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Before you check out Apples and Robins, an amazing picture book if there ever was one, check out the winner of two Tristan Hunt and the Sea Guardians author signed books. Each reader who commented was assigned a number, beginning with the first comment posted. (reverse order of there placement). Using Random.org ‘s generator, the …

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A pared-down, stylish tale packed with adrenalin and mischief in equal measure about a child’s ability to see possibilities and transform the world around them, That’s My Hat! by Anouck Boisrobert and Louis Rigaud follows what happens when a hat created by a child is blown away on a gust of wind. Turning the pages takes us on a journey across the city to retrieve the hat, visiting various shops, a zoo and a library along the way. But when the child reaches the top of a skyscraper it looks like disaster will strike – can they use their imagination to save the day?

Although we may have seen the device before in Harold and the Purple Crayon, Anthony Brown’s Bear Hunt and Aaron Becker’s Journey, the idea of a child using a pencil to transform their world, changing something simple into an object of their imagination (in this case starting with a semi-circle being turned into a hat) never grows old. Perhaps this is because the ability to see alternative realities is a very real experience of childhood; we have all turned sticks into stallions ready for galloping, cardboard boxes into boats or stones into pets.

What That’s My Hat! brings afresh to this storytelling mechanism are very clever illustrations. Made of only 10 basic shapes and 5 flat colours, with simple black line embellishments, Boisrobert and Rigaud have created 3-D scenes to explore, with the use of intricate pop-up mechanisms and lots of hidden detail behind the folds and bends of the paper. It’s amazing to see the complexity that can be constructed from very basic building blocks. The magic is captivating and perhaps also empowering for young readers – these illustrations have a child-like achievability about them.

The ending draws the story full circle (literally, if you take note of how it began and what it concludes with), deeply satisfying readers, listeners and observers of all the fine and clever details in this playful book.

That’s My Hat! sent us to one of our favourite crafting materials – a bunch of paint chips (free! lovely thick card! great colours!), and from them we cut out lots of each of the 10 different shapes which appear in That’s My Hat!. For the circles I used a couple of outsized hole punchers and the kids loved the physicality of using them; I love it when the girls enjoy the preparation as much as the intended activity!

It was then time to let loose our imaginations, creating scenes with just the 10 types of shape and a black pen to add detail.

The girls loved looking closely at how the shapes were used in the book, copying some of the ideas for themselves, but also coming up with their own transformations for some of the shapes.

I love the grumpy looking mum and the dancing spider in this spread!

Whilst making stories with our shapes listened to:

All These Shapes by The Pop Ups – I can’t imagine a better song to go with a pop-up book about what you can make with shapes!!

Parachute by Fishboy

All Around My Hat by by Steelye Span

Other activities which might work well alongside reading That’s My Hat! include:

Making your own pop-up cards or books. Tinkerlab has a simple introduction that’s perfect for small hands.

A shape matching game – easy to make from a sheet of paper and some building blocks, as Twodaloo shows us.

Reading Steven Anthony’s The Queen’s Hat for another story about a flyaway hat, or B.J. Novak’s Book With No Pictures for another book which makes use of varied typefaces to convey meaning.

A good old fashioned game of hide and seek! Or a game of “Wamer-Colder” where you’ve hidden a hat and the kids have to find it.

If you liked this post you might like these other posts by me:

A review of I am Henry Finch by Alexis Deacon and Viviane Schwarz, with kids’ art created using fingerprints

On becoming curious again – a selection of very clever books that make you look again, including one all about shapes

A pop-up art book for older children which we really enjoyed, plus 90+ publicly displayed masterpieces of art which feature in children’s books

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Disclosure: I was sent a free review copy of this book by the publisher.

