Spring Picture Books in Verse

Here are three picture books in verse that I highly recommend. The books have wonderful illustrations that add to the charm and telling of the stories. I just didn’t have time to write about the artwork.


















Bear Wants More
Written by Karma Wilson
Illustrated by Jane Chapman
Margaret K. McElderry, 2003

Bear Wants More is a terrific picture book to read aloud at the beginning of spring. In this fine follow-up to Bear Snores On, we find Bear awaking and feeling famished when springtime arrives. Bear leaves his den and looks for food.

He waddles around
and roots all around.
He digs and he paws
fresh shoots from the ground.

He nibbles on his lawn
till the last blade is gone.
But
the bear
wants more!

So bear keeps looking for more...food.

Mouse scampers by and suggests Bear accompany him to Strawberry Vale—where Bear eats and eats and eats…and STILL wants more!

Then Hare comes along and all three animals scoot on over to a clover patch—where Bear nibbles and crunches on his lunch…but he STILL wants more!

Next, Badger shuffles by and takes the animals to an “ol’ fishin’ hole”—where Bear catches fish…and, yes, he STILL wants more!

Meanwhile…Gopher, Mole, Raven, and Wren are back at Bear’s den—decorating it and baking honey cakes for a springtime party for their big friend. Bear smells the scent of something delicious blowing in the breeze. He follows his nose back to his lair—but he’s eaten so much that he can’t fit through his front door. He gets stuck!!!

Badger pries Bear loose with a stick. The animals have their party for Bear outside his lair. Bear’s not finished eating yet. He STILL wants more!

Bear opens presents;
he gobbles honey cakes.
He eats SO much
that his big tummy aches.

He snuggles in the grass
And he snores big snores.
He is full, full, full…
but
his friends
want more!

Look inside this book: http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Wants-More-Karma-Wilson/dp/068984509X#reader_068984509X

Video Clip: http://video.scholastic.com/services/player/bcpid1842760475?bctid=1688281213

Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud
Written by Lynn Plourde
Illustrated by John Schoenherr
Down East Books, 2006

(Originally published by Blue Sky Press, 1997)

Spring is a muddy season here in the Northeast. Maine author Lynne Plourde wrote this winner of a read-aloud book that was a favorite with my elementary students. Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud is a wonderful rhyming picture book with a refrain that invites participation by young children.

The Story: A family—Mama, Papa, Brother, Sister, and Grandma—are riding along in their Model T Ford after a pouring rain. Of course, the dirt road they’re driving on is now mostly mud. But mud isn’t their only problem—it’s the animals in the mud in the middle of the rud that really impede their travel.

Here’s how the book begins:

It had rained. It had poured.
Now a Model T Ford
was stopped in the rud
by some pigs in the mud.

“Pigs in the mud!”
Grandma said.

Oh no. Won’t do
Gotta shoo. But Who?

“I’ll shoo. That’s who,”
Brother said.

And he shooed.
And he squealed.
And he rutted.
And he reeled.

But the pigs didn’t budge.
Not a tiny little smudge.

That, my friends, is the template for the rest of the book. Next, Grandma spies hens in the mud—and Sister attempts to shoo them from the road. Then Grandma sees sheep and Mama tries to shoo them away. Finally, the old gal hollers that there are bulls in the rud and Papa tries to shoo them from the mud. Unfortunately, Brother, Sister, Mama, and Papa aren’t successful at shooing away the farm animals. So…the job is left to Grandma. She takes charge like a staff sergeant. She puts her hands on her hips—and with a snarl on her lips—she yells at the animals in the mud at the top of her lungs…

“TIME FOR SUP!”

And, man, do the pigs, hens, sheep, and bulls take off! No more animals in the mud in the middle of the rud thanks to Grandma.

But look! What’s that a lyin’ in the mud? Heck, it’s Grandma. That’s okay. She’s not flustered at all!

With her dress all rumpled,
and her bonnet all crumpled,
and muddy, head to toe…
Grandma said,
“Time to go!”

