BookPage Children's Top Pick, January 2015

It’s not often that you see class addressed in picture books in ways that are subtle and seamless, but Last Stop on Market Street, the affectionate story of a young boy and his grandmother, does just that.

CJ walks with his nana under an umbrella after leaving church. “The outside smelled like freedom” to the boy, who must have felt squirmy in the pews. They head for a bus stop, and CJ wonders why they always have to catch the bus, especially when he sees his friend zip by in a car with his dad. “Nana, how come we don’t got a car?” he asks. On the bus, he covets an older boy’s digital music player and earbuds. He also wonders why he and his nana always have to go where they’re going after church, a destination revealed at the book’s close.

His grandmother has a glass-half-full response for every query: Why, the bus breathes fire, and the bus driver always has a trick for CJ. There’s a man with a guitar right across from them on the bus, so who needs tiny music devices when you have “the real live thing” right there? The bus trip reveals a community of intriguing characters, and their destination promises the most colorful personalities. CJ and Nana even talk to a blind man, who tells CJ he can see the world with his ears and nose and shows CJ how to “feel the magic of music” by closing his eyes and letting go. When CJ and his nana step off the bus, readers discover that they’re heading to a soup kitchen. As they walk from the bus stop to the building, CJ wonders how Nana always witnesses beauty in surprising places.

With his crisp, uncluttered illustrations, Christian Robinson—the perfect illustrator for this story—captures the exuberance and wonder inherent in Matt de la Peña’s vivid, resonant text, giving abundant individuality to each community member we see. This ode to gratitude is 2015’s first must-read picture book.

Julie Danielson features authors and illustrators at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, a children’s literature blog.

Illustrations © 2015 by Christian Robinson. Reprinted with permission of Penguin.

This article was originally published in the January 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

A little boy’s adorable bear cub is the perfect pet—until he begins to grow . . . and grow . . . and grow! Soon this huge bear with his “bearish” ways is just too big to continue living in a human house. But what would be a better home for him?

The boy proposes several different options, from a toy store or a zoo to the woods, a jungle or a cave. In each case, his proposal is met with a resounding “No!” from the bear. None of the choices is quite right . . . until, inspired by the bear’s enjoyment of frozen popsicles (not to mention his bright white coat), the boy stumbles upon the right home for his best friend.

Kids will enjoy chiming in on the boy’s repeated question, “Then where, bear?” and they will giggle at some of the book’s gentle humor. (The bear is clearly terrified of jungles and caves, for example.) Author-illustrator Sophy Henn, who has a background in advertising design, utilizes a sophisticated and stylish palette of muted colors for her vintage-inspired illustrations. She also offers a bit of playful typography, effectively using type size for emphasis and utilizing a whimsical typeface on a two-page circus spread to great effect. Story and pictures combine for a satisfyingly old-fashioned reading experience, one that parents and children alike will find both comforting and beautiful. 

Just when you think you’re being guided by an omniscient narrator, author-illustrator Julia Sarcone-Roach throws you a curveball in this very funny picture book about the art of misdirection.

“By now I think you know what happened to your sandwich,” the book opens. Standing there in a lush forest is a bear. The narrator tells us right off the bat that this missing-sandwich mystery is all thanks to this creature. He was tempted by the smell of berries, you see, and hopped into a red truck carting fruit. Before he knew it, he was asleep in the bed of the truck and awoke to find himself in a big city. The bear is confused about where he is, but he makes the most of it, timidly exploring, sniffing and tasting as he goes. When he makes it to a park, it’s precisely then that he sees your sandwich and eats it, the narrator insists. When he smells dogs, the bear flees.

On the next spread is the twist: Two pointy, fluffy ears pop up from the bottom of a page, along with two speech balloons: “So. That’s what happened to your sandwich. The bear ate it.” We turn the page to see a small, fluffy dog, talking to a little girl. He’s trying hard to convince her—despite the lettuce at his feet—that it really was the bear’s fault. That’s right: If you thought it strange that a big, burly bear would run from dogs, consider your narrator.

Clues are dropped hither and thither about the dog’s culpability here, clues that are fun to spot when re-reading. Teachers and school librarians, take note: It’s Inferencing 101 for young readers, and it’s great fun. Sarcone-Roach’s textured acrylic and pencil illustrations are sunny and rendered with an energy that serves the story well. The bear is sometimes a blur of movement, and his curiosity propels the story forward, even if we find out in the end that he never existed.

This story is mischief-making at its finest. And just like a good sandwich, it's hard to resist.

Julie Danielson features authors and illustrators at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, a children’s literature blog.

