Higglety Pigglety Pop!

or There Must Be More To Life
by Maruice Sendak

I saw this one browsing in the library and picked it up. I thought I'd read it before, but I must have just seen the final panels reproduced elsewhere- the beginning was more or less unfamiliar to me.

The first part is chapter-book style, with full page illustrations. Jennie, a sealyham terrier, has everything she could want in life but feels unsatisfied so she runs away to find adventure. She wants to have a star role in the theater but needs experience. A passing milkman assumes she is the newest nursemaid for a child in a big house nearby- exclaiming one must need experience for the job- so the dog accepts that and does her best to go make the baby eat her dinner. Instead, it's the dog who is eating tons of stuff on nearly every page! she does land the theater position in the end, and the final pages show the performance- a silly nursery rhyme about a dog eating a mop. Yeah, what?

Some other things are really odd- the dog talks to a plant and eats all its leaves until it can't speak to her anymore (she also later talks to an unhappy tree). The family in the big house moved away, left their baby behind, and then promptly forgot their original address so couldn't return to get her. And they keep a lion in their basement to eat the nursemaids who fail at the job (main requirement is getting the baby to eat). A lot of it is just the kind of ridiculousness and skewed logic a child might employ, but I'm not sure if my kid would find this book amusing, or just plain weird!

Myself, I didn't really care for it in the end. But the illustrations, with their detailed pen-and-ink texture, are lovely. They transcend the story.

Rating: 2/5          70 pages, 1967

They All Saw a Cat

by Brendan Wenzel

A cat takes a walk. A child sees it, impressed by the big round eyes. The following pages show how each animal it comes across, sees it in a very different way. To a dog the cat is a sneaky thing, to the fish a wide blur, to the mouse it is a horrible monster. The views get a bit more sophisticated as you advance through the book. Some creatures see it in black-and-white, others in a kaliedascope of color. A bee sees the cat as various dots, a worm feels it as vibrations through the ground, the snake senses the heat of its body. On the final page- how does the cat see itself?

This book is deceptively simple. The illustrations are bold, the words are repetitive. But that's part of the beauty of it- a young child will just enjoy the pictures and rhythm. An older kid will appreciate the insight into perceptions- not just about viewpoints, but about the different means by which a thing can be known. Art, science and kitties!

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 4/5              44 pages, 2016

Mama, I Can't Sleep

by Brigitte Raab
Illustrations by Manuela Olten

My six-year-old over the past few months has had difficulty getting to sleep. I flipped through this book at the library and thought she would find it amusing- yep. It reminds her that she's not the only one having issues falling asleep- and makes her laugh!

The kid in the story says to her mom over and over: I can't sleep. Mom tells her to snuggle with her stuffed leopard and close her eyes, adding: "all creatures sleep. Even the real leopards in Africa-" and shares some fact about how leopards sleep. Next page, the kid complains she can't sleep- she tried to sleep like a leopard but it didn't work- so mom tucks her in again and tells her how storks sleep on one leg- you get the picture. Each time the kid tries sleeping like an animal: eyes open like a fish, surrounded by buddies like a duck, turning in circles like a dog. She finds out of course that animal sleep habits are not for kids, snuggled in a bed is best of all.

This book isn't about finding some strategy for bedtime (and we're mostly over needing that). You see through the pictures that the mother is going through her own bedtime routine, and on the last page when the kid finally says "I'm sleeping now!" mom is already snoozing next to her. It never shows the child actually falling alseep- which I found a tad annoying. But it's good for giggles.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5                32 pages, 2012

What's Your Favorite Animal?

by Eric Carle, et al

When I saw the cover of this book at the library, I thought it was a story about some crazy made-up composite animal. Nope! It's a bunch of renowned children's illustrators telling what their favorite animal is, and why. Some share little stories about a beloved pet, others about why they like the animal, a few are just a poem or brief description of the animal. There are funny pages and more serious ones. I especially liked the story about the carp that was supposed to be christmas eve dinner, and on another page, appreciation for the snail. I recognized a lot of the artists and thoroughly enjoyed looking at their pictures- Eric Carle, Steven Kellogg, Lane Smith, Mo Willems, etc. My five-year-old has forgotten that we used to read many books by some of these illustrators, so this volume has inspired me to pull some old favorites off our shelves (she's usually going for something new at the library, not repeats).

Rating: 3/5

more opinions:
Waking Brain Cells
Kids' Book Review

The Day the Crayons Quit

by Drew Daywalt

I was babysitting for a friend and saw this book on her shelf. Pulled it out to read (just to myself, the kids weren't interested).

