More Picture Books- Juvenile Corner

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope those of you who read my first post about picture books so much, you were hoping that I'd do a second one.  If you fall into that category, than you're in luck!  
This picture book post focuses on picture books that are wordless, published originally in another country- before being published in the United States and a book that's all about the ABCs.

Like the post before, the books are listed in alphabetical order.  I hope you all enjoy!

                                  The Boring Book

Written and Illustrated by Shinsuke Yoshitake
Published by Chronicle Books in 2019; Hakusensha in 2017 (Japan)
Category: Children's Picture Books, International
Major Awards Won: New York Times Best Illustrated Book, Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
Age Range: 6-8
Pages and Spreads: 40 pages, 4 spreads

The Boring Book was published in 2017 in Japan.  What has to happen in order for something to be considered boring? What is the fine thin between boring and fun?  The Boring Book poses those questions with answers in only a way a child could imagine.  The child in the book does a great job of working through what boredom could be and how it works because let's be honest, who hasn't been bored before.  Adults and children alike!  I liked how the colors used in the illustrations were very bold but simple- the primary colors were used and there was a lot of gray.  I feel like this book would make an excellent book for a circle time.  I think that it would a great way to engage children and to get them talking about boredom and how to have fun when it seems almost impossible.  


Flora and the Flamingo 
Written and Illustrated by Molly Idle
 Published by Chronicle Books, 2013

Category: Children's Picture Books, Wordless
Major Awards Won: 2014 Caldecott Honor Book
Age Range: 3-6
Pages and Spreads: 32 pages, 10 spreads

Flora and the Flamingo was bother written and illustrated by Molly Idle.  Idle uses colored pencils to illustrate her story about a young girl and her encounter with a flamingo. This book is wordless but it also has flaps!  I found that the flaps added an extra dimension to the story.  They allowed for the more actions to occur on the same pages.  The drawings were done with what looks like colored pencils- they were on bright white pages.  Without words and a bright white background definitely makes the drawings stand out and take center stage.  It was very easy to feel the emotion that Flora and the flamingo were experiencing throughout the story.   I felt like this book would be best for the one on one interaction between adult and child.  I just don't know how flap books would work in terms of a story time. 


Jerome By Heart
Written by Thomas Scotto and Illustrated by Oliver Tallec; translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick and Karin Snelson
Published by Enchanted Lion Books in 2018; Actes Sud in 2009 (France)
Category: Children's Picture Books, International
Major Awards Won: Batchelder Honor Book of 2019 and Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2018
Age Range: 4-8
Pages and Spreads: 32 pages, 4 spreads


Originally published in French in 2009, Jerome by Heart follows the story of two young boys, Raphael and Jerome.  Raphael is telling the story, which encompasses his feelings for Jerome.  It's a sweet story and it shows how deep friendships and connections can go.  I know that the book was recognized by GLBTRT group as 2019 Rainbow Book Selection.  I don't know if I would say that Jerome and Raphael were in love like that, their connection ran deep, yes.  The characters in the book, I feel, are too young to know what love is on that level.  I think that this book is a great for the theme of friendship.  I felt that the age range was appropriate.


Wolf in the Snow
Written and Illustrated by Matthew Cordell
Published by 
Category: Children's Picture Books, Wordless Book
Major Awards Won: 2018 Caledcott Award Winner
Age Range: 2-6
Pages and Spreads: 48 pages, 12 spreads


Without words, Wolf in the Snow tells the story of a little girl who's on her home from school during a blizzard.  At the same time, the reader sees that there is a pack of wolves who are traveling in the blizzard, where the wolf pup falls behind.  The girl and the wolf cross paths and she carries the pup through the blizzard until she finds their family to reunite the pup.  There is a moment of despair when the girl curls up in the snow- defeated by the blizzard.  The ending brings a sense of peace to the story, the wolves help the girl reunite with her family.  The illustrations are outlined with a heavy hand in ink, which makes them standout against the watercolor like colors.  Even though the book was wordless, the animal sounds are written out. I agree with the age range from the publishers. 



Z is for Moose 
Written by Kelly Bingham and Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinksy
Published by Greenwillow Books in 2012
Category: Children's Picture Books, ABC
Major Awards Won: Kirkus Starred Review, School Library Journal Starred Review, Booklist Starred Review, Publisher's Weekly Starred Review, Horn Book Starred Review
Age Range: 4-8
Pages and Spreads: 32 pages, 2 spreads


I think this book would make an excellent one for a story hour.  The interaction between the moose and the zebra were just too funny.  Bingham presents the ABC in a fun way, letters A, B, and C are explained perfectly; A is for apple, B is for ball, C is for cat and D is for Moose. But wait a second, that doesn't sound right!  From letter D to Z, Moose makes appearance and voices his concerns about how Zebra is directing this shoot.  The illustrations were cute and fun.  Between the illustrations and the dialogue between the moose and the zebra, the reader didn't need to focus on the alphabet.  It was easy to guess what the letters would have been for, even when they weren't focusing on that.  The age range from the publishers is accurate.  

- Jillian

Picture Books - Juvenile Corner

Hi everyone!

The reason why I've been MIA is because I'm in grad school!  One of the courses that I'm taking is for children's literacy and reading.  From now until May, I'll be posting reviews of juvenile literature.  I'm going to group everything under the tag "Juvenile Corner". 

This post will be focusing on 5 picture books.  The books read are listed in alphabetical order.


