SILLY BOOKS FOR KIDS (with not-so-silly messages): 2 REVIEWS AND 2 GIVEAWAYS

I'm slowly making it through my to-be-reviewed shelf (which keeps getting replenished by publishers and publicists sending me books!). Last spring I received these two books from Sleeping Bear Press and I'm now getting around to sharing them with you.

A CAPE!

Author-Illustrator Marty Kelley's book begins and ends without words. In fact, I bet the entire book has less than 150 words. But his line art tells a story that every preschooler will be able to read.

The story begins as soon as the reader opens the book to see the main character jumping, leaping, and giving a thumbs up as he tries out his cape. The initial textless pages are in black and white...except for a red towel that the little boy discovers in a linen closet.

The towel, of course, becomes his cape. 

Study this spread. Do you see how the boy begins in black and white and the character gradually gets colored in? Do you see the expressions on his face? The story's action is communicated through the illustrations.

He announces to his father (who is almost always shown in black and white):

On the next page his father answers: "Hmmmmmhmmm."

That begins a pattern with the boy looking for his super power. He thinks it might be super strength, invisibility, or flying.

Each time his father answers with a typical disinterested, parent response. "No running in the house."

When the little boy becomes discouraged because everyone who has a cape has a super power, his father puts down his iPad and says, 

"Well, you have a super powerful imagination. Not everybody has that."

And with that, the boy pushes his father off his comfortable chair and gets just what he needs:

Someone to join him in his super-power-imagination playtime!

Check out the rest of Marty Kelley's books on his website. 

DON'T CALL ME FUZZYBUTT!

Author Robin Newman had a great idea. What kid won't want to read a book with the word "butt" in the title? And illustrator, Susan Batori, portrayed the text with humor and a touch of animal empathy. 

Bear has a problem. If he doesn't get enough sleep, he turns grizzly.

Since he is a light sleeper, he prepares for his 243 (and a half) days of sleep. 

But, that creates a problem for Woodpecker.

When Woodpecker goes looking, he finds remnants of his homes scattered on the ground. He goes straight to work pecking and building. 

Which leads to a very angry bear confronting an equally angry bird.

With hurt feelings, Bear tucks himself into bed. But Woodpecker is upset too. He apologizes and the two of them put their heads together to figure out a solution.

After Bear wakes up from his long sleep, the two friends can't figure out what a fuzzybutt is, and as they say, they live happily ever after.

                                                    ****

Authors often want to include a message in their books. I admire how both A CAPE! and DON'T CALL ME FUZZYBUTT! have positive messages of imagination, respect, friendship, and problem solving are woven into these stories. 

GIVEAWAY

I'm giving away both of these books. To enter, leave me a comment by 5 PM on Friday, August 27; continental United States addresses only. MAKE SURE you leave your email address if you are new to my blog.

Three Just-for-Fun Picture Books: Reviews and Giveaways

Congratulations to  Keturah Lamb who won my ARC of Maybe He Just Likes You from last week's blog.

We're back to picture books today and I have some fun ones for you to try to win for a child, grandchild, or student in your class. Thanks to Sleeping Bear Press, I seem to have an endless supply to review and pass along!

REVIEWS

Experiment #256  by Marty Kelley, is a cleverly written and illustrated STEAM-focused book for the youngest reader. The funny story of how Ian builds a jet pack for his dog, Wilbur, and all the things that go wrong is told through the illustrations, making this a book that pre-readers can figure out from the pictures. Minimal text is written in the form of Ian's notes about the experiment.

On the first few pages Ian builds the jet pack but wonders why he has leftover parts. 

NOTES:
Leftover parts were definitely the brakes.
Adding the turbo blaster was probably a mistake.
Lisa is not happy. 

Outside, Ian and Wilbur run into more trouble.

NOTES:
Garden fence need some repairs.
Wilbur got tangled up in the undies that Mrs. Marino was hanging on the line.
Mrs. Marino is not happy. 

In the end Ian designs Experiment #257, a Snack Blaster that blasts out dog treats. Wilbur is hugely happy...but their neighbor, Mrs. Marino is not. You'll have to get the book to see why!

By the way, the Front Matter is very clever. Kelley has small vignettes showing twelve of Ian's previous experiments...and disasters. 

******

Back Roads, Country Toads is not the first book by author Devin Scillian and illustrator Tim Bowers. I was drawn into this book by the first lines, "On a warm spring morning, Hank and Buckaroo were sitting in their favorite drainpipe near Cooper's General Store. They were licking up the last few sips of a bottle of strawberry soda and they were as happy as two country toads could be."  

The adventure starts when Hank and Buckaroo overhear two men talking about fly fishing. They assume that the men are going fishing for flies...what else could it mean?

When they get to the fishing spot, Emmitt, a friendly raccoon, overhears their delight:

"It's going to be a fly cafeteria!" yelped Buckaroo.
"Oh yeah, said Hank. "A down-home,
big-time fly barbecue!

After Bukaroo almost gets hooked by a fake fly, the toads are disappointed to discover that fishermen use fake flies for lures. But Hank turns the tables by using Emmitt's stolen fish as a lure for a fly dinner. 

"Yahoo!" yelled Buckaroo. Their tongues
darted through the air, snapping up fly after fly,
and the two toads reeled them in by the dozens.

In the end, "... two very plump, very happy country toads waddled back to town for a strawberry soda and an afternoon nap." 

"Toadally" sounds good, doesn't it?

********

Invisible Lizard in Love follows chameleon Napoleon's first book, Invisible Lizard  in which he sorrows over not having any friends (after all--he's a chameleon, so who sees him?). In this second book, written by Kurt Cyrus and illustrated by Andy Atkins, Napoleon's new-found friends desert him when they find love. He's alone again!

Napoleon sulks and then scratches his initial inside a heart on a tree. When the branch snaps, 

Moss and bark rained from the sky.
Fern grounds fluttered by.
A warty lumpstool fell onto
the far end of the branch.
Napoleon held on.

Napoleon realizes that the only thing which is keeping the limb balanced is the "big warty lumpstool" who turns out to be a girl chameleon aptly named (who else?) -- Josephine.  

The two chameleons slowly move towards one another, afraid to disturb the balance of the precarious limb.

They kept on creeping. 

Until they meet in the middle of the branch. 

Like a chameleon itself, science and friendship lessons are hidden within the story and illustrations. 

******

One of the challenges of writing a good picture book is that the adult reader and the child are both entertained. These three picture books soundly meet that challenge. 

GIVEAWAY

Leave me a comment if you would like to win Back Roads, Country Toads or Invisible Lizard in Love. (I'm saving Experiment #256 for my grandkids). Make sure you leave me your email address if you are new to my blog and which book you are interested in. Giveaway ends September 26 and is limited to the continental United States.