Last week of Space! We say goodbye with a set from my coworker:
Mail Harry to the Moon!
Robie H. Harris, illustrated by Michael Emberley
Our unnamed narrator is QUITE DISPLEASED with the new addition to the family, especially now that his things (and food, and parental affection) are getting seriously infringed upon. When smaller ideas - toss him in the trash, flush him down the toilet - don't gain any traction, he goes for the ultimate solution and decides that they need to just Mail Harry to the Moon! But the next morning he's shocked by the silence - did they ACTUALLY do it? But the baby's too young to be on the moon by himself! So off he goes to the rescue, deciding it's really not that bad to have a baby brother after all.
Space Cows (easy reader)
Eric Seltzer, illustrated by Tom Disbury
This silly story reminds me of Sandra Boynton's goofyness, but in a easy-reader format. Nothing serious or ponderous, just a silly little nonsense rhyme featuring cows in spacesuits cavorting about in space and on the moon, and in spaceships.
A Big Mooncake for Little Star
Grace Lin
This sweet fable (adapted from childhood memories of the actual Chinese Moon Festival, although not from the mythology associated with it) has Mama and Little Star as a small family, baking lovely tasty mooncakes that Little Star can't resist slowly nibbling on through the month, leaving a trail of crumbs as the milky way. Sweet and gentle and a fun "just-so story" for the phases of the moon being caused by a hungry little girl.
Showing posts with label Summer Reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Reading. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Summer Reading Storytime, space, week 7
Last week of the SRP, but we're going to roll the storytimes for 8 weeks and end on the last day of July.
Here are our second-to-last space summer reading books for Pendleton's Family Storytime group!
Moondogs
Daniel Kirk
His parents are desperate to get him a pal, but Willy is convinced that no pet will be as good as a moondog. But when an alien threatens everyone, a good old earth mutt saves the day, and changes Willy's mind.
Boy + Bot
Ame Dyckman, illustrated Dan Yaccarino
A cute short fable of good friends trying their best to meet needs even in the face of unexpected challenges (and operating systems). The weird tiny scientist at the end is icing on the cupcake.
Garcia and Collette go Exploring
Hannah Barnaby, illustrated by Andrew Joyner
Garcia and Collette can't decide WHERE to explore, so they build their own devices (rocket and submarine) and head off on their respective adventures, but they realize the true fun of exploring is having someone to share the fun. Back they come, the inventions are invented upon, and a mutually-enjoyable destination is discovered in the end.
Here are our second-to-last space summer reading books for Pendleton's Family Storytime group!
Moondogs
Daniel Kirk
His parents are desperate to get him a pal, but Willy is convinced that no pet will be as good as a moondog. But when an alien threatens everyone, a good old earth mutt saves the day, and changes Willy's mind.
Boy + Bot
Ame Dyckman, illustrated Dan Yaccarino
A cute short fable of good friends trying their best to meet needs even in the face of unexpected challenges (and operating systems). The weird tiny scientist at the end is icing on the cupcake.
Garcia and Collette go Exploring
Hannah Barnaby, illustrated by Andrew Joyner
Garcia and Collette can't decide WHERE to explore, so they build their own devices (rocket and submarine) and head off on their respective adventures, but they realize the true fun of exploring is having someone to share the fun. Back they come, the inventions are invented upon, and a mutually-enjoyable destination is discovered in the end.
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Summer Reading Storytime, space, week 6
The end of summer got away from me!
For this week, we had some cute stories picked out by my coworker:
Little Fox and the Missing Moon
Ekaterina Trukhan
After a nightmare where he eats the moon, Little Fox (and eventually his friends) head out into the dark night to find it. A bit wandering, but cute illustrations, and a sweet story.
No, No, Kitten!
Shelley Moore Thomas, illustrated by Lori Nichols
Kitten just needs a bowl and a basket and a laser pointer and a spaceship... What? Kitten wants to go to Jupiter, of course!
Roaring Rockets
Tony Mitton, illustrated by Ant Parker
Nonfiction content in a narrative form, with anthropomorphic animals as the cast, and wobby "crayon" faux naif illustrations. Super cute and I appreciate the attentiveness to veracity.
For this week, we had some cute stories picked out by my coworker:
Little Fox and the Missing Moon
Ekaterina Trukhan
After a nightmare where he eats the moon, Little Fox (and eventually his friends) head out into the dark night to find it. A bit wandering, but cute illustrations, and a sweet story.
No, No, Kitten!
Shelley Moore Thomas, illustrated by Lori Nichols
Kitten just needs a bowl and a basket and a laser pointer and a spaceship... What? Kitten wants to go to Jupiter, of course!
Roaring Rockets
Tony Mitton, illustrated by Ant Parker
Nonfiction content in a narrative form, with anthropomorphic animals as the cast, and wobby "crayon" faux naif illustrations. Super cute and I appreciate the attentiveness to veracity.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Summer Reading Storytime, space, week 5
Our 5th week of summer reading, and another week of themed storytimes for the little kids to go along with the program themes. Today we're looking at Science and Exploration!
Cece Loves Science
Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes, illustrated by Vashti Harrison
ISBN: 9780062499608
Cece and her science partner Isaac are documenting a science experiment for class: everything from coming up with a Hypothesis to Testing Parameters, to the Experiment itself, and Documenting Results. They're trying to see if Cece's dog Einstein likes vegetables. I'd like to see some interesting science-based story-stretchers based on this book and some of the narrative and scientific elisions it makes, but that's just me being picky. It's cute and fun and Cece is a great science-based protagonist.
Life on Mars
John Agee
ISBN: 9780399538520
Our intrepid ungendered protagonist marches steadfastly around on Mars, missing the forest for the trees, or in this case, the giant red alien monster for the dirt and rocks and one pretty flower. At least until he gets back to his spaceship and discovers that SOMETHING is out there in a cute little finale.
Mae Among the Stars
Roda Ahmed, illustrated by Stasia Burrington
ISBN: 9780062651730
A fictionalized account of "daydreamer" Mae Jemison, who made history as the first African-American woman astronaut, AND in space. An excellent if slightly trite rendition of the "follow your dreams and don't let the haters (or well-intentioned realists) get you down" tradition of inspirational storybook, with illustrations that drag the quality up by main force.
Cece Loves Science
Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes, illustrated by Vashti Harrison
ISBN: 9780062499608
Cece and her science partner Isaac are documenting a science experiment for class: everything from coming up with a Hypothesis to Testing Parameters, to the Experiment itself, and Documenting Results. They're trying to see if Cece's dog Einstein likes vegetables. I'd like to see some interesting science-based story-stretchers based on this book and some of the narrative and scientific elisions it makes, but that's just me being picky. It's cute and fun and Cece is a great science-based protagonist.
Life on Mars
John Agee
ISBN: 9780399538520
Our intrepid ungendered protagonist marches steadfastly around on Mars, missing the forest for the trees, or in this case, the giant red alien monster for the dirt and rocks and one pretty flower. At least until he gets back to his spaceship and discovers that SOMETHING is out there in a cute little finale.
