Seasons Book Trailer

Enchanted Lion has just released the trailer for Seasons by Blexbolex. This is a visually stunning book that invites the mind to remember and reflect, spurring it on to imaginative play through its strongly evocative images.  I have not yet leafed through a physical copy of Seasons, but this little video sure makes it look appealing!

I love that books have taken their cue from the film industry and begun making trailers.  It's a terrific way to virtually open the cover, flip the pages and see if it's the book for you, without setting foot in a bookstore.  Not that you should be proud of avoiding bookstores, but sometimes we can all appreciate the convenience of my friend, the Internet.  I adore that 'Look Inside This Book' feature that Amazon frequently offers, but these trailers are waaaaay better. 

The accompanying music is by Luna, which seems to be the perfect choice for the book. Just watching this makes me realize how ready I am to welcome Spring. 

Kenn Nesbitt - Free Download!!

Here in Michigan, rapidly approaching April means we face the possibility of ditching our scarves in favor of umbrellas. I'm not saying it's a certainty, but at least we can start dreaming of naked necks. For warmer states, April means National Poetry Month!  The purpose of NPM is to introduce more readers to poetry by increasing awareness in the media. We have a few books up our sleeve to participate poetically, but this nugget is too good to sit on until then!

Kenn Nesbitt is one of our all-time favorite children's poets. He writes clever, side-splitting poems that kids  instantly relate to. Doing their part to generate interest for National Poetry Month, Sourcebooks is now offering My Hippo Has the Hiccups free online to all readers. Seriously, this is a fantastic offer that I strongly urge you to take advantage of.  Just click the link and the entire book is there for you to view online page by page, or to download for later.      
  

After being thoroughly wooed by his first book, we are delighted that Kenn has written a second book of poetry, The Tighty Whitey Spider, which will be released in April. Rumor has it that Kenn will be covering compelling subjects like Acrobatic Cats, Kung Fu Pets, and Chickens on Computers.  You know this one will be good! If you don't like poems about Acrobatic Cats, just move along.     

While we (not so patiently) wait for his new work, please check out the free version of My Hippo Has the Hiccups.  It's only available until the end of April, so get over there. Heck, email it to your friends and your kids' teachers and you'll get the credit for being an internet wizard who finds the good stuff.  Thanks, Sourcebooks!

Hip-Pocket Papa

Charlesbridge
Sandra Markle; Illustrated by Alan Marks

Sandra Markle always seems to strike just the right balance between fact and fiction. I suppose her books are technically classified as non-fiction, but they also provide the dimensions of a fictional story, which makes them twice as interesting. Yes, we all should enjoy learning, but Sandra knows just how to zoom in on one specific animal to really get the readers emotionally invested in her story.

The hero of our story is .... a hip pocket frog? I haven't ever personally heard of these particular devils - although that's hardly surprising considering how slim my knowledge base is on frogs and toads. For the frog clueless like me, these are very small (no bigger than your thumbnail) dark brown frogs who dwell in Australia. These frogs earned their name by the unique way the males help develop their young. The tadpoles hatch from eggs like any other number of frogs. However, these frogs then slide into skin pockets along the sides of their father's body. Hip pocket papa carries his young tucked into his side pouches until they are fully developed frogs! That odd little quirk makes them pretty darn interesting, I think.  

Our story opens with a pair of hip pocket frogs - expectant parents who guarding their cache of eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the father steps up to perform his task of securing his brood in his hidden hip pockets. When he is not hunting for food, this clever frog buries himself in leaves to hide from predators. At the same time, he is careful to keep his skin wet at all times, as the tadpoles need to be wet to breathe. Father frog carries his tadpoles for nearly a month before the tadpoles are ready to emerge, hopping out as fully formed frogs. 



I was surprised to discover just how truly stunning the forest illustrations are in this book. You might expect frog habitats to be dull, but brilliant golds, browns and greens shine here. Some books, and this is obviously one of them, have illustrations so beautiful that my first inclination is to rip them right out and tack them up on my walls.  It seems almost a shame to close the cover and hide these from view.    

My only complaint, which doesn't have a thing to do with this book, is that I was a little disappointed to find that Sandra Markle doesn't have a personal website. It seemed to me that someone with her considerable artistic talent would naturally boast a neat, science-y, interactive site. But I can't complain too much that she prefers to spend her time writing phenomenal books like these for us to enjoy.

