Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Chapter Book Review - The View from Saturday

Here is another review I did in my earlier days. This book is on my top five list of Newbery Medal winner favorites.

Konigsburg, E. L., The View from Saturday, 1996, Atheneum, Newbery Medal Winner 1997

Summary: Noah, Nadia, Ethan, Julian, and Mrs. Olinski all share something in common besides the sixth grade. The story starts off at the state championship academic bowl where no sixth graders had ever been. How Noah, Nadia, Ethan, and Julian became the team is a question their teacher Mrs. Olinski can’t answer at first. As the competition plays out, we meet each member of the team through flashbacks brought about by the bowl questions. Their journeys are told in the order of how each one crosses the path of the next character. First is Noah’s wedding attendance that becomes the backdrop to an intricate web that will tie all the characters’ journeys together. We come to know Julian last and find Saturday tea brings about more than friendship and the formation of “The Souls”. Mrs. Olinski’s journey is sprinkled throughout the story, but concludes with the team’s success. The author includes a dash of growing pains, a pinch of school bullies, a touch of symbolism, and cup of kindness that rounds out this endearing story of choices and friendship.

About the Author: Elaine Lobl Konigsburg was born in New York City in 1930, but spent her youth in Pennsylvania and Ohio and now resides in Florida. In 1952 she married her husband, a psychologist, after receiving a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and she began to teach science at a private girls’ school. In 1962 she gave up teaching and began to study art and devote more time to her three children. Using familiar life events she then began to write. Her first two books published in 1967 both became 1968 Newbery winners. The first book won Honor and the second won the Medal.


Since then Konigsburg has written sixteen more books of which many have received awards including another Newbery Medal and two books were made into movies. One of these was the book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which was produced twice. Once in 1973 for the theatre that starred Ingrid Bergman as Mrs. Frankweiler and again in 1995 for television that stared Lauren Bacall as Mrs. Frankweiler.

A book, a cup of tea, and any day of the week is all you need to read.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Chapter Book Review - The Secret in the Old Attic

Have you ever heard of a Bio Poem Style Review? Well, I hadn't until a few years back. The following is a write up I did for a class on writing reviews. Now as a reminder, I am just an amateur and do not make any claims of great writing skills, but the following apparently changed the mind of my then professor on how she looked at Nancy Drew books (she didn't like them). I have always been a big fan of this consistent format style mystery series. The books are not literary greats, but they kept me reading and that is always a plus. And, everyone loves a familiar character and cozy mystery on a rainy day.




Keene, Carolyn; Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: The Secret in the Old Attic #21, 1970, Grosset & Dunlap: (From the original series of 56 written by Mildred Wirt Benson.)



Bio Poem:

Nancy Drew
Generous, teenage, girl, detective
A character in Carolyn Keene's story about mysteries

A lover of:
Family
Friends
Fairness
Adventure

Who notices:
Mr. March's plight
Attic of antiques
Letters with clues
The skeleton's secret

Who feels:
Eager to help
Skeptical of ghostly noises
Suspicious of Mr. Jenner
Encouraged by her discoveries

Who learns about:
Plagiarism in music publishing
Black widow spiders in silk manufacturing
Hidden family feuds

Who hopes to:
Right a wrong
Find missing music
Discover stolen formula

The Secret in the Old Attic
A book that keeps the reader guessing how one thing has to do with another, yet everything seems to somehow be connected.

And, for all those that are die hard Nancy Drew fans, I found out through Kids Lit's blog that it seems there is to be a movie released in 2007. Yeah!!!

Friday, February 24, 2006

Clive Cussler goes Kid?!

Who knew that famous Adult book author Clive Cussler of the Dirk Pitt Series wrote Children's books? I have seen one of his Adult books edited down for Young Adults, but haven't seen true Young Adult or Children's books before by him. Apparently, I have been missing the boat on this (of course it did just come out this week). I have read most of the Dirk Pitt series and many of the spinoffs. But, this book is a new one on me. I have found Cussler's books usually very good on the adventure side, but sometimes a little too detailed in technology. However, the write up I found on Kidsreads.com seems to indicate Cussler's detailed writing was a welcomed addition versus its usual doldrum effect.

