Tuesday Storytime: Helpful Friends

Another set of books pulled very long ago, and finally getting used. These all feature friends trying to do the right thing and help out in tough situations. Sometimes it works - sometimes it doesn't, but it's the thought that counts.

Peace, Baby!

Linda Ashman, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

ISBN: 9781452106137

Pastels and scribbly open-edges make for a welcoming and lively set of vignettes and single-page spreads of before/after scenarios. In loose verse, diverse kids are shown encountering "difficult" situations; a sibling or friend accidentally hits them while roughhousing, a child cheats or grabs at shared toys, difficulties sharing, messes, bumps, and general life. Each time the scenario is presented, the option is shown to have "peace, baby" and this child is shown choosing a pro-social coping method. "Dress up time: You grab the gown, but Phoebe snags the sparkly crown. Would a princess push her down?" with this text we have a set of girls with angry faces arguing over a trunk of dress up clothing. Facing page shows the same girls happily bowing to each other as before a courtly dance, with smiling faces, and each with one item from the trunk. "No! Peace, baby!" Admittedly preachy, but sweet and basic.

Boo Hoo Bird

Jeremy Tankard

ISBN: 9780545065702

Tankard's "Bird" features in a lot of stories, but this one is especially cute. When a game of catch results in Bird getting bonked on the head, he cries and cries and cries as his friends try to console or help him. At the end, they're all discouraged and crying when Bird realizes that perhaps the bonk wasn't so bad after all, and everything is back to fun and games again (until the endpapers, where we see that they're playing catch again, with unfortunate results).

ouch!

Ragnhild Scamell, illustrated by Michael Terry

ISBN: 9781561485116

Hedgehog has just finished her cozy winter nest, but then an apple plops down and sticks in her spines, and she can't fit into her house any more. Her friends try to help, but they only make things successively worse, getting more and more descriptive items stuck in her spines as the book goes along, until she desperately pushes through a hedge and meets a final friend; Goat. He's got the right idea, and Hedgehog can finally fit into her snug home.

 

Tuesday Storytime: Expressing Feelings

Ok, time for a break in the winterpalooza. I can only handle so much snow and winter before the grey green grass outside gets really depressing (although I do appreciate that it's MUCH warmer here than in truly wintry stomping grounds).

This storytime focuses on feelings, and how they're all natural, and fine, and how to articulate them, and how everyone feels them.

Tough Guys (have feelings too)
Keith Negley
ISBN: 9781909263666
A parade of "tough guys" from Knights to Ninja to Astronauts to Luchadores to Race Car Drivers to even Superheroes, Cowboys, and Biker Dudes all show sadness and grief and lonliness in circumstances familiar to every child: loss, lonliness, frustration. The only picture I skipped was right at the end - because there were so many younger children present, I chickened out of showing the spread where the Biker Dude mourns a small furry roadkill squirrel. Books like these are really important for showing kids that all their emotions are healthy and permissible, and teaches them words and concepts to help feel more in control of what are sometimes very scary internal states of being.

I Am So Brave!
Stephen Krensky, illustrated by Sara Gillingham
ISBN: 9781419709371
A cute AA child (mostly coded as male but not specified) shows off paired illustrations on each spread with short couplets of what they feared and then overcome. Our first illustration goes right for it: the child is hiding behind an adult's legs, while a black dog and other dogs take up most of the foreground. Opposite tho, there's a happy embrace between the child and a rambunctious and happy black puppy. The drawings aren't done to heighten a sense of drama or fear in the "scared" panels, and the child looks roughly the same age and ability in each pair. It's very powerful and punchy.

My Friend is Sad (Elephant and Piggie)
Mo Willems
ISBN: 9781423102977
Gerald (the elephant) is sad. So Piggie tries to cheer him up by sneaking up on him in various elaborate costumes: cowboy, then a clown, then a robot. Gerald cheers momentarily, but then resumes being morose. Piggie gives up and heads over to apologise for not being able to provide any lasting cheer, and discovers something important about their friendship (and about the state of Gerald's eyesight). It veers juuuuust a touch into codependency at the end, but overall it is sweet and a direct reminder that fun times are more fun with people to share them with, and that friends really do need their friends in a real way.

   

Tuesday Storytime: Beary Good Friends

My co-storyteller's picks this time, with two that I've done myself before, or at least considered using.  Really sweet and cute books. We're back to picking very short and very straightforward reads since our audience has shrunk in both size and age with school snatching away all our older ones.