So maybe just ignore that nitpicking and instead check out a really lovely and wonderful book on some unusual frogs that really does deserve your attention!

Review copy provided by Charlesbridge. 

Thunderheads

Smithsonian Networks and Infinity Entertainment Group

Smithsonian Networks produces some of the best, most interesting, well-done videos on the planet. We can all agree on that, right? They have a way of taking a topic that I have never given much thought to, waving their wand and producing a riveting documentary that I would watch multiple times. This DVD pretty much guarantees that you will never again look out your window at a thunderstorm in the same ho-hum way again.

Basically, a large group of the world's smartest scientists and researchers join forces with the world's best pilots. All 250 of these super-smart and/or super-capable people load themselves and some very expensive, high-tech gadgets onto seven planes and fly straight to Darwin, Australia. Why Darwin? This group has been planning for two years, waiting for just the right opportunity. They believe Australia will offer their opportunity in the form of a very large thunderstorm, nicknamed Hector.

To recap, these people are flying directly into a gigantic ball of water and fire. And those are the smartest people in the world. Their mission is called I.C.E. - the International Cloud Experiment. The group is hoping they can study Hector to learn how thunderstorms affect global warming. Clouds are the Earth's first line of defense against global warning, and understanding them is key to understanding more about global warming.

What makes this documentary spectacular? During the experiment, a record-breaking tropical typhoon will arise, then spend seven days as a "landphoon" over the Australian desert. The pilots will be battling life-threatening turbulence, lightning, grapefruit-sized hail, microbursts, mysterious “gravity waves” and mechanical mishaps. Possibly best all, the pilots will be fighting with the scientists to keep a safe distance from the danger.

Chris Wormell

Jules at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast has just posted a very smart interview with author Chris Wormell, who has a host of other delicious books to his name. Chris hails from the UK, which is why only some of his books are available to us in the States. Still, we'll take what we can get, right?


We reviewed Ferocious Wild Beasts by Chris Wornell last fall and just loved it. As a way of keeping him from wandering away, a little boy's mother has filled his head with stories of all the terrible beasts who dwell in the forest. In the end, it isn't the little boy who is frightened, but the very animals themselves. They run screaming into the night, terrified by what might be lurking in the forest.


As soon as I had finished the Seven interview, I tacked Molly and the Night Monster to my growing list of must-buy books. Doesn't it look as though it would be a nice mate to Ferocious Wild Beasts? It nearly looks as though some of the animals stumbled right out of the forest and into Molly's hallway.

Hitch over and take a look into the mind of author/illustrator who has the ability to produce these wonderful books. He explains his thinking and producing processes, shows off some of his illustrative tools and names some creative influences.

I Always, Always Get My Way

Flashlight Press
Thad Krasnesky; Illustrated by David Parkins

This story is about a little girl named Emmy, who happens to be a very precocious three year old. She is also a smart little girl who immediately picks up on the idea that she can get away with all sorts of trouble because ... she is only three.

The initial incident truly is a accident when Emmy innocently spills her orange juice on the breakfast table. Of course, the juice runs straight to her Dad's pants, who has a few choice words about his daughter's carelessness. Emmy's mom comes to her rescue when she utters the magic words "Now, sweetheart, you should let it be. After all ... she's only three." Voila. Emmy learns the power of the perfect excuse.


Now that Emmy has caught on, there is no end in sight to her mischief making. Since three year olds are not held responsible for their own actions, little Emmy can cause all sorts of mischief and mayhem with no consequences. Oh, boy. She takes her older sister's things without permission, digs a gigantic hole in the backyard, muddies up her mum's nice chair and eats ice cream concoctions for breakfast.


All the trouble Emmy creates comes crashing down about her shoulders when she tries to use her "little girl" excuse one too many times. Suddenly her family realizes that Emmy is old enough to know better and to be held accountable for her actions when she behaves inappropriately. No more free passes!

What a perfect book about a very important lesson that mommies and daddies, er, young children need to learn. Picking up this book is a surefire way to teach this particular lesson in a painless way. You can enjoy the rhyming text paired with funny, imaginative illustrations and feel good about the message imparted!

Review copy provided by Flashlight Press.

