So far I've read Three Parts Dead and Two Serpents Rise, and I'm planning to get to Full Fathom Five this summer as my beach read. I wanted to hit up Last First Snow because we get to go back in time to Dresediel Lex and Temoc and see Caleb as a child, and of course Elayne in her prime standing up to The King in Red.
Last First Snow (Craft Sequence)
Max Gladstone
ISBN: 9780765379405
Read April 10, 2016
Direct prequel to Two Serpents Rise, featuring Elayne, Temoc (& Caleb), and the King in Red.
This look back in time shows the traumatic events that shaped Caleb's young life and his estrangement with his father Temoc, which forms a huge part of Two Serpents Rise. As part of a deal to revitalize the inner city, Elayne attempts to broker a deal that would slowly "improve" the warrenlike slums that form the Skittersill through investments and gentrification. The locals heartily disapprove, and mysterious forces collude to skuttle the deal. Furthermore, Temoc, the last of the old priests, is attempting to revitalize the worship of the old gods (whichever ones of them hadn't gotten outright killed off in the very recent God Wars) through spiritual rituals instead of human sacrifices. The King in Red is brash and young (well, newer? fresher?) and more easily led by spite and pique. All of this is going to collide in an awful conflict that no one really wants, and no one quite knows who started, or who will gain.
Each of these books marries a weird spiritual or philosophical question with a banking issue, and this one is (no spoilers) concerned with gentrification and ownership of property and insurance fraud, twined around by questions of destiny, of legacy, of loyalty (between people, and between gods, and to ideals or philosophical goals), and of the peculiar responsibility that comes from being a public servant.
The story veers wildly between spiritual banking and physical mayhem, and the ending (even though you know what's coming, having presumably read Two Serpents Rise) is brutal and scouring. I started this book way back in the fall last year, and put it down right before the finale due to ill health, and I'm glad that I did. I'm much happier reading about terrible and horrible events in the bright light of a new spring than in the faded dead light of November. I'm also glad to have had a while to disconnect from the characters, or the torment and anguish they face (especially Temoc) would have been too much for me to enjoy the story.
I was reminded again how much I like this conceit of soul-stuff as the basis of commerce, and of gods and magic as fundamentally financial and transactional in nature. It's such a weird perfect system and the world is so like our own but skewed in so many little weird ways. In this book, a character expends their entire stock of personal soul in a wild taxi ride, then pops up to an ATM in a hotel lobby and withdraws a fresh stock from a personal bank account to refill their soul and stay alive. It's so wild and exotic, but so mundane and familiar.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Counting Concepts
One Giant Splash: A counting book about the ocean
Michael Dahl, illustrated by Todd Ouren
ISBN: 9781404805774
Textured collages and hidden images in bright saturated colors.
All of these are on the short side, to be totally honest - it's hard to get a long sustaining narrative going in counting or math-concept form. I'm impressed with books like One White Wishing Stone or Molly Bang's Ten Nine Eight because they manage a narrative flow so deftly, but even then it's hard to sustain. So, despite being short, I like this one for quite a few reasons: 1) it's a counting-down book (starting from 12) instead of counting up. 2) so colorful and vibrant. 3) the language is STELLAR. I love it. There are slant-rhymes and wordplay and alliteration and consonance and it's just fabulous to read. Delightful. 4) there's a decided mystery at play, because our first page is the Giant Splash, but we don't see who it is until the very end. 5) the pace of the "mystery" picks up as we move from languid spreads to hurried frantic pages to the last reveal page. Absolutely a winner.
Ten Little Ladybugs
Melanie Gerth, illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith
ISBN: 9781581170917
Concept book with textured plastic ladybugs on board-book pages
Our rhyme counts inexorably down to zero as our ladybugs vanish after various encounters, but what's happening to the missing bugs? Surely they can't be getting eaten, but as the encounters range from big grasshoppers to even more dangerous frogs and birds, the kids start looking more and more concerned. Of course they're all safe at the end (this is a toddler storytime after all) drawn traditionally on the last page to preserve the happy surprise.
One, Two, Cockatoo!
Sarah Garson
ISBN: 9781842709443
Lovely orange and yellows suffuse this bright cheery book with rainstorms and happy birds.
