New Picture Books

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales is the story of her immigration to the United States with her then three month old son to join her American citizen husband in 1994. They settled in San Francisco. She and her son spent their days in the San Francisco Public Library learning English and learning about their new country. The illustrations in the library show many of the books they read. Books opened the door to their new life. Yuyi Morales became an award winning writer and illustrator. This is a powerful book about the value of libraries and reading.
The Sonoma County Library has fourteen copies.

Carmela Full of Wishes is written by Matt de Pena and illustrated by Christian Robinson, the award winning (Newbery Medal and Caldecott Honor) of Last Stop on Market Street. It is Carmela's birthday. She finds a spent dandelion, her brother tells her she has to make a wish before she blows the seeds away, but what should she wish for?
The Sonoma County Library has nine copies.

Drawn Together is written by Mihn Le and illustrated by Dan Santat. A young boy is being babysat by his grandfather. They eat lunch and watch a little TV. Neither one speaks the others language so how do they communicate?  By drawing a story together, each in his own style, they find a language they both understand.                                                                                                                               
 The Sonoma County Library has eleven copies.                                                                                                                                                         

Good Rosie by Kate Di Camillo with pictures by Harry Bliss is about a good dog who sometimes gets lonely and dare I say bored. George, her owner, tries something new, they go to a dog park. At first Rosie doesn't know what to do and is scared of a big dog named Maurice. But eventually she makes friends with a little dog and by the end of the book they both become friends with Maurice.
The Sonoma County Library has thirteen copies.

My Dog Laughs is written and illustrated by Rachel Isadora. Children introduce us to their dogs, tell us what their dog likes, show us how they train their dogs and how their dog plays. The pictures give clues to the text and there is plenty of white space between each vignette. 
The Sonoma County Library has six copies.

The Day You Begin by Newbery Medalist  Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Rafael Lopez is a story about feeling different for any number of reasons and how by sharing your story others will meet you halfway.
The Sonoma County Library has twenty copies.

What Can A Citizen Do? by Dave Eggers with pictures by Shawn Harris is about being a citizen. Since the characters in this book are children, citizen is meant in a much broader sense than just voting. "A citizen's not what you are-a citizen is what you do."
The Sonoma County Library has seven copies.

2017 Children's Book Week

Find out more about the 98th celebration of children's literature at http://everychildareader.net.

Antoinette

The Bulldog and Poodle families from Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio are back in Antoinette. Each of Antoinette's brothers has a special talent: Rocky is clever, Ricky is fast and Bruno is strong. What is Antoinette's talent? She's not sure..

One day while playing in the park with the Poodle kids: Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo, Ooh-La-La and Gaston, Ooh-La-La goes missing while chasing a butterfly. Where could she be? Everyone starts looking for her. Antoinette catches a scent and follows it through the streets of Paris right into the Louvre and up to the very tip of Winged Victory and catches Ooh-La-La just as she is about to fall off the statue. An "instant" replay lets us see Antoinette save Ooh-La-La again. Fast forward into the future and we see Antoinette and Gaston in the park with their puppies near a statue honoring Antoinette as Paris' most famous police dog.

Again Christian Robinson's artwork perfectly captures the dog families, the action and the feeling of Paris.

The Sonoma County Library has seven copies. There is no AR yet for this book but the AR for Gaston is 2.8.

Picture Book Gift Ideas

As promised, here are some of my favorite picture books of the past year. Books I have reviewed previously have a link to the original review embedded in their name.

Are We There Yet? words and pictures by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat

Frank and Lucky Get Schooled words and pictures by Newbery Medalist Lynne Rae Perkins

How This Book Was Made words by Mac Barnett, pictures by Adam Rex

If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, DON'T! words and pictures by Elise Parsley

Nanette's Baguette words and pictures by Mo Willems

We Found a Hat words and pictures by Caldecott Medalist Jon Klassen

They All Saw A Cat words and pictures by Brendan Wenzel

Pug words and pictures by Ethan Long is perfect for kids just learning to sound out simple words and who know most of the Kindergarten sight words.