Alma and How She Got Her Name 
Written and Illustrated by Juana Martinez- Neal
Published by Penguin Random House
Category: Children's Picture Books
Major Awards Won: 2019 Caldecott Honor Book, 2019 Erza Jack Keats New Writer/ Illustrator Award Honor Book.
Age Range: 4-8
Pages and Spreads: 32 pages and 7 spreads

Alma and How She Got Her Name is about a little girl named Alma, who feels that her full name Alma Sophia Esperenza Jose Pura Candela is just too long!  Alma approaches her father and tells him that her name is too long (beginning), her father sits down with Alma and tells her about each person of who she's named after and why (middle). At the end of the story, the reader learns that her first name, Alma, is her own name- a blank slate to make an amazing legacy for herself! The illustrations were completed by Martinez-Neal. They were done in colored pencils and graphites, so they have a very soft and blurred look to them. Something that I noticed immediately was how each name was a different style of text associated with it.  This picture book is good for the publisher's recommended age range of 4-8.  This book would be wonderful to explain the importance of family and genealogy. 



Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut
Written by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James
Published by Agate Publishing
Category: Children's Picture Book
Major Awards Won: 2018 Caldecott Honor Book, 2018 Newbery Honor Book, 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book, Erza Jack Keats New Writer Award and Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor Book. 
Age Range: 3-8 recommended 
Pages: 32 pages and 10 spreads


Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut was very cool.  The way that the words were told with rhyme and rhythm, were like a rap and that I found to be unique.  It definitely worked with the story.  I've yet to have read a children's book like this before. The story looks a young boy who is about to get his hair cut and how the idea that getting of getting a haircut is transformative (beginning).   The middle of the story explains all of the things that possible with a haircut.  Leading up to the end where the young boy has his new "fresh cut" and he's ready to leave the shop.  The illustrations were amazing!  As the reader, you recognize that the illustrations were painted in acrylic from the brush strokes.  James captured the essence of photographs through paint which is truly amazing.  That being said, I don't feel that this book is great for young readers.  While the rhyme and the flow of the words is impeccable, it's not something that younger ones can identify with.  Little ones won't understand what be able to understand a lot of it.  This book would be best for children 8 or older.  The theme of the book is self confidence; this would be great for a child who needs that boost of just that. 



Hello Lighthouse
Written and illustrated by Sophia Blackall
Published by Little, Brown in 2018
Category: Children's Picture Book
Major Awards Won: 2019 Caldecott Medal
Age Range: 4-8 recommended 
Pages: 48 pages and 19 spreads

Blackall not only wrote Hello Lighthouse but she also did the illustrations for the book as well.  The reader will notice that the illustrations are soft but that they are very detailed. It looks like Blackall did the illustrations using different mediums: pencils, watercolors just to name a few.  I felt that Blackall tackles the tough issue of change within this story.  The reader sees that the lighthouse keeper moves into the lighthouse on his own, but by the end, he learns that he will soon have to leave the lighthouse.  The reader can sense the sorrow that the lighthouse keeper feels. The book is beautifully illustrated, I think that there is an appeal to the older readers on the recommended age range, the ones who are closer to 6-8. 

Last Stop on Market Street
Written by Matt de la Pena, illustrated by Christian Robinson
Published by Penguin Random House in 2015
Category: Children's Picture Book
Major Awards Won: 2016 Newbery Medal Winner, 2016 Caldecott Honor Book, 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book,  and the New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of 2015 (plus 25 other nods-including picks and awards!)
Age Range: 3-5 recommended 
Pages: 32 pages and 12 spreads


Last Stop on Market Street was written by Matt de la Pena and illustrated by Christian Robinson.  The way that the book was written and illustrated works well with a younger crowd.  The pictures are big, simple and colorful in their format and they're easily identified by young eyes.  The sentences are short and simple yet they allow a young reader to imagine them.  I think that this book has a lot of appeal to a young reader, because of how it is easy to follow and the pictures are very intriguing to little ones.  At the beginning of the story, the little boy and his nana are leaving church and they're heading to the other side of town by walking and the bus.  The middle of the story includes all of the other people that they met on their way to the other side of town and how there is beauty in everything.  At the end of the story, we see that the little boy and his nana reach a soup kitchen, where they help serve food to those less fortunate. I feel that the morale of this book is fantastic and something that should be taught at a young age.  This book would be excellent for a story time!

Waiting
Written and Illustrated by Kevin Henkes
Published by HarperCollins Publishers
Category: Children's Picture Book
Major Awards Won: 2016 Caldecott Honor Book and 2016 Theodore Seuss Geisel Award.

Age Range: 4-8 recommended
Pages: 32 pages and 3 spreads


Waiting was written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes.  Set in, what the reader would assume to be a child's bedroom, five little toys sit on a windowsill, watching out the window - waiting.  The illustrations are done in what one would assume to be colored pencil but they're outlined in a bold thick black ink.  The toys used to tell the story are items that little ones know and the story itself is simple. At the beginning of the book, the five little toys are introduced as is what they like best when they look out the window.  The middle of the story has the toys waiting and there is an introduction to a new toy, who tragically doesn't make it.  At the end of the book, there is another toy that was introduced who ends up bringing more toys to the window still!  I found that since the words were so simple, the illustrations were brought forward to be more of the main focus. This book would be great for story time but for toddlers (ages 18 months -3 years).  The title of the book and the nesting doll being added at the end of story, make me think that this book would be good story to share with a child who's going to be an older sibling.

- Jillian