PPBF: Hot Dog

Author/Illustrator: Doug Salati
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, 2022
Age: 2-6
Themes: dogs, city life, hot weather

Opening: City summer, steamy sidewalks

Summary: (from my library’s catalog) It’s summer in the city, and this hot dog has had enough! Enough of sizzling sidewalks, enough of wailing sirens, enough of people’s feet right in his face. When he plops down in the middle of a crosswalk, his owner endeavors to get him the breath of fresh air he needs. She hails a taxi, hops a train, and ferries out to the beach. Here, a pup can run!

I picked this book because: it’s hot! I live in a small city but I’ve lived in pretty big ones and very big ones, and I also know how much dogs don’t appreciate a walk in the summer heat! Neither do I! The illustrations are playful and full of energy and the story is simple but oh, so relatable. sure to be a pleaser… but be ready because listeners will want a stretch of sand or body of water to escape to when finished!

Resources/activities: read this with a plan in mind to find refuge in nature afterwards; visit a beach or a place to dip your toes into water or dig in the sand; read other weather related books like My Winter City, or The Way the Storm Stops

(can’t find my own pics, but this looks yummy too!)

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

PPBF: My Winter City

Author: James Gladstone
Illustrator: Gary Clement
Publisher: Groundwoodl, 2019
Age: 3-8
Themes: winter, city life, sledding

Opening: see spread below.

Summary: (from my library catalog) A young boy wakes up in the early light of a winter morning, pulls on his boots and mittens, and steps out into the snowy city with his dad. They trudge through the snow, their dog bounding along beside them, then a slushy, steamy bus ride takes them to the tobogganing hill for some winter fun. The boy describes all the sights and sounds of the day, from the frost in Dad’s beard and the snow “pillows” in the park, to the noisy clunking snow plows and the singing buskers they pass on their way home. That night, the boy lies awake under cozy covers, reflecting on the day, as snow blankets the world outside his window. This is winter in the city.

I picked this book because: it’s so hot here (again) I needed some snow! At this point I would welcome it in real life! And this title did not disappoint. Even on a hot day, it pays to slow down. Told from the point of view of a city child, the reader is invited to make connections with their own experiences (though I’d love to hear back from someone who hasn’t lived in an area with winter weather!) A walk through any city offers us a plethora of details if we pay attention, and the illustrations here are delightful and refreshing, yet warm the heart like a cup of cocoa.

Resources/activities! discuss what parts of the globe experience snow in winter, the differences in our experiences to snow in the country or suburbs, mountains or plains – even the seaside. I would pair it with a reading of Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales (so many beautifully illustrated editions and a delightful film!), even if you don’t celebrate Christmas.

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

PPBF: Tell Me a Mitzi

One more book celebrating women in children’s literature for the Women’s History Month in 2019!

Author: Lore Segel
Illustrator: Harriet Pincus
Publisher: Dover, 2017, orig. published by FSG in 1970
Age: 4-8
Themes: siblings, families, city life
Opening: “Tell me a story,” said Martha. Once upon a time (said her mother) There was a Mitzi.

Summary: (from my library catalog) Three household adventures in the life of Mitzi include an intended trip to grandmother’s, sharing a family cold, and reversing the President’s motorcade..

I like this book because: it transported me back to my own childhood, growing up just outside of New York City! And considering the pub date, it’s likely that the best librarian in the world, Mrs. Nienburg, read it to us in school. And she would have because it’s well written and funny! I love a book that pushes you to read pout loud from the get go, makes you want to ‘act’ it out in the telling, give it an amplifier. There are not very many of those that do it so well.

Resources/activities: kids love to hear family stories, things they can’t remember themselves, but are fully aware that they exist! Share them! Listen! Take the time and allow kids in a group to share theirs – because, as Simone Weil once said, “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog  HERE.

PPBF: The Shopping Basket

Author/Illustrator: John Burningham
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 1996 (originally published by Jonathon Cape, 1980)
Age: 3-5
Themes: shopping, city life, problem solving
Opening: “Run down to the store for me, will you, Steven, and buy six eggs, Five bananas, four apples, three oranges for the baby, two doughnuts, and a bag of chips for your snack. And leave this note at Number 25.”
Summary: (from my library catalog) On his way home from a quick trip to the store, Steven encounters several marauding animals ready to relieve him of his goods.

