A fun collection of people showing how their houses reflect their personality.
If I Built a House (If I Built a Car)
Chris Van Dusen
ISBN: 9780803737518
Our imaginative auto engineer has moved on to houses: his dream home to be exact. We start with labor-saving gadgetry in the kitchen and bathroom, then quickly move into more exotic rooms, with aquariums and detachable rocket playrooms making appearances. A fun book on it's own, and really cute when paired with the car book for a trip through a Jetsons / Joyce future wonderland.
The Big Orange Splot
Daniel Manus Pinkwater
ISBN: 0833506889
Mr Plumbean's identical row house got defaced by a bucket of orange paint dropped by a seagull (nobody knows why) and instead of painting it over, Mr Plumbean gets inspired. Mr Plumbean's neighbors are first incensed, then individually also inspired (by Mr Plumbean's house) and their row of "neat" houses soon becomes anything but. A classic, and a good yarn.
This is Our House
Hyewon Yum
ISBN: 9780374374877
A sweet generational story of a house told in snapshots on one page and related larger messier "life" representations on the facing pages. All in beautiful pastel watercolors with faint fuzzy edges. Not the most exciting, but a sweet book to end on.
Bonus Round:
This House, Once
Deborah Freedman
ISBN: 9781481442848
A beautiful meditative and calming journey through an old northern house, where doors remember being trees, and the stones of doorsteps and slate roof tiles remember being solid rocks in the ground. Sweet and calming and juuuust a bit too slow and meditative for a newly-young crowd of our remaining younger siblings and babies after all the 4s have gone into kindergarden or all-day care. So pretty tho. Sent it home with one of our families to an older sibling who is sad to be growing up and missing storytime.
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Grumpy Animals
Now that summer's over, our "trainee" has graduated to full storyteller status, and this is a delightful set of books this time around.
The Grumpy Pets
Kristine A. Lombardi
ISBN: 9781419718885
Billy is a grumpy kid, and he doesn't have anything in common with the desperately sweet and happy pets in the front of the pet store. But when he wanders into the back there's a new world of grumpy antisocial pets; just perfect for his personality! A cutely moody story illustrating that there's usually someone for everyone if you look long enough. Love this one.
Lazy Daisy, Cranky Frankie
Mary Ellen Jordan and Andrew Weldon
ISBN: 9780807544006
This farm is full of animals who really are just totally out of sorts, or simply uninterested in their normal farmyard functions. A bit surreal, but totally silly, and the animals' faces are delightful.
Grumpy Bird
Jeremy Tankard
ISBN: 9780439851473
Grumpy Bird is in a mood, and he's stalking through the forest being peevish, but his friends are there to help out, as annoying as that might be; until finally they manage to get through Grumpy Bird's grump and all have a good time. This is one I suggested, and while I'm delighted with the match-up choices, I am a bit sad to not get to read it myself.
The Grumpy Pets
Kristine A. Lombardi
ISBN: 9781419718885
Billy is a grumpy kid, and he doesn't have anything in common with the desperately sweet and happy pets in the front of the pet store. But when he wanders into the back there's a new world of grumpy antisocial pets; just perfect for his personality! A cutely moody story illustrating that there's usually someone for everyone if you look long enough. Love this one.
Lazy Daisy, Cranky Frankie
Mary Ellen Jordan and Andrew Weldon
ISBN: 9780807544006
This farm is full of animals who really are just totally out of sorts, or simply uninterested in their normal farmyard functions. A bit surreal, but totally silly, and the animals' faces are delightful.
Grumpy Bird
Jeremy Tankard
ISBN: 9780439851473
Grumpy Bird is in a mood, and he's stalking through the forest being peevish, but his friends are there to help out, as annoying as that might be; until finally they manage to get through Grumpy Bird's grump and all have a good time. This is one I suggested, and while I'm delighted with the match-up choices, I am a bit sad to not get to read it myself.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Back to Nature
Got some very nice naturalist/nature books newly in to the library and wanted to show them off for our parents: all of them got checked out afterwards by storytimers!
Out of School and Into Nature: the Anna Comstock Story
Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Jessica Lanan
ISBN: 9781585369867
Biography of famous early American naturalist and scientist Anna Comstock, and her crusade to learn more about the natural world, and to share it with students in the most inspiring and personal ways possible. A BIT pedantic at times, but overall very nicely presented. The illustrations and text effects are very attractively done.
