Review of A Seed Grows, by Antoinette Portis

Children's Nonfiction Review, Contemporary, Good for the Very Young, Picture Book Review, Science, Starred Review 0

A Seed Grows

by Antoinette Portis

Neal Porter Books (Holiday House), 2022. 36 pages.
Review written August 30, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

As I write this review, I’m still deciding whether to put it on my Picture Books page or my Children’s Nonfiction page as an example of beginning nonfiction for the very very youngest listeners. I think I will put it on the Picture Books page, because this is the kind of book I’d love to use in a story time or to read to a small child on my lap, and I don’t usually look on the Nonfiction page for such books.

In fact, for years, I’ve kept my eyes open for picture books with very few words on a page to use for Toddler story times and their shorter attention spans. Even though I’m not doing story times any more (with my new awesome job as Youth Materials Selector), I have to point out that this book would be perfect for that — and it teaches little ones about the life cycle of plants in a way they can understand, so it would also work for a STEM story time.

There are few words on a page and they’re short and sweet, and the bright, colorful illustrations use simple shapes. Here’s how the book starts out:

A seed falls

[That’s on a white background. The facing page shows one striped sunflower seed falling against a blue background.]

and settles into the soil

[Now we see the same blue background with a stripe of brown at the bottom and the seed sitting on top of that.]

and the sun shines

[Now the facing picture is a big round sun.]

and the rain comes down

[Now the picture side has raindrops filling the page.]

and the seed sprouts

I think by now you get the idea. Very simple language and simple, colorful pictures show the entire process of a sunflower growing. When it grows to its full height, the page folds upward to show how tall it gets.

After the sunflower blooms, it makes seeds which birds take to their nests. Eventually, to end the book, a seed falls. And we’re back to where we started.

Three pages at the back give more information for readers a little bit older, including a diagram of the life cycle of a sunflower plant.

This book is simple, but the bright blue and yellow colors leave me smiling.

antoinetteportis.com
HolidayHouse.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but 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.

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Review of A Spoonful of Frogs, by Casey Lyall, illustrated by Vera Brosgol

Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

A Spoonful of Frogs

written by Casey Lyall
illustrated by Vera Brosgol

Greenwillow Books, 2022. 36 pages.
Review written September 21, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

I’m a big fan of the art of Caldecott Honor illustrator Vera Brosgol, and this picture book is full of her signature humor and charm.

In the set-up, we’ve got a nicely-dressed witch appearing on a cooking show, “Bewitching Kitchen,” demonstrating how to make “a witch’s favorite treat” — Frog Soup. After all the other ingredients go into the cauldron:

The last and most important ingredient is a spoonful of frogs.

This will add a kick of flavor and a pop of color.

But it turns out that getting frogs to stay on a spoon is not an easy task. And that’s what the majority of the book is about — chasing frogs, trying to get them on the spoon, with the frogs hopping every which way. When she thinks she finally has them — well, things don’t work out.

And it’s all good silly fun. Lots and lots of opportunities for Vera Brosgol to insert her wonderful visual humor.

Even though I don’t work in a library branch any more, I still look at a book like this and see wonderful opportunities for story time. I predict this will get a roomful of preschoolers or Kindergartners laughing.

Like Frog Soup, I recommend that you enjoy this book with friends.

caseylyall.com
verabee.com
harpercollinschildrens.com

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Review of The Legend of Iron Purl, by Tao Nyeu

Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

The Legend of Iron Purl

by Tao Nyeu

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2022. 48 pages.
Review written September 7, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Okay, how can I possibly resist a picture book about a knitting superhero? Especially one packed full with Tao Nyeu’s adorably cute fuzzy animals?

In this book, Granny Fuzz (a mole), tells stories to a bunch of little furries about the amazing Iron Purl, who singlehandedly fixed the wrongdoing of the outlaw Bandit Bob.

And Iron Purl does it with super fast knitting! She knits the bad bats into cocoons, stopping their plundering, and talks them into making a farm of their own. When there’s a fire at the carnival in a tree, soggy yarn balls put it out, and yarn helps rescue a little one in trouble, with knitted nets for anyone who needs to jump. Every time Bandit Bob tries to make mischief, Iron Purl’s knitting always saves the day.

But then comes the showdown!

Much to Iron Purl’s surprise, Bandit Bob was also skilled in the yarn arts. She had met her match, and she welcomed the challenge.

Of course there’s a happy resolution. But it’s all such silly good fun!

Every home that includes a knitter and children needs this book.

taonyeu.com

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Review of I’ll Go and Come Back, by Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Sara Palacios

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

I’ll Go and Come Back

by Rajani LaRocca
illustrated by Sara Palacios

Candlewick Press, 2022. 36 pages.
Review written April 23, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

I’ll Go and Come Back is a lovely picture book telling two parallel stories. First, a girl and her parents fly across the world to India “to see aunties and uncles, cousin-brothers and cousin-sisters, and Sita Pati.”

