Monster Picture Books

If your kids like monsters (or even if they are afraid of them), here's a book that should make them laugh. Jumpy Jack & Googily by Meg Rosoff and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, has a fresh take on the whole monster thing.

Jumpy Jack is a timid snail with a big fear of monsters. He thinks they're everywhere, and turns to his best friend Googily to check out various situations. He asks Googily to check behind the door, under the table, in the pool. The thing that neither of them seems to realize is that Googily is a monster. Kids will quickly see what the joke is, and will love being in the know as they're laughing at the pair's antics.

Googily is an endearing monster with his pointed fangs, wispy eyebrows and bug eyes. He's also quite dapper in his bowler hat, yellow plaid pants and pointy red shoes, which makes him not very scary. I think one of the best messages in the book comes at the end, when Googily (the monster) admits what he's really afraid of... socks. It just goes to show that everybody has some fears, and what's scary to one person seems downright silly to another.

Here are a couple of other fun monster books to check out: Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberly and The Monster at the End of this Book (Starring Lovable, Furry, Old Grover) by Jon Stone.

BookNosher Activity: How about making monster cookies for a special treat? Here's an easy way to go about it:

1. First make some sugar cookies, cutting them into fairly large circles.
2. Then put out a plastic knife, a small cup of white frosting, a popsicle stick, a cup of M&Ms, red licorice (cut in short strips), candy corn, gum drops and food coloring.
3. Have the child choose the color to put in the frosting-this will be the monster's skin.
4. Drop a few drops of food coloring into the frosting.
5. Have the child mix the frosting and coloring up with a popsicle stick.
6. Spread the frosting onto the cookie.
7. Decorate with the rest of the ingredients; soon you'll have a scary monster to eat!

A Hilarious Early Chapter Book

I remember when my kids were at that in-between stage of learning to read. They had more or less mastered the early reader books and were ready to try chapter books. But so many chapter books were just too difficult (and too long). It was hard to find fun and interesting books at their reading level. If only Bad Kitty Gets a Bath had been around 14 years ago.

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath, by Nick Bruel, is a hilarious early chapter book. The language is fairly simple, it has terrific black and white graphics, and did I mention it's laugh out loud funny? The story shows the trials and tribulations of giving Bad Kitty a bath, which is no easy feat. For example, it lists the items you will need before getting Kitty to the bath such as: washcloth, soap, dry towel, a suit of armor, and lots and lots of bandages. Anyone who has a cat will relate.

There are interesting facts from "Uncle Murray" sprinkled throughout the book, so you end up learning a fair amount about cats (especially their bathing habits). Readers who are transitioning from picture books to chapter books will be thrilled to discover Bad Kitty. Plus, since the book is 125 pages long, kids will feel a real sense of accomplishment when they get to the end.

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath is also a good book for the reluctant, slightly older reader. Its humor will appeal to even the most jaded 5th grader. In fact, in Kirkus Starred reviews they put the age range for the book from 5-12. I highly recommend it!

Booknosher Tidbit: Bad Kitty Gets a Bath has been awarded a 2009 Gryphon Honor for transitional reading by The Center for Children's Books at the University of Illinois.

If you want to read other Bad Kitty books, check out the picture books: Bad Kitty and Bad Kitty Cat-Nipped Edition. Perfect for younger kids (equally as funny).

Nonfiction Monday: Planting the Trees of Kenya

The Book Nosher is pleased to join bloggers across the kidlitosphere who celebrate Nonfiction Monday. Some kids prefer to read books about real things, people and places. So once a week, I'll introduce a new (or old) nonfiction book that I find particularly interesting. After all, we can't let fiction have their way every day.

If you're looking for a book that shows how even the simplest act can change the world, then look no further. Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai is a beautifully illustrated book that does just that. It tells the story of Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.

The book begins with Maathai remembering the Kenya of her childhood, a verdant land filled with olive, fig and flame trees.

As a young adult, Wangari left Kenya to study biology in the United States for five years. Upon her return, she was dismayed to find that people had adapted new farming techniques and cut down the trees she remembered and loved from her childhood. The deforestation of the land caused the soil to erode and streams to dry up. She noticed that the Kenyans no longer grew their own food in family gardens. Instead they bought food in supermarkets, which was more expensive and less nutritious.

Wangari realized that the problems she saw all around her stemmed from the trees they were cutting down. Her solution was simple: Plant more trees. She went to the women in the villages and showed them how to collect the seeds from the remaining trees and prepare the soil. She taught them how to tend to the seedlings until they grew strong. As the idea caught on, the women saw the difference in the landscape. The woods were growing again, small farms were flourishing and their families were healthier. Wangari continued to spread the word throughout Kenya by going to schools, and even prisons, with the seedlings.

