/Film has the news that the film rights for Ally Carter’s Heist Society have been purchased by Warner Brothers.  The book is due out next week, and I have to say the cover is rocking.  Unfortunately, the teen novel’s characters will be aged to their 20s instead of remaining teen characters.  Sad, because I would think it would make a better movie with teen protagonists rather than college-aged ones.

I look forward to reading the book which has been called a teen-aged Thomas Crown Affair.

Boom Bah! by Phil Cummings, illustrated by Nina Rycroft

Break out the noise makers, drums, and kazoos and start your own band after you share this one. 

It all starts with a mouse tinging a spoon against a teacup.  Then the cat gets involved by banging a spoon on a can.  Pig grabs two pot lids to bash together as cymbals.  And soon a line of animals are marching and dancing to the beat.  What could that be coming over the hill?  A real  marching band with real drums, a tuba, trombones and more.  Everyone starts to play music together with a happy “Hey ho!”  A jolly book filled with rhythm, music and merriment, this is a winner of a book for toddlers. 

Cummings text is kept to a minimum, just carrying the noises and the beat along with it.  The words are simple and great fun to read aloud because they are so jaunty.  Rycroft’s art is silly and warm toned.  I love that she included diving insects on most of the pages.  If you look closely you can even see beetles in the grass who also get caught up in the music.  Her attention to the small but delightful details is clever and adds to the fun. 

Highly recommended when you want a story time about music and you don’t mind the kids getting loud with their own marching band.  Appropriate for very small children through preschool, this book will work for ages 1-4.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Brownie & Pearl Step Out by Cynthia Rylant, illustrations by Brian Biggs

In this simple, charming story, Rylant explores shyness.  Brownie, the little girl, and Pearl, her cat, are going to a birthday party that cats are invited to too.  Once they are at the door to the party, Brownie starts to feel shy about knocking.  Pearl, though, is not shy at all and enters the house by the cat door, forcing Brownie to have to knock and join the party.  By the end of the party, full of cake and ice cream and having played lots of games, Brownie is very happy to have come. 

Rylant has created the first in another charming pairing.  This book is for even younger readers than Henry and Mudge or Mr. Potter and Tabby.  The vocabulary is kept limited and there are at most two short sentences on each page, usually as short as four words.  Despite these limitations, Rylant has created a charming protagonist.  Biggs’ illustrations are done digitally and have a nice warmth to them.  The illustrations are simple and friendly for young readers. 

Highly recommended, every library needs a copy of this first in Rylant’s new series.  I can’t wait to see what adventures Brownie and Pearl head on next.  Appropriate for new readers of any age, approximately ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Passing By by Yona Tepper, illustrated by Gil-Ly Alon Curiel

Yael likes to watch the street outside her house from her balcony.  She can see dogs walk by, a cat hiding in the flowerbed, a car driving past and honking its horn, a man riding a bike, a tractor with a trailer filled with brush, and a bird.  Best of all, she sees her father coming! 

The book has a nice rhythm and repetition both before each thing on the street appears and after it leaves Yael’s sight.  Tepper’s prose has a quiet feel that really allows readers to feel a sense of ease and leisure that is inherent in the book.  The art depicts life in Israel which is both similar to a street in America and yet has quite a different feel.  Curiel’s art is simple and very child-friendly.  The book has a nice mix of close-up images and panoramas of the area of Yael’s home. 

Ideal for toddlers who will enjoy the repetition of the book and identifying the sounds and animals.  Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Bunny Days by Tao Nyeu

The author of the marvelous Wonder Bear returns with a picture book that once again features the big white Bear.  This book however takes a different approach than the loosely plotted first book. 

The book is in three chapters, each featuring an scrape the bunnies get into which is resolved by Bear.  In the first story, Mr. Goat is driving past the bunnies on his tractor and splashes them all with mud.  They head to Bear for help and he fixes everything by putting them all in the washing machine.  On delicate cycle of course.  Then they are hung to dry.  In the second story, Mrs. Goat is vacuuming and accidentally sucks the bunnies right out of their burrow.  Mrs. Goat takes her broken vacuum to Bear who discovers the bunnies inside.  He blows the dust off of the bunnies and repairs the vacuum too.  The final story has the bunnies playing hide-and-seek in a white flowered hedge while Mr. Goat is pruning it.  He accidentally cuts the tails off of the bunnies.  But no worries, Bear once again rescues the situation by carefully sewing the tails back on.

These stories are entirely silly and whimsical.  The solutions are sure to generate giggles as children will immediately realize how nonsensical they are.  Nyeu’s art has a strength and simplicity that adds to the appeal here.  His use of thick lines and a limited color palette work very well, especially the use of one dominant color for each story.

Ideal for toddlers, this book will have plenty of appeal with its fresh-feeling art and simple story lines.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Ferocious Wild Beasts by Chris Wormell

Jack’s mother told him never to go into the forest because there are ferocious wild beasts in there!  But Jack didn’t listen and now found himself lost in the woods.  When a bear walked up to Jack and asked what was wrong, Jack told him about the ferocious wild beasts of the forest and how they gobble up both people and bears.  The bear was worried and the two of them walked on together.  They met an elephant who was told about the wild beasts and was also terrified, so the three walked on together.  They next met a lion who when hearing about the beasts also traveled with them.  With the sinking of the sun, they had even more animals grouped with them and on the outlook for the wild beasts.  They heard a stomping.  They saw a huge glowing eye.  They heard a loud roar.  What could it be?

