The brown bear is first introduced yawning and stretching at the entrance to his cave, awakening from hibernation. Illustrator Brandon James Scott’s humorous and expressive digital art portrays the bear and his surroundings with glowing and warm woodsy colors. The illustrations, paired with Bernstrom’s engaging alliterative wordplay, motivated me to turn the page to spend more time with these characters.
The tree is filled with a honeycomb and lots and lots of busy worker honey bees doing what bees do best, passing the nectar to the house bee. Bernstrom’s words a bee, a busy bee, a honey bee next to the art visually showcase the bees focused on their work. That is until the brown fuzzy hungry bear discovers the gold and yellow bee hive up in the tree. And that’s where the playfulness of the words begins.
The bee eyes the brown bear who is staring up at the green foliage in the tree. The bee’s bulging black eyes and angry eyebrows show he is not happy when next he sees the bear’s bottom side hanging under those same leaves. The bear hangs from one branch and holds on to another while the bee’s angry eyes swirl around him. A busy bear and a busy bee. A cute little bird is intrigued watching the pair.
When the bear’s paw is pushed into the hive, the bee is not happy. In fact, he is a very angry bee who lands on the bear’s nose, catching him with honey dripping from his lips. Bernstrom’s writing encourages each child to joyfully experience the words of the story.
The bear’s eyes are now the ones that bulge when the bee does what he needs to in protecting his honeycomb. The bee has brought in his colony. A million buzzing bees are drawn with angry faces swarming the bear who unwillingly succumbs by falling out of the tree. The hilarious chase ends at sundown when the bees return to their hive and somewhere a hungry bear returns to his cave.
This is a delightful picture book that, even with its spare text, teaches kids about bee and bear behavior with fun rhymes and rich, captivating illustrations that work together so well. Kids will ask to hear A Bear, a Bee, and a Honey Tree over and over, a sure sign to keep the book close at hand.
Trouble’s come to Monster Town, and emergencies abound!
There’s no time to wait around… get the Boo Crew!
Get ready for a spooky interactive story experience with Lula, Bones, and Fang—a ghost, skeleton, and vampire team who need YOUR help fixing all the messes and frights of a Halloween night gone wrong! Whether it’s tapping the page to mend a broken pumpkin or turning the book to set a toppling haunted house back upright, the action prompts let kids join in on the fun and save the day.
Abi Cushman:THE BOO CREW NEEDS YOU! is such a fun Halloween story with a fantastic cast of
spooky characters. You and Saoirse Lou, who illustrated the book, did a wonderful job of making
this book really engaging. What inspired you to write a Halloween-themed story?
Vicky Fang:Aw, thank you! My kids LOVE Halloween. My little one thinks about his costume probably
year-round. I think it was inevitable that I would try to write a Halloween book! Of course, looking
at my drafts, my peak inspirations definitely came right around Halloween, so the annual
reminder kept me coming back to it.
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AC: I love the interactivity in this book. There are so many fun action prompts like pushing
buttons and switches, clapping, searching for objects in the illustrations, and more. Did the book
always include interactivity? And how did you come up with these interactive elements?
VF: The book always included interactivity, though my first pass only had one, big interactive
moment. When I shared it with my agent, she suggested I weave interactivity throughout. Ouf, I
put it away for two years after that, because the thought was so daunting! But eventually, on
another Halloween when I had run out of NYTimes crosswords, I pulled it back out again and
tackled it like a difficult word puzzle!
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AC:Yes! I agree writing a picture book is often like solving a word puzzle. It must have been
incredibly satisfying to solve this one after two years! Now, this is your first rhyming book. Can
you tell us about your process for writing in rhyme?
VF:The book started with a rhyming phrase that popped in my head: “It’s a glitch! There’s a
hitch! Something’s screwy with this switch!” At that point, it wasn’t a Halloween story, but once I
decided to pursue that rhythm for my Halloween book, I needed to learn how to write in rhyme! I
signed up for Renee LaTulippe’s amazing Lyrical Language Lab course and learned and
practiced meter and rhyme. I highly recommend the course for anyone interested in writing in
rhyme. e
AC: I remember a Tweet where you mentioned how your 8-year-old complained that you only
wrote robot books. And I have to say, it’s true that you do have quite a flair for writing really
great robot books, like FRIENDBOTS and LAYLA AND THE BOTS. I noticed that THE BOO
CREW NEEDS YOU! has a distinct lack of robots. Did your kid’s comments spur you on to write
more non-robot books, like this one?