You can’t help but fall in love a little with the bookworm, with his bright eyes and shy smile, on the cover of Alice Kuipers and Bethanie Deeney Murguia’s Violet and Victor Write the Best-Ever Bookworm Book. Composed of collages made of bits of text, fanciful book illustrations and cartoonish children, this book intrigues even before reading it aloud.

Violet Small tries to get her twin, Victor, on board when she decides to write the best-ever book in the entire world. Victor resists getting involved—he’s too busy playing with his pet worms—but then mentions a book-eating monster, and Violet’s story is off and running. She meanders through all kinds of stories, searching for the terrible creature that is munching pages and ruining the library. Then Victor’s next suggestion scares Violet: “She hears a snuffling by her feet,” he says. But Violet doesn’t want a scary story. She thinks scary books are horrible.

Soon an extremely hungry bookworm appears between her feet. Is this the culprit? To save the library, Violet tucks the bookworm into her pocket and heads home. The twins debate what the bookworm should eat. Victor says worms, but Violet says words. When they decide, both are happy with their story and settle down to read it aloud, with Violet—the bossy one—doing the reading.

Billie B. Little is the Founding Director of Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands-on museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Stuffed pink rabbit in hand, Bear is completely and utterly ready for bed. But his coffee-fueled neighbor, Duck, is ready to play. He rings the doorbells, climbs a ladder to Bear’s window, even breaks out the emergency key—all the while ignoring Bear’s increasingly grumpy, terse protestations. Will Duck get his way, or will Bear lose his temper?

Author Jory John (All My Friends Are Dead) easily handles the dry humor that has taken over children’s literature in recent years. Duck’s energetic appeals will have even the littlest pajama-clad readers laughing, as he jumps from smoothie-machine mess to rock-and-roll attire. Illustrator Benji Davies perfectly captures bleary-eyed Bear’s frustration. His bold images stand out against calm, simple backgrounds, focusing attention on Bear and Duck’s expressions and personalities.

While bedtime-procrastination stories abound, John’s tale offers plenty for readers of all ages. Kids will laugh at large, grumpy Bear’s pink-flowered bathrobe. Parents (who have seen these delay tactics in action) will commiserate with Bear’s lack of sleep and under-eye circles. Both young and old will anticipate—and appreciate—the ending’s twist. The story is just long enough to fill the “just one more book!” request, but not so overly involved that it disrupts the bedtime flow. The pages are colorful and interesting, but not so chaotic that it couldn’t be a last story before lights out.

Most kids go through a favorite-book phase; break the boredom with Bear and Duck. From kid-friendly dialogue to sleepy-time-friendly illustrations, Goodnight Already! will be an oft-requested book. P.S.: Tell little readers to keep an eye on Bear’s rabbit.

At the end of a birthday party, the best gift a little girl receives is her black-and-white tuxedo cat. In Tiptop Cat, author and illustrator C. Roger Mader portrays this cat’s independent and slightly mischievous new life. Seen from Tiptop’s perspective, the rich pastel illustrations depict the cat at eye-level as he explores under tables and beds, defies dizzying heights along the balcony railing and climbs neighborhood rooftops to his favorite spot: a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower from the top of the world.

The tranquility of his seemingly carefree life changes, however, when a pigeon lands on his balcony. The cooing of this city bird awakens the jungle beast in Tiptop. But as the furtive feline pounces, he discovers that he can’t fly and travels down, down, down—twisting and turning as only cats do—until he lands in the arms of a sidewalk merchant. Mader’s expressive artwork captures Tiptop’s dramatic events, as well as the shocked apartment dwellers who witness his plummet.

Although a trip to the vet reveals that Tiptop is still intact, it’s his spirit that’s been broken. Banishing himself to hiding in closets, behind curtains and under rugs, Tiptop resigns to a docile life. When a crow appears, his inner beast stirs again. This time, the curious cat goes up, up, up to the top of the world again, where serenity awaits as sunset falls over the Parisian expanse. Readers, whether cat lovers or those with a penchant for adventure, will consider Tiptop Cat a topnotch tale.

In this ode to the natural world, the talented George Ella Lyon documents in lyrical free verse the wonders of a forest as the Earth travels through space around the sun and goes from cold to warm and back to cold again.

With pleasing alliteration (“warblers, woodpeckers, bluebirds / sing spring songs, / weave nests”) and satisfying and evocative imagery, Lyon takes us from our busy, media-saturated lives to the peace and natural order of the woods—and talks to us about what it “knows.” Readers follow an enthusiastic, rust-colored dog as he bounds through the woods and experiences the flora, fauna and wild creatures that call the woods home.

