PPB: Saving Sweetness by Diane Stanley - Illus. G. Brain Garas

 

I don't want people to think that, in my opinion, only rhyming picture books can be perfect, so I'm throwing in some southern prose.

Saving Sweetness
by Diane Stanley
Illus. by G Brain Karas
Picture Book
published: 1996

About

Mrs. Sump is so mean to the ophans that little Sweetness runs away. The sheriff is duty-bound to find that little 'thang' and save her from the hot hot desert and that nasty outlaw Coyote Pete. But who really saves whom?

Reaction

I was first introduced to this book at a writing conference where I was privileged to hear Diane read it out loud to us. We were in stitches. It was glorious. I had to immediately acquire my own copy and have loved reading it to my kids since. It is a tad longer than your average picture book, but you won't even notice. You'll love the resourceful, polite, clever Little Sweetness and that good-intentioned but hapless Sheriff. And the book is a wallow of fanciful and funny southern sayings. I challenge anyone to read it out loud and not fall into a southern accent, fake or otherwise. And the ending is funny, sweet, and laced with my all-time-favorite, poetic irony.

Please check it out! You won't regret it.

PPB: Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson - Illus. by Jane Chapman

I told you I was going to make it a feature. And now I have. Ta da! And I'm really excited about my button. That is my baby girl and I took that picture and I actually helped my husband make the button. (Okay, for the record, I always tell him what I have in mind, so I basically design them, but he does all the magic with the clicking and outlining and whatnot. He gets lots of input. I want to be like him when I grow up.) Anyway, it makes me happy. I love her toes.

Bear Snores On
by Karma Wilson
Illus. by Jane Chapman
Picture Book
published: 2002

About

In the middle of a fierce winter storm, a gang of little creatures gather for a party in the den of huge hibernating bear. Everything is going great until that proverbial pepper fleck...

Reaction

This really is a perfect picture book. The story is adorable, with a fearsome surprise and a sweet ending. It is told in perfectly rhymed and metered poetry. It flows off your tongue in jumps and tickles. And the author manages, in the short stanzas, to give each character a voice and a personality. A joy to read out loud. And the illustrations are so cute I want to keep all those creatures and use Bear as a pillow.The expressions on their faces are priceless.

I own this one in it's original picture book size and in a board book form so the littler Littles can have fun with it too. And this author/illustrator team have paired up for several more books about Bear and his friends that are all lovely as well. Perhaps I'll feature a sequel some time in the future.

How about a tiny taste? I thought so!

An itty-bitty mouse,
pitter-pat, tip-toe,
creep-crawls in the cave
from the fluff-cold snow.

Perfect.

Review; Mythological Creatures: A Classical Bestiary by Lynn Curlee

Mythological Creatures: A Classical Bestiary
by Lynn Curlee
Picture Book, Mythology
published: 2008
For: Once Upon a Time Challenge
3 of 5 stars

About

A guide or encyclopedia for the mythological creatures from ancient Greek mythology. Each spread has one page of illustration and one fairy length block of text. There are descriptions of the creatures and a story (or the story) in which that creature is involved.

Reaction

I was struggling to fulfill the mythology category in my Once Upon a Time Challenge, having already checked 2 different books out of the library and not reading them. I discovered that while I was interested in Norse myths, that interest wasn't enough to keep me awake in the evenings while I tried to understand the cosmos according to Vikings. So while back in the myth section at the library I seized upon this picture book. Surely I could handle a picture book!

It also gave me the opportunity to show pictures of these creatures to my kids. Why? Well, they have been exposed to many of them through Fablehaven, Disney's Hercules, The Lightning Thief, and even the Narnia movie. I thought they would appreciate a better visual and little a history.

They did. At least the older ones did. The younger ones would start to squirm as we read through each wordy page. I had not realized it would contain some of the myths. I thought it would be more, "Here's this creature, ain't it ugly!" But the book actually contained quite of few details. It was fun interesting to read it out loud.

Here's my warning - it contains some of the mythology. Yes. I've said that uber times already. I'll now remind you that those myths are full of murder, man-eating things, adultery, jealousy, and married siblings. I don't normally blink at an eye at this, Greek mythology is what is it. But I saw it all from a different perspective while reading it cold out loud. Gack.

Thank heavens I can read quickly. We got through most of it with very few questions. The three-headed and half-man creatures detracted from the husband protecting his lover and the wife contracting out murder. Definitely for those older kids.

The pictures were simplistic and functional. They gave a clear depiction of each creature in all its weirdness. Not perhaps my favorite style, but "educational" nonetheless.

PPB: Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox

Falling for Rapunzel
by Leah Wilcox
illustrated by Lydia Monks
Picture Book, Fairy Tale
published: 2003
5 of 5 stars

About

What if Rapunzel really didn't need saving? What if her cries where only hair woes? What if the Rapunzel was so high up she couldn't quite hear what the prince was asking?

Reaction

This is one of my favorite picture books. (I need to make a list of those. Hmmm. Listful Monday idea, huh?) It is told in spot on rhyming couplets. It is illustrated in an adorable, expressive style with cut photos thrown in for foliage. Oh yeah. And it is funny. Giggle-fest funny. Your Littles will love it. You will love it. You will love reading it over and over - and we all know that is exactly what you will have to do. There is even a plot twist at the end that you probably won't see coming.

Do I go too far? NOT AT ALL. It is a perfect picture book. Ha! That's gotta be my new feature series. Perfect Picture Books. Huzzah.

Anyhoo. This one is awesome.

Have a couplet (from my memory no less...though I did check for punctuation accuracy):

          By now the prince was feeling hammered,
          not to mention less enamored.

Your welcome. :)

Review: Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney

Llama Llama Mad at Mama
by Anna Dewdney
Picture Book
published: 2007
5 of 5 stars

About

Little Llama doesn't want to go shopping and he lets everyone know how much he hates it. But Mama Llama has some answers and helps disfuse the Llama Drama.

Reaction

At our house we LOVE this book. I had not read it until my Kyra begged for it from her Kindergarten book club order. It was cheap; I grabbed it. I am sure glad I did.

As a writer, and a poetry and aspiring picture book writer even, I am very particular about rhyming stories. The meter and rhyme has to be good. This little book delivers.

More than that, though, the story is very apt and touching. I know I'm just a sentimental mom, but when Mama Llama tells Little Llama about how she doesn't like shopping either, but at least they are together...I got chills. I also loved the seeing the shopping through Little Llama's point of view. And the glorious tantrum in the store is beautiful and painful and soSOso true to life.

The illustrations are darling. We all love to look at the llamas' funny hoofed feet and big ears. And Little Llama's pouty, angry, sulky faces are priceless. And the book is mercifully short - as a picture book should be. No one gets bored with the pictures before the words are finished.

Since this book's arrival in our home, my 3 year old has even asked many times to go shopping at the Shop-o-rama. (I did take me several minutes to figure out what she had said that first time!)

We highly recommend this book to all those families with more than their share of Llama Drama.