Tag: childrens books

100 Picture Books: 95-91

Leave a comment

No matter how many times you tell a kid not to draw on books from the library, it doesn’t seem to sink in. But I guess that’s a story for another day. Without further ado, here are another five picture books.

95. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

This book was published by a child welfare agency as a story to help kids when they have to be separated from their parents. The mommy raccoon plants a supernatural kiss on the kid raccoon’s paw so that it will glow whenever the kid raccoon misses his mommy. It’s a bit schmaltzy. Peanut liked it okay, but she didn’t really understand the point the book was trying to make. She didn’t request it much, not even the raccoons could draw her in.

I found a little bit of discrepancy as to the true inspiration of this story. On her website, the author states she saw an interaction between two raccoons in a park, but she is quoted in a few news stories as saying the raccoons were on train tracks. Strange. It’s also a bit controversial, as the School Library Journal (who published the list I’m working from) initially gave the book a poor review, saying it was propaganda for the Child Welfare Agency. It has continued to be popular, however, and has resulted in half a dozen or more sequels covering other big topics such as death, moving, and new siblings.

94. The Mitten by Jan Brett

This book is beautifully illustrated, but most of the details would go right over the head of a young listener. There are side panels showing what the boy is doing and what the next animal to burrow into the mitten are, but they are small and not super obvious. The story is also a little ridiculous. Those mittens would have to be very well made for a bear to squeeze in.

I tried looking up the original folk tale this story is based on, but all I found were a couple synopses of other English translations. It appears that Brett’s version is actually the least fantastical, as all the others feature talking animals with names and possibly evening attire. (It wasn’t clear, but I like to imagine a little rabbit hopping about in the snow wearing a tuxedo.) I do think Peanut would have been more interested in a fashionable talking rabbit though.

93. Traction Man Is Here! by Mini Grey

This book was really cute but it had a lot of visual gags that, again, would be glossed over by the young ones. Peanut did request this book a few times, I think she liked the adventures that Traction Man got up to, even if she didn’t understand the references and jokes. The premise is that a boy is playing with an action figure of a superhero, and using his imagination in a variety of common household environments. So the bathtub becomes an underwater adventure, etc. There are some asides to events happening outside the imaginative play world, but those are hard to insert into the story while reading aloud in a way that isn’t jarring.

There are two other Traction Man books that we could read, maybe when Peanut is a little older. The most interesting side note about this book and author is that the author was born in a car! Grey’s biography is on her website and it’s really cute. I was hoping for some additional information on the creation of the character, but didn’t see any. The website does feature full color previews of her books, which gives an idea of what to expect.

92. The Gardener by Sarah Stewart

This book was boring for both reader and listener in this case. It’s written as a series of letters from a girl to various addressees. She moves from wherever her parents are to a city with her aunt and uncle to run a store. She ends up growing a garden on the rooftop. That is really pretty much it. Peanut suffered through it two times and never asked for it after that.

I did learn that the book was more of a vehicle for the illustrator’s art, as his wife is the author, and she pretty much only writes books for him to illustrate. The art was beautiful, but it wasn’t enough to hold our attention.

91. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka

This book has a very unique and interesting idea, but the actual story is not so good. It’s a riff on the “updated fairy tale” schtick, but it’s poorly done. (The more I read these updated fairy tales, and the less I think people should bother trying.) The book is “narrated” by Jack (of Jack and the Beanstalk fame), and he has brought a collection of “fairly stupid tales”. I can’t even describe the style choice of the stories, most of them just end. For example, in the “stupid” version of the Frog Prince, the frog is not a prince and so after the princess kisses him, he says “just kidding”, and hops away. And that is the end. Most of the other stories sort of go the same. The Little Red Hen is interspersed throughout the story randomly, but the story isn’t actually told. Peanut liked it enough to request it a few times, but I’m not sure she really made the connection that it was a parody of stories she had previously heard (and she was familiar with most of them).

Apparently my poor opinion of the book isn’t shared, as it won a bunch of awards and was adapted into a stage production. So there’s a play with someone dressed up as a Cheese Man out there.

You know what comes next! 90-86. Some mischievous characters are coming up!

