On Friday I finally made it up to Newcastle to catch the National Centre for Children’s Books, Seven Stories’ exhibition Painting with Rainbows – A Michael Foreman Exhibition, which closes today (sorry!). The good news is that it will be heading out on tour: so far, it’s … Continue reading ...
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The UK’s 2016 Little Rebels Award shortlist has been announced – and once again it sets a challenge for the judges… It presents a good mix of books for all ages. There are some big names among the books’ creators – and notable is Gill Lewis’s Gorilla Dawn, … Continue reading ...
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x PEACHTREE PUBLISHERS BOOK BLOG TOUR
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Can I Come Too?
Written by Brian Patten
Illustrated by Nicola Bayley
Peachtree Publishers 10/01/2014
978-1-56145-796-0
Age 4 to 8 32 pages
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“One day, a tiny mouse goes in search of the biggest creature in the world. Along the way, she meets a menagerie of animals. Each towers over mouse, but which is the biggest of all? One by one, mouse’s new friends join her quest. After a long day of searching, they finally discover a creature as big as an island and bigger than a million mice! Join mouse on her journey as she assures young readers that they don’t have to be big to have a grand adventure.”
Opening
“A very small mouse decided she wanted to have a very big adventure.”
The Story
A little brown mouse decides to find the biggest creature in the world. She thinks this will make for a grand adventure. By the lake, Little Mouse finds Frog, who is bigger than she is. Little mouse asks the brown frog,
“Are you the biggest creature in the world?”
Frog said no, but he thinks Little Mouse is brave for trying to find the biggest creature in the world. He wants to come along. Together, Little Mouse and Frog continue searching for the biggest creature in the world. They come upon several creatures, including a bird, a cat, an otter, a badger, a dog, a goat, a tiger, and a polar bear. Little Mouse asks each the same question she had asked Frog, but none of these magnificent creatures is the biggest in the world.
Polar Bear believes the biggest creature in the world lives in the ocean. One-by-one, each of the creatures Little Mouse and Frog came upon—all of whom joined the adventure—follow the others along the river to where it empties into the ocean. There, swimming in the salty ocean water, is a creature as big as an island . . . and the biggest in the world.
Review
Can I Come Too? brings together ten animals of varying shapes, sizes, and sensibilities on a journey to find the biggest creature in the world. Little Mouse was, of course, the smallest, yet lead the group by the lake, along the river, through a small valley, a city zoo, and up a small mountainside before ending at the ocean. The animals are cordial despite differences in size and natural instincts. A few are humorous, adding a new layer to the story.
The cat is inclined to enjoy both the mouse and the bird, but chooses instead to join in the adventure, its curiosity getting the best of it. The tiger—with “paws as big as frying pans”—even promises not to eat anyone if only he could join the adventure. Like with Cat, Tiger is unanimously welcomed into the growing group. The Little Mouse looks to be no larger than one of Tiger’s front claws. In this spread, five other animals show their claws, all of which are larger than Little Mouse. The Kingfisher bird comfortably rests upon Tiger’s tail as if it sits here daily.
I love that none of these animals had to be afraid of another. The journey is more important to them than following a natural inclination to make a snack out of a smaller animal. One of the funniest parts, to me, is when the group comes upon the dog. Little Mouse asks the dog,
“Are you the biggest creature in the world?”
[Before Dog can answer} The cat said, “He’s the scruffiest creature, but certainly not the biggest.”
I could hear the sarcasm in the cat’s voice as it scrutinizes the dog. Then there is the animal that Little Mouse never approaches, yet decides the adventure is worth joining, so it follows the group out of the zoo. I think kids will enjoy meeting these creatures and deciding for themselves if the group has met the world’s biggest creature. They will also enjoy identifying each animal and comparing each to the next, always larger, animal to join the group.
The colored pencil on cartridge paper* illustrations realistically portray each animal and its surroundings. The brightest object is the Kingfisher bird with its bright blue feathers—with white dots on its head—and an orange belly. Rather than a more traditional green frog, the artist created a brown frog, but kids will easily recognize each creature. The most beautiful spread is, appropriately, the spread showcasing the biggest creature in the world. The magnificent yellow-orange sky on the right shines down upon the ocean and the name of the creature, making them stand out. All the animals in the adventure stand silhouetted on the bank, marveling at the creature they have found.
Young children and parents will both enjoy Can I Come Too? In addition to the gorgeous illustrations and the variety of animals, the mouse’s adventure sends a strong message that one does not need to be big, or bold, or brave to enjoy a magnificent adventure and gain new friends along the way. I like that the tiger and the cat choose the journey and its surprises against eating the smaller animals (as is their nature), showing kids that it is possible for anyone to become friends when they have the correct mindset. Can I Come Too is the perfect first adventure for young readers.
*cartridge art paper is a very heavy drawing paper (90 gsm to 128gsm), and sometimes toned, and used mainly in Britain and Australia.
CAN I COME TOO? Text copyright © 2013 by Brian Patten. Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Nicola Bayley. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta, GA.
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Purchase Can I Come Too? at Amazon
Learn more about Can I Come Too? HERE
Meet the author, Brian Patten, at his website: www.brianpatten.co.uk
Meet the illustrator, Nicola Bayley, at her pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/bustersays/art-of-nicola-bayley/
Find wonderful picture books at the Peachtree Publishers website: http://peachtree-online.com/
Can I Come Too? was first published in 2013 in Great Britain by Andersen Press.
