I really enjoy doing concept themes, and this one is a fun set.
Just Enough And Not Too Much
Kaethe Zemach
ISBN: 0439377242
Simon the Fiddler has everything he needs, but then he realizes he can get more if he wants, and pretty soon, more has become too much, and he needs a clever plan to get rid of all the things he doesn't really need. His solution is storybook cute, but unlikely to win friends in real life.
Henry Wants More
Linda Ashman, illustrated by Brooke Boynton Hughes
ISBN: 9780385385121
Very like my favorite sweet picture book (Again! by John Prater) Henry is a toddler that wants MORE of whatever is going on, and he wears out his whole family in the process. Cute and very real.
Too Many Frogs
Sandy Asher, illustrated by Keith Graves
ISBN: 0399239782
Rabbit has his habits and his routine, and they're perfect, until Frog comes by and just invites himself along for everything - and THEN starts inviting the whole Frog clan! Enough is enough, but Rabbit balances boundaries with kindness.
Showing posts with label concept books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label concept books. Show all posts
Friday, March 17, 2017
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Tuesday Storytime: Counting with Ducks
And yes, there are enough duck books in the picture book world for there to be a three-book storytime specifically about ducks and counting.
Nine Ducks Nine (previously reviewed here)
Sarah Hayes
ISBN: 9780763638160
9 watercolor ducks hatch a plan to outwit a pursuing fox through an idyllic countryside.
This is essentially the same story as Do Like a Duck Does (Hindley and Bates, 2002 Candlewick hardcover ISBN: 0763616680), where a family of ducks outwit a fox and the fox ends up taking a swim. To be perfectly honest, I like the cadence and the illustrations of that story better than this one. But, this one has numbers and counting, and this one is also a longer read.
Quack and Count
Keith Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994 HMH hardcover ISBN: 9780152928698)
ISBN: 0152928588
Colorful and textural collages (even the words!) follow permutations of 7 ducklings.
I've used Baker's Big Fat Hen in a counting storytime before, and he's a stunningly talented artist. This is less a counting book, and more of a math concepts book, but whatever. It totally counts. We start with 7 ducklings all together, and then Baker creates a clever series of rhymes for each sum of seven: starting with "Slipping, sliding, having fun / 7 ducklings, 6 plus 1." Then 5 + 2, 4 + 3, and so on. What's fun is to compare the different scenes with reversed sums: so we also have "7 ducklings, 1 plus 6 / In the water playing tricks" to compare with the first rhyme. The pages are all in full spreads, with the seven ducks divided up between the two pages to match the sum in question. Really pretty book, and really clever concept.
Five Little Ducks
from the nursery song, illustrated by Ivan Bates
ISBN: 0439746930
Colored pencils and watercolors. Bright expressive characters foregrounded against soft scenery.
Ivan Bates is a beautiful illustrator, and I love his work so much. I try not have repeats of an author or an illustrator within a storytime, which is the other reason I didn't choose Do Like a Duck Does for this trio. This is a simple illustration of the first verse of the rhyme, but there's a cute little story hidden within the illustrations about just why the ducklings aren't coming back each time. So adorable.
This ended up being on the very short end on things, but I actually try to choose shorter sets of books for the early fall. Families are coming in with their younger kids only (the older ones have headed off to preschool or kindie) and without the older kids to model good storytime behavior, it's harder for the little ones (and to be totally honest, the parents) to keep from squiggling around like mad. This is the sort of thing you figure out over time, watching the pattern repeat every fall, and you just learn to work around it - shorter stories, more obvious transitions, really expressive stories with very narrative illustrations.
Nine Ducks Nine (previously reviewed here)
Sarah Hayes
ISBN: 9780763638160
9 watercolor ducks hatch a plan to outwit a pursuing fox through an idyllic countryside.
This is essentially the same story as Do Like a Duck Does (Hindley and Bates, 2002 Candlewick hardcover ISBN: 0763616680), where a family of ducks outwit a fox and the fox ends up taking a swim. To be perfectly honest, I like the cadence and the illustrations of that story better than this one. But, this one has numbers and counting, and this one is also a longer read.
Quack and Count
Keith Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994 HMH hardcover ISBN: 9780152928698)
ISBN: 0152928588
Colorful and textural collages (even the words!) follow permutations of 7 ducklings.
