Picture Books

Where the Wild Things Are

Author and Illustrator: Maurice Sendak

ISBN: 9780064431781

ISBN 10:  0064431789

Publisher: HarperCollins

Date: 1963

This book is about a boy named Max and he dresses in his wolf suit. He was causing a ruckus in his house and he was sent to bed without eating. A forest grew in his room and his room became the actual world. He sailed in a boat for over a year and ended up where the wild things are. Max tamed them and they were scared of him. They thought he was wild and made him the king. Max became lonely and left. The wild things didn’t want him to leave. Max sailed for over a year back home. He found his dinner waiting for him and it was still hot.

This book is a very famous book. Almost everyone knows about this book. I haven’t read this book in a long time so I thought I would refresh my memory. I think the pictures are awesome. They look so real and are very detailed. I can tell especially looking at the wild things. Their faces and feet are very detailed and make you think that they are real. When he sails, the ocean and the trees look real. I just love this book because the pictures are so fun to look at. I bet a lot of children have gotten sent to bed without dinner or dessert for doing something bad.  I think it is cool because they can relate to this and use their imagination to see what can happen. The pictures are impeccably done and just really add to the entire story and you feel like you’re actually there. This is just a fabulous book and I give it a 10 out of 10.

Knuffle Bunny Too

By: Mo Willems

Publisher: New York, New York : Hyperion Books for Children

Published: 2004

ISBN-10: 9780786818709

ISBN-13: 978-0786818709

Trixie took a walk with her dad and was excited to show her bunny to all her friends at school. Her friend Sonja had the same bunny as she did. They were arguing about the bunnies so they both got them taken away. Ms. Greengrove gave them their bunnies back at the end of the day. Then she goes home and goes to bed. She wakes up in the middle of the night and realizes that she was given the wrong bunny. Trixie met with Sonja in the middle of the night and got their bunnies back. Then they became best friends.

I absolutely love this book. I have never heard of it before. I was researching to try and find a picture book and I came across this one. I think it is brilliant how there is the combination of photos and drawings. Since the drawings are up against a black and white photo, I think the characters stand out so much more because they are in color. I think it is cool how the characters are cartoons too. It allows the reader to focus on the characters emotions and how they are feeling in the book rather than being distracted by tons of background images. I give this book a 10 out of 10.

 

Bark George

By: Jules Feiffer

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publish Date: June 3, 1999

ISBN-10: 0062051857

ISBN-13: 978-0062051851

George’s mom was trying to teach him how to bark. He meowed, quaked, oinked, etc. George could not understand how to bark like a dog. He then went to the vet and the vet pulled out a cat, duck, pig and cow. After this, George could finally bark and his mom was very happy.

I liked this book a lot. I thought it had a really cute and fun story line. While entertaining children, it also teaches them their animals and the sounds they make. I think the pictures are very plain but I like it that way. I feel like the book doesn’t need that much detail. It is a very simple book and the pictures are simple. I like how each page is a solid color so you can really see the animals. The vet is one of those funny cartoon characters. The dogs are cute and you can really see the mother’s emotions in each picture. When she gets to the vet, her expression is sad because George can’t bark. When the vet reaches and pulls out the duck, the mom’s expression is surprised. At one point, she even covers her eyes. I think the pictures of the animals are well done and very cute. It is cute how the mom kisses the vet at the end. The pictures are great and it is just a really good book to read to children. I give this book a 10 out of 10.

Decodable Books

Bread for Breakfast

Author: Brian Roberts

 Illustrator: Angela Kamstra


Publisher: Reading A-Z

This book is all about the short e sound. There’s no plot to the book really. It is about how Beth, Ned and Meg have short e sounds in their names. In the book, they eat bread and eggs for breakfast. They also wear sweaters. Ned plays checkers and chess.

There is not much to the book. I think they could have told a story with a bunch of words that have the short e sound. I think it is a cute book and it provides children with a lot of common words they will use every day that have the short e sound. I feel like the short e sound can be difficult to learn for children and this definitely makes it easy for them. Overall it was a cute decodable book. I give it a 8 out of 10.

Chip the Chimp

Author: Robert Charles

Illustrator: Terry Herman
Publisher: Reading A-Z

Chip is a master at chess. He met Chet one day and Chet bet Chip money that he could beat him in chess. Chip didn’t want to play chess. He eventually did and he beat Chet and won money.

I like this book a little better than the first one. It had a little storyline. The digraph ch can be in the middle, beginning or end of a word. I think it is good that the book shows children all three examples of the ch digraph. The book gives many examples of the ch digraph in the beginning, middle and end of the words. It teaches the children but also keeps them entertained. I give this book a 9 out of 10.

Big Bad Bat

Author: Veronica Angel

Illustrator: Bill Dinardo
Publisher: Reading A-Z

The book is about how Bob and Pam are trying to catch a bat. They never catch him but the bat takes a toy away from them.

