Little Pig Joins the Band

Little Pig Joins the Band

By David Hyde Costello

Charlesbridge

2011

It is hard to be the runt of the litter. You don’t measure up at the food trough, you’re always the last in line because your trotters don’t carry you fast enough…and in this picture book, you are too little to be in the band. Little Pig wanted to join his siblings when they got out Grandpa’s old marching band instruments, but he was too little for everything! He was outsized by the tuba, the trombone, the drums and every other instrument he tried. Once again, the runt of the litter was left out…until Little Pig realized this band needed a leader, and there is your happy ending!

The theme of Costello’s book is nothing new—the littlest (fill in the blank with your favorite breed of animal or human) is left out until they figure out a way to triumph. But the author makes the story special through precise text and loveable illustrations. There is a subtext included on most pages that consists of little side comments by the pig family. While these were not useful when performing this book during storytime, I imagine young solo readers would enjoy the piggy banter.

Trot down to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of this book. You will undoubtedly squeal with delight when reading Little Pig Joins the Band.

Pig Kahuna

Pig Kahuna

By Jennifer Sattler

Bloomsbury

2011

Pigs are not known for their swimming abilities. That’s what makes this quirky little picture book even more adorable. This silly tale finds Fergus and his baby brother, Dink, at the beach for the day, trying their best to avoid the water. After all, the water is filled with a “lurking, murky ickiness.” They are content to collect odds and ends off the beach…and then they make a monumental find. A surfboard that they promptly name Dave! Unwilling to venture out into the lurking, murky ickiness, they are content to play creatively with the surfboard on the shore. But when Fergus returns from an ice cream run, he is horrified to see Dink throwing the board back into the water. Fergus must make a split decision—to stay on the shore and watch the surfboard drift away forever, or to jump in and save the board despite the lurking, murky ickiness. Pick up your own copy to find out if Fergus gets wet or stays dry!

From a storytime perspective, this book is a home run! The illustrations are vivid and funny. The text is concise and easy to understand. It has what I call “performance power” in that it allows me to (pardon the pun) ham it up for the audience. This book is pure comedic genius and I literally had the kids snorting up a storm as they listened to this memorable pig tale.

Geology of the Pacific Northwest

Geology of the Pacific Northwest – Investigate How the Earth Was Formed

By Cynthia Light Brown

Illustrations by Eric Baker

Nomad Press

2011

If geology books were like this when I was a kid, I might be a geologist today! The author has tapped into the language of typical 9 – 12 year olds and has written a fantastic explanation of how the Pacific Northwest came to be. From explosive volcanoes and earthquakes to glaciers and rainforests, this book covers it all.

A key component of the book’s success is the hands-on projects that help illustrate some of the concepts presented in the book. While we’ve all seen the typical experiments like baking soda volcanoes, Brown has created some original and highly entertaining visuals. Using familiar items like a Milky Way candy bar to illustrate tectonics and shifting plates and mounds of peanut butter to help readers understand how mountains “fold” in the formation process, the author has proven her understanding of the way kids think, learn and understand.

As is often the case in successful books like this one, the illustrations are just as important as the text. Baker was obviously an excellent choice for this project as the cartoon-style line drawings perfectly match the tone and humor of the author’s words. A glossary, bibliography and list of related web sites round out this excellent resource. Let’s hope this team keeps producing more books of this nature to put some life in the world of science and geology books.

The Twits

The Twits

By Roald Dahl

Illustrations by Quentin Blake

Scholastic

1980

As the manager of a branch library, I get the pleasure of also being in charge of acquisitions and collection development. While keeping the library supplied with new titles, I must also make certain the classic titles are maintained. The thing about classics is they wear out, get lost, and fall apart from being loved and read to death. I recently took a sweep through one of my favorite youth authors, Roald Dahl, and took an inventory of his titles, ordering new copies of just about every title.

The Twits caught my eye on the shelf so I took it home this weekend for a quick re-read…and I am so glad I did. While this was not one of his best selling titles, it is a prime example of the genius of Dahl. His books are so humorous, shocking, absurd, inappropriate (at times) and engaging that this quick read reminded me not to forget to suggest Dahl’s books to young readers who are looking for a fun read.

