Picture books from March

Some very good books on this list as well as a few "don't bothers." Next post: picture book of the month for March.
Picture book reviews March 2012
1. Princess of borscht by Leda Schubert illustrated by Bonnie Christensen
Great pictures, sweet story, but the dialogue was awkward.
2. Solomon crocodile by Catherine Rayner
Very good illustrations, good for teaching synonyms, cute story, the ending was a little off.
3. Baby come away by Victoria Adler, illustrated by David Walker
Good pictures, sweet baby following little animals to a nest, the barn, a pond/sea, but the language, sometimes rhyming and sometimes not does not flow
4. Ten little beasties by Rebecca Emberlry and Ed Emberley
Great song, graphics are too complex for the targeted audience, children may have problems separating the different beasties and finding them on consecutive pages. Singing and dancing the song would be fun and it is a better way to use this song than the racist precedent.
5. The babies on the bus by Karen Katz
The old song with some new verses, a little too long, pictures are cute, multi racial and represent both boys and girls
6. Orani, my father's village by Claire A. Nivola
Set on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, the story of a young girl who goes with her American family to visit her father's family in Orani, pictures are very well done, good book to use with immigrant children or children of immigrants to contrast the two worlds they know, girl always wears the same distinctive dress so it is easy to pick her out of the crowd
7. Who has these feet by Laura Hulbert illustrated by Erik Brooks
Nice introduction to science with facts about different animals' feet and why they are the way they are, form and function
8. The twins' blanket by Hyewon Yum
Korean author tells about twins sharing a blanket and then each needing a blanket of their own, told in both twins' voices, the blanket is traditional Korean stripes and the mother incorporates the old blanket into the new ones
9. A is for autumn by Robert Maass
Photos rather than drawings, an alphabet book with autumnal words, okay but not outstanding
10. Dot by Patricia Intriago
Use with a small group to engage their thinking, could also be used to get kids to make their own dot pages, good book for discussion
11. Bandits by Johanna Wright
Poor use of language, choice of words was weird, policeman referred to as fuzz and shown as a dog, what child knows that? Poor construction of sentences, a bit of a whimsical look at raccoons, personifying them, favorite page, the raccoons in their tree trunk house reading to pass the day
12. Zoola palooza by Gene Barretta
A book of homographs, words like read and read, console and console are emphasized throughout a pun-y story about the animals' concert. Great graphics, good for English teachers far and wide.