Building Confidence

Is there anything more endearing--especially for parents--than watching happy kids rush toward school, eager to learn?

THIS IS NOT A CAT! By David Larochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka, Sterling Children’s Books, 2016

At the Sunny Hills Mice School, the first lesson will be about DANGER. Or CATS.

Note: on the first page, one little mouse doesn’t look all that happy and the “something” peering around the tree at two skipping mice and one mouse dragging his feet is licking its lips. That creature does not look like a cat. Hmmm. Anyhow, turn the page to see the teacher introducing the lesson of the day: How to recognize danger.  Glowering from the easel is a large picture of a CAT.

To the mice kids’ delight, the teacher shows them pictures of a bunny, a butterfly, an ice cream cone—none of these is a cat. And then, a huge cat appears.

After that, the action is wild, zany, and chaotic. The child on your lap or in the reading circle in pre-K, is laughing so hard, you might need to take a breathing break. I will not spoil the ending.

David Larochelle is a former teacher, and Mike Wohnoutka has illustrated over 20 children’s books and written and illustrated 3 picture books. The pair also collaborated on an award winning book, Moo!  I can imagine them in a brain storming session. Again, there must be a time-out to breathe. Oh, do visit their websites.

Now, why did I call this book a confidence builder? All the words in the book are written using only the words in the title. Young children will be reading this one on their own before you can say, "SCAT!"

Rock-a-Bye, Baby

…in the tree top. That gently  swaying tree you planted when your first child was born can be more than an imaginative cradle for each baby as your family grows.  It could be the first child’s friend, too. (Speaking imaginatively, that is.)

MAPLE by Lori Nichols, Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014

My parents planted trees for special occasions. So do I. The flowering cherry tree in my front yard was planted on one of my birthdays. I won’t tell you when it was planted or how old it is today, but it blooms in time for my birthday every year.

Maple, the sweet-faced little girl in Lori Nichol’s debut picture book, grows along with her special tree. She sings to her tree, dances in rhythm with its graceful branches, and sometimes even pretends SHE is a tree. She believes the tree loves her back. (I think it does, too.) She can be as loud as she wants, and the tree doesn’t mind at all. To a little girl, that’s unconditional love.

Through the seasons of falling leaves, winter cold, and melting snowmen , Maple worries about her tree friend. Then one spring day she spots a seedling sprouting beneath her tree. Maple also becomes a big sister.

 

It’s hard to make a crying baby happy. As Maple observes, it seems all of them cry sometimes, even the happiest ones.  Maple, who is a really good big sister, works out the answer. Her tree helps. Can you guess the new baby’s name? 

The book jacket announces that Maple is an “enchanting” debut. It’s true. For more about this emerging writer/illustrator visit her on the web.

 

Hello. My Name is Bernice. I’m a Squash.

Actually, this book is not about a talking squash. But it comes close.

SOPHIE’S SQUASH by Pat Zietlow Miller and Anne Wilsdorf (illustrator), Schwartz & Wade Books, 2013

I can relate to characters who are only children. I was one once. Only children or not, if we spend each day without any short people looking us in the eye while we make up songs and plays, we make up our friends, too. I had an invisible friend. Her name was Lucy.

My parents were understanding.  They accepted Lucy as if she were theirs, too. Mom would set a place at the table for Lucy. Dad would prompt her, gently, “Lucy, put your hand in your lap. Elbows off the table.”  Or, “See what a nice job Joan is doing cutting her cooked carrots? Try to be more like her.” Dad knew how to work with what he had.

Bernice has big round eyes and she is yellow, but not sick. That’s just the way she is. She’s a squash, after all. Oh, but how she is loved by Sophie! Sophie’s parents are not quite as understanding as mine were. But then, Lucy wasn’t going to get mushy and smell bad. Sophie’s mother tries to nip this problem in the bud, squash blossom, if you will. She suggests baking Bernice with marshmallows. Ooh! You can probably guess Sophie’s reaction to that!

Time goes by. Bernice softens. Sophie’s parents call Sophie names like “Sugar Beet and Sweet Pea.” This does not soften Sophie’s will.

The story is based on the author’s young daughter, Sonia, who once loved a squash, too. I don’t know how Sonia’s mother handled this, but Sophie’s mother manages just fine and all ends well. Visit the real life mom/author here.
 

Sophie is a good squash mom. Illustrator Wilsdorf captures the many tender expressions of a doting mother and the defensive posture of a mother who is convinced her child is the best and brightest of them all.

Plant a spring garden with your young listeners. Plant fruits, vegetables, or ideas. Be careful, though.  What will you do if they befriend the breakfast cantaloupe? 