Bird, Balloon, Bear
Il Sung Na
ISBN: 9780399551567
Bird hopes to be friends with Bear, but Bear already has a good friend: a balloon. Bird watches as they play together happily, but eventually all Chekov's balloons must pop, and new friends made.


Good Luck Bear
Greg Foley
ISBN: 9780670062584
Bear is looking for a four-leaf clover, and has no luck at all. He's feeling quite unlucky, in fact, until his friend Mouse returns with a message of friendship and of finding the unexpected.

Bear and Bee: Too Busy
Sergio Ruzzier
ISBN: 9781423159612
Bear and Bee join forces again in this sequel book (Bear and Bee was a quirky story about prejudice and fears) to have a light-hearted discussion about the concept of doing things that you perhaps don't super enjoy yourself, simply because you want to be with the person doing them, and you enjoy helping the person enjoy the activity. Hard concept for kids and adults, and it's a hard slog for the Bear and Bee too, but they make it work out in the end.

YA Novel/Graphic: Draw the Line, by Laurent Linn

Written and drawn in sections by Laurent Linn, this isn't as solidly half-and-half graphic novel and book like The Adventures of Hugo Cabret or the more recent Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape.  Still, there's a decent amount of illustrated material, which really adds something to the story.

Draw the Line
written and illustrated by Laurent Linn
ISBN: 9781481452809
Read August 20

Adrian has a lot of talent, but he's also a pragmatist (perhaps a pessimist) - he knows that artsy gay online comic creators aren't really the power players at school, so he's WAY into the closet, about everything.  His wardrobe is made of muted greys and taupes, he keeps his head down, and no one besides his two similarly-marginalized friends has any idea what sort of ideas and passions make him tick.  But all that changes dramatically when Adrian watches a flamboyantly gay classmate get savagely beaten at a local diner, and Adrian makes a terrified stand that puts him in the spotlight, and into the sights of school bullies.

It was a little heavy-handed at times, and the progression was a bit quick, and the ending a bit pat, but I forgive those in the interests of having a mostly upbeat and positive story, despite the focus on some tough issues.

I don't know if there's anywhere more for Adrian's story to go, but it might be interesting to see Linn tackle a slant-wise sequel that focuses on one of the other characters involved, several of whom have really strong potential for a powerful story of their own.

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.

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.

2015 Review Round-Up: Picture Book: Friendshape, Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld

Friendshape (Exclamation Mark)
Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
ISBN: 9780545436823
Read December 2015

The entire picture book is a beautifully crafted series of visual puns, and I love every single bit of it.  It's going to show up in storytime, even though the kids won't get it - the grownups will, and it's short enough that I don't feel bad reading something that largely goes over the kids' heads.

So sweet.  So cute.

Tuesday Storytime: Problem Friends

Making friends isn't easy, and there are often some setbacks and roadblocks along the way.

Too Many Frogs!
Sandy Asher, illustrated by Keith Graves
ISBN: 0399239782
Quirky characters here, in a story about imposing on other people, and getting permission.

Rabbit has a lovely neat orderly life all alone.  He has his routines, and no mess and no fuss.  Until Frog stops by one evening and sort of invites himself in to listen to Rabbit's goodnight story.  Night after night, Frog keeps making himself more comfortable, to Rabbit's growing (but unspoken) chagrin.  The final straw comes when Frog shows up with his whole extended family, and Rabbit finally speaks up.  The ending of the story is not as solid as it could have been, with some unfortunate choices and implications, but the message of clearly asking permission and not taking advantage is still present.


You Will Be My Friend!
Peter Brown
ISBN: 9780316070300
Lucy the bear sets out into the forest to MAKE some critter into her friend.

Lucy is enthusiastic about her new mission: to make a friend.  Enthusiasm isn't everything, and Lucy runs into some pretty extreme setbacks.  She even gets a little bossy and snappy at one point, before collapsing in exhausted defeat.  Still, friendships can come looking for you, even when you can't make one happen on demand.


Don't Copy Me!
Jonathan Allen
ISBN: 9781907967207
Little Puffin does NOT like this game.

Little Puffin is taking advantage of the lovely weather to go for a walk, but he's being followed and copied by the little Gull siblings, and he is not a fan of this game.  Nothing he can think of to do makes them stop copying him; "How annoying!"  Still, he keeps trying, and eventually hits on a strategy that works out.  This one is also very useful for kids having troubles with much younger siblings or siblings of playmates.  