Why I like this book: this book embodies what I love so much about John Burningham’s work: he incorporates something to learn without hitting kids over the head, gives a child character’s imagination full credit, and in the illustrations he also packs in humor and emotion in just the right amounts. Brilliant!

Resources/Activities: go shopping with a list; think about who might approach you wanting any of the items on your list and why; make a note of different scenes you pass along the way; did you forget anything on the list?

For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

PPBF: How Little Lori Visited Times Square

 

Author: Amos Vogel
Illustrator: Maurice Sendalk
Publisher: Harper Collins, 1963/1991
Ages: 4-8yrs
Themes: humorous stories, NYC, city life
Opening: One day Lori said to himself: “I want to see Times Square.”
Summary: A little boy wants to visit Times Square. He takes the subway too far south, the bus back too far north, a taxi without fare funds, a boat, a helicopter, a horse, an elevator, yet still he hasn’t made it. A turtle passes, very slowly, and very slowly asks why he cries, and very slowly offers to take him to his heart’s destination. You’ll have to read this nonsensical classic to find out what happens to them.

I like this book because: on the title page the reader is warned: “This is a very funny book and should not be read while drinking orange juice, or you will spill it!” Yes, it is is silly and so are the 3-color illustrations, and all the funny tidbits Sendalk designed into his illustrations (take note of the signage throughout). And pigeons!

Resources/activities: this would be a great book to accompany the transportation units, usually covered in first grade; discuss how one could get to Times Square – from wherever you happen to be; check out this Sendalk-oriented curriculum guide for 2/3rd graders from Louisville Free Public Library HERE

 

Perfect Picture Book Friday is on hiatus for the summer, but there are still plenty of selections on a themed and alphabetized list, each with teacher/parent resources, on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE

 

 

PPBF: Mr.Tiger Goes Wild and a GIVEAWAY!

In honor of Perfect Picture Book Friday revving up another season today, I’m having my FIRST EVER

Win a signed copy! Leave a comment (until 9/19) and I’ll put your name in the hat (looks a lot like Mr.Tiger’s!)

Author/Illustrator: Peter Brown Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2013 Age Level: 3-6 Themes: tigers, animals, etiquette, city/town life, self-actualization Opening: Everyone was perfectly fine with the way things were. Everyone but Mr. Tiger. Summary: (From Amazon) Are you bored with being so proper? Do you want to have more fun? Mr. Tiger knows exactly how you feel. So he decides to go wild. But does he go too far? From Caldecott Honor artist Peter Brown comes a story that shows there’s a time and place for everything…even going wild.

Why I like it: It’s beautiful! You’ll have to check the cover under the jacket (notice the texture) too, but everything down to the endpapers, the color use, the graphic down-paring, the use of negative space – is well designed. During the read-aloud I attended on Peter Brown’s book tour, (if you live near NY – go to the PARTY) he explained his own difficulties sitting still in the classroom as a young child, longing to be wild and free, naturally. I can’t believe I didn’t ask if he too stripped himself – of the confines – and ran for the woods!

12xers with Peter Brown at the Tattered Cover, Denver (me, second from left) Resources/Activities: Have children talk about natural animal behaviors they are aware of: stalking, hunting, protecting, team-working, etc.; Discuss the use of color in the book and why the author/illustrator may have made the choices he did; Make your own book the Peter Brown way I’d also like to suggest two pairings for Mr.Tiger Goes Wild below. (See my critique group’s PB & J picture book picks HERE; inspired by B&N’s – Books Made Better When Read Together)

And in honor of creatures everywhere, bored of behaving, AND to celebrate Roald Dahl’s birthday, I’d like to suggest one more:  More Perfect Picture Book Friday picks on Susanna Hill’s blog – HERE Mr.Tiger Goes Wild trailer for Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m3LR4ZEDXVLRAG/ref=ent_fb_link