Tuesday Storytime: Animal Friends

Some cute, sweet, and slightly off-kilter stories about animal friendships.

Emma Kate
Patricia Polacco
ISBN: 0399244522
The narrator does everything with Emma Kate, and the illustrations cover everything; a rambunctious girl with a bright red dress and pigtails, and a pretty nearly life-size elephant go around doing all sorts of mundane things - going to school, riding bikes, playing sports, even spending time in the hospital for their tonsils to be taken out. At the end, savvy readers (and lookers) won't be TOO surprised when they realize why only one of the characters is in color.

Gaston
Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Christian Robinson
ISBN: 9781442451025
Mrs Poodle is very proud of her four kids: Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo, Ohh-La-La, and Gaston, even though Gaston doesn't quite fit the mold. All of them are sweet kids and Gaston especially tries hard and has a sweet attitude. When Mrs Poodle meets Mrs Bulldog at the park with HER four kids, Rocky, Ricky, Bruno, and Antoinette, things become much clearer, but also complicated. The solution is a bit pat (especially for anyone who has dealt with foster or adoption issues) but the sentiment is sound, and everything comes together (literally) in the end.

Elmore
Holly Hobbie
ISBN: 9781524718633
I've been holding on to this book for nearly a year, trying to figure out what angle I wanted to take with the themes in it, and I finally decided just to keep it simple and go with friendship, but there's a lot to unpack in this simple, sweet book about a lonely porcupine who just wants to have some friends, but his needles and spines seem to make things impossible. A kindly uncle and a new perspective (and very open and friendly neighbors) help to smooth things over, and at the end, Elmore has developed his own very particular method of starting friendships.

 

Tuesday Storytime: Zoo Animals

Last week's storytime books were selected by my coworker, and they're a riot of wild animal fun.

1 Zany Zoo
Lori Degman, illustrated by Colin Jack
ISBN: 9781416989905
As one kid slips from the school field trip line into a secret gate into the zoo, he's witness to some wild and wacky shenanigans that his schoolmates will NEVER believe. A counting book with some zing to it.

Hilda Must Be Dancing
Karma Wilson, illustrated by Suzanne Watts
ISBN: 9780689847882
When the jungle thumps and bumps and things fall from the trees, it must be because Hilda is dancing. She loves dancing, but the jungle animals would really like some peace and stillness. All is well when the rambunctious hippo is introduced to water ballet.

Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo
Karma Wilson, Doug Cushman
ISBN: 0316985643
If You Give A Mouse A Muffin meets If I Ran the Zoo, with zany consequences and fun rattle-trap sentences.

Tuesday Storytime: Pets

A really stellar lineup from my coworker today: a trio of adorable animal books.

Zorro Gets an Outfit

Carter Goodrich

ISBN: 9781442435353

Zorro is an adorable pug dog, and he has been put into a superhero outfit, and the other dogs all laugh at him. He's inconsolable until another dog at the dog park shows up in a pirate outfit and just so happens to be a really cool dog - who likes Zorro's outfit! A good story about friendship and identity and feeling shame and pride.

Have You Seen My New Blue Socks

Eve Bunting, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier

ISBN: 9780547752679

Eve Bunting is channeling her Dr Seuss here, with a cute rhyming (perhaps just a slight bit tooo cutely rhyming) quick story about a forgetful and perhaps somewhat disorganized duck who has lost their new blue socks somewhere. A progressively-further-unlaced shoe provides a tiny visual clue about the location of the socks as the story goes on.

Papillon Goes to the Vet (The Very Fluffy Kitty)

A. N. Kang

ISBN: 9781484728819

This is the cutest book about a very fluffy kitty with a very unrealistic story of what happens at a vet's office, but it's ok, because it's adorable. Papillon is soooo fluffy that he floats! Which is quite fun, until he accidentally ingests a cat toy and has to spend the night at the vet. Very low-key explanations of how Papillon feels less than well, which keeps the very lighthearted feeling flowing through even at the vet. 

Tuesday Storytime: Cows

I've done farms, and barnyard animals, and chickens, and I think even horses, but I don't think I've ever done cows before, so my cohort stepped into the gap with this riotous storytime. I think a pattern is emerging: she's way more comfortable and passionate about "funny" storytimes, and that's absolutely a perfect fit, because my sense of humor is a little... weird.

The Cow that Laid an Egg
Andy Cutbill, illustrations by Russell Ayto
ISBN: 9780061372957
Marjorie doesn't have any special talents, but if the chickens' plot goes to plan, she's going to be the most talented cow on the farm. Now there's all sorts of consternation: what exactly is going to hatch out of that egg?

Chicken, Pig, Cow and the Purple Problem
Ruth Ohi
ISBN: 9781554512195
When the girl made the pig and the chicken, she had the right colors, but when she made the cow, all she had for spots was purple clay. Cow doesn't match the pictures in the books, and heads out into the wild to sort herself out properly. Along the way she discovers things much more important than what color your spots are.