Tuesday Storytime: Teddy Bear Friends

And I forgot entirely to post last week's Storytime!

I love teddy bears.  So many stories, so many possibilities.  This time around we focused on friendship.

The Sniffles for Bear (A Library Book for Bear)
Bonny Becker, Kady MacDonald Denton
ISBN: 9780763647568
Previously reviewed here.

Still adorable, and lots of opportunities for overacting, which is generally a big hit with the little ones.



Where's My Teddy
Jez Alborough
ISBN: 9781442006027
An oversized picture book with faux-naive art centered in a looming (yet unscary) forest.

I have used this book, and it's partner My Friend Bear many times before, but not since I've been reviewing.  They're both adorable rhyming patter books that tell a sweet story of a pair of children (human and bear) losing their teddies in the woods, and what happens when there's a bit of a mix-up.  Super sweet, super gentle, and a blast to read.  Very quick story that feels solid and full, despite the short duration.


A Splendid Friend Indeed
Suzanne Bloom
ISBN: 9781590782866
Thick crayonish lines and bright primary colors make this a visual treat.

This book would be perfect for demonstrating body language.  Bear never says a word (Duck has that market cornered) but it's beautifully obvious how he feels about the neverending attentions of his excitable friend.  However, by the end, the irrepressible Duck has managed to break through Bear's shell, and the two friends hug it out.  So adorable.

Juv Quartet: The Years, by Andrea Cheng

I picked these up because we're reading American Born Chinese for a local bookclub, and I wondered if there were any recent books that would address a lot of those concerns for a younger set.

The Year of the Book
Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Abigail Halpin
ISBN: 9780547684635

The Year of the Baby
Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Patrice Barton
ISBN: 9780547910673

The Year of the Fortune Cookie
Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Patrice Barton
ISBN: 9780544105195

The Year of the Three Sisters
Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Patrice Barton
ISBN: 9780544344273

I like how well these flow together (read all of them in two afternoons) and how they include sub-plots for each character that is introduced.  Our lead is Anna, who is an American-Born Chinese girl living in Cincinnati with her parents and her younger brother.  As the stories progress, she matures from an impulsive bookaholic who is slightly embarassed by her heritage into a graceful. literate, (still impulsive, but working on it) young lady who visits China and hosts exchange students.

In addition, the supporting cast is lovely.  There are other girls who come and go through the series: best friend Laura, new friends Camille and Andee, and Chinese friend Fan.  All of the girls are sketched out in interesting shades: Laura has to deal with an overbearing mother and her parents' separation/divorce.  Camille has a learning disorder.  Andee's family is wealthy, and she tries too hard to help people sometimes.  Fan is a migrant worker from Beijing, and is determined to study and work her hardest in America while she has the opportunity.  All of these girls interact with each other and revolve around each other (each one becoming more or less important depending on the individual storyline) in a very realistic manner.

I still think that I like the Violet Mackerel books better than these, but for a slightly older audience who wants to read easy chapter books about interesting and diverse characters, this is a solid sell.

New Arrivals: Juvenile Readers: Viole Mackerel #5 & #6, Anna Branford & Elanna Allen

More of the absolutely lovely Violet Mackerel series has come in, and both of these are delightful.


Violet Mackerel's Possible Friend
Anna Branford, illustrated by Elanna Allen
ISBN: 9781442494558
Read February 15, 2015


Violet Mackerel's Pocket Protest
Anna Branford, illustrated by Elanna Allen
ISBN: 9781442494589
Read February 15, 2015


Possible Friend: Fresh off of a wedding and a move to a new house (the previous books, reviewed here) Violet is a little concerned about her neighbors - they have a very nice and very neat house and yard, and a little girl just her age that MIGHT become a friend, if things work out well.  The anticipation and nerves of making a new friend, and of worrying about whether your family and your home measures up, the one scene where the two mothers take it in turn to be stressed and nonplussed about their respective daughters' raptures over how the other family/home/mother is so amazing, everything is just pitch perfect!  And by the end of it, Violet has a new friend, aptly named Rose.

Pocket Protest: Rose and Violet enjoy a park at the end of their street, and especially an old oak tree that is just perfect for sitting under and sharing time and secrets.  They are horrified when a notice is put up, indicating the tree is getting cut down for a parking lot.  A micro-protest is underway, with help from parents and elder siblings, and the tree is saved, and a small sweet mystery is solved along with it.  Admittedly a bit sugar-coated and streamlined, but a very excellent introduction into social activism in a way smaller kids will appreciate and want to emulate.  Bonus points for gratuitously adorable usage of acorn caps.

