From skittery stalling to splendorous, sweet slumber, alphabet families do the bedtime wrestle in this fabulously illustrated preschool rhyme.

Other books mentioned:

• The Scrambled States of America Talent Show

More alphabet reading on JOMB:

• Carmine: A Little More Red
• Alphabetter
• A I  sn’t for Fox (An Isn’t Alphabet)

More bedtime reading on JOMB:

• I Need My Monster
• Ocean’s Child
• Go to Bed, Monster!
• Darkness Slipped In
• But If They Do…

Pop over to Tabatha A. Yeatts 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.

Doey eyes, gangly legs and silent, tangible devotion make this true tale of rescue, regret and release a thought provoking look at the value of life and freedom.

Other books mentioned:

• Saving Samantha: A True Story

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.

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:

• I Need My Monster
• Go to Bed, Monster!
• Darkness Slipped In
• But If They Do…

Pop over to Crossover 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.

This delicately illustrated tale of travel and tragedy reminds us that today’s disaster just might be a necessary step towards the ultimate attainment of our heart’s desire.

Other books mentioned:

• The Farmer’s Wife
• The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal

More middle eastern reading on JOMB:

• Silent Music (A Story of Baghdad)
• Night of the Moon: A Muslim Holiday Story
• 52 Days by Camel
• My Friend Jamal
• The Butter Man
• Lugalbanda: The Boy Who Got Caught Up In The War
• The Rich Man and the Parrot
• Sanji and the Baker
• Interview with Suzan Nadimi

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

Clean lines, comical details and snappy, generous first person narration sweep us into this suspenseful tale of strategy, solidarity and overlooked superpowers.

Other books mentioned:

• Iggy Peck, Architect
• The Mysterious Benedict Society
• Miss Nelson is Missing

More independent thinkers on JOMB:

• Willow
• Odd Velvet
• Suki’s Kimono
• Ruby’s Wish
• Getting to Know Ruben Plotnick
• Silly Tilly
• more here.

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.

Dexterous textile, text and recipe clipping collage are the pièce de résistance of this delectable adventure in talent, teamwork, travel — and sneaked treats!

More gallivanting animals on JOMB:

• Safe and Sound
• Someday When My Cat Can Talk

More food on JOMB:

• A Medieval Feast
• The Butter Man
• The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza
• The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating
• The Tortilla Cat
• Too Many Tamales
• Treasure for Lunch
• Berry Magic
• Chopsticks
• Mammoth Pie
• On Top of Spaghetti
• Pumpkin Soup
• Sanji and the Baker

More kings on JOMB:

• The King of Capri
• The King’s Equal
• Rumplestilskin’s Daughter
• The Red Wolf
• Wenceslas

More dogs on JOMB here.

HOTLINE VOICES: Eden Spodek — who will be at PAB09 — has fabulous childhood and parenthood memories of Where the Wild Things Are (by Maurice Sendak)

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.

Catchy, four-line rhymes and an energetic animal cast aim to take the sting out of multiplication long before the onset of Times Table Torture.

More math on JOMB:

• On the Scale, a Weighty Tale
• Missing Math (A Number Mystery)
• A Very Improbable Story
• Full House: An Invitation to Fractions
• Interview with David Schwartz

Pop over to Critique de Mr. Chompchomp 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

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Gilded, stylized illustrations, scads of stats and lilting, laid back narration present an inspiring tale of persistence, power, poise and prevalent potential in this intimate look at the short but striking career of one of baseball’s greats.

More sports on JOMB:

• Baseball Hour
• Across the Alley
• Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer
• The Bat Boy and His Violin
• Baseball Saved Us
• Dino-Hockey
• The Magic Hockey Stick

HOTLINE VOICES: Radio Producer and Sound Artist Paolo Pietropaolo explains why he loves Fantastic Mr. Fox (by Roald Dahl).

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

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Sunshine, shenanigans and loads of jingly rhyme make this cheery little board book a perfect preschool pick.

Other books mentioned:

• Kid Tea

HOTLINE VOICES: Twin sisters Rosie (6) and Ronnie (6) tell us about their favourite rhyming books, One Duck Stuck (by Phyllis Root and Jane Chapman) and Hop on Pop (by Dr. Seuss).

More pooch inspired poetry on JOMB:

• Don’t Lick the Dog
• Stella, Unleashed!
• Biscuits in the Cupboard
• Good Dog
• My Pup
• The Pound from the Hound
• Poodlena
• Safe and Sound
• Dirty Dog Boogie

Pop over to Read, Write, Believe 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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

One wisecracking lizard, one over-caffeinated monkey and 200 pages of action, attitude and assombroso alliteration transform run-of-the-mill read-aloud adults into comedy superstars. Talk about the greatest power!

