Books For Kids Blog

I have not posted here in FOREVER! Sorry about that.

I recently found the above blog (click title for link/to go there), and I find it to be a really good review of various children's books, as he blogs about them.

Sorry It's Been So Long . . .

Sorry bout that!

Any of you ever read The Indian In The Cupboard series? I LOVED that series as a kid, but only knew about the first book for a long time, and then the second.

I enjoyed it very much, although in the movie, I had to laugh when he put a Darth Vader action figure in there . . . oh my goodness, was that FUNNY!!

I recently saw, somewhere, another book by someone else, where a magical ??? makes figures come to life, but I can't remember it.

The Coolest Cross-Sections Ever! by Richard Platt, Stephen Biesty, Stephen Biesty

We checked this book out for Emily, and boy is she glad we thought she'd like it.

She LOVES this book, and pores over it at great length. The detail in the illustrations is incredible, and fascinating!

It might possibly be slightly disturbing to see all the "body people" as Emily calls them, peeling back the skin and tongue surface and such in the cut-away cross-section illustrations of various areas and systems of the body . . . but vaguely unsettling though it may be (to ME), Emily loves it!

She has always wanted to find out more about how the body works! It does show the digestive system, and the intestines and what they do. Most books shy away from that latter, but really, if you want your child to be perfectly comfortable with going potty, and the fact that their body produces certain waste products, then I feel it is helpful for them to see this sort of thing.

It isn't gross, or anything, although I do find it a bit funny that Emily will examine this section in great detail when she is in the bathroom . . . . . hee!

Her favorite section of the book is the Human Body section, but the other subjects are fascinating, too!

This book is great for kids younger than the recommended ages, as well as recommended ages to adult!

The Wartville Wizard by Don Madden

We checked this book out at the library for Emily at the same time we checked out Mouldylocks.

The artwork was fun and told the story well, and there are alot more words than the usual picture book. Paragraphs and paragraphs per page, quite often.

Synopsis - A tidy old man spent his time cleaning up the litter that the thoughtless slobs of Wartville left behind. One day, tired of his lot, he gives up, and Mother Nature gives him ``power over trash.'' He then commands that litter ``go back and stick to the person who threw you.'' The townspeople are dismayed, and the Wizard agrees to release them from their trash if they promise not to litter again.

All three of us enjoyed this story. It was the grumpy old man on the front cover with a huge bag on his back, that attracted me to the book, after seeing the unusual title on the shelf.

I think most anyone would enjoy it, and it teaches environmental responsibility, in at least one aspect. Without, I think, coming across too preachy, for the most part.

MouldyLocks by Bernard Lodge

We checked out some books from the library for Emily (she usually chooses her own, but she was at school when we went).

This one looked intriguing, so I checked it out.

The art, is wonderful! This man carves the woodcuts and then prints with them. He did an amazing job, and I love the fun feeling to the style, and the color choices. Especially the green of her "mouldylocks".

The story does not have any similarity to Goldilocks, though, which one might have thought it would from the similar title. Nowadays, alot of authors write spoofs of classic fairytales.

I enjoyed the story, as well. I thought it was pretty good. And you can see why Crabby Ann is named thusly.

It was published in 1998 in Great Britain.

The author has also illustrated Grandma Went to Market, written by Stella Blackstone, and Noah Makes a Boat, written by Pippa Goodhart. He both wrote and illustrated Tanglebird.

The synopsis of the story is this: On her birthday, Mouldylocks the witch is whisked off to a surprise birthday party on a surprise magic broomstick. But when the party games go horribly wrong, Mouldylocks needs all her witching skills to put things right. Surely she's had enough surprises for one day . . . .

Fun story!

Fave Thanksgiving Books?

As a child, I enjoyed Cranberry Thanksgiving and Cranberry Christmas.

Today, a humorous one of my daughter's I enjoy is Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving. Even if it does imply that eating turkeys is bad, it's all in fun, and very funny. I especially love the illustrations.

What are yours?

Favorite Illustrators

Jan Brett does some INCREDIBLE illustration work.

I really like the one who does Diary of a Worm, as well. They really capture the humor.

And then, especially for the younger children, but gorgeous for anyone to see, is Eric Carle. I watched once on Mr. Rogers, how he creates those pieces. Pretty Cool! I wonder if he's done a dolphin . . . .

I love others of course, this is just a few. What about you?