P. Zonka Lays an EggA gorgeous new picture book for Easter, about a hen who lays no ordinary eggs but colourful, patterned ‘pysankas’ – … Continue reading ...
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by William Bee
Peachtree Publishing 9/01/2014
978-1-5614-801-1
Age 3 to 8 32 pages
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“When Myrtle buys a plot of land, she asks Stanley to build her a new house. He works step-by-step—from clearing the site with a bulldozer, to pouring the foundation, to painting the finished house in Myrtle’s favorite colors. Luckily, Charlie helps out too. Building houses is hard work, but all three friends are happy with a job well done.”
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Opening
“What are Stanley and Myrtle doing?”
Review
Myrtle the mouse just purchased a plot of land and hires Stanley to build her a house. Stanley is an industrious hamster. After clearing the land with his bulldozer, Stanley and his helper Charlie, build the foundation. The tricky work of laying down the bricks is next. There is not a wolf around who will be able to blow this house down. When the house is finished, Stanley paints it using Myrtle’s favorite colors. All done, Stanley heads home, newspaper in hand, for dinner, a long bath, and bed. He will wake up ready for a new day.
Young boys will love the Stanley the Builder. Stanley uses all kinds of machines to help him build Myrtle’s house. Will kids know what and how these machines are used? Stanley wears a yellow safety hat, possibly just as dad wears. Young boys, and some girls, who enjoy building things just like Stanley, will love a story about building, especially with the cute hamster Stanley. The illustrations are basic with large, easy to recognize shapes, separated by solid black lines, which help deepen the colors and drawing one’s attention. The colors are basic primary and secondary colors. Kids should be able to recognize each color if asked.
I love this clean presentation. The white background helps keep the eyes focused on the main illustration. I also like that Stanley’s friend Charlie helps and Myrtle finds a way to help out, too. These three friends work well together. Young children will enjoy pointing out the equipment Stanley uses—a crane, digger, cement mixer, and bulldozer. A game can be made of finding the machine, the item used to build the house, or a specific color, after reading the story, of course. In this way, Stanley the Builder can be a great way to prepare for kindergarten. Stanley has more adventures on the way. Young children will eagerly await each new addition. Next, Stanley runs a garage.
STANLEY THE BUILDER. Text and illustrations copyright © 2014 by William Bee. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Peachtree Publishing.
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Purchase Stanley the Builder at Amazon
Learn more about Stanley and his series HERE
Meet the author/illustrator, William Bee, at his website: http://www.williambee.com/
Check out William Bee’s fantastic blog: http://williambee.blogspot.com/
Find all of the Stanley series at the Peachtree Publishing blog: http://peachtreepub.blogspot.com/
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Also by William Bee
Worst in Show – 2014
Digger Dog – 2014
Stanley the Farmer – 2015
Stanley’s Garage – 2014
Review HERE
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Migloo’s Day – 2015
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Copyright © 2014 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews
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Peachtree Publishing Book Blog Tour
Stanley the Builder
Monday 9/1
Tuesday 9/2
Wednesday 9/3
Thursday 9/4
Friday 9/5
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Ol’ Bloo’s Boogie-Woogie Band and Blues Ensemble by Jan Huling Henri Sorensen, illustrator Peachtree Publishers 5 Stars . Inside Jacket: Ol’ Bloo Donkey has always dreamed of retiring from the cotton field to become a honky-tonk singer. But when he overhears the type of retirement plan Farmer Brown has in mind for him—of the permanent …
5 Stars Santa’s Eleven Months Off Mike Reiss Michael G, Montgomery Peachtree Publishing 32 Pages Ages: 4 to 8 (+) Cover & Jacket: From December first through Christmas, Santa Claus got down to business, making fifty zillion toys for the world’s good girls and boys. All that month, he worked his rear off. Then he [...]
For all you folks who want a fabulous way to spend a hot July day… consider this: http://www.thewritersplot.com/ I’ve posted some of the info from their website below (hope that’s okay, Pam!) and I hope some of you can go. I want to hear Harold Underdown speak so badly! He is a fab presence on [...]
By: Chris Singer,
on 8/3/2011
A Storm Called Katrina by Myron Uhlberg and illustrated by Colin Bootman
Review by Chris Singer
About the author:
Myron Uhlberg is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of a number of children’s books. He has authored five children’s books, among them the Schneider Family Award winner “Dad, Jackie, and Me.” He recently published a memoir of his life in Brooklyn, New York, growing up the oldest hearing son of deaf parents. A retired businessman, Uhlberg lives with his wife in CA.
About the illustrator:
Colin Bootman was born in Trinidad but moved to the United States at the age of seven. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York, he has illustrated numerous books for children, including Dad, Jackie, and Me. Almost to Freedom was a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book. Bootman lives in New York City.