 

Unplug!

Here’s good advice for all of us. A child robot is my inspiration.

DOUG UNPLUGGED by Dan Yaccarino, Alfred A. Knopf, 2013

Doug is a robot. His parents want him to be the smartest robot ever.

 

Every day when Mom and Dad, also robots, pick up their briefcases and head out the door, they wish Doug, “Happy downloading,” and plug him in.  Facts about cities are filling Doug’s files when he sees a pigeon at his window. He has just learned there are 500 million pigeons in his city and this one starts him wondering if…off he goes, out the window, to see what he can see. In short, Doug unplugs.

What does Doug learn? How does he use what he already knows? What does he discover? Is the ending a happy one? I’ll answer that last question: YES! You’ll have to read the book to answer the others. Whether you read this with or without a toddler on your lap, there is a lesson here. I’ll leave it to you to find it.

Once again author/illustrator Dan Yaccarino breaks down the greatest complications of life into a story that’s not only fresh and compelling but carries a message straight to the heart, bypassing the inner critic that takes delight in spoiling fun. 

When you visit Yaccarinostudio.com—and you must!—click on books. Doug is in the upper left hand corner, holding a plug in his hand. You’ll tap your feet to the music in his trailer every time you watch.    

Go Ahead—Be a Kid Again

Here’s a picture book that can shake up your day, literally. I’ve read other reviews of this delightful concept book and, frankly, didn’t get it. I’ve spent a lot of time with a toddler and a picture book on my lap asking questions about each page and enjoying the fresh insights of a two or three year old, untarnished by the ho-hum thinking of us adults. How could that be improved upon?

PRESS HERE by Herve Tullet, Chronicle Books, 2011

Colors, shapes, numbers, and a wonderful feeling of accomplishment pour out of this hard cover book that feels like a board book, but it’s more like a small size picture book with pages that are thinner than a board book but feel sturdier than a lap size picture book. Confused yet? Add motion. Shake, shake, shake.

I shared PRESS HERE with a friend who directs a pre-school and after she read, shook, laughed, and re-read the book again, she pulled out a pencil and notepad and jotted down the title and author. “Twisted,” she said. “The kids will love this.” The next time I’m in her office, I’ll look for this book on her “to read” shelf for her giggly, wiggly students.

Translated from the French, PRESS HERE first appeared in 2010 published by Bayard Editions under the title “Un Livre.” It’s more than un livre. It’s an invitation to enter a toddler’s world, and how many times are we that fortunate?

You’ll have to read this book for yourselves. I’m glad I did. And yes, “twisted” is the perfect word. Let me know what you think.

Too Little, Too Much

Weather is a news maker. Floods. Droughts. These are the calm sisters of the bullies, tornadoes and hurricanes. Yet, they are just as damaging, maybe more so. Too much water and people lose their homes in overwhelming floods. Too little water and drought kills crops. People suffer from famine or prices so high in the supermarket that dinner tables are often bare. We know the role water plays in the way we live. Do our children? Do they know how water works? Do they know where it comes from and where it goes?

ALL THE WATER IN THE WORLD by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2011

Where does water come from and where does it go? Did you know it goes on a round trip?

An acclaimed poet and a skilled artist combine talents to take us around the world while our growing understanding of the importance of water hitch hikes on a drop, slides down a gutter, bounces on a sidewalk, or just dries up. We can see it, hear it, taste it, and wake up in the middle of the night hoping someone will bring us a glass of it.

The author is also a novelist and an activist wielding a pen. She won the Jane Addams Award given to books that further the cause of peace and justice for You and Me and Home Sweet Home. . Visit her online here

Illustrator Tillotson loves jumping in puddles and pours her energy into a number of books. See her webpagehere.

Do you hear the rumble of thunder in the distance? Time to make a lap and hold your toddler in place with a book that will make the storm a memory. A good memory.

All the Water in the World ties generations,cultures,and countries together.

Something Sweet

Here’s a treat for young listeners that won’t take its toll on teeth. Read a sweet book.

BIG RED LOLLIPOP by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall, Viking, 2010

This is for all those first children who wish they’d enjoyed a different birth order. Speaking as one of them, I know what it’s like to carry high expectations on one’s shoulders, when inside your head, your best instincts are battling with the green-eyed monster’s let’s-get-even
child instincts. Add a culture that your parents bring to their new country, but you, the new kid in class, don’t. I can’t speak for that experience, but Rubina can.

Rubina has, at wonderful long last!, been invited to a birthday party by a classmate. It’s a feeling of acceptance, belonging, all those kid needs that are separate from any adult understanding. Mother, Ami,thinks it’s wonderful, too. She’s thinking from a grown-up mother standpoint.

Rubina’s little sister, Sana, speaks up, “I want to go, too!” Ami agrees. Rubina must feel like grinding her teeth. It isn’t, simply is NOT done this way in America. Sana insists. Ami does not relent. Off they go, Rubina and Sana.

Of course, as any first grader could predict, this is a disaster waiting to happen. It does.

The sweet twist comes much later. Sana is invited to a birthday party. Oh, great joy at last! And her little sister, Maryam, wants to go. Ami thinks that’s just fine. Sana must feel like grinding her teeth, (Sound familiar?) But what does Rubina think? Say?

This is a book for great discussions. I don’t know about you, but I was proud of Rubina.

Author Khan moved to Canada from her birthplace in Pakiston when she was three. This well told story comes from her own childhood. Guess which sister she was? Illustrator Blackall is originally from Australia.Not sure about her childhood parties, but she says one of the worst things about being a grown-up is not being offered a goody bag at the end of a party.

Take a look at their websites:

Rukhsana

Sophie

For all of you out there attending parties today, may your little candy hearts have uplifting messages.

Even if the only valentine you can think of is your fluffy cat.

Flu Season Friends

Statistically speaking, February is flu month. Although flu can strike during other months, on a bar graph of numbers of reported cases each month, February wins the chicken soup trophy. What children dislike most about flu, besides feeling terrible, is missing their friends. Here is a prescription for housebound snifflers.

A SICK DAY FOR AMOS McGEE by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead, Roaring Brook Press, 2010

Amos is a kindly zookeeper who talks to his sugar bowl and counts as his friends the elephant, tortoise, rhinoceros, penguin, and owl.

One day Amos is too sick to go to work. He is missed. The animals decide to visit Amos. They even ride the #5 bus, the very same bus Amos rides to visit them.

I loved sharing this with a couple of bright pre-school classes. They identified with what it’s like to be sick. They thought it was the right thing to do for friends to come visit and bring a red balloon. (The cover clearly shows the penguin carrying a red balloon.)

As I read, the children sneezed (covering their sneezes with crisp white tissues, of course) along with the allergic rhino and poor sniffling Amos, and made sympathetic and friendly hooting sounds when Owl’s name was mentioned. Poor Owl. We knew his secret: he’s afraid of the dark.

The children quickly made friends with the little elephant puppet who came along to help me read the story. (After all, the elephant’s picture is on the cover.) In the meantime, grown ups in the room wondered how that red balloon managed to survive the trip. Ah, the beauty of fiction!

These tiny students were well coached. They knew, as one little girl said, the illustrator is the one who “colors the pictures.”

Although she has undoubtedly colored a lot of pictures, this is the first children’s book Erin Stead has illustrated (her husband wrote the text) and it won the Caldecott. Now the pressure is on. What will she do next?

Boy Has Book Feeever!

Once upon a time, an 8 year old boy named Charlie McGlurg wanted a bookstore in his hometown of Dalton, GA. 8 year olds have energy. Lots of it. Charlie started a letter writing campaign among his peers and targeted the CEO of a large book store chain.

Last week CEO Clyde Anderson surprised Charlie’s classroom at Westwood Elementary School with a visit and an armload of kids’ books. Then the BIG news(BIG being a classmate’s description). Anderson announced that Books-A-Million would open a 5,500 square foot bookstore in the city’s mall before Christmas.

“Charlie’s Army” was made up of 500 young readers. One classmate described herself as “breathless” over hearing the news. Charlie said he has “Book Feever!”

500 exuberant, letter writing, book loving young readers.

Parents, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and children’s writers should stand up and cheeeer!

Charlie and his friends are not the only ones who love books.

DOG LOVES BOOKS by Louise Yates, Alfred A. Knopf, 2010

Dog opened his own bookstore. Then he waited for customers. And waited. What does a reader do when he’s waiting? He reads, of course.

Books carry Dog to prehistoric times, from adventure to adventure, to cheer on knights of old, to trek through the jungle, to zoom into the future. Dog is off to “somewhere else” when he hears the jingle of the bell. It’s a customer! Dog knows the right book and where it is for each of the customers who follow. Maybe he just read that book and re-shelved it.

Dog loves books, but most of all he loves to share them–exactly what book lovers do, be they book store owners, librarians, or US.

Do share! What’s your favorite children’s book today?

