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By: Jenny Miller,
on 12/19/2012
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Book meets toy: the novelty book. Here are some of my favorites.
Pop-Up London, by Jennie Maizels, paper engineering by Richard Ferguson, Candlewick, $19.99, ages 5-9, 2012. Baroque architecture rises from the pages of this entrancing book, and tempts readers to pull in close and peak around building corners. Gorgeously rendered in pen-and-ink, each spread leads readers from one famous district of London to the next. A small booklet at the top of the scene describes what it's like to enter the district. It then explains its significance, shares secrets about it, and asks questions that readers must then search to answer on the ground and behind buildings. Diminutive flaps, hidden pictures and pop-ups turn this book into an adventure. Among the many delights: two sculls that race on the river Thames along slits, and a scene inside Buckingham Palace that shows royals gathered at a banquet and dancing. The palace's interior walls are detailed like a finely furnished doll house: a two-story scene of butlers rushing about and the king and queen waving from a balcony. Another page features a pop-up of the London Eye, which readers erect by folding back a tab.
Any child who loves cities, architecture or miniatures will be dazzled -- and, chances are, they'll soon be begging for a trip to London. This isn't just a pop-up; it's an experience. The book transports readers into the city on a scavenger hunt down the Thames, in and out of lanes and even across a 3-D Tower Bridge, the grand finale. Best parts: Every little detail. This is one of the best pop-up I've ever seen. Readers will want to lay it open on the dresser and imagine they're tiny enough to walk around the page. The only hard part will be deciding which district to display.
Popposites: The Pop-Up Opposites Book!, by Mike Haines and Keith Finch, Kingfisher, $16.99, ages 3 and up, 2012. Few books of opposites can match this one. The creators of Wild Alphabet return with a clever spin on opposites. Every page has unique tabs that when rotated or pulled transform one scene into its opposite. The authors begin by contrasting old things with new, and as readers turn a tab, an ancient pyramid rises into the sky and becomes the roof of a modern skyscraper. Every layout if unique and whimsical. On one page, readers look into an empty portal, then turn a tab and six faces slide out from the edges looking back at them. On another, readers learn about the extremes of sound: an elephant stands quietly with his trunk down, then with the pull of a tab, he raises his trunk and opens his mouth to suggest he's trumpeting. Another favorite shows a flying arrow (the past) transforming into a soaring rocket ship (the present). My only caution is that pull tabs can be stiff at first -- I found this particularly true of a zipper used to show "together" and "apart" -- so it's good for parents to loosen the tabs up a little before passing it on to a small child. Best parts: A lesson about up and down: as readers pull a tab, a dapper man climbs a staircase and a boy slides down on a railing. And a page about big and little: readers see Earth floating in a circle of stars and as they pull a tab, a hand closes around it, making our planet look suddenly tiny, which when compared to the universe, it truly is! To read my 2010 review of Wild Alphabet click here.
The Wizard of Oz: A Classic Story Pop-Up Book With Sounds, by L. Frank Baum & Paul Hess, design and paper-engineering by Andy Mansfield, retold by Libby Hamilton, Silver Dolphin, $18.95. ages 4 and up, 2012. A twister as tall as a ruler pops up from the fold and triggers blustery sounds that transport readers into the action of L. Frank Baum's classic novel. In this atmospheric remake of
The Wizard of Oz, readers see five scenes from the story rise from the page as they read an abridged narrative of the classic. When each pop-up opens, a tab slides at the fold to turn on sound effects, ranging from the cackling of flying monkeys to a crescendo of orchestral music at the gates of Oz. In the first pop-up, Toto barks frantically, a cow bellows and the wind rattles about, sucking up everything in its path. Auntie Em and Uncle Henry's farmhouse spins at the top of vortex, with a shocked Dorothy staring out the window. Opposite is a giant uprooted tree flipped upside down, while below, a tractor whirls around with a cow rising from below. Under that, they see the narrowing tail of the tornado cutting a path across a swath of checkerboard farmland. The perspective is fantastic as it gives readers the feeling they're hovering in the sky nearby. It is the most stunning of the pop-ups and is the one readers are likely to open over and over. Soon Dorothy has landed in Oz and in the next pop-up she helps grease the Tin Man back to life as readers listen to his gears creak and jaunty orchestral music. Other pop-ups show the Emerald City rising like a palace, the flying monkeys carrying Dorothy and Toto away and the great head of Oz: a colorful mask-like visage. This pop-up is far less intricate than Robert Sabuda's
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but that also makes it more accessible for small children. I missed not seeing a pop-up of the Wicked Witch under the house, yet I was pleased that the illustrations were playful and not scary. Overall, this is a charming way to introduce young children to a classic.
