MORE 'PICTURE-BOOK-REVIEWS' POSTS
A Pet for Petunia By Paul Schmid Harper Collins Children’s Books $12.99 ISBN: 978-0-0619-3315 Ages 4-8 On shelves now When I was in ninth grade or so I learned that a fellow classmate owned a pet skunk. I joke not. Apparently these things do happen. While not strictly domesticated, it is possible to remove the […]
Hot, Hot Rot for Dada-ji By F. Zia Illustrated by Ken Min Lee & Low Books $17.95 ISBN: 978-1-60060-443-0 For ages 4-8 On shelves May 2011 It’s not that contemporary picture books featuring Indian-American characters don’t exist. Even off the top of my head I’m able to instantly conjure up titles like Mama’s Saris or […]
Fortune Cookies By A. Bitterman Illustrated by Chris Raschka Beach Lane Books (a division of Simon & Schuster) $14.99 ISBN: 978- 1416968146 Ages 3-8 On shelves now In the old days, children’s librarians were viewed as the gatekeepers of quality books for youth. That meant that they had to divide the wheat from the chaff. […]
Manners Mash-Up: A Goofy Guide to Good Behavior By: Tedd Arnold, Joe Berger, Sophie Blackall, Henry Cole, Frank Morrison, Lynn Munsinger, Tao Nyeu, LeUyen Pham, Adam Rex, Peter H. Reynolds, Dan Santat, Judy Schachner, Bob Shea, and Kevin Sherry Dial Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Penguin) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8037-3480-7 Ages 4-8 On shelves […]
Perfect Square By Michael Hall Greenwillow Books (an imprint of Harper Collins) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-06-191513-0 Ages 4-8 On shelves March 29, 2011 Graphic designers of the world, take heed: I am wary of your intentions. I mean it. You guys are, and I say this in the kindest way possible, strange. I don’t mind it […]
Singing Away the Dark By Caroline Woodward Illustrated by Julie Morstad Simply Read Books $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-897476-41-3 On shelves now The range of different going to school books varies wildly. This is understandable. After all, the act of attending school is one of the first moments of autonomy a child experiences. This is particularly true […]
Last Song: A Lullaby By James Guthrie Illustrated by Eric Rohmann Roaring Brook Press $10.99 ISBN: 978-1-59643-508-7 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. This is a very difficult book to review. When I review a picture book, you see, I need a “hook”. I need to latch onto some aspect of the product that strikes me […]
Ravenna By Stacey Curnow Illustrated by Daniel Nevins Grateful Steps $12.95 ISBN: 978-1-935130-25-3 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. Parables. They’re almost impossible to do in children’s books. The problem with a parable is that if it wants to teach something it often has to say what it means. Another way of saying that is that […]
It’s a Book By Lane Smith Roaring Brook Press (a division of Holtzbrinck) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-59643-606-0 On shelves now. Where to begin? Begin at the beguine, I suppose. I’ve had It’s a Book sitting on my shelf for months and now the time is ripe. As you may have heard one place or another, it […]
Mostly Monsterly By Tammi Sauer Illustrated by Scott Magoon Simon & Schuster (A Paula Wiseman book) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-4169-6110-9 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. After a certain point the sheer number of princess and fairy books a children’s librarian has to handle begins to feel oppressive. The crushing weight of all that pink and all […]