Friday, September 30, 2011

Gingerbread Baby - By Jan Brett

This is a twist on the familiar gingerbread man story.  A nice aspect of this version is that the gingerbread baby does not get eaten!  The plot is fun, but the amazing illustrations are what really make this a wonderful book for children.  The Scandinavian pictures are so detailed, including borders on every page, as well as gingerbread cutouts on the sides, that allow the reader to know what is happening to other characters at the same time.

Flossie & The Fox - By Patricia C. McKissack

Flossie is a little slave girl who has to deliver eggs to a neighbor.  The only trouble is that there is a fox who lives in the woods, that wants those eggs!  The dialogue and even the narrative in this book are written in a typical Southern dialect, including such words as "aine", "yo'self", and "sho".  The artist uses light and shadow very effectively and draws in an African-American style.

Billy and Blaze - By C.W. Anderson

The ink sketches in this book portray a little boy living in the 1920's or 1930's.  Billy's best friend is his pony Blaze, and he's such a very good pony, that they enter in a horse show.  The storyline is very simple, but this is the kind of sweet, wholesome book it is hard to come by, these days.

A Pocket For Corduroy - By Don Freeman

While visiting a laundromat, Corduroy realizes that his overalls need a pocket, so he goes in search of one.  One of the cute aspects of this story is that Corduroy's owner Lisa seems to be the only one who ever hears her teddy bear "talk" to her.  The illustrations are almost like the sketches found on sewing pattern envelopes.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Corduroy - By Don Freeman

This delightful book is about a little stuffed bear who lives in a department store.  Even though the teddy bear is missing a button, an African-American girl named Lisa immediately falls in love with him. The story not only teaches children that they can save their own money to make purchases, but also that it is important for them to ask a parent's permission before doing so. The adorable illustrations look like sketches splashed with watercolors.

Clifford The Big Red Dog - By Norman Bridwell

This book is good for teaching young children how to take care of a dog.  The only problem I found with the story is that at one point, the character Emily says, "I don't care", which isn't the type of phrase you generally want children picking up on.  The illustrations are cute and colorful and add to the humor of the story.  Because Clifford is such a very big dog, the doghouse is larger than his owner's home!

Blueberries For Sal - By Robert McCloskey

 Little Sal and her mother go picking blueberries in order to can some of them for winter.  They soon discover that not only blueberries may be found on Blueberry Hill!  This is a very sweet, old-fashioned story.  The illustrations are blue ink pen sketches, timeless and very appealing to children.