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Silly Lilly and the Four Seasons
by Agnes Rosenstiehl
TOON Books

TOON Books ran out of copies of their three debut titles before they even hit the shelves the other week. I got an email press release (as I suspect a lot of bloggers did, but I'm too lazy to check Technorati) with a fun quote from the publishers:

“We were in the middle of preparing for our launch,” says Editorial Director Françoise Mouly, also the Art Editor of The New Yorker, “but I couldn’t imagine a more welcome distraction.”

Here, here.

I plan to review all three titles, but picked Silly Lilly as my immediate favorite for its understated simplicity and total girl appeal. Like all graphic novels, the story is told in comic format, though the gap between picture book and graphic novel has all but disappeared. About the only way I didn't know this was, in fact, a picture book is that there's no narration, no text imposed over the art except in Lilly's speech bubbles.

The book breaks into five short vignettes, one for each season plus a bonus Spring. In each, Lilly sets herself a simple task, such as going to the park or the beach or picking apples. And that's it--though every story has its twist at the end, when a sea shell has a tiny inhabitant or a snowball goes astray.

It's all Lilly, and she's all glee and giggles, a pen-and-ink Everygirl who can turn any day into a pleasant adventure.

I'm all for it.

Rating: *\*\*\*\

Oodles of Animals
Lois Ehlert
Harcourt, Inc.

Ah, joy of silly joys! What's more fun that curling up with a wiggledy-piggledy toddler and dazzling her with colors and rhymes that zing. She might even sit still for the whole book (I can dream, can't I?)

The wildly popular Ehlert doesn't need my help selling books (though I'm always happy to take a tiny commission should you order via the box above). Her latest features several familiar feathered, finned or furry friends per page, from the ever-popular penguins to a not-too-scary wolf.

Her cut-paper creations in vivid primary colors are a wonder to behold, as bold, geometric shapes come together as various animals, and who knew that hole punches and pinking shears could be put to such artsy uses. The poems also leap out for their cleverness and simplicity that should keep parents as amused as kiddies.

Here's a small sampling:

CHICKEN
If a chicken crossed
the road and rampled,
would the eggs she laid
be scrambled?

CATERPILLAR
A caterpillar's
future plan
includes a
butterfly wingspan

I particularly liked CATERPILLAR, as it forms the end papers, with numerous geometric caterpillars looking like gear parts from a mechanical drawing.

And there are several along the lines of CAT, which use the most obvious rhymes and still manage to sound fresh:

CAT
A cat
is a purr
wrapped up
in fur.

In a word: delightful.

Rating: *\*\*\*\

Flower Garden
by Eve Bunting; illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt
Harcourt, Inc.

I haven't reviewed many board books, but then I haven't encountered many as lovely and enticing as this one. A young girl and her Dad are planning a special birthday surprise for her mother in this sweet, all-too-brief story told in super-simple quatrains.

We meet the girl--and her would-be garden--in the store:

Garden in a shopping cart
Doesn't it look great?

Garden on the checkout stand
I can hardly wait.

And so it goes, until the flowers have been lugged home, repotted and perched in a window box overlooking a bustling city street. Hewitt captures expressions flawlessly in her warm, earthy acrylics, from the girl's glowing fascination to the mother's genuine surprise.

Nice, too, that the book's rugged cardboard will hold up to rough treatment from little fingers, as this may become a fast favorite. Toddlers are notorious for getting restless quickly, but the story is short and the rhymes easy, and you can point out flowers and colors to keep them engaged.

The art features an African-American family, but the appeal should quite obviously be universal. (I like how many illustrators no longer assume the default race of characters is white, but that's another topic for another day.)

Rating: *\*\*\

Not a Stick
by Antoinette Portis

HarperCollins

Oh dear. Sometimes sequels just don't work at all.

Portis gave us the delightful Not a Box last year, and it dazzled for seemingly being the perfect picture book. The premise was both surprising and obvious, as if it had been laying there waiting for someone to think of it, and all the rest of us were left slapping our heads.

And it captured a child's imagination like none other, with a simple box becoming an extraordinary plaything.

In this one, we get a stick instead of a box, a piglet instead of a bunny, but there's still the offstage adult chiding about not playing the thing. "It's not a stick" says the piglet, as it becomes a lance or fishing pole.

There's still the minimalist black lines on white paper. Red squiggles have been changed to blue to denote what the character's imagining. The cover has a wood grain instead of being box-like. And on and on.

I so loved the last book. If I hadn't read "Not a Box," I might've liked "Not a Stick" just fine.

I'm having serious trouble imagining where else this series might go. Not a Rock? Not a Plastic Bag? Not a Turd?

The concept is done. Time to take your considerable talents and move on, Ms. Portis.

