These three books highlight the kindness of families and friends and the feelings of belonging and comfort you can find with others.
Bunny in the Middle
Anika A. Denise, illustrated by Christopher Denise
This is a sweet story about the unique trials of the middle child, presented in a relentlessly chipper tone as opportunities to be BOTH the younger (being cared for and helped) AND the older (being the helper or the teacher) child in a family or group.
Rabbit Listened
Cory Doerrfeld
Such a sweet perfect book. When a terrible accident befalls their block city, other stuffed animals and friends stop by to commiserate, sympathize, or offer advice. But the rabbit is the only one who gets it right, and just sits and listens as the child pours out their sadness. At the end, all the commiseration and sympathy and advice are helpful also - just that there needed to be that time of acknowledgement and space to feel the feelings first. Very psychologically accurate and sweetly presented.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Jamie A. Swenson, illustrated by David Walker
On a dark and thundery night, all of the stuffed animals and pets jump one by one in this "10-in-the-bed" variant until the blankets are stuffed to the edges and the bed finally gives out. A few abandon ship, and the rest snuggle down in the now somewhat crooked bed, finally able to sleep for the night.
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Tuesday Storytime: Loving Feelings
We're getting close to Valentine's Day, and so my coworker is excited about all the sweet loving books there are out there to choose from. She was a bit disappointed that I used Mama, Do You Love Me last week, but these three are just as sweet.
Sam and Jump
Jennifer K. Mann
ISBN: 9780763679477
Jump is Sam's stuffed rabbit, and they're best friends, until a fateful trip to the beach where Sam happily plays with Thomas (yay for an AA character!) ... and LEAVES Jump behind! Happy endings abound, but the book spends a good deal of time with the physical signs of feeling loneliness and guilt and sorrow.
Always
Emma Dodd
ISBN: 9780763675448
Sweet book, but I don't know that I like the silver print conceit enough for it to carry the whole book. I would have maybe liked to see the capstone line repeated through the book to make it more positive and repetitive for younger listeners. Still adorable, just like all of Dodd's work.
I Will Love You
Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Lisa Anchin
ISBN: 9780545803106
A white mom and an ambiguously brown curly-haired girl feature in this breezy testament to parental love. Beautiful spreads, but this one is a litttttle too unironically sappy for my taste. It's still very sweet, and sure to tug at the heartstrings of any less cynical parent. Very pretty pastels and water-color feels to the spreads and panels.
Sam and Jump
Jennifer K. Mann
ISBN: 9780763679477
Jump is Sam's stuffed rabbit, and they're best friends, until a fateful trip to the beach where Sam happily plays with Thomas (yay for an AA character!) ... and LEAVES Jump behind! Happy endings abound, but the book spends a good deal of time with the physical signs of feeling loneliness and guilt and sorrow.
Always
Emma Dodd
ISBN: 9780763675448
Sweet book, but I don't know that I like the silver print conceit enough for it to carry the whole book. I would have maybe liked to see the capstone line repeated through the book to make it more positive and repetitive for younger listeners. Still adorable, just like all of Dodd's work.
I Will Love You
Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Lisa Anchin
ISBN: 9780545803106
A white mom and an ambiguously brown curly-haired girl feature in this breezy testament to parental love. Beautiful spreads, but this one is a litttttle too unironically sappy for my taste. It's still very sweet, and sure to tug at the heartstrings of any less cynical parent. Very pretty pastels and water-color feels to the spreads and panels.
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Tuesday Storytime: Winter Mamas
I cheated slightly with these, as they are all set in winter, but the focus is on the relationship between the mother and child.
Mama, Do You Love Me?
Barbara M. Joosse, illustrated by Barbara Lavallee
ISBN: 0590459848
A lovely stylized book focusing on a traditional Inuit mother and child, with the child wondering whether Mother would still love her under different circumstances, ranging from accidents to michief to ever-more-outlandish propositions of transformations into scary animals. Very sweet, illustratively fantastic.
On Mother's Lap
Ann Herbert Scott, illustrated by Glo Coalson
ISBN: 0395589207
Another Northern Native American (unfortunately unidentified in the text, but widely considered to also be Inuit) mother and child story. Michael is ready for a nice afternoon on the rocking chair with Mother, but he wants to include all of his toys and blanket and pet.... and really there's just no room for the little sibling at all. Mother gently intervenes and reminds the boy that there's always room for everyone.