At first, she feels lonely when her cousins are in school. It’s all so different. She wants to go home.

But even though they don’t speak the same language, she and her Sita Pati do fun things together, filling the time with love and joy.

When it was time to go home, I didn’t want to. I held Pati’s hand with its soft, soft skin. Her sari rustled and smelled of silk. “Goodbye,” I said.

“Poitu variya?” asked Sita Pati. “Will you go and come?”

And I remembered that no one in India just said “goodbye.” “I’ll go and come back,” I said. “Poitu varen.”

Then it’s Sita Pati’s turn to visit. The next summer, she visits the family in America. She, too, seems lonely at first.

But the girl and her Sita Pati find parallel things to do together. As before, they spend their days playing and reading and cooking.

And when it’s time for Sita Pati to go back to India the words of farewell are again, “I’ll go and come back.”

This picture book will resonate with anyone who has loved ones who live far away.

rajanilarocca.com
candlewick.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but 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.

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Review of Grandmother School, by Rina Singh and Ellen Rooney

Contemporary, Picture Book Review 0

Grandmother School

by Rina Singh and Ellen Rooney

Orca Book Publishers, 2020. 32 pages.
Review written September 11, 2020, from a library book

Grandmother School is a picture book based on the true story of a school in India that was made especially for the grandmothers in that village.

The story is told by a little girl who walks her Aaji to Grandmother School.

Aaji started school a year ago. My teacher said almost everyone in the village could read, write and count except for all of the grandmothers.

So he built Aajibaichi Shala – Grandmother School.

Ajoba – my grandfather – shook his head and said that learning at this age was a waste of time, but most of the people in the village were happy for the grandmothers.

When Aaji first learned to spell her name, she did a little dance.

The book shows Aaji with daily tasks made simpler, and happy in her new-found knowledge. Her granddaughter helps her with homework and they have a new bond together, since they are both students.

This lovely picture book celebrates the joy and power that come from learning as well as the love between a grandmother and granddaughter.

orcabook.com

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

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but 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.

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Review of Berry Song, by Michaela Goade

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 2

Berry Song

by Michaela Goade

Little, Brown and Company, 2022. 36 pages.
Review written August 15, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This picture book is gorgeous, as you’d expect, since it’s created by a winner of the Caldecott Medal. Instead of illustrating a book from another indigenous person’s traditions, she has written and illustrated this book from her own Tlingit traditions. Here’s how she begins the author’s note at the back:

Like the young girl in this book, I too live on an island at the edge of a wide, wild sea where I grew up picking tléiw, or berries. My home is Sheet’ká, or Sitka, Alaska. It is the same island my Tlingit grandmother, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents called home. All year long I excitedly wait for berry season, for the juicy salmonberries that strum the first notes of berry song, and the cranberries after the first freeze that signal its end. Every time I wander back into the forest, I am a little kid again, spellbound by the magic and joy of berry song.

The text of the picture book is a lyrical adventure of a grandmother showing her granddaughter how to get food from the land — especially the berries. As they pick, they sing the names of the berries — many more kinds than I even knew existed — and thank the land for taking care of them.

The book doesn’t give the tune, but you can hear the music in the words:

Salmonberry, Cloudberry, Blueberry, Nagoonberry.
Huckleberry, Soapberry, Strawberry, Crowberry.
The berries sing to us, glowing like little jewels.
We sing too, so berry — and bear — know we are here.

At the end of the book, in another season, the girl brings her little sister to gather more berries.

This is a lovely celebration of family and traditions and living in harmony with the land.

The endpapers identify all the berries named, with some additional photographs along with the Author’s Note.

michaelagoade.com
lbyr.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but 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.

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Review of Bake Infinite Pie with X + Y, by Eugenia Cheng, illustrated by Amber Ren

Children's Nonfiction Review, Mathematical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Bake Infinite Pie with X + Y

by Eugenia Cheng
illustrated by Amber Ren

Little, Brown and Company, 2022. 32 pages.
Review written July 13, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

My readers won’t be surprised that every time mathematician Eugenia Cheng writes a picture book, it delights my heart. I’ll list this under Children’s Nonfiction, because although it is a story, the emphasis is on the ideas.

This one tells of two kids, named X and Y, who are dreaming of infinite pie — X, pie that is infinitely wide, and Y, pie that is infinitely tall. They think of course that such pie isn’t real, but they ask their Aunt Z, who can create amazing things with her brain.

The book that follows explores infinity in many different ways, and all of them involve pie!

There are infinitely different ways you can make pie, and once it’s done, if you keep eating half your pie, it will last until infinity.

You can make a pie with infinite corners, cut pie crust infinite ways, and even make pastry with infinite layers.

