Picture Book of the Day: Ah Ha!, written and illustrated by Jeff Mack

After giving us the hilarious Good News! Bad News! last year, Mack returns with an action-packed book that tells a fun story with very few words and only two letters (the letters "a" and "h").  A frog only wants to enjoy a peaceful swim ("aaaaah" it sighs contentedly) but soon a pesky kid harshes its mellow by catching it in a jar ("aaaaaah!" it screams).  The frog escapes this imprisonment ("ah ha!") but soon finds itself in the clutches of various animals (a turtle, a gator, a flamingo) who yell "Ah ha!" when they attack.  The slapstick comedy builds to a wild conclusion as all of this creatures close in, but frog gets the final laugh ("ha ha!") when it makes one last escape.  The book, with its eyepopping cartoonish illustrations that are perfect for storytimes, comes full circle and children love seeing the frog sigh with contentment once again.  A great near-wordless book that can be paired with the newly released Moo!

Picture Book of the Day: Carnivores, written by Aaron Reyonlds, illustrated by Dan Santat

With this hilarious book just out and the wild Battle Bunny around the corner, well, it's been a fun season for outlandish, subversive humor.  Aaron Reynolds does a great job spoofing those stories where a predator wonders why other creatures don't like him and then does something to prove that he can be trusted.  A wolf, lion, and shark experience an existential crisis when their prey run away, refusing to play with them.  Feeling friendless, they decide to embrace vegetarianism...and that doesn't exactly work.  In a moment that joins the list of funniest great all-time moments in a comical picture book, they join a self-help group, led by a proud yet doomed Owl who teaches them it's OK to say I'M A CARNIVORE!!!  The book gleefully turns the whole message of self-acceptance on its head.  Even though I'm a vegetarian myself, I found this book absolutely nifty and laugh-out loud funny.  Dan Santat's illustrations burst with zest and are packed with clever touches (the shark wears a helmet filled with water when on land, the fact that the bunnies the wolf eats look goofily arrogant, and so on).  Bon appetite!!!

Picture Book of the Day: Mr. Tiger Goes Wild

Picture Book of the Day:  Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, by Peter Brown

I have been a fan of Brown's for a long time and this has now emerged as my favorite book by him.  In this witty tale of embracing your wild side, a tiger all dressed in Victorian clothes becomes tired of his oh-so sophisticated and socially restrictive society.  All the animals (elephants and monkeys and such, clad in similar attire) stand on their hind legs and exchange dull niceties that bore our hero, and any animal child showing any signs of wildness receives a verbal warning from their elders.  Unable to take it anymore, Mr. Tiger (in a brilliant spread that shows him going lower and lower on the page) decides to--gasp!--walk on all four legs and roar his way to heavenly wildness, all the while still wearing his fancy clothes.  But these duds soon fall off and this causes his friends to banish him to the wilderness where Mr. Tiger gladly races off the page to go.  What follows are spreads containing the most breathtaking work Brown has ever achieved:  beautiful drawings of the wilderness with waterfalls and wonder.  Seriously, these illustrations could hang on a museum wall.  Everything leads to a lovely conclusion that offers Mr. Tiger a chance to don an awesome Hawaiian shirt and his city folk peers now happily joining him in the rumpus.  A delightful book, one of the very best picture books of this year, an instant classic.
 

Picture Book of the Day: This Is Our House

Picture Book of the Day:  This Is Our House, by Hyewon Yum

In this delightful story, a young girl shows how important her cozy house is.  The first spread shows her immigrant grandparents arriving at the front doorstep, suitcases in hand.  The girl's mother is born and the reader follows the child through a variety of milestones (learning how to walk) and day-to-day activities.  The charming child-friendly illustrations capture the loving antics of the mom and her siblings as they grow up, sipping warm soup in the kitchen, running down the stair to go to school.  Soon the mother grows up, leaves for college, and returns home with "the boyfriend who would be (the narrator's) father."  We then see the couple preparing a room in a house for the narrator's arrival.  After the narrator is born, the reader enjoys watching her go through many of the same milestones as her mother.  This poignant book has a surprising power that makes it feel universal.  And although it is serene, filled with little gentle moments, Yum laces the illustrations with comical details that make this intergenerational slice of life story accessible for young readers.

Picture Book of the Day: The Long, Long Line

Picture Book of the Day:  The Long, Long Line, by Tomoko Ohmura

This joyous book sparks curiosity right from the start.  We see 50 animals waiting in line...for what?  What's the surprise?  Ohmura treats us to a reverse counting book, we countdown from 50 to 1.  As a little bird flies overhead, the animals engage in word games and exchanges to keep themselves occupied.  Ohmura keeps throwing in twists to the action:  a traffic jam is caused by a sheep afraid of an animal we cannot see.  When we flip the page, we see a wolf turned back, licking its licks.  A hyena with googly eyes plays peek-a-boo to charm a crying kangaroo joey.  And pensive creatures take part in a goofy Word Chain game to pass the time.  The animals' expressions are comical and delightful.  And what's great is the book has a wonderful payoff:  the animals wait in line...for something extremely cool.  This exhilarating charmer will invite repeat visits.
 