Mae Among the Stars
Roda Ahmed, illustrated by Stasia Burrington
ISBN: 9780062651730
A fictionalized account of "daydreamer" Mae Jemison, who made history as the first African-American woman astronaut, AND in space. An excellent if slightly trite rendition of the "follow your dreams and don't let the haters (or well-intentioned realists) get you down" tradition of inspirational storybook, with illustrations that drag the quality up by main force.
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Tuesday Storytime: still space, even though the SRP is on a break for the 4th
This week's selections were chosen by my coworker:
The Babysitter from Another Planet
Stephen Savage
ISBN: 9780823441471
The Moon (Bamboo and Friends)
Felica Law, illustrated by Nicola Evans
ISBN: 1404812822
Chicken in Space
Adam Lehrhaupt, illustrated by Shahar Kober
ISBN: 9780062364128
The Babysitter from Another Planet
Stephen Savage
ISBN: 9780823441471
The Moon (Bamboo and Friends)
Felica Law, illustrated by Nicola Evans
ISBN: 1404812822
Chicken in Space
Adam Lehrhaupt, illustrated by Shahar Kober
ISBN: 9780062364128
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Summer Reading Storytime: space, week 4
My coworker picked these out, they're super cute!
Planet Kindergarten
Sue Ganz-Schmitt, illustrated by Shane Prigmore
ISBN: 9781452118932
Really cute gloss of the first day of kindergarten as a mission to space, and it holds together quite nicely. I especially like the touches of having various kindergartners be various types of aliens just through hair and clothing and poses. Very fun, and lots of nudge-nudge wink-wink about what things "really" are. Short and cute.
Kitten's First Full Moon
Kevin Henkes
ISBN: 9780060588281
Kitten roams outside at night and discovers the moon, the night, and a nice puddle of what looks like milk, but is in fact the reflection of the beautiful moon. Soft, gentle, and sweet. A classic.
On the Launch Pad: A Counting Book About Rockets
Michael Dahl, illustrated by Derrick Alderman and Denise Shea
ISBN: 1404805818
Lovely little counting book with BRIGHT simple illustrations of rockets getting ready to blast into space. Super short and sweet, with lovely primary colors and nice textural color washes and collage pieces to add depth and visual interest. An excellent visual walkthrough of the process (very simplified) of getting a rocket ready to liftoff and head off into space, centered into a counting book where the visual elements match the number of that particular page. Hard work to set it up, but it's a breeze to read through, and a delight to look at the finished design.
Planet Kindergarten
Sue Ganz-Schmitt, illustrated by Shane Prigmore
ISBN: 9781452118932
Really cute gloss of the first day of kindergarten as a mission to space, and it holds together quite nicely. I especially like the touches of having various kindergartners be various types of aliens just through hair and clothing and poses. Very fun, and lots of nudge-nudge wink-wink about what things "really" are. Short and cute.
Kitten's First Full Moon
Kevin Henkes
ISBN: 9780060588281
Kitten roams outside at night and discovers the moon, the night, and a nice puddle of what looks like milk, but is in fact the reflection of the beautiful moon. Soft, gentle, and sweet. A classic.
On the Launch Pad: A Counting Book About Rockets
Michael Dahl, illustrated by Derrick Alderman and Denise Shea
ISBN: 1404805818
Lovely little counting book with BRIGHT simple illustrations of rockets getting ready to blast into space. Super short and sweet, with lovely primary colors and nice textural color washes and collage pieces to add depth and visual interest. An excellent visual walkthrough of the process (very simplified) of getting a rocket ready to liftoff and head off into space, centered into a counting book where the visual elements match the number of that particular page. Hard work to set it up, but it's a breeze to read through, and a delight to look at the finished design.
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Summer Reading Storytime: space, week 3
My turn again!
Three fun ones about rockets and heading off into space, to tie into our program this afternoon where a team from the local amateur radio club will be using HAM radios to ask questions of an astronaut (an actor in costume, hidden in the building).
Hedgie Blasts Off!
written and illustrated by Jan Brett
ISBN: 0399246215
Hedgie works the clean-up crew for the Professor's space program, but something's gone terribly wrong, and the robot that they want to use to for the mission has malfunctioned. Only someone Hedgie's size can fit into the rocket, so Hedgie finally gets to realize his dreams of being an astronaut, as he heads out to the mini-planet of Mikkop and the malfunctioning magic geyser that shoots up the sparkles needed to nourish the beautiful tourist-pleasing plants of the tiny planet. A cute look at astronauts, eco-tourism, conservation, and the interdependence of life, even on tiny little planets in outer space, all narrated by a humble Hedgie.
Space Boy
written and illustrated by Leo Landry
ISBN: 9780618605682
While no formal diagnosis is given, this book seems written with Spectrum individuals in mind. Nicholas is headed to bed, but the world is too noisy. Dogs are barking, kids are crying and playing, cars are zooming outside; there's nothing for it but to drag on the spacesuit, head out back to the rocketship, and head to the moon for some peace and quiet. But after a while, and once he's settled down, he realizes he misses his family, (and hopes things have settled down there also) and heads back home to bed. Very sweet, and a good allegory of taking time to yourself and creating a quiet place in your mind (or backyard) to retreat to when things get too overwhelming.
Otter In Space
written and illustrated by Sam Garton
ISBN: 9780062247766
I dearly love the Otter books. They're just too adorable for words, but this one might be my favorite. After Otter Keeper takes Otter (and friends) to the Space Museum, and there's a familiar breakdown in the gift-shop when money never goes quite as far as it ought to, Otter (and friends) hatch a plan to find a moon rock of their very own in their back yard, building space suits and rockets and rock-retrieval-systems to help with the very hard work. They pick an excellent moon rock from the garden (and by excellent I think they picked the biggest, dirtiest one they could find) and dragged it triumphantly inside, whereupon Otter Keeper comes home from work and is Not Pleased. Compromises are made, rocks are washed, and Otter (and friends) decide that Pirate Treasure is an easier journey than Moon Rocks for tomorrow.
Three fun ones about rockets and heading off into space, to tie into our program this afternoon where a team from the local amateur radio club will be using HAM radios to ask questions of an astronaut (an actor in costume, hidden in the building).
Hedgie Blasts Off!
written and illustrated by Jan Brett
ISBN: 0399246215
Hedgie works the clean-up crew for the Professor's space program, but something's gone terribly wrong, and the robot that they want to use to for the mission has malfunctioned. Only someone Hedgie's size can fit into the rocket, so Hedgie finally gets to realize his dreams of being an astronaut, as he heads out to the mini-planet of Mikkop and the malfunctioning magic geyser that shoots up the sparkles needed to nourish the beautiful tourist-pleasing plants of the tiny planet. A cute look at astronauts, eco-tourism, conservation, and the interdependence of life, even on tiny little planets in outer space, all narrated by a humble Hedgie.
