Silly Sally by Audrey Wood

Silly Sally
by Audrey Wood

This is a simple book with catchy rhyming verses about this girl Sally, who happens to be Silly, walking backwards upside down trying to get to town.

Silly Sally went to town
Walking backwards, upside down.

On the way she met a pig, a silly pig, who danced a jig.

The pig then follows Silly Sally, dancing backwards upside down, going into town. Then, she meets a dog, a silly dog, who plays leapfrog, who follows them and so on. Finally, she meets a sheep and they all fall asleep. So, how can they get to town?

Well, along comes Neddy Buttercup, walking forward, right-side up, who tickles them all and wakes them up.

It seems like a good book for beginner readers with easy vocabulary, predictably rhyming format and simple enough illustrations.

Ana started out just listening to me read it, then she started reading it aloud herself (just memorized the simple words), and nowadays, she acts out while reciting the book, trying to stand on her hands but managing to walk on all fours "upside down".

It has sparked her imagination enough where she adds other creatures she meets on the way to town - mainly any of the toy she happens to meet on the carpet and makes up a simple sentence about them.

It seems like it would have appealed to her even a year ago when she was only two and was devouring books with rhymes.

It is a fun book to read aloud and pore over the illustrations. Each illustration gently hints at the next animal Sally might run into in the next page. The sing-song verses seem simple enough for toddlers to follow along, and catchy enough for preschoolers to comprehend.

Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

Grumpy Bird
by Jeremy Tankard

I fell in love with the illustration of the bird in this book, and, noting that some days Ana wakes up grumpy, uncharacteristically grumpy, I thought it would be nice to read this to her and see what she thinks.

It is a simple story: Bird wakes up grumpy for no apparent reason. He feels too grumpy to eat, play, even to fly. So, he starts walking. He meets various animals on the way. Their cheerful, "Hello Bird!" aggravates him further and he gets progressively ornery... however, thanks to the procession of his friends comically following him, imitating his walking, stopping, standing on one leg and even jumping and flying, Bird forgets all about being grumpy and invites them over for a snack and has a wonderful time.

Author Jeremy Tankard says he drew the grumpy bird for his daughter one day and then the idea for the book just came together.

The illustrations are simple and catchy. The grumpy expression on Bird’s face at the start of the story is precious. The bright, bold colors, simple backgrounds, cartoonish animal figures highlighting their prominent identifying physical characteristic - like big front teeth in beaver, dark circles around eyes for raccoon and such - not to mention the obviously non-grumpy expression these animals sport, certainly seem charming and catchy and serve to draw the children into the story.

I liked the fact that while Bird tries his best to stay grumpy, just walking along and (reluctantly) interacting with his friends helps him lose his grumpiness and he ends up having a jolly good time.

I have woken up grumpy many days, even now at my ripe middle age, not knowing how to get rid of it instantly, snapping on and off at people and things, till I felt the cheer creeping back into my system over time. This book legitimizes the emotion and says it can be overcome with ease, rather than condemning grumpiness in toto.

And, it appeals to children of all ages.

Maisy Big, Maisy Small

Maisy Big, Maisy Small
by Lucy Cousins


Recommended Ages: 1-3 years

Maisy Big, Maisy Small is a 2007 publication concept book of opposites written and illustrated by Lucy Cousins.

Lucy Cousins introduced us to Maisy, the adorable little mouse, in 1990. Since then she has written a whopping number of Maisy books which have been translated into several languages with Maisy becoming Mimi in French, Mausi in German and Pina in Italian.

So far, I've been on the fence about Maisy books: I love the level of simplicity projected by Maisy, but, never really got into it with full gusto. However, to my surprise, I instantly liked Maisy Big, Maisy Small, I must admit.

Concept books are quite a useful tool for us parents to help our children explore their world and start defining it with an added level of granularity. By expanding their vocabulary with contrasting terms, this book of opposites helps them learn to describe their world with a little more clarity.

For example, Maisy Squiggly/Maisy Straight shows squiggly lines and straight lines as contrasts. From then on, a line is not just a line anymore - it is a wiggly/squiggly line or a straight line, thus adding an extra layer of definition.

Maisy's two-dimensional world is stripped to the bare essentials, with nothing extraneous to distract the visuals. Vibrant primary colors ("crayon-colors", as I found out they are called) fill the black outlines, making them almost cartoonish, thereby immediately appealing to a child's eye.

The visually stimulating art makes this a lively picture book: Maisy morphs herself to illustrate the opposites - she becomes tall and shoots out of the page and we see only her long legs, whereas in the adjoining page, she shrinks down so she is squat and short, illustrating the tall/short opposites.

Aside: We were playing with her play dough salon toy set the other day. The play dough hair was too short for Ana to give the doll a haircut. So, I said, "let's make the hair long, Ana, it is too short now to give a proper haircut". To which she promptly replied, "No, Amma, let's make it tall, let's make the hair tall... it is too short now"! I had not introduced long vs. short to her before, and looks like she just decided Maisy was right about it and promptly corrected me :)

Big/small, happy/sad, hot/cold, tall/short, thick/thin, push/pull, slow/fast, messy/clean were quite straightforward opposites. However, some of the pairs, while not strictly antonyms, were quite delightful to encounter as contrasts: fluffy/spiky, swim/fly, spots/stripes.

Ana loved this book, not surprisingly, as her daycare teacher has read a few other Maisy books to her in school. The text is very simple and the accompanying visuals reinforce the concepts introduced in the pages. Plus, Tallulah makes an appearance in one of the pages, among other friends, where Maisy Alone/Maisy Together is depicted.

Bottomline: A simple, delightful and educational read for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

What do you do with a tail like this?

What Do You Do With A Tail Like This?
(A 2004 Caldecott Honor Book)
by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

Recommended ages: 4-7 years, read-alone
Suggested ages: 1-4 years, read together

Animals use their noses, ears, tails, eyes, mouths, and feet in very different ways. See if you can guess which animal each part belongs to and how it is used.

Thus starts this hands-on, clever, informative book of curious and rare facts about animals.

The book is beautifully illustrated using cut-paper art, presented as an interactive guessing game, with simple text that even wee little ones can follow along.

A set of animals are displayed in each double-page spread - well, mostly their body part relevant to the accompanying text is displayed first to encourage the little minds to guess. For instance, the first two-page spread shows zoomed in views of the noses of alligator, platypus, mole, elephant, hyena - with a simple question "What do you do with a nose like this?"

Part of the fun initially is to identify the various noses as belonging to the corresponding animals. The following page shows the animals in full form, with a brief sentence highlighting what each animal does with its nose.

If you are a platypus, you use your nose to dig in the mud shows an accompanying picture of a platypus sticking its nose in the mud.

Similarly, If you are an elephant, you can give yourself a bath with your nose shows an elephant splashing itself with a trunk full of water.

The answers describe how each animal uses that particular body part (be it nose, or ears, or tail, or eyes, or mouth, or feet) in a slightly differently way.

And so we embark on an interesting study of animals where we discover that some animals use their noses for digging, some use their ears for seeing, some use their feet to walk on water, some use their tails to sting, and some even squirt blood from their eyes.

For older readers, there is additional information on each animal at the back of the book.

Fascinating facts about amazing animals, presented with wonderful visuals through rich cut-paper illustrations in a child-friendly way seems to be the hallmark of author/illustrator Steve Jenkins books. He has published many successful nonfiction books about animals for children like Move, Biggest Strongest Fastest, Animals In Flight, Slap Squeak and Scatter: How Animals Communicate.

And, sure enough, What Do You Do With A Tail Like This? has become one of Ana's favorite books over the last week or so since we brought it home from the library. Her favorite happens to be "sticky feet gecko" apparently because it can walk on the ceiling - and walking on the ceiling happens to be Ana's new favorite thing to do, thanks to her dad holding her up, upside down, so she can pretend to walk on the ceiling - a trend that started with Dr.Seuss' ABC book:Camel on the ceiling C...c...C... :)

Giraffes Can't Dance

Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
Suggested read alone ages 4-7
Suggested read together ages 0-4

For a long time now I have been wanting to introduce self-esteem books to my older child. She is just three years old and I wasn’t sure how much she is aware of ‘self’ in order to grasp self-esteem.

Then couple of interesting things happened. One day she looked at me intently and declared, ‘Amma, I am brown. Appa is brown. My baby sister is brown. You are white. No Amma you are pink’. It took a while for me to realize that she was talking about skin color. Being one of the few desi kids in a white class room, she had some how picked up skin color and was applying her new found wisdom at home. The second incident was when we were laughing at something she did and we thought was ‘cute’. Oh boy…. she did not take it very well. She burst out, ‘No. Don’t laugh at me. Its not funny.’ I was convinced she knew about self.

Just as I was on the look out for a good book on self-esteem, this book fell in to my hands. One of the lead teachers at my school picked this book to read it for the four-year-olds in my classroom. After reading it to my class, I saw how much the children enjoyed the book and was sure it would be a hit at home turf. Even if the concept eludes my daughters, I knew that they would be sold because it involves African safari animals.

The story is set in Africa and it is the time of the African jungle dance. The lions are doing a tango, the chimps are busy in a cha-cha, the rhinos are doing a rock and roll and the baboons are doing a scottish reel. Now, our hero, Gerald is a tall lanky giraffe. As long it is standing still and munching shoots off the trees, he is okay. He can’t even run a decent distance without falling face down. When it comes to dancing, he knows that he has two left feet but he has no assumptions. All he wants is to have fun. But the minute Gerald turns up in the jungle dance, the other animals laugh at him, they call him names. Gerald simply freezes, all he can think of is his clumsiness. With head hanging low, he walks away from the dance floor. Poor Gerald feels so sad…and alone.

