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Archive for the ‘Books Ages 0-3’ Category
Friday, February 1st, 2013
Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook)
A 2013 Caldecott Honor book!
This book shows not only many shades of green, all beautiful, but gives views into different parts of the world from many angles. We can see sings of a confident paintbrush and canvas, beginning with a forest, moving under the sea, then stopping for a quiet moment to honor limes, then peas. Tension rises again with a tiger peering through thick glasses. We see more animals, and nature in both day and night time. The book pauses for winter, noting “no green,” before ending with a picture of a boy planting, and a girl standing with her dad to look up at a tree, and the words “forever green.” There’s not really a plot, but we feel we’ve traveled to many green places, and done enough marveling to want to turn back the pages and look all over again.
Tags: color, green, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, nature, shades of green
Posted in Books Ages 0-3, Books Ages 3-6, Recommended Books, Top of the Shelf | No Comments »
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
Bear Has a Story to Tell
by Phillip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead (Roaring Brook Press)
This big-bellied bear with fur that’s many shades of brown won me over from the first two pages. He is sleepy, but sets out, for he has a story to tell. This desire leads him to Mouse, who has seeds to gather. Duck is getting ready to fly south. Frog must find a warm place to sleep, and Mole is already sleeping. Bear helps them all, before watching snow fall in a sky painted in marvelous shades of blue, green, and violet. He sleeps, then rolls around to celebrate spring and his chance to tell his story to friends who seem even closer after their time apart. Readers will learn about friendship and the cycles of seasons, in a book whose last page sends them back to the first.
Tags: animals, Bear Has a Story to Tell, bears, Erin E. Stead, hibernation, Phillip C. Stead, picture books, Roaring Brook Press, Storytelling
Posted in Books Ages 0-3, Books Ages 3-6, Recommended Books, Top of the Shelf | No Comments »
Monday, September 24th, 2012
Demolition
by Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock (Candlewick)
Rhyme, a zippy rhythm, repetition, and onomatopoeia (Whirr! Churr! Crunch!), which ends each stanza in big print, make this book feel loud and brisk. Wonderful pictures of enormous machines are shown in action, and the text brings in a sense of danger, dust, and change. We also learn some of what happens with what not only gets destroyed, but recycled. The book ends with a playground being built, and a page of Machine Facts. The fast pace, variety of machines including trucks, wrecking balls on cranes, cement crushers, and excavators are sure to engage readers who love action and stories with noise.
Tags: Brian Lovelock, Candlewick, construction, Demolition, onomatopoeia, Sally Sutton, Top of the Shelf, trucks
Posted in Books Ages 0-3, Recommended Books, Top of the Shelf | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 29th, 2012
Z is for Moose
by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky (Greenwillow Books)
This book is sure to delight all young alphabet-lovers and their parents, with special fun for moose-lovers: and who isn’t one? I had the pleasure of watching a parent and child making their way through the expected choices of apple, ball, and cat, where the young reader found her bearings, but by D the moose jumps in, and gets called out by a zebra wearing a movie director’s hat and carrying a clipboard. The elephant on the E page looks angry at the mistake. Moose keeps hoping for a turn, but when the M page finally comes, Moose is upstaged by a gleeful mouse. Chaos ensues, until the happy and clever ending.
Tags: alphabet books, animals, funny, Greenwillow Books, Kelly Bingham, Paul O. Zelinsky, Z is for Moose
Posted in Books Ages 0-3, Books Ages 3-6, Recommended Books, Top of the Shelf | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012
Faster! Faster! by Leslie Patricelli (Candlewick Press)
The author-illustrator of the lovely Higher! Higher! offers more bright colors, simple text, and a tribute to imagination. A family is having fun, with a girl on dad’s back, mom carrying a baby, and a dog chasing a ball, but by the second spread, the girl is riding that dog instead of dad. Subsequent pages show her urging, “Faster! Faster!” while she rides a bunny, ostrich, horse, cheetah, bird, dolphin, and exhausted turtle, who turns into dad in the final page turns. Tired and happy. The brilliant colors and energy in the book will make readers want to take this ride again.
