Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Gotta be honest, my 3 1/2 year old did not like Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback, a Caldecott Medal winner.  It's a brief story about resourceful Joseph who continues to recycle his old and worn overcoat down to its very last thread. The message is clear, and timely, and the illustrations lush.

My gut is telling me that the colors were a little too dark for my pink-adoring kid. In fact, I somewhat wryly suggested that if had been about a ballerina who had kept recycling her tutu and leotard she would have liked it better. She did concede that I was probably right.

 Like broccoli, if I keep plying her with this book, she'll come to know it and appreciate it as I do.

When Dinosaurs Came With Everything

 Although When Dinosaurs Came With Everything  by Elise Broach can leave younger kids scratching their heads over the ending, this is still an excellent read aloud, use your best funny voices book. It's the story of a young boy and his mom who find that every place they visit on their typical errand day is giving out free dinosaurs. Real ones. Big ones. Naturally, mom is a little concerned about how to feed these mammoth animals (pun intended) and where to keep them. Her son is just eager to keep growing his collection. Only when she is seen carrying more donuts do we realize that mom is going back for more 'free' dinosaurs and has accepted them into the family.

We came across this book at the library in the new section and it has rapidly become a stable at bedtime. My daughter enjoys identifying the different dinosaurs (also check out books by Bernard Most and Jane Yolen for more picture books on dinosaurs, and see my Bernard Most review here) and running her fingers along the illustrations. These pictures, by the way, are not your average black and white outlines of dinosaurs. Nor are they drawn to give you the warm fuzzies (yet the pictures are not exactly frightening, either). Instead, you see the stegosauraus, the triceratops, and yes, the menacing tyrannosaurus rex, in rough skin detail outside the donut shop, the movie theater and the diner.

My favorite parts are the mom's reactions every time they are given a new dinosaur. At one point she is marooned on the floor, mouth hanging open, in fright and disbelief. A very fun read!

Bunny Party and Bunny Cakes

 
A couple of friends have recommended the Rosemary Wells Max and Ruby books, and one fellow writer went so far as to put Bunny Party and Bunny Cakes in my hands the other day, saying "Read these!"

In case you've not had a chance to explore this series, they are a subtle exploration of sibling rivalry for young kids. My first take on the books was that they were a little too plain vanilla for my taste. They lack the contemporary irony and wink-at-the-parents prose found in popular picture book series like Olivia.

Having a had chance to re-read them, I think that they are a more gentle and delightful take on brothers and sisters learning to share, learning to play together, and yes even care about one another. What's more astonishing from an author's point-of-view is how clever the stories and dialogue are. Writing picture books is an exercise in deliberation and rejection.  The author is restricted to words appropriate to 3 - 7 year old kids, and often must keep word count down under the 1,000 mark. From that perspective, Rosemary Wells is a genius at saying so much with so little.

Even more remarkable, and putting aside an adult's take on the books, is that kids really respond to the stories. The books and their characters are very relatable and the illustrations are beautiful. My daughter immediately requested to hear the books again.

One final note, if you're looking for a good book on numbers for kids, Bunny Party is excellent. You'll find yourself counting guests at the party, and the numbers are repeated often, and it'll feel fun instead of a chore. The book encourages kids to chime in and say the numbers or count on their own.

He Came with the Couch

He Came with the Couch written and illustrated by David Slonim is a funny, funny book.

When a family searches garage sales and junkyards to replace their old couch, they find the perfect fit but it comes with a permanent guest. The family goes to great lengths to remove the couch resident, including bagpipes and trips to cure his "upholsterosis". Begrudgingly the parents accept him, and he proves his worth in the end.

The prose is sparse, but the words are told with a twinkle in the eye. And the pictures both perfectly captivate the eye as well as delight with details such as a rummage scene brimming with goofy objects.

26 Letters and 99 Cents

As is sometimes the case, my daughter requests a book over and over again much to my surprise. 26 Letters and 99 Cents by Tana Hoban is such a book, something we stumbled across in the library.

The book is two-in-one. One side of the book contains the letters of the alphabet - both upper case and lower case, along side a picture of a toy or a piece of fruit or some other kind of object that illustrates the letter. The version we checked out was dated - the pictures look like something from the '80s - but each image is colorful and my daughter liked talking about the connection between the letter and the object.

Flip the book over and each page is devoted to numbers.  For example, the number 4 is accompanied by 4 pennies while the number 5 is shown next to a nickel. My daughter doesn't grasp money yet so pointing to the coins has proven fruitless.  But she likes to recite the numbers out loud with me.  At some point, the book begins to count by 5 which is way beyond what my 3 year-old is managing with numbers.

Still, it's fun to flip the book, and she likes the colorful pictures. It also is fun for her to shout out something that she has been learning.  So this isn't necessarily a good night book but it's can be a fun take on counting on reciting the alphabet during a slow afternoon.

Kipper's A to Z: An Alphabet Adventure

Kipper's A to Z: An Alphabet Adventure is a charming romp through the alphabet for toddlers working their way from A to Z.  The book tells the story of Kipper and his little pig friend Arnold collecting various insects in a simple box. There is also an overly-eager Zebra, excited to make an appearance.

