For the Older Sibling: Grandma's Gloves

I'm a huge fan of Cecil Castellucci. We were delighted to feature her work for older readers at readergirlz. You can read her issue here. So when the picture book Grandma's Gloves arrived, I knew I would be enchanted. And I was.

I was incredibly moved by this honest treatment of a grandmother's senility and eventual death as seen through the eyes of a young girl. The book is beautifully paced, with lovely language. Julia Denos' open, fresh, drawn and painted illustrations are the perfect match to carry Cecil's text. There's light and space and room to breath throughout the difficult topic.

Here is the witness of one generation connecting to another, each blessed with time to hear and be with the other. The child is also able to bridge a gap for her own mother when the grandmother passes. The work is justly receiving awards and notice, such as the California Book Award!

Save this one for your totz' siblings when a loved one departs. Thank you, Cecil and Julia!

Grandma's Gloves
by Ceci Castellucci
illustrated by Julia Denos
Candlewick Books, 2010

Poetry Friday: Smiling Girls, Rosy Boys

Photo from talk Disney

SMILING GIRLS, ROSY BOYS

Smiling girls, rosy boys,

Come and buy my little toys;

Monkeys made of gingerbread,

And sugar horses painted red.

Little toys are the best! Happy Poetry Friday.

Pat the Bunny: Peekaboo, Bunny!

If you and your totz can't get enough of patting that adorable first board book bunny, look for Peekaboo, Bunny! With illustrations in keeping with the original Pat the Bunny, your totz are challenged to find Bunny's friends beneath flaps. Where is Squeak, Teddy, and Cat? Each spread offers three flap possibilities for surprise and memory exercise on further readings.

It's so fun to revisit Bunny. And of course you must look for him/her on the last spread. Where is Bunny? He's hiding because he loves to play peek-a-boo with you! (Hm. Is Bunny a male or female?)

Peekaboo, Bunny!
Golden Books, 2009

Poetry Friday: Butterfly, Butterfly

I'm away on a writing retreat, surrounded by butterflies as I work outside. Happy Poetry Friday! May a butterfly cross your path today!

Image from Colour Lovers Blog

BUTTERFLY, BUTTERFLY

Butterfly, butterfly,

Whence do you come?

"I know not, I ask not,

Nor ever had a home."

Butterfly, butterfly,

Where do you go? 

"Where the sun shines, 

And where the buds grow."

July: Community Service

Image from City of Broomfield, CO

Create a drawing to send and thank a member of our armed forces. Here's a handy link!

July: Around the Block with Sesame Street

I heart Ernie!

Busy Elephants: John Schindel and Martin Harvey

This 16 page board book is the 14th in the Busy Book collection. Busy Elephants shows elephants engaging in their everyday activities in their natural habitat. There aren't enough wildlife photography books like this for totz, so I'm happy to welcome this one onto my shelves. From a two-page spread:

Elephants splashing
Elephants dashing


The real-life photographs, action verbs, and rhyming text are a delight. Made of sturdy board and glossy photos, its , 7 x 5 inch size makes it perfect for small hands. It's a self-described "elephantastic romp" that I think totz will enjoy.

Busy Elephants
Author: John Schindel
Photographs: Martin Harvey 
Tricycle Press, 2011
$6.99

Poetry Friday: Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee

Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee

Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee

Resolved to have a battle,

For Tweedle-dum said Tweedle-dee

Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew by a monstrous crow,

As big as a tar barrel,

Which frightened both the heroes so,

They quite forgot their quarrel.

I don't recall this rhyme, do you? Happy Poetry Friday! 

Let's Look at Dinosaurs: Frances Barry

Is that not the cutest dinosaur ever? I was immediately charmed by Let's Look at Dinosaurs.

In a larger format, likely qualifying as a picture book, Frances Barry presents collaged dinosaurs with flaps, to emphasize the featured dinosaurs' unique qualities. However, the pages are thick, and the flaps are durable, so I think little hands will enjoy this as well as a board book.

Frances presents a question on each page.
"I wonder why triceratops has such a large bony frill."

And then an answer is given.
"The frill might have been used to scare off predators."

An additional fact, in small print, for older siblings follows.
"Scientists are still studying how triceratops might have used his tail."

The dinosaurs are made of flat shapes with adorable black-spotted eyes. Even the Tyrannosaurus is endearing with his fierceness.


End papers offer pronunciation, a final fact, and a silhouette of a child for size. Find Let's Look at Dinosaurs for your future paleontolongist. And flip the flap for a munch, crunch, and roar!

Let's Look at Dinosaurs
by Frances Barry
Candlewick Press, 2011

Poetry Friday: Wee Sing, Sillyville

Oh, my daughters grew up with this video! Enjoy the fun with your totz! Happy Poetry Friday!

The Little Composter: Jan Gerardi

 
The Little Composter is a beautifully-illustrated lift-the-flap book with a wonderful message about working and playing with dirt as a very young composter. The rhyme is spot-on, as in:
Peanut shells.
Melon Rind 
(under flap)
Citrus peels of any kind.

