Tactile Picture Book Project

This is so beautiful. A team of creators making picture books "more than words" to blind children.  Explore some of their projects.

Noah's Ark by Francesca Crespi!

Of course! Of course!  Why hasn't it been done before?!  The story of Noah's ark presented in a pop-up book?!  It makes beautiful sense...  and who better to give it the elegant razzle-dazzle than the talented Francesca Crespi?!  The pop-up master who's stayed quietly out of the picture book world since her last title in 2008.

We missed you Francesca!  I mean, we did have the wonderful Robert Sabuda to keep us busy with his recent releases of pop-up fairy tales. (A special shout out for his stunning adaptation of The Little Mermaid where he artfully and tastefully deals with mermaid nudity and provides intricate pages within the pages. You've got to see his very cool mermaid-fin to leg transformation!!!)  But Francesca dear... you hold a special place of honor in the world of paper crafting authors...

I have yet to see the actual pages, but already the book has leaped to the top of my "luxury item that I don't need but would love to have" wish list.

Can't wait to see it!!!

Top Ten Best Authors for Media Saturated Kids

Maybe you want to give a child a book for a gift but you are worried that the book will get tossed into a pile of irrelevancy in favor of Junior's tablet or the new video game his much cooler aunt bought him.  Maybe your own child has been fed too many cartoons on the tube.  It's okay; I won't tell. But now, our media saturated children are rather uninterested in the written word— especially when it competes with flashy animations. After all, you can give a kid books, but you can't make them like 'em... much less even read them.  But I have come to give you hope and have it in abundance.

Before we can expect a media glutton to love the beauty of simple things like Make Way for Ducklings or Stone Soup, we have to ease them into the transition of still life and still ink on still paper.  In response to this need for a segue, publishers have been printing a bloated genre of books that supposedly children will love but typically parents hate. These generally include sharp, digital illustrations, flatulence, underpants, aliens and/or mucous emissions. I suppose the idea is that the shock value of these things will get kids reading. Toilet humor—especially to boys— is highly appealing.  So the battered down, desperate parent feels it's their only hope to get Junior interested in books.  It's not the only hope... but I'm not going to lie and say that you can just give a child a classic book and expect them to swoon over it.  This is very much like very picky eaters who've been given too much junk food and refuse all their vegetables. Once the intellectual appetites have been soiled (in this case by too much electronic stimulation) it is very difficult to reorder it to enjoying the wholesome books. Difficult... but not impossible. The first thing to do is eliminate or drastically limit media of course.  Otherwise, no matter how good your intentions, books will always lose to the drug inducing power of TV (video games are even more destructive). Then, find some good books to introduce.

Thankfully, there are a number of excellent authors out there who are especially well suited to "reordering appetites."  Think of them as a good probiotic or something... replenishing the gut with good bacteria (all right enough of the food analogies). Like all my Top Ten lists, this isn't an exclusive compilation; there are certainly other books and authors that would make for great transitions. The things to look for are humor, weird or unexpected plots, interesting typeset, detailed pictures, and/or novel or irresistible concepts.  Believe it or not, these things can be found without resorting to pooping, iPad wielding aliens in underwear.

After the child has been fed a good diet of these transitional books, they can slowly move onto realizing that there are some true delights to be found in picture books and they'll want to explore more—even ones with less catchy covers.

So here is my list of the authors to look out for once you decide to move away from media and into the glory of the printed word.


Chris Van Dusen. Van Dusen has the most excellent illustrations to captivate an unsuspecting media glutton. His style LOOKS animated and he's got a superb natural rhyming that fits all his books so well. If I Built a House would make for a perfect "starting over" book to try and hook kids into the adventures in reading.  And  Randy Riley's Really Big Hit also has really big appeal. Be sure to also read all the Mr. Magee stories too!

David Weisner.  Weisner is the wordless book master and as we all should know by now, wordless books are not just for kids. Tuesday is his classic tale of bizarre flying frogs but Sector 7 and all his other titles certainly shouldn't get lost in the shuffle either.  These books are great ones for bored children to just "discover" lying about on an end table somewhere.



Lynley Dodd.  Dodd isn't so well known in the states for some reason but her Hairy Maclary is quite well known in her New Zealand homeland and elsewhere.  ALL of her books are great.  She has an extraordinary talent for rhyming and for made-up words that just roll off you tongue with delight.  These books are best read aloud and with enthusiasm to capture the full cadence.



Oliver Jeffers. A favorite among boys especially.  Don't be fooled by Jeffers youthful, simple illustrations—he has an uncanny perception of what is funny and how children think.  I've discussed before about my favorite title of his This Moose Belongs to Me, but my children adore Stuck and also The Day the Crayons Quit which he illustrated.



