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Thomas, Jan. 2009. Here Comes The Big, Mean Dust Bunny! Simon & Schuster.

I loved the dust bunnies first adventure: Rhyming Dust Bunnies. And I loved this second one as well. Who knew that rhyming could be so very fun?! So very entertaining?! Ed, Ned, Ted, and Bob are back! And there is plenty more rhyming fun to be had. But someone doesn't like all the rhyming. Someone in their midst is in a very bad mood. That someone would be the BIG and MEAN dust bunny. For some reason, he just doesn't want to sit around playing rhyming games. And because that's the kind of guy he is, he doesn't want Ed, Ned, Ted, and Bob to have any fun either.

Want to play a rhyming game?
No!
Come on!
What rhymes with fit?
lit
kit
cat
I know!
SIT!

Yes, the big, mean dust bunny squashes the other four by sitting on them! Can these dust bunnies make a new friend out of this grump?

This one is fun and playful. Definitely recommended!

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

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Thomas, Jan. 2009. Rhyming Dust Bunnies. Simon & Schuster.

I don't think I've always been good when it comes to reviewing Jan Thomas, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Jan Thomas. And this one is no exception. In this book, we are introduced to four very colorful (and rhyming) dust bunnies.

Hello! We are Ed, Ned, Ted...and Bob. We rhyme all the time!

As you can see--from the start--one of the dust bunnies isn't quite like the others. Poor Bob! But it is because he is different from the others that makes this one so very funny and charming.

What do I mean? Well, let's go back to the text:

Hey! What rhymes with car?
Far
Jar
Tar
Look!

Anyway, this one is a LOT of fun. These lovable little dust bunnies are guys I would have just been crazy about as a kid. Hey, I love them now!!!

I would definitely recommend this one.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

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Griffiths, Andy. 2007. Cat On The Mat Is Flat. Illustrated by Terry Denton. Feiwel and Friends. 167 pages.

This early reader is heavily illustrated. So don't be intimidated by its length! It's a fun little collection of stories--rhyming stories--that are just about right. Mostly. I read The Big Fat Cow That Goes Kapow first. So I was comparing this earlier effort with his newest effort. But I *still* think this one is a lot of fun. There are nine little rhyming stories in all. Some stories have more substance than others. But all are simple and meant to appeal to a young audience.

My personal favorite is Bill and Phil and the Very Big Hill. I just thought that one was hilarious.

Here's how it starts out:

There was a man.
His name was Bill.
Bill had a friend.
His name was Phil.

One day Bill and his friend Phil
climbed to the top of a very big hill.
"I dare you to roll down the hill,"
said Bill.
"I will if you will, Bill,"
said Phil.
"I will if you will, Phil,"
said Bill.

So Bill and Phil rolled down the hill.

Of course that is just the start of this story. With nine stories, there is something for everyone, I think. You may not love all of the stories. But there will probably be a few--at least--that you think work.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

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Gaiman, Neil. 2009. Crazy Hair. Illustrated by Dave McKean. HarperCollins.

This is Bonnie.
This is me.
We were standing
silently.
She said,
"I don't mean to stare.
Mister, you've got
Crazy hair."

A love of all things Gaiman sure helps when reading Crazy Hair. That and a love of all-things-silly. In Crazy Hair we meet a semi-crazy pair: A little girl and a grown man with some crazy hair.

What's going on in this man's crazy hair? A little bit of everything I'd imagine:

In my hair
Gorillas leap,
Tigers stalk,
And ground sloths sleep.
Prides of lions
Make their lair
Somewhere
in my crazy hair.

See what I mean about silly? But silly works at times. I'm not saying it doesn't. I did like that it was imaginative. I can see a few extension activities working with this one. Page after page, Bonnie hears the warnings about his crazy hair. But what happens when she braves to approach that 'crazy' hair with a comb? Read and see for yourself in Neil Gaiman's Crazy Hair.

Personally, I don't care for the Dave McKean illustrations. He's just not my style. But you might appreciate them more than I did. I see this one as appealing to a wider audience than most picture books.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

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The Moon is La Luna: Silly Rhymes in English & Spanish is a delightful introduction to poetry and Spanish for little ears. It was also one of the many wonderful books submitted to the Cybils Awards this year. Some samples:

Grande is big.
Pequeño is small.
And nada is nothing at all.

The sea is el mar.
To float is flotar.
If you miss the boat,
You won't get too far
If you try to float
'Cross the sea in your car.

Written by Jay M. Harris and illustrated by Matthew Cordell, the poems engage readers in word play while the amusing illustrations demonstrate what could happen if you used the wrong word. For example:

In Español, papá means "dad."
("paPA" is how it is said.)
But papá (said "POP-a") doesn't mean "dad."
It means "potato" instead.
So watch how you say it,
Unless you would like
A potato to tuck you in bed.

The idea of being tucked into bed by a giant potato sends little ones into gales of laughter. Introducing inventive word play when children are highly attuned to rhyme is a wonderful way to train their ears to listen to the differences between English and Spanish. I highly recommend this book to "little" ears of all ages.

The Poetry Friday Round-up is at The Simple and the Ordinary today.

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Here's a new illustration just published in the May '07 issue of Cricket. It's done in the same "sketchy style" as TEA WITH MRS. ROSENBERG

I've had quite a few people lately telling me that they would like to learn to use Painter, but are too worried about a high learning curve.

While in reality Painter may be a complex program (there are a lot of things it can do using filters and brush building and "shapes"for example) In all the years I've used this software, I have been ignoring every tool but the few I actually need. I am only doing three basic things for each picture.

• Setting a size (usually 300 DPI) for my image and choosing the canvas texture
  
• Choosing a brush tool and color so I can actually sketch/draw/paint
  
• Using layers to keep my pencil drawings separate from my watercolor layer while I work.

Then I just save it as a .tif if it's to be uploaded to my FTP site for the client to grab. If it's just a sketch, at a smaller resolution, I will just compress it and email it to the art director.

I don't recommend attending classes or sitting through tutorials or heaven forbid, reading the manual. I think the best way to learn Painter is to sit down and play with it. If you get stuck somewhere, Google your specific question. Even the most basic questions have been asked and answered on the internet. Or, you can just send your question to me and I'll try to help.

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