review: Bugs By the Numbers

Bugs By the Numbers written and illustrated by Sharon Werner and Sarah Forss. Green Apple, 2011 (978-60905-061-0) $19.99

You might guess from the cover image that this book is visually arresting and you'd be right. A follow-up to the award-winning Alphabeasties, it features bugs impressively created from numerals; the already large book has an even bigger impact with many cut pages that fold out. It's not actually a counting book, but each page gives numeric facts about a bug: "scorpions have 8 legs. They're arachnids, relatives of spiders. Scorpions are very adaptable. Many species are able to live for 1 year on 1 meal." For each of these factual snippets, the graphic designers had a field day; simpler uses of color and plenty of white space keep the pages from seeming impossibly busy. (5 & up)

© 2011 Wendy E. Betts

FTC disclosure: Review copy provided by the publisher. This blog is completely independent, but I receive a small percentage if you order books from Powell's via this site.

Review: Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow?

Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan A. Shea. Illustrated by Tom Slaughter. Blue Apple Books, 2011 (978-1-60905-062-7)

What a fresh, fun idea for a picture book. We know that a duckling will grow to become a duck, but can a car grow to become... a truck? How about a stool and a chair? After several suggestions, the rhyming text gives us the answers: "YES to ducks, bears and owls, NO to trucks, chairs and towels. YES to cats. YES to goats. NO to hats. NO to coats." The change in rhythm keeps the rhyme scheme from getting dull, and paper flaps to lift add anticipation to the silly suggestions.

There's all sorts of easy learning in here, about the names of baby and adult animals, and about the concept of the difference between things that grow and things that are made. Matte paintings in mainly primary colors, white and black, are an age-appropriate, non-distracting backdrop to the text. (2-5)


© 2011 Wendy E. Betts

FTC disclosure: Review copy provided by the publisher. This blog is completely independent, but I receive a small percentage if you order books from Powell's via this site.

review: Happy Easter, Mouse by Laura Numeroff

Happy Easter, Mouse by Laura Numeroff. Illustrated by Felicia Bond. HarperCollins, 2010 (978-0-694-0142204) $6.99 board

After being happy to see the exuberant mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie again, it was a little disappointing to realize that this is not one of the sophisticated circular tales of that series, but a simple concept book about colors. But closer inspection showed plenty to appreciate on that simpler scale.

Mouse has been decorating eggs for Easter. He wakes up in the morning to find a yellow egg under his covers. And who put those red eggs on the counter? And balanced the purple eggs in the table? Careful watchers will spot clues sneaking around some of the pages.

The illustrations are the highlight of this book. Aimed at younger children, they're less elaborate than those of the rest of the series, with lots of white space. But the expressiveness and detail remain. Mouse's bedcover is a beautifully detailed bandana, over which he looks thrilled by the egg he finds. He dashes excitedly around the house, finding eggs in charming little vignettes. There are quite a few visual references to Mouse's first book here, so older fans could enjoying sharing this with younger children. (1-3)

© 2010 Wendy E. Betts

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FTC disclaimer: Reviewed from a copy provided by the publisher. This blog is completely independent, but I receive a small percentage if you order books from Powell's via this site.

review: One Boy

One Boy written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. Roaring Brook, 2008 (978-1-59643-274-1) $14.95

You always get something extra in a concept book by Seeger. This one is a counting book to begin with, but as the pages are turned, cut out pictures also demonstrate how words can be contained by other words: one boy is all alone, six cars turn out to be toys on the carpet. The surprises are fun--ten ants in your pants!--and there's a satisfying framing device, as all the pictures turn out to have been drawn by the one boy, who is now all done. Illustrated with bright, primary colors, this is a terrific choice to share with inquisitive toddlers, who can soak up information about words and reading without even realizing it. (2-5)

copyright 2009 Wendy E. Betts

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review: A Child's Day

A Child's Day: an Alphabet of Play written and illustrated by Ida Pearle. Harcourt, 2008 (978-0-15-206552-2) $12.95

A child's day, as seen here, is one full of action, starting with a for act and ending with z for zoom. There's also blowing pinwheels, dancing, growing things and even some lazy napping. It's an enticing ideal, aptly illustrated with cut-paper collages of featureless children that call to mind old-fashioned silhouettes, except now brightly colored and excitingly textured. But Pearle takes the book beyond rose-colored nostalgia by peopling it with a modern, multicultural cast of children, using different skin tones, hair types, and sophisticated clothes patterns to portray a diversity of backgrounds. Some of the children may catch butterflies in a net, looking like something straight out of Tom Sawyer, but others are practicing martial art kicks or holding up their hands together to "unite." It's a very happy mix of old and new. (2-6)