Again with the unavoidable shortness, but we had a distracted and young-skewing group today, so it worked out nicely. This one starts off as a combined counting and math-concept book at the beginning, but it quickly drops that to move to just counting upwards to ten as the birds frolic in the trees before, during, and after a rainstorm (with a bonus bird at the end!). I like this book mainly for the colors and the brightness of the cheery friendly birds dancing and playing with each other. Something about the illustrations just makes me feel quite happy and content, and I hope that feeling gets transferred to the kids.
Michael Dahl, illustrated by Todd Ouren
ISBN: 9781404805774
Textured collages and hidden images in bright saturated colors.
All of these are on the short side, to be totally honest - it's hard to get a long sustaining narrative going in counting or math-concept form. I'm impressed with books like One White Wishing Stone or Molly Bang's Ten Nine Eight because they manage a narrative flow so deftly, but even then it's hard to sustain. So, despite being short, I like this one for quite a few reasons: 1) it's a counting-down book (starting from 12) instead of counting up. 2) so colorful and vibrant. 3) the language is STELLAR. I love it. There are slant-rhymes and wordplay and alliteration and consonance and it's just fabulous to read. Delightful. 4) there's a decided mystery at play, because our first page is the Giant Splash, but we don't see who it is until the very end. 5) the pace of the "mystery" picks up as we move from languid spreads to hurried frantic pages to the last reveal page. Absolutely a winner.
Ten Little Ladybugs
Melanie Gerth, illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith
ISBN: 9781581170917
Concept book with textured plastic ladybugs on board-book pages
Our rhyme counts inexorably down to zero as our ladybugs vanish after various encounters, but what's happening to the missing bugs? Surely they can't be getting eaten, but as the encounters range from big grasshoppers to even more dangerous frogs and birds, the kids start looking more and more concerned. Of course they're all safe at the end (this is a toddler storytime after all) drawn traditionally on the last page to preserve the happy surprise.
One, Two, Cockatoo!
Sarah Garson
ISBN: 9781842709443
Lovely orange and yellows suffuse this bright cheery book with rainstorms and happy birds.
Again with the unavoidable shortness, but we had a distracted and young-skewing group today, so it worked out nicely. This one starts off as a combined counting and math-concept book at the beginning, but it quickly drops that to move to just counting upwards to ten as the birds frolic in the trees before, during, and after a rainstorm (with a bonus bird at the end!). I like this book mainly for the colors and the brightness of the cheery friendly birds dancing and playing with each other. Something about the illustrations just makes me feel quite happy and content, and I hope that feeling gets transferred to the kids.
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Manga (Book Club Read) Wolf Children, Mamoru Hosoda & Yu
Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki
Mamoru Hosoda, illustrated by Yu (Original character designs by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto)
Translation by Jocelyne Allen, lettering by Tania Biswas & Lys Blakeslee
ISBN: 9780316401654
Hardcover Manga compilation of the original manga series companion to the Wolf Children film.
Read April 3, 2016
Our April read was also our first manga for the book club. Attendance was slight, and I wonder if people either didn't want to try a different format, or if there is just not much overlap between traditional comics/graphic novels and with manga. (or more likely, it was still the tail end of Spring Break, so people could have been out enjoying the lovely weather.)
Regardless, it was a cute story, and another nice light read after February's War Story, and the upcoming Civil War (the comic, not the movie - I'm honestly not looking forward to slogging through the comic series again, but it is what it is.) March's Hawkeye Vol. 1 was likewise beautiful, and the full review is upcoming, although I did a short teaser review in September.
Back to Wolf Children. The story is simple and bittersweet (as are most shoujo anime/manga) and focuses on the very brief childhood of two siblings raised by a very young, but determined widowed mother. The children's father is a brief and mythological figure in the very beginning of the story, who dies tragically trying to provide for his infant children.
After his death the story has roughly two parts - the first section focuses on the mother, Hana, as she tries to keep her children's changeable natures hidden from society while living in the middle of a big city, and navigating health scares and poverty.
Once she realizes she can no longer keep the children hidden and protected in the city, the story moves to a property in the countryside and the focus shifts to the two children and their developing personalities and natures. Yuki, the eldest, begins by being fierce and adventuresome, but after an incident at school, she begins to despise and fear her wolf nature. Her younger brother Ame starts life as a weak and sickly boy, but after an accident in the woods, he associates nature with strength and challenge, and becomes enamored of the wilderness and of his own innate wildness.