Building Sturdy Kids

Bullying hurts. ALL bullying hurts. Sticks, stones, and words hurt. Some experts say words hurt the most. Scars are deep and hidden. What can parents do? How do you arm a child against a bully without turning him into one? Where can you begin? Is it ever too early? A picture book I read last year keeps coming to mind. It’s a great family book, lending itself to discussion on several levels.

LOOKING LIKE ME by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Christopher Myers. Egmont.

Have you ever made an “I Am” list?

Who you are, who you are becoming, and especially who you are to others, pulses through this energy filled picture book.

This is a build-up book or a motivational book for kids. Sometimes hearing a book read to a young child catches the attention of others who benefit, too. Read this book to young listeners in the presence of anyone starting out, starting over, feeling blue or in danger of giving in to a battered ego, and who knows what positive thinking will result?

Picture books are not for babies only.

From A to Zzzzz

Do you have a plan for your day, but something interrupts? Are you ever in the middle of telling a really good joke when someone interrupts with the punch line? If anyone interrupts you when you read the following bedtime story, you'll identify with Papa. Maybe you ARE Papa.

INTERRUPTING CHICKEN by David Ezra Stein, Candlewick Press, 2010

Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Chicken Little. Ever tell them to your kids as bedtime stories? Little Red Chicken’s Papa has a full repertoire of fairy tales, but he’s told them so often that now when he gets to the scary part, Little Red Chicken rushes in and warns the characters away from the danger they face.

Papa has had enough. He vows not to tell any more stories until Little Red Chicken promises not to interrupt. The poor little chick just can’t help it. How the two resolve this threat to bedtime will have you smiling when you fall asleep tonight.

I listened to an 8 year old read this picture book to her 5 year old brother. What did they like best, the pictures or the story? They both turned every page again, thinking this one through.

"All the stories," the older reader said. Not just the big story about the father and son, but the beginning of the fairy tales. She didn't mind that the author left it to her to finish telling the well known but interrupted tales. After all, (spoiler alert!)Little Red Chicken becomes the story teller before the book ends.

Her brother liked the pictures and he liked the story, but he liked them best "together."

Author/illustrator Stein has many books to his credit. Leaves won an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. It's easy to see why his books are young readers' favorites.

Feathers aside, who are you in this book, Papa or the child? When you know trouble awaits on the other side of the door in a TV re-run, do you speak up: "Don't open that door. Run!"

I do.

National Smile Week

All across our country kids are going back to school this week. It’s also National Smile Week. We’ll leave it to you to decide who is smiling the most. If you are trying to get clothes, books, pencils, backpacks, water bottles, lunches, all those school “musts” organized, you’ll have great sympathy for Mr. Tuggle.

MR. TUGGLE’S TROUBLES by LeeAnn Blankenship, illustrated by Karen Dugan, Boyds Mills Press, 2005

It’s Monday morning. All seems serene. Mr. Tuggle and the cats sprawled across his bed yawn and open their eyes to a bright sunny day. If they knew what was ahead, they’d crawl under the bed and keep sleeping.

Are you hunting for your child’s shoes when the school bus pulls to a stop at the corner? Well, Mr. Tuggle finds his shoes. He just can’t find his hat. So he goes without it, but that soon proves to be a disaster in the making. So he improvises.

The next day Mr. Tuggle can’t find his shoes. So he improvises again.

The week continues and young readers relate. Giggles grow at each page turn.

The artist dedicates this book “To all the Mr. Tuggles of the world (and you know who we are).” Clearly, she had fun bringing the author’s clever story to the cluttered page. The word clutter is meant as a compliment. The youngest reader will return again and again to see Mr. Tuggle’s world, from home to bus, to office, and back. The park bench scene will elicit shrieks. Each face in the ordinary places of Mr. Tuggle’s bus, at his bus stop, and on the elevator registers surprise and amazement at the discovery that there is nothing ordinary about Mr. Tuggle.

The last page rates belly laughs.

The talents of author and artist mesh perfectly for a picture book worthy of launching National Smile Week. Or any time the daily hustle becomes a hassle.

What Do Two’s Choose?

The chicken dance is a toddler favorite. It’s so popular, I heard a Jeopardy contestant say she planned to dance it at her wedding. Now it has its very own book.

CHICKEN DANCE, by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Dan Santat, Sterling, 2009
Chickens,cows, and ducks can be funny. Pigs, too. It depends on one’s sense of humor. Does the barnyard have talent? Find out. Stage a talent show. Record it all in bright, living color.

I circulated this among my writing group members to get their reaction. One said, “My granddaughter would love this!” What more needs to be said?

Do you know any two years olds with a funny bone?