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Title: CIRCLE SQUARE MOOSE Written by: Kelly Bingham Illustrated by: Paul O. Zelinsky Published by: Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2014 Themes/Topics: shapes, moose, zebra, friendship Suitable for ages: 3-7 Opening: Shapes are all around us. We see them every day. Have you ever looked … Continue reading →

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Black & White Nighty-Night

Written by Sarah Jones
Illustrated by Sarah Jones
Blue Manatee Press        4/01/2015
978-1-936669-31-8
12 pages           Age 0—3
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“This unique concept book combines the ever-popular bedtime nursery rhyme with contemporary high-contrast illustrations, specifically designed with babies in mind. The youngest readers and their families will delight in the gentle story of an owl saying goodnight to barnyard friends as they snuggle into bed. Bold black-and-white illustrations will capture babies’ interest, as the soothing rhymes lull them to sleep.” [publisher]

Review
Which word do you use to tell a friend goodnight? Little Owlet has quite the repertoire: nighty-night, sweet dreams, sleep tight, doze, sleep soundly, and, of course, goodnight; six heartfelt bedtime-salutations, for six diurnal farm friends.  After hearing Little Owlet’s goodnights to her critter friends, and before closing their tired eyes and dreaming, young children will be ready to wish their own goodnights, “Nighty-night Mom. Night, Dad.”  

The simple rhymes in Black & White Nighty-Night are perfect for young children, as is the book’s size and shape. The thick and sturdy glossy pages are perfect for chubby little fingers to turn without tearing. Even a wet mess, after a plea of “One more drink, please,” will wipe off quickly. I would mention how fast blobs of fallen jelly and smears of peanut butter clean away, but Black & White Nighty-Night is most definitely a bedtime story.

As stars light the night, Little Owlet stretches her feathery wings and, with mom waving goodbye, flies off into the twinkling night sky. Not far away is the barnyard. Wherever Little Owlet is heading, she takes the time to say nighty-night to her friends.

“Sleep tight hen and chickies, lying in your nest.
“Doze, fluffy kitty cat, purring as you rest.”

The seemingly simply black and white illustrations are adorable. With a little effort and imagination, form meets function (Ms. Jones’ specialty), and a lifelong love of learning and books can take root. Help your child find objects by locating Little Owlet in each spread. Use different voices, such as a hardy “Moooo,” a squeaky “Oink-oink,” and a soft “Meow,” to familiarize your child with common farm animals (a cow, lamb, pig, chicken, cat, and . . . nope, not telling). Get those little fingers learning shapes by tracing the black-and-white outlined objects and animals. And, if all that is not enough, the momma animals have from one to five babies; a good start on counting to ten. Black & White Nighty-Night will be a hit with both toddlers and parents. (Reviewers, too.)

BLACK AND WHITE NIGHTY NIGHT. Text and Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Sarah Jones. Copyright © 2015 by Blue Manatee Press. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Blue Manatee Press, Cincinnati, OH.

Purchase Black & White Nighty-Night at Amazon—Book Depository—IPG—Blue Manatee Press.

Learn more about Black & White Nighty-Night HERE.
Meet the author/illustrator, Sarah Jones, at her website:  http://www.sarahluciajones.com/
Find more creative board books at the Blue Manatee Press website:  http://www.bluemanateepress.com/

Sarah Jones, artist, author, teacher, storyteller, and fellow Ohioan and holds an MFA from the University of Cincinnati and a BFA in Painting and Art Education from Miami University (Ohio). Go Bucks! Ms. Jones also wrote and illustrated the award-winning board books Orange, Triangle, Fox and Bunnies Near and Far (both reviewed HERE) Her second 2015 release, Lloyd Llama, will be reviewed soon.

AWARDS
2015 Mom’s Choice Awards – Black & White Nighty-Night
2015 Mom’s Choice Awards – Lloyd Llama
2014 Creative Child Magazine Book of the Year – Baby Unplugged: Play
2014 Mom’s Choice Awards – Baby Unplugged: Play
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Review Section: word count = 339

Copyright © 2015 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

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Filed under: 6 Stars TOP BOOK, Board Book, Children's Books, Favorites, Library Donated Books, Top 10 of 2015 Tagged: 2015 Mom's Choice Awards, barnyard animals, bedtime books, bedtime nursery rhyme, Black & White Nighty-Night, Blue Manatee Press, learning to count, little owlet, parent-child relationships, Sarah Jones, shapes, white-outlined animals

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Today we start with a question. Two questions, to be exact.