Ta-da enters a cricket. Now, the cricket is like the travelling bard, you see in Indian movies – he just happens be in the right place at the right time, all the time, offering chicken soup for the soul! The cricket teaches Gerald that when you are different you don’t stop dancing, but you just dance for a different music. Gerald closes his eyes, listens to the music in the air, the swaying of grass, the chirping of the insects, leaves rustling in the wind, the music in the breeze. His body sways inadvertently, his tail starts swishing, his hooves are shuffling, he is leaping and making somersaults….oh he is dancing the best dance of his life! By now all the jungle animals have gathered around Gerald and they all oooh and aawwh at the amazing dance and ask him how he learnt to dance so well. Gerald smiles and replies, ‘We all can dance when we find the music we love’.

I was amazed at the depth of the information packed in such simple phrases. Even without explaining my three year old tells, ‘Oh, oh, all the animals are making fun of Gerald, that’s not so nice.’ Every time I finish the book, I reiterate, ‘Do you just stop doing what you love, just because people make fun of you? NAAAH. When you do something with love and focus the same people who made fun of you will say good job’, driving the point home.

My kids have picked this book to read for our evening reading every day for the past one month. We have read this book to bits, literally! I am in the process of taping the torn pages before I am supposed to return it to the library! That tells a ton about how much the kids love this book….and also a little bit about how they need to learn to handle books gently The minute I get a reasonably priced copy of this book, it will be added to our home library.

The illustrations by Guy Parker-Rees is stunning. What are you all waiting for? Pick out this book from library/store and check it out for yourself.

Bear Wants More

Bear Wants More
written by Karma Wilson,
illustrated by Jane Chapman
suggested age: 3-6 years

I was looking for Bear Snores On a few months back and came upon Bear Wants More and instantly liked it.

Bear Wants More is a charming book about a bear who is coming out of hibernation in spring, and how his woodland friends help sate his enormous hunger.

When springtime comes,
in his warm winter den
a bear wakes up
very hungry and thin.

First, Bear munches on the grass outside his cave but he is still hungry. And just then A mouse scampers by with his acorn pail and says follow me along to the strawberry vale.

So up Mouse hops
onto Bear's big back.
They tromp through the woods
for a fresh fruit snack.

Bear eats and he eats, but he still wants more. And so, each of his friends try to lead him to various food sources - the clover patch, stream to catch fish - and Bear heartily partakes, but he still wants more.

The catchy refrain "Bear Wants More" is repeated often and was a delight to shout out together with Ana.

Unbeknownst to him, his other friends (Gopher, Mole, Raven, and Wren), sensing his ravenous appetite when he comes out of hibernation, arrange for a surprise party at Bear's cave replete with honey cakes while he is being led to various food sources by Mouse, Hare and Badger first.

The aroma of freshly baked honey cakes draws Bear to his cave where, to his dismay, he finds he has already gotten too big to fit in his front door! This was Ana's favorite part for some reason - to discover that Bear was too big to fit in his own cave that he walked out of not too long ago. How much could he have eaten in such a short time?!

His friends yell "SURPRISE!"
when he gets to his den.
But Bear is SO big...
...that he can't fit in!

So what do they do? The resourceful friends move the party outside and the bear eats his fill and is finally full, full full, but.. his friends want more!

The full page artwork by Jane Chapman in vibrant greens indicating the crisp and refreshing beauty of spring, with eye-catching detail and endearing woodland animals, was a visual treat in itself. And combined with the bouncy rhymes and gentle story about friendship, hibernation and various food sources, made this a quick favorite with us.

Bear Wants More is a charming read-aloud book with simple and catchy rhymes packed with descriptive words and adorable characters. The gorgeous illustrations complement the text beautifully while unfolding the lives of the woodland creatures in an imaginative and uncomplicated way.

Aside: Interestingly enough, since The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle has been an all-time favorite, Ana ended up drawing parallels on her own: little caterpillar was very hungry and he ate a lot of food, and he wasn't a little caterpillar anymore, he became a big, fat caterpillar. Somehow, this information was picked up and identified in Bear Wants More where Bear is very hungry and eats a lot of food and gets SO big that he cannot fit in his cave! It was rewarding and gratifying to note the connection she made.

Jamberry

Jamberry
written and illustrated by Bruce Degen

Recommended Age: 4+ years (read alone)
Suggested Age: 0-3 years (read together)

Jamberry is one of the few books that 2½-year old Ana can recite cover to cover gleefully. The book shows the adventures of a little boy and his friend, a jolly big bear, as they go berry picking. The book was apparently inspired by Degen's own experience going on berry picking escapades with his grandparents and later with his own children.

Initially, I was a bit dismissive of this book, jumping to the wrong conclusion that it is a bit mindless and banal, with concocted words for forcing the rhymes. But, as I re-read it a zillion times by request, the book revealed the simple pleasures of childhood when we fully enjoyed what we were doing - not the result our action might produce, not as a means to an end, but, just the adventure itself - which in this case happens to be picking a whole lot of berries to make jam, among other things. I could relate to that, and so could Ana as we go berry-picking in nearby farms every year.

