You Choose by Nick Sharratt & Pippa Goodhart

You Choose is the work of Pippa Goodhart (author) and Nick Sharratt (illustrator). It's almost a cross between a picture book and an activity book.  At our house it's known as a conversation starter.

We read a lot of books at supper time when it's often just E and me around the table (plus one giant ginger cat at our feet).  A friend gave us this book for E's birthday but admittedly I'd had my eye on it for some time. The format is a series of questions accompanied by an array of mouth watering illustrations that let you make up new answers and stories each time you read it.

It's a real work out for the imagination and E took to it from the start.  It opens with a question we all may ponder now and again:

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? 

Below this text is a two page spread bursting with landscapes from volcanoes to deserts, to cities to the seaside.  There's even a snapshot of outer space for anyone who wants to go to the moon or visit the planets.  E tends to alternate between visiting a volcano and Saturn's rings.

The book continues in this format with questions about choosing the pet you'd like to have, the clothes you'd like to wear and the food you'd like to eat.  We seem to spend an inordinate amount of time on the transportation page debating the merits of rocket ships vs steam trains. I'm curious if this edition is sold in the US as the food section includes some very British fare like Christmas pudding and bangers and mash. The food pages are also useful for talking about some of those foods that your little reader may not readily eat.

I really like the way this book gives the child an active role.  E now initiates the questions without any prompting from me and it often leads to a dialog about why we like certain choices.  It's rewarding to have your child ask you a question and wait genuinely for your answer.  And it's even better when he asks if he can come to the moon with you.

Imagine Children's Festival

The Imagine Children's Festival is in full swing at London's Southbank Centre. We made a beeline down there as soon as we could. This is a festival for children that's run in part by children. I call it a celebration of fun, books, art and performance. The Book People are involved too so you can bet ya we weren't going to miss it!

With free events galore, a chill out zone for workshops and a dedicated arts space taken over by children, there are discoveries to be made in every nook and cranny, inside and out, of this concrete palace.

We ran into the Beastie while outside looking at boats, and inside we had a hard time choosing between live music, book readings, drawing, cardboard sculptures and theatre. The Southbank is filled to the brim with hoards of delighted children and it cheered me to no end to be a small part of all the excitement generated by books, books, books. E had a blast - admittedly at times just running the length of the fifth floor - and selfishly I wished I could have set up residence for the week.

E was lured down on day 2 to meet 'George' from one of our very favorite books by Chris Haughton.  We listened to Haughton read Oh No, George! and A Bit Lost before George came to life in front of us on Haughton's easel.  

We also crept in to Salvatore Rubbino's workshop where he had the group busy creating a 3D Thames scape with bridges and boats form his beautiful book, A Walk in London.  E was fascinated by the set up and spent quite a lot of time playing with the creations after everyone had left.

We carried his enthusiasm home with us and later made an amateur version of Salvatore Rubbino's Thames scape using E's toys:

What struck me most about our time at the Imagine Children's Festival was the excitement generated by activities involving books and art. What a treat for the kids and adults to discover together how much fun all these cultural activities can be. For more about the Imagine Children's Festival visit: http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/imagine-childrens-festival.

We're back next week with a review of E's current favorite book by Nick Sharratt.

Whale by David Lucas

The cover of Whale looks more like album art than a fantastical children's book to me. This is a good thing. I love the vast expanse of blues and the lower case title, and how it looks like it could have been published in the 70's but is actually from 2006. Some of you will be old friends with David Lucas' books, but for any newbies this one's for you.

Our copy of Whale was a third birthday present for E from one of my sisters. It's now standard mealtime reading (so that's at least three times a day). He's fixated on the whale's smile and always remarks how the whale looks happy. Since reading Whale, E has learned about dolphins and fishmongers and almost grasped the meaning of the word 'innumerable'.

The story is a great tale about a town in deep trouble after the whale is washed ashore and flattens all the buildings in one go. It's a story of how the whale and the sea creatures save the day with a little help from Joe, the townsfolk, an owl, the wind, the sun, the moon and the innumerable stars.