Richard Scarry.  Everyone knows Richard Scarry by now right?!  His characters should be well known in any childhood.  But there is a golden window of opportunity for introducing Scarry to the recovering couch potatoes—and it's probably only up to age 7 by my estimates because he is aimed toward the younger set. What makes books like What Do People Do All Day so interesting is their very busy-ness. Scarry is fantastic at creating little stories within the story with funny side pictures or car crashes etc.


Chris Van Allsburg. Where Scarry appeals to younger kids, Van Allsburg specializes in the slightly older demographic. And you have to be careful at first because his tales of mystery won't automatically attract the flies.  You have to start with something peculiar and ever so slightly morbid like The Z Was Zapped— where the demise of alphabet letters is chronicled in a fascinating way. Then go to Two Bad Ants before moving into his more sophisticated works.




Jerry Pallotta. Pallotta gets included in this list for his very high score on the "strewing" factor. He manages to come up with excellent, informative compilations that a kid can't help wanting to crack open. Even when a child has passed the ideal age for alphabet books, he can't help but wonder what's in something like The Icky Bug Alphabet Book, The Yucky Reptile Alphabet Book, The Skull Alphabet Book or his intriguing Who Would Win Series like Polar Bear Vs. Grizzly Bear.  Boys love Pallotta.



Mo Willems. I'll be honest... I didn't get the hype about Mo at first. I thought his debut title Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! was silly and overly simplistic when I first saw it.  But the masses have overwhelmingly defied this blogger's opinion and Mo has since written a bunch of other books that I really like much better.  When it comes to feeding media-hungry kids though, it doesn't really matter if MY tastes are satisfied (so long as they aren't offended), kids know what they like and Willems knows what to do. He is a great segue author. The typeset is excellent, short and appealing. And his characters, while simply drawn are engaging to the max. Begin with We Are in a Book! which, if read in an engaging manner, is rather hilarious even to the adult. Other titles are just funny enough to draw in even the most reluctant souls: Edwina, The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct.

William Steig. Steig is one of those quirky authors that you'll find on a lot of unrelated lists: best authors for boys, funniest authors, classic authors not to miss, and on. If you asked me my favorite, I'd say it was Doctor De Soto, but if you're looking to ease kids into books, a more obvious choice is something like Pete's a Pizza or the puzzling C D C ?

Sesyle Joslin. You want shock value mixed with vintage? Pick Joslin. Buried in the fantastically brilliant book on teaching manners from the late fifties, Joslin comes up with things to offend today's PC parents. In What Do You Say, Dear?, parents get horrified that the character says "Would you like me to shoot a hole in your head?" I don't really see the big deal.  The kids politely declines: "No, thank you." This book and its companion What Do You Do, Dear? are a riot of unpredictability. Highly recommended.

We need desperately, I feel, a noncommercial alternative to what commercialism is trying to do to us. I'm not for censorship, but I'm certainly for self-censorship when it comes to producing or purveying products to America's children. I think that for people who make anything for children, their first thought should be: Would I want my child to see, hear or touch this? And if the answer is no, just don't make it.

-Mr. Rogers

My breakup letter to my library

Dear library,

It was love at first sight, you and me.  When I got my first card, I saw you as much as I could and drank the fruits you offered me with gusto. I plumbed the depths of your shelves and learned about everything from psychology to how to deliver the best knock-knock jokes.  In your warm, bookish halls, I discovered Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy and countless other authors whom I now count as friends to my heart.

But the relationship was built on rocky ground.  And like an addicted, co-dependent lover... it's taken me a long time to admit that.  First were the overdue fees.  In some cities, the fees were forgiven once the errant book was finally discovered and retrieved from under a bed.  In other cities, the seemingly innocuous 25 cents a day grows into a beast of terrifying proportions when I would check out 30 books at a time.  My yearly expenses in overdue fees could be better spent on purchasing a few new, superb books a year!

The second, red flag came when you decided to cheat on me. See, this whole time, I thought you were an exclusive lover.  I thought you felt the same way as me in building up the community and serving the greater good.  Instead, you've sold out under to thinly veiled disguise of "freedom" and "privacy" by allowing and accommodating for pornography to be viewed on your computers—and with my tax dollars to boot. Your beauty was then marred and I could no longer support your levies.  What's more, I felt unsafe with you anymore. My children can not be allowed alone with you... lest they wander unsuspectingly into the computer area where you are waiting to annihilate their innocence.  You've betrayed me here.  And I don't think you realize this, but you've betrayed our community too.  Lastly and most ironically: by accommodating porn on your public computers... you've betrayed authentic human freedom too.

