More Picture Book Joy

Reading is Fun

 

Candlewick Press always has so many wonderful picture books sometimes it's hard to choose what to share with my young readers. Here are a few that I have chosen and which I am sure will become everyone's new favorites:

My Red Hat written and illustrated by 

Rebecca Stubbs

Candlewick Press, 2021, 32 pages

In this intergenerational story, a loving grandfather passes down his red hat to his granddaughter and tells her about all the different possibilities the hat holds for her and which are clearly based on his own life experiences. The hat, he says, can simply be used to keep her warm or dry, protect her from the sun or the rain, help her stand out in a crowd, or hide in one. The hat can hold her dreams, secrets, and fears and it is full of possibility - places to go, things to see, people to meet until home calls her back. Using simple landscape line illustrations, done in a limited palette of colors, Stubbs captures the idea of a child's connection to her family and home while encouraging her to go out and to confidently explore her internal and external world courageously, knowing that there is always place where she is loved and has roots. This is a warm, tender, thought-provoking story for your young readers. Sometimes grandparents can encourage kids to follow their dreams in ways that parents can't because of the different relationship a child has with the two generations.  

Over the Shop written by JonArno Lawson,

illustrated by Qin Leng

Candlewick Press, 2021, 48 pages

In this wordless intergenerational story, a young girl lives with her grumpy grandparent in a rather run down building with their general store on the ground floor, where the granddaughter helps out when not in school. There's a alley cat who is the grandparent's nemesis, but to whom the girl brings cans of food. Above the shop is an empty apartment that they need to rent. A for-rent sign is hung in the window and a variety of people come, look, and leave. Until one day, a mixed race couple come to look at the apartment and decide to rent it, and though grumpy grandparent doesn't seem to want them, the granddaughter does. Slowly but surely the couple fix up the apartment throughout the fall and winter, with the girl's help and when spring comes round, the work is done, and even the little balcony attached to the apartment is alive with window boxes and plants. Next thing you know, the couple is helping out in the store and the girl is so happy, she even manages to lure the cat up to the apartment where it finds a home. What I really loved about this book was watching how the grumpy grandparent's face changes over the course of the story to one that is happy and smiling by the end, demonstrating how important it is to have caring friends and neighbors. Because this book is wordless, readers need to rely on the wonderfully detailed ink and watercolor illustrations to see to story's progression. Interestingly, the dedication is to trans activists of all ages. I just love the subtleness of gender in this book about inclusiveness. 

No Buddy Like a Book by Allan Wolf, 

illustrated by Brianne Farley

Candlewick Press, 2021, 32 pages

In this book extolling the wonderful things readers can find in books, they are reminded throughout that a book is nothing without a reader and their imagination: "But Books are only smears of ink/ without the reader's mind/  to give the letters meaning/ and to read between the lines." The unnamed narrator focuses on nonfiction and what readers can learn, like how icebergs stay afloat, or how to learn something like cooking and baking. Books can teach readers about space and how to build a telescope or take them on journeys anywhere in the world they would like to go. The only thing a reader needs besides knowing how to read is their own imagination. Told in an ABCB rhyme scheme, this lyrical tribute to books and reading will delight young readers just starting out on their own "...aboard the Book Express." Where will it take them? Wherever they want to go. The mixed media illustrations for this charming oversized book are bold and colorful, and includes diverse group of young readers. One of the things I used to tell my very reluctant fourth grader readers is how a book can open up so many new worlds and adventures for them. How I wish I had this book to read and show them what I was talking about. 

Ellie's Dragon written and illustrated by

Bob Graham

Candlewick Press, 2020, 40 pages

One day, Ellie finds a tiny dragon. Holding it in her hand, its little claws tickled her and so she named it Scratch. At first, she made scratch a little bed out of a match box, but when he grew some, he took up residence in her dollhouse. Ellie and Scratch spent lots of time together, even if her mom couldn't see him. At first, Ellie took Scratch everywhere, even to preschool where the other kids loved him, but, like Ellie's mom, the teacher couldn't see Scratch. But when Ellie went to kindergarten, she forget to bring Scratch with her. By Ellie's 8th birthday, Scratch had learned to fly, though sometimes Ellie still took him places with her. As Ellie grew, Scratch began to fade, until one day, he just slipped away out the window while she slept. Ellie sometimes still thought about Scratch, but the fully grown dragon soon found a new home with a little boy down the street, who now takes him everywhere. This is such a wonderful example of how imaginary friends begin, bring comfort and companionship, and when the time is right, slip away, but are never completely forgotten. Graham's watercolor and ink illustrations are simple, colorful, and whimsical, the writing is straightforward, with humor and warmth. Though the story has been compared to the song "Puff the Magic Dragon" because it does have a touch of the same kind of melancholy, Ellie's Dragon has a much happier ending. 

