In STROLLER COASTER, written by Matt Ringler with art by Raúl the Third and Elaine Bay, there’s a time every day when “the inside feels too small for Sam,” so that ’s when her dad takes her for a ride on the strollercoaster! “SNAP! The buckle clicks. WHOOSH! The straps pull tight.” And away they go! All through the neighborhood, up and down, faster and faster, until Sam feels like she’s flying. This energetic mood-changer is brilliantly illustrated with pen, ink, and pencil on paper, and colored in Photoshop. Click, clack, what a ride!
In LITTLE RED AND THE CAT WHO LOVED CAKE, by Barbara Lehman, Little Red bakes a cake for Grandma, and sets off down the street (one that’s lined with stores referencing fairy tales and nursery rhymes) to deliver it. The cat, who also wants that particular cake, follows along, then dresses up as Grandma and tries to take her place. But Gran gets the last laugh, and everyone gets cake and hugs. The extremely entertaining, mostly watercolor and ink illustrations are arranged in graphic novel-style panels, and they include plenty of details to pore over. There’s a search and find game detailed at the end, as well as the nursery rhymes that are referenced throughout the story. The endpapers add even more fun as pages from The Goosetown Citizen’s Nursery Rhyme and Fairy Tale Times. There’s all kinds of fun to be had here.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FOREST, by Nadine Robert and Gérard Dubois, translated by Paula Ayer, is a gentle-yet-spellbinding picture book in which Arthur and his dad live near an impenetrable forest. Maybe it’s full of wolves, maybe ogres, and maybe giant badgers. One day, Dad has the “magnificent idea” of building a tower to find out what’s on the other side. They bake many loaves of bread and exchange them with their neighbors for stones, which Dad and Arthur stack as high as they can. It takes a lot of time and effort, but “something MAGNIFICENT” happens along the way. Plus there’s a surprise at the end that makes it all worth it.
In TIME FOR BED, OLD HOUSE, by Janet Costa Bates, illustrated by A.G. Ford, young Isaac, who loves “laughing and playing with Grandpop,” is nevertheless worried about sleeping away from home overnight. So the two of them stay awake and put Grandpop’s house to bed. Step by step, they make it “nice and dark and cozy,” and Isaac even reads the house a story. When Grandpop falls asleep, Isaac finishes the ritual with dog and teddy, until the only sounds are bedtime noises…Snore. Watercolor illustrations work beautifully with the text to portray this snug and comforting milestone.
THE STORY OF A STORY, by Deborah Hopkinson with pictures by Hadley Hooper, is a spare, lyrical tale of how one might approach writing a story, told in the gently encouraging voice of a narrator addressing readers directly. As we arrive, not only “with a pencil or two, a big eraser, [our] favorite pencil sharpener, and a snack,” we also bring our “eyes and ears, nose and fingers…mind and heart.” And ourselves. We bring ourselves, and our desire to create, but the process is still not easy. Pen, ink, and paint illustrations that are finished in Photoshop do a wonderful job with the text, which can be relevant advice for dealing with many a daunting task.
Board Book:
COMPARROTIVES, by Janik Coat, is a terrifically clever way of teaching comparative adjectives by using—yes—a parrot in various circumstances. Whether noisy/noisier, messy/messier, or bouncy/bouncier, the colorful, clear graphic design helps make this concept book surprisingly effective.
--Lynn
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