Book Review: The Monkey Goes Bananas by C.P. Bloom

Sometimes you just need a good laugh.  When you and your preschooler run into one of those times, I suggest The Monkey Goes Bananas.  This new picture book by C. P. Bloom and illustrated by Peter Raymundo is laugh-out-loud funny.

This exuberant book gets the story started right away on the title page, where we see our hero deep in "The Thinker" style contemplation. Next, on the copyright page, we discover that The Monkey is trying to figure out how to get to a lovely bunch of bananas that are on the next island.  At first, he simply tries crossing The Water to get to the banana island, but soon he finds his situation complicated by The Shark.

Book Review: Dot by Patricia Intriago

I've been seeing dots lately.  No, it's not a result of heat exhaustion; though I'd love to see some wet dots falling from the sky sometime soon.  Actually, I've been seeing dots in some lovely, well-rounded picture books.  The dot deluge all began with Dot by Patricia Intriago. The contrasting, simple imagery makes it great for babies, the clever wordplay makes it intriguing for preschoolers, and the minimalist design makes it thrilling for adults.  I especially love the juxtaposition of the hard dot and the soft dot, complete with a child's finger pressing down on the dot to test its flexibility.  Can you hear the loud and quite dots making different sounds?  How would a happy dot look? What about a sad dot?  Take this book home and you'll find out, along with a dab or two of other surprises!

Tyrannosaurus Wrecks!

There's bad and then there's BAD. Well-behaved prehistoric pals calmly color, paste, and build, but T-Rex can't seem to get with the program. Blocks topple, scissors fly, and artwork shreds amid Tyrannobully's reign of destruction. Classmates finally band together and ostracize the obstreperous miscreant. No fun! Even little thunder lizards can feel sad and lonely. Bit by bit, step by step, the repentant reptile makes amends and is welcomed back into the fold despite an inadvertent catastrophe. At long last peace prevails in "Dino-topia," or maybe not...

Zachariah Ohora's playful illustrations are boisterously paired with Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen's sparse but cleverly rhymed text in Tyrannosaurus Wrecks! Children finding themselves adrift within the hierarchical confusion of classroom politics will take comfort in seeing that even misbehaving dinosaurs can get a second chance.

MightyM

Book Review: The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water

Picnics! Camping! Thunderstorms! Fireworks! Daisy chains! Swimming! These words all conjure up great summer memories! Well...maybe not so much swimming...if you're at all timid of the water.  Some of us take to the water like fish and others have to be coaxed, ever so gently.  And while we may all eventually learn how to swim, we don't all like the sport with the same enthusiasm.  Now crocodiles are born to the water and thrive in that environment. So what about The crocodile who didn't like water? Unlike his brothers and sisters this little crocodile does not like the water. He is really great at climbing trees, but everyone else would rather be in swim club.  He wants to play with his siblings. Afterall he can see they are having a great time splashing about. So he trys very hard to overcome his fear.

Book Review: Breathe by Scott Magoon

     Every so often a picture book crosses my path that I just fall in love with.  Breathe by Scott Magoon is definitely one of those books.  

     Breathe follows a day in the life of a baby white whale.  The book opens with an illustration of the mother whale lifting her baby up to the water's surface for a nice deep breath.  From there the baby whale goes on an exploration of his world where he plays, swims, makes new friends and, most importantly, always remembers to take a few moments to just breathe.  

Bean Bags and Beyond!

For those of you who have been to a storytime at any Pima County Public Library branch, you know that we love bean bags.  We are borderline fanatical about them.  And, so are the kids.  In fact, at Himmel Park Branch, if the storytime doesn't end with the bean bag song, well, you better have some scarves or a parachute to distract the group from the terrible fact that you didn't play the bean bag song.  It can get ugly, believe me.  There has been crying, screaming, and clawing of the face, even. Pure anguish can result, and, let me tell you, combine that with a toddler and you'll have some scary stuff brewing. So, we LOVE the bean bag song.

Where Have You Been?

Have you ever wondered where a cat or a squirrel has been or where a bird flies or a whale sails?  Those are the kind of questions answered in  Where Have You Been? a lesser-known book by legendary children's author Margaret Wise Brown (Good Night Moon).  As you read along you'll learn a bit about each animal's habitat....little bee has been in the pink apple tree, while little mole has been down a long dark hole.  

The simple rhyming stanzas that introduce each animal share the same format, making this an ideal book for interactive storytelling as well as an interesting alternative for children who are learning to read.   The pattern of the repetitive text is so easily replicable that you might find yourself playing the game of thinking up new stanzas for animals not pictured in the story.  And by pointing out the pattern, you'll be helping your child learn about and better understand what a pattern is, an important concept in math, art, and science.  

Be sure to note and enjoy the beautiful and humorous illustrations by husband and wife team Leo and Diane Dillon.   Enjoy!   - Miss Meg