Tag: for writers

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!

Scan 157

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!

giant jam sandwich int

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!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – How The Sun Got To Coco’s House

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Hey there, picture book peeps!  Happy Friday! 🙂

I have such a lovely book to share with you today!

(It’s just a teensy bit possible that my choice was inspired by the fact that we’ve had nothing but gray skies, clouds, and rain for so long I’ve forgotten what the sun looks like and I’m hoping that maybe, just maybe, the sun will find its way to Susanna’s house 🙂 )

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Title: How The Sun Got To Coco’s House

Written & Illustrated By: Bob Graham

Candlewick, September 2015, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-6

Themes/Topics: nature, writing (personification), language (poetic)

Opening: “It had to start somewhere.  While Coco slept far away, the sun crept up slowly behind a hill, paused for a moment, and seemed to think twice…before it plunged down the other side and skidded giddily across the water.”

Brief Synopsis: The sun comes up and takes a poetic journey across the world to Coco’s house.

Links To Resources: Warmth Of The Sun discussion and activity; Shadow Play classroom activity; measuring solar activity; info about the sun with 17 related links; sun coloring pages; Happy Sunshine Cookie recipe; Renewable Solar

Why I Like This Book: How can you not love a book that contains phrases like “skidded giddily across the water”?  The whole story is a gentle, lovely, poetic description of how the sun comes up, travels across the world touching everything in its path with light and warmth, and finally arrives at Coco’s house to spend the day.  It’s a very quiet book, but one that can be enjoyed for the beauty of the language, the deceptive simplicity of the art (wait until you see the pinks and golds), and the feeling of comfort bestowed by the fact that, come what may, the sun rises each morning and makes a new day.

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!  Adding your themes seemed to work pretty well last week – woo hoo! 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

P.S. The general opinion on Wednesday seemed to be in favor of reinstating Oh, Susanna! (your picture book questions answered 🙂 )  Since the first Monday of May happens to be in about 12 minutes, if anyone has a question they’d like to submit for an answer, please send it right along!!!

 

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Bloom

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Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!

Spring is coming – really and truly!  The dogs and I took a ramble around Blueberry Hill yesterday and my little pink beauty is blooming, and tiny purple flowers are poking their heads out from between the rocks, and the trees are putting on their white blossoms.  Look!

(Do not ask me what they are…!  With the exception of the pink one which I think might be a hyacinth I have absolutely no idea! 🙂 )

In addition, tomorrow is Earth Day.

So what better day to celebrate a book about mud?! 🙂

(Tomorrow is also my dad’s birthday, which has nothing to do with mud, but I’d like to take a quick moment to wish a very happy 88th birthday to the best dad I could ever have hoped to have!  Happy Happy Birthday, Dad! 🙂

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That’s my dad on the left – I’m the short one in the middle 🙂

So without further ado, today’s Perfect Picture Book!

Bloom

Title: Bloom

Written By: Doreen Cronin

Illustrated By: David Small

Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, February 2016, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: girl power, appreciation/gratitude, encouragement, believing in yourself

Opening: “Once upon a time, in a beautiful glass kingdom, there lived an unusual fairy named Bloom.  Her boots were caked with mud.  There was dirt between her teeth.  Beetles rested in her wings.  Bloom’s magic could spin sand into glass, turn weeds into blossoms, and grow a trickle of rainwater into a racing river.  Bloom was a helpful creature, but her footsteps were HEAVY, and she left a trail of tiny cracks and mud wherever she went.”

Brief Synopsis: A glass kingdom is a tough place to be a Mud Fairy. Bloom and her mud fairy magic can turn weeds into flowers and spin sand into glass, but all the people of the kingdom do is complain about the trails of dirt and puddles of mud she leaves behind so, feeling unappreciated, she leaves.  When the kingdom falls into disrepair, the King and Queen search out Bloom, but it takes the most “ordinary” girl in the kingdom to restore the magic.

Links To Resources:  April is Kids’ Gardening Month (which is a little like playing in mud 🙂 ) so here are some resources to get kids outdoors to celebrate earth and gardens.  Plant A Family Butterfly Garden, Big Seeds For Little Hands, Information & Resources For Gardening With Children

Why I Like This Book:  This story has the delightful “Once upon a time” opening that creates the delicious anticipation of a fairy tale about to unfold.  Bloom is an unusual fairy – dirty, willing to work hard, not traditionally “girly”.  Genevieve, the “ordinary” girl whose only job has been to polish the queen’s crystal sugar spoon has never had the opportunity to discover what she’s capable of.  Working alongside Bloom, she learns that she is anything but ordinary and that she can save the kingdom.  Favorite line: “Tell them there is no such thing as an ordinary girl!” said Bloom.

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!

Oh!  And a short note!  I’ve decided to experiment with letting you guys fill in your themes, so I’ve added a field to the form.  In an effort to keep the theme list tightly focused and not let it get too out of control, I’ve asked that you limit your themes to a maximum of 3 main themes per book.  I thought we could try this for a few weeks and see how it works… 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!!

(And I look forward to seeing any of you who will be at NESCBWI this weekend!!! 🙂 )

 

 

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Happy Birthday, Cupcake!

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It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday and a perfect day for birthday cupcakes! 🙂

Join me, won’t you?

HB Cupcake

Title: Happy Birthday, Cupcake!

