention).  Babies are being fed all sorts of food, from peaches to breastmilk to formula to bananas.  There is so much going on here!

Susan Meyers definitely plays a supporting role in this book.  When I read this to Lorelei and Ben, I don't think they listened or cared what I was saying!  They were focused on all the pictures.  Ben still (STILL!) isn't talking much at all, but he made it quite clear that he wanted me to point to each picture and describe what was going on.  I would name the babies on the first page, where a dozen babies are in a funny line-up, or maybe baby mug shots?  Each is so wonderfully unique!

Thank you, Marla Frazee.  We're on your trail, and can't wait for your next batch of art to show up in a library book near us!


P.S.  We just checked this book out as a board book--yippee!  Now Ben can boy handle it all he wants.

My Garden by Kevin Henkes

My Garden by Kevin Henkes

Rating: 3.5 stars

We're fans of Kevin Henkes, so we came across this book soon after it was released earlier this year.  It was Easter time, and we were all pretty tired of anything winter-related after one of the snowiest and coldest winters in a decade.  We were just getting into Henkes' great books, reading Owen and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and Weekend With Wendell and Chrysanthemum again and again and again.  When I spotted this one, with a gorgeous cover full of Spring flowers, you better believe I grabbed it and shoved it into our already-full library bag to check out.

I do like it.  It's a good book, with a sweet message that encourages gardening (something I like to encourage in our own house) and imagination.  The little girl is her mother's helper in the garden, and within a few pages takes off into her own imagination to tell the reader what her garden would be like.  I love many of the little girls ideas: She would have flowers that could change color just by thinking about them, and having patterned flowers, too.  The flowers would grow back just moments after she picks them! She'd have tomatoes as large as beach balls, an idea that made Lorelei's and my mouth water just thinking about it.

It's silly to complain about a book that made the New York Times Best Sellers List and stayed there for a few months.  But, of course, that's what I'm going to do.  Why can't the little girl just focus on the positive?  Why does Henkes have to have her say she doesn't like carrots, when there are probably way too many kids who push away their carrots and other vegetables?  Why does the little girl have to choose to have a jelly bean bush?  Don't those have a bunch of high-fructose corn syrup in them or something hideous like that?  If Jillian Michaels bought a children's book, this sure wouldn't be it! 

The pictures are so beautiful, though, that I have to forgive Henkes his shortcomings.  The garden in his book makes me impatient for our own flower garden to mature...right now there is way too much mulch where I want color to be!  We'll read this book a whole lot more, I know, and we'll appreciate its positives, because there are many.

Sweet Dreams Lullaby by Betsy Snyder

Sweet Dreams Lullaby by Betsy Snyder

Rating: 4.5 sweet stars

We are blessed with good sleepers, but there are nights when Lorelei's little-but-growing mind and body are so tired she can't contain her sleepiness any longer, but still can't let go and go to sleep.  Her eyes are so red from crying, she can't concentrate on brushing her teeth or pulling on her pajamas.  She is just.  So.  Tired.  And often, by that time of early evening, I am a little tired, too.  Sometimes I pull it together and am able to think of a story when she requests one, think up a nice song if she wants one, or just find the right book.  But more often it's been a long day for all of us, so I'm glad I found this book.  (Many thanks to a new blog I'm following for the suggestion, We Heart Books!)

I'm going to write down the words to this entire book before returning it to the library.  The message is so sweet, the rhyme so rocking, the overall effect so comforting that I want to recite the poem to her on these nights when Lorelei's blue eyes are fighting to stay open.  And we all know that they should be closed.  This is one of my favorite pages: "Dream of gentle raindrop showers / Giving drinks to thirsty flowers / Hummingbirds sip water up / From teeny-tiny buttercups" and then, a few pages later, "Dream of tiptoes through the grass / And fireflies that blink and flash, / Catching night-lights floating by- / Then sending them into the sky."  This book makes me think that we should have a whole shelf of just night-time books upstairs by our kids' bedrooms, so they can pick and choose which quiet, comforting books to read before going to sleep.  If it makes them sleep till 7 AM, I'm all in!

The pictures are filled with happy scenes from nature--they are the type of backyards everyone wishes that they had, with bees buzzing happily (with no stingers attached), mama birds warming their eggs with a smile (no nasty squirrels to be seen), and humming birds sipping long enough to actually be seen (rather than zipping through, teasing you with a guest appearance).  The sky in the pictures grows darker with each page, until the smiley moon is high in the dark blue sky, and the wise old owl peeks down on the baby bunny, all tucked in.  "Sleep is near, so close your eyes. / Drift off to this lullaby. / May Mother Nature comfort you / And make your sweetest dreams come true!"

