Picture Book of the Day: Steam Train, Dream Train

Picture Book of the Day:  Steam Train, Dream Train, by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld

Tom Lichtenheld simply is one of the best illustrators working today.  Everything from his glorious "you can do it" tale Cloudette to his rollicking collaboration with Chris Barton, the hilarious  Shark Vs. Train, delights.  Throw in his books with Amy Krouse Rosenthal (including the mind-teasing Duck! Rabbit!) for more fun.  Steam Train, Dream Train works wonders as a bedtime story and a celebration of trains.  This cozy, atmospheric story serves as a worthy follow-up to the very successful Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, also by Lichtenheld and Sherri Duskey Rinker.  In Steam, a dedicated animal crew works on the night shift on the railroad.  A nice, bumpy, bouncy rhyming text mimics the sound of a moving train.  Lichtenheld's illustrations capture the antics of hard-working monkeys, dinosaurs, elephants, and others who engage in tasks that appeal to young readers (the hopper car is being loaded with basketballs, the reefer car with ice cream!!!).  Of course the animals become very very sleepy after such a hard night's work and they all start drifting off to dreamland.  Perfect for train storytimes, animal storytimes, and pajama time storytimes.

 

   



Storytime Classic: Go Away, Big Green Monster!

Storytime Classic:  Go Away, Big Green Monster!, written and illustrated by Ed Emberley

Every once in a while I will profile a book that is a surefire winner for me in storytime.  And Emberley's great, interactive, colorful book deserves to kick this series off.  This is one of those classics that has children yelling "Again! Again!" when you finish.  I have read this book a kazillion times (yes, a kazillion times) to a kazillion different groups and it has never failed to impress me with its ability to win over a crowd.  The children tremble with excitement as the monster becomes assembled--each page turn introduces a new part of the monster's face (big red mouth, scraggly purple hair, and not to mention that long bluish-greenish nose).  I have the kids count the sharp white teeth!  Then with joy they yell "Go Away!" to each dastardly facial feature.  Thanks to the book's brilliant design, a flip of the page makes that facial feature magically disappear.  When the monster goes away, the kids shout "AND DON'T COME BACK!" followed by the ultimate kid power moment, "Until I say so."  This book rocks.

Picture Book of the Day: Little Mouse

Little Mouse, written and illustrated by Alison Murray

As they quietly cuddle and read a book together, a mom calls her daughter "her little mouse."  But oh this girl is much more than that and this imaginative, interactive gem proves it!  Encouraging young listeners to roar, howl, and stomp, the narrator shows how she is anything but a little mouse:  she can make herself tall as a giraffe, trumpet like an elephant, scare off a lion, and chomp like a hungry horse.  Murray's nifty, crystal clear drawings capture this pint-sized dynamo in her full glory.  And if you look closely you will see a mice imagery on every spread.  Lo and behold, the book sneakily becomes a bedtime story, with the girl enjoying a bath, slipping on her pjs, and then happily cuddling up with mom like a little mouse as she falls cozily to sleep.

Picture Book of the Day: Monsters Love Colors

Monsters Love Colors, written and illustrated by Mike Austin

This vibrant introduction to mixing primary colors to make other supercool colors stars a bunch of crayon-wielding monsters who love to mix, mash, squish, and squash.  They also like to wiggle and dance, too.  The red, yellow, and blue monsters roar and growl, and perhaps even eat a crayon or two.  But most of all they love to join forces and turn their petite grayish monster pals into brand new colors.  Austin's joyful scribbles fill the page as new colorful monsters--green!  orange! purple!--emerge from the captivating chaos.  Young readers pick up right away that the littlest monster is getting a bum deal, being ignored by its peers.  However, a nice surprise ending finds that monster getting the mega color treatment it deserves!  Pair this up with Alan Baker's great White Rabbit's Color Book and Ashley Wolff's lovely Baby Bear Sees Blue for a colorful storytime.

Picture Book of the Day: Count the Monkeys

Picture Book of the Day:

Count the Monkeys, written by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Kevin Cornell

This book is already in the running for the funniest picture book of the year. On the title page, the narrator tells the kids that the time has come to count the monkeys! However, a flip of the page reveals not a monkey but 1 King Cobra wearing a crown and checking himself out in a mirror. We see the tails of the scared monkeys fleeing. The narrator tells the reader to turn the page very very slowly, very carefully as not to disturb this vain reptile. Do we find monkeys on the next page? No! We find 2 Mongooses (or is it Mongeese?) who have chased the King Cobra away, but no monkeys! Every spread promises monkeys on the next page, but instead we end up with posh crocodiles, gluttonous grizzly bears, and lumberjacks, oh, those lumberjacks who never ever leave. And on every spread the narrator instructs the reader how to make the monkeys appear (e.g., put your arms about your head and roar!). Barnett's interactive text begs to be read aloud, and Cornell's hilarious, joke-packed illustrations burst off the page. A delight from start to finish.