Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

I understand this is sacrilege, but with [...]]]> Of all the Unfortunate Covers, the most difficult to name are the ones I love. Today we take a look at one of my all-time favorites, sporting a cover that just isn’t getting much attention from kids. This one hurts.

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

I understand this is sacrilege, but with the cover above, this classic has been a tough sell. There’s something about large swaths of brown that have a way of declaring “no need to pick me up, I’m cool here on the shelf”. And it’s too bad – Homer Price has a better shot at appealing to today’s kids than most books from its era.

But here’s the problem – how do you update the cover? I would never want a non-McCloskey illustration or, heaven forbid (please), a photographic redo.

I think with the right colors and type like they could pull off an update while still using the same basic image.

Although it has been tried in the past. Did you know Homer Price was in early on the pink cover trend?

A trailblazer, I’d say.

Check out previous Unfortunate Covers:

#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19.

ISBN: 9781442413061
$16.99
Grades PreK-1
In Stores

*Best New Book*

Find it at:
Schuler Books | Your Library

The goal of a concept book is clear – teach [...]]]>

Baby Bear Sees Blue
By Ashley Wolff

Beach Lane Books (Simon & Schuster)

ISBN: 9781442413061
$16.99
Grades PreK-1
In Stores

*Best New Book*

Find it at:
Schuler Books | Your Library

The goal of a concept book is clear – teach colors or numbers or shapes or any other basic concept that kids need to know about. It’s rare when this sort of book can move past simply introducing skills toward original and engaging storytelling. That should be the goal, but it’s harder than it looks. With Baby Bear Sees Blue, Ashley Wolff (Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten) manages this feat. It’s a book where concept and story are perfectly aligned.

Upon waking up next to his mother in their den, Baby Bear sees the morning sunlight slowly build to a radiant yellow. After leaving the den, the leaves of an oak tree bring green. During the course of the day each new activity, hunting, eating, avoiding a thunderstorm – brings new colors to experience, culminating in every color at once – a rainbow. But sleep beckons, and Baby Bear and his mother end their day of color perfectly – with the soft black of a deep sleep.

The illustrations are a bold combination of linoleum block printing and watercolor. They’re masterfully executed. The palette is vibrant, putting all the colors of the outdoors on display. Each turn of the page reveals another gorgeously rendered two-page spread.

Perfect for teaching colors or for a quietly successful storytime for the preschool set, this is no ordinary concept book.

Review copy from the library.

Read the Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast feature on Baby Bear Sees Blue (with tons of artwork).

Also reviewed by A Fuse #8 Production, ALSC Blog.

ISBN: 9780763656010
$15.99
Grades K-2
In Stores

*Best New Book*

Find it at:
Schuler Books | Your Library

Poetry is oh-so-tricky. Go too concrete and rhyme-y, and [...]]]>

Step Gently Out
By Helen Frost
Photographs by Rick Lieder

Candlewick Press

ISBN: 9780763656010
$15.99
Grades K-2
In Stores

*Best New Book*

Find it at:
Schuler Books | Your Library

Poetry is oh-so-tricky. Go too concrete and rhyme-y, and you end up with stale platitudes. Go too abstract, and you can lose kids in a wash of linguistic flourishes. Special is the book that rides the fine line between the two, appealing to kids experiences while bringing the beauty. In both text and illustration, Step Gently Out is this sort of book.

There’s an entire world out there that’s easy to miss. Insects are all around us, but we often turn a blind eye. This poem begins with a call to take notice:

Step gently out,

be still,

and watch

a single blade

of grass.

The poem proceeds to name a cast of backyard characters, and how they share our world. It’s a study in peacefulness that never strays from the message of being aware of your surroundings, because magical things are happening.

A while back, A Fuse #8 Production wrote an excellent post about the fact that there has never been a Caldecott Award or honor book comprised solely of photographs. I offer Step Gently Out for your consideration. The work of Michigan native Rick Lieder shines, beautifully interpreting the text and creating some thrilling moments along the way.

An excellent pairing of poetry and illustration, Step Gently Out is a 2012 standout, pure and simple.

Review copy from the publisher.

Be sure to check out the Nonfiction Monday roundup at Ms. Yingling Reads.

Watch the book trailer for Step Gently Out:

Also reviewed by Book-A-Day Almanac, Boing Boing, Waking Brain Cells.

Original:

My Redo:

Side by Side:

Verdict: I’m never a big [...]]]> Jerry Pinkney, everyone. That’s who created the original illustration for today’s cover redo candidate. Can I throw in the towel now? No? Well, here we go…

1977: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Original:

My Redo:

Side by Side:

Verdict: I’m never a big fan of swapping a photo for an illustration, but when the original is by Mr. Pinkney, maybe it’s a good idea to go in a different direction.

Up next week: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

(Source image: “Locs Lines and a Light” http://flic.kr/p/5AUaKF)

That’s right, it’s a connect the dots tattoo. Here it is filled out:

And the clues:

This person is female.

This woman creates graphic novels.

She writes [...]]]> In the ever-worthy interest of “hey, why not?”, see of you can determine which children’s lit figure has the following leg tattoo:

That’s right, it’s a connect the dots tattoo. Here it is filled out:

And the clues:

This person is female.

This woman creates graphic novels.

She writes a graphic novel series.

This series is published by Graphic Universe (an imprint of Lerner).

They are about a Guinea pig.

A Guinea pig who solves mysteries.

The first book in the series looks like this:

It’s Colleen AF Venable, everyone!

Here’s to a really cool tattoo.

