Review of Mr. Wuffles! by David Wiesner

Animal Characters, Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

Mr. Wuffles!

by David Wiesner

Clarion Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Boston, 2013. 32 pages.
Starred Review
2013 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #8 Picture Books

How does he think these things up? Three-time Caldecott winner David Wiesner knows how to tell a story with pictures, and they usually have a surreal element. This one is no exception.

Mr. Wuffles is a black and white cat. On the title page he walks past toys bought for him with all the nonchalance a cat can express. But one little metal sphere is not a toy. We zoom in to see aliens peering out through a window.

Unfortunately for them, Mr. Wuffles notices them, plays with the spaceship, and damages it. Now the aliens must go on a quest to repair their spaceship – with help from some friendly insects who live in a hole in the wall and also fear the cat.

The whole adventure is wonderfully done, and kids will love noticing the details and telling you what’s happening. The aliens speak with one another – but their words are expressed with speech bubbles containing strange shapes, emphasizing that they are speaking another language. The insects speak with a series of splotches. I love the primitive “cave paintings” on inside of the wall. The aliens add to this to communicate their predicament and get help.

After they repair their spaceship part, they must get it to their ship and get the ship away, all without being captured by Mr. Wuffles. And the human who lives in the house is oblivious to it all. The book ends with the insects commemorating the story of what happened in pictures on their wall.

You and your kids will want to examine this book many times to catch the details. Another brilliant offering from a picture book genius.

hmhbooks.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of Frog Trouble, by Sandra Boynton

Animal Characters, Audiobooks, Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Frog Trouble
And Eleven Other Pretty Serious Songs
Songs and illustrations by Sandra Boynton

Workman Publishing Company, New York, 2013. 64 pages. CD included.
Starred Review

Another book of songs by Sandra Boynton! Frog Trouble is a collection of country music songs, with completely fun lyrics. I’m not a country music fan, so I didn’t know of the performers ahead of time, but all the songs are performed by different groups, and the result is delightful and hilarious.

The title song is about the “one thing that gets a Cowboy down. It’s the kind of trouble that we’ve got in this town – Frog Trouble. Hmm-mm.” There are songs about a dog, about trucks, about the heartache of having to clean your room. She always seems to include a love song appropriate for singing to your child, and in this case it’s “Beautiful Baby.” “Alligator Stroll” includes dance instructions, and I challenge you to listen to it without at least tapping your feet.

I listened to the entire CD twice through on a long drive, and it kept me smiling all the way with its clever word play and serious silliness. Good music, too!

Makes me wish I had a little one in the house to have an excuse to buy this book and CD and play it over and over. As it is, this may be my Christmas gift choice for families with a little one, because everyone in the family is sure to enjoy it.

sandraboynton.com
workman.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/frog_trouble.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of Maude, The Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton, by Lauren Child and Trisha Krauss

Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Maude

The Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton

by Lauren Child
illustrated by Trisha Krauss

Candlewick Press, 2013. First published in the United Kingdom in 2012. 32 pages.
Starred Review

Maude Shrimpton is part of a family who loves to be noticed. Each member of the Shrimpton family is “so talented, so eccentric, so larger than life . . . you just couldn’t miss them even if you wanted to.”

Well, each member — except Maude.

In all the pictures, Maude’s clothes blend in with whatever she’s standing in front of. (These are positively brilliant!) “When Maude crossed the street, she had to dodge cars.” We see her dress striped exactly like the crosswalk. “She moved so inconspicuously that when she performed in her school play, people thought she was part of the scenery.”

When Maude’s birthday approaches, all she wants, all she asks for, is a goldfish.

Her family, however, seizes on the “gold” part of that word — and gets her a tiger. They love strolling along the boulevard with a giant cat, making everyone stare.

However, when they run out of tiger food, well, it becomes apparent that “Sometimes, just sometimes, not being noticeable is the very best talent of all.”

Let’s just say that I will be posting this book on my “Someone Gets Eaten” Pinterest Board. (Why are picture books where someone gets eaten just so much fun?) I’m trying to decide if it’s too brutal for storytime, but I think I can get away with it at the family storytime. Any violence is off-page, and, after all, there’s that great message that sometimes it’s a good thing to be inconspicuous!

And it’s all magnificently carried out and just plain fun.

candlewick.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/maude.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of Not Your Typical Dragon, by Dan Bar-el and Tim Bowers

Delightfully Silly, Fantasy, Picture Book Review 0

Not Your Typical Dragon

by Dan Bar-el
illustrated by Tim Bowers

Viking, 2013. 40 pages.

