Review of The Pigeon Needs a Bath, by Mo Willems

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

pigeon_needs_a_bath_largeThe Pigeon Needs a Bath!

by Mo Willems

Hyperion Books for Children, New York, 2014. 36 pages.
Starred Review

Another pigeon book! Hooray!

This one follows the pattern of the other books, with its own little twists. Once again, the child reader gets a taste of parental responsibility.

The book starts where the bus driver, dressed in a robe and hairnet, and with a towel over his arm, says, “Hi! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the Pigeon is filthy. So, I could use your help, because: The Pigeon Needs a Bath!”

The pigeon is indeed filthy, as any child will readily agree. But he has plenty of arguments as to why he really doesn’t need a bath. And when even the flies think he smells too bad to be near, he has lots of complaints about water temperature and depth and amount of toys.

When he finally splashes into the tub, oh the joy! The final spread has a full page with TEN HOURS LATER, and then the Pigeon saying, “Can I stay in the tub forever?”

Yes, Mo Willems knows kids!

I had the privilege of reading this book to a 5-year-old girl who has Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! memorized. She was delighted. Another hit from Mo.

pigeonpresents.com
hyperionbooksforchildren.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 The Magic Bojabi Tree, by Piet Grobler and Dianne Hofmeyr

Animal Characters, Picture Book Review, Readalouds 0

The Magic Bojabi Tree

by Piet Grobler and Dianne Hofmeyr

Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 2013. 32 pages.

Here’s a picture book that begs to be read aloud. It’s set in Africa during a drought. All the animals are hungry. They find a tree covered in red, ripe fruit smelling of sweetest mangoes, fat as melons, and juicy as pomegranates. But there is an enormous python twined around the trunk of the tree, holding the branches out of reach. He will only move if they can tell him the name of the tree. And only Lion, the King of the Jungle knows the name of the tree.

One by one, the animals go and ask Lion the name of the tree. One by one, the animals forget on the way back. Finally, tortoise goes slowly and carefully and makes a song of the name of the tree.

This story has plenty of fun in the animals’ attempts to remember “Bojabi” – “Bongani”? “Munjani”? And of course tortoise’s chant will be one that will entice children to join in.

Just right for Storytime.

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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 The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt

Animal Characters, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary 0

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp

by Kathi Appelt

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2013. 327 pages.
2013 Cybils Finalist
2013 Capitol Choices Selection (audiobook)
2013 National Book Award Finalist

Bingo and J’miah are raccoons who live in Sugar Man Swamp, and they are True Blue Scouts. Here is information from the first page of the book:

For as long as raccoons had inhabited the Sugar Man Swamp, which was eons, they had been the Official Scouts, ordained by the Sugar Man himself back in the year Aught One, also known as the Beginning of Time. Of course, Bingo and J’miah would follow the orders. They knew them by heart.

OFFICIAL SUGAR MAN SWAMP SCOUT ORDERS

  • keep your eyes open
  • keep your ears to the ground
  • keep your nose in the air
  • be true and faithful to each other
  • in short, be good

These orders were practical, and the raccoon brothers had no problem following them. Besides, Bingo and J’miah weren’t ordinary Swamp Scouts. They were, in fact, Information Officers, a highly specialized branch of the Scout system. And because of this there were two additional orders:

  • always heed the Voice of Intelligence, and
  • in the event of an emergency, wake up the Sugar Man

The first additional order was easy enough, as we shall soon see, but the second was a different matter. The problem? Nobody really knew exactly where the Sugar Man slept, only that it was somewhere in the deepest, darkest part of the swamp. He hadn’t been seen in many years.

An emergency does come up in the course of the book. And waking up the Sugar Man is indeed a problem.

We also follow the fortunes of Chap Brayburn and his mother, who run Paradise Pies, by the edge of the swamp. Chap’s Grandpa Audie recently died. Grandpa Audie had loved the swamp, just as Chap does.

But now the owner of the swamp, Sonny Boy Beaucoup, is planning to evict them, unless they can come up with a boatload of cash. Then he’s going to pave over the swamp and build The Gator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park.

So both Chap and the raccoons are facing emergencies. Emergencies that the Sugar Man can solve. But how to find him? And how to wake him up without incurring his wrath? It’s going to take some careful work.

This story is told with a folksy voice, which I found slightly annoying, but could be charming. Our library doesn’t have the audiobook on CD, but in Capitol Choices I’ve heard that this version is completely delightful. There are tall tale elements in the tale and over-the-top characters. The result is a lot of fun and would make great family listening.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/true_blue_scouts.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 Dinosaur Kisses, by David Ezra Stein

Animal Characters, Delightfully Silly, Good for the Very Young, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Dinosaur Kisses

by David Ezra Stein

Candlewick Press, 2013. 32 pages.
Starred Review

Reading this book makes me want to immediately do a toddler storytime. It’s got so many elements to make toddlers giggle: Kisses, dinosaurs, and stomping, chomping, and whomping.

Dinah is a baby dinosaur who discovers she likes stomping (STOMP!) and chomping (CHOMP!). Then she sees a kiss and wants to try that. There’s a lovely and oh-so-frightening page as she sets off: “Who can I kiss?”

She doesn’t get it right. Cue lots of toddler giggles.

“I will kiss you!”

WHOMP!

“Whoops,” said Dinah.

Even I laughed out loud when I first read these pages:

“This time, if I’m really, really careful and I only use my lips . . .

then I can do it!

“I will kiss you!”

[page turn]

But she ate him.

“Whoops,” said Dinah. “Not good.”