Space Boy
written and illustrated by Leo Landry
ISBN: 9780618605682
While no formal diagnosis is given, this book seems written with Spectrum individuals in mind. Nicholas is headed to bed, but the world is too noisy. Dogs are barking, kids are crying and playing, cars are zooming outside; there's nothing for it but to drag on the spacesuit, head out back to the rocketship, and head to the moon for some peace and quiet. But after a while, and once he's settled down, he realizes he misses his family, (and hopes things have settled down there also) and heads back home to bed. Very sweet, and a good allegory of taking time to yourself and creating a quiet place in your mind (or backyard) to retreat to when things get too overwhelming.
Otter In Space
written and illustrated by Sam Garton
ISBN: 9780062247766
I dearly love the Otter books. They're just too adorable for words, but this one might be my favorite. After Otter Keeper takes Otter (and friends) to the Space Museum, and there's a familiar breakdown in the gift-shop when money never goes quite as far as it ought to, Otter (and friends) hatch a plan to find a moon rock of their very own in their back yard, building space suits and rockets and rock-retrieval-systems to help with the very hard work. They pick an excellent moon rock from the garden (and by excellent I think they picked the biggest, dirtiest one they could find) and dragged it triumphantly inside, whereupon Otter Keeper comes home from work and is Not Pleased. Compromises are made, rocks are washed, and Otter (and friends) decide that Pirate Treasure is an easier journey than Moon Rocks for tomorrow.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Summer Reading Storytime: space, week 2
And my turn at bat!
City Moon
Rachael Cole, illustrated by Blanca Gomez
ISBN: 9780553497083
Sweet city-based story about walking the streets of a city and seeing the moon and the stars among the city lights and features, and wondering why all the rest of the city seems so busy and bustling. Very sweet and a good addition to my "here's what cities are like" collection for all of my current very rural kids.
Moon Plane
Peter McCarty
ISBN: 0805079432
Classic sweet story of imagination and freedom.
Sleepy Solar System
Dr John Hutton, illustrated by Doug Cenko
ISBN: 9781936669493
Much less fact-based than 8 Little Planets from last week, this one is more fantastical, focusing pretty exclusively on the fantastical idea of bedtime from a planetary perspective, with Mother earth and Father moon, and all the other planets as various siblings. Cute but super light and fluffy.
City Moon
Rachael Cole, illustrated by Blanca Gomez
ISBN: 9780553497083
Sweet city-based story about walking the streets of a city and seeing the moon and the stars among the city lights and features, and wondering why all the rest of the city seems so busy and bustling. Very sweet and a good addition to my "here's what cities are like" collection for all of my current very rural kids.
Moon Plane
Peter McCarty
ISBN: 0805079432
Classic sweet story of imagination and freedom.
Sleepy Solar System
Dr John Hutton, illustrated by Doug Cenko
ISBN: 9781936669493
Much less fact-based than 8 Little Planets from last week, this one is more fantastical, focusing pretty exclusively on the fantastical idea of bedtime from a planetary perspective, with Mother earth and Father moon, and all the other planets as various siblings. Cute but super light and fluffy.
Friday, June 14, 2019
Summer Reading Storytime: Space, week 1
And we're off to the races!
These were selected by my coworker.
8 Little Planets (board-book/cut-out book)
Chris Ferrie, illustrated by Lizzy Doyle
ISBN: 9781492671244
Sweet little rhymes are filled with easy facts and fun info about all the different "official" planets.
Best Frints in the Whole Universe
Antoinette Partis
ISBN: 9781626721364
I've read this cutie before about two alien "frients" who get into a spectacular argument over sharing and responsibility and owning up to mistakes. Very cute, and full of fun tongue-twisters for the reader.
Earth Space Moon Base
Ben Joel Price
ISBN: 9780385373111
Funky 1950s esque story about a tag-team of astronaut, robot, and test monkey who have to save the world (and their moon base) from scaaaaary moon aliens.
These were selected by my coworker.
8 Little Planets (board-book/cut-out book)
Chris Ferrie, illustrated by Lizzy Doyle
ISBN: 9781492671244
Sweet little rhymes are filled with easy facts and fun info about all the different "official" planets.
Best Frints in the Whole Universe
Antoinette Partis
ISBN: 9781626721364
I've read this cutie before about two alien "frients" who get into a spectacular argument over sharing and responsibility and owning up to mistakes. Very cute, and full of fun tongue-twisters for the reader.
Earth Space Moon Base
Ben Joel Price
ISBN: 9780385373111
Funky 1950s esque story about a tag-team of astronaut, robot, and test monkey who have to save the world (and their moon base) from scaaaaary moon aliens.
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Our place in the cosmos
Ok fine, it's not the snappiest of themes, but I wanted to end our exploration of space with a reminder that we have a place in the universe, and that the world (and their own lives) are a part of the vastness of space. Yes, I'm a huge softy and the kids won't even notice or care, but I think it's important.
Light up the Night
Jean Reidy, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
ISBN: 9781423120247
A black-haired boy goes to bed and he and his shape-shifting quilt take a tour of the universe from stars down to his own hometown and bedroom, in a "house that Jack built" sort of cumulative tale of shrinking down reference frames. The very end opens back out into space and slows the tempo way back down. Seems short and snappy til you read it, then it's pretty long and repetitive, but it's still a solid read for this age-group.
The Night Sky
Robin Nelson (photographs and diagrams by various contributors and sources)
ISBN: 9780761345770
There needs to be a book in this series about every nonfiction topic under the sun. It's short, sweet, clear, the pictures and diagrams are phenomenal, and basically it's just perfect. We learn about the moon and how it cycles through phases.
Our Solar System (board-book)
Peter and Connie Roop
ISBN: 9781454914181
Also perfect, but in board-book/lift-the-flap format! A "shaped" board-book where each consecutive spread is a slightly larger cross-section, and slightly further out from the center, starting with a sun-shaped circle to begin with, and ending with Neptune at the furthest reaches (sorry Pluto) and a shout-out to the updated memory catchphrase "My Very Excellent Mother..." Really beautiful, an excellent concept, executed beautifully.
And that does it for summer reading and for space this year (until I decide to do one on my own, just because I like space). Tune in next week to see the third set of self-selected books by our trainee storytimer!
Light up the Night
Jean Reidy, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
ISBN: 9781423120247
A black-haired boy goes to bed and he and his shape-shifting quilt take a tour of the universe from stars down to his own hometown and bedroom, in a "house that Jack built" sort of cumulative tale of shrinking down reference frames. The very end opens back out into space and slows the tempo way back down. Seems short and snappy til you read it, then it's pretty long and repetitive, but it's still a solid read for this age-group.
The Night Sky
Robin Nelson (photographs and diagrams by various contributors and sources)
ISBN: 9780761345770
There needs to be a book in this series about every nonfiction topic under the sun. It's short, sweet, clear, the pictures and diagrams are phenomenal, and basically it's just perfect. We learn about the moon and how it cycles through phases.
Our Solar System (board-book)
Peter and Connie Roop
ISBN: 9781454914181
Also perfect, but in board-book/lift-the-flap format! A "shaped" board-book where each consecutive spread is a slightly larger cross-section, and slightly further out from the center, starting with a sun-shaped circle to begin with, and ending with Neptune at the furthest reaches (sorry Pluto) and a shout-out to the updated memory catchphrase "My Very Excellent Mother..." Really beautiful, an excellent concept, executed beautifully.
