Poetry Friday: Roar Like a Dandelion

This Poetry Friday celebrate with a never-before released work by Ruth Krauss. Illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier, the whimsy and sillies will amuse your readertotz as the alphabet is reinforced in Roar Like a Dandelion.

Sit in the sun
and shine

Try to hug yourself
in a puddle

Undress to match
trees in winter

Vote for yourself

There's an empowering joy of life in this work. Thanks to Harper for choosing to share more from Krauss. Her voice is clear, and Ruzzier honors it well. Bravo!

Roar Like a Dandelion
by Ruth Krauss
illustrations by Sergio Ruzzier
Harper, 2019

Top Shelf: I Am a Story

Sometimes, you find that perfect picture book. For me, I Am a Story falls into this top category.

Dan Yaccarino follows story from being told around a fire to cell phones today. Story has been carved into cave walls and clay. It's been printed, woven, and acted. It's been banned and given to all through public libraries. It's been burned, but yet, story still inspires.

Here is a beautiful tribute to story. Graphic, flat illustrations, heavy on line, dance in this work. What a treasure for libraries to hold I Am a Story.

I Am a Story
by Dan Yaccarino
Harper, 2016

More, more, more: North, South, East, West; Margaret Wise Brown

Oh, deliciousness! A never-before-published work by Margaret Wise Brown! North, South, East, West is the question the young bird asks her mother before flying off into the world. Which way should she go? Mother never answers, but she allows the bird to discover the world on her own. Eventually, the bird returns east, to her first home. There she finds a mate, and when their eggs hatch, she sings the song her mother first sang to her. She, also, leaves their question unanswered for the chicks to find their own way.

The language is as beautiful and tight as you'd expect:

"Her mother taught her to ride the wind
and to fly above and below the storms,
and glide on the strength of the wind.

Greg Pizzoli's flat, graphic illustrations offer space for the little bird to soar in the world. The simple shapes are accessible and appealing. The digital work looks like a rough-edged print. What an honor to come alongside Margaret's text. Well done, Greg!

And thanks to Harper for bringing this work to the shelf. Whether we are north, south, east, or west.

North, South, East, West
by Margaret Wise Brown
illustrated by Greg Pizzoli
Harper, 2017

More, more, more: There's a Giraffe in My Soup

When a child finds a giraffe in his soup, the waiter is quick to replace the bowl. However, next there is an alligator, an elephant, a yak, and more! The zoo was sent the restaurant's food while the restaurant received the zoo's animals. There's additional homophone word play from mousse to moose and lying to lion which plague the exasperated waiter.

Readertotz will be laughing from the first page to the last of There's a Giraffe in my Soup by Ross Burach. The debut author used pencil and acrylic paints colored digitally for the hilarious illustrations composed with great energy. Welcome, Ross! We are so happy to have you writing and illustrating for readertotz!

There's a Giraffe in My Soup
by Ross Burach
Harper, 2016

Pete the Cat's Groovy Guide to Love: Kimberly and James Dean

I know Pete the Cat is everywhere and beloved. But Pete the Cat's Groovy Guide to Love, Tips from a Cool Cat on How to Spread the Love by Kimberly & James Dean shouldn't be missed. Pete translates the gist of famous quotes and illustrates the concepts.

"Love is space and time measured by the heart." Marcel Proust
Far out! Love is out of this world. Pete

"All you need is love." John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Morning, noon, and night-love is all right! Pete

"Friends show their love in times of trouble." Euripides
Always stop to help your turtle friends. Pete

Whether you need one more Valentine for your sweetheart, a gift for your philosopher friend, or want to share a little love with your totz, Pete is a great choice to sweeten their day.

Pete the Cat's Groovy Guide to Love
by Kimberly & James Dean
Harper, 2016

More, more, more: Caps for Sale and More Caps for Sale

Celebrating 75 years from its first publication, Caps for Sale, A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business, a Reading Rainbow Book, by Esphyr Slobodkina is now accompanied by a formerly unpublished sequel, More Caps for Sale, Another Tale of Mischievous Monkeys.

Rereading Caps for Sale, I'm struck by the beauty of the rhythm and repetition within the work.

So the peddler
picked up his caps and
put them back on his head--

first his own checked cap,

then the gray caps,

then the brown caps,

then the blue caps,

then the red caps
on the very top.

Doesn't it just resonate calmness? The sequel begins with the same opening as Caps for Sale. But the peddler considers the monkeys and how he sold no caps that day. This time as he sets an example for the monkeys, they also set an example for the peddler. He follows their lead by eating and sleeping. Journeying back to town the following morning, the peddler sells all his caps as the monkeys entertain the townspeople by imitating the peddler. They learn proper conduct from him.

Ann Marie Mulhearn Sayer wrote this sequel with story ideas from Slobodkina. The two were longtime friends, business partners, and supporters of each other. The sequel art was extracted and manipulated by Sayer from Slobodkina's paintings and illustration. The reader might initially feel the difference, if a lover of Caps for Sale, but the work pulls together with a sense of unity.

Both women believed society should instill morality and ethics in young children, and books were the perfect format to do so. Enjoy these picture books with your totz. And let us know your thoughts! (A board book release of Caps for Sale by HarperFestival is also available!)

Caps for Sale, A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business
By Esphyr Slobodkina
More Caps for Sale, Another Tale of Mischievous Monkeys
By Esphyr Slobodkina, with Ann Marie Mulhearn Sayer
Harper, 2015

Poetry Friday: Itty Bitty Kitty, by Joan Holub

So adorable with rhyme throughout. Itty Bitty Kitty is a great pick for Poetry Friday! Enjoy our own Joan Holub's bouncy, punchy text accompanied by the cutest illustrations by James Burks. Move over Clifford!

    It was a furry purry,
snuggly huggly,
cutie patootie,
                   itty...
                     bitty...
                       kitty!
                    He had sparkly green eys
                 and was just the right size
                 for a girl like Ava.

Itty Bitty Kitty
by Joan Holub
illustrated by James Burks
Harper, 2015

Poetry Friday: Blown Away

Happy Poetry Friday! Look at this cutie and consider adding it to your collection!



"A windy day.
A brand-new kite.
For Penguin Blue
a maiden flight.

The kite so high. The wind so strong.
It's pulling Penguin Blue along."

And so begins the adventure!

Blown Away
by Rob Biddulph
Harper, 2015

Poetry Friday: An Awesome Book

Encourage your totz to dream with An Awesome Book. The illustrations will captivate you for hours. Happy Poetry Friday!

"Please dream for those
who've given up
for those who've
never tried
Please use your dreams
to make new dreams
for all the dreams
that died"

An Awesome Book
by Dallas Clayton
Harper