Book of the Day

Despite the fact that there are so many New Baby titles available, it can be quite difficult to find one that is uniformly positive. Almost every New Baby book focuses on the annoyance of a new baby, or the jealousy of the older sibling. Oh, the problems are all resolved by the end of the book, of course, and the entire family marches off into the sunset thrilled that the family has grown. But – and this is a big but – the focus of the story still remains on the jealousy.

I read somewhere recently – I think it was in Nurture Shock – that when preschoolers watch a video in which the first twenty minutes are devoted to conflict, such as siblings fighting, and the last five minutes explain proper conflict resolution, the take-away message is that siblings fight. Since the bulk of the program is on fighting, it increases fighting. I thought immediately about New Baby books when I read that article. How many older siblings are initially excited about the new baby, but are socialized into expecting to be jealous and resentful when well-meaning adults present them with books intended to combat this feeling?

Supersister is here to fill the gap. The little girl in the book is thrilled about being a supersister. An energetic ball of enthusiasm, she spends her days trying to think of ways to help her mother. She’s still a little kid: she wants a kiss at bedtime, shouts when she reads, and needs reassurance before walking to the bus stop. The emphasis here is solidly on the older child. This manages to install the idea that the older child is more capable and responsible (the ever-popular “You’re the BIG brother!”) and at the same time subtly reinforces the idea that the older child is important, loved, and cherished just as much as the new baby.

The new baby in this book is still just theoretical – the mother is very pregnant. Supersister helps out by tying mother’s shoes (a lifesaver, as any nine-months-pregnant woman facing the thought of bending over will tell you), setting the table, and doing other small chores. This overriding sense of helpfulness and responsibility are embraced with enthusiasm. It is refreshing, for a change, to see a child portrayed as something other than selfish or sullen in the face of chores. Every child eventually has a grumpy day, but so many of the young children I know are thrilled to be considered a “helper” and to feel that they are making a real contribution to their family.

A little boy is sad because all of his friends are hibernating for the winter. But when he goes outside, he finds Jack Frost. At first Jack Frost runs away from the boy, but eventually they become friends. But Jack warns the boy that he must never mention anything warm, or the spell will be broken and Jack will have to leave.

Kazuno Kohara’s previous book, Ghosts in the House!, featured a palette of colors restricted to simply orange and black. This time around she has created a similar look using white and blue. The combination helps to emphasize the chilly cold of the winter season.

The illustrations are charming and very appealing. The story is cute and, while not breaking any new ground, is satisfying and solidly good. I can easily see this becoming a new go-to book for winter story times or snuggly readings wrapped in a blanket.

Baby sister has a unique word: “Shwatsit!” But what does it mean? Teddy bear? Brother? Balloon? When the family finally figures it out, they have to admit: the baby is “a clever little tot.”

The rhyming text bounces merrily from page to page. Each spread has only a few words on it, making for a fast-paced read that will appeal to toddlers. The illustrations are charming, and will likely appeal to both children and adults. I was a little disappointed, however to note that the bus full of students and park full of children were populated solely by white children. Aside from this oversight, however, the book is otherwise very visually engaging.

Four little chairs are just right for bears. We’re in luck because here come four cute little bears, from Calico Bear to Floppy Bear, and they sit happily on the chairs. But what will happen when Big Brown Bear comes by and wants to sit as well?

I suppose the point of the book is supposed to be one about sharing, since the solution to the problem is that when all the chairs are pushed together, all five bears can fit. But for me, the delight in this book is the art. The illustrations, done in acrylic, are wonderfully cute and appealing. There is a fine line between sweet and saccharine, but I feel that illustrator David Walker managed to find that line perfectly. The bears slump and push and climb with exquisite charm. Their minimal facial features mean that the smallest smile speaks volumes and body language is very important.

The text is impressive in that it took me more than halfway through the book before I noticed that every single line rhymed with bear. I generally dislike rhyming text on principle, so not noticing that the rhyme was identical until halfway through the book is quite an achievement. That being said, by the end of the book, the repetition had become a big much.

All in all, this is a fabulous book to share with a child or group of children.

A baby kangaroo named Joey decides that he wants to get out of his mother’s pouch and hop. But after only a single hop he finds a bee! Back to the pouch! Later he tries again and again, but he keeps encountering other “scary” animals and retreating back to the safety of his mother’s pouch. The Joey’s hops take him to another nervous kangaroo….