And that does it for summer reading and for space this year (until I decide to do one on my own, just because I like space). Tune in next week to see the third set of self-selected books by our trainee storytimer!
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Peaceful Moon
A trio of peaceful, gentle, moon-centered stories. Another that would have gone delightfully with this theme is Floyd Cooper's beautiful sepia-toned Max and the Tag-Along Moon, but it was just a smidge too long, and I wanted to try and include a nonfiction title as often as I could with these themed storytimes.
Footprints on the Moon
Mark Haddon, illustrated by Christian Birmingham
ISBN: 9780763644406
The author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time presents a lyrical (and hella long, but we skipped pages like mad) exploration of watching the original moon landing, and being comforted by knowing that regardless of the changes here on earth, the footprints on the moon will endure for centuries.
Moon Plane
Peter McCarty
ISBN: 0805079432
A small boy watches a plane fly at night and spins a fantasy about flying up to the moon.
Kitten's First Full Moon
Kevin Henkes
ISBN: 9780060588281
Kitten wanders around in a luminous night and has kitten-sized adventures chasing after the "little bowl of milk" that is the full moon, having a few accidents, but ending safely at home.
Footprints on the Moon
Mark Haddon, illustrated by Christian Birmingham
ISBN: 9780763644406
The author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time presents a lyrical (and hella long, but we skipped pages like mad) exploration of watching the original moon landing, and being comforted by knowing that regardless of the changes here on earth, the footprints on the moon will endure for centuries.
Moon Plane
Peter McCarty
ISBN: 0805079432
A small boy watches a plane fly at night and spins a fantasy about flying up to the moon.
Kitten's First Full Moon
Kevin Henkes
ISBN: 9780060588281
Kitten wanders around in a luminous night and has kitten-sized adventures chasing after the "little bowl of milk" that is the full moon, having a few accidents, but ending safely at home.
Friday, July 14, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Summer Reading: Not Quite Space
Sometimes imagination can be better than facts, and outer space provides plenty of "scope for the imagination" as Ann of Green Gables would have said. These stories show the kinds of fun you can have when you blast off - even if you never really leave the ground.
No, No, Kitten!
Shelley Moore Thomas, illustrated by Lori Nichols
ISBN: 9781620916315
Kitten keeps getting into things, but she's not being naughty just to be bad - she's got BIG plans.
Planet Kindergarten
Sue Ganz-Schmitt, illustrated by Shane Prigmore
ISBN: 978145211893
Cute kid heads off to "planet kindergarten" for his first mission with his new crewmates. Very well-executed premise, just a couple of groaners or really stretched concepts.
Otter in Space
Sam Garton
ISBN: 9780062247766
I only recently discovered Otter and Otter Keeper, and oh my goodness am I in love. (Don't keep otters for pets tho, seriously - they'll destroy your house and be unhappy.) But in this fictional universe, Otter is a bored stay-at-home pet who manages to subvert his daily activities into environment-destroying fun every single time. In this installment, Otter has discovered space, and he's headed to the moon for a moon rock.
No, No, Kitten!
Shelley Moore Thomas, illustrated by Lori Nichols
ISBN: 9781620916315
Kitten keeps getting into things, but she's not being naughty just to be bad - she's got BIG plans.
Planet Kindergarten
Sue Ganz-Schmitt, illustrated by Shane Prigmore
ISBN: 978145211893
Cute kid heads off to "planet kindergarten" for his first mission with his new crewmates. Very well-executed premise, just a couple of groaners or really stretched concepts.
Otter in Space
Sam Garton
ISBN: 9780062247766
I only recently discovered Otter and Otter Keeper, and oh my goodness am I in love. (Don't keep otters for pets tho, seriously - they'll destroy your house and be unhappy.) But in this fictional universe, Otter is a bored stay-at-home pet who manages to subvert his daily activities into environment-destroying fun every single time. In this installment, Otter has discovered space, and he's headed to the moon for a moon rock.
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Seeing Stars
A good set of books today, for a fairly large crowd.
Our Stars
Anne Rockwell
ISBN: 0152018689
Lovely factual and old-fashioned book examines stars, the sun, planetary and lunar orbits, comets, meteors (shooting stars), and constellations in clear illustrations and simple age-appropriate language, using the correct terms and explaining them straightforwardly.
The Sun is my Favorite Star
Frank Asch (Happy Birthday Moon)
ISBN: 0152021272
Skirt-wearing white child waxes lyrical about our own personal star: the sun. Beautiful fuzzy-edged and warm-toned imagery, and very short and sweet (and repetitive) sentences.
Fancy Nancy Sees Stars
Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Ted Enik (in the style of the original artist: Robin Preiss Glasser)
ISBN: 9780062572752
Fancy Nancy loves fancy words, and also loves stars. Her class is headed for a night trip to the planetarium when disaster strikes and the trip is cancelled, but her family makes the best of it (as they always do) and the class trip is saved (perhaps by a wish on a shooting star?)
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: SRP Space: Rockets Away!
First set of books bequeathed to my trainee: rocketry is cool and fun. I don't blame her at all for choosing these for her first round.
The Moon (a Bamboo and Friends book)
Felicia Law, illustrated by Nicola Evans
ISBN: 1404812822
Bamboo and friends admire the moon and then take an imaginary rocket journey up to see it.Very cute combo of nonfictional information and cute preschool thinking styles.
On the Launch Pad (a counting book about rockets)
Michael Dahl, illustrated by Derrick Alderman and Denise Shea
ISBN: 1404805818
Counting down the iconic 10, 9, 8 with really good pictures and informational text, and a fun horizontal spread at the end that requires you to turn the whole book sideways.
Roaring Rockets
Tony Mitton, illustrated by Ant Parker
ISBN: 061388857X
Trippy wordplay and anthropormorphic animals traveling up to the moon and back down into a splashdown in the ocean.
The Moon (a Bamboo and Friends book)
Felicia Law, illustrated by Nicola Evans
ISBN: 1404812822
Bamboo and friends admire the moon and then take an imaginary rocket journey up to see it.Very cute combo of nonfictional information and cute preschool thinking styles.
On the Launch Pad (a counting book about rockets)
Michael Dahl, illustrated by Derrick Alderman and Denise Shea
ISBN: 1404805818
Counting down the iconic 10, 9, 8 with really good pictures and informational text, and a fun horizontal spread at the end that requires you to turn the whole book sideways.
Roaring Rockets
Tony Mitton, illustrated by Ant Parker
ISBN: 061388857X
Trippy wordplay and anthropormorphic animals traveling up to the moon and back down into a splashdown in the ocean.
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Summer Reading Program theme is SPACE! This week: Going to the Moon
Last week was CRAZY!
Still, storytime was fun and we did our first round of space books. I mixed things up a bit, because with a trainee storyteller on board, I feel obligated to give her the first choice of the summer-reading space-themed book sets so she can continue to feel as comfortable and engaged as possible while she's still on-boarding during this first summer. So that means she grabbed all the "good" sets I picked out and worked into coherent and easy fun themes. Ah well. I didn't have time this spring to plan things as far ahead as I would have liked, so it only seems right that I should suffer instead of my trainee.