Look inside this book: http://www.amazon.com/Pigs-Mud-Middle-Lynn-Plourde/dp/0590568639#reader_0590568639

Teacher Activities (from Reading Rainbow): http://webapps.monroe.edu/technologyservices/multimedia/guides/3312.pdf

















Waddle, Waddle, Quack, Quack, Quack
Written by Barbara Anne Skalak
Illustrated by Sylvia Long
Chronicle Books, 2005

This is another great read-aloud for preschoolers and kindergartners. It would also be a good bedtime book. It’s a story about newly hatched ducklings. Mama takes her ducklings to the lake for a swim. She shows them how to put their heads down under the water for tasty pondweeds. After Mama and her children have finished eating, one of the ducklings drifts off in the reeds. He looks around—but can’t see Mama! He hears thunder crashing. Storm’s coming. The lake is getting rough. The little duckling searches for his mother. He crosses the meadow and goes looking in the grass, near the daisies, up the hill, in a log—but no Mama!

The clouds begin to disappear. The sun comes out again. The little lost duckling heads back to the lake.

Through the shallows to the deep.
Calling mama, peep, peep, peep.
“I’m here!” cries Mama. Quack! Quack! Quack!
“And here you are! You made it back!”

Mama’s other children are happy to see that their lost brother has returned. Dusk is coming on. Mama leads her babies back home--and admonishes them not to roam off alone.

Safe inside their cozy nest,
tired ducklings—time to rest.
Fluffy puffs of gold and brown,
preening, dozing, nestled down.

A few last whispers, peep, peep, peep,
as drowsy ducklings drift to sleep.
Moon climbs in her bed of black.
“Sweet dreams,” says mama. Quack, quack, quack.

Look inside this book: http://www.amazon.com/Waddle-Quack/dp/0811843424/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268315746&sr=1-1#reader_0811843424

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The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Some Novel Ideas.

Valentine Hearts: Poetry & A Picture Book in Verse

VALENTINE HEARTS: HOLIDAY POETRY
Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Pictures by JoAnn Adinolfi
HarperCollins, 2005

This anthology contains twelve poems for the very “young at heart.” Poems in this slim volume were written by such well-known children’s poets as Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Marilyn Singer, Lee Bennett Hopkins, and Ann Whitford Paul. The book also includes a poem by fellow kidlit blogger Linda Kulp—and two by the widely published author who goes by the pen name of Anonymous.

Valentine Hearts is An I Can Read Book. Its poems are short, lighthearted, and they rhyme. The poems contain few difficult words, are easy to read, and would appeal to most young children. Topics of the poems include a sandwich cut in the shape of a heart that a child finds in his lunchbox, a child getting all covered with glitter and glue when creating a special valentine, a young girl writing a love note to her dog Leo, a chickadee singing a “valentine melody”—and a poem by Maria Fleming about candy conversation hearts that are…

Telling secrets
Spelled in sugared ink:
“Be Mine.”
“For Keeps.”
“It’s True.”
“How Sweet.”
Tiny love notes
Good enough to eat.

Here’s a poem from the book written by the famous Anonymous:

Golden Heart

Golden heart
Be on your way.
Go, speed along
To sweetly say
That on this good
St. Valentine’s Day
A heart is meant
To give away.

Valentine Hearts ($3.99 in paperback) would make a good addition to a library collection in an early elementary classroom.

THE BALLAD OF VALENTINE
Written by Alison Jackson
Illustrated by Tricia Tusa
Dutton, 2002

In a cabin, in a canyon,
Near a mountain laced with pine,
Lived a girl who was my sweetheart,
And her name was Valentine.

Oh my darling, oh my darling,
Oh my darling Valentine,
I have written forty letters,
But you’ve never read a line.


So begins this lighthearted adaptation of the folksong “My Darling, Clementine.” In this tale, a man attempts to send dozens of love notes to his sweetheart Valentine. Unfortunately, the notes never reach their intended destination—for various reasons. The mailman can’t find Valentine’s address. The homing pigeon flies off to Madagascar. The suitor’s smoky love signal gets blown away by a cyclone. The message tapped out in Morse code hits a blizzard as it crosses the county line.

It matters not that the plucky Valentine hasn’t received any of the amorous correspondence from her beloved. While her frustrated suitor has been trying and trying over and over again to send his notes of love, Valentine’s been busy hanging laundry, feeding chickens, toting well water…and baking an apple pie for her honey—which she delivers to him at story’s end.

It is Valentine’s side of the story that we “read” about only in the illustrations. It’s not written about in the text. The Ballad of Valentine provides a perfect example of how a talented illustrator can extend and enhance a picture book text. With a deft and droll artistic hand, Tusa adds humor and detail to Jackson’s rhythmic and rhyming tale of love. This is a fine and “fun” book to read aloud to young children—make that sing aloud to young children—on Valentine’s Day!