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review: Counting Ovejas

Counting Ovejas by Sarah Weeks. Illustrated by David Diaz. Atheneum, 2006 (978-0-689-86750-7) $17.99

A little boy who's trying to sleep finds himself counting sheep against his will when they start wandering in ever expanding numbers into his bedroom. "Una oveja blanca./One white sheep. Adios, oveja blanca!/Good-bye, white sheep!" says the boy, gesturing the first sheep out of his room. As the groups of sheep get bigger, the boy has to use increasingly strong measures to get them out: "Nueve ovejas azules/Nine blue sheep" are pushed with a bulldozer, and "Diez ovejas amarillas/Ten yellow sheep" are airlifted by the boy in a personal rotocopter. The tired boy thanks the sheep and falls asleep, only to be cozily surrounded by ten sheep who must have found their way back.

The text here seems very simple, but I really like how it's written: the repetition of phrases highlights the unique words for colors and numbers, and the Spanish and English texts flow into each other so smoothly and invitingly, it only makes sense to read both together. (Though you can choose to read just one, if you prefer.) Best of all, a phonetic pronunciation guide is given under each line, though unfortunately in Spanish only. The illustrations in acrylic and pencil are also attractive, with bright, glowing colors, lots of interesting implied textures (the sheep fur is made up of dozens of spirals), and splotchy-colored backgrounds that add a dreamy effect. The juxtaposition of the old-fashioned looking night garb of the boy and the striking modern colors gives a distinctive, unexpected look. (2-6)

review: Forest Bright, Forest Night

Forest Bright, Forest Night by Jennifer Ward. illustrated by Jamichael Henterly. Dawn, 2005 (978-1-58469-089-4) $7.95 board

Count to ten twice, first with a forest by day, then with a forest by night. In the day, a deer splashes, two bear cubs tumble and three woodpeckers tap; at night three opposums peek, four foxes prowl and five skunks amble. Despite the many active verbs--"chatter and chase... chipmunks race/strut and wobble... turkeys gobble"--the short rhyming text reads very soothingly, in conjunction with the naturalistic but slightly dreamy pictures, making this book seem just right for bedtime. On the other hand, you might want to allow more time to explore some of the captivating detail in the illustrations. The day and night sections each contain the other's opposite: an owl sleeps while the deer splashes during the day; at night, the "owl eyes search" while the deer curls up to sleep. The animals blend intriguingly with their natural surroundings; I particularly like the woodpecker that's just barely visible through a knothole. Perhaps best of all, each page has its number somewhere blended into the background: a sleeping salamander's tail curves into a six, moss on a log forms an eight. These pictures are so packed with interest, the book is probably even better in its larger picture book form. (2-8)

Poetry Friday: Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose

Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. Harcourt, 2007 (978-0-15-205676-6) $17.00

A string of anthropomorphic numbers merrily beboppin' across the end pages sets the tone for this deliciously nonsensical Mother Goose collection. All of the rhymes include numbers, from the well-known "Baa baa black sheep" to more obscure verses like "1-ery, 2-ery, tickery, 10," but it's not really a counting book--in fact, young children who truly want to count may find some of the longer numbers a bit frustrating. (Four and twenty very thin hairs in a wig, for example.) Mostly this book is about imaginative images and movement: the strange, often masked characters cavort across the pages almost as if in a whimsical parade. A clock strikes its own bell, fish strut in boots, potatoes dance in fezzes, the four-and-twenty blackbirds willingly trot into the pie. Except for a few bright splashes, the color scheme is largely muted, as if to keep all the attention on the odd inhabitants of this friendly world. The effect is very engaging, for both young and adult readers. * (2 & up)

review: The Baker's Dozen

It's like magic: right after my last post, a box of books appeared at my doorstep.





The Baker's Dozen written and illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Henry Holt, 2007 (978-0-8050-7809-1) $16.95

I was drawn to the cover of this book, an apple-cheeked-and-chinned baker exuberantly juggling cupcakes. He just looks so darn happy about it. And happiness continues to be the theme throughout, as the baker takes "great care to make one cream eclair," "in the oven bakes two German chocolate cakes," and "in tins the perfect size bakes three cherry pies," all the while loving his job with all his heart. No, the rhyming text is not particularly scintillating, but it's adequate. There are a few cute visual touches here, like the baker's smiling chef-hatted clock, which beams and occasionally licks its lips, but the main point of the pictures is the baker's joy as he creates and dallies with his sweet treats, from the one eclair to the twelve small cupcakes he juggles. Thirteen is the number of customers he greets, and a chart at the end of the book shows the progression of the numbers, from the one eclair, to thirteen eager little boys. Fun for anyone who knows how to truly appreciate food. (2-6)