Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Merry Un-Christmas written by Mike Reiss and illustrated by David Catrow; published by HarperCollins Publishers (September ’06)

Mrs. Claus Takes a Vacation by Linas Alsenas; published by Scholastic (October ’06)

Here are two refreshingly funny ’06 picture book titles for anyone who has ever experienced a tad bit of ennui and/or felt a bit burnt-out with the bustling-about of the holiday season. These are two immensely enjoyable books. So, put aside your rum-laden eggnog for a moment, and read ahead. Only the most serious of scrooges won’t enjoy these . . .

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* {Read here at Big A little a for today’s Poetry Friday round-up} . . .

Let’s take a look for this week’s Poetry Friday at two amusing ’06 picture book titles, one of them nominated for a Cybil in the Fiction Picture Books category and both of them written in rhyming text — closed couplets, to be exact, for you Poetry Sticklers (and I say that fondly).

Ninety-Three in My Family by Erica S. Perl and illustrated by Mike Lester; published by Abrams Books for Young Readers — Know someone with a lot of pets? Bet they don’t have as many as the little tyke in this Cybil-nominated book; he lives with ninety-two humans and animals — and all in one home — as he tells his stunned teacher one morning during class. Oh my but this is a funny book (there’s one pygmy hippo named Bernice in the home if that gives you an idea of the book’s freakish funniness). Read the rest of this entry �

Don’t you think we should take a look at some new holiday picture book titles? Now, when I say “holiday,” I promise I won’t narrow that to Christmas only. As TadMack at Finding Wonderland put it so well, it’s happy EidChrisSolKwanZukkah, thank you very much. But let’s take this list slowly, divide it into parts, since we’re probably all busy preparing for whatever we celebrate anyway. And the first two are Christmas titles, and they are each little joys in their own, lively ways. So, even if you say humbug to the entire season (and on most days, I wouldn’t blame you), these are worth seeing and might cheer you up. And these two titles are for the Santa Skeptics, just going to show that the Buddha was right when he said, “there is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt” (as well as “fruitcake gets a bad rap; I mean, it’s really quite tasty,” one of his more lesser-known comments) . . .

Santa Knows by Cynthia & Greg Leitich Smith and illustrated by Steve Björkman; published by Dutton Children’s Books — First page of this book: “Alfie F. Snorklepuss yanked his little sister’s Christmas stocking from the fireplace mantel.” What the . . . ? you wonder. Well, I would venture to guess that Alfie’s been hangin’ out and talkin’ trash with Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie, that’s what. While Reginald set out to disprove the existence of the town’s friendly dinosaur, Alfie sets out to prove to his sister, Noelle, that there is — gasp — no Santa Claus. Read the rest of this entry �

Yes, you’ve been to the beach-in-your-mind in order to avoid the bitter cold. But, we can’t deny it for that long, my friends. Time to embrace it, whether you want to or not. And, at least here in the South, we’re still crying, let it snow! . . . And so as we prepare for the snow-we-hope-we-get, we can kick back with our hot cocoa and read these new, snow-covered picture book titles. These are just a couple, a start for now. But please do add titles (new, such as these, or even some of your older favorites) in the comments section, should you feel so inclined . . .

Snow Sounds: An Onomatopoeic Story by David A. Johnson; published by Houghton Mifflin — It’s night time, the snow is falling silently, and a young boy snores in his bed with his cat purring at his feet. As the boy wakes and the day begins, we hear a swoosh, a slush, a smoosh and a crash, a crush, and a clank. As the sub-title of this one indicates, these busy sounds are the only words in the book, accompanied by David A. Johnson’s dreamy watercolors. Read the rest of this entry �

Brrrr. It’s cold. So, let’s take a look at two picture books about the splendid seashore that made a bit of a splash (awful pun intended) this year so that your imagination can run away with you and warm you up at least for a moment or two.