David Ezra Stein’s illustrations, done with china marker, watercolors, and water-soluable crayon have a fuzzy, relaxed tone that blends well with alternating emotions of Joey as he whiplashes from enthusiasm to fright to safety and back again. The colors are subdued earth tones that evoke a dry(ish) Australian landscape.

Young children often struggle with the tension between independence and safety, and many will identify with Joey. Share this with your favorite toddler or preschooler.

Frog finds a book of spells. He wishes it were a book about pirates or a book about castles. But then he gets a fabulous idea: he’ll use the book of spells to turn himself into a prince. But the book of spells has been torn into pieces, and mixing and matching spell parts creates quite a havoc!

Emily Gravett’s illustrations are, as always, gorgeously done. The novelty of split pages that allow for a mix-and-match illustration will appeal to children. The haze of magical fog that surrounds the middle of each figure serves both to hide the questionable bits when the frog finally succeeds in his wish to be human as well as to obscure the transition area between the top and bottom of the various frankenstein creatures.

The story is cute, a mix of predictability and surprise that will appeal to children and adults as well.

Poor Big Frog. She just can’t fit inside the book! But if she can get some help from her friends, maybe something could be arranged…

This is a very simple pop-out book by Mo Willems, perhaps the King of simple books that are marvelous. While this isn’t his strongest work, it is nonetheless highly enjoyable. Big Frog’s bending and shrinking attempts to fit inside the book will be appreciated by children who often have the opposite problem: being too little to do something. I particularly appreciated that Big Frog’s solution depended on her friends and teamwork between the entire community.

This isn’t a Pulitzer Prize winner, but it’s cute, and that certainly counts for a lot when it comes to children’s picture books.

How do you wokka-wokka? A boy walks down a city street asking all of the children, and they demonstrate their own unique dancing style. Some like to wokka-wokka like a flamingo in a flocka, others like a marichi with maracas.

Kids of every shade and hue are represented on this city block, in illustrations done oils. Individuality is celebrated in the poem, as everyone wokka-wokka’s in their own way. As they walk down the street, creating an ever-increasing parade, the children continue their own particular wokka-wokka, until it seems that everyone is getting in on the action – lots of individuals forming together to be a part of a group.

The language is playful and rhythmic, lending itself to being read aloud. This book will work well shared one-on-one or with a group.

Robot Zot is ready for battle on Earth. Despite being much smaller than he apparently thinks he is, Robot Zot is fearless in the fact of danger. He rescues what is obviously the queen of the Earth (a toy phone), outwits a fearsome Commander General (a puppy) and sails off into the horizon, completely oblivious as always.

The humor in this book comes from the difference between the text, depicting a brave Robot Zot and the illustrations, which feature a hapless little robot encountering everyday Earth artifacts, from a television to children’s toys.

The illustrations are well done, with details in the background – such as an unmentioned but recurring human character puzzled by Zot’s rampage of destruction – that lend themselves to rereading the story.

I am a drooling, rabid Marla Frazee fan. I love sharing the illustrations in Everywhere Babies and I still maintain that the reason so many children pick up Sara Pennypacker’s Clementine is less becuase they intuitively know that the writing is fabulous and more because they are unerringly drawn towards Marla Frazee’s brilliant cover illustration.

So it’s no surprise that I am thrilled to see a new picture book illustrated by the Caldecott Honor artist. All the World, which was written by Liz Garton Scanlon is a fairly typical poem about how we are all both a part of the world and the world entire. It scans, it doesn’t strain to rhyme, and it creates a nice flow rather than seeming tacked on because “kids like rhymes”, all the main attributes I want in a rhyming picture book. The second to last page seems to have an extra stanza that interferes with the scan, but when I read this book in story time, I’ll simply skip that line and all will be fine. What makes the book stand out for me are the gorgeous illustrations.

Marla Frazee’s recognizable style is out in force. A large castspends the day in typical activities, from an early morning beach stroll to a rainy afternoon and a gorgeous sunset. Looking just at the illustrations, there are several stories going on here: a grandfather spends the day with his three grandchildren, an older couple bikes around the town, two young families are out and about for the day. The illustrations are almost perfect, you can see the fondness and affection these family members feel for one another.