Then something really tipped me over the edge, though I admit it is worse in other cities I've been in than my current one. You had to change with the times. As traditional books in printed form become more obsolete, you became no longer a keeper of the printed word, but a community center for informational learning and technology.  That's fine in and of itself... but not the qualities I'm looking for in a long-term relationship. See, I wanted to bring my children to the library to read books... not to traipse them past kiddy computers with Dora the Explorer beckoning like a siren to come learn phonics with her.  So my trips to go immerse the children in a literary heaven has turned into an exhausting battle leaving mother frustrated and child unsatisfied.  Glittering figures on the screen will always tempt children more than ink on paper... this doesn't mean it's good, right or needed.  So much for building lifelong readers with your help.

Lastly, I wanted to tell you that part of this breakup is not you. It's me.  I take responsibility for us going separate ways on two counts: First of all, we can't handle your delicacies. I have six children now and try as I might to be a good book steward and to treat proper respect for books, they still get eaten, trampled, torn, painted in and otherwise ruined.  More money down the drain.  It's draining on me.  The second problem is directly related to the first:  while I am constantly hunting and wanting to find the next great title or to discover old gems previously unknown to me... the onus of these desires causes a total dilution of goodness in the minds of my children. And I suspect that so many books become casualties in our home because we are SWIMMING in books here.  So a reverence is lost in this I think...

Ultimately it becomes a problem each month as I rotate out our monthly baskets of books.  And I silently sigh in disappointment that not ONCE was The Brave Cowboy or Roxaboxen pulled out that month and we wouldn't see them again until next year.

Well, I won't tolerate that anymore!  I've taken a lot of time, effort and money to build a lovely little library of books for our home and I'm sick of it getting ignored in favor of your deluge of books.  Sure you offer great books.  I don't deny it!  And sure, my kids won't get to experience every single excellent title in the world... (I've slowly come to admit my daftness in expecting that to be so!)  But, I want them to remember the great books on MY shelves. And I want them to delight in discovering them again and again. There is a joy and value and security in this repetition.  Furthermore, this makes the joy of GIVING books all the more valuable once the constant novelty of library books are no more.

So yeah.  I think we need to take a break for a while.  Maybe a long while.  I'll still order some reference things for myself on occasion maybe... but I think ultimately for my particular family, we are better off going our separate ways.  And that's going to hurt.  And  it's going to take some sacrifice.  And it may deaden this blog... but I was never in this for traffic stats anyway.  I have to admit that it's time to let the mediocre— even the GOOD— fall by the wayside.  I don't have the time, tolerance, money or interest for anything less than a few quality choices in excellence anyway.

Take care,

Ellie

Maps

I have a love-hate relationship with children's atlases.  They are useful for referencing of course, but all my imaginings of earnest children poring over this information with wide eyes of incredulity and wonder... have come to nought.  Still, I have some sort of fascination with maps of all sorts and just assumed I'd satisfy that idiosyncrasy with adult pictures, maps and images.

Until now. If you haven't seen it yet, Maps is a phenomenal and useful and drastically interesting reference book by someone with a heart of whimsy.  Give it to a child on the beginning of a road trip and see what happens.  It's large, detailed and delightful eye candy. It's wonderful.  Because of their resounding success, the authors have also developed an activity companion book!

A Home for Mr. Emerson

I saw A Home for Mr. Emerson randomly at the library and grabbed it up immediately.  What a find!  I use picture books heavily to teach history/science/pretty-much-anything and after reading this book, I decided to change up my homeschooling plan just a bit this fall to make sure and include Ralph Waldo Emerson as a featured poet—all because of this book.

So many biographies fall flat with cartoony, digital pictures; others have long, dry text that reads like an encyclopedia entry. But this book does what all picture books should aim to do: tell a good story and illustrate it well.  It's that simple... and that difficult.

I really didn't know much of anything about Emerson but this book has all the necessary elements to serve as an educational spine and build out from there.  A real story (complete with a beginning, middle, and end—not just a telling of his life), quotes from his writings, fantastic, appealing pictures to delight young and old, and a full page of biographical notes in the back for further research.

 Yet another 'bonus' element of the book is the underlying message about how important it is to build the life you dream of, connect with your community and find sanctuary in your home.  I also had no idea that this team of Barbara Kerley and Edwin Fotheringham had produced 3 other biographies (Those Rebels, John and Tom, What To Do About Alice?, and The Extraordinary Mark Twain) that I am adding to my check-out list immediately. Knowing how important it is to have the right illustrator for the right text and vice versa, I can say with confidence that this duo is a match made in picture book heaven.  Kerley has written other non-fiction titles and her Walt Whitman book deserves accolades of its own.  Those illustrations are rich and realistic—great for that book. But  there's something about the chemistry of Kerley/Fotheringham that I personally really love.

a picture of July

I always like to see folks' monthly picture book baskets.  Here is ours all spread out.  Most aren't July specific, and the pictures don't include library reads or non-fiction titles that live on our shelf and get pulled out as needed. These are just our pick-up-an-enjoy books for the month:

A-Z Questionnaire for Book Lovers

... oh it was irresistible!  I rarely to never do linky themes or blog trends running around online, but I saw this and I just. couldn't. resist.  Because I love talking about books just slightly less than I love reading books, I changed up the questions enough to apply specifically to picture books.  I invite you to join in if you like with your own answers...