Valentine Poems, Books, & More

• Valentine Poems for Children by David McCord, Valerie Worth, Jane Yolen, Barbara Juster Esbensen, Jane Yolen, and Shakespeare


• Valentine’s Poems from the Poetry Foundation's Online Journal


• Looking for a good picture book to read aloud on Valentine’s Day? Here’s a link to my review of Sara Pennypacker’s picture book Pierre in Love that I posted at Blue Rose Girls some time ago.


• From Scholastic: Books of Love (From first crushes to very best friends, these picture books are perfect companions to Valentine's Day.)


• Monthly Special: Love Stories (From The Horn Book)


• From Through The Looking Glass Children’s Book Review: Valentine’s Day


• Make your own candy conversation heart!

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At Blue Rose Girls, I have a poem by the late John Updike entitles Burning Trash.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Wild Rose Reader today. Leave a comment and the URL of your poetry post at the roundup post.

Winter Picture Books in Verse

The following books have rhyming texts and would be wonderful for reading to very young children at this time of year. They are fine ways to introduce little listeners to rhyming words and rhythmic language.

SNOWY, BLOWY WINTER
Written by Bob Raczka
Illustrated by Judy Stead
Albert Whitman & Company, 2008

Raczka’s zippy text and Stead’s bold and colorful illustrations take us through the chill and sights of winter days and nights and common seasonal activities—icicles hanging from eaves, snow swirling through the air, sliding down hills, making snow angels, shoveling, making a snowman, feeding birds. They also take us through the warm indoor happenings—sipping hot cocoa, having a hot bath, reading by the fire, baking cookies.


This is a picture book where the pictures help to “tell” readers what the spare text doesn’t. Some pages have no words. The other pages have just one, two, or three words—with the exception of the last two pages. The final page includes all the “fun” words Raczka used to describe Snowy, Blowy Winter. This would certainly be an enjoyable book to share with youngsters and could be used as a springboard for having them add their own words to describe winter.

Here are some excerpts from the book:

Snowy,
blowy,
windows are glowy.

Strappy,
zippery,
icy and slippery.

Angels are lovely.
Sidewalks are shovely.

The back matter of the book has a recipe for “Snowy, Blowy Ice Cream.”

MILLIONS OF SNOWFLAKES
Written by Mary McKenna Siddals
Illustrated by Elizabeth Sayles
Clarion, 1998

This small book is perfect for lap reading. It is also a counting book for little ones just beginning to learn about numbers.

The book begins…

One little snowflake
falls on my nose.
It makes me shiver
from my head to my toes.


Two little snowflakes
get in my eyes.
Blink! Blink!
What a surprise!

And so the text goes—from a child counting two snowflakes to counting three and four and five snowflakes and then to looking at snow all around her:

Snow on the house.
Snow on the tree.
Snow on the grounds.
Snow on me!
Millions of snowflakes in my hair.
Snowflakes falling everywhere!

Sayles’ illustrations work perfectly with Siddals’ text. The first picture is a small square surrounded by a thick white border. As the book progresses, the pictures get larger and larger until the end of the book. Then the borders are gone and the illustrations fill up the pages—just as the child’s world is filling up with snow.

Sayles’ illustrations are uncluttered and spare. The focus of the pictures is the snowflakes and a young Asian child with her dog enjoying the falling—and fallen—snow. The illustrations have warm, purplish and or peach backgrounds. This is a lovely little winter book to share with a very young child.

TRACKS IN THE SNOW
Written & illustrated by Wong Herbert Yee
Henry Holt, 2003

Tracks in the Snow is another small picture book—just right for lap reading. It has more text than the previous two books that I reviewed here. In this book, a young Asian girl sees some mysterious tracks in the snow and wonders what animal might have made them. She goes looking. She skips around the old oak tree, walks by the frozen pond, crosses a snowy bridge, peeks under a log, tramps up a hill. She finally realizes that it was she who left the tracks. She made them the day before when she was out playing in the snow.

The book has a lovely rhythmic text that is written in quatrains with a rhyme scheme of ABCB—except for the refrain.

The Refrain:
Tracks in the snow.
Tracks in the snow.
Who made the tracks?
Where do they go?

