Moldylocks and the Three Beards

My son-in-law asked  for a list of chapter books with pictures to share with my granddaughters who are emerging readers. While researching books on the Kirkus Review website, I ran across the highly rated Moldylocks and the Three Beards the first book in the  Princess Pink and the Land of Fake-Believe series written and illustrated by Noah Z. Jones. Since I have a weakness for fractured fairy tales, I checked it out.

Princess Pink does not like princesses nor the color pink, her parents named her Princess because they were so excited that after seven boys they finally had a girl. Their last name is Pink.  Princess falls into the world of fake-believe by opening the refrigerator door. She lands smack dab into a slightly twisted  version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Moldylocks has green hair and the bears have become beards, just a couple of letters make the difference. Princess accompanies Moldylocks to the home of the Three Beards where they look for the just right chair, taste chili and jump on the beds before they fall asleep. When the Beards return home, Princess escapes through the refrigerator to the safety of her home but decides to return and save Moldylocks.

The story will appeal to first and second graders but it might be a little snarky for younger kids. The reading level is second grade and the book is available through Scholastic Book Service. The Sonoma County Library has a few copies and one copy of the second book in the series Little Red Quacking Hood. The Yulupa Library has two copies.

Whatever After Fairest of All

Let me just say at the onset that the second grade me would have loved Whatever After Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski. I lived in a very Dick and Jane world. From my point of view, very little about my life was exciting. My Grandmother introduced me to fairy tales when I was four or five. She found beautifully illustrated books with exciting stories that fueled my imagination. I firmly believed that there was a door in my house that would lead me into the land of the Grimm Brothers. Turns out I should have been looking for a mirror that hissed.

 

Abby and her brother Jonah have moved with their parents from Chicago to Smithville. Where is Smithville? Not sure, but it is somewhere where pop is called soda and tag is played in a strange way.  Abby is having a bit of a problem adjusting to her new home, so while her brother is pursuing activities like rock climbing, Abby is retreating into books. Her grandmother used to read the two of them fairy tales when they lived in Chicago, so to comfort herself she starts reading a book of fairy tales.

That night, seven year old Jonah wakes her up to tell her that the mirror in the basement is hissing. Abby tries to get her brother back to bed but winds up following him downstairs to show him that the mirror is just a mirror. Sure enough, after Jonah knocks on the mirror, it starts to hiss, then turns purple and then starts to suck the two of them, some furniture and her parents’ law books into the mirror. Very soon they land in a forest. After hearing what sounds like hungry animal noises, they start running.

Very soon they see an old woman carrying a basket. It turns out that it is the wicked queen who is trying to poison Snow White with an apple. Before Abby and Jonah figure this out, they keep Snow from taking the apple and eating it. When Jonah and then Abby figure out that they are in a fairy tale and that they prevented Snow White from eating the poisoned apple thus preventing her “happily ever after”. That would not be fair. So they decide to help Snow achieve her “happily ever after before they try to go home.

There are lots of delicious details in this story. Three of the seven dwarfs are girls. They have names like Bob, Tara, Alan, Francis, Jon, Stan and Enid. With Abby and Jonah’s help, Snow helps arrange her own happily ever after and even saves the prince, whose name is Trevor, with a kiss. Magic mirrors have a network like the paintings in Harry Potter books. The Queen’s mirror is happy to get brother and sister back home before their parents wake up. It is a delightful 21st century rendering of a very old fairy tale.

The Sonoma County Library has a few copies. The second book in the series Whatever After If the Shoe Fits will be available at the Yulupa Scholastic Book Faire March 4-8.

The AR reading level is 2.8.

Extra Yarn

What prompted me to pick up this book was the news that a friend who loves to knit was having her first grandchild. Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen is about kindness and generosity, as well as about knitting and dare I say it on this cold morning, warmth.

Annabelle lives in a town where everything   is cold and white or covered in black soot. One day she discovers a box filled with colored yarn, so she decides to knit herself a sweater. When she is done, she has extra yarn, so she knits her dog a sweater. Her friend, Nate tells her they look ridiculous. She has extra yarn, so she knits Nate and his dog a sweater too. Her teacher, Mr. Norman, tells her her sweater is a distraction, so because she has extra yarn, she knits a sweater for everyone in class and Mr. Norman, too. Annabelle still has extra yarn, so she knits sweaters for everyone in town except for Mr. Crabtree, who can stand outside in shorts in the snow up to his knees. So she knits him a hat. Then, because she still has extra yarn, she knits sweaters for all the birds and woodland animals (if you read Jon Klassen’s I Want My Hat Back you may recognize some of the animals). Annabelle still had yarn left so she knitted sweaters for houses (boy, did this sound good this morning), pick up trucks and even trees. Annabelle and her box of endless yarn became famous and she became a tourist attraction. An archduke, from a far off country heard about the box that never ran out of yarn and decided he wanted it. He came to visit and offered Annabelle one million dollars, she declined. He offered her two million dollars, then ten million but she again said no. So the archduke hired three men to break into her house at night and steal the box. Back home, the archduke opens the box and it is empty. He throws the box out of the window and places his family curse on Annabelle “You will never be happy again”. But it turns out she was.

 The Sonoma County Library has several copies.

Jan Brett

Jan Brett’s books are used in many kindergarten and first grade classrooms at Yulupa, especially in December.

Mossy is Jan Brett’s newest book. Mossy is a turtle who lives in a cool damp place. A garden begins to grow on her shell. On the day she meets Scoot, another turtle, she is scooped up by Dr. Caroline for an exhibit in her museum. Dr. Caroline and her niece, Tory, make a beautiful home for Mossy, but Mossy wants to go back to her old home and her new friend, Scoot. Visitors flock to the museum to see the extraordinary turtle. On the day of her class visit, Tory notices that Mossy looks sad. She asks her aunt if she thinks Mossy is happy at the museum. Will Dr. Caroline and Tory devise a way for visitors to see Mossy’s beautiful garden and let her go back home to her friend, Scoot?

The author actually saw a snapping turtle with an underwater garden on his back. It was her inspiration for the book.

The Sonoma County Library has several copies of this book. The Yulupa Library does not have this book, but has a huge selection of other Jan Brett books.

A  recently published seasonal  book is Home For Christmas. It is about a troll named Rollo who runs away from home because he does not want to do his chores.  Rollo lives with an owl family, a bear family and an otter until it turns cold. Then he travels with a Lynx who was as wild as he is until food gets harder to find and he notices the hungry look in the lynx's eyes. Next he comes upon a Moose family who eventually lead him home in time for Christmas.

  Like all of Jan Brett’s books, this one is lavishly illustrated.

The Sonoma County Library has many copies and it can be found in many local bookstores.

The Tale of Despereaux

This Newberry Award winning fairy tale by Kate DiCamillo is the story of Despereaux Tilling, an unusually small mouse, with big ears, who loves the human Princess Pea, music and tales that begin, “Once upon a time” . It is also the story of Roscuro, a rat who loves the light and a serving girl named Miggery Sow who wants to be a princess. As all four of these characters do not conform to their expected roles an interesting fate awaits them. This is a story of love, hope and forgiveness told in a “dear reader” style. The author occasionally asks the reader, “what would you do if…” , which makes it a great book to read with your kids so you can answer those questions together.

The Sonoma County Library has many copies of this book and it can be downloaded to a Kindle or in pdf. format. The Yulupa Library has four copies of this book.