This small sturdy book is part of the Teenie Greenies series of eco-friendly books for ages 0-4. Also in the series is Eco People on the Go, which teaches totz (in a non-teachy way) about environmentally friendly ways to go green.

The Little Composter
Author/illustrator: Jan Gerardi
Series: Teenie Greenies
Random House, 2010

Poetry Friday: Hebrew Children's Poetry

This is so beautiful! I'd love to be able to read the Hebrew poetry! Happy Poetry Friday!

June: Around the Block with Sesame Street, Stevie Wonder and Grover

Oh, how awesome is this? Stevie and Grover! I am also "the short note singer." :~)

June: Community Service

This is so easy, but it's also helpful to your entire community. With you, totz can clean up trash at your local park. Make a difference today!

I found this adorable drawing on The Harmonica Pocket! Which makes me think how fun it would be to include more children's drawings at readertotz. Thoughts?

I like bugs: Lorena Siminovich

I was just out gardening this morning and put some time in with the roly polys. It now seems appropriate to share  I like bugs by Lorena Siminovich.

This touch-and-feel board book from Templar Books is a tactile discovery of five insect-y spreads. Your totz will have the opportunity to count beetles, butterflies, and bees. The texture inserts are inventive: glitter mylar for the dragonfly's body, satin for the butterflies, and fuzzy bottoms for the bees.

Lorena's collages provide variety in the layered papers which create foreground, objects, and backgrounds. There's so much subtle movement to see and appreciate; your totz will want to look at this work again and again. I like bugs is charming, especially outside, on a summer day!

I like bugs
by Lorena Siminovich
Templar Books, 2010

Poetry Friday: Humpty Dumpty

Wikipedia asserts Humpty is the most well-known Mother Goose rhyme in English. And I had forgotten Alice interviews Humpty in Through the Looking Glass. Here's to Humpty!

HUMPTY DUMPTY

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

All the King’s horses, and all the King’s men

Cannot put Humpty Dumpty together again.

Pig Takes A Bath: Michael Dahl

The title of this book and the cover design made this book stand out on the shelves. Once I ventured inside, I enjoyed the simple story with its striking, colorful art. It begins with an off-stage parent calling:

Little Pig WHERE are you?

Little Pig is having a great time in a mud puddle--that’s where he is. But now it’s time for a bath. Although Little Pig tries to dodge the whole bath thing, he winds up in the tub and undergoes the annoyance of a thorough, step-by-step de-mudding procedure. Until finally:

Little Pig, you’re CLEAN!

I won’t give away the ending, but Little Pig winds up more or less as he began. Totz will sympathize with this pig. They know what it’s like to have their playtime interrupted by the nuisance of bathtime. And they’ll giggle at the ending!

Also keep an eye out for Pony Brushes His Teeth and Bunny Eats Lunch!

Pig Takes A Bath

by Michael Dahl

illustrated by Oriol Vidal

Picture Window Books / Captstone Books, 2010

Poetry Friday: Little King Boggen

Illustration by Frederick Richardson, Mother Goose, Volland Edition (1915)

LITTLE KING BOGGEN

Little King Boggen, he built a fine hall,

Pie-crust and pastry-crust, that was the wall;

The windows were made of black puddings and white,

And slated with pan-cakes,- you ne’er saw the like!

I'm craving some pancakes now, on this Poetry Friday! 

June Older Sibling Pick: Cloudette

The minute I saw this cover, I wanted to read this picture book. Tom Lichtenheld's art has that effect on me. The book trailer is adorable, too. It's Cloudette's job resume as she searches for a way to make a difference in the world.

Cloudette has personality. The text and art manage to make her so believably childlike that totz and kidz will identify with her. She isn't as big as the other clouds and wonders what she can possibly contribute. She likes being small, but the big clouds can do a lot that she can't -- like creating thunderstorms, for instance. When one of the big clouds' storms whooshes her far away, she meets a frog with a problem--an empty pond. Her solution is perfect and I was cheering for her.

Tom Lichtenheld is also the illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Duck! Rabbit! and Shark vs. Train, and Zero the Hero (Feb 2012 / written by totz co-founder Joan Holub.)

Cloudette

author-illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld

Christy Ottaviano Books / Henry Holt and Company / Macmillan, 2011

Play, Baby: Disney Baby

Don't let this little cover image thwart you from finding this sweet board book! I had trouble finding a larger pic, maybe because attached to the top back cover is a clever rattle handle. Little hands will grab and hold onto this one!

Play, Baby, a Disney baby board book, features multicultural children with superimposed Disney characters, playing together. Dumbo shakes a rattle, the dalmatians stack cups, while Cinderella's mice help a tot push a ball.

I found the graphic combination charming. The palette is gentle and retro, causing the red handle to pop. The left spreads carry text and silhouettes of the Disney characters.

Grab Play, Baby for your totz and rattle around sweet images and words!

Play, Baby
Disney Press, 2010