Here’s another excerpt from the book. In this quatrain the child is thinking to herself and trying to solve the mystery of who made the tracks in the snow:

It could have been a duck,
But I think they’ve gone away.
I know it’s not a woodchuck;
They sleep all night and day.

Wong Herbert Yee’s illustrations done in Prismacolors on Arches watercolor paper have a soft, blurry look. They are set against a white background and capture the feel of a wintery country world blanketed with snow. This quiet picture book is a keeper!

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At Blue Rose Girls, I have a special Elizabeth Alexander post that includes links to her inaugural poem Praisesong for the Day and to videos of her poetry reading at the inauguration, Jeffrey Brown’s conversation with her on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, and her appearance on The Colbert Report.

Laura Salas has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.

Nonfiction Monday: George Washington's Teeth

I hadn’t planned to write a book review for Nonfiction Monday. I was looking for a poem to post for Presidents’ Day in honor of George Washington when I remembered a book I used to share in the library with my elementary students—a book I still read to the students in my children’s literature course. It’s a nonfiction book about the dental problems that our first President faced, the constant pain caused by his rotting teeth, and the dentures that were made for him. It isn’t a typical book about one of the most illustrious figures in American history. It’s a humorous story written in verse that begins at the time of the Revolutionary War and ends after George Washington becomes President and gets a pair of dentures carved from a hippo tusk.

GEORGE WASHINGTON’S TEETH
Written by Deborah Chandra & Madeleine Comora
Pictures by Brock Cole
Farrar Strauss Giroux, 2003

George Washington’s Teeth is most certainly a great book to read aloud! It’s rhythmic and rhyming and sure to tickle children’s funny bones. But…the book was well researched. In the back matter, there is a four-page time line (1732-1799) of important events in Washington’s life taken from his own letters, diaries, and accounts. It includes two photographs of his last set of dentures. There is also a list of time line sources.

This is how the book begins:

The Revolutionary War
George hoped would soon be won,
But another battle with his teeth
Had only just begun…

George Washington rushed into town,
The dentist heard his shout.
“Hold still,” he said, then gave a yank—
A rotten tooth popped out!

But that’s not the end of George’s tooth troubles. He heads off to war again with another toothache. He has swollen gums, which he soothes with oil of myrrh. He continues to lose teeth and have teeth pulled. He has to eat soft foods like mush and pickled tripe. When he crosses the Delaware River, there are just nine teeth left in his mouth. At Valley Forge, he has but seven. By the time he returns home after the war is won, he can count the number of teeth in his mouth on one hand: five. So it goes…until Election Day, when…

Poor George had two teeth in his mouth
The day the votes came in.
The people had a President,
But one afraid to grin.

When an artist comes to paint George’s portrait, he has the President put cotton in his mouth to puff out his sunken lips. Later, his dentist brings him a set of dentures. The denture’s springs snap against his tongue, fly out of his mouth—and he loses his last tooth. Poor “toofless” George gets an idea. He rummages through Mount Vernon looking for the teeth he lost. He makes a plaster mold with the teeth he finds to show to the dentist. The dentist then carves Washington a set of dentures from hippo tusk. The rhyming story ends happily with George dancing the night away at a ball.

In the book’s time line, the authors state the following: “George dies at Mount Vernon at the age of sixty-seven. It is believed that a chronic, untreated infection from the old root fragments in his gums contributed to his death.” There are many other facts included in the time line—as well as pictures of some of Washington’s portraits—that children are sure to find interesting.

Brock Coles’ cartoon-like watercolor illustrations enhance the lighthearted tone of the text. Children are sure to enjoy this humorous tale of the dental woes of the Father of Our Country.

Edited to Add:

To see a picture of a set of George Washington’s dentures, click here.
To see two more pictures of George Washington’s teeth, click here and here.


Anastasia Suen has the Nonfiction Monday Round-up for February 18, 2008.

Christmas Books in Verse

I have a stack of new Christmas picture books here that I had hoped to review for Wild Rose Reader by this time—but Thanksgiving and Robert’s Snow and preparations for Christmas have taken up much of my time in the past couple of weeks. Jules has some fine reviews of holiday picture books here and here and here at 7-Imp. You may want to read her impression of a sampling of Christmas titles that were recently published.

For today’s post, I thought I’d provide readers with a list of Christmas picture books that are written in verse. Except for Bear’s First Christmas, the books were published prior to 2007. I reviewed three of the books previously at Blue Rose Girls. All of the books are still in print.

