Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
King Jack and the Dragon by Peter Bently and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (Dial Books, 2011) fits in my self-imposed description of a perfect picture book: the text and the pictures are both required to tell the full story. Jack, Zack, and Jack’s baby brother Caspar are knights fighting dragons, planning to spend all night in their
A Few Blocks by Cybele Young (Groundwood Books, 2011) tells the story of two kids walking a few blocks to school. Walking to school seems like it would be a boring premise, but Ferdie and Viola’s imagination sees them through. Each time the two kids enter their imaginative world, they leave the black-and-white everyday scene behind and
Doodleday by Ross Collins (Albert Whitman & Company, 2011) is about an imaginative day gone completely wrong, despite a young boy’s best efforts to make it right. Before his mom left, Harvey was warned not to draw because it was “Doodleday.” Of course, not knowing what Doodleday is, Harvey drew anyway, only to find that his crayon
Perfect Square by Michael Hall (Greenwillow, 2011) is a book my son (currently 4) and I discovered a few months ago before the Cybils even began. Whenever he sees it on a shelf in the library he calls out in excitement, “Look, Mommy! The Perfect Square book!” (And somehow, we keep seeing it everywhere!) In Perfect Square, a
A visit to the beach gets a bit confused in When a Dragon Moves In by Jodi Moore and illustrated by Howard McWilliam (Flashlight Press, 2011). This book is a warning for all those children who make perfect sandcastles, for a dragon is certain to move into it! As the little boy plays in the sand, the dragon
An un-pictured artist has been working on a simple painting of a barn and animals in Blue Chicken by Deborah Freedman (Viking, 2011). The almost-finished painting, however, has a creative chicken that decides to help finish the painting once the artist is away. Climbing out of the picture, she only succeeds in making a big
My Bear Griz by Suzanne McGinness (Frances Lincoln, 2011) captures Billy’s friendship with his bear Griz, who is, of course, a grizzly bear. My Bear Griz is a wonderfully oversized book with just a few words on each page. This just makes it plain fun for examining the pictures, which are watercolor and pen, as well as
Light Up the Night by Jean Reidy (and illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine; Disney Hyperion, 2011) is the story of a young child recognizing his place in the universe. The boy imagines he flies in a rocket to see the night stars in his universe. He introduces us the planets of his universe, then the earth, then
The Twin’s Blanket by Hyewon Yum (Frances Foster Books, 2011) captures the pains of growing up for two look-alike twins that have always shared a bed and a blanket. Now that they are big, they need their own blankets, which leads to new difficulties and quarrels. The childish tone of the two girls’ narration gives
Jerry Pinkney’s illustrations are always sure to be a winning set, and those in Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Little, Brown, 2011) are no exception. Pinkney weaves the words of Jane Taylor’s familiar children’s rhyme in with the creative imaginative adventures of a sleepy chipmunk. As the chipmunk climbs the foliage, he soars through the sky on a
Naamah and the Ark at Night by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (illustrated by Holly Meade; Candlewick, 2011) captures the tradition of Noah and the flood by focusing on Noah’s wife in the evening calming the animals. Tradition suggests her name may have been “Naamah,” which means “great singer,” and Susan Campbell Bartoletti builds on that tradition by
The Big Snuggle-Up by Brian Patten (illustrated by Nicola Bayley; Kane Miller, 2011) is a story of a young child inviting a scarecrow in from the cold on a snowy evening. After the scarecrow comes in, the other animals outside want to come in and get warm too. As the evening settles, a crowd of animals,
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