Author: Thad Krasnesky (on JOMB)
Illustrator: David Parkins (on JOMB)
Published: 2009 Flashlight Press (on JOMB)
ISBN: 9780979974649
Cute only gets you so far in the real world. Capturing the glee of victory and the sting of defeat, this hilariously illustrated rhyming book lets us laugh at our own (and our little sibling’s) attempts to prove otherwise.
Mentioned in this episode:
Pop over to The Boy Reader for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.
HOTLINE VOICES: Cathy Miller, “The Literacy Ambassador”, alerts us about Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes (by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury).
We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.
Author: Kristen Tracy (on JOMB)
Published: 2009 Random House (on JOMB)
ISBN: 9780385736879
A big thanks to guest host Lucy (10) for joining Andrea today to discuss this book.
Life can be challenging and fair’s got nothing to do with it. Parents are people. Friendship’s a worthwhile risk. There’s a lot to think about when you’re ten in the real world. Which is why I’m so glad Lucy (10) and I read this fun and fabulously thought provoking book.
Mentioned in this chat:
More books including less-than-perfect families on JOMB:
We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.
Author: Christine Ford (on JOMB) & Trish Holland (on JOMB)
Illustrator: David Diaz (on JOMB)
Published: 2009 Golden Books (on JOMB)
ISBN: 978-0-375-84752-3
Warmth and well being radiate from stylized Inuit seascapes and gently lapping prose in this soothing bedtime confirmation of safety, connectedness and parental love.
More bedtime reading on JOMB:
Pop over to Carol’s Corner for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.
Author: Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Christy Hale (on JOMB)
Published: 1998 Lee & Low Books (on JOMB)
ISBN: 1584300817
Chapters.ca Amazon.com
Earthy tones and textiles of Tanzania softly serve warm embraces and learned love in this beautiful tale of motherhood mimicry and the joy of nurturing.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.
Author: Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw
Published: 2008 Henry Holt (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0805081690
Chapters.ca Amazon.com
Funky paint and collage artwork and breezy first person narrative provide an eye-opening peek at a young girl’s experience with amblyopia and strabismus in this upbeat tale of personality, patches, perspective and pride.
You can read more about eye patching treatments here and here.
Other books mentioned:
Author: Tony Ross (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Tony Ross
Published: 2004 Andersen Press (on JOMB)
ISBN: 1842703382 Chapters.ca Amazon.com
Thumps, chomps, head butts and the might of the spunky youngest make this refreshingly ridiculous version of the original Grimm’s tale a shockingly fun read.
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You can read a version of the original Grimm’s fairy tale here.
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Author: Lita Judge
Illustrator: Lita Judge
Published: 2007 Hyperion Books (on JOMB)
ISBN: 1423100085 Chapters.ca Amazon.com
Eye-opening scatterings of yellowed newspaper footprints, handwritten lists and aged, intimate snapshots make vivid this beautifully told true story of hardship, generosity and the pulling together of communities torn to opposite sides of war.
Other books mentioned:
More books about generosity on JOMB:
More books about war and peace on JOMB:
Check out the full list of non-fiction picture books nominated for the 2007 Cybils Awards here.
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Author: Rachna Gilmore (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Renne Benoit
Published: 2006 Second Story Press
ISBN: 1897187122 Chapters.ca Amazon.com
They say comparison is the source of all suffering. Yet, while we can usually resist comparing one child to another, most of us are guilty of the occasional contrast between our children and our former — possibly imagined — selves. This hilarious and delightfully ambiguous book allows us to chew on and chuckle at this perennial parental ploy.
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Author: Niki Daly (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Niki Daly
Published: 1999 Farrar Straus Giroux (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0374437203 Chapters.ca BN.com
Gorgeously expressive illustrations capture the small pleasures of a dreamy preschooler, the chaos of failed judgments and the matchless relief of reconnection in this longtime family favourite.
Other books mentioned:
Julie Smith offers some Global Diversity activities based on this book here.
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New Socks by Bob Shea. Little Brown & Company. $12.99
What is it you want out of your average everyday picture book? Do you want a story? A plot of some sort with a beginning, middle, and an end? Or are your demands a little more broad? I mean, what if a picture book went and just talked about socks for pages at a time? These days, publishers of children’s literature have had their eyes opened wide by the phenomenal success of titles like, “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”. So suddenly it’s perfectly okay for the narrator of a work for preschoolers to talk to them one-on-one without having to go so far as to dredge up a standard storyline. With Bob Shea's, "New Socks", all you have t do is combine an ultra-mod look with an over-the-top enthusiastic presentation and you’ve got yourself a book that walks the line between what’s cool and what’s inspired.
A glasses-wearing yellow chicklet (who is apparently named Leon, though the book never calls him that) asks you to guess exactly what it might be about him that’s so new. The glasses? Not so much. No, he’s wearing his New Socks. They fit him to a tee, look good, and there’s nothing better for sliding across a wooden floor. As we watch, the chicken uses the socks to overcome his fear of big slides and pretend to ring up the President. When at last his energy dies down a little the chicken says to the reader, “What can’t these New Socks do?” The last line in the book sums it all up. “Now I’m all excited to get pants!”
