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Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan A. Shea. Illustrated by Tom Slaughter. Blue Apple Books, 2011 (978-1-60905-062-7)
What a fresh, fun idea for a picture book. We know that a duckling will grow to become a duck, but can a car grow to become... a truck? How about a stool and a chair? After several suggestions, the rhyming text gives us the answers: "YES to ducks, bears and owls, NO to trucks, chairs and towels. YES to cats. YES to goats. NO to hats. NO to coats." The change in rhythm keeps the rhyme scheme from getting dull, and paper flaps to lift add anticipation to the silly suggestions.
There's all sorts of easy learning in here, about the names of baby and adult animals, and about the concept of the difference between things that grow and things that are made. Matte paintings in mainly primary colors, white and black, are an age-appropriate, non-distracting backdrop to the text. (2-5)
FTC disclosure: Review copy provided by the publisher. This blog is completely independent, but I receive a small percentage if you order books from Powell's via this site.
0 Comments on Review: Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? as of 1/1/1900
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.
Have you ever been to a children's writing conference where the topic of Concept Books wasn't at the top of the discussions around the lunch tables?
I’ll bet I’ve heard twenty different explanations of the term Concept Books. None of them have been satisfactory to me. Once again Suen speaks my language. We’re on the same wave-length or something. She’s making this and other terms clear to me at
2 Comments on The Concepts Behind Concept Books, last added: 10/22/2010
Jean,<br /><br />You're not in the fog alone. Concept books has been a concept often misrepresented or ill-defined. Most publishers I have read up on don't seem to handle the social issue concept books and the other type are often written inhouse. <br /><br />I'm glad you're enjoyed your study so much and that it is so helpful. That's wonderful!
The Most Amazing Hide-and-Seek Numbers Book. Robert Crowther. 2010. August 2010. (1999) Candlewick. 12 pages.
Most counting books only count from one to ten, or one to five. (Though sometimes they count forwards and backwards.) This one boasts to count from one to a hundred. (Though after 20, the book counts by tens: 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100). Then there is the title boasting that is the "most amazing" hide-and-seek number books.
I can't say that I find this counting book amazing. But I did like it well enough.
The Most Amazing Hide-and-Seek Alphabet Book. Robert Crowther. 1999/2010. August 2010. Candlewick. 12 pages.
I wouldn't necessarily say this alphabet book is the most amazing alphabet book I've read. I've read a few alphabet books that focus on animals. And I've read a few novelty alphabet books that use flaps, tabs, and pop-ups. This one is no better, no worse. My favorite letters: K, M, O, T.
The animals are getting ready for another adventure. An alphabetical adventure. What does the day hold in store for our clever farm animals?
Are you a fan of Doreen Cronin? Do you have a favorite character? A favorite book? From this series. I'd have to say the original, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type and Dooby, Dooby Moo are my favorites! I love the typing cows! And I really love the duck! There's just something so fun, so playful, so silly about these books!
Click, Clack, 123. Doreen Cronin. Illustrated by Betsy Lewin. 2006/2010. Little Simon. 22 pages.
1 farmer sleeping. 2 feet creeping. 3 buckets piled high. 4 chickens standing by. 5 cows type a note.
I don't know about you, but I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these spirited books by Doreen Cronin. Have you read Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type? How about Giggle, Giggle, Quack or Thump, Quack, Moo? Then there is Dooby Dooby Moo and Duck for President!
Like the previous books in the series, this one offers a few surprises!
I Like Fruit. Lorena Siminovich. 2010. July 2010. Candlewick. 10 pages.
I enjoyed Lorena Siminovich's I Like Bugs. But I loved, loved, loved her I Like Fruit. Like I Like Bugs, this one is a touch-and-feel book. It offers readers a variety of textures. And it's very bright, very colorful. This book introduces colors to young ones by using fruit. For the color red, we have a strawberry, a raspberry, and cherries.
Green brings us an apple, a kiwi, and some grapes.
My favorite texture would have to be the pear or the orange.
I loved the design of this one. I do. I love the textures. The colors. The arrangement of all the different elements. It's a beautiful book. There is just something so pleasing, so appealing about it. It just works really, really well.
