Tuesday Storytime: Fishies

I'm sick of cold and winter and snow, and it's supposed to rain cats and dogs later this weekend, so FISH!

Poor Little Guy
Elanna Allen
ISBN: 9780525428251
Pufferfish revenge is pro revenge.

Mister Seahorse
Eric Carle
ISBN: 0399242694
Fish daddies are super cool!

Not Norman: A Goldfish Story
Kelly Bennett, illustrated by Noah Z. Jones
Fish are boring pets, and this kid definitely doesn't want... well maybe... ok fine goldfish are awesome.

Tuesday Storytime: Fish Tales

Some weird and wacky and audience-responsive storytime books today, perfect for a big crowd with lots of bored older siblings and off-kilter schedules due to spring break week.

Paul Meets Bernadette
Rosy Lamb
ISBN: 9780763661304
Paul is a goldfish in a classic goldfish bowl (don't do that to your fish, kids) and he swims in circles: lots of different kinds of circles, but just circles. Until Bernadette "drops in" and he learns to look outside the fish bowl at the wide and wild world, which, in Bernadette's interpretations, is a bit wilder and more wonderful than perhaps it truly is. Parents enjoyed the subtext of falling in love, and kids LOVED Bernadette being wrong about everything.

Poor Little Guy
Elanna Allen
ISBN: 9780525428251
Is there such a thing a "aqua-toned"? because if so, the only "color" in our aqua toned book is our small yellow protagonist, the assumed "poor little guy" who is not enjoying his role in a series of bullying games played by a hungry octopus. Unfortunately for the octopus, our protagonist is a puffer fish, and the "poor little guy" becomes clear at the end.  Make sure to check out the end-pages here, and be aware that the first five or so spreads are wordless, so be prepared to improvise narration or to ask the audience for their input.

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean
Kevin Sherry
ISBN: 9780803731929
Our really enthusiastic (and frankly a bit annoying and childlike) protagonist here is a bright blue giant squid, who is just thrilled to be bigger than all the things he points out in the ocean, until he is resting complacently in his bigness and something else comes by. Without spoiling, he is NOT the biggest thing in the ocean, but he does find something new to be enthusiastic about in his altered situation at the end of the book.

New Arrivals: Juvenile Readers: Viole Mackerel #5 & #6, Anna Branford & Elanna Allen

More of the absolutely lovely Violet Mackerel series has come in, and both of these are delightful.


Violet Mackerel's Possible Friend
Anna Branford, illustrated by Elanna Allen
ISBN: 9781442494558
Read February 15, 2015


Violet Mackerel's Pocket Protest
Anna Branford, illustrated by Elanna Allen
ISBN: 9781442494589
Read February 15, 2015


Possible Friend: Fresh off of a wedding and a move to a new house (the previous books, reviewed here) Violet is a little concerned about her neighbors - they have a very nice and very neat house and yard, and a little girl just her age that MIGHT become a friend, if things work out well.  The anticipation and nerves of making a new friend, and of worrying about whether your family and your home measures up, the one scene where the two mothers take it in turn to be stressed and nonplussed about their respective daughters' raptures over how the other family/home/mother is so amazing, everything is just pitch perfect!  And by the end of it, Violet has a new friend, aptly named Rose.

Pocket Protest: Rose and Violet enjoy a park at the end of their street, and especially an old oak tree that is just perfect for sitting under and sharing time and secrets.  They are horrified when a notice is put up, indicating the tree is getting cut down for a parking lot.  A micro-protest is underway, with help from parents and elder siblings, and the tree is saved, and a small sweet mystery is solved along with it.  Admittedly a bit sugar-coated and streamlined, but a very excellent introduction into social activism in a way smaller kids will appreciate and want to emulate.  Bonus points for gratuitously adorable usage of acorn caps.

Violet Mackerel, Anna Bradford & Elanna Allen

Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat, Anna Branford (illus by Elanna Allen)
ISBN: 9781442435940.

Read Sept 20, 2013

This was a delightful book - I'll have to check out the others.  Violet is the youngest in her family, so she sympathizes with the little ladybug in the garden.  It probably suffers all sorts of hardships being the youngest, just like she does.  Her attempt to help backfires dramatically, and the rest of the book is a sweet (but not treacly) and deft handling of animal (ok, insect) death, mourning, intentions vs actions, and sibling interactions. 

I especially like how the B-plot dealt with her older sister's despair at the upcoming science fair - it's nice to see a girl character who doesn't immediately jump to crafts, and isn't shown as a font of endless spectacular ideas.

UPDATE: These books are so cute and amazing.  I just adore them.

First one is Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot.  ISBN: 9781442435858

Second is Violet Mackerel's Remarkable Recovery.  ISBN: 9781442435889

Third (the one I found first) is the ladybug one.

New (that I haven't read yet) is Violet Mackerel's Personal Space.  ISBN: 9781442435926

That one's plot summary has Mom and Vincent getting hitched and they all have to move to a new house.  This one has Dylan with the difficulties, instead of Nicola from the ladybug incident.  

I really like that not only does Violet have a difficulty herself in the A plot, but she is aware of and helps her siblings with their difficulties in the B plots of the various stories.  

Perfect for bedtime reading to a beginning reader (4-8ish) or for solo-reading for accomplished independent readers.  Violet herself is around 7 for this series.

Also, Brilliant Plot has poffertjes!  (Dutch dessert pancakes.)