First off, this may well be the very first hipster picture book I’ve encountered, published in the last five years. Mod titles are a dime a dozen and you can find more rock, rockabilly, punk, jazz, and blues books for kids than you’ll ever have a need for. But how many of us have ever encountered a hero with thick black-framed glasses and a singular fashion sense? If the chicken in this book confessed that he found these socks at an awesome vintage store in Williamsburg for $3.00, I wouldn’t blink an eye. The fact that it takes a childhood staple (a sometimes unnatural love for the inanimate) and molds it into a picture book format is just gravy on the cake. So to speak.
As I may have mentioned before, “New Socks” probably owes its very existence to “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”. This isn’t to say that the two books are particularly similar. Aside from the avian hero who talks to the reader, the two are fairly different in terms of tone. No, it just seems to me that had “Pigeon” not garnered itself a Caldecott Honor and numerous profitable accolades, Little Brown & Co. might have been less inclined to take a chance on the pair of bright orange footies found here. The Mod look, coupled with the joyful storyline, makes the book unique. I can think of plenty of books that could be considered “good design” but that don’t have so much as a lick of humor to them. So it’s nice to sometimes see an exception to this rule. I'm not sure how repeated readings will fare, mind you. Still, I can see adults growing tired of the reading of this book long before their kids ever do.
“New Socks” to my mind, is the very antithesis of the “Fancy Nancy” books. Clean lines. A color palette of orange, yellow, and aqua blue. And nary a sparkle or a smidgen of glitter in sight! I mean, technically it’s all about fashion, but in a completely different kid-centric way. Where “Fancy Nancy” is all about embracing the idea of fanciness in a pseudo-grown-up style, “New Socks” feels more open and honest. We’ve all had that one piece of clothing that we’re just so jolly well pleased with. I mean, let’s face it. If I had a pair of big, comfy, plush, bright, beautiful orange socks I’d probably go all nuts over them myself. The chicken here is true to himself. This is what pleases him and he’s just so happy with his newest acquisition that it’s all he can do not to tell you about it for pages on end.
You know who this chicken character reminds me of? Have you ever watched those old Looney Tunes sequences involving Foghorn Leghorn and his small bespectacled chicken friend? This, right here, is that same chicken only modernized, hipstered up, and contemporized within an inch of his life. As I page through the book, I wonder if it will end up being a good read aloud with kids. Put just the right amount of force, bluster, and sheer good spirits into a reading and this chicken may veritably leap off the page. It’s worth a shot anyway. As new books go, it’s nice to find a title that’s so well and truly pleased with itself. If you’re looking for something fun, but you want to purchase a picture book that’ll suck in style-centric parents, you couldn’t ask for a more ideal title than “New Socks”.
On shelves now.
Other Blog Reviews By: Your Friendly Librarian,
Author: Phoebe Gilman
Illustrator: Phoebe Gilman
Published: 1985 Scholastic Books (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0590413406
Chapters.ca Amazon.com
Good friends, good intentions and an unstoppable stream of creativity: this infectiously upbeat tale of disarray, distraction and blissful disobedience makes us glad we chose the adventure that is family life. We can’t imagine a childhood without it.
Other books mentioned:
Pop over to Read. Imagine. Talk. for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.
Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things are.
– Marianne Williamson
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GREAT JOB JENNY LOVE YOU!!
The book is very good!!!!
It is one of the best books i have ever read!!!!
Author and illustrator Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw has just posted a link to an interesting article about how Travelin’ Eyes actually help artists.
You can see Jenny’s post here.
And the article to which she refers here.
Hi Mark and Andrea, thanks SO much for the fun post about my book! I actually saw “Dr. Dave” recently at a library night. He is the same, sweet person I remember, and he told me he remembers me drawing on my patches! Only those patches were these icky band-aid-like patches that got all sweaty–so in the trash they went at the end of the day. They were more simple doodles–since I got the chance to relive it in my book, I made them a bit more elaborate.
Anyway, thanks so much. I really appreciate you sharing my story on your podcast, and inspiring us all with your ongoing reviews and interviews!
jenny sue
[…] King)53. Sarah, LH (Freddy Goes to Florida)54. Sarah, LH (Random Harvest)55. Katrina (Apache)56. JustOneMoreBook! Podcast (My Travelin’ Eye)57. JustOneMoreBook! Podcast (If I Had a Million Onions)58. janet (Tasha Tudor stories)59. Tasses […]
I’m so glad to hear about this book on JOMB! Illustration Friday did a fabulous interview with Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw a few weeks ago and my interest was piqued. I got my copy in the mail the same day JOMB did the review. So exciting! I love this book. I recommended it today to a parent of a child with a travelin’ eye. She was thrilled!