Rating: *\*\

Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes
by Mollie Katzen and Anne Henderson

Salad People and More Real Recipes
by Millie Katzen

I love Mollie Katzen. I find her recipes easy to read and adapt, and she has a feel for how real people cook and eat. Yeah, the recipes can be gourmet, but not oppressively so.

I jumped at the chance to finagle copies of her cookbooks for toddlers. Yes, toddlers. What, kids can't read a long list of ingredients? Meh. They can look at pictures. And that's what Mollie offers up, inspired by preschool teacher Henderson's sketches for her students.

Basically, you prepare the ingredients and then open the book to the sketches. Your kids follows the drawings and voila! Creations that look good enough to eat.

I went into this with no illusions whatsoever of rivaling the fabulous, legendary Vegan Lunchbox, whose Shmoo loves her cooking. Seth's Mr. Persnickety himself, and we left out or substituted as many ingredients as we used.

Here he is making "Tiny Tacos" by smushing refried beans and shredded cheese between tortilla chips. We left out the salsa and guacamole and all the "ewwws" that accompany it. Sigh.

Putting it all together was a messy enterprise, but I gave it high marks for encouraging motor skills, problem solving and, well, an appreciation for basic Mexican fare.

Not as successful was this lovely dish, Cool Cucumber Soup, which got praise for its taste from ... my husband:

Yep, neither of the kids would touch it. They loved the blender, however, and even fought over who got to push the buttons. I thought it'd be a big hit, since it has exactly three ingredients: yogurt, mint and cukes, and the kids like all three. I guess seeing the stuff get swirled into drippy slush was a turn-off. Who knew?

I'm sorry I don't have pics of the silly salad faces they made; that too was a hit. Think carrot peels for the hair, blueberries for the eyes and apple slices for the mouth.

And we're veterans of Katzen's homemade mini-pizzas, but we skip her complicated directions for making your own dough and use mini pita or nan breads from the store.

True to Katzen's reputation as the grand dame of vegetarian eating, all the recipes are meat-free and healthy, though of course that depends on how closely you follow them and what substitutions you make. Nobody's saying you can't add some pepperonis to those pizzas, right?

The books feature soups and appetizers, snacks and desserts; pretty much the full range of food choices, all pared down to their simplest elements and drawn up for easy following. I'd have preferred a spiral binding so that it lay flat when the kids are perusing it, but you can't have everything.

Is this the answer to childhood obesity? Or finicky eating habits? Will it prep your future Emeril for his or her own FoodTV show? No, no and no.

But it's a fun way to spend a snowy or rainy day together, and teaches them that food isn't made with a wave of Mommy's magic spatula.

Rating: *\*\*\*\

Mouse Shapes
by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Reviewed by Kelly Herold

Ellen Stoll Walsh???s Mouse Paint is my all-time favorite toddler book. So I was thrilled when Mouse Shapes arrived in my mailbox.

Walsh???s three inventive mice are at it again, maintaining constant vigilance against the ever present cat. This time???instead of cans of paint???the mice find a pile of shapes in which to hide. When the cat gets bored and disappears, the mice start making things from the shapes: a house, a tree and a sun.

When the cat pounces a second time, one of the mice says, ???That cat???s too sneaky???If only we were bigger.??? And another mouse has an idea???to make ???three big scary mice??? from the shapes and scare the cat away for good.

What I appreciate most about Ellen Stoll Walsh???s books for the youngsters is that she mixes the facts (colors, numbers, shapes) in with a whole lot of fun. The mice are perfect heroes???tricky, always inventive, but never cruel. Mouse Shapes is slightly more difficult than Mouse Paint or Mouse Count in terms of vocabulary and concept and is best suited to a three- to six-year old audience. Pair Mouse Shapes with shape stickers or fuzzy felts and you???re in for a great afternoon.

Rating: *\*\*\

An Island Grows
By Lola M. Shaefer; illustrated by Cathie Felstead

Reviewed by Deb Clark

An Island Grows cleverly employs an engagingly simple approach to explain a complex subject—how a volcanic island is created and populated—in a kid-friendly way. The story is told in rhyming couplets, which are great fun to read out loud:

Winds sow
seeds that blow.
Roots grow.
Leaves show.
Trees tower.
Vines flower.
Insects thrive.
Birds arrive.
Sailors spot.
Maps plot.

Kind of makes me want to bop along to the rhythm if I weren’t already exhausted from chasing after my toddler all day.

Simple paper collages in bold colors make for fun visuals that perfectly complement the bouncy text. The final page provides more detailed information on how volcanic islands grow—useful for those curious to know more as well as for parents who need to stretch out the bedtime story that little bit longer.

Rating: *\*\*\*\