Scurvy Scoundrels! Aaarrrgh!

Last Wednesday’s storytime was an interesting one. We read two books about pirates, which were both cute and funny.

First up we read Captain Buckleboots on the Naughty Step by Mark Sperring. It was a great story to teach children how to admit it when they’ve done something wrong, and most importantly how to say they are sorry. It also impressed upon them that even when they get in trouble they are still loved. The story is about a little boy who gets sent to the naughty step, and who gets joined there by an unlikely cast of characters including Captain Buckleboots the pirate, a knight, an astronaut, and a monster. As we learn what each of them have done to land themselves on the naughty step we also get to see how each of them find their own unique way of apologizing. As far as moralistic stories go I was impressed by this one, and the children and their parents enjoyed it as well. We especially like the charming and memorable illustrations that Tom McLaughlin created for the story. I’m definitely going to check into more of his work. All in all this book garnered 4 bookies!

Next we read another pirate story, Small Saul by Ashley Spires. Small Saul is definitely the little black sheep, or red-headed step-child, of the pirating world. He likes things clean and orderly, likes to sing, bake, and decorate. Because he is so very different from all of the other pirates Saul has a hard time finding his place on board. Will his new crew ever accept him for who he is? Or is Saul just not destined to be a pirate after all? Well you can find out if you open the pages of this endearing little book, which is filled with cool and fun illustrations cover to cover. I highly recommend this as just a general good storybook, one sure to elicit laughter from both adults and children alike. 4 bookies!

*Bonus*

If you are looking for something piratical to read for an older crowd then check out these and see what you think:

The Bloody Jack Series by L.A. Meyer, I’ve heard really great things about these and I really hope I draw Bloody Jack out of The Hat sometime in the near future.

Terra Vonnel and The Skulls of Aries by D.C. Akers, after stumbling upon these recently I added them to The Hat and am simply salivating in anticipation of drawing them.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, come one guys, it’s the Godfather of pirate books. Everyone should read it. Everyone. Yes you too.

and finally

First published in 1905, this is the 1915 cover.

Doctor Syn by Russell Thorndike, these were first recommended to me by some of my British friends and they are freaking awesome. They are also out of print, so if you are lucky enough to find copies snatch them up and share them with your friends. You will thank me. I promise.

I see London, I see France…

I see animals in underpants! You can see animals in underpants too, if you pick up a copy of The Underpants Zoo!

Ok ok, enough of my silly rhyming. On to the reviewing.

At The Underpants Zoo by Brian Sendelbach all of the animals wear underpants! Reading the book we take a tour through this silly zoo, and get to see exactly what kind of underpants a zebra, crocodile, or elephant might wear. Written in rhyme, which we all know I love, this was a cute funny book that any child is sure to love. The illustrations were bright and fun and they really popped, perfect for this story and a great way to get young children exited about wearing big girl or big boy underpants. I daresay the children thought it was a lot funnier than most adults would, but it was met with gales of laughter and a lot of excitement. There’s not much more I can say about this title, it wasn’t one of my personal favorites but there again I’m not 5 anymore. The kids absolutely loved it though, so you should definitely listen more to what they thought. 😛

This next book wasn’t a storytime book, yet. The other book we did at storytime with The Underpants Zoo was Giraffes Can’t Dance which I reviewed here earlier. But to follow the theme of underpants related stories, I’ll review for you guys Dinosaurs Love Underpants by Claire Freedman. Another hilarious rhyming homage to the glory of underpants.

In Dinosaurs Love Underpants we learn the real reason why dinosaurs went extinct, they became far too obsessed with wearing underpants. T. Rex starts the trend when, instead of eating the cave men, he decides to take their underpants instead. Once again there isn’t a lot of plot to the story, possibly an underpants story theme, but what it lacks in plot it surely makes up for with fabulous illustrations and great humor. I particularly love the cover illustration, which just cracks me up and fills me with a sense of childhood adventure and fun.

*Bonus Review*

What is it about underpants that inspires so much childlike humor and infinite silliness? What is it about them that gives even grown-ups the giggle fits? It’s an age old question to which we may never have an answer. What I do know is that there is a whole series of chapter books devoted to underwear humor. Of course I am talking about The Captain Underpants Series by Dav Pilkey.

In The Adventures of Captain Underpants, Harold and George are two fourth grade pranksters who take it a little further than usual by hypnotizing their principal into believing he is an underpants wearing super-hero. Of course they think it’s hilarious until he escapes and starts chasing down bad guys wearing nothing but underwear and a cape. Which is actually more hilarious. The series follows the antics of these boys and Captain Underpants, their erstwhile principal. While it will definitely not be to everyone’s taste (mine for example) the books are indeed funny and very appealing to children of a certain age and taste. I wasn’t of an age or taste, probably ever, to appreciate them. In fact I really really disliked them. BUT I can see the appeal to kids.

If it gets them to read, I’m all for it. Unfortunately this is one of the books that often suffers censorship from parents because of the “dumb”, “stupid”, or “gross” humor and because it does nothing to broaden a child’s mind. That said, let me ask does Nora Roberts broaden yours? If your kid wants to read, no matter what it is, please encourage it. As Pilkey states on his site, this may be too silly for grown-ups and you should probably get a child’s permission before reading.

Sweet tooth stories…

I know I’m late on last week’s storytime reviews, I beg forgiveness dear readers!

Ok first up is The Ice Cream King by Steve Metzger.

Teddy and his mother visit an ice cream shop where Teddy is told he can have any kind of ice cream he wants, and gets a paper crown put on his head. As the Ice Cream King he rules a land filled with every kind of ice cream, and topping, imaginable. There’s an ice cream ocean, vanilla fudge volcano, whipped cream lanes, and an ice cream moon!

This is a really cute rhyming story about a boy’s vast imagination, with a gentle moral about sharing. The illustrations were simply scrumptious and had myself, the children, and the parents ready for a nice big helping of something cold and creamy! It’s a great story for summertime and we all enjoyed it.

 

 

The next story we read that day was Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake by Michael Kaplan.

Firstly, I thought this book was hysterical. Betty Bunny doesn’t like to try new things. When her mother asks her one night if she would like a slice of chocolate cake for desert Betty Bunny promptly answers no, she hates chocolate cake. “What’s chocolate cake?” she asks. When she finally tries it she declares that she loves chocolate cake, she may even marry it one day. She can’t get it out of her mind, she thinks of nothing else. But she will have to learn a hard lesson about being patient and waiting for the things she wants.

Honestly, the book was really funny, especially for anyone that spends a lot of time with children. The author very obviously got this from something he’s seen and experienced with real kids. Betty’s whole attitude was just so realistic and amusing, any parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent, friend, etc would agree after reading this book. Oh, and the kids liked it too. They thought Betty and her antics were very funny. I hope we see more books about this character, and definitely more books by this author. The illustrations were fun and beautiful, a good balance of minimalistic and cool crazy clutter. The story was also well-balanced with humor and a light moral.

 

 

 

As our craft that day I drew a template of an ice cream cone and ran off copies. I then let the kids color their cones, gave them glue and a rainbow assortment of tissue paper to make “ice cream” and glue above their cone. It was a great activity and the kids had fun, we topped it off with fuzzy red pom pom balls, the “cherry” on top of a great storytime. 🙂

*Bonus Review*

Since the theme of this post is sweet stories I’m throwing in a review of The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. Set in a small North Carolina town this novel initially piqued my interest because of the lovely cover art. Allen tells the story of Josey Cirrini, a young woman very much unhappy with her life but not willing to rock the boat enough to change it. Josey is plump, quiet, and can never live up to her high society mother’s expectations. She has two things hidden in her closet that make life bearable, sweets and trashy romance novels. And then one day there is a third something in her closet, something that is definitely not supposed to be there. Della Lee Baker, local waitress and fairy-godmother. Of course she does what every good fairy god-mother should, she shakes Josey’s world. Della pushes Josey out of her unhappy, but comfortable existence and out into the world where Josey finds that there are friends to be made, and maybe even a little love to fall in.