Big Snow
Jonathan Bean
ISBN: 9780374306960
David and his mom are getting ready for a big snow, and for overnight guests. Well, MOM is getting ready, and David is helping sporadically before getting perpetually distracted by the onset of snowy weather. An interesting naptime dream makes for some late-story drama, and the conclusion is a bit abrupt.
Monday, August 29, 2016
Nonfiction: Becoming Nicole: Amy Ellis Nutt
Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family
Amy Ellis Nutt
ISBN: 9780812995411
Read August 21
The only downside to this book is that while it's about Nicole and her journey, the majority of the book is told from the perspectives of her relatives: her mother and father, and her identical twin brother. I found that less disturbing during the narration of their early lives, but once Nicole was into the 5th grade, it was odd to read snippets from her journal, but have the bulk of the narrative driven by the experiences of her parents, or from case-notes from a therapist. I really didn't feel like I ever got to hear Nicole's story, just the story of her family. Which, ok, that's the title, I know. But I somehow thought it would be both. I was interested to see how her family developed and coped (especially her dad, who was portrayed as sensitively as possible, but was still massively hung-up on his ideals and his pre-determined thoughts about what was appropriate for a really long-ass time) and her brother, who had what seems like a fairly normal bout of teenaged/college "what is life really all about" slump, made worse by all the attention paid to his suddenly-famous sibling.
Regardless, it was a very moving and interesting story, and I still hope that perhaps Nicole will take some time from college and theatre to work with another ghostwriter and tell HER version of the story we got here. I'd love to hear her words.
Amy Ellis Nutt
ISBN: 9780812995411
Read August 21
The only downside to this book is that while it's about Nicole and her journey, the majority of the book is told from the perspectives of her relatives: her mother and father, and her identical twin brother. I found that less disturbing during the narration of their early lives, but once Nicole was into the 5th grade, it was odd to read snippets from her journal, but have the bulk of the narrative driven by the experiences of her parents, or from case-notes from a therapist. I really didn't feel like I ever got to hear Nicole's story, just the story of her family. Which, ok, that's the title, I know. But I somehow thought it would be both. I was interested to see how her family developed and coped (especially her dad, who was portrayed as sensitively as possible, but was still massively hung-up on his ideals and his pre-determined thoughts about what was appropriate for a really long-ass time) and her brother, who had what seems like a fairly normal bout of teenaged/college "what is life really all about" slump, made worse by all the attention paid to his suddenly-famous sibling.
Regardless, it was a very moving and interesting story, and I still hope that perhaps Nicole will take some time from college and theatre to work with another ghostwriter and tell HER version of the story we got here. I'd love to hear her words.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Black History Month: Families
One day off, but I'm squeezing it in there anyway, because I had good beautiful books to showcase.
My Family Plays Music
Judy Cox, illustrated by Elbrite Brown
ISBN: 0823415910
A lovely variety of brown and black faces and bodies playing beautiful music in varied venues.
The ONLY downside to this book is that there are a LOT of family members to get through. The music styles and venues and instruments are interesting and varied, from great-grandmother on the church pipe organ to niece Sadie playing the pots and pans in the kitchen, and our narrator is a gifted percussionist, playing scads of different instruments to accompany each different relative. It's rhythmic, cadenced, lovely descriptive language (all the instruments and music styles are named), and each family member has their own distinct style and appearance. It's perfect - other than getting a smidge tired of a large family: father, mother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, great grandma, cousin, and niece.
Uptown
Bryan Collier
ISBN: 0805057218
Rich, multi-layered collages of highly-textured photographs show off Harlem through a boy's eyes.
Our narrator tells us about various slices of life and environment Uptown - the brownstones, the barbershops, the Apollo Theatre, playing at Rutgers in summer, and listening to the Boy's Choir sing in the evenings, sharing his joy and pride in his homeplace of Uptown Harlem. I love it specifically for my rural/suburban southern kids because it shows off a joyful and positive impression of city life.
Max and the Tag-Along Moon
Floyd Cooper
ISBN: 9780399233425
Truly lovely grainy-textured sepia-washed spreads of color and shadow.
It's early evening, and the moon rises as Max says goodbye to his beloved Granpa, who reassures the sad boy that the moon will "always shine for you" through the night. During the long drive, beautifully illustrated and lyrically narrated, Max keeps a delighted eye on the tag-along moon that follows him around curves, through forests, and waits for him at the end of tunnels. By the end of the trip, clouds have rolled in, and the stars - and moon - vanish from sight. Max feels the loss of the moon keenly, and rolls it up with how he feels missing his Granpa, and is sad and lonely as he arrives home and prepares for bed. But just before he falls asleep, the clouds roll back, and that loyal moon shines bright in his window, just like Granpa said it would. Beautiful, sweet, and expressionistic.