It all ends with silly happiness when Dinah finds a newly hatched dinosaur like herself who has the same ideas about kisses.

A wonderful, whomping, stomping romp!

candlewick.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 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 Paul Meets Bernadette, by Rosy Lamb

Animal Characters, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Paul Meets Bernadette

by Rosy Lamb

Candlewick Press, 2013. 40 pages.
Starred Review
2013 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #7 Picture Books

Paul Meets Bernadette is incredibly sweet, without being saccharine.

Paul is a goldfish in a round bowl.

Paul used to go around in circles.

He made big circles
and little circles.

He circled from left to right
and from right to left.

He circled from top to bottom
and from bottom to top.

And then one day, Bernadette dropped in.

“What are you doing? Bernadette asks Paul.
“I’m going round and round,” says Paul. “What else is there to do?”

Then Bernadette takes it on herself to show Paul the whole world outside their bowl.

Here is where this book joins the tradition of books like Minerva Louise and The Adventures of Cow. Children will be delighted at how much more they know than Bernadette. Paul is simply delighted with Bernadette.

The first thing she shows him is a banana, which she tells Paul is a boat. She goes on to show him a “forest” (flowers), a “cactus” (clock), and a “lady’s dress” (newspaper).

A fun one is the teapot which Bernadette tells Paul is an elephant.

”Is she a dangerous elephant?” asks Paul.
“She is not too dangerous,” Bernadette tells Paul.
“But you must not disturb her when she is feeding her babies.”

The picture here shows the teapot pouring tea into teacups.

And while this is going on, the artist manages to show us Paul falling in love with Bernadette, who has shown him the whole world.

A wonderful mistaken-naming picture book with a sweet message. Both kids and adults will enjoy this one.

candlewick.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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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 Owl’s Orange Scarf, by Tatyana Feeney

Animal Characters, Picture Book Review 0

Little Owl’s Orange Scarf

by Tatyana Feeney

Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2013. Originally published in the United Kingdom in 2012. 28 pages.

Here’s a fun, simple story that families with knitters will especially enjoy.

Little Owl usually loves surprises. But when Mommy knits him a scarf, it’s itchy. It’s too long. And it’s far too orange.

Little Owl tries hard to lose the scarf, but Mommy always finds it – until the class trip to the zoo.

Then Little Owl gets the fun of picking out yarn for a new scarf. This time, it’s soft and blue. And readers get the fun of spotting where the old scarf ended up.

randomhouse.com/kids

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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 Hank Finds an Egg, by Rebecca Dudley

Animal Characters, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Hank Finds an Egg

by Rebecca Dudley

Peter Pauper Press, White Plains, New York, 2013. 40 pages.
Starred Review

Hank Finds an Egg is a wordless picture book. What makes it utterly charming are the pictures. They are photographs taken of a completely handcrafted scene.

Hank is a little bear, stitched from felt. He finds an egg on the forest floor. The entire forest was made by the artist, with elements that will be important in the plot. We see the nest, up high in a tree, with two eggs still remaining. Hank tries out different ideas for getting the egg back up to its nest, with no luck until the happy ending.

Rebecca Dudley doesn’t change Hank’s facial expression for any of the pictures (except closed eyes when he’s asleep), yet through his body language she manages to convey plucky determination, concentrated effort, pensiveness, and final joy with the result.

The book shows many steps of each process, giving a feeling of motion. There’s so much to talk about here. Without pre-printed words, children will have so much fun telling you what they see.

An adorably cute book without words that will get kids talking.

storywoods.blogspot.com
peterpauper.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 Grandma and the Great Gourd, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Susy Pilgrim Waters

Animal Characters, Fantasy, Folk Tales, Picture Book Review, Readalouds 0

Grandma and the Great Gourd

A Bengali Folktale

retold by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
illustrated by Susy Pilgrim Waters

A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, New York, 2013. 32 pages.
Starred Review

Here’s a wonderful folktale, marvelously told. The pictures are exquisite, giving the flavor of India. The story is sprinkled with sound effects that aren’t ones native English speakers would naturally use. There’s the repetition of a folktale, and a lovely predictability — with a twist.

This is a book for school age kids, with the text on the long side for preschoolers. With that in mind, the telling is sure to engage their interest.

Here’s how it begins:

Once upon a time, in a little village in India, there lived an old woman whom everyone called Grandma. She loved gardening and had the best vegetable patch in the village.

Grandma lived by herself in a little hut at the edge of the village, next to a deep, dark jungle. At times she could hear herds of elephants lumbering on forest paths, thup-thup-thup, or giant lizards slithering over dry leaves, khash-khash.

She didn’t mind because she had two loyal dogs, Kalu and Bhulu, to protect her. They also helped her with garden chores.

When Grandma crosses the deep, dark forest to visit her daughter, she encounters three fierce animals who want to eat her up. But this is how that goes:

Grandma’s heart went dhip-dhip, but she didn’t let the fox see how scared she was.

“If you’re planning to have me for breakfast,” she said, “that’s a terrible idea. See how skinny I am? I’ll be a lot plumper on my way back from my daughter’s house because she’s such a good cook. You can eat me then, if you like.”

“That sounds good!” said the fox, and he let her go.

Of course, to get home after visiting her daughter, and indeed growing plump, Grandma must outwit the tiger, the bear, and the fox. Her plan works on the tiger and the bear, but the fox is more clever and confronts her. However, there’s a lovely satisfying ending, for which the groundwork was laid at the very start.

This has all that’s good about a folktale, including being one you’ll want to tell again and again.

mackids.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.