Good night!

Down on the Farm by Merrily Kutner

Down on the Farm by Merrily Kutner, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

Rating: 3 repetitive stars

We came across this book because it is illustrated by Will Hillenbrand, whose pictures we fell in love with in Whopper Cake.  This book was a little disappointing for us. While it did provide the kids with a fun book to hear, the super repetitive "down on the farm, down on the farm" nearly did me in.  I am a fairly patient person and I love me a good children's book, but...good things don't happen when you have those two lines stuck in your head for hours:

"Down on the farm, down on the farm" as you clean up after dinner, "down on the farm, down on the farm" as you tidy up the playroom, "down on the farm, down on the farm" as you shampoo kid #1's hair, "down on the farm, down on the farm" as you shampoo kid #2's hair, "down on the farm, down on the farm" as you finally achieve some time with your husband, and "down on the farm, down on the farm" as you drift off to sleep.

You get the idea.  If Lorelei and Ben see this book at the library, I might distract them with a "Look at that pony out the window!" and stash it under the nearest bean bag chair.

Now I do have to say that there are lots of animal noises in the book, and of course Ben loved that.  We are pretty sure that he will opt not to speak for several more years, choosing to grunt, oink, growl, bark, and bray through elementary school.  To his future teachers, I apologize in advance.

Bee-bim Bop by Linda Sue Park

Bee-bim Bop by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Ho Baek Lee

Rating: 5 mix-it-up stars

Bottom line up front: This is a fine book, probably a solid 4 star book. But because we got so much more than a nice little rhyme, it is definitely 5 stars for our family.  This book exemplifies what great children's books are: an inspiration to Something Else...maybe the book leads to a discussion, a new passion (even if it only lasts for a few days or a week), an outdoor search, a lesson, or, in this case, a great culinary adventure. For us, this book was a real turning point for our family diet. I realized that my kids are ready for something MORE than I give them on a day-to-day basis--they jumped at the chance to cook (not just bake) more than I ever had let them, and they were excited to eat something new.

Now, the details: My college friend (and fellow mom and library-lover) Beth recommended this book to us (thanks, Beth!); she said that they just checked it out for the thousandth time the other day.  So, of course, I got it from our local library.  To my delight, it is a book about how to make a Korean dish that my husband and I used to lap up when we went out before the kids came around: Dorsu bee-bim bop.

The book is a catchy rhyme about a little girl who shops for, helps make, mixes up, and then eats bee-bim bop.  We love a good poem, and Lorelei was walking around reciting parts of it after just a few readings: "Hurry, Mama, hurry / gotta shop, shop, shop / Hungry, hungry, hungry / for some bee-bim bop!"  At the end of the book is the recipe (complete with a guide to what kids do, and what adults do while preparing the dish); I was overjoyed when Lorelei insisted again and again that we make bee-bim bop.  My husband had been pestering me to try it at home anyway, so...what the heck?  If the culinary adventure failed with my kids, then Jonathan and I would have that much more to eat ourselves later. 

The first step to this adventure was already completed: Get them hooked on the book and the idea that this stuff was good.

Step two: Make a little list for the kids (there's Ben, holding it upside down...we're working on it, we're working on it) and shop, in our nifty space shuttle shopping cart, for all the ingredients on the list. 

 Step Three: Make rice. We poured the water into the rice cooker--Lorelei was delighted when she spilled some, because that's exactly what the little girl does in the book! I couldn't have planned it more perfectly. Not only did she get to recite "Let me pour the water in / yes, I know I can" she also got to say, after she spilled it "Sorry, Mama, sorry / gotta mop, mop, mop / hungry in a hurry for some bee-bim bop!" Lucky Ben got to push the button down on the rice cooker--his big sister was distracted with the excitement of mopping.

Step Four: Get to cooking. After donning our favorite aprons (Having fallen in love with Ladybug Girl she wore her ladybug apron; I was pleased with myself that we found an apron for Ben, but he insisted on wearing my flowery one instead of his blue fish one.  Oh well!), the kids scrambled eggs and I chopped all the other stuff.  Lorelei helped me marinate the beef during Ben's nap.

