Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The cartoon-like illustrations in Julia’s House for Lost Creatures by Ben Hatke (First Second Books, September 2014) perfectly match the child-like imaginative story. It begins with fantastic personification: Julie’s house came to town and settled by the sea. And Julia is obviously not a normal girl, for when she decides to open her home to lost
Wait, is that snow I see outside? Nope, it’s the sprinkler and kiddie pool. But nevertheless, it’s time for a Christmas in July book review! Santa Clauses by Bob Raczka (Carolrhoda Books, September 2014) is a great book for the upcoming holiday season. With 25 different haiku poems, Santa prepares himself and his workshop for the
When you think of anthropomorphic bugs, you don’t often think of them riding a bike. Even in Pig and Small (which I reviewed a few weeks ago), the bug is unable to bike ride. He’s a bit too small. But in Bug on a Bike by Chris Monroe (Carolrhoda Books, October 2014) the bug has
Starring Me and You by Geneviève Côté (Kids Can Press, March 2014) and Goodnight, You by Geneviève Côté (September 2014) are the two most recent books in the adorable Piggy and Bunny series, this time focusing on putting on a play and having a nighttime camp out, respectively. In all the books in this series,
There Was an Old Sailor by Claire Saxby and Cassandra Allen (Kids Can Press, March 2014) is a delightful rendition of the “old lady who swallowed a fly” song, this time featuring a sailor on the sea. In this tale, the old man swallows a krill, a jellyfish, and more, leading up to a shark
Pigs by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko (Annick Press, February 2014) is a hilarious look at an escaped pen of pigs. The pigs follow Megan to school, get her into trouble, and even drive the school bus home. In the beginning, Megan’s father warns her not to open the pig pen. She, of course, dares
The Other Bears by Michael Thompson (Star Bright Books, October 2013) is a simple tale of prejudice being overcome by friendship, except this is a somewhat silly picture book about bears! The koala bear family (who technically are not bears at all but marsupials) are busy enjoying their day at the beach when other families
Are You Sleeping, Little One? by Hans-Christian Schmidt and Cynthia Vance (Abbeville Press, August 2012) shows various illustrated animals in various stages of getting ready for sleep with a soft and gentle rhyme. The repeated words “Are you sleeping?” on each page provided a sense of continuity that my daughter simply loved. I appreciated the fact that
It’s always fun when picture books play on words to get your attention. When my son (age 5) first started reading Pig and Small by Alex Latimer (Peachtree, August 2014), he commented, “The author should have called this book Big and Small because Pig is big and the bug is small! They are opposites.” He
What is better than a fun story about hundreds of little animals (like 999 Tadpoles)? What is better than a Where’s Waldo search? Try 100 Hungry Monkeys by Masayuki Sebe (Kids Can Press, 2014)! In this story, 100 hungry monkeys need something to eat, so they start looking for it and they end up having an adventure.
One delightful aspect of children’s picture books is that the impossibilities become possible. In If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Colin Jack (Tundra Books, May 2014), the illustrator and author create a number of what-ifs out of the impossibility of actually having a dinosaur as a pet. It is
The Simples Love a Picnic by J.C. Phillips (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 2014) is so much fun! It is a story of a family going on a picnic in the park. But of course, parks have lots of undesirables…squirrels, ants, and too many people playing sports. This was a picnic trip that I could relate to:
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