Joe awakens one morning when something crashes into his house and it knocks him out of bed. He and his Grandma May escape their house through the chimney only to discover that the entire town, including the fishmonger and the mayor, are stranded atop the whale.  The whale is contrite but cannot help himself as he's stuck ashore. After much consultation from the owl and the elements the suggestion comes back that the townsfolk should sing.  Joe gets things started and soon everyone joins in, including the whale.  It's a rain song and before long they're all more than a little surprised to find the town flooded and the whale floating at sea. The whale gets to work putting things right and drinks as much of the sea water as he can.  Then he starts to sing and like a call to arms all the wonderful wild creatures come forth from the sea and rebuild the town in a dazzle of shells, pebbles and pearls. The town is saved, the whale is saved and Joe has made a new friend.

The narrative is uncomplicated but the added detail gives this book an edge over standard early reading picture books.  It's a good transition book for introducing your young reader to more text.  The illustrations are joyous and it's a treat to tread the pages of Lucas' distinct designs, patterns and illustrations. In fact, the illustrations alone make this book a worthwhile read.  To find out more about David Lucas and his other books, projects and illustrations you can visit: davidlucas.org.uk, Booktrust and this post from Playing By the Book.

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This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

Oh the fish book!  I've been biding my time to feature a Jon Klassen book and then he up and wins the Caledcott Medal this year so I had to act!

Like most picture book lovers, we're big fans of Jon Klassen at our house. Both I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat are among E's nightly requests and usually get read in quick succession.

Just open the cover, take in those endpapers and let yourself fall in love with a book. This Is Not My Hat tells the tale of a little fish who swipes a little blue hat from a sleeping big fish (or so little fish thinks).  Little fish thinks he's gotten away with the perfect crime and makes for the place 'where the plants grow big and tall and close together'.  He thinks he can hide here unnoticed.  He thinks no one saw him swim away. He does admit it's wrong to steal, but he thinks it's actually kind of ok because the hat fits him better anyway. Unfortunately for him, he thinks all the wrong things.

Big fish is on his tail all the while and cunningly follows the trail of little fish bubbles into the plants. He emerges victorious wearing his hat.  Klassen is clever here and though we don't see the action, we know that little fish has been gobbled up.

It's a fitting moral that's refreshingly subtle in how it's presented. The final pages of the book only feature illustrations and it gives the reader a chance to talk about what's just happened. It's like a silent film and it works like magic here.  You watch this story happen as much as you read it.

E kind of figured out for himself that the little fish gets gobbled up in the end.  I realised early on that he associates this book with a nursery rhyme called Slippery Fish where sea creatures gobble each other up.  I think it makes for a healthy does of artful reality. E's even found a small plastic blue bowl that he's taken to wearing on his head just like little fish's hat. Thankfully so far there are no big fish following him around. Congratulations John Klassen and thanks for a beautiful book!

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean and Eric Litwin

 

This week we bring you Pete the Cat.  According to The New York Times (best seller children's picture book list) he's already a huge hit in America.  It was only a matter of time before Pete and his songs made their way into our home. E was given this book as a Christmas gift and I was a little tentative at first.  The narrative wasn't quite my cup of tea at first glance and I was unsure if the songs would engage E.  Could I be more wrong? 

Pete the Cat is the cool dude of picture books and if his skateboard and surfboard aren't enough proof then just check out his songs.  E can't get enough and I've been indulging his interests pretty heavily via this book and the free online song downloads (more on that later).

Pete has a favorite shirt with four groovy buttons.  He's got a song that he sings about said buttons and it's his theme tune for this story. One by one the buttons pop off, but instead of crying Pete just keeps right on singing.  Even when the last button pops off it does nothing to deter Pete's chilled out mood because, guess what, he's still got his belly button!  Yes folks, this feline has got a belly button (just like E as I've been told numerous times) and he starts singing his song about that button instead.  He even sums it up with a fitting moral: 'stuff will come and stuff will go ... we keep on singing.'