The illustrations are charming and have an old-world, idyllic feel to them, yet filled with colorful lively movement. It sometimes seemed a little too busy to my adult eye, but, apparently captivated Ana, encouraging her to pick out all the little aspects depicted in each page: We see the boy and the bear giddy with joy, tumbling in berry fields and canoing in streams down waterfalls, riding a train full of berries, and floating along in a hot air balloon. We see rabbits jamming in the Berryland band and elephants skating on raspberry jam. We see a whole lot of berries everywhere and the general joie de vivre is depicted beautifully - which is what childhood should be all about.

After about half a dozen reads, it was quite rewarding to pause on and off to hear Ana's reassuring completion of that particular verse:

One berry, Two berry... (pause)
Pick me a blueberry! (Ana chimes in)
Hatberry, Shoeberry... (pause)
In my canoe berry!


The rhymes are delightful, infectious, and musical, although nonsensical and silly sometimes. They start out simple and quickly intensify and get playfully complex, making it a spiffy read-aloud book.

Under the bridge and Over the dam
Looking for berries, berries for jam.

Quickberry! Quackberry
Pick me a blackberry!

Raspberry, Jazzberry, Razzamatazzberry...

Berryband, Merry band, jamming in Berryland...

Raspberry rabbits, brassberry band,
Elephants skating, on raspberry jam.

Ana's favorite turned out to be the last line in the book: Buried in berries, What a jam jamboree!

On the way to daycare, or while shopping for groceries, or even while taking a bath, she would repeatedly chant What a daam daambowee! and giggle, imploring me to start reciting the book in full. Again.

This easily falls within the top 5 favorite read-aloud books with Ana. Children will either love it or not care for it - there is hardly room for an inbetween here. Hopefully as they grow older and can read alone, they will love discovering the various subtle touches in the illustrations as Emilie Coulter notes: a frog climbing out of a hat, crackers and butter instead of lily pads, and a sign by the raspberry skating rink asking skaters not to pick the jelly rolls planted nearby.

The Mixed Up Chameleon

Mixed Up Chameleon

by Eric Carle

Suggested read alone ages 4-7

Suggested read together ages 0-4

I get excited every time I pick up a book by Eric Carle. The reason being, there is always a message, not just for the kids but for the adult as well.

This book is about a chameleon that goes to the zoo. He looks at the animals around him and wants to be like the other animals. When he looks at a giraffe he is awed by the graceful, long neck. Does he stop with that? No, he pines for a long, sleek neck like the giraffe has and his wish comes true! At the end the chameleon acquires not only a long giraffe-like neck but a huge white body like the polar bear, a pair wings and long feet like the flamingo, fins and gills like the fish, shell like a turtle, antlers like the deer, huge trunk like the elephant, the wit of a fox and flippers like the seal. At the end of all these transformations the chameleon realizes that he is the happiest being just himself. The sad mixed up chameleon wishes to be his normal self and lucky for him, his wish comes true!

What excites my three year old is the simple, bright colors in the book. Also she now knows that a chameleon eats insects and changes color to blend with the background. When I ask her, ‘If the chameleon sits on a leaf what color will he be?’ ‘Green’ she pipes enthusiastically.

The message for older kids and adults is ‘Be yourself and be happy with it.’ I am trying to introduce this message for my three year old in a simple form. Every time the chameleon undergoes a transformation, I ask her to point out what is different with the chameleon. When she does, I ask her, ‘Is the chameleon happy now?’. For this she replies ‘Noooo.’ At the end of the book, I always point out to smiling, back to its original self chameleon and ask her, ‘Is the chameleon happy now?’ and she answers ‘Yyyeeess.’ Then we both chorus, ‘You get what you get and be happy with what you get.’

I Don’t Want To Go To Bed

I Don't Want To Go To Bed

by Julie Sykes

Illustration by Tim Warnes

Suggested age group: read alone ages 4-7, read together ages 0-4,

Every night it is the same routine in our house. When I announce ‘Bed Time!’, my announcement is met with an instantaneous ‘NO’ from my daughter. Even if it is late and she is tired from the day’s activities, she always has immense inertia to get in to bed, just like the little tiger in this book.

Having read ‘Wait For Me Little Tiger’, my children are already familiar with the Little Tiger series. This plus the title really got my attention and I decided to borrow this book from the library.

The story is about a little tiger (tiger cub) who refuses to go to bed. One night mama tiger, out of sheer frustration, allows the little tiger to ‘stay up ALL night’. The overjoyed with the prospect of playing with his friends all night, the little tiger runs away in to the forest to find his friends. His first visit is to the lion cub. The little tiger is disappointed to find the lion cub nestled between his dad’s paws getting ready for bed. Daddy lion asks the little tiger ‘Why are you still up?’. The little tiger replies, ‘I don’t want to go to bed’ and runs to his next friend. He visits the little hippo, the little elephant and the little monkey only to find that all his friends are getting ready to go to bed. The little tiger realizes that all of his friends go to bed when it gets dark and it is no fun to be by himself that late in the night. To add to this, the little tiger thinks he has gotten himself lost in the forest. At this moment a bush baby comes to his rescue and escorts the little tiger home…..just in time for bed. The tired little tiger falls asleep safely tucked between mommy’s paws.