I hope that gives you the idea of ways to explore infinity with pie — it’s all presented in a family setting with a fun aunt bending kids’ minds with tasty treats.

And there’s even a recipe for pie at the back! (After a spread that lays out mathematical ideas presented.) The recipe is for Banana Butterscotch Pie — and believe it or not, I couldn’t resist trying it out. (I hadn’t made a pie with crust in decades.) The pie was indeed delicious, but alas – the instructions didn’t specify how big your pie pan should be. I used a 9-inch one, and my pie was more of a tart — the filling only went about halfway up the pie crust. I think an 8-inch pie pan would do nicely. And it still tasted wonderful.

eugeniacheng.com
amber-ren.com
lbyr.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but 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.

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Review of I’d Like To Be the Window For a Wise Old Dog, by Philip Stead

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

I’d Like To Be the Window For a Wise Old Dog

words and pictures by Philip Stead

Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2022. 48 pages.
Review written July 12, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This picture book is a beautifully illustrated nonsense poem, and it won my heart. The elephant in the illustrations reminds me of the author’s wife’s Caldecott-winning work in A Sick Day for Amos McGee.

How could I be the window for a wise old dog? I’m not exactly sure, but this book makes me want to be one, too. The Poetry is whimsical and rolls off the tongue. The pictures are lovely and somewhat fantastical, but especially lovable are the pictures of the wise old dog by the window.

Here are some of the lovely lines:

Will I ever be the dawdle of a penguin?

Will I ever be the waddle of a snail?

Will I ever be the tumble of a honeybee?

Will I ever be the bumble…

… of a whale?

And each line has big, bright, colorful pictures.

I never before wanted to be a window for a wise old dog, but this book sends my imagination into flight. I would so love to discuss it with a child — I bet their imagination would fly even further than mine. (This might be one to get for my nieces!)

philipstead.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but 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.

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Review of Fight the Night, by Tomie dePaola

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Fight the Night

by Tomie dePaola

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2020. First published in 1968.
Review written July 25, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

This book is a reprint of a Tomie dePaola classic I hadn’t been familiar with, but reading it, I’m quite taken with it.

The story is simple. A little boy doesn’t want to go to bed. What’s interesting is that he decides to Fight the Night.

He fights the Night with his flashlight. First, he encounters some different things, such as his cat.

After those things, though, in the dark, the Night whispers to him. It’s deliciously spooky.

“Let’s fight,” said Ronald, and he began to swing his flashlight around.
“You will never catch me,” said the Night.

Ronald heard a squeaking noise.
“I’ll get you, Night,” said Ronald, and he swung his flashlight.
“You missed,” said the Night.

Ronald ran after the voice. Something tripped him. He swung his flashlight.
“That’s not me. You cannot catch me. I am the Night.”

The battle goes on. Ronald thinks he has won. He has chased the night away! But oh, how tired his eyes look in that picture!

And indeed the Night gets the last laugh, in a perfectly satisfying ending.

Normally I wouldn’t think a book where a kid actually stays up all night would be one I’d want to let children see. But I think they will see who ultimately wins. Perhaps this will succeed as a cautionary tale that it’s futile to fight the Night.

Either way, reading this as a parent, I was smiling all the way through. Nice try, kid!

simonandschuster.com/kids

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Review of You Are My Friend, by Aimee Reid, pictures by Matt Phelan

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

You Are My Friend

The Story of Mister Rogers and His Neighborhood

words by Aimee Reid
pictures by Matt Phelan

Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019. 40 pages.
Starred Review
Review written August 15, 2019, from a library book

You Are My Friend is an appropriately simple picture book biography about Fred Rogers and why he began his classic television show.

It simply tells about his lonely childhood dealing with illness and bullying, and some of the ways he coped, such as puppets and music. It talks about his mother telling him to look for helpers and finding friends in his own neighborhood.

The book covers all the important points about his life and his show, while lingering over some key scenes. I love the scene after his grandfather let him walk on the big stone wall on his farm.

When at last Fred came back inside,
he had a skinned knee, but he was happy.
His grandpa told Fred that he liked him
just the way he was.
He said Fred was special and that,
just by being himself,
Fred made the day special, too.
Fred let those words sink deep inside him.
As he thought them, he felt braver.

The explanation of his motivation for creating his show comes from Mister Rogers’ testimony to the United States Senate on behalf of public funding for television.

One day, when Fred was grown up, he saw a television program. People were throwing pies in each other’s faces. Fred did not like the pie throwing, but he thought television could be wonderful. What if, instead of showing people fighting, TV could show people helping one another? Right then, Fred decided that was what he wanted to do.

This book explains the man behind the neighborhood on a level that small children can understand and their parents will particularly appreciate. The illustrations are a perfect accompaniment.

mattphelan.com
abramsbooks.com

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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.

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