1. Can you count to ten?

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10”

Good!

 2. Do you know your colors?

“Red, blue, yellow, green, orange— ”

—Okay, that’s great!

“. . . pink, purple, brown, black . . .”

Let’s get started. Debut Author Sarah Jones.

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Bunnies Near and Far

by Sarah Jones

Blue Manatee Press      4/01/2014

978-1-936669-22-6

Age 1 to 4      10 pages

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“Colors. Shapes. Critters! Three concepts in one make learning fun! Inspire bedtime or story time, with this fun and educational concept book! Watch colorful native forest animals including red square owl and yellow star frog take shape, teaching basic concepts simultaneously. Rich, sweet watercolor illustrations are a delight for sharing over and over again.”

Opening 

“1 bunny near. 2 bunnies far.”

Review

Farmer Bo has lost track of his bunnies. Where could they have gone? We know 1 bunny is nearby and 2 bunnies are far off. Where did 3 bunnies go, and 4 bunnies? I saw 5 bunnies going up and 6 bunnies going down—they were on a teeter-totter. Wherever 7 and 8 bunnies went in opposite directions. Then I heard 9 bunnies singing to 10 bunnies playing an instrument. Farmer Bo does not know where any of his bunnies are. Oh, look! Farmer Bo counts as the bunnies return home. 1-one, 2-two, 3-three . . . all the way to his 10-ten musical bunnies. Wow! How many bunnies is that?

There are bunnies everywhere in Bunnies Near and Far. The situations the bunnies get into are common and recognizable by little kids. This is a fun way to learn how to count. The bunnies are cute though a tad plump and do some goofy stuff. Little kids will giggle at these bunnies on an apparent day off. I love the color of the book, which is predominately green with a few other colors tossed in on a few pages. The car is carrot orange and is somewhat shaped like a carrot. There even looks to be a smidge of green at the back of the car. I love details like this; things you would never expect. The theme of Bunnies Near and Far is more modern than most simple counting books and maybe that is what makes it so utterly charming.

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Still remember your colors. (Please do not tell me, I remember.) Let’s look at colors.

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Orange, Triangle, Fox

by Sarah Jones

Blue Manatee Press     4/01/2014

978-1-936669-21-9

Age 1 to 4     10 pages

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“Farmer Bo wants to know where his bunnies are. Some are near, some are far, some walking some in a car, and all are as cute as can be! Little ones will learn counting and opposites in this fun tale of bunnies on the go. Perfect for sharing: read and count along to find out what they’ll do next!”

Opening  

”brown circle hedgehog”

Review

Orange, Triangle, Fox is about colors, shapes, and animals. What could be more perfect than all of these concepts in one book for the youngest children? Interestingly, the shape and color become the shape of the animal and its color. The title page is orange and the shape is a triangle. The fox is an orange triangle. I think this will delight kids. The forest animals include an owl, a fox, frog, and a turtle among others. Young children will simultaneously learn about three concepts—shapes, colors, and animals—learning to process multiple stimuli. They may start looking at the world around them for animals or other objects in a certain shape. The forest animals are adorable, maybe more so because of the shape they have become.

As a set, Orange, Triangle, Fox and Bunnies Near and Far help young children learn, or reinforce, their numbers, colors, and forest animals. The books are kid shaped, just the size for little hands to hold. The pages are thick to stand up to kids excitedly turning the page. Spilt milk and blobs of jelly should wipe right off the heavy, glossy pages. At ten pages, bedtime reading of Orange, Triangle, Fox and Bunnies Near and Far can start a tradition of reading and a lifelong love of books. Both of these books are nontraditional in form, but very much traditional in content. Little ones can learn about the numbers one through ten, and about colors, shapes, and animals. Four important elements your child needs to learn, packed into two adorable books with designs by Sarah Jones. Beautiful and functional, child-sized and childproof.

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Learn more about Sarah Jones books for young children HERE.

Buy Bunnies Near and Far at Amazon—B&N—your local bookstore.

Buy Orange, Triangle, Fox at Amazon—B&N—your local bookstore.

