Ladies
of
light
and
ladies
of
darkness
and
ladies
of
never-
you-
mind,
This is a prayer for a blueberry girl.
First, may
you
ladies
be kind.
Lovely. And utterly girl-centric. (I may need a niece.)
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Charles Vess
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, bedtime, Blueberry Girl, Charles Vess, Diverse Books, Mama's Choice, Neil Gaiman
When the sun rose today, a friend came to visit me.
She came in a carriage bright as the sun.
Even the stones in the road were shining.
Her lion stopped at my gate.
This story begins with an enormous, golden rose rising up into the sky (yes, the title is a visual pun); moves to a friend arriving in a carriage shaped like a golden rose and pulled by a golden lion; proceeds to a day of play and creation; and ends with a departure, a promise, and a house full of roses.
The boys are not charmed this book’s dreamy/vague plot and prominent dolls (although they are found of the lion eating blueberries with cream while the narrator and her friend enjoy honeycake and tea). I am utterly charmed by it, however. It glows.
Author: Barbara Helen Berger
Illustrator: Barbara Helen Berger
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Barbara Helen Berger, bedtime, food, Mama's Choice, out of print, toys, When the Sun Rose
In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m going to share a few books that I enjoy a good bit more than the boys do (at least so far–I haven’t entirely given up hope they might become more general favorites).
The first book in this category, Cinnamon Baby, charms me completely. I love the story (filled with baking, music making, passion and jobs, romance and support, the joy and excruciating helplessness of parenting a newborn, love and exhaustion, playfulness, creativity, and beauty). I love the illustrations, which complement and enhance the story (which in a mere 34, unrushed pages addresses working, meeting, marrying, pregnancy, co-parenting, a very unhappy baby, and finally a very happy family). And I love how the boys indulge me and listen to it with a smile.
Author: Nicola Winstanley
Illustrator: Janice Nadeau
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Cinnamon Baby, Diverse Books, Ezra Jack Keats Writer Honor, food, Janice Nadeau, Mama's Choice, Mother's Day, Nicola Winstanley
The quest for a missing green sheep leads to lots of opposites, colors, and rhymes. The illustrations are cheerful and playful (did you notice the Singin’ in the Rain visual reference above?). And finding out what the green sheep is up to just might inspire a toddler to nap.
(Our copy’s text is just in English, but the version currently in print has Spanish text too.)
Author: Mem Fox
Illustrator: Judy Horacek
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, bedtime, bilingual, Judy Horacek, knitting, Mem Fox, Singin' in the Rain, Where is the Green Sheep?
The Bear family didn’t always live in the
big tree house down a sunny dirt road
deep in Bear Country.
Years ago, when Brother Bear was an only
cub, they lived in a hillside cave halfway
up Great Bear Mountain at the far edge of
Bear Country.
And years ago, when I was an only child and the age my youngest is now, my parents gave me this book because we were moving. It must have helped. I came back to it many times over the years and now it is one of my youngest’s most requested bedtime stories.
Author: Stan & Jan Berenstain
Illustrator: Stan & Jan Berenstain
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Tagged Animals, bedtime, Berenstain Bears, garden, I read this as a kid, series, Stan & Jan Berenstain, The Berenstain Bears' Moving Day
This is the origin story of a (fictional) hugely-popular bakery. Back in the Old Country, seven children decide to help their mama by baking bread. Like The Duchess Bakes a Cake, things quickly spiral out of control, but the flavor of this book is completely different:
“This is not just bread,” he cried. “It’s meat and potatoes!
It’s strudel and pie! It’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner all at
once! It’s apples and raisins, vodka and noodles, every taste
you ever wanted to taste, all in each wonderful bite.”
I always enjoyed this as a kid and it is now one of my youngest’s very favorites.
Caveat: Corporal punishment clearly is an option for this family, but the reference is fleeting.
Author: Melinda Green
Illustrator: Barbara Seuling
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Tagged Barbara Seuling, bedtime, Bembelman's Bakery, city, Diverse Books, food, I read this as a kid, immigration, Melinda Green, out of print, Tall Tale, The Duchess Bakes a Cake
Barney Bipple is six, but he’d rather be eight. He’d also like a big, shiny car of his own and for his dog to be able to talk. One day he does a favor for his very well dressed next-door neighbor, who rewards him with three white, puffy dandelions.
“Make a wish, blow on a dandelion, and your wish
will come true. But stick to simple wishes, like for diamonds
and furs. If you need more, just let me know.
Now Barney can have everything he’s ever wanted. But things don’t turn out quite the way he expected in this playful book.
Steven Kellogg’s pictures are sunny and fun (and give a very different tone to this book than Arnold Lobel’s work gave to the same author’s work in The Tale of Meshka the Kvetch). The boys love seeing how Barney’s wishes in action and suggesting ones of their own.
Author: Carol Chapman
Illustrator: Steven Kellogg (apparently we have the revised edition of this book, where Kellogg did new, more colorful, illustrations)
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Tagged Animals, Arnold Lobel, Barney Bipple's Magic Dandelions, Carol Chapman, fairy tale, Machines, out of print, Steven Kellogg, The Tale of Meshka the Kvetch
In this story, a talented, homeless orphan is taken in (in more ways than one) by a bird catcher who deceives her in order to take advantage of her musical ability and kind heart.
This book reminds me a good bit of The Lorax, despite having a very different story and style. Both books show individuals’ choices making a difference and both focus on interactions between individuals and the natural world. The villains in both books are multidimensional, lonely, and even sympathetic characters who lives are warped by greed. Finally, like The Lorax, Birdsong‘s beautiful pictures and unusual story fully capture the boys’ attention.
Author: Gail E. Haley
Illustrator: Gail E. Haley
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Birdsong, fairy tale, Gail E. Haley, out of print, The Lorax
This classic story is beautiful, disturbing, and hopeful. It is also, unsurprisingly, a great read aloud and not to be missed.
“But now,” says the Once-ler,
“Now that you’re here,
the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear.
UNLESS someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It’s not.
Author: Dr. Seuss
Illustrator: Dr. Seuss
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Dr. Seuss, fable, I read this as a kid, knitting, Machines, The Lorax
This book is a charming extension of the old song. The board book version has six fewer pages than the picture book, but contains the essence of the tale. Whichever version you end up with, it is great for toddlers.
Author: Nadine Bernard Westcott
Illustrator: Nadine Bernard Westcott
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Posted in Board Books, Picture Books
Tagged Animals, food, Nadine Bernard Westcott, out of print, Skip to My Lou, songs