I Like Bugs. Lorena Siminovich. 2010. March 2010. Candlewick. 10 pages.
I'll be honest. I don't like bugs. But. I do like I Like Bugs. I like it so, so much! I Like Bugs is a touch-and-feel book and a counting book. What are we counting? Bugs, of course!
1 one dragonfly 2 two butterflies 3 three beetles
I liked the different textures. I especially liked the texture for the beetles. I liked the bright, bold colors. The bright blue butterflies and the red flowers especially. Overall, I really enjoyed the art, the illustrations. The collage aspects made this board book extra special.
Sleepy ABC. By Margaret Wise Brown. Illustrated By Karen Katz. Text, 1953. Illustrations, 2010. HarperCollins. 40 pages.
Karen Katz illustrates Margaret Wise Brown's Sleepy ABC. I was not familiar with this Brown title. Brown is of course best known for her books Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. This one is fairly obvious--an alphabet bedtime book.
A is for Aaaah when a small kitten sighs B is for Baaaaaa when the lambs close their eyes C is for Caw when the last crow crows D is for Dreams and the Dark Wind that blows E is for Eyes that all must close--the child's, the rabbit's, and the rose. F is for Feet that won't fall asleep G is for Grazing of sleepy sheep
Look Around and Listen. Begin Smart Books. 2009. October 2009. 8 pages.
This Begin Smart book is recommended for babies age newborn to six months. And it features a squeaky toy. A very small squeaky toy. The book itself is a bath book. One that definitely wouldn't suffer from getting a little wet--which could be a good thing! Each page introduces an object--keys, a bell, a duck, a cat, a sleeping baby, a bird, etc--in the illustration and also introduces its sound--meow, quack, jingle, ring, tweet, etc.
Happy Easter, Mouse by Laura Numeroff. Illustrated by Felicia Bond. HarperCollins, 2010 (978-0-694-0142204) $6.99 board
After being happy to see the exuberant mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie again, it was a little disappointing to realize that this is not one of the sophisticated circular tales of that series, but a simple concept book about colors. But closer inspection showed plenty to appreciate on that simpler scale.
Mouse has been decorating eggs for Easter. He wakes up in the morning to find a yellow egg under his covers. And who put those red eggs on the counter? And balanced the purple eggs in the table? Careful watchers will spot clues sneaking around some of the pages.
The illustrations are the highlight of this book. Aimed at younger children, they're less elaborate than those of the rest of the series, with lots of white space. But the expressiveness and detail remain. Mouse's bedcover is a beautifully detailed bandana, over which he looks thrilled by the egg he finds. He dashes excitedly around the house, finding eggs in charming little vignettes. There are quite a few visual references to Mouse's first book here, so older fans could enjoying sharing this with younger children. (1-3)
FTC disclaimer: Reviewed from a copy provided by the publisher. This blog is completely independent, but I receive a small percentage if you order books from Powell's via this site.
0 Comments on review: Happy Easter, Mouse by Laura Numeroff as of 1/1/1900
Wow. Wow. Wow. This may just be my favorite alphabet book ever. It's so clever. It's so fun. It's one of those books with again-again appeal. What makes this one so great? The photographs of the animals? Yes. Mostly. But sometimes it's more than that. It's how the animals are presented. It's the way they're presented. It's the style and charisma of the photographs that makes this one wow-worthy. It's what makes this one equally appealing to adults. How many alphabet books have the power to engage adults?
How does this one work? Well, there's a two page spread featuring the letter itself--upper and lower case. This page also features a sneak-peek of the animal. (I love what he did with A, by the way!) And then there's another two page spread naming an animal (or in some cases many animals) that represents that letter. (As you might have guessed, Ee is for Elephant.) The book also features a glossary of facts for each animal represented in the book.
Cousins, Lucy. 2009. Maisy's Food. A Maisy Dual-Language Book. Cousins, Lucy. 2009. Maisy's Clothes. A Maisy Dual-Language Book. Cousins, Lucy. 2009. Maisy's Toys. A Maisy Dual-Language Book. Cousins, Lucy. 2009. Maisy's Animals. A Maisy Dual-Language Book.
