Book Review: Friends by Eric Carle

Like a Jane Austen novel, Eric Carle ends his latest picture book with marriage.  Friends not only ends with a wedding, it also has action, adventure, mystery and the numbers 1 through 10.

The scene opens with a sweet depiction of two friends who play, run, dance and share secrets with each other.  Sadly, fate intervenes and one of the friends is moved far away. The little boy who is left behind is lonely and so he resolves to find his missing friend, but first he counts to ten.

Book Review: Mo's Mustache by Ben Clanton

Now that we are in the thick of "Movember" or Mustache Month, I'm seeing staches everywhere: on wrapping paper, logos, jewelry, library users, and even in children's books! Ben Clanton's newest picture book, Mo's Mustache, honors this ragingly popular facial hair trend with a short, sweet story about individualism and acceptance.  Mo is a stylin' monster who gets a beautiful, curly mustache to wear around town.  "Everybody likes Mo's mustache," so all the monsters get mustaches: big ones, small ones, pink ones, squiggly ones, and even mustaches on sale!  Mo is not happy with this at all.  He decides to send back his "nose neighbor" and tries on a scarf, instead.  As you might expect, all the monsters jump on the scarf bandwagon, too, "Even Imp (the invisible monster) has a scarf (also invisible)."

LOOK! Do You See It?

What could be better than a good story for motivating your child to open a book?  Well, for some children, or some moments, the perfect book is one that doesn't offer much story at all.  I'm talking about the highly interactive books that allow the two of you-(or better yet, a whole group of you), to become involved in a search for things.  Books like Walter Wick's popular I Spy or Joan Steiner's creative Look Alike books are well known.  Here are a few other worthy titles to discover and enjoy together:

• I Spy on the Farm by Edward Gibbs turns the book into a fun game by coupling a spy hole cut-out and a verbal clue to entice your audience to guess the animal that's hidden on the next page.  The large, spare type and big, colorful pictures make this book suitable for very young children as well as older ones. 
• Not All Animals are Blue by Beatrice Boutignon, invites you to spot the differences between animals in a group, by color, movement, attitude, and other criteria.  It's a fun exercise in "same" vs.
  "different", and just might result in a rich conversation with the child or children you're reading to.
• I Spy Colors in Art by Lucy Micklethwait, one of several similar books-(see also I Spy Shapes in Art, I Spy an Alphabet in Art, and I Spy Two Eyes: Numbers in Art) makes a wonderful introduction to fine art.  As your child examines a particular masterpiece to locate something interesting, he's also taking the time to peruse the work as a whole, developing a healthy habit for enjoying art even before his first trip to a museum.

These books, and others like them, are a great way to develop your child's ability to focus and pay attention to detail, but mostly they're a wonderful way to spend time together between the covers of a book.  Enjoy!

-Miss Meg

Kitchen Dance

CRASH! "Hush!" SMASH! "Shush!" CLANG! Perhaps, as a kid, you were lucky enough to have been
woken up by your folks gearing up for a dish towel-snapping cha-cha.

Maurie Manning catches the magic of a midnight merengue in Kitchen Dance. The parents try to be quiet, but it's so hard to wash dishes while singing love songs into a wooden spoon. Their two sleepy children tiptoe down the stairs. They crane their necks around the kitchen door for a better look and catch Dad bending Mom backward over his arm. Cheek to cheek, their parents tango the tamales to the fridge. A samba. A rumba. And then Dad flings open the door.

Busted! Mom and Dad each lift a child with open arms. Soon everyone is singing into wooden spoons and twirling in a flash of pajamas and aprons. Step by step the dance slows and the children are danced back up the stairs. After a shower of goodnight kisses, eyes flutter shut to the soft words of a love song trailing off into the night...

This is one of those tender books that successfully avoids being either too sweet or maudlin. Every child should have the experience of being whisked off to bed on the tails of a kitchen dance--and a good story.

MightyM

Book Review: Seasons by Marie Greenwood

This beautiful boardbook explains in simple terms with emphasized vocabulary, the details of what happens when the seasons and weather change.  With bright colors, it first describes the seasons, and then continues through each, describing events, such as new animals being born and flowers growing, as well as possible activities for that season.

Seasons by Marie Greenwood is a wonderful blend of science facts and new vocabulary for those parents who want something more for their children.  Learning is fun for the very young!

Enjoy this book available at your public library.

Guest Post by Sheila

Book Review: Some Monsters are Different

     David Milgrim dedicates his picture book Some Monsters are Different  to  "...everyone who, like myself, has ever felt a little different."  Although the concept behind this book isn't new, the message is a good one that bears repeating:  Some people/monsters may be different, but they're also "... completely, perfectly wonderful ...just the way they are!"

Book Review: Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin

Pick up the phone and order in some pizza, because after you read Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin, you'll want to have your very own secret pizza party!  Rubin tells the sad tale of Raccoon, who only wants pizza in life.  Just pizza.  He's a simple creature; he doesn't ask for much.  Yet, unkind humans are constantly swatting him away with their prickly yellow brooms.  Happily, Raccoon gets a brilliant idea--he's going to host a pizza party of his own...in secret.  Everyone knows that secret things are special and regular things are boring (see page 9-12 for a detailed diagram of why this is true).