School's First Day of School words by Adam Rex pictures by Christian Robinson

Strictly No Elephants words by Lisa Mantchev pictures by Taeeun Yoo

That Is (Not) Mine words by Anna Kang pictures by Christopher Weyant, another great book for beginning readers.

Last Stop on Market Street words by Matt de la Pena and pictures by Christian Robinson

The Night Gardener words and pictures by Terry and Eric Fan. You will be hearing more about the Fan brothers in years to come. Their lush artwork and compelling story about community have made it a contender for the 2017 Caldecott Medal.

William looked out his window one morning to see that the tree in his front yard had been sculpted to look like an owl. The following morning another tree on Grimloch Lane turned into a cat, another day a rabbit and then a parakeet appeared, even an elephant. People came out of their houses to talk to their neighbors about the mysterious topiary. Who was creating these sculptures? One evening, William spots a man with a ladder and gardening tools. He follows him to the park. The man turned to him and asked if he wanted to help. He did. During the night they transformed the trees in the park. Tired, William  fell asleep and woke up to find a gift from the night gardener and the sound of happy people admiring their work. The seasons changed from summer to fall to winter. There was no evidence the the Night Gardener had ever been to Grimloch Lane.  But William and the town's people were never the same. 

The Sonoma County Library has nineteen copies. The AR is 2.7.

Little Penguins words by Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant pictures by Christian Robinson is the sweet penguin book. Five little penguins see snowflakes. Winter is coming! Hats, scarves, mittens, socks and red boots and out to sled in the snow. The snow is cold and deep. Soon it is time to go home. Jammies on, warm cookies and sippy cups; soon it is time for bed.

A simple story illustrated by my new favorite artist, Christian Robinson. His simple cut paper and acrylic paint illustrations are perfect for the text. It would be a great book for preschoolers or beginning readers, I plan to give a couple of these as gifts. The text is sparse, the font is large and easy to read and there is plenty of white space.

Thje Sonoma County Library has eleven copies. The AR is .8.

The protagonist of Penguin Problems words by Jory John with pictures by Lane Smith is a kvetch and a tad passive-aggressive. He doesn't like snow, he's hungry and fish are hard to find, he is not buoyant, he sinks like a rock and he looks like everyone else. A walrus reminds him about the good things in his life and despite the challenges he is where he is supposed to be. In an old fashioned children's book, the penguin would see the error of his ways and reform. These days, it is not that easy. He does, for a moment think about the good things in his life, but soon the complaining begins again. Remind you of anyone?

The Sonoma County Library has twelve copies. The AR is 2.0.

Some more picture book ideas from Growing Book By Book and Brightly. 

School's First Day of School

It is the first day of school at Frederick Douglass Elementary not only for the students but for the school in School's First Day of School, story by Adam Rex and pictures by Christian Robinson. The School is a bit nervous. Will the children like him? Will he like them? The day starts out rough, there are lots of kids and some of them don't want to be at school and just as the day is getting going there is a fire drill. Things settle down after lunch in the Kindergarten. The students learn about shapes, the School learns some things, too.  The Kindergartners draw pictures using glitter and paste. One little girl with freckles, draws School. He thinks it is the best drawing of all and so does the teacher. At the end of the day, School hopes the children will be coming back tomorrow.

Christian Robinson's simple, flattened paint and collage artwork is perfect for this first day of school book. Look at the door on the school, does it look like a face to you? Which makes sense since the story is told from School's point of view.  Look for School's expression as the children arrive on the first day andthen when is thinking about them returning the next day.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

The Sonoma County Library has six copies. There is no AR level available for this book as of today.

Happy National Dog Day

It is no secret that this blog likes dogs, one of the most accessed posts is Dogs at the Book Fair. Over the years we have accumulated quite a collection of books about dogs and even one that is narrated by a dog.

Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Caldecott Honor recipient, Christian Robinson, features two dog families who meet in the park, a family of poodles who have a French bulldog member and a family of French bulldogs who have a poodle member. Clearly, there has been a mistake. A switch is made, can you guess how it turns out? The book is worth reading if only to read the the girl poodle names out loud: Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo and Ooh-La-La in your very best French accent. The Sonoma County Library has nine copies and the AR is 2.8.

I'm My Own Dog is written and illustrated by Caldecott Honor winner, David Ezra Stein. Our hero declares that, "I'm my own dog. No one owns me. I own myself." He takes care of everything he needs except for a little place on his back that needs a scratch that he can't reach.  A little guy scratches his back then follows him home. What is a dog to do but let him stay. He trains the little guy and soon they become best friends. The Sonoma County Library has eight copies and the AR is 1.5.

 Mrs. Birdhead has had it with Bobo's bad behavior in How To Be A Good Dog  by Gail Page. She sends him to the dog house. But Cat misses Bobo. Armed with a dog training manual, Cat  teaches Bobo to shake, fetch, heel, lie down, roll over and stay. All goes well until Mrs. Birdhead comes home from the grocery store. How does Bobo get back in her good graces? The Sonoma County Library has one copy and the AR is 1.4.

Homer by Elisha Cooper is a celebration of old dogs. Homer's family is at the beach house. does he want to play chase with the other dogs? No, sitting on the porch is fine. He also declines to explore the field, go to the beach and swim in the waves. Eventually everyone comes back and joins him on the porch and shares their adventures. Does he need anything? No he has everything he needs, he has his family. We have an old dog much like Homer, this story rings true. The Sonoma County Library has eleven copies and the AR is 1.8.

Percy loves puddles of all kinds but the one he loves most of all does not love him back because it is occupied by Mama Pig and her piglets. A big storm comes and a tree falls in the perfect puddle scattering Mama and her piglets. One is missing. Where could she be? Percy finds her and now the perfect puddle loves him back. The rhyming in this book is a great vocabulary builder.
Sonoma County Library has one copy and the AR is 2.4.

 A few more dog books reviewed over the years:

An easy reader, A Dog Is a Dog by Stephen Shaskan.

Atticus, the aforementioned dog narrator knows what is going on, his co-narrator, Ben, has no clue in Road Trip by Gary and Jim Paulsen.

Pug and Other Animal Poetry by Valerie Worth and illustrated by Stephan Jenkins is a collection of eighteen short poems about animal behavior.

Since National Dog Day is a celebration of rescue, it is only fitting that Trouper by Meg Kearney is included.

One more link from Brightly, 21 Woof-tastic Children's Books About Dogs. Enjoy!

Last Stop on Market Street

Last Stop On Market Street was awarded the Newbery Medal (Matt de la Pena) and a Caldecott Honor (Christian Robinson) on January 11, 2016 by the Association for Library Services to Children, a division of the American Library Association. This is the first time that a true picture book won the Newbery Medal. In 1982 a book of poetry, A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocence and Experience Travelers, won both the Newbery Medal and a Caldecott Honor.

As CJ and his Nana take the bus from church to the last stop on Market Street, he peppers his Nana with questions about their Sunday routine and meets all kinds of interesting people along the way. The bus driver, Mr. Dennis pulls a coin from his ear, he learns from a man with a seeing eye dog that a person can "see" the world with other senses, and feels the magic of a guitar player's music that transports him to a beautiful, tranquil place. As a child, my grandmothers offered a unique perspective on life that I didn't get from my parents. Another book about a grandmother guiding her grandson through a difficulty is Nana in the City.

You can read an article in Brightly by Matt de la Pena about talking to our kids about diversity when we read with them.

The AR is 3.3. The Sonoma County Library has eighteen copies.