You can check out Lucy & Bayla’s Sticky-inspired artwork here.

Other books mentioned:

• Clementine’s Letter
• Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger (Kevin Bolger on JOMB)

HOTLINE VOICES: Owen (9) and Riley (9) share their enthusiasm for Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

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

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

With its chatty narrative, droll dialogue and playfully illustrated play-by-play, this plucky retelling of the traditional Slavic tale is practically bound theatre.

Other books mentioned:

• Brave Irene
• The Three Sillies
• Cupid and Psyche

More shady step-families on JOMB:

• Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave
• Cinderella Skeleton
• Smoky Mountain Rose (An Appalachian Cinderella)
• Ella’s Big Chance

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

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Airy illustrations and sparse poetic prose paint a poignant picture of hope, help and healing in this unspoken invitation to dare to care.

Other books mentioned:

• “Let’s Get a Pup!” said Kate
• Michael Rosen’s Sad Book

Dreams of flying on JOMB:

• Fly, Eagle, Fly
• I Can Hear the Sun
• Falling Angels
• Tudley Didn’t Know

Six weeks ago yesterday, in Woodstock, Ontario, eight year old Victoria Stafford  finished her school day … then disappeared.  As the days turned to weeks, Canadians coast to coast came to know Victoria and her family as we watched mother Tara McDonald’s daily efforts to keep the search for her daughter fresh in our minds.  This despite mounting public criticism and suspicion of Tara herself.

Yesterday, we learned of Tori’s tragic fate … and of her mother’s innocence.

This episode of Just One More Book! is dedicated to little Tori Stafford, with heartfelt hopes for the healing of those she left behind.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Earth toned preparations and pastel pomp treat us to a slightly slighted little sibling’s view of what seems like a very cool coming of age tradition.

Other books mentioned:

• The Lime Green Secret
• Jamela’s Dress
• The Fisherman and the Turtle

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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Hard-core horror meets sumptuous simile in this gripping exploration of siblinghood, self-destruction and sanitized sameness.

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.

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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.

Chapters.ca bn.com

Happily sloppy artwork and perfectly picked words and pace present the first-person ponderings of a young girl as her once spunky grandmother slips into forgetfulness in this sweet, sad tale of coping and compassion.

Update: Mark mentions the documentary film and supporting website, Forgetful not Forgotten.

More grandmothers on JOMB:

• The Grandmother Doll
  
• Getting to Know Ruben Plotnick
• When-I-Was-a-Little-Girl
• The Gardener
• The Lotus Seed
• Snow
• Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie
• Treasure For Lunch
• Falling Angels
• The Clay Ladies
• Healing the Wounds of World War II
• A Gift For Gita
• Carmine, A Little More Red
• Petite Rouge, A Cajun Red Riding Hood
• Grandma’s Feather Bed
• Bintou’s Braids
• Seven Brave Women
• Suki’s Kimono
• The Not-So-Only Child
• A Very Unusual Dog
• Aunt Claire’s Yellow Beehive Hair
• Mama’s Saris
• Mr. Hiroshi’s Garden
• I Am Small
• Before You Were Here, Mi Amor
• The Party

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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Rhyming triplets and edge-to-edge smile-inducing illustrations follow the carefree foolishness of an unconventional goose and remind us to savour the spice of life.

More independent thinkers on JOMB:

• Willow
• Odd Velvet
• Suki’s Kimono
• Ruby’s Wish
• Getting to Know Ruben Plotnick
• more here.

Pop over to Under The Covers 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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Dazzling light glows against darkening shadow as this warmly told memory of friendship and fortitude peeks into a dim chapter in Canadian history.

Other books mentioned:

• Gleam and Glow
• Naomi’s Tree
• Naomi’s Road
• Baseball Saved Us

For more information about the Japanese Internment of 1942-1945, visit Vanishing British Columbia, Canada: A People’s History, and Canadian Nikkei.

You can read about more of our favourite Canadian, Asian-themed children’s books in this essay by Andrea at Paper Tigers.

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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Outrageously bright and pointy, stylized illustrations and catchy how-to rhyme deliver digestible tips for canine encounters of the friendly, yappy, growly, wary, jumpy, licky, snappy kind.