About the book:
Ten-year-old Louis Daniel hates it when Mama treats him like a baby. But when Hurricane Katrina blows through the Gulf Coast on a fateful August night, followed by broken levees and rising floodwaters threatening New Orleans, Louis feels like a little kid again. With no time to gather their belongings save Louis s beloved horn Daddy leads the family from their home and into an unfamiliar, watery world of floating debris, lurking critters, a winsome black-and-white dog, and desperate neighbors heading for dry ground. Taking shelter in the already-crowded Superdome, Louis and his parents wait and wait. As the days pass, the electricity goes out, the air conditioning dies, the bathrooms are closed, and people around them begin to bicker as they run out of food and water. When Daddy fails to return from a scouting mission within the Dome, Louis knows he s no longer a baby. It s up to him to find Daddy, with the help of his prized cornet.
My take on the book:
Everything I’ve ever read by Myron Uhlberg has been outstanding and although my daughter is a bit young for some of them, I have been collecting them for her to read when she’s older. A Storm Called Katrina is no exception and might be Uhlberg’s most powerful book yet.
The power in this story comes through the eyes of ten-year-old Louis Daniel. We follow Louis’ journey with his parents after they are forced to leave their home to seek refuge at the Superdome. Through Louis, we see the fear, sadness, devastation and tough choices people face during a natural disaster.
It’s hard to believe Katrina happened 6 years ago (we’re coming up on the “anniversary” this August 29th) and while most of the country hasn’t thought about Katrina in a long time, the devastation is still very real for many as recovery is still ongoing in parts of New Orleans.
As such, the release of this book is very timely and along with the beginning of a new school year throughout most of the country, teachers can discuss the anniversary of Katrina with their students. I recommend teachers and librarians look to
By: Chris Singer,
on 4/13/2011
Review by Chris Singer
About the author:
Kathryn O. Galbraith is an award-winning children’s book author with more than a dozen picture books to her credit, including Boo, Bunny!; Arbor Day Square; Traveling Babies; and Laura Charlotte. She teaches writing for children at the University of Washington
About the illustrator:
Wendy Anderson Halperin is the illustrator of over twenty-five books, including Thank You, God, For Everything and Turn! Turn! Turn! She also created the award-winning project “Drawing Children into Reading.” She lives in Michigan.
About the book:
Seed by seed, we plant the wild meadow garden wind and water, birds and animals, plants and people all of us together.
In this lyrical picture book, author Kathryn O. Galbraith explains the many ways in which seeds are spread and planted.
A farmer and her son plant vegetables in their garden, and the wind carries a few seeds away. Birds and animals may carry some along with them on their travels. Sometimes the rain washes them away to a new and unexpected location. And sometimes something more extraordinary occurs, as in when the pods of the Scotch Broom plant open explosively in the summer heat, scattering seed everywhere like popcorn. Year-round, we all play a role in the dispersal of seeds throughout our landscape, planting the wild garden together.
My take on the book:
Reading this book made me think back to last summer when our daughter was barely 15 months old and she experienced her first time outside “working” in the garden with her mom. Every night after dinner we would go water our backyard garden, and our daughter had her own little watering can. She would follow us around and even at that young age, she would go to every single plant. Some of my favorite pictures are of these times last year.
It’s also apropos that Planting the Wild Garden was set for an April publishing date. Not only is Earth Day in a few weeks, but it’s also National Poetry Month. This latest release from Kathryn Galbraith reads like a beautiful, lyrical poem with it’s easy, flowing style. Part of the beauty of the text is its accessibility to both early and more experienced readers. Wendy Halperin’s accompanying illustr
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glad you posted this and shared it on the list serve. Hope you can make it! Both Jean and I are driving down Friday night (I’m staying over on Saturday too) so you could catch a ride with one of us and go back with jean. Maybe you could find someone to share a room with too.
If my hubby has to work that weekend, I will prob just be at the conference for the day (travel down and back same day). But If he does NOT have to work, we will be celebrating our 17 year anniversary with our kiddos by camping that weekend. So, I am waiting to see what happens with his work before I can make plans.
If I get to go, I will be ecstatic!
But If I get to go camping and celebrate with my sweet kiddos and hubby… I’ll be over the moon!
p.s. Carol – I was so glad to see you posted this to the yahoo group! I received an email about it weeks ago and mean to share. Your post jiggled my brain to do what I shoud have done a while back!
Congratulations on 17 years, Donna and Sean!
I hope you’ll get to go and celebrate your anniversary! Sounds wonderful …
I do, too. We’ll see what’s happening that weekend with the weather. I want the kids to enjoy our time together and not feel like they are in an oven the whole time. Ya know?