Some Great Picture Books of 2013 (so far)

Some Great Picture Books of 2013 (so far)

 2013 so far has been a great year for picture books.  In earlier posts I sung the praises of the hilarious Count the Monkeys (written by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Kevin Cornell), the divine Flora and the Flamingo (written and illustrated by Molly Idle), and the cozy nighttime romp  Steam Train, Dream Train (written by Sherri Rinker, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld).  And we still have more excellent books from Peter Brown (Mr. Tiger Goes Wild), David Wiesner (will Mr. Wuffles earn him yet another Caldecott Award?), among others, on the way. 

 

It's time to catch our breath and look at a mere sampling of the fun books that came out in the first 7 months of 2013.   First off, Lizi Boyd's exquisite Inside, Outside is a striking wordless innovative achievement that follows a child through the seasons.  Thanks to clever design and die cuts, we see inside when we're outside the house, and vice versa.  The book is a gentle delight.  I wouldn't be surprised if Boyd receives some year-end Caldecott love for this charming, intricate book. 

For pure hilarity, nothing beats the great David Ezra Stein's Ol' Mama Squirrel in which a mother squirrel tells anyone--no matter how big and small--in no uncertain terms if you come near her kids you're in trouble, buddy.  Stein's hilarious artwork (he's a master of comic timing) is also impressive in its detail--readers love watching the mother squirrel in action, chattering and chirping in a menacing manner.  This joins Interrupting Chicken as one of his very best books.

 

Another fun and inventive book is Mordicai Gerstein's How to Bicycle to the Moon to Plant Sunflowers.  A child decides he will perform the titular task and hilarity ensues.  What's amazing about the book is how suspenseful it is.  Even when the events become, uh, outlandish to say the least, readers will be hooked:  will he be able to do it?  Watching the plan come together delights.

 

A joyful addition to the bedtime shelf is Marcellus Hall's delightful Everyone Sleeps in which a bubble-eyed little pooch cannot fall asleep.  The poor canine creature frets, hearing its family's zzzzzzs, worried that sleep will never come.  The dog starts thinking about a wide variety of animals dozing and snoozing, and a lesson follows about how various species sleep.  Hall's lulling rhymes perfectly complement his amusing illustrations of horses who sleep standing up, and snoring snakes who sleep lying down.  The dog's looks of surprise amuse.  A surprise ending reveals that the dog isn't alone in its nocturnal quest for rest. 

 

One of the most exciting books of the year is Eva Moore's Lucky Ducklings, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter.  This tale, based on actual events, pays homage to  Make Way for Ducklings, following the journey of a mother duckwith five ducklings in tow.  After the quacking quintet fall through a storm drain though, it takes a bunch of humans to help her (much to her chagrin).  Watching the community come together to save these feathered creatures is delightful.  And listeners love the fact that the mother, not understanding that people are helping her, quacks up a storm, threatening them like a certain mama squirrel we just discussed. 

Classic Picture Book of the Day: My Friend Rabbit

Classic Picture Book of the Day:  My Friend Rabbit, written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann

I recently had the pleasure of taking part in the ALSC member profile for the ALSC blog.  One of the questions asked was "What is your favorite Caldecott book?"  I have so many favorites (Where the Wild Things Are, The Snowy Day, Kitten's First Full Moon, others), but I have a personal connection to Rohmann's wondrous, slapstick-packed tale of a well-meaning rabbit who always causes problems for his mouse friend.  When I first saw this book I predicted it would win the Caldecott.  And at a library-related reception, months before the award was announced, I made my prediction to Mr. Rohmann himself (whom I had just met).  He was completely surprised by my prediction.  After the Caldecott winner was announced that morning, we spoke and I laughed and said "told you so."  It was very cool.  Personal anecdote aside, this book simply rocks--not only as a one-on-one book, but also incredibly well as a storytime favorite.  Yes, it seems simple at first glance but those woodcuts, upon further inspection, are actually quite intricate.  Every time I go through the book it feels like an advenutre--the plane goes into the tree, mouse cries, rabbit helps by dragging an assortment of animals much larger than him to make a tower.  After the tower of animals tumbles, it looks pretty grim for rabbit but mouse comes to save the day.  What's great about the book, other than its effortless artistic quality, is it has a great sense of humor.  Note that the hippo sleeps through the entire escapade for example.