TouchThinkLearn Books

 

Chronicle Books 

Xavier Deneux

The old toddler classic, the board book, has been re-imagined, and the results are fabulous. TouchThinkLearn books are designed for early learning with a new dimension.

These retain the sturdiness we love of board books, but with die cut shapes added to the pages for more to touch and feel. Like tiny puzzles, the raised up shapes on the left hand page fit exactly into the cut out shapes on the right side. The shapes are very simple yet thick, so toddlers can get those chubby hands right in there, but parents won't have worry about them being able to tear any pieces off.  

Obviously you need more than just sturdy to make a great board book. Deneux has a way of creating illustrations that are very simple, but incredibly adorable. The bunnies that illustrate inside/outside in the Opposites book are the cutest darn things. They are only outdone by the  white kitten turned ninja cat in the Colors book. It's very clever how the elephant demonstrating heavy fits perfectly into the pure white cloud that is light, and the submarine is the exact same shape as the whale. 

Creating a better board book with more dimension is a smart idea. Unlike books that offer flaps and pop ups, these are sturdy enough for curious toddlers. I love Colors and Opposites, and would expect the other two books in the collection, Shapes and Numbers, to be on par. Smart, cute, and fun to touch.    

Review copy provided by Chronicle Books. 

I Scream Ice Cream: a Book of Wordles

Chronicle Books

Amy Krouse Rosenthal; Illustrated by Serge Bloch 

At first I thought "wordles" must be a fabricated word for the sake of humor, but it's a real thing. A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differ in meaning. Wordles are a group of words that sound exactly the same as another group of totally different words. I scream/ice cream is easily the one that people are most familiar with, but it certainly isn't the funniest one in the book.

The first group of words is given with a terrific illustration by Serge Bloch. The reader is supposed to guess what an alternate meaning might be, before turning the page. The first couple are on the easy side (probably just to boost the readers' confidence) but they ramp up after that. Honestly, the obscurity is what makes the book so funny. I loved turning each page to see the answer and illustration. "Pants. Knees." becomes "Pant ... sneeze."

Rosenthal has laid the groundwork of the book by coming up with some really clever phrases, but I think it's Serge Bloch who adds the magic with his illustrations. Instead of showing reindeer placidly standing around, his are soaring across the sky, like a pack of geese flying south for the winter.The wordle with Snow White has a pack of dwarfs lined up behind her, all glowering at the wicked queen. This is like a puzzle and a picture book rolled up into one.

Review copy provided by Chronicle Books. 
 

How to be the Best Bubble Writer in the World Ever!

Chronicle Books

Linda Scott

Ah, bubble writing takes me back! If you live under a rock, bubble writing is hand-drawn letters that are so round and puffy that they look as if they are made from bubbles. It is also big FUN (once you learn how) and will enable you to make super sweet posters and design awesome logos. In short, it is the key to popularity. Okay, not really. But it is super fun and makes you feel artistically superior to the kids who live under rocks. Plus, Linda Scott guarantees it will make you happier.

You might think you master the basic bubble letter and you're done. Not so fast. There are 40 hand-drawn typefaces featured here, including robots, lightning strike, caveman, and ribbons. I like that she includes a font for darn near every season/holiday. It is hard to pick favorites, but if pressed, mine would be summer cakes (where every letter is covered with a small cap of sprinkles) and cactus.

Each font page has the entire alphabet written out, so you can see how to make every single letter. Directly above that are several inches of neat lines - space for practicing that font. Tucked in between all those fonts pages are goofy little projects: pages to make your own comic book, bookmarks, door hangers, holiday cards, party invitations, and much more. Scott does a wonderful job of not only presenting the fonts, but also demonstrating creative ways in which to employ them.

In this age of technology, you may be surprised to discover how cool your kids think it is to learn handwritten fonts. I distinctly remember someone showing me how to make bubble letters when I was in seventh grade, and immediately set to impressing my friends. I would have been a rock star with this book!

 Review copy provided by Chronicle Books. 