Tuesday Storytime: Friendship

Two new ones, and one that I read somewhat recently, but I like it, and it's short, so I read it again.

Very Special Friends
Jane Chapman  (I'm Not Sleepy, Don't Be Afraid, Little Pip, Bear Feels Sick)
ISBN: 9781561486
Soft-edged woodland creatures in a sweet whimsical gentle woodland world.

Jane Chapman is a gifted illustrator, and her stand-alone books show that she has sweet whimsical stories in her repertoire as well.  She nearly always centers in on the emotional world of children where emotions are primal and happy times seem to last forever, and friendships are the linchpin of the world.  This one is no exception: Mouse heads to the riverbank to wait for her special friends, and is joined in her vigil by Rabbit, Frog, and Turtle.  At the end of a lovely day of visiting and waiting, Mouse announces that she's heading home, and her companions demur, saying that she should keep waiting for her friends.  Mouse answers that she's been with her special friends all day!  Just a smidge on the saccharine side for me to truly adore, but it's sweet and the illustrations are so gentle and happy.


The Story of Fish and Snail
Deborah Freedman
ISBN: 9780670784899
Reviewed here.

Still love this cute story of friends working through their differences (and a nice rip-roarer of an argument) and compromising and growing in order to stay together.  As a thought, it would go very well with Brigitte Weninger & Eve Tharlet's similarly conflict-resolving book, Why Are You Fighting, Davy?


The Very Lonely Firefly
Eric Carle (Mister Seahorse, )
ISBN: 0399227741
Carle's signature illustrations follow a firefly through the night - the last page has battery-operated lights inside a swarm of fireflies.

Carle is always fun.  Here we have a lonesome firefly, just born, seeking out the lights in the night for companionship.  There are all sorts of lights that are NOT fireflies first; porchlights, candles, flashlights, headlights, animal eyes gleaming, fireworks (no lightning tho) before the persistent little creature finds the company they've been searching for.  I never noticed until this reading that the firefly is never gendered during the story, which is always a nice touch.

Storytime Potentials: The Invisible Boy, Trudy Ludwig; The Most Magnificent Thing, Ashley Spires

The Invisible Boy
Trudy Ludwig, illustrated by Patrice Barton
ISBN: 9781582464503
Read June 18
Watercolor washes and peculiar animated faces make the one grey "invisible" boy stand out.

I want to like the illustrations in this book, but Barton gives her children, especially the invisible boy, nearly black lips, stretched out in their caricatured heads, and it just gives me the willies.  Other than that, the art is sensitive and painterly, with care taken in physical expressions and posture.  The storyline is equally sensitive, showing an "invisible" boy who is simply overlooked by his classmates, until a new kid comes in and upsets the status quo.



The Most Magnificent Thing
Ashley Spires
ISBN: 9781554537044
Read June 18
A girl inventor and her pug battle through the struggle to get your inventions to "just go right."

This is the perfect book for anyone who has ever tried to create anything ever.  I am serious.  It absolutely nails the frustration of having a perfect vision in your head, and trying so hard to make it real, and failing miserably and continually until you finally get it almost (but never exactly) right.

So perfect.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Robin Sloan
ISBN: 9780374214913
Finished May 20, 2014

There are people who jump into swimming pools, or into the ocean.  It's perhaps mid-April, she's on spring break, she's got her bathing suit on, and she is GOING.  A shiver of antici...pation (shush, I had to), a quick run, a smallish hop, a splash, and she's IN.

I am not that person.  I am the person who sits on the edge of the dock and pokes her toes in with a worried crease in her forehead, thinking about temperatures and wind-chill and leg cramps.  I am the person who sits on the warm concrete edge of the swimming pool with her legs in - ONLY her legs in - and watches the rest of the group swarm around the water like mayflies.

I don't jump.  I am not an "early adopter."  Hype makes me nervous.  The more people who shove a specific thing in my face with the breathless exhortation "My God this is PERFECT for you!" the more nervous I get, and the longer I hold off.  In this case, about umpty billion people (even patrons whose names I don't actually know) shoved this book at me with frantic intensity.

It was too much.  I couldn't take it.  The book (already purchased, because I did read a review and think "I might like this" before I got shoved at by everyone) ended up in the purgatory that is the back seat of my car.  For MONTHS.  I bought this book NEW.  In October.  Do you want to count how many months that is?  It's a depressing number.

