Category: Perfect Picture Book Fridays

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Maurice The Unbeastly

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Darlings!

Right now this very second while you are reading this, I am winging my way to the Lone Star State for the North Texas SCBWI Conference!

texas
Sing with me!
“The stars at night
are shining bright
deep in the heart of Texas!”

Okay.  I confess that’s all I know.  But I am very excited!  I have only been to Texas once before and that was a drive-thru on a family cross-country trip when I was 12.  My only memory of Texas is of being forced to eat Velveeta sandwiches on white bread whilst we drove.  Yuck!  Seriously, whose idea was THAT?!  So I’m hoping it’s going to be a lot more fun this time… if I survive my presentation… which I have been nailbiting over for weeks already!  If you hear a jackhammering sound, that’s just my teeth chattering with nerves! 🙂

ANYway.

I’m thrilled beyond measure to be sharing this fabulous book today, written by the very talented Amy Dixon.  Such fun!  I love it!  I hope you love it 🙂

Maurice

Title: Maurice The Unbeastly

Written By: Amy Dixon

Illustrated By: Karl James Mountford

Sterling Children’s Books, September 2017, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-7

Themes/Topics: individuality, being true to yourself, monsters, humor

Opening: “Maurice was not like the other beasts.  His voice was as sweet and refreshing as dandelion lemonade on a hot day.”

Brief Synopsis: Maurice the beast is a misfit, about as un-beastly as they come.  His worried parents enroll him in the Abominable Academy For Brutish Beasts, hoping to help their son be more like he should.  But Maurice is just different… and maybe that’s not a bad thing!

Links To Resources: make a collage of pictures that represents who you are; make a list of at least 5 words that describe you; draw a picture of yourself doing something you love to do; write a poem about someone who makes you feel valued; draw a picture of the animal you feel is most like you and make a list of at least 5 words that explain why you are like that animal (e.g. brave, pretty, strong, fast, etc..)

Why I Like This Book: Maurice is delightful!  He is so gloriously and humorously un-beastly, with his melodious voice like “dandelion lemonade on a hot day”, his love for organic kale, and his smile which makes him “ridiculously photogenic”.  And when it comes to “messy meat eating” he asks for “the vegetarian option” 🙂  You’ve got to love a character who is so much himself in spite of how different he is from his peers.  And this is a message so many kids can benefit from, because we should all be true to ourselves.  The art is perfect for the story in shades of muted rust, green, and black with touches of red and white, and includes fun details like the Academy sign with the slogan “Hear us roar.  Hit the floor.  We’re the mighty carnivore!”, and Maurice pictured with birds and flowers.  A humorous, entertaining but also sweet read!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

And please wish me luck in Texas!!!!!!!

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Daddy Depot

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Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!

In my typical yes-sure-I-was-totally-organized-ahead-of-time! fashion 🙂 I am writing this post on an airplane on my way home from California.  We are somewhere over Utah experiencing the kind of turbulence that makes people gasp and clutch their arm rests, and I’m busily typing away hoping the internet actually works and this post will post!  Who can tell?  I guess if you’re reading this it worked!

First things first!

The lucky winner of Penny Klostermann’s fabulous new picture book, A Cooked-Up Fairy Tale, from last week’s giveaway is ANGELA VERGES!!!  Congratulations, Angela!  I will put you and Penny in touch!  And thank you, Penny, for offering the giveaway!

Now then!  I have a terrifically fun yet sweet book to share with you today about the special relationship between dads and kids – in this case, specifically, a daughter.  I think it’s a book you’ll want to share with your little ones 🙂

Daddy Depot

Title: Daddy Depot

Written By: Chana Stiefel

Illustrated By: Andy Snair

Feiwel and Friends, May 2017, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 2-5 (according to publisher info, but I think 3-7 works)

Themes/Topics: family relationships, appreciation, love

Opening: “Lizzie loved her dad, but he was always watching football.
‘Dad! Check out my new ballet twirls.’
‘You’re a star, Lizzie… TOUCHDOWN!'”

