Jacob's New Dress

Jacob's New Dress
by Sarah and Ian Hoffman
illustrated by Chris Case
978-0-8075-6373-1

When Jacob goes to the dress-up corner in his classroom, instead of a brave knight or a pirate, he prefers to play as a princess and wear a dress and a crown.  At home, Jacob likes to wear his Halloween costume, a long black witch's dress.  Jacob's mom and dad decide to let him wear a dress to school.  Christopher, a boy at school, gives Jacob a hard time since does not accept Jacob's decision to wear girls' clothing.

This is a challenging book that really reflects society's transitioning view of gender identities, especially in regards to children and their introductions to gender roles.  Reading this book had my mind spinning with the complexities of this controversial subject. This is a picturebook about a cross-dressing child, after all.

My Little Car (Mi Carrito)

My Little Car (Mi Carrito)
by Gary Soto
illustrated by Pam Paparone
2006
0-399-23220-6

"It's important to take care of the things you love."

When Teresa outgrows her tricycle, her Abuelito Benito buys her a new green lowrider her birthday.  Teresa loves driving her little car and showing off to the neighborhood.  As time passes, she neglects the little car and has to fix it back up with the help of her Grandpa Benny.

The cool thing about this book is all the Spanish slang thrown into the text.  All those phrases I used to hear Cheech Marin say in all those movies of the 80's, are here in a kid's picturebook.  The low-rider culture is represented in the story and it's refreshing to see a postivie Latino perspective in a book for young children.  Plus the artwork is so cool, you can see why Teresa loves her little car, especially when she makes it hop!

Mr. Wuffles!

Mr. Wuffles!
By David Wiesner
2013
978-0-618-75661-2

A 2014 Caldecott Honor Book!

Mr. Wuffles is a cute black and white housecat, a little pet to humans, but to bugs and tiny aliens he is a life-threatening menace.  When a group of tiny extraterrestrials land their ship in the house of Mr. Wuffles, they are victimized by the monster house cat's curiosity. Their instruments are damaged and they side with some insects to plot to fix their tools and escape from Mr. Wufflle's lair.

Mr. Wiesner's fantastic Mr. Wuffles! reads more like a comic book than a traditional children's picture book. It is fascinating how much dramatic development Mr. Wiesner can create with his pictures. I'm impressed by the book's ability to be so cinematic and can inject points of humor into dramatically charged scenes. Like when the aliens are hiding in a radiator grate and Mr. Wuffles is waiting for them, while Mr. Wuffle's human owner asks, "What's so interesting, Mr. Wuffles?"  We the readers know what's going on, even if Mr. Wuffle's human owner does not.  It's easy to see why this book wins awards.  My only problem with the book is that I cannot use it to read aloud at children's storytime, since it is a non-verbal story.  But it is a fascinating book nonetheless!  Great!

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes
by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein
Illustrated by Mark Pett
2011
978-1-40225544-1

This is the story of a girl everyone knows as "The Girl Who Never Makes Mistakes." Sadly, most people don't even know that her real name is Beatrice. Beatrice is does everything perfectly everyday, until one day she has a simple mix-up between salt and pepper and causes her perfect reputation to come crashing down.  But the end results aren't all bad.  In fact, the end result is very good!

I really liked this picture book's setup and charming illustrations.  It drew me into the story from the get-go!  The finish is great!  It conveys to kids the message that it's okay not being perfect and that mistakes are okay, even good for you, a message I fully endorse.  Highly recommended!

Interrupting Chicken

Interrupting Chicken
by David Ezra Stein

2010
978-0-7636-4168-9

When it's time for bed, Papa cannot finish one bedtime story for Chicken without her interrupting him. Instead of becoming sleepy and resting, the stories rile her up and she must interrupt the story to help the main characters.  When it is Chicken's turn to tell a story, humorous and ironic events occur.

With great artwork and a really funny story, Stein has created an enjoyable picturebook that is worthy of the Caldecott Honor.  I felt good reading Interrupting Chicken, impressed by Stein's creation.  

Extra Yarn

Extra Yarn
by Mac Barnett
illustrated by Jon Klassen

2012
978-0-06-195338-5

The story of a knitter in a wintry town who knits sweaters and other clothes for everyone and everything in town and never seems to run out of yarn.  The subtext is really cool since knitting is such an urban hipster activity, even yarn-bombing, when citizens cover trees, poles and other street items with knitted wonders.

Jon Klassen's artwork really works well here.  He offers monochromatic greys and browns and cold whites with splashes of brightness that help propel the story.  Great job!

A 2013 Caldecott Honor Book

Chicken Little

Chicken Little
by Sallly Hobson
1994
0-671-89548-6

When an acorn falls from a tree and stikes Chicken Little on the head, he hurries to tell the king that "The sky is falling!"  Along the way, Chicken Little meets lots of animal friends including Henny Penny and Cocky Locky, who each join Chicken Little on his journey.  When they meet Foxy Loxy, he tricks them all into following him into his lair, where he eats them and they are never heard from again.

***This story does not have a happy ending.  The animals all perish, save the fox.  What lesson does "Chicken Little" offer small children?  Why has Hobson chosen to present the original story in this way?  I believe the book is useful in introducing children to dangers in the world like predators.  We can use this book to discuss important themes like the dangers of following others blindly and not thinking about outcomes first, before bad things happen.

This is a difficult book, but I see merit in its frankness and see it as having important lessons to discuss.

The Things I Can Do

"The Things I Can Do"
by Jeff Mack
2013
978-1-59643-675-6

This kid is amazing.  He can comb his own hair, choose his own clothes, tell you a story, and run really fast.  Little Jeff is proud of his ability to do things; proud of his independence as a little boy.

The best part is the book's artwork: a collage of scraps of paper, clear tape, masking tape, string, stickers--whatever Jeff Mack had lying around.  Little Jeff is illustrated roughly in crayon and the book looks like a child created it.  It's really fun to look at and kids will be interested, and hopefully attempt to create their own book in the style of "The Things I Can Do".

Book! Book! Book!

Book! Book! Book!

by Deborah Bruss

illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke

2001

04-439-13525-7

What happens when summer vacation on the farm ends and all the children go back to school?  The barnyard animals have nothing to do and no one to play with.  Oh no!  So a horse, a cow, a goat, and a pig, among others, follow a hen down the road to find some fun.  At the local library, the animals take turns asking for something fun to do, but the librarian is confused by the strange requests.  That is, until the last animal makes it all clear.

The artwork is vert cute, painted in broad watercolors that are delightful to the eyes. The story is easy to follow and takes place in the storybook world where a horse can walk into a library and nobody thinks it strange. 

The text is short and this book is great for ages 3 & up. 

Bully

Bully
by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
2013
978-1-59643-630-5

A bull in a bullpen is being a bully to other bulls and smaller animals like chickens, rabbits, and pigs.  When another animal steps up and calls him a bully, he realizes the error of his ways and begins acting nicely towards others.

A very simplistic story, the title character has an abrupt change after the goat calls him "bully".  But no accompanying text or illustrations explains what is going on in the bull's mind.  Why is it bad to be a bully?  How does it feel to be called a bully?  It's not very well explained.  At least the change comes from the identification of the problem.  If this book teaches one thing: it's that a bully should be told when they are acting like one.