I was off on vacation this past week, so I had a fellow librarian give my storytime, and I treated everyone to a collection of "beach reads" so they'd all be properly jealous of me. :)
The Twelve Days of Summer
Elizabeth Lee O'Donnell, illustrated by Karen Lee Schmidt
ISBN: 0688082025
Cartoonish illustrations with vibrant colors and careful plotting to get the numbers all counted in.
Our protagonist character is a cute little girl visiting the beach with her family, and she counts up from "a little purple sea anemone" along with the tune from The Twelve Days of Christmas. The rhymes are cute, the meter is solid, and the illustrations are adorable. An excellent silly summer read.
An Island in the Sun
Stella Blackstone, Nicoletta Ceccoli
ISBN: 1841481939
Dreamy fanciful illustrations (think Kinuko-Craft-light) are the star of an "I spy" building rhyme.
Another co-opted rhyme sequence, this one based on the old "I spy with my little eye" format mixed with the "the house that Jack built" cumulative concept. Despite the cumulative nature, this one is still easily short enough to be the middle book, and to flow quickly and nicely with few tongue-twisters or trip-up meters.
Three By the Sea
Mini Grey
ISBN: 9780375867842
Mini Grey's trademark faux-collage and quirky cartoon detailing.
The "three" of the title are a dog, cat, and mouse, who all live together in a shack by the sea, and have worked out an arrangement of chores and labor that all are happy with - until a slick foxy salesman stops by and insidiously manages to get everyone thinking they do more work, and their housemates are slackers or incompetent. After a heated argument, things get sorted out (mainly through the ejection of the slick fox) and while things do change, they do so organically, and with goodwill and mutual appreciation. I'm tempted to give this book to college students in shared housing.
Just one more regular storytime before our official start of Summer Reading Themes - it was a patchwork mess this year, making it difficult for me to find any extra titles to start at the top of June like I usually try to do. Oh well - gives me a chance to use some of the beach/summer titles that I rarely get to showcase.
Showing posts with label Mini Grey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mini Grey. Show all posts
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
New Picture Book! Hermelin: the Detective Mouse, Mini Grey
I love Mini Grey so much. Traction Man is so amazing, and Toys in Space is just adorable. Now we get a story about a mouse detective solving adorable cozy neighborhood (super-simple) mysteries.
Hermelin: the Detective Mouse
"as told to Mini Grey"
ISBN: 9780385754330
After a slew of mysterious cases are solved by a clever individual named Hermelin, the residents of Offley Street desperately want to meet their new neighborhood benefactor; until they realize he's a mouse. Emily the journalist (and aspiring detective in her own right) realizes that cleverness and kindness (and a quick mind in an emergency) are necessary traits for a detective, regardless of species. The story ends with the inauguration of their joint detective agency, solving the remaining mystery of Offley Street; where have all the cats gone?
Oh I hope this will be a continuing series! The notes are adorable, and simply perfection.
Hermelin: the Detective Mouse
"as told to Mini Grey"
ISBN: 9780385754330
After a slew of mysterious cases are solved by a clever individual named Hermelin, the residents of Offley Street desperately want to meet their new neighborhood benefactor; until they realize he's a mouse. Emily the journalist (and aspiring detective in her own right) realizes that cleverness and kindness (and a quick mind in an emergency) are necessary traits for a detective, regardless of species. The story ends with the inauguration of their joint detective agency, solving the remaining mystery of Offley Street; where have all the cats gone?
Oh I hope this will be a continuing series! The notes are adorable, and simply perfection.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Summer Reading Program 2014. Week 6: Space
This is our "make-up week" for the program that was superseded by our special magic show earlier in the summer. We still have no AC, but the weather has been cooler, and so I didn't have to make any changes to the line-up this time around.
Storytime:
Toys in Space
Mini Grey
ISBN: 9780307978127
Bemused toys exist in a slightly skewed world with a faint English flavor.
I adore Mini Grey for her Traction Man series, and Toys in Space could very easily exist in the same universe, although Traction Man himself does not make an appearance - not even a cameo! The toys are left outside on the lawn overnight for the first time, so WonderDoll decides to avert panic by telling an interactive story about how the toys are abducted by an alien who is looking for his own lost toy.