Fantastic Flowers
Susan Stockdale
ISBN: 9781561459520
Such a clever and cute nonfiction book! Very light on the text, but takes longer to read because the kids were really interested and invested in the concepts. Stockdale takes a whole lot of plants with evocative names, and illustrates them in a way that really foregrounds the name-sake. The pictures are beautiful and vibrant and enormous, and there are actual photographs of the flowers at the end of the book. Really well done.
Lola Plants a Garden
Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw
ISBN: 9781580896948
I love Lola and her little brother, and the stories Anna tells about them are just perfect. This time Lola is inspired by the Mary Mary Quite Contrary nursery rhyme, and uses that as the basis for her own flower garden that she designs and implements step by step with Mommy and Daddy (using resource books from the library, of course!) and then celebrates with friends and garden veggies.
Out of School and Into Nature: the Anna Comstock Story
Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Jessica Lanan
ISBN: 9781585369867
Biography of famous early American naturalist and scientist Anna Comstock, and her crusade to learn more about the natural world, and to share it with students in the most inspiring and personal ways possible. A BIT pedantic at times, but overall very nicely presented. The illustrations and text effects are very attractively done.
Fantastic Flowers
Susan Stockdale
ISBN: 9781561459520
Such a clever and cute nonfiction book! Very light on the text, but takes longer to read because the kids were really interested and invested in the concepts. Stockdale takes a whole lot of plants with evocative names, and illustrates them in a way that really foregrounds the name-sake. The pictures are beautiful and vibrant and enormous, and there are actual photographs of the flowers at the end of the book. Really well done.
Lola Plants a Garden
Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw
ISBN: 9781580896948
I love Lola and her little brother, and the stories Anna tells about them are just perfect. This time Lola is inspired by the Mary Mary Quite Contrary nursery rhyme, and uses that as the basis for her own flower garden that she designs and implements step by step with Mommy and Daddy (using resource books from the library, of course!) and then celebrates with friends and garden veggies.
Monday, August 14, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Summer Daze
It's that lovely time between Summer Reading and fall, so it's almost like a second summer, where we aren't restricted to the summer reading theme. So that means lots of fun summery books.
Maisy Goes on Vacation
Lucy Cousins
ISBN: 9780763647520
Maisy the mouse goes on vacation to the beach, with the anticipation, packing, travel (a train ride in this case), and hotel stay all preceding a trip to the beach with friends.
Summer Days and Nights
Wong Herbert Yee
ISBN: 9780805090789
A tiny book that packs a great big nostalgic punch. Fuzzy grainy paintings appear summer-hazy as we follow a girl through a green and gold summer day into a warm cozy summer night of fireflies and late bedtimes. Very sweet and really attractive.
And Then Comes Summer
Tom Brenner, illustrated by Jaime Kim
ISBN: 9780763660710
This book is a straight-up When This Happens / Then This Happens, all on a summery theme. Very anticipatory, and lots of fun, as we follow through a set of summer activities (stereotypical or iconic, depending on how much you like summer rituals). We get fishing, parades, ice-cream trucks and camping, and more. Cute and vivacious.
Maisy Goes on Vacation
Lucy Cousins
ISBN: 9780763647520
Maisy the mouse goes on vacation to the beach, with the anticipation, packing, travel (a train ride in this case), and hotel stay all preceding a trip to the beach with friends.
Summer Days and Nights
Wong Herbert Yee
ISBN: 9780805090789
A tiny book that packs a great big nostalgic punch. Fuzzy grainy paintings appear summer-hazy as we follow a girl through a green and gold summer day into a warm cozy summer night of fireflies and late bedtimes. Very sweet and really attractive.
And Then Comes Summer
Tom Brenner, illustrated by Jaime Kim
ISBN: 9780763660710
This book is a straight-up When This Happens / Then This Happens, all on a summery theme. Very anticipatory, and lots of fun, as we follow through a set of summer activities (stereotypical or iconic, depending on how much you like summer rituals). We get fishing, parades, ice-cream trucks and camping, and more. Cute and vivacious.