This book has a very fairytale feel to it, with just enough real world and just enough unexplainable magic to make it a divine treat for the senses. The power of family, food, friends, secrets, passions, love, and the color red are just a few of the things explored in this story. Allen has written a charming, warm, and enchanting novel brimming with whimsy and tantalizing possibilities. As the first book I’ve read from this author it totally cemented my love for her work. If you need something warm and comfortable to relax with after work, on a cold winter day, or late at night in your secret haven look no further. Your waistline might not thank you, but your heart will.

Terrible Pet Stories!

On Wednesday at Storytime we read two stories about very different kinds of terrible pets.

First we read Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown

You all might remember an earlier post I wrote about another Peter Brown book in which I expressed my affection for him. After reading this most recent Brown book at Storytime, affection has turned into undying love. Children Make Terrible Pets is simply adorable. Lucy, a cute little bear in a pink tutu, finds a little boy in the woods one day. She takes him home and names him Squeaker after the only noise he makes and then begs her mother to let her keep him. Which her mother eventually does (even though everyone knows that children make terrible pets), on one condition. Squeaker is Lucy’s responsibility. She has to take care of him and make sure he has everything he needs. This works out for a while and the bear and the boy have a lot of fun together, until Squeaker starts making messes and ripping up the furniture!

Brown says he got the inspiration for the story from something his mother used to say to him when he was young and would drag in wild animals asking to keep them as pets. She would ask him how he would like it if a wild animal took him home and kept him as a pet. This book has a great message for kids about the responsibilities involved in having any pet, and also about keeping the wild in wildlife.

My Storytime kids were highly amused, as were their parents and myself. The book totally reminded me of my own childhood antics. I kidnapped countless critters and brought them home to be my pets for an afternoon. The parents seemed to relate to the story as well, although from the other end of the spectrum. Everyone enjoyed it!

Also, did I mention the illustrations? Once again Brown did his own illustrations, and once again they have a quirky charm that is 100% his own and oh so adorable. See for yourself:

5 Bookies!

Then, continuing in the Terrible Pets vein, we read Tumford The Terrible by Nancy Tillman.

Written in rhyme (always popular with children, and, well, me) Tumford The Terrible is the story of a cat named Tumford and the trouble he causes around his house. He doesn’t do it on purpose, but when he makes a mess or breaks something instead of taking responsibility and apologizing he hides. Then one day his owners are going to a fair, and Tumford really wants to go with them. So they agree to take him, but only if he promises not to cause any trouble and to apologize if he does. He promises and off they go. Tumford is on his best behavior, and tries his hardest to stay out of trouble, but trouble just seems to find him wherever he goes. Can he take responsibility and apologize for the trouble he causes? Or will he just hide like he always does?

This is one of my new favorite picture books. It’s a great book for anyone that has a hard time saying they are sorry, and it conveys the message to young ones that no matter what they are always loved. Nancy Tillman has been a favorite of mine for a very long time, with her sweet, whimsical stories and freaking incredible illustrations. And Tumford doesn’t fail to bring whimsy, humor, and fantastic illustrations. One of the reasons I like Tillman as an illustrator so much is because of how real her pictures feel, they kind of suck you in and give you this warm and fuzzy feeling of joy. I wish I had been able to find my favorite picture of Tumford online so that I could share it with you guys but you’ll just have to click on the Nancy Tillman link and watch the Tumford slide show to see it. Or better yet, buy the book! My very favorite scene was so funny. I literally laughed for 10 minutes and all of my co-workers that I shared the picture with found it equally amusing, was of Tumford walking to the fair in his yellow wellies. He is walking on his hind legs and has his front legs out in the air in front of him doing a zombie-walk. I found it so amusing because he looks like a kitty doing the dance to Thriller. And I’m not gonna lie, that picture was the soul reason the book made Storytime. 😀

5 Bookies for Tumford The Terrible!

Ugly Duckling, Reimagined, and a Chinese Tale of Virtue

On Wednesday we had our regular storytime after our fieldtrippers left. Usually I have the same kids and parents come to Wednesday storytimes, my little regulars, without many new faces being present. Not so this past Wednesday! We had 5 new little ones, accompanied by their big ones, which was pretty exciting I must say! I should also tell you, since I don’t believe I have, my Wednesday bunch are on the young side usually. It’s pertinent later, I promise.

