A delight!

A delight...this book cleverly teaches some call numbers while the gingerbread man is running amok among the books. Also, the librarian is the heroine in the story. Gotta love it!

This book gives a big laugh

Pinky (a pig) is on his way to place an order for a pizza at the pizzeria. He is gathering snow as he walks through the snowy town. He doesn't even notice that he is turning into a snowman (!) because he is too busy trying to remember the ingredients he is supposed to say when he places his order. Very funny, both when he is a snowman as he places his order AND when he is back to being a boy when the order is ready to deliver home.

End of month tribute to picture book month!

Stumpkin c) 2018 Lucy Ruth Cummins; Stumpkin is the proverbial “runt of the litter”. He takes rejection upon rejection until he wins out from being the last pumpkin standing. This is a sweet book with a triumphant ending. (It is similar to stories where there is one last toy or one last puppy, etc.) And it is great paired with The Ugly Pumpkin c) 2005 by Dave Horowitz. 

If Picasso Painted a Snowman c) 2017 by Amy Newbold. This book introduces the reader to the art forms of many famous artists such as Pablo Picasso from the title. A few others reflected are Vincent Van Gogh, Jackson Pollack, Claude Monet, and Georgia O’Keefe. The thread is what would that artist’s take on a snowman potentially look like? It is a great premise, an engaging book, and creates lots of room for terrific conversation and learning.

Just a delight!

When you go fishing with your friends but all you catch is a huge fish who is big enough to eat all of you, then what? This sweet picture book has a delightful solution for the big fish and all of the friends.

Beautiful version!

I love this gorgeous rendition of a traditional favorite! Troll gets a taste of his own medicine. In the end note, Jerry Pinkney tells us, "I invented the character of the giant fish to offer a way for the troll to recognize what he'd done to others and to experience his word-bullying from another point of view." Further, later on in the note he says, "Ultimately it was only my imagination, however, that could invent the characters of these ever-so-relatable billy goats Gruff. They are, like many of us, both meek and at the same time strong in the face of adversity...and they must work together to 'stand up to the bullies' and be a force of change." c) 2017

A mid-month tribute to picture book month!

I Yam A Donkey! c) 2015 by Cece Bell; This hilarious book is about grammar but how, in the end, grammar doesn't matter much if you are in mortal danger!

The Yoga Game by the Sea c) 2014 by Kathy Beliveau; This is a great combination of riddles about things by the sea and the directions for accompanying yoga moves. Painted in quiet pastel water colors, this is a beautiful book!

A thought to make us happy!

Thank you Peter H. Reynolds!

Imagination triumphs over trauma!

This picture book imagines how a little boy (Junior) survives the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Each day that he is trapped under the rubble, he uses his imagination to paint a happy picture from times prior to the earthquake. I liked this because strong happy memories can surely buoy us!

American symbols made easy

I think this book is a terrific introduction to American patriotic symbols. And it gives readers an opportunity to draw the symbols by following simple directions. Each drawing has four steps. (There are no words.) There are just four pictures that range from beginning the drawing to reaching the complete symbol.

An inviting book about John Deere

This is a beautiful book about the perseverance within the pioneering spirit. From the end notes:
*"John Deere wasn't the first American to tinker with plow designs." ; "But John was the first to blend the best ideas about plow designs and steel parts to make a better tool for America's thick prairie soil."
*"John Deere didn't invent the tractor. He died thirty-two years before his company bought the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company and began selling the Waterloo Boy Model R--the granddaddy of all John Deere tractors."
I do not know if it is purposeful, but the book reminded me of lovely picture books that tell the Johnny Appleseed story.
Thanks to the donation of this book to the Muehl Public Library by the Outagamie County Farm Bureau/Ag in the Classroom and thanks to the Fairest of the Outagamie Fair, 2018, Morgan Rynish for signing this library copy! 

Go Eleanor Roosevelt!

The illustrations in this book are WONDERFUL and so is this glimpse into history that I never heard of. Eleanor Roosevelt decides to hold a picnic replete with hot dogs when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth come to visit America. I adore that Eleanor stuck to her guns and served hot dogs although the choice was considered by some to be disrespectful. Being such a people person she knew how to entertain and delight. And she nailed it when choosing hot dogs--they are very American!