Brief Synopsis: (from the Amazon description) “Lizzie loves her dad, but he tells the same old jokes, falls asleep during story time, and gets distracted by football while Lizzie does her ballet twirls. When she sees an ad for a store called Daddy Depot, she decides to check it out―and finds dads of all kinds!”

Links To Resources: draw a picture of yourself and your dad; cut a piece of paper into the shape of something your dad loves (a football, a motorcycle, YOU 🙂 ) and write a note to him telling him what you love about him; things for dads and kids to do together; invent  your own “perfect dad” – draw him on paper, or use felt or cut foam, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, glitter, cotton balls, whatever! – maybe he’s different from your actual dad… or maybe he’s just the same 🙂

Why I Like This Book: I’m guessing pretty much every kid has wished for a different mom or dad at some point along the way!  It’s a very grass-is-always-greener kind of feeling 🙂  The idea of a megastore that sells dads is such a fun concept!  So many possibilities!  Rocker Dad, Astro Dad, Chef Dad…  Surely there’s someone out there who will make a better dad for Lizzie then her football-obsessed, boring-joke-teller, often embarrassing dad!  But though they all look good at first, in the end none of those dads are for Lizzie.  The story is a humorous and sweet reminder that sometimes what we have is just right 🙂  The art is bright and cheerful – I love that Dad makes pancakes while wearing a monkey hat 🙂 – and suits the story nicely.

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Text copyright Chana Stiefel 2017, Illustration copyright Andy Snair 2017

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

 

Perfect Picture Book Friday – A Cooked-Up Fairy Tale PLUS A Giveaway!!!

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HELLO EVERYBODY!!!

I hope you have all had wonderful, relaxing, enjoyable, sun-soaked, family-filled, back porch cookout, hammock-lounging, s’more-making, firefly-chasing, star-gazing, memorable, happy summers!

I know the return of Perfect Picture Books means summer is over, but isn’t it wonderful to see each other again?!  I have missed you all!

We have so much to look forward to this fall!  Would You Read It will be back next week.  We have finishing prizes for the blog tours.  There will be episodes of Oh Susanna (if anyone sends in questions!) and Short & Sweets.  The annual writing contests are just around the corner.  Wow!

But Rome wasn’t built in a day! 🙂

So for now, let’s just do Perfect Picture Books!

I know many of you continued PPBF throughout the summer, so anyone who would like to add their summer titles with post-specific links to this week or next week’s PPBF list is MOST welcome to!  It would be great to have them ALL on the master list!

But now, without further ado, I am absolutely thrilled to present today’s Perfect Picture Book, brand new from my talented friend, Penny!

Cooked-Up Fairy Tale

Title: A Cooked-Up Fairy Tale

Written By: Penny Parker Klostermann

Illustrated By: Ben Mantle

Random House Books For Young Readers, September 5, 2017, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-7

Themes/Topics: fractured fairy tale, perseverance, humor, cooking

Opening: “Although William lived in the magical land of fairy tales, he preferred pastries to princesses, kitchens to kingdoms, and recipes to the Royal Reporter.”

Brief Synopsis: William struggles to fit into the magical land of fairy tales, more interested in cooking up fabulous dishes than fantastical stories.  Will he find his happily ever after?

Links To Resources: invent, cook & serve your own magical fairy tale recipes using fairy tale ingredients (Snow White’s apple, Cinderella’s pumpkin, the Three Bears’ porridge, etc.); set up a fairy tale restaurant (like The Brick House and The Three Bears Bistro in the story) with a colorful sign and beautifully set tables and serve your customers; write articles about fairy tale characters or interview famous fairy tale characters or create recipes for the Royal Reporter; read this book with other fractured fairy tales like Little Red Writing by Joan Holub, Hensel And Gretel Ninja Chicks by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Rebecca Gomez, and The True Story of The Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and discuss the different ways the authors fractured the tales; write your own fractured fairy tale!

Why I Like This Book: This story is creative and entertaining, full of fun language and delightful details.  While most fractured fairy tales are a new twist on one familiar tale, this story plays cleverly with a whole bunch, including The Three Bears, Snow White, Cinderella, The Gingerbread Man, Jack and The Beanstalk and others, tying them all together with a boy who loves to cook and create recipes.  Young readers will relate to William who means well and whose heart is in the right place, but who still manages to do the wrong thing!  Haven’t we all been there?! 🙂 The art is colorful, engaging, full of fun details and a perfect complement to the story.  All around a delicious treat of a read…(spoiler alert :)) topped off with a happily ever after!!!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

AND!!! This just in!!!  The lovely Penny is offering a giveaway of a copy of A Cooked-Up Fairy Tale!  Leave a comment below by Sunday September 10 at 5 PM Eastern and you will be entered in the totally random raffle for the book!!! 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

(I’m out of practice with this, so here’s hoping I didn’t mess it up!!!)

Have a wonderful wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂  So glad to be able to say, “See you all next week!” 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – The Summer Nick Taught His Cats To Read

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Look at this, dearies!

Summer has arrived!  I know this because the mountain laurel is out.

IMG_1741

So it’s time for a Perfect Picture Book hiatus.

I always feel a little sad to put PPBF on hold for the summer 😦  But summer is a busy time for all of us – hard to keep up with reading and writing blog posts – and I always have grand ambitions of getting lots of other stuff done…

Just because I haven’t managed before doesn’t mean it can’t happen this year! 🙂

We will still be here for Would You Read It Wednesdays, Oh Susanna on the first Monday of the month and Short & Sweets on the third Monday of the month, and there are going to be a couple of VERY exciting blog tours coming up (starring your friends and mine, LION, ELEPHANT, and TRUCKS) as my three new books step out into the world.

So don’t worry!

There will still be plenty of fun (and chocolate!) around here! 🙂

And as we head into summer, I have the perfect Perfect Picture Book to share with you!

Nick Cats

Title: The Summer Nick Taught His Cats To Read

Written By: Curtis Manley

Illustrated By: Kate Berube

A Paula Wiseman Book (Simon & Schuster), July 2016, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics:  reading, perseverance, creativity, imagination

Opening: “Nick had two cats, Verne and Stevenson.
They spent summers doing everything together.
But when Nick sat down with a book, the cats had their own ideas.”

Screen Shot 2017-06-15 at 6.47.29 PM

text copyright Curtis Manley 2016, illustration copyright Kate Berube 2016

Brief Synopsis: Nick loves to read.  His cats do not.  Every time Nick opens a book, Verne sprawls across the pages and Stevenson sits on a stack of books scowling and cleaning his paw.  So naturally, Nick decides to share his love of reading with them by teaching them how.  Verne is amenable and learns quickly.  Stevenson shows all the behaviors of a reluctant reader…until Nick finds just the right way to pique his interest.

Links To Resources: read as many books as you can this summer!  Keep a list to show your progress!  Put a star or a sticker beside your favorite titles.  Swap one of your favorite books with one of a friend’s favorites and see if you like the same kind of books or if your friend’s tastes introduce you to something new!  Make your own book club.  Give it a name!  Choose a time and a place and a snack for meetings 🙂  Talk about the books your read with your friends.  Enjoy reading!

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text copyright Curtis Manley 2016, illustration copyright Kate Berube 2016

Why I Like This Book: Curtis is a likable boy with a genuine and infectious love of reading as well as obvious love for his two cats.  I love the silliness of the concept of teaching cats to read…and the fact that they learn 🙂  Verne is an easy-going amenable type who learns quickly and embraces reading as Nick does.  Stevenson, however, is a challenge – one that any reluctant reader will identify with.  But it turns out that Stevenson is an artist!  Nick turns Stevenson’s art into a story about Stevenson…and suddenly reading seems a little more interesting… 🙂  The story is imaginative and fun.  The art is cozy and warm.  This is a delightful book that budding readers, writers, artists…and cat lovers :)…will love.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

See you on Monday for Short & Sweets (assuming, of course, that I can think up something fun for you…! 🙂 )

Oh!  And Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!!! 🙂

 

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Green Green: A Community Gardening Story

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Happy Friday, Everyone!

