Book of the Day: My Colors, My World

My Colors, My World: Mis Colores, Mi Mundo
Maya Christina Gonzalez
Children's Book Press (2007)

Sometimes I fall in love with a book without really having a good reason.   What is it that endears a particluar book to me?  To Mirette?    Often when friends share with me their favorites or their kids favorites, it doesn't totally sing to me.  It's such an individual experience.   

It's my hope that a few of my choices will sing to you.   And that you will have so much fun reading the book with your child that it will be infectious!!!

This book is about a little girl and the colors she likes, translated into Spanish.  The illustrations are lush with bold colors.   But it is the girl I like most.    She is beautiful, playful and kind-of odd looking all at once (in a cool Adams family kind-of way).   She loves the color pink!

Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks the book is AWESOME.    The book won the Pura Belpre Honor in 2007 for best illustrations.


Check out their website for lots of great Latina reads and book lists:  http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/belpremedal/belprepast

The author, Maya Christina Gonzalez has created artwork for many children's books.  Here's a link to her website and blog:   http://www.mayagonzalez.com/work.html

Book of the Day: No Two Alike

No Two Alike
Keith Baker
Beach Lane Books (2011)

Tomorrow I leave for a mom's trip to Aspen, Colorado.  I won't be hob-nobbing with the rich and famous (though last time I was there I did run into Kristen Davis of Sex in the City fame), but hanging with my best friends, one of whom lives there.

I'm suffering from mom's guilt--  What if something happens to me?  What if something happens to her?  What if she feels abandoned?  If I can get this past this, I am so excited for a weekend break!

I wanted to share a short and sweet book that my sister gave Mirette gave for Hanukkah.

No Two Alike is a rhyming story that coveys the message that "no two snowflakes are alike, almost, almost. . . but not quite."  The snowy illustrations are nature-filled, peaceful, and beautiful.

Keith Baker has illustrated many books, including LMNO Peas. He has a great website with another gorgeous introduction:  http://www.keithbakerbooks.com/.  If you click on the book icon, there's a little tutorial on making snowflakes.   Enjoy!

Book of the Day: The Red Balloon

The Red Balloon
by Albert Lamorisse
Doubleday (1956)

Recently, we went to a party and Mirette acquired a red balloon.  She carried it around with her everywhere for several days, finally tying it on her bed post until it shriveled up. 

This reminded me of the book The Red Balloon which I haven't read since I was a kid.   I took it out from the library and boy did it deliver.  The book is actually photos of stills from the movie and depicts a young boy's relationship with a red balloon.  The boy, Pascal, doesn't question the magical properties of this balloon as an adult would which, in and of itself, creates a delightful reading experience.   However, what I think makes this a stand out is the way that so many powerful emotions are conveyed throughout the book.

Somehow, without the author telling us, the boy appears to be lonely.  He makes friends with the red balloon and his face expresses loyalty, joy, playfulness, kindness, concern,and caring.   He is the target of bullies which makes him scared and worried.  When his balloon pops, he feels grief.  And when all the balloons of Paris lift him off into the sky, he feels elated.

The author Albert Lamorisse is actually a film maker.  The short film The Red Balloon won an Oscar for the Best Original Screenplay in 1956.   Of course, we had to track it down and watch it.  Here's the youtube link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS_io-ZB5ZU (though we watched it on Netflix).   I'm not sure I would recommend watching it with your two year old.  Mirette liked it a lot, but was also kind-of scared.   The bully scenes are pretty intense.  She also went through every emotion right along with Pascal and the balloon,  "Mommy, the balloon is all alone; Mommy, why are those boys mean? and finally when he lifts off into the sky, "Where is the boy going? Where is his mommy and daddy?"

From my point of view, the movie is an incredible film.   Even if you don't want your kid to watch it, it's a brilliant piece of film-making.  I can see why it won the Oscar.   So much emotion, that even as an adult, I kind-of could almost sort-of think the balloon is really magic (or at least wish it was).
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Several interesting tid-bits about Lamorisse.   Pascal, in the book, is his actual son and the girl he befriends is his daughter Sabine. He told his kids a story a day and sounds like a very creative soul and fun father.  Sadly,  Lamorisse died in a plane crash while filming a documentary.  And, this is the absolute weirdest fact EVER, he invented the board game RISK.   (my step-daughters and husband love that game and introduced it to me--it's very clever and fun!).  