Planting the Trees of Kenya will make children feel like they can make a difference in the world. The watercolor illustrations are brilliant and invite you to linger a while on each page. The seemingly simple idea of planting trees grew into a national movement, resulting in thirty million trees planted in the last thirty years. Wangari's story will inspire you and your children. They will see how taking small steps towards resolving something that is wrong, can lead to big changes.

BookNosher Tidbits: Planting The Trees of Kenya just won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. The Jane Addams Children's Book Awards are given "annually to the children's books published the preceding year that effectively promote the cause of peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races as well as meeting conventional standards for excellence."

BookNosher Activities: Kids love the idea of planting trees. Here are a couple of organizations that have tree-related activities:
Plant-It 2010 is a non-profit organization dedicated to planting, maintaining and protecting as many indigenous trees as possible. For every $1, you can have a tree planted in different locations around the world.
The Arbor Day Foundation has lots of different resources and activities for preschool children on up.

What's So Great About a Box?

Do you remember the lure of a big box as a child? Are your kids thrilled when you buy something that comes in a box bigger than they are? If so, then this book is for you.

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis, is a tribute to the age-old tradition of a child turning a box into something else, something deep within their imagination. Not a Box stars a rabbit and a box. Written in a question and answer format, an off the pages voice asks the rabbit:

"What are you doing with that box?"

Turn the page and the rabbit answers:

"It's not a box."

There on the page you see red lines drawn over the black box and the box is transformed into a pirate ship, a hot air balloon, a space ship (you get the idea).

The illustrations are spare and simple. And humorous. Somehow, Portis manages to make a stick figure bunny have lots of personality. In addition, the outside cover of the book is made to look and feel like a cardboard box, complete with a "This Side Up" on the back.

One of the beauties of this book is that it will appeal to very young children, as well as beginning readers (4, 5, and 6 year olds). Published in 2006, it's a classic in the works.

BookNosher Tidbit: Not A Box was selected as a Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor Book in 2007. The Theodore Seuss Geisel annual award was established in 2006 for the author and illustrator who make the most distinguished beginning reader books.

BookNosher Activities: This is easy. Get a box and watch your child soar off to places far away.

Meet Ida B.

I love nothing more than a strong girl character, and Ida B. Applegate does not disappoint. Written in the first person, Ida B.'s voice rings out loud and clear from the start. Ida B: . . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World is a middle grade book (grades 4-6) that manages to be laugh out loud funny and touching at the same time.

When we first meet Ida B., she lives with her mom, dad and dog Rufus, on a farm in Wisconsin where she is homeschooled. The farmland is her classroom and her best friends are the trees in the orchard. It's an idyllic, predictable life, which is exactly how she likes it. Ida is independent and feisty, and you are immediately drawn to her and her opinionated views of the world. Unfortunately, when her mother gets sick, that world is turned upside down. The family has to sell part of the orchard, and Ida B. is sent to the local elementary school. (A bad experience in kindergarten had her swearing off regular school forever.) This unfortunate change of events makes Ida B. change too. She hardens her heart and enters a black period, determined not to let anyone in.

Katherine Hannigan does a wonderful job portraying the internal struggles Ida B. goes through and the anger she feels. She really lets us get into her head. Ida B. is mad. She's mad that her mother got sick, she's mad at her parents for making her go to school and she's mad because she feels like she doesn't she fit in. Elementary aged kids will identify with Ida's fluctuating emotions.

This wonderful middle grade novel will surely please your fourth to sixth grader. Girls and boys will both appreciate Ida B's unique outlook on life, as well as the way she deals with it when it turns upside down on her.

BookNosher Tidbits: Published in 2005, Ida B...And Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World was a Book Sense Book of the Year Book. School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly and Child Magazine selected it as a Best Book of the Year. It received the Parents' Choice Gold Award also.

BookNosher Activities: To me, Ida B. is a book that screams to be read aloud. Her voice is pitch perfect, humorous and unique. Kids will love listening to it. I am a big believer in reading books to kids even after they can read for themselves. There are many reasons why, not the least of which is that reading aloud awakens children's imaginations.

If you're interested in learning more about reading aloud to children, the guru of the read-aloud movement is Jim Trelease. Check out his website. It's filled with activities and suggestions of good read-aloud books, as well as a free brochure that highlights facts from his seminars, books and films.

Bill Peet: Master Storyteller

I have a soft spot in my heart for Bill Peet. I think his books are perfect examples of children’s storytelling. They are packed with humor, fun twists and memorable personalities, and teach positive values without being didactic.

Animals, trains and circuses are at the heart of many of Peet's books. His beautifully drawn illustrations are original and whimsical. His quirky characters have distinctive personalities and real problems that kids can relate to. Peet does a great job having his characters solve their own problems and there's often a surprise ending.

