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AKR is a true picture book talent.  And her memoir has just been put on MY wish list!

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I wanted to feature books on gingerbread.  The multitude of gingerbread man, baby, girl, woman, twins, doll, bear, dog, computer mouse (joke) books out there have raised my blood sugar to dangerous levels.

Cookies are less sweet but there are some winners available - and most of them are holiday free!  Read them now.  Read them months from now.  Still tasty.

The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems.  The cheek of that little duckling!  He asked for a cookie - politely - and he got one.  The Pigeon wants a cookie.  Does anyone ever give HIM a cookie?  Another delightful meltdown by the world's favorite pigeon!  And cookies.   And a very cute Duckling.  (And too many sentence fragments.)

Cookies : Bite-size Life Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Jane Dyer.  Oooooh, Jane Dyer artwork.  Now that IS sweet!  Rosenthal uses the process of baking and eating cookies to introduce concepts such as the difference between "fair" and "unfair" or what it means to cooperate.  And the pictures?  Well, they are by Jane Dyer.
Read Christmas Cookies : Bite-size Holiday Lessons by the same team to feel all warm and yule-tide cozy.

Gingerbread bunnies, gingerbread husbands, gingerbread hearts, wives, foxes, ponies, dreams, AAAHHH!!!
Still...

The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone.  This is the version I grew up with.  The text is straight forward and the illustrations are bright and snappy.

The following book is for teenagers.   

Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn.  Cyd Charisse - no, not the long-legged actor from the '50s - is a young teen with a lot of attitude.  She's been thrown out of school - again.  Her mother and stepfather are fed up.  So across the country to NYC, Cyd goes, to meet her biological dad and her half-siblings and, hopefully, get straightened out.  There are not many cookies in this book.  There is a lot of smart-a** dialogue and convoluted thinking.  Cyd makes some blunders but the reader cheers her on.  There might be some dated phrases here (c2004). 
BTW, Gingerbread is her rag doll, her talisman and best friend.  I relate.  I still have my kid-hood best friend.  (In the attic.)

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Time for another post that justifies my current job.  As you may or may not know, as Evanston Public Library’s Collection Development Manager I buy all the adult books.  Which is to say, they apparently make them for people over the age of 12 these days.  Who knew?  Happily, there are plenty of connections to the wide and wonderful world of children’s literature in the grown-up book universe.  Here are a couple of interesting recent examples you might enjoy:

Though she’s best known in our world as a mighty successful picture book author (with a killer ping-pong backswing) Rosenthal’s that rare beast that manages to straddle writing for both adults and kids.  The last time she wrote an out-and-out book for the grown-up set, however, was ten years ago (Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life).  This next one’s a memoir of sorts (I say “of sorts” because the subtitle belies this statement).  Here’s the description:

“… each piece of prose is organized into classic subjects such as Social Studies, Music, and Language Arts. Because textbook would accurately describe a book with a first-of-its-kind interactive text messaging component. Because textbook is an expression meaning “quintessential”—Oh, that wordplay and unconventional format is so typical of her, so textbook AKR. Because if an author’s previous book has the word encyclopedia in the title, following it up with a textbook would be rather nice.”

 

Sorry Permanent Press Publishing Company.  This cover doesn’t do justice the myriad children’s book references parading about inside.  I read all the reviews and tried to find the best description (the official one is lame).  Library Journal‘s was the one that piqued my interest best.  As they said:

“Jonathan Tucker lives with his dog Nip on 20 acres on Long Island, having left his job with a high-powered law firm three years earlier after his wife and two children were killed in a traffic accident. Now his mentor, a senior partner, asks for help. The firm’s biggest client, billionaire Ben Baum of Ozone Industries, has died in London under suspicious circumstances. A descendant of L. Frank Baum of Wizard of Oz fame, Ben had been obsessed with fantasy, in particular the works of Baum, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Lewis Carroll. Attached to his will, he left behind an enigmatic letter, prefaced by runes and filled with puzzles hinting at forces of evil arrayed against him. It’s up to Jonathan and his team to unravel what may be a deadly conspiracy with a host of suspects, each one poised to benefit from Ben’s premature death. . . . Readers may enjoy the kid-lit nomenclature—characters include Alice, Charlotte (who spins webs), Dorothy, Eloise, Madeline, Herr Roald Dahlgrens (a “peach of a man”), Frank Dixon (the Hardy Boys), Peter Abelard, and the Baums—and may not mind the sometimes too-evident craft, e.g., characters who “tell their story” at length and dialog laden with exposition.”

Admit it.  It sounds fun.  But that cover . . . I mean, did they just hire someone who just read the title and found the nearest Getty Images of crows?  No points there.