So first we read The Ugly Duckling Dinosaur by Doug Kennedy. Set in prehistoric times this book is about a T Rex that hatches in the wrong nest, a nest of duckling, and follows the basic Ugly Duckling storyline. The story has pretty great watercolor illustrations (chosen because that’s what scientists use when illustrating creatures) that were fun and expressive. The kids enjoyed the illustrations, but the story itself went way over their heads. Also I would not recommend reading this story to children unless you have brushed up on your scientific dinosaur name pronunciation skills. Scattered throughout the tale are other dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures, and the occasional scientific name dropped in to keep the unwary storyteller (ahem, me) on their toes. I think it would be a good story for children in the 3rd-4th grade age range, something good to read in the classroom. It’s a fairly refreshing way to tell the Ugly Duckling story, with pretty accurate scientific depictions of the creatures and their habits. There was also an area in the back that had non-fiction information on a lot of different dinosaurs.

So I’ll give this one 4 bookies, it lost a point because I couldn’t actually read/pronounce several of the dinosaur names and come on, it’s supposed to be a children’s book.

Next up we read The Empty Pot by Demi. I love Demi’s work! Her illustrations are soft and beautiful and they take you back in time and make the story seem so real. To me anyway. This story the kids took to a lot better. The Empty Pot is the tale of a little Chinese boy named Ping, who is the best gardener in all of China. The emperor of China prizes his gardens and plants above all else, but one day he realizes that he has no heir. So the emperor devises a contest to see who the next emperor of China will be after he passes away. He gives each of the contestants a seed and sets them the task of growing it. Ping lovingly tends his seed, but day after day there is nothing but an empty pot. When the time comes for the emperor to judge everyone’s efforts and to announce the winner, and thus the new emperor of China, Ping is filled with shame. From all across the land people are flooding in with pots filled with the most lush, most beautiful plants and all Ping has to show is his empty pot. But he goes to the emperor in shame that he has failed, not knowing that he has in fact won because the emperor tricked them all. He had given each of them seeds that had been boiled and therefor could not grow. For his honesty Ping became the next emperor of China. It’s a moral tale that teaches children the value of honesty, but also of doing your very best and not being afraid to fail. Whimsical and charming, we really liked this book!

I give The Empty Pot the full 5 bookies, because it’s beautiful, and has a great moral.

Dancing Giraffes, Hugging Bears, and a Clever Mouse!

Wednesday we not only had our regular storytime but also played host to a field trip from a local elementary school. About 50 children came on the fieldtrip and we read 3 stories. Can I just say what a great bunch they were? They were mostly kindergartners with a few older children, but they were so sweet and quiet and attentive! They laughed at all of the funny parts, and guessed what was going to happen next in the story. They were awesome, I’d love to have that group back!

Now to review the stories we read…

First up was Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae which is a sweet, fun story about a giraffe named Gerald who wants to dance with all of the other animals, but every time he tries he fails. All of the other animals laugh at him and Gerald is very sad and disheartened. That is until one tiny creature believes in him and tells Gerald that he just hasn’t been dancing to the right song, everything has a song and Gerald can dance if it’s to the right music! The book was a bit predictable, but it was very cute and it taught the lesson that everyone is different and does things differently and that that is ok! Also the illustrations were great, very funny and colorful. The children particularly liked a page that showed all of the different animals of the jungle dancing, each couple doing a different sort of dance.

I give this story 5 bookies, for great illustrations, originality, humor, and a soft moral.