Campfire Tales

I doubt we could count the number of books written about a boy and his dog. But what if the dog is really a pig named “Dog”?

LUCKY JAKE, by Sharon Hart Addy, illustrated by Wade Zahares, Houghton Mifflin, 2007.

And what if this Gold Rush story is itching to escape onto the page from an author who knows how to spin a yarn just right for young listeners? And what if Jake's western adventures are not quite what you'd expect? And what if the illustrator leads readers with sure steps from vivid sunsets to purple blue shadows that blanket Jake and his gold panning father and Dog at the end of each day?

Well then, you’d be lucky, too–-you and that young listener on your lap.

A Giraffe’s Travels

If you’re short like me, you look up, up, at the giraffe in the zoo and wonder what it’s like to look down on so many people and places. And what lovely curly eyelashes! Of course, a giraffe with a cold could be highly uncomfortable if he has a sore throat. I’m not the only one who thinks a giraffe is as special as he or she is tall. Once there was a king who...

ZARAFA, THE GIRAFFE WHO WALKED TO THE KING by Judith S. George, illustrated by Britt Spencer, Philomel, 2009.

The king of France was about to receive a wonderful gift from the ruler of Egypt, but the behind the scenes story is a gift to the reader. Follow the travels of Zarafa, and the people who loved and cared for her. From a small African village to a palace in Paris, Zarafa made friends and spread love, lovely love, wherever she went.

In Arabic, Zarafa means “charming.” Do you think the king of France was charmed by his gift?

Wouldn’t you be?

A Gift From Carnival

Carnival and Mardi Gras are over. They aren’t forgotten, however. One remembrance is the steel drum or street pan which was probably invented in the late 1930's during Carnival in the Caribbean. The sweetness and purity of its music needs to be heard to be truly appreciated. Steel pan music on your Ipod? Lucky you!

STEEL PAN MAN OF HARLEM by Colin Bootman, Carolrhoda Books, 2009

Rats everywhere. Rats! The story will sound familiar and it should. It’s a retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. This one is set in the Harlem Renaissance, a rich cultural celebration of art and rhythm. Lively illustrations dance off the page, enticing readers to follow. Although the book is recommended for readers aged 5-9, older readers and parents, too, will find much to enjoy. Author/illustrator Bootman and his steel pan man demonstrate the importance of doing the right thing and keeping one’s word.

The steel pan is now considered Trinidad’s national instrument and a symbol of Caribbean unity and culture. Its sound is guaranteed to cure the winter doldrums.

Will it bring spring?

Who Doesn’t Love Dolphins?

Dolphins communicate by echolocation, bouncing clicks off objects to determine size, shape, distance, direction, and speed. We humans communicate by clicks, too. I'm glad you've clicked in to read about a special dolphin.

WINTER’S TALE: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again by Juliana Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff, and Craig Hatkoff. Scholastic, 2009.

Winter is a baby dolphin who got into big trouble. Tangled in rope securing a crab trap to a buoy, she might never have known a future. Instead, she was rescued by Jim Savage, the only fisherman braving the cold wintery conditions in Mosquito Lagoon off the coast of Florida on a particular day in December 2005.

In spite of the TLC she received from the experts at Clearwater Marine Aquarium, her survival was uncertain. She lost her tail. The odds against her mounted. Struggle is universal. Everyone relates. Not only did Winter pull through, but the skills and innovations employed to save her helped improve the lives of people.

Now plucky, fun-loving Winter is famous. Her story makes page turning as interesting for the adult reader as for the child listener.

Winter should be declared an MVD--Most Valuable Dolphin--if dolphins click click about awards the way we do. Who knows? Maybe they do.

Overcoming Sugar Rush

Halloween isn't over 'til all the candy is gone. All that sugar adds energy (for the moment) to your little ones and you may need the energy but abhor the calories. What better way to work off the sugar rush than to act out a picture book. Here's one that leaves a sweet taste:

TREASURE by Suzanne Bloom.

Goose thinks Bear is taking him on a treasure hunt. They race, dig, and dive, but Goose decides there is no treasure. Bear sets him straight.

A favorite book is a treasure. What's yours?

Joan

Picture book for any age

GARMANN'S SUMMER by Stian Hole was translated from the Norwegian and this is a treat for those of us who read picture books in English. Both author and illustrator, the creator speaks to everyone who has been uneasy or just plain afraid. Garmann is contemplating the first day of school. His round, jolly, wish-you-could-hug-them aunts arrive for their traditional summer visit. Each aunt has a different perspective to consider when Garmann quizzes them about their fears. This is a helping hand for anyone facing change--and who isn't?