Tuesday Storytime: Helpful Friends

Another set of books pulled very long ago, and finally getting used. These all feature friends trying to do the right thing and help out in tough situations. Sometimes it works - sometimes it doesn't, but it's the thought that counts.

Peace, Baby!

Linda Ashman, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

ISBN: 9781452106137

Pastels and scribbly open-edges make for a welcoming and lively set of vignettes and single-page spreads of before/after scenarios. In loose verse, diverse kids are shown encountering "difficult" situations; a sibling or friend accidentally hits them while roughhousing, a child cheats or grabs at shared toys, difficulties sharing, messes, bumps, and general life. Each time the scenario is presented, the option is shown to have "peace, baby" and this child is shown choosing a pro-social coping method. "Dress up time: You grab the gown, but Phoebe snags the sparkly crown. Would a princess push her down?" with this text we have a set of girls with angry faces arguing over a trunk of dress up clothing. Facing page shows the same girls happily bowing to each other as before a courtly dance, with smiling faces, and each with one item from the trunk. "No! Peace, baby!" Admittedly preachy, but sweet and basic.

Boo Hoo Bird

Jeremy Tankard

ISBN: 9780545065702

Tankard's "Bird" features in a lot of stories, but this one is especially cute. When a game of catch results in Bird getting bonked on the head, he cries and cries and cries as his friends try to console or help him. At the end, they're all discouraged and crying when Bird realizes that perhaps the bonk wasn't so bad after all, and everything is back to fun and games again (until the endpapers, where we see that they're playing catch again, with unfortunate results).

ouch!

Ragnhild Scamell, illustrated by Michael Terry

ISBN: 9781561485116

Hedgehog has just finished her cozy winter nest, but then an apple plops down and sticks in her spines, and she can't fit into her house any more. Her friends try to help, but they only make things successively worse, getting more and more descriptive items stuck in her spines as the book goes along, until she desperately pushes through a hedge and meets a final friend; Goat. He's got the right idea, and Hedgehog can finally fit into her snug home.

 

Tuesday Storytime: Sibling Relations

Another one that I have missed this year - I think this is my worst year to date for missing storytimes.  I took care to give my replacement a good fun set of reads.

Mission: New Baby
Susan Hood, illustrated by Mary Lundquist
ISBN: 9780385376723
Vignettes and "snapshots" of life with a baby sibling, with a military/special ops flair.

Our main character is a tousle-haired white boy and his family, but we get vignettes from other diverse "recruits" as they also assist with their new siblings.  Everything from bathtime to storytime is presented as a military or espionage exercise, with the conceit that the established "operative" (the new big brother/sister) has been tasked with training the new "recruit" (the baby sibling) by teaching them the ropes.  There's not much to it, but it's super cute.

Rodeo Red
Maripat Perkins, illustrated by Molly Idle
ISBN: 9781561458165
Previously reviewed here.

I still love this one, and it's the reason I went with this particular theme.  I'm happy to report that the storyteller and the audience loved it to pieces as well.

Peace, Baby!
Linda Ashman, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
ISBN: 9781452106137
Diverse characters, soft colors, and expressive poses and faces.

This one sits up with Llama Llama for the very clear, child-level message - choose kindness, choose to work together, choose to be gentle, choose to forgive.  This one isn't entirely about family and siblings, but the lesson certainly applies there, and several of the scenarios pictured could be of sibling sets.

Storytime Potentials: Peace Baby, Brimsby's Hats

Rolling through the picture books still!

Peace, Baby!
Linda Ashman, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
ISBN: 9781452106137

This book made me want to grow my hair out long and straight, wear bell-bottoms, and put on a flower crown.  Seriously, tho, this is a cute montage of stress-inducing child situations, with a mantra of "Peace, Baby" to remind kids to seek alternatives to violence or anger.  Especially nice because the situations are very realistic for kids, and because there is absolutely no religious or cultural context invoked.  This one will be getting used soon!


Brimsby's Hats
Andrew Prahin
ISBN: 9781442481473

I actually saw a review for this one in Booklist a while back and specifically requested it.  I was so happy today to see it in person finally!  It's always a gamble for me to get excited about books based on a review - I so often disagree with them, or find some little niggling thing that bugs me that the reviewer didn't include.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!

Brimsby (most excellent name) had a good friend, and they would sit together and visit, until the friend went off to sea to fulfill his dream of being a sea captain.  Then Brimsby was lonely.  How Brimsby found a tree full of potential friends and set about making friends with them is just a sweet sweet story.

It's a bit on the long side, but I think I can make it work.  It's worth it for a sweetie like this.