Tags: animals, Candlewick Press, daughter, fantasy, Faster! Faster!, father, imagination, Leslie Patricelli, picture books
Posted in Books Ages 0-3, Books Ages 3-6, Recommended Books, Top of the Shelf | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
Little Owl’s Night by Divya Srinivasan (Viking/Penguin, 2011)
This book celebrates life after sunset, when wide-eyed Little Owl and his friends play, eat, and sing. The animals, trees, and plants are illustrated with simple and engaging lines, often with a lively and creative spin — a snail is about the size of a morning glory, and a cricket isn’t dwarfed by a frog. After some time spent among possums, a hedgehog, a skunk, beavers, a turtle, fireflies, a raccoon, and moths, Little Owl tries to wake up a bear, to no avail. As bats glide home, Little Owl asks his Mama to tell him again about how night ends. Mama poetically describes dawn as we see its glow begin — and Little Owl falls asleep.
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Want more recommendations from The Carle Bookshop? Click here to read for Top of the Shelf book reviews.
Tags: animals, bedtime, Divya Srinivasan, Little Owl's Night, night, owls, Viking
Posted in Books Ages 0-3, Books Ages 3-6, Recommended Books, Top of the Shelf | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
Tell Me the Day Backwards by Albert Lamb, illustrated by David McPhail (Candlewick Press, 2011)
A few lively scenes appear in this story of a little bear’s bedtime ritual, but the gentle watercolor and ink illustrations and soothing pace should make this a bedtime favorite. As Timmy Bear gets tucked in, he and his mother remember the day’s events, including teeth-brushing, sunset-watching, a scary encounter with a fish, being chased by bees, eating honey, and seeing purple butterflies. The book ends with a memory of sleeping through a long, cold winter, but Mama Bear says, through sentences that start to lull after the day’s adventures, that now he’ll sleep for just one night. A lovely way to close one’s eyes.
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Want more recommendations from The Carle Bookshop? Click here to read for Top of the Shelf book reviews.
Tags: ALbert Lamb, bears, bedtime, Candlewick Press, David McPhail, Tell Me the Day Backwards
Posted in Books Ages 0-3, Books Ages 3-6 | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
It’s been quite the year! I’ve compiled a list of the books reviewed by our Shop Talk bloggers to create an easy glance at all of the picture books we thought were Top of the Shelf material in 2011. Click the link after each title to read our review.
Fiction Picture Books AGES 2-4:
1. LITTLE WHITE RABBIT by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books) Review here and here.
2. STARS by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Beach Lane Books) Review here and here.
3. TEN LITTLE CATERPILLARS by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Lois Ehlert (Beach Lane Books) Review here.
4. PRESS HERE by Hervé Tullet (Chronicle Books) Review here.
5. RED SLED by Lita Judge (Atheneum) Review here.
6. THE UMBRELLA by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert (Lemniscaat) Review here and here.
7. TELL ME THE DAY BACKWARDS by Albert Lamb, illustrated by David McPhail (Candlewick Press) Review here.
8. RED WAGON by Renata Liwska (Philomel) Review here.
9. RRRALPH by Lois Ehlert (Beach Lane Books) Review here.
10. THE LOUD BOOK by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Renata Liwska (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Review here.
11. BLUE CHICKEN by Deborah Freedman (Viking) Review here.
12. TWEAK TWEAK by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier (Clarion Books) Review here.
Fiction Picture Books AGES 4-6:
13. GRANDPA GREEN by Lane Smith (Roaring Brook Press) Review here.
14. MOUSE & LION by Rand Burkert, illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert (Michael di Capua Books) Review here and here.
15. OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal (Chronicle Books) Review here.
16. STREGA NONA’S GIFT by Tomie dePaola (Nancy Paulsen Books) Review here.
17. OH, HARRY! by Maxine Kumin, illustrated by Barry Moser (Roaring Brook Press) Review here.
18. HIS SHOES WERE FAR TOO TIGHT by Edward Lear, Masterminded by Daniel Pinkwater, illustrated by Calef Brown (Chronicle Books) Review here.