The meta-storytelling (me reading a book about a doll telling a story (with interruptions) to an audience of toys) is challenging as a reader. I'm not sure whether the littlest ones realized that the story was supposed to be made-up all the way through. Some of the language was a little spicy for my toddler audience (I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and excised the cowboy's "darns" and "dangits" in favor of a broader "cowboy" accent overall). The story is cute, with just enough silly to counteract the potentially frightening elements - getting beamed into a spaceship, a giant closet filled with cataloged "lost toys," a potentially scary alien creature. Everything is lampshaded, and some things are lampshaded, mocked, and then incorporated non-ironically into the storyline. I also appreciate an alien that is named something interesting but still basically pronouncable. (It's is, or is a (was never clear on whether that was it's name or it's species) "Hoctopize" which is a totally cromulent alien name (or species).
This one was also one of our featured Summer Reading books.
This Rocket
Paul Collicutt
ISBN: 0374374848
Bright blue and orange colors this exciting (but reality-based) simple opposites book featuring rockets.
I am really shocked that this book isn't better known and more used than it is. The simple phrasing and related (mostly opposites) half spreads of this book really make it perfect for this age group. Besides that - rockets! Obviously a perennial favorite, just like dinosaurs and excavators and fire trucks. I had to look outside the county for it (first when researching the theme, and again this time to use) so I think I'm just going to give in and buy myself a copy. It really is perfect. Very sparse text, very expressive and contrasting illustrations of actual rockets, with even more rockets and rocketry factoids on the endpapers.
Light up the Night
Jean Reidy, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
ISBN: 9781423120247
Blocky, brushed/sponged-textural paintings pinpoint a boy's location, from space to his own bedroom.
This is an excellent use of the "this is the house that Jack built" form of expanding poetry text, starting with a young boy at bedtime turning his quilt into a rocketship, and then zooming in from space "where stars glow bright / and light up the night" through the solar system, onto earth, a continent (left vague), and a country (likewise), town, street, house, bedroom, and bed, and then back out again to show the stars, and a small bed sitting on the earth in a very Saint-Exupery "The Little Prince" sort of image.
Summer Reading
For the older kids, I subbed out Aliens in Underpants Save the World for This Rocket, but kept Toys in Space and Light up the Night. I probably could have gone with a longer book, but we had a time-consuming activity and a fun craft this time around, so I wanted to save some good time for those - programs need to be focused on the books, but I'm not one of those who thinks they should be ONLY about the books.
Aliens in Underpants Save the World
Claire Freedman, illustrated by Ben Cort
ISBN: 9781442427686
Aliens routinely steal underpants from Earth, until a meteorite threatens the planet, and the resourceful aliens make one final giant panty heist to make the biggest stretchiest underpants ever.
I have to say, still not a huge fan, but I do like this one better than the Dinosaurs one. For some reason, the zany colors and silly sketchy art style works much better for me with aliens as the focus. Maybe it reminded me of the monsters from Monsters, Inc/Monsters U? So - similar idea. Rhyming couplets on each spread document how aliens descended from the heavens, stole all the underpants, sewed them into a giant springy underpant net, and bounced a meteorite back into space, saving the earth. Tada!
Next week is Food Science, and then we're all done with Summer Reading until next year: Superheroes!
Storytime:
Toys in Space
Mini Grey
ISBN: 9780307978127
Bemused toys exist in a slightly skewed world with a faint English flavor.
I adore Mini Grey for her Traction Man series, and Toys in Space could very easily exist in the same universe, although Traction Man himself does not make an appearance - not even a cameo! The toys are left outside on the lawn overnight for the first time, so WonderDoll decides to avert panic by telling an interactive story about how the toys are abducted by an alien who is looking for his own lost toy.