His Shoes Were Far Too Tight

 

Chronicle Books

Edward Lear; Masterminded by Daniel Pinkwater; Illustrated by Calef Brown

 

Almost 200 years ago, Edward Lear made his living as a poet and artist, best known for his absurd wit. Mr. Lear had a sense of humor about himself and nearly everything else in the world. His first book of poems, A Book of Nonsense, was published in 1846. Lear poked fun at everything, which was the subject of his poems.

So is this a book of nonsense? Absolutely! The first poem is titled "How Pleasant to Know Mr. Lear!" That seems appropriate, doesn't it? I guess there might be some factual information in there, but it is difficult to separate the fact from fiction. Did he drink a great deal of Marsala, but eschew ginger beer? Maybe that was the key to maintaining his perfectly spherical body.

He weeps by the side of the ocean, 

He weeps on the top of the hill; 

He purchases pancakes and lotion, 

And chocolate shrimps from the mill.

If that poem and the following ones are any indication, Mr. Lear must have been a heck of a guy. I think his most well known poem is The Owl and the Pussycat, which is included here. But are you familiar with The Duck and the Kangaroo or Mrs. Blue Dickey Bird? The Nonsense Alphabet is pretty great too, with a funny stanza for each letter.

A fellow genius and nonsense master, Daniel Pinkwater, selected the poems and wrote the introduction for this book, while Calef Brown provided the brilliant illustrations. I somehow doubt that Edward Lear's original books published so long ago were this captivating, with brightly colored (pink, purple, orange and turquoise) bodies swarming the pages. How wonderful that this duo created a clever way to introduce Lear's poetry to a whole new generation.        

Review copy provided by Chronicle Books.

Press Here

Chronicle Kids

Herve Tullet

Some of the simplest of ideas can be the most engaging. I had initially thought this book would be best for younger children - maybe three or four year olds. Wrong. My six year old is absolutely taken with this book. I think it must be the interactive quality that has him hooked, or the fact that he thinks he's controlling the dots' outcome. It's probably a combination of the two that makes this book irresistible.

The first page has the single yellow smudgey dot from the cover with the directions "Press here and turn the page." Similarly, each page has a number of dots with a single direction. As you follow the directions, your actions will make more dots appear, change colors and fly about the pages. Soon you will be clapping your hands, rubbing the dots, standing the book up straight and shaking it around - whatever you need to do to make those dots move. I love that you need to rely on your imagination to really be taken in by the book. Just let go and do what the book tells you to do and it feels like magic!
 
I think this is one of those books that is so simple, it make you think "Why didn't I come up with this?" and really marvel at the person who thought to put it together. So let's all take a moment a marvel at the ingeniousness that is Herve Tullet. He has been creating children's books for 15 years and has come up with some amazing things. It makes me a feel a bit better to find he's no one-hit wonder.  




Review copy provided by Chronicle Kids.

Just One Bite

 

Chronicle Books

Lola Schaefer; Illustrated by Geoff Waring

I love that this book stands out right off the bat, due to the extreme size. I know we have some large books, but this one seems enormous at 12" x 12" - larger than any other children's books currently on our bookshelves. For some reason, it's just plain fun to read a really large book.     

And just why is this book so large? It has to be big to cover the life size bites of eleven animals!  It isn't just small animals that put in an appearance - the big guys like the Komodo dragon and black bear show up and really take over the pages. Before we get to them, we start off tiny, with how much dirt a worm can eat with just one scoop.  It builds up from there, to how much nectar one butterfly can sip, to how many beetles a frog can flick.  We work our way through medium and large animals, all the way to the sperm whale.  And that life size bite is so large that the page has to open up to accommodate the giant meal.

I have always loved oversized books, just for the pure novelty.  This one is especially enjoyable because all that page room is put to good use demonstrating the actual size of foodstuff in nature. I think sometimes it is hard for kids (and adults alike) to imagine the size of things they read about. This book is wonderful, as they can hold up their own hands for comparison to really get a handle on the sizes.  The giraffe's head only partially fit on the page, but we were able to compare his big eye to ours.  The elephant's lunch was about the size of a child's whole head!  This book gives a great perspective into the lives of eleven amazing animals!


