Ginger and the Mystery Visitor

 

Candlewick Press

Charlotte Voake

I had not realized how prolific nor how celebrated Charlotte Voake was until I googled her.  She's a busy lady, all right. We have the first book in this series, Ginger, where the orange cat is introduced, plus the arrival of the unwelcome sidekick kitten.  I managed to miss the prequel Ginger Finds a Home, where the namesake is nearly unrecognizable on the cover. I should get my hands on it, so we have the complete series.
 
In the third book, things have settled down, with Ginger and the kitten happily co-habitating, sharing food bowls and a basket. One morning, they notice a strange cat peering in at them through the window. The visitor isn't exactly skinny, but he does have a terribly hungry look in his eyes.  One day, he sneaks into the kitchen and cleans out the bowls. For me, this is the best page in the entire book, simply for the expressions on the two cats' faces.  Their eyes are very wide, conveying both surprise and disapproval.  If they could talk, it would be "What the heck is going on here? I cannot believe this - how rude!"

The new cat starts coming in whenever the door is not properly latched, making himself at home by cleaning up the food dishes and sleeping on the bed! The little girl is worried that perhaps he is homeless, so she attaches a note to his neck with ribbon asking if anyone will lay claim. The next time their visitor appears, a response is tied to her ribbon. The note states that not only does Tiddles have a loving home, but he is well fed and should not be given any handouts, as he is getting rather chubby.  The little girl complies with the note and takes a rather firm stance with the cat. That naughty beggar cat continues to appear at the window, with the hungry look in his eye.  When he realizes he will not be served, he stops begging at the window, but they see him at food dishes all over town.

This book gave me a chuckle, both for the illustrations and life lesson on cats.  They are smart and a bit sneaky and always seem to land on their feet.  Clever Tiddles, trying to look so hungry and tugging at everyone's heartstrings, while his belly gets bigger each day.     


Review copy provided by Candlewick Press. 

Homemade Fun - 101 Crafts and Activities to Do with Kids

 

St. Martin's Press

Rae Grant

I don't how other parents are faring in the creativity department,  but sometimes I find it difficult to come up with projects for our kids. They are drawn to the television like moths and it's up to me to sideline them with cool projects that shake them free from the strings of technology. I have a few blogs bookmarked online to check for ideas, and failing that, cookie baking is our old standby. Some days, I desperately need a boost of creativity and this book is a treasure trove of ideas.
   

This book has an old-fashioned feel, with retro illustrations and soft colors.  The whole look is a perfect match to the projects inside. The intent is to offer parents a way of connecting with their children the same way that families used to do years ago. Instead of video games and the internet, everyday life used to mean putting an emphasis on the homemade way. These are classic crafts and activities, a throwback to simpler times. 

There is something here for everyone, as evidenced by the division of six chapters: Hand Sewing and Embroidery, Papercrafts, Making Jewelry, Baking, Building Things and Toys, Games and Pastimes. I like that there seems to be a pretty big age range. The Coffee Can Bird Feeder was great for us, but the Wooden Tool Box will have to wait a few years. Some are so simple that you may think to yourself "Why didn't I think of that?"  Heck, I made a handful of these in my childhood, and it never occurred to me that they would be perfect projects for my kids. Once I started looking through the book, I was reminded of the button bracelet I had once made and my homemade Tooth Fairy pillow.

You may be surprised by how much your kids enjoy activities that are far simpler than what they (and you) are used to. Some of the the most basic ideas in the book were met with the most enthusiasm. Shadow Pictures, Paper Cup Telephones and Big Bubbles were all popular at our house, with even more pages ear-marked for the future. It's true that kids don't need the latest and greatest gadgets. We found that some basic materials and a bit of direction will bring much more satisfaction. Take a step back into time and try your hand at crafts, games and toys that have been around for generations - true classics!   

Rae has previously written two related books: Crafting Fun and Cooking Fun.  She's obviously a super creative person who is helping the rest of us. 

Review copy provided by St. Martin's Press. 