Next we read Hugless Douglas by David Melling. Hugless Douglas is the story of a young bear named Douglas who wakes up one morning and decides he wants a hug, and so he goes all over searching for the perfect hug. But no matter how hard he looks he can’t find just the right hug, they are all too big or too tall or too afraid of him. With some help from his friends Douglas finally finds the perfect hug! I love this book, the kids love this book. Basically this is one of those books that you can’t help but love. It’s too funny, I had a hard time stopping myself from laughing long enough to read the next page. We particularly enjoyed a page at the end that had tons of sheep demonstrating all of the different kinds of hugs you can give. The illustrations were very fun, and funny!

5 bookies, excellent story, super humorous, sweet ending, lovable character. It made you want to hug someone!

Last but not least we read The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood. Let me preface by saying that the reason I chose this book was because of it’s staying power. I had a teenage customer come in the store some weeks back asking for this book because he remembered having it read to him as a child and wanted to get a copy of it. If that doesn’t qualify a good book I don’t know what does. Ok, so the story is told as if the reader is inside the tale which gets lots of cool points. The little ones got really into it because it’s kind of a suspenseful tale. The little mouse finds a delicious looking red, ripe strawberry and decides to pick it. But everyone knows that if you pick a red, ripe strawberry the big, hungry bear will come find it, no matter where it is, and take it from you and eat it. So the little mouse tries to hide it, but no the bear can sniff it out. The little mouse tries to guard it, but the bear can get through anything. Then the little mouse tries to disguise it but the bear can see through even the best disguises. Oh no! Whatever is the little mouse to do? This book had wonderful, colorful and fun illustrations. And it kept you wondering what the little mouse was going to do up until the very end.

This one also gets the coveted 5 bookies review! It was original, told from an interesting perspective, was cute and funny, and had a charming ending.

Next post, the books from Wednesday’s actual storytime! Stay tuned.

Apologies!*

I haven’t been online much for the past week or so. Sorry guys, I was on vacation which means I was outside or dashing from place to place, or something. I haven’t even been reading! Eekgads! I’ll be getting back to it soon though, no worries. Just wanted to let you all know where I’ve been.

BTW expect to see a whole lot more children’s picture book reviews in the future, I just received a promotion and now I’m in charge of the children’s department at the bookstore! Yay! Soooo much fun to be had!

Do any of you have particular picture books that are favorites? I’m looking for ideas for storytime, bonus points if you know of fun activities to go with the books!

*I apologize for the previous misspelling! Thanks GC!

Storytime Book: The Curious Garden, Plus Bonus Review!

The Curious Garden

Today at storytime we read the book The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. We were actually supposed to be reading The Crows of Pearblossom by Aldous Huxley but all of the copies had been returned to the publisher. I’ll get to that one later, right now THE CURIOUS GARDEN!

So, synopsis: The book is about a young boy named Liam, who one day goes wandering through his very industrial city. A city without trees, or flowers, or any sorts of growing things. As Liam is exploring he comes across some railroad tracks that have long been abandoned and notices a small patch of wild flowers growing there. The wild flowers are dying, and in obvious need of some TLC so Liam comes back the next day and tends to them. He comes back everyday after that and through his careful attention and ministrations his little garden begins to grow healthier and larger. Very soon his garden has gotten a mind of its own. Once again, no spoilers for the end! Read it and see what happens.

Review: One of the little girls that comes to story time every Wednesday has recently started growing some little potted plants. She was so into the book, she asked me “Could my garden do that?”. I’m going to go out on a limb and say she liked it. There was only one other child with us today, she was only about 1 1/2 so I wasn’t expecting too much, and she did spend most of the story running around. But whenever she stopped and I said “Hey look at this picture, isn’t that cool?” She grinned at the book and danced for a second. Did I mention my storytime kids are adorable? All in all I think both girls liked it. I also liked it, it might even make it onto my favorite picture books list.

Peter Brown wrote a fun, cute, and kind of believable story about the impact that one person, even a little boy, can make on the world. It says on his page that the book was actually inspired by a real abandoned railway in NYC. I really liked the story he told, I liked Liam as a character, and I also liked the moral to the story. One person can make a difference.

The illustrations (which I initially thought were done on a computer) were these really neat paintings, that were detailed and fun. I liked his cartoonish style a lot and I think it’s a style a lot of children would identify with. This was a perfect Earth Day type book. I actually liked his style so much that I’m planning on (at some point) ordering his other books. His most recent release, Children Make Terrible Pets<, looks really cute! All in all I think this is a great book for children, an enjoyable one for adults, and would make a perfect gift for any gardening or eco-enthusiasts you know!

5 bookies!

BONUS: The Crows of Pearblossom by Aldous Huxley *Spoiler Alert*

New release of The Crows of Pearblossom

Older version of The Crows of Pearblossom

Synopsis: Mr. and Mrs. Crow live in a tree in Pearblossom. Mrs. Crow lays egg after egg, but everyday they disappear. The crows discover that there is a nasty old rattlesnake sneaking into their nest and eating their eggs. Mr. Crow decides to ask his wise friend the owl what he should do and the owl comes up with a plan to trick the snake. So one day Mrs. Crow doesn’t lay any eggs, but instead she and Mr. Crow make some fake eggs out of clay and paint them to look like Mrs. Crow’s eggs. When the snake sneaks up and eats what he thinks are the Crow’s eggs, he gets a nasty surprise and dies a very painful death. After the snake dies Mr. and Mrs. Crow string him up and use him as a clothes line, and they have many baby Crows.

Review: I think this is a really good book for older children, and for adults, but I would definitely not recommend it for younger children, I hope you can see why ^. Although it was written for a 5 year old. Actually, I found it rather funny myself. The Crows are just like an old married couple, and spend a lot of their time squabbling. I’m sure any parents, or even just adults in general, reading this would be able to appreciate the humor. On the downside, I’m not sure many children would. Besides that, the ending of the story is a tad bit on the morbid side. Once again, that’s fine for myself, other adults, and older children, but I’m not so sure about younger ones. Also, I liked the lyrical style it was written in which I’m sure people of all ages would appreciate. Sadly it seems like that style of children’s picture book writing is becoming a thing of the past.

As for the illustrations, you will notice two different covers shown above. This book was first published in 1967 with the original illustrations done by Barbara Cooney who was a noted children’s author and illustrator. We’ll first talk about her illustrations. I LOVE Barbara Cooney as an illustrationist. *Um Miss Rumphius anyone?* She did such great pen and ink illustrations, like the ones used in The Crows of Pearblossom. I think, given the story, pen and ink was a perfect medium to use to represent this tale. It was a kind of darkly humorous tale, and her somewhat gothic renderings of the characters was kind of creepily enchanting. Those illustrations coupled with the story and writing style still give me the shivers a bit, just because they are eerie! BTW this version was more of a chapter book. I liked this version of the book best, but that’s not to say that the new one doesn’t have great illustrations.

Sophie Blackall’s illustrations for this story were quite good, although not in a style that is generally to my taste. Her usual style is very much to my taste, but she did something different with this book. Usually the story’s she writes and illustrates (or just illustrates) have a whimsical tale and therefor she provides lovely and whimsical illustrations. In The Crows of Pearblossom, however, her illustration style differs from that of her other works. I read that she said she was trying to brighten up what was a somewhat dark story, and make it more inviting for children. Reinventing it for a new generation as it were. The crows are very odd and kind of disturbing looking, lacking Cooney’s somewhat goth glam and going for a more modern, quirky look. As always with her work, the illustrations are excellent and she has a keen eye for detail that I truly admire. She did a great job of reinventing an old tale and making it exciting and accessible to new audiences with her brightly colored backgrounds and flamboyant style in this book.

All in all, it’s a great book. But like I said earlier, maybe not for the littlest ones in the family. Why do I prefer Cooney’s illustrations? Probably in part because I’ve loved her work since I was a little girl. It’s timeless and classic to me, and evokes wonderful nostalgia. That doesn’t, by any means, mean that I don’t like the new version, because I definitely do. I don’t think you can go wrong with picking up either for a hearty laugh and a good, fun, slightly creepy read!

4 1/2 bookies! (Because the little little ones won’t be enjoying it)