Step Five: Assemble!So here's the end product: bee-bim bop!  I was pretty proud of myself that it looked pretty,too.  That's egg, carrots, dee-lish-ous meat, and spinach (yup, you read right: spinach).  It was now the moment of truth.  I have to say here and now that while my kids are excellent eaters, they are not very adventurous.  Especially Lorelei.  And when Ben sees his sister push something away, he often pushes his away, to make it a doubly frustrating experience.  I think my husband was holding his breath at work; he knew what was going on at home...and knew that I was completely invested in a bee-bim bop dinner and had no back-up anything simmering on the stove.  It was all or nothing.  It was time.  The kids sat down, mixed, mixed, mixed and...

Step Six:  EAT!  They ate it!  Lorelei needed a little coaxing, and after taking her spinach out (I didn't want to ruin it with a little spinach), she dug right in.  Then--are you sitting down?--she asked for spinach.  Then asked for more meat.  Of course!  I happily dug into her parents' portion of the marinated beef and cooked up some more for her, and she ate it.  All of it.  They ate the rice.  Ben ate almost all of the eggs, and loved the carrots. 

Certainly, I won Mom of the Day award today!  Maybe not yesterday, maybe not tomorrow.  But today I was Triumphant.  And now I got bragging rights for a few months because both of kids ate spinach.  I know, it's not all about that, but...well, humility is something for which I strive.  The ending might be more of a riot: my slightly picky happily husband ate dinner made from a recipe from a children's book.  I think he might have licked the plate while I wasn't looking.

 Ernie got dirty!

Not a book review; just a question!

Quick, tax-related question:

Can I claim all the scotch tape I'm using to repair all these library books?  Just wondering.  We take our Fix The Book's Boo Boo quite seriously in this house.

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee

Rating: 4 gorgeous stars

Confession: When I first saw this book in the bookstore, I nearly leaped into it, trying to imagine myself one of the beautiful characters in the gorgeous settings among the pages.  I resisted the temptation to buy it, barely.  If I bought every picture book I loved, we'd have even books to bend our shelves, which need reinforcement as it is.  I called my mother on the way home from the bookstore, telling her that I'd found It.  The Perfect Children's Book.  It was my new Favorite Book.  I was in love!

So I ordered the lone copy in Fairfax County and told my husband that I felt angst about ordering it.  I already knew about the book; shouldn't I leave it on the shelf for others to find and enjoy?  And would my time in heaven be delayed if I renewed it again and again and again, as many times as possible?  He gave me The Look, like I was thinking too much or something like that.  I get that look hourly sometimes.  Well, we all have things to work on, I guess.

So I got the book from the library.  The first time I read it through, I was, shocker of all shockers, multi-tasking.  Lorelei and Ben were both playing with the train set at the bookstore, and I was flipping through and falling in love with All The World.  I didn't really read it through.  The pictures are perfect (check out this one on the right)--Frazee does an incredible job and the illustrations still make me want to jump right into the pages and stay.  Awhile.  Maybe till Ben is out of diapers, or at least has mastered more than three words.  The words are also gorgeous and prayer-like; my mother will probably tear when she reads this book.  On certain days, I might, too.

But there's no way that I could ever rate it a top-notch book for preschoolers.  I was at first dismayed that Lorelei didn't request this book again and again.  I could read it five times a day.  But there's no story to follow, no characters to giggle at or feel sorry for.  We spend many minutes poring over each picture, especially the one with several stalls at an outdoor market.  While it is a great gift book for adult lovers of children's picture books, I have to say that it's not for us.  I will not be buying it (sniff, sniff), but I will be checking it out from the library every few months, hoping that one more line from the wonderful message in the book gets embedded in their little hearts.

Bonjour, Mr. Satie by Tomie DePaola

Bonjour, Mr. Satie by Tomie DePaola

Rating: 4 stars

I'm not a huge fan of teaching my kids about specific artists or works of art or wonders of the world. C'mon, they are 3 and 1 1/2--they have years to memorize stuff like that. Right now, all I care about is that they think it is fun and cool to do art projects like drawing or painting or gluing or stuff like that. (Right now, as I type, Lorelei is coloring in a new coloring book with a bold red marker, making everything on the page she's on and the page that's behind that one look completed soaked in blood. Ew.)  I know that some parents tote their toddlers to art museums (a la Olivia) and I expect to do that in a few years, especially because we live so close to some good ones in D.C., but...not yet.  This book is a good first step, I think, and would be appreciated by a 4- or 5-year old before a trip to an art museum (whether that trip is next week or a few months away).