Both the images and the text are light and uncluttered, allowing the reader to focus on the letter in question. The story is also sweet, completely in keeping with the television series. For Kipper fans, this book is a must.

One More Sheep

My daughter is scared of the coyote in this book.
Only there is no coyote. There is only a wolf.
Funny what kids dream up and latch on to.

So, while she's hiding when I get to the pages with a coyote - oops, I mean a wolf - in sheep's clothing, I'm relishing the delightful rhyme that tells the story of a silly shepherd who can't stay awake to count his sheep.

In One More Sheep by Mij Kelly and illustrated by Russell Ayto, the sheep think that the shepherd is a bit of a dolt because he falls asleep whenever he begins to count them at nighttime. He protests that counting sheep just naturally leads one to snoozeland. The sheep considers this an affront: are they boring? How rude!

An excerpt:
Out on the moor,
the wind whistled and wuthered,
while the sheep safe indoors
snuggled under the covers,
drifting through dreams ...

It's a very fun and funny story and I adore the little nightcaps that adorn each sheep's head. The writing is clever enough for adults, but not over the heads of children, and conjures up wonderful images. The illustrations are modern - I want to like them, but I find the outsized bodies of the sheep distracting - but my 3 year-old takes them in stride. Perfect for bedtime, One More Sheep will have you and your counting your way down to ZZZs.

A is for Art

I did not want to get this book. My daughter picked out A is for Art by Stephen T. Johnson at the library, and I tried to dissuade her. "See? There are no animals in here." But she persisted, and all I could think was: what am I going to make up to say about this one?



And the book has sat toward the bottom of the pile, with me subtly directing her to other options at reading time. Last night she used my own words on me: "Let's just read it once, and if we don't like it, we never have to read it again." How could I refuse?

A is for Art is a delightful book, it turns out. Each letter is accompanied by a painting, or a picture of a sculpture, and then is artfully described using almost exclusively words that start with the letter in question.  For example:

"Cc Camouflage
Countless colorful candies consciously collected, crammed, crushed, and confined crowd a clear circular container filled to capacity."

The words are beyond my 3 year old, but she enjoys hearing them and searching the text for the letter that is being highlighted. The art accompanying the text is also a 'find the hidden object' game wherein a child can look for the letter and other items mentioned in the description of the art.

The art featured in the book is, naturally, age appropriate and beautifully photographed.

Not only is this a great book for reinforcing the letters of the alphabet, but it is a fun book for talking about art and would make a fantastic primer before a trip to a museum or sculpture garden.

Classic Goodnight Book: Big Red Barn

My writing group was talking about classic children's books the other night, and Lisa (you can find her blog here) began to recite from the Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown.

  

Now, we know all about Margaret Wise Brown at our house - or thought we did - because I can recite Goodnight, Moon and the Runaway Bunny by heart. But it's been over a year since we had read either. How had we missed Big Red Barn? So we picked it up at the library, but it was a board book, and my 3 year-old immediately snubbed it. I checked it out anyway (I always feel guilty requesting something that has to be transferred from another branch and then not at least taking it home for a couple of days.)

Last night I insisted we give it a try. What a delight! The rhythm is pitch-perfect and each line delightfully illustrates the character of one of the farm animals pictured. The book begins with the dawning of the day - the rooster calling - and then the other farm animals are introduced and begin to play (the kids are away). Then the day fades and we witness the most of the animals slowly retiring to the barn as the bats fly off for their nightly escapades.

Without even realizing it, my voice turned down a notch and my reading slowed, and both my daughter and I were captivated by the simplicity of the words. As she folded the last page over, she said, "Can we read that again in the morning?"

And we did.

If You're Happy and You Know It

If you haven't met Jane Cabrera and her books for toddlers yet, you're missing out. Hands down, she is one of the most talented picture book illustrators (and writers) out there. Often, she paints scenes that accompany traditional children's songs or poems, and those paintings are gorgeous, lush, bright, bold masterpieces. I've often thought that I'd like to own a poster-sized painting from one of her books for a nursery wall.

But barring that expense, I'm grateful for the good fortune that allows all of us to share in her work through her books. It's hard to choose a favorite, but if pressed I'd go with If You're Happy and You Know It because it really gets my child up and moving about. It's fun, engaging and lovingly created with colors deep enough that you could go swimming in them.



Other favorites include Mommy Carry Me Please, Ten in the Bed (a good book about counting) and Over in the Meadow; the latter two are helpful when practicing numbers. This is just a small sampling of Cabrera's work.

  

One note: I have found one (and only one) of Cabrera's stories a bit awkward, although still beautifully illustrated. The Lonesome Polar Bear is magical to view, and the premise works - a polar bear cub looking for a friend - but the ending in which the cloud friend brings a snow bear to life isn't executed very well. As in most cases, when I find a book in which I don't love the text (e.g. Hey, Get Off of Our Train), I just make up words to go along with the pictures.