Picture books

The Red Bicycle: The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Bicycle by Jude Isabella, illustrated by Simone Shin

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Kids Can Press

Summary: Leo works hard to save money to buy himself a red bicycle. When he outgrows it, he doesn’t want to just throw it away. The owner of the bike shop tells Leo about an organization that sends bikes to Africa. Leo puts in a full day packing bikes into a shipping crate, finishing with his own. The crate is shipped to Burkina Faso, where a girl named Alisetta uses it to help her family move goods to market and make more money. A few years later, a pig tramples the spokes of one of the wheels, and Alisetta must get a new bike. Fortunately, a man from a health clinic rescues the bike and fixes it up to use as an ambulance. At the end of the story, the bike has come to the end of that journey as well, but we can hope it will find a new incarnation. The last couple pages tell readers about organizations that will use their old bikes in this way, and gives some information about Burkina Faso. Grades 3-7.

Pros: This book is part of the Citizen Kid series of books, which claims to “inform children about the world and inspire them to be better global citizens”.  The Red Bicycle succeeds on both counts by showing kids how the simple act of donating a bike can make a big difference in the lives of many people around the world.

Cons: Okay, this is the third book this month whose font seemed too small to me. Guess it’s time to get that bifocal prescription taken care of.

Boats for Papa by Jessixa Bagley

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Published by Roaring Brook Press

Summary: “Buckley and his mama lived in a small wooden house by the sea. They didn’t have much, but they always had each other.” Buckley’s dad is absent, and Buckley misses him. He likes to make boats, and one day he gets the idea to send a boat with a note on it, “For Papa, Love, Buckley”. For a whole year, starting on his birthday, he designs, builds, and sends boats to sea, all for Papa. On his next birthday, he has a boat all ready when he realizes he hasn’t written a note. He goes inside to get paper from his mother’s desk. When he looks inside, he finds all the boats he has ever sent. That evening, when his mother goes to retrieve the most recent boat from the seaweed where it has drifted, she finds a note reading, “For Mama, Love, Buckley”. Ages 4-9.

Pros: This book deals with loss and love with a beautiful simplicity. Papa’s absence is never explained, which makes the story relevant to any child who has lost someone they love. The beautiful watercolors of the beach are worthy of Caldecott consideration.

Cons: This is not a book to rush. Allow plenty of time for discussion.

Wednesday Wrap-Up: Science Picture Books

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In a previous life, I was the librarian at the Museum of Science in Boston, so I kind of have a thing for children’s science books.  Happily, there are lots of good ones so far this year.  The great thing about science picture books is that they’re for everyone.  Adults may find them just right to get a good introduction to a difficult topic.

A Nest is Noisy by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long.  Published by Chronicle Books.

This author-illustrator team has produced another work of art about nature.  Packed with fascinating facts about all kinds of animals’ nests and gorgeously illustrated, plan on spending a lot of time poring over this book.

Egg: Nature’s Perfect Package by Robin Page, illustrated by Steve Jenkins.  Published by HMH Books for Young Readers.

Just in case you’re wondering about what goes inside all those nests.  Another winning author-illustrator team, with phenomenally detailed cut paper illustrations and lots of amazing facts about all different kinds of eggs.

A Chicken Followed Me Home! : Questions and Answers About a Familiar Fowl by Robin Page.  Published by Beach Lane Books.

Apparently, Robin Page spent some time recently contemplating the whole chicken/egg question, because two months after Eggs was published, this book about chickens came out.  A book about chickens sounds like it would be kind of dull.  It’s not.

Water Is Water: A Book About the Water Cycle by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Jason Chin.  Published by Roaring Brook Press.

Here’s the perfect example of a book that explains a scientific concept in the simplest terms.  The illustrations by Jason Chin are lovely, and portray children in everyday situations interacting with water in all its various forms.

Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre.  Published by Beach Lane Books

And speaking of the water cycle….  The amazing photographs in this book of things you might find in your backyard (flowers, birds, trees) will encourage readers to slow down and observe the world around them.

One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of Gambia by Miranda Paul, illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon

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 Published by Millbrook Press

Summary: When Isatou Ceesay first discovers a plastic bag lying on the ground of her Gambian village, she is impressed with how light and strong it is for carrying things. Years later, she learns that goats are dying from eating plastic bags, and she starts noticing the bags are creating piles of nasty-smelling trash that collect water and attract mosquitoes. When she sees her sister crocheting, Isatou gets an idea. Before long, she’s assembled a team of Gambian women to crochet plastic from the bags into purses that they sell at the market. Proceeds from the sales can be used to improve life for all in Isatou’s village. Includes an author’s note about the real Isatou, a glossary and pronunciation guide of Gambian words, a timeline, and additional resources. Grades 1-4.

Pros: An inspiring, true-life story about the power of an ordinary person to make a difference. The illustrations are a mix of paintings and collage, and every African woman’s dress is a gorgeous print.

Cons:  Ceesay (Isatou’s last name) and the name of her village, Njau, aren’t included in the pronunciation guide.

This Is Sadie by Sara O’Leary, illustrated by Julie Morstad. Published by Tundra Books.

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Published by Tundra Books

 

Summary: This is Sadie, sailing in a boat made from a cardboard box. And this is Sadie, being a mermaid in the pool with her friends. And checking her back to make sure her wings are in place. And chatting with the birds at the top of a tree. The days aren’t long enough for Sadie to do and make and pretend all the things she thinks up. More than anything, Sadie likes stories, “because you can make them from nothing at all.”  Ages 3-8.