If you are wondering what happened to Pascal, he re-released his father's film and is making a sequel:
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=17253102&m=17253067

Books of the Day: To the Moon and Back Again

The Prince and the Seven Moons
Author:  Mike Thaler
Illustrator:  Ursula Arndt
Macmillan Company (1966)

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me
Eric Carle
Little Simon (1986)

In our family we say,  "I love you to the moon and back again."  

I always notice the depiction of the moon in children's books.  It's amazing the multitude of ways that one can draw a moon.  In common, the moon is this twinkling, friendly object that keeps our children safe at night.  The moon is comforting, sweet and protecting.

The Prince and The Seven Moons is extra special because it was given to me by my Nana when I was a child.   Since both my grandmas died before I was twelve, any surviving thing from either of them  has an extra special place in my heart.

The story is about a prince who is looking out the window of his castle asking people passing by what they know about the moon.   The merchant thinks the moon is a golden dollar, the baker thinks it's a pie, the young kid thinks it's a balloon.  The illustrations are pen and ink drawings with the object--balloon, pie, golden dollar-- in bright yellow.  In the end, the princess teaches the prince about the moon as they picnic under it.  

The author Mike Thaler is known as The Riddle King.  See for yourself:  http://www.mikethaler.com/biography.htm.  I can't find too much information though on this book which was obviously one of his earliest.

There's not too much out there on Ursala Arndt either, only that she has illustrated many a children book.  

My other favorite and fun moon books is Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me.   This is a multi-dimensional book with pages that unfold to reveal ladders, mountains, and moons.  

I surely will profile Eric Carle in future posts, but suffice it to say for now that his books go outside the box in terms of form-- folding pages, moving pages, holes in pages, sliding boxes.   Here's some grade school ideas on the activities associated with the book that you may be able to tweak to be appropriate for preschoolers.   http://www.eric-carle.com/bb-papa.html

Book of the Day: Trouble with Trolls

Trouble With Trolls
Jan  Brett
Puffin Books (1992)

Seriously?   Jan Brett is from Massachusettes?  I had assumed she was from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, or Antarctic.  I was sure she was a man with a name pronounced Yan, distant relative of Thor. 

Her books have such a lovely sense of place.   Even as an adult, I feel transported to a different time and setting.  One biography depicted her pictures as lavish.  I think that's definitely true.  There's the story and then there's a needlepoint border with all kinds of things happening on the edges.   One could stare at this book for hours and never see it all.   I remember loving books like this when I was a kid.  

As for Mirette, it's a little much for her to take in, so we mostly stick to the main story.  She'll tug on my arm and say, "mommy, turn the page" which I ever so reluctantly do.

Jan Brett does book tours on a giant bus with her husband and pet hedgehog.  She's a serious chicken-raiser, has a husband who plays for the Boston Symphony, and takes an entire year to write one book. She travels to the places that her books are set in, looking for fine details that will help the reader connect. Also, she thinks of smells and sounds while she is writing.   She has a great blog:http://janbrettsblog.com/ and an even better website:  http://www.janbrett.com/index.html

The website has tons and tons of activities such as making hedgehog cookies and place mats for Christmas as well as lots of how to draw videos. 

To learn more about Jan Brett and see her mind in action (and let me tell you, it's fascinating), check out this video about The Night Before Christmas:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZSQ6exsfIM

Book of the Day: A Very Special House

A Very Special House
Author:  Ruth Krauss
Illustrator:  Maurice Sendak
Haper Collins (1953)

We have been reading a lot of books lately and so many of them are delightful.     I've only covered the tiniest fraction of great children's literature and I feel overwhelmed by all the wonderous books I am leaving out.  I have to remember that this is OUR journey with books, the ones we seek out and the ones we stumble across and there is no way to include every amazing author and illustrator.  

Like most people, I've read The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss many times, but I haven't been too familiar with the rest of her body of work.  I took A Very Special House out from the library for Mirette and we've read it every night since.   It is such a fun read.

I really like books that play with language and this definitely fits the bill.   Here's my favorite playful passage:  I know a house---
I'ts not a squirrel house
 it's not a donkey house
--just like I said--
and it's not up on a mountain
and it's not down in a valley
 and it's not down in a hole
and it's not down in our ally
 and it's not up in a tree
 or underneath the bed--
oh it's right in the middle--
oh it's ret in the meedle--
ohe it's root in the moodle of my head head head

The pages are all yellow with ink drawings and a blue and white boy prancing all over the pages, distinctly Maurice Sendak!