Review copy provided by Chronicle Books. 

Play All Day!

Chronicle Books 

Taro Gomi

The sub-caption is A Really Giant Book of Punch-Out-and-Play Games, Toys, Finger Puppets, Boxes and More!  There's a reason they chose to print that on the front cover, because it's a very accurate description of what you'll find inside. Gosh, I love Taro Gomi.  He has proven himself the king of curbing boredom with his big books of Scribbles, Doodles, and Squiggles. This book takes a slightly different direction by making the play three-dimensional, though I can see how Punchies may not have been the best title. 

This isn't just a book of flat objects you punch out. These are three dimensional play things that really go the distance (hence the title ... Play All Day) after they have been removed. Drum up a game of Ring Toss with the stand up target and two sets of patterned rings or put together a set of the Treasure Boxes to create your own game. There's an awesome set of finger puppets that includes people and animals as well as smiling flowers and trees. One of my favorite is the Zoo Animals - the legs are pieced separately and attach to the bodies, so the animals stand unassisted.

This is the sort of book that is a true gold mine on a rainy stay-in-the-house sort of day or any time you are in need of a quiet activity. I like that the activities are quite varied - make a string of hooked monkeys, put together some picture frames, or set up an entire village. All the pieces are made from heavy cardstock, and the tabs on the constructed boxes are nice and wide, making this a durable set when treated properly.  There are very few printed instructions, but the tabbed pieces are clearly marked, so it is more a matter of punch and go!

Even though you may have already assumed this, it bears mentioning that the illustrations are the usual delightful sort we expect from Taro Gomi.  Bright colors, sweet expressions and a wide variety of activities are waiting inside the cover. Although the play things are pre-printed, they still require a healthy dose of imagination when used in play. This is a terrific book guaranteed to jump start all sorts of creative play. 

Review copy provided by Chronicle Books. 

Chicken Big

Chronicle Kids

Keith Graves

I will admit just looking at this book cover makes me laugh.  I guess there's just something about a really large chicken with a open footed stance that tickles my funny bone. So even before I opened it up, I was already wanting to like it. "Please don't suck, please don't suck."  It so doesn't suck! The giant chicken has a funny flattened haircut, the other chickens are equally awkward and weird - exactly how you want your literary chickens to appear.

This big, humongous chick hatched from a big, humongous egg, which sprang forth from a very small hen. I don't know how that happened, but there are mother hens wincing everywhere. Besides humongo, there are four main characters: little rooster, small chicken, smaller chicken and smallest chicken.  Flatly put, they are not a bright bunch. The smallest chicken has a penchant for blurting out inaccuracies, squawking "It's an elephant!" when she first spies the enormous chick. The coop is small, this chicken is not, and so he is banished for no fault of his own.

When an acorn (this part may seem familiar to readers) falls from the sky, landing squarely on the smallest chicken's head, she screeches "The sky is falling! Run for your lives!" That's where the similarities end. The giant chick calms the others, eating a pile of acorns to prove they are only a delicious snack and not the crumbling sky. He goes on to save the chickens from the terrors of rain, strong winds and a sly fox egg thief. To quote the big chick, "These are not bright chickens." 

The only thing I would change, and this is very minor, would be to name the darn chickens. I grew a wee bit tired of reading "the small chicken, the smaller chicken and the smallest chicken" every time they spoke.  Plus, I feel confident that someone who came up with all of this also has the aptitude to come up with fall-down-funny chicken names.  I feel a tiny bit cheated. 

That one negative is far outshadowed by all the positive factors. The chickens are funny. The illustrations are outstanding. The chickens use word bubbles to say things like "Buk Bok! and Awk!" The smaller chicken is amazingly moronic and makes insane statements. And there's a moral: the big chicken shows that just because he's big (and has a terrible haircut) it doesn't mean he's dumb. He's a nice guy with a big heart, which the other chickens eventually realize, allowing him back in the coop.   



Review copy provided by Chronicle Books.