Want to learn Spanish with Maisy? Now you can with Candlewick Press's newest Maisy books: Maisy's Food, Maisy's Clothes, Maisy's Animals, and Maisy's Toys. What to expect from each one? Simple illustrations in very bright colors. Each spread features words in English and Spanish that go with the illustration.
In Maisy's Clothes, for example, we see Maisy and one of her friends standing in the rain. We learn these words: rainhat, rubber boots, umbrella, and raincoat. (El sombrero de lluvia, las botas de goma, el paraguas, el impermeable). Not all spreads have that many vocabulary words. Some are quite simple.
What I like about Maisy--in general--are the bright colors of the illustrations and the simple-and-sweet approach of the text. Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Just Maisy being Maisy.
Inches, Alison. 2009. I Love Fall! Illustrated by Hiroe Nakata.
I like the idea of this concept book. It's a touch and feel book about the fall season. I don't know about you, but there's something inviting about this little girl. It makes me want to like the book.
I love fall! In the fall, the air is chilly, but my scarf feels warm and woolly. Scritch, scratch! Rub my woolly scarf!
I think this one works for the most part. (Especially if you're not picky). But it's not quite right either. The scarf doesn't feel woolly. It feels soft and fleecy. Or perhaps soft and velvety. (Definitely not something you could scritch or scratch. Just saying.) And this is the case with so many of the touch-and-feel items. The "smooth pumpkin" doesn't come close to feeling like an actual pumpkin. It feels like plastic or vinyl. (It's shiny and reflective too.) Granted I haven't felt up all that many pumpkins in my lifetime, but smooth isn't the first thing that comes to mind. One other small thing that I noticed, and then I'll be quiet.
Grandma bakes pumpkins and apple treats. She gives me yummy pies that are warm and sweet.
Crinkle, crinkle! Feel the shiny pie tin that I put in my basket.
Anyone want to tell me exactly how shiny feels? Shiny is something that you see with your eyes, not touch with your fingers. The pie tin--which is the touchable part of this spread--actually comes closest to feeling like the object it is supposed to depict (unlike the smooth pumpkin and dry leaves), but the feeling isn't shiny. (I should also note that they got the wicker basket part right of this touch-and-feel.)
Doodler (Goldman), Todd H. 2009. The Zoo I Drew. Random House. (July 28(ish) publication)
This one's a keeper. And not just for zoo keepers either. Though this one boasts that it is "zoo-keeper approved." (And who am I to doubt Todd H. Doodler?!) I loved this one. Loved it. It had me at hello. Its bright red cover is fluted; I loved feeling all the ridges--made it so much more appealing. The art is fun and playful. But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. The Zoo I Drew is an animal (well zooish) alphabet book for youngsters. Each letter has an animal and a rhyme to go along with it.
A is for Alligator... With a mouth full of teeth and a body that's covered in scales. The alligator likes to bask in the sun and swim with it's powerful tail.
M is for Monkey Hanging from its tail, The monkey likes to play around. It swings from tree to tree And seldom touches the ground.
As I said, I loved this one. So it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that I'm highly recommending it to you. It's to be released in late July.
Capucilli, Alyssa Satin. 2009. My Dad and Me. Illustrated by Susan Mitchell. Simon & Schuster.
It's a celebration of fatherhood and the seasons...multicultural style. In addition to good old dad, kids will learn: papi (Spanish), Aba (Hebrew), Baba (Mandarin), Bapa (Hindi). Here's a sample of how the text unfolds (quite literally, I may add as the pages do unfold):
When it's only my dad and me... we rake the leaves high. We leap in and they fly. We climb trees and say, "It's a great autum day!" When it's only my dad and me.
The text is simple and the illustrations quite sweet.
Bow-Wow books are by necessity quite simple. That doesn't take any fun out of the experience by any means. But expect simple and fundamental, and you'll be satisfied by this cute little doggy. Bow-Wow has appeared in a handful of books. He has his own series. The books sometimes feature text, but not all of them. Some are delightfully wordless. In this instance, we've got the basics. What is 12 Months Running about? Well, Bow-Wow RUNNING in all of the twelve months: January, February, March, April, May, etc.