What that means in practice is that all the "odd" sets or themes that are slightly too long or too advanced conceptually, those are on me this summer. I really wish there were more nonfiction books designed for very young readers and listeners. There's just so much for older elementary school kids, and just a drought for the little preschoolers, and especially for things like space and dinosaurs and sharks, they WANT good nonfiction: I just don't have access to it to give it to them.
Our first space adventure is going to the moon! I had only two books this time: I read the Kellog tome as both the first and last book, splitting it up right before the kid lands on the moon, and reading Barton's book in the middle as a bit of a break.
If You Decide To Go To The Moon
Faith McNulty, illustrated by Steven Kellog
ISBN: 9780590483599
Beautiful Kellogian spreads of space and lunar landscapes and a stirring and somewhat preachy return to earth.
I Want to be an Astronaut
Byron Barton
ISBN: 9780064432801
Barton's minimalism works really well for this aspirational declaration of all the things the potential (female?) astronaut wants to accomplish. Stark and powerful and colorful.
Still, storytime was fun and we did our first round of space books. I mixed things up a bit, because with a trainee storyteller on board, I feel obligated to give her the first choice of the summer-reading space-themed book sets so she can continue to feel as comfortable and engaged as possible while she's still on-boarding during this first summer. So that means she grabbed all the "good" sets I picked out and worked into coherent and easy fun themes. Ah well. I didn't have time this spring to plan things as far ahead as I would have liked, so it only seems right that I should suffer instead of my trainee.
What that means in practice is that all the "odd" sets or themes that are slightly too long or too advanced conceptually, those are on me this summer. I really wish there were more nonfiction books designed for very young readers and listeners. There's just so much for older elementary school kids, and just a drought for the little preschoolers, and especially for things like space and dinosaurs and sharks, they WANT good nonfiction: I just don't have access to it to give it to them.
Our first space adventure is going to the moon! I had only two books this time: I read the Kellog tome as both the first and last book, splitting it up right before the kid lands on the moon, and reading Barton's book in the middle as a bit of a break.
If You Decide To Go To The Moon
Faith McNulty, illustrated by Steven Kellog
ISBN: 9780590483599
Beautiful Kellogian spreads of space and lunar landscapes and a stirring and somewhat preachy return to earth.
I Want to be an Astronaut
Byron Barton
ISBN: 9780064432801
Barton's minimalism works really well for this aspirational declaration of all the things the potential (female?) astronaut wants to accomplish. Stark and powerful and colorful.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Tuesday Storytime (& LAST SRP): Monster Foods
Our last summer reading program - I feel like I've missed so much of the program this year because I've been assigned to other tasks away from the circulation desk, and also had to miss several program days. It seems to have gone smoothly and everyone in my programs enjoyed themselves (and reported good things about the others). Now for the long awaited recovery period until next spring!
Book Lists for Storytime and Summer Reading were identical this time around, so titles are in the order I gave them, and simply listed the once.
Monster Chefs
Brian and Liam Anderson
ISBN: 9781596438088
Monster Chefs have to find something new for the king to eat, but keep coming up empty-clawed.
Very cute, and the twist at the end is very nice (I very much appreciate the character design of the twist.) The king of monsters is tired of eating eyeballs in ketchup, and demands his four chefs venture into the world to find something new to eat, or become dinner themselves. Each finds an animal, who is clever enough to talk themselves out of being dinner, to the sadness of the chefs, except the last chef, who goes in a completely different direction (no pun intended) to get themselves out of the stew.
Betty Goes Bananas
Steve Antony
ISBN: 9780553507614
Betty the baby gorilla has a bit of a temper problem, exacerbated when she encounters a recalcitrant banana.
I love the way that temper tantrums are presented here, with a quick escalation, and a just-as-quick calming - just the way kids themselves at that age operate. Betty really wants to eat that banana, but things just keep going wrong! It won't open, then it is open, but SHE wanted to open it, then it BREAKS! Whatever will Betty do? Throw a tantrum, of course.
LMNO Peas
Keith Baker
ISBN: 9781416991410
Lively peas in costume frolic thematically around giant pastel capital letters.
I normally don't read straight alphabet books in storytimes, and even number/counting concept books are difficult, because they're soooo limited as far as actual story arch. It's just a straight recitation of things, with a common theme or a silly catch, or perhaps both (looking at you, chicka chicka boom boom) but not much substance. LMNO Peas is not the best storytime read, but it's at least cute and has enough interesting vocabulary to get through a recitation. These peas are alphabet peas, and they have professions and interests that span from A-Z. The drawings are quite detailed, but the pages are large and well-filled, so they're visually interesting even to the kids in the back rows. It helps that Baker has a great ear, so the reading (despite the vocabulary lessons) is smooth and the rhymes and cadence just flows right out. Makes it so much easier when it rolls nicely out like that.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Tuesday Storytime (and SRP): Knights and Princesses
Knights and Princesses today, and a lovely line-up of books, with a list of alternates and second-stringers.
Reading Lists:
Storytime:
The Princess Knight (a bit long, but we managed)
King Jack and the Dragon
The Bravest Knight
Summer Reading:
The Princess Knight
Princess Grace
Walter the Baker
Pubdata and Reviews:
The Princess Knight
Cornelia Funke, illustrated by Kerstin Meyer, translated by Anthea Bell
ISBN: 0439536308
Line drawings of spunky characters. Violetta is trained in knighthood, and the King is shocked when she acts on it.
Violetta is the youngest royal child and after raising three Princes to be virtuous and powerful knights, the King sees no reason to change tacks, and raises Violetta the same way. By training at night in secret, she masters the challenges despite being small and frail, and fights under a pseudonym to win her own hand in marriage, handily beating all comers (including her big brothers).
King Jack and the Dragon
Peter Bently, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
ISBN: 9780803736986
Oxenbury's signature drawings, and a trio of adorable and imaginative young knights and kings.
King Jack and his two loyal knights built the castle and the throne room, and had adventures all day, but Jack is left behind alone in the castle (a large packing box) when giants (parents) carry the knights off into the gathering darkness. Jack holds up as best he can, but he's menaced by a giant four-footed creature - a dragon! ... well, actually mom and dad with flashlights, fetching him off to bed himself. So cute.
The Bravest Knight
Mercer Meyer
ISBN: 9780803732063
A pugnacious page serves in a vividly imagined fantasy world until things get a little too grim.
Princess Grace
Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright & Ying-Hwa Hu
ISBN: 9780803732605
Grace of "Amazing Grace" fame appears once again, learning about real princesses.
Grace is back, and this time she's inspired to be a fairy-tale princess on her class float in the yearly parade - until she looks a little closer and realizes that wearing floaty non-specific dresses and waiting around to be rescued by a prince isn't very fun. Teacher comes to the rescue with stories of actual princesses, and of princesses from specific cultures and countries, inspiring the whole class to take the princess (and prince) idea and make it their own.
Walter the Baker
Eric Carle
ISBN: 0689800789
Walter screws up the Duchess's scone, so he's got until morning to create an impossible bread that ends up becoming the first pretzel.
