Submitted by Catherine from Lexington Park!
Every kid wants a pet. But which pet will be best for the family? This is the question posed in the book What Pet to Get? written and illustrated by Emma Dodd. In the story, Jack tries to convince his Mom that a polar bear might be a great pet. Luckily Mom reminds Jack that polar bears don’t like central heating. Dinosaurs are out too, due to being extinct. “What a shame,” says Jack. The book progresses through a series of animals, with wonderfully bright illustrations that seem to pop off the page. At the end of the story, Jack and his Mom work out a compromise that delivers quite a pet into their lives.
Animals
Blueberry Girl
Although Mother’s Day has passed, and Father’s Day is still a fair ways away, I couldn’t resist blogging about Blueberry Girl, the newest book by the fabulous Neil Gaiman, beautifully illustrated by Charles Vess, which is ideal to share with a special daughter. It’s a poem Gaiman wrote for his friend musician Tori Amos, when she was pregnant with her daughter. It’s a prayer to the powers that be to bless a baby girl as she grows in the world. To save her from nightmares at three, bad husbands at thirty, from dull days at forty, false friends at fifteen. “Her joys must be high as her sorrows are deep,” Gaiman writes — a lovely sentiment for every “blueberry girl.”
Duck! Rabbit!
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld is a fascinating book. In it we are privy to a debate between two voices as to what the animal in this cover illustration is. One is convinced it’s a duck, the other is sure it’s a rabbit. The unseen characters argue amongst themselves: Are those bills or ears? Is it flying or hopping? Will it eat bread or a carrot? Is it wading in the swamp or hiding in the grass? Maybe if they call it they can decide… “Here, ducky ducky! Here, you cute little rabbit!” Oh no! They’ve scared it away. Was it a duck or rabbit? We may never know. But check out this cool anteater. Or is it a brachiosaurus…
Little Beauty
No doubt inspired by the stories of gorillas who have been trained to speak sign language and care for pets comes Little Beauty by Anthony Browne. In it we meet a very special gorilla who has everything he needs, except a friend. He communicates to his handlers that he desires company and they provide him with a kitten. The gorilla loves his cat. He feeds her milk and honey, carries her everywhere he goes, takes naps with her, they even go to the potty together! But one night they watch a movie and it makes the gorilla very angry! When he smashes the TV set in a rage, the zookeepers wonder if they should take his kitty away. Find out the thrilling conclusion to this saga by checking out Little Beauty today!
Max’s Chocolate Chicken
Max’s Chocolate Chicken by Rosemary Wells is perfect for the springtime holidays. Someone (maybe the Easter Bunny) has left a chocolate chicken in the birdbath! “I love you!” Max says to the chicken. He’s ready to chow down, but his big sister Ruby (who’s kind of like the fun police) insists that they hunt for painted eggs. Whoever collects the most can claim the chocolate chicken. Ruby find eggs of all colors and patterns, but poor Max only finds mud, acorns, and ants, so he decides to run away with the chicken and eat the whole thing! This is an adorable story of sibling rivalry, and I guarantee you will fall in love with Max, the young and foolish title character.
Sitting in My Box
There’s nothing much more fun than playing in a giant cardboard box. I remember as a child receiving an enormous Playskool kitchen set for Chanukah and having a lot more fun playing with the packaging it arrived in (no offense to Playskool–that kitchen set was awesome, but I unfortunately have never been much of a culinary artist). Dee Lillegard captures the excitement of letting your imagination run wild in Sitting in My Box, illustrated by the great Jon Agee. In the story a little boy is sitting in his box, reading a book about jungle animals. The animals suddenly begin to present themselves, asking him to make room, until he’s sharing the box with a giraffe, elephant, baboon, lion, and hippo. The box is getting a little overpopulated, but a pesky flea plans to change all that!