When Cows Come Home
David L. Harrison, illustrated by Chris L. Demarest
ISBN: 0563971437
A truly silly rhyming romp through cow-themed situations taken to extremes, and populated by blissfully dancing cows. Reminds me of a long version of Sandra Boynton's style of silliness.

Tuesday Storytime: Animals Behaving Oddly

A fun theme, and our trainee is starting to relax into storytime a bit: doing sound effects and animal noises, trying out different voices for characters. Very nice progress, and good to see him enjoying the process a bit now that it's not so new and intimidating.

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild

Peter Brown

ISBN: 9780316200639

Mr. Tiger lives in an anthropomorphic Victorian city, but he decides to get back to nature instead.

This one is a read from a Summer Reading Program a few years back, and I've liked it since I first saw it.

The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water

Gemma Merino

ISBN: 9780735841635

Baby croc doesn't like water, and doesn't fit in, until he realizes something very important.

This one also was a past summer reading hit, and it's very cute and has a fun twist at the end.

It's Only Stanley

Jon Agee

ISBN: 9780803739079

Stanley is the family dog, and he has some very interesting (and noisy) late night hobbies.

Agee does very interesting work: feels very much like "classics" from the 70s, I love that all the effort was for love of a moon-dog. That makes me quite delighted.

2015 Review Round-Up: Juvenile Illustrated Fiction: The Story of Diva and Flea, Mo Willems & Tony DiTerlizzi

The Story of Diva and Flea
Mo Willems (Pigeon, Elephant and Piggie), illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi (Spiderwick, Changeling)
ISBN: 9781484722848
Quirky illustrations and an almost Lemony-Snicketish narrative voice make this friendship story sing.

This is the most adorable book I've read all year and it's absolutely perfect.  Diva is a VERY small dog who lives with the caretaker of a set of Paris flats, and she's petrified of feet, but otherwise very brave and very clever.  She is pampered and spoilt and happy.  Flea is a lanky angular black cat, famous as a neighborhood flaneur (professional wanderer).  When Flea happens upon Diva's set of flats, a beautiful friendship develops as both these spectacular personalities learn new and exciting things from their very different friend.

Did I mention that this book is PERFECT?  It is.  It is beautiful and perfect and special and it is why the universe was created, and why books were invented.  Just for this story.  Go find it and see if I'm wrong.  I dare you.

New Arrivals: Wordless Picture Book: Snowman's Story

This one is a real sweetheart, very retro.

Snowman's Story
Will Hillenbrand
ISBN: 9781477847879
Soft-edged pastels? watercolor pencils? lead us through a wordless tale of theft, ingenuity, and forgiveness.

This is a very sweet book to look through, and I wish I had the talent to use wordless books for storytimes.

Forest animals have gathered all the necessary ingredients for their magic, and they've made a Snowman to read them a story this wintry evening.  After everyone's asleep, rabbit has a sneaky idea - and off he runs with the book!  Snowman and furry friends in hot pursuit, they solve a series of "going on a bear hunt" level obstacles, and chase down rabbit at home, where the book is being enjoyed by a slew of rabbitlings.  Awww.  The book is returned, forgiveness granted, and a new set of animals (including the rabbit family this time) snuggles around Snowman for another story.

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.

New Arrivals: The Dolphins of Shark Bay, Pamela S. Turner, Scott Tuason

Got a new batch of juvenile nonfiction in at the library, and the standout of the pile was this photo-essay about the dolphins that live off the coast of Australia and use sponges to hunt for a specific type of fish.

The Dolphins of Shark Bay
Pamela S. Turner, photographs by Scott Tuason
ISBN: 9780547716381
Read August 7, 2014

This is simply an excellent book.  The narrative follows a set of "sponging" dolphins off the coast of Australia, and broadens out into discussions of dolphin feeding, tourists, dolphin family and social dynamics, the concept of cultural or learned behaviors (in this case, possibly the sponging behaviors) and all sorts of other really interesting dolphin-related information.

Our main human character is Janet Mann and her crew of scientists and PhD students, studying the dolphins of the Shark Bay area.  Our main dolphin characters are a loose family arrangement of dolphins with peculiar names: Puck, Piccolo, Real Notch, Blip, Bytefluke, and Google among them.

The whole book is amazing, and anyone who is interested in intelligence and tool use and complex social behavior will find a lot to love here, but my absolute favorite thing is that the book takes interesting subject matters and breaks them down like a scientific problem, right there in the book, showing by example what the scientists are doing and studying, and how they are doing it so that their information is factual, relevant, quantifiable, and repeatable.  Truly excellent writing.

My final note is on the photographs - the author thanks the photographer in the credits, mentioning that he "clicked away nonstop" to capture the photographs used, and the dedication really shows.  These are excellent photographs, and truly enhance the appeal and impact of the writing and the subjects.

Excellent book all around.  

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.