A little boy finds a stack of letters from his personified crayons. They each have a complaint. Some are tired of being over-used and worn down to stubs, others feel neglected. Yellow and orange argue over who should be used to color the sun, beige is unhappy at being second-best to brown, pink is upset at being considered a "girl" color (relegated to little sister borrowing it for princesses and unicorns), black is bored with only being used to make outlines. One crayon even criticizes the boy's ineptness at staying in the lines, and another freaks out because part of its wrapper is torn off and it feels naked. They really are a whiny bunch (except for green who seems content) but I got a chuckle out of it all- and thought it a good point that the crayons' complaints were about stereotypical uses. In the end the boy makes one big picture applying the crayon colors to all kinds of different things, which makes them happy.

I thought the book was funny, made a good point against stereotypes (even if it's just for what color things should be) and showed how when the crayons made their feelings known, things changed. I think my older daughter would be amused by it. I haven't tried it on my younger one. However, if you poke around some other reviews online (there's lots on amzn) you'll find many parents and teachers don't like this book. They think it shows kids that whining gets them what they want, and comes across with a lot of negativity. I think it's all in how you present it (or maybe on the child you read it to).

Rating: 3/5       40 pages, 2013

more opinions:
Rhapsody in Books
Playing by the Book

Home

by Carson Ellis

This lovely picture book shows a wide variety of places that people call home. Each page is a detailed illustration of a different kind of home- a city apartment, country home, thatched stone house on a mountainside. Some are really fanciful- the old woman's shoe from a nursery rhyme, an underground sea lair (my favorite, with the writhing octopus tentacles and wavy aquatic plants), a diminutive woodland house- for a fairy or elf, you must imagine. There are so many particular details, you can imagine what kind of person lives in each home and the sort of activities they do. The page showing the artist's own home is fun, as you can find objects, paintings and sketches in the room from most of the other illustrations in the book. Also there's a visual thread running through the entire thing- which I didn't notice until the second time I read this to my kid- of a mourning dove. The bird is present somewhere in each picture. Most of all, I loved the details of plants in the pictures- the variety of shapes, the fronds of sea plants and ferns- just lovely.

Note: I did not really think about how prevalent old, negative stereotypes are in this book -in the way it depicts the homes and lifestyles of non-European cultures- until I read the review in the third link below. Now it feels like a slap in the face. My four-year-old definitely wasn't astute enough to pick up on this either, but that's exactly the problem- the book will just define for her what other places and lives are like, if all she knows about Inuits are "that they live in igloos" for example. Sigh.

Rating: 4/5      40 pages, 2015

more opinions:
Things Mean a Lot
Rhapsody in Books
American Indians in Children's Literature

Pukka

the Pup After Merle
by Ted Kerasote

A year or two after the famous Merle passed on, his owner got a new puppy and named him Pukka. This is Pukka's story. How he came into the author's life, got to know neighbors, learned doggy skills and basic obedience, went adventuring with his new owner on hikes and even river trips. It's told from the dog's perspective, which in this case is charming and I think would make the book appealing for younger readers too. It's mostly presented in photographs, and they are very nice. The scenery is gorgeous, the photos taken in the Seattle, WA area of course make me feel nostalgic. And the puppy is darn cute. He doesn't do anything extraordinary, but such a nice dog and the storyline shows how a puppy can become well-adjusted, learn new situations and some basic rules, and in this case, have freedom to roam while near home but accept leash laws when out and about on public streets (they live in a rural area of Wyoming). This book has a different feel from Merle's Door, very casual and an easy read- I finished it in one sitting.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5       200 pages, 2010

My Teacher is a Monster!

by Peter Brown

Bobby is sure his teacher is a monster. She stomps and growls and yells at kids. Especially when he throws paper airplanes in class. Bobby often goes to the park to play and forget about his teacher. But one day he is shocked to find his teacher in the park! There's an awkward conversation. Then Bobby rescues the teacher's hat when it blows away. He finds out she likes ducks, he shows her his favorite hill, she gives him paper to make an airplane to fly. The teacher relaxes a bit too, dropping some of the formal language she uses in class by the end of their time at the park. Back in school, the teacher still stomps and yells at times, but Bobby also earns her praise now and knows she can be friendly.

The great thing about this book is that for the first ten pages the teacher looks like a monster. Then as she and Bobby reach an understanding, her image slowly begins to change- the skin is lighter, the features softer, and by the last page she looks like a normal person.

I borrowed this book from the public library.