The following is part of the
review that can be found on Kidsreads.com

THE ADVENTURES OF VIN FIZ by Clive Cussler
Ages 7-up and 160 pages

The story centers around ten-year-old twins Casey and Lacey Nicefolk who live on an herb farm in California with their parents and basset hound Floopy. One day, a strange man named Mr. Sucoh Sucop (you may notice his name is Hocus Pocus spelled backward) and his mule, Mr. Periwinkle, arrive at the herb farm....... "THE ADVENTURES OF VIN FIZ is a fun and imaginative story that will thrill any and all readers. Clive Cussler fills the pages with exciting quests (like rescuing a runaway train) and tosses in a bit of silly humor for flair (including some of the characters' unusual and pun-like names). For an extra bonus, Cussler artistically slips in some interesting trivia, like how a steam engine works, so readers may even learn something along the way.

I'll be checking this one out! Let's see if Cussler can make the transition and still provide quality writing.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

The Hidden Success and Power


Just an editorial and a thought that came to mind today.

According to
Publishing Trend (August 2000) ''It's taken the unbelievable success of Harry Potter for people to look again at children's books,'' says Susan Katz, president and publisher of the children's division at HarperCollins. ''These books were for a long time one of the best-kept secrets in publishing. They can be very profitable and the backlist sales are phenomenal.'' A big bestseller like Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon, for instance, has been selling more than half a million copies each year, and those sales are increasing.

Yet even when children's books do well, they don't get a lot of ink. Louis Sachar's award-winning Holes, which has sold a list-worthy 460,000 copies for Farrar, Straus & Giroux, has caused at best a blip or two on the list at USA Today. ''The Times and other lists were alert to the fact that Holes was selling well,'' says Laurie Brown, vice president of marketing for FSG. ''But it just didn't seem to find a slot.''

No matter how popular they might be and how well they may sell, children's books enjoy far less prominence in the public eye than comparably selling adult books. ''Every year we have books that sell more copies than those that made the New York Times bestseller list,'' says Doug Whiteman, president of the Books for Young Readers division at Penguin Putnam.

So, why did I bring this information up after it was published five and half years ago? Because I still do not think Children's books, authors, and illustrators are still appreciated as they could or should be. Although more and more really good books are being published and several each year are making the jump to the big screen, the Adult literature is still leading in the "press".

Thanks for reading.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

The Tale of Despereaux: etc., etc.

The Tale of Despereaux : being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread by Kate DiCamillo

Okay, lets see. The movie production was announced in July 2004. I have seen where the movie adaptation is going to be released during the 2006 movie season. It is now February 2006. Hummm? Has anyone heard a date yet? However, please do not take this inquiry as a "sitting on pins and needles" and "I can't wait to see the movie" issue. As I am one of probably very, very few people who have read this book and did not enjoy it. I am a big fan of Kate DiCamillo, but this Newbery book winner just struck me the wrong way. It could have been the time of night I read the book, maybe that I am not into the dark and dreary dungeon type tales, or maybe I just didn't like all the meany characters. No matter the reason, there are so many others that I know that really did enjoy this book, which makes me wonder when will it hit the theatres? Plus, I always enjoy seeing a Children's book, whether I liked it or not, hit the big screen. It will be interesting to see what rating it gets and if any "big" name actors will participate.

Also as a side note, if you like rodent based books, here are a few other titles to check out:
Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Poppy by Avi
I, Houdini by Lynne Reid Banks
Shadow Walkers by Russ Chenoweth
Impossible, Possum by Ellen Conford
Maybe, a Mole by Julia Cunningham
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Brewster's Courage by Deborah Kovacs
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
A Rat's Tale by Tor Seidler
Tales at the Mousehole by Mary Stolz
The Lemming Condition by Alan Arkin

Some of these are older titles, but still most should be available in your library's juvenile section.

As Despereaux and librarians prefer, read rather than eat the pages.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Book Comparison - Topic Cinderella

In digging through old papers from my Master's program I ran across some book comparisons that I had completed for a Children's Materials class. I remembered having alot of fun reading all kinds of books on similar topics. The following are two books that I reviewed for the fabled Cinderella story. Hope you enjoy.

And, who said Mr. Disney had the market on Cinderella's story? It seems the story of Cinderella has been around for many centuries. The story most are familiar with though is the 17th century version by Charles Perrault. However, many similar stories exist from various cultures and time periods. Shirley Climo has adapted many versions of this tale including one from a 6th century B.C. Egyptian legend. Then there is Robert San Souci who introduces us to a 19th century tale of a West Indies girl named Cendrillon (the French form of Cinderella). His story is somewhat based on a French Creole tale that also follows Mr. Perrault's story outline.

