Concept books or should I say, Books by Laura Vaccaro Seeger?

Most of these concept books are by Laura Vaccaro Seeger and though she is prolific, her quality remains high. Many of her books teach about concepts our youngest readers will be interested in and need to know, but they teach in such a way to be interesting as well as informative. I am constantly amazed at the creativity in her books and have enjoyed looking for the surprise as I go from page to page. If you would enjoy having one of these concept books for your very own, comment on this blog and be sure to let me know which book you would like!

Walter Was Worried by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Weather can worry, frighten, delight and shock us. All of these emotions are portrayed not only through pictures of the actual weather event, but with faces that are decorated with the letters that make up the word being depicted. A very clever way to show a number of concepts: emotions, facial expressions, letter names. Seeger also manages to include both boys and girls and children of different races. A great addition to any library for young learners.

Black? White! Day? Night! By Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Maybe the best book of opposites I have ever seen. Each pair of opposites starts on a page with a see-through window at some place on the page. Lifting this first page shows the opposite concept, with the part that was shown on the see through window cleverly incorporated into the opposite word. One of the most clever is the page that is labeled “same” which contains several windows, all with a small diamond showing through. Lifting this page reveals a page of snowflakes, all “different” from one another, but all containing at some point, a small diamond. I love this book!

One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Another concept book by Seeger that also uses the window in a clever way, taking a traditional counting book to a new level. One boy incorporates one into the word alone; five mice (turn the page) skate on ice. The drawings are done with sharp primary colors and the end page shows the one boy, who is now all done, walking away from a group of drawings with his paint brushes tucked in his satchel.

Lemons are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Again Seeger uses the cut out on the page to demonstrate color of common objects. “Lemons are not red; lemons are yellow. Apples are red.” This could become the next early reading/writing text where students work in pairs to come up with another item color combination: I’m thinking, Grapes are not orange; grapes are purple. Oranges are orange. Let’s hear your creative ideas! (It doesn’t have to be food!)

           

Shape Shift by Joyce Hesselberth

Starting with a basic array of two-dimensional shapes, a young boy and girl take the reader through a creative array of joined shapes that could be anything. A semi-circle under a triangle becomes a dancing ballerina or an elephant floating up into space being held up by a triangular array of balloons. The last page gives a variety of shape combinations and children and adults can use their imaginations to figure out what they represent!. Colorful and playful turns out to be a good way to learn shapes.

Lost. Found. By Marsha Diane Arnold, Pictures by Matthew Cordell

A book with only two words, repeated throughout as a scarf is lost and found a number of times. Each new finder in the animal world also finds a new use for the scarf. Cordell’s imaginative drawings of bears, beavers, foxes, etc. populate the page with anthropomorphized animals demonstrating their creativity along with his. The ultimate lost is when the scarf unravels into reams of thread, making it necessary for the original owner, Bear, to take up knitting. Preschoolers will love this book as they figure out what each animal is doing with the bright red scarf.

Green City by Allan Drummond

Not exactly a concept book, yet this book does deliver an interesting story around the concept of “going green.” Given that topic, and the way the book is written, it is appropriate for an older reader than our normal picture book audience. Drummond has done an excellent job of describing the problem faced by the residents of Greenburg, Kansas in 2007 and how they as a community decided to take the lemons they were given and make lemonade. For an intermediate class studying issues of energy use and green buildings, this will be an invaluable resource. For families who are trying to show their children what can be done to make a smaller energy footprint, this would make an excellent resource at home as well. A great companion book for Drummond’s Energy Island, published in 2011.

How to Pee: Potty Training for Girls by Todd Spector, Illustrated by Arree Chung

To match Potty Training for Boys published in 2015, we now have Potty Training for Girls. Told in a cute step by step progression for each “style” of getting onto the toilet, you can choose from “Princess Style,” “Fresh-Air Style,” or “Witchy Style” just to name a few. The drawings show cute, large headed girls, all but one appear to be White, going through the motions of getting to the potty and peeing. Spector gives some advice at the end making sure that parents do not take this potty training issue too seriously and ensuring they are waiting for the timing of the child.

Vacation Reading

I recently took a cruise with two good friends. True to form for my reader self, I brought several books to read while I lounged around on the cruise ship. Little did I know my two friends were so active, cramming activities into every minute of our lives on board and on shore. In spite of the numerous activities, I managed to get through a few of the books and start a few more. So here is what I read late at night on this ship:

Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers by Alexander McCall Smith

One of my favorite series is the 44 Scotland Street series by Smith. This is Book 9 of the 10 books in this series and somehow I missed it along the way. I love the interconnected stories of those who live in the apartment building on Scotland Street, but I especially love Bertie who suffers the indignity of his overbearing mother with grace and ingenuity. This is the book that made me laugh out loud while lying in my bunk late at night.

A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlin 

Lucia Berlin has written short stories for the last half century or more and this was my first encounter with her work. Her stories have many autobiographical elements, but she has done so many things in her life, including being a cleaning lady, that they are all over the place. Often told in first person, the stories explore relationships, motherhood and dealing with alcoholics, both within yourself and with others that you know. I laughed and cringed at the stories in this book and hope to find other stories by Berlin, although they will have to be previously published as she is no longer with us. A true storyteller who found her calling.

Booked by Kwame Alexander 

 

Following his Newbery award winner about basketball players, Alexander now turns to soccer. A young player is dealing with his parents separation, trying to keep up with his studies at school and playing on a travel soccer team. Written in free verse, as was Crossover, this YA book is perfect to show that not all African Americans live in poverty in the inner city. Nick’s problems, including dealing with his English professor father, are much closer to the typical upper middle class student, giving us an insight into the life of an educated Black family.