Hall—who rendered the illustrations in Photoshop, even sometimes creating them over old photographs—first gives readers just bits and pieces of the rambunctious dog. We see the dog exit a spread as a quick, colorful blur, breathless and curious. This makes for compelling page turns, and it’s gratifying once we finally see the whole dog, as well as the boy who’s caught up with him. In one of the closing winter spreads, the dog is right up in the reader’s face, as if he’s about to lick us: “Sniff. Forest knows everything belongs.”

Forest also knows growing, giving and letting go. It knows “waking, opening up.” It knows life and perseverance. It knows patience and that waiting can often bring beautiful results. Most of all, it knows that creatures need each other for survival. Towards the book’s close, Lyon speaks directly to the reader in a seamless shift: Get to know a forest, she coaxes. “Listen. Look.”

Readers will be happy to listen and look in this eloquent picture book.

Julie Danielson features authors and illustrators at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, a children’s literature blog.

Is There a Dog in This Book? had me hooked right from the start, when three adorable, hip cats (Andre, Moonpie and Tiny) welcome readers with a warm greeting on the title page. The trio continues to chat with readers as they notice with alarm that someone has drunk their milk and played with their toy.

The cats quickly realize that a dog may be nearby. Moonpie explains, “Dogs are snappy and yappy, smelly and noisy, hairy and scary . . . and dogs HATE cats!” These wide-eyed, lively cats immediately enlist readers to help them hide, because indeed, there is a dog on the loose, who happens to be a cute purple puppy.

This is a wonderful lift-the-flap book, the perfect interactive bedtime treat for young readers, and a follow-up to Viviane Schwarz’s There Are Cats in This Book and There Are No Cats in This Book. It’s rare to find such genuine humor and gentle suspense in a flap book for this age group.

Schwarz’s cats are full of personality. Young Tiny actually wants to meet the dog, while his elders quiver and hide themselves in a suitcase labeled "Do Not Open, Very Boring."

Schwarz’s vibrant art and spot-on text are sure to engage preschoolers again and again. Dog lovers shouldn’t worry: In the end, the cats become friends with the curious pup, and more chaos (and flaps to search) ensues when this newfound friend goes briefly missing. Is There a Dog in This Book? is a nonstop delight for young readers.

Jim Aylesworth’s and Barbara McClintock’s satisfying new book is based on the Yiddish folk song “I Had a Little Overcoat,” which has been adapted to picture book form in various ways over the years, most notably in Simms Taback’s 2000 Caldecott Medal winner, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. Here, author and illustrator make the story their own. It’s a pleasing new adaptation of a treasured story.

The basic idea: One man’s overcoat is recycled over generations. His overcoat, once it’s worn out, becomes a jacket, then a vest, then a tie and so on. Through the stories of five generations, Aylesworth's version becomes an ode to immigrant families who came to America to build brand-new lives.

A young man comes to America, marries and builds a family—not to mention a new life from scratch. Since the traditional folk song has Jewish roots, McClintock gives readers a wedding in a synagogue (the man’s daughter). His daughter has her own daughter, who then has a son. It is to this great-grandson that the man gives a toy mouse for his kitten, made from the tie that was once his overcoat. (And it doesn’t stop there. The piece of material goes on to nourish even further.)

In a closing author’s note, Aylesworth acknowledges the hard work of immigrants and the process of building new things from “what you have that [is] still good.” In an illustrator’s note, McClintock writes about her own family’s roots and her decision to set the book in northeastern Connecticut, where she now lives. Her watercolors throughout this story are expressive and warm, and she knows when to let white space frame a moment. Aylesworth’s text includes pleasant rhythms and rhymes, never forced: “My grandfather loved the vest, and he wore it, and he wore it, and little bit by little bit, he frayed it, and he tore it.”

This tenderly-rendered story is a spirited testament to life itself.

Julie Danielson features authors and illustrators at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, a children’s literature blog.

Though both the author and illustrator of A Possum’s Tail have worked with British children’s magazine OKIDO—Gabby Dawnay is a regular contributor, and Alex Barrow is the art director—this is their first picture book collaboration. It’s offbeat and endearing, so don’t be surprised if children ask for multiple reads.

In this rhymed story, readers follow Samuel Drew and his toy dog on wheels as they head to the London Zoo. On his way, the boy passes people and places in a story that is, in many ways, a tribute to the city of London. The streets are busy: Children play; cars zoom by; people dine in restaurants. We even pass tourists and guards at Buckingham Palace. There is a lot to see, and children will want to take time to soak in the details.

