The Mermaid and the Shoe

Everyone has a talent- some people have many talents.  What are yours?  I, for one for instance, have double-jointed thumbs and can form them into grotesque shapes that freak out my friends and family.

Minnow, the heroine of K.G. Campbell's The Mermaid and the Shoe, is the daughter of King Neptune.  Well, she is one of Neptune's 50 daughters.  Each daughter has a talent- singing, making jewelry, gardening...but Minnow is only good at asking questions.  One day she finds an object, and is determined to find out what it is.  Turns out, asking questions is a talent- especially asking the right questions!  And more importantly, she can answer a very significant one: who am I?

The illustrations in this book are magical, you constantly see and feel the movement from being underwater.  I'm not sure if it's chalk? pastel? neither? but there's an eeriness to the dark coloring- with the stark illumination of the mermaids.  It's beautiful, almost ghostly (but not scary).  There's a beautiful scene where Minnow finds the shoe, she's swimming up with a group (or, I guess technically, a "smack") of jellyfish.  Again, the contrast of the dark with a bright red-orange, and Minnow's luminescence, and the red shoe- it's so simple, but stays with you.  Also, there's a pretty amazing shrugging octopus.

I love that the book encourages kids to ask questions, and lets them know that no matter how small it seems, a talent is a talent.

There's so much cute in here, too- as previously mentioned, the shrugging octopus, and when Minnow sees the "landmaid" with her "leg-hands."  Very...Ariel, Scuttle and Dinglehopper.  I think it would be a great one for parents and kids to read together.  It also reminds kids that curiosity could also mean they are brave explorers.  





The Mermaid and the Shoe is published by Kids Can Press.  Digital ARC provided by NetGalley.
Released: 04.01.2014

Snatchabook

Who would you blame if your books started disappearing?

The Snatchabook is a picture book written by Helen Docherty & Thomas Docherty.  Eliza Brown lives in Burrow Down, where animals enjoy their nightly bedtime stories.  But! The stories are disappearing!  Eliza stays up late to see what's going on, and meets the book thief- the little Snatchabook, who is only stealing them because he has no one to read him a bedtime story.  Eliza helps him see the error of his ways, and the Snatchabook rights his wrongs (and even makes some friends).

This is a brilliantly written and illustrated bedtime story!  I dare you to read this and not start reading it out loud (I read it with the cadence I do with "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening").  I liked how Eliza helped the Snatchabook, and kind of took him under her wing.  Something kids can definitely learn from.

The illustrations are adorable.  I may get a little freaked out if I ever meet a Snatchabook the first time, but it's still cute.  I loved the setting illustrations- the lines of the grass and burrow and trees; the midnight blues, moonlit hues, and yellow glow of reading lights.  And the animals are just so cute!

This is definitely a book that should be part of your bedtime story repertoire.





The Snatchabook is published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky.  Digital ARC provided by NetGalley.
Published: 10.01.2013

Here I Am

Have you ever gone to a new country?  Where everything looks strange, different, even scary? You can't understand what anyone around you is saying?  I can kind of relate; when I was 16 I spent a summer in Greece.  It was gorgeous, but there was a lot of adapting/being confused...and I knew I would be heading back to my home country.

This is not the case with our young protagonist in this new picture book.

Here I Am by Patti Kim (and illustrated by Sonia Sanchez) is a wordless picture book about a boy who immigrates to the United States from Korea.  His treasured souvenir from home is a beautiful red seed, which he uses to imagine life back in Korea.  One day, his seed falls out the window and is picked up by a little girl jumping rope.  As the boy leaves his house to follow the little girl, and get his seed back, he embarks on a wondrous tour of the city.  He meets a wide array of characters, and comes to realize this new place isn't so bad.

Words aren't needed, as the beautiful illustrations convey all the noise and confusion into which the little boy and his family fly.  Using non-linear progression and beautiful mixed media, Here I Am shows us a boy's journey to a new land, new language, and new friends.  The gibberish on the signs shows readers what the boy is seeing.

This would be a great book for anyone.  For those new to a language and country, they can see that others have made this journey.  For those who are local to the country, they can try to understand where new kids are coming from.  Since the book is wordless, it can appeal to both at the same time!  With its beautiful illustrations, and universal message, I would recommend this book to everyone.  Definitely want a copy for my library, and a copy for myself!

Also, from Capstone, here's a great book trailer!

Here I Am is published by Capstone Young Readers.  Digital ARC provided by NetGalley.

Release Date: 09.02.2013

Scaredy Squirrel Prepares For Halloween: A Safety Guide for Scaredies

Oh, I love Scaredy Squirrel :-D  Not as much as my co-worker, but I have been known to sit my husband down for an evening of cautionary squirrel tales.  We've had those storytimes with Walter The Farting Dog, too.  Guess which one he liked more. 