Both my children like the little tiger series. The elder one, because she empathizes with the little tiger. Through out the book she points to the little tiger and says, ‘This is me amma, this is me.’ Then she points to the mommy tiger and says, ‘This is you amma.’ The literature is simple, repetitive and very easy for my three-year-old to follow. All mommy animals and daddy animals ask the little tiger the same question, ‘Why are you still up?’ and it is met with the same defiant ‘But I don’t want to go to bed’ answer from the little tiger. Even my younger child who is only 18 months and has no clue as to what is going on in the book, loves this book. She identifies all the animals with a happy squeal.

From the adult point of view, I found the illustrations by Tim Warnes to be highly appealing. All the baby animals are cute and cuddly to look at. The pictures and the concept were appealing enough to make me forget the fact that tigers and bush babies do not co-exist! Instead of nit picking, I convinced myself that the author is imagining a better world without boundaries!

Other: Author webpage: http://www.juliesykes.co.uk/littletiger.htm

Orange Pear Apple Bear

Orange Pear Apple Bear
by Emily Gravett

Suggested age: 1-4 years

As I held this book in my hands at the bookstore, slowly turning the pages with slight skepticism, I tried to read it with my toddler's eyes and senses. By the time I read through to the end I was speechless, reverting to adult experience. I was blown away by the simplicity and the elegant art work.

It is a very simple book, with just 4 (+1) words, as found in the title, telling the whole story through combination of the four words and accompanying illustrations, with just an additional word to end the story.

Reading, some might suggest, initially at least, relies a lot on pattern-recognition - only, this time, it is patterns of letters that are being recognized to be strung together to form the associated sounds. In that sense, this book is both delightful and educational. By repeating the four words in various combination, it makes it easy to teach Ana to read the words along.

I agree with a friend's observation that it seems like this book appeals to ages 1-100, not just 1-4! This book can grow with the child from toddler hood to kindergarten, and as they grow, the book will hopefully offer more, and the subtle elegance will probably become apparent to the child.

It is not easy to know which books will readily appeal to our children. Until they learn to read and develop their taste for books and specific genre, the onus is on us parents to guide our children. In that sense, many books get chosen to be read to our children because we as parents think it has some value, something to offer our children, something that will kindle their passion for book as they grow up. Sometimes we make the right choices, sometimes we don't. I believe this is one of those refreshing books that comes along every once in a while whose beauty is understated, almost leaving us wondering what is so great about it!

On an aside, it was interesting to read about the life of the author Emily Gravett, and a short interview where she relates how Macmillan offered to publish her book. Her first book Wolves won the 2005 Kate Greenaway Medal, the most prestigious award for children’s illustration.

A small nitpicky note - if I must stay balanced - is that the illustration of the bear in this book looks very much like the bear in Charmin Toilet paper commercials :)

Who's Hiding? by Satoru Onishi

Who's Hiding?
by Satoru Onishi


Suggested age: preschoolers, 2-5 years

Who's Hiding? is an exquisitely charming, yet simple concept book for preschoolers, (and older toddlers), in which Satoru Onishi presents over a dozen recognizable animals, half a dozen colors, and the concepts of camouflage and emotions, while charging the young minds to concentrate and conjecture.

The deceptively simple cover is what drew me to the book at the library initially. But, now that it has been home for a week and much-enjoyed by adult and toddler alike, I am driven to share it here.

A cursory flip through the book might suggest monotony and tedious repetition. But, all that changes once we start interacting with the book. For, every page poses a question challenging the little minds to figure out the answer. It is a picture puzzle book of sorts, combining the stimulation and observational skills required of Memory Cards and the I-Spy games.

The primary appeal of this book is the visual challenge. It has no story. In the first double-page spread, the animals are introduced in specific positions with characteristic features that distinguish them easily, each in a solid color – like green hippo, blue bear, orange zebra, brown lion, red rhino and so on – who look straight at the reader with a seemingly docile and neutral expression to begin with (except for the zebra, which in my adult perspective seems quite fierce throughout the book).

Subsequent pages each render the animals in the same order and color throughout, as a double-page spread, except, each spread poses a single question like “Who’s hiding?” or “Who’s crying?” or “Who’s angry?”, the answer for which is cleverly embedded in the images on that page by making subtle changes to the original images introduced in the first spread.

For instance, early in the book, on my first read, when we came upon, “Who’s crying?”, my adult mind tarried a bit by which time Ana spotted the crying bunny and pointed it out excitedly.

It seemed like the questions become progressively harder to answer with each spread. “Who’s angry?” seemed the most challenging for me to answer.

The crowning glory of the book is the last spread where the lights are turned out on the animals, asking, “Who’s who?” while the illustration simply reveals their respective pairs of eyes on a dark page challenging the reader’s memory to identify each animal on its allotted spot on the page.

