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Picture Book Round-up: A NZ Tale, Accessible Bio Book, Hilarious Owl and Anti-Victim Story

Posted on October 18, 2016 by gavyn

Place holds / search library shelves (possibly order…). This is such a good bunch of books.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Harold-and-Grace-Sean-E-Avery/9781925162295?ref=grid-view

Harold and Grace, Sean E Avery
Touching moral but also: surprising! I also enjoy integrated science teaching (focus: metamorphosis).

http://www.bookdepository.com/Snoozefest-Samanth-Berger/9780803740464

Snoozefest, Samatha Berger
Our younger readers didn’t enjoy this one as much as Esky (7), but I found it a treat. I have a thing for sloth books. This is the third one that’s made a round-up, haha.

http://www.bookdepository.com/I-Have-Little-Problem-Said-the-Bear-Silke-Leffler-Heinz-Janisch/9780735840942?ref=grid-view

“I Have a Little Problem,” said the bear, Heinz Janisch
Heavy but worthy moral, so good.

http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Secret-Keeper-of-Malding-Kate-Coombs-Heather-M-Solomon/9780689839634

The Secret Keeper, Kate Coombs
Heather M. Solomon’s illustrations are gorgeous and this original fairy tale feels like a folk classic. Loved.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Pearl-Barley-and-Charlie-Parsley-Aaron-Blabey/9781590785966?ref=grid-view

Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley, Aaron Blabey
We own another book about how differences aren’t a bad thing, in fact, friends who are different are interesting. This one’s better.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Silver-Buttons-Bob-Graham/9781406360882?ref=grid-view

Silver Buttons, Bob Graham
A lovely spotlight on the magic of the everyday.

Counting Lions, Katie Cotton, drawings by Stephen Walton
Irresistible rendering.

Elizabeth, Queen of Seas, Lynne Cox
A New Zealand story! Great afterward with photograph. I love this book.

Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise, Sean Taylor
Hahahaha.

Nadia: The girl who couldn’t sit still, Karlin Gray
I grew up watching the movie based on Nadia Comaneci. There is a lot to be taken from her story (including some things not to do). Whether you have aspiring gymnasts in your family or not, Nadia’s story of exceeding expectations and striving for perfection (and persistence when she fell short) translates well for other ambitions too. It was especially nice to read this soon after the Olympics, this year.

3, 2, 1, Go! Emily Arnold
Alongside Lila and the Crow, this is a really great anti-bullying tale. I love how this little elephant refuses to be a victim. This story is a swift one-two punch of awesome.

The Chicken Who Had a Toothache, Bénédicte Guettier
Even the title is funny. What a laugh.

What’s in the Witch’s Kitchen? Nick Sharratt
The “magic” changing pictures truly make this a delight.

Emily’s Balloon, Komako Sekai
Utterly gorgeous. Simple but so, so sweet.

Words are Categorical Series, Brian P. Cleary
We’ve worked through all the titles our library holds in this series (as well as the mammals and amphibians titles). They’re great. I think we’ll get them all out once a year to go-over.

There are no cats in this book, Viviane Schwarz
The girls loved this one.

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Picture Book Round-up: A Dirty Dog, Sloths, Reluctant Artists and Scrummy Fairytales +

Posted on October 17, 2016 by gavyn

http://www.bookdepository.com/Harry-the-Dirty-Dog-Gene-Zion-Margaret-Bloy-Graham/9780060842444?ref=grid-view

Harry the Dirty Dog, by Gene Zion
This one’s humour and tight little story is irresistible. Particularly fun in board book format.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Score-One-for-the-Sloths-Helen-Lester-Lynn-Munsinger/9780544324053?ref=grid-view

Score One for the Sloths, Helen Lester
This is pun-a-licious. The word-play was better appreciated by my 7-year-old than the 5 or 3-year-old. The illustrations are impressively hilarious yet impressive. Such a funny book.

http://www.bookdepository.com/You-Cant-Take-Balloon-in-the-Metropolitan-Museum-Jacqueline-Preiss-Weitzman-Robin-Preiss-Glasser/9780803723016?ref=grid-view

You Can’t Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum, Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman
The illustrator of Fancy Nancy’s talents are part of the magic of this wordless story. It’s one of the better ones of its kind, I’ve seen.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Keep-Love-in-Your-Heart-Little-One-Giles-Andreae-Clar-Vulliamy/9781846165108?ref=grid-view

Keep Love in Your Heart, Little One, Giles Andreae
Tuck-in tales filled with “I love you’s” in verse rarely do it for me. This one has something extra that places it a notch above the others.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Tiny-Miss-Dott-and-Her-Dotty-Umbrell-Michelle-Osment-Sarah-Anderson/9781869438982

