Tag: Picture Book

And Tango Makes Three – Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell

Illustrations – Henry Cole

It’s Banned Books Week and the theme for 2018 is Banning Books Silences Stories. If someone tells me not to do something I want to do it even more so I was really excited when I came across Humble Bundle’s Forbidden Books bundle. This is the first book I’ve read from the bundle.

Of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2017 (as reported by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom) the ninth most challenged book is this sweet love story between two penguins in Central Park Zoo, just because the penguins that love each other are boys.

At the end of the book I discovered that Roy and Silo’s story is taken from real life which increased the adorability factor to maximum for me. Roy and Silo became a couple in 1998. In 2000 keeper Rob Gramzay’s wonderful idea became a dream come true for our two penguins when they welcomed Tango to their family. If you’re like me and will be concerned about why Tango’s egg was available, you don’t need to worry as it’s not a sad story. This book shows that it’s love, not biology, that makes a family.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

In the zoo there are all kinds of animal families. But Tango’s family is not like any of the others. This illustrated children’s book fictionalises the true story of two male penguins who became partners and raised a penguin chick in the Central Park Zoo.

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Hector’s Favourite Place – Jo Rooks

Hector’s favourite place is the same as mine – home. Both of our homes have books in them so why would we want to leave?! Well, actually Hector is a worrier and that’s why he’s most comfortable at home. He likes to hear about his friends’ news and wants to do fun things with them but there’s always a ‘what if’ that stands in the way of him venturing into the great outdoors.

Hector knew deep down that his worries were stopping him from going and enjoying himself. He realized he had to be brave.

Hector learns that once he’s outside of his comfort zone most of the things he was worried about didn’t happen after all and those that did weren’t as bad as he thought they’d be. Hector becomes more confident, knowing he can have fun with his friends, and looks forward to spending more time with them. I’m looking forward to spending more time with my books, but that’s not the point.

The illustrations are cute and by using animals rather than people to tell the story I was more engaged. I love books that help kids gain confidence and hope this story helps some worriers to be brave like Hector.

At the end of the story there are ‘Notes to Parents, Caregivers, and Professionals’. This was a highlight for me as it includes practical tools for adults who are in a position to make a positive impact on anxious children. Information is provided under the following headings:

  • Address the worry (if you can)
  • Model and practice
  • Try something new
  • Resist reassurance seeking
  • Praise effort and bravery, and
  • Seek support.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Magination Press, an imprint of the American Psychological Association, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Hector loves his home! It’s comfy, snuggly, and safe. But sometimes Hector relies on the safety of his home too much – he’s invited to play outside with his friends, but he worries about the potential problems he might encounter. Soon Hector realizes that his worries are keeping him from enjoying himself, so he needs to learn to be brave and try new things. Includes a “Note to Parents and Caregivers” about encouraging kids to step outside their comfort zones.

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Danny Blue’s Really Excellent Dream – Max Landrak

I’ve read this book at least five times in the past couple of months because I love it so much and because I couldn’t think of the right words to tell you how much I love it or why. The blurb tells me it’s about “creativity, comfort zones – and colour”. It feels like much more though.

Danny Blue is the son of Mr Blue, a paint maker whose factory makes “the most beautiful shades of blue in all of Blue York.” Danny lives in a world of blue, from blueberry pancakes to the blue spoon he uses to eat his blueberries for dessert.

One night Danny has a dream but this dream is different. This is a Really Excellent Dream! Danny wonders if it’s possible to show people what he saw in his dream, but how will the people of Blue York react when they’re faced with something that’s not blue?

This book speaks to me of following your dreams (sorry, I had to go there) and that different doesn’t automatically equate to bad. I thought of pioneers whose ideas are met by peoples’ resistance to change and how embracing change can spur on creativity. I also thought this was a really cool book to teach kids about primary colours.

Max Landrak’s illustrations are fantastic! I love the imaginative use of the word everything to showcase Danny’s blue world. Inside each letter you’re shown a different element of Danny’s world, from the blue parrot to the blue ice cream (with a blue cone) to the blue bricks. I loved that most of the book is greyscale with highlights of blue, like the stripes on Danny’s shirt, so by the time a new colour is introduced it really does look revolutionary.

