Bookfoolery : Children's Day

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Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Growing Season by Maryann Cocca-Leffler - Children's Day #6

In Growing Season by Maryann Cocca-Leffler, El and Jo are the best of friends. They're the two smallest children in their class and their names are short, too. They sit together at perfectly-sized desks, help each other reach things that they couldn't reach alone, and pose together for class photos. They play elves together in the Holiday Show and are small enough to share the special reading chair (I assume this chair is in their classroom, as the beginning of the book takes place at school).

Then, suddenly Jo has a tremendous growth spurt in the spring and El is left behind. Jo doesn't need El's help reaching things anymore. She can move to a bigger desk and she's able to reach over El when everyone is told to go get a flower to take home and grow over the summer break. El's the last to get a plant and her little aster is completely devoid of blooms. She feels sad and small but her teacher, Mr. Diaz, assures her that her plant will bloom.

Mr. Diaz leaned in. "El, that's an aster plant. Aster means 'star'."
"It's no star. It's just a little, plain green plant," said El.
"Just you wait! In time, it will grow and have beautiful purple blooms," said Mr. Diaz.
El was not so sure.

Jo notices El's envious glance between her plant and Jo's and Jo hands El her zinnia, which is covered in blooms, saying she's going to be at her grandma's all summer, anyway. El puts the two plants in her garden, waters them, talks to them, and waits all summer (with her adorable kitty, Maddy -- another book with a cat, yay!) and the girls write to each other while they're apart.

At the end of the summer, both flowers are blooming, Jo comes home, and El realizes something big has happened. She's grown, too!

Aster had finally bloomed . . . and so had EL!

Highly recommended - I absolutely love this sweet story about growing plants, growing bodies, and friendship. At the end of the book, there's a page entitled "Plant life cycles" that describes annual, perennial, and biennial flowers, as well as tender perennials, which I'd never heard of (they may or may not return, depending upon the climate) but have experienced because we're in a climate zone where certain plants I knew as annuals when living farther north come back year after year, here. I'm always especially fond of children's books in which there's some factual information to round out a story. I already enjoyed the tale of the two little girls who grow at different speeds in the same way their plants bloom at a different rate but the extra info just added to what was already a 5-star read.

This is the final review for today's special Children's Day event and not a dud in the bunch. Awesome. Many thanks to Sterling Children's Books for another wonderful pile to read and share with the world!

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Just Read by Lori Degman and Victoria Tentler-Krylov - Children's Day #3

Just Read by Lori Degman and Victoria Tentler-Krylov is a tale of people of all ages reading anywhere and everywhere. Wildly imaginative illustrations show people reading from paper books and electronic devices (audio books are also mentioned). One child reads braille while another tells a story to a smaller child using sign language. Two children read dots and dashes drawn in the fog on a window (Morse Code, I presume). The places people are shown or described reading are as broad as the types of reading material: in a car or on a train, in a pile of raked leaves, while grocery shopping, on a playground, beneath a tree, in a treehouse (my favorite illustration, by far) -- even in a music store.

Some of the illustrations show places to read, some show what the reader is imagining. In one illustration, a child is reading a book with a person holding an umbrella on the cover. She glances outside, through an airplane window, and "sees" (read: imagines) people floating in the rain with air in their umbrellas like latter-day Mary Poppinses.

Recommended - A great book to encourage future readers or beginning readers. I love the diversity of places shown, types of reading matter, and even the cast of characters created to encourage children of all stripes to read anywhere. A note on the illustrations: I found that the busy-ness of the illustrations overwhelmed me a tiny bit, but once I became accustomed to them, I liked the fact that there was so much to look at. Just Read is a good book, then, for children who enjoy looking at illustrations that have a lot going on, especially before they're old enough to actually read. My children spent a lot of time flopped on their bellies, looking at illustrations and often reciting memorized text before they were old enough to read. They would have loved Just Read.

I received a copy of Just Read from Sterling Children's Books for review. Thank you! More reviews forthcoming!

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Victricia Malicia, Book-Loving Buccaneer by Clickard & Myers - #4 for Children's Day

Victricia Malicia, Book-Loving Buccaneer by Carrie Clickard

Illustrated by Mark Myers

Flashlight Press - Children's (Ages 4-8)

32 pages

Last review for Children's Day, a wee bit late because the afternoon heat turned me into a big lump of blah and I got a bit sidetracked (bought groceries, fixed supper, watched a movie).