More dogs on JOMB:

• May I Pet Your Dog?
• How Smudge Came
• Rosie: A Visiting Dog’s Story
• Dr. White
• Heroes of Isle aux Morts
• Doggie in the Window
• Owney the Mail-Pouch Pooch
• Night Running: How James Escaped with the Help of His Faithful Dog
• Stella, Unleashed!
• Little Lions, Bull Baiters & Hunting Hounds: A History of Dog Breeds
• Biscuits in the Cupboard
• Good Dog
• “Let’s Get a Pup!” said Kate
• My Pup
• The Pound from the Hound
• Poodlena
• The Trouble with Tilly Trumble
• The Outside Dog
• Lady Lupin’s Book of Etiquette
• Dogs’ Night
• I Want A Dog
• Safe and Sound
• Dirty Dog Boogie

And if you’re a fan of dogs, kids and literacy, you may be interested in the Reading with Rover and D.R.E.A.M. (dogs for reading, education, assistance and more) programs.

Pop over to Becky’s Book Reviews 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.

Chapters.ca

Colour drenched, stylized illustrations, carefully selected quotes and simple, informative text open our eyes and imaginations to the creativity, curiosity and commitment of this explorer, inventor, filmmaker extraordinaire.

More eye-opening biographies on JOMB:

• One Beetle Too Many — The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin
• Marco Polo
• Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum
• Buffalo Music
• Priscilla and the Hollyhocks
• The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur

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.

Humour, grimaces, gluttony and grime cleverly deliver a bonanza of not-soon forgotten feudal facts in this rhyming rundown of Medieval careers.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Other books mentioned:

• A Medieval Feast
• Stella, Unleashed!
• The Ghost of Nicholas Greebe
• One Witch

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.

If you are feasting this holiday week, Bon Appétit!

“My eyes belong only to me, they tell me I’m me and nobody else.
But if I were not inside my body, who would be me?”

Breezy, upbeat illustrations and beautifully worded wonderings give us a stirring glimpse of the fresh and often forgotten preschool perspective in this thought-provoking reminder that, when it comes right down to it, we’re all small.

Pop over to ayuddha.net for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

HOTLINE VOICES: Thelma Slater, Chair of the Mayor’s Literacy Commission in Canton, Ohio, checks in with her fifty-something son to recall some of his childhood favourites including Dr. Seuss.

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.

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Luxurious illustrations and enchanting text paint poignant images of a father consumed by an economic craze and the overlooked daughter who quietly cares for him.

Tulips hold a special place in the hearts of our neighbourhood. You can learn why here and here — a true story that’s just begging to become a children’s picture book.

Need a beautiful boost? Take a few minutes to indulge in this gorgeous feast of Ottawa Tulips.

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.

• Duck Tents
• There’s a Babirusa in My Bathtub
• Zorgamazoo (A Novel in Rhyme)
• Falling For Rapunzel
• On the Scale, a Weighty Tale
• My Pup
• Baseball Hour
• Sleeping Dragons All Around
• Wish (Wishing Traditions Around the World)
• One Witch
• Sandy Mackenzie, Why Look So Glum?
• Darkness Slipped In
• The Noisy Airplane Ride
• Stella, Unleashed
• But If They Do…
• Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp
• Ocean Wide, Ocean Deep
• Jillian Jiggs
• Dirty Dog Boogie
• If I Had a Million Onions
• Biscuits in the Cupboard
• The HICCUPotamus
• Missing Math (A Number Mystery)
• A isn’t for Fox (An Isn’t Alphabet)
• Someday When My Cat Can Talk
• Over in the Ocean (in a Coral Reef)
• Best Friend on Wheels
• Full House (An Invitation to Fractions)
• Jazz ABZ (An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits)
• There Were Monkeys in my Kitchen!
• Roar of a Snore
• Where in the Wild?
• Science Verse
• Grandma’s Feather Bed
• Dino-Hockey
• The Looking Book
• Hallowe’en Hoots and Howls
• Iggy Peck, Architect
• Farm Flu
• Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast
• No Dragons for Tea
• The Hound from the Pound
• Sitting on the Farm
• The Crow
• Cassandra’s Angel
• The House That Crack Built
• Kid Tea
• The Eensy-Weensy Spider
• Drumheller Dinosaur Dance
• And the DISH Ran Away with the SPOON
• Big Black Bear
• Safe and Sound
• The Piggy in The Puddle
• Oh No, Not Ghosts!
• Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big
• And To Think That We Thought That We’d Never Be Friends
• Monster Goose
• Snowsong Whistling
• Rattlebone Rock
• Cinderella Skeleton
• The Party
• The Magic Hockey Stick
• The Dragons Are Singing Tonight
• Hamlet for Kids
• Poodlena
• Cat Magic
• Petite Rouge, A Cajun Red Riding Hood
• Bill in a China Shop

And don’t forget to check out the Poetry Month excitement starting Wednesday at The Miss Rumphius Effect and GottaBook — between the two of them, they’ll treat us to more than 66 poets and previously unpublished poems, at least one a day for the entire month.