(Thanks to BuzzFeed for the link)

ISBN: 9780545142458
$17.99
Grades 2-4
In Stores

Find it at:
Schuler Books | Your Library

While I have a hard time remembering, well, a lot of things (truth be [...]]]>

Marty McGuire Digs Worms!
By Kate Messner
Illustrated by Brian Floca

Scholastic Press

ISBN: 9780545142458
$17.99
Grades 2-4
In Stores

Find it at:
Schuler Books | Your Library

While I have a hard time remembering, well, a lot of things (truth be told, this blog = my external book memory), I do remember the contest in 3rd grade to see who could keep an ice cube from melting the longest (hint – use sawdust, my friends). Point is, in the life of a child, a good old fashioned contest can leave lasting impressions. Kate Messner understands this. Her latest installment in the Marty McGuire series hits the school story sweet spot of a plot involving a school-wide contest, full of believable characters, with a little introspection for good measure. It’s a winning combo.

When third-grader Marty McGuire attends a special assembly on saving the environment, she doesn’t know what to expect. What she and the rest of the school gets is a call to action. The presenter challenges students to see who can come up with the best project to help the environment. Marty (with the help of her grandma) comes up with a  wonderful, and wonderfully gross idea – a composting bin full of worms to help reduce waste in the lunchroom. Once installed, however, things aren’t as simple as initially thought. Marty has to disappoint her classmates when it turns out the worms can’t handle food scraps from the entire school. There’s a solution to this problem, bit it takes some reflection from Marty.

I mean no harm when I say the text is breezy. The pacing and style of writing keeps things on the lighter side – well-suited for the early chapter book audiences.

Brian Floca’s black and white illustrations are such a natural fit for this sort of story, subtly enhancing the text with their spot-on sense of emotion and humor.

A school story well-suited for these “go green” times, Marty McGuire Digs Worms! is a natural choice for collections everywhere. Here’s hoping this series has a long run.

Review copy from the publisher.

Watch. Connect. Read. and Sharpread are hosting a Marty McGuire book club on Twitter (’cause that’s how they roll). Click here for details.

1. Bronson Pinchot

Aw, yeah – that’s right. Pinchot is best known as Balki from the late 80s/early 90s sitcom Perfect Strangers. While most people would not take this as a particularly flattering comparison, I used to watch that show like [...]]]> There are two people I’ve been told I look like.

1. Bronson Pinchot

Aw, yeah – that’s right. Pinchot is best known as Balki from the late 80s/early 90s sitcom Perfect Strangers. While most people would not take this as a particularly flattering comparison, I used to watch that show like it was going out of style (which I suppose was accurate, as it did) and have fully embraced the resemblance.

2. Hicham El Guerrouj

I love this comparison, because my students alerted me to it thanks to the Guinness Book of Records. El Guerrouj is a Moroccan distance runner and current world record holder for the mile.

Thanks to the sharp eye of Owen Grey, I now know that there is one book that Inside Out and Back Again looks like.

Here it is…

Side by side:

The tree, the silhouettes, even the award placement – we have a match.

Click here for more Cover Curiosities.

I got me to thinking – when it comes to books, what are [...]]]> I was listening to All Songs Considered the other day when the concept of “secret ingredients” came up. The hosts were discussing sonic elements that, if they appear in a song, make them much more likely to enjoy that song.

I got me to thinking – when it comes to books, what are my “secret ingredients”?

In the past, I’ve joked that Dewey’s Christmas in the Library is the “Librarian Perfect Storm”. Christmas, a cat named after Melville Dewey, a library setting -  this is librarian bait of the first order, folks.

Although cats and library settings aren’t necessarily my thing, there are certainly elements that I always seem to gravitate toward. Here they are.

Hand Lettering

(From Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek)

Every time an illustrator forgoes the type and does it themselves, I love it. I like the imperfection of it, and the way it makes the whole operation seem more personal.

Meta Elements

I am a sucker for books that in some way comment on the book itself. We Are In a Book, where Elephant and Piggie realize they’re being read, is the perfect example of this. The S.O.S. Files is meta, but in a much different way. Heck, even Diary of a Wimpy Kid has a touch of meta. I’m always up for it.

Wordless

I have a soft spot for books without words. The ability of an artist to tell a story solely through illustrations never ceases to amaze me. Flotsam, Wonder Bear, Chalk, The Lion & The Mouse – I’m a fan of them all.

Inventive Panels

(From Hereville)

If I’m reading a graphic novel that does something especially creative with the panels, I don’t forget it.

Funny

This is kind of a general one, but definitely one of my secret ingredients. For me, funny trumps sad any day.

Odd

I got endless pleasure out of subtly off kilter books like People by Blexbolex, mostly due to the unusual illustration pairings. When a book can successfully pull off odd, count me in.

Print Illustration Techniques

(From Baby Bear Sees Blue)

This technique seems to always catch my eye. Be it woodblock, linoleum block, relief, or other print techniques I don’t even know about yet, I’m happy with the handmade feel they bring to the table.

So the question is, what are your secret ingredients?

ISBN: 9781423137603
$16.99
Grades PreK-1
In Stores

*Best New Book*

Find it at:
Schuler Books | Your Library

Here’s what I will not do in this review:

Here’s one of my favorite videos of Sendak, in younger days, discussing fantasy and reality.

Maurice Sendak on the Origins of Serious Fantasy from We Love You So on Vimeo.

His work changed the [...]]]> It’s a sad day. Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of countless children’s literature classics, has passed away.

Here’s one of my favorite videos of Sendak, in younger days, discussing fantasy and reality.

Maurice Sendak on the Origins of Serious Fantasy from We Love You So on Vimeo.

His work changed the landscape of children’s lit and has had lasting affects on millions of readers. Including me.