While I’ve told you a lot about this book and probably used more words than you’ll find in the book to do so I still don’t feel like I’ve really gotten to the crux of why I love this book so much. I’m not sure I can. Sometimes you come across a book and your love for it can’t be fully explained. It just is.

In a nutshell, this is a really fun kid’s book about a boy that follows his dream and, in doing so, changes his world. It’s a new favourite.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Danny Blue lives in a world where everything is blue. And while there are many different shades and hues, everything is essentially the same. But then one night Danny sees something in a dream that is unlike anything else. He tried to describe it, but no one can understand what he means, and so he decides to create the thing he saw in his Really Excellent Dream (or R.E.D.).

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Are You Scared, Darth Vader? – Adam Rex

This was so much fun! Just what does scare Darth Vader?! Nothing has the power to scare him, or so he thinks. He’s not afraid of a wolfman’s bite as he’s wearing armour. He’s not afraid of a vampire, a ghost (no, it’s not the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi), or a witch. I loved his deadpan responses, especially to the question of whether he’s afraid of the dark.

“Is that a joke?”

I love villains and have a soft spot for this one. I admit I felt bad for Darth Vader when he talks about being cursed and looks so dejected.

I loved the illustrations, particularly the delightful ghost and the way Darth Vader’s feelings were expressed through his posture.

The narrator’s words are yellow, which stand out well against the greyscale backgrounds. Darth Vader’s responses are in black speech bubbles, not that you’d expect any other colour. The various monsters and other characters are detailed and realistic.

I especially liked the Death Star cameo and the design on the inside of the front and back covers. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong but it looked to me like a combination of Stormtroopers, TIE Fighters and the Galactic Empire symbol.

I enjoyed the twist at the end and want to read it again. I expect this to be a popular read for Star Wars fans, particularly around Halloween. While aimed at kids, kids at heart will also find a lot to like about this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Darth Vader isn’t scared! Nothing can scare Lord Vader. Right?

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The Kiddie Table – Colleen Madden

I’ve read this book so many times over the past couple of months, trying in vain to change my opinion about it. I’m sorry; I just don’t get it. Part of it may be that I come from a small family and everyone fit around one table when we had meals with extended family. We also don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia but I don’t think that has any relevance to the way I feel about this book.

This story recounts the tale of an eight year old girl who is relegated to sitting at the kiddie table during her family’s Thanksgiving meal. She’s surrounded by babies and toddlers. For some reason she’s given a bowl of food and a spoon to eat with, and she’s supposed to be drinking out of a sippy cup. I’m not sure what bright spark thought that was a good idea but possibly her parents as the meal is at their home. Throughout the meal our already cranky eight year old becomes increasingly angry until she explodes at the indignity she’s had to suffer.

During her tirade she makes the argument that she knows how to behave and winds up her tantrum with a defiant, “I DESERVE A SPOT AT THE ADULT TABLE!” Now this may well be an indication of why I should never be a parent but if this little brat was my kid I would quite cheerfully explain to her that her dummy spit had proven exactly why she’s not ready to sit at the adult table yet. Like it or not she’d be apologising to the other guests, including all of the kids she freaked out and we’d be having a long chat about her behaviour and acceptable ways to ask for what you want once the guests left.

This kid’s mother is not me. This kid’s mother empathises with her daughter about how she was feeling (that would have been part of my after dinner chat) but then she lets the tantrum kid sit at the adult table! This kid gets rewarded for her bad behaviour! I’m not okay with that.

I liked the illustrations. They’re colourful and make our tantrum thrower’s discontent very clear from the get go.

The rhymes didn’t work for me as the meter was off, so the rhythm would feel awkward if read out loud.

I’ve put off writing this review because I hate it when books and I don’t connect. Just because I didn’t like it doesn’t mean you won’t though so please don’t just take my word for it. I’d encourage you to check it out for yourself or at least read some 4 or 5 star reviews before deciding if it’s the book for you or not.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Capstone for the opportunity to read this book. I really wanted to love it.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

At every Thanksgiving there are two tables — the kiddie table and the adult table. So why in the world would an 8-year-old girl be stuck at the kiddie table? She is NOT a baby. She is NOT a toddler. She is a grown-up! She can do two-digit multiplication and knows how to cut her own food. She deserves to be at the adult table! And after an empowered speech and mini-breakdown, the girl is moved to the adult table. Growing up is never easy, and author Colleen Madden brilliantly tackles that issue in this delightful picture book.

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There’s a Monster in Your Book – Tom Fletcher

Illustrations – Greg Abbott

I enjoyed There’s a Dragon in Your Book more than this one, probably in part because I discovered it first and, well, she was a cute baby dragon! The monster in this book is cute too and I loved that this book was also interactive. I’m partial to monsters though so I wasn’t overly clear on why we didn’t want him in our book. I would prefer to help a baby dragon than scare a monster.

Nevertheless, I tried to shake him out, tickle his feet and blow him away. I admit I felt bad for the little guy when he became dizzy and scared, but it all works out in the end. Kids will enjoy the funny expressions on the monster’s face as he’s spun, wiggled and tilted all over the pages.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Bestselling author of The Christmasuarus, Tom Fletcher, has written a brand new picture book perfect for bedtime, where a mischievous monster has invaded the pages of your child’s book!

This read-aloud, interactive picture book treat invites children to make magic happen page by page, tilting, spinning and shaking the book, and then seeing the funny results when each page is turned. A fantastic celebration of all the fun that can be had with a book, with a wonderful wind-down bedtime ending!

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There’s a Dragon in Your Book – Tom Fletcher

Illustrations – Greg Abbott

There really is a dragon in this book and she’s adorable! This interactive book is so cute that you your kids will love doing everything possible to help out this newly hatched dragon. The illustrations are so endearing and her expressions are so delightful that I couldn’t help myself. I tickled her nose and that made her sneeze, which started a fire that I had to help blow out. Whether you’re flapping the book to help her fly or imagining yummy treats to feed her, this little sweetie is going to make her way into your heart. I need to borrow someone’s kid so I can read this to someone who’ll appreciate it as much as I do.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

OH LOOK, there’s an EGG in your book!

But this isn’t any old egg – there’s a dragon in it … And pretty soon she has set your book ON FIRE. OH NO!

Tom Fletcher and Greg Abbott have created a fantastically interactive sequel to their bestselling There’s a Monster in Your Book. Children will love stroking, poking and flapping the book to make magic happen as they turn the pages. Can they help Little Dragon find a way to stop the fire and fly off on her own adventure? 

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How to Catch a Monster – Adam Wallace

Illustrations – Andy Elkerton

Spoilers Ahead!

The illustrations are brilliant in How to Catch a Monster, AKA, Confronting Your Fears and Discovering They’re Not as Scary as You Thought. Okay, so I wasn’t consulted during the naming of this book, thank goodness! So, the illustrations. They’re bright, colourful, detailed, kind of quirky and very engaging. I loved them!

The illustrations are brilliant in How to Catch a Monster, AKA, Confronting Your Fears and Discovering They’re Not as Scary as You Thought. Okay, so I wasn’t consulted during the naming of this book, thank goodness! So, the illustrations. They’re bright, colourful, detailed, kind of quirky and very engaging. I loved them!

The story is told in rhymes. Our main character has secured the role of ninja master in the school play so they’re feeling brave. Dressed in full ninja garb and with a backpack filled to the brim with tricks and traps, hero ninja kid (whose gender is never identified and I love this!) sets off to confront their monster. Yep, it’s a literal monster that hides in their closet.

Instead of finding something that belongs in your nightmares, hero ninja kid not only overcomes their fear but makes a new friend. Aww! There’s even some fart humour with a surprise as our monster’s farts smell like strawberries and lime.

My favourite element was the wind up shark that came out of the backpack of tricks but this is me we’re talking about. It was always going to be the shark. 🦈 😊

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

There’s a monster in my closet, 
with claws, and teeth, and hair, 
and tonight, I’m going to scare him!
He lives just right through there …

Get ready to laugh as a young ninja heads into the closet to meet the monster that’s been so scary night after night! But what if things aren’t what they seem and our monster isn’t scary at all? What if our ninja hero is about to make a friend of strangest sort?

If you dare to travel beyond the closet door and into the land of the monsters … you might just find the very best reward of all. But with robots, lava pie, and a smattering of traps – catching monsters is no easy business!

Is there a monster living in your closet? Are you brave enough to catch him? Parents and children will love sharing this fun and inventive picture book, which reminds us that things aren’t always as scary as they seem. 