I feel like it’s been a while since one of these round-ups included a book about a picture book author/illustrator.  This one counts.  In this story, said picture book creator has lost her inspiration.  Other stuff happens too, but with my tunnel vision that was pretty much all I picked up on.

Um.

Moving on.

Part of the joy of my job is buying the “cozies” i.e. sweet little murder mystery novels (usually in paperback).  You would not believe the series out there.  There are quilting mysteries, yoga mysteries, jam mysteries, bed and breakfast mysteries (that one makes sense to me), you name it.  The newest series I’ve found?  Little Free Library mysteries.  I kid you not.

As for other mysteries . . .

Now I know what you’re thinking.  You’re wondering if this is actually a book about a murder that occurs at Misselthwaite Manor.  And the answer is . . . . it’s not.  No, it takes place at a book-themed resort where a secret garden has been created for the guests.  How do folks die?  Deadly herbs!!  That gets points from me.

Oh ho!  This one almost sneaked past me the other day.  I read the review, dutifully put it in my order cart, and just as I was moving on to the next book my eye happened to catch the name of the author.  Marjorie?!  The same Marjorie who writes those magnificent yearly round-ups of Jewish kids in books at Tablet Magazine at the end of each year (to say nothing of her posts throughout the other seasons)?  That’s her.  The book’s getting great reviews too, so go, Marjorie, go!

So here’s the problem with this book.  It should be in the humor section alongside the Amy Sedaris title Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People.  Instead, it somehow ended up legitimately with a “Craft” Dewey Decimal Number, a fact I’m going to have to rectify at work tomorrow.  Not that you couldn’t actually do the crafts if you wanted, but the book’s far funnier than it is practical.  No one knows what to do with the thing when they see it, of course.  So why am I including it here?  Because darned if the author isn’t Ross MacDonald, the author/illustrator of fine picture books everywhere.  I did my due diligence to make sure it was actually the same guy.  Yup.  It sure is.  So Macmillan, about that DD# . . .

And finally, just because I thought it was cute . . .

Now someone go out and write a picture book of the same name for all our budding scientists out there.

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For many kids, August is back-to-school month. The stories in this month's hot new release kids books will make back-to-school (and anytime) reading a breeze.

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I Wish You More

Written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
Chronicle Books  3/01/2015
978-1-4521-2699-9
40 pages Age 3+
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“Some books are about a single wish.
Some books are about three wishes.
This book is about endless wishes.

“Amy Krouse and Tom Lichtenheld have been called the “Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers of children’s books” and here they have combined their extraordinary talent to create a compendium of wishes—wishes for curiosity and wonder, friendship and strength, for joyous days and quiet moments.

What will you wish for?”  [book jacket]

Review
I Wish You More is the perfect book for a (grand)parent to give their (grand)child for any occasion or no occasion at all. I Wish You More is also the perfect book to give the child heading off to college, summer camp, or any other get-away.

Beginning with two children racing with the wind, a kite flying high above, the text reads:  “I wish you more ups than downs.” Each spread continues with a wish and an image expressing that wish. Children will understand most of the test and each of the images. Lichtenheld has created a multicultural set of children, which make the spreads that more adorable—if this is possible.

I Wish You More is simply a wonderful, joyous, high-spirited, positive celebration of what a wish can do for those who receive them, and for those who give them. There really is not much more to say about this beautiful picture book. Read I Wish You More to a young child and they can learn the benefits of kindness and well wishes toward other humans. And, I believe, you can help your little one with their self-esteem.  I Wish You More would have been in my office and read to every child.

Each spread is one wish—one special wish with an equally special illustration. Narrated by the voice of a parent, I Wish You More  concludes by stating it contains all these wishes, “. . . because you are everything I could wish for . . . and more.”

**Chronicle Books is making two posters from the book available for anyone who would like them. This may be for a limited time, I do not know, so go HERE and get your set of two. They are perfect for any child’s room. There is also an activity kit for teachers HERE.

I WISH YOU MORE. Text copyright © 2015 by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Tom Lichtenheld. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.

Purchase I Wish You More at Amazon—Book Depository—Chronicle Books.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! (#4)
Learn more about I Wish You More HERE.