Busy Birdies

Tricycle Press

John Schindel; Photography by Steven Holt

John Schindel must be some sort of genius, as evidenced by his popular Busy Book series. Each board book features a different animal: chickens, pandas, bunnies and so on.  He collaborates with a handful of photographers, but the end result is always the same - an excellent board book. Schindel adds bits of rhyming text to the photos and the result is a line of board books that kids adore.

The beauty is in the book's simplicity. Unfortunately, that's the very thing that makes it a teeny bit difficult to review properly. The sentences are so short that it's hard to resist quoting them verbatim. I really struggled with coming up with clever ways of restating phrases that are only two words long! The birdies here are busy nibbling, pecking, stepping, stretching and finally, resting. We get to peek at finches, owls, hummingbirds, peacocks and a few others that I couldn't identify.  Guess I'm not really a bird aficionado.  

Busy Birdies is the twelfth book in the Busy lineup.  Busy Gorillas is scheduled for this fall and Busy Elephants will be swinging through in 2011. 



Review copy provided by Tricycle Press. 

Clarice Bean What Planet Are You From?

 

Candlewick Press

Lauren Child

I really like the Clarice Bean books that have been re-released by Candlewick this year. These must be some of the nicest paperbacks available, swathed in overly large covers that sport updated cover art. They are priced the same as a traditional softcover, but are bigger and smoother -  like paperbacks on steroids.  The very best part of these releases is the inside flap, where Lauren Child provides some personal history. For this book, she recounts watching television when she should have been working (so even famous artists fall prey) and stumbling upon a program about planets. That got her thinking about how her Clarice would approach the environment ... and voila, a book was born.          

Clarice Bean is learning about our planet and spreading the word in her own unique way. She is assigned a project at school titled The Environment, forcing her to take a good hard look at the world around her. When her brother Kurt stages a camp-out to save an old tree, Clarice and her other brother Minal pitch in by creating protest signs. And that's how Clarice becomes an ecowarrior, saving the planet in her own backyard. That's the plot in a nutshell, although there are always delightful bits tucked here and there in the Bean books, so there's many more fun details on every single page.  

Lauren Child just comes up the funniest bits, so wonderfully random. I like that she makes Clarice Bean weird and quirky. She irritates her teacher by falling off her chair on purpose and dodges the strange neighbor boy (wouldn't we all?) Robert Granger.  Her grandad butters his tie into his sandwich and has a friend named Bert the Shirt. Random!


Not only is this a typical super fun Clarice Bean read, but it also helps kids understand the importance of helping our environment. If we teach them while they are young and impressionable, caring about our planet will be second nature to them.  It is fitting that Lauren Child has always promoted recycling with her habit of using bits of magazine clippings, wrapping paper and scraps of fabric as art in her books. 

The other re-releases are Clarice Bean, That's Me and Clarice Bean, Guess Who's Babysitting? Get the whole set!


Review copy provided by Candlewick Press. 

Alpha Oops! H is for Halloween

Candlewick Press

Alethea Kontis; Illustrated by Bob Kolar

It feels strange to be reading and writing about Halloween mid-summer. Autumn is my favorite season and I'm so easily sucked in by Bob Kolar's illustrations while flipping through this book. Three pages in I'm longing for jack-o-lanterns, piles of crunchy leaves and the challenge of deciding on the perfect costumes for the kiddos. I have to shake it off - it's only July!

Naturally, all alphabet books begin with the letter A.  What if A isn't ready?  If it's a Halloween book, then H can start the show.  But what is A still isn't ready?? Then it becomes an alphabet free for all.  Letters are being introduced willy-nilly with little preparation, even with Z trying to restore some order.  P is for pirate, but B is miffed because that was his costume for buccaneer. 

The letter have to come up with some pretty creative costumes, including queasy for Q and eyeball for E. Some are pretty obscure, like kraken and lycanthrope, both of which I had to look up.  Kudos to the author for getting kids to the dictionary! Jack-o-lantern (boo hoo, little jack) is passed up for the less traditional jitters, though we still get witch, devil and vampire.  B is the grand finale, but I'll leave you to guess what he calls out. 