So I wouldn't have searched this book out at all, but it was on a large stack of Tomie DePaola books at our great local library. Lorelei chose it and we brought it home without reading it.  I'll teach her the whole don't-judge-a-book-by-its-cover thing later. 

So, here's what happens in the book:  Mr. Satie is a world-traveling cat who speaks of his adventures in Paris to his feline niece and nephew. He explains how how his "friends" Pablo (Picasso) and Henri (Matisse) get into an argument about whose paintings are better. So they have a painting contest, and the wise and fair Mr. Satie is the lone judge. After careful study (that page is my favorite--no words, just him examining DePaola's renditions of Picasso and Matisse's works) he declares that the works are like apples and oranges; both are delicious, but totally different. It's a draw! Hooray!

There are so many things to learn from this book, aside from learning the basic fact that there are these two famous painter dudes named Pablo and Henri (their last names are never mentioned, making them more approachable to little Lorelei and other pint-sized bookworms):

• Art is a serious undertaking, a job worth pursuing
• Passionate and heated debates are (usually) healthy
• Things can be similar, but different
• There doesn't have to be only one winner
• Cats have relationships with famous artists

Ok, so that last one is a stretch. And it's the main reason why I'm left with a furrowed brow as I write about this book. Why doesn't Tomie DePaola let all the characters be human? Why does he need to bring to life one of Picasso's paintings and let a cat have the main story? Ok, I guess that it helps draw little readers in and make it less realistic and therefore just a little more fun and imaginative, which is what art is often about.

Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein

Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein

Rating: 4.5 stars

Ben liked this book so much he ate it. We still have our little board book that Grammy gave Ben for his first birthday, complete with half of the binding eaten away. Man, must have been a rough few days of teething... When I realized what was going on, I obviously kept the book-turned-snack from his crib, but I wasn't fast enough. Extra fiber, I guess!

This is a cute little book, and an absolutely perfect first birthday gift, which is how it ended up in Ben's chubby little fingers (thanks again, Grammy!). It is a simple little tale of a baby gorilla who is loved by all, including his mother and father and grandparents and red monkey and Old Hippo. But then, "Little Gorilla starts to grow...and grow...and GROW...until suddenly Little Gorilla is BIG! But everybody came and everybody sang Happy Birthday, Little Gorilla!"

What a perfect birthday book! In fact, we have a new copy of it sitting on our desk waiting to be wrapped for a party on Saturday. You're right--Ben is not allowed anywhere near it, especially before snack time.

Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox

 Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox, illustrated by Julia Vivas

Rating: 5 quirky stars

During the first few years of my parents' divorce, I didn't think there would be much good to come of it, for me. But, as it always does, time proves one wrong. I realized how much I had to gain from certain new people in my life that appeared because something else disappeared. Carmen is one of those people. Carmen is my stepfather's mother, and she is the best character in my real life that I have. She is one of the strongest women I have ever met, which means to say that she is stubborn beyond belief, hard-headed to a fault, and so strong-willed that it's hard to leave a conversation with her without feeling frustrated. But man is she cool. I don't wonder what she was like as a younger version of herself in Germany before she married a soldier and became a more ordinary American than she really would have preferred because I can't imagine a diluted version of Carmen.

How does Carmen fit in with Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge? Good question. I come from a long line of tangent-talkers, so I'll cut to the chase: First, this book is about memory, and about memory loss. Young Wilfred Gordon lives next to an old folks' home, and befriends all of its characters. His favorite, Miss Nancy, is losing her memory--he finds this out because his parents are talking about her. Being so young, he's oblivious to such big concepts as "memory" so he goes to his friends, those wise wrinkled ones at the old folks' home, to find out. They each tell him something different: "Something warm" or "something funny" or "something sad" and he goes to find something of his own that represents that something in order to help Miss Nancy regain her memory. It is a quirky book for the children's section, and the few times I've explained what this book is about to other mothers, their eyes widen.

Obviously, Miss Nancy has Alzheimer's, as does our beloved Carmen. The woman whose intellect and personality was once so fierce, strong, spot-on, and quick is now murky, confused, unsure, and lost. It is hard to watch, and I have the comfortable spot of watching from several hundred miles away. But can you imagine watching someone who was once such a force shrink? It breaks my heart.

And, at the same time as Carmen is losing her memory, Lorelei is gaining hers. It is just mind-boggling to watch a little girl and old woman be in a very similar spot at this very moment, but each with a very different future. These days, I am so aware that Lorelei is now so aware, and will be able to remember some of these days for decades to come. In the first few years of her life I realized that memory was more of a feeling, just knowing that she was beloved and admired and cherished created an aura of a memory that, hopefully, will be a good foundation for the rest of her memories both in this house and beyond. And here is Carmen, who is currently at the twilight of her journey, who might be able to remember random things--hopefully incredibly wonderful highlights of her incredible and often wonderful life--but not always specifics. Hopefully her memory at this point is like an infants--a warm, secure feeling, rather than specific anything. For me, it is just a crazy thing to even attempt to wrap my head around.

But Mem Fox, through this book, somehow does it. Mem Fox says "I decided to write a book that might bring children and the elderly together in the hope that teachers would initiate the inter-generational contact." (Check out the story of how she wrote it and who the characters represent.) I am in awe that she was able to bring such grace and wisdom to Miss Alice, and such sweet naivety and gentleness to Wilfred Gordon in such few words, with beautiful, somehow floating illustrations by Julia Vivas. Bravo. I can only hope that some spirit or magic is passed between my little Lorelei and the grand Carmen somehow, someway.

Whopper Cake by Karma Wilson

Whopper Cake by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Will Hillenbran

Rating: 5 messy stars!

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

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

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

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

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

Strega Nona by Tomie DePaola

Strega Nona by Tomie DePaola

Rating: 4.5 stars

We love the Strega Nona series, and I really thought I knew them well. But I had a have-I-lost-all-my-senses moment last week when I finally realized that the Strega Nona book we own is not THE Strega Nona book. We have Strega Nona, Her Story. And we've read all the others, except, I thought, one. All of the stories reference Big Anthony's grand mistake of sneaking into Strega Nona's little cottage on the hill and using her magic pasta pot after he watches her cook with it. I must find this book for Lorelei! I kept thinking. So I'd go on amazon and the library website and just plain Google and type in "Strega Nona Big Anthony pasta pot." And I got the book Strega Nona every time. No, no, no! I'd think, I HAVE that one. What's the one where Big Anthony makes all that pasta that spills into town?! Finally I went to DePaola's website and went down his list of published books slowly and carefully and then realized: we'd not read Strega Nona, THE Strega Nona! Luckily our local library owns a copy; we needn't even order it up for the following week's trip.

What a great book! So the story is pretty obvious: Strega Nona, or "Grandma Witch," has this magic pasta pot that all of us moms--working at home or somewhere else--wish we had. Big Anthony remembers the magic words to start it up, and he remembers the words that make it stop, but he neglects to blow three kisses, so the pot neglects to stop making pasta. The pasta spills into Calabria and everyone is afraid they'll drown in carbs until Strega Nona strolls in and saves the day by making it stop. The townspeople want to "string up" Big Anthony (he doesn't get 5 stars for this book because of that line...I had to explain to Lorelei what "string him up" meant...well, I sorta explained to her what it meant) but wise Strega Nona says: "No, wait. The punishment must fit the crime" and hands Big Anthony a fork.

I love it! What a great message tucked away in a wonderful story.

So, the other story from our house is this: Lorelei refuses to eat pasta. I seriously wonder if she's really my child. I mean, I LOVE pasta. I could eat it every night. But she flat refuses. So tonight I told her we were going to Calabria, Italy, for dinner and we got out our magic pasta pot (the big ole one we don't use very often) and we all said the magic words together. ben wanted to, but he just looked around, excited and confused, wondering why his family was chanting at a pot. Lorelei was SO excited! Then, five minutes later, the buzzer beeped and I drained the pasta without her looking. We said the magic words to get the pasta to stop, then blew three kisses. I peeked in the pot. Empty! It worked! She peeked in the pot! Empty! Wow! Magic! When we all sat down to eat, she insisted we all say "Mangia!" together before we ate. And then the eating began!

Or it didn't. She didn't touch the pasta. I begrudgingly gave her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich so her picky little bum wouldn't be hungry when she fell asleep. Points to Ben, who managed to twirl his pasta with his clumsy 17 month-old hands AND eat my homemade meatballs. I love anyone who loves my food! And, I guess, some who don't, even when I add magic to it.

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!