Once Samuel gets to the zoo, we learn he’s most eager to see the possums, which hang upside down in their cage. Samuel watches a while and then leaves: “They’re all asleep. No games today!” But sure enough, five baby possums race after the boy as he leaves. They grab onto the toy dog’s tail and trail along behind Samuel on his way home (heading left through the pages, going back the same way he came, something we don’t see often in picture books). The boy has no idea they’re tagging along, wreaking havoc in the streets and causing people to stumble.

The book is playfully designed—on some spreads the text swings up and down across the page—and there’s a lot of understated humor. Here’s hoping Dawnay and Barrow collaborate again.

This article was originally published in the November 2014 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

If the picture book world has celebrities, Mac Barnett (author of Oh No!) and Jon Klassen (author-illustrator of I Want My Hat Back) are two of the biggest. So when the two of them team up, it’s kind of a big deal. The last time it happened, the result was Extra Yarn, which received a Caldecott Honor, among many other accolades. Now the two have paired up again with Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, another wryly subtle, unexpectedly funny picture book about two brothers in search of something extraordinary.

The book’s opening spread shows the two boys (and their dog), serious expressions on their faces, setting out to the yard with shovels on their shoulders. They decide to dig a hole, and their mission, as Dave says, is not to stop “until we find something spectacular.” The boys get down to business immediately, and as they dig deeper and deeper (and get dirtier and dirtier), readers will delight in spotting the spectacular items that lie just outside their shovels’ reach.

Barnett’s deadpan text and Klassen’s equally restrained illustrations (the dog’s facial expressions alone are priceless) combine to create a picture book rich in dramatic irony and understated hilarity. The limited color palette (heavy on the earth tones, of course), imaginative text and surprising ending combine to create a collaboration that is itself nothing short of spectacular.

Philip C. Stead, author of the 2011 Caldecott winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee, brings his considerable talents to this fanciful story of a boy who goes in search of adventure. Sitting on his roof one night, Sebastian decides that there’s nothing very interesting to see on his street: It is definitely time for a change. What spells adventure more than a journey in a hot air balloon, especially one constructed from Grandma’s afghans and patchwork quilts?

Of course, as all intrepid travelers know, packing well is essential. After all, when you meet real bears, you want to be able to share a pickle sandwich together. And when your afghan has sprung a leak, it’s advisable to have knitting needles on hand so that three helpful sisters can help with repairs. And when the wind picks up, well, then everyone will want to pile in to see where the balloon will go next.

With its large format and appealing pastel and oil paintings, Sebastian and the Balloon is a perfect choice for story time—and for all young readers ready to undertake their own flights of imagination. As Sebastian knows, all it takes is to chart your course, check the breeze, cut the strings and float free.

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is The Great Trouble.

If you ever find yourself wanting to explain to a child what the phrase “snowball effect” means, pick up a copy of David Mackintosh’s Lucky to aid your cause.

Mackintosh is an author-illustrator hailing from the U.K., who makes visually interesting and very funny picture books with busy, stylized collage illustrations. This new title playfully honors a child’s imagination with humor and heart.

The story is told from the point of view of a young boy, whose mother has promised him and his brother Leo a surprise. “Just wait and see,” she tells them when they ask what it is. The boys let their imagination go as the day wears on. Could it be curly fries? A new car? Separate rooms? Tickets to the amazing Yo-Yo Super Show at the town hall? When his brother declares that in all likelihood the parents won a family vacation to Hawaii in a contest, the boy is convinced. The news spreads at school—he even takes some classroom time to tell everyone about his trip—and the principal sings his praises. When he gets home to find that the surprise is pizza for dinner, he’s not only disappointed, but his family laughs about his confusion when Leo tells them. All’s well that ends well, however, when Leo adds some pineapple to the pizza—Hawaiian pizza, anyone?—and the good-natured family don leis, as if they’re actually lounging on Hawaiian shores.

There’s a lot of humor here (be sure to check out the placement of the dog door in the family’s home), and Mackintosh’s multimedia illustrations, with their relaxed lines and pops of color, are dynamic. Best of all, there’s honesty: “Sometimes grown-ups say things they don’t really mean,” the protagonist says. One senses that Leo knows this, too, but as the narrator notes in the final spread, Leo’s at least able to make the best of it. And the family may not be vacationing miles away from home, but they are enjoying one another’s company and their Hawaiian pizza in all their weird and wonderful glory.

Lucky, indeed.

Julie Danielson features authors and illustrators at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, a children’s literature blog.