When Alpha Oops! The Day Z Went First was published four years ago, it was received with cheers and glowing reviews.  The same will certainly be true for this Halloween edition.  Bob Kolar's illustrations are bright and wonderful - they make the alphabet come alive!  Like the preceding book, the letters run along the bottom of the page, so readers can keep track of those that have appeared and which ones are still waiting in the wings. By the time A puts in an appearance as apple, three quarters of the alphabet is already filled in. Kids like to keep track of these sorts of things, you know.
 
Side note: I like Bob Kolar's blog post, where he admits he still gets nervous when his book debuts.  I guess that proves all his success hasn't gone to his head. 

Review copy provided by Candlewick Press.

Random Acts of Reading Blog

New blog alert: Random Acts of Reading is written by ten sales reps for Random House Children’s Publishing.  Now there's a group of people with a firm handle on the most recent happenings in children's publishing!  They  will be doing things only publishing insiders can, like giving sneak peeks into upcoming books and offering exclusive giveaways. Best of all are their Insider Features - i.e. a day in the life of a children's book editor.  Haven't you always wondered what having that job would be like? 

Today's post is book recommendations for the expectant parent.  I think books (followed by diapers) are the very best baby gifts. I'd rather have a naked baby and a pile of books than a stack of fancy outfits. Unfortunately, it seems many people are enamored with the same books, so you don't get much variety. I see a lot of Sandra Boynton, Eric Carle and Dr. Seuss getting unwrapped, thrown in with copies of Guess How Much I Love You and Goodnight Moon. 

Thank you, Random Acts of Reading for recommending some lesser-known titles, like The ABCs of Rock, which is "the perfect present for moms and dads who rock!"  I have already heard great things about this book and am most definitely looking forward to getting my hands on it this fall. I heartily second The New Baby's Baby Journal for expectant parents - way more fun and better looking than traditional baby books.  I'm not familiar with The Paper Bag Princess, but the write up (girl power + dragons) makes me want to track down a copy.

In short, the blog is full of good stuff, so check it out!

Sara Hickman Big Bird, Little Bird

 

Sara Hickman

Finding children's music that I could listen to and enjoy with my kids has always been a challenge. We discovered pretty early on that tons of children's cds are billed as "silly" which equates as just plain annoying.  There are only so many goofy voices and forced hilarity that I can endure.  Sara Hickman's music is in a whole different class.   

Besides being the Official State Musician of Texas for 2010-2011, Sara is an acclaimed recording artist who is devoted to both her two girls and raising community awareness. Her plan with Big Bird, Little Bird is to help families create together and bring art programs into public schools.  These songs are beautiful and Sara's voice is flat out amazing.  Somehow she can make goops in your eye sound like the sweetest thing in the world.  So, yeah, I can see why Texas laid claim to her!   

Sarah says: "As a mom, I know having a new baby is like no other other experience.  It's a miracle.  I used to ask my babies, 'Where did you come from?'  I will never understand how I got so lucky to have such beautiful beings in my world and I bet you feel that way, too."  You can tell Sara put those feelings directly into her music.  Listening to these songs is like hearing the happiest mother in the world singing right to her own children.  There is such a sense of peace that comes from hearing that.  

I love it for the music alone, but it offers some great multimedia animation too.   It's laid back and sweet, not overly stimulating, which is perfect to wind down at the end of the day.  Dr. Toy agrees, naming this DVD as winner of the 2010 Dr. Toy Best Vacation Children's Products Award.

The songs included are It’s Alright (Acapella), A Slice of Heaven, Goop’s In It, Big Bird, Little Bird, Lily, This Heart, You Are My Sunshine, The Family Tree (You and Me), All Things Bright and Beautiful, We Are Each Other’s Angels and It’s Alright.