Author You've Read the Most Books From: Bill Peet just because he is so prolific.

Board Book Baby Loves Best?  It's a tie between  Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks from A to Z and Peek-A Who?

Christmas Wouldn't Be the Same Without: Oh so many!  But ultimately, if I only had one, it would have to be The Donkey's Dream.

Doesn't Impress You Like it does everyone else:  Almost all of the self-esteem picture books  (the ones that  weigh down the shelves at major retailers and get gifted by well-meaning relatives).  I have an especially annoyed opinion of Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.  I know... I'm so unAmerican for saying that.

Earliest Picture Book Memory? The first book I can remember my mama ever reading to me was Millions of Cats.  She was an incredibly busy, industrious woman slogging through a ton of housework and nine kids underfoot... but somehow she managed to clear the cobwebs of her exhaustion enough to read us kids stories on the couch and we loved those rare moments when she sat down...

Funniest Book You Can Think Of? Easily, it's This Moose Belongs to Me where Jeffer's witty, perfect humor shines through.  I wrote about it here.

Golden Book Favorite: The Saggy Baggy Elephant.  It's not particularly superior to all the others.  And I do love Eloise Wilkins' books, but this title wins for me out of pure nostalgic appreciation...

Hidden Gem Book: The Summerfolk because I want to be Doris Burn when I grow up.

Illustrations You Would Actually Frame to Display on Your Wall:  oh I don't know... woodcuts? (Mary Azarian?), A mosaic artist?  I guess probably just A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog; they'd be just simple and lovely in small frames in a bathroom...

Just Finished Reading:  The Story About Ping... again (love).

Kids Love This But You Don't: Garfield comic books.

Last Purchased Book: I had to check.  It was The Glorious ABC.

Most Worn Out Title in your Home: This varies frequently as the worn out ones eventually become unusable and get tossed into my "to-be-upcycled" graveyard.  The current book holding onto its last breath of life is The Princess in the Forest. I will be sad to attend that funeral and will certainly hope to buy it again.

Not Just for Kids:  If You're Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow. It was a gift to me on my 15th birthday and I love it now even more than I did then.

Out-of-Print Book(s) You Severely Wish Were Not: Everything by Joan Gale Thomas please!

Poetry Perfection: Lynley Dodd is my very favorite wordsmith wizard... so much fun!

Quirky Book You Love: Just one?! King Bidgood's in the Bathtub then. We all revisit this one often.

Reader Book Favorites: All things Syd Hoff, Arnold Lobel and P.D. Eastman

Series You Wish You Owned All Of: Many, many different series or authors.  Currently, I wish I owned all of (or any of!) the Henry the Explorer books

Thrift Store Bargain that Thrilled You: Finding almost all of the David Macauley building books in hardback, discarded from a library for 50 cents each.

Unexpected Delight Pulled Randomly From the Library Shelf: Magpie Magic: A Tale of Colorful Mischief.

Virtue Lesson Not to Miss: The Empty Pot, hands down my favorite non-preachy book on honesty.

Wordless Book that Won Your Heart: A Small Miracle. It's my boys' favorite Christmas tale and deserves to be carefully poured over while sipping hot chocolate.

X is Tricky! One Alphabet Book that Does it Right: ... because I judge ABC books by their treatment of the letter X.  Worst book I ever saw flat out skipped the letter... sheesh. The Handmade Alphabet wins for the most seamless letter X.

You Wish Your Kids Loved This as Much as You Do: The Monk Who Grew Prayer.  It's tolerated around here, but never requested and immediately forgotten for the next book in the reading pile.  *sniff*

Zzz... Bedtime Story You Would Reach For First: Time for Bed, in hardback, with full-size pictures please.  It's just rhythmic enough.  And it earns this distinction mostly because it's the very first picture book I ever bought for my son.

* * *

Hello Mr. Hulot!

Kindly direct your attention to Hello Mr. Hulot if you please.  This book is nearly wordless (I have a thing with wordless books...) and packed with witty action.  Monsieur Hulot was a French character created for movies in the mid 20th century by Jacques Tati.  He is something of an early Mr. Bean and has translated beautifully into picture book form by David Merveile.

The delight of this book lies in its very simple humor.  And adults and children alike should be able to appreciate that.  I suspect there's more to come and am eager to see them!  Look at these small vignettes: