Winter Lullaby written by Dianne White, illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki

 

Winter Lullaby written by Dianne White,

illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki

Candlewick Press, 2021, 32 pages

Like much of the country, it's bitter cold in NYC today so what better time than now to re-read Winter Lullaby with my young readers, especially since we are all basically hibernating anyway. Told in rhyming couplets (a favorite of my kiddos), the story begins just as winter is arriving in the forest. With cold winds and graying skies, Mama Bear tells Small Bear it's time for them to go to bed for the winter. As the pair head to their den, Small Bear wants to know why he must sleep when he spots first a scurrying mouse and the a wide awake chipmunk gathering nuts, to which Mama Bear explains: "Mouse is rushing to her nest./ In soft, dry grasses she will rest./ Chipmunk stores his cache below/ before he curls beneath the snow."   

Moving on, Small Bear sees a skunk and a Hare romping in the snow and fallen leaves. 

Why can't he stay up and play, too? But Mama Bear explains that they too will soon be sleeping away the winter.

Continuing on to their own den, Small Bear notices a busy badger and a raccoon. Thinking they are playing and not getting ready to sleep, Small Bear begins to protest going to bed because he wants to stay outside and play, too. 

Mama Bear patiently explains to Small Bear that all the animals he has seen will soon be hibernating, too. And she promises that when they wake up, the world will be green and warm again, and Small Bear can go out and play. Meanwhile: "It's time, my cub, to close your eyes. / The night sings soothing lullabies./ We'll snuggle close all winter through./ I love you, Mama,/ I love you, too."

This is such a wonderful bedtime story for kids who are resistant to going to bed, and ending with am often needed reassurance that morning (spring) will come and they can play with friends again. It is also useful for introducing young readers to animals who hibernate and why. Lots of good conversation can result from both of these discussions. Dovetailing with the text are soft, digitally created illustrations that take readers from an autumn palette to a silvery white palette. 

My young kiddos love this story and we have read it many times and what better endorsement than kids who keep asking for a story to be read to them again and again.

After you and your kiddos enjoy reading Winter Lullaby, you can download an activity kit HERE along with a doorknob hanger that can be printed out to let everyone know whether they are awake or hibernating HERE, and you can also find a fingerplay page called HERE-IS-A-CAVE. All fun indoor activities to get through the winter. 

While this book was originally read as an eARC gratefully received from Edelweiss+, I ended up getting a hard copy for our little library of favorites. 

A Polar Bear in the Snow by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Shawn Harris

 

A Polar Bear in the Snow by Mac Barnett,

art by Shawn Harris

Candlewick Press, 2020, 40 pages

I always tell people that I love a good bear story and this simply told and beautifully illustrated story is one of the best. It begins with a simple declarative sentence "There is a polar bear in the snow" facing a blank not quite white textured page. Turn the page, and a smudgey black nose appears in the snow sniffing the air.

Awake from his nap now, a magnificently sized polar bear sets off with determination across the snowy landscape, as the unknown narrator asks: Where is he going? First, the polar bear passes by a group of playful seals, but he isn't hungry and he moves on. Next, he passes by a cave, so he's not going to safely hunker down in there away from the snowstorm. His fur will keep him warm. And he's definitely not going to see the man standing alone on the snowy landscape. No, that man quickly and wisely runs away from the roaring polar bear and his rather large teeth.

Once again, the narrator asks where is the polar bear going? Suddenly, the panoramic white/light gray/ice blue snowy vista, against which the polar bear looked small, gives way to the shocking icy greenish blue of the arctic sea, as he slowly slips into the water:

What follows are six pages of the polar bear playing in the sea with schools of fish swimming around him. And as he happily twists and turns and stretches his body, it becomes an underwater ballet. And when bear is done, he climbs out of the water, and following his wet, snowy footprints, once again the question where is he going and the answer: who know?

Spare text and the repetition of the statement and question There is a polar bear in the snow. Where is he going? will keep the suspense going and the simple answers help move the story along to the sea. But the straightforward text will also focus reader's attention on the wonderful illustrations. Each page in done on textured paper to look like untouched snow, and the polar bear, all the other animals(including human) and landscape are cut from the the same textured paper, with details inked in, and collaged to give each page a dimensional feeling. 

A Polar Bear in the Snow is definitely going on my list of favorite bear books, and I suspect it will be on the list of many young bear-loving readers. This is a charming book with touches of humor that will be read again and again.

This book is recommended for readers age 4+

This book was gratefully received by me from the publisher, Candlewick Press 

Blog Tour: Share, Big Bear, Share! by Maureen Wright, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

Big Bear is back and this time he has a big bucket of beautiful blueberries to eat. And they sure do look good, at least that’s what Big Bear’s forest friends think as they watch him dig in without offering any to them. But Big Bear is so busy with his blueberries, he doesn’t even notice his friends as they gather around him and wonder why he isn't offering any to them. In fact, he is so intent on enjoying his blueberries that each time the Old Oak Tree tries to remind him to “Share, Big Bear, Share,” Big Bear thinks he has been reminded to do something else, over and over and over. Will Big Bear finally understand what the Old Oak Tree is really telling him and share his blueberries with all his forest friends before they are all gone?