The story finishes as the children reach the wolf equivalent of adulthood - still very young by modern American standards. As to be expected by shoujo manga, there are no real inversions of tropes, and the plot is predictable and minor - the real focus is the beautiful line-work of the art, and of the focus on individual moments in character interactions: the harried and frantic mother with a sick child that she can't take to the hospital, two wolf-toddlers tussling in an apartment, feelings of alienation at school and in the woods, interactions with neighbors and friends. All these are sweetly and truly drawn, and make the slight story worthwhile and lovely.
While I haven't seen the movie yet, if it covers the same ground as the manga, it would be a delightful way to introduce very young or very sensitive children to anime - before they're old enough to enjoy Ponyo or Kiki's Delivery Service for example.
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Urban Fantasy (sequel) Marked in Flesh, Anne Bishop
This is the fourth in the Others Series by Anne Bishop. I've read and reviewed the first three:
Written in Red
Murder of Crows
Vision in Silver
Marked in Flesh
Anne Bishop
ISBN: 9780451474476
Read April 5, 2016
Book four won't make much sense if you haven't read the first ones, so don't think you can just jump in. We've lost focus on the Courtyard a bit, and shuffle between there, the Intuit (not a spelling error) /Other village where one of the "sweet bloods" has settled (our young artist from the previous book), and a new pair of western prairie towns that are introduced in this book for the specific purpose of having people to kill off (the entire continent of Europe is likewise introduced).
The jumps around are still present, but they're executed much more competently, and the shifts in perspective are more pronounced, so it's easier to keep track of who is where, even with a whole new place thrown in. Characters are still very much archetypes, and we're never in any confusion about who is on the good guy side and who is on the bad guy side, but eh - again, I'm not expecting Shakespeare here.
I will say that as the series goes on, there is a distinct "second-class citizen" vibe going on, especially at the end of this book. I'm not going to get into spoilers, but I will say that the specifics referenced, and the actions committed (and then excused or explained away) are starting to make me want to step away from this series before it goes any further down that path. That of course is the trouble with making one side of the conflict into utterly bad monstrous people - that makes it ok to do terrible things to them in retribution. Except it doesn't really. So that's starting to be an unfortunate and growing sour note. I felt that way slightly after the third book, and it was much stronger and more direct this time around. I may not read the next at all - if there is another one.
Written in Red
Murder of Crows
Vision in Silver
Marked in Flesh
Anne Bishop
ISBN: 9780451474476
Read April 5, 2016
Book four won't make much sense if you haven't read the first ones, so don't think you can just jump in. We've lost focus on the Courtyard a bit, and shuffle between there, the Intuit (not a spelling error) /Other village where one of the "sweet bloods" has settled (our young artist from the previous book), and a new pair of western prairie towns that are introduced in this book for the specific purpose of having people to kill off (the entire continent of Europe is likewise introduced).
The jumps around are still present, but they're executed much more competently, and the shifts in perspective are more pronounced, so it's easier to keep track of who is where, even with a whole new place thrown in. Characters are still very much archetypes, and we're never in any confusion about who is on the good guy side and who is on the bad guy side, but eh - again, I'm not expecting Shakespeare here.
I will say that as the series goes on, there is a distinct "second-class citizen" vibe going on, especially at the end of this book. I'm not going to get into spoilers, but I will say that the specifics referenced, and the actions committed (and then excused or explained away) are starting to make me want to step away from this series before it goes any further down that path. That of course is the trouble with making one side of the conflict into utterly bad monstrous people - that makes it ok to do terrible things to them in retribution. Except it doesn't really. So that's starting to be an unfortunate and growing sour note. I felt that way slightly after the third book, and it was much stronger and more direct this time around. I may not read the next at all - if there is another one.
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Wild Animals
From the domestic to the dangerous!
Tiny Little Fly
Michael Rosen, illustrated by Kevin Waldron
ISBN: 9780763646813
Lush loose paintings of oversized wild animals, including a double-fold-out page.
Waldron really knocks it out of the park with these illustrations, which give us a fly-eye view of these massive wild animals: elephant, hippo, and tiger (a SHE tiger!) which all try to catch that pesky fly, but of course fail. Rosen's story is short and pithy, and it would be quite short enough for a middle read in a pinch. Lovely package, great fun story. Now I only need one more short "fly" book, and I can do a trio of pesky bug stories with this one and Old Black Fly (Aylesworth, ISBN: 9780805039245).
Monkey and Me
Emily Gravett
ISBN: 9781416954576
Very rhythmic and repetitive, with great options for call-and-response.