Dahl figured out exactly what tickled the funny bone of boys and girls and he immerses the reader in these silly funny and gross details throughout all of his stories. In The Twits, Dahl describes the horrors of what one would find when making a close inspection of Mr. Twit’s unruly beard. There is “spinach and tomato and ketchup and fish sticks and minced chicken livers and all the other disgusting things Mr. Twit liked to eat.” Then he goes on, with the help of Blake’s classic illustrations, to detail even more grossness such as a piece of “maggoty green cheese” and “moldy old cornflakes.” Perfectly delightful reading for those in the early grades!

This was a wakeup call for me to always keep the Roald Dahl section well stocked and to guide young readers to that shelf regularly. Long live Roald Dahl books!

A Pet for Petunia

A Pet for Petunia

By Paul Schmid

Published by Harper

2011

There are loads of “kid wants a pet” books out there, but this story’s unique twist is that Petunia wants a pet skunk. She begs her parents. She pleads with her parents. She even promised to feed walk and clean the litter box if they let her have a skunk. “They stink!” says her parents, and because Petunia finds this hard to believe, she runs out into the woods, hoping to be eaten by a bear so her parents will finally give in and let her have a skunk (there’s some child logic for you!). Low and behold, she runs into a skunk in the woods and guess what? Her parents were right! Skunks smell worse than anything she has smelled in her “whole entire life.” I won’t reveal the surprise twist at the end, but I heartily recommend this book for storytellers, libraries and home collections. The preschoolers I read this to were glued to the story and wanted me to immediately read it again when I was finished.

Of all the “I want a pet” books I have read over the years, this one smells the sweetest!

A Bear and His Boy

A Bear and His Boy

By Sean Bryan

Illustrations by Tom Murphy

Arcade Publishing

Published 2007, 2011

Rhyming texts are nothing out of the ordinary, but this one stands out because ever line rhymes with the lead bear’s name, Mack. Mack wakes up one morning with a boy on his back. Why? No excuse is given, so we just go along with the story. They do jumping jacks, eat flapjacks, spend time in the library stacks, and …well, you get the idea.

I had my doubts about how well this slight plot would be received during preschool storytime, but I decided to try it anyway. The kids loved it! They laughed with increasing fervor as each “ack” rhyme popped up.

Part of what makes this book a success is the simple, pleasing illustrations. Simple ink outlines are filled in with brown and a soft yellow. The composition of each page is designed expertly and each scene has continuity with the preceding image. They fit, they relate and they extend the idea provided in the text.

So be like Mack,

if this book you lack,

put on some slacks,

go buy it and come right back,

and you will attack,

this book about Mack,

with a boy on his back.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hunger Games (trilogy) Catching Fire, and Mockingjay

By Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Press

I’ll start out with a great big WOW! This series is what YA Lit is all about for me. The books are exciting, smart, not-predictable, humorous, engaging, brutal, romantic, breathtaking, tragic and triumphant, all rolled into one.

The premise is not that far-fetched, actually. Picture a future United States that has collapsed into a world of drought, war and famine. We’ve been renamed Panem and have been divided into a Capitol and 12 districts. The leaders at the Capitol have developed a sort of a sick competition/entertainment between the districts in which a yearly competition pits two youth from each district to have a televised fight to the death, until only one of the competitors survive. The whole thing is televised with state-of-the-art cameras that can zoom into even the most remote locations.

This is not a World Wrestling Federation competition or a gladiator-style fight where they are all placed in a round arena to go at it. These battles take place in the wilderness where competitors can hide, plot, ambush and form alliances. To make it even trickier, the Capitol has the technological abilities to create artificial conditions, animals, insects and similar plagues to either help or harm the fighters. This all makes for an extraordinary plotline that is an exciting, tense and engrossing.

Congratulations to Collins for creating Katniss, an amazing and powerful female lead character. Readers will easily identify with the heroine and root for her through all three volumes of this engrossing series. Librarians…get your teens hooked on this series as soon as possible as there is a major motion picture in the works. Don’t forget to stock up on plenty of copies for your library shelves because the Hunger Games books will soon become even more popular than they are now.

Press Here

Press Here

By Herve Tullet

Chronicle Books

Published 2011

Imagine you are working in the library one day and…SURPRISE…a group of 2nd graders and their teacher pops in thinking today was the day they had scheduled for a school visit. What do you do? What do you grab for an impromptu session?

Well, I have a new favorite guaranteed hit book that has found a permanent spot on my storytime shelf, and it is Press Here by Herve Tullet. Originally published in France, then translated for the US market in 2011, this unique and creative book is storytime gold. Unlike anything you’ve read before, this book features a simple series of colored dots that the reader “controls” by following the commands of the text. Tap the yellow dot on the first page and it magically turns into two dots on the next page. Later on, a page featuring three perfectly aligned rows of different colored dots says to shake the book and see what happens. The next page reveals the dots all askew. Then tip the book to the right and all the dots slide to the right. It is just a bunch of crazy fun that makes the reader feel as though they are controlling the dots.

I’ve tried this book with preschoolers and they loved it and I’ve read it to the 1^st – 5^th graders that come to my Lego Book Club. I’ve even read it to adults and everyone loves it. Add it to your storytime shelf today and you’ll never be left high and dry again for those surprise school visits!

One Moon, Two Cats

One Moon, Two Cats

By Laura Godwin

Illustrations by Yoko Tanaka

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Published 2011

From a storyteller’s point of view, the only thing this beautiful work of art is missing is an introduction. After the first read of this book, even some adults may not grasp that this book contrasts and compares two cats are in two different places—one in the country, one in the city. When I used this book in preschool storytime this week, I set up the story by talking briefly about how some cats live in town and some live out in the country...but they both like lots of the same things. “Let’s take a look at the things these two cats like that are the same.” With that little introduction, the book was much more meaningful to the listeners.

This is such a visually appealing book. Being a cat lover myself, I would be happy to frame any of these illustrations and hang them on my walls. They are carefully executed in a soft palette of greens, grays and browns that expertly capture the essence of nighttime that felines enjoy so much. Three cheers to Yoko Tanaka!

The text by Laura Godwin is also a work of art. There is not a single word I would add or leave out. The words work like magic to create an aesthetic whole, uniting words, design and illustrations in a soothing, symbiotic relationship. The panoramic paintings on the front and back endpapers are gallery-worthy and worked as excellent visuals to illustrate my introductory concept of town and country.

This is one of the most visually pleasing picture books of the year. Go out and get a copy for you and your favorite cats!

LLama Llama Home With Mama

Llama Llama Home With Mama

By Anna Dewdney

Viking

2011

When you’ve done storytimes for years, you know that not all picture books work well for storytime. One key ingredient that helps draw kids into a book is whether they can relate to the topic. This book deals with how miserable it is to have a bad cold. Ask any child if they have ever been sick and you will always get a lengthy, graphic description of their battle with the flu or a cold. That’s why Dewdney has a hit on her hands with this book. They will easily empathize with the young llama as she deals with the sneezing, stuffy head and yucky sore throat. Add to that the author’s adorable illustrations and hilarious, rhyming text and you have a new, classic addition to the popular Llama Llama series.

Add this one to your storytime shelf today. You may find yourself wishing you would get sick so you could stay home and read this story all day long!

The Little Pea

The Little Pea

By Eric Battut

Sky Pony Press

Published 2011

I do not believe I have ever read a picture book that had a little green pea as the lead character, so kudos to the author for taking that bold step. The composition of this book is equally unique with plenty of white space surrounding the smaller, whimsical illustrations.

The story is easy to understand. A pea hops out of its pod and decides to go find himself. As he observes the world, he tries to emulate the creatures he sees…a peacock, a tiger and an elephant. At this point, the story could have gone one of two ways—the pea could decide he looks silly and conform to the way a pea should look, or the pea could embrace his originality and decide to be different. I’ll let you discover the ending on your own, but I was pleased with the lesson presented at the end.

I admit, I thought this story was a bit iffy to use in a storytime setting but a recent preschool audience proved me wrong. All eyes were on the book as I told the pea’s story and they were equally pleased with the outcome. So cuddle like two peas in a pod and enjoy this original picture book with your favorite sprout!

Ten Little Caterpillars

Ten Little Caterpillars
By Bill Martin Jr.
Illustrated by Lois Ehlert
Beach Lane Books
Published 2011

What can you say about a book by two undisputed giants in the field of children’s literature? It has to be good, right? Well…I have to say this book isn’t my favorite. For starters, the first line of the book starts with, “The first little caterpillar crawled into a bower.” I know a lot of words, but I have to admit, I needed to look up a definition for bower. I had a good guess, but it just is not one of those words you use every day. And I doubt most preschoolers know what it is either. I understand Martin wanted to rhyme with “flower”, but was it absolutely necessary to do it on the very first page?