Rating: 3/5     34 pages, 2014

more opinions:
Jen Robinson's Book Page
The Book Chook

You Will Be My Friend!

by Peter Brown

Lucy the bear wants to make a new friend. So she visits all the forest animals, eager and friendly. But a bit lacking in social skills. She's too boisterous and talkative for most of them, I can exactly picture what kind of outgoing, slightly annoying four-year-old child this bear personifies. The pictures of Lucy trying to squeeze into a rabbit's hole, belly-flopping into a frog puddle and trying to give a skunk a bath are cute and funny. She's well-meaning and nothing but persistent- but the other animals all look annoyed or at best, startled by her tactics. Getting frustrated, Lucy starts demanding that the other animals play with her, but of course that doesn't work either. Finally, when she least expects it, a flamingo comes along who likes to play Lucy's games. Phew, a happy ending!

Really cute book, and I'm sure lots of kids know what it's like to be in Lucy's shoes (or have been on the receiving end). It's by the same author who did The Curious Garden.

This book was borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 4/5      36 pages, 2011

Edith and Mr. Bear

A Lonely Doll story
by Dare Wright

Picture book story of a little doll who lives with Mr. Bear and Little Bear. Mr. Bear comes home from a trip and brings presents- the younger ones clamor for gifts and then argue about whose is better. But the most wonderful thing is a glass-sided clock Mr. Bear bought for himself. Edith is fascinated by the workings of the clock; Mr. Bear puts it up high out of reach. One day when no-one is around Edith climbs up to see the clock closer, and accidentally breaks it. She hides the evidence, and then lies when Mr. Bear asks who did it. She feels bad about lying, but can't admit it and feeling worse and worse, starts being horrid to her friends and can't even enjoy her own birthday party. She decides to run away, but after wandering through the streets half a day cold and lonely of course she goes home again. Mr. Bear has been frantically looking for her. She is welcomed back and finally confesses what she did, all is better now. Well, at least, she made amends. But the story continues a little and you see that Edith isn't perfect- she still does naughty things, quarrels with Little Bear and likes to brag. But she never again lies to Mr. Bear.

The photographs by Dare Wright (a woman) illustrating this story are just lovely. They're made with a real doll and teddy bears (also a live kitten in a few scenes) posing in different situations with tiny props. Although black and white they're very nice and the vintage look is charming.

There's only one picture that looks awkward to me, where Edith has just come home and is standing ashamed in the doorway. Mr. Bear is holding the door open but it looks like he is going to hit her over the head with his pipe!

Reminds me of a children's book in my daughter's collection called Carmen (black and white photos illustrating a story of a lonely girl in a city apartment). I'd like to find the others in this Lonely Doll series. I found this one at the public library, they have a few more.

Rating: 4/5         58 pages, 1964

The Worst Princess

by Anna Kemp

Princess Sue is pining around waiting for a prince to come and sweep her off her feet. When a prince finally arrives at her castle, she's ecstatic- until she realizes his plans for her. Her new prince expects his lady love to stay in the castle, try on pretty dresses and "just smile a lot and twist your curls." Princess Sue is incensed- she wants to ride horses and have adventures. Not one to accept defeat, she teams up with a dragon to realize her dreams. Great fun. Love the bright, slightly sketchy illustrations by Sara Ogilvie. It's also nicely written, the rhyming text flows smoothly when read aloud. And funny, to the right listener- my ten-year-old was listening on the other side of the room and kept giggling quietly as I read this at bedtime to her younger sister. The story really reminds me a lot of The Paper Bag Princess.

Rating: 4/5      32 pages

more opinions:
Vulpes Libris
Waking Brain Cells
Jen Robinson's Book Page
My Favorite Books

Rabbit's Wooly Sweater

by Mark Birchall

Really cute book I found at the library with my kids the other day. Little Rabbit's aunt knits her a wooly striped sweater, but she doesn't want to wear it. She wants her toy doll Mr. Cuddles (who does everything with her) to have one too, and besides it's too big. Her mom insists the sweater is lovely, and makes her wear it to play outside. Rabbit takes her sweater off at the park and leaves it behind, but someone finds it and brings it home for her- all dirty from laying on the ground and getting kicked around in a soccer game. Into the washing machine it goes- and it shrinks! Much to small now. What will Rabbit do?

The pictures are lively and charming- they look very freehand. And the story presents a predicament lots of kids will be familiar with- disliking a well-intended gift, wanting something different... with a nice ending here. I liked it enough I'm looking to find other books by this author to read to my three-year-old too.