There is an answer key at the end of the book which seems superfluous considering how well the illustrations serve to identify the answers, encouraging the readers to simply pay close attention to details in the spread.

This clever concept and visual puzzle book will quickly become a favorite with toddlers and preschoolers, encouraging observation and inference skills not only based on pattern recognition, but also on memory skills.

Shoe Baby

Shoe Baby
written by Joyce Dunbar
illustrated by Polly Dunbar


Suggested age: 2-5 years

A baby heads out on a magical journey in a gorgeous red shoe. He is always courteous and says, "How do you do". He invites the Queen to tea who brings the King too. And this gracious baby says to them with a bow, "How do you do". Until at last he meets a giant with only one shoe, and a giantess crying boo-hoo-hoo, when the baby pops right out of his shoe and says, "Peekaboo! Hi papa, Hi mama, how do you do?"

This charming book is written by Joyce Dunbar and illustrated by her talented daughter, Polly. Fly Away Katie was such a hit with Ana that I decided to get another book by Polly Dunbar. I love her illustrations just as much as Ana seems to.

The brilliant and vibrant colors on the cover - a gorgeous red shoe set against a glowing deep blue - along with the suggestion of motion just jumped out at me and I had to give it a try.

The rhymes are easy and flow very smoothly throughout the book.

At long last this baby slept in that shoe
So dozy, so cozy, so tickety-boo.

Ana is tickled pink about the "tickety-boo" that every night since I borrowed the book she has insisted this be the book I read to her last before I turn the light off and tuck her in. And, she loves it when I adapt it to say At long last little Ana curled up her toe, So dozy, so cozy, so.... and I pause so she can gleefully chirp tickety-boo.

This book is a delight to read aloud. It is cute and simple, and I have a feeling it appeals very much to toddlers' sense of adventure and imagination - in something as simple as a shoe, the baby manages to go everywhere.

While the illustrations might seem too busy at times, they match the words on the page close enough that 2+ year olds can easily follow along and discover the happenings on the page.

If you are looking for a profound story or a message, this is not the book. But, if you want to read a cheery little book and leave your 2- 3-year olds in a cozy warm imaginative adventure when you tuck them in for the night, this book fits the bill.

The first few pages, at first read, seemed to just go on in a prosaic and predictable manner, where I kept telling myself, oh, so what, a baby just goes around in a shoe, Big Deal... but, the last few pages made it interesting for me: to discover that the baby was sitting in his daddy's shoe all along adventuring, while Mommy and Daddy look for him everywhere, until they finally find him.

Somehow, without having to explain it all, this message got conveyed through the illustrations and words to Ana. And I think, therein lies the success of this book.

As an added bonus, the wide array of colorful shoes Polly illustrates are a big hit, probably because Ana is a little girl. And since she can tell the difference between tall boots and short boots and sandal shoes and sneaker shoes, this book keeps her busy just gazing at the various colorful shoes Polly presents... Thanks to Fly Away Katie, she has been asking me for blue shoes, and now she seems to have her heart set on lime green shoes... so, if your wee little baby girl has a bit of a shoe obsession, consider yourself warned :)

Plus, the first and last page has a sprinkling of patchwork hearts that doubles as a counting exercise with Ana. I simply ask her to count and let me know how many hearts there are, and for some reason it always ends up being twelve! [Of course, that's as high as she can go now...]

And, apparently, there have been puppet shows based on this book, and it could possibly be a favorite with the new generation of kids. Judging by Ana's response to this book, I agree :)

The Lorax

The Lorax,
by Dr.Seuss.

The author, Theodor Seuss Geisel, needs no introduction. A master of his craft, his unique style has entertained and educated many of us since childhood. Some books are silly and fun, some are just ridiculous rhymes, but every once in a while, when he does get serious, Dr.Seuss blows us away with his inimitable work, leaving a lasting and indelible impression on our souls with his powerful message.

The Lorax did that to me.

Published in 1971, when people's awareness of our planet's potential plight was just awakening, this book rings ominously and lamentably true in today's world of apathy and lack of accountability regarding the ecology of our Earth, our home.

What was the Lorax, why was it there?
Why was it lifted and taken somewhere...
wonders a little boy at the start of the book, when he is directed to the far end of town where the grickle-grass grows to ask the old Once-ler, as he knows.

A careless and simple Once-ler, many years ago, comes upon the gorgeous land with Truffula Trees, Humming-Fish, Swomee-Swans and Brown bar-ba-loots, all co-exiting and thriving gleefully.

Captivated by the softness of the Truffula Tree tufts, he chops down just one tree at first, to make a beautiful Thneed (It's a shirt. It's a sock. It's a glove. It's a hat. A Thneed is a fine something that everyone needs).

That's when the Once-ler is first confronted by The Lorax.

I am the Lorax, I speak for the Trees, I speak for the trees as the trees have no tongues, he says.

When the Lorax admonishes the Once-ler for chopping the tree to make the fool thneed that nobody needs, right then, a chap comes along and buys the said thneed.