THE JOLLY CHRISTMAS POSTMAN
By Janet & Allan Ahlberg
Little, Brown, 1991

In this sequel to The Jolly Postman, the postman goes about delivering mail to different fairy tale characters on the day before Christmas.

Once upon a Christmas Eve
Just after it had snowed,
The Jolly Postman (him again!)
Came down the jolly road…

Jolly Postman’s got a load of holiday tidings and packages in his mailbag—including a Christmas card for Baby Bear from Goldilocks and her baby sister; Beware!, a “hazardous” board game for Miss R. Hood from Mr. Wolf; and a jigsaw puzzle for Humpty Dumpty of himself from all the King’s men (and horses)—so Humpty can be put together again. At his final stop, the postman shares a cup of tea with the Clauses and receives a present himself. Not only that, Santa transports the postman and his bicycle back home in his sleigh.

In the final illustration, the Jolly Postman is settled into his armchair near the fireplace, his dog sleeping at his feet.

A Jolly Postman, warm and snug,
A postman’s dog upon the rug.
A clock that’s chiming in the hall.
A Merry Christmas—one and all!

The Jolly Christmas Postman would make a “jolly’ gift for some young child.

SNOWMEN AT CHRISTMAS
Written by Caralyn Buehner
Pictures by Mark Buehner
Dial, 2005

Snowmen at Christmas is the sequel to the popular bestseller Snowmen at Night. Although I think the text isn’t quite as strong in the sequel, this book is still a delight. In fact, I’d say it’s a visual feast for readers’ eyes. Mark Buehner’s illustrations are luminescent—street lanterns and strings of Christmas lights actually seem to glow on the pages. The outdoor scenes are infused with color. In some pictures, the sky and snow radiate shades of orange, pink, or purple—imbuing pictures of a cold winter night with warmth.

In this fanciful story, a young boy imagines how snowmen might celebrate Christmas. As he falls to sleep, the snowman in his front yard is shown slipping away. All the snowmen are on the move. They “glide down snowy avenues” and pass by shop windows “framed with twinkling lights.” They gather in the center of town and start their holiday celebration. They trim the square with icicles and holly. They enjoy frosty treats like ice cream and snow cones. Snow children play games.

Then the dancing begins:
To the tune of a fiddle,
All the snowmen line up,
And sashay down the middle.

Soon a snowman Santa appears on his flying toboggan and distributes presents. After Santa rides off, all the snowmen circle round a large Christmas tree and “sing songs about snow/and the birth of a King.” Finally, the snowmen, young and old alike, grow tired from their night of merriment.

The children are sleepy,
The grown-ups are yawning,
The snowmen go home
Just as Christmas is dawning.

By the time people arise early on Christmas morning, all of our frosty friends are back in place. They look no different from the previous day except that…

Their smiles are more tender,
Their eyes softly shine,
As the snowmen dream dreams
Of their Christmastime.

Mark Buehner’s art in Snowmen at Christmas is radiant! This picture book would be great even if it had no text. Pair this book with Raymond Briggs’ classic The Snowman.

CHRISTMAS TREE!
By Wendell and Florence Minor
Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, 2005

Christmas Tree! is the first picture book collaboration between award-winning artist and illustrator Wendell Minor and his wife Florence. In her rhyming verse, Florence asks readers to imagine what kind of Christmas trees they would like to be. Her text is simple and spare. She doesn’t get too specific with her language. Wendell gets whimsical with his art, and his paintings provide the details—and images of what readers might picture in their heads.

Here are two excerpts from the book along with descriptions of the illustrations that are paired with them. So, readers, would you like to be...

A tree so
high it would
touch the sky?

In the illustration that accompanies this verse, Wendell paints the Statue of Liberty holding a lit Christmas tree aloft in her right hand instead of her torch.

Or a tree
so small it would
fit in the wall?

For this verse, Wendell illustrates four mice clustered around a star-topped tree made of cheese in their mouse hole. In some other illustrations, we see a huge Christmas tree balloon floating down a street in a city parade, a flock of white geese forming the outline of a holiday tree on a background of blue sky, and a tree decorated with carrots, apples, and sugar cubes—a tree just perfect for horses.

This book could be used as inspiration for an art lesson. Young artists could imagine themselves to be different kinds of Christmas trees. They could also picture themselves as trees in unique settings--shining out from a lighthouse or set at the top of a sailboat mast--the way Wendell does in this book.