Looking for Alaska by John Green

I have read a few John Green novels, the hot author of YA fare. Some have seemed unusually saccharine, but this is not within that ilk. Miles goes off to boarding school to find the “great perhaps.” He discovers friendship, love plenty of teenage angst. But, there is a death and there is a great deal of effort put into finding out if this death was or was not a suicide. In either case, Green delves into the lives of teens, exploring why they might want to commit suicide. AS the narrator, Miles is both likable and repulsive. It is easy to see why Green is an acclaimed YA writer.

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh

A typical thriller set in a small Alabama town tells the story of Lucy Bane whose mother disappeared when she was a baby. Now, as a teen, one of her friends has disappeared, only to be discovered a year later, body dismembered and stuffed in a tree stump. Lucy cannot let go of these mysteries and spends the summer between her junior and senior year trying to solve these two mysteries in her life. Of course, she is confronted at the end by the killer, giving the readers a moment of suspense: will she survive? Spoiler alert: of course she survives!

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brash

I am always open to new books and ideas, but I will not seek out any additional works by Brash. While I did not love this book, I did read it to the end. She writes mostly through pictures and the art work is quirky to say the least. While I could relate to some of the stories and while she made depression more understandable, I was not pulled into this book or her life as I was with many of the other reads I took on this trip. If you are in your 20s and love dogs, you may find this more compelling than I did.

Books about friendship

Books about friendship have always had a special place in the world of children’s literature. Who out there cannot relate to the friendship between Wilbur and Charlotte or the unusual friendship between George and Martha or the more recent Herman and Rosie (Gordan). We all need our friends and the special friendships we form in childhood often stay with us, giving us old and new memories to share as we age. Here are a few new books about friendship both within and outside of the family. My only concern is that all of these books focus on the friendships of boys. Only Lenny and Lucy includes a female within the friend mix, but that character does not enter until the last few pages of the book. Come on, authors, let’s support girl friendships as well!

Big Friends by Linda Sarah and Benji Davies

If you have ever experienced a great friendship that is disrupted when a third person joins in, this book is for you. Birt and Echo are “Big Friends” spending every minute together having adventures on Sudden Hill with their cardboard boxes. When Shu joins them, the rhythm changes and Birt feels left out. Luckily for Birt, both Shu and Echo joyfully encourage Birt to rejoin the group and now the adventures have three. A happy story of friendship gone right. A great classroom read when children seem to be forming alliances for and against one another. Big Friends shows how friendship can expand to reach more than two.

Lenny & Lucy by Philip C. Stead, Illustrated by Erin E. Stead

When Peter and his family move to a new house, he is not happy and the dark woods on the other side of the bridge outside his window keep him awake at night. Peter and his dog Harold build Lenny first as a guardian of the night, but when that does not seem enough, they build Lucy as well. Finally, Millie, the girl next door comes over offering her binoculars “and a bag of marshmallows, too.” This nascent friendship is barely described and occurs on the last few pages of the book. But, it is compelling and begs to be continued. This award winning husband and wife team have once again connected with both children and adults in a story about moving, loneliness, fear and ultimately friendship.

How to Share with a Bear by Eric Pinder, Pictures by Stephanie Graegin

Thomas builds a cave of blankets and pillows in his living room, but finds that a little bear has invaded his space. What follows is a bunch of tricks on Thomas’ part to get the bear out of the cave. While Thomas devises clever ploys, the bear always seems to be one step ahead of him and his time alone in the cave is short. Toward the end of the book, the reader realizes that the bear is a younger sibling making the book so much more meaningful and poignant. A sweet way to introduce sharing space and objects with younger siblings as well as the idea that a brother or sister could be a good friend.

Love Monster and the Last Chocolate by Rachel Bright

Love Monster is returning home after a long trip, only to find a box of chocolates on his doorstep. Imagining sharing this box of chocolates with his friends, Love Monster quickly realizes that if he shares, he might not get the chocolate that he wants. When his queasy stomach will not allow him to keep the chocoaltes to himself,  Love Monster runs to his friends eager to share his gift with them. When he finds his friends, they are busy getting ready for a party to welcome him home. Opening the box of chocolates, he discovers that his friends have saved one last chocolate for him and it is his favorite: Double Chocolate Strawberry Swirl! Oh, to have friends who know what our favorites are and who save our favorites just for us!

Dear Yeti by James Kwan

Two young hikers are on an adventure and looking for Yeti, a beat of the mountains. Yeti proves to be elusive until the hikers are in danger of being eaten by a bear. Then he appears and politely asks the bear not to eat his friends. Sweet drawings and simple language told largely through notes the hikers write to Yeti.

.Kwan’s first picture book sets him up for a long career writing and illustrating for children.

Time for  Cranberries by Lisl H. Detlefsen, Illustrated by Jed Henry

When I first glanced at the picture of the front of this book, it made me think of the commercials for Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice. The author who lives on a cranberry farm with her husband and two sons describes the process of harvesting cranberries through words, pictures and interactions between three family members: father, mother and school-aged son. For those who live on farms, the hard work and use of large machinery will be recognized. For those who do not, the depictions of harvesting just one of our many food crops will open their eyes to the hard work and sheer joy involved. While no child friends are shown in this book, the young boy has a great friendship with his parents as they obviously love doing what they are doing.