I love Pete's attitude and I'm a sucker for cats with human attributes.  E is especially entertained by how each button pops off in dramatic fashion (see the cover illustration) and he loves to count them.  Counting, numbers and basic math are actually big themes in this story and there's a lesson for your young reader each time a button pops off.  

For a taster of Pete the Cat and his antics visit his extensive website at HarperCollins. We spend a fair amount of time listening and singing to his songs and I'm sure it won't be long before another of his adventures enters our home library.

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

I've been waiting for months to talk about this American classic. Today seems like an opportune moment as the snow blankets my home state of NC and continues to fall outside my window here in London. It's a pleasure to share this Caldecott award winner with readers who may be new to Keats' book and Peter's stories, and it's a chance to remind other readers of why this book is such a favorite.

Peter wakes up to discover snow outside his window. He puts on his snowsuit and spends the day discovering how much fun it can be.  His feet make funny footprints in the snow and it crunches as he walks.  He makes tracks with a stick, snow angels and a snow man. He is endlessly enchanted and entertained by it. Peter even tries to bring a clump home in his pocket and learns the disappointing lesson that snow melts indoors. It causes him to dream a sad dream that all the snow has melted away. However, he is cheered the following day to wake and discover that the icy white landscape outside his window is the same as the day before, beckoning him out to play and make new discoveries.

The Snowy Day is a perfectly simple story and E and I talk a lot about what Peter gets up to outside in the snow. E engaged with Peter from the beginning ... as did I.  However, it's the trademark style of Keats' illustrations that strikes a chord with so many readers. They are collage like, bright and warm. The various snow scenes are drawn from different perspectives which to me makes them more interesting, slightly abstract and that bit more challenging for the young reader.

There has been much written about this book due in part because it features an African-American main character. The author page on the Penguin website puts it into context: "Long before multicultural characters and themes were fashionable, Ezra Jack Keats crossed social boundaries by being the first American picture-book maker to give the black child a central place in children's literature." First published in 1962, The Snowy Day celebrated its 50th birthday in 2012 and remains a firm favorite. 

If you like Peter as much as we do then I recommend you read, A Letter for Amy.  We're having lots of fun with that one too. 

For more about Keats and for tips from teachers visit the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.

p.s. Apologies to any regular readers for the blank post that was distributed earlier! Pete the Cat will feature next week.

A New Home for a Pirate

It's the new year and 'Ho, ho, ho hearties' is the rallying cry at my house. E is on pirate overdrive and that includes one of our favorite books at the moment, A New Home for a Pirate.

Jed is an unlikely pirate.  He looks the part, all his family are pirates and he lives on a a pirate ship, but what he longs for more than anything is 'a house that stands still with a view from a hill.' Jed decides to abandon ship as it were and set off in search of a new home.  His family give him their blessing and  help Jed to pack all the necessary goods for his adventure: one long rope, pirate hat, great-grandad's wooden leg, cutlass, spotted handkerchief, clean underpants and a toothbrush among other things.  It's a clever list as the items are clues to how Jed's search for a house unfolds and the motley crew of characters he meets along the way.

Jed waves goodbye to his family and takes off on his bike. It's not long before he meets a bird who's nest has been destroyed.  Jed promptly volunteers his pirate hat for an alternative nest and invites the bird to join him on his adventure.  Next, he meets a sheep tangled in brambles and Jed uses his cutlass to set him free.  The pattern repeats as Jed helps one new friend after the other by using his pirate paraphernalia. E really engages with the text as each time Jed helps a new friend he exclaims, 'Shiver me timbers! I've got the very thing.' And each time he learns what they're looking for he adds to his mantra until his quest for a house on a hill includes a 'a stretching-high tree in a field (bramble-free) and a doormat where Old Dog can lie'.

This is a hearty old tale that swings along with Jed's rhyming mantra and by the end he and his crew make a trade on a house belonging to a farmer who longs to be a pirate. I read this one aloud to E's nursery class (a mix of 2-4 year olds) and they listened intently and shouted excitedly in equal measure. I can't think of a better recommendation.

For more about Ronda Armitage and Holly Swain visit the publisher's website.