Three more really good ones today for our younger kids.
Mustache!
Mac Barnett, illustrated by Kevin Cornell
ISBN: 9781423116714
"Medieval" style meets caricature art.
A vain king doesn't do anything for his subjects other than inflict them with representational art of himself. The populace begs for basic support (roads and playgrounds) but only get a giant tapestry of the king's face. Which gets vandalized with a mustache. So the king posts reward posters (also with his face, because of course he does) all over the countryside, which ALSO get mustached. He keeps thinking that it's a single vandal, but it's actually everyone in the entire country. So he puts them all in a new jail he's built, with new roads and playgrounds, and big high safe walls, and is really shocked to hear them enjoying themselves in jail, while he's all alone in his castle. Cute pictures and fun wordplay keep the littles entertained, while the big people can enjoy the political and social critiques.
The Boss Baby
Marla Frazee
ISBN: 9781442401679
Delightful pop-deco 50s-era illustrations with plenty of expression, especially by the tiny tyrant.
A fun sly interpretation of the realities of a new baby has the infant as the driven and incomprehensible boss of a modern company, driving his staff to distraction with endless demands, meetings full of gibberish, working all-nighters. The flip side hits on the perks of infancy, comparing them to the insane bonuses and material benefits of being a CEO: lounges, spas, handmade artisan drinks, a private jet (the bouncy seat!). At the end, the overworked staff (parents) are exhausted and unresponsive, so our devious boss baby tries a new tactic: "Mama? Dada?" pour encourager les autres.
Big Bad Bunny
Franny Billingsley, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
ISBN: 9781416906018
Split-narrative of a sweet mama mouse and a terrifying sharp-toothed bad bunny.
We start our tale with the Big Bad Bunny, crashing through the woods with sharp claws and yellow teeth and a scary growl (compared to ever-increasing numbers of "hungry hyenas" each time), but quickly switch back to a much more pastoral tale of Mama Mouse kissing her babies goodnight. When she gets to the end of the row of beds, she discovers that Baby Boo-Boo is missing! Now Mama Mouse is off in the same woods as the Big Bad Bunny! Whatever will happen to her? On the other side of the narrative, our Big Bad Bunny is not happy to hear someone calling out the name "Baby" at her, but she's also a bit scared of the giant hill she's found. She is now a lost Big Bad Bunny, and Mama Mouse is kind and tactful about her offspring's acquired fierce identity, even when scared and sniffling.
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