Meet the author, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, at her website:  http://www.whoisamy.com/
Meet the illustrator, Tom Lichtenheld, at his website:  http://www.tomlichtenheld.com/
Find more picture books at the Chronicle Books website:  http://www.chroniclebooks.com/
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Copyright © 2015 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved
Review section word count = 222

Filed under: 6 Stars TOP BOOK, Children's Books, Favorites, Library Donated Books, NonFiction, Picture Book, Top 10 of 2015 Tagged: 978-1-4521-2699-9, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, books for parents to give children, Chronicle Books, creative, empowering, I Wish You More, illuminating, reflective, self esteem, Tom Lichtenheld, wishes

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Wow! This is a great month for picture books—amazing picture book authors and sensational illustrators star in this month's new release kids books. Plus, The Penderwicks in Spring is here!

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Denise Mealy | The Children’s Book Review | February 10, 2015 Uni the Unicorn By Amy Krouse Rosenthal; Illustrated by Brigette Barrager Age Range: 3-7 Hardback: 48 pages Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers ISBN: 978-0-375-98208-8 What to expect: Unicorns, Fairy Tales, Believing, Friendship Uni the Unicorn is an adorable tale about believing, no matter how fantastical […]

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As we begin a season of reflection and celebration, we are pleased to share some of our favorite books on thankfulness and being grateful that will help young readers on their journey to understanding gratitude.

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This month's little peek at the current children's book trends on The Children's Book Review showcases Christmas books for kids, books on mindfulness and some best selling young adult books, as well as a wonderful literacy resource on where to find free ebooks for children.

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Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!

I spent easily half my week writing a picture book which is not working and which at this point I hate a little bit :)  Why is it that an idea which seems so good when it starts out in your head can turn out so badly when you get it on paper?  I still feel like there's a kernel of good story in there somewhere, but darned if I can find it right now :)

Ah, well, at least I have a lovely, fun picture book (not mine :)) to share with you today!

Title: You Are (Not) Small
Written By: Anna Kang
Illustrated By: Christopher Weyant
Two Lions, August 2014, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 2-6

Themes/Topics: Differences, Perspective, Humor

Opening: "'You are small.'
'I am not small.  You are big.'
'I am not big.  See?'"

Brief Synopsis: Two creatures (whose fur, noses, and expressions suggest that they are indeed closely related) argue over who is small and who is big.  But it's really all in how you look at it :)


Links To Resources: Kids Activity Guide with printable growth chart; Classroom Guide for K-1st with Common Core Standards; start a discussion on the difficulty and/or desirability of establishing standards; read with Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal - how are these books alike? how are they different?

Why I Like This Book:  This book is short and simple, yet it manages to convey an important message with humor.  I dare you not to laugh at the end :)  In 91 words, it manages to get across the idea that we can be big and small at the same time, and in spite of our perceived differences we have much in common.  The art is appealing, and the characters' expressions speak volumes.  For anyone who has ever felt too little (or too big), this is the perfect story.

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF bloggers please be sure to leave your post-specific link in the list below so we can all come visit you!  Can't wait to see what other wonderful picture books will be on the list this week!

Have a wonderful first weekend of Autumn, everyone! :)

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Al Pha’s Bet

By Amy Krouse Rosenthal; illustrated by Delphine Durand

 

As the first few weeks of Back to School roll out for families attempting to adjust to school schedules and the new “order of the day”, an ABC book came to mind for young readers. And it prompts the question, “Did you ever wonder WHO put the 26 letters of the alphabet in ABC ORDER for countless generations that have enunciated them in sing song fashion?

New York Times best selling author Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author of “Little Pea” and “One of Those Days”, does.

Like many other things in life, it all depends on how you look at things and Ms. Rosenthal has chosen to roll out the alphabet in a refreshingly imaginative way.

It’s not JUST the same ole ABC’s. It’s their STORY, and don’t kids love stories, or at least one VIEW of how they came to be, well, in ABC order?

Enter Al Pha in the time of long ago of course. In point of fact this is the VERY long ago as in the time of the invention of FIRE, the WHEEL and SHADOWS (might THIS reference to SHADOWS be a nod of the head to Plato’s cave theory relating to the allegory of knowledge? This could lead to a VERY interesting turn in the story telling road). We’re talking VERY olden times here!

Anyway, the king announces a contest for the organization of the letters of the alphabet that had just been thrown together willy-nilly! The lure of being famous AND remembered “for all time” prompts Al to enter with both feet. SHH! Private BET time as Al tells NO ONE of his plan. Remember the BET! Al collects his burlap bag of letters from the palace and is off and running on an organizational quest. The easiest letter to come first is A. A is of course, for Al!

And what follows is a very interesting take on the progression of the letters AND what prompts their groupings. Could a bee casually buzzing by Al be responsible for its place as #2 in the list of 26? And what about E and F closely resembling each other? Could they be TWINS? A snake’s hiss and S is assembled, but not before the reaction of Al with an “Arrrrrrrrrr”, that precedes the S! As Al nears the end, it’s a literal “toss up” of X and Y to see in which order they will be arranged.

