Heart of a Tiger

Title: Heart of a Tiger

Author: Marsha Diane Arnold
Illustrator: Jamichael Henterly

Publisher: Dial Books, 1995
Book Type: Fiction
Ages: 4-8
Themes: Bravery, Perseverance, Jungle Animals, India

Excerpt:

The Name Day Celebration was only one week away.

“My name shall be Bahadur Shikari – Mighty Hunger,” declared Number One, scouting the veranda for mice.

“I’ll choose Rang Birange Kapare – Calico Colors,” added Number Two as she sat grooming her long fur.

….

“And you, Number Four,” asked Two, turning to the small gray kitten who had finally pulled his head from beneath the pillow “What will your name be? Smallest of All?”

Synopsis (from Amazon Website):

As the Name Day celebration approaches, a young kitten tries to deserve a noble name, by following the path of the beautiful Bengal tiger.

Activities:

Discussion guide on Naming ceremony, Indian culture, and even a tiger quiz from the author.

Tiger Crafts – simple paper crafts, origami, balloon animal

Basic info and photographs of Bengal tigers at National Geographic for Kids.

Learn more about tiger hunts and naming ceremony on Wikipedia.

Why I Like This Book:

A tale of a small cat who proves that he can be something more than what he appears.  The authentic text and vibrant illustrations transport the reader in time to the jungles of colonial India.

Number Four is a meek, small grey cat who yearns to be mighty and courageous, and have such a name. With Naming Day only a week away, Four sets out on a daring journey to learn how from the “Magnificent One”, a Bengal tiger. Four is not dissuaded in his quest by the jungle creatures who mock him. He doesn’t cower against the snarling tiger. Four remains persistent and follows the tiger for days and nights, learning how to survive. He saves the tiger’s life during a hunt thereby earning a powerful and wise name, Bangali Sher Ka Dil – Heart of the Tiger.

The illustrations done in watercolor and pencil are rich and bold, bringing to life the hot, humid jungle teaming with wildlife. Henterley has done a splendid job of conveying a range of emotions from the pensive Four looking into the rain puddle, to Four being startled via a close-up shot of the snarling tiger, to the tiger hunt scene showing just the tiger and Number 4 with the background a blur.

I enjoyed this book for its text and rich imagery with a great message that “you can be more than what you appear”. I loved seeing the inner strength of the cat revealed via each of the obstacles culminating with Four using his wisdom during the tiger hunt. The author uses accurate words to describe the colonial time period and jungle setting: master, veranda, langur (monkey), and beaters (men who play the drums during a tiger hunt). The Hindi names chosen have an accurate meaning too.  I love this last scene with Four in front on Naming Day with all the jungle animals in the background. Read this book and be transported to old-world India.

Below are some photographs of tiger hunts. These are from the Bangalore Palace in southern India.

Check-out these other great reviews.

• Excellent Kids’ Books has additional illustrations.
• Miss Marple’s Musings

Good News Bad News

Title: Good News Bad News

Author & Illustrator: Jeff Mack

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2012
Book Type: Fiction
Ages: 2-4
Themes: Moods, Attitude, Friendship

Only Lines:

“Good News  …….  Bad News”

Synopsis (from Amazon website):

Good news, Rabbit and Mouse are going on a picnic. Bad news, it is starting to rain. Good news, Rabbit has an umbrella. Bad news, the stormy winds blow the umbrella (and Mouse!) into a tree.

So begins this clever story about two friends with very different dispositions. Using just four words, Jeff Mack has created a text with remarkable flair that is both funny and touching, and pairs perfectly with his energetic, and hilarious, illustrations.

Activities:

Checkout the companion activity kit at Chronicle’s website. Includes printable maze, connect-the-dots, and more.

Create your own good news/bad news story. Start off with a story starter like “a porcupine wins a balloon” which could be the good news. What is the bad news then does the balloon pop, does the porcupine fly away, or something else? The possibilities are endless. This could be a fun way to challenge kids to think creatively and see the upside to any situation.

Why I Like This Book:

A book that appears simple and comical at first, but has a deeper theme on attitude and friendship.

Rabbit is an optimistic, attentive friend, who is always pointing out the bright side to any bad situation. Mouse is a pessimistic, though in some case expected as he is getting the raw end of the deal (like the worm in the apple or getting splattered with icing). The book has a simple book design where each half spread shows a “bad news” scene (like mouse being grumpy about the rain) followed by a “good news” scene (rabbit offering an umbrella).  This back and forth between good and bad continues, with the situations ever-increasing until mouse has a double-paged spread where he screams “BAD NEWS” because he just can’t take it anymore. Here is where the emotion hits home as mouse for the first time notices his effect on his friend rabbit, who has begun to cry and wail “Bad News” too. The story ends on a satisfying note with a hug between mouse and rabbit and the line “very good news”.

This book is a visual story with a simple format that kids can easily follow. The bad news scene always correlates to the good news scene, hence the good news scene is used before the page turn. Because of this format kids will enjoy guessing what the bad news scene that is to come. This nearly wordless book with colorful, cartoon-styled artwork tells a visual story that will be attractive for kids just learning to read. Parents and teachers will appreciate the theme of optimism/pessimism. A great book to use for storytime.

See pages spreads from the book at The Children’s Book Review.

Bad News: This book will not be added to Perfect Picture Book Friday as it was already reviewed in September.

Good News: You get to read a great review by Erik at This Kid Reviews Books. Also check-out Carter’s review at Design of the Picture Book where she discusses the book design.

Creativity Time: Let’s create a good news bad news story of our own. I’ll provide the starter sentence. You provide a Good News or Bad News comment depending on the last comment made.

Good News – Porcupine and Skunk go to the circus! (first person to comment gets to pick which character is optimistic/pessimistic)

This book was nominated by Katherine Sokolowski for the 2012 Cybils Awards in the Fiction Picture Book category. I am a second-round judge in this category, but this review reflects my opinions only, not those of any other panelist, or the panel as a whole. Thanks!

The Great Paper Caper

Title: The Great Paper Caper

Author & Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers (Interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast)

Publisher: Philomel Books, 2008
Book Type: Fiction
Ages: 4-8
Themes: Mystery, Conservation, Animals

Opening Lines:

“There was a time in the forest … when everything was not as it should have been. Everyone who lived there had been noticing strange things. Branches, they agreed, should not disappear from tress like that.”

Synopsis (from Penguin website):

The animals’ homes are disappearing. Tree by tree, the forest is being cut down. Clues! There must be clues. For instance, look – there is a mysterious bear carrying an ax! But what would a bear want with so many trees? Perhaps the discarded paper airplanes littering the forest floor have a story to tell?

Oliver Jeffers’ quirky, childlike humor and lovable illustrations are in full effect in this funny whodunit featuring a winning cast of animals and a message about the importance of conservation and recycling.

Activities:

Classroom:

• Visual literacy activity.
• Discussion guide.
• For upper elementary/middle-school kids – reading activity that helps develop critical thinking skills. Student reads an on-line mystery story, discusses the key details and attempts to figure out the solution.

Craft:

• Make paper airplanes.  Paper Airplanes HQ provides instructions of how to make 50 different types of paper airplanes. Text and visual instructions are provided.
•  Make your own recycled paper! Video and text instructions.

Why I Like This Book:

A quirky, imaginative introduction to the “whodunit” genre for young readers with a message of conservation, recycling, and forgiveness thrown-in. The game is afoot, when the forest animals investigate to find out who is ruining their forest home. Someone is chopping down branches and littering the ground with paper airplanes. The characters play detective and then later judge and jury. The ending is not your typical conclusion to a crime story … but in some ways it is actually better, it has a message of forgiveness and helping out.

The book is useful for introducing “big” word from the justice system such as alibi, evidence, prosecutor, eyewitness report, and more.

The illustrations are child-like and a bit silly. The color palette changes beautifully with each season. Unfortunately some of the drawings of the characters are kind of small, so this best read in small groups.

Above is the opening spread which completely hooked my kids, who wouldn’t be interested in this cast of cooky characters that live underground. My kids noticed that all the character’s legs looked like sticks.

This spread above is when the characters come to the conclusion that someone has been stealing the branches and they begin suspecting each other. My kids would verbalize each character’s accusatory thoughts. This is one of the great things about this book. There is so much going on in the illustrations that isn’t said in the text. For example  the accompanying text for the spread is “Someone, they agreed again, must be stealing them, and they each in turn blamed the other.” The artwork carries the rich details of the story.

This book also contains many, many visual clues that kids can piece together and infer the answer. Kids will enjoy being one-step ahead of the characters.

A great read for young and old. Don’t forget to check-out the cool endpages, a manual on how to make paper airplanes.

Picture book writers should definitely study each page and take note of what parts of the mystery are revealed through text versus art.

This review is part of Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Book series. Visit her site to see the other books recommended.

Creepy Carrots!

Title: Creepy Carrots!

Authors: Aaron Reynolds
Illustrator: Peter Brown

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2012
Book Type: Fiction
Ages: 4-8
Themes: Humor

Opening Lines:

Jasper Rabbit had a passion for carrots. And the carrots that grew in Crackenhopper Field were the best. Fat. Crisp. And free for the taking.

Synopsis (from Amazon):

The Twilight Zone comes to the carrot patch in this clever picture book parable about a rabbit who fears his favorite treats are out to get him.Jasper Rabbit loves carrots—especially Crackenhopper Field carrots.He eats them on the way to school.He eats them going to Little League.
He eats them walking home.
Until the day the carrots start following him…or are they?

Celebrated artist Peter Brown’s stylish illustrations pair perfectly with Aaron Reynold’s text in this hilarious picture book that shows it’s all fun and games…until you get too greedy.

Activities:

In elementary classrooms have students come up with their on creepy vegetable stories. Check out the following post by a teacher, scroll to the bottom.

In keeping with the spooky theme, create a shadow puppet theater at home!

Why I Like This Book:

This book just cracked me up. Just looking at the spooky illustrations caused the twilight zone music to run through my head. The premise of the story was crazy, but the three-color themed illustrations and lighting effects just took the craziness to a whole new level. Seriously, you may never look at carrots the same again or anything else that is your “favorite”. My girls enjoyed being in the know that there really are creepy carrots, seeing how Jasper came up with the solution to the creepy carrots problem, and the twist at the end.

This is a perfect book to spook your kids with for Halloween.

Check-out  Peter Brown’s video about the illustration process, it’s amazing.

This review is part of Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Book series. Visit her site to see the other books recommended.

NOTE ADDED 10/16/12: This book was nominated by Danielle Smith for the 2012 Cybils Awards in the Fiction Picture Book category. I am a second-round judge in this category, but this review reflects my opinions only, not those of any other panelist, or the panel as a whole. Thanks!

A Home For Bird

Title: A Home For Bird

Author & Illustrator: Philip C. Stead

Check out the story behind the story in an interview with Mr. Stead at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Publisher: Roaring Book Press, 2012
Book Type: Fiction
Ages: 3-8
Themes: Friendship, Animals, Adventure

Opening Lines:

Vernon was out foraging for interesting things when he found Bird.
“Are you okay?” asked Vernon.
Bird said nothing.
“Are you lost?”
Bird said nothing.
“You are welcome to join me,” said Vernon.

Synopsis (from MacMillan website):
While out foraging for interesting things, Vernon the toad finds a new friend – a small blue bird who is curiously silent. Vernon shows Bird the river and the forest and some of his other favorite things, but Bird says nothing. Vernon introduces Bird to his friends, Skunk and Porcupine, but Bird still says nothing.

“Bird is shy,” says Vernon, “but also a very good listener.”

Vernon worries that Bird is silent because he misses his home, so the two set off on a journey to help find a home for Bird.

This is a tender tale of a thoughtful friend who is determined to help his quiet companion, by the author of A Sick Day for Amos McGee, winner of the 2011 Caldecott Medal.

Activities:

Excellent classroom discussion questions about foraging/collecting, visual foreshadowing, friendship and more at the The Classroom Bookshelf.

Links on how to make a variety of birdhouses/bird feeders.

Why I Like This Book:

This story reminded of the classic Frog & Toad stories, filled with small adventures, wonder, and most importantly compassion and heart.

The book opens with a picture of the “Careful Moving Co.” on the title page where readers will get visual clues as to the origins of Bird. The story starts with Vernon foraging through the forest for interesting things, when he befriends Bird. They spend time together but Bird is quiet, this worries Vernon who decides he must help Bird find his home.

One of the things that amazed me is that the story was so engaging even though most of the book is filled with just Vernon’s words and thoughts. The repetition of the line “Bird said nothing” was simply perfect. Vernon talking to the Bird reminded me of the way young kids are always in-tune to the needs of their stuffed animals or imaginary friends. I loved the simplicity and richness of this book, it had both.

The story is simple but the depth of compassion Vernon has for Bird as well as the illustrations brought out the richness of this book.

Illustrations are a mixture of crayon and gouache making the art vibrant and child-appealing. A unique characteristic of the art is that he doesn’t always stay within the lines which lends itself to a softer quality. Check out a review of the illustrations by Design of the Picture Book and an interview by Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. See more gorgeous pictures from the book at MacMillan website.

This book is good for storytime. Since the book is not high-energy, I would recommend drawing attention to the visual clues throughout the story and asking questions to keep young kids engaged.

This review is part of Susana Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Book series. Visit her site to see the other books recommended.

NOTE ADDED 10/16/12: This book was nominated by Amy for the 2012 Cybils Awards in the Fiction Picture Book category. I am a second-round judge in this category, but this review reflects my opinions only, not those of any other panelist, or the panel as a whole. Thanks!