lighthouse

LOUIS will be celebrating World Picnic Day with picnics and his picture book friends – and stuffies – all WEEK! I’ll post pictures on Instagram where anyone (in the US) can comment – on any of the week’s posts – for a chance to win. Deadline is Thursday, 6/24/21 12pm MDT. Winner will be announced on the next Perfect Picture Book Friday!

Back in a secluded spot in the garden in honor of Miss Olivia’s birthday (see photo in the photo)! Invited stuffies: Livvy’s dragon, Livvy’s horse, Livvy’s birdie and kangaroo! LOUIS picked all the books for their splash of red on the cover (wonder why?!) and the book Olivia had wanted read over, and over, and over!

Ada’s Ideas, by Fiona Robinson, Harry N. Abrams, 2016: A picture book biography of mathematician Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer, by the award-winning author/illustrator Fiona Robinson

Hello, Lighthouse, by Sophie Blackall, Little Brown, 2018: Explores the life of one lighthouse as it beams its message out to sea through shifting seasons, changeable weather, and the tenure of its final keeper.

Go Show the World, by Wab Kinew illus. by Joe Morse, Tundra, 2018: Go Show the World is a tribute to historic and modern-day Indigenous heroes, featuring important figures such as Tecumseh, Sacagawea and former NASA astronaut John Herrington. Celebrating the stories of Indigenous people throughout time, Wab Kinew has created a powerful rap song, the lyrics of which are the basis for the text in this beautiful picture book, illustrated by the acclaimed Joe Morse. Including figures such as Crazy Horse, Net-no-kwa, former NASA astronaut John Herrington and Canadian NHL goalie Carey Price, Go Show the World showcases a diverse group of Indigenous people in the US and Canada, both the more well known and the not- so-widely recognized. Individually, their stories, though briefly touched on, are inspiring; collectively, they empower the reader with this message: “We are people who matter, yes, it’s true; now let’s show the world what people who matter can do”

Noah, Noasaurus, by Elaine Kiely Kearns and illus. by Colin Jack, Albert Whitman, 2019: Noah is in a grumpy mood and wants to be alone, but when his friends follow him around he cannot help but have fun.

A Porcupine Named Fluffy, Helen Lester, illus. by Lynn Munsinger, HMH, 1989: A porcupine named Fluffy is happier with his name after he meets a similarly misnamed rhinoceros.

*Book descriptions form my library’s catalog.

AND LOUIS is on SALE right now on Amazon: HERE! ★Don’t forget to enter by commenting for the GIVEAWAY on my Instagram page: @jrzoch

Catherine Johnson is writing a poem (HERE), prompt word ‘lighthouse’ (in cahoots with Jody Hedlund’s lighthouse series) and I doodled these images, because sometimes we like to push each other around, I mean, to motivate each other. But my lighthouse just would not come on it’s own. Finally a lighthouse keeper appeared…then a cat. I’m interested to see what will happen next!

Now for a PPBF selection (yes, I know Susanna’s blog is on vacation, but I can’t help myself – love sharing great picture books!).

Author/Illustrator: M.B. Goffstein
Publisher: Dial Press, 1976
Ages: 4-8yrs
Themes: humorous stories, grandmothers, retired life
Opening: When my grandmother went fishing, she would get up at five o’clock in the morning, and make herself breakfast,…
Summary/I like this book because: (from my library catalog) “Describes Grandmother’s typical day of fishing.” What? I think that was the shortest off-the-wall summary I’ve found yet! Let me do a little ‘splainin’. I didn’t have a single selection for today in my book bag. I picked this one off the shelf, that one of my kids chose as the elementary school library was getting rid of a slew of too well-loved books, to make room for new ones. I read it again, thought, this is not really a story that would be considered publishable today (no complication, no resolution), but it grabbed me, like a one-liner sticks long after you’ve left the scene. So, I googled, and found that this little smirk won a Caldecott Honor in 1977, and that this author I had not otherwise read (surprising only because I was averaging 100/wk for yrs), is famous – AND has a fabulous quirky website – HERE.