I've used Baker's Big Fat Hen in a counting storytime before, and he's a stunningly talented artist. This is less a counting book, and more of a math concepts book, but whatever. It totally counts. We start with 7 ducklings all together, and then Baker creates a clever series of rhymes for each sum of seven: starting with "Slipping, sliding, having fun / 7 ducklings, 6 plus 1." Then 5 + 2, 4 + 3, and so on. What's fun is to compare the different scenes with reversed sums: so we also have "7 ducklings, 1 plus 6 / In the water playing tricks" to compare with the first rhyme. The pages are all in full spreads, with the seven ducks divided up between the two pages to match the sum in question. Really pretty book, and really clever concept.
Five Little Ducks
from the nursery song, illustrated by Ivan Bates
ISBN: 0439746930
Colored pencils and watercolors. Bright expressive characters foregrounded against soft scenery.
Ivan Bates is a beautiful illustrator, and I love his work so much. I try not have repeats of an author or an illustrator within a storytime, which is the other reason I didn't choose Do Like a Duck Does for this trio. This is a simple illustration of the first verse of the rhyme, but there's a cute little story hidden within the illustrations about just why the ducklings aren't coming back each time. So adorable.
This ended up being on the very short end on things, but I actually try to choose shorter sets of books for the early fall. Families are coming in with their younger kids only (the older ones have headed off to preschool or kindie) and without the older kids to model good storytime behavior, it's harder for the little ones (and to be totally honest, the parents) to keep from squiggling around like mad. This is the sort of thing you figure out over time, watching the pattern repeat every fall, and you just learn to work around it - shorter stories, more obvious transitions, really expressive stories with very narrative illustrations.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
New Arrivals: Juv Nonfiction: A Rock Can Be... , Laura Purdie Salas, Violeta Dabija
We're just rolling in the natural history goodness over here these days.
A Rock Can Be...
Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija
ISBN: 9781467721103
A poetic exploration of what rocks can (or could) be, with soft illustrations reminding me of One White Wishing Stone.
I love the sweet simplicity of this rhyming sequence, and the often-surprising contrasts that are created in the adjacent rhymes. The visual imagery in "desert dune / harvest moon" is stunning, but even more mentally interesting is the concept match between "Harbor protector / Land connector" showing a rock-embraced round harbor, which is echoed in reverse by a sweep of river arced across by graceful stone bridges.
The rhyme itself is short, leaving four pages at the end for a discussion of rocks and of each of the specific call-outs that the rhymes use, of a Glossary, and a Further Reading selection.
Descriptive, evocative, and inspiring. Nonfiction can be so beautiful!
A Rock Can Be...
Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija
ISBN: 9781467721103
A poetic exploration of what rocks can (or could) be, with soft illustrations reminding me of One White Wishing Stone.
I love the sweet simplicity of this rhyming sequence, and the often-surprising contrasts that are created in the adjacent rhymes. The visual imagery in "desert dune / harvest moon" is stunning, but even more mentally interesting is the concept match between "Harbor protector / Land connector" showing a rock-embraced round harbor, which is echoed in reverse by a sweep of river arced across by graceful stone bridges.
The rhyme itself is short, leaving four pages at the end for a discussion of rocks and of each of the specific call-outs that the rhymes use, of a Glossary, and a Further Reading selection.
Descriptive, evocative, and inspiring. Nonfiction can be so beautiful!
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
So Many New Arrivals! 2/4: Hannah's Night & Arto's Big Move
Two for gently explaining potentially-scary life events: moving, and waking in the night.
Hannah's Night
Komako Sakai (translated by Cathy Hirano)
ISBN: 9781877579547
Curiously-scratched and partially-effaced drawings (grease pencils? charcoals?) are startling and enticing.
Hannah has woken in the night, and her sister and parents are all still fast asleep. The translator uses British English (or perhaps New Zealander English?) instead of American English, which might give some people pause over phrasing or word-choice, but I thought was quaint and appealing. Hannah's nighttime prowling may also upset some who prefer kids to immediately find parents for advice, but I liked that the self-sufficient little girl (and one self-important tabby cat) are unphazed by the darkness and solitude, and take care of their own needs quite handily before heading back to bed (but not before borrowing the sleeping sister's prized possessions.