This one is a fun one. I won't lie. Do you see a duck? Do you see a rabbit? In this playful picture book--the reader is invited to play along with the two bickering narrators?! I loved the illustrations by Tom Lichtenheld. They were definitely playful and fit the mood of this one perfectly.
Snugglebug loves Macdonald’s Alphabet Animals so much that for his first birthday his mama, Ladybug, purchased another of Macdonald’s books.
Fish, Swish, Splash, Dash is an unusual counting book in more ways than one, making it an especially fun book to read.The illustrations are actually cut-outs with the colors of the next page showing through.Snugglebug loves sticking his fingers through the cut-outs.
The second aspect of the book is that it is really two books in one.Once you get to the end of the book, you turn it around and count backwards to the cover.It can be a never ending story because once you reach number one it again invites you to turn the book around and count to ten again.
This book is fun and one that Snugglebug can grow into as he learns to appreciate counting in both directions.
A Childs' Day: An Alphabet of Play.Pearle, Ida. 2008: Harcourt, Inc.
Ladybug was thrilled when Miss Becky passed this book on to Snugglebug to review.The art is bright and stimulating.Snugglebug loved this book.The art keeps his attention while the text introduces the alphabet.
Alphabet Animals: A Slide and Peek Adventure.Macdonald, Suse.2008, Little Simon (Simon and Schuster).
This book is a Caldecott Honoree for good reason.Macdonald has taken the alphabet and made it appealing to the youngest audience.Each page is a single animal in the shape of the letter.Within that page is a sliding page with the letter in block form and the animal name underneath.
An alligator illustrates the letter A, and a bird represents the letter B, and so on.The illustrations are bright and clear.The letters are easy to recognize in the animal shapes and the pull-out pages are so much fun.Snugglebug enjoys seeing the page pop out from nowhere.
At almost one year of age, Alphabet Animals is the perfect introduction to the alphabet.Ladybug hopes he will learn his alphabet at a very early age, paving the way to a lifetime of reading.
The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle: A Story About Recycling is a picture book in Little Simon's line of Little Green Books. The book is made from 100% postconsumer waste recycled paper.
I think the cover gives you a pretty good indication of what to expect. When your plastic bottle is smiling and waving at you, you know going into it that the book is going to be flirting with dinky.
What we've got is a diary from the point of view of what will be, what is, and what was a plastic bottle. Here is an entry from January 30th:
Hi-ho, Diary! Today, was so fun! Being a bottle is great! I was clipped onto a BOTTLING LINE. Wheeeee! I flew down the line and went round and round and up and down. Along the way I was washed and STERILIZED. Then I was filled with fresh water! I even got a spiffy label. They're putting all of us bottles into boxes now. I can hardly wait to see the rest of the world! More adventure awaits me...
With words like hi-ho and spiffy (just to name a few) you can clearly see this one is proud to be dinky. However, I will say this. It was informative. It was clear. I learned while reading the book. It may not have much to offer in entertainment, but it does offer readers user-friendly facts. And so it's not without value. So for what it is...a teaching tool...it's not bad at all.
I may not like dentists all that much. But that doesn't stop me from appreciating them either. This is an alphabet book about dentists, teeth, and good dental hygiene. It may not be a "fun" book, but it does provide a good amount of information.
This is a rather unique alphabet book. It's the alphabet in triplicate--English, Spanish (Espanol), and French (Francais).
It's international too since it was published in Canada.
This book is simple and bright. You've got each letter on display (including a few sounds that aren't found in the English alphabet) being illustrated through bright and colorful pictures and through text as well. Some words are the same--Qq and Rr for example--others are quite different. The brightness of the illustrations and the simplicity of the design are what makes this one stand out in my book.
Jean,<br /><br />You're not in the fog alone. Concept books has been a concept often misrepresented or ill-defined. Most publishers I have read up on don't seem to handle the social issue concept books and the other type are often written inhouse. <br /><br />I'm glad you're enjoyed your study so much and that it is so helpful. That's wonderful!
I have GOT to get this book. I am adding it to my birthday wish list!