Saturday, January 31, 2015

Molly Who Flew Away by Valeri Gorbachev

For us, this books has a few winning points: friends, fun, yellow balloon.... It's just a good fit for us. We like it.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Billy's Bucket by Kes Gray

Billy requests the unusual gift of a bucket. At first his parents don't take him seriously. But eventually they agree to get him one. The bucket turns out to have magical powers, and of course the parents don't take it seriously at first... until it becomes a crisis.

I don't know what to think about stories where parents are dismissive of their kids. Parenting is hard work, and we all need to be respectful of each other. If my daughter told me not to borrow her bucket... well, first I would ask her to say it in a nicer way. Then I would probably respect that request.  There's a nuance to this issue that I'm struggling to get my mind around. But I do like the ecological subtext of this story -- I won't tell you what it is and give it away.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

The Giant Hug by Sandra Horning

We recently went to the Riot Grrrl exhibit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. In it, Miranda July posted to send a personal interaction, through others, to a designated person elsewhere. I don't know which came first -- The Giant Hug was published in 2005. A little pig sends a hug through the USPS to his grandma. The postal workers each hug each other along the way, and it involves a lot of links in the chain getting to grandma.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Construction Kitties by Judy Sue Goodwin Sturges

My daughter loves this book; so, I feel compelled to list it here even when I don't completely understand her feelings. It's a nice book. Some kitty construction workers construct a playground together. Cute, right? She slept with the book for a month she loved it so much.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Willoughby by Greg Foley

We recently took the two Willoughby books from the library:
Willoughby and the Moon
Willoughby and the Lion
and completely loved them both. One thing about children's books that has struck me is what a wonderful way they are for artists to share their creative visions with the public. These books are perfect examples of that. They are BEAUTIFUL and they have wonderful, sweet stories too -- about true friends and being afraid of the dark. It's no surprise the author went to RISD.