Magic Scratchers

Chronicle Books

Danny Orleans; Illustrated by Yancey Labat

Need a little wow factor?  Introducing the perfect activity book for the car, a rainy day, or just to show your kids you can be a cool parent. This is a small book with a huge effect. The front covers boasts "You won't believe your eyes!" and it doesn't disappoint.  Grab yourself a coin and get ready to perform some single handed magic.

Each page supplies specific step by step directions. If you carefully follow these, you will be amazed to discover how accurately the book can predict your answers.  Are you thinking what the Great Scratchini is thinking?  See if he can predict which color crayon you will land on in Rainbow Vision.  Try your hand at unveiling which card is hiding under his sleeve in He's Got Your Number. Or give Scratch and Match a try to see if the Great Scratchini will reveal the number you are thinking of. 

Obviously, there is solid mathematical and scientific reasoning for these "tricks" to work. But instead of figuring out the why behind the magic, I'm just going to enjoy the book and believe in the power of the Great Scratchini. I'm amazed by his knowledge!  I'm thinking more kids will love this book as much as I do.  They will like the interactive aspect of scratching off (why is it that we all like to do that?) the silver bits to get to see if the correct answer will be revealed.  Plus, it's shiny and has cool illustrations. It's the perfect car trip accessory: fun for kids, quiet for parents. 




Review copy provided by Chronicle Books.

Noonie's Masterpiece

 

Chronicle Books

Lisa Railsback; Art by Sarajo Frieden

Noonie Norton is a self-proclaimed brilliant artist.  She's creative, imaginative and all sorts of clever. She is also funny and brave and ... not the least bit humble. Noonie has a knack of misdirecting (according to the adults, anyway) her creativity and finding herself in all sorts of trouble, on a routine basis. Can she help it if she's just trying to make a big impact as an artist?      

Noonie's mom died when she was young, and her father didn't feel he was equipped to raise a daughter.  He made the hard decision to let Noonie live with her aunt (her mom's sister) and family, whom he felt could provide a more stable environment for a child. Noonie is too young to understand her father's decision and spends most of her time dreaming of the day her dad will come back for her. 

Noonie finds out about an art contest at school and feels like this could be her big break! Her painting will be truly amazing and everyone will realize the true artist that she has become. Then her dad will definitely come home and take her with him on all his travels. One little flaw in the plan - the contest rules state that paintings have to be of your own family. Noonie "temporarily" lives with her crazy wanna-be actor Uncle Ralph, her tooth obsessed dental hygienist Aunt Sylvia and weirdo Cousin Junior.  Is it possible to produce an award winning painting about them?    

Noonie has a stroke of genius and lots of support from her best friend Reno and her favorite teacher Ms. Lilly. She also discovers that her aunt and uncle only want the best for her while her dad is working. Noonie's painting may not win the contest, but along the way, she learns some really important lessons about her family and friends.   

Masterpiece is an appropriate description for this book.  It's witty and clever, funny and interesting - just like Noonie herself! Best of all, the pages are brimming with glorious illustrations.  It's quirky and wonderfully different from most youth books. I fell in love with the writing in this book.  Lisa writes such things like "Mrs. Tusk and I were opposites.  She was numbers, and I was pictures." 

Check out the trailer below to get an even better feel for the book!  One tiny detail - I didn't like the voice that narrated the video.  It didn't match up with the Noonie in my head.  So if you find that voice a tiny bit grating, don't hold it against the book!




Review copy provided by Chronicle Books.

Eye-Popping 3-D Pets

Chronicle Books
Barry Rothstein and Betsy Rothstein

Authors and publishers are so clever these days about finding great new ways to get kids interested in reading. Talk about making a book truly interactive! This one comes with two pairs of 3-D glasses neatly tucked in a pocket on the inside cover. Don't lose them - you'll need these wild glasses to make the animals leap right off the pages.

Phantograms are a form of an optical illusion. The illusion of depth is produced with a combination of two images that appear smudged (or as this book calls it, "a blurry mess") to the naked eye. Once you don the special specs however, the color filtering power of the glasses makes the image appear to be three dimensional! To kids, this bit of science translates to be really, really cool.