A SMALL CHRISTMAS
By Wong Herbert Yee
Houghton Mifflin, 2004

Fireman Small is back to save the day—or should I say Christmas Eve—for Santa Claus. The diminutive fireman has been very busy chopping down a Christmas tree for Mayor Mole at the tree farm and putting up holiday lights and decorations in the city. By the time the stores close on Christmas Eve, Fireman Small is exhausted. He heads back to the firehouse, gets into bed, and pulls the covers over his head.

Around midnight, he hears a jingling of sleigh bells…then a CRASH! Santa has fallen head first into a coal bin and is covered with soot. Fireman Small washes Santa’s suit and tosses it into the dryer. When he removes Santa’s red suit from the dryer, he sees that it has shrunk! Then he finds Santa Claus fast asleep in his bed. Fireman Small wonders:

What about all the good girls and boys?
Who will deliver the rest of the toys?
Though Fireman Small should be snuggled in bed,
He races up to the rooftop instead.
Dressed in Santa’s suit, he hops in the sleigh.
But the reindeer refuse to fly away!

Now what is Fireman Small supposed to do? Why, he delivers all the presents in his fire truck instead! When Santa’s sack is empty, Fireman Small finally heads back to the firehouse and goes to bed. He arises on Christmas morning to find Santa and the sleigh gone—but the jolly old man has left a present for his little helper…along with a note, which includes the following lines:

Thank you, Fireman Small,
You’re a fine substitute.
Please keep this token,
My now tiny red suit!

The small size of this book and Yee’s charming watercolor illustrations make this a cozy book for sharing with a little someone cuddled on your lap.

BEAR’S FIRST CHRISTMAS
Written by Robert Kinerk
Illustrated by Jim LaMarche
Simon & Schuster, 2007

A young bear finds a cave to hibernate in and settles down for the winter. He is awakened from his sleep by a mysterious sound. He leaves his cave to follow the sound. Along the way he meets and helps a number of other wild animals: a crow, a moose, a pheasant and her chicks. All the animals then follow the bear through the snow in hopes of finding a place where they can safely spend the night.

On the bear trudged till he saw, through more snow,
A lair or a burrow all lit by a glow.
Icicles hung from its top, sharp and bright.
Its sides had a space that was open for light.
And what’s this from inside? That wonderful sound!
After all of his trekking, its source had been found.

It’s not a lair or burrow that the animals have happened upon—it’s a house where a family is celebrating Christmas. The animals peer in through a window and see a room aglow with light—light from people’s faces and eyes and from a glorious Christmas tree. Then the family turns off the tree lights and goes off to bed. The animals don’t have a clue about the meaning of the lights and the music and the gladness they had witnessed this chill winter night.

As the animals trudge on, a spark inside them gives off an inner glow. Bear breaks a wide trail for moose who is carrying the pheasants on his back. The pheasants burst into song filling the air with sweet music. Finally, the animals arrive at bear’s “well-hidden den.” The animals hibernate in the safety of the cave until spring arrives. They are warmed with the memory of the light of the tree—a light that remains with them.

The text written in rhyming couplets is quite long. Nonetheless, this rhythmic tale scans well and is gorgeously complemented by Jim Lamarche’s illustrations. There’s a softness to LaMarche’s young bear, an endearing main character who is often depicted with a gentle, childlike expression. LaMarche varies the size of his pictures—some are double-page spreads, some are full-page spreads, and some are smaller spot illustrations. He also uses close-ups and changing perspectives to add visual interest to this quiet story.

Bear's First Christmas would be a good book to share with young children learning about hibernation.

You can read reviews of the following books in my Poetry Friday: Christmas Stories in Verse post at Blue Rose Girls.

MR. WILLOWBY’S CHRISTMAS TREE
By Robert Barry
Doubleday, 2000

SANTA’S STUCK
Written by Rhonda Gowler Greene
Illustated by Henry Cole
Dutton, 2004

MERRY CHRISTMAS, MERRY CROW
Written by Kathi Appelt
Illustrated by Jon Goodell
Harcourt, 2005

Great Halloween Read-Alouds for Little Listeners

I used to have a great time sharing Halloween tales in my library during the month of October. I’d turn off the overhead lights, switch on my electric jack-o-lanterns, let the children settle into the right mood, and start reading.