This one is only somewhat shoehorned into the Princes and Princesses and Knights theme, but it does have a Duke and Duchess, and I falsely remembered Walter becoming Knighted at the end (he doesn't, sadly). But it's still a cute story, and a great "just so" origin for pretzels.
Second String:
Princess Me
Karma Wilson
ISBN: 9781416940982
A smidge too "pretty pretty princess" for a mixed-gender group, and also some of the qualities of princesshood are a little limiting and traditional. It's sweet and cute and mostly harmless, but just not enough to make the cut against something like Princess Grace.
A Frog Prince
Alix Berenzy
ISBN: 0805004262
Waaaaaaaaaaay too long. Illustrations are to die for, and the fairy tale is delightful, but there's no way I could get through that AND two other books, even for the older crowd.
The Princess and the Pig
Jonathan Emmett, illustrated by Poly Bernatene
ISBN: 9780802723345
A very close call, but I had read it recently in storytime, and wanted to read Walter the Baker for SRP.
The Princess and the Pea
Rachel Isadora
ISBN: 9780399246111
LOVED this African-inspired rendition of the Princess and the Pea, but decided to go with non-traditional fairy tales instead.
Reading Lists:
Storytime:
The Princess Knight (a bit long, but we managed)
King Jack and the Dragon
The Bravest Knight
Summer Reading:
The Princess Knight
Princess Grace
Walter the Baker
Pubdata and Reviews:
The Princess Knight
Cornelia Funke, illustrated by Kerstin Meyer, translated by Anthea Bell
ISBN: 0439536308
Line drawings of spunky characters. Violetta is trained in knighthood, and the King is shocked when she acts on it.
Violetta is the youngest royal child and after raising three Princes to be virtuous and powerful knights, the King sees no reason to change tacks, and raises Violetta the same way. By training at night in secret, she masters the challenges despite being small and frail, and fights under a pseudonym to win her own hand in marriage, handily beating all comers (including her big brothers).
King Jack and the Dragon
Peter Bently, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
ISBN: 9780803736986
Oxenbury's signature drawings, and a trio of adorable and imaginative young knights and kings.
King Jack and his two loyal knights built the castle and the throne room, and had adventures all day, but Jack is left behind alone in the castle (a large packing box) when giants (parents) carry the knights off into the gathering darkness. Jack holds up as best he can, but he's menaced by a giant four-footed creature - a dragon! ... well, actually mom and dad with flashlights, fetching him off to bed himself. So cute.
The Bravest Knight
Mercer Meyer
ISBN: 9780803732063
A pugnacious page serves in a vividly imagined fantasy world until things get a little too grim.
Princess Grace
Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright & Ying-Hwa Hu
ISBN: 9780803732605
Grace of "Amazing Grace" fame appears once again, learning about real princesses.
Grace is back, and this time she's inspired to be a fairy-tale princess on her class float in the yearly parade - until she looks a little closer and realizes that wearing floaty non-specific dresses and waiting around to be rescued by a prince isn't very fun. Teacher comes to the rescue with stories of actual princesses, and of princesses from specific cultures and countries, inspiring the whole class to take the princess (and prince) idea and make it their own.
Walter the Baker
Eric Carle
ISBN: 0689800789
Walter screws up the Duchess's scone, so he's got until morning to create an impossible bread that ends up becoming the first pretzel.
This one is only somewhat shoehorned into the Princes and Princesses and Knights theme, but it does have a Duke and Duchess, and I falsely remembered Walter becoming Knighted at the end (he doesn't, sadly). But it's still a cute story, and a great "just so" origin for pretzels.
Second String:
Princess Me
Karma Wilson
ISBN: 9781416940982
A smidge too "pretty pretty princess" for a mixed-gender group, and also some of the qualities of princesshood are a little limiting and traditional. It's sweet and cute and mostly harmless, but just not enough to make the cut against something like Princess Grace.
A Frog Prince
Alix Berenzy
ISBN: 0805004262
Waaaaaaaaaaay too long. Illustrations are to die for, and the fairy tale is delightful, but there's no way I could get through that AND two other books, even for the older crowd.
The Princess and the Pig
Jonathan Emmett, illustrated by Poly Bernatene
ISBN: 9780802723345
A very close call, but I had read it recently in storytime, and wanted to read Walter the Baker for SRP.
The Princess and the Pea
Rachel Isadora
ISBN: 9780399246111
LOVED this African-inspired rendition of the Princess and the Pea, but decided to go with non-traditional fairy tales instead.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Tuesday Storytime and Summer Reading: Dragons!
The very best Fantastic creatures are dragons. No question about it. And there are getting to be some really good dragon books in the picture book world.
Storytime Lineup:
Me and My Dragon
The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water
Dragons Love Tacos
Summer Reading Lineup:
Not Your Typical Dragon
When A Dragon Moves In
Dragons Love Tacos
Info and (short) Reviews:
Me and My Dragon
David Biedrzycki
ISBN: 9781580892780
A boy walks through the process of adopting a dragon like any other pet.
The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water
Gemma Merino
ISBN: 9780735841635
Our croc isn't like his siblings, but he really wants to be around them - just not in the water.
Dragons Love Tacos
Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
ISBN: 9780803736801
Dragons love tacos, but watch out for that spicy salsa - it'll get you every time!
Not Your Typical Dragon
Dan Bar-el, illustrated by Tim Bowers
ISBN: 9780670014026
Crispin (best dragon name ever) doesn't breathe fire - he's just a bit different, but it'll all turn out ok.
When A Dragon Moves In
Jodi Moore, illustrated by Howard McWilliam
ISBN: 9780979974670
A boy at the beach gets into a little bit of trouble with his "dragon's" crazy antics.
Storytime Lineup:
Me and My Dragon
The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water
Dragons Love Tacos
Summer Reading Lineup:
Not Your Typical Dragon
When A Dragon Moves In
Dragons Love Tacos
Info and (short) Reviews:
Me and My Dragon
David Biedrzycki
ISBN: 9781580892780
A boy walks through the process of adopting a dragon like any other pet.
The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water
Gemma Merino
ISBN: 9780735841635
Our croc isn't like his siblings, but he really wants to be around them - just not in the water.
Dragons Love Tacos
Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
ISBN: 9780803736801
Dragons love tacos, but watch out for that spicy salsa - it'll get you every time!
Not Your Typical Dragon
Dan Bar-el, illustrated by Tim Bowers
ISBN: 9780670014026
Crispin (best dragon name ever) doesn't breathe fire - he's just a bit different, but it'll all turn out ok.
When A Dragon Moves In
Jodi Moore, illustrated by Howard McWilliam
ISBN: 9780979974670
A boy at the beach gets into a little bit of trouble with his "dragon's" crazy antics.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Tuesday Storytimes (and Summer Reading)
I've been away at a conference the last few weeks, but life (and storytime, and the summer reading program) goes on, so we had surrogate storytellers the last two Tuesdays. Nonetheless, I set up the books and programs as I always do, and I'll give the titles and a quick overview of what we did the last two Tuesdays (There's no storytime this Tuesday: we're on a short break. The whole system takes a week to breathe in the middle of the summer over 4th of July holidays.)
