children’s books

linda ashman’s no dogs allowed!: a little chat and a special giveaway

~ jama ~ 18 Comments

Why, hello. Let’s eat out!

*pat, pat, stroke, stroke*

How nice of you to arrive so well groomed! Pink-tongued, tail-wagging, perky-eared guests are especially welcome at our table. No need to sit up and beg!

But brace yourself. Believe it or not, there are a few misguided folks in this world who think “feast” does not mix with “fur”.

Take Alberto, for example, the nattily dressed owner of the City Lights Restaurant in Linda Ashman’s heartwarming new picture book. When he sees a boy approaching his café with a St. Bernard, he changes the “Welcome” on his chalkboard sign to “No Dogs Allowed.” Harumph!

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judy palaferro dishes about horace’s big hat!

~ jama ~ 8 Comments

Hats On, Hats Off — to Judy Palaferro for creating this brand new uber cool emerging reader picture book!

You may remember how much the alphabet soup kitchen helpers loved her Color Bears board book that came out last year. Well, ever since Horace’s Big Hat (Umbrage Books, 2011) arrived, they’ve been oohing and ahhing over all the delightful spreads and trying on every hat in the house.

In this exuberant riff on the “What do I want to be when I grow up?”  theme, our boy Horace tries on 12 different hats — yes, BIG ones, as he imagines himself in various professions (construction worker, baker, referee, fireman, cowboy, and artist, to name a few).

In each scenario, he’s surrounded by the “tools of the trade,” a colorful, endlessly vibrant, highly detailed smorgasbord of discovery. His adventures take him to a prairie, India, London, even the high seas. Whether he dons an artist’s beret, a turban or hard hat, he has loads of fun exercising his imagination, while the objects in each spread provide valuable visual clues to help the emergent reader figure out the words in the text.

Judy’s here to tell us a bit more about Horace and the fun she had working on this book. We thank her for sharing some finished art as well as early drafts.

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picture book crush: i had a favorite dress by boni ashburn and julia denos

~ jama ~ 18 Comments

I’m twirling myself silly with delight over this brand new picture book by Boni Ashburn and Julia Denos. It made me wonder if Boni and Julia ever had a favorite dress. More on that in a bit, but for now, let’s try this charming story on for size.

Here’s a girl who love love loves her salmon-colored, striped-bodice, ruffly-skirt dress, wearing it every single Tuesday, her favorite day of the week. But one day, her favoritest dress ever is just too short and she’s beside herself. Mama comes to the rescue, advising that instead of making mountains out of molehills, she make molehills out of mountains. So, with a “SNIP, SNIP, sew sew” — it’s “New shirt, hello!”

Thus begins a series of clever, wholly satisfying transformations. When the shirt becomes too tight, Mama turns it into a tank top, then a more school-appropriate skirt,  a tassely scarf for winter, a pair of cozy socks, and a pretty hair bow. And what happens when puppy shreds the bow into teeny tiny scraps? The girl creates something all by herself that enables her to wear her favoritest dress “every day of every season of every year.” Brilliant!  Continue reading →