The meta-storytelling (me reading a book about a doll telling a story (with interruptions) to an audience of toys) is challenging as a reader. I'm not sure whether the littlest ones realized that the story was supposed to be made-up all the way through. Some of the language was a little spicy for my toddler audience (I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and excised the cowboy's "darns" and "dangits" in favor of a broader "cowboy" accent overall). The story is cute, with just enough silly to counteract the potentially frightening elements - getting beamed into a spaceship, a giant closet filled with cataloged "lost toys," a potentially scary alien creature. Everything is lampshaded, and some things are lampshaded, mocked, and then incorporated non-ironically into the storyline. I also appreciate an alien that is named something interesting but still basically pronouncable. (It's is, or is a (was never clear on whether that was it's name or it's species) "Hoctopize" which is a totally cromulent alien name (or species).
This one was also one of our featured Summer Reading books.
This Rocket
Paul Collicutt
ISBN: 0374374848
Bright blue and orange colors this exciting (but reality-based) simple opposites book featuring rockets.
I am really shocked that this book isn't better known and more used than it is. The simple phrasing and related (mostly opposites) half spreads of this book really make it perfect for this age group. Besides that - rockets! Obviously a perennial favorite, just like dinosaurs and excavators and fire trucks. I had to look outside the county for it (first when researching the theme, and again this time to use) so I think I'm just going to give in and buy myself a copy. It really is perfect. Very sparse text, very expressive and contrasting illustrations of actual rockets, with even more rockets and rocketry factoids on the endpapers.
Light up the Night
Jean Reidy, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
ISBN: 9781423120247
Blocky, brushed/sponged-textural paintings pinpoint a boy's location, from space to his own bedroom.
This is an excellent use of the "this is the house that Jack built" form of expanding poetry text, starting with a young boy at bedtime turning his quilt into a rocketship, and then zooming in from space "where stars glow bright / and light up the night" through the solar system, onto earth, a continent (left vague), and a country (likewise), town, street, house, bedroom, and bed, and then back out again to show the stars, and a small bed sitting on the earth in a very Saint-Exupery "The Little Prince" sort of image.
Summer Reading
For the older kids, I subbed out Aliens in Underpants Save the World for This Rocket, but kept Toys in Space and Light up the Night. I probably could have gone with a longer book, but we had a time-consuming activity and a fun craft this time around, so I wanted to save some good time for those - programs need to be focused on the books, but I'm not one of those who thinks they should be ONLY about the books.
Aliens in Underpants Save the World
Claire Freedman, illustrated by Ben Cort
ISBN: 9781442427686
Aliens routinely steal underpants from Earth, until a meteorite threatens the planet, and the resourceful aliens make one final giant panty heist to make the biggest stretchiest underpants ever.
I have to say, still not a huge fan, but I do like this one better than the Dinosaurs one. For some reason, the zany colors and silly sketchy art style works much better for me with aliens as the focus. Maybe it reminded me of the monsters from Monsters, Inc/Monsters U? So - similar idea. Rhyming couplets on each spread document how aliens descended from the heavens, stole all the underpants, sewed them into a giant springy underpant net, and bounced a meteorite back into space, saving the earth. Tada!
Next week is Food Science, and then we're all done with Summer Reading until next year: Superheroes!
Monday, July 15, 2013
Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey, Mini Grey
Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey
Mini Grey
July 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0375869525
Oh, My, God.... I love Traction Man! How did I miss this for over two months!
This one is not as good as Traction Man is Here! (Mini Grey, ISBN: 9780307931115), but better than the second: Traction Man Meets Turbo Dog (ISBN: 9780375855832). I swear I will re-read or use these for storytime and review them both. Until then; taken as a collection, Traction Man is AMAZING!!
Now, off to the beach. I'm easily swayed by beaches and oceans, and I also have to say that the "Brown and Sticky" joke (one of my husband's favorites) popsicle stick did me in.
Now, off to the beach. I'm easily swayed by beaches and oceans, and I also have to say that the "Brown and Sticky" joke (one of my husband's favorites) popsicle stick did me in.
I also must say that Traction Man(tm)'s creators are clever sorts
to make his clothes disintegrate so quickly. He looked quite the
Robinson Crusoe by the time he was "rescued."
Facial expressions are just killer, as always.
Especially liked the ladies roughing it in the borrowed clothes, getting all up into the excavating. Hell yes!
Win all around.
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