Here are the titles of some books in verse that are just right for reading to little listeners at this time of the year.

IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE
Written by Eve Bunting
Illustrated by Susan Meddaugh
Clarion, 1990

Here’s how Bunting’s book begins:

This is the house where scary ones hide.
Open this door and step softly inside.

And what do readers find inside the haunted house?
An organ playing music but no one is there fingering the keys. There are ghosts and witches and bats hanging from an old chandelier. There’s a mummy lying on a bed and a skeleton rattling his bones in a closet. To be sure, there are plenty of scary things in this haunted house which has been all decked out for Halloween with the capable hands of illustrator Susan Meddaugh.

SCARY, SCARY HALLOWEEN
Written by Eve Bunting
Illustrated by Jan Brett
Clarion, 1986

In this Halloween oldie that is still in print, Jan Brett used a dark, and sometimes stark black background, to set the “scary” tone for this rhyming book. In the first two-page spread, we see two large green and black cat’s eyes staring out at us from the darkness.

Here are the beginning lines of this book:

I peer outside, there’s something there
That makes me shiver, spikes my hair.
It must be Halloween.

A skeleton with bones so white
They gleam and glimmer in the night,
Has come for Halloween.

Then we come upon a ghost, a vampire, a werewolf, two witches, goblins and gremlins, a devil, and a mummy—all the creatures kids would expect to hear about in a Halloween story. Of course, they really aren’t witches and frightening creatures—they’re just trick-or-treaters enjoying a scary night out.

PUMPKIN EYE
Written & Illustrated by Denise Fleming
Henry Holt, 2001

Fleming has created a visually stunning book for Halloween. Everything In Pumpkin Eye is set against a dark background that fills up each two-page spread. There are no white borders or colored frames. Children really get drawn into the nighttime setting of this brief Halloween tale that I often read aloud two or three times to each preschool class. My students often left the library chanting some of the lines from the book:

Trick or treat—
pounding feet,
eerie shadows
fill the street.

Swooping bats,
hissing cats…
tattered rags,
toothless hags,
pointed tails,
blood-red nails.

Trick or treat—
pounding feet,
wretched witches
roam the street.

Pumpkin Eye is one great book to read aloud to young children. Kids love the rhyming verses and the illustrations!

JUNGLE HALLOWEEN
Written & Illustrated by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
Albert Whitman, 2000

This book is about jungle animals making preparations for and then enjoying themselves at a fun-filled Halloween party at which…

They sing and dance
in jungle beat
and eat and eat
and eat and EAT!

Jungle Candy
Jungle Cake
Jungle Ice Cream
Wooo!
Jungle Ache!

After their jungle celebration, the tired animals all head off to sleep. The palette of bright colors Cocca-Leffler used for this book is fitting for a festive occasion like this party. Jungle Halloween is one Halloween tale sure not to send shivers up a young child’s spine.

OH NO, NOT GHOSTS!
Written by Richard Michelson
Illustrated by Adam McCauley
Harcourt, 2006

In this adaptation of Michelson earlier book Did You Say Ghosts?, the setting is nighttime in the bedroom of a young brother and his sister. They’re trying to be quiet so they don’t wake up their father. They hear a sound. What could it be?

The brother reassures his sister that it’s not a ghost.

His little sister says:
Ghosts? Oh no, not ghosts!

The brother answers:
SHUSH!
There’s no such thing as ghosts.
I guarantee it…well, almost.

Besides, if one sneaked up on you
And tried to scare you with a BOO,

I’d dress up like a werewolf,
Roooooooooooooar!
And scare that ghost right through the door.

At the mention of werewolves, the little sister’s thoughts turn to those monstrous creatures.

And so it goes…from werewolves to giants, from giants to demons—and then to witches, black cats, skeletons…and finally to a hairy, double-scary creature, which appears in the next to last illustration as a tall shadow in the doorway. Who…or what…is this being? Why, it’s none other than their father--whom they evidently woke up with all their talk about scary things that go bump in the night.

Adam McCauley’s mixed media illustrations provide the right amount of spookiness with touches of humor. He transforms the children’s bedroom into a scary land of their imaginings. This new version of Michelson’s Did You Say Ghosts? is likely to be a hit with children.

ONE WITCH
Written Laura Leuck
Illustrated by S. D. Schindler
Walker & Company, 2003

This is a fine counting book to read to preschoolers at Halloween time. In this book,

One witch
on a hill
had an empty pot
to fill.