19. PERFECT SQUARE by Michael Hall (Greenwillow Books) Review here.
20. ME…JANE by Patrick McDonnell (Little, Brown) Review here.
21. ANTS IN YOUR PANTS, WORMS IN YOUR PLANTS! (Gilbert Goes Green) by Diane deGroat (HarperCollins) Review here.
22. THE SECRET RIVER by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) Review here.
23. HOMER THE LIBRARY CAT by Reeve Lindbergh, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf (Candlewick) Review here.
24. NEVILLE by Norton Juster, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Schwartz & Wade) Review here.
25. I WANT MY HAT BACK by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press) Review here.
Nonfiction Picture Books AGES 4-8
26. HEART AND SOUL: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson (HarperCollins) Review here.
27. BEFORE THERE WAS MOZART: The Story of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E. Ransome (Schwartz & Wade) Review here.
28. MEADOWLANDS: A Wetlands Survival Story by Thomas F. Yezerski (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) Review here.
29. CELEBRITREES: Historic and Famous Trees of the World by Margi Preus, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon (Henry Holt & Co.) Review here.
30. QUEEN OF THE FALLS by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Review here.
31. HATCH! by Roxie Munro (Marshall Cavendish) Review here.
32. NIGHT FLIGHT: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic by Robert Burleigh, paintings by Wendell Minor (Simon & Schuster) Review here.
Books for Older Readers
33. AROUND THE WORLD by Matt Phelan (Candlewick Press) Review here.
34. THE CHRONICLES OF HARRIS BURDICK by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin) Review here.
35. ROBERT MCCLOSKEY: A PRIVATE LIFE IN WORDS AND PICTURES by Jane McCloskey (Seapoint Books) Reveiw here.
What a list! There’s still so many more 2011 titles that we loved and didn’t get a chance to talk about. Was there a new book from 2011 that you wished we reviewed? Let us know and maybe we can squeeze in one or two more before our 2012 reviews start. Here’s to another great book-filled year!
Tags: 2011, ages 2-4, ages 4-6, best books, fiction, nonfiction, older readers, picture books, reviews, Top of the Shelf
Posted in Books Ages 0-3, Books Ages 3-6, Books Ages 6-12, Books Teen & Adult, Recommended Books, Top of the Shelf | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
TWEAK TWEAK by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier (Clarion Books, 2011)
Here’s a simple and charming tale about a child who takes the tail of her mother, who introduces her to the wideness of the world as they stroll. The child asks about the creatures she sees, and wants to know if she can, for instance, jump like a frog. No, but she can stomp her foot and make a big sound. Can she climb up an acacia tree like a monkey? No, but she can rub her back against the tree and scratch. Can she fly like a butterfly? No, but she can wave her ears like big butterfly wings. The little elephant comes to admire differences and respect herself. The story, with winsome pen and ink and watercolors, ends with mama taking her child’s tail as she leads the way home.
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Want more recommendations from The Carle Bookshop? Click here to read for Top of the Shelf book reviews.
Tags: animals, Clarion Books, curiousity, elephant, Eve Bunting, self esteem, Sergio Ruzzier, Tweak Tweak
Posted in Books Ages 0-3, Books Ages 3-6, Recommended Books, Top of the Shelf | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
STARS by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Beach Lane Books, 2011)
Frazee’s energetic characters and striking pictures and Ray’s appealing text provides a new slant on the subject of stars. They address not only those in the sky but in other places as well (snowflakes, flowers and fireworks). After reading this delightful book, children will surely enjoy coming up with their own thoughts and ideas about stars on the ground and in the night sky.
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Want more recommendations from The Carle Bookshop? Click here to read for Top of the Shelf book reviews.
Tags: Beach Lane Books, marla frazee, Mary Lyn Ray, stars
Posted in Books Ages 0-3, Books Ages 3-6, Recommended Books, Top of the Shelf | No Comments »
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