Have a happy Poetry Month!!

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Sweet and spunky with a tingling hint of backyard camp-out scariness, this irresistibly upbeat rhyming adventure breathes a long-awaited summer breeze.

Pop over to The Drift Record for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

HOTLINE VOICES: Anita Newburt registers her vote for us to continue recording our reviews in our favourite coffee shop.  Thanks so much for your kind words and thoughtful feedback, Anita.  We’re officially convinced!

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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Generously speckled with spanish phrases and illustrated in homey hot oranges, pinks and golds, this intimate account of a family’s industrious wait for a new baby radiates pure joy.

HOTLINE VOICES: A young reviewer tells us about her favourite book, The Borrowers (by Mary Norton)

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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Today, our 9 year old daughter, Lucy, tells us why she absolutely adores this beautifully written and inspiring Amazon adventure.

Click here to listen to our chat with Eva Ibbotson on her 83rd birthday.

Other beloved books by Eva Ibbotson:

• Which Witch?
• The Great Ghost Rescue
• The Secret of Platform 13
• The Star of Kazan
• The Beasts of Clawstone Castle
• Dial-a-Ghost
• Island of the Aunts (a.k.a. Monster Mission)

Click here for other Eva Ibbotson book reviews by Lucy and click here to see the postcard Eva sent to Lucy and Bayla earlier this year in response to their 84th birthday cards.

LISTENER HOTLINE: Chuck Stanley enjoys sharing his childhood love of Fox in Socks (by Dr. Seuss) with his own children.

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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

This beautifully honest confession of the ups, the downs, the confusion and fond memories of a father dealing with the death of his son offers a rare, candid, detailed look at sadness, solitude and the strength to carry on.

More thoughtful resilience on JOMB:

• The Sound of Colors
• Connecting with Val Willis: The Magic of ‘My Horse, My Passion’

You can celebrate Poetry Friday by watching and listening to Michael Rosen performing each one of the poems from his out-of-print book of children’s poetry ‘The Hypnotiser’ here.

Pop over to Wild Rose 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: Maureen Stanley shares her love of The Giving Tree (by Shel Silverstein).

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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Offbeat chalk pastel illustrations and delicious defiance are the stars of this giggle-inducing tale of wedding wear, willpower and sibling solidarity.

More wedding books on JOMB:

• Jamela’s Dress
• The Ring Bear

HOTLINE VOICES: Bill Rowland raves about Olive, the Other Reindeer (by Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Seibold) as a book that appeals to all ages.

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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Quick! What’s used for communication, transportation, self defence, sound-dampening, warmth, entertainment and hatching and doesn’t cost a cent? If you didn’t say “bubbles” - and even if you did - you will be blown away (how could we resist?) by this beautifully illustrated and light hearted look at the ingenious uses of suds in the wild.

More fascinating animal facts on JOMB:

• There’s a Babirusa in My Bathtub
• Animals at the EDGE (Saving the World’s Rarest Creatures)
• Where in the Wild?
• Nic Bishop’s Frogs
• A Horse in the House
• Over in the Ocean … in a Coral Reef

HOTLINE VOICES: Chel Pixie recalls a colourful favourite, The Very Hungry Caterpillar (by Eric Carle).

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.

Masterfully lit fisheyed views, fur, fangs, claws and interesting perspectives make six monsters just scary enough to spotlight the spunk of the picky, pajamaed lad who screens them.

More bedtime emboldening on JOMB:

• Go to Bed, Monster!
• Darkness Slipped In
• But If They Do…

HOTLINE VOICES: Joe, a bartender at Northern Bowl in Philadelphia, escapes doing an encore dramatic reading of his childhood favourite, Greeen Eggs and Ham (by Dr. Seuss).

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.

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Mark and I clearly had a tough time packing all our love for this fabulously inspiring and entertaining book into a coherent chat, so I definitely can’t pack it into one sentence.

How about this?

