Froodle by Antoinette Portis
A little brown bird decides that she does not want to just
say “peep” anymore and so she breaks out into silly words. In spite of the
neighboring birds’ attempts to repress her, she sticks to her silliness and
recruits the cardinal and the dove to spout silly words. It takes some time,
but eventually, even the grouchy black crow comes out with a loud “Wuppy!”
The beginning of this reminded me of Harry Chapin’s Flowers are Red, where the little boy is
discouraged from painting flowers “any other way than the way they than they
way they always have been seen.” But, it has a happier, more diversity based
ending. Hooray for being different!
Emily’s Blue Period by Cathleen Daly, illustrations by Lisa
Brown
Emily loves Picasso and when her parents separate, she
particularly relates to his Blue Period. Emily is a believable young girl and
Daly tells a story that is a clever mix of life in a newly split family and
facts about Pablo Picasso. I enjoyed both of these story lines and felt that
not only was Emily presented realistically, but her mother, father and brother
also were presented as caring, genuine individuals.
Edda, a Little Valkyrie’s First Day of School by Adam Auerbach
A magical fantasy about a real world childhood dilemma:
starting school. If you have any little ones getting ready to go to school this
fall, you might want to check out Edda and her experience in a kindergarten
class. While not everything is perfect, she is able to work things out, with a
little help from her dragon friend.
Queen on Wednesday by Gabi Swiatkowska
When Thelma becomes bored, she decides to make something
happen, and that something is to make herself queen. But, she quickly discovers
there are more royal duties than she can possibly deal with, so she gives it
up, only to become bored once more. A nice circular story with illustrations
straight out of the early part of the 1900s. Thelma has a nice round face and
ringlets and all the children are dressed in wonderfully old-fashioned clothes.
Parents and children will have great fun with this book as they think about the
absurdity of Thelma as queen!
Swim, Duck, Swim! By Susan Lurie, Photographs by Murray Head
Told with simple language and brilliant photographs, this is
the story of a little duckling who does not want to get wet. As he goes through
his early days, he refuses to get in the water, in spite of encouragement from
mother, father and siblings. While the text exhibits quite a bit of
anthropomorphism, the pictures tell the real story is a beautiful fashion. In the
end, the duck does swim, perfect for those little ones who are not quite ready
for new adventures!