Written & Illustrated By: Terry Border

Philomel Books, July 2015, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 5-8

Themes/Topics: birthdays, creativity, friendship, surprise

Opening: “‘Today’s my birthday,” said Cupcake, ‘and I want to share it with friends!  But what kind of party should I have?’”

Brief Synopsis: It’s Cupcake’s birthday and she wants to celebrate with a party, but her friend Blueberry Muffin finds problems with every single idea!  What’s a cupcake to do?!

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text and illustration copyright Terry Border 2015

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text and illustration copyright Terry Border 2015

Links To Resources: have a cupcake party! bake your own cupcakes (easy cupcake recipes HERE or use a mix 🙂 ), then provide lots of fun toppings so your friends/family can decorate their own; draw a picture of the perfect cake or cupcake and label all the toppings!; brainstorm a list of party ideas for yourself or your friends or siblings – what’s the craziest or most fun idea you can think of?

Why I Like This Book:  Well, for starters, it’s about a cupcake 🙂 and stars a host of other dessert item characters like Donut, Ice Cream Cone, and Eclair 🙂  But seriously, half the fun of a birthday is planning what kind of party to have – every kid does it!  But it can be hard to come up with an idea that pleases everyone.  This story puts a fun twist on the whole concept, taking the anxiety out of the planning by the sheer silliness of the problems experienced by friends who are food.  And the ending is just right 🙂

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 Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Tony

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GAH!

So sorry to be late posting Perfect Picture Books!

We had a huge storm yesterday afternoon – icy rain, thunder, lightning – totally weird for early April!  My poor little Jem-dog, who hates thunder!, quivered and shook and pressed herself as close to me and Scouty as she could get.  She expects it in July and August, but not now!

Anyway, the storm took out the internet… for a change… and it only just came back!

So here, a little late!, is my Perfect Picture Book 🙂

Tony

Title: Tony

Written By: Ed Galing

Illustrated By: Erin E. Stead

Roaring Brook Press, February 2017, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-6

Themes/Topics: friendship, days-gone-by/history

Opening: “Tony
that was his name
he was such a wonderful horse”

Brief Synopsis: A sweet simple story of a boy and his horse delivering milk and the friendship between them.

Links To Resources: kids, ask your parents and grandparents about things they remember from their childhood – what things were different? what things the same as today?  Do they remember having milk delivered by horse and cart? Getting ice from an ice house? how did they entertain themselves in the days before TV, computers and video games?  Ask them to teach you how to play a game they played as a child.

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Text copyright Ed Galing 2017, Illustration copyright Erin Stead 2017

Why I Like This Book:  This is such a lovely book.  180 words, it was written as a poem.  The story itself is as basic and simple as can be: a boy and his horse go out in the early morning to deliver milk.  But Erin Stead’s illustrations bring it to life in the most beautiful way possible.  The horse’s loving, kind and patient nature shine through.  The companionship and teamwork of the boy and the horse as they set about their daily run at 3 AM comes clearly through the quiet dark when the rest of the world sleeps.  It is obvious how much they value each other and how much the narrator of the story (a man to whom they deliver) loves Tony too.  If you’re looking for a sweet and very quiet book, this is a gem.

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 – Red Sings From Treetops: A Year In Colors

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Happy Friday, Folks!

Ok.  So I had another book ready to share today.  But then, while I was writing my post, it started to snow!

Seriously!

On the Very Last Day of March?!  (When, may I remind you, Mother Nature, we’re supposed to be going out like a lamb!)

I consider this unfair, especially as we were only just melting out from the two feet of snow we got two weeks ago.

And the poor little robins just came back the day before yesterday, brave and hopeful!

So I felt it was important to embrace spring today, in open defiance of the dreadful ice/sleet/rain/slush/snow falling out to the sky, and as a result I am re-sharing one of my all-time favorite picture books which is so gorgeous to look at and so beautifully written that it makes me feel spring even though it doesn’t look that way outside at all!

This book is a treasure for readers and for writers!  If you haven’t had a chance to experience it, please!  Treat yourself! 🙂

red sings

Title: Red Sings From Treetops: A Year In Colors

Written By: Joyce Sidman

Illustrated By: Pamela Zagarenski

Houghton Mifflin Books For Children, April 2009, Fiction

Suitable For: ages 5 and up

Themes: Colors, Seasons, Poetry

Opening:

“In SPRING,
Red sings from treetops:
cheer-cheer-cheer,
each note dropping
like a cherry
into my ear.

Red turns
the maples feathery,
sprouts in rhubarb spears;
Red squirms on the road after rain.”


(Don’t you just love that?  Can’t you just hear that cardinal singing and see the worms wiggling on the pavement?)


Brief Synopsis:  From the jacket: “Color comes alive in this whimsical, innovative book.”  That pretty much sums it up!


Links To Resources: Junior Library Guild Activity Guide, Poem Starters, Readers Guide


Why I Like This Book:  I love the lyrical language of this book.  The author was so creative in her thinking – the way she describes the colors makes you see, feel, hear, touch, and taste Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.  The art is exquisite and perfectly suited to the poetry.  How can you not love lines like,

“Green waits
in the hearts of trees,
feeling
the earth
turn.”

I hope you’ll get a chance to read this book, linger over the language, enjoy the images it evokes, maybe challenge yourself or your children to come up with your own descriptions!

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 spring is coming to your house 🙂