The witch visits her friends—two cats, three scarecrows, four goblins, five vampires, six mummies, seven owls, eight ghosts, nine skeletons, and ten werewolves. They all provide her with such ghastly ingredients as slimy slugs, a musty moth, fresh blood juice, and a rattlesnake—just the right fixings for a gruesome brew, which she cooks up in her pot. The witch sends her trusty bats off with invitations to ten werewolves/in their caves/nine skeletons in their graves, etc. , to all her friends who contributed the gross ingredients of her party brew.

What did all
her good friends do?

They came and ate
that gruesome brew.

(Everybody
loved it too!)
They saved the last bowl
just for…

YOU!

Schindler’s watercolor illustrations are just ghoulish enough to entice young children to emit happy shrieks of fear and excitement while listening to a parent, teacher, or librarian read this winning counting book aloud.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Whimsy Books this week.

If I Built a Car

IF I BUILT A CAR

Written & illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

Penguin, 2005

Chris Van Dusen is also the illustrator of the Mercy Watson books written by Kate DiCamillo. His style of illustrating is very much the same in If I Built a Car, which is a recipient of the E. B. White Read Aloud Award.

In the book's author blurb, Van Dusen tells readers that he "has always been intrigued by glimpses of the future found in the 1950s and '60s issues of Popular Science magazine. Headlines would read The Car of Tomorrow!, and fantastic artwork might show sleek machines zooming down 'magnetic highways.'" Van Dusen's artwork in If I Built a Car certainly transported me back to the 1950s. It reminded me of the glimpses of the future we saw in magazines and on television back then. I'd like to note that I asked my husband to read the book last night and give me his opinion. My husband, who used to read Popular Science when he was a kid, loved the book!

If I Built a Car isn't a story with a beginning, middle, and end. It's a book written in verse in which a young boy relates to his father the kind of car that he would like to design and build. It's a book about using one's imagination and having dreams.

About the Book: Jack, the young narrator, tells his dad what his "future" car will be like while they are out driving. Jack explains to his dad what materials the car will be made from, the elements of its design, and all the nifty features it will have.

Here's an excerpt from the book:

You'll see that I've added a lot of neat things:
Plush fender skirts and retractable wings,
Three headlights up front, four taillights in back,
Plus two giant fins like our old Cadillac!
My brand-new design will be curvy and round,
With special jet engines that don't make a sound.
I'll paint it bright colors with accents of chrome
And top it all off with a Plexiglas dome.

The illustration that accompanies this excerpt is a two-page spread that shows what Jack imagines his car will look like. The gouache painting of the huge car is bright and colorful. Through the semi-transparent dome, we can see the outline of shapes. Is that a robot at the wheel? Is that a table lamp? Kids will certainly want to see what's under the dome of Jack's imaginary car.

In addition to the the fins and dome and jet engines and retractable wings, Jack explains that his car will also have a chassis made of polymer gel--his invention--that will prevent the car from getting dented if it should hit something. Some of the other features of his auto include a couch, a fish tank, a fireplace, a pool beneath a sliding floor, an instant snack bar, and (yes) a robot to steer the vehicle when the driver gets sleepy! But...wait...that's not all! The fenders of Jack's car will let it float on water like a catamaran. The car will also be able to submerge so the driver and passengers can investigate underwater. And the best feature of all?

Last but not least, the best feature of all
Comes down to a button that's shiny and small.
Push it and then, in the wink of an eye,
The car will take off! We'll be up in the sky!

I think Van Dusen's colorful retro-style illustrations are a perfect complement to his rhyming text. Even really young children who can't read could have a grand time studying the pictures of Jack's futuristic car. The front and back endpapers are filled with Jack's labeled sketches of his car's design. They'd be a great inspiration for young artists.

I know I would have loved this book when I was young. I think any kid who is a daydreamer would. It's a perfect picture book for kids who are mechanically inclined...for kids who like to draw...for kids who like to build things. It's definitely a great book for budding engineers. I am planning to give If I Built a Car to a grand nephew for summer reading. I bet he'll be inspired to design his own car of the future!


Bet you'd like to see the illustration of Jack's instant snack bar! Just click here.

Click here to see Jack's car blasting out of the water into the sky.


If I Built a Car is on the 2008 Master List of the Monarch Award sponsored by the Illinois School Library Media Association.