February 15, 2010
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Interlude – Picture Books
OK, so maybe a book review about a teen angst book wasn’t the best choice for Valentine’s Day, a holiday I always forget. Let me make it up to you today and throw a handful of picture books into the mix.
Mo Willems’ books are a delight. Honest. Especially when shared with young children. The pigeon is right up there with that mischevious cat of hat fame. However, when Mr. Wilems began writing beginning readers I was dubious – very – until I turned the first page of the first book and met Elephant and Piggie. I roared. Loudly. Sitting at my desk. As the tweens and teens looked up to shush me I passed the book around and giggled “Read this!” They too, cynical little wretches that they are, laughed out loud. The latest offering, Elephants Cannot Dance! is another raucous experience as Elephant really tries to find the grace and understanding to perform Piggies’ various dance moves. Wilems’ deceptively simple illustrations and his ability to capture mood with a single stroke of the pen never ceases to amaze me. These are books to share and share again. Not even kidding!
I am not generally a huge fan of picture book biographies. Usually I want more details and more gossip. That being said, I genuinely enjoyed Barbara Kerley’s The Extraordinary Mark Twain According to Suzy. Taken from Twain’s eldest daughter Suzy’s childhood biography of her father, the story delights and has a very real sense of Twain’s wry humor. Edwin’s Fotheringham’s illustrations add depth and dimension to the text. The addition of little books within the book are offer surprises on every spread. Check this one out on your next trip to the library and look at Kerley and Frotheringham’s collaboration What to Do about Alice? while you’re at it. P.S. There’s a wonderful teacher’s guide on writing an extraordinary biography at the end of the Twain bio that might even help seniors get that pesky college essay out of the way.
Maybe you have to own and love a herding dog but I think Mircea Catusanu’s The Strange Case of the Missing Sheep is giggle inducing whether you do or not. This twist on the wolf and the sheep and the dog tale is just entertaining and, well, twisted enough to engage the wiggliest listener and the details in the illustrations will keep everyone engaged in observation, laughs and page turning. Being the proud owner of an Aussie mix who insists that all her sheep stay where they are supposed to, the portrait of Doug the sheep dog had me in stitches. I swear if I ever get another one I’m naming him Doug. “Sheep! Get in line!” Yup.
I don’t know under which rock I’ve been living but I just met Fancy Nancy and she is too much fun! Nancy loves to be fancy, never wearing a plain shirt when a glittery one is so much better and always properly accessorized. The fact that her family isn’t fancy at all – they don’t even ask for sprinkles for heaven’s sake – frustrates her sparkly soul. Lessons in fancy save the day and her loving and willing family pays rapt attention as Nancy sets out examples and lists. If you haven’t met her yet, introduce yourself to Fancy Nancy with bows and formality the next time you visit your favorite book repository. See! I can be fancy too!
And so it goes.
Comments (3)
I have grands here today. They are both reading beyond their grade level. He’s in third reading at 6th grade. She’s in 2nd and reading at 5th grade level. Both brought their books for sleep over. I can’t go to bed without a book, nor can their mother , my daughter. I guess the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.
It’s so sad that elephants cannot jump. I suppose they can’t dance either. Instead, they’re beautiful, slow, plodding creatures with big hearts. And I <3 them. Okay, digression over. Hope you’re doing well
@BoureeMusique - Actually, you should take a look at this one because…well, you just should.