Book Reviews
Before we start chatting about specific 2014 picture books, take a moment to read the Caldecott criteria. They're posted over there on the right, but I will help you find the important parts. Here they are, in part:In identifying a “distinguished American picture book for children,” defined as illustration, committee...
Pom and Pimby Lena Landström; illus. by
Olof Landström; trans. from
the Swedish by Julia MarshallPreschool Gecko 32 pp.3/14 978-1-877579-66-0 $16.95Pom is a small child with sparse orange curls, clad in a long purple sweater; Pim is Pom’s inanimate sidekick of indeterminate species: a dirty pink, with two eyes and...
Hi, Koo! A Year of Seasonsby Jon J Muth; illus. by the authorPreschool, Primary Scholastic 32 pp.3/14 978-0-545-16668-3 $17.99Twenty-six haiku are presented by young panda Koo, whom fans of Muth’s Zen Ties will recognize as the haiku-spouting nephew of Stillwater, the Zen Buddhist panda from Zen Shorts and Zen Ghosts....
Emily’s Blue Periodby Cathleen Daly; illus. by Lisa BrownPrimary Porter/Roaring Brook 56 pp.6/14 978-1-59643-469-1 $17.99Young Emily is an artist — a fact thoroughly established, visually, from title page on. She draws and she paints; she pores over art books. In school, she is learning about Pablo Picasso, and his work...
Jake at Gymnasticsby Rachel Isadora; illus. by the authorPreschool Paulsen/Penguin 32 pp.6/14 978-0-399-16048-6 $14.99 gAs she did with Bea at Ballet (rev. 7/12), Isadora shows a group of roly-poly toddlers enjoying a beginning class, this time in gymnastics, with an Asian American boy as the focus. Teachers Dave and Toshi...
Rules of Summerby Shaun Tan; illus. by the authorPrimary Levine/Scholastic 56 pp.5/14 978-0-545-63912-5 $18.99 g“This is what I learned last summer: Never leave a red sock on the clothesline. Never eat the last olive at a party. Never drop your jar.” The narrator enumerates...
The Tree House that Jack Builtby Bonnie Verburg;
illus. by Mark TeaguePrimary Orchard/Scholastic 32 pp.5/14 978-0-439-85338-5 $17.99 gThis version of the old cumulative rhyme “The House that Jack Built” grabs kids right from the start: the cover shows a small boy waving from one of many balconies in a multilevel...
The Little Bear Bookby Anthony Browne;
illus. by the authorPreschool Candlewick 24 pp.5/14 978-0-7636-7007-8 $15.99Bear sets out on a walk through the forest, pencil in hand. Like Harold’s purple crayon and the girl’s red marker in Becker’s Journey (rev. 9/13), Bear’s writing utensil is a magical one. The lushly illustrated...
Giving Thanks: Poems, Prayers, and Praise Songs of Thanksgiving edited by Katherine Paterson; illus. by Pamela DaltonAll Ages Handprint/Chronicle 56 pp.10/13 978-1-4521-1339-5 $18.99Paterson divides this collection of brief prayers, poems, and meditations into thanks for food, life, spirit, and community. Her selection is catholic and spans the centuries,...
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