Ruth Krauss (1901-1993) wrote around 40 books for kids. Just like Margaret Wise Brown, she was part of the Writer's Laboratory at the Bank Street School.    Some of her books were illustrated by her husband Crockett Johnson and eight were illustrated by Maurice Sendak.   She also wrote poetry for adults. 

There is not much about Ruth Krauss on the internet.  Here's a photo of her and a short bio:  http://www.lib.usm.edu/~degrum/html/research/findaids/DG0569f.html, but I am left wondering--who is she really?  

As for Maurice Sendak, let's save him for another day!

Book of the Day: Puppies, Pussycats, and Other Friends

Puppies, Pussycats, and Other Friends
Gyo Fujikawa
Grosset and Dunlop (1975)

Everyone should have an Aunt Marni.   Our Aunt Marni is not a blood relative, but a dear friend that took on her role as Mirette's Auntie with gusto.  We don't have much family near by and the ones that are close don't have the time or energy to have a relationship with a toddler (major exception is Steve's two daughters who are Mirette's other BFF's).  The rest of em'  love her, but from afar.  What was once a source of sadness, has created the opportunity for other wonderful people to fill in these roles.

When Aunt Marni  comes to call, Mirette pulls her away and they play for hours.   I think she has no idea that Aunt Marni is actually an adult.   When she comes, she often brings something along.  Her little gifts are well thought out and often become our favorite toys round here.  For example, once she brought a bag of tiny teddy bears in four different colors.   They have been played with so much.   Another time she brought a paper house that has little doors and windows that open.  

Aunt Mari loves the illustrations of Gyo Fujikawa and brought Mirette the book Puppies, Pussycats and Other Friends.  Gyo's children have big round heads and are very friendly-looking.  She makes excellent use of alliteration such as :Wouldn't you like to have a furry, fuzzy, feathery or slithery-smooth friend?" .  She also keeps it very simple and clear---"some animal friends are very small like fishes and frogs."  Our favorite page is one where seven beatuful kids are standing in the grass, each with an small animal atop their heads.  

What Gyo Fujikawa, who died in 1988, is most known for is featuring children of many ethnicities (rare at the time).    She also created several postage stamps.   Here's an article in celebration:
http://ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/diversity/versed/versedbackissues/september2005a/fujikawa.cfm

We love George and Martha!

" If one of James's most remarkable attributes was his genius for friendship, then George and Martha are the quintessential expression of that genius. Those dear, ditzy, down-to-earth hippos bring serious pleasure to everybody, not only to children. They are time-capsule hippos who will always remind us of a paradise in publishing and -- both seriously and comically -- of the true, durable meaning of friendship under the best and worst conditions."   Maurice Sendak

WE LOVE GEORGE AND MARTHA
Who doesn't?

Mirette found the complete George and Martha stories on my niece's book shelf.  "Ella,"  I said, "you have George and Martha on your book shelf"   "I LOVE George and Martha,"  Ella replied.

"What should we get Mirette for Hanukah?" my sister asked later.  "How about the complete George and Martha stories," I replied.  My two sisters simultaneously said,  "Oh, we LOVE George and Martha."  

Why does everyone love the story of two big ol' hippos?

For me, I think it's because George and Martha operate on two levels:  kids love the books.   The hippos are sweet, friendly and loving.  But it is also such a parable for how we interact as adults.   For instance, one of the stories is about split pea soup.  Martha keeps making George split pea soup.  He hates it, but keeps eating it--just to be polite.   Martha catches him putting the soup in his shoe and reveals that she also hates split pea soup and won't make it anymore.  In another similar vignette (for they do seem to be written in that form) George buys Martha a clock.  The sound annoys her and she puts it in the bottom of her laundry basket.  George find it and wonders how it got there.  Martha feels horrible and asks him if he wants to keep it for her for a while.   Martha is happy because she doesn't have the annoying alarm clock.  George is happy because he does.    How many of us have had similar experiences?  I know I have.