For Outagamie Fair week, a book about a girl going to the fair in Texas

This book is hilarious. Desert Rose takes a "shortcut" with her hog and has so much trouble that she learns, ultimately, that sometimes shortcuts fail. She is looking for help to get her hog moving from different animals (forming a chain of sorts). She is trying to get to the country fair in Laredo on time. As each animal claims some excuse, Desert Rose has funny retorts playing with language. Finally, she strikes a deal with a shady and intimidating armadillo. He is true to his word, and then Desert Rose is also.

A book about overcoming worry!

Jack's worry shrinks when he shares it with his mom and they talk it out. (He is afraid of playing his trumpet at a concert because he might make mistakes.) Because his worry has dissipated, he is able to go on and encourage his fellow players at the concert so their worries shrink, too. I loved how obvious this book was to my youngest story time patrons as they watched the worry grow big and small based upon the situation.

A celebration of ART and READING!

This gorgeous book contains 23 paintings from global art galleries that show people reading. The small text tells us about the title of the painting, the artist, the year it was painted, and the art gallery (& city where it is featured). The large text is in rhyme and talks about the enjoyment of reading in many different places. Today, with 6th grade, we discussed that the Cezanne painting about reading the news is not seen much anymore. People are reading the news on their devices. But surely, we will see images of people reading on devices more prevalently in our society shortly. We also discussed the page where a person has received and is reading a letter. We talked about how it may be a dying art, but receiving a letter is a pretty special event! Some other artists that were included and familiar to the students: Van Gogh, Degas, Hopper, Rembrandt, and Picasso. A true "find" in this book: The Bookworm by Carl Spitzweg from 1850 and is @ the Milwaukee Public Library!

Sing your song and you will find a friend

A girl sings her tune and thus strikes up a friendship. Lovely. (Mostly wordless.)       

   

Your ancestors are reflected in your face!

Beautiful book in Spanish and English. It celebrates how the child is like their mother and then you flip the book to read about how the child is like their father. In both cases, the last similarity is that the child can see their parent reflected in their face. Lovely.

**This book might be considered exclusive, so I generalize to the fact that our ancestors' faces are reflected in our face.

A tribute to books!

Such a beautiful tribute to books and reading as a family. My favorite stanza: "Thanks to books, I find balance, I climb high, I follow new roads, I move forward."

A gorgeous tale about sharing!

This book is published by Island Heritage Publishing and I picked it up on the island of Maui! I love the soft colors of the book and the expressions of the characters. Two children are told by their grandfather to fill their wagon with excess mangoes (the plural of mango can be mangos or mangoes in English) and share them with their neighbors. Each neighbor sends a mahalo (thank you) gift back with the children to their grandfather. He sets a lovely meal together from what has been shared. I act this out with children.

TOO MANY MANGOS Written by Tammy Paikai; Illustrated by Don Robinson

Charlotte Zolotow Award winner

 

We just found out that this book is the winner of the Charlotte Zolotow award. Congratulations!
A Vietnamese son goes fishing in the early morning hours with his father. This is before his father has to go to work. The intimacy of fishing together allows the father to tell his son about his home country, Vietnam. This book, in a loving way, captures the refugee experience and the immigrant experience. And even if readers cannot relate to either of those, they will be able to relate to the struggles of getting through the day and getting food on the table. No matter the circumstances, the overreaching universal theme of survival is what we all know and understand. We all share this at differing levels. We can applaud the people who take care of their families and push through exhaustion especially after having escaped a war. We never know people's stories until we ask...and listen.

A fun alphabet book!

We did an author study (with adults) of James Patterson at our library and Jill discovered this picture book written by James & Susan Patterson. It is illustrated by Hsinping Pan. And we found out that Susan Patterson attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

BIG WORDS FOR LITTLE GENIUSES c) 2017

     The book teaches "big" words for each letter of the alphabet. Very fun! The illustrations carry the book beautifully!
For "q" I learned a new word, "quokka". A quokka is an animal who happens to smile a lot! I found this cutie pie online.