VF:Hahaha, the things we do to try to impress our kids! Well, it was a bit more of a desire to
prove to the industry that I can write more than just robot books. I love writing STEM books, but I
didn’t want to get pigeon-holed and I wanted to show a broader range as a writer. Of course,
now that I have seven non-STEM books coming out, I worry that I’m losing my niche as a STEM
author for my readers! In the end, of course, I don’t think it really matters and we just need to
write what inspires us—as you know!
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AC: Haha I think no matter what you do, people will definitely remember you have a knack for
STEM themes as well. In fact, even though THE BOO CREW NEEDS YOU! is not a robot book,
I think the interactivity element does give this book a STEM flavor because it shows kids that
one action (or input) yields a certain result. Can you talk a bit about why STEM topics interest
you as an author?
VF:I love writing STEM books because there are so many fundamental lessons that help all
kids, whether or not they want to specialize in STEM when they get older. I want kids to be able
to break down a problem, to brainstorm solutions, and to generate solutions. That lesson holds
across all of life! THE BOO CREW NEEDS YOU! fits into this as well, with the team working
together with the reader to solve problems and save Halloween. Ultimately, I want to inspire
creative and bold problem-solvers!
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AC:I love that! Your debut book, INVENT-A-PET (which definitely encourages kids to solve
problems) came out in 2020. Since then you’ve had 9 more books published, with 10 more to
come. Do you have any tips for writers who would like to be as prolific as you?
VF: I think what’s really helped me write so many books is writing across different categories.
Sometimes my ideas work better as a board book, or as a chapter book. Logistically, it’s also
easier for my agent to be pitching multiple books of mine when they aren’t in the same category.
Board books, early readers, and chapter books also are often sold as series. That would be my
practical advice for being prolific as a children’s book author—but I would add that it’s probably
best not to worry about the numbers and write the best book you can that comes from your
heart, because that’s what will make your book stand out to editors!
AC:That’s such great advice! And I think it works well on a practical level as well as a creativity
level. So speaking of being prolific, what’s next for you?
VF:I’m so excited for my new books launching this fall! Releasing in September, ALPHABOT
(MIT Kids Press) is a mix-and-match novelty book of robotics terms from A to Z that lets kids flip
the flaps to create their own robot. And then in October, the first book in my new early reader
series, BEST BUDDIES (Scholastic), releases! It’s about a dog named Sniff and a cat named
Scratch and their silly adventures at home. It’s illustrated by Luisa Leal and comes from the
same editorial team that was behind LAYLA AND THE BOTS!
I’m currently also working on a new chapter book series that I’m incredibly excited about, called AVA LIN. It’s a heavily illustrated chapter book about an optimistic and creative six-year-old
Chinese American girl with a knack for getting into—and out of— trouble. I’m in the middle of
final art for Book 1, sketches for Book 2, and manuscript edits for Book 3, and I love working on
it, so I’m hoping readers will love it too! Keep an eye out for it in Spring 2024!
AC:Wow! I am so excited about all of these books. They sound super fun, and again, I see you’ve
got something coming out for a wide range of ages. I can’t wait to read them all.
Thanks for sharing your process and writing tips with us, Vicky! Congratulations on the release
of THE BOO CREW NEEDS YOU!
BUY THE BOOK
Support a local independent bookstore and purchase a signed copy below.
(type in the comments how you’d like the book inscribed):
Vicky Fang is a product designer who spent 5 years designing kids’ technology experiences for both Google and Intel, often to inspire and empower kids in coding and technology. She started writing to support the growing need for early coding education, particularly for girls and kids of color. She is the author, and sometimes illustrator, of nineteen new and upcoming books for kids, including the Layla and the Bots series, Invent-a-Pet, I Can Code board books, Friendbots series, and the forthcoming Ava Lin series, Best Buddies series, AlphaBot, and The Boo Crew Needs You! You can visit Vicky at vickyfang.com.
Illustrator Bio:
Saoirse Lou is a freelance illustrator from the seaside town of Poole in the UK. When she’s not
drawing, she loves reading books, walks in the countryside, drinking lots of tea, and snuggling
down under blankets with her family to watch movies. Saoirse enjoys using color and texture to
bring warmth and emotion and diversity to book characters, in particular, she loves drawing from
her experience as a mother to bring sensitivity to her artwork. See more of Saoirse’s work at saoirselou.com or on Instagram @Saoirselouscribbles.
