Tuesday Storytime: Sailing

Spring is a perfect season here for sailing.  We live near a large lake, and the warm days with fresh breezes (and pop-up storms) make for memorable times, and easy pickings for Storytime reads.

Three Bears in a Boat
David Soman
ISBN: 9780803739932
Three bear siblings head off on a sailing adventure to replace an accidentally broken treasure.

The storyline could be a little tighter, and the metaphorical storm vanishes a little too quickly for my tastes, but this story of siblings working together (and fighting) will strike a chord with lots of kids.  Our three bears break mom's beautiful blue shell, and immediately hatch a wild plan to find a replacement.  They sail away into adventure, before returning safe and sound to mom.  A lovely blended homage to the adventure of Where the Wild Things Are and the homey sweetness of Little Bear.


Sail Away 
Donald Crews
ISBN: 9780688110536
Short and onomatopoeic and evocative.

Crews is delightful when he's presenting a simple vibrant concept, and here is no exception.  Super-simple premise has a sailboat puttering out for a day's sail, encountering a storm (over almost as quickly as Soman's was) and puttering back in to moor safely in the harbor.  Graphically arresting, with words that become part of the illustrations, and just enough language to move the pictures along.

Boats Float
George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Mick Wiggins
ISBN: 9781481403801
By the author of Trucks Roll, and of Planes Fly.  Less of a storyline than in Trucks Roll.

The illustrations are busier here than in Trucks Roll - they actually remind me a little bit of the old Richard Scarry books.  The narrative is familiar; a rhyming cadence lists different types of boats, aspects of boats, or boat terminology, and always ends on "Boats Float" at the conclusion of each spread or section.  There is a funky mostly-sideways page that doesn't actually need to be turned sideways (a very winding river with the text following the path of the river) and it goes on just a smidge long for my tastes, but it's fun and cute and has really good vocabulary.

Tuesday Storytime: Summer Reading, Sidekicks

Back into the Summer Reading Program!

Today is Sidekicks, and I was really happy with the trio of books for our Storytime this morning.

Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy
David Soman and Jacky Davis
ISBN: 9780803733398
Previously reviewed here.  Excellent "sidekick" story, with great problem-solving.

Anna and the Little Green Dragon
Kalus Baumgart
ISBN: 1562821660
Short but sweet - Anna is at breakfast one morning when a tiny green dragon appears and causes messes and mayhem.  Anna's mom blames her for the mess, until tiny dragon's mommy appears at the front door, politely looking for her missing son.  Cute and lots of page-turn anticipation.


Officer Buckle and Gloria
Peggy Rathman
ISBN: 0399226168
I know I've read this before, but it isn't coming up in a search, so here goes.

Officer Buckle gives lots of safety lectures at Napville School, but the kids always fall asleep and never learn a thing - that is, until new Police Dog Gloria accompanies him.  Even though every time he checks, she's sitting obediently by his side, the kids are mesmerized by his talks now, and he takes all the credit - until a TV crew spills the beans.  A grumpy Buckle refuses to give the next safety talk, Gloria (being a dog) is useless on her own, and the Napville School is poised to suffer the biggest accident ever.  A great book about partnership and about understanding your strengths and not being jealous of others.

Tuesday Storytime: Summer Reading, Heroines

Our summer program for this past week featured a lovely Storyteller, and so I built off of the idea of her as the hero of the day to pick a trio of Heroine-focused stories for our family storytime that morning.  I was away, so I sadly didn't get to give the stories, but I have done all of them as performances or storytime titles before.

I tried to pick a nice variety of heroines, and I think I ended up with a fun sampling.

Flossie and the Fox
Patricia McKissack, illustrated by Rachel Isadora
ISBN: 0803702507
Reviewed here.

So so good.  Love everything about this story.


Daisy and the Beastie
Jane Simmons
ISBN: 0316797855
Soft-edged paintings showcase a duckling's-eye viewpoint on the big bad world.

Simmons has a set of Daisy stories, and I've read each and every one of them to storytime audiences and to relatives, but for some reason, Daisy and the Beastie is the recurring favorite.  Daisy and Pip are on Grandpa duck's farm, and he tells them the spooky barnyard story of the "beastie" - whereupon they set out to find it.  Daisy is plucky and opinionated, and I love how she cares for and reassures little Pip.  A quality heroine for the youngest readers.


Ladybug Girl
David Soman, illustrated by Jacky Davis
ISBN: 9780803731950
Origin story for a NYTimes bestselling phenom, and several other books.

Soman's Ladybug Girl is another where all of the books make the rounds of storytime when I need an instant classic.  Much like the Violet Mackerel series, Ladybug Girl shows off the development of social skills and moral behavior, without being overtly moralizing or sermonizing, or tying these universal human qualities to a specific religion or philosophy.  In this first installment, Lulu is bored and cranky inside, but she's too small to play in her older brother's ball game.  Ladybug Girl arises from the ashes of her cranky mood, rising up to conquer the challenges of playing alone and entertaining herself.


A solid trio, and while I was happy to be able to hand off a solid set of performers to my substitute, I was more than a little sad to miss presenting them myself!

New Arrivals: Picture Book: Three Bears in a Boat, David Soman

Three Bears in a Boat

David Soman (Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy)

ISBN: 9780803739932

Nautical and expressive bear cubs in soft-wash environments, navigating tricky emotions.

Our bear protagonists are siblings, and so you know from the start that there are certain kinds of trouble that it takes good friends or blood-relatives to get into.  After an accident, the trio heads out to repair the damage (and to prevent them from having to fess up).  The sailing isn't always smooth, and the relationship is strained by blame for the accident, but shared peril and misery are always great to put things in perspective.  Our intrepid wanderers come back, somewhat the worse for wear, and find what they were looking for was always right at home (which, in picture book land, is about as good of a moral as you can get).  Special props for the anxious and clingy mother bear at the end, who adults will realize has been much more exercised over the missing cubs than over the broken trinket.

Unsurprisingly from the deft creator of Ladybug Girl, these siblings have good hearts and good intentions, but we see in this story that emotions and circumstances can bring out the worst in even the best of us.  Showing how they rely on each other, forgive each other, and take responsibility (shared) for the inciting problem is a great visual (and so very visual - check out those postures and faces and emotional colorings) to give to little kids who are still figuring out all this complicated emotional and relationship stuff, with brains that aren't even done growing yet.  Sometimes I think that picture books like these that show empathy and emotional connections might even do a lot of grown-ups good.

  

Tuesday Storytime: Funny Friends

Nothing's better than a good friend; someone with whom you can share your hopes and fears (and sometimes your living spaces).  Here's a trio of stories showcasing various excellent friendships.

Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy
David Soman and Jacky Davis, illustrated by David Soman
ISBN:  9780803733398
Ladybug Girl is ready for adventure at her favorite playground, but once there, she runs into a spot of difficulty when her friend Sam doesn't want to play her way (and she's not that interested in playing the things he likes either).  What's a superhero to do?  If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!  I love the Ladybug Girl books because the 'problems' she faces are so simple and human, and she goes through a realistic process of frustration, mistakes, and finally solving the problem on her own.  Really positive messages, but the stories manage to not be too preachy or moralistic along the way.

Good Luck Bear
Greg Foley
ISBN: 9780670062584
I haven't seen the earlier books in this set (Thank You Bear and Don't Worry Bear) but I'll have to look them up, because this one is cute as the dickens.  My storytime kids are tiny, with equally small attention spans, so I try to have at least one "quick" book in each storytime, to let them feel successful at paying attention to a whole entire book.  This is a perfect fit, thematically, story-wise, pictures, and length.  I love it.  Bear is looking for a lucky 4-leaf clover, and a whole parade of "friends" amble by offering criticism, cut-downs, or interference, until Mouse shows what true friendship means.

One Cool Friend
Toni Buzzeo, illustrated by David Small
(Caldecott Honor book)
ISBN: 9780803734135
Elliot is delighted when his father takes him to the Natural Museum, and even more-so when dad says that Elliot can have a penguin!  The set-up is cute and at least on the first read-through, even a shock for adults, but re-reads will show slightly out-of-frame hints and sneaky double-meaning comments throughout.  Really love that it's a father and son, and that the household is obviously quite devoted to scientific pursuits.  The cameo of the library lady (who was helpful and accepting) is a nice bonus.