If you are a parent or a teacher or a writer or a child, if you’ve had the gift of an extraordinary educator, if you’ve ever felt small, if you’re prepared to have your heart swell with hope or you’d just enjoy a good laugh, get your hands on a copy of this unpredictable, heart-warming super-hero tale — and then rise to its challenges to live life, exercise your strengths and recognize greatness in yourself and others.

Looking for more inspiring teachers in children’s books? Check out 100 Cool Teachers in Children’s Literature on A Year of Reading (thanks to Franki, Mary Lee — and to Tricia for the reminder).

HOTLINE VOICES: Mark corners April Harkinson at the PodCamp Philly Bowling Event and learns that her favourite children’s books are the Berenstain Bears Series (by Stan and Jan Berenstain).

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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Starring pop-eyed recruits and friendly second-person narrative, this Cybils 2008-2009 NonFiction Picture Book category finalist dispenses enticing details of space training while gently nudging keen readers toward the healthy habits that just might make their dreams come true.

Be sure to check out the complete list of 2008-09 Cybils finalists in all nine categories.

HOTLINE VOICES: Beatrix (who learned about us from our appearance in Canadian Living Magazine) calls in to share her favourite, The Tale of Peter Rabbit (by Beatrix Potter).

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.

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Startling facts, silly poems and the thrill of a hidden picture hunt make this warmly illustrated smorgasbord of strangeness a sly and slippery segue from fiction to non-fiction.

More amazing animals on JOMB:

• Animals at the EDGE (Saving the World’s Rarest Creatures)
• Where in the Wild?
• Nic Bishop’s Frogs
• A Horse in the House
• Over in the Ocean … in a Coral Reef

Pop over to Mommy’s Favourite Children’s Books for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

HOTLINE VOICES: Author/Illustrator Peggy Collins makes a good case for Sleepyhead (by Karma Wilson and John Segal) as a great last-read-aloud-before-bedtime book.

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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Gentle, realistic illustrations and intriguing text tell the true tale of an adorable stray dog that restored health to critically ill children in a London hospital and hope to those who cared for them.

You can take a closer look at our long awaited (and long resisted) new family member, Phaedra, here.

Working dogs on JOMB:

• How Smudge Came
• Rosie: A Visiting Dog’s Story
• Heroes of Isle aux Morts

More dogs on JOMB:

• Doggie in the Window
• Owney the Mail-Pouch Pooch
• Night Running: How James Escaped with the Help of His Faithful Dog
• Stella, Unleashed!
• Little Lions, Bull Baiters & Hunting Hounds: A History of Dog Breeds
• Biscuits in the Cupboard
• Good Dog
• May I Pet Your Dog?
• “Let’s Get a Pup!” said Kate
• My Pup
• The Pound from the Hound
• Poodlena
• The Trouble with Tilly Trumble
• The Outside Dog
• Lady Lupin’s Book of Etiquette
• Dogs’ Night
• I Want A Dog
• Safe and Sound
• Dirty Dog Boogie

You can listen to our to vain attempt get our doggie dose through children’s books here.

HOTLINE VOICES: Katrina Morse of FamilyReading.com explains how one of her favourite books, the 1948 classic Blueberries for Sal (by Robert McCloskey), shows that children can have more common sense than grown-ups.

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.

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Two hundred and eighty three pages of flawless rhyme whisk us through joy, sorrow, suspense, giggles, bliss, shock and triumph in this beautifully illustrated and designed adventure in friendship, self-discovery and the power of engagement.

Other books mentioned:

• Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers
• The Call to Shakabaz
• Waiting at the Door to Unger
• Jillian Jiggs

Pop over to The Holly and the Ivy for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

HOTLINE VOICES: Author Kirby Larson shares how the book How to Steal a Dog (by Barbara O’Connor) stole her heart.

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.

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Don’t judge this Cybils 2008-2009 NonFiction Picture Book category winner by its cover.

This gorgeously photographed and casually narrated ramble through the often mindboggling traits, anatomy, actions, stats and abilities of the humble frog family will change your view of frogs forever.

Be sure to check out the complete list of 2008-09 Cybils winners in all nine categories.

HOTLINE VOICES: Librarian Peggy Northcraft believes that part of who she is as an adult, today, is because of the Anne of Green Gables series (by Lucy Maud Montgomery).  Be sure to listen to our documentary, Before Green Gables and the 100th anniversary of Anne Shirley.

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.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Even the most wonderful romance can come with the challenge of fitting in with in-laws. This fabulously illustrated twist on The Frog Prince treats us to an entertaining string of slip-ups and scandals as a starry-eyed frog samples life in the Royal Family.