As a note, our state theme this year is "get up and go" with focuses on sports, exercise, health, and nutrition. We here decided to mix it up and go with our own county-wide theme of "Fantastic Reads and Where to Find Them" to link up with our upcoming comicon on August 6th. I personally got bitten by the programming/RA bug too hard as a child, so I decided that I was going to link the Fantastic Reads weekly themes back into nutrition, and go with a personal branch theme of "Fantastic Foods and Where to Find Them" - thus at least one title, sometimes more, once or twice ALL of the titles each week not only are about fantastical or fantasy creatures/situations, but also have to do with food or eating. Because it was fun to find them all. Because I'm weird.
So, for Tuesday the 21st, our theme was Extra-Ordinary Animals
For storytime I set up these three:
1) The Gruffalo
2) Gobble it Up
3) Bear Wants More
and for the Summer Reading Program with the older kids, I set aside these three:
1) The Gruffalo
2) Gobble it Up
3) I YAM a Donkey
For Tuesday the 28th, our theme was Magical Moves
For storytime I set up these three:
1) Runaway Wok
2) Potato Joe
3) Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great
and for the Summer Reading Program, these three:
1) Runaway Wok
2) Strega Nona's Harvest
3) Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great
As you can see, there's a bit of overlap each week. That's on purpose. I don't like that the little storytime kids miss out on a lot of the fun of the summer reading program because they're not quite old enough for the big kid programs. That's why the "special programs" at Pendleton are always "all ages" and why I also try to overlap the reading themes for them during the summer, to the point of even choosing the same books to read as often as I can. I don't know if they'll be talking or thinking about the program when they're not here, but I feel like it's important not to leave them out or have them be doing something totally different and unrelated.
Now for the pubdata and some short reviews:
The Gruffalo
Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
ISBN: 0803723865
A mouse talks a big game, making up an imaginary predator, and has to bluff it out when it actually appears.
I really love the smack-talking mouse, and how well and cleverly it thinks on it's feet, and the fact that the author made up the monster because she couldn't get "tiger" to scan in the original rhymes.
Gobble It Up! A fun song about eating!
Jim Arnosky
ISBN: 9780439903622
No we did not sing it. Yes there's a CD with this book. Various wild animals (heavy on the sea-life) celebrate eating.
It's a great silly story with a great silly refrain that aims to be catchy and also revolting at the same time - perfect for kids in a group setting to yell "ewwwww nooooo grooooosssss" when each new preferred food (from baby ducklings to giant squid) come down the pike. Delicious fun.
Bear Wants More
Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman
ISBN: 9780689845093
Bear and Friends are back as Bear wakes up in spring with a post-hibernation hunger.
Chapman's illustrations remain perfect, and the pastel Disneyfied multi-species friendship between all these animals makes it a perfect fit for the fantastical realm - there is no hard-hitting journalistic realism about animal behavior here. But that's ok, because what we do have is a lovely sweet tale of friends helping friends find good things to eat.
I YAM a Donkey!
Cece Bell
ISBN: 9780544087200
No real connection to fantasy or food other than the ongoing pun/wordplay/confusion, but fun regardless.
Cece Bell has a really fun naughty streak that she shows off to perfection in this story, where a talking yam and a donkey have a decidedly silly battle over verbiage. This gets into slang, into accents, into changing social registers and what's appropriate to say (or imply) and is overall funny and preposterous.
The Runaway Wok
Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by Sebastia Serra
ISBN: 9780525420682
"A Chinese New Year Tale" celebrates generosity and plenty with a magical wok that steals from the rich and gives to the poor.
Delightful twist on the general "magic cooking pot" theme, where the magical wok finds its way to a poor but generous family and brings about the ruin of a snobby and greedy rich family into the bargain.
Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great
Bob Shea
ISBN: 9781423159520
An Eeyore-like goat (blue and everything) mopes about the Unicorn who just moved in.
This isn't really my style of book, but it's fun and clever, easy to read, and the illustrations are cute enough. It's not as painful as Skippyjon Jones, I'll say that. I think we were supposed to read it last year, but I didn't pick it out - unfortunately the craft for this program relied on there being a unicorn book, and I wasn't able to find a good substitute (seriously you picture book people? this is a glaring flaw!). The set-up comes as the unicorn goes on about how awesome the goat is at various things, leading (of course) to the goat grudgingly complimenting the unicorn to make it feel better.
Potato Joe
Keith Baker
ISBN: 9780152062309
I flipping love Keith Baker. A counting book with potatoes. Talking ones. Exactly.
You know the old "one potato" rhyme? Well, now it's actually got real potatoes, and it goes on and on and on, with various named potatoes, (and a tomato AND a really big special guest) and counts all the way up to 10 and back down again, putting the potatoes to rest in the soil once more. It's the cutest ever.
Strega Nona's Harvest
Tomie dePaola
ISBN: 9780399252914
Compare and contrast Big Anthony's and Strega Nona's gardens and harvests as the season goes on.
Strega Nona has a nice lovely organized garden, where she lines the patches up and makes the rows straight, and asks for juuuuuust enough garden magic to get a good crop. Big Anthony isn't quite that careful, and to be safe, asks for twice as much garden magic. As the season goes on, Big Anthony has a bit of a jungle on his hands, and Strega Nona's garden is as perfect as ever - but where are all these bunches of mysterious vegetables coming from every night?
As a note, our state theme this year is "get up and go" with focuses on sports, exercise, health, and nutrition. We here decided to mix it up and go with our own county-wide theme of "Fantastic Reads and Where to Find Them" to link up with our upcoming comicon on August 6th. I personally got bitten by the programming/RA bug too hard as a child, so I decided that I was going to link the Fantastic Reads weekly themes back into nutrition, and go with a personal branch theme of "Fantastic Foods and Where to Find Them" - thus at least one title, sometimes more, once or twice ALL of the titles each week not only are about fantastical or fantasy creatures/situations, but also have to do with food or eating. Because it was fun to find them all. Because I'm weird.
So, for Tuesday the 21st, our theme was Extra-Ordinary Animals
For storytime I set up these three:
1) The Gruffalo
2) Gobble it Up
3) Bear Wants More
and for the Summer Reading Program with the older kids, I set aside these three:
1) The Gruffalo
2) Gobble it Up
3) I YAM a Donkey
For Tuesday the 28th, our theme was Magical Moves
For storytime I set up these three:
1) Runaway Wok
2) Potato Joe
3) Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great
and for the Summer Reading Program, these three:
1) Runaway Wok
2) Strega Nona's Harvest
3) Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great
As you can see, there's a bit of overlap each week. That's on purpose. I don't like that the little storytime kids miss out on a lot of the fun of the summer reading program because they're not quite old enough for the big kid programs. That's why the "special programs" at Pendleton are always "all ages" and why I also try to overlap the reading themes for them during the summer, to the point of even choosing the same books to read as often as I can. I don't know if they'll be talking or thinking about the program when they're not here, but I feel like it's important not to leave them out or have them be doing something totally different and unrelated.