Beach by Elisha Cooper — Has Elisha Cooper ever even made a bad book? I think not. He is the go-to man for depicting the extraordinary in the ordinary, one of the best examples of this being 2005’s A Good Night Walk — one of my favorite picture books — which was borne of evening walks with Cooper’s infant, fussy-in-the-evenings daughter, seeing and celebrating every, little thing along the way. This is the quality at which he excels and which children inherently possess — quiet, keen, potent powers of observation. Read the rest of this entry �

Let’s talk four new, beguiling bed-time books, shall we? We can add them to our growing list. One of them is from an award-winning, master author/illustrator who has been at his craft for over four decades; one of them does not set out to be a bed-time book but works well as one; one of them even features — subtly, that is — a certain jolly, sack-carrying, gift-giving man of the holiday season, should you be seeking out some good, new Christmas titles; and one of them might get the wee ones riled up before bed-time, but I’m still putting it in this category. Just humor me. And each one of them, save for one, was expertly crafted by one person, an author/illustrator. Let’s get right to it then . . .

While You Are Sleeping by Alexis Deacon — This one is told from the point-of-view of a young girl’s toys and all their efforts to take care of her during the night. Parents will, in particular, get a chuckle out of the opening scene of the fatigued toys, collapsing at the end of a long day of play: “We are the bedside toys. Do you ever stop to think what we go through, night after night, to look after you?” Read the rest of this entry �

*{Note: Read here at Big A little a’s site for today’s Poetry Friday round-up. And to read a thumbs-up review of another of Kulikov’s illustrated picture books, be sure to read the review at the top of that link, Kelly’s thoughts on Betty Lou Blue by Nancy Crocker} . . .

In a fairly recent Poetry Friday post, I told you about a picture book that is not written in rhyme and not a poetry anthology of any sort — The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter and illustrated by Giselle Potter, published in March of this year. But I chose it for Poetry Friday, because — chances are — if you love poetry, you love words. And here, I wrote, is a picture book for you. Well, along came the über-talented Kate Banks in August of this year to bring us Max’s Words, illustrated by Boris Kulikov — which, I’m happy to humbly suggest, is what you can read right after you read Schotter’s book. The Boy Who Loved Words rejoices in those marvelous morphemes. And Banks’ cunning, playful book rejoices in putting those wayward, winning words together to make our savory sentences and unique, little units of meaning; our beguiling stories; our shapely, pleasing poems. Ah, how sweet it is . . .

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{So, I never said titles were my strength} . . .

What they have in common is that they’re the subjects of some more entertaining ’06 picture book titles, ones I’ve been meaning to tell you about for a good while now but am finally getting to. So, let’s get right to it, shall we?

Have you seen Anne Isaac’s Pancakes for Supper!, illustrated beautifully by Mark Teague? Aw, you need to. Isaacs, writing with great poise, is re-envisioning Helen Bannerman’s Story of Little Black Sambo but sets the story in New England. In an author’s note of sorts, we are told, “Isaacs blends elements from American storytelling traditions and Bannerman’s tale, while introducing animals indigenous to North America . . .” And, as the School Library Journal review put it well, it’s a “clever, respectful take on an iconic tale.” Read the rest of this entry �

Happy Children’s Book Week 2006! Yes, it continues ’til the 19th — that is, tomorrow — and we here at Team 7ITBB (as Eisha and my husband, who serves as our tech support, call ourselves when we have our cyber-water-cooler-team-huddles) haven’t missed it yet. It’s never to be forgotten, my friends, and it’s my personal favorite week of the year, book-wise and library-wise (sorry to Banned Books Week and Teen Read Week). Click on the logo to the left to visit the savagely cool Children’s Book Council (who really want to hire me as a Telecommuter Who Will Do Whatever They Ask; they just don’t know it yet) to celebrate. And, in honor of Children’s Book Week, let’s get right back to the huge stack of picture books I want to tell you about. More to come, but here are a handful for now . . .