More frogs on JOMB:

• The Frog Prince Continued
• Two Frogs

HOTLINE VOICES: Karen Alonge’s Valentines contribution is about a mysterious love letter with a twist in Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch (by Eileen Spinelli and Paul Yalowitz).

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, what are your favourite renditions of The Frog Prince? Leave us a message in the comments, below.

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Fierce, phonetically written slang and softly stretched, fish-eye illustrations make this twangin’ twist on the traditional tale a thrill for listeners and read-aloud hams alike — rump-blisterin’ and all!

Other books mentioned:

• Petite Rouge, A Cajun Red Riding Hood
• Three Little Cajun Pigs

You can find more Appalachian children’s books here.

HOTLINE VOICES: Melitsa Avila captures the essence of a book that both she and her son love, Too Many Toys (by David Shannon).

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, what are your favourite renditions of Cinderella? Leave us a message in the comments, below.

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Zest for life, heaps of books and double twists that tingle time after time, this newfangled fairy tale serves a thrilling mix of stormy seas, storytelling, romance and strong-willed women.

More Valentine’s Day reading on JOMB

• The Frog Prince Continued
• Falling For Rapunzel
• Cinderella Skeleton
• Mummy Never Told Me
• Taj Mahal
• Such A Prince
• Yuck. A Love Story
• The Penderwicks On Gardam Street
• The Hound from the Pound
• Victor and Christabel
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses

You can find more books about books, reading and language on JOMB here.

HOTLINE VOICES: Author and New York Times columnist, Mike Winerip explains why Stargirl (by Jerry Spinelli) is one of his current favourite books.

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.

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Fabulous photos of scarce, strange and, often, sweet-looking animals and intimate glimpses of the young scientists who are working to save them make this exciting look at work of the Zoological Society of London’s EDGE of Existence Program an engaging introduction to the science of conservation.

HOTLINE VOICES: Mrs. Incredible talks about the poetic devotion she and her three year-old son share for A Light in the Attic (by Shel Silverstein).

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.

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Rife with bobs, crops and cloche hats, beads, bangles and silk, this refreshing Roaring Twenties rendition of the traditional tale swaps the wincing minion for a spunky, talented and unflapperishly curvy Cinderella who, like another C-character we’ll all be watching this weekend, understands that we really don’t want everything we want.

More from the Jazz Era on JOMB:

• When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat
• Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum
• Ben’s Trumpet
• Jazz ABZ (An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits)

HOTLINE VOICES: Thanks to Maddy Lau of Styling with Renee Michelle shares her memories of The Little Prince (by Antoine de Saint Exupéry).

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.

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Kids do wonder. Kids do ask. If you can think of questions that might make you squirm, you’ll likely find at least one of them in this hilariously illustrated exploration of the often-hushed. Have a chuckle, have a chat. We bet you’ll be glad you did.

Looking at the web, it seems that ours is an unpopular opinion. We’d love to hear where you stand…

More sexuality on JOMB:

• What’s the Big Secret?

More non-traditional families on JOMB:

• The Not-So-Only Child

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.

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Delightfully flippant dialogue and dark, stylized illustrations laced with familiar, fun-to-find details take us on a hilarious journey through the forest of fairy tales in this quest for missing marital bliss.

More fairy tales gone wild and fun with the familiar on JOMB:

• And the DISH Ran Away with the SPOON
• Badness for Beginners
• Bantam of the Opera
• Bill in a China Shop
• Cinderella Skeleton
• Falling For Rapunzel
• Monster Goose
• Oops!
• Petite Rouge, A Cajun Red Riding Hood
• Rumplestilskin’s Daughter
• Science Verse
• Such A Prince
• Swine Lake
• The Crow
• The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza
• The Three Fishing Brothers Gruff
• The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig
• Wait! No Paint!

HOTLINE VOICES: Paul Muller talks about passing along his enjoyment of Pickle Things (by Marc Brown), a book from his childhood, to his own son.

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.

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Sweet, silly collage and guess-the-next-gag rhyme turn the traditional tale of tossed tresses into a merry carousel of misunderstanding and matchmaking.

More romantic reading on JOMB:

• Cinderella Skeleton
• Taj Mahal
• Such A Prince
• Yuck. A Love Story
• The Penderwicks On Gardam Street
• The Hound from the Pound
• Victor and Christabel
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses

You will find the soon to be launched Kid City NY blog here.

