The Twelve Days of Halloween - A Favourite and a Farewell

Boris and Bella are neighbors in Booville, and they don't exactly get along. Bella is a bit of a mess, and Boris is simply too neat, and neither understands the other.

Bella gets the bright idea of having a Halloween party. She invites everyone in town. Everyone, except Boris, that is! When Boris gets wind of this, he decides to throw his own fete, and invites everyone except, you've guessed it, Bella.

Well, it turns out that none of the creatures in town want to go to either Boris or Bella's shin-digs. Folks don't want to get bitten by Bella's dust bunnies, and they don't want to be admonished by Boris for scuffing up the floors. Everyone is heading off to Harry Beastie's bash.

Both Boris and Bella decide to go to Harry's and give him the what for. Instead, Boris and Bella grudgingly have a good time at the party. After realizing that they are perfectly sized dancing partners, they start to get over their differences.

Beautifully illustrated by Gris Grimly (in his spooky way), Carolyn Crimi's Boris and Bella is simply put my favourite Halloween title. I return to it again and again for read alouds at school and at home as well. My best birthday gift was some Grimly art (the last illustration in the book), which my husband then framed with a homemade sculpy Tim Burton-esque black frame. Truth be told, I'm somewhat of a Bella, and he's a bit Boris.

So, it is with a bit of a heavy heart that I take this last favourite book post to announce the ending of this here blog. It's been a good run, but I have decided to focus my energy over at "Welcome to my Tweendom". If you would like to follow what I am reading in the realm of picture books and teenlit, friend me over at Goodreads.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Halloween!

The Twelve Days of Halloween - Goodnight Goon A Petrifying Parody

This makes you smile, doesn't it? It certainly makes me smile.

Michael Rex has written a super fun send up of the beloved Goodnight Moon and just in time for Halloween. Instead of bunnies and mittens and mush, readers will delight with a little werewolf, martians and goo. The setting is a tomb of the creepiest sort, and each page offers lots of details to look at. Slimy floors, skeletons, Frankenstein shoes, and big red spiders are sure to delight.

A not too scary Halloween read with lots of appeal!

The 12 Days of Halloween - Georgie's Halloween

I have had a few of these moments as a Children's Librarian over the past 10 or so years. (It never really happened with the YA stuff earlier). I am busily shelving or edging, and a book catches my eye. I pull it off the shelf and low and behold it is a treasure from my childhood. It happened with The Mitten, and more recently with Georgie's Halloween.

Georgie is a shy little ghost. So shy that instead of the kind of haunting that you may imagine a ghost would get up to, he simply sticks by his friends Herman the cat and Miss Oliver the owl.

Things changed the year that there is a big Halloween celebration on the village green, and Mr. Whittaker (the owner of the house with the attic that Georgie haunted) is to give out a prize for the best costume. Georgie doesn't want to go to the celebration at first, but after he is encouraged by his friends he changes his mind. He is delighted with what he sees in the square, and the children who can see him are so that call out his name, and before Mr. Whittaker can get a glimpse of him, Georgie flies back to the house where he has his haunting routine and is so comfortable.

This is a Halloween story of the gentlest sort. Written in 1958 by Robert Bright, Georgie's Halloween is truly all ages. The black and white colour scheme with simply splashes of orange is so indicative of the time, and a welcome change to the riot of colours in so many of today's books.

A walk down memory lane!

Lazy Little Loafers

I always give a little laugh as I walk through the hallways in my school and overhear 2nd graders reminiscing about what it was like to be in the 4s. How they yearn for rest time now. (Mind you when they were 4, you couldn't pay them to stay on their mats!) Lazy Little Loafers has captured the nostalgia of the older child and brought in some snark for good measure.

"Here's a question for you: Why don't more babies work?"

Really. Why don't they?

Our unnamed protagonist who is busily dragging her HUGE backpack filled with work, is trying to figure this out. There are lots of jobs...there are lots of babies...could it be that babies are simply lazy? Babies certainly look lazy. They are wheeled everywhere in their fancy strollers, they eat snacks and roll around. It seems like the hardest work they do is trying to walk!

Illustrator G. Brian Karas' babies are hilarious as they stick out their tongues, suck their thumbs and cavort in the park. This may not be the picture book for everyone, but older kids who appreciate sarcasm will certainly eat it up! I think my readers who loved A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, and Chowder will love Susan Orlean's Lazy Little Loafers.

Wonder Bear

From the moment I saw this cover, I was mesmerized.

Two children trudge up a hill and plant some seeds. The girl plants watermelon, and the boy seemingly plants top hats.

As they sleep beside the garden, something magical happens. The top hat seeds thrust up a twisted vine that is topped with gorgeous orange flowers. Out from an orange flower climbs a polar bear wearing a top hat.

From that top hat wondrous things emerge for the children with which to play. Monkeys with fuzzy arms and legs. Lion shaped bubbles. Breezes filled with sea creatures.

After the adventure, the children are put back to bed, the wonders go back into the hat, and though the vine stays, the bear and his hat do not.

Was it a dream?

Wordless, wonderful an absolutely beautiful, Wonder Bear was apparently inspired by a gummi bear. Tao Nyeu is certainly a gifted artist with a real sense of story. Under the dust jacket are pre-printed covers featuring our monkey friends and wonder bear himself (herself?). I am not a student of design, but I do know when folks get it right. Wonder Bear begs readers to go back time and time again to discover new wonders.

Delightful.