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Did Dinosaurs Have Dentists? – Patrick O’Donnell

Illustrations – Erik Mehlen

Like many others I have a fairly significant case of dentophobia. My childhood dentist, in their infinite wisdom, told me that because I have deep crevasses in my teeth it was inevitable that I’d end up with a mouthful of fillings regardless of how well I brushed. This was after they’d already tortured treated me throughout my childhood, pulling all of my stubborn baby teeth that refused to leave me.

So, while this is a children’s book and I was reading it with that in mind, part of me was also keen to see if it had any wisdom to share with someone who hasn’t been to a dentist since their wisdom teeth were removed. I’m no closer to making a dental appointment now than I was before reading this book.

I liked the idea of applying dental fears to dinosaurs because dinosaurs make everything better, but overall the book just didn’t work for me. The rhyming worked sometimes and at other times it felt forced, for example, rhyming toothpick with picnic.

The pictures were cute and colourful. There’s a dinosaur with braces.

A family sit together munching on their lunch during a picnic with the sun smiling overhead. There’s even a dinosaur in need of dentures, wrinkly mouth and all.

There’s some facts about each dinosaur featured in the book at the end and also a glossary of toothy terms.

I thought it might be me being picky so I read it to my mother, who worked as a dental nurse before she retired. Naturally I pretended she was a child I was reading it to and showed her the illustrations as I read. It didn’t work for her either. Having said that, I haven’t read this book to a kid with dentophobia and a love of dinosaurs. If you want to check it out for yourself, here’s the link to the book on the publisher’s website.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Schiffer Kids, an imprint of Schiffer Publishing Ltd. for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

What if a brachiosaurus needed braces? If a tyrannosaurus used toothpaste, would it squash the tube? A young child on the way to a dental checkup wonders if dinosaurs ever had cavities and if they had to brush their teeth, floss, get braces, and use fluoride or mouthwash. This whimsical picture book includes eleven common terms related to dental and oral health, along with a glossary of name pronunciations and fun, scientific facts about each of the eleven dinosaurs mentioned in the story. It takes an imaginative, humorous look at dinosaurs’ dental health and eases children’s fears about going to the dentist, while cleverly encouraging them to take care of their own teeth.

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Small Things – Mel Tregonning

How to break my heart yet still give me hope 101

Step 1: Put this book in front of me.

Mel Tregonning’s artwork takes you inside the lonely world of anxiety and depression in such a beautiful but haunting way. The monsters that lurk and chip away at the main character piece by piece are perfect. Each monster is unique but clearly from the same monster gene pool. Once you’ve seen them you can identify them but would have trouble explaining them to someone who hasn’t seen them. Anxiety and depression feel like that. How can you truly explain to someone who hasn’t seen those monsters what they look like and how living with them impacts every part of you.

Step 2: Show me the book’s dedication.

This book is dedicated to Mel, the illustrator. How can that be?!

Step 3: Investigate further.

Upon investigating I came across this article and Mel’s website.

Step 4: Cry.

Step 5: Be grateful for the hope provided in this book, but maybe cry a bit more first.

At the heart of this book is a powerful message about early intervention. Support from people who care about you truly can make all the difference. There are ways to make the monsters retreat. You are not alone. Please know there is hope.

My heart breaks for Mel’s family. If she can have this much of an impact on me just because I ‘read’ her book I can’t even begin to imagine what her loss must be like for those who loved her in life. 💕

I ordered this from the library mostly because of the haunting cover illustration. I needed to know more. Now I do and while I don’t have as many tissues as I did before I started I’m so glad I found this book.

It’s part of the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge (Challenge Level 5-6) and I’m so glad it’s there. Children (and adults) need the message of this book. It’s not one that I’d just hand a child and go on with my day though. This is a book that deserves to be discussed.

P.S. There are a list of the reading challenge books here if you’re interested. My library has heaps of them. I love my library!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

On the cusp of having everything slip from his grasp, a young boy has to find a way to rebuild his sense of self. An ordinary boy in an ordinary world. With no words, only illustrations, Small Things tells the story of a boy who feels alone with worries but who learns that help is always close by. An extraordinary story, told simply and with breathtaking beauty.

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