Rating: 3/5      24 pages, 2000

Stellaluna

by Janell Cannon

Stellaluna is an adorable young fruit bat. She is accidentally separated from her mother, and adopted by a family of birds- but only if she can follow mother bird's rules of conduct. So Stellaluna tries to adjust and learn to live like the birds- although some things make her miserable (eating bugs) and she's particularly awkward at landing upright. When Stellaluna learns to fly she is discovered by other fruit bats and learns her true identity. Then she wants to introduce her bird friends to her bat family- only to discover that they find bat manners just as strange!

This is a lovely picture book. It's a wonderful story about friendship and acceptance, teaching children about the biology of bats and birds at the same time. The end of the book has some facts on bats as well, for those who want to learn more. I have to share some of my favorite pictures with you:

especially this one

Rating: 4/5       48 pages, 1993

more opinions:
The Well-Read Child
The Reading Tub

The Secret Life of Squirrels

by Nancy Rose

Mr. Peanuts is not an ordinary squirrel. He has quite the refined life- playing the piano, baking cakes, reading from his tiny library. He mails a letter inviting his cousin to come visit, and is shown making preparations- tidying the bedroom, doing laundry and so on. When cousin squirrel arrives, the two enjoy visiting an ice-cream parlor, going on a picnic, and playing chess among other things. Mr. Peanuts is sad to see his cousin go when the visit is over- having discovered that your favorite activities are more fun when you have a friend to share them with!

The pictures in this book are just delightful- showing real life squirrels among miniature furniture and sets. I thought at first these must be tame squirrels, but it turns out they are wild animals that visit the author's backyard. She describes in the back of the book her process for taking the photographs (creating tiny sets, baiting them with peanuts, waiting for the curious squirrels to arrive and taking dozens of photographs to capture just the right pose). My kids really enjoyed this book- the youngest loved seeing a squirrel doing "people things" and her older sister spent a long time looking at the pictures, to guess how the author made all the miniature items. The author has a website too. There's an article about her work here, with more pictures.

Rating: 4/5          32  pages, 2014

more opinions:
Indextrious Reader

Smartypants

Pete in School
by Maira Kalman

I don't quite know how to describe this picture book. It's nuts, funny, quirky and downright hilarious. I have a suspicion there's a few of them revolving around the dog, Pete, but this is the first I've encountered. This girl tells about the day her dog went to school, caused havoc in several classes, ate a set of encyclopedias and started talking. Then caused all sorts of new trouble because he suddenly knew everything and the kids wanted him in class to answer questions for them. Throughout the silly story of a dog in school there's all sorts of little hilarious asides and snide remarks on the school rules, the system, the quirks of various teachers, the girl's friends and classmates and so on. With these awkward but descriptive drawings and funky handwritten text (even the copyright info on the first page is handwritten into a picture on a classroom wall!) that really liven up the story. It's great. Way beyond the comprehension of my little one, but my ten-year-old ate this book up. I've got to find more by this author.

Rating: 4/5     44 pages, 2003

Palazzo Inverso

by D.B. Johnson

This very imaginative picture book draws its inspiration from the work of M.C. Escher. In a whismical, dreamlike story it features a young boy Mauk who is apprentice to a master builder. Mauk is supposed to only sharpen the master's pencils, but it seems he has turned the drawing around when no one was looking. As he runs through the corridors, courtyard and staircase of the palazzo in construction, things turn one way and then another, the ceiling becomes a floor, the staircases run the wrong way, all is confusion. The workers try to catch him, the mistress leans out windows the wrong way, the Master calls out, but in the end they see that all is right, even turned every whichway. The Master (and Mauk) realize the building is more beautiful in its confusing ambiguity. You read the book left to right, then turn it over and read it back the other way, with the pictures telling both sides of the story (beginning and end). It's quite intriguing. My favorite spread is the one where the boy runs over the bridge- on one end of the story birds and fishes are in their place, at the other end the birds are in the water and fish swim in the sky. Delightful!

Rating: 3/5     32 pages, 2010

April's Kittens

by Clare Turlay Newberry

April lives in a small apartment with her parents and their beloved cat, Sheba. When Sheba has kittens, the little girl is delighted, but her father is concerned- their place is too small for four cats, so the kittens must go. Of course April falls in love with them, and has a special favorite. When new prospective owners come visiting, she watches anxiously as they each pick out a kitten. Finally only one is left- and it's her favorite. Her father decides that they will give the mother cat to her her aunt, and keep the kitten "you'd rather have a kitten to play with, wouldn't you?" but soon April realizes this will mean giving up the cat she has known for so long- and what if Sheba isn't happy in her new home? a young kitten would adjust easier. She agonizes and sheds tears, then finally decides to send the kitten to her aunt's house, and keep Sheba instead. But when she announces this idea to her father, he has a new plan that might allow them to keep both cats.