Best part: The perspective of looking down at the tornado, sensing the sheer height of it, while listening to the sounds of livestock and branches getting pitched into the air.
Watch a trailer here!
For more pop-up fun, check out these other great titles:
Hide and Seek,
by David A. Carter, Tate Publishing (Abrams), $24.95, ages 3 and up, 2012.
One Spotted Giraffe: A Counting Pop-Up Book, by Petr Horacek, Candlewick, $15.99, ages 3 and up, 2012.
Late last week I wrote up a quick post on a few of the
gifts I'm giving for the holidays this year. I wasn't nearly as productive in my buying this year as I was last year (I finished shopping and had everything wrapped by November 1), so other gifts are still trickling in. Thought you might want to see a few others I've picked up lately.
I'm a Good Dog by Ken Foster
I've been a big fan of Ken Foster's writing for years. I loved Dogs I Have Met and The Dogs Who Found Me, gifting them to dog lovers of any kind. I'm a Good Dog is more of a visual journey compared to the other books, with a lot of pit bull history thrown in. I absolutely loved it and would recommend it to any dog lover, whether you own a pit bull or not.
Another awesome Etsy find! These would be great as multiple stocking stuffers, as each tiny tin of lip balm comes in its own little muslin bag stamped with a cute evergreen tree. I'm using all 4 in one bag as a gift for a teen.
This year is obviously the year of the family tree in our house. I've bought so many!
When I was still at the bookstore this game came in and I didn't get a chance to play with it, but had heard such great things. It gets excellent reviews and seems perfect for a couple of boys I know that really like to focus on one thing at a time.
Friends, I've missed you. This last week, I truly took on a few more events/tasks than I could feasibly handle without exhausting myself and what resulted was an entire week of no reading and no blogging. The blogging I suppose I can handle going without every once in awhile, but I don't think I've EVER gone a week without reading, even after having babies and being in the hospital and all that craziness. I always read!
Since I don't have any reviews for you, I thought I'd share my own version of a holiday gift guide. I have a huge variety of ages to buy for... from 1-year-olds to 75-year-olds, so I'm doing shopping all over the place. No one has paid me to advertise these or review them, I just want to spread the fun!
My kid LOVES this thing. From the time he was around 8 months old when he would play with the tray seated on the ground (the legs are removable) to now, when he's close to walking, he spends more time at this toy than at anything else during the day.
A Black Friday deal is allowing me to get a couple of these for two special kids in our family.
I love pairing up smaller gifts to make a fun combo and my one of my favorite gifts to give to children is a toy from Green Toys. They're made from 100% recycled milk jugs and are super simple, without crazy noises or anything "extra."This year, I'm giving both the tugboat and the dump truck and pairing them with two of my favorite books.
If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know how much I love Etsy. I buy from the site all the time and really feel great about buying gifts made by small businesses, most of whom work out of their homes to support families. I've purchased a couple of these this year and will be ordering one for us after the holiday craziness is over.
The shop owner was great at getting back to me regarding the colors and was very friendly. Always nice!
On my side of the family, my cousins are like my siblings, but I have a TON of them. So, we all draw names with each other and our spouses to determine who to buy for...of course, I choose two of the hardest people, that I don't know very well. I thought this was a gorgeous, masculine gift to honor where these guys had their children.
I've bought from this shop before and they are really quick with their shipping times, which I appreciate.
The books:
I have a lot of people to buy for this year, so this is definitely just a smattering of what I'm picking up this year. I'd love to know what you're buying!
By: Lana,
on 12/8/2011
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By Lana Goldsmith, OUP USA
This year we are delighted that beer geeks, foodies, industry professionals, and many others just curious about all-things-beer have added The Oxford Companion to Beer to their holiday wish list, along with other Oxford companions such as The Oxford Companion to Wine and The Oxford Companion to Food. But we also wanted to know what else the beer connoisseurs and oenophiles are putting on their holiday reading wish lists. Check out some of their recommendations below.
Bob Townsend from the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Drink: A Beer, Wine, and Spirits blog recommends these books:
- Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah by Jeremy Cowan with James Sullivan
- Brewed Awakening: Behind the Beers and Brewers Leading the World’s Craft Brewing Revolution by Joshua M. Bernstein
- The Great American Ale Trail: the Craft Beer Lover’s Guide to the Best Watering Holes in the Nation by Christian DeBenedetti
Jon Bonné at the San Francisco Chronicle recommends:
- Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All by Brad Thomas Parsons
- Terry Theise’s Reading Between the Vines
According to Esquire.com:
- “The New Beer Bibles a Man Should Read” include The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. by written by Greg Koch, Steve Wagner and Randy Clemens
But what do the book people want in their kitchen? What are they hoping to drink and eat through the holiday season? We took a survey and put together a list from OUP staff of all the things they’d like to go along with this stellar set of books.
