Two Fuzz Balls Meet in the Woods

Cork & Fuzz

Written by Dori Chaconas

Illustrated by Lisa McCue

Penguin Group, 2006

 29 pages

Fantasy

            Ok.  I can’t believe I am going to write this, but “I love possums.”  Ok, there.  I said it…well, typed it.  Technically, I should probably say that I love opossums, but since the author uses the word, possum and I grew up knowing the little critters as possums, that’s the terminology I’ll use.  Regardless of spelling or technical terminology, my love of possums is why I checked this book out.  I saw the cute furry little possum on the front cover and could not contain myself.  This book is about two friends, a muskrat named Cork and a possum named Fuzz.  The two do everything together but grow.  This bothers Cork terribly, so he tries to figure out a way for Fuzz to shrink.  It does not work.  Fuzz suggests that maybe Cork could grow, but no luck there either.  I won’t spoil the story for you, but I think you’ll enjoy one of my favorite quotations from the book, “Just like two nuts.”

            The illustrations in Cork & Fuzz are cartoon water colors that make the possum and muskrat look fuzzy.  The characters have soft faces and expressions.  The use of green, brown, grey and blue really appeal to the eye.  The reader will not have to strain to read the book.  The type is placed on some pages with the illustrations and on the opposite pages of illustrations on others.

            A first or second grade reader will enjoy this book.  The book is broken into chapters but basically reads like most pictures books.  A young reader would enjoy having the book read aloud while looking at the pictures.  I would use this book in a lesson about analysis.  Specifically, students can compare and contrast the differences between the animals.  In a language arts lesson, I would also ask older students to do a journal entry about how Cork and Fuzz are similar to them and their friends.  Science lessons on mammals, muskrats and possums would work well with this book.  A great social studies lesson could also examine friendship and the ways we treat each other.  Among other awards, this first in the Cork & Fuzz series won the Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book 2005 and the 2008-2009 Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award.

Blissful Bailey

Bailey

Written by Harry Bliss

Illustrated by David Saylor & Charles Kreloff

Scholastic, 2011

30 pages

Fantasy

            My son LOVES dogs, so when I saw this book I thought he would enjoy reading it.  I was right.  Hey, if my homework involves children’s literature, my book choices might as well serve multiple purposes.  This particular book is about a dog named Bailey.  Bailey is different from other dogs because he goes to school.  Bailey dresses and runs to the bus like most children do each morning.  The book details Bailey’s school day from math to recess and all the other fun stuff in between.  Bailey loves to dig and he gets off track at times.  In fact, the way Bailey gets distracted easily reminds me of some of my students this semester.

            The water color cartoon illustrations are really cute.  Bailey has sweet peaceful eyes and a really big nose.  The illustrations are colorful and detailed.  Most of the colors are in the primary family and really draw the eye to the pages.  The text is on the illustrations in an informal way.  I really enjoyed the way the author put the word bubbles in the story, so we could see what the human students are thinking.  The text is a primary type; it is bold and stands out on the page for young readers.

            A preschool through first or second grade reader will enjoy this book.  It has bright colors and is easy to read and understand.  This book would be good for a behavior lesson on how to focus on the task at hand rather than getting distracted.  One could use this book for a language arts lesson as students read the story aloud in class, then write in their journals about what they think a day with Bailey would be like.  A science lesson on dogs would also work well with the story.  Among other awards, Bailey received the Parents’ Choice Award for Picture Books in 2011 and is recognized under Best Books by the Chicago Parent magazine.

Harry Bliss Draws Bailey

Mi diente!!!!

The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez
Written by Rene Colato Lainez
Illustrated by Tom Lintern
Tricycle Press, 2010
30 pages
Fantasy

            I happened on this book by chance.  The mouse on the front cover initially caught my eye, the Tooth Fairy drew me to read further.  For me, as with any mother in the US, the Tooth Fairy is a great story and a common custom.  We experienced the tale this weekend when my son lost two teeth in one day. (I had nothing to do with it.  The dentist did it.)  The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez offers a neat twist on a traditional fable told to children when they lose their baby teeth.    The tooth Fairy collects the lost teeth of children around the world, right?  Well, in this book there is a small mouse named El Raton Perez that collects the teeth of Latino children.  When a small niño lost his tooth, the Tooth Fairy assumed she would collect it, but when she arrived, she found El Raton Perez there to collect the tooth.  He explained that he had collected the teeth of the boy’s parents back in his native Mexico, so he should collect the teeth of the boy even though he was in America, now.  They disagree until a mishap changes everything.

