There was an old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

Illustrated by: Simms Taback (Caldecott Honor Book)                

Summary:

There was an Old Lay Who Swallowed a Fly, Is a retelling of the poem that was first heard in the 1940’s and illustrated by modern artwork. The Poem is about an old woman that swallows a fly and then decided to swallow another critter to get the first one. Fly, to spider then to bird and we all know how it ends. The old woman dies…

Personal Evaluation:

Pros: It’s hard for a writer to take a poem that is known by so many and place their own twist upon it and still stay true to the story. What Simms Taback has done is he left the poem as is and used his Illustrations to make this retelling his own. Throughout the book and on every page there are additional rhymes with artwork that adds just a little bit more to the story. These are placed in a way that does not distract from the main rhyme.

Another aspect of the book is the cutouts in certain pages that show the transition of the story line from fly to spider to bird and so on.

Cons: The one thing that I noticed while reading of the poem was the different size fonts on different color backgrounds. This seemed to slow down the reading and felt as if I was losing my place between sentences when I was not.

Final: Simms brings the tale of the old woman that swallowed a fly to life with nice illustrations and the other unusual elements such as the cutouts and side images. It’s the perfect story for a quick read at bed time or a good way to introduce a classic poem to the newer generations. Regardless of why you read this to your children, please stress to them Not to Eat a Horse!

Additional Information:

Publisher: Viking Juvenile (1997)
ISBN: 0670869392
Book Type: 32 Page; Color Hard Cover

You’re Finally Here!

Written