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
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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.

Little Bitty Mousie by Jim Aylesworth

This is my first picture book review for Becky's PB&J Challenge. This week I will review two "A" books, one "A" title and one "A" author. Obviously, this is my author choice.

Little Bitty Mousie is an adorable "ABC" book that meets my first requirement for a great picture book - it is very fun to read aloud. The chorus, so to speak, throughout this book goes like this:

Tip-tip tippy tippy
Went her little mousie toes.
Sniff-sniff sniffy sniffy
Went her little mousie nose.

How can you not read that with a smile?

The illustration in this book, by Michael Hague, are also superb. Very vivid colors and a fine attention to detail. You want to reach out and bite into the apples on the first page!

I highly recommend this book for little ones in the preschool-to-kindergarten age range.

If anyone else has reviewed this book, leave a comment for me, and I'll edit this post to link to your review.

Pompeii: Lost and Found by Mary Pope Osborne

My only previous experience with Mary Pope Osborne's books was through her Magic Tree House series that my daughter enjoyed when she was an early reader. As those books, especially for early reader books, were well-researched, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed with this book about Pompeii.

When I added it as a selection for the What's in a Name? challenge, I expected the book to be longer, more like Osborne's Magic Tree House research guides (the companion nonfiction books), so I was surprised to find that it is instead a picture book. But I wasn't disappointed! The illustrations by Bonnie Christensen, which mimic the frescoes of ancient Pompeii are absolutely gorgeous! Each page has a short paragraph about an aspect of life in Pompeii, and the adjacent page has a beautiful fresco reflecting this aspect. It's truly a beautiful little book.

I appreciated reading about the way of life in Pompeii prior to its destruction. There was a hint of sadness at the complete and sudden destruction of this community. I was reminded of Life As We Knew It, which I reviewed last month.

Picture book reviews

Bobbie Dazzler by Margaret Wild and Janine Dawson is a fun little book about what you can accomplish if you just practice, practice, practice. Bobbie is a red-necked wallaby who can do lots of things, like jump, bounce, and skip. But what Bobbie really wants to be able to do is the splits. Her friends reassure her that it's ok that she can't do the splits, but that isn't enough for Bobbie. Finally, with lots of practice, Bobbie teaches herself to do the splits and then all her friends, too. The illustrations in this book are simple pen and ink drawings with watercolor and are just as cute as the story.


Punk Farm on Tour by Jarrett J Krosoczka would be a great storytime book! While Farmer Joe is away at the National Tractor Society Conference, the barnyard animals form a band and go on tour. Cow, Sheep, Pig, Goat, and Hen perform a rousing version of "The Wheels on the Bus" (in this case, the wheels on the tour van), each verse reflecting the most recent mishap along the way. My favorite character, by far, is Goat with his "Chill, homie" type commentary. Pig is a runner up with his groupies. Terribly cute!


Previously by Allan Ahlberg takes us backward through several classic tales, such as Jack & the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and The Gingerbread Boy. Each tale is connected to the following by some common thread; for example, did you realize Jack from the beanstalk story is the same Jack that falls down the hill, thanks to his annoying sister Jill? Bright illustrations are a perfect complement to this fun book.

M 11-year-old daughter requested I read this to her for bedtime last night, and she thought it was terribly cute! It was neat to see that she still appreciates a good picture book!

Picture Books

I'm going to start reviewing picture books on a regular basis. Reading picture books is one of the things I miss most about being a children's librarian. Who needs an excuse???

So, with no further ado, here are my first two reviews.


Featuring such names as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and Ella Fitzgerald, Jazz on a Saturday Night by Leo & Diane Dillon is a great introduction to jazz music for little ones. You can feel the excitement of going to a jazz club to hear these musicians, tapping and clapping all night long.

The illustrations are simple and muted, but they complement the text well. After all, it's the music that's important. The book comes with a CD of samples of music by the musicians featured in the book, but the library copy had the CD removed. I feel that was an unfortunate omission, since hearing the music would have added so much. The book also includes a short biography of each musician at the end.

Overall, this book was enjoyable, but it isn't one that I could see kids asking to hear over and over, which to me is the best sign of a winning picture book.

Now, this was a delightful picture book! Based on the traditional children's song, "Over in the Meadow," Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme by Marianne Berkes will have kids bopping in their seats, along with the parrots, boas, honey bears, and leaf cutter ants. This book is more than just a rhyming book. Kids are encouraged to count the rainforest animals, and Ms. Berkes provides her ideas for motions for the kids to do to the rhyme. Also included is information about the animals featured in the book, and a link to more information about the rainforest. The illustrations by Jeanette Canyon, photographs of relief art created with polymer clay, are vibrant and detailed enough to keep kids occupied for long periods of time. I loved this book and wish I had the opportunity to share it with kids in a storytime!