Big thanks to my co-worker, Kim, for booktalking this book at the elementary schools this year. Watching the Kindergarten and 1st grade classes roar with laughter just at the description, I had to take a closer look.

Crispin Blaze was born into a proud family of fire-breathing dragons.
“Every Blaze breathes fire,” explained his father. “I breathe fire. Your mother breathes fire. Tomorrow, when you turn seven, you’ll breathe fire, too.”

But when Crispin tries to light the birthday candles on his cake, he feels a tingling in his tummy, but fire does not come out. Instead, he breathes out whipped cream!

Crispin’s parents take him to the doctor, and there he breathes out band-aids. The doctor gives him medicine, but Crispin continues to breathe out silly (but oddly appropriate) things. As they seem more and more outrageous, each one is good for a laugh.

Crispin meets a knight who has been told he needs to fight a fire-breathing dragon. They work on the situation together. Things get a little hot, but there’s a lovely solution at the end, and Crispin and his family get to embrace the fact that he’s not your typical dragon.

The message of not necessarily meeting family expectations, but embracing who you are, is an old one. This book puts that message in a funny and fresh package.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/not_your_typical_dragon.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of Little Nelly’s Big Book, by Pippa Goodhart and Andy Rowland

Animal Characters, Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review 0

Little Nelly’s Big Book

by Pippa Goodhart
illustrated by Andy Rowland

Bloomsbury, New York, 2012. 32 pages.

This book makes me laugh. Little Nelly, whom we can see is an elephant, looks in a book and learns that she is a mouse. She is gray. She has big ears. She has a skinny tail.

Nelly goes to find other mice in their home behind the wall, and they aren’t so sure, but they welcome her among them and are very kind.

Now, Granny Mouse looks on her computer and she says, “I found out that there are other mice like you. Most of them live far away, but some live in a zoo nearby.” Nelly and her friends move in with the Zoo Mice.

When Little Nelly’s actual mouse friend Micky looks in her book and learns that he’s really an elephant, we get the moral of the story:

Which just goes to show why books should always have pictures.

Kids are sure to enjoy this fun story of mistaken identity. They will get wholeheartedly behind the moral, too.

bloomsburykids.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/little_nellys_big_book.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of Robomop, by Sean Taylor and Edel Rodriguez

Contemporary, Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Robomop

by Sean Taylor
pictures by Edel Rodriguez

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2013. 40 pages.
Starred Review

This book is too fun. It’s a story of a Robomop with personality. He works cleaning a bathroom in a basement. He is completely stuck, because Robomops can’t get up stairs.

He comes up with clever plans to try to escape. Run over a potato chip wrapper so it sticks in his vent and makes an awful noise. Try to hide in a man’s duffel bag. Dance to the honky-tonk music the window washer plays, in hopes someone will sell him to the circus.

But they didn’t.
Oh dear. I was completely gloomy, and in a sad pickle.
How was I ever going to see the world, feel the sunshine, and fall in love?
I was stuck down there, well and truly, with an awful case of Robomop-basement-bathroom-blues.

But when the Inspector of Public Restrooms brings in a brand-new Bio-Morphic Bellebot Cleanerette, the Robomop finally leaves the basement restroom – to land in a trash can. But that’s not the end for him, and the happy ending is lovely.

The pictures in this book are done with print-making and a few muted hues, looking vaguely old-fashioned. The expressions are choice, and the picture when Robomop gets so excited at meeting the Cleanerette is sure to elicit roars of laughter. “I was overcome with excitement, so much that I had an odd small accident.” (He’s upside-down in a toilet.)

This book holds a story with a beginning, middle, and end that includes a character readers won’t soon forget.

seantaylorstories.com
edelrodriguez.com
drawger.com/edel
penguin.com/youngreaders

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/robomop.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of Crankee Doodle, by Tom Angleberger and Cece Bell

Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review 0

Crankee Doodle

by Tom Angleberger
pictures by Cece Bell

Clarion Books, New York, 2013. 32 pages.

This one is just silly.

There are so many parts of the song “Yankee Doodle” that don’t make any sense. Turns out, they didn’t make sense to Yankee Doodle himself.

Here’s a section where he’s talking to his pony, who wants to go to town, and suggests he buy a feather for his hat:

First of all, why would I want to call my hat macaroni? I don’t want to call my hat anything! It’s just a hat! Second of all, why would putting a feather in my hat turn it into macaroni? It would still be a hat, not macaroni! Look at this hat! Does it look almost like macaroni to you? I don’t care how many feathers you put in it, it’s still just a hat. And besides, I don’t even like macaroni!