While I’m fond of all of his books (he’s written 34, and yes I've read them all!), here are a few you might want to start with:

Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent

is mild mannered as far as sea serpents go, and a little bored. After being called a sissy by a shark, he is determined to prove himself. Setting out to sea, Cyrus soon finds himself following the ship Primrose which is filled with poor people setting out for a new land. The tenderhearted sea serpent takes on menacing storms and dastardly pirates as he escorts the ship to a better place. In the end, he realizes that it was his friendly, helpful attitude that made him perform heroic acts.

Chester the Worldly Pig longs to do something with his life before he ends up as "sausage and ham." Disgruntled with farm life, he runs away to the circus. While things don't turn out exactly as planned, Chester has a few adventures along the way. Once his circus gig is up, Chester resigns himself to going back to the farm to fatten up. Then someone discovers something quite amazing about him (I won't spoil it here) and his life is turned around.

A great story about pursuing your dreams, even when it appears that all is lost.






The Wump World was written in 1970 and was one of the first "pro-environment" children's books. (It was written a year before Dr. Seuss's The Lorax.) The Wumps are adorable creatures who live peacefully in their idyllic world until the Pollutions come racing down in their spaceships. The Wumps retreat to a cave as their planet gets taken over by the evil, smoke-spewing Pollutians. Eventually, the Pollutians leave to try and find a cleaner place to live. You'll find yourselves rooting for the Wumps and their planet. Luckily, the last page leaves you with a sense of hope for their future.







Below is a complete list of Mr. Peet’s books.
(I believe that most of them are still in print.)
The Ant and the Elephant
Big Bad Bruce
Bill Peet: An Autobiography
Buford the Little Bighorn
The Caboose Who Got Loose
Capyboppy
Chester the Worldly Pig
Cock-a-Doodle Dudley
Cowardly Clyde
Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent
Eli
Ella
Encore for Eleanor
Farewell to Shady Glade
Fly Homer Fly
The Gnats of Knotty Pine
How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head
Hubert's Hair Raising Adventure
Huge Harold
Jennifer and Josephine
Jethro and Joel Were a Troll
Kermit the Hermit
The Kweeks of Kookatumdee
The Luckiest One of All
Merle the High Flying Squirrel
No Such Things
Pamela Camel
The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg
Randy's Dandy Lions
Smokey
The Spooky Tail of Prewitt Peacock
The Whingdingdilly
The Wump World
Zella, Zack and Zodiac

BookNosher Tidbits

Bill Peet worked for Disney Studios for twenty seven years. He was the only storyman in the history of Disney to do all the storyboards for two entire animated feature films (The Sword and the Stone and 101 Dalmations). Other films he worked on included The Jungle Book, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Dumbo, as well as many others.

There's an exhibit of Bill Peet's drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago until May 24, 2009.

BookNosher Activity

I want to tell you about an activity I did with each of my kids when they were in first grade. I approached their teachers at the beginning of the year (this would work with second or third graders too) and asked if I could come in weekly and read the class a Bill Peet story. Each teacher agreed, and I came in once a week for the entire school year and read to the class. By week six, the minute I stepped into the classroom, the kids would start chanting “Bill Peet, Bill Peet, Bill Peet.” He was a rock star in their minds. It was gratifying to see that a children’s author/illustrator could have that kind of appeal for elementary school kids!

A Timeless Picture Book

The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, illustrations by David Small.

This is a delightful, heartwarming book made all the more poignant by the hard economic times we are currently experiencing. The story takes place during the Depression. Lydia Grace is being sent to live with her Uncle Jim in the city because of financial hardships. Told in a series of letters by Lydia Grace (first to Uncle Jim, and then to her family back home) we watch as she leaves behind everything she knows and loves, and heads to the big, unknown city.

Lydia Grace is a gardener, and brings a suitcase of seeds with her. Uncle Jim is a baker, and a bit of a curmudgeon, at that. Throughout the book, Lydia Grace is determined to get her uncle to smile, as well as make the city bloom. What she does in the end is quite magical (and I’m not giving it away here).

The illustrations are simple, yet full of life. David Small does a wonderful job depicting the background and hustle bustle of a city during the 1930’s. However, it’s the expressions on his character’s faces that are priceless. Each character's personality shows up through his delightful drawings. Like Lydia Grace, we are rooting for Uncle Jim to smile, and it’s fun to watch his expressions evolve (ever so subtly) as the story unfolds.

There are a lot of gentle messages throughout the book, such as bringing beauty into the world and the importance of simple gestures. The Gardener is a gently paced book that kids will savor for many readings, and its tone makes it an ideal bedtime read. It would also make a great gift for anyone who loves gardening.

Some BookNosher Tidbits:
The Gardener was a Caldecott Honor book in 1998

Sarah Stewart and David Small are married to each other. The Gardener was their third collaboration.

BookNosher Activities

Kids may be inspired to develop their own green thumbs after reading The Gardener. The key is to keep it simple AND get fast results.Here’s a site to get some great indoor gardening ideas.