That Darn Yarn by Tony Millionaire

Being a knitter/crocheter, plus having a thing for sock monkeys (especially after seeing Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium last fall), I had to grab this book off the new book shelf at the library for the PB&J Challenge.

This book tells two stories at once, on facing pages. In one, a little girl knits up a birthday present for a friend (brother?), while on the facing page, a sock monkey unravels, as it rolls down the staircase after a piece of yarn gets caught on a nail on the banister. The pictures on one side are black and white line drawings, while the ones on the other side are full-color. I'm undecided as to whether the sock monkey that is unraveling is the same one that the girl knit, or if the two stories are unrelated. And this bugs me a little bit. But I think kids would think the book was fun. It's not my favorite that I've read, but it was entertaining.

The Porridge Pot retold by Anthea Bell

This picture book is a retelling of a German folktale, in which a young girl's parents quarrel when all the food left to them is one pot of porridge. The parents take off on a chase, leaving the girl to fend for herself. With the help of a mysterious old woman, the girl meets a prince, they fall in love, and all live happily ever after (after a bit more zaniness, of course).

The best thing about this book is the glorious illustrations. The illustrator, Claudia Carls, marries sculpture and painting to create the most whimsical scenes. I found myself poring over each and every illustration, trying to catch all the details. I highly recommend this one, for the pictures if for no other reason.

Big Chickens Fly the Coop by Leslie Helakoski

In this colorful picture book, the four chickens inhabiting the coop decide they want to visit the farmhouse. Each time they venture out of the coop, they encounter some fixture of farm life and wonder if this is the farmhouse, each time to get frightened, sending them running back to the coop. It's a cute idea, and the pictures are bright and interesting, but in the end, we all felt a little bit let down.

That said, while my first impression that this would be a great story for preschoolers (and maybe they would like it more than my 9- and 11-year-old children did) didn't play out, it would be a great teaching tool for vocabulary and the use of interesting verbs and adjectives.

The Crocodile Blues by Coleman Polhemus

I was browsing the new books shelf at the library for picture books to read for the PB&J Challenge, and I couldn't resist taking this one home.

This book cover, with it's dark blue and black with the splash of bright yellow, really catches your attention. The inner illustrations of this (mostly) wordless book are simple silhouettes in just one or two colors per page. All the pictures are in some combination of blue, black, yellow, and white. The author incorporates fold-out pages to help tell his story, and I thought this was going to be a real winner. Unfortunately, what seemed like was going to be a really cute story ended with me and both kids going, "huh." I think the humor just went completely over all of our heads.

The (apparent) premise is a man goes to the store and on his way home he encounters a machine that, when a coin is inserted, spits out an egg. The egg ends up being that of a crocodile, who proceeds to run the man and his pet bird out of his home and then opens a blues bar in his apartment. While the pictures are fantastic, the story was lacking. But then, I've never been a real fan of wordless books, so maybe it was just me.

PB&J Challenge list

I'm making this post for ease of keeping track of what I've read for the PB&J Challenge.

Titles:
All Year Long by Kathleen W. Deady
Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
The Crocodile Blues by Coleman Polhemus
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
That Darn Yarn by Tony Millionaire
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Authors:
Aylesworth, Jim - Itty Bitty Mousie
Birdseye, Tom - Look Out, Jack! The Giant Is Back!
Colshorn, Carl and Theodor - The Porridge Pot
D
E
F
G
Helakoski, Leslie - Big Chickens Fly the Coop
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Three picture books

I've been woefully neglectful of the PB&J challenge, even though I've had 3 library books to read for 3 weeks now. I finally sat down to read them and review them before taking them back today. And, of course, I read them aloud, because, in my opinion, you can't really review a picture book without taking into account its read-aloud-ability.

All Year Long by Kathleen W. Deady was my choice for my "A" title. The text of this book is simple, but nice when read aloud. It would be a good choice for a storytime for young preschoolers with a "seasons" theme. This book is also a "circular story" ending at the spot where it began: the first line is "I know it's spring when robins sing, and tulips give a nod," and the last little bit goes, "But mama's cocoa keeps us warm from winter until spring; When, if I listen closely...I'll hear a robin sing." Very nice. But the best thing about this book is the illustrations. The illustrator, Linda Bronson, uses collages to illustrate the book, and they are just lovely.


Bark, George by Jules Feiffer was my choice for my "B" title. My intention was to choose newer books, but this one, published in 1999, jumped out at me. This book is ideal for very young preschoolers and older toddlers, especially ones who are very into learning animal sounds. George's mom is concerned because instead of "arf"ing like a dog, he makes various other animal sounds. This book is cute and has simple, but colorful illustrations.

I chose Look Out, Jack! The Giant Is Back! by Tom Birdseye to represent my "B" author. This book is a great read-aloud! The refrain:

Wham blam hickity hack!
I'm gonna get that boy named Jack!
He now be living, but soon he'll roast!
I'll spread him with mustard and eat him on toast!

will delight young listeners and have them chanting along. This would be a great addition to a fractured fairy tale-themed storytime. After Jack (of the beanstalk fame) has killed his giant, he thinks he's home free...until his brother comes to avenge his brother's death! This book is great fun! The illustrations are great, too. Here's the description from the book: "The artwork for this book was prepared on 100" cotton vellum. The artist tinted both the front and back surfaces of the paper with a variety of media, including woodless pencils, inks, egg tempera, colored pencils, water-soluble crayon, and oils. The art was then drymounted on bristol board."

Overall, these were 3 great selections. I'm not really sure how to go about choosing my picture books. Last time, I just browsed, but I like a little more structure than that. I'll have to see if I can find some good recommended reading lists. I really want to focus on new (within the past 3 years or so) books.