Mora, Pat. 2005. Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Flor wasn’t like other children in her village; she grew and grew under the care of her mother’s love until she towered into the sky. Her size, though, mattered little in the face of [...]
Archive for February, 2008
Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart ~ Pat Mora
Posted in Traditional Tales on February 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Beautiful Blackbird ~ Ashley Bryan
Posted in Traditional Tales on February 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Bryan, Ashley. 2003. Beautiful Blackbird. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Of all the birds in the forest, the blackbird stood out; his beautiful feathers caught and captured every color under the sun. And when the other birds, who wanted to be as lovely as he, asked to be painted black as well, he obliged [...]
On Noah’s Ark ~ Jan Brett
Posted in Traditional Tales on February 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Brett, Jan. 2003. On Noah’s Ark. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Noah’s grandchild watches as animals climb aboard the ark, two by two. Over the course of forty days and nights, the child watches over them, untangling them as they sleep, until the ark reaches land and the animals disperse in their new world.
Brett’s retelling of [...]
Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book ~ Yuyi Morales
Posted in Traditional Tales on February 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Morales, Yuyi. 2003. Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Grandma Beetle isn’t quite ready to go when Senor Calavera comes for her; she promises, in one more minute, they’d go, but tricks the skeleton into staying longer to take part in her birthday celebration.
Morales puts together a clever story [...]
Adele & Simon ~ Barbara McClintock
Posted in Picture Books on February 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
McClintock, Barbara. 2006. Adele & Simon. New York: Frances Foster Books.
Adele and Simon leave school, making many stops along the way. Each time the siblings are ready to leave, Adele realizes that her brother has lost something he had carried, but the friends they made save the day and bring his things back home.
McClintock takes [...]
Play, Mozart, Play! ~ Peter Sis
Posted in Picture Books on February 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Sis, Peter. 2006. Play, Mozart, Play!. New York: Greenwillow Books.
Mozart takes center stage in Peter Sis’s picture book about the musical genius’s childhood.
The text and illustrations in Sis’s Play, Mozart, Play! go hand in hand, which makes this slim picture book perfectly suited to beginning readers. Struggling readers may also find enjoyment in the story [...]
Zen Shorts ~ Jon J Muth
Posted in Picture Books on February 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Muth, Jon J. 2005. Zen Shorts. New York: Scholastic Press.
Three siblings discover a panda bear in their backyard; each in turn visits the bear and learns a valuable life lesson.
Zen Shorts is an ambitious picture book that requires a careful reading. Perhaps not best suited to a story hour in a library setting, Muth’s book [...]
Toy Boat ~ Illustrated by Loren Long
Posted in Picture Books on February 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
de Seve, Randall. 2007. Toy Boat. Illustrated by Loren Long. New York: Philomel Books.
A little boy takes his favorite toy boat to the beach, tying a stretch of string to its sails so it doesn’t get lost. But when the boat sets off, free to roam the ocean, the toy finds that sometimes what you [...]
Adam Rex
Posted in Picture Books on February 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Rex, Adam. 2006. Tree Ring Circus. New York: Harcourt, Inc.
A seed grows into a tree as a circus rolls into town. Animals of all shapes and sizes, once set free, climb the tree to settle in. But after the elephant tried to climb to the tippity-top, well, it all came tumbling down.
While the text of [...]
Every Friday ~ Dan Yaccarino
Posted in Picture Books on February 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Yaccarino, Dan. 2007. Every Friday. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Father and son take a walk every Friday to a diner for breakfast. Along the way they take in the sights and sounds of their community, and cultivate a bond that will last a lifetime.
In this simply told tale, Yaccarino has captured a moment that [...]