Interviewer Bio:
Abi Cushman is the author-illustrator of Soaked!(Viking, 2020), and Animals Go Vroom!,
worked as a web designer for over 15 years. She runs two popular websites of her own: MyHouseRabbit.com, a pet rabbit care site, and AnimalFactGuide.com, which was named a
“Great Website for Kids” by the American Library Association. Abi lives in a small Connecticut
beach town with her family. In her spare time, she enjoys running, playing tennis, and eating
nachos. (Yes, at the same time.) Learn more at abicushman.com.
“As a trio of tired tots settles into bed for the night, the sheep who should be helping them count down to slumber kick up their hooves in an energetic dance performance. Starting with one little lamb … [the] sheep tap, waltz, tango, and boogie … [until] finally, after their energy is danced out, nap sheep lull everyone to sleep.”
Kenda Henthorn’s lively, rhyming text borrows the rhythm of “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” to create a delightful read-aloud perfect for getting out the wiggles before bedtime. Lauren Gallegos’ cute art in soothing blues and energetic purples perfectly complements the energy of Henthorn’s words.
With added learning layers such as counting to ten, dance moves/vocabulary, and a few cultural Easter eggs in the art, this picture book works for the young and young-at-heart. Highly recommended for naptime in the early childhood classroom!
When neighbors question a boy walking with a banana attached to a red leash, the child confidently explains that he is walking his dog Banana in Roxanne Brouillard’s debut picture book, My Dog Banana, with charming artwork by Giulia Sagramola, in her first picture book as well.
The cover instantly grabbed my attention because, well, how often have you seen a boy walking a banana on a leash? The boy’s mouth is drawn as a big smile, while the neighbors surrounding him have mouths agape. Even the Lhasa Apso is confused! Sagramola draws a black line directed at each person speaking giving the art a graphic novel feel. “What are you doing?” the boy with the backward green baseball cap asks pointing at the banana. “I’m walking my dog,” the dark-haired boy responds with hand on hip.
Faded green trees are drawn in the background so the reader’s attention is on the latest neighbor introduced with each page turn. We see the confusion with question marks above heads and raised eyebrows. The boy just doesn’t understand why the neighbors don’t see Banana the dog. The people try their best to see what the boy sees, but with each question asked to the boy he has a logical answer in return. “It isn’t moving,” the woman returning from a Farmer’s Market says with fruit in her bag. “She is very tired today,” with emphasis on the She, not the It.
Turning each page, more neighbors appear with confused faces. Sagramola’s drawings of hands in the air and pointed fingers add to the humor of Brouillard’s words. The Lhasa Apso goes nose-to-nose with the banana to see if she can get a reaction but no luck. The boy has an answer for everything until the neighbors stop asking questions and begin to laugh. He remains true to himself and doesn’t give in to their laughter. When the boy and Banana finally give up and walk away from the adults and children’s hysterics on the last page, the Banana speaks and says, “Woof! Woof!”
This light-hearted sweet story, with an assortment of diverse characters, will bring laughter to the reader and allow them to question what is real and not real. Did Banana really Woof? Only your imagination can answer that question.
The dill-ightful title of this new picture book, Sloth & Squirrel in a Pickle by Cathy Ballou Mealey with adorable art by Kelly Collier, will immediately grab you even if it doesn’t immediately grab sloth whose slow motion throughout the story is one of the recurring elements that make it hysterical to read-aloud. I’m talking Lucy and Ethel hysterical. You may not see my smile as I’m writing this, but trust me it’s here now and was for every page as I was eager to see how things played out for the pair of pickle-packing pals.
This humorous friendship tale begins with Squirrel deciding he’d like to get a bike to go FAST!, but after seeing the price tag at the bike shop, realizes it’s too costly. Sloth points out that the pickle company next door is seeking pickle packers. If they work hard, together the two should be able to earn enough to afford the bike.
In their interview, the friends meet Mr. Peacock who Collier has imagined with bushy eyebrows, a stern face, and office accessories all in a pickle green palette. Perfect! This character cracked me up. I could even hear his voice as he preps his new employees to start working. It doesn’t take long for Squirrel and Pickle to discover that the packing process is slippery hence much breakage. By noon they haven’t packed more than six jars. More comical chaos ensues when, given a second chance, Sloth unknowingly makes a major LOL mess of labeling and the new hires are fired.