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Our place in the cosmos
Ok fine, it's not the snappiest of themes, but I wanted to end our exploration of space with a reminder that we have a place in the universe, and that the world (and their own lives) are a part of the vastness of space. Yes, I'm a huge softy and the kids won't even notice or care, but I think it's important.
Light up the Night
Jean Reidy, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
ISBN: 9781423120247
A black-haired boy goes to bed and he and his shape-shifting quilt take a tour of the universe from stars down to his own hometown and bedroom, in a "house that Jack built" sort of cumulative tale of shrinking down reference frames. The very end opens back out into space and slows the tempo way back down. Seems short and snappy til you read it, then it's pretty long and repetitive, but it's still a solid read for this age-group.
The Night Sky
Robin Nelson (photographs and diagrams by various contributors and sources)
ISBN: 9780761345770
There needs to be a book in this series about every nonfiction topic under the sun. It's short, sweet, clear, the pictures and diagrams are phenomenal, and basically it's just perfect. We learn about the moon and how it cycles through phases.
Our Solar System (board-book)
Peter and Connie Roop
ISBN: 9781454914181
Also perfect, but in board-book/lift-the-flap format! A "shaped" board-book where each consecutive spread is a slightly larger cross-section, and slightly further out from the center, starting with a sun-shaped circle to begin with, and ending with Neptune at the furthest reaches (sorry Pluto) and a shout-out to the updated memory catchphrase "My Very Excellent Mother..." Really beautiful, an excellent concept, executed beautifully.
And that does it for summer reading and for space this year (until I decide to do one on my own, just because I like space). Tune in next week to see the third set of self-selected books by our trainee storytimer!
Light up the Night
Jean Reidy, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
ISBN: 9781423120247
A black-haired boy goes to bed and he and his shape-shifting quilt take a tour of the universe from stars down to his own hometown and bedroom, in a "house that Jack built" sort of cumulative tale of shrinking down reference frames. The very end opens back out into space and slows the tempo way back down. Seems short and snappy til you read it, then it's pretty long and repetitive, but it's still a solid read for this age-group.
The Night Sky
Robin Nelson (photographs and diagrams by various contributors and sources)
ISBN: 9780761345770
There needs to be a book in this series about every nonfiction topic under the sun. It's short, sweet, clear, the pictures and diagrams are phenomenal, and basically it's just perfect. We learn about the moon and how it cycles through phases.
Our Solar System (board-book)
Peter and Connie Roop
ISBN: 9781454914181
Also perfect, but in board-book/lift-the-flap format! A "shaped" board-book where each consecutive spread is a slightly larger cross-section, and slightly further out from the center, starting with a sun-shaped circle to begin with, and ending with Neptune at the furthest reaches (sorry Pluto) and a shout-out to the updated memory catchphrase "My Very Excellent Mother..." Really beautiful, an excellent concept, executed beautifully.
And that does it for summer reading and for space this year (until I decide to do one on my own, just because I like space). Tune in next week to see the third set of self-selected books by our trainee storytimer!
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Peaceful Moon
A trio of peaceful, gentle, moon-centered stories. Another that would have gone delightfully with this theme is Floyd Cooper's beautiful sepia-toned Max and the Tag-Along Moon, but it was just a smidge too long, and I wanted to try and include a nonfiction title as often as I could with these themed storytimes.
Footprints on the Moon
Mark Haddon, illustrated by Christian Birmingham
ISBN: 9780763644406
The author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time presents a lyrical (and hella long, but we skipped pages like mad) exploration of watching the original moon landing, and being comforted by knowing that regardless of the changes here on earth, the footprints on the moon will endure for centuries.
Moon Plane
Peter McCarty
ISBN: 0805079432
A small boy watches a plane fly at night and spins a fantasy about flying up to the moon.
Kitten's First Full Moon
Kevin Henkes
ISBN: 9780060588281
Kitten wanders around in a luminous night and has kitten-sized adventures chasing after the "little bowl of milk" that is the full moon, having a few accidents, but ending safely at home.
Footprints on the Moon
Mark Haddon, illustrated by Christian Birmingham
ISBN: 9780763644406
The author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time presents a lyrical (and hella long, but we skipped pages like mad) exploration of watching the original moon landing, and being comforted by knowing that regardless of the changes here on earth, the footprints on the moon will endure for centuries.
Moon Plane
Peter McCarty
ISBN: 0805079432
A small boy watches a plane fly at night and spins a fantasy about flying up to the moon.
Kitten's First Full Moon
Kevin Henkes
ISBN: 9780060588281
Kitten wanders around in a luminous night and has kitten-sized adventures chasing after the "little bowl of milk" that is the full moon, having a few accidents, but ending safely at home.
Monday, July 24, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Fairy Tales - IN SPACE!
Yeah I know, super original. They're so cute I couldn't resist.
The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot
Margaret McNamara, illustrated by Mark Fearing
ISBN: 9780375866890
The three little pigs are a bit wider-ranging in this planet-hopping version that replaces the big bad wolf with a clanky cranky robot. Bork, Gork, and Nklxwycz (good luck with that one, I went with Nickle-zee-wits) each build their houses, and in turn the robot smashes them all to bits, until the last house defeats it and becomes home sweet home. Cool visuals and planetary references actually attempt to be factual, although that tidbit is most probably lost on the young audiences I have.
Best Frints in the Whole Universe
Antoinette Portis
ISBN: 9781626721364
Best frints on planet Boborp have sharp teef and really short tempers, so friendship is a perilous thing, especially when one frint shmackles the other frint's brand new spossip. (Trust me, by the time you get to that point, you'll get it with no trouble.) But a bit of taypo and some twire, and maybe a little bit of friendship (and a game of eye-ball) and things are as good as new (except for the poor spossip). Some very knowing winks towards the adults in this one.
Interstellar Cinderella
Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Meg Hunt
ISBN: 9781452125329
Down and dirty Cinderella is a spaceship mechanic in this version (strong shades of Kaylee Frye from Firefly here) and her family dumps her right before the big royal spaceship parade. A bit of help from a robot rat and a fairy god-robot (and her own know-how) has Cinderella fixing the Prince's ship in no time, and then he has to search for the girl of his dreams (he makes the evil step-sisters try to fix a broken ship!) and the whole fun romp ends with a lovely tongue-in-cheek commentary:
She landed right beside the Prince. / "That wrench is mine!" she cried.
She quickly fixed the ailing ship. / The prince said, "Be my bride!"
She thought this over carefully. / Her family watched in panic.
"I'm far too young for marriage / but I'll be your chief mechanic!"
The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot
Margaret McNamara, illustrated by Mark Fearing
ISBN: 9780375866890
The three little pigs are a bit wider-ranging in this planet-hopping version that replaces the big bad wolf with a clanky cranky robot. Bork, Gork, and Nklxwycz (good luck with that one, I went with Nickle-zee-wits) each build their houses, and in turn the robot smashes them all to bits, until the last house defeats it and becomes home sweet home. Cool visuals and planetary references actually attempt to be factual, although that tidbit is most probably lost on the young audiences I have.
Best Frints in the Whole Universe
Antoinette Portis
ISBN: 9781626721364
Best frints on planet Boborp have sharp teef and really short tempers, so friendship is a perilous thing, especially when one frint shmackles the other frint's brand new spossip. (Trust me, by the time you get to that point, you'll get it with no trouble.) But a bit of taypo and some twire, and maybe a little bit of friendship (and a game of eye-ball) and things are as good as new (except for the poor spossip). Some very knowing winks towards the adults in this one.
Interstellar Cinderella
Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Meg Hunt
ISBN: 9781452125329
Down and dirty Cinderella is a spaceship mechanic in this version (strong shades of Kaylee Frye from Firefly here) and her family dumps her right before the big royal spaceship parade. A bit of help from a robot rat and a fairy god-robot (and her own know-how) has Cinderella fixing the Prince's ship in no time, and then he has to search for the girl of his dreams (he makes the evil step-sisters try to fix a broken ship!) and the whole fun romp ends with a lovely tongue-in-cheek commentary:
She landed right beside the Prince. / "That wrench is mine!" she cried.
She quickly fixed the ailing ship. / The prince said, "Be my bride!"
She thought this over carefully. / Her family watched in panic.
"I'm far too young for marriage / but I'll be your chief mechanic!"
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