Leo Lionni's Friends: First Board Books

You can introduce your totz to our beloved Leo Lionni with these board books, inspired by his body of work. Whether celebrating spring or introducing the alphabet, Leo's adorable mice will be loved by first readers. Adults will enjoy the references back to earlier books.

Spring, I know you're
here when I hear the
BUZZ of the bees in the meadow...
(From A Little Book About Spring)

W is for wide wall.
X is for x-tra special surprise.
(From A Little Book About ABCs)

Welcome your totz to the world with Leo's little mice. They help us to see, learn, and celebrate!

A Little Book About Spring
A Little Book About ABCs
illustrated by Leo Lionni and Julie Hamilton
Random House, 2019

Who? What? Where? When? by Leo Lionni

Obviously. I love when I find a collection of board books, and I think: obviously. Knopf has created a series that should be on the shelves. With Leo Lionni's beloved mice, totz will explore Who? What? Where? and When?

Each book begins with a question which is left unanswered, apart from the image provided. Although Who? does name the animal. I wonder why this is so? The lack of answers in the other three works may be assuring to the child that he will know and deduce correctly.

Apparently, this imagery was used in a series in 1983. The new text is provided by Nora and Louis Mannie Lionni. They hit the mark. I recommend this series. Obviously!

Who? What? Where? When?
by Nora and Louis Lionni
illustrated by Leo Lionni
Knopf, 2014

Leo Lionni: little blue and little yellow

 

Originally published in 1959 and recently re-released in board book form to celebrate its 50th anniversary, little blue and little yellow began Leo Lionni's amazing career in children's books. Over the decades, four of Lionni's books have been named in the Caldecott Awards: Frederick, Swimmy (my personal favorite), Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse, and Inch by Inch.

The main characters in this sturdy board book are scraps of colored paper. Little Blue (a blue scrap) has blue parents, and Little Yellow (a yellow scrap) has his yellow parents. They each have friends of various colors in school and at play. 

 

When Little Blue can't find Little Yellow one day, he searches high and low. When they find each other, they are so happy that they hug it out…and hug and hug until they become green! Uh oh! Now their parents don't recognize them. This dilemma will have totz glued to the story and rooting for a happy ending. Where did little blue and little yellow go? Are they lost?

The two scraps begin to cry, and their tears are blue and yellow, not green. Seeing this, their parents finally recognize their scraps. All ends well.

This book is one I hadn’t seen before, even though it has been around forever. At its heart, it’s a story of friendship and acceptance, but it’s also a fun read, and functions as an intro to color blending. I can see it leading to a family or classroom art project, in which totz create their own colorful, well-blended, scrappy characters.
 

little blue and little yellow   

30 page board book  

author/illustrator: Leo Lionni  

Alfred A. Knopf , 1959 / 2009 re-release