Oliver Jeffers Video

I love me some Oliver Jeffers! He might be best known for The Incredible Book-Eating Boy, but the truth is ALL his books are pretty much incredible. March brings us the brand new lemon yellow creation below. Oliver says "the new book is about a girl who puts her heart in a safe place after losing something important to her. "

And a fun little video featuring Oliver Jeffers explaining how he works. Usually I love listening to authors and illustrators explain their style and double that for peeping inside their work area. I spent most of this video trying to determine if Oliver's mustache was real or fake, and I missed a lot of what he was saying. The mustache is very distracting!!

Barney & Friends: Egg-Cellent Adventures

Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment

Could you jam a great big purple dinosaur into your Easter basket this year? Maybe a slightly smaller green or yellow dinosaur? Every year I am faced with the same dilemma - should I fill the baskets up with cheap candy or try to find seasonal items that won't rot their teeth without cluttering up the house? This DVD is the perfect solution for the younger set. At $14.98, it won't break the bank and is certain to provide more hours of enjoyment than a bag of speckled chocolate eggs. Well, better for kids anyway - just set those eggs aside for yourself as a pat on the back for being such a clever basket filler.

Even if moms and dads aren't the Barney biggest fans, they can always trust him to deliver a wholesome message. The big guy always comes through with a dancing and singing display that puts sharing and caring at the forefront of every episode. Did you know that this Emmy award-winning series (I didn't!) is one of the top-rated preschool shows today?

You know, I'm not a huge Barney fan, but I will admit he does teach valuable lessons. I don't have a clue what it is about his demeanor that makes the kids flock to him so eagerly, but he's onto something there. Make Easter "super-dee-duper" by giving your chidlren an Easter spectacular that includes Mother Goose, a nest full of eggs, and a mysterious, carrot-eating visitor.

Episodes include: Rabbits, Mother Goose, Ducks and Fish. DVD special features: Barney’s Easter Egg Hunt, Gumdrops Matching Game.

Review copy provided by Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment.

Here Comes the Bride

Tundra Books
Beatrice Masini; Illustrated by Anna Laura Cantone

Filomena is a very talented excellent seamstress who is able to whip up nearly anything under the sun. Although she can create any look, her absolute favorite projects are wedding dresses. Because of her ability to listen closely to each bride, every engaged woman in town wants Filomena to create her gown. She turns their dreams into dresses - under Filomena's steady hands they can emerge as beautiful princesses, dainty fairies or glamorous movie stars!



Working on wedding dresses day in and day out fills Filomena's head with lace, silk and bows. Better than anyone else, she knows what a dress needs to turn every head in the church. While she works, Filomena dreams of her own wedding day. Er, she's not actually engaged .... she doesn't really have a boyfriend. Unbeknowst to Filomena, her dream wedding is much closer than she might think. For next door, a mechanic named Rusty has been loving Filomena for a very long time, saving his pennies for an engagement ring.


When Rusty finally works up his courage to ask his true love for her hand in marriage, his request is immediately accepted. Filomena's eyes light up as she begins to plan her own gown. The illustration here is hilarious, the look of joy is perfectly captured on her face, with her eyes practically bugging out of her head. And so Filomena sets to work on her dress. She works, and works, and works. There is no time to spend with her fiance as she has so much to do on her masterpiece.

The whole church eagerly awaits the bride and her beautiful gown, though no one is as eager as her groom. But when Filomena appears, she was only a giant puff of white with lace and frills, butterflies and tulle. Rusty can not even see the girl he had fallen in love with. He flees the church, hops on his trusty scooter and gets the heck away from that church as quickly as he can. And does Filomena flop down on the ground and cry? No, she is made of stronger stuff than that! She runs right after her groom, her veil streaming out behind her, buttons and bows popping off in the wind.


After a feisty chase, Filomena catches up to Rusty and calms his fears. They return hand in hand to the church. So many embellishments have flown from Filomena's dress that it is now ... simple and elegant. It fact, it is the most beautiful dress she has ever made and all her guests are stunned.

Illustrations from Anna Laura Cantone are always just glorious. Bright colors, intricate patterns, and plenty of fun details to catch your eye on every page. This is a beautiful, wonderful book that will capture the heart of any little girl who dreams of her own wedding day. But a nice practical ending that will appeal to parents who pay for those weddings.

Check out a very nice interview with illustrator Anna Laura Cantone here at Children's Literature. Her advice to parents to foster creativity: "Push children to use lots of imagination. Use everyday materials and recycle things to create something new. That allows all of us to be free to try something new and different. If you use expensive materials you are going to be afraid to try for fear of wasting precious materials."

Review copy provided by Tundra Books.