I swung my legs in that pool for more than half a year.

Why?  I was afraid.  I don't like dreary.  I don't like depression (scuse me: "realism") I have enough of that in my own life, thanks.  I don't like to be wrapped up in a lovely story and have it fizzle out, or take a strange turn at Albuquerque.  I don't like to fall in love with characters and have them beheaded or raped (looking at you, GRRM).  I don't like gritty.  I don't like "snappy dialogue" that's actually mean-spirited snark that comes from entitled or arrogant or superior bastards.

I worry a lot.  As fast and as much as I read, you'd think that it wouldn't bother me this much, but I want to read things that are uplifting and heartwarming, and when I get a bait-and-switch, it's like being gut-punched.  It's horrid.

I finally slipped into the water on Monday.  God as my witness, this water is HEAVENLY.

Reviews elsewhere do the review thing.  I just want to gush for a bit.

I'm so glad I bought it.  I want to wander around for a week or so, clutching it to my chest and luxuriating in the happy fugue that comes from scarfing down a story that started great, stayed great, and finished with a beautifully satisfying ending AND AN EPILOGUE!

I'm revealing myself as a giant nerd here, but I spent my college days playing Mage, the World of Darkness game system developed by White Wolf.  This book reads like a beautiful Mage chronicle, in the lightest grey World of Darkness possible.  The synthesis of nostalgia for my college games (and, let's be honest here - my college years) and the breathless frantic intensity of the cutting-edge Google projects and post-recession uncertainty was like manna.  

I swear, people should stop recommending things to me.  I would get in a lot faster if people just stopped hassling me about how nice the water is.

Tuesday Storytime: Friends can be Different

We had a HUGE crowd this week, lots of boys, lots of energy.  The only one that was a bit of a mismatch was Chopsticks, but a parent wanted to check it out afterwards, so that's a win regardless.

Alex and Lulu: Two of a Kind
Lorena Siminovich
ISBN: 9780763644239
Block-prints and naive blocky-shaped characters.

Alex is a stereotypical boy dog, and Lulu is a stereotypical girl cat.  They are good friends, but Alex begins to think about all the ways they are different, and worries that they can't be friends because they are opposites.  Lulu reassures him that friends are often better when they have some differences, because that makes play and time spent together the richer.  Other than wishing that either Alex or Lulu wasn't majority white, and that they weren't so super-duper stereotypically boy/girl in their interests, this is a very nice calm sweet reminder that friends can and do have interests that are different.


The Story of Fish & Snail
Deborah Freedman
ISBN: 9780670784899
Book-within-a-book, where Fish and Snail live inside a picture book, and Fish explores inside other picture books.  Watercolors against a greyscale background.

Fish is happy being with Snail in their calm book, but Fish does like going out into other stories and bringing the tales back to Snail (who is quite happy to stay and play calm friendly games in their own peaceful book, thank you very much.)  Fish and Snail get into it when Fish wants Snail to come see an interesting (scary) book in person, and Snail gets frightened and lashes out.  But when Fish swims off into another story, Snail realizes being alone is no fun, and bravely goes out into the unfamiliar book to find Fish.  So pretty, so interesting, and a little mind-bending with the background of book-hopping.



Chopsticks
Amy Krause Rosenthal, illustrated by Scott Magoon
ISBN: 9781423107965
(SC Picture Book Award: 2013-2014 school year)
Visual puns all over the place, and asides from background characters/utensils.

Chopsticks do everything together, until an advance training exercise (skewering asparagus) leaves one man down with a broken tip.  Dr. Glue says he'll be right as rain in no time, but meanwhile, his buddy is driving him nuts trying to keep him company.  So the wounded stick sends his hale and hearty friend out into the world alone, to discover that he can have fun alone (playing soccer, baking, playing dress-up) and come back with interesting stories to tell his injured friend.  The story ends with both back upright and healthy, able to work as friends either together or apart.

Picture Book: Grumpy Goat, Brett Helquist

Grumpy Goat
Brett Helquist
ISBN: 9780061139536
Read: January 6, 2014

Picture Book: Grumpy Goat is not just anti-social, he's actively nasty to the other animals.  Then one day he spots something beautiful, something that reminds him of light and life and happiness.  His newfound sweet nature draws in the other wary animals, who then prove to be true friends when Goat's transient object of adoration is lost to him.  A shining example of seeing beauty in the smallest thing, of standing by friends when they are feeling sad, and a tribute to dandelions everywhere.