Arto's Big Move
Monica Arnaldo
ISBN: 9781771470667
Arto, from the cold North, is not thrilled when his parents move Southwest for a year. A friendly fellow-traveling girl helps him adapt to changes.
Arto quite likes his winter routine of dressing in layers of socks, pants, coat, gloves, and hat, before going outside into the cold. Now that he's in the hot, dry Southwest, his routine is not so useful, but he's having trouble giving it up. A friendly girl comes by and over time, slowly gets him to adapt his dressing routine (and his attitude) about the Southwest, just in time for him to move back North again, and see if perhaps his routine there can't be adapted also. Very sweet, and super useful for kids who are very attached to routines and consistent behavior patterns.
Hannah's Night
Komako Sakai (translated by Cathy Hirano)
ISBN: 9781877579547
Curiously-scratched and partially-effaced drawings (grease pencils? charcoals?) are startling and enticing.
Hannah has woken in the night, and her sister and parents are all still fast asleep. The translator uses British English (or perhaps New Zealander English?) instead of American English, which might give some people pause over phrasing or word-choice, but I thought was quaint and appealing. Hannah's nighttime prowling may also upset some who prefer kids to immediately find parents for advice, but I liked that the self-sufficient little girl (and one self-important tabby cat) are unphazed by the darkness and solitude, and take care of their own needs quite handily before heading back to bed (but not before borrowing the sleeping sister's prized possessions.
Arto's Big Move
Monica Arnaldo
ISBN: 9781771470667
Arto, from the cold North, is not thrilled when his parents move Southwest for a year. A friendly fellow-traveling girl helps him adapt to changes.
Arto quite likes his winter routine of dressing in layers of socks, pants, coat, gloves, and hat, before going outside into the cold. Now that he's in the hot, dry Southwest, his routine is not so useful, but he's having trouble giving it up. A friendly girl comes by and over time, slowly gets him to adapt his dressing routine (and his attitude) about the Southwest, just in time for him to move back North again, and see if perhaps his routine there can't be adapted also. Very sweet, and super useful for kids who are very attached to routines and consistent behavior patterns.
Monday, April 13, 2015
New Arrival: Alphabet Book: Take Away the A, by Michael Escoffier & Kris Di Giacomo
Take Away the A
Michael Escoffier, illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
ISBN: 9781592701568
A combo alphabet and phonics procession, as if Edward Gorey worked in larger frames, with saturated, textured colors.
I really like this book. I love this method of progressing though the alphabet, through phonemes and rhymes and subtractions. Let me explain. For the letter A, we begin with a lovely illustration of a trophy podium with first, second and third levels, with a hairy and be-toothed beast holding the trophy. A duck is second, and a fish is third, while a vulture photographer commemorates the event. What on earth does this have to do with the letter A? Our text explains: "Without the A the BEAST is BEST."
Isn't that simply the coolest way to explain so many things about our language all at once? I love it!
So, through the alphabet we go, with silly and sometimes slightly macabre illustrations guiding us to understanding: a pirate parrot illustrates that "Without the F, the SCARF hides a SCAR," a anthropomorphic empty glove follows an octopus through a crosswalk, because "Without the G, the GLOVE falls in LOVE" (with an octopus, of course, because there are many legs, tentacles, finger-sleeves, er, whatever!) and a very sweet spread leads us to see that "Without the I, STAIRS lead to the STARS."
The whole alphabet is like that, (well, except for z, because poor z just doesn't ever get any love.) although some of the latter, and less-well-represented letters have to stretch to get a story.
This would be excellent for teachers trying to explain phonemes and rhyming words.
Michael Escoffier, illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
ISBN: 9781592701568
A combo alphabet and phonics procession, as if Edward Gorey worked in larger frames, with saturated, textured colors.
I really like this book. I love this method of progressing though the alphabet, through phonemes and rhymes and subtractions. Let me explain. For the letter A, we begin with a lovely illustration of a trophy podium with first, second and third levels, with a hairy and be-toothed beast holding the trophy. A duck is second, and a fish is third, while a vulture photographer commemorates the event. What on earth does this have to do with the letter A? Our text explains: "Without the A the BEAST is BEST."
Isn't that simply the coolest way to explain so many things about our language all at once? I love it!
So, through the alphabet we go, with silly and sometimes slightly macabre illustrations guiding us to understanding: a pirate parrot illustrates that "Without the F, the SCARF hides a SCAR," a anthropomorphic empty glove follows an octopus through a crosswalk, because "Without the G, the GLOVE falls in LOVE" (with an octopus, of course, because there are many legs, tentacles, finger-sleeves, er, whatever!) and a very sweet spread leads us to see that "Without the I, STAIRS lead to the STARS."
The whole alphabet is like that, (well, except for z, because poor z just doesn't ever get any love.) although some of the latter, and less-well-represented letters have to stretch to get a story.
This would be excellent for teachers trying to explain phonemes and rhyming words.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Picture Books: Dinosaur Thunder, by Marion Dane Bauer & Alphabatics, by Suse MacDonald
Getting brand new freshly cataloged books into the library is always so nice, and I especially love when the picture books come in.
Dinosaur Thunder
Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
ISBN: 9780590452960
Pop-art with ragged white highlighted edging shows off the imagination of a young boy scared of thunder.
This one is going on my list of books about storms. It's nice and short, and has various family-members trying to comfort a small boy by saying comforting cliches about what thunder is - all of which he imagines as still frightening, until his older brother latches on to dinosaurs as the magic imaginary remedy. Thinking of the thunder as familiar dinosaurs roaring and stomping around makes the boy much less nervous about the earth-shaking thunderous booms of the storm.
Alphabatics
Suse MacDonald
ISBN: 9780027615203
1986 book, Caldecott Honor, re-issue. Primary colored alphabet letters gradually morph into animals or items in action.
Love the colors in this book, and glad to see a re-issue of it in hardback. Each letter has a color scheme which takes the original letter through a series of three or four blocks of gradual morphing on one page, into the fully-formed scene on the facing page. As an illustrative example (not sorry for the pun), the letter J is a lowercase red J in a yellow box. The next box has the J turned sideways and resting on the floor of the box, and the box is given a "lid" with the inclusion of a simple white line. Next we have the box-top being slightly pushed open by a multiplicity of Js (now minus their dots), and the final box has the lid fully back, the stack of Js are wobbling slightly, and the dot is on top as a head. The facing page keeps the red J body and the yellow box, turns the red dots into the corners of a clown's smile, and adds a nicely contrasting turquoise ruffle and hat to the ensemble.
Sadly, this one isn't so good for storytimes, because there's no through-line or any action/dialogue, but I'm glad to have a copy to suggest to parents with kids who enjoy interesting illustrations. This would be a really interesting teaching tool to pair with a book like Numblers (also by MacDonald) to use in the classroom to help kids visualise numbers and make imaginative connections with them.
Dinosaur Thunder
Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
ISBN: 9780590452960
Pop-art with ragged white highlighted edging shows off the imagination of a young boy scared of thunder.
This one is going on my list of books about storms. It's nice and short, and has various family-members trying to comfort a small boy by saying comforting cliches about what thunder is - all of which he imagines as still frightening, until his older brother latches on to dinosaurs as the magic imaginary remedy. Thinking of the thunder as familiar dinosaurs roaring and stomping around makes the boy much less nervous about the earth-shaking thunderous booms of the storm.
Alphabatics
Suse MacDonald
ISBN: 9780027615203
1986 book, Caldecott Honor, re-issue. Primary colored alphabet letters gradually morph into animals or items in action.
Love the colors in this book, and glad to see a re-issue of it in hardback. Each letter has a color scheme which takes the original letter through a series of three or four blocks of gradual morphing on one page, into the fully-formed scene on the facing page. As an illustrative example (not sorry for the pun), the letter J is a lowercase red J in a yellow box. The next box has the J turned sideways and resting on the floor of the box, and the box is given a "lid" with the inclusion of a simple white line. Next we have the box-top being slightly pushed open by a multiplicity of Js (now minus their dots), and the final box has the lid fully back, the stack of Js are wobbling slightly, and the dot is on top as a head. The facing page keeps the red J body and the yellow box, turns the red dots into the corners of a clown's smile, and adds a nicely contrasting turquoise ruffle and hat to the ensemble.
Sadly, this one isn't so good for storytimes, because there's no through-line or any action/dialogue, but I'm glad to have a copy to suggest to parents with kids who enjoy interesting illustrations. This would be a really interesting teaching tool to pair with a book like Numblers (also by MacDonald) to use in the classroom to help kids visualise numbers and make imaginative connections with them.
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