            The illustrations are in realistic color pencil form with color use per the character.  The fairy is drawn and colored softly, and the mouse and other details are dark, with a heavier impression.  The text is white on the pages that include the text in the illustration.  The font is black on the pages where it complements the illustration.  Rainbows are well represented in this book, and I enjoyed looking at them as much as I did reading the book.

            Preschool through about fifth grade will enjoy this book.  The wonderful illustrations will keep any reader captivated while they read.  This book will be good for a language arts class to be able to incorporate English and Spanish into a class especially if ELL/ESL students are present.  They can be asked to help instruct the class on how to say and spell the words for a wonderful interactive journal lesson.  Social studies can also be applied to show the differences and similarities in cultures.  Character education can be taught using the point that the Tooth Fairy and El Raton Perez worked together to help each other obtain a common goal.  This book can also be used for a health lesson on loosing teeth.  The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez earned the IRA Teacher’s Choice Award and placed second as the Best Children’s Book – English category for the International Latino Book Award.

 

The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez - Book Trailer:

 

Sweets-&-Treats

Good Enough To Eat
Written by Brock Cole
Illustrated by Chroma Graphics PTE, Ltd.
Farror Strause Giroux, 2007
29 pages
Fantasy

            The title of this book, Good Enough to Eat, caught my eye.  From the cover and title, I thought it was a book about the strange things people eat.  I was wrong.  This is a book about a young orphan girl who has no home, parents, money or even a name.  The townspeople call her Scraps-and-Smells, Skin-and-Bones, or Sweets-and-Treats.  They thought of her as a burden and a bother.  They were rude and ugly to her.  She tried very hard to make what little money she could to have food to eat but sometimes she failed.  One day a large Ogre comes to the town looking for a bride and the townspeople decide that they can get rid of both their pests by offering the girl as his bride.  The Ogre was not pleased with their offering, so the girl thought and changed her situation.  To see how the young girl fares, grab this book and a cup of hot tea as you learn how to fight your way out of a sticky mess.

            The illustrations are in an impressionist style with rich water color paintings.  The art work is on every page with the text which is in what looks like a regal type font used during the early colonial times in England.  The colors are rich with naturals mixed with primary colors mixed in.  The illustrations give detail to the characters’ facial expressions.

            This book would be good for first through sixth grade.  The younger readers will enjoy having the book read aloud to them.  The older readers will enjoy the illustrations and meaning of prevailing out of a bad situation.  This book can be used in teaching about social studies by discussing how different areas in the world view homeless people and the poor.  In a language arts lesson, the children could write about how they would feel to be without a home, parents and food.  This book could also be used in a health lesson dealing with hygiene, food preparation and standard cleanliness.  Awards for Good Enough to Eat include honors from the American Library Association Notable Children's Books, Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, CCBC Choice (Univ. of WI), and Children's Books: 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, from the New York Public Library

 

The Monsters are watching.

Monsters Eat Whiny Children
Written by Bruce Eric Kaplan
Illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummings
Simon & Schuster, 2010
31 pages
Fantasy

            I was at the Jacksonville University Library I saw this funny looking book laying on a table.  The cover itself isn’t especially detailed, but the pea-green color and the simple, child-like text and sketch did draw my eye.  Mostly, I picked it up because the title of the book was too funny to pass up.  Once I started reading it, I could not stop laughing.  The book is about two children that whined about everything.  Their father was tired of hearing them whine, so he told them that a monster was going to eat them.  They did not believe and continued to whine until one day the monster came and kidnapped them.  While at the monsters house, the children met several different monsters from the neighbor and were the featured ingredient in several of the monsters’ failed attempts at cooking/eating the children.  I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone, but you might want to grab a cucumber sandwich as you read the book and enjoy a short lunch laugh.  The recipe is in the book if you need it.

            The cartoon illustrations are done in ink and water color.  The illustrations are done in black ink with red, yellow, blue, orange, purple and green.  The text is bold black letters like a child’s hand writing.  The text and illustrations are combined on all the pages with text and art work intertwined throughout.  The story looks like a book written in a book.

