Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras by Duncan Tonatiuh

I get asked all the time, "What's the deal with all the skulls?" And while it's a multi-faceted love affair for me, this book may help at least partially answer that question.

Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe Posada didn't get famous for his Day of the Dead artwork until after he died, and this children's picture book tries to explain both why he drew them and also why they eventually found such widespread popularity. Lots of Posada's art is used throughout the book.

But the book's author/illustrator, Duncan Tonatiuh, uses another native Mexican art form - Mixtec codex - as the inspiration for his own drawings, which means the book offers a wonderful "crash course" in heritage art and its inspirations in modern culture.

I love, love, LOVE this book - make sure you give it a look!

Princess Super Kitty

by Antoinette Portis

You know that little girl (or big girl, or boy) who always wants to play dress up?  Portis has that person captured in this book. One costume is just not enough.  If it's good to be a kitty, it's even better to be a kitty and superhero rolled into one.  The fun builds as the story tumbles along.  This savvy main character knows just when to adapt the costume every time.

This book is great for the month of October when your little one changes her/his mind several times about the ultimate costume.  Why select just one? It's a cute, silly story that will allow creative kids to see even more possibilities. 

Sophie's Squash

by Pat Zeitlow Miller

Little Sophie starts off the book on an average adventure with her parents.  They are just heading off to the farmer's market to pick up a few things for dinner.  On the very first page, she's so helpful, she even picks out the finest squash available while her parents look on proudly.  However, this young lady has absolutely no intention of eating that magnificent morsel.  It quickly becomes her dearest friend. 
Our staff was enamored with this story even before we knew the author is relatively local.  How could we not be?  Sophie even totes her pal to the library.  She does eventually have to admit that the farmer she met on the day Bernice came home might know the best way to care for her as the squash begins to age.  The reader is treated to roughly a year of Sophie's life and her relationship with a just right friend.

All the water in the world

by George Ella Lyon

This picture book is a wondrous blend of realistic fiction, non-fiction and poetry.  The story actually begins on the title page and flows as a smooth river of language.  Many pages are filled with nonlinear text perfect for tracing with a finger.  What a magnificent way to showcase those shapes that make up letters and letters that make up words; Oh, the early literacy opportunities!  Every page gives a distinctly different view of water and its many uses. 
I've already told you how great this is for very young listeners, but older kids could love this, too.  It's filled with poetry, and dynamically varied illustrations.  More so, it realistically portrays the water cycle.  Poetry and non-fiction? Pop this story into a science lesson to balance out those Common Core State Standards. 

The black rabbit

by Philippa Leathers

Get ready for a great snuggling book.  This story shows a little bunny who is terribly frightened by a big, black rabbit one sunny day.  The black rabbit does everything he does and follows him everywhere.  He manages to lose the black rabbit behind a tree momentarily, and also when he swims.  Finally, he reaches the deep dark wood where he thinks he's safe.

Little ones will love the illustrations that convey the bunny's fear without ever making the book actually scary for the reader.  Kids as young as three knew right away what the black rabbit was all about, but will still play along with an animated reader.

Phoebe and Digger

by Tricia Springstubb

A girl and her construction vehicle.  It's the kind of combination that makes adults sing when trying to match children with books.  A twist on the ordinary.  Kids will relate to Phoebe's exasperation at waiting for her mom, and even feeling a bit bullied in the park.  Parents will relate to, well, a lot of things. Geared toward the background knowledge of preschoolers, this story is fun.  Even toddlers will enjoy the idea of a kid and digger.  Yesterday's crowd decided digger looked a bit like a dinosaur. 

The sunflower sword

by Mark Sperring

Imagination is a wonderful thing.  The cover of this book shows a dragon in the background gazing upon a child who wears a colander upon his head.  The two are ensconced in a field of sunflowers. 
The child dreams of one day becoming a knight who will fend off ferocious dragons and protect the land.  His mother tells him no.  If he really needs something to "whoosh and swoosh in the air" a sunflower will do.
Of course, some imagination is required to believe in a land filled with dragons: even more to believe in the power of a friendly gesture. However, it was the imaginative way the young knight put the sunflower to work that had me retelling the story just hours after reading it.  This could be a great reader's theater story, particularly with real sunflowers used as props. 

Princess Addison Gets Angry

by Molly Martin


I had to read this title since I know little one with the same name as the main character and the same fantastic red hair.  So often, books with a purpose are tricky to sell to any reader.  This is a well done book on a tough emotion.  I quickly purchased the entire set for our library.

After every story time, at least one little girl wants a book about a princess.  Often, parents have read the same stories so many times that they want something new.  Ms. Martin has come through on that front, and created a series about emotions that will have pre-readers understanding more about their feelings.  Well done.

Open this little book

by Jesse Klausmeier

One of the best parts of blogging is being able to look back on previously read books to determine which might best fit an upcoming presentation.  This is usually very important as our local schools approach their celebrations for Read Across America Day in March.  It is so nice that the public librarians are remembered to be invited as "celebrity" participants.  This year, I did not need to look back.

