PPBF: Standing in for Lincoln Green

Author/Illustrator: David Mackintosh
Publisher: Abrahms, 2013
Ages: 4-7yrs
Themes: identity, responsibility, humorous stories
Opening: Lincoln Green has a double. Someone who looks just like him. A match. SNAP!
Summary: (from my library catalog) Lincoln has a double, You Know Who, to do all of his unpleasant tasks while Lincoln sleeps, plays, or visits his best friend, but when You Know Who makes a friend of his own, Lincoln is in big trouble.

I like this book because: You know how they say, “Write the book you want to read”? Well, this is the kind of book I want to read just as much now as I would have in first grade. I really appreciate the feel Mackintosh has for composition and negative space, for loose line work and graphic shapes, and above all humor – in his art as well as between the lines in the text.

Resources/activities: make a list of chores you might be asked to do in your family, define which seem reasonable, which don’t, which ones you can’t stand, and which ones you look forward to learning (I wanted to iron like nobody’s business, until I actually got the chance. Still hate ironing!).

For existing PPBF selections, including resources and activities, go to Susanna Hill’s blog: HERE

PPBF: Boats for Papa

Author/Illustrator: Jessixa Bagley
Publisher:Roaring Brook Press, 2015
Ages: 3-7yrs
Themes: mother-child, boats, handicraft
Opening: Buckley and his mama lived in a small wooden house by the sea. They didn’t have much, but they always had each other.
Summary: (from my library catalog)Buckley and his mother cope with the loss of their father/husband by sending small wooden boats, built by Buckley, off into the ocean..

I like this book because: it is a sweet heartwarming story, perfect for a grieving child – or adult. The illustrations are lovely watercolors proving just the right amount of detail for quiet discovery. Pay good attention to the endpapers – lovely!

Resources/activities: make a paper sailboat, like the one HERE at YoungAmerica.com; discuss other ways we might feel a connection with lost loved ones, or keep the memories alive.

For existing PPBF selections, including resources and activities, go to Susanna Hill’s blog: HERE

PPBF: Dinner at Alberta’s

Yup, The PPBF series on Susanna Hill’s blog is still on vacation, so I am giving myself permission to stretch the rules for this recommendation, listed under JuvF – not PB – at my library.

Author: Russel Hoban
Illustrator: James Marshall
Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1975
Ages: 6-10 (from the publisher in ’75)
Themes: crocodiles, etiquette, first love
Opening: “Arthur,” said Mrs. Crocodile to her sone one evening at dinner, “you are eating like a regular little beast.”
Summary: (from my library catalog)Arthur Crocodile cannot seem to learn table manners until his sister brings her new girlfriend to visit.

I like this book because: it’s a gem! I am on a James Marshall kick (again!), and this is where I’d like to thank my favorite children’s librarian, Giny (miss you!), for asking me to take a second look at the Marshall books years ago. Hysterical yet understated, lots of beastly sibling snarkiness, and perfect for any child who has been admonished to sit up straight or chew with their mouths closed (you got that, Olivia?).

Resources/activities: write up a list of reasonable table manners, and another wacky list – just for fun (we had ‘no singing during meals’ for a while); discuss table manners that are different form yours – here is a list of 17 from other countries at The Savory, HERE.

For existing PPBF selections including resources and activities, go to Susanna Hill’s blog: HERE

#pb10for10 – fresh classics

I just had to jump in, so forgive me, please, if I am not following guidelines. In the vein of ‘make new friends’, but keep the old’, here are 10 picture book gems I wouldn’t want to live without, and I hope one or two may be new to you. Of course, I’m using the label old rather loosely – a book I may have read to my now adult kids. In no particular order:

Miss Twiggley’s Tree

Brave Irene

One Morning in Maine

Tikki Tikki Tembo

 

Willy and Hugh

Dinner at Alberta’s

 

My Little Hen

The Three Robbers

The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit*

We read this title in German, but I prefer the direct translation: From the Little Mole Who Wanted to Know Who Pooped on His Head

Miss Rumphius

Cathy Mere at Reflect & Refine and Mandy Robek at Enjoy and Embrace Learning organize this event. Look for the hashtag #pb10for10.

 

 

 

PPBF: The Piggy in the Puddle

The PPBF series on Susanna Hill’s blog is still taking a vacation, but I have to share Perfect Picture Books as discover them, at least on Fridays!Author: Charlotte Pomerantz
Illustrator: James Marshall
Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 1974
Ages: 3-8
Themes: pigs, mud, stories in rhyme
Opening: See the piggy,/ See the puddle,/ See the muddy little puddle,/ See the piggy in the middle/ Of the muddy little puddle.
Summary: (from my library catalog) Unable to persuade a young pig from frolicking in the mud, her family finally joins her for a mud party.

I like this book because: my inner-kindergartener yelled, “More! More!” while I read aloud with runaway energy! Another classic gem I was glad to be able to get a hold of through my inter-library loan system. The art is pure Marshall: subtle, hysterical, effective!

Resources/activities: discuss why pigs like to wallow in mud, and possibly other seemingly strange habits of animals; instructions to make pig finger puppets at ichild – HERE; make a list of words that rhyme with PIG.

For existing PPBF selections including resources and activities, go to Susanna Hill’s blog: HERE