Picture Book Month Day 3

I'd like to continue the celebration of picture books with another of my favorite authors, Kevin Henkes. He is the winner of the Caldecott Medal in 2005 and received an honor in 1994.  He also writes children's fiction and received a Newbery honor in 2004.  What I have always loved about his books is how they convey the true-to-life feelings of his characters.  He really remembers how it feels to be a child and his characters are all so vibrant. 

This was one of the author's first books that I read.  It was published in 1990, when I was starting out as a children's librarian and became an immediate favorite of mine.  The book was a winner of the ALA Notable Children's Books 1990.  It is the story of a little mouse named Lilly, who appears in many of Henkes' books, who is dealing with a new baby brother. "Before Julius was born, Lilly was the best big sister in the world...After Julius was born, it was a different story."  Lilly is feeling quite put out with everyone fawning over Julius, so she gets her "revenge" in little ways - reciting the alphabet wrong to him, calling him a "germ" and asking her parents when he will be leaving.  Lily spends a lot of time in the "uncooperative chair", but when a cousin insults her brother she quickly defends Julius.  As a big sister, I really identified with Lily's feelings and Henkes portrayed them so accurately. He doesn't sugarcoat Lilly's feelings of anger or her mean words and actions. A wonderful book that deals with all the feelings that come with a new sibling - both jealousy and love.

This book won a Caldecott honor in 1994.  Owen reminded me of my little brother and his "Blankie." Owen is very attached to his yellow blanket, "Fuzzy."  "He carried it. And wore it. And dragged it. He sucked it. And hugged it. And twisted it."  When it is almost time to begin school, his parents take the advice of a next door neighbor to ween Owen from Fuzzy.  Their plans to get rid of Fuzzy do not work.  Finally, mom makes Fuzzy into little handkerchiefs that Owen can carry to school.  Another book that deals with a common childhood issue in a loving way.

Winner of the 2005 Caldecott medal, this title introduced a new style of picture book from Henkes.  This book is a simply told story of a kitten who thinks the moon is a bowl of milk.  The illustrations are black and white and beautifully rendered with simple line and shapes.  The story is told with a rhythm reminiscent of Margaert Wise Brown. As each attempt by the kitten to reach the milk fails, "Still, there was the little bowl of milk, just waiting." This story works wonderfully for story times. 

 

Kevin Henkes has continued this new style of picture book, with the exception of another Lilly book, Lilly's Big Day. He has added color to the beautful lines of Kitten's First Full Moon.  These are two of my favorites in the new style.  In Old Bear, a hibernating bear dreams his way through the seasons.  Again, the rhythm complements the illustations, "Old Bear slept and dreamed, dreamed and slept."  The newest book, 2011's Little White Rabbit  is a story about a springtime adventure. The beautiful illustrations perfectly capture the palette of spring.  The text is even sparcer that in previous titles and the rhythm is still perfect, "When he hopped by the fir trees, he wondered what it would be like to be tall...When he hopped under the butterflies, he wondered what it would be like to flutter through the air."  These pages are followed by a full 2-page spread illustration of rabbit's imagination - see him peeking over the fir trees and soaring with the butterflies.  I have used both of these very successfully in story times.

Kevin Henkes is obviously multi-talented and I love his children's novels as much as his picture books.  I love both styles of picture book and wonder if he will be re-inventing his style again someday.  Be sure to check out this wonderful author!

Picture Book Month Day 2

To continue our celebration of Picture Book Month  I'd like to jump from yesterday's classic author to one of the stars of today, Mo Willems.  Mo Willems began his career as an animator and writer on Sesame Street and won 6 writing Emmy's for his work there.  His first children's book was published in 2003 and he has quickly risen to the top of his genre.  The New York Times Book Review referred to Willems as "the biggest new talent to emerge thus far in the 00's."  He has won 3 Caldecott Honor medals for illustration and has been awarded the Theodore Geisel Medal for most distinguished American book for beginning readers in 2008 and 2009 and an honor medal in 2011. This makes him the only author to win twice and the only to receive 3 awards. Below are a few of my favorites.

His first children's book was Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, which won a Caldecott Honor in 2003.  What is amazing about his work is that he can convey so much humor, emotion and story with so few words and artwork.  In this favorite, children are encouraged to interact with the book character as he pleads with the reader to let him drive the bus.  Children love this one at storytime.  I think they appreciate the fact that they are the ones who get to say "No!" They get to imitate a parent reigning in a rambunctious child - the pigeon.  Lots of fun!  You'll want to read all of the Pigeon books!