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Meet Sarah Jones at her profile at scbwi:  http://www.scbwi.org/members-public/sarah-jones

Find more board books at the website of Blue Manatee Press:  http://bluemanateepress.com/

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ORANGE TRIANGLE FOX and BUNNIES NEAR AND FAR. Text and illustrations copyright © 2014 by Sarah Jones. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Blue Manatee Press, Cincinnati, OH.

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NEW FROM BLUE MANATEE PRESS.

 

 

 

 

Filed under: 4stars, Board Books, Debut Author, Library Donated Books, NonFiction Tagged: animals, baby, basic concepts, bedtime, Blue Manatee Press, children's book reviews, colors, counting 1 to 10, home learning, Sarah Jones, shapes, story time, toddler

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Photo courtesy of Toddler Approved.

Photo courtesy of Toddler Approved

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A rare day-off for Lincoln's Birthday, the big kids all gone to friends' houses, and a little sunshine on the front patio means that my littlest can have fun playing out front while mom updates things on the laptop.

Spring flowers have already arrived.

Anyway, didn't I say I might just tweak the painting a little?  Well, that wasn't exactly true.  When it came down to it, I think I tweaked it a lot.  Of course, it may not look different but, with a little close observation, one might notice differences.  Frankly, I became frustrated with the 2 flowers on the right - they became rather muddled by overworking with to many colors - I even completely painted out the bottom one and started over.

I think it's done - but I'm still not happy with the leaf - I'll just tweak it a little...

Light was an interesting challenge as I had a changing light source (a south-facing window) to my left which caused moving shadows and a secondary interior light overhead/right which created shadows of its own.  I realized that I was giving conflicting information with cast shadows of the flower petals on both sides of the vase/creamer, but I liked the shapes and decided to keep them.  And that's what was truly liberating about this project compared with the first one which was much more dependent on observation.  For this one, I gave myself permission to use more artistic license and mostly responded to what was happening on the paper.  Besides liking the shapes of some of the shadows, I also liked the orange from the flowers reflected on the porcelain surface - it wasn't nearly as pronounced in real life, but I liked it in the painting.

I still have dreams of one do doing a "quick" little still life that captures its essence with a minimum of strokes... (sigh)

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I Like Toys. Lorena Siminovich. 2011. Candlewick Press. 10 pages.

Circle
ball
yo-yo
car


Triangle
playhouse
spinning top
sailboat

I was a big, big fan of Lorena Siminovich's I Like Bugs and I Like Fruit. So I was super-excited to learn that there were two new books in the  Petit Collage series: I Like Toys and I Like Vegetables.


I Like Toys is a concept board book about shapes. The circle shape can be found in a ball, a yo-yo, and the tires on a car; the square shape can be found in a jack-in-the-box, a box, and a tower of blocks. Four shapes are includes in all: triangle, rectangle, square, and circle. Each page has a touch-and-feel element to it (the tires on the car, the sail on the sailboat, a block in the block tower, etc.

The art and design of this one makes it fun. While I wouldn't say this is my favorite book in the series, I can easily say that I'd recommend the series as a whole. The whole series is high quality.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Young Readers

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My book bags have been overflowing!  Here are two more great choices.

I'll start with my favorite topic - you guessed it - baseball!

Abrahams, Peter. 2011. Quacky Baseball. Ill. by Frank Morrison. New York: Harper.

It's Thumby Duckling's first start for the Webbies, and they're playing rival duck team, the Quackers.  Put on your best play-by-play voice for this one,

Been a long day at the ball field.  Top of the ninth.  Two on, two out for the Quackers.  The Webbies need an out!  Here comes the pitch, and ... it's a long drive to right!  Can Thumby duckling get there?  Thumby makes the catch! Out number three.  How about that!

Line score boxes help the baseball fan follow the action.  Insets offer batting tips,

Watch the ball like a hawk- even though hawks don't play baseball.

Colorful, rough-edged artwork by Frank Morrison adds a wonderful ruggedness to the game. I will definitely be sharing this one in my baseball storytime!

Look inside Quacky Baseball.

Now we go from the baseball diamond to the square.