Encouraged by this single sale, the Once-ler soon establishes a factory, inventing the super-axe-hacker to chop down four truffula trees in one smacker, and calling his brothers and uncles and aunts to come help mass produce the thneed.

Soon, the water is polluted by his factory, the air thick with toxins. The Swomee Swans and the Humming Fish are forced to leave to find a better habitat that will let them survive. The brown bar-ba-loots who ate the truffula fruits have nothing to eat and nowhere to rest...

The Lorax confronts the Once-ler, pleading on behalf of the brown Bar-ba-loots who have crummies in their tummies as they don't get to eat much. But, the Once-ler shoos the Lorax away saying business is business and business must grow, regardless of crummies in tummies you know...

Well, rather than tell it myself, as the master so perfectly blends the magic of rhyming verses and brilliant illustrations to prod the senses, I'll leave the details of the story and skip to the end.

The now remorseful Once-ler unfolds the tale of the destruction he wreaked. Just when the reader's heart is about to break, the book ends with the beacon of hope when the Once-ler drops a Truffula seed and says,

"Unless".

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot..."

This would be a perfect book for early introduction to environmental education and am sure my 7-year old niece would certainly appreciate the theme and the presentation, even if she cannot relate to the ever-popular corporate approach of profits at the cost of our ecosystem.

Ana (my 2¼ year old) loves this book, although I am sure she doesn't quite get the pithy subject of caring for your environment and doing the right thing that the book deals with.

To me, the brilliance of the book lies in the ending where Dr.Seuss leaves us with the message that our chances of survival now lie in the hands of a caring child - and that child could be you, my dear Ana!

And, that child could be each and every one of the little (and not-so-little) ones we read this book to...

Who Are You, Baby Kangaroo?

Who Are You, Baby Kangaroo?
written by Stella Blackstone,
illustrations by Clare Beaton.

I borrowed this book from the library for 2 reasons, ok, 3 - viz., Ana needed new reading material, Stella Blackstone's My Granny Went to Market was a big hit at home, and, it is published by Barefoot Books.

A little puppy wants to know what a baby kangaroo is called. When he asks him, the baby kangaroo says I am not going to tell you, you'll have to ask... and sends him off to wolf cubs to find out, who send him off to cygnets and so on... where the little puppy meets various other baby animals asking,

cygnets, cygnets, can you give me a clue?
can you tell me the name of the baby kangaroo?

and then, eventually, he circles back to the mommy kangaroo who reveals... joey!

Good things first...

• I love Clare Beaton's appliqué style art work in this book. Each page has a lot of elements, including the puppy, whose muzzle, or behind, is all you see sometimes... Ana likes to point out the puppy in each page
• I like that it introduces baby animals - cygnets, moose calves, tadpoles, penguin chicks, zebra foals- I didn't know about cygnets and joey until I was in middle school, when it started nagging me that baby animals have special names - what about baby humans? they are stuck with "boy" or "girl" or "baby" until it is too awkward to call them that... (unless you are my mom, in which case, it is never too awkward to call a full grown woman-child a "baby")
• I enjoyed the element of repetition, which is they key to success in many children's board books: "_baby-animal_, "_baby-animal_, can you give me a clue? can you tell me the name of the baby kangaroo?" Insert any _baby-animal_ name you like and this rhyme works great...
• also, like the classic Brown Bear book, this can set up a certain level of prediction skills - after a few reads, Ana started telling me what baby animal is in the next page
• last few pages explain about baby animals which is great for 7-8 year olds to read alone and comprehend

My only reluctant grumble is that the rhymes could have been better with a little more work - the beginning and ending were a mouthful, and not very kid-friendly.

You know how you have certain lofty expectations from a book, and when it doesn't live up to it, you start feeling guilty as if you missed something, you did something terrible? (No? well, darn, am I the only one?)

Anyway, I think I was looking for the magic that My Granny Went To Market brought, but, this book didn't have it.

It is a wonderful book on its own, nevertheless. And what's more, Ana seems to love it. She can't seem to get enough of it... and towards the end, when the baby kangaroo's name is about to be revealed, when I read the previous sentence and pause, she instantly squeals "joveee!" (yes, that's when I realized diphthongs and triphthong are not easy for 2 year olds).

My Granny Went to Market by Stella Blackstone

My Granny Went to Market: A Round-the-World Counting Rhyme by Stella Blackstone

If you are a granny with an incredibly adorable grand daughter (as if there is any other kind!), looking to get a wonderful gift, then, you cannot go wrong with this book!

In My Granny Went To Market, granny flies in her magic carpet, stopping at various places around the world to collect unique, exotic and charming things and brings them back for the little girl. And, that's not all, because granny buys a certain number of each item she finds in each place, making this a wonderful counting book as well.

First she goes to Istanbul, gets a magic carpet and then embarks on her trip around the rest of the world

Next she went to Thailand
And flew down from the sky
To buy herself two temple cats
Puyin and Puchai

Then granny goes to Switzerland, Russia, Tokyo, Peru among other places.