Again, there is no story line. It is not a good story at all really to entertain children but it does teach them the b sound. There are many words with the letter b in the book. Overall I give this book a 7 out of 10.

Wordless Books

Do You Want to Be My Friend?

Author: Eric Carle

Publisher: HarperFestival

Published: 1995

ISBN: 0-694-00709-9

 

                Eric Carle is my author for the book talk. I found a lot of Eric Carle books from the library and one of them is a wordless book, which is our theme for this week.

                In the book, a mouse asks an alligator, a lion, a monkey and a peacock to be his friend. There is repetition in the book and the reader can pretty much predict what is going to happen on the next page. It is just a cute story that follows a little mouse trying to make different friends.

                I like this book. I think the pictures are the best part. Everyone knows that Eric Carle delivers really colorful pictures. The book really lets the person interpret the story in their own way. I just think that there could have been a little more to the story. Eric Carle could have made the mouse do something else but I guess he was trying to make the story repeat. It is a board book and it is small so it is perfect size for a toddler. I give this wordless book an 8 out of a 10.

 

A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog

Author: Mercer Mayer

ISBN-13: 9780803728806

Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group

Publication date: 2003

 

                I chose to use this book as one of my wordless books because I’ve heard of it before but I’ve never read it.

                A boy and his dog are walking and then they see a frog. They try and catch the frog with a bucket and a net but then the little boy falls in the swamp. Then they go home. The frog follows them and then jumps in the bathtub with the dog and the boy.

                I like this book because I feel like it has more content in it than the first book. There is a good storyline and it lets the reader determine themselves how the story plays out. I think this is a good way for young children to develop their own vocabulary. Overall, the story is cute and in the end all three of them become friends. I give this book 10 out of 10.

 

Hug

Author: Jez Alborough

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Publish Date: 2001

ISBN:

                This book is about a chimp that really wants a hug. As he walks through the wilderness, he sees different animals that already have someone to hug. Eventually at the end of the book he finds his mom and has someone to hug.

                I think this book is really colorful and the illustrations are very detailed. It is a good way to teach toddlers their animals. It is cute how the chimp finds his mom in the end. There could have been a little more content to the book but overall it was good. I give this book an 8 out of 10.

Board Books 9/2/2015

Goodnight Moon

Author: Margaret Wise Brown, pictures by Clement Hurd

Publisher: Harper & Row, Publishers Inc

Publish Date: 1947

ISBN #: 978-0-694-00361-7

                I decided to read Goodnight Moon written by Margaret Wise Brown. I decided to read this because the librarian said it was a classic children’s book. I have never read it before but I have heard of it many times. I decided it was a perfect book to read for my blog.

                This is a very straight forward book. The main character is a little bunny and he is trying to fall asleep. The bunny goes on throughout the book to say goodnight to a bunch of different things. He says goodnight to the bears, his socks, kittens, brush and a red balloon. As the book goes on it gets darker in the bunny’s room and the stars come out.

                I really liked this book. I thought it was sweet how the bunny said goodnight to everything in his room. I really liked the rhythm the book had and the poetry. The story progresses because the room gets darker and the moon comes and the bunny eventually falls asleep.  I thought it was soothing and would be a great bed time story. The pictures were also very detailed and I liked how some were in color and some were in black and white. I give this book a 9 out of 10.

 Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See

Published: Henry Holt & Company

Author: Bill Martin Jr. pictures by Eric Carle

Publish Date: 1967

ISBN 13: 978-0-312-50926-2

ISBN 10: 0-312-50926-X

I decided to read this book after hearing about it in class. I don’t ever remember reading it as a kid even though it’s a classic.

                The book doesn’t really have any plot. Each animal just sees a different animal. There’s a brown bear, a purple cat and a blue horse. Each animal is drawn in a different color. I’m assuming that their all different colors to teach children their colors and animals. Even though there was really nothing to this book I liked it because I think it’s a creative and fun way to teach children animals and colors.           

                I liked looking at the pictures too. I thought they were illustrated well and they were creative. I think that the book put just enough information in it without being too much for young children to learn. This book found a unique way to incorporate animals and colors into a fun children’s book.  I give this book an 8 out of 10.

Where’s Spot

Author: Eric Hill

Publish Date: 1980

Publisher: the Penguin Group

ISBN: 978-0-399-24046-1

                I remember reading this as a kid but I didn’t really remember the story. I decided to refresh my memory. That’s why I chose this as one of my board books.

                A dog Spot is missing. The other dog is trying to find him. The dog looks behind the door, the clock, under the stairs, in the closet and under the bed. A monkey is found in the closet and three penguins are found in the box. Spot is then found in the basket. I think this book is great because it is exciting for kids to try and search for Spot. It also makes it fun for them to pick up the flaps and discover the other animals.

                This is a great book for children and one of my favorites because the search for Spot keeps the kids engaged in learning and interested in the book. They can lift the flaps and discover the other animals. They are learning different animals while looking for Spot. I give this book a 10.