children’s books

♥ spreading a little maira love ♥

~ jama ~ 56 Comments

Remember back in February when I reviewed Maira Kalman’s latest picture book, Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Everything?

Just around then, Maira was scheduled to appear at Monticello and at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C., and I was all set to travel three hours to Charlottesville just to see her. I’ve adored her work since the early 90’s, and it’s safe to say she’s one of my top three favorite picture book creators ever. Whether she’s chronicling the life of a President or contemplating cake, she speaks to our common humanity like no one else.

But. Her events were cancelled due to inclement weather (bad polar vortex, bad). And then when I had to rush off to Hawai’i at the end of March, I assumed if she was rescheduled I would probably miss her. Oh well.

But then.

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friday feast: nibbling on janis ian’s the tiny mouse

~ jama ~ 37 Comments

Squeaking of mice, I’m simply head over tails in love with THE TINY MOUSE (Lemniscaat, 2013), veteran singer-songwriter Janis Ian’s jaunty, whimsical song-turned-picture book masterfully illustrated by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert.

Janis’s rollicking tale of adventure on the high seas is packed with whisker twitching, nose itching suspense, salty humor, and many a well-turned phrase set to a catchy tune that’ll have readers of all ages joyfully singing along in seconds flat.

 

There was a tiny mouse
who lived in a tiny house
full of drafts and doubts, and incredible things

But this dapper little fellow soon grows bored with the high life, so decides one day to go to sea so he can drink grog and sniff “occasional snuff.”

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squeak peek for the week: mouseton abbey

~ jama ~ 45 Comments

Holy Gorgonzola!

Suffering from a little “Downton Abbey” withdrawal? No need to get your knickers in a twist. Now you can nibble on this new gouda picture book until Series 4 debuts in the U.S. on January 5, 2014.

Whether you be man or mouse, Mouseton Abbey: The Missing Diamond by Joanna Bicknell, Nick Page and Tim Hutchinson (Make Believe Ideas, 2013), is sure to get your whiskers twitching with its veddy British tongue-in-cheese humor.

Resident family at Mouseton Abbey
The staff

Whoever said, “when the cat’s away, the mice will play,” knew only half the story. Not only are there mice in this house, they own the place, which is not too shabby considering it dates back to the 13th century and now has over 300 rooms.

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friday feast: yes! we are latinos by alma flor ada, f. isabel campoy and david diaz

~ jama ~ 38 Comments

Which of the following statements is true?

  • Hispanics/Latinos are a single race who all look alike
  • All Latinos in the United States are recent immigrants, most of whom are here illegally
  • All Latinos speak Spanish and sound alike
  • Hispanic immigrants aren’t interested in learning English
  • Latinos are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the country and have lived in the territories now known as the United States for over four centuries.

If you guessed the last one, you’re correct, but did any of the other statements sound familiar? Chances are good you’ve encountered people who actually believe they’re true.

That’s one of the reasons Yes! We Are Latinos by eminent authors and scholars Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy (Charlesbridge, 2013), is a must read not only for young people but for everyone.

Art © 2013 David Diaz

This wonderful celebration of the rich diversity and mixed cultural origins of the more than 50 million Latinos in the U.S. informs, enlightens, and helps to dispel many commonly-held misconceptions about who Latinos are and the nature of their vital, historic role in the fabric of our society.

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feasting on judi barrett’s cloudy with a chance of meatballs 3: planet of the pies

~ jama ~ 6 Comments

Sometimes when people really like something they’ll say: I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.

Could be heaven and Mars are the same place. As long as there’s pie!

I’m convinced Judi Barrett wrote the first Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs book just for me. A story about edible precipitation, with mashed potato snow, hamburger storms and SOUP rain (forcryingoutloud) has my name written all over it, does it not? My toes still tingle when I read about the giant pancake that covered the school, and how the residents of ChewandSwallow set sail on rafts made from giant pieces of stale bread (holy peanut butter).

And then, some 19 years later, Ms. Barrett gifted me with Pickles to Pittsburgh. I swooned over the giant airlifted hot dogs and tuna fish sandwiches and a charitable world where “there is always enough food for everyone.”

Fast forward another 16 years, when the inimitable and perpetually hungry Ms. Barrett (no doubt having heard of my “eternal quest for pie”), has just published Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3: Planet of the Pies (Atheneum, 2013)!!

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