Now for the pubdata and some short reviews:
The Gruffalo
Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
ISBN: 0803723865
A mouse talks a big game, making up an imaginary predator, and has to bluff it out when it actually appears.
I really love the smack-talking mouse, and how well and cleverly it thinks on it's feet, and the fact that the author made up the monster because she couldn't get "tiger" to scan in the original rhymes.
Gobble It Up! A fun song about eating!
Jim Arnosky
ISBN: 9780439903622
No we did not sing it. Yes there's a CD with this book. Various wild animals (heavy on the sea-life) celebrate eating.
It's a great silly story with a great silly refrain that aims to be catchy and also revolting at the same time - perfect for kids in a group setting to yell "ewwwww nooooo grooooosssss" when each new preferred food (from baby ducklings to giant squid) come down the pike. Delicious fun.
Bear Wants More
Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman
ISBN: 9780689845093
Bear and Friends are back as Bear wakes up in spring with a post-hibernation hunger.
Chapman's illustrations remain perfect, and the pastel Disneyfied multi-species friendship between all these animals makes it a perfect fit for the fantastical realm - there is no hard-hitting journalistic realism about animal behavior here. But that's ok, because what we do have is a lovely sweet tale of friends helping friends find good things to eat.
I YAM a Donkey!
Cece Bell
ISBN: 9780544087200
No real connection to fantasy or food other than the ongoing pun/wordplay/confusion, but fun regardless.
Cece Bell has a really fun naughty streak that she shows off to perfection in this story, where a talking yam and a donkey have a decidedly silly battle over verbiage. This gets into slang, into accents, into changing social registers and what's appropriate to say (or imply) and is overall funny and preposterous.
The Runaway Wok
Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by Sebastia Serra
ISBN: 9780525420682
"A Chinese New Year Tale" celebrates generosity and plenty with a magical wok that steals from the rich and gives to the poor.
Delightful twist on the general "magic cooking pot" theme, where the magical wok finds its way to a poor but generous family and brings about the ruin of a snobby and greedy rich family into the bargain.
Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great
Bob Shea
ISBN: 9781423159520
An Eeyore-like goat (blue and everything) mopes about the Unicorn who just moved in.
This isn't really my style of book, but it's fun and clever, easy to read, and the illustrations are cute enough. It's not as painful as Skippyjon Jones, I'll say that. I think we were supposed to read it last year, but I didn't pick it out - unfortunately the craft for this program relied on there being a unicorn book, and I wasn't able to find a good substitute (seriously you picture book people? this is a glaring flaw!). The set-up comes as the unicorn goes on about how awesome the goat is at various things, leading (of course) to the goat grudgingly complimenting the unicorn to make it feel better.
Potato Joe
Keith Baker
ISBN: 9780152062309
I flipping love Keith Baker. A counting book with potatoes. Talking ones. Exactly.
You know the old "one potato" rhyme? Well, now it's actually got real potatoes, and it goes on and on and on, with various named potatoes, (and a tomato AND a really big special guest) and counts all the way up to 10 and back down again, putting the potatoes to rest in the soil once more. It's the cutest ever.
Strega Nona's Harvest
Tomie dePaola
ISBN: 9780399252914
Compare and contrast Big Anthony's and Strega Nona's gardens and harvests as the season goes on.
Strega Nona has a nice lovely organized garden, where she lines the patches up and makes the rows straight, and asks for juuuuuust enough garden magic to get a good crop. Big Anthony isn't quite that careful, and to be safe, asks for twice as much garden magic. As the season goes on, Big Anthony has a bit of a jungle on his hands, and Strega Nona's garden is as perfect as ever - but where are all these bunches of mysterious vegetables coming from every night?
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Summer Reading: Fantastic Friends
Our theme this year is Fantastic Reads and Where to Find Them, and so all of our selections this year are a little fantastical. Our statewide theme is health-focused, so as the summer progresses, lots of the stories will focus on fantastical foods, but for the first storytime, we're going with Fantastic Friends.
Larf
Ashley Spires
ISBN: 9781554537013
Larf is a hipster sasquatch who is conflicted about being the only sasquatch - especially when he maybe isn't?
This is a sweet story about the pros and cons of putting yourself out there to find a friend, and will be especially resonant with shy or introverted or self-sufficient kids (and adults, tbh). Larf lives alone with his rabbit Eric, and is happily solo, until he sees an advertisement for a sasquatch at a nearby city, and begins to ponder (and sweat) the idea of having someone else around. What if's and catastrophizing abound, and a somewhat obvious twist at the end will have the adults laughing.
Dinosaur Kisses
David Ezra Stein
ISBN: 9780763661045
Dinah hatches out and sees a cute pair of fluffy animals kissing. She wants to try, but dinosaur kisses are dangerous to everyone else.
Dinah tries very hard to kiss the other inhabitants of her prehistoric world, but fails miserably; head-butting them, stomping them into the ground, even eating one by accident! When a sibling hatches out next to her, she's overjoyed to finally have someone to share her own style of dinosaur "kisses."
Hey, Al
Arthur Yorinks, Richard Egielski
No ISBN in book: Farrar, Straus & Giroux 1986.
Caldecott winner. Al and his dog Eddie are fed up with the hard life. A paradise of birds seems great, but there's a really big catch.
This story is a really excellent showcase of how much storytelling you can pack into a very short narrative, with tight word choices and excellent illustrations. It even has a delightful Icarus and Daedalus shout-out in there. Beautiful language, great characterization, and a sharp message about creating your own happiness and not being duped by things when they're too good to be true.
Larf
Ashley Spires
ISBN: 9781554537013
Larf is a hipster sasquatch who is conflicted about being the only sasquatch - especially when he maybe isn't?
This is a sweet story about the pros and cons of putting yourself out there to find a friend, and will be especially resonant with shy or introverted or self-sufficient kids (and adults, tbh). Larf lives alone with his rabbit Eric, and is happily solo, until he sees an advertisement for a sasquatch at a nearby city, and begins to ponder (and sweat) the idea of having someone else around. What if's and catastrophizing abound, and a somewhat obvious twist at the end will have the adults laughing.
Dinosaur Kisses
David Ezra Stein
ISBN: 9780763661045
Dinah hatches out and sees a cute pair of fluffy animals kissing. She wants to try, but dinosaur kisses are dangerous to everyone else.
Dinah tries very hard to kiss the other inhabitants of her prehistoric world, but fails miserably; head-butting them, stomping them into the ground, even eating one by accident! When a sibling hatches out next to her, she's overjoyed to finally have someone to share her own style of dinosaur "kisses."
Hey, Al
Arthur Yorinks, Richard Egielski
No ISBN in book: Farrar, Straus & Giroux 1986.
Caldecott winner. Al and his dog Eddie are fed up with the hard life. A paradise of birds seems great, but there's a really big catch.
This story is a really excellent showcase of how much storytelling you can pack into a very short narrative, with tight word choices and excellent illustrations. It even has a delightful Icarus and Daedalus shout-out in there. Beautiful language, great characterization, and a sharp message about creating your own happiness and not being duped by things when they're too good to be true.
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