            A preschool through first or second grade reader will enjoy this book almost as much as the adults reading along with them.  The way the story is written and the emphasis on not whining make the story especially good for the preK to second grade group.  The story depicts whining textually and visually to show what it sounds and looks like to an adult.  In the story when the children are whining their mouths are red.  Even for such a young age, this is a good example to reinforce symbolism and emotions represented by certain colors.  This book would be good for character building - to teach the importance of not whining and learning the proper response to things that don’t go “their way.”  A language arts lesson would be good for vocabulary and dictionary skills with some of the words used in the book, like vindaloo.  This is an Indian dish that I had to look up myself.  It will also work well to teach children what a dictionary is (online or in print) and how to use it to understand the meaning of words they may encounter while reading.  A social studies lesson would be good on how people (monsters) work together to solve a problem and work through differences without whining.  Purported awards/nominations include the School Library Journal Best Books of the Year and the Iowa Goldfinch Award.

There are Meadows on Meadowview Street

On Meadowview Street
Written by Henry Cole
Illustrated by Henry Cole
Harper Collins/ Greenwillow Books, 2007
30 pages
Realistic Fiction

             This book literally “jumped off the shelf at me”.  I was getting the book beside this one and it came off the shelf, too.  I opened it and saw the wonderful rich greens and blues, so I had to read the book.  I mean it “begged” me to read it.  In this book a young girl and her family move to a new house on Meadowview Street.  She was bored and wished there was an actual meadow where she could play.  As she started to walk around her new neighborhood, she found a beautiful flower in her yard.  She asked her dad not to mow it down, and as time passed, more and more flowers appeared in the yard.

            The surreal illustrations are done with acrylic paints.  The illustrations spread across both pages with the text on the art work itself.  The text is a bold print.  The uses of rich greens, blues and soft yellow and red are beautiful.  The facial expressions on the people in the book are soft and very easy on the eye.

            Preschool through sixth grade readers will enjoy this book.  It has bright colors and is easy to read and understand.  Using this book in a class lesson for science will be easy to teach about eco systems and plant life.  For a social studies lesson, the story teaches how the actions of one can inspire others and how communities can work together to make a difference.  For a language arts lesson, the children can do a journal entry about if they have ever moved or wished they could move.  On Meadowview Street was nominated for the California Young Reader Medal, Grades K-3, 2011-2012.

There is more to an apple than meets the eye...

Mr. Peabody’s Apples

Written by Madonna
Illustrated by Loren Long
Callaway, 2003
27 pages
Realistic Fiction

            I stumbled across this book on the shelf at the JSU library and thought that the front cover was neat.  I never looked at the author until the lady at the circulation desk pointed out that this book was by Madonna.  Madonna follows the teachings of Kabbalah, and she states that this book was inspired by one of the stories told to her by her Kabbalah teacher.  This story is set in a small town that has a volunteer little league baseball team lead by the history teacher.  One day after a game, he walks home and stops at the local market.  He chooses an apple and puts it in his bag.  One of his students sees him do this and starts to tell people that he saw Mr. Peabody take an apple and not pay for it.  From there, the story takes an interesting turn commenting on life and the effects of one’s words.

            The realistic illustrations by Loren Long are done in oil paint.  The faces and landscapes in this book took my breath away.  The apple inside looks so real you could eat it, and many of the illustrations look as if they are photos collected over time.  They’re very much richly colored and shadowed illustrations almost crossing the traditional caricature with Norman Rockwell.  The font is Hoefler, a type face design that was developed for Apple Computers from 1991 to 1993.  It is bold and historic and appears on one page while the illustrations are on the other.  The book reminds me of an old scrapbook one might find in grandmother’s attic.

            Though the book is categorized for K-2, preschoolers to adults would enjoy the story and the illustrations.  It has wonderful artwork and a rich text that will hold a young audience’s attention as it is read aloud.  Older readers will enjoy reading and exploring the illustrations as they read to themselves.  I would use this book in a character education lesson to teach the importance of telling the truth and that things are not always what they appear to be.  A history lesson could be taught using this book explaining the long history baseball has in the U.S and about the different leagues that played throughout the years here.  I would also use this book in a blended social studies/language arts lesson.  I would have a child do something in front of the class (something I whisper in his or her ear), then ask the class to write down what the child did.  Since I should get 16-23 different versions, as I read the descriptions aloud to the class, the students will understand that not everyone sees things the same way even when they watch the same thing.  To my knowledge, Mr. Peabody’s Apples has not won any awards.

