From the domestic to the dangerous!
Tiny Little Fly
Michael Rosen, illustrated by Kevin Waldron
ISBN: 9780763646813
Lush loose paintings of oversized wild animals, including a double-fold-out page.
Waldron really knocks it out of the park with these illustrations, which give us a fly-eye view of these massive wild animals: elephant, hippo, and tiger (a SHE tiger!) which all try to catch that pesky fly, but of course fail. Rosen's story is short and pithy, and it would be quite short enough for a middle read in a pinch. Lovely package, great fun story. Now I only need one more short "fly" book, and I can do a trio of pesky bug stories with this one and Old Black Fly (Aylesworth, ISBN: 9780805039245).
Monkey and Me
Emily Gravett
ISBN: 9781416954576
Very rhythmic and repetitive, with great options for call-and-response.
Gravett is a lovely picture book artist, and I really enjoy her work, from the tongue-in-cheek (Dogs, The Odd Egg) to the unexpectedly poignant (Again!, The Blue Chameleon). This one is firmly in the silly category, and is so slight as to almost not have a storyline. Our spunky girl and her floppy-limbed stuffed monkey imitate various animals, and then on the following spread (after eliciting guesses from the audience), a gorgeous rendition of those animals appears. Perfect for the middle spot, but not for storytellers who shy away from sing-song or outright singing, because that's the only way I can think to get through the repetitive wording.
I Spy with My Little Eye
Edward Gibbs
ISBN: 9780763652845
Die-cut book showing various beautifully-painted animal eyes along with clues as to what they are.
This is quite probably the most beautifully-painted die-cut conceit book I've ever seen. I adore reading it, and the idea is so simple and so clever and so pretty, I wish there were more of them. Gibbs has taken a large central cut-out and painted an eye there, with a set of clues about the animal who might be lurking behind the page: so "I spy with my little eye..." on one page with the eye painted, and on the other, the cut-out showing rich blue, and the following clues: "... something that is blue" and "I am the biggest animal in the whole world." Obviously we have a blue whale, followed by polar bears, orangutans, lions, and one cheeky frog who has the temerity to end the book by looking back out and spying "YOU" and offering the now-empty die-cut hole to peer through for effect. In a lot of treatments, it could have been cute and slight, but the paintings are so rich and so beautiful that it really adds a lot of weight and fun to the progression.
Showing posts with label Emily Gravett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emily Gravett. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Tuesday Storytime: Dogs
Can't have one without the other, right?
A trio of entirely new-to-storytime books, and I enjoyed them all, and so did the kids. I think the parents might have thought that 1 and 3 were a little on the heavy side, but oh well - life isn't always sunshine and roses, and I like to have a good mash up of reality whenever I can.
Mogie: the heart of the house
Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal
ISBN: 9781442480544
Fictionalized Bio: Mogie is a therapy dog at the Houston Ronald McDonald House, and works with children there.
I like that the story is upbeat and focuses on the kids and the dogs, rather than the illnesses or the parents or the place. Mogie and the kids he helps are described in upbeat action verbs, and illnesses are presented as something temporary (so, perhaps not so good for inspiring kids with terminal diagnoses) and Mogie is the force that helps the kids recover by helping them be emotionally whole again (described in kid terms as "mojo" and "cha-cha-cha" along with a lot of description. Very nice rendition of a service/therapy dog to counter all the pet stories out there.
Dogs
Emily Gravett
ISBN: 9781416987031
A parade of contrasting dogs; big & little, hairy & bald, sloppy and chic.
Short, sweet, precious, beautifully illustrated, and the stinger at the end is simply perfect.
Don't Lick the Dog: making friends with dogs
Wendy Wahman
ISBN: 9780805087338
Pop-art bright colors, lots of jagged thick black edges and splotches, and generally jarring, electrifying artwork punctuates a set of instructions on safe dog-human interactions.
I think a good few of the parents were giving me side-eye when I read this book, but I'm not sorry. Someone has to teach kids good manners with strange dogs, and do it in a way that interests them, and doesn't frighten them or confuse them. This book is perfect. The art is arresting and forceful, and the pictures are very clear on what to do and how to act in multiple situations where people and dogs are interacting. Very very good book, and I'll probably use it again in a safety or good manners storytime.
A trio of entirely new-to-storytime books, and I enjoyed them all, and so did the kids. I think the parents might have thought that 1 and 3 were a little on the heavy side, but oh well - life isn't always sunshine and roses, and I like to have a good mash up of reality whenever I can.
Mogie: the heart of the house
Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal
ISBN: 9781442480544
Fictionalized Bio: Mogie is a therapy dog at the Houston Ronald McDonald House, and works with children there.
I like that the story is upbeat and focuses on the kids and the dogs, rather than the illnesses or the parents or the place. Mogie and the kids he helps are described in upbeat action verbs, and illnesses are presented as something temporary (so, perhaps not so good for inspiring kids with terminal diagnoses) and Mogie is the force that helps the kids recover by helping them be emotionally whole again (described in kid terms as "mojo" and "cha-cha-cha" along with a lot of description. Very nice rendition of a service/therapy dog to counter all the pet stories out there.