Although there are many stories of Cinderella, they all seem to have at least one common denominator, a missing shoe. In these two stories, one is a pink slipper and the other a red-rose slipper. Both Ms. Climo and Mr. San Souci develop their stories around a single young beautiful girl who is in a servitude role and is mistreated. The girls bear their lot in life mostly in acceptance and through singing. Then there is some type of event that provides fate and mystical powers to intervene on their behalf. In the end the girl is "rescued" from her present life circumstances and is elevated to higher "without worries" status through marriage. But, this is where these two stories' similarities end to some degree. The differences start with Mr. Souci telling Cendrillon's story from the godmother's point of view, but Ms. Climo uses a narrator and does not include a godmother or other type of helpful benefactor.

With our Caribbean Cinderella, she is not looking for a better life, but rather true love. She lives with her oblivious father (who fears his new wife), unkind stepmother, and younger half-sister. After her widower father remarried she became the household servant girl who works very hard, but is deemed lazy. Her godmother wants to help her find her true love and turns to a magical wand that was left to her by her own mother. The godmother and Cendrillon are magically transformed and off to a special party they go. The story incorporates a bit of humor along with the French West Indies influence and culture of that time.

Rhodopis (Cinderella) is a slave from Greece that was stolen as a child and sold to a kind old unaware Egyptian master. Since she is a slave, the servants who out rank her are unkind to her. Her master has a special fondness for her and gives her a gift of shoes as he thinks no goddess is as nimble. While the servant girls have sailed off without her to visit the Pharaoh's court to woo him, Rhodopis is working in the fields and loses her precious slipper. A falcon, the symbol for the god Horus, plucks it and flies off to then drop it into the Pharaoh's lap. The Pharaoh determines whomever fits this shoe will be his queen.


Both stories are short and fun to read, but the flow of the Cendrillon seems to be more natural and makes a good read aloud book. When reading the Egyptian Cinderella it felt somewhat choppy and not as "magical".





San Souci, Robert; Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella, illustrated by Brian Pinkney, 1998, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers




Climo, Shirley; The Egyptian Cinderella, illustrated by Ruth Heller, 1989, Thomas Y. Crowell Junior Books

Check out other "Cinderella" books and see how many story differences there are from Mr. Perrault's.

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Saturday, February 18, 2006

Picture Book Review

Well, depending on where you are, I hope it is warmer than here. The groundhog, as my husband would say, knew what it was talking about this time with six more weeks of Winter still to come. So, in honor of this freezing cold weather, I am adding this book and its review as a "Check It Out" picture book. This is from BookPage Children's Reviews and thought its write up represented the book better than I could. I think it would be a good book to share with your favorite little one.

Cold Paws, Warm Heart By Madeleine Floyd

Polar bears may be able to withstand sub-zero temperatures, but that doesn't mean they don't enjoy a nice cup of cocoa now and then. In discussing how her new book, Cold Paws, Warm Heart, came about, London artist Madeleine Floyd says, "A couple of years ago, I produced an oil painting of a large polar bear being offered a cup of hot chocolate. I was thinking about random acts of kindness and how a hot drink might be exactly what a polar bear might enjoy rather than his usual icy fish for lunch."

Floyd's story takes place far away in the land of snow and ice. Cold Paws, a lonely polar bear, roams with only his silver flute for company. Then he meets a young girl named Hannah from a nearby village, who is attracted by his beautiful music. Hannah's gifts of hot chocolate and friendship are just the things to warm the polar bear's heart. Young children will be sure to enjoy this simple tale of love and friendship.

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

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Thursday, February 16, 2006

A visit to the Library

We will be marking this day down in the baby memory book. Today, I summoned the courage and coordination to visit our local library branch with the baby. I had wanted to take her for some time, but our branch has changed somewhat over the last year and half. The changes have not been bad, but really haven’t left me with a “got to visit” attitude. In fact, I haven’t really wanted to go because of the changes also in the overall library system. Besides living in a city with one of the nation’s top recognized public systems, libraries in general are in my opinion great on so many levels. However, our city/county library system recently underwent a huge change in management, staff reorganization/hiring requirements, started remodeling and adding on to its main branch, encountered a number of construction problems, has a number of relating lawsuits, and the city council governing body at best doesn’t really understand what makes a good system. Well, enough of my personal editorial on the local library and its new evolving system.