  My mom once got me a subscription to a magazine I didn't read or like.   I didn't say anything to be polite. The next year, I got a card saying that my subscription had been renewed.  The next year, I finally got my courage up to tell my ma that she was wasting her money.  

Another vignette I love is when Martha gets mad at George for spraying her with a hose.   Martha decides not to talk to George, but then keeps thinking of funny things she wants to tell him.   Um, I have been there with my husband.  Occasionally, I've been so mad at him, I've sworn that we are no longer going to speak ever again.  A few hours later, I think of something that I want to talk to him about.   Oh wait, we're in a fight.  I can't.  A few more hours,   I start dreaming of that romantic dinner we want to have.  Wait.   I hate him.   I feel my resolve for hatred withering and by evening all I want is for this ridiculous fight to be over.  

James Marshall (1942-1992) illustrated a gazillion books and has several other popular series like The Cut-ups (though I happen to think George and Martha is the best of his work).   George and Martha are named after the characters from Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf.   While reading these fine books look for his signature style--pictures of fat cats and piles of things about to fall over.     Marshall died prematurely of a brain tumor at the age of 50.  

For a lovely memorial to James Marshall by his friend Maurice Sendak, go to this site (or see quote at the top of this posting):
http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/11/16/bookend/bookend.html

Our Little Olivia!

Olivia

Ian Falconer

Atheneum Books for Young Readers (2000)

Meet our little super cute Olivia!  However, her hat was a tad bit too big and kept falling over her eyes.  Her dad ended up wearing the hat, but the merchants were still thrilled to meet Olivia and everyone knew the character.

I ADORE the Olivia series.  She's sassy, fun, and goofy (in the way that every toddler I know is!).   Ian Falconer is an illustrator for the New Yorker Magazine and after looking at his body of work—his images are very familiar to me.  I even have a package of cards that have his image of an old lady pulling a dog along, but I had no idea that it was illustrated by the author of the Oliva books. 

Apparently, he made the book for his niece Olivia.  He tried to market it and it was rejected.  Publishers told him that he should have someone else write the words.  He stuck it in a closet for four years.  (Oh man, can you imagine how bleak it would be for toddlers if Olivia had remained in the closet never to be birthed).   

Later, Anne Schwartz from Atheneum Books called him and asked if he was interested in making a kids' book.  He pulled out Olivia to show her and she liked it pretty much as is.  

After researching Ian's background, I have a better idea as to why I like this book so much.  For one thing, he is a set designer and I think the pictures in the book have that sort of stylized presentation.   He says that he keeps things very simple and uncluttered, so that you can really see the facial expressions and so that a child could read the book alone without knowing the words.  Also, his use of few colors harkens back to the old days when it was too expensive to use multiple colors.  In this case, however, he uses only a few colors to enhance the book rather than for financial reasons.  Finally, I like his angles.  For instance, there is one page where Olivia is looking up at a painting.  You can just feel how small and impressionable she is.  

Olivia has a fun website with craft ideas, games, coloring pages etc.  Check it out!!!

http://www.oliviathepiglet.com/

Also, here's a great interview with Ian.  He is wonderfully humble and I wouldn't mind spending an afternoon hearing him talk.

http://media.barnesandnoble.com/?fr_story=4f49230e7d231a88be4bcb2521c249c5b9d0ddf5



A Teacher's Reflections

This weekend at a Halloween party, I met a teacher.  She was VERY gung-ho about teaching reading to her 4th and 5th grade students.  It was lovely to see how passionate she was about the topic.  One interesting activity she did with her students is to have them all think about the first book they remember being read to them and the first book they read all alone.  The class became quite animated as they recounted these favorite books such as Hop on Pop.  They then surveyed the teachers with the same two questions.

I wonder which book Mirette will remember.  I picture her as a teenager reading books to a kid she's babysitting and getting a warm fuzzy feeling in her heart because we read that book together.  

I have a plan to facebook the teacher and get her list and I will definitely post it on here.

Meanwhile, it got me thinking.  Do I remember being read to by my mom or my dad?  I don't really, but I know books were an important part of our childhood.  I even dug up this old photo of my mom reading to my sister and I.  Yep, I'm the one with the crazy hair.  I wish I could make out the book title.  Even though I don't have any visceral memory of the books we read together, I do often read books to Mira that are so warm and familiar.  I can just feel my mom stroking my hair and soothing me to sleep even though she is all the way in Florida. 