My Family Plays Music
Judy Cox, illustrated by Elbrite Brown
ISBN: 0823415910
A lovely variety of brown and black faces and bodies playing beautiful music in varied venues.
The ONLY downside to this book is that there are a LOT of family members to get through. The music styles and venues and instruments are interesting and varied, from great-grandmother on the church pipe organ to niece Sadie playing the pots and pans in the kitchen, and our narrator is a gifted percussionist, playing scads of different instruments to accompany each different relative. It's rhythmic, cadenced, lovely descriptive language (all the instruments and music styles are named), and each family member has their own distinct style and appearance. It's perfect - other than getting a smidge tired of a large family: father, mother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, great grandma, cousin, and niece.
Uptown
Bryan Collier
ISBN: 0805057218
Rich, multi-layered collages of highly-textured photographs show off Harlem through a boy's eyes.
Our narrator tells us about various slices of life and environment Uptown - the brownstones, the barbershops, the Apollo Theatre, playing at Rutgers in summer, and listening to the Boy's Choir sing in the evenings, sharing his joy and pride in his homeplace of Uptown Harlem. I love it specifically for my rural/suburban southern kids because it shows off a joyful and positive impression of city life.
Max and the Tag-Along Moon
Floyd Cooper
ISBN: 9780399233425
Truly lovely grainy-textured sepia-washed spreads of color and shadow.
It's early evening, and the moon rises as Max says goodbye to his beloved Granpa, who reassures the sad boy that the moon will "always shine for you" through the night. During the long drive, beautifully illustrated and lyrically narrated, Max keeps a delighted eye on the tag-along moon that follows him around curves, through forests, and waits for him at the end of tunnels. By the end of the trip, clouds have rolled in, and the stars - and moon - vanish from sight. Max feels the loss of the moon keenly, and rolls it up with how he feels missing his Granpa, and is sad and lonely as he arrives home and prepares for bed. But just before he falls asleep, the clouds roll back, and that loyal moon shines bright in his window, just like Granpa said it would. Beautiful, sweet, and expressionistic.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Entwined, Heather Dixon
Oh, I liked this one!
The Entwine is a dance enjoyed by the populace of the imaginary early industrial-revolution-era kingdom our princesses are from. The Entwine has the couple holding the ends of a scarf, with the gentleman's goal to "capture" the lady, and the lady's goal to "escape."
Azalea, the eldest of twelve sisters (now you know for sure which fairy-tale this one is) loves that dance, and she's almost as good as her sainted and wonderful (and unfortunately dead) mother.
The girls are now in mourning, and the one thing that brings them peace and comfort is dancing. But in mourning, you can't dance! ( LOVED this!) The magic of the castle brings them to a magical underworld dance hall ruled by the Keeper, who assures the bereft girls that they can dance underground with him any time they wish. As time goes on, he gets progressively more posessive and demanding - and before their year of mourning is up, they may be in deep trouble.
This was so much fun! Only one set of twins, the elder girls at least all had distinct personalities, and the younger had "shortcuts" that were at least fun to read. There were even politics and the realities of romance when you are the heir to a throne! The male leads were suitably differing and fun, and the estranged relationship with "Sir" was deftly handled.
All in all, this is the best adaptation of a fairy-tale I have read in a really really long time. Massive kudos!
The Entwine is a dance enjoyed by the populace of the imaginary early industrial-revolution-era kingdom our princesses are from. The Entwine has the couple holding the ends of a scarf, with the gentleman's goal to "capture" the lady, and the lady's goal to "escape."
Azalea, the eldest of twelve sisters (now you know for sure which fairy-tale this one is) loves that dance, and she's almost as good as her sainted and wonderful (and unfortunately dead) mother.
The girls are now in mourning, and the one thing that brings them peace and comfort is dancing. But in mourning, you can't dance! ( LOVED this!) The magic of the castle brings them to a magical underworld dance hall ruled by the Keeper, who assures the bereft girls that they can dance underground with him any time they wish. As time goes on, he gets progressively more posessive and demanding - and before their year of mourning is up, they may be in deep trouble.
This was so much fun! Only one set of twins, the elder girls at least all had distinct personalities, and the younger had "shortcuts" that were at least fun to read. There were even politics and the realities of romance when you are the heir to a throne! The male leads were suitably differing and fun, and the estranged relationship with "Sir" was deftly handled.
All in all, this is the best adaptation of a fairy-tale I have read in a really really long time. Massive kudos!
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