JENNIFER ABRAMS, Senior Demand Planner
Le Creuset Signature Round Wide Dutch Oven:
This item from Le Creuset would be a perfect addition to my current cookware collection. I have a new love of making Jambalaya and this would be a wonderful pot to utilize!
All-Clad d5 Stainless-Steel 4-Qt Soup Pot:
I have recently found a great recipe for Wild Mushroom soup, and I’m looking to change over my cookware to stainless-steel. A soup pot would encourage me to find additional recipes.
TIM BARTON, Managing Director, Global Academic Publishing
A bottle of Barbera from Piemonte in Italy, since it reminds me of a fantastic year I spent there after university, teaching E
Seriously, who doesn't need a little Charlie and Lola in their lives? Lauren Child has created these now infamous characters that are simply wonderful and SO addicting to read about. We actually have arguments over who gets to check the latest Child book out of the library once it's processed (last time I won, but I usually have to wait...)!
So for my first Holiday Gift Idea, I figured Charlie and Lola were the way to go. Both boys and girls love the sisters and there are two really cool new items featuring them that can work as pretty awesome gifts.
The first is...of course...a book! But this is a POP-UP and we all looooove pop-ups! This version of I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed! is a fabulous pop-up filled with all sorts of cute pull, lift, and pop-up pages, all featuring the lovely Charlie and Lola. Each page is done in the usual illustrations and features some sort of activity, making it a BIG book. Kids will love playing with it and having you read the text to them. I definitely recommend it for home, not so much for the library, only because pop-ups tend to get ruined quite easily in a library environment. Great for a gift though!
And to go with the wonderful pop-up book is a product I didn't even know existed until I saw my friend's daughter playing with it last week. It's the "Charlie and Lola Pink Milk" game! There's a game about Charlie and Lola! YAY! Very simple concept, be the first to get to the center of the board after collecting the appropriate number of pink milk cards. Tigers will try to interrupt your journey though, so watch out! The game is list for 2-4 players, ages 3 and up. I watched a 5 year old playing and she got the concept very easily. Plus...the game is less than $10.00 on Amazon!
If you're interested in learning more or to purchase either the book or the game, click on either image to link you to Amazon.
Song of the Sparrow
by Lisa Ann Sandell
16-year-old Elaine lives at the army encampment with her father and her brothers, Tirry and Lavain. Nine years earlier, Elaine's mother was killed by Picts, and since then she has lived at the encampment, sewing the men's clothes and healing them after the battles. Being the only girl in camp can be lonely, and Elaine longs for a friend. But when Gwynivere joins the camp, betrothed to Arthur, she and Elaine take a dislike to each other, and not only because of their mutual attraction to Lancelot. The two women are very different: Elaine is accustomed to the freedom of camp life, and Gwynivere is a lady in every way. As the threat of the Saxons increases and great peril threatens Britain, can the two women overcome their differences and find friendship?
Song of the Sparrow is a beautiful novel in verse which tells the story of Elaine, the Lady of Shalott. Author Lisa Ann Sandell attempts to paint a realistic picture of the time in which Arthur might really have lived. All the familiar aspects of the Arthurian stories are here, but portrayed in a way that they might really have happened. The sword in the stone, for example, is a symbolic gesture: Merlin thrusts the sword in the earth for Arthur to draw forth as a symbol of his role as protector of the land.
Sandell's rich imagery brings to life the world that Elaine lives in, from the beauty of nature to the horrors of war. The verse form works well with the realism of the story; it creates a vivid sense of place. There's plenty of excitement, too, as this Elaine is not the type to stay at home while the men go off to war.
The characters, especially the women, are three-dimensional and interesting. Sandell felt that the women in the Arthurian stories are treated poorly: most are shallowly defined characters that are either victims or villians. She felt that the women of Camelot deserved better, and set out to do justice to the women by create real, fully fleshed out characters. In this, she succeeded brilliantly. The Lady of Shallot is no longer a pale, tragic figure who dies of heartbreak (as if someone could really die of heartbreak!) She's a powerful character, a strong woman trying to do the best she can in a man's world. Even if you aren't a fan of the Arthurian tales, this is a story you can enjoy for its own sake.
An author's note at the end discusses King Arthur in a historical context, the few historical mentions of him and the development of the legends. It's clear that Sandell has done her research. (In fact, she wrote her college thesis about Lancelot). A bibliography provides suggestions for further reading.
I interviewed Lisa Ann Sandell at BEA, and will be posting that soon.
Funny enough, I was Christmas shopping on Amazon this morning and put UNBROKEN in my cart ... for me. I didn't end up buying it, but only because I decided to go to my local indie next week and buy it there. Great minds and all that!!