HOTLINE VOICES: Julie Wilson is reunited with a childhood favourite, The Adventures of Super Pickle (no longer in print) after nearly thirty years.

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.

Pop over to Adventures in Daily Living for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

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Comedic visual details and snappy, cumulative verse remind us that cunning and co-operation can’t compensate for a grossly underestimated opponent in this hilarious account of six scrawny cavemen and their quest for Ice Age tourtière.

Other books mentioned:

• Dr. Xargle’s Book of Earth Hounds
• The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza

And, what do you know, it’s the exact same story as our Just One More Book! theme song “Woolly Mammoth”, compliments of Robert Farrell.

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Sweet, silly, scrumptious little scenarios sneakily cement understanding of twenty-two slippery social concepts in this clever and captivating conversation-starter.

More recipes for happiness on JOMB:

• Some Helpful Tips for a Better World and a Happier Life
• Do Unto Otters
• Lady Lupin’s Book of Etiquette

HOTLINE VOICES: Baked goods are mightier than the sword in Jonny Goldstein’s favourite, The Apple Strudel Soldier (by Tom McGowen and John E. Johnson).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Cheery, matter-of-fact narration and gorgeous fridge-door worthy art give us a mind’s eye view of one whopping lunar adventure in this beautiful tale of space travel, spunk and solidarity.

HOTLINE VOICES: Victoria Long fondly remembers her mother reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond) to her.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Saucy cartoon-style illustrations and catchy rhyme make this gritty ditty so much fun it just may etch examples and relative sizes of ounces, grams, pounds, tons and tonnes into unsuspecting little minds.

More math on JOMB:

• Missing Math (A Number Mystery)
• A Very Improbable Story
• Full House: An Invitation to Fractions

More cartoonist creations on JOMB:

• Sandy Mackenzie, Why Look So Glum?
• Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big
• Baby Brains
• She’s Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head
• Cinderella Skeleton
• interview with Simon James
• interview with Christine Tripp

HOTLINE VOICES: Sarah Hatfield of No Whey, Mama shares her thoughts about Blueberries for Sal (by Robert McCloskey)

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

Pop over to Karen Edmisten’s Blog for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

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This delicately illustrated tale of integrity and patience invites us to examine the perplexing pervasiveness of professed perfection.

Other books mentioned:

• Marco Polo

More honesty on JOMB:

• Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big
• Too Many Tamales
• Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers
• When-I-was-a-little-girl
• Do Unto Otters

HOTLINE VOICES: Gabbi tells us about her son’s favourite part of I Love You Stinky Face (by Lisa McCourt and Cyd Moore).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Wonderfully wonky, earth-toned images and casual, lilting narration treat us to the antics, adventures, achievements and apprehension of Charles Darwin, the curious young collector who changed our view of the world.

Other books mentioned:

• Marco Polo
• The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur
• The Lamp, the Ice and the Boat Called Fish

More inspiring biographies on JOMB:

• Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum
• Buffalo Music
• Priscilla and the Hollyhocks

Be sure to make Esme Raji Codell’s Biography Break blog a regular stop on your great book gathering rounds.

HOTLINE VOICES: Michelle Brownlow of My Semblance of Sanity tells sings the praises of Hooway for Wodney Wat (by Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger)

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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It’s hard to believe that fifty-six pages of 700 year old travel details could consistently engross two seven and nine year old girls. Hard to believe, but, in the case of this beautifully illustrated and mesmerizing window to the world, nothing but the truth.

More exotic locations and travels on JOMB:

• 52 Days by Camel
• Lugalbanda: The Boy Who Got Caught Up In The War
• Taj Mahal
• Sanji and the Baker
• Ocean Wide, Ocean Deep
• Red Butterfly

You can read more about the veracity debate over Marco Polo’s incredulous journey here.

HOTLINE VOICES: A listener tells us about a book loved by both herself and son, the rhythmic and rhyming Bear Wants More (by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

Thanks to our daughter Lucy (9) for contributing the title of this post.

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Issues of body image impact lives young and old but too rarely make it to picture books where the sparked conversation might do most good. This entertaining yet thoughtful look at hairlessness is a welcome exception.

HOTLINE VOICES: Deborah White, a headstart teacher in a partnership classroom in Columbus (Ohio), shares her love of Happy to Be Nappy (by bell hooks and Chris Raschka)

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Large, happy images and simple, four line “one potato, two, potato” style rhyme make this perky pooch poem a peachy preschool pick.