With the money earned from the six successfully packed pickle jars, and lots of free, unsellable jars of pickles now in their possession, the friends are nowhere closer to buying the bike. That is until a melting ice pop incident—it simply cannot be eaten fast enough by a sloth—leads to the invention of a cool new, no-brain-freeze alternative to ice pops. Suddenly the money comes pouring in and the pals purchase the bike. Sadly, Sloth’s lethargy makes going fast on the bike as Squirrel had previously envisioned a non-starter. Sloth, however, has a better idea that even at his pace will bring them up to speed.
Between Cathy’s witty plot, prose, and characters and Collier’s creative illustrations that must be carefully studied for all the added touches readers might not see at first, Sloth & Squirrel in a Pickle beautifully addresses the “What if” question many authors ask themselves when developing a story: What if a slow animal and a fast animal became friends? In this case, the friendship endures despite the differences and it flourishes as the pals persevere in their pursuit of a bike. This well-crafted and extremely funny picture book is a great way to discuss cause and effect and determination. It also shows kids that money doesn’t grow on trees even if Sloth hangs out in one. Money has to be earned and then the joy of having bought something with the fruit (or pickle) of one’s labor tastes especially sweet or in this funny case maybe salty too!
Jet the Cat, the picture book debut from Phaea Crede with another debut for illustrations by Terry Runyan, is a story all the kids and adults will have fun reading. I can almost hear their giggles. It all started when Phaea got inspired by her mom’s cat Eddie. Eddie, unlike other cats, loved to take baths.
“I tried to imagine what other cats might think if they caught Eddie happily splashing around. I figured another cat (named Tom in the story) would look down on Jet, maybe even tell her she wasn’t a real cat if she liked water.”
Tom represents people who think they should tell people what they can or can’t do. Phaea dealt with many Toms in her life. Imagine that one girl even told her that her “name couldn’t really start with a P if it sounded like an F!”
But even though her inspiration was Eddie, when she started drafting Jet’s manuscript, she realized this story was also about something else: her dyslexia. Phaea loved writing stories, but her disability made her give up writing creatively.
“ I decided at age eight that real writers didn’t have dyslexia. Thirty-one years later, I have officially proven myself wrong!”
After revising Jet the Cat (Is Not a Cat) a solid fourteen times (shout out to her critique group Friends with Words), she submitted her story to Lisa Rosinski, senior editor of Barefoot Books. And Barefoot Books and Lisa Rosinski were perfect matches to such a conscious and fun book.
Jet the Cat is a book filled with colorful spreads and repetition. After cat Tom tells Jet she is not a real cat because she loves water, Jet goes on a journey to figure out which animal she can be. But of course, Jet can’t be any of these animals. She can’t be a frog because she sings too loud. She can’t be a bird because she can’t fly. And poor Jet can’t figure out who she is until …
I do not want to spoil the end, so make sure to get a copy of Jet the Cat (Is Not a Cat) to discover the fantastic ending and to read it to your children to make them laugh and think: Are we all the same or does each one of us have a little bit of Jet, the Cat? I LOVE IT!!!
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Written by Diana Murrayand illustrated by Zachariah OHora, Goodnight Veggiesinvites readers to settle in and cozy up with an endearing host of anthropomorphized veggies getting ready for bed.
The bedtime journey begins when a clever worm narrowly escapes becoming dinner to a group of hungry baby birds. Clad in a cap, sock, and sneaker, we watch him jump from the nest to an urban rooftop garden, slowly making his way to his underground home. As he passes by the vegetables, we see their nighttime routine, each group of veggies adorable in its own right. While turnips “tuck… in tightly” and potatoes close their eyes, “[t]uckered out tomatoes hum … lullabies.” Like the affectionate smile of each vegetable, the friendly, humorous rhyme reassures and warms the heart.
It’s sheer fun learning the variety of ways veggies like to turn in. “[C]uddly” cauliflower, baby carrots, and baby lettuce enjoy “snuggling.” Rhubarbs delight in “reading stories to worn-out broccolis.” Giggles from little ones will surely ensue when they discover how eggplants dream—some about familiar places and some about galaxies far, far away. “Cranky corn” who “cover up [their] ears” because of a nearby veggie’s snoring will definitely be a familiar scene to readers young and old.
Vibrant colors in acrylic paint add to the playfulness. Bold borders in black outline edges, creating a safe space to rest and soak in the illustrations, appropriately printed on 100% vegetarian printmaking paper.
A delightful bedtime read-aloud, Goodnight Veggies is the perfect prelude to a good night.
On Account of the Gumis Adam Rex’s new picture book and, for fans of this talented author/illustrator, he once again delivers classic, page-turning fun in this very humorous story.
The text begins with the protagonist, a young girl, sitting down with gum stuck in her hair and although the story doesn’t explain how the gum got there, keen readers will look to the inside cover pages before the story begins to see in illustrations that the young girl went to bed blowing bubble gum and fell asleep with it.
Everyone, including dad, sister, aunt, and right down to the firemen, has wild suggestions as to how the gum can be removed from the girl’s hair. But with each suggestion, the situation only becomes worse as more and more items get stuck in her hair, such as scissors, sticks of butter, grass, and even the vacuum cleaner, leading to increasing facial expressions of angst and frustration. Laugh at the silly situations that ensue and enjoy the rhyme as you read the story aloud to your child.
As I was reading the book, I wasn’t sure how the gum was going to get unstuck, so when the problem is solved (sort of) it was totally not what I expected. So make sure to ‘read’ all the way past the text to the illustration on the inside back cover to see what ultimately happens that day to our heroine.
In true Rex style, there are definitely a lot of not-to-be-missed details in the hilarious illustrations. I know this bubble gum pink-infused book is one that children will want to visit again and again to explore on their own. That being said, one thing is for sure: after reading Rex’s highly creative book, nobody will be going to sleep with gum in their mouth … I hope.
Reviewed by Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvilie
e Click here to download a fun activity kit. e Clickhereto order a copy ofOn Account of The Gum. e
Disclosure: Good Reads With Ronna is now a Bookshop.org affiliate and will make a small commission from the books sold via this site at no extra cost to you. If you’d like to help support this blog, its team of kidlit reviewers as well as independent bookshops nationwide, please consider purchasing your books from Bookshop.org using our affiliate links above (or below). Thanks! e e Recommended Reads for the Week of 11/2/20
Written by Corey Rosen Schwartz & Rebecca J. Gomez
Illustrated by Hilary Leung
(Orchard Books; $17.99, Ages 3-5)
Authors Corey Rosen Schwartzand Rebecca J. Gomez, along with illustrator Hilary Leungtell the tale of “a daredevil dude and a thrill-seeker truck” who race the desert backroads in Two Tough Trucks Get Lost! (book #2 in the series). But when their adventure takes each on a separate path, being tough takes on a whole new meaning.
Turtles and birds peacefully roam the bright orange sand, hiding behind green cacti, until two mischievous trucks decide to race each other after school. “The sand kicked up dust / as they passed an old mine, / and neither one noticed / the bright yellow sign.” (Of course, the reader sees the arrow sign showing the split in the road, and this is unknowingly where our trucks’ problem begins).
Leung’s warm and pleasing watercolor-like graphics of red truck Mack, with his yellow baseball cap, dashing ahead of his friend Rig, the blue truck with a tough guy green bandana wrapped around his head (or front window, since he is a truck) take the reader through the Southwest desert landscape.
Schwartz and Gomez share spot-on, read-aloud rhyme, “Through canyons and quarries / they zigzagged and crossed. / “‘The sun’s going down!'”/ “’I’m hopelessly lost.’” The bright yellow sun sets behind the hills and slowly lowers to dusk as even the face of a cactus shows concern. “One Rig, all alone / off-track in the park. / “’I’ve got to find Mack. / He’s afraid of the dark!’”
When Rig’s plan of a “flickering flare” reunites the pair, the reader sees the adventure continue as the friends figure out how to find their way out of the park. We feel a strong bond between these risk-taking friends, as they realize their folks must really be worried. The reader observes the pair teaming up to find familiar landmarks.
Two Tough Trucks Get Lost!, an uplifting and entertaining story of friendship and working together, is a wonderful read-aloud filled with both suspense and compassion. The adorable trucks are so sweet you forget they are tough. And you don’t even need to be a “things that go” fan to appreciate the good story-telling. Pre-school and Kindergarten-aged children will enjoy this heartwarming story that can be read with family or friends. Kids learn why it’s important to stay by their parents’ side and the implications of wandering off. But if they do, looking for familiar surroundings is a great way to find their way home. It’s clear these trucks may seem tough on the outside but it’s what’s on the inside that makes us care about them.