Victricia Malicia is about a girl born to a family of pirates. But, she really just wants to read and live on dry land:

Victricia Malicia Calamity Barrett

was born on the deck of the Potbellied Parrot.

Her mom was the captain. Her dad, the ship's cook.

Her grandma was proud of her peg leg and hook.

But despite a tradition since sixteen-o-three

for every last Barrett to set out to sea,

plund'ring and looting

and pirate pursuiting,

Victricia detested it vehemently.

Victricia Malicia was sick of the sea.

Those are the words on the opening page. You have to love this book right off the bat because the author chose to make Victricia's mother the captain and her father the ship's cook, don't you?

The text of Victricia Malicia is so terrific that I feel like just describing it is kind of pitiful, but I'll go ahead and tell you about it, then you can dash off to read the pdf of Victricia Malicia and see the whole thing for yourself. Basically, it goes on to say her distaste for the sea was not her family's fault, "They raised her up right. They gave her a name filled with menace and fright," and describes how she learned her first words from a parrot, learned to tie knots from Uncle Hank (whom she's tied to the mast), etc.

In spite of all her wonderful pirate education, Victricia taught herself to read -- and reading was simply her best skill. She's shown falling from the rigging because she's not great at tying knots. With wrinkled nose, she's shown trying to cook but her cooking, the book says, "caused rats to abandon the ship." Here is where the book begins to be a real booklover's joy. When Victricia is falling from the rigging, you see a book hanging on the ropes. I turned my copy of Victricia Malicia to read the title and laughed. It's Macrame for Beginners. When she's shown cooking, the book beside her is Betty Wanna Cracker Cookbook.

As the story continues describing Victricia's un-pirate-like preferences, both real book titles and funny fake ones are shown.

Eventually, Victricia causes an accident and everyone agrees she should be let off at an island. But, then the same thing that caused the accident saves everyone from a sea serpent. Still, Victricia would rather be set on dry land and she's taken to shore. She goes into town and opens a bookstore. Now dressed in landlubber clothing, Victricia even reads to the pirates when they're in port -- and turns the entire crew into such reading addicts that the ship becomes a floating library.

My thoughts:

What a fun book! Bright, cheerful illustrations in vivid colors, clever writing with some challenging vocabulary words (opportunities to teach!) and a great storyline make this comfortably rhythmic book a delight. All the book titles crammed into its pages make reading the book doubly fun. Highly recommended.

There's a trailer for Victricia Malicia at the Flashlight Press website. I usually don't care much for book trailers but I enjoyed this one.

I received my copy of Victricia Malicia unsolicited from Flashlight Press. My thanks to the people at Flashlight! Since you can't pick up the book and feel it, I'll just tell you their books are hardcover with jackets but you can toss your jacket aside if you're worried about it. The cover beneath is identical. Inside the book, the front endpapers have a cutaway view of a ship with objects and actions (like walking the plank) labeled. The back endpapers look like an unlabeled treasure map. Cool.

That's all for Children's Day! It's 11:38 PM. Whew! Cutting it close, eh?

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

I Need My Monster by Noll & McWilliam - #3 for Children's Day

I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll & Howard McWilliam

Flashlight Press - Children's (Ages 5 & up)

32 pages

Okay, I'm just going to come right out and say it. I Need My Monster is my absolute favorite, so far, in today's book pile. It's funny, clever and the illustrations are fabulous. Adults will want to just sit and stare, taking in the detail -- even the angles the illustrator used are fascinating.

I Need My Monster turns the typical "monster under the bed" story concept on its head. Instead of a child who is worried about monsters, the protagonist, Ethan, is used to his monster, Gabe. Gabe is the perfect amount of scary - enough to keep Ethan in bed but not enough to keep him from sleeping. When Gabe leaves a note saying he's gone fishing for a week, Ethan is horrified. How will he sleep without Gabe's ragged breathing and the scary claws that remind him it's best to stay tucked in for the night?

Ethan decides he needs another monster, so he knocks on the floor and another monster appears. Unfortunately, Ethan is not satisfied. Gabe has scary claws that scratch the floor. This monster, Herbert, does not. His name isn't quite right, either. Herbert leaves and another monster appears. The next one has polished claws and tidy fur. Not good enough. The third has scary claws and a slimy tail but Ethan is horrified to see a bow on the tale. He needs a boy monster, not a girl monster!

Ethan wonders if he'll ever find a decent replacement for Gabe.