Dragging the ABC burlap bag BACK to the king, Al and the king wind up in a duet, SAYING AND SINGING the letters that tons of school kids have recited in the same way. Al is a shoe-in for fame.

So, Al Pha won the BET! What a neat tying up of loose ends, Ms. Rosenthal. AND it’s the end of the story, but not of Al and Ms. Rosenthal’s cunning take on the history of the ABC’s.

And hey, Delphine Durand’s “thumb like”, red-panted Al is perfect for a “Where is Thumbkin?” illustration. But THAT is ANOTHER story!

 

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Enter to win a copy of UNI THE UNICORN by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; illustrated by Brigette Barrager. Giveaway begins September 12, 2014, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends October 11, 2014, at 11:59 P.M. PST.

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From the author of Little Pea, Spoon, and Duck! Rabbit! comes a uniquely magical tale of Uni the Unicorn. Uni is the only unicorn who believes little girls are real! Lovely illustrations by Brigette Barrager make this a wonderful and memorable read. Books mentioned in this post Uni the Unicorn Amy Krouse Rosenthal New Hardcover [...]

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By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: August 8, 2012

Andrea Scher

We are delighted to feature Andrea Scher’s Five Family Favorites. Andrea is an artist, photographer and life coach. Through her award-winning blog Superhero Journal and e-courses, Mondo Beyondo and Superhero Photo, she inspires us to find our passions and dream big. A supermom (no capes, just courage) to two adorable boys named Ben and Nico, you can often find her on her kitchen floor trying to get them to do superhero leaps for the camera. Andrea is also the co-author of wonderful book called Expressive Photography: The Shutter Sisters Guide to Shooting from the Heart. Registration is open for the fall session of Mondo Beyondo now!

Little Pea

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I am big fan of all things Amy Krouse Rosenthal, but this book is one of my favorites of her creations. My son Ben has always been a picky eater, so this tale of a little pea who didn’t want to eat her candy (the equivalent of vegetables in the pea world) made Ben hysterical with laughter. We even filmed one of these giggly episodes to remember it forever. Such a sweet book.

Ages 4-5 | Publisher: Chronicle Books | April 28, 2005

Is Your Mama a Llama?

by Deborah Guarino; illustrated by Steven Kellogg

Every morning, the first thing my toddler says is, “Mama llama? Boop? Mama Llama?” We have read this book so many times that we have all committed it to memory. Even my 5-year-old can “read” it to Nico and he doesn’t know how to read! It is an endearing book about a llama that asks each of his animal friends who their mama is.

Ages 2-8| Publisher: Scholastic | June 1, 2006

Good Night, Gorilla

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By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: July 8, 2012

Elizabeth Bard

It’s a special treat to have Elizabeth Bard contribute her family’s top five favorites to The Children’s Book Review. An American journalist and author based in France, her first book, Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes has been a New York Times and international bestseller, a Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writers” pick, and the recipient of the 2010 Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Best First Cookbook (USA). Bard’s writing on food, art, travel and digital culture has appeared in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, Wired, Harper’s Bazaar and The Huffington Post. Thanks to Elizabeth for sharing her thoughtful personal reflections on raising her son abroad with us.

Story time at our house is fun time, bed time, but it is also the site of a good-natured – but genuine – culture war. From the moment I moved to Paris to be with my French husband, I knew our children would be bilingual. As our lives have unfolded here, it’s become clear that most of my son’s childhood will be spent in France, worlds away from Sesame Street, Twinkies and other staples of my American childhood.

Augustin is almost three now. In addition to speaking English with me, and on vacations with his grandparents, books are the most effective tool I have to make sure he becomes – and stays – fluent in English, and is introduced to the different world view that creeps into the stories we choose to tell. There’s a part of all this that is inherently selfish: I want him to love these books because I love them. If he couldn’t – or didn’t want to – read in English, it would be like sewing up half my soul. A piece of his mother, and one of his cultures, would become unknowable to him.

Here are a few of our early and current favorites:

Spoon

By Amy Krouse Rosenthal

One of Augustin’s very first words was “Poon” – shorthand for his favorite book. Spoon is a wonderful “the grass is always greener” story of a little spoon who thinks his friends, knife, fork and chopsticks have it so much better than him. He never gets to twirl spaghetti. He never gets to cut bread. His mother thoughtfully reminds him that knife can’t swim around in a bowl with the Cheerios, and chopsticks never get to dive into bowl of vanilla ice-cream.

Ages 3-7 | Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children | April 7, 2009

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