A new title arrived this winter that was a really fun fit.  Klausmeier has created a story within a story, again and again.  The fun part of this book is the concentrically smaller books that each new character is reading.  The text is simple enough for even beginning readers. Second graders thought it was pretty cool that the book got littler.  I think this story is fantastic for families, but with a whole class, that last "little book" was pretty small.  Luckily, this librarian has great expressions and can still make the story come alive.

Christmas parade

by Sandra Boynton

Chickens with bassoons!
Piccolo mice!

Boynton returns with a holiday story filled with her signature rhythmic style.  The onomatopoeia will draw the audience in on the very first page.  For storytime, it would be lots of fun to have band students visit with the actual instruments in the parade.   If not, any rhythm instruments make a preschool crowd into one of the liveliest marching bands possible.

Me and You

by Genevieve Cote

Two best friends long to be like one another.  Children who are learning about friendship and how to be a good friend will learn about being true to one's self.  Many common objects are used to allow the duo to emulate each other.  The watercolor style images are actually mixed media, and they evoke a calm feel even when the friends experience a mild catastrophe.  The descriptive text creates visual ideas that are more complex than what is typical for this category of picture book. Tails that are "curly as a lemon twist" and "fluffy as cotton candy" made this even more ideal to be read during the week of our local agricultural fair. 

Cupcake

by Charise Mericle Harper

This adorable picture book chronicles the adventure of a vanilla cupcake. Cupcake is so proud of herself until she is the only one left on the platter. Soon she befriends Candle who tries to think of ways she can become special enough to be eaten. A silly selection of toppings ensues until Candle comes up with just one more idea.

This book would make a very cute flannel board for retelling. Some day I'll have to incorporate it into a story time.

I'm fast

by Jim and Kate McMullan

The creators of the story time hit, I stink, are back with another title sure to be crowd pleasing. Magnificent rhythm flows from the page as a train and speedy car race cross country. Who could resist chanting the engaging "Chooka, chooka, chooka" of the locomotive? Settle in with your favorite train loving toddler for this adventure that personifies Route 66 on rails.

Little Goblins Ten

by Pamela Jane, illustrated by Jane Manning

It is definitely the season for goblin related books. In my search for something "slightly scary", I came across this new counting book. Counting books can be a lot of fun when reading with little ones. I think my favorite part of this book is that each number features a different ghoul and his/her children, but each one appears to be a single parent. So often children's books feature multiple adults in the lives of children, but this author recognizes that there is a distinct group of kids that have only one parent at home. The illustrations are purely fun; all these characters that could be scary are simply cute in this story.

What will fat cat sit on?

by Jan Thomas

Fat cat is looking for somewhere to sit. Unfortunately, he looks at each of his friends first. Who will find a reasonable solution before someone gets squished? This book ends with another question about the next thing fat cat is looking to do.

A humorous look at the adventures of a few select animals that every child will know. The illustrations are simple enough to make this a great choice for a toddler story time.

A Winter Concert by Yuko Takao

Music adds color to a black-and-white world, and that color spreads as we carry the music with us into the world. Perhaps it's a big topic for a small picture book, but WOW is this book awesome!

The simple art is amazingly rich with details, and the swirling pointillist color of the music employs all the senses in the audience's aural enjoyment. Don't I sound like an art critic? :)

Trust me. Genius!

A Wish for Elves by Mark Gonyea

This clever, simple picture book was one of my favorites this holiday season. It's got a hip, retro-contemporary look, with a pallette limited to lime, yellow, green, red and black and super simple shapes that look almost like paper clippings. And yet with the pared down art style, it's still got quite a storyline.

A boy, frustrated with the stresses of Christmas, wishes he had elves. Overnight, the elves appear in his bedroom - but suddenly, Santa has no helpers. And through a series of great illustrations, the elves show how helpful - or unhelpful - they can really be.

I think this would be a great book for sharing. Since there aren't very many words, you get to look and look at the pictures to see what's happening. The little pyramid shaped elves can make lots of trouble, and in a simple picture there can be more than a dozen of them ... each up to no good.

Scaredy-cat Splat

by Rob Scotton

Splat is back for another raucous adventure in his newest picture book. This time his goal is to be the scariest cat at school during the Halloween party. It looks as though his plan may be ruined though when he needs a last minute costume change. Tag along for this adventure to see if Splat can best his friends.

The Trucker by Barbara Samuels

I don't often blog about picture books, but I really love this one for its unexpected viewpoint.

While it at first seems to be a typical boy-book about loving all things truck, it's actually a story about a boy and his beloved kitty. Yup: I said BOY and CAT! How rare!

Leo has loved trucks from the time he was a tiny baby, so when Mom says she's brought him home a surprise, he just KNOWS it's the fire truck he wanted. Quickly, it appears that Lola the cat loves trucks as much as Leo. Eventually, she wears down Leo's resistance and they become best trucking buddies.

LMNO Peas by Keith Baker

I have a new favorite picture book - these peas are soooo darn cute!

This is - quite obviously - an alphabet book. For each letter, the peas tells you who they are: "We're listeners, miners, and neighbors right next door. We're nurses, officers, and outlaws taking more."

Just how much character development can you wring out of a green circle (the basic shape of a pea)? The answer is, TONS! I really want every illustration from this book as art on the office walls. That's just how cute, comical, and innovative these goofy little guys are.