Was I being too picky? NO!

I knew that my new monster needed to be

well-clawed and menacing.

The whole point of having a monster, after all,

was to keep me in bed, imagining all the

scary stuff that could happen if I got out.

The next monster that shows up has a long tongue. Ethan nearly falls out of the bed laughing.

But, finally, Gabe reappears. Fishing, he says, is not challenging enough.

"You, however, are challenging,

my friend. You're almost too old

to be afraid of monsters.

You keep me on my toes.

Ah, toes . . . a delicious snack."

Gabe scratches on the bedpost, snorts comfortingly and eats a pillow, among other things. Ethan is happy. His perfect monster has returned.

My thoughts:

Well, you already know I love this book and obviously highly recommend it. I can't say enough wonderful things about the illustrations, but naturally you don't have to take my word for it. You can see inside the book because it's from Flashlight Press! Here's the pdf of I Need My Monster. I love the story as much as the illustrations. I'd give this one a perfect 5/5 rating, if I felt like using numbers.

In which I address the complaints at Amazon:

I went to Amazon to find out the number of pages in I Need My Monster because I've found dashing over to Amazon the quickest way to get info. While there, I noticed there was a 3-star review and a few 4-stars. I Need My Monster has mostly 5-star reviews and it has won a boat-load of awards, so I was curious. I like knowing what people don't like about a book.

And, the big complaints?

1. Some people considered the fact that Ethan doesn't want a girl monster a "gender issue" that must be addressed by parents.

I must admit I think that's totally silly. If I had a little girl, I'd just remind her that Ethan is not satisfied with any of the substitute monsters. He's obviously rejecting every monster because what he really wants is what he's already accustomed to. He just wants Gabe back.

2. There was a slight concern that the book might cause nightmares, depending on the child.

That's a distinct possibility and worth considering. On the other hand, I Need My Monster could very well help children who are frightened of the dark to laugh about what they fear. I'd definitely keep the sensitivity of my child in mind.

The bottom line:

Love it, highly recommend it, would buy it for any child I read to. One of my children was terrified of the book Jumanji. If you're worried that it might be too frightening, you can always read the book to your child online and see how it goes. I'm hanging onto this one for future grandchildren.

I confess that I begged to review I Need My Monster because I loved the artwork in When a Dragon Moves In, which is also illustrated by Howard McWilliam.

One more review for Children's Day coming soon!

Poopendous by Artie Bennett & Mike Moran - #2 for Children's Day

Poopendous by Bennett & Moran

Blue Apple Books - Children's (Amazon says "Ages 4 and up")

36 pages

My first thought when Artie Bennett asked me to review Poopendous was, "Um. Yuck!" But, I wasn't actually all that sure about The Butt Book when I saw the title (same author, different artist) and it turned out to be an absolute riot. And, I do have a passion for children's picture books. Can you tell?

Poopendous begins by talking about how poop is kind of a disgusting subject, there are different names for it, and all creatures poop.

Poop is yucky, poop is foul.

Step in poop and you will howl.

To read this book, you must be strong.

Just hold your nose and come along.

There's a delightful illustration of a woman looking horrified about the poop on her shoe, a skunk holding his nose, a dog howling, a boy looking queasy and your guide, "Professor Pip Poopdeck" appearing perfectly calm. So cute.

After talking about names for poop, the fact that monkeys will fling it at you and your dog may make it very clear when he needs to go, the next thing described is the "styles" of poop - from tiny fly specks to giant hippo piles, round rabbit pellets to cube-shaped wombat poop.

Next up are the uses of poop. I had no idea termite mounds were made of termite poop! But, I did know poop is a way that seeds are carried. Whew! Didn't want to flunk, "Are you smarter than a preschooler?" Marking scent and trails, warning other creatures away and enriching soil, burning for cooking, used to seal and build homes (Mongol yurts sealed with yack dung; Masai huts that are made of cow dung) are mentioned, followed by such silly things as moose poop souvenirs (which we've laughed about in Alaska) and cowpie-flinging at county fairs.

The book ends on the following note:

Why should such wondrous stuff offend us?

Poop is TRULY quite . . .

POOPENDOUS!

My thoughts:

I love it! Educational, silly, rhythmically rhyming text and fun, colorful, goofy illustrations make Poopendous a rocking fine addition to a child's shelf. Recommended.

This is #2 for Children's Day. Two more reviews are forthcoming!