My Library has a Mouse!!!

Library Mouse

Written by Daniel Kirk

Illustrated by Daniel Kirk

(Book Design by Chad Beckerman)

Scholastic, 2007

30 pages

Fantasy

            Choosing this book was easy.  Choices are always easy when they come from the hands of a bright eyed young man who thrust the book upon me and said “This is one of my FAVORITE books, Mom.”  I sat down, read the book, and really enjoyed it.  I also thought the life lessons were as well presented as the story.  Library Mouse is about a quiet, meek mouse named Sam who lives at the library and comes out at night to read ALL the books he can.  Well, after doing this for a while, he decides to write his own books and places them around the library.  After a few books pop up on the shelves, the librarian leaves Sam a note asking to meet him, and the little mouse panics.  You should really read the rest of the book for yourself to see what he does.

            The illustrations in the book are cartoons with vivid colors, earth tones, and fine detail.  I really liked how the books on the shelves and their spines/titles are clear for young readers.  In a similar manner, the facial features and textures were softly, but clearly detailed.  If I could pet the mouse on the page, I’d truly expect he would be soft to the touch.  Some of the pictures are full pages, but others are framed in soft circles and ovals with a chalky edge.  The text is large enough for a young reader to read clearly, but it does not overpower the page.  The text is in the negative space of some of the pages which includes some illustrations.  Some text is included the illustrations themselves.

            K-6 grades would benefit from this story.  The younger readers will like the colors and characters while the older readers will enjoy the messages of the book.  The book’s messages of effort and achievement work well as a character education lesson.  It can also be a great component in a science lesson about mice with a life cycle interactive learning station.  Finally, Library Mouse is a great introduction to lessons on how to behave in the library and how the books are placed on the shelves and why.  Purported awards for Library Mouse include the National Parenting Publication Gold Award in 2007, the International Reading Association Teacher’s Choice award in 2008, and the Young Hoosier Book Award in 2011.

Book Trailer for sequel, Library Mouse A Museum Adventure with Author/Illustrator Daniel Kirk:

 

Holy Guacamole! Skippito is here!!

Skippyjon Jones

Written by Judy Schachner

Illustrated by Judy Schachner

Penguin Group, 2009

21 pages

Fantasy/Multicultural

 

                I was working the book fair at my son’s school when the visibly agitated librarian said “I am not going to have enough Skippyjon Jones books.”  Since it seemed to be a big problem, I asked “Who is that?”  “Have you not read any of the Skippyjon Jones books?” she asked.  I looked sheepish and said “No.”  She handed me the first book out of the box, and I fell in love with this little Siamese cat who is convinced he is a Chihuahua.  In this book he goes on a rescue mission to help his amigos retrieve their stolen frijoles.

                The cartoon charcoal and water color illustrations are really cute.  The characters have really big heads and big eyes emphasizing their youth and wide-eyed enthusiasm for the adventures.  The colors are bright and really deep.  The use of blue, black, red and white all pop off the page.  The text is large and bold.  Some of the text uses images to represent words - where the reader recognizes the object rather than the text version.  Much of the rest of the book is written with the text on one page and the illustrations on the other. 
 

                A preschool through first or second grade reader will enjoy this book.  It has bright colors and is easy to read and understand.  He or she will enjoy it more if the Spanish voices and pronunciation are used correctly when read aloud.  For a language arts lesson, the class can incorporate English and Spanish.  This will also go well with any ESL students that may be in the class.  The students can learn from each other.  There are word cards in the back of the book with the word in English, then Spanish, so I would let Spanish children teach the English students as a game.  Using this book in a class lesson for math will be easy because the children can count the beans and amigos Skippyjon has.  This book can also be used as a social studies and geography lesson to teach about banditos and where in the world our sword-fighting Friskito might find them.  Skippyjon Jones has won the following awards:

·         E.B. White Read Aloud Award, from The Association of Booksellers for Children (2004).

·         The New Hampshire State Library's 2005 Ladybug Picture Book Award

·         The 2005 Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award

·         The 2006 Colorado Council International Reading Association (CCIRA) Colorado Children's Book Award for Picture Book

·         The National Education Association also named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." Based on a 2007 online poll.

Author, Judy Schachner - Book Tour Highlights: