Two Chronicle Books for Father’s Day

Father’s Day is coming up in a few weeks, and I’ve got two heartwarming books from Chronicle to share with you today.

Title: Daddy Dreams
Author: Anne Gutman
Illustrator: George Hallensleben
Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2017
Ages: 0-3
Format: Board Book

Synopsis:

Animal daddies love keeping their babies beside them, even when they’re asleep! See how different animal dads sleep and dream, including a lion, turtle, bat, horse, and more, in this sweet celebration of a father’s love. No matter how Zs are caught, the daddy’s little one is never far away.

Why I Like This Book: 

I enjoyed the colorful, rich illustrations that complement the simple text. Each heartwarming spread contains a daddy animal and it’s baby, building to the last page of a human father and child relaxing in the grass.

 

Title: You and Me, Me and You
Author/Illustrator: Miguel Tanco
Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2017
Ages: 3-6
Format: Picture Book

Synopsis:

The wonder of being a dad is on display in this touching tribute to fathers. After all, the connection between a father and child yields a lifetime of learning and love. In You and Me, Me and You, that special bond is honored through poignant, tenderly rendered illustrated vignettes: a father and son walk together, discuss life amid a city’s bustle, play, and, perhaps most profoundly, grow, side by side. Bright pops of Pantone yellow infuse each spread with joy, and a cloth spine adds an irresistible specialness. At once a treasured Father’s Day gift and a year-round “I love you,” parents and children will delight in this celebration of a supremely meaningful relationship.

Why I Like This Book:

I love this book. It beautifully captures those ordinary moments in a day that are turned special when experiencing it with a child. Adults may enjoy this book as it reminds them the joys of being present in the moment. Kids can connect with the little boy who is the ‘teacher’ in this story. The text is sparse at only 5-10 words per page, but it sets up the art for that perfect picture book magic.

 

Disclosure: I received my copies of these book from the publisher. This review nevertheless reflects my own and honest opinion about the book.

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This is How We Do It

The start of the year has been busy. I took the Story Genius writing class which was amazing and intense. As a result, the picture books have been piling up in my office, and are begging for reviews. So today I bring you a book that has been dear to my heart since I first heard about it last Fall.

I have always loved to travel, especially internationally. When I was a kid one of my favorite things was to sit at JFK airport and people-watch. There were so many people from other countries. I loved to see how the dress, listen to them speak, see what stuff they carried with them. Sometimes the most interesting things about another culture aren’t their tourist sites but the ordinary daily activities – how they get around, what they eat, what they sell in their shops. I would’ve loved this book as a kid.

Title: This is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from around the World

Author/Illustrator: Matt Lamothe
Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2017
Editor:  Ariel Richardson
Book Type: Non-Fiction
Ages: 8-12
Theme: Cross-cultural studies

Synopsis (from Chronicle’s website):

Follow the real lives of seven kids from Italy, Japan, Iran, India, Peru, Uganda, and Russia for a single day! In Japan Kei plays Freeze Tag, while in Uganda Daphine likes to jump rope. But while the way they play may differ, the shared rhythm of their days—and this one world we all share—unites them. This genuine exchange provides a window into traditions that may be different from our own as well as a mirror reflecting our common experiences. Inspired by his own travels, Matt Lamothe transports readers across the globe and back with this luminous and thoughtful picture book.

Activities:

• Read other picture books that compare and contrast daily lives such as People by Peter Spier, Same Same but Different by  Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw, or Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon.
• Look up a recipe for one of the breakfasts mentioned in the book. Here is a recipe for Anu’s breakfast, paneer paratha.
• Print out a world map and have the child color in the countries represented in this book.
• Get an international pen-pal. Here is a good article at kidworldcitizen.org about how best to go about getting a pen-pal in a safe way.

Why I Like This Book:

In this wonderful non-fiction book, we get to peek into the lives of seven kids from around the world and see how different and similar they lives are. We learn what they eat for breakfast, where they live, what they study in school, and more. Each spread has a topic sentence followed by seven examples. An extensive glossary at the end provides additional information. This was helpful because they use the native words when describing the foods they eat for breakfast and lunch.

Please click for larger image.

Please click for larger image.

The author chose a range of families from different economic classes – middle-class kids with private schools and digital devices to families with more simpler means. I was concerned that the child reader might begin to think that one family represents all families from that country. The author beautifully addresses this point on the final page which also has the photographs of the each of the seven families. My only criticism of this book is that all the families are nuclear – mother, father, kids. In many parts of the world, families will include a grandparent, great-grandparent, aunt, uncle all living under a single roof. I feel that the opportunity to show diversity in families was lost.

Nonetheless, this is an excellent book. I highly recommend for the home library as well as the classroom. Excellent for teachers to use during multi-cultural week.

Find This is How We Do It at the following spots:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Goodreads
ISBN-10: 1452150184
ISBN-13: 978-1452150185

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

Disclosure: I received my copy of this book from the publisher. This review nevertheless reflects my own and honest opinion about the book.

 

They All Saw a Cat

Title: They All Saw a Cat

Author/Illustrator: Brendan Wenzel
Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2016
Editor:  Ginee Seo
Book Type: Fiction
Ages: 3 and up! (all ages should read it)
Themes: Perspective, Subjectivity

Opening Lines:

The cat walked through the world,  with its whiskers, ears, and paws …
and the child saw A CAT,
and the dog saw A CAT,
and the fox saw A CAT.
Yes, they all saw the cat.

Synopsis (from Amazon’s website):

In this glorious celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, Brendan Wenzel shows us the many lives of one cat, and how perspective shapes what we see. When you see a cat,
what do you see?

Activities:

• Common-core aligned teacher’s guide
• Activity guide – drawing, coloring, games
• Make your kids some cat eggs and read this book while they eat! I made these eggs using FUNNY SIDE Up cat egg mold.

Why I Like This Book:

A gorgeous thoughtful book sure to become a modern classic. I love the dichotomy of taking simple picture book text paired with colorful child-appealing art to talk about a big, abstract, philosophical idea. Pure Genius!

The book follows a cat as he walks through the world and the reader gets to see how each of the other animals – a fox, dog, rat, fish – view the cat. What I find amazing about this book is that the big idea is not addressed anywhere in the text. It only exists in the reader’s mind as he/she is reading the text and looking at the pictures. It is something to be realized and felt inside.

A variety of materials were used to make the art: colored pencils, oil pastels, acrylics, watercolor, and more. The author used different styles to help show each animal’s unique perspective of the cat.

This is an important book, one that I hope will find its way onto every bookshelf.

Find They All Saw a Cat at the following spots:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Goodreads
ISBN-10: 1452150133
ISBN-13: 978-1452150130

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

Disclosure: I received my copy of this book from the publisher. This review nevertheless reflects my own and honest opinion about the book.

 

Flora and the Peacocks

Welcome! Previously I reviewed Flora and the Penguins. It is my pleasure to bring to you Flora and the Peacocks, the latest addition in the Flora series, from the talented picture book author/illustrator Molly Idle. The Flora books explore the different aspects of friendship through innovative flaps in a wordless format.

Check-out my interview with Molly. Learn about her creative influences, approach to using flaps in storytelling, and her next two FLORA books!

Title: Flora and the Peacocks

Author/Illustrator: Molly Idle
Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2016
Editor: Kelli Chipponeri
Book Type: Fiction
Ages: 2-6
Themes: Friendship

Synopsis (from Amazon’s website):

The darling, dancing Flora is back, and this time she’s found two new friends: a pair of peacocks! But amidst the fanning feathers and mirrored movements, Flora realizes that the push and pull between three friends can be a delicate dance. Will this trio find a way to get back in step? In the third book featuring Flora and her feathered friends, Molly Idle’s gorgeous art combines with clever flaps to reveal that no matter the challenges, true friends will always find a way to dance, leap, and soar—together.

Activities:

• Common Core Curriculum discussion guide for all three FLORA books
• Make a lift-the-flap book.
• Peacock crafts on Pinterest.

Why I Like This Book:

I love the Flora books for their artistry, innovation in storytelling via the use flaps, and for their exploration of the different aspects of friendship. Ms. Idle blends these three components like a maestro understanding how each one can help heighten the other to create a symphonic work of art. Kids can relate to the tug-of-war that happens in this three’s a crowd situation.

Flora befriends a pair of peacocks starting the merry-go-around of who is friends with whom, leaving at least one person unhappy until the very end.

• I love the use of the flaps which heighten the emotion. My favorite is on spread five, where the peacock trains flap up in what I call happy –> very happy for the peacock next to Flora and miffed –> very miffed for the peacock standing away from the pair.
• Who knew a wordless book could have so much tension. Loved the climax where the peacocks are fighting with Flora stuck in the middle. Love the movement through these spreads and the use of the right-left flap.
• The use of green color and peacocks are perfect for this tale. Green the color of envy. Peacocks tend to be self-centered, at least in children’s books.
• The finale consisting of an oversized gate-fold of the trio as friends is magnific.

Another beautiful addition to the Flora family.

Enjoy the gorgeous trailer.

Find Flora and the Peacocks at the following spots:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Goodreads
ISBN-10: 1452138168
ISBN-13: 978-1452138169

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

Disclosure: I received my copy of this book from the publisher. This review nevertheless reflects my own and honest opinion about the book.

Star Wars Epic Yarns – plus Giveaway

People throughout the galaxy will be celebrating reading this Saturday, October 10th for the 4th annual Star Wars Reads Day. So grab your young padawans and experience together the power of reading.

If you are a Star Wars geek like me, then check-out the Star Wars Epic Yarn books from Chronicle. They’re not your average board books.

These 12-paged books are word primers. Each spread contains a single word paired with an iconic scene from the movie, helping the adult reader narrate the story to the child. The scenes are amazing from the meticulous handcrafted felt characters to the onsite shooting. It may even trigger reader a (re-)watching of the movies.

Here are some interior spreads.

A perfect gift for any Star Wars fan.

Giveaway:

You are in luck. I have an extra set of books to GIVEAWAY, courtesy of Chronicle Books. Leave a comment below telling us your favorite character and why (anyone from Episodes 1-6, but picking Jar Jar Binks is automatic disqualification, j/k 🙂 ). Deadline to enter is Thursday, October 15th. May the force be with you!

Read my interview with the creators Jack and Holman Wang and learn about their creative process.

 

Find the Star Wars Epic Yarns series at the following spots:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Goodreads

Disclosure: I received my copies of this series from the publisher Chronicle Books. This review nevertheless reflects my own and honest opinion about the book.