Click here to order a copy of Two Tough Trucks Get Lost! e Disclosure: Good Reads With Ronna is now a Bookshop.org affiliate and will make a small commission from the books sold via this site at no extra cost to you. If you’d like to help support this blog, its team of kidlit reviewers as well as independent bookshops nationwide, please consider purchasing your books from Bookshop.org using our affiliate links above (or below). Thanks! e Recommended Reads for the Week of 11/2/20
★Starred Reviews – Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal
Hayley Barrett’spicture book,Girl Versus Squirrel, shows us the fun rascals many of us have stealing from our bird feeders—the same dilemma Pearl faces in this story. The lyrical text, teeming with repetition and alliteration, works well as a read-aloud. As the tale unfolds in its singsong style, we are both lulled by the beauty of a girl feeding her backyard birds and prodded by her frustration with a seemingly unstoppable peanut-stealing squirrel.
Facial expressions on the girl and the squirrel are priceless as they one-up each other from scene to scene. I enjoyed howRenée Andriani’s art captures the shifting emotions as the power pendulums between the two opponents. However, when the action peaks, a new discovery makes Pearl rethink her no-squirrels-allowed policy.
Adults will appreciate the kid-friendly “Squirrelly Facts” at the end. These mischievous mammals chirp and scamper across every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Mark your calendars so you don’t forget to set out a treat on Squirrel Appreciation Day (January 21st).
Click here to order a copy of Girl Versus Squirrel. e Disclosure: Good Reads With Ronna is now a Bookshop.org affiliate and will make a small commission from the books sold via this site at no extra cost to you. If you’d like to help support this blog and its team of kidlit reviewers, please consider purchasing your books from Bookshop.org using our affiliate links above (or below). Thanks! e
Come join me on Crust Boulevard for a visit inside the fridge where Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast live. If you haven’t read the previous three books in this hilarious series, that definitely won’t detract from your enjoyment of the popular food friends’ fun and frolic.
In Short & Sweet, the latest installment from author Josh Funkand illustrator Brendan Kearney, time may be running out for Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast. The meal-worthy mates have discovered they’re going stale! Fortunately, their new friend, Baron von Waffle, suggests they “check out Professor Biscotti’s brochure,” for what could be a cure.
Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast decide the professor’s despoiling machine is what’s needed to save them so, accompanied by the Baron, they head to the laboratory.
In just minutes the decaying duo gets zapped back to health. However, one slight glitch in Professor Biscotti’s device has caused the food friends to shrink down to kid-size. They also do not seem to recognize their pal Baron von Waffle and dash off in fear.
The chaos that’s occurred has caused the Baron’s feelings to be hurt. He’s worried Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast are so scared of him that he’ll lose their friendship. While the professor works on fixing her despoiling machine, Baron von Waffle works on a way to lure his pals back to the lab.
Meanwhile, the frightened food first finds safety at a nearby pasta playground and then a local library. I love how Funk, a huge fan of libraries, has successfully fit one into his story. In a way, it’s a love of reading that leads Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast back to Baron Waffle. He believes he’s come up with a clever way to entice the two breakfast food buddies back to the lab and hopefully, with Professor B’s help, maximize them back to friend-size! Will the teeny twosome be restored to grown-ups? Well, I certainly won’t be a spoiler!
The premise of this picture book is such fun and adds a new dimension to the zany, adventure-packed Lady P and Sir FT collection. Once again, the talented team of Funk and Kearney have brought us a read-aloud that starts its rollicking from the very first spread. Filled with wordplay that easily rolls off the tongue, Short & Sweet can also boast engaging, well-metered rhyme in a fast-paced story that kids will want to hear over and over. Kearney’s high-spirited art is bursting with visual treats. You’ll find cucumber footrests at Professor Biscotti’s lab, punny book titles in the library, and perhaps my fave, Juice Springsteen sporting his trademark headband above his brow while rockin’ out atop a pot pie in the final spread. There’s lots to love in book #4 so get a copy, get comfy, and get ready to be entertained. Just remember not to read on an empty stomach!
Reviewed by Ronna Mandel
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Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast: SHORT & SWEET
Josh Funk is the author of books like the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series, the It’s Not a Fairy Tale series, the How to Code with Pearl and Pascal series, the A Story of Patience & Fortitude series, Dear Dragon, Pirasaurs!, Albie Newton, and more.
For more information about Josh Funk, visit him at www.joshfunkbooks.comand on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook at @joshfunkbooks.