Anyway, I thought this being the baby’s first library trip, I should keep it short and pleasant. So, to my surprise when I discovered that trip there, in and out, and back home took only 45 minutes. And, this included running into an old classmate of mine who now works at our branch. Why was it so quick? Well, one I tried a new book selection strategy. Normally, I am one of those people who either looks for familiar authors, or browses for a while looking at the books and then select. But today, I tried the grab and go method. After my quick “it is so good to see you” conversation, the baby and I started toward the picture books. However, once I started to skim through various shelves, the baby started either a “I want all the books now” or “haven’t you noticed I am tired and want to go home” whine/cry.

So, even though I had thought I had timed the naps, feedings, and distractions just right, the baby reminded me that I still have a lot to learn about timing. It is funny though in all our trips out and about, this is the first she has been totally dissatisfied with a portion or the entire trip. Hum! Is this going to be a norm for our library trips? I hope not. This branch is starting a 13-month and up baby program in April that I would like to take her to. We did end up leaving with about 15 books of which some are familiar and others we will find out about. To be truthful the books are really more for me as I have been out of the book loop for a while. But, I did grab some that I think the baby might enjoy, but under careful assistance since we want to return them in the same condition we borrowed them. This may sound strange, but I don’t think I could ever borrow baby books, such as board or cloth books, from the library. Something about knowing how babies like to chew on everything makes me glad we have our own baby books.

A couple of the books we checked out included:


Go to Sleep, Groundhog! by Judy Cox





Sit, Truman by Dan Harper





On to explore what books bring.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Still So New At This

Wow, over the last week or so, I have found a number of blogs on books and more specifically Children's books. Of course, I knew that I would not be the one and only, but I am amazed at the number and variety of blogs dedicated to books. It warms the heart. However, it did provide a realistic view that I am at best an amateur at this. But, I do not take this too personally. As I knew in the beginning, this blog was meant more as a creative outlet for me. For I truly miss working with kids in helping them select and discover the wonders they can find in books.

Some of my favorite moments were when a hard to reach boy or girl would run up to me and tell me how much they really liked the book we had selected together. Another favorite memory is when I would walk into one of my favorite third grade teacher's room for my volunteer reading visit. The class, I know enjoyed just the break from routine, but their cheers and listening attitudes where so uplifting. I also miss being on the receiving end of all those great new books. It was fun to just peruse them or see if anything new was there that seemed like it was going to be the next big hit.

Although, I miss being in the “book” and library mainstream, I find being at home with my beautiful baby just as or in most cases more fulfilling then I ever dreamed. Plus, I get to share my love of books with her. The best part is having her sit on my lap and to snuggle up with a book to read.

Even if this blog isn’t as professional or inspiring as others, I am having fun with this little ditty of mine. Plus, my most wonderful and thoughtful husband bought me a few books for Valentine’s Day (always the way to my heart outside of chocolate). One, which really shows he is the most supportive of husbands, is the book “Blogosphere: Best of Blogs” by Adrienne Crew, Peter Kuhns and published right here in town. So, I am looking it over and hopefully it will lead me to some awesome postings. If not, at least I will start to learn the lingo. So, check out some of my new links to other book blogs. There are some interesting options out there and these can take you to them.

Read on, Read on.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Born to Read

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought a look at a program geared toward encouraging children to become "book lovers" might be a good topic for this posting. There are a number of programs and reasons why or why not they would be featured here. I chose the following because of, now don't laugh, the logo. It has a heart, and being "I heart you" day I went with it. Plus, it seems to have what appears to be a worthy purpose and mission.

Born to Read is a program put together by the ALA (American Library Association). "The joy of sharing books is a gift you can give children from the time they are born. Chanting nursery rhymes, singing songs, and reading stories can comfort and entertain even the youngest child. Listening to language lays the ground work for reading."

Of course, most of us have heard, experienced, or know that reading makes a difference in a child's life. Although reading from the time they are little makes a significant impact, but it is never to late to interest a child in reading. The key is to find what interests them and go from there, but this really applies to all readers of all ages. Also, we need to remember that fiction books are not the only types of reading that are available. Many kids like science books on volcanoes or space, some like learning about animals, and others are interested in far away places. So, get a variety and let them choose.