Not just a barrage of fancy photos, this book is also chock full of valuable information for exactly twenty-eight types of pets. A full page of information is provided on each animal, including instructions on how to care for that pet, habits, temperaments and helpful hints. You actually get a sense of what it would be like to own each animal - before you really do own that animal.

Of course, the big hook here is the 3D glasses and really neat rise-from-the-pages animals. But this is also a great resource when your family just isn't sure which pet would be the best fit for your household. Thinking about getting a potbellied pig? Maybe you didn't know that they are easy to train and can be taught lots of fun tricks. Or is a leopard gecko more your speed? Be careful not to grab that little guy by the tail, as it will break right off. Read about those animals, plus Guinea pigs, ferrets, frogs, parrots, tarantulas and more.

Overall, this is a wonderful book on household animals that will capture (and hold) the attention of children of many ages. Great photography, a neat use of science and just plain useful information will get your kids immersed in learning as much as they can about these animals. Just don't lose the glasses!

Chronicle Books Friends & Family Holiday Sale

Chronicle Books is offering 35% off, plus free ground shipping on all on-line offers. They call it the Friends & Family Holiday Sale - their best sale of the season! Dang, that's a really good sale! Jump on this chance to pick up a few Christmas gifts for the readers in your life. It's not just limited to kids' books - there's a huge selection of cookbooks, art and design titles, craft kits, stationery, puzzles and more!

Use promo code FRIENDS at checkout. The offer ends December 4th.

For Just One Day

Chronicle Books
Laura Leuck; Illustrations by Marc Boutavant

Some of my favorite books are those that plant an idea into the mind of a child and really get the imagination racing. I love to see the wheels turning and hear the wild thoughts that burst forth. After reading this, every child will come up with half a dozen animals they would like to be transformed into!

The entire book is built on a simple premise with great execution. Just one question with nine unique responses: If you could be an animal for just one day, what would you be and why? The answers are produced in both beautiful and comical illustrations.


The little boy telling the story has one heck of an imagination. If he could swim the Nile, he would be be a creeping crocodile. But not just any croc, you know. This one wears a tiny red hat and has the sharpest, snapping smile.


Many of the animals pictured have taken on some of the human characteristics or appearances. The rabbit hops along in a striped shirt and green overalls, while the porcupine lazes back, writing in her journal. The illustrations are bright and clever, and altogether very enjoyable.


The only question remaining after reading this book is - what will your kids come up with? In addition to the animals mentioned here, ours wanted to be a gorilla, a one-humped camel and a slow-moving turtle. The very last page includes a little surprise - a shiny mirror that reflects back the most special someone in the whole world.

Creature ABC

Chronicle Books
Andrew Zuckerman

We have a great collection of alphabet books, but this one stands head and shoulders, beak and tail above most of them! Amazing, spellbinding animal photography makes this a book that your children will get hours of pleasure from. It will also be one of those books that can stand the test of time for when the next generation is ready to learn the alphabet.


Some basic explanation: Each animal is assigned four pages. Two pages proclaim the letter in a big black font with a photo of that animal, while the next two pages give the animal's name with a different photo. All white backgrounds and a bold black font gives a no-nonsense attitude and puts the focus squarely on the animals.


As you can see by the examples here, this is truly astonishing photography. Some of the pictures appear so perfect that the animals don't even look real. Andrew Zuckerman first published Creature in 2007, which was 300 pages of studio portraits taken of 175 wild creatures, retailing for $60. He pared down the animals to fit the alphabet and added a few extras to bring us the more affordable version of Creature ABC. Check out the trailer below that shows some of the the studio time that went into the making of the original Creature.

If children had coffee tables, this would be on the top of the stack. They will come for the animals and stay for the entire alphabet. A beautiful book that we will look through again and again, long after the alphabet has been memorized. A great choice for all ages!

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids

Chronicle Books
Jill O'Connor

The introduction from the author makes me instantly love her. She seems totally neurotic about her kitchen and prefers her baked goods to turn out a certain way - just like me! And yet she wrote this cookbook for kids, understanding her kitchen would be under fire and making peace with the situation. If she can let her kitchen become subject to sticky, messy and gooey, any of us can.