Clickhereto order a copy of Short & Sweet. If you’d like other books in the series, click here.
Disclosure: Good Reads With Ronna is now a Bookshop.org affiliate and will make a small commission from the books sold via this site at no extra cost to you. If you’d like to help support this blog and its team of kidlit reviewers, please consider purchasing your books from Bookshop.org using our affiliate links above. Thanks!
Have you ever woken up one morning and everything goes wrong, putting you in a bad mood? Has it ever happened to one of your children? The answer to both questions is, of course, it has. And that is exactly the scenario that begins the hilarious rhyming verse picture bookMootilda’s Bad Mood.
The story begins with Mootilda waking up with hay in her hair, her pillow gone, and her doll—a cow, what else?—fallen from her bed. She goes to her moomaw cow (as opposed to mama cow) who hugs her and gives her a treat but when this falls, it sets off Mootilda to proclaim, “I’m in a bad mood!” Her mother suggests she goes out to play. Mootilda takes her advice and plays rope with calves, swims with lambs, rides bikes with pigs, and plays ball with ponies. However every single time, something unfortunate happens which leaves Mootilda in an even worse mood than before.
The refrain of “I’m in a bad mood!” reflects Mootilda’s worsening mood as the day progresses with each additional “O” that is added to the word “mood.” When she finally meets up with chickens, who are also in a bad mood, it is Mootilda this time who tries to cheer them up. But when something goes wrong with her attempt, instead of making her mood worse, she laughs about it and finally realizes her bad mood is gone. And with her bad mood gone, she figures out a way she can help others in the future, as shown in the final pictures of the book.
Ranucci’sillustrations are cheerful, bright, and colorful—the exact opposite of the feelings of a bad mood. They make it impossible for any reader who might be in a bad mood to remain that way after perusing through the delightful pictures.
The book is filled with funny animal, cow and moo words, like cow-tastrophe, cow-incidence, and cow-miserate. This wordplay adds to the enjoyment of the book, especially when read aloud and emphasized. But what I really liked about Mootilda’s Bad Mood was that co-authors Rosen Schwartzand Callhave taken a concept that we can all relate to and presented it in such a humorous tale. The story acknowledges and allows everyone, especially kids, to be in a bad mood. It’s perfectly okay to sometimes feel like that, but there are also ways to deal with it and that is a great take-away message.
• Reviewed by Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili
Click here to read a review of another picture book by Corey Rosen Schwartz.
Click here to read a review of another picture book illustrated by Claudia Ranucci.
If you love fairy tale retellings, Federico and the Wolfis for you. Rebecca J. Gomez has taken the classic story and not only modernized it, but centered it in the Mexican American culture with great success.
The book’s appeal stems from its endearing main character Federico whose ingenuity and bravery will have young readers rooting for him as he takes on the infamous hungry wolf. And though he sports a hoodie, Federico is definitely not your grandmother’s Little Red. In fact in this version, Federico sets off to the local market “… to buy ingredients to make the perfect pico.” His plan is to get the stuff needed to bring to his abuelo (grandfather), then together the two can make a special salsa. The market art (see below), like so many other illustrations in this delightful picture book, is a razzle dazzle of glorious color and atmosphere. As a reader I wanted to jump into the scene.
On his way to see Abuelo, Federico heads through the city park and deep into the woods on his bike. It’s not long before the famished wolf stops him looking for “grub.” The young boy, however, claims he has no time or food to spare. When he arrives at his grandfather’s shop, Federico notices a suspiciously furry and pawed person beckoning him inside.
At first it might seem that Federico’s been taken in by Wolf’s disguise, providing the kind of suspense kids love. But, once he realizes what he’s up against, the clever lad resorts to clever measures. I won’t spoil the spicy ending, but suffice it to say that because of Federico’s quick thinking, the chances of Wolf ever returning are rather slim. When grandson and grandfather are finally safe from the the wolf’s conniving clutches, the pair can begin to prepare the pico as originally planned.
Chavarri’s vibrant illustrations work beautifully with the prose, helping to set the tone of this excellently executed fractured fairy tale. The pictures are light and lively when Federico is happy and they get darker whenever the wolf is present.
Gomez, with her wonderful use of rhyme, brings a spirited approach to this tale that invites multiple readings. I love how she’s incorporated Spanish words into the story. They not only feel natural, but add to the ambience of Federico’s world. Kids can figure out the words’ meaning many times just by looking at the illustrations such as silla for chair. Readers can also take turns playing the parts of Federico and Wolf for added enjoyment. A glossary in the back matter along with a recipe for the salsa tops off this read aloud treat. By all means, add this new picture book to your story time collection. And, remember to carry some chili powder in your hoodie pocket if you plan a walk in Wolf’s neck of the woods.
What do you get when you mix books with a barbarian? You get the delightfully disarmingRonan the Librarian by Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie with art by Victoria Maderna.
When we first meet Ronan, the barbarian leader, he’s a typical marauder, pillaging with his cohorts and pretty much content. His usual raids involve bringing back jewels and gold, that is until his latest plundering reveals a chest full of books. Not exactly what was in the cards. While at first Ronan considers the haul useless—“Kindling? Origami? Toilet paper?”—it doesn’t take long for him to get pulled in by a picture and hooked on the book. He reads late into the night, oversleeping in fact. From that moment on, Ronan was a changed marauder.
Wherever Ronan travels to invade, raid and then trade, his mind is always focused on the current book he was devouring, eager to return home to it at day’s end. As the leader, Ronan shifts the pillaging priority from taking baubles to books and his collection grows and grows. It becomes so huge he needs a library to contain it. Much to Ronan’s disappointment, his partners in pillage show no interest in reading. “Barbarians do not read books.”
Determined to whet their literary appetites, Ronan decides to read a mythical tale aloud to his community. Yet everyone appears to carry on with their work, leaving the barbarian bibliophile convinced his story has not made an impact. However, when he later discovers the library has been invaded, not by pillagers, but by curious villagers, Ronan could not be happier. “It turns out, barbarians do read books.” Ronan lives happily ever after only now he can add librarian to his skill set. With stories filling their minds, everyone’s lives grow richer because we all know what treasures can be found inside the pages of a book.
I love how Luebbe and Cattie have taken the most unlikely of characters to ever want to read and turned that on its head. Who can’t fall for a big bearded barbarian smitten by the love of reading? Kids will love saying some of the goofy barbarian expressions like “Uff da!” They’ll also find adorable characters (I like Helgi), wonderful rhythm, and repetition that will make this a much requested read. In addition to enjoying every page, kids should make sure to revisit the art. Maderna’s added some fun details in her lively illustrations like a goat eating the paper from the book haul and again in the library munching on a book, a dinosaur skeleton under the floorboards in Ronan’s home, a library sandwich board that reads “Come Read! Free Mead,” and a library bulletin board with some very funny “Rules and Advice” notices. Parents, teachers and librarians will enjoy sharing Ronan the Librarian, a book that subtly and cleverly extols the virtues of reading. This witty picture book begs to be read at library story times and will make even the most reluctant of readers root for Ronan, even if you may think he could use a shave.
After a third and fourth reading of Boats Will Float by Andria Warmflash Rosenbaum with illustrations by Brett Curzon, I still found myself smiling as if I were reading it for the first time. There is so much to enjoy in this picture book highlighting a bevy of brightly colored boats both big and small.
Rosenbaum’s descriptive rhyme invites reading aloud and the full page spreads beg to be explored in order to find humorous details that Curzon’s included (hint: check out the front of the cruise ship). Readers learn about a variety of vessels that travel on bays, rivers, and oceans as they’re presented at work and play from early morning until night.
The timeless appeal of watercraft for kids cannot be denied and Boats Will Float celebrates that by introducing over a dozen kinds. There are fishing boats, motor boats, tug boats, submarines, freighters, sailboats and canoes. There’s even a welcoming houseboat that bookends the story. First, a child and her dad greet the new day, watching the boat activity from their deck, “Boats are bobbing in the bay/Waiting to be on their way.” Then at the end, the entire family settles down for the night, “Safely moored in dreams all night-/Boats will float … toward morning light.”
I love how there are even nautical flags cleverly incorporated into the book. At story time youngsters can spell out their own name using the alphabet provided. Be on the lookout for a special treat in the mast art of the sailboat spread to point out to curious children. I won’t say anymore than that.
The structure of this picture book, with its vibrant scenes moving to more tranquil ones, makes it ideal for a bedtime read. The art, beautifully complementing the prose, shifts from bolder colors to calmer ones as nighttime approaches. A glossary in the back matter with pictures pulled from the pages that children will recognize provides additional info for your things-that-float fans. What a fun way to have them drift off to sleep!
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