Anyway, the Scaredy Squirrel series by Mélanie Watt is great.  So far in this series, Scaredy Squirrel has overcome leaving his home, going to the beach, having a birthday party, and making new friends.  Now, it looks like it's time for some October 31st celebrations!

Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween: A Safety Guide for Scaredies is an 8-chapter guide on, well, preparing for Halloween.  It's less of a story and more of a how-to, but is still hilarious.  Kind of a kids' version of Amy Sedaris' I Like You: Hospitality Under The Influence.

It starts with a warning to avoid reading the guide during the full moon, and includes a quiz on how "scaredy" you are of Halloween.  There's a Jack-o-Lantern guide (only friendly!), and a black & orange decoration guide (black forest cakes, and orange flotation vests for example).  There's also a costume guide with  a Scare-o-meter, for your convenience.  Scaredy has a handy approach to candy inspection, and lets you know why the apple is a particularly scary fruit.

Honestly, I think this would be great for an actual kids' party, on top of being just a fun read.

If you haven't read this series, probably best not to start with this one; but don't let that deter you from reading it.  And remember, if all else fails...play dead!

Scaredy Squirrel is published by Kids Can Press.  Digital ARC provided by NetGalley.

Release Date: 08.01.2013

The Adventures of Bella & Harry: Let's Visit Istanbul!

-not Constantinople! [c'mon, you know you were singing it, too]

The Bella & Harry series, written by Lisa Manzione and illustrated by Kristine Lucco, is about sibling chihuahuas who visit different countries with their family.  In Bella & Harry: Let's Visit Istanbul, we join them on a trip to Turkey.  We visit various mosques, bazaars, and keep a lookout for magic flying carpets!

As someone who grew up traveling, I love how this series introduces different cultures and languages to young readers in a very accessible way.  Children learn basic words/phrases in context in the story, and are provided a glossary in back.

The beautiful illustrations give us even more context, from the beautiful colors of spices at the market to the Blue Mosque.  We also learn about things like Turkish Delight!  Which, of course, I knew about from The Chronicles of Narnia.  I tried making it from scratch having never tried it...epic fail.  I do see it at a local grocery store from time to time...should probably try it that way...

Even grown-ups can take something away from this book and others in the series!  I actually hadn't known about the Bosphorus Bridge, and learned that it's the bridge that connects Asia to Europe.  Let's Visit Istanbul is the ninth book in this series, and I look forward to reading the rest!  Even though I'm not the biggest chihuahua fan (I had a babysitter who had a very mean one- Bella & Harry seem legit, though).

I would recommend this to parents and children who are interested in travel, languages, cultures, and of course- dogs!

The Adventures of Bella & Harry series is published by Bella & Harry, LLC.  Digital review copy provided by NetGalley.

75th Anniversary: The Wizard of Oz

Did anyone else have a Wizard of Oz on Christmas tradition?

I distinctly remember watching the Wizard of Oz at my grandparents' house in Milwaukee.  I don't remember if it was Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but I do remember hiding behind the Christmas Tree.  That scary, green witch!  Of course, after hiding from her, I would inevitably dream that she was coming out of the television to get me- and this was very pre-Ringu.

The trauma wore off, though, and I spent an elementary school summer break reading all of the Oz books.  A task I would like to undertake again...maybe when there is a Little Sare-endipity to share the magic with.  I fell in love with the land, and the characters.  The movie, too, grew on me as I got older- and as my mother and uncles made fun of the witch's guards.  "Please, and take it with you!" (fast forward to 1:16)

So, I was very excited to see that Capstone Young Readers came out with a 75th Anniversary book adaptation of the film (coming out August 2013).

The Wizard of Oz adapted by Beth Bracken (written by L. Frank Baum; movie-fied by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf ) uses film stills and original dialogue from the 1939 classic movie to create a picture book for young readers.

I guess it would be an okay companion, if one had already seen the movie.  I would not use it as an introduction to the Merry Old Land of Oz.  

The narration was okay- a lot of the sentences started with conjunctions (which I am guilty of, so, meh *shrug*).  I didn't find the visual content very aesthetic.  While I enjoyed the green and gold themes of the pages, the movie stills didn't flow organically.  It was like they were copy/pasted into a template.  A fairly boring, redundant template. Like- I could've done it on Shutterfly and made it more interesting. I just don't feel the stills translated well on the page.  

As I said- it would be okay to read along with, or after, the movie (which is being re-released this year! *fist pump*).  However, there are so many other adaptations, with much better visuals.  I wouldn't recommend getting this.  If you must, though, get the original book to supplement it.