So, over Memorial Day weekend I put my planters full of flowers out on the back porch for summer.  (Please see exhibit A)

Exhibit A

 

(I refer to them as “flowers” because I grew up in an apartment in New York City where our windowsills were decorated with pigeons and we didn’t have a back porch.  I’ll hazard that some of my “flowers” are petunias.  And some others are possibly geraniums.  But that’s as far out on that limb as I’ll crawl! 🙂 )

Anyway, then we had a violent thunderstorm with fierce wind and giant hail.

I will not depress you with exhibit B – the resulting carnage.  I’ll just say it was sad!  Very sniff VERY sniffsniff sad!

While I am waiting for my poor little flowers to resurrect themselves (which is uphill work for them due to continued rain and not very much healing sunshine), I will share a gorgeous picture book about a garden that does grow 🙂  I think it will inspire us all to go out and spend the weekend digging in dirt 🙂

Green Green

Title: Green Green: A Community Gardening Story

Written By: Marie Lamba & Baldev Lamba

Illustrated By: Sonia Sanchez

Farrar, Straus & Giroux, May 9, 2017, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 2-5

Themes/Topics: community, environmental preservation, gardening, city, nature

Opening: “Green green,
Fresh and clean.
Brown brown,
Dig the ground.”

Brief Synopsis: First a green meadow is wide and fresh and clean for kids to play in, and brown dirt is just right for digging. But buildings grow up around the green space, gradually crowding it out.  Will the community lose their green?

Screen Shot 2017-06-08 at 1.55.22 PM

text copyright Marie Lamba & Baldev Lamba 2017, illustration copyright Sonia Sanchez 2017

Links To Resources: wonderful resource material at the back of the book gives a guide to making your world more green, helping bees and butterflies, and making bee and butterfly decorations.

Why I Like This Book: Simply told with gorgeous pictures (so beautiful I couldn’t decide which interior spread to share because I wanted to share them all!), this story is perfect to introduce youngest readers to the idea of community gardening.  It’s also empowering because it’s the kids who band together to save the green space.  I love the concept that even if a child lives in the city, he or she can have a garden and care for our earth.  The illustrations are wonderful and offer something for everyone from plants to animals to construction vehicles 🙂

Screen Shot 2017-06-08 at 1.55.04 PM

text copyright Marie Lamba & Baldev Lamba 2017, illustration copyright Sonia Sanchez 2017

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂  I’m off to the Children’s Writers of the Hudson Valley Conference.  I hope I’ll see some of you there! 🙂

 

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Lost In The Woods

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Happy June, Everybody!

It seems we’ve had rain forever. It’s so bad that the farmers can’t get enough rain-free days in a row to cut the hay, and it’s now well past time for first cutting.  Wednesday evening we had a violent thunderstorm with tornado warnings and hail that turned my porch garden into a cuisinart special.

But yesterday morning, as if to welcome June, we had a gorgeous clear sunny morning – the kind that makes you glad you’re alive to be out in it.

My daughter and I went for a walk.  We saw Mama and Papa Goose out on the pond with their 6-gosling flotilla (I tried to get you a video but they were too far away!)  And upon our return to the driveway we found a tiny fawn – not quite newborn, but pretty close, maybe a couple weeks old.  The fawn and our two dogs came face to face.  They were all the same size, looking at each other, and for a moment no one knew what to do!  Then I called the dogs off (they did not listen!), and the fawn bleated for his mama who was quite nearby and came running, and I panicked lest the dogs hurt the fawn or the mama deer hurt the dogs! and there was a bit of chaos!  But in the end I got the dogs in the house and the fawn and her mama scampered safely off into the green woods.

So after that, there was no doubt about what Perfect Picture Book I would share today!

I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do!

Lost In The Woods: A Photographic Fantasy

Written By & Photographed By: Carl R. Sams II & Jean Stoick

Published By: Carl R. Sams II Photography, June, 2004, Reality Based Fiction

Suitable For: ages 5 and up

Themes/Topics: Animals, Patience, Seasons (Spring), Trust

Opening: “The Spring frogs sing-singing with a thousand trilling voices were silenced by the rising sun.  New life came into the woods before the sun touched the tops of the trees.  He slept quietly in the tall grass on the north edge of the meadow where the trees start the forest.”

Brief Synopsis:  The woodland creatures are worried that a newborn fawn might be lost.  “Mama said to wait right here,” the fawn whispers.  “She will come back.”  But the other animals aren’t convinced and offer their advice and help.  Does the doe come back?  What do you think? 🙂

Links To Resources:  The book itself is a resource.  Page after page of gorgeous photographs of woodland creatures will introduce children to animals and birds they may never have seen, especially if they live in the city.  The very last page of the book challenges readers to look back through the pictures and see if they can find a number of hidden animals.  Activity pages, Lesson Plan.  If you’re lucky enough to live in a rural area, go for a “deer drive” in the evening, cruising slowly along back roads, and see how many different animals and birds you can spot 🙂

Why I Like This Book:  I love this story!  It’s simple and sweet.  On the first page where the fawn appears, he is a tangle of fragile limbs.  His spotted fur helps him blend into the forest floor.  By the last page, he has mastered those rascally legs and can be seen bounding through the meadow grass with such joy you can’t help but smile at his airs above the ground.  But the best part is the photography.  It’s breathtaking.  Absolutely stunning!  The fawn’s fur looks like you could reach out and touch it.  You can see his eyelashes!  And there are so many other animals pictured – chipmunk, goslings, a tree frog whose camouflage is amazing!, cardinal, red-winged blackbird, raccoon, and many others.  I know I’m an animal lover (and therefore biased :)) but I think this book is exquisitely beautiful and one that anyone would enjoy!

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂  I hope to see lots of you at the NJSCBWI Conference!!!  And please tune in Monday for the next installment of Oh Susanna!

Also, just a heads up that we will have 2 more weeks of Perfect Picture Books – Friday June 9 and Friday June 16 – and then go on hiatus for the summer!

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Tuesday Tucks Me In

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Good Morning, Everyone!

It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday…and it’s the front end of a long weekend (at least here in the US)… and it’s the psychological beginning of summer (which technically goes from June 21 – September 21, but really seems to be more measured by Memorial Day to Labor Day! 🙂 )  So that’s a pretty extra-special good Friday, wouldn’t you say? 🙂

Since it’s Memorial Day weekend, my choice for today is on a more serious topic, but the book is well written – on a level that kids can understand and appreciate without it being scary/upsetting in any way – and I hope you’ll enjoy it and find it a useful addition to your libraries.

Title: Tuesday Tucks Me In: The Loyal Bond Between A Soldier And His Service Dog

Written By: Luis Carlos Montalvan & Bret Witter

Photographs By: Dan Dion

Roaring Brook Press, May 2014, Nonfiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: service/therapy animals, military life, photographic book, love, nonfiction

Opening: “In the morning, every morning, my friend Luis wakes up to . . .   this.”

Brief Synopsis: After tours in Iraq left him wounded and distressed, Captain Luis Montalvan returned home to a life he was no longer comfortable living.  He reached a point where he was afraid to leave his apartment.  But a service dog named Tuesday changed everything for him.  Tuesday helps Luis with daily tasks, and he calms and comforts Luis by always being there for him.  Tuesday has made it possible for Luis to live a rewarding life.

Links To Resources: Facts About Service Dogs for Kids; Wayside Elementary Schools Special Needs Awareness Program (SNAP) (video); discuss how animals make you feel and what they do for you; discuss whether you have veterans in your family,  or members of your family currently serving in the armed forces –  how does that make you feel?

Why I Like This Book:  Every day, men and women risk their lives overseas for our freedom and way of life.  When they return home, it is often difficult to readjust, and to carry on with a life so at odds with what they’ve seen and survived.  This book gives kids a glimpse of the difficulties a soldier might face upon coming home at an appropriate and accessible level.  It also shows how the love and care of a therapy animal has the power to change a life.  It’s written from the point of view of the dog, which makes it friendly and non-threatening.  For kids who have a relative or family friend who is a veteran, this book could be very helpful in understanding what they might be going through and in opening a discussion.  For any child, this book can encourage empathy and understanding.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – My Name Is Not Isabella

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Let’s see.

Yesterday (according to my reckoning) was Thursday…

Tomorrow is Saturday (I’m pretty certain this is true, because I’m going to be at the Millbrook Literary Festival along with Iza Trapani, Karen Orloff, Nancy Furstinger, and lots of other wonderful authors, illustrators and friends – you should come join us if you’re in the neighborhood! – we’d love to see you!)…

But wait a second…  Where was I?

Oh yeah.  Yesterday Thursday, tomorrow Saturday, calendar currently saying “FRI”… all of which signs lead me to believe that today is indeed Friday!  Perfect Picture Book Friday!

I love Friday, don’t you? 🙂

So here’s my Perfect Picture Book for the day and then it’s officially the weekend and you should feel free to lie in the hammock with a good book and an iced tea and a large plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies while the kids and the dogs run amok and unsupervised because that’s what weekends are for 🙂  (Alternatively, if it’s as unseasonably warm at your house as it is on Blueberry Hill – 92 degrees on May 17 and 18 I kid you not! – feel free to turn on the sprinkler and run amok through it along with the kids and the dogs 🙂 )

Isabella

Title: My Name Is Not Isabella

Written By: Jennifer Fosberry

Illustrated By: Mike Litwin

SourceBooks Jabberwocky, September 2010, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: careers, imagination, dreams, self-identity, girl power

Opening: “‘Good Morning, Isabella,’ the mother said.  ‘It’s time to get up and out of bed.’
‘My name is not Isabella!‘ said the little girl.
‘Then who has been sleeping in my daughter’s bed?’ asked the mother.”

Brief Synopsis: A little girl goes through her day imagining herself as women she admires for different reasons – an astronaut, an activist, a doctor, etc. – and decides by the end that she is herself but possesses some of the qualities of all these women she looks up to.

Isabella 2

text copyright Jennifer Fosberry 2010, illustration copyright Mark Litwin 2010

Links To Resources: the back matter of the book is an excellent resource with information about all the accomplished women Isabella admires as well as definitions of all their careers; discuss what YOU want to be when YOU grow up!; draw a picture of yourself as the person you imagine becoming; write a poem or a story about yourself as the person you imagine being.

Why I Like This Book: I’m very fond of this book because of its strong girl power theme, the women it celebrates, and the encouragement it gives girls to dream big.  I also like it because, years before it was published, I wrote a similar kind of book, though mine was more imaginative and not focused on famous women 🙂  Still, I like to think great minds think alike 🙂  This book is a great introduction for kids to a number of very accomplished women, and the art brings their fields of endeavor visually to life in a very appealing way.  A great read to foster a discussion of “what I want to be when I grow up”! 🙂

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Lost Cat

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Golly!  What a week!

A graduation!  A twentieth birthday! And first copies of three new books!  All within 5 days!

It’s no wonder I don’t know where the week went, yet here we are at Friday again!

Friday is a really excellent day.  It means we’re about to get a weekend, and it means a list of Perfect Picture Books to enjoy over that weekend – an unbeatable combination!  All we need to make it true perfection is a nice chocolatey snack to go along with our picture books and our weekend 🙂  (Those of us who are mothers might luck out 🙂 )

I had another book in mind for today.  Something Mother’s Day-ish.  Based on the jacket copy I thought I’d love it.  But when I read it my reaction could only be described as meh (not what you want for a Perfect Picture Book!) and then I read this one and loved it start to finish, so there was really no contest, even though technically this one is NOT Mother’s Day-ish.  Preconceived idea out, awesome surprise book in 🙂  I hope you like it too 🙂

Title: Lost Cat

Written & Illustrated By: C. Roger Mader

Houghton Mifflin Books For Children, October 2013, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: journey, pets, love (person/pet)

Opening: “Ever since Slipper was a tiny kitten, she’d lived with a little old lady in a little old house in a little old town.”

Brief Synopsis: Slipper has always lived happily with Mrs. Fluffy Slippers, but when Mrs. Fluffy Slippers moves, Slipper accidentally gets left behind in the commotion.  Slippers searches for a new home, but not just any home will do – it has to be the right one.  Will she find a new family she can adopt?

Links To Resources: Washington Children’s Choice Award Activities (scroll about 1/2 way down the pdf); Fun Facts About Cats; How To Draw A Cat video; learn to draw a cat step-by-step guide.

(Sorry – I can’t make that picture turn the right way around so you’ll have to tilt your head! 🙂 )

Why I Like This Book: First and foremost, I love the art!  Soft pastels that render that beautiful kitty so life-like!  Her expressions are perfect, especially her fright at High Tops, her polite pleading with Miss Shiny Shoes, and her bliss on the last two pages.  And the cat’s-eye-view perspective is wonderful.  The story is a sweet one with both humorous and poignant moments.  I love that all the people in the story are named for their footwear – which is what Slippers sees of them first 🙂  And most of all, I love that this lost cat story has a happy ending 🙂

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Oh, and P.S.  For those of you who didn’t already see it on FaceBook, my single first copies of my new books DID arrive 🙂 🙂 🙂

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Perfect Picture Book Friday – The Giant Jam Sandwich

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Today is a big day!

Our little boy is graduating from college!

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One moment he was running around the house in nothing but a diaper singing “Oklahoma” at the top of his 21-month-old voice (yes, I have video footage but I think I’ve embarrassed him enough just by mentioning this 🙂 ), the next he’s a smart, kind, funny, lovable, handsome 21-year-old young man (nope, not at all biased 🙂 ) setting off into the world.

So I though I’d celebrate the day by sharing one of his favorite picture books – possibly THE favorite of all time for him 🙂

I hope you’ll enjoy it too!

giant jam sandwich

Title: the Giant Jam Sandwich

Written & Illustrated By: John Vernon Lord (with verses by Janet Burroway)

HMH Books For Young Readers, April 1987, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: humor/nonsense, teamwork, creative thinking/ingenuity

Opening: “One hot summer in Itching Down,
Four million wasps flew into town.
They drove the picnickers away,
They chased the farmers from the hay,
They stung Lord Swell on his fat bald pate,
They dived and hummed and buzzed and ate…”

Brief Synopsis: When four million wasps come to Itching Down, the villagers must figure out how to get them to leave.

Links To Resources: what kind of pests might come to your town or village?  what would you do to outwit them?  draw a picture of your plan and/or write a poem or a story about how you would defeat the pests!

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Why I Like This Book: It is impossible not to love a book where 4 million wasps come to town and the obvious solution is a giant jam sandwich 🙂  I love that no one thinks of anything violent – they think, what do wasps love?  Strawberry jam, of course!  So let’s make bread that requires a scaffold to slice, tractors and horses to pull, and helicopters to drop.  The nonsensical, fun plan – exactly the kind of thing a child might think up and find perfectly reasonable! – makes for a most entertaining read.  As I can attest.  Since I think I read about 4 million times 🙂

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