This is a great picture book.  It has wonderful pacing that draws readers in and captivates them.  The humor is broad and children will immediately understand that the very animals accompanying Jack on his travels are the ones his mother warned him about.  Wormell’s use of realistic animals makes the book even more successful as it heightens the tension and adds to the humor too.  The watercolor illustrations here will work well with a group as will the text which has a rhythm and flow that reads aloud nicely.

Highly recommended, this is a book where children will get the joke and enjoy playing along with it.  A perfect addition to story times on elephants, bears or lions.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Also reviewed at BooksForKidsBlog, Kiss the Book, and A Patchwork of Books.

Lights on Broadway: A Theatrical Tour from A to Z by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Elliot Kreloff, with Brian Stokes Mitchell

This A to Z book takes readers into the world of the theater, teaching the words that go with the shows.  From grip to marquee, readers will find plenty of words they don’t know.  But this book is much more than vocabulary because alongside each definition, there are quotes from Broadway actors, directors, choreographers, composers, writers and more.  This book is pure inspiration for those who have the acting bug and who long to be on stage. 

Ziefert and Kreloff have created a book that captures the excitement, glitz and joy of the stage.  Ziefert offers definitions that convey an excitement about the subject, always avoiding being dry.  Kreloff’s art is loud, bright and nicely stylized, suiting the subject matter perfectly. 

Give this to young actors and class clowns. It could also be used when doing a production in class to give a sense of what the larger picture of performing is.  A joyful riot of a picture book, this book will serve as the basis for many big dreams.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by Sommer Reading and Read Along with Biblio.

I’m Number One by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Bob Graham

A-One rules the toys.  He tells them all what to do.  He demands that the other toys wind his key, and then critiques the way they do it.  Then he teases each of them about what they are wearing.  Maddy has a floppy yellow hat that A-One teases her about and when she takes it off, he puts it on himself.  He does the same with Sally’s knapsack and Sid’s scarf.  But when his mean words get jumbled up, they start to sound very silly indeed.  When everyone starts laughing, even A-One has to join in.

This is a clever book on bullying because the bully turns out to be alright in the end.  It really shows how any child can take on the role of a bully without meaning to.  A-One is demanding and demeaning.  His tone in the book is perfectly done as are the voices of the other toys.  Rosen’s writing has a gentle quality to it that works well here.  He uses repetition nicely throughout the book, drawing young readers in.  At the end of the book, humor plays an important part in reminding A-One that he is one of the group, not the only one.

Graham’s art also has a gentle quality to it.  I love the way that A-One is the only hard toy in the group.  The others are stuffed and soft.  In the illustrations, he is stiff-lined while the others have softer, rounder edges.  This makes a nice visual tie in with the story.

Recommended for all children, bullies and bullied.  This book takes a gentle and laughter-filled approach to a difficult subject.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by Sal’s Fiction Addiction and Young Readers.

My Heart Is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall

Enter the zoo where each animal has a different emotion.  The beaver is eager, the rabbit is frightened, the clam is cozy.  There are animals here that children will recognize immediately and others that may be new to them.  Nicely, the same is true of the emotions.  Children will immediately understand angry, happy, and silly.  However, they may need help with bothered, rugged and chatty.  This is a book where emotions, art and vocabulary create a real chance to learn.  At the same time, it is friendly, bright and simple.

Hall’s art is large, colorful and great fun.  In this book, his animals are all built from hearts as you can see from the cover image.  Some like the frog are a simple heart with legs while others are quite complex constructs like the walrus.  The simplicity and graphical nature of Hall’s work really function well here.  The book can be read as simply animals.  Plus, it can be used to discuss emotions, and it would be a great platform for acting out emotions.  It can also be used to talk about similes.

Ideal for Valentines Day, this book is simple enough for toddlers to enjoy but complex enough to share with older children too.  The large images are perfect for classroom or group use.  Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Check out the great Book Trailer:

Also reviewed by:

She Is Too Fond of Books

Books for Kids

Creative Literacy

Shelf-Employed

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

At age 13, Susy, the daughter of Mark Twain, was annoyed that people writing biographies of her father got things wrong.  So she decided to write her own biography of her famous father because she truly knew him.  At first Susy’s biography was a secret but soon her parents had discovered her book and her father helped by offering quotes at opportune moments.  In her biography, Susy told of her father’s childhood, his public side and his private life.  She documented his finer qualities and also his lesser ones.  She also wrote about his writing practice and how her mother cleaned up the racier passages.  This is a biography that shows us Twain as a family man and father as well as an author.

Kerley’s biography of Twain is immensely readable and inviting.  She has incorporated passages from Susy’s biography in an inventive way.  They are placed in inserts that look like small books on each page.  Readers will be delighted by the passages and the insights they offer.  Fotheringham’s illustrations are a creative mix of vintage and modern.  Done digitally, they have a warmth and strong graphic quality. 

Highly recommended, this is a great biographical picture book for elementary-aged students.  It is also ideal to share with children who want to be writers since it shows not only Twain’s process but gives readers a young writer to model themselves after as well.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by Kiss the Book, Sommer Reading, and Young Readers.

You can read about Barbara Kerley’s own writing process for this book at INK.