My first picture book by this team, and I like on the one hand, its simplicity: I’m afraid, Said the leaf. / You’re not alone, Said the tree. The bookMy first picture book by this team, and I like on the one hand, its simplicity: I’m afraid, Said the leaf. / You’re not alone, Said the tree. The book is principally about interdependence/ecosystem. On the other hand, I like its complexity, about its linking environmental interdependence to emotional security: You're afraid? Say it, reach out and hopefully someone or something will respond in suport, in empathy. Interdependence, seeing how we need to be fundamentally connected, and working toward it, lowers anxiety, creates emotional stability even in a storm.
I like it that there are few words, useful to beginning readers, in a kind of call and response format:
I could fall, said the bird [a chick in a nest] I will lift you, said the wind.
I'm so cold, said the horse. I will warm you, said the sun.
I'm so hungry, said the squirrel. I will feed you, said the nut.
I don't know if kids will get all this and be engaged but it, but I hope so. I was, and I liked the artwork quite a bit. ...more
I saw this at the library and picked it up because I have now read more than ten picture books by Júlia Sardà, and saw she was the illustrator. I had I saw this at the library and picked it up because I have now read more than ten picture books by Júlia Sardà, and saw she was the illustrator. I had found Louise Greig's Night Box to be inventive, too. Sweep is terrific illustration that is much better than the story or them of the book. Not that the theme isn't important in this time of raging emotions, and when kids have temper tantrums, as a boy in this story is raging.
So what kind of metaphor/analogy for anger might one use? Fire? Flood? Snowstorm? Sardà uses an increasingly cascading pile of leaves, overwhelming the town, his world, the world. Everything is disrupted, and each page is gorgeous in conception and color. Can these leaves be swept away? ("Raked" would be a better verb for leaves, but the fact that you can be "swept away" by emotions makes some more sense except that the boy sweeps the leaves with a broom instead of a rake. . .).
So the boy gets over his "bad mood" and for some reason gains control of the cavalcade of feelings.
I like the poet's use of language much better in Night Box than here. I'd say it was five star illustration in a two star story. I highly recommend you check out Sardà's work by looking at 4-5 of her books from the library....more
A lovely picture book about an adult and a child outside in the evening, imagining they see/are animals. They hear, “woof, woof, woof,” and the mothe A lovely picture book about an adult and a child outside in the evening, imagining they see/are animals. They hear, “woof, woof, woof,” and the mother says, “I hear a perro. Could it be?” And the child replies, “Sí, mamita, that perro is me.” All of this is imagining how you can be like an animal, until an actual owl shows up! So it's about listening and the love of animals and the importance of adult-child relationships.
A secondary purpose of this book is to learn the Spanish words for animals. It's in English, but we also read Spanish names, and we get a Spanish pronunciation guide and glossary at the end.
I like the colorful print illustrations a lot.
I'll admit I picked this up for the cover and because I hope to got to Havana next June, so I finally need to power learn Spanish much much better than I know it now. Hey, this is a start!...more
Not gonna lie: I picked this up because of the title, and it did not disappoint. But it's odd. But I like odd in a picture book. It's about sibling riNot gonna lie: I picked this up because of the title, and it did not disappoint. But it's odd. But I like odd in a picture book. It's about sibling rivalry, especially the one that gets mentioned in many baby books about newborns being resented by their older siblings. So Otto uses his one sixth-birthday wish to, "wish that Anna was never born!"
And then the story kinda Benjamin Buttons its way backwards in time; the presents rewrap, his hair grows at the barber's, he gets dirty in the tub, he gets smaller and smaller, and younger, he goes back in time until he finally wishes on his first birthday that Anna were around, he's granted his request, and he begins to truly appreciate his lil sis. Yay. Clever and silly.
Do some kids really wish their newborn sibs were never born? I didn't wish this, nope, nor did we have a big problem with the newborns in this house, but I can name actual situations where sibs were close to murderous. . . it can be a serious issue, for real.
Michael Sussman is a clinical psychologist (so maybe he deals with this kind of thing?!), musician, and writer. Michael, I don't wish you had never written this book....more
Duckworth (2019) is a pretty funny picture book by clinical psychologist and writer Michael Sussman, illustrated gorgeously by Júlia Sardà. The designDuckworth (2019) is a pretty funny picture book by clinical psychologist and writer Michael Sussman, illustrated gorgeously by Júlia Sardà. The design, the illustration, that's the highlight of this one. Sussman does a version of what he did on another picture book, Otto Grows Down, where he creates a reversal for insight and laughs.
Duckworth has stuffy parents who are reading a book on how to deal with a difficult child, so they deny his "fantasies," and tell him that he has not in fact been swallowed by a cobra, that he must grow up and face reality, and so on. But it is clear that Duckworth has difficult parents, not the other way around. Duckworth needs to read a book about them!
The real star of the book is the beautiful, orange cobra! 6 star artwork! ...more
And a picture book probably more for adults than children about an iconic editor, Ursula Nordstrom, that worked with Margaret Wise Brown (Good Night, And a picture book probably more for adults than children about an iconic editor, Ursula Nordstrom, that worked with Margaret Wise Brown (Good Night, Moon), Maurice Sendak and more. Fills in a gap for picture books about the important role of editors. This one joked that she edited "good books for bad children," though Beth Kephart contends that Nordstrom always had the unique view of kids in her head when choosing and designing and advising on the development of books.
I like the illustration work of Chloe Bristol very much. I also like the story, though it's probably not one kids will be particularly written for. But I'm glad it's in the world. I know the importance of editors, an often hidden dimension of writing and publication. ...more
My third book in the Against the Odds picture book series about girls/women around the world doing things against the odds." So some girls in rural InMy third book in the Against the Odds picture book series about girls/women around the world doing things against the odds." So some girls in rural Indonesia are studying Quran, wearing hijab, and they discover Metallica through their teacher, who also used to play in a metal band. The teacher supports them, even as they may face "radical Islamist" criticism.
As with the Wrestling Cholitas of Brazil and the Mermaids (synchronized swimmers) of Jamaica, I like knowing these folks exist, doing what they do. There's a kind of exoticizing in all of it that troubles me a bit, written for American audiences in mind, and as with the other stories, we don't get to really know any of the principal actors in these stories. It again feels somewhat abstract. Some of it is political, because there is resistance to what they do, and they are in danger, but still, I'd like to hear their actual voices. The author went to Indonesia, but couldn't actually get back to the area where they lived, so she relied on talking to the teacher and other musicians there. Still, Metallica in Hijab in Indonesia, why not? Cool. ...more
This first picture book by Mariajo Ilustrajo is about an actual and a metaphorical flood. Yes, there is at first some water, no big deal, you wear booThis first picture book by Mariajo Ilustrajo is about an actual and a metaphorical flood. Yes, there is at first some water, no big deal, you wear boots! and then there is too much water and we need to take it seriously. Accumulating problems. California! And so on. Climate change? Sure. But maybe it's about any crisis? Indeed. The book makes a typical picture book point--that we have to work together to solve our problems--in the context of actual world crises. Most kid books seem to ignore real global issues, but my faves are often ones on refugees, climate change, war. Why not find ways to be real with kids?
The art work: I like the colors and personally like the sketchy style, but am curious about whether kids might find it a little confusing. I thought the type could have been darker. It's all caps, which is good, but still feels light to me. But I like it a lot; just an age level question.
But kudos to Ilustrajo on making art for kids speaking to the real and troubled world!...more
Claudia Bellante's Against the Odds series features girls and women doing interesting things "against the odds" in locations perhaps few from elsewherClaudia Bellante's Against the Odds series features girls and women doing interesting things "against the odds" in locations perhaps few from elsewhere in the world will see first hand. The first one I read was The Wrestling Cholitas of Bolivia, and this one is not actually about Mermaids in Jamaica, but of a synchronized swimming team! The only one in Jamaica, coached by Olga, a Russian who had competed in three Olympic Games, winning gold in tow of them. The group got invited to train in China, tool
Why three and not fibve stars for this interesting and imspiring story? As with the Cholitas book, the illustrations, while colorful, don't make tany of the actual girls 'come alove," nor does the story, really. We do read about a couple things about each girl but we don't feel like we actually get to know them, thus creating a kind of abstraction. Also the text is blocky, meaning that the words--too many, I think--come in big blocks ans are not broken up for younger readers, for any readers.
But I like the project and ordered all of them from my library. And on a personal note, there's one adventurous girl in this house that in one calendar year has done spoken word club, wrestling and synchro (!).
I am a big fan of Hans Christian Andersen award winner Suzy Lee, a Korean artist whose wordless books I have loved. This one has words, and elegant drI am a big fan of Hans Christian Andersen award winner Suzy Lee, a Korean artist whose wordless books I have loved. This one has words, and elegant drawings, relating the tale of a man who manipulates a rich man into selling him the shade under his tree so that everyone in the area can experience this shade, too.
But it gets better, as you know, shade moves, and actually makes its way into the rich man's house. . .and the guy owns the shade, so yeah, things work out amusingly well for the guy, as it turns out. Cute story....more
No reviews of cookie-cutter picture books for me on Goodreads. No reviews of predictable or digitally dull books. I review what I find interesting or No reviews of cookie-cutter picture books for me on Goodreads. No reviews of predictable or digitally dull books. I review what I find interesting or wonderful and if they do not fit these categories I just return them to the library. This one I review because it is interesting, strange, maybe even surreal, certainly unique for picture books. The author is (French) Marion Kadi, who seems to be channeling Gaugin in her style and color choices. I like that a lot.
The story begins with a lion who dies; the lion's reflection, however, wants to live on, so she finds a troubled girl, Harriet, struggling in school. She needs how to find her inner lion! So adopting the lion reflection seems to help her, though you know, too much lion might conflict with her original reflection, the one she always saw in the mirror before, which she wants to return to, and does. How to reconcile her new inner lion with her "original" self?
But it feels too complicated to talk this issue through with the ages-5-9 intended audience. It feels like it might be confusing for children to figure out what the point is. Okay, I'm at least a few years older than 9 (!) and I am also struggling to figure it out, actually, but I do think it's all worth thinking about. Strange book with some complex storytelling and ideas and great art. At a glance I see a wide range of ratings, all of which I get....more
The Biggest Mistake is a picture book by Camilla Pintonato, translated into English from the Italian by Debbie Bibo. Funny, surprising, not a cookie-cThe Biggest Mistake is a picture book by Camilla Pintonato, translated into English from the Italian by Debbie Bibo. Funny, surprising, not a cookie-cutter picture book at all. It's the story of a young lion cub who is told by his Papa that it is time for him to catch his own gazelle. Quick: Look up gazelle and see how fast they are: This is the lion's biggest mistake, not having background info. . . though the mistakes get bigger.
Spoiler alert (or is it an assurance): No animals get eaten in this picture book, but with all the mistakes made, that is a surprise in itself.
Big bold lines, brightly colored, the expressions tell it all. With a big surprising twist at the end! Fun and funny....more
"There are eleven words for love and my family knows them all."
Eleven Words for Love: A Journey Through Arabic Expressions of Love (2022) by Randa Abd"There are eleven words for love and my family knows them all."
Eleven Words for Love: A Journey Through Arabic Expressions of Love (2022) by Randa Abdel-Fattah and illustrated by Maxine Beneba Clarke is a picture book about a Palestinian refugee family wishing they could again see their "homeland-heartland." I am reminded of having learned about the number of Inuit words for snow, far greater than the midwest US list. Do we have as many words for love as this family?
There's sunshine-warm friendship that grows and glows after two people meet.
Love marshmallow-heart-tender, dissolving all tears, love that is gentle and kind.
Love between two souls.
The love that aches with cherished memories of loved ones gone too soon.
There's love that keeps growing, plants joy in your heart.
Love between long-time neighbors: baked cakes, plant-watering, small talk at night.
Each word in Aeabic and translated into English. Must read....more
I picked up this book, Tia Fortuna’s New Home: A Cuban Jewish Journey (2022), at my library because I saw that the author was Ruth Behar, a cultural aI picked up this book, Tia Fortuna’s New Home: A Cuban Jewish Journey (2022), at my library because I saw that the author was Ruth Behar, a cultural anthropologist and MacArthur Award-winner, a woman whose work, Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza's Story (1993) and The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart (1997) I read (and when I was at Michigan, in drafts) and taught. Now I see she has been writing novels and picture books, which does not surprise me, as narrative and accessibility were her hallmarks. Stories with heart!
The story here is about a girl spending a day with her Tia, her last day before going to assisted living. The story doesn’t get enough into Cuban-Jewish culture--Behar is Sephardic Jewish and Cuban--nor even into enough specific memories, but there is an honoring of language(s), and specific moments/artifacts from Tia Fortuna’s life. The art is colorful, and vibrant and. . . hopeful.
The best thing about this book is the afterword where Behar speaks about Sephardic Jewry and how they may have come to Cuba from Spain. Very intriguing, and I want to know more--maybe a list of possible readings might have helped a general reader. ...more
"Hello, I've brought you your son's arm." "Oh, dear, his head is always in the clouds. I don't know what to say or do anymore." "Well, it's no mystery. "Hello, I've brought you your son's arm." "Oh, dear, his head is always in the clouds. I don't know what to say or do anymore." "Well, it's no mystery. That's just how children are."
No, this is not a horror film. It's a wonderful and wonderfully strange picture book adaptation of celebrated Italian children's book author Gianni Rodari's story from his collection, Telephone Tales. I picked it up because I passed by the new picture books in my library and this is what I love most in picture books--great art, whimsical, even quirky, story, tongue-in-cheek, pushing back against mainstream assumptions about what kids can handle. It's translated by Antony Shugar into English.
So this is a collage and watercolor project from a favorite artist, Beatrice Alemagna, with humorous daydreamy illustrations about a daydreamy boy who wanders off on his own, because that's just what he does. Dangerously? Well, mom and everyone knows this is just how kids are, meeting the world. I have been reading a lot about adhd, and felt validated by it, in a way, as this kid is as easily distracted as I . . am. Those that love this boy accept him for what he is (most of the time, anyway; he can be frustrating, like me to some people).
On his journey, the boy "loses" body parts (no blood!) throughout, but neighbors return them home and everything is fine! Surreal? Strange? Strangely wonderful, wonderfully strange and magical and affirming of daydreamers everywhere!...more
What is the moral to this story? What is the lesson to this tale? Some dogs are very faithful. They never leave your side. Some dogs ramble and run the roWhat is the moral to this story? What is the lesson to this tale? Some dogs are very faithful. They never leave your side. Some dogs ramble and run the road. They love you and then they’re gone.
One of several picture books I have read focused on the long and rich traditions of black American music, this time focused on Mississippi Delta Blues. Chris Raschka won illustration awards for his fabric-stitched on fabric and painted illustrations--so cool, definitely the highlight.
Because oI know and am interested in this music and so many of the musicians, I give this four stars, but kids would need a lot of scaffolding to appreciate the story. I guess the central narrative trope in the story is a missing yellow dog a kid goes all over the south trying to find (and doesn't!). Dog lovers beware!
Maybe you supplement it with some of the background in the appendix and play some of the music? That's the disadvantage, always with, a picture book about music, right? No music, no accompanying cd! I can see why some readers might give it fewer stars, judged from a children's viewpoint. But I liked it and if I was a librarian or parent of littluns I'd play Robert Johnson and Lead Belly and let them hear it....more
Brittany Luby is an Indigenous writer and illustrator Natasha Donovan is of Métis descent. Their picture book story of Ojiig and his family forced by Brittany Luby is an Indigenous writer and illustrator Natasha Donovan is of Métis descent. Their picture book story of Ojiig and his family forced by economic circumstances to move to the city, away from their cultural center, and away from from the stars, which is what he misses most. Glw-in-the-dark stars don't quite cut it, but mom makes a star quilt, with stories connected to every part of it. Where is hime? In the stories we hold.
Luby tells of the thousands of kids taken from their homes for decades to Residential Schools to remove them from Indigenous cultures. Not really connected to this story directly, but a talikng point, and relevant in that Ojiig's family also had to move to the city....more
David Sedaris’s new picture book, Pretty Ugly, a Toon book illustrated by Ian Falconer, was inspired by his sister Amy Sedaris’s ability to make her fDavid Sedaris’s new picture book, Pretty Ugly, a Toon book illustrated by Ian Falconer, was inspired by his sister Amy Sedaris’s ability to make her face into almost anything weird or gross (or is it a children's graphic novel, echoing folks with an edge and a smirk such as William Steig and Maurice Sendak?). Amy writes lets us know in an intro that making faces is a gift that seems to keep on giving, for her as a comedian/actress. My mom used to say that if we frowned or made faces at each other, my sis Nance and I might have our faces frozen like that, and wouldn’t that be terrible?
Not in the house of Anna Van Ogre, who makes an adorable little girl face, and it won’t go back to her own ugly face! The family is horrified, abhorring cuteness. And ugly faces would not be terrible in the Sedaris house, I might add. Ogres are the perfect antidote to cuteness.
Reminds me of Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love, where circus “freaks” are valued for their freakishness.
Very funny picture book for goofy face-making kids and also for fans of the Sedaris family.
But this review can't be over without acknowledging the passing in March 2023 of Olivia book author and set designer and illustrator extraordinaire Ian Falconer, may he rest in peace....more
Finn is upset and Grandpa eventually talks him into going for a walk with him, where he explains that very significant things are happening beneath thFinn is upset and Grandpa eventually talks him into going for a walk with him, where he explains that very significant things are happening beneath the surface--within a plant, under the water, under the ground, all the biology of a human body, but also feelings beneath the surface of the skin. I am in an apparent minority in not being a huge fan of the digital art, but I like the grandpa-grandkid relationship and the simple trope Grandpa uses to understand--and help Finn understand--Finn's feelings....more
Grandpa and the Kingfisher is author Anna Wilson’s sweet and gentle tribute to her father, whose favorite bird was the kingfisher. In this fictional pGrandpa and the Kingfisher is author Anna Wilson’s sweet and gentle tribute to her father, whose favorite bird was the kingfisher. In this fictional picture book story, Grandpa teaches his grandkid about the cycle of life through their observations of the kingfishers, and the food chain, mayflies, dragonflies, mating, raising chicks, and death, even as grandpa gets older and frailer. So it’s honest about life and death, following grandpa’s observation that nobody lives forever, as the kingfishers disappear.
I had just been researching kingfishers as I saw one the other day at a bird sanctuary, so I went back to my source to confirm that they live longer than Wilson implies (then see other reviewers also mention this in their reviews). The death of grandpa is, like the kingfishers, a sudden, abrupt, and unexplained disappearance, which will be confusing without an adult reader to explain it (you can download an audio version from the provided QR code, but I’d still suggest reading it aloud to a child).
But the idea of nature going on forever is positive, even if it is also true that we are losing species every day. But the point is to learn about and live in harmony with the natural world. I liked Sarah Massini’s illustrations a lot, especially the closely detailed and dramatic scenes of the kingfisher diving for fish. ...more
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