On the good side, the book is a work of art. Ehlert provides simple, yet intriguing paper cut art against a white background so each page is dramatic and interesting. The main text is bold and brief, but there is some underlying text that is hidden amongst the illustrations that help to identify types of leaves, birds, plants and more. So I could see using this book in one of two ways. I doubt the incredibly simple storyline would hold the interest of a preschool group, but I could imagine using it for a gathering of 2-3 year olds. The storyline is simple enough and the illustrations are bold enough to hold this group from start to finish. And I think it would be a great experience to share this book with a preschooler on a one-on-one basis. This would allow the reader and preschooler to linger over each page, talk about the details of the subtext and allow some dialogic reading to take place.

I’ve seen better from both of these artists and hope the next book they put together has a bit more of a plot to the storyline. Whereas “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?” has an easy-to-learn hook that has kids chanting along, this caterpillar book is sort of stuck in a cocoon.

Zombie in Love

Just an old fashioned Zombie love story…

Review of Zombie in Love

By Kelly DiPucchio

Illustrated by Scott Campbell

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Published 2011

Mortimer is looking for love. Never mind that he appears to be the only Zombie in his school. He tries his hardest to meet girls by doing things like walking his Zombie dog in the park or offering a diamond ring (with someone else’s finger still attached) to a potential girlfriend. Mortimer even tries to offer the female mail carrier a shiny, red heart…and it’s actually a real heart! It probably doesn't help that everywhere he goes, a group of worms follows him around—oh, and his arm falls off sometimes. But just when Mortimer is about to give up, drop-dead gorgeous Mildred stumbles in and the two have lots in common…they are both Zombies.

The text and illustrations work together wonderfully in this fun little Zombie love story. The writer/illustrator duo do something few teams can successfully accomplish and that is to create a little book that appeals to so many different ages. Adults will revel in the tiny details in the illustrations, providing lots of comic relief that might be missed by the younger readers. The book is smart enough to appeal to the sophisticated humor of teens, and grade school kids will love the crude scenes and celebrate when Mortimer finds his true Zombie love. I would have gladly shared this book with my children when they were in preschool, but it probably would not be appropriate at a public library preschool storytime where certain parents may not approve of the idea of Zombies.

Otherwise, I think it’s a no-brainer to add this Zombie love story to any library collection.

Welcome to My Neighborhood - A Barrio ABC

Author: Quiara Alegria Hudes

Illustrator: Shino Arihara

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books

Published 2010

This is a real-life ABC book that does not “candy-coat” reality. For instance, “B” is for broken bottles which are on the streets and alleys of the Barrio. “G” is for graffiti right beside the subway grate. And yet, it doesn’t create a sense of sadness for the reader. Many of the letter relationships are very positive like M standing for muralists who decorate the walls and V is for vegetable plots that used to be a vacant lot. It is just a truly honest look at a part of town where high class does not exist.

Any child in any neighborhood would appreciate this book. Present this book during any storytime that deals with the alphabet or city living. It would be fun to pair this book with It’s Okay to be Different by Todd Parr in order to make a statement that even those who live in the areas of town that are a little run down live productive lives.

I have never seen a picture book that is quite as honest as this ABC book. It would have been easy for the author to find some things that are a little more mainstream than some of the things she chose to highlight. But what would you expect from the author of the Tony Award-winning musical, In the Heights? I did not realize this famous composer was the author until I was nearly finished writing this review. Very cool!

Kindergarten Cat

Author: J. Patrick Lewis
Illustrator: Ailie Busby
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Published 2010

A cute, homeless, orange kitten is found on the school playground and adopted by the class. The children like the new cat but it is pointed out that cats can’t read or know their colors or the alphabet, so he doesn’t really fit in. When the teacher convinces the students to give the kitten a chance to prove herself, some amazing things happen and the kitten and the students realize the cat has found her home.

There are lots of rhyming books out there and, from the perspective of someone who has studied good and bad verse, this is one of the excellent examples. The meter is perfect even though each line is relatively short. This is a prefect combination to make a memorable story for preschoolers. When I shared this book during one of my storytime sessions recently, the children in attendance were transfixed with the story and had many questions and comments along the way.

With a little imagination, this story becomes a multicultural tale of acceptance of someone who does not really fit in. This book deserves a permanent spot on my storytime shelf!

A Million Shades of Grey

Author: Cynthia Kadohata
Atheneum
Published 2010

This is a powerful book by one of my favorite authors, Newberry Winner, Cynthia Kadohata. Set in Vietnam in 1975, Y’Tin is the 13 year old lead character in this book and he wants to fulfill his dream of being an elephant trainer. I really learned a lot in the first part of the book about what it take to work with the giant pachyderms and earn their trust. There is a bond that develops between trainer and trainee that does not happen overnight. Kadohata loaded this narrative with interesting facts such as how the elephants grind down their teeth to nothing, and then just grow another set. I also learned about the Vietnamese culture, their homes, and their attitudes...and the author worked all these details into the story without making it seem like a history lesson.

But then the attack on their village happens and the novel takes a dramatic turn. The North Vietnamese are seen as a threat to the Dega people and the rumored attack ends up wiping out half of their village. In places, this war action is almost too graphic for the intended audience. There are vivid descriptions of exploding brains and one unnerving scene where a dead body is dug up and described in detail.

The book is a great discussion piece for students in grades 6 through 9 and this fictional account of the realities of war may help make this era more understandable for this generation.

Muu, Moo - Rimas de Animals

Setting	Various places
Plot	This book features a bilingual collection of traditional animal nursery rhymes from Spain, Latin America and the United States. A full-page introduction in English and Spanish tells the reader how and why these particular poems were chosen.
Illustrations, Writing Style	Brown-skinned children interact with animals of all varieties. The poems are expertly chosen from Spanish-speaking countries. Rather than translate them, the authors have chosen to give interpretations of the meanings and the effect is lovely.
Theme(s)	Animals are the same in any language!
Characterizations	These are poems from other countries so it stands to reason there are no white children depicted in this book.
Programming Connections	Muu, Moo is a book parents and children will enjoy together. It would be really useful for the librarian to keep this book in the storytime room and when the session runs short, a selection or two could be read from this book.
Personal Response	This is a great book! The poems are all about animals and you can’t go wrong with that! Kids of all races in all countries are drawn toward animals and the rhymes chosen should be considered classics. These are tender and humorous rhymes that can help create some strong bonds of communication between the languages represented. I am anxious to order the author’s other books, Pio, Peep and Merry Navidad.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee

Setting	A quaint home with soft yellow wallpaper and the city zoo
Plot	A nice old man with bunny slippers has to alter his normal schedule of riding the bus to work at the local zoo because he wakes up with the sniffles. The zoo animals miss him so much, they go to his house to visit and play.
Illustrations, Writing Style	Illustrations combine woodcuts and colored pencils for a satisfying, comforting style. The text is equally polished, carefully crafting a fun, “warm-fuzzy” story. (Stead, 2010)
Theme(s)	Friends go to any length to make their friends happy.
Characterizations	The elderly. Friends.
Programming Connections	A book like this is a great fit for many themes….friendship, zoos, buses, etc. Because the old man and the animals took the bus, it would be fun to preface the story with The Wheels on the Bus song.
Personal Response	I have shared this book at several storytimes since it arrived a few months ago. The illustrations are so inviting and children are captivated by the concept that the zoo animals could actually get onto the bus. The last image of the man sleeping in his bed totally surrounded by zoo animals is priceless. 2011 Caldecott metal winner!

A Very Big Bunny

Author and Illustrator: Marisabina Russo
Schwartz and Wade Books
Published 2010
ISBN - 978-0-375-84483-8

Setting	A school for bunnies
Plot	Anyone who has ever felt too big or too little will appreciate this bunny tale. Amelia had her growth spurt early and towers over all her bunny friends. She becomes a loner and an outcast, spending her days alone at school recess. But one day, a little tiny bunny shows up at school and finds herself rejected as well. It takes some time, but the two finally pair up and become good friends.
Illustrations, Writing Style	Big, bold, fun colors make the illustrations a pleasure to look at. The writing style is straight to the point and builds the necessary tension to make this a great read-aloud.
Theme(s)	Fitting in. Being too big or too little.
Characterizations	Fitting in is hard sometimes when you don’t fit the mold.
Programming Connections	Bunnies. Opposites. Friends.
Personal Response	I am so glad this story does not resolve in the odd bunnies finding a way to fit in with the popular kids. That would have been a sell-out. Instead, they team up and become super-cool all on their own.

A few photos just for fun...

Waving to fans along the 4th of July parade route.

A poster for one of my many travelogue programs I give at the library.

This shelving is part of a $47,000 grant I wrote for library improvements.

That's me entertaining a pretty large group for storytime.

This is the ribbon cutting for the new Quiet Room that I designed.

Here I am performing at Heritage Square.

This is the library I manage in Flagstaff, Arizona.