Picture Book of the Day: Viva Frida

Viva Frida, written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales, photography by Tim O' Meara.  This is a truly unique celebration of the artistic vision of brilliant artist Frida Kahlo.  Using spare bilingual (Spanish/English) text, Morales presents a playful and sensitive Kahlo who embraces life, love, and her imagination.  Beautifully composed photographs capture a Frida figurine in motion, interacting with animals such as a monkey and a dog.  Then Morales inserts a haunting dream sequence done with masterfully composed paintings as Kahlo flies and comes to the aid of a wounded deer.  This lovely creature joins the Frida figure in the real world, inspiring one of her pieces of art.  Diego Rivera makes a special appearance, too!  The final triumphant spread with the words "Vivo!  I live!" gives me goosebumps every time I look at it.  A stirring, wondrous creation with excellent back matter.

Three Fun Romps with Great Endings

Construction, written by Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock.  This follow-up to Roadwork and Demolition invites audience participation as construction workers and machines noisily team up to create something very cool.  It's fun to periodically ask the children "what are they making?" and hear the answers they offer.  This follows the same formula as the first two books:  each spread shows a machine at work (Lovelock's vibrant illustrations fill the page) and a staccato rhyme captures the sound of the process:  "Hoist the wood.  Hoist the wood.  Chain and hook and strap.  Swing it round, then lower it down.  THONK! CLONK! CLAP!"  The rhymes invite clapping and movement, and kids love shouting the sound effects with you.  I won't spoil the ending's surprise:  but it's one that brings big smiles from all.

Duck in the Fridge, written and illustrated by Jeff Mack.  Mack continues his winning streak with this delightful and silly bedtime story.  A son asks his father why he always reads Mother Goose to him at bedtime, and the bespectacled pa responds "it all started when I found a duck in the fridge."  Say what?  What follows is an outlandishly goofy account of an incident from the father's childhood, perfectly captured in Mack's charming cartoon illustrations.  Ducks overtake the house, and calls to 1-800-DUCK-B-GONE prove fruitless:  they keep sending more animals who end up partying with rather than scaring the pun-spewing fowl, causing more chaos to ensue.  The resourceful lad comes up with the perfect solution to calm down these mischievous critters, and thus the son learns how Mother Goose comes to the bedtime rescue.  A blast!

Hug Machine, written and illustrated by Scott Campbell.  This instantly lovable romp introduces a boy who has declared himself the Hug Machine!  Campbell's delightful deadpan drawings serve as a comical contrast to the first person text.  As the wondrous hugger brags about how no one can resist his hugging and hugs everyone in sight, the rather perplexed expressions of some of the huggees tell a different story:  they look mildly confused by the hug and aren't really hugging back.  I love the absurdity of this book:  the hero hugs everything he sees, and that includes fire hydrants, trees, porcupines (hey you don't know what you're missing when you don't hug porcupines), and even whales.  Pizza fuels this perpetual hugger, but even hug machines tire out.  Does he have energy for one last hug?  A real delight.

2 Fun Friendship Stories

Little Elliot, Big City, written and illustrated by Mike Curato.  This gentle friendship story stars a diminutive polka-dotted elephant who finds that living in the crowded, bustling city can be truly difficult.  Curato skillfully shows the struggles for this pint-sized pachyderm, so tiny he can take a bath in his sink!  An instantly lovable creature who enjoys collecting little things, Elliot captures the reader's sympathy right away, especially when he wants to buy a cupcake but cannot because the busy bakery workers do not see him.  One haunting spread shows a little girl watching Elliot with concern (he does not notice her), and just when you think the story will become about the two of them becoming friends, Curato's tale takes another sweet turn.  Elliot meets a creature, a little mouse, who is far smaller than he, needing help.  A gorgeous spread showing Elliot feeling great about himself after he helps Mouse follows.  Will this pair team up so Elliot can finally purchase his desired pastry product?  Curato's charming and skillfully rendered illustrations are a delight to behold.  Here's hoping there will be more stories starring Elliot and his new pal!

Thank You, Octopus, written and illustrated by Darren Farrell.  What a glorious nonsensical joy this book is.  A young boy lives on a boat with his buddy, an octopus who tries to be ever so helpful but, uh, kind of fails.  Octopus announces at the story's start that it's bedtime and says "I made you a nice warm bath" (Thank you Octopus!) "of egg salad!!!!" (No Thank You Octopus!!!)  The octopus then apologizes and offers to dry the boy off...WITH A TUBA!  And so it goes.  Each page turn offers an unpredictable surprise.  What will octopus do next?  And will the boy get the octopus back for all this bizarre behavior?  Farrell's whimsical humor and hilarious illustrations make this a rollicking addition to story times.