Tiny Miss Dott and her Dotty Umbrella, Michelle Osment
This is international quality from our very own shores. Deserving of its award, and your time. A satisfying good-willed, semi-pay-it-forward circular.

http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Lion-and-the-Bird/9781592701513

The Lion and the Bird, Marianne Dubuc
We bought this one some time ago because of the sweet, gentle style of the story and its images. It is also surprising how much story is packed into the word-free pages. The publisher has been very generous with the page-count, and it’s paid off.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Birds-Kevin-Henkes-Laur-Dronzek/9780061363047?ref=grid-view

Birds, Kevin Henkes
More creative than the cover lets on. Lovely.

http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Dot-Peter-H-Reynolds/9781844281695?ref=grid-view

The Dot, Peter Reynolds
Sharp and sassy. Also a great story and lesson in one. Very modern style. We were sent this by a book fairy and it’s a prized part of our collection. (Also includes one of the coolest modern art exhibitions I’ve ever seen.)

What Happens Next? Tull Suwannakit
Fun fun fun illustrations, whimsical story, and built-in comprehension enquiry. Nice.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Hero-Cat-Eileen-Spinelli/9780761458371?ref=grid-view

Hero Cat, Eileen Spinelli
Spinelli knows just how to 100% engross my girls. They were hanging on every word of this adventure. It is not an animal’s talking story, but rather a well-told report based on a true heroic mother-cat. The magic is in the details.

http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Short-Giraffe-Neil-Flory-Mark-Cleary/9781743361566?ref=grid-view

The Short Giraffe, Neil Flory
Most of you have surely seen this one. Funny with a cool moral to boot.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Carmine-Meliss-Sweet/9780618997176?ref=grid-view

Carmine: A Little More Red, Melissa Sweet
What a clever, synonym-rich retelling — great for word-lovers and lovers-of-learning.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Sisters-are-for-Building-Sand-Harriet-Ziefert/9780140568509?ref=grid-view

Sisters are for Making Sand Castles, Harriet Ziefert
Surprisingly good. I pick up plenty of sister-books, admittedly, and this one has some nice specifics.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Rapunzel-Sarah-Gibb/9780007364800?ref=grid-view

Rapunzel, retold by Sarah Gibb
Nom nom nom! These illustrations! Delicious! It’s also a nice version of the Grimm tale. With the same illustrator…

The Princess Who Had No Kingdom, Ursula Jones
See above. Yum. I love spending time on each page. The story is also great. Since reading these two (Jones and Gibb) I’ve been spinning up a holds storm on the library site to get my hands on all the fairytales done in this style. Their a productive pair! Hoorah! These are the ones I’d want to own, if we’re going to collect Grimm…not Disney.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Running-Shoes-Frederick-Lipp/9781580891752?ref=grid-view

Running Shoes, Frederick Lipp
File this under “Good for first-worlders.”

Anton Can Do Magic, Ole Könnecke
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Charming/

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My Lady Jane — Favourite

Posted on October 11, 2016 by gavyn

My Lady Jane, Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
This was so much fun. AND…*drumroll*…this is my favourite read of 2016!

The pun-laden silliness of this tremendously fun book is what I imagine the musical show Galavant was hoping to achieve — a mish-mosh of meta, intelligence, fantasy and frivolity. It reminds me of The Princess Bride movie and Ella Enchanted book. It might be described as Silly Historical Magical Fiction, as a sub-genre; lots of tongue-in-cheek. There are only one or two jokes I thought failed too wholly land with me, but because I was smiling every. page. it was a very amusing book with a few less funny moments (rather than comedy that was grasping).
It is more risqué than Ella Enchanted but about the same as The Princess Bride film, which is to say there are euphemisms and low level sensual interests (a longing to kiss and some admiration of appearances), but no crossing of the line. I really, really appreciated how well this was handled. (It’s much more appropriate for younger readers than The Princess Bride book.)
There are multiple points of view (and this is written by multiple authors!) but I never had a problem with it. I enjoyed each perspective plenty. There are even fourth wall interruptions, and I like them! They match the tone and tale so well I forgave and even enjoyed them!
There is some hat-tipping within that an unkind reader might mistake for lazy/uncreative borrowing, but I give these three lasses a lot more credit than that. They know when they’ve alluded and they’ve been intentional in showing they know when a moment feels derivative. I liked that too.
The characters are fantastic.

Overall, this was such a fun read. More than once I checked my progress and thought, “Please go on! DO NOT END!” I will read it again. I can’t wait for my girls to read it. I’m so happy to make this a part of our family collection.

Review copy received from Walker. Thank you, Emma, for giving me a heads up I should watch out for it.

P.S. Here’s another cover. I like both covers a lot.