Knuffle Bunny: a cautionary tale was published in 2005 and also won a Caledecott Honor.  Little Trixie heads out to the laudramat with her Dad, but on the way home she realizes she has lost her beloved toy bunny.  Since the toddler doesn't talk, "Trixie bawled. She went boneless. She did everything she could to show how unhappy she was," to let her father know what happened.  When the bunny is found in the laundry, the book ends with Trixie's first words, "Knuffle Bunny."  Children will relate to the fear of losing a security item and sympathize with Trixie's efforts to communicate with her dad.  Parents will enjoy the illustratations which consist of Willem's brightly colored drawings superimposed over sepia-toned photographs.

In 2008, Mo Willems won his first Theodore Geisel Award for this early reader from 2007.  Although not the first "Elephant and Piggie" book, it is one of my favorites.  I am amazed at how funny a book with such few words can be.  The books are written in comic book style with the character's words apearing in word bubbles.  In this story, Elephant learns that there is only one thing worse that a bird on your head - two birds on your head! These two friends are a great way to get children reading! 

So. like Pigeon and his hotdog "Enjoy! Go ahead!"

For lots of fun games and more visit :  http://www.mowillems.com/

November is Picture Book Month!

In the wake of a front page story in The New York Times on October 2010 that declared picture books are "no longer a staple", some people are fighting back.  A group of authors and illustrators have declared November 2011 Picture Book Month and have launched a website http://picturebookmonth.com/. 

It sometimes seems to me that children are rushing past these wonderful picture books in their haste to read more "grown up" books.  This is something that we need to fight against so that children are enveloped in the wonderful world of picture books. 

As author Jane Yolen notes in her Picture Book Month essay:

"I have always believed that literature begins in the cradle -- the poems we say to the babies, the stories we tell them -- prepare them to become part of the great human storytelling community. We humans arethe only creatures in the known universe who make and remake our world with story."
-Jane Yolen

To help celebrate I will be blogging this month about some of my favorite picture books and picture book authors and/or illustrators.  Today, I'll begin with some classics. 

Many parents are familiar with my first author Margaret Wise Brown.  It is a testiment to her art that her books are still popular almost 60 years after her death.  In her short life of 42 years she wrote over 100 books and stories and many are still in print today. She was one of the writers of the "new" school who felt that children wanted to read stories about their own lives instead of just folk and fairytales. You can learn more about this prolific and wonderful author on the website: http://www.margaretwisebrown.com/index.html.

Goodnight Moon

What can be more soothing to a child than to bid a sleepy goodnight to all the objects in their room?  The gentle rhythm and rhyme of this classic perfectly captures the scene of a nighttime ritual. There is a reason that this book has become a classic bedtime story.  Somehow I don't believe the new parody entitled "Goodnight Ipad" will stand the test of time for over 50 years.

"Goodnight room
Goodnight mooon
Goodnight cow jumping over the moon..."

The Runaway Bunny

This classic story of a little bunny who threatens to runaway from his mom only to realize that she will follow him wherever he goes is another comforting story that features the same characters from Goodnight Moon.  This was a favorite of one of my nieces to such an extent that my brother and sister-in-law tried to hide it so she'd choose another story to read - it didn't work.  All children need to know that parents will be there and love them no matter what. At the end of the story the little bunny says:

"Shucks," said the bunny, "I might as well stay where I am and be your little bunny."

And so he did.  "

Have a carrot," said the mother bunny.

Stay tuned for more picture book favorites - I'm going to try to make a new post daily, but time will tell!

Halloween Story Time

It's that time of year when everyone is looking for something a little spooky.  I try to have some fun not-too-spooky stories for the younger set - ages 4 - 6 children.  Some of my favorites are:

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams  which has lots of opportunity for participation.

Mrs. McMurphy's Pumkin by Rick Walton  in which a nasty pumpkin get's it's comeuppance from a farmer.

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman in which some spooky creatures try to pick a huge pumkin off a vine.

Song fun songs to dance to can be found on Kidz Bop Halloween.  I also do an adaptation of "If You're Happy and You Know It."  You can name various costumes such as if you're a skeleton and you know it wiggle your bones, if you're a ghost and you know it just say "Boo", etc.  You could tailor it to the costumes of the children at story time, or just pick 3 basic ideas. 

Several fun games are "Pass the Witch's Broomstick" and "Witchy Witchy Where's You're Broom."  For the first you need a broom (I found one at Michaels).  Have the children stand in a circle and carefully pass the broom around as you sing :

"Pass the witch's broomstick round and round the room.
While the music's palyig quickly pass the broom.
Anyone is out if the broomstick drops
Or the one who has it when the music stops!"

The children who are out get to sit in the middle of the circle and be stirred into the witch's brew.  This works best with children ages 4 and up.

For the 2nd game, you need a small broom that can be hidden behind the children's back.  One child sits on a chair in the middle of the circle with the broom underneath.  The 'witch" closes their eyes while the group chants:

 "Witchy, Witchy where's your broom?
Someone has it in this room. 
Who could it be?"

You silently tell one of the circle to take the broom and hide it behind their back.  Everyone in the circle puts their hands behind their backs and when the chant is over the 'witch' opens their eyes and gets 3 guesses as to who took their broom. Then the child with the brrom takes over as the "witch."

Happy Halloween!!!

Children's Authors to visit the Ames Free Library

Wow!  Summer is over and school is back in session, but that doesn't mean the fun ends at the library!  We have 3 exciting author visits coming up in the fall.

First, on Saturday, October 1, we will be welcoming Steve Cotler the author of Cheesie Mack Is Not a Genius or Anything.   This was a really fun book that I highly recommend.  Mr. Cotler lives in California, but the book is set in Gloucester, Massachusetts so he is paying a visit to the east coast and we are lucky enough to have him visit our library for a reading and book signing.  Cheesie Mack will appeal to kids who like funny stories like The Wimpy Kid series.  Ronald "Cheesie" Mack is an 11-year old who recounts his escapades in 5th grade: sneaking mice into the school assembly, devising a point system for sibling rivalry with his older sister June "the Goon", and planning a fun summer at camp with his best friend Georgie.  Along the way there's a haunted house, a mystery and lots of new words - Cheesie loves to invent new words and asks readers to do the same.  The book is very entertaining and interactive - readers are encouraged to go to the website http://www.cheesiemack.com/ for more jokes, games, facts, surveys and a way to communicate with Cheesie! I posted a comment online and that is how I got in touch with the author!  I have ordered additional copies for the library and you could reserve one online.  It promises to be a fun visit!

On Saturday, October 8, Easton's own Leo Landry is hosting an open mic comedy afternoon to celebrate his picture book Grin and Bear It.  In the picture book, Bear dreams of performing stand-up comedy, but he has stage fright!  Learn how he overcomes his fear with the help of his friends.  Children are invited to come and tell their favorite joke.  We'll have lots of  joke books on hand if you'd like to read one!  This should be a very funny afternoon at the library! So come in and find a joke and practice telling it to your family and than come and share it our our first children's comedy club!

Finally we look forward to welcoming Easton's newest author Anna Staniszewski!  Her first children's novel, My Very Un-Fairy Tale Life, will be published this November.  I was lucky enough to get to read an advanced reader's copy and I loved it - lots of adventure, magical creatures and a spunky heroine!  Jenny is an 12-year old "adventurer" who is sent in to protect the magical world.   Jenny has been dealing with  bloodthirsty unicorns, baby dragons, a very inept gnome sidekick and more for over 3 years and she wants out! Why can't she live a normal life in middle school?  Join the author in a round of mini golf, make an origami frog and enjoy some fairy tale snacks.  Ms. Staniszewski will also read from her book and have copies available for signing.

I hope many of you will stop by to one or all of these programs and support these wonderful authors!

Boys and Reading

I never thought I'd be recommending a book with the title Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading, but this book by Tommy Greenwald is a must read!!  The author is the father of 3 boys - Charlie, Joe and Jack - who always complained that they hated reading.  He decided to write a book about not reading for his boys to read. 

In the book, Charlie Joe has pride in the fact that he has made it to middle school without reading a single book.  He explains how he was able to do this without flunking by bribing a friend to read for him.  But when his friend decides to back out of the deal, Charlie is left scrambling for a new way to avoid reading.

 Charlie has a lot of complaints about books that he tries to change with his book.  The book is filled with his tips i.e.:  "Tip # 1 If you have to read a book, make sure it has short chapters."  Charlie Joe points out that this way you can tell your parents you've just read 3 chapters and they'll be happy - they don't know that 3 chapters might only be 3 pages.  In this book, he tries to keep the chapters very short.  Other tips cover how to avoid reading and how to show parents that you actually DO read - ie menus, video game instructions, texts, etc.

It's a perfect book for your reluctant reader - funny and filled with "tips" that are sure to get laughs.  But don't worry parents, even though it's a book about not reading you're child is actually READING!!!!

Summer Reading Program with Wayne Potash

On Monday, July 11th Wayne Potash performed in Queset Gardens as part of the Ames Free Library Summer Reading Program.  Over 175 children and adults enjoyed the evening of songs from around the world as well as some favorite songs by Wayne.  It was so wonderful to be able see the gardens filled with children dancing, singing, jumping, blasting off and having a ball.  The evening was warm, but the shade offered a great place to spend as ealy summertime evening.  If the weather is good we hope to have more of our summer programs outside in this wonderful performance space.