Gravett is a lovely picture book artist, and I really enjoy her work, from the tongue-in-cheek (Dogs, The Odd Egg) to the unexpectedly poignant (Again!, The Blue Chameleon). This one is firmly in the silly category, and is so slight as to almost not have a storyline. Our spunky girl and her floppy-limbed stuffed monkey imitate various animals, and then on the following spread (after eliciting guesses from the audience), a gorgeous rendition of those animals appears. Perfect for the middle spot, but not for storytellers who shy away from sing-song or outright singing, because that's the only way I can think to get through the repetitive wording.
I Spy with My Little Eye
Edward Gibbs
ISBN: 9780763652845
Die-cut book showing various beautifully-painted animal eyes along with clues as to what they are.
This is quite probably the most beautifully-painted die-cut conceit book I've ever seen. I adore reading it, and the idea is so simple and so clever and so pretty, I wish there were more of them. Gibbs has taken a large central cut-out and painted an eye there, with a set of clues about the animal who might be lurking behind the page: so "I spy with my little eye..." on one page with the eye painted, and on the other, the cut-out showing rich blue, and the following clues: "... something that is blue" and "I am the biggest animal in the whole world." Obviously we have a blue whale, followed by polar bears, orangutans, lions, and one cheeky frog who has the temerity to end the book by looking back out and spying "YOU" and offering the now-empty die-cut hole to peer through for effect. In a lot of treatments, it could have been cute and slight, but the paintings are so rich and so beautiful that it really adds a lot of weight and fun to the progression.
Tiny Little Fly
Michael Rosen, illustrated by Kevin Waldron
ISBN: 9780763646813
Lush loose paintings of oversized wild animals, including a double-fold-out page.
Waldron really knocks it out of the park with these illustrations, which give us a fly-eye view of these massive wild animals: elephant, hippo, and tiger (a SHE tiger!) which all try to catch that pesky fly, but of course fail. Rosen's story is short and pithy, and it would be quite short enough for a middle read in a pinch. Lovely package, great fun story. Now I only need one more short "fly" book, and I can do a trio of pesky bug stories with this one and Old Black Fly (Aylesworth, ISBN: 9780805039245).
Monkey and Me
Emily Gravett
ISBN: 9781416954576
Very rhythmic and repetitive, with great options for call-and-response.
Gravett is a lovely picture book artist, and I really enjoy her work, from the tongue-in-cheek (Dogs, The Odd Egg) to the unexpectedly poignant (Again!, The Blue Chameleon). This one is firmly in the silly category, and is so slight as to almost not have a storyline. Our spunky girl and her floppy-limbed stuffed monkey imitate various animals, and then on the following spread (after eliciting guesses from the audience), a gorgeous rendition of those animals appears. Perfect for the middle spot, but not for storytellers who shy away from sing-song or outright singing, because that's the only way I can think to get through the repetitive wording.
I Spy with My Little Eye
Edward Gibbs
ISBN: 9780763652845
Die-cut book showing various beautifully-painted animal eyes along with clues as to what they are.
This is quite probably the most beautifully-painted die-cut conceit book I've ever seen. I adore reading it, and the idea is so simple and so clever and so pretty, I wish there were more of them. Gibbs has taken a large central cut-out and painted an eye there, with a set of clues about the animal who might be lurking behind the page: so "I spy with my little eye..." on one page with the eye painted, and on the other, the cut-out showing rich blue, and the following clues: "... something that is blue" and "I am the biggest animal in the whole world." Obviously we have a blue whale, followed by polar bears, orangutans, lions, and one cheeky frog who has the temerity to end the book by looking back out and spying "YOU" and offering the now-empty die-cut hole to peer through for effect. In a lot of treatments, it could have been cute and slight, but the paintings are so rich and so beautiful that it really adds a lot of weight and fun to the progression.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Cats and Dogs
(I know, I know - but I'm caught up now!)
So hard to pick, so I included a bonus title today. I couldn't choose until the day of, so I'm reviewing my "first runner-up" as well, because it's so cute and fun.
Dog In Charge
K. L. Going, illustrated by Dan Santat
ISBN: 9780803734791
"Good dog" has been left in charge of the 5 cats for the afternoon - will they be good? Nope.
Our dog is very happy to be a Good Dog. He sits, stays, and does dances for treats. When the people leave him in charge (of the 1,2,3,4- 5!) cats, he expects them to sit and stay also. They don't. Dog bosses them around, gets a little frantic, attempts bribery (and fails miserably at his own willpower) and finally sags into a nap of despair. But no worries - the kitties aren't bad, only active. They love that dog, and they'll make sure he's still considered a Good Dog when the people get back home.
Un Gato y un Perro / A Cat and a Dog
Claire Masurel, illustrated by Bob Kolar
ISBN: 0735818355
Bilingual, with Spanish as the primary text, about two mortal enemies who learn to help each other.
A very short story, and one that made me wish I was brave enough to try Spanish, but I don't speak it, and I'm afraid that some of my families DO, and I don't wish to cause offense or embarrass myself. Our cat and dog don't like each other one single bit, and they growl and hiss at each other, and always play alone, in their own ways, with their own toys - until the day comes when each toy is lost in just the perfect way that they need the other's help. I like that one of them thinks to help first without having to be asked, and the other one enthusiastically returns the favor. A bit too simplistic and over very quickly, but it all works for that short middle read,
Widget
Lyn Rossiter McFarland, illustrated by Jim McFarland
ISBN: 0374384282
Widget is a stray, so he's willing to do just about anything for a nice warm home - even become a cat.
I love Widget. It's the perfect story of fitting in and working with people. Widget is sick of being a stray, so when he finds Mrs Diggs and her six cats, he's pretty sure he's got it made - one small problem; "the girls" don't like dogs. No big deal - Widget can be just as catly as any of them! In fact, as he settles into his posh new life, Widget even occasionally forgets he IS a dog - until Mrs Diggs falls down one day and doesn't get back up. When meowing, hissing, and caterwauling for help does nothing, Widget risks it all by barking again, and inspires the girls. A beautiful story, and one I will always be happy to read.
Bonus Book:
Won Ton and Chopstick
Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
ISBN: 9780805099874
Won Ton's haiku book gets a sequel here, with a new puppy added to the family.
The conceit here is lovely, but the reading is a little odd with my age-group - haiku are notorious for being indirect and glancing and not-quite-exactly-to-the-point, which is lovely for reading to yourself, or with older children who are a bit experienced with metaphor and simile and conceptual thinking. It's less fitting for toddlers, unfortunately, despite the bright colors and really adorable pictures. Won Ton is less than pleased to have a new puppy in the house, especially when spats leave Won Ton (not the newcomer) exiled to the yard. Still, familiarity does the trick, and harmony regains peaceful sway by the end.
So hard to pick, so I included a bonus title today. I couldn't choose until the day of, so I'm reviewing my "first runner-up" as well, because it's so cute and fun.
Dog In Charge
K. L. Going, illustrated by Dan Santat
ISBN: 9780803734791
"Good dog" has been left in charge of the 5 cats for the afternoon - will they be good? Nope.
Our dog is very happy to be a Good Dog. He sits, stays, and does dances for treats. When the people leave him in charge (of the 1,2,3,4- 5!) cats, he expects them to sit and stay also. They don't. Dog bosses them around, gets a little frantic, attempts bribery (and fails miserably at his own willpower) and finally sags into a nap of despair. But no worries - the kitties aren't bad, only active. They love that dog, and they'll make sure he's still considered a Good Dog when the people get back home.
Un Gato y un Perro / A Cat and a Dog
Claire Masurel, illustrated by Bob Kolar
ISBN: 0735818355
Bilingual, with Spanish as the primary text, about two mortal enemies who learn to help each other.
A very short story, and one that made me wish I was brave enough to try Spanish, but I don't speak it, and I'm afraid that some of my families DO, and I don't wish to cause offense or embarrass myself. Our cat and dog don't like each other one single bit, and they growl and hiss at each other, and always play alone, in their own ways, with their own toys - until the day comes when each toy is lost in just the perfect way that they need the other's help. I like that one of them thinks to help first without having to be asked, and the other one enthusiastically returns the favor. A bit too simplistic and over very quickly, but it all works for that short middle read,
Widget
Lyn Rossiter McFarland, illustrated by Jim McFarland
ISBN: 0374384282
Widget is a stray, so he's willing to do just about anything for a nice warm home - even become a cat.
I love Widget. It's the perfect story of fitting in and working with people. Widget is sick of being a stray, so when he finds Mrs Diggs and her six cats, he's pretty sure he's got it made - one small problem; "the girls" don't like dogs. No big deal - Widget can be just as catly as any of them! In fact, as he settles into his posh new life, Widget even occasionally forgets he IS a dog - until Mrs Diggs falls down one day and doesn't get back up. When meowing, hissing, and caterwauling for help does nothing, Widget risks it all by barking again, and inspires the girls. A beautiful story, and one I will always be happy to read.
Bonus Book:
Won Ton and Chopstick
Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
ISBN: 9780805099874
Won Ton's haiku book gets a sequel here, with a new puppy added to the family.
The conceit here is lovely, but the reading is a little odd with my age-group - haiku are notorious for being indirect and glancing and not-quite-exactly-to-the-point, which is lovely for reading to yourself, or with older children who are a bit experienced with metaphor and simile and conceptual thinking. It's less fitting for toddlers, unfortunately, despite the bright colors and really adorable pictures. Won Ton is less than pleased to have a new puppy in the house, especially when spats leave Won Ton (not the newcomer) exiled to the yard. Still, familiarity does the trick, and harmony regains peaceful sway by the end.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Sailing
Spring is a perfect season here for sailing. We live near a large lake, and the warm days with fresh breezes (and pop-up storms) make for memorable times, and easy pickings for Storytime reads.
Three Bears in a Boat
David Soman
ISBN: 9780803739932
Three bear siblings head off on a sailing adventure to replace an accidentally broken treasure.
The storyline could be a little tighter, and the metaphorical storm vanishes a little too quickly for my tastes, but this story of siblings working together (and fighting) will strike a chord with lots of kids. Our three bears break mom's beautiful blue shell, and immediately hatch a wild plan to find a replacement. They sail away into adventure, before returning safe and sound to mom. A lovely blended homage to the adventure of Where the Wild Things Are and the homey sweetness of Little Bear.
Sail Away
Donald Crews
ISBN: 9780688110536
Short and onomatopoeic and evocative.
Crews is delightful when he's presenting a simple vibrant concept, and here is no exception. Super-simple premise has a sailboat puttering out for a day's sail, encountering a storm (over almost as quickly as Soman's was) and puttering back in to moor safely in the harbor. Graphically arresting, with words that become part of the illustrations, and just enough language to move the pictures along.
Boats Float
George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Mick Wiggins
ISBN: 9781481403801
By the author of Trucks Roll, and of Planes Fly. Less of a storyline than in Trucks Roll.
The illustrations are busier here than in Trucks Roll - they actually remind me a little bit of the old Richard Scarry books. The narrative is familiar; a rhyming cadence lists different types of boats, aspects of boats, or boat terminology, and always ends on "Boats Float" at the conclusion of each spread or section. There is a funky mostly-sideways page that doesn't actually need to be turned sideways (a very winding river with the text following the path of the river) and it goes on just a smidge long for my tastes, but it's fun and cute and has really good vocabulary.
Three Bears in a Boat
David Soman
ISBN: 9780803739932
Three bear siblings head off on a sailing adventure to replace an accidentally broken treasure.
The storyline could be a little tighter, and the metaphorical storm vanishes a little too quickly for my tastes, but this story of siblings working together (and fighting) will strike a chord with lots of kids. Our three bears break mom's beautiful blue shell, and immediately hatch a wild plan to find a replacement. They sail away into adventure, before returning safe and sound to mom. A lovely blended homage to the adventure of Where the Wild Things Are and the homey sweetness of Little Bear.
Sail Away
Donald Crews
ISBN: 9780688110536
Short and onomatopoeic and evocative.
Crews is delightful when he's presenting a simple vibrant concept, and here is no exception. Super-simple premise has a sailboat puttering out for a day's sail, encountering a storm (over almost as quickly as Soman's was) and puttering back in to moor safely in the harbor. Graphically arresting, with words that become part of the illustrations, and just enough language to move the pictures along.
Boats Float
George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Mick Wiggins
ISBN: 9781481403801
By the author of Trucks Roll, and of Planes Fly. Less of a storyline than in Trucks Roll.
The illustrations are busier here than in Trucks Roll - they actually remind me a little bit of the old Richard Scarry books. The narrative is familiar; a rhyming cadence lists different types of boats, aspects of boats, or boat terminology, and always ends on "Boats Float" at the conclusion of each spread or section. There is a funky mostly-sideways page that doesn't actually need to be turned sideways (a very winding river with the text following the path of the river) and it goes on just a smidge long for my tastes, but it's fun and cute and has really good vocabulary.
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