This picture book isn’t really for the preschool set, but for young school-age kids who may have wondered a few things about that silly song. But here’s hoping it doesn’t make them as cranky as this guy gets!

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/crankee_doodle.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of Fortunately, the Milk, by Neil Gaiman

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Delightfully Silly, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Fortunately, the Milk

by Neil Gaiman
illustrated by Skottie Young

Harper, 2013. 113 pages.
Starred Review

This beginning chapter book made me smile on every page. The book is essentially a tall tale told by a father about what happened when he went to the store for milk for his children’s cereal. Fortunately, the milk saved the world.

Along the way, he gets beamed into a flying saucer, meets the Queen of the Pirates, walks a plank, and travels with a time-traveling stegosaurus who invented the Button.

It’s all very silly, yet logical; very outrageous, yet matter-of-fact. And the father nobly goes through all the adventures to get milk for his children.

“Well,” I told him, “it was very lucky for me that you turned up when you did and rescued me. I am slightly lost in space and time right now and need to get home in order to make sure my children get milk for their breakfast.”

This is easy to read, but is enjoyable for any age audience. No dumbing down here! Kids ready for chapter books will be richly rewarded when they tackle this book, which includes time travel paradoxes and great silliness.

mousecircus.com
skottieyoung.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/fortunately_the_milk.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy loaned to me by my friend Kristin. (Thank you!)

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers.

Review of Lulu Walks the Dogs, by Judith Viorst

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Delightfully Silly 0

Lulu Walks the Dogs

by Judith Viorst
illustrated by Lane Smith

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2012. 145 pages.

Another book about the irrepressible Lulu! She’s back, and although she no longer throws temper tantrums, “she’s still a girl who wants what she wants when she wants it.” In this book, she wants something that requires a lot of money, so she decides to start a dog-walking business. How hard could it be?

Actually, Lulu takes a whole chapter to decide her job. Here’s how it goes:

Well, maybe you already know and maybe you don’t. Because maybe Lulu first decided her jobs — or job — should be baking cookies, or spying, or reading to old people, and then those jobs did not turn out too well. And maybe instead of writing a chapter about how those jobs did not turn out too well, I’m moving right along to Chapter Four.

This book begs to be read aloud, especially with all the authorial asides, but it’s too long for storytime. It would make a fabulous bedtime book. The chapters are short, and it’s also a perfect beginning chapter book, with wonderful illustrations to entertain you as you go.

Lulu’s nemesis is Fleischman, the goody-goody boy down the block. So when walking the dogs doesn’t turn out to be as easy as Lulu thought, she above all doesn’t want to accept help from Fleischman, but that is her only recourse.

This book is about friendship and annoyingly perfect people and accepting help and lots of silliness about dogs who are sensitive about their names or only speak German, and it is a whole lot of fun.

lanesmithbooks.com
KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/lulu_walks_the_dogs.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Olivia and the Fairy Princess

Animal Characters, Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Olivia and the Fairy Princesses

by Ian Falconer

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York, 2012. 36 pages.
Starred Review

Dare I say it? I hadn’t yet been won over into an Olivia fan. But when I read Olivia and the Fairy Princesses, something hit me, and I like this pig. This is no Eloise knock-off celebrating being naughty. This is a little girl pig with style and originality.

Olivia is depressed. She explains to her parents:

“That’s the problem,” said Olivia. “All the girls want to be princesses.”

“At Pippa’s birthday party, they were all dressed in big, pink ruffly skirts with sparkles and little crowns and sparkly wands. Including some of the boys.

“I chose a simple French sailor shirt, matador pants, black flats, a strand of pearls, sunglasses, a red bag, and my gardening hat.”

She has some perfectly legitimate questions:

“Why is it always a pink princess? Why not an Indian princess or a princess from Thailand or an African princess or a princess from China?

“There are alternatives.”

I love Olivia’s solution on Halloween. Everyone else dressed as a princess. She dressed as a warthog. “It was very effective.”

Olivia’s eventual decision of what she’d like to be is the perfect capstone.

Part of what makes this book so much fun are some throwaway lines and images. For example, there’s an extra pig in the mirror who’s not in the classroom. I like the busy family page, with the dog bringing a ball to Olivia. Then there’s Olivia struggling with her outfit, mirroring the modern art hanging in her room. But my favorite is, superimposed on an image of Versailles, Olivia saying, “Or I could be a reporter and expose corporate malfeasance.”

This book simply made me laugh. While at the same time making a valid point. And Olivia’s most interesting logic is the perfect touchstone for some interesting conversations with little girls, and some boys, all across the world.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/olivia_and_the_fairy_princesses.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.