Mindi and the Goose No One Else Could See

by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Linda Ólafsdóttir

Candlewick Press, 2021, 40 pages

Mindi is afraid of a great big goose that no one else can see. You couldn't call it an imaginary friend, though, since she was so fearful of this goose. And no matter what her parents do to keep it away, even though they couldn't see the goose, it just doesn't leave. So her dad decides to consult with Austen, a wise old man who has help other people before. The plan is simple enough - take Mindi on a long journey to his farm. While there, a young goat wonders into the house and Austen tells Mindi to give the goat an apricot, and that if he likes her, the goat will return the pit to her hand. Sure enough, the goat returns the pit and Austen even lets Mindi name the little goat. A week later, Austen comes to visit Mindi and her parents, and brings the little goat along. Seeing how Mindi has taken to the goat, Austen makes a suggestion that they trade - he'll take the big scary goose, with the understanding that she will never see it again because his farm is so far away, and she can have the little goat. Is this the happily-ever-after end of the story? Not quite - there's a bit of a surprise at the Austen's farm that no one would have expected. Though not quite as charming as McBratney's stories about Little Nutbrown Hare, this is still an excellent book about dealing with children's fears and anxieties. The mixed media illustrations are beautifully done, ranging from colorful full page images to spot illustrations. 

I received these book from Candlewick Press in exchange for honest reviews.

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

It started again.  This time Crenshaw was riding a surfboard and wearing a t-shirt that says CATS RULE, DOGS DROOL…But, soon-to-be-in-fifth-grader Jackson is the kind of guy who no longer needs or wants an imaginary cat friend.  OK, it was alright that Crenshaw was there when Jackson needed him back in second grade to help cope with his family's money problems when they were forced to live in their minivan for several months.  But things are different now - Jackson is an aspiring scientist who likes facts, just the facts, please,  So why has Crenshaw returned?

Jackson thought things were OK.  His family has a nice enough apartment in Swanlake Village, a place that isn't fancy but it is comforting in its everydayness.  He even has a best friend, Marisol, he can count on and with whom he has a dog-walking service to make a little extra money, and they are really looking forward to being in the same 5th grade class when school begins again.

But little by little worry is creeping in.  Jackson's dad has had to quit working because of his multiple sclerosis  and his mom is working three part time jobs.  Jackson and his sister Robin, 5, are always hungry and one night, there are overheard whispers of moving if the rent couldn't be paid.  But maybe enough money would be made at the forthcoming yard sale, in which everything is to be sold except a bag of favorite thing each kid is allowed to keep.

Later that night, Jackson finds Crenshaw in the bathroom taking a bubble bath.  Hustling him into his room, Robin hears Jackson and Crenshaw talking and it seems that Aretha, the family's Labrador mutt, actually senses the presence of a cat.

Jackson has a lot on his mind with Crenshaw's return, but now that he is older, all he wants is for his parents to tell him the truth about how things stand, the truth about what is going on and their financial situation.  But first, Jackson has a lesson to learn about truthfulness as well, and Crenshaw is just the right imaginary cat friend to give him the sage advice Jackson needs to hear so badly:  "tell the truth to the person who matters most of all."

Now all Jackson has to do is figure out who that person is.

Katherine Applegate addressed an important problem in her book The One and Only Ivan regarding animal abuse through the life and memories of a captive gorilla living in shopping mall for the amusement and entertainment of shoppers.  In Crenshaw, she addresses the problem of hungry and homeless families head on, and to help readers understand how this happens and that it can happen to anyone, she has brought Jackson's old imaginary friend back to act as a catalyst towards that understanding.  OK, Crenshaw is a plot device, but it works here because Jackson can't be trusted to be entirely truthful - not yet, anyway.

The novel is narrated in the first-person by Jackson, who seems to be a relatively honest, understanding and sensible boy.  He's a very good big brother to little sister Robin, reading her her two favorite books, A Hole is to Dig and The House on East 88th Street, whenever she is feeling insecure and is seeking comfort.  Really, the whole family seem like ordinary, good people who really care about each other.  So how did they end up homeless once, with a second time on the near horizon?  Why don't they get help from family, or food from a food pantry?  "There's everything wrong with asking for help." my dad snapped.  " It means we've failed."

Really? With two hungry kids?

And what Jackson needs to do about this is what's at the heart of this coming-of-age story.

A very useful Teacher's Guide has been made available by the publisher Macmillian

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

Join the Crenshaw Food Drive during the month of October - find out how you can help HERE

Family homelessness is a serious problem in this country, affecting 1.6 million children just like Jackson and Robin.  You can find out more about this at the National Center for Family Homelessness, as well as suggestions if you or someone you know are in need of assistance.