Joone by Emily Kate Moon

Meet Joone, an adorable and quirky five year old who lives with her Grandpa and her turtle, Dr. Chin. Joone shows us what a day in her life looks like, and reminds us to enjoy every minute of ours.

I don't think they make books any cuter than this. Joone, written and illustrated by Emily Kate Moon, is an adorable picture book about the what makes life special - the little things. The illustrations were created in gouche and pencil - and fit the sweetness of this story to a tee.

Enjoy!

~ Roller Derby Librarian

Princess Sparkle-Heart Gets a Makeover

 With all the tutu-flouncing wannabe princesses flitting through homes and birthday parties, one wonders if daughters everywhere really did get eaten by Cinderella. Aside from instigating an overdue intervention to stem the "pinkpocalypse," there is an another option out there for beleaguered parents. Enter books like Princess Sparkle-Heart Gets a Makeover.

The eponymous, stuffed, lavender-haired doll does EVERYTHING with her girl, Amelia. Unfortunately, Amelia's dog does not view this friendship with favor. The growling canine stalks after Princess Sparkle-Heart as she attends tea parties, royal weddings, and bubble bath extravaganzas. It's not the dog's fault clumps of stuffing are discovered scattered all over the house (and in between his teeth). After the crying and wailing die down, Mom and Amelia set out to engineer the best makeover ever.

Josh Schneider's Orphan Annie-ish illustrations and timely story transform what could have been "just another princess book" into something every little girl allergic to tulle will treasure for a long, long time.

MightyM

Book Review: Stella's Starliner

If you haven't yet discovered Rosemary Wells, read on.  And if you have, well, read on.  I have been entranced by her many characters over the years including Max, Ruby, Yoko, and Sophie and was recently delighted to discover her newly published picture book, Stella's Starliner.  Stella is a young fox who lives with her mom and dad in a silver house by the side of the road.  Inside the house is tidy and compact with a room for sleeping, a room for being awake, and a kitchen for eating pancakes on Sunday morning. Stella has everything she needs and not a worry in the world. Until the day a band of bullying weasels stop by and say mean things to Stella declaring she is poor and her house is nothing but a tin can.  "Their words stung Stella's heart like the stings of bees."  Being a sensitive fox  she won't tell mama what is bothering her because she doesn't want her to feel the stings too. But wise mama knows and comforts Stella with an imaginative story about the Starliner sailing through the Milky Way and landing on a bright, sunny island.

Book Review: Pom and Pim

      Little Pom and his stuffed toy of indeterminate species, Pim, are off for the day. They are lucky that it is a bright warm day, but as Pom carries Pim along, he trips on a rock and they both fall down.  Bad luck!  Or is it? Because he is on the ground, Pom discovers some money – good luck!  This picture book by Lena and Olaf Landstrom is a clever and preschool-friendly retelling of the old Chinese good luck/bad luck parable. Pom and Pim was originally published in Swedish under the title Pom uch Pim, and it’s kind of fun to think of the blending of different cultures that brought this book together.

Book Review: Musk Ox Counts by Erin Cabatingan

Pick up any picture book and there is a pretty good chance that at least one of the characters will be a monkey, a cat, a dog, a horse, a pig, a cow, or a bird--really, any animal you might name when singing "Old McDonald Had a Farm."  But, what about the poor old musk ox?  How often do you find this arctic mammal, known for its musky odor and thick mane of hair, in a children's story?  The fact of the matter is that musk oxen are severely underrepresented in children's literature.  It's a good thing, then, that author Erin Cabatingan and illustrator Matthew Myers have made it their personal mission to raise awareness about this malodorous creature, so that, maybe one day, a child will think to sing "Old McDonald had a musk ox..."

Do you have a kid who’s crazy about wheels?  Two excellent new picture books:  And the cars go… by William Bee, and The Diggers are Coming by Susan Steggall are sure to please the gear-heads in your home.  Both books contain lots of interesting vocabulary words to describe the different types of vehicles and the sounds they make:  "mixers tumble, twist, and turn…..tippers tremble along and trundle about", and both books contain a mystery which is only revealed at the end of the story.   In the case of The Diggers are Coming, the question all along is "what are they building?"  It’s interesting to note the many kinds of construction vehicles necessary to get the job done and to see the progression of the task from empty lot to finished product.       My favorite book of the two, however, is

  

Extraordinary Jane

Jane Bouffant is, sad to say, ORDINARY. Her mom is famous. Her dad is famous. Her six brothers are famous. Her six sisters are, you guessed it, famous. What is even more problematic is that her, dare we say it again, FAMOUS family performs in the equally FAMOUS Barnaby Beluchi Circus. What's an exceptionally undistinguished dog to do?
Hannah E. Harrison takes advantage of every inch of Extraordinary Jane (including the endpapers) to chronicle Jane's misadventures on the path toward self-discovery. The bright acrylic images caper across the pages as cannon launchers, trapeze swings, and a giant out-of-control balancing ball get the better of Jane. The big tent proves perilous for our furry protagonist until slowly but surely Jane's secret talent is revealed to everyone's satisfaction.
Simple sentences and bold text will draw any shy adventurer into Jane's Extraordinary life with a heartwarming welcome.

MightyM