Reading Through the “Top” 100 Picture Books: 100-96

Leave a comment

While balancing my creative need to write and pay attention to my incredibly needy lovely toddler, I got the great idea to find a list of the best of the best picture books, read them to her and write about our reactions. I was also getting tired of going to the library and just randomly grabbing books off the shelves and hoping they would be good. When choosing books for myself, I typically come across a review or hear a mention on a podcast and think, that book sounds amazing, and add it to my growing list of books I’ll probably never have time to read. Considering a typical book that my daughter and I borrow from the library is read about 15 times (usually consecutively), I want those books to be good ones that I don’t hate to read.

So I found the School Library Journal list of Top 100 Picture Books. I couldn’t really find a firm date on it, but I’m assuming it is around 2011-2012. So a little dated, but I’m not sure how many revolutionary picture books have come out in the last 2 years. So starting with book #100, we are going to read these books 5 at a time and gauge both our reactions, their re-readability, and a few other tidbits as they come up. So I hope that you enjoy our journey, and find a few new favorites to enjoy as well.

IMG_2546

100. The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss

So the moral of this story is to not give up. It’s not subtle. I suppose young children haven’t already been beaten over the head with this sentiment yet, but the book isn’t clever or all that interesting. The drawings are all in shades of white and yellow, with a few hints of green and orange near the end. I also felt like this book didn’t age well, some of the language seems a bit weird to me; instead of saying “the carrot wouldn’t come up”, it seems like it should read “the carrot wouldn’t grow”. Peanut didn’t seem to mind the tediousness of this book, and asked for it a few times.

At the time of its publication, it was one of the shortest picture books, at 101 words. The author was also close with and a mentor to renowned author/illustrator Maurice Sendak. He illustrated some of her other children’s books, but this one in particular was illustrated by Krauss’ husband.

99. The Maggie B by Irene Haas

This one was hard to find, because only one library in the entire metro area of where I live had a copy, and it was in storage. We did get our hands on it, and read it a few times. It’s a cute book, essentially a fantasy day for a little girl and her baby brother on a ship that apparently has a farm on it, including orange trees and goats. There’s a few rhymes and “songs” interspersed throughout, which was Peanut’s favorite part, especially the lullaby near the end that Margaret sang to her baby brother. The thing that struck me as odd about it would be that such a small girl (she appears to be under the age of ten) was able to cook a seafood stew. Child labor, much? Or maybe I’ve been slacking with Peanut’s culinary training.

98. Duck on a Bike by David Shannon

I didn’t find this book particularly funny, but it apparently struck the right cord with Peanut, because she thinks it’s hilarious. The story is that a duck on a farm finds a bike and decides to try riding it, and then meets each animal on the farm who makes the noise of that animal (Neigh, said the horse), except the narrator translates that into what the animal may have been really thinking (“You’re going to hurt yourself on that!”). In the end, a bunch of abandoned bikes are found (how convenient), and all the animals go for a joyride. For some reason the idea of farm animals riding bikes is high entertainment for toddlers, but I thought the book was fairly repetitive and boring.

The idea for this book was inspired by the author’s daughter, who made animals sounds before saying any words. And maybe she liked bicycles?

97. Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox

This book is pretty simple and Peanut seemed to enjoy it. It basically consists of pointing out several sheep by a descriptor (“Here is the bath sheep, and here is the bed sheep”), and then asking “Where is the Green Sheep?” every few pages. It rhymes a little. Peanut is a little older and already knows most of those descriptors, but for a younger toddler it can be a semi-learning tool. Near and far, moon and star, etc. I did feel like the word “sheep” got tiresome after about 3 consecutive reads. You know how you repeat something over and over, and the meaning feels like it got lost? Yeah, try reading sheep about 20 times in a row. 

There is a fascinating talk transcribed on the author’s website about the process of writing a children’s book. I highly recommend taking the time to read it. And obviously, check out the green sheep plush available for purchase.

96. Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Weber

Despite the aged drawings (this book was written in the 1970s), the story is cute. Ira has been invited to go sleep over at his neighbor’s house, and he is undecided about whether he wants to bring his teddy bear or if he’s ready to sleep without it for the first time. It’s fairly long for a children’s book, but it kept Peanut’s interest. She even asked for it a few times. I’d say more, but on the off chance you read it, the ending is too cute to be spoiled.

Of course, you can always check out the 1991 HBO-produced musical animation based on the book. It unfortunately won’t play on a mobile device, but if you get a chance, you can view it on a computer.

—————

Next time, books 95-91!