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Also by Brian Patten
The Most Impossible Parents
Thawing Frozen Frogs
The Monsters’ Guide to Choosing a Pet
The Big Snuggle-Up
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Also by Nicola Bayley
The Big Snuggle-Up
PARROT CAT
POLAR BEAR CAT
The Curious Cat
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Copyright © 2014 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews
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PEACHTREE PUBLISHERS BOOK BLOG TOUR
Can I Come Too?
Monday 10/6
Tuesday 10/7
Wednesday 10/8
Thursday 10/9
Friday 10/10
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By: Lynne Chapman,
on 12/21/2010
I met up with the Bears on the Stairs' author, Julia Jarman, at a pub round the corner to the party, so we could have a quick chat about new project ideas, then go together. I arrived first, but the pub we'd chosen was so full, I couldn't sit down. I felt a lemon just hovering on my own, so went outside (in the COLD!) to wait for Julia, and sketched through the window:
Luckily, she was only 10 minutes, but I had to draw wearing my fingerless gloves!
By: Lynne Chapman,
on 10/13/2010
My run of school visits, all of which were good fun (especially the fabulous Sawley Juniors - hi guys!), were topped off with a weekend of family events at Grantham and then Cheltenham.
Saturday's Red House Book Award party was lovely: a gentle afternoon with some of the children in the Grantham Children's Book Group area. I got to meet two other author/illustrators too: Jonathon Emmett and Adam Stower, both Red House winners.
Adam Stower and Jeanne Willis won this year, with the very silly Bottoms Up! featuring the line: 'Do calves put on bras to hide their bazoomers?' We illustrators get to draw some daft stuff!
We three talked a bit about our work and answered children's questions. My most surreal question of the week actually came from a child at Ladygrove Primary on Friday: 'What's your favourite number?'. I think said '382'.
Then the children were divided between us and we each did a workshop. I practised my Bears on the Stairs routine: it takes a little while to really 'warm up' a book and I think I'm about there now.
Adam I had a bit of a wait at the station for our trains home and we spent a lovely half hour or so in the cafe, looking through each other's sketchbooks (his is BRILLIANT - often quite eerie and always beautiful).
By: Julie Fortenberry,
on 8/29/2009
By: Andrew Karre,
on 4/2/2009
The children’s book fair that’s been held in Bologna is an interesting kind of fair. It’s been held in Bologna for more than 30 years (I can’t find the date of the first one), and, coming on the heels of the much Tweeted SXSW and TOC, it is a fair that seems positively quaint, with no web 2.0-themed panel discussions, no hash tags, and not much Internet at all. And unlike American trade shows, where librarians and booksellers are part of the picture, this show has almost no schwag (very cool tote bag from the Flemish stand excepted—gone before I could snag one). In my limited experience, Bologna is all about thirty minute pre-scheduled meetings at the fair and chance encounters at surrounding hotel bars and restaurants after the show. A day is meetings, quick lunch, meetings, drinks, loooong dinner, bed. Repeat three times and head for the airport. It turns out to be a very collegial sort of rhythm—rarely have I found myself in the company of more friendly strangers (who did not long remain strangers as a result).
Despite the sense of relative isolation from the desperate hand wringing over the state of our industry (or perhaps because of it), there is something about Bologna that feels very important—even essential—to this moment in the history of books. Being an editor in a position to buy books at Bologna does a number on one’s assumptions about bookmaking. Not only is the content diverse, but many things about the books as physical objects are unique to their countries. I think it’s important to be reminded of this heterogeneity in the face of technology, which often seems relentlessly homogenizing.
So, did you actually do any business at the fair, you might ask. Well, yes, actually. In the Happy category, I actually finished a deal for my first YA novel acquisition at Carolrhoda. It’s a debut and that makes me very happy. This circumstance is somewhat amusing because not only is it an American book, but the author lives about a mile from me in St. Paul. That his agent and I met to finalize the deal in Bologna is just a coincidence, but I rather like the idea that a book could travel from a meeting at Minnesota SCBWI conference last fall through beers at several St. Paul bars to a legal pad in the agent’s hall at the Bologna fairgrounds. Also Happy was the chance to meet with my counterparts at Andersen Press in The UK, whose books we distribute in the States. It’s always a pleasure to have a leisurely meeting with people you knew only on a frantic-email basis before. In the Less Happy category, the Brit novel I read giddily between meetings at the fair ended up going to a higher bidder. Better luck next time. I brought home lots of other leads, though, and I trust one of them will fall into place in the coming weeks.
One last thing: I think I am collecting moments like these. I was at a conference in San Diego two months ago when a room full of editors and agents congregating around tables of wine and cheese was suddenly plunged into darkness as the power went out. We didn’t miss a beat, and the schmoozing and boozing went on by the light of dozens of cell phones. In Bologna, I was at a big party hosted by the Dutch in a gorgeous palazzo when a room full of publishing types was silenced as an enormous table of food collapsed dramatically under its own weight. I was standing a couple feet away, and it was seriously shocking. The silence lasted only seconds though, and waiters descended, messes disappeared, and food reappeared. We all got back to whatever we were talking about. I think these events are apt metaphors for contemporary publishing. Despite power failures and sudden collapses, we continue on all the same. Comforting.
Wow, Lynne! Sounds like you are becoming a real party animal :)
Thanks for sharing your day with your delightful sketches and exciting news. From the news we here on the other side of the world, the UK seems to be snowed in completel, so it is great to follow your wintery adventures!