Jill's introduction: I have a secret. Baking with children isn't always easy. I realized this a long time ago when I tried to make chocolate cupcakes with my daughter Sophia, an activity that ended badly with her running crying from the kitchen when I took the icing spatula away from her. My older daughter, Olivia, in all her teenage wisdom, like to call me "mean chef." My husband sometimes pretends an invisible time clock is ticking (sound effects included) while I am trying to teach one of them to cook, to see just how many seconds I can stand it before I snatch the whisk from their fingers. Is it just another case of the cobbler's children having no shoes, or am I really just a big kitchen ogre?


Just like the title promises, this book is chock full of wonderfully gooey treats that children will fall head over heels in love with. Armed with recipes such as Flufftastic Fudge, Curiously Sticky Caramel Monkey Bread and Butterscotch French Toast, it's a certainty that parents will be in hog heaven as well. It's surprising to me that these desserts lean a bit upscale, but I guess if you let kids loose in your kitchen with chocolate sprinkles, the knowledge that you will be nibbling on Peanut Butter-Pretzel Bonbons will probably take the edge off. Should the kids get suspicious, you can always wow them with the Ghostly Meringues.


It's important to note that the format of this book is as lovely as the recipes. The page edges are cut into a scalloped design with sweet gingham and flower patterns running the length of each page, almost like using the prettiest recipes cards imaginable. Drool-worthy photos accompanying several of the recipes, and notes are scattered about on white and pastel colored doilies. All of those details come together to make this a cookbook that has a lot of visual appeal and personality.

I really like that each page includes a short paragraph on why that particular recipe was chosen, giving us a little insight into the author's thoughts. It's not just a bunch of recipes stuck together, but rather good explanations on when and where these dishes might be appropriate, or suggestions on how to further adapt them.

Jill also writes "When I was growing up there was often a homemade treat waiting for my brothers and me when we came home from school." I really want my kids to have those kinds of warm memories. It helps to remember there will be plenty of years after your kids are grown to keep your counters fingerprint free and the floors swept clean. With the help of this book, you can allow those sticky little hands to invade your space and help turn out wonderful treats for the whole family.

Jill also lays claim to Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth, which has gotten excellent reviews!

Ivy & Bean: Doomed to Dance

The eagerly awaited sixth book of the Ivy and Bean series is scheduled to be released shortly! Watch the short trailer (I love that books have trailers now) below to see what adventures the irrepressible duo will continue in the latest installment.

From the publisher: Ivy and Bean beg their parents for ballet lessons and swear they won’t quit. Finally, they get what they want … well, not exactly. The girls thought ballet would be leaping and kicking and scaring the heck out of the Prince. It’s not. They have no interest in learning how to dance gracefully and must figure out a way to get out of their dance recital without breaking their promise.

Duck! Rabbit!

Chronicle Books
Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld

As you may notice from the cover, the main drawing presents an ambiguous figure in which the brain switches between seeing a rabbit and a duck. Honestly, when I saw this book for the first time I didn't see the duck at all. The rabbit jumped right out at me and I really had to concentrate before I could see the duck.

The old rabbit/duck illusion has been around for a long time, but the animals have never been drawn this cute before. Plus they do fun stuff that helps you see the duck vs the rabbit. It's easy to identify the duck when he has a crust of bread poised in his bill. Or is the rabbit ready to nibble the carrot stick? Shortly thereafter, we hear animal noises, quacks alternating with rabbit-like sniffing. The argument over the type gets so heated that the animal in question is scared clean away.

This is a super simple, fun twist on an old classic. Kids will have the best time debating which animal it is they see and their reasons why. I'm definitely on the rabbit side of the fence, but open to hearing the duck point of view. Watch the video below for a quick read, or visit the mini-site from Chronicle Books for even more fun!