Some of ALA's baby to preschooler book suggestions include:
Brown, Margaret Wise. Goodnight Moon. Illustrated by Clement Hurd. HarperCollins, 1947.
Cousins, Lucy. Maisy Drives. Candlewick, 2001.
Dunrea, Olivier. Gossie and Gertie. Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
Fleming, Denise. The Everything Book. Henry Holt, 2000.
George, Kristine O'Connell. Book!. Illustrated by Maggie Smith. Clarion, 2001.
Hindley, Judy. Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes. Illustrated by Brita Granstrom. Candlewick, 2002.
Intrater, Roberta Grobel. Peek-a-Boo, You. Scholastic/Cartwheel, 2002.
Isadora, Rachel. Peekaboo Morning. Putnam, 2002.
Martin, Bill, Jr. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Illustrated by Eric Carle. Holt, 1984.
Meyers, Susan. Everywhere Babies. Illustrated by Marla Frazee. Harcourt, 2001.
Opie, Iona, ed. My Very First Mother Goose. Illustrated by Rosemary Wells. Candlewick, 1996.
Rosen, Michael. We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Little Simon, 1997.
Wells, Rosemary. Max's Bedtime. Dial, 1998.
Wilner, Isabel. The Baby's Game Book. Illustrated by Sam Williams. Greenwillow, 2000.

Find the heart of a book.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Booklist's Top Picks


If you haven't seen it or aren't aware of it, Booklist puts out its own top list for books published in the previous year. For 2005, and as published in their combined January 2006 issue, the following are its choices. Keep in mind the following statement issued by the editor.

“This year’s Top of the List winners strike a somber tone, with war and death prominent among the themes,” said Bill Ott, Booklist editor and publisher. “Perhaps our choices reflect the state of the world, or perhaps it was just a year for very good books on very unhappy subjects.”

Adult Fiction: “The March,” by E. L. Doctorow (Random)
Adult Nonfiction: “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” by Kaie Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (Knopf)
Youth Fiction: “Elsewhere,” by Gabrielle Zevin (Farrar)
Youth Nonfiction: “Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow,” by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (Scholastic)
Youth Picture Book: “Michael Rosen’s Sad Book,” by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Quentin Blake (Candlewick)
Reference Source: “Encyclopedia of Religion,” edited by Lindsay Jones (Macmillan)

Indeed many of the books chosen are on the somber side. As with any lists these are just what a group of people have come to decide, and to let others know what made a difference in their opinion in the literary world.

So, even though I tend to look at uplifting books here, I can't ignore that there are other books and styles of literature that are worth mentioning.

Open the mind, by opening a book.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Baby's Birthday

Well, it is my baby's birthday today. It is hard to believe that she is now 1 year old. She is the light of our lives and the most precious gift we will ever be given. So, like any normal child she has received several great gifts. There are the toys and clothes, but also there are the books. Due to her surrounding family, the baby really isn't going to have a chance to be a non-book person. Everyone in the family has some type of book or books they enjoy. On my side of the family it has never been unusual to see someone with a book to their nose. Even my couch potato brother, who would rather watch anything sports related, loves a good book and reads a lot. And, of course, my husband's family are very literature-oriented as well. And having Luke and Frema as her Uncle and soon to be Aunt, will certainly enhance her writing abilities as well. So, no matter her destination, she will most likely get there with books as a constant companion.

So, two of the books she received for her birthday were:
One Fish, Two Fish, Three, Four, Five, Fish! (Dr. Seuss Nursery Collection) by Dr. Seuss (A perfect gift chosen by her Daddy.) This is a modified version of the original One fish two fish red fish blue fish book.



The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Treasury by Betty MacDonald (a looking ahead gift from her CA Aunt.) This is a book that includes the three MacDonald works of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic, and Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. This will be a great read for her when she is a bit older (K-4), but in the meantime I get a chance to peruse it first. This series is getting very difficult to find, so seek it out soon. The kids from the elementary library I used to work at loved this series. (For those who aren't familiar or too young to remember, the Ma and Pa Kettle series/movies was based from the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books.)