Hall, Michael. 2011. Perfect Square. New York: Greenwillow.

What happened when a perfectly happy perfect square was

cut into pieces and poked full of holes (?)

 It made itself into a fountain that babbled and giggled and clapped.

Each day of the week, the perfect square is crumpled, ripped, shredded and snipped; and each day it transforms itself into something wonderful. Bursting with color, this is a perfect book to teach colors or days of the week.  It's also a wonderful jumping off point for an imaginative craft.  What can you make with a square?

Look inside Perfect Square

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Who knew that a perfect square could be transformed into so many things?  In his stunning follow-up to last year’s MY HEART IS LIKE A ZOO, Michael Hall creates rivers, mountains, and parks out of a single square of paper.  The storytime possibilities are limitless: give kids a square of paper and scissors and see what they can create.  So often as a librarian, I would create elaborate artwork for the kids to do during storytime but, sometimes, all you need is a single piece of paper.

What’s buzzy about PERFECT SQUARE?  It has received FOUR STARRED REVIEWS!  Here’s what they’re saying:

“A smart lesson in thinking outside the box (or the square).” ~ Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Memorable for reading aloud and terrific for inspiring creative play with the simplest materials.”  ~ Booklist (starred review)

“As its week progresses, the narrative turn of events in the square’s world encourages page-turning to discover the results. What will the square do next? This is a not-to-be-missed adventure for all young readers.” ~ School Library Journal (starred review)

“Young readers will absorb the visual lessons effortlessly and with delight.”  ~ Kirkus (starred review)

Here are some more wonderful links for you:

• Betsy Bird’s review of PERFECT SQUARE at Fuse #8
• Michael Hall visits the Greenwillow offices
• Michael Hall shares an amusing story about the creative process
• It was chosen as one of “Richie’s Picks“

PERFECT SQUARE (ISBN 9780061915130) is available now.

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Lots of Dots by Craig Frazier

This bright and fanciful book takes dots to a new level, celebrating all of the ways that dots and circles are in our life.  There are dots that are buttons, dots as flowers, dots as scoops of ice cream!  All in bright, vivacious colors that add to the joyful nature of this picture book.  The rhyming text is very simple, allowing the emphasis to be on the illustrations that are colorful, graphic and very fun.  This is a book that will have readers and listeners smiling at every page.

Frazier’s illustrations here have a great style that is very modern and still warm and friendly.  The humans in the illustrations are shown as a single color, eliminating any racial context and creating a book that is welcoming for any child.  Done in crisp white with bright colors, the pages almost shout with energy. 

Perfect for sharing with a group of toddlers or preschoolers, this book would  make a great jumping off point for crafts using round stickers or stamps.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

• Also reviewed by Good Books for Kids

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This is how I decided to approach doing the finishes for this book.

I'm doing flat shapes of color throughout, then will come back and do modeling and detailing later. So what you're looking at here is one illustration where the little old man and little old woman are running. Her dress, and his shirt and pants are all done as flat shapes.



I like to make interesting shapes, and pay attention to details. In this book I need to pay very close attention to keeping things simple, while still doing my 'fully rendered look'. I'm cutting as many corners as I can (because of time, and pay, plus other stuff), so I need to get the most bang for my buck with what I do put in.

I'm doing these sort of assembly line fashion. I'm afraid that if I finish each illustration, one at a time, I will start out lush and with too much detail, then not be able to keep it up and near the end when I'm too tired and in a rush, the pieces will look poor. This way, all the pieces will be consistent, and all at the same level of finish all the way through. At the end, if I have enough gas left, I can put in 'more'.

So now I have 12 pieces with these funny looking shapes on them, which will eventually magically morph into people.

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It's been a while for me...I have been doing a lot of drawing away from the computer...and with the summer on its way that will only become more common.

However I recently started sharing with a group of guys over at CHOP SHOP SHAPES...doing little creative drawings exercises with random shapes and occasional themes...Check um out here!, CHOP! SHOP! SHAPES!

I hope everyone here in the goodness is doing well. I'll be back to comment soon...Now its time for sleep.

P

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