The illustrations have a folksy feel to them and are quite charming.

When we read it together, my toddler daughter pores over the picture trying to drink it all in, and would not let me turn the page in a hurry.

I was impressed with the illustrations as each one manages to capture the essence of the country being depicted: Zebras, Gazelles and Elephants of Africa, Aborigines and Kangaroos in Australia, to name a few.

In addition, while some of the items pictured there are new and exotic, some are very familiar and quite possibly already present in her environment - like the nesting dolls (Russia), or the kitties (Thailand), or the cowbells (Switzerland), or the masks (Mexico). This offers a great opportunity for parents to talk to their children about the various items collected in each picture, what is unique about those items, what purpose might they serve and what would you do if you had such an item at hand and so on. The illustrations are vivid and lush without appearing crammed or overwhelming.

The rhymes are nice and easy. In addition to introducing places and things, I find that they convey emotions and sounds beautifully:

...Granny sighed I've bought so much but nothing Japanese
"To Australia!" granny ordered...
...she bought five cowbells there that made a funny clanking sound

The last page shows Granny's purchases, from one carpet to ten llamas, providing a simple and compact method to teach counting.

When children start understanding the world around them, this book provides an opportunity to ask them where they would like to fly to and what they expect to find there.

This clear-cut and uncomplicated book will let the children venture outside their doorstep and get a glimpse of the world around them and perhaps inspire a few of them to become explorers and globe-trotters.

While this book is available at any online book store or local retailer, if time permits, please browse through Barefoot Books, the publishers. I love their philosophy. I admire their mission:

At Barefoot Books, we celebrate art and story that opens the hearts and minds of children from all walks of life, inspiring them to read deeper, search further, and explore their own creative gifts. Taking our inspiration from many different cultures, we focus on themes that encourage independence of spirit, enthusiasm for learning, and sharing of the world’s diversity.

Suggested: Read Alone Ages 4-7, Read Together Ages 0-4

Rating: Five Bindis

Alphabeasts by Wallace Edwards

Alphabeasts
by Wallace Edwards

There are many abecedary books, mostly aimed at introducing letters of the alphabet, each with its own charm and merit. Some are favored by teachers and parents alike, some just by the kids who happened upon them. This book, Alphabeasts, at first glance, drew me in with its brilliant illustrations.

As the cover might suggest, the illustrations have a surreal quality at times. Very eye-catching. In addition, they have layers of subtleties infused that hopefully will become apparent as the child grows.

And, as the title suggests, each letter of the alphabet teaches an animal name, in the form of simple couplets, like:
A is for alligator awake from a dream
B is for bat slurping ice cream

Each illustration depicts a single animal placed in a rather incongruous setting, without obvious elucidation. An alligator comfortably stretches in a plush red recliner, a comically stout hippopotamus prepares to play a dainty violin, a majestic lion sits styling his locks...

"I didn't want there to be a story," I remember reading Edwards' observation. "Kids make up their own stories."

It is not surprising that Edwards won the Governor General’s Award (Canada) for children’s illustration for this book.

In addition to the usual array of animals like P is for Pig and C is for Cat, this book introduces exotic animals such as: I is for Ibis, M is for Mandrill, N is for Narwhal, Q is for Quetzal, X is for Xenosaur, without appearing patronizing or condescending at any level... Not many kids get introduced to these animals in a standard alphabet book.

Although the rhymes in Alphabeasts are a bit bizarre, seemingly prosaic, and possibly beyond comprehension for a toddler, it definitely could double as an interesting coffee table book: The Victorian-looking house has different animals in different rooms in various states, doing different things that is sort of summed up or suggested in the rhyming couplets.

One of my favorites in this book

C is for Cat,
Who reflects on its self

shows a Siamese cat in front of a mirror gazing at the tiger staring back at him!

Another favorite for visual tease is

J is for Jaguar
Checking the stairs

where the jaguar's intricate coat pattern blends in with the checkered carpet on the stairs.

And the funny one

Y is a Yak
Seeking a Path

shows a yak, with a paint brush in mouth and a paint bucket hanging from his horn, looking perplexed as he has painted himself into a corner.

Peeling the layers of meaning that suggest themselves in the dreamlike illustrations is the greatest appeal of this book. As the child grows with the book, and starts getting the subtleties, this book will be treasured by both the parent and the child.

I do believe visual stimuli and very simple rhymes catch children's fancy, help bring them in, and encourage them to enjoy reading. So, I love this book, and can't wait for my daughter to start appreciating it in her own way as she grows up, pointing out her interpretation of the illustrations.

Meanwhile, I enjoy reading the couplets out loud to her while she drinks in the page visually, scanning every inch, pointing out things she already recognizes, asking about things that catch her fancy.

This is a wonderful book for children of all ages, merging childhood fancy with adult finesse.

Based on the new rating system here at ST, I would like to give Alphabeasts by Wallace Edwards Five Bindis for visual treat and lasting value.