Pros: This brief and beautifully illustrated book is a celebration of a young child’s imagination.

Cons: Sadie seems like an all-too-rare phenomenon: a child who can entertain herself without ever having to plug something in.

Little Miss, Big Sis by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

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 Published by HarperCollins

Summary: Little Miss is excited to be a big sis. Told entirely in brief rhyming couplets (“Sleep. Fuss. Eat. Repeat.”), the story follows Little Miss from the revelation of the big news through the first year or so of the new baby’s life. Little Miss proves to be a fabulous big sister, helping to stop tears and for the most part ignore little annoyances as the baby gets old enough to play. It looks like many happy years ahead as the book ends with a picture of Little Miss passing a love note from her top bunk to the baby on the bottom one.

Pros: Rosenthal and Reynolds team up for another winning picture book, putting a rosy spin on getting a new baby in the house.

Cons: The book doesn’t explore any of the less positive feelings associated with a new baby in the house.

High Tide for Horseshoe Crabs by Lisa Kahn Schnell, illustrated by Alan Marks

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Published by Charlesbridge

Summary: Every spring, millions of horseshoe crabs flock to the shores of the Delaware Bay. As they have done since before the time of the dinosaurs, the crabs lay their eggs in the sand. Meanwhile, flocks of different types of birds make their way to these same shores as they migrate to the Arctic. They are hungry and weak on their arrival, and the horseshoe crab eggs are packed with fat and protein. They feast on the eggs, sometimes doubling their body size in just a few weeks. Many eggs remain, though, buried in the sand until the birds have continued on their way. Then, tiny crabs the size of ladybugs hatch and swim into the sea. People come from all over to watch and study this chapter in the lives of the horseshoe crabs and the birds. Grades K-4.

Pros: Having spent many summers in Cape May, New Jersey, I can remember finding the remains of horseshoe crabs on the beach. I never suspected the fascinating story behind these ancient looking creatures. This book makes science accessible to even the youngest students. The story is clearly written and beautifully illustrated, and the end material gives more interesting information. Readers will want to study the labeled drawings on the end papers.

Cons: I didn’t really understand the page that simply said, “It’s happening!” which seemed to connote an exciting event that wasn’t quite clear to me.

Night Animals by Gianna Marino

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Published by Viking Books for Young Readers 

Summary: Possum is scared. He warns Skunk that they’d better hide from the night animals. Before long, they’re joined by a nervous wolf (“Help me!” “Help YOU?! You’re a wolf!”), and then by a bear. When a shadow appears across the moon, all four animals freak out until they realize it’s just a bat. The bat asks them why they’re so scared; when they tell him it’s because of the night animals, he tells them, “You ARE night animals!” That reassures them until they come across some campers in a tent. The campers and the animals manage to scare each other, and each group runs off in opposite directions. Ages 3-8.

Pros: Cartoon bubbles keep the dialogue short and funny. The white parts of the animals, including their big round eyes, seem to glow in the dark against the black background. Anyone who has ever been told, “They’re just as afraid of you as you are of them” will surely appreciate this book.

Cons: The interesting facts about each animal are printed on the back of the dust jacket, which make them inaccessible on library books.

Wrap-Up Wednesday: Rhyming Picture Books

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As I’m approaching 150 books reviewed so far this year, I thought it might be fun to revisit some of my favorites.  Every Wednesday will now be “Wrap-Up Wednesday” where I provide a wrap-up of a few of my favorites in a chosen category.  This week I was reviewing all the picture books I’ve reviewed, and I realized all my favorite read-alouds are rhyming books.  Publishers often caution picture book authors against writing rhyming stories.  Thank goodness these authors didn’t listen. I’ve kid-tested most of these, and they passed with flying colors!

 Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld.  Published by HMH Books for Young Readers.

The kindergarten teachers at my school beat me to the punch and  read this to their classes before I could.  No matter; the kids all loved hearing it again.  Stick and Stone beat bullying, shyness, and a ferocious storm to form a friendship that’s a perfect 10.

Monkey and Duck Quack Up! by Jennifer Hamburg, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham.  Published by Scholastic Press

Okay, maybe not the most thought-provoking choice, but the rhymes are way catchy, and the joke of the last page made me  laugh.

Everybody Sleeps (But Not Fred) by Josh Schneider.  Published by Clarion Books.

This is the only one I haven’t tried out on kids, but I’ve got to believe they would love it.  Best of all (in my opinion), it has sly humor that will entertain the parents as well.

Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Meg Hunt.  Published by Chronicle Books

I’m in awe of people who write good fractured fairy tales.  And the ones who can do it in rhyme…I have no words.

Ninja Bunny by Jennifer Gray Olson

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Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Summary:  Rule number one for a ninja bunny:  a super awesome ninja must always work alone.  So the bunny goes forth alone, working his way through the next nine rules with mixed success.  With Rule 10: “A super awesome ninja must battle anyone anywhere anytime alone”, he finds himself face to face with a ferocious bear.  Fortunately, the rest of the bunnies have ignored Rule 1, and are right behind him, ready to rush in with ninja-like ferocity and scare that bear away.  On the final page, there’s been a change: “Rule 1: A super awesome ninja needs super awesome friends!”  Ages 3-7.

Pros:  You can’t go wrong with ninjas, and this book comes with a good message about friendship.

Cons:  The hit with the rake looks painful.