I adore this book for three reasons: (1) It is beautifully illustrated (2) Walter reminds me of my dog (3) Farts are hilarious!
Many may consider fart books puerile; however, there is more to this book than simple canine flatulence. Walter teaches us the value of tolerance and unconditional love. Yes, the same point could be [...]
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“Writing children’s books,” says Jim Aylesworth “is my way of being the teacher beyond the walls of my classroom for children that I may never know.” He demonstrates this in his picture book Little Bitty Mousie, published in 2007. He tells the story of a realistic looking mouse in a polka-dotted purple dress creeping into [...]
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An antique lithograph of Henry “Box” Brown, created by Samuel Rowse in 1850, inspired Kadir Nelson’s paintings for this book. To give the feel of the original lithograph, Mr. Nelson crosshatched pencil lines, and then applied layers of watercolor and oil paint. The illustrations are haunting and powerful.
Henry is born into a life of [...]
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“A year ago
I began to notice
that my sight was slipping away.
I sat at home alone
and felt the darkness settle around me.
But today I walked outside
into the thin gray rain
and made my way to the subway.
I have a journey to go on.
There are some things
I need to find.”
With those words, a blind girl descends into the [...]
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Posted in Children's, Picture books on February 26, 2008 | No Comments »
Can two picture drawings teach rivaling siblings a thing or two about acceptance even with the most challenging of differences?
Find out as you step into author and illustrator Deborah Freedman’s picture book Scribble where lively eye catching illustrations are created with the simplicity of black lines against the backdrop of the two seemingly incompatible colors, [...]
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“WAA! WAA! WAA! I will not go to bed,” the teeny-tiny, itty-bitty, little Prince said
Parents, babysitters, caregivers and grandparents have all experienced the bedtime blues, when that child just can’t be persuaded—-it’s time for bed.
The King and Queen are out to a ball and the Prince refuses to go to bed. The Nanny tries [...]
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Four days about birds, 2 books, 2 movies and I was all set to write about another bird book when I took a bribe (iced coffee is a wonderful bribe for me) to not write about birds to end the week.
So let’s move on and forget about the birds and change the focus to: No [...]
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After a few more pages of questions, all of which Reynie felt confident he had answered correctly, he arrived at the test’s final question: “Are you brave?” Just reading the words quickened Reynie’s heart. Was he brave? Bravery had never been required of him, so how could he tell? Miss Perumal would say he was: she would point out how cheerful he tried to be despite feeling lonely, how patiently he withstood the teasing of other children, and how he was always eager for a challenge. But these things only showed that he was good-natured, polite, and very often bored. Did they really show that he was brave? He didn’t think so. Finally he gave up trying to decide and simply wrote, “I hope so.”
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Having always been fascinated by Viking Mythology I naturally gravitated towards reading award-winning, Australian author, Jackie French. This historical novel was originally published in Australia as They Came in Viking Ships and then in U.K. as The Slave Girl.
Jackie French’s historical novel is based on real events in the Icelandic Sagas written about eight [...]
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Posted in Books, Children's, Fast-paced, Humor, Sense of place, Sports, tagged Books, Children's, Fast-paced, Humor, Sense of place, Sports on January 14, 2008 | 4 Comments »
You’ve got to love a book that features a giant sinkhole gobbling up portable middle-school classrooms.
Tangerine’s got that and so much more. There are also underground fires, mosquitoes, termites and a psychopathic sports hero.
This is the story of the Fisher family, who move to Lake Windsor Downs, Florida in search of “The Erik Fisher [...]
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