Dogs
Emily Gravett
ISBN: 9781416987031
A parade of contrasting dogs; big & little, hairy & bald, sloppy and chic.
Short, sweet, precious, beautifully illustrated, and the stinger at the end is simply perfect.
Don't Lick the Dog: making friends with dogs
Wendy Wahman
ISBN: 9780805087338
Pop-art bright colors, lots of jagged thick black edges and splotches, and generally jarring, electrifying artwork punctuates a set of instructions on safe dog-human interactions.
I think a good few of the parents were giving me side-eye when I read this book, but I'm not sorry. Someone has to teach kids good manners with strange dogs, and do it in a way that interests them, and doesn't frighten them or confuse them. This book is perfect. The art is arresting and forceful, and the pictures are very clear on what to do and how to act in multiple situations where people and dogs are interacting. Very very good book, and I'll probably use it again in a safety or good manners storytime.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Tuesday Storytime: Comparing Yourself to Animals
Because there are enough good quality fun picture books out there to do a storytime SOLELY about comparing yourself to animals, here we are! A trio of excellent storybook authors/illustrators also represented, with very different art styles, so a win all around for this week.
Little Mouse
Alison Murray (Apple Pie A B C)
ISBN: 9781423143307
Retro-bold outlines and bright color-blocked cast of animals follow a little girl through her day.
Our narrator is mommy's "little mouse" when she's all cuddly and snuggly, but she wants us to know that she's lots of other animals too. This one is very fun because she never states out-loud what the animals are, but they appear behind her, so when she is shown grumpily heading for her bath with an irate bear behind her and the commentary "And I'm pretty certain that little mice don't stomp..." (emphasis in the original) the kids are happy to add "like a bear!" to finish the thought.
Quick as a Cricket
Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood
ISBN: 0859531511
Classic stream-of-opposites with an engaging boy emoting along with the animal representative.
I don't read this one very often, but I really enjoy what it does: presents a set of emotional or physical feelings and relates them to the animals that are most associated with that emotion or feeling or attribute in western (American) culture, specifically the ones that have actual phrases associated. So we have "weak as a kitten" and "gentle as a lamb," but also "mean as a shark" and "strong as an ox" all of which are fairly common statements. In addition, there's others that simply make sense "tough as a rhino," "wild as a chimp," "slow as a snail" may not be actual folk-statements, but they hold true and would make sense to most adults.
Monkey and Me
Emily Gravett (The Odd Egg)
ISBN: 9781416954576
A cute little girl and her stuffed monkey (in scribbly pencil art reminiscent of Emma Kate, by Patricia Polacco, ISBN: 9780399244520) act out movements of various animals from the classic jump-rope rhyme.
Love the repetition, and the scrambles of the kids (and the patient hints of the parents) trying to figure out what the girl and monkey duo are acting out. The elephant pantomime is especially clever, and I like the sing-song effects of the repeated chant leading up to whatever they were going to see. The ending is perhaps a bit abrupt - because the story is entirely on sets of spreads, it's over very quickly compared to a lot of stories.
Little Mouse
Alison Murray (Apple Pie A B C)
ISBN: 9781423143307
Retro-bold outlines and bright color-blocked cast of animals follow a little girl through her day.
Our narrator is mommy's "little mouse" when she's all cuddly and snuggly, but she wants us to know that she's lots of other animals too. This one is very fun because she never states out-loud what the animals are, but they appear behind her, so when she is shown grumpily heading for her bath with an irate bear behind her and the commentary "And I'm pretty certain that little mice don't stomp..." (emphasis in the original) the kids are happy to add "like a bear!" to finish the thought.
Quick as a Cricket
Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood
ISBN: 0859531511
Classic stream-of-opposites with an engaging boy emoting along with the animal representative.
I don't read this one very often, but I really enjoy what it does: presents a set of emotional or physical feelings and relates them to the animals that are most associated with that emotion or feeling or attribute in western (American) culture, specifically the ones that have actual phrases associated. So we have "weak as a kitten" and "gentle as a lamb," but also "mean as a shark" and "strong as an ox" all of which are fairly common statements. In addition, there's others that simply make sense "tough as a rhino," "wild as a chimp," "slow as a snail" may not be actual folk-statements, but they hold true and would make sense to most adults.
Monkey and Me
Emily Gravett (The Odd Egg)
ISBN: 9781416954576
A cute little girl and her stuffed monkey (in scribbly pencil art reminiscent of Emma Kate, by Patricia Polacco, ISBN: 9780399244520) act out movements of various animals from the classic jump-rope rhyme.
Love the repetition, and the scrambles of the kids (and the patient hints of the parents) trying to figure out what the girl and monkey duo are acting out. The elephant pantomime is especially clever, and I like the sing-song effects of the repeated chant leading up to whatever they were going to see. The ending is perhaps a bit abrupt - because the story is entirely on sets of spreads, it's over very quickly compared to a lot of stories.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Tuesday Storytime: Big Unusual Animals
This was another of those "this book is amazing and I have to use it, so what theme can I build around it?" storytimes. In this case, the book in question was Ernest the Moose Who Doesn't Fit, which we got recently, and I fell in love.
The Odd Egg
Emily Gravett
ISBN: 9781416968726
soft-edged pencil sketches filled in with watercolors, with a penultimate graduated-length lift-the-flap page like in The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Everyone lays an egg except Duck (and the sharp-eyed will realize why - Duck is a drake, not a hen) so he goes out and finds one. And he thinks it's the best egg ever. All the other birds give a serious side-eye to this hugely oversized green-spotty egg, but Duck just ignores them. Even when all of the other eggs hatch, Duck is not daunted, and continues patiently waiting. Until finally his egg hatches, and out pops a beautiful huge green scaly alligator baby. Surprise!
I especially like that the other birds are a pretty exotic collection; we've got the traditional chicken, and the new-traditional owl, but we've also got what I'm pretty sure is a robin, and a grey parrot and a flamingo.
The body language is stellar, especially Duck - he's just so adorable and persistent.
Clifford The Big Red Dog (Deluxe Anniversary Edition)
Norman Bridwell
ISBN: 0439403960
Bright colors, cartoony figures.
Do I really need to review Clifford? This is the classic original story, and the one I like best for storytime use, with Clifford the Small Red Puppy coming in second. There are lots of visual puns, and fun subversion-of-expectation events, and Emily Elizabeth is the perfect stone-cold straight narrator, giving no indication that she realizes the extent of the shenanigans going down. This Anniversary Edition is slightly oversized, and perfect for storytime with larger groups. If you can find it, it's worth it to get an extra copy to keep as a library-use-only book.
Ernest, The Moose Who Doesn't Fit
Catherine Rayner
ISBN: 9780374322175
pen-and-ink and watercolor washes, bright backgrounds, oversized fold-out last page.
The reason for this theme - This is a seriously cute book. The premise is simple: Ernest wants to fit into this picture book, but he's too big for all of him to fit in. After trying various positions and approaches (literally) his chipmunk friend gets a great idea, and off they go to collect tape and paper scraps, and they build the page up big enough for all of Ernest to fit in (and it does end up being four pages large when folded out). Mad props to the designers who put the text on the fold outs in sequence, and who also made the folds accessible and easy to operate in a storytime setting with the book held frontwards in front of the reader. The kids were suitably impressed, and it was a great closer.
The Odd Egg
Emily Gravett
ISBN: 9781416968726
soft-edged pencil sketches filled in with watercolors, with a penultimate graduated-length lift-the-flap page like in The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Everyone lays an egg except Duck (and the sharp-eyed will realize why - Duck is a drake, not a hen) so he goes out and finds one. And he thinks it's the best egg ever. All the other birds give a serious side-eye to this hugely oversized green-spotty egg, but Duck just ignores them. Even when all of the other eggs hatch, Duck is not daunted, and continues patiently waiting. Until finally his egg hatches, and out pops a beautiful huge green scaly alligator baby. Surprise!
I especially like that the other birds are a pretty exotic collection; we've got the traditional chicken, and the new-traditional owl, but we've also got what I'm pretty sure is a robin, and a grey parrot and a flamingo.
The body language is stellar, especially Duck - he's just so adorable and persistent.
Clifford The Big Red Dog (Deluxe Anniversary Edition)
Norman Bridwell
ISBN: 0439403960
Bright colors, cartoony figures.
Do I really need to review Clifford? This is the classic original story, and the one I like best for storytime use, with Clifford the Small Red Puppy coming in second. There are lots of visual puns, and fun subversion-of-expectation events, and Emily Elizabeth is the perfect stone-cold straight narrator, giving no indication that she realizes the extent of the shenanigans going down. This Anniversary Edition is slightly oversized, and perfect for storytime with larger groups. If you can find it, it's worth it to get an extra copy to keep as a library-use-only book.
Ernest, The Moose Who Doesn't Fit
Catherine Rayner
ISBN: 9780374322175
pen-and-ink and watercolor washes, bright backgrounds, oversized fold-out last page.
The reason for this theme - This is a seriously cute book. The premise is simple: Ernest wants to fit into this picture book, but he's too big for all of him to fit in. After trying various positions and approaches (literally) his chipmunk friend gets a great idea, and off they go to collect tape and paper scraps, and they build the page up big enough for all of Ernest to fit in (and it does end up being four pages large when folded out). Mad props to the designers who put the text on the fold outs in sequence, and who also made the folds accessible and easy to operate in a storytime setting with the book held frontwards in front of the reader. The kids were suitably impressed, and it was a great closer.
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