Ladybug Girl

Lulu zips into the kitchen and proudly announces, "I'm Ladybug Girl!" She's all decked out in ladybug rain boots, a red tutu and leotard, ladybug wings, and some red antennae. After her mother tells her that she has to figure out her own fun today, and her brother leaves to play baseball with his friends, Lulu is a bit upset. She stands in the center of the chaos of her room with nothing to do.

Lulu starts to wander the house. She counts some letters on the spines of the books in the living room. She measures her avocado plant. And then her hound Bingo gives her the look that lets her know it's time to go outside.

Lulu and Bingo are soon saving ants, braving shark infested puddles, building walls, and balancing along toppled trees. Lulu doesn't even let a chance run in with her big brother ruin her fun.

Ladybug Girl, by David Soman and Jacky Davis is simply magical. From the movement in the illustrations to the authenticity of Lulu's day, this book is pitch perfect. My 5 year old saw herself over and over again in the story (from the avocado measuring to the wandering in the yard), and sat silently staring at the pictures. With just enough story, readers get a glimpse into a day in the life of a girl on her own. The endpapers show Lulu in a series of different outfits, and I can imagine some stories coming along about deep sea divers and witches!

Delightful.

There's Nothing To Do On Mars

Davey Martin is bored. Why? Because there's nothing to do on Mars. "The nights were very cold. The dust storms were terrible. And there was no water anywhere."

Boring!

When Davey's parents finally holler at him to "Go out and play", he takes his trusty robot dog Polaris and off they go. But Davey is still bored.

He decides to climb a tree.

Boring!

He decides to build a fort.

Boring!

He rain dances with the stinky Martians, digs for buried treasure, and digs in a volcano before inadvertantly finding the water that Mars so needs. Mars isn't so boring anymore, but it sure is getting crowded.

Is there anything to do on Saturn?

Chris Gall's combination of "be careful what you wish for", and "Terrible No Good Day" feel is a sure fire bet with planet savy kids. Pulp style illustrations give There's Nothing To Do On Mars the type of flare that will likely bring professional recognition. All I can tell you is it's the most grabbed for arc on my desk!

Hug Time

Preview season is upon us, it seems, and my fabu colleague picked up some picture book arcs from Little Brown and Co.

Hug Time, by Patrick McDonnell immediately captured my heart.

Jules wants to make the world better, and decides that the best way to do so is by hugging the whole world. After making his "Hug To-Do List", he sets off.

Jules starts with his best friend, and then branches out to butterflies, buttercups and squirrels. This is simply not enough hugging, so Jules takes off for far flung places. He hugs in Africa, and India, Australia...he even goes to the North Pole.

In sing song verse with whimsical watercolour illustrations, McDonnell makes the point that, "The world is so big...And yet so small, It's time that we embrace it all." There's a lesson we all can learn from. Heartwarming and sweet, Hug Time is a guaranteed winner with preschoolers and world weary 4th graders as well.

Poetry Friday

I thought I would share something from the poetry book that my soon-to-be 4 year old is currently obsessed with. I do love having a kiddo who is fascinated with words and rhyming! Such fun!

Spit

Saliva, better known as spit;

it seems our mouths are full of it.

To see your spit at work, don't spew it;

bite a bit of bread and chew it.

Your salivary glands produce

saliva, a digestive juice

that helps to turn the bread to mush,

assisting the esophagus

(a muscular and lengthy tube)

in swallowing the food you've chewed.

Although some folks think spit is rude,

your spit helps you digest your food.

With poems like "Consider the Anus", and "Your Hormones are Exciting", Allan Wolf's poems really do cover the ins and outs of the body. A fun look at our bodies and even a helpful gateway to those inevitable discussions about "parts"!

100th Post! / Winter is the Warmest Season

Wow! Who would have ever thought that I would get to this point? Hurrah!

Now, I need to decided whether to post about a lovely picture book, or an adult book that makes me giggle because of the industry that I work in.

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Winter Is The Warmest Season is a comfy picture book that my daughter has really taken to. When I first told her the title, she laughed and said, "But Mummy, snow is cold NOT warm!"

But Winter IS the warmest season! It is when wool sweaters and hot chocolate appear! It is when we cozy up around the fireplace and snuggle with our kitties. Baths get hotter and PJs get warmer.

Lauren Singer's rich illustrations make the reader feel like s/he is sitting in a comfy chair with a duvet around the legs. I call them big fat illustrations because of the warmth and richness contained.

My daughter and I have already started playing the Summer is the Coolest Season game. Glasses of cold lemonade, cold sprinkler water and shady spots under willow trees have shown up in our version.

Lovely, lovely!

This Jazz Man

I am always on the look out for good picture books. They're the heart of what I use at work, and it seems that so many are published, but few of them really speak to me. This Jazz Man, by Ehrhardt and Roth is one of the good ones!

This Jazz Man is a reworking of "This Old Man" ( come on...sing it! I know you know it!). Each of the numbers is represented by a real jazz man. Those included are Louis "Satcmo" Armstrong, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Luciano "Chano" Pozo y Gonzalez, Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, Charlie "Bird" Parker, Art "Blu" Blakey, John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller, and Charles "Baron" Mingus.

Each is shown in turn singing, dancing or playing the instrument for which he is famous.

The illustrations mix mediums, and are colourful and accessible. They make me happy!

Then the gem of it all is the set of mini biographies of the jazz men in the back of the book. This makes This Jazz Man more than just a picture book to enjoy. I picture my second graders using this as a starting point for some projects, and I picture myself using it to illustrate just what it is that biographies do!

I am planning on purchasing a copy for my daughters when it is released this fall! What a great companion to Charlie Parker Played BeBop.