Other books mentioned:

• Jamberry

Pop over to A Year of Reading for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

HOTLINE VOICES: Shelagh Rogers, host of CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter (available as a podcast), reflects on a childhood favourite, The Golden Phoenix and Other Fairy Tales from Quebec (by Marius Barbeau and Michael Hornyansky).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Smooth, action-packed close-ups and enthusiastic rhyme focus on the glorious details of little league practice in this almost 3D glimpse of spring.

More sports on JOMB:

• Across the Alley
• Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer
• The Bat Boy and His Violin
• Dino-Hockey
• The Magic Hockey Stick

Pop over to The Miss Rumphius Effect for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

HOTLINE VOICES: Anita Newburt shares a favourite and cat-lover’s delight, Mister Got to Go: The cat that wouldn’t leave, based on a true story (by Lois Simmie and Cynthia Nugent).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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No wizards, no potty-talk, no cell phones, no cynicism just four smart sisters, their dad, their schemes, their dog, their neighbours, their ideas and interactions yet our girls squealed, shrieked, jumped up and jabbered after almost every sentence. I’m not sure what it is, but The Penderwicks on Gardam Street has it.

HOTLINE VOICES: A listener calls in to breath more magic into Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast (by Jack Prelutsky and Arnold Lobel). Related book, Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp (by Carol Diggory Shields and Scott Nash).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Not much impresses young listeners more than their reading adult opening up a book and belting out a song. Add an action-packed story, a honky tonk narrator and engaging, humourous illustrations and this campfire standard will make you a storytime rock star.

More sing along favourites on JOMB:

• Sing, Sophie
• Sitting On the Farm
• The Eensy-Weensy Spider
• Wenceslas
• Over in the Ocean … in a Coral Reef
• Follow the Drinking Gourd
• Grandma’s Feather Bed
• Monster Goose
• Science Verse

Pop over to Author Amok for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

HOTLINE VOICES: Regular contributor Kevin Hodgson dares us with his descriptive thoughts on The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (by Mordicai Gerstein) and explains why this is the perfect book for the picture book genre.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Sparingly sprinkled with plump, porcelain people, folky knitwear and hushed goodwill, this gentle tale of creativity and compassion feels just like a cozy winter classic.

Other books mentioned:

• The Opposite
• The Red Wolf

More woolly reading on JOMB:

• A New Coat for Anna
• Amos’s Sweater

HOTLINE VOICES: Toni Patten shares a few of her family’s favourites including anything by Dr. Seuss, poetry books by Shel Silverstein, and books Goodnight Moon and There’s a Monster in My Closet.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

On August 30, 2006, we published episode 22 of Just One More Book!! It was a review of a permanent family favourite, Sleeping Dragons All Around, written by Sheree Fitch and illustrated by Michele Nidenoff. We would learn, shortly afterward, that the book was out of print.

We’ve become friendly with Sheree since we interviewed her for episode 54 published on November 13, 2006 and we’ve always told her how disappointed we were that Sleeping Dragons and some of her other fabulous children’s books, were no longer available.

Not for long.

As it turns out, the 20th anniversary of Sleeping Dragons All Around will be celebrated on January 25, 2009, with the re-release of the book. And guess what’s printed on the dust jacket. Our Just One More Book!! blog blurb from that August 30, 2006 book chat:

How cool is that?

This is the first of a two-part series about Sleeping Dragons All Around. In this part, we replay our original review of Sleeping Dragons, complete with questionable recording quality. Part two will be released on Monday, December 15, 2008 and will feature a new interview with Sheree about the new edition and a story of how Sleeping Dragons All Around has made an impact.

Want to see our other dust jacket appearance? Click here.

HOTLINE VOICES: Shelley Burns shares a year-after-year favourite book, Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge (by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Friendly, conversational narrative and breezy humour-splashed illustrations take us from the book-triggered birth of the goat-giving idea, through brainstorming, planning, implementation, bookkeeping and celebration in this inspiring, true tale of fifth graders who decided to make a difference.

Other books mentioned:

• Beatrice’s Goat
• The Goat Lady
• Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed

Organizations mentioned:

• Heifer International
• Project Tembo (Tanzania Education and Micro-Business Opportunity)

You can learn more about books that help children see the power and possibility of relatively small, tangible gestures, by listening to (or reading) Andrea’s contribution to Vivian Vasquez’s CLIP Podcast, here.

HOTLINE VOICES: Daniel Johnson Jr. (blog and podcast) and his daughter, Keisha, help make it a great day by sharing one of their favourite books, Judy Blume’s Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.