Zizzer zazzer zuzz: Part Two

I set off to be the first mom to read each and every Dr. Seuss book and I didn't even come close.  Sigh.

As much as I love and admire Theodor Geisel, both Mirette and I got tired of reading Dr. Seuss every night.  After a while, his books blend into one another.  He definitely keeps the weird animal theme going from book to book and has a certain kind of voice and illustration that is all his own, which makes the books more fun to read in small doses.

With that said,  here are some of the books we discovered that we both loved (and keep in mind Mirette is 2 1/2, so all these books get her seal of approval)!  I've only included the ones you may not have heard of (not ones like One Fish. . . ).

And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street

Horton Hatches the Egg

McElligot's Pool

Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose

If I Ran the Zoo

If I Ran the Circus

Scrambled Eggs Super

Fox in Sox

and our best discovery of all, Daisy Head Maisy.  It is not illustrated by Dr. Seuss.  It's about a girl that has a daisy growing from her head.  Now when playing outside, we put plants on our heads and say we are Daisy Head Maisy.

One other cool Dr. Seuss fact is that both The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham were written as challenges.  In the case of the former, he was handed a list of words that children are supposed to know and had to create a story using only those words.  He went with the first words on the list that rhymed, cat and hat.  For Green Eggs and Ham, the challenge was to create a book using only fifty words.  As you may be able to guess, he succeeded!  Here are the words: 

a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you.

I also stumbled upon a PBS documentary about Dr. Seuss.  It's really interesting.  Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkOHQGA8hZc

Book of the Day: Mama, Do You Love Me?

Mama, Do You Love Me?
Author: Barbara M. Joosse
Illustrator: Barbara Lavallee

Chronicle Books, 1991

Story and Illustrations: This morning Mirette dug out Mama, Do You Love Me? and I read it to her several times.  I don't think I could EVER get bored of this book.  The illustrations are so lovely.  The Mama is huge, but in a really comfortable way.  I may be reading into this, but I think it shows that Mama will always be there as this big, bold, and beautiful presence (or perhaps it's just me feeling better about my own post-baby body).  Anyway, this is one of those books about the child challenging the mom—will you love me if I put salmon in your mittens, and lemmings in your mukluks?  And Mama assures her that there is nothing her child could do that would diminish her ever-present love.

The language and musicality of the book is lovely.  With such evocative yet simple language, I do feel transported to a cold land—one of puffins, Inuits, ravens, whales, umiaks, ptarmigan eggs, salmon, and polar bears.  Ahhh!  I can just feel the chill in the air.

Background and VERY interesting stuff: The illustrator Barbara Lavallee is a Mid-Westerner who has lived in Alaska for many years and is very passionate about the Alaskan culture.  She has illustrated several other books that are listed at this site (including Papa, Do You Love Me?): http://www.answers.com/topic/barbara-lavallee and is also known for her lush paintings: http://www.anniekaills.com/art/lavallee/prints1.htm.

Barbara M. Joosse has a warm, sweet website. In fact, for a second I wondered if I had accidentally visited a non-famous grandma's site. http://www.barbarajoosse.com/index.html

Though the website is lots of fun, she has several amazing articles on reading.  I highly recommend them.  I learned a lot and what's more—they are short and very readable.  Here are some of the concepts that she explores: boys need to learn that they can be fierce and compassionate at the same time; that you shouldn't be afraid of reading long books to young children—it gives them time to focus on the pictures and to hear the language; that musicality is important; that words are playful; that a good book sounds jazzy and delicious; that books become familiar friends; that when you share a "reader's hug," your child is close to your heart and it taps into something; that books share metaphors and form a bridge into sleep (something that ancient cultures understood well); that stories can show hard situations, but should ultimately be hopeful; that children want to belong and by sharing a book we help them walk through life together.

All this in four articles!  She says all this better than I can, so it is definitely worth it to give them a read. http://www.barbarajoosse.com/images/TheReadersHug.pdf

I also found out that Barbara joined a band and is recording music to go with her books.  What a funky grandma!  I checked out that website and the site appears under construction but here is the link: http://www.doublecake.net/author.html

To think, this morning I read Mama, Do You Love Me? to Mirette and it was JUST a book.  I knew nothing of the author's awesome philosophies or that she joined a band and I definitely wasn't planning on writing this long of a post!