Share, Big Bear, Share follows the same jolly rhyming pattern as the two previous Big Bear books, Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! (2009) and Sneeze, Big Bear, Sneeze! (2011). Kids already familiar with these books will no doubt immediately pick up on the repetition of the Oak Tree’s imperative to Share, Big Bear, Share! and join in at the appropriate places; kids not familiar with the pattern won’t take long to pick up on it and join in as well. There’s plenty of humor to be found in the story as Big Bear, so intent on enjoying his blueberries, doesn’t really pay attention to the Oak Tree and keep goofing up, so expect lots of laughter. 

Will Hillenbrand’s delightfully whimsical illustrations, done with graphite pencil and digital media, add so much to the humor of the story. And Hillenbrand knows what he is doing. He has written and/or illustrated over 60 books for young readers including Down by the Barn, Mother Goose Picture Puzzles and the Bear and Mole series. He has lived almost all of his life in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he grew up as the youngest of four boys. He now lives in Terrace Park and was recently honored as Author/Illustrator in Residence at Kent State University. 

Information about his books, selected readings, art process videos, and activity ideas can be viewed at http://www.willhillenbrand.com/ You can also connect with Will at https://www.facebook.com/willhillenbrandbooks 
And, you can find some fun activities at his website, including a game to Help Big Bear Share HERE

Besides being a pretty funny story, there are some serious themes to be found that could/should generate plenty of discussion with young readers, themes that stress the importance of paying attention, making mistakes, forgiving, and sharing.

I think the book trailer for Share, Big Bear, Share! will give you an idea of just how charming this book really is. 

I was given a copy of Share, Big Bear, Share! by the publisher, Two Lions for a giveaway, but it unfortunately suffered some water damage in the fire that happened in my building last week, see my post of May 8, 2017.

The Blue Whale and The Polar Bear, two books written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond

April 22nd is Earth Day, but this year it is also a day to March for Science, to celebrate the vital role that science plays in our lives and in the wider world around us. Earth Day and March for Science are especially important now that their needed funding for research, development and education is being threatened. I would share two of my favorite science books about two species that are also threatened due to causes like habitat loss, climate change and toxins in the waters where blue whales swim, and the Arctic region where polar bears live.

Once upon a time...
a young boy takes a book off a shelf, and, lying on his bed wearing a red crown that looks suspiciously like those tissue paper crowns that come in Christmas crackers, he begins to read a book called The Blue Whale. And so do we...

Desmond's lovely meta-fiction picture book introduces readers to the magnificence of "the largest living creature on our planet," the blue whale, through factual information, comparisons, and stunning illustrations. Using simple and direct language, readers learn, for example, that the world's largest creature has a big 1,300 pound heart, actually the size of a small car; that blue whales can weight as much as 160 tons, about the same as 55 hippopotami.

A blue whale's anatomy would, of course, require it to be proportional to its size, and thus, it has a 6" eye, a 3 ton tongue, and a mouth so big 50 people could stand inside it. Not surprisingly, a full grown whale eats four tons of food per day, mainly krill, a shrimp-like sea creature. A baby blue whale can drink up to 50 gallons of its mother's milk everyday.

Desmond's text is only half the story, and her beautiful illustrations tell the rest of the tale. Done in a combination of collage, paint and color pencil, with a palette of predominantly ocean-worthy blues and whites, they offer readers an interesting mixture of realistic and imaginative images.

Be sure to read the Author's Note at the beginning of the book to better understand what she is trying to do with this book. There's lots more information throughout The Blue Whale, just waiting for a curious child to come along and begin reading.

Just as she did in The Blue Whale, Jenni Desmond begins this book with a young girl sporting a red crown pulling a book from a shelf, and who then curls up on a couch with her favorite stuffies and begins reading The Polar Bear. And so do we...

In this meta-fiction picture book, readers learn all about the polar bear, its anatomy, its habitat, what it hunts and likes to eat. Polar bears, also called sea bears, spend most of their life in the frozen Arctic regions of the world, and have a body that has adapted to the harsh conditions there. Two layers of fur, a tough hide and a thick layer of fat really helps, as do their very big paws, each about the size of a dinner plate, that help them hunt, dig, swim, and make pretty good snow shoes. They are large animals, though not nearly as large as a blue whale, but, Desmond writes, more like the length of two seven year-old kids.

Polar bears need to eat a lot, but don't have to eat every day. Their main food sources are seals, walrus', narwhals, and beluga whales and a polar bear will walk long distances in search of food. They usually eat about 40 seals a year. Interestingly, polar bears get their water from the seals fat, because sea water is too salty to drink. Unlike other bears, polar bears don't hibernate, but can sleep for long periods of time, especially in summer when ice melts and food is hard to find.

These are just some of the interesting facts that Desmond shares with readers about the life of polar bears. And just as she did with The Blue Whale, Desmond lets the illustrations tell half the story. The mixed-media illustrations are done in combination of paint, crayon, color pencil, in a palette that is more versions of mainly icy blues and winter whites than I would have imagined possible.

Be sure to read the Author's Note at the beginning of this book to learn about the dangers faced by polar bears from the environment and from man. These beautiful bears are a very vulnerable and threatened species.

Both The Blue Whale and The Polar Bear are imaginative and informative at the same time. Each book succeeds in two ways - they celebrate reading nonfiction and they educate readers about an threatened creature. The presence of the young readers in places where they would not ever be found adds a fanciful note to these otherwise factual narratives, carrying a lovely message about how you can get lost in a good book. And these are two books that my young readers got very lost in.

These books are recommended for readers age 5+
These books were purchased for my personal library

April 22, 2017 is Earth Day