I have to say, not everyone would find the final solution practical, but it's a neat and tidy ending that leaves everyone happy. What makes this story shine are the very realistic conversations everyone has over the fate of the kittens- April wondering, tearful, hopeful at turns, her mother gentle and consoling, her father very matter-of-fact, other children questioning and thrilled with the kittens too. The illustrations are simply delightful. They are so beautifully drawn and depict precisely feline gestures and moods.

I snatched this up when came across it on a library shelf (I'm familiar with a few other books by this author/illustrator). The book is a little advanced for my three-year-old; I have to edit out about half the sentences on a page or she looses interest but the illustrations are so endearing, she still wants to read it with me (my older daughter read a few of the picture books I brought home last week too, and this one was her favorite).

Rating: 4/5       32 pages, 1940

E-I-E-I-O How Old MacDonald Got His Farm

by Judy Sierra

A man named MacDonald bemoans the effort it takes to mow his lawn. He decides to get a goat to eat the grass, then buys a chicken (online!) The chicken it turns out, is knowledgeable and can talk. She teaches MacDonald how to smother his lawn with layers of newspapers, feed the soil with kitchen scraps and make a worm compost bin. Then they plant seeds and soon MacDonald has so much produce he starts selling it from a mobile cart (built atop his old lawnmower!) Some of his neighbors complain about the smell and changes, but most seem pleased to enjoy the fresh produce plus cheese from his goat, eggs from his hen, even honey from some bees. I don't know if I'd ever just throw vegetable waste and horse manure all over the ground like this book portrays, and the guy sure looks tired and confused through the whole process of converting lawn into garden, but the end result is so nice. My favorite picture is the one that shows bright vegetables growing, the root shapes with happy-looking worms around them underground. My three-year-old likes the last two pages, where she tries to point out and name all the plants, vegetables and things shown growing in the garden and spread out for sale around MacDonald's produce cart. The illustrations by Matthew Myers are vivid, funky and fun. Nice bold brushstrokes.

Rating: 4/5      32 pages, 2014

Catch That Baby!

by Nancy Coffelt

Baby brother has a bath and then doesn't want to get dressed. Instead he goes running naked through the house. On each page, another family member joins in the chase. My little girl giggles at the nakedness (you only see his butt) and the romp through the house. She loves pointing out where the baby is hiding behind furniture on certain pages. In the end the little boy puts his clothes on by himself- all the wrong way of course, which elicits even more giggles! The illustrations by Scott Nash, ink line and color, are lively and fun.

Rating: 3/5     34 pages, 2011

more opinions:
Waking Brain Cells
BooksForKidsBlog
Sal's Fiction Addiction
Rosemary's Reading Circle
The Little Mom

Outfoxing the Fox

by Friederike Rave

A little fox wakes up one day and decides he doesn't have to go to school, because "foxes are clever enough already." But when he visits the henhouse to get a chicken for his dinner, the hens are far too smart for him. They pretend to be sick, insisting they'd love to help him out, but he doesn't want to eat a sick chicken- he should wait until they are better. The fox agrees this seems best. Each night he returns to the henhouse, and then hens are progressively wrapped up in more clothes, sneezing and coughing, claiming to still be sick. Finally the hungry fox gives up on chickens and with a bit of luck steals a hunter's sandwich. Pleased to have a good meal at last, he tucks into his sandwich planning to go visit the chickens again tomorrow. But they won't be there- you can see their getaway plan on the last page.

This is a fun book, with lively illustrations and some silly situations that make my little girl giggle. But there's a few things that bug me about it. One is the idea that this fox is skipping school- yet there's no mention of school brought up again, he doesn't learn some tricks or skills somewhere and then try them out as I half-expected. No parent figures in the story at all either. Another is that on most pages the hens are painting swathes of the page white, or rolling out white paper (see the cover). First time I read the story I thought this was part of their plan to fool the fox- maybe they were making everything white like winter, to back up their "sick with a cold" ruse. Then I realized it was a visual joke in the background: then hens are just making white space for the text. But it felt like it ought to be part of the story!

Regardless, it's a book my three-year-old really enjoys, so I shouldn't be so critical. But for myself, it feels kind of awkward. Some parts just don't fit together.

Rating: 2/5      28 pages, 2010

more opinions:
Jean Little Library