Review copy provided by Andrea Blain Public Relations

Eat Fresh Food

Flipping though the August issue of Every Day with Rachel Ray, I noticed she has recommended Eat Fresh Food as a cookbook that teens will love. We reviewed this title last year and thought it was an amazing resource for all cooks, not just teen chefs. We are a teen-free house and I am still using my copy and loving it.

Rachel Ray on television = incredibly annoying, but her magazine is surprisingly good.  It must be that her all too perky personality doesn't translate quite so well through print.  In any case, we can agree on the value of this cookbook: it's awesome!         

Bugs and Bugsicles

Boyds Mills Press

Amy S. Hansen; Illustrations by Robert C. Kray

The inside flap of this book begins "Every fall, insects disappear.  Where do they go?"  I have no idea.  Until this book reached my hands, I realized that I've never actually stopped to think about this.  I know birds migrate, bears hibernate and mice apparently prefer to spend the winter in our basement. But the ants, bees and others ... just seem to magically materialize each spring.  Maybe they are the sort of thing that you don't really miss until they aren't there.

I like that this book addresses a mystery of nature that many of us haven't given a second thought to.  It turns out that the insects get ready in different ways.  Some hide, some fly away, some make warm homes while others lay eggs and die.  We should have expected that there is never an easy answer with nature.
          

The praying mantis cannot survive winter's chill, but her offspring can with special protection that their mama provides.  Her egg sack hardens to a thickness of cardboard, allowing her eggs to withstand the season. Similarly, field crickets dig holes and lay their eggs safely underground, but they will not survive to meet their young.  Ladybugs fare slightly better, resting in a kind of hibernation called diapause, where their breathing slows and they don't eat or drink. They may be slowed down, but at least the adults survive the winter! Even more interesting are the honeybees, who huddle together and keep themselves alive with constant shivering.  These are just a handful of insects featured - the book also covers dragonflies, ants, monarch butterflies and woolly bear caterpillars.

I love how this book unveils a little mystery that most of us probably take for granted. Each insect has its own full page layout, with large color illustrations.  The result is an eye-catching and eye-opening book.  After you have finished reading, I think you'll find yourself noticing more of the tiny wildlife while out in the yard this summer. You may find yourself thinking "Where will they go?" Here in icy Michigan, their best bet would be to find some retirees and hop a ride to Florida, but the book doesn't mention that scenario.
            
Review copy provided by Boyds Mills Press.

Everybody Was a Baby Once

 

Candlewick Press

Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman

We were first introduced to the creative team of Allan Alhberg and Bruce Ingman with the release of The Runaway Dinner in 2006.  Not to derail my own review, but if you haven't read that one, I heartily recommend you do.  It's a clever little tale of what happens when a sausage (named Melvin) hops right up off a little boy's dinner plate and leads him on a merry chase all over town. The Pencil, equally delightful, followed two years later. Both books have convinced me that Ahlberg and Ingham make a terrific team.

Now the winning team is back, returning with a really fun book of poetry.  They might be writing in rhymes, but they remain every bit as funny and offbeat as in their picture books. I really like children's poetry books that are not flowery or sentimental.  Some kids (and parents) are only going to relate to poetry if it's funny or clever or downright strange. 

This is a happy collection of poems on all sorts of subjects; from monsters to mice, they cover a little bit of everything. The book opens with Monday is Washday and closes with Friday is Fishday.  I guess all the stuff in between are typical weekly happenings in their town. Based on the subject matter, tt must be one heck of a crazy town.  How in the world do authors manage to come up with their crazy ideas?           

My very favorite poem in the whole book is Dirty Bill. It's short and sweet, comprised of just thirteen words in two lines, but funny as heck. I also very much enjoyed the Sausage Whistler.  This one is a bit longer, but features a ring of dancing sausages (Melvin's relatives possibly?) that will win your heart. All right, I can't just go on listing the poems I liked, because there are far too many.  You'll have to decide on your own favorites.  Until then, enjoy the dancing sausage video below.  



Review copy provided by Candlewick Press.