Happy Birthday Baby!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Baby's Top Picks: The Sequel

Well, now that the top five list is out there. It seems we need to post the sequel, or in this case, "don't forget I like these books too" list. We read a number of books to the baby and she also likes to grab a few and flip through them herself. So, in all fairness we can't just ignore the next five she really gets a kick out of. Please keep in mind that these books and those in the first list are not just for babies. Most of them would be really good for children up through kindergarten.

So, to continue the list the following round out her top ten favorite books for now:

6. Animal Babies in ponds and rivers & Animal Babies in rainforests by Kingfisher There are two listed here as they are part of a series. Since she enjoys both equally, it didn't seem right to list them separately.

7. I Love Mommy Because & I Love Daddy Because by Laurel Porter-Gaylord Again these two are series type books that really are the same to the baby.

8. What does Bunny see? : a book of colors and flowers by Linda Sue Park

9. Babies on the Go by Linda Ashman

10. How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten? by Jane Yolen

And, now for the honorable mentions.

11. Fuzzy, Fuzzy, Fuzzy! by Sandra Boynton

12. Bright Baby: Kittens by Roger Priddy Be weary when looking for this cute book. The size is very deceptive. We were looking for a book filled with just pictures of cats or kittens, since she likes them so much. We thought we found a great book and ordered it. Turns out it is good, but very tiny. It is only about 3" x 3". The good thing is the pages are of the chunky board book type and easy for her to turn.

13. Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings by Matthew Van Fleet Another good book, but also be a bit cautious. It trys to be a board book, but the pages are really thick paper doubled over and doesn't really hold up well to little ones just learning to turn pages.


Go baby go.

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Saturday, February 04, 2006

Baby's Top Picks

Well, the baby will be 12 months old next week and in her honor this entry is dedicated to her favorite top five books. I say her favorite, but in all fairness she only hears or "reads" a small number of the vast quantity we have at this time. Of course, as she continues to grow and mature, I am sure she will add to or change the top books she enjoys. The fact that she can pick a top five list shows her ability to be more concise than her own mother who for some reason can't decide on her own top five. But, I look at it this way, the older you get, the more exposure to books you receive; therefore, your book attachment has to be more than five. In my case more like five times five times five. Now the baby's book selection leans toward a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, whereas Mommy's is almost a pure fiction base and Daddy's is mostly a non-fiction collection. So for her memory book entry, the favorites for the first 12 months will look like this:
  1. Chicka Chicka ABC
    Bill Martin, John Archambault, Lois Ehlert (Illustrator)
  2. Kiss Good Night (reviewed previously)
    Amy Hest, Anita Jeram (Illustrator)
  3. Ten Little Ladybugs (try singing the words, baby loves to hear it as a song)
    Melanie Gerth, Laura Huliska-Beith (Illustrator)
  4. Animal Babies
    David Doepker, Sterling Publishing Company
  5. Touch and Feel Kitten
    DK Publishing

Grab a book, a baby, and have fun.

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Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Furry Logic?

Want to have a good laugh? Then seek out this book I consider an adult picture book. Besides the great and fabulous artwork, it is just plain funny to read. The expressions and simplicity of this book make it a must read, especially for parents of all ages. So, what is the book am I talking about? It is called Furry Logic Parenthood written by Jane Seabrook. It is one from her Furry Logic series.

Furry Logic Parenthood

I had original bought this book as a socking stuffer for my husband at Christmas. I recently noticed it in a stack of his books, and after reading a few pages hadn't realized what a find I had given him. I haven't totally absconded with it yet, but if he is looking for it, he'll find it on my bedtable. Picture books are not just for children! No matter the content. Or, at least that is my firm belief. I find that a good lighthearted read just before bedtime, or during that hardly ever, mostly never free time you have as an adult, is a good thing and picture books are a prefect fit. Plus, in this book as well as probably the series the saying of "a picture is worth a thousand words" is so true, the expressions Seabrook elicits in her artwork is just precious.

So far, I have not been able to find this book or the author's other two in the local library or surrounding libraries catalog listings. I think it is because these books are considered gift books and libraries normal do not purchase these type of books. However, check out your local bookstore as they will probably have them. Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com both offer all three books and the latest calanders from Seabrook.

Furry Logic Laugh at Life
Furry Logic: A Guide to Life's Little Challenges

Read for laughter, read for fun, read read everyone.