VIDEO

Big Rabbit's Bad Mood

Chronicle Books
Ramona Badescu; Illustrated by Delphine Durand

Have you ever been at the mercy of one of those bleak, awful moods that totally consumes you? A mood that is dark and mean, and try as you might, you just can't seem to shake? Big Rabbit has a big, bad mood just like that, which is following him around closely. He desperately tries to shake it off , but this is the hairy, clingy type that refuses to budge. What's a bunny to do?

Luckily for the readers, this bad mood happens to be a visible monster that stalks Big Rabbit all about his house. He is tall, with a shaggy gray body and his arms are so long that his knuckles drag on the floor. You can tell by the dopey smile on his face that he just loves tormenting Big Rabbit and prefers to spend his day ruining someone else's!


Big Rabbit calls his friend Squirrel, thinking maybe talking to a good friend will shake this stink off. But Squirrel doesn't answer his phone. Big Rabbit's Bad Mood tells him that's because Squirrel is probably whooping it up with Bear, munching on tea and cookies, having too good of a time to include a grumpy bunny like himself! Grrr. Big Rabbit's bad mood is so beastly that it cannot even be soothed by music or mindless television. After much deliberation, Rabbit knows the only solution is to ... call Big Mommy.


Big Rabbit's Mommy is the best sort: she makes the best pancakes, smells of springtime and always has time for her son. It is an unpleasant surprise for Big Rabbit to hear that she is too busy on this particular day to chat on the telephone. She tells Big Rabbit that she will have to call him back when she has finished with her very important duty. What could be more urgent than being stalked by the biggest, darkest mood in town???

This is the lowest level of low, to be ignored by your own mother. Just as Big Rabbit is working out his own solution to tricking his bad mood away, his doorbell rings. He opens his door to find a very big, very pleasant surprise. And in the midst of his happiness, he realizes the big gray monster is nowhere to be found.


If you won't agree that these are terrific illustrations, then we have a problem. This book could be wordless and I would still declare it a winner. Everything the bad mood does is funny - he devours the radio, lounges on the couch eating chips and treats the vacuum cleaner as if it were a pony. Children should laugh at the concept of a bad mood (which everyone is subject to) being a tangible presence. Big Rabbit is going through what we all go through, but in a much funnier way. Very clever and most enjoyable!

As always, Chronicle Books offers a little bit of extra fun. Check out their checklist of 5 Ways to Chase Away a Bad Mood.

Little Oink

Chronicle Books
Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace

Little Oink is a bit different than most other pigs his age. While he enjoys playing with his pig pals, he also manages to find a way to remain neat and virtually stain free. He loves digging for those sooey-t truffles, but prefers wielding a trowel to soiling his snout. Little Oink happily partakes from the community trough in the mess hall - he's the only piglet with utensils and a checkered napkin.

Little Oink's parents insist that he must learn to make a proper mess so that he can grow up to be a respectable pig. Each night he is forced to don grubby clothes and make a proper mess of his room. Little Oink mumbles and grumbles, but he dutifully unmakes his bed and unfolds his clothes. He reluctantly drags in fresh mud and tosses toys willy-nilly from his toybox. Only after a proper mess has been made will his parents allow him to run off to play his favorite game.


Definitely it is the obvious humorous twist that will have children laughing uproariously. The very idea that adults would make a kid dirty up his room put huge smiles on the face of every child in our reading group. Great concept, but it is the many clever details lurking in the background that make this book so terribly clever. Jen Corace takes such care with her illustrations, working to make each one just so.

Overall, extremely well done and a pleasure to read. As Little Pea has earned a place of honor on our bookshelf, so will Little Oink. I'm always thrilled to find picture books that I enjoy as much as my children. This is a series of books that I could read over and over again - and we certainly will.



Visit Chronicle Books for cool, new stuff like easy-to-follow patterns for making pea, owl, and pig masks, a pin-the-tail-on-the-pig game, coloring sheets, educational activities and more. Plus you can enter to win $2,500 in merchandise from (covet) Pottery Barn Kids. That would be sweet, since PBK at our house typically means Pottery Barn Knockoff.

The third book of a brilliant collaboration by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace. Also available: