You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November 2011.
We haven’t been able to write as many picture book posts as we had hoped during the official month celebrating the picture book, but we plan to keep on keeping on when it comes to talking about our favorite picture books!
But on the last day and at the 11th hour of the official celebration, here are a few of the favorites that come to mind from the many hours spent reading to LitKid back in her earliest days (board books included) … this is all from memory (and a 47-year-old’s nearly-midnight memory at that), so it is by no means complete:
Ish
The Dot
Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball
Skippyjon Jones
Guess How Much I Love You
Time for Bed
Ruby in Her Own Time
Junk Day on Juniper Street (a nostalgia pick; one of mine from long ago)
Harry the Dirty Dog (again… one from my childhood, too)
Diary of a Spider (… and a Fly … and a Worm)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Tumble Bumble
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Oh My Gosh, Mrs. McNosh (all Mrs. McNosh books, and the Farmer Brown ones as well)
The Noisy Way to Bed
Pajama Time
Hey! Wake Up!
Olivia
Albert the Bear
Tomorrow, I will look at our bookshelves and realize how many I left off the list.
But that just leaves more favorites to write about another time.
~AKid@Heart (the mom reviewer)
Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie
By Jordan Sonnenblick
Jordan Sonnenblick brings us the story of 13-year-old Steven Alper and his regular 13-year-old glasses-wearing geek insecurities in Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. On top of his insecurities, Steven has to experience his little brother’s battle of ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). As you know, that can be very stressful and saddening. So Steven continues his life never listening to any class teachers except for Mr. Watras, the band teacher. Finally he gets busted and is required to do a make-up packet, but alongside all of that, he has the “Dream.”
He & his brother are playing catch…every time the ball hits Jeffrey, a little part of him bruises & turns black. Eventually, Steven wakes up drenched in sweat & screaming his lungs out. The only way he can really escape is playing and practicing the drums in preparation for the All-City Jazz Band Concert, which later turns out to benefit his family because Jeffrey’s hospital bill is like over 10,000 dollars per night. Eventually they can’t afford it, but with the help of the two girl masterminds, Renee Albert & Anette Watson, things begin to look up — but you’ll have to read it yourself to find out what happens!
~ Litkid, 10-year-old reviewer
How Fletcher Was Hatched
By Wende Devlin
Illustrated by Harry Devlin
Another of my very favorite childhood picture books, this is the tale of Fletcher, a hound dog whose spirits droop when he sees that his owner, a little girl by the name of Alexandra, is completely charmed by the fuzzy yellow baby chicks who have just hatched.
Feeling big and awkward compared to the tiny chicks, Fletcher despairs that Alexandra will never love him the same way again. He confides in his friends Otter and Beaver.
“Could you peep-peep a little?” asked Beaver.
“If you could only hatch once in awhile,” said Otter.
“That’s it! cried Beaver, slapping his tail. “We’ll have you hatch. It will be a new beginning!”
So Beaver and Otter go to work, construct an egg frame around the big hound with reeds and river grasses and plastering it with pink clay. When their work is done, Fletcher is encased in a gargantuan pink egg, ready to win over Alexandra.
I won’t spoil the rest of the story except to say that it is a sweet tale about being happy with yourself just as you are, whether you are a long-legged, big-eared, no-longer-a-puppy hound dog or (for the time being, anyway) a tiny and irresistible fluffball of a baby chick.
(This was a good lesson for me when I was a little girl, and it still resonates at 46!)
~ AKid@Heart
The Spider & the Fly
By Mary Howitt
Illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi
The Spider & the Fly has a scary thing to it. When a lone fly ventures past the spider’s den, she is invited to come in. Will she come out because many of the Spider’s guests have been known to end up in his…his….mouth? Will the poor, innocent and out-of town fly survive? Or be banished? You decide. Tony Diterlizzi brings an awesome twist to the tale originally by Mary Howitt … two ingeniouses who both get credit for this spooky tale.
~ LitKid (our 10-year-old expert reviewer)
Postscript from AKid@Heart: This book is delightfully sinister … spookily, quirkily beautiful … a work of art. It’s one of the picture books we display as art around our house, especially around Halloween. If you’ve never seen it, hie thee to a bookstore right away and look carefully at every page.
A Special Day for Mommy
By Dan Andreasen
A Special Day for Mommy is about moms & Mother’s Day. Little Pig tries everything to make it a great Mother’s Day for Mommy Pig. It all turns out great except that little pig, well … you’ll have to read it and find out! Little Pig is an example of how everyone should have respect for their moms. This is a good book for anyone of any age, no matter how old!!!
~ LitKid
Hello, book-loving comrades!
This month worldwide, we celebrate Picture Book Month. So on our blog you will see a parade of posts with our old-time favorites: picture books. I have selected a bunch of my favorites and they will follow this post. Ahhh, picture books bring back a lot of childhood memories …
Happy National Picture Book Month!!!
Read more Picture Books!
~LitKid
