Snuggly Puppy: Jannie Ho

Text developed in house, Nosy Crow has Snuggly Puppy on the lookout for a perfect hug. Not one that is too prickly, busy, jumpy, or splashy. She finds the perfect hug with her mother and father.

Tabs pull to reveal further information as Snuggly Puppy visits her community. Jannie Ho's patterned, flat illustrations are non-threatening, with a soft palette, creating a safe space for readertotz.

Explore with your first readers what makes a good hug. Potential life lessons in this board book.

Snuggly Puppy Looks for the Perfect Hug
illustrated by Jannie Ho
Nosy Crow, 2016

Tiny Tab Books: Bunny Boo and Teeny Weeny

Two new releases from Nosy Crow are Bunny Boo Has Lost Her Teddy and Teeny Weeny Looks for His Mommy. These Tiny Tab Books feature tabs to pull, changing the imagery in the cutouts. Teeny Weeny is on the search for his mother, while Bunny Boo needs her bear to go to bed.

The straight-forward text is offset by the tabs which begin as a guessing game and on later readings turn into a memory game. Illustrations are cute, featuring many patterns with a painterly feel. Little fingers will enjoy exploring these two small board books.

Bunny Boo Has Lost Her Teddy
Teeny Weeny Looks for His Mommy
illustrated by Jannie Ho
Nosy Crow, 2013

Guess Who: Jannie Ho

Too cute! Find Guess Who? for your totz who love to dress up. With handles and two holes punched through the book, each spread can be held before the face like a mask. Whether your reader wants to pretend to be a robot, superhero, or a pirate, the options are hers.

Included are pop-up features which enhance each mask. Jannie Ho's illustrations are bright and fun, not scary at all for the smallest readers. Don't miss the cover illustration in case your tot wants to be a mummy. Take a peek at Guess Who?

Guess Who? A Pop-Up Mask Book
by Jannie Ho
Cartwheel Books, Scholastic, 2013

What Does Cow Say? giveaway

In celebration of my spring release, What Does Cow Say? (Scholastic/Cartwheel Books), I'm giving away this cute barn carrying case, small plush cow, and an autographed copy of the book. This rhyming lift-the-large-flap board book is mega-sturdy and bigger than many board books at 7" x 8.5".

To enter: Click here: JOAN'S BLOG POST to drop a comment with a creative (g-rated) guess regarding what a cow might say other than the obvious. The cowments posted so far have been udderly amoosing! Two winners will be randomly chosen March 30th and posted here at readertotz and on Joan's blog. Be sure to leave your contact email, or come back then to see if you've won.


















Story scoop: These farm animals have big mouths! When the sun came up, Duck went Quack which woke his neighbor, Cow, who went MOO, which woke Rooster who went Cock-a-doodle-doo. . . As each animal awakens, totz can guess what it says and open its big-flap beak, snout, or mouth to read its signature sound. The final spread shows a child waking up--with open arms and a final HOORAY! to welcome the day!

Art scoop: Instead of a manuscript, I submitted this 2-page dummy to Scholastic/Cartwheel for consideration. All the mouths had working flaps taped over them, so they'd lift to reveal the animal sound below. A lot goes into creating these seemingly uncomplicated books. For instance, the title and some of the text changed during the editing process. And as you can see, artist Jannie Ho made the book way cuter than my proposal.












Lucky me to have Jannie illustrate this book! She studied illustration at Parsons School of Design in NYC, and was a designer at Nickelodeon, Scholastic, and associate art director at TIME Magazine for Kids before becoming a full-time illustrator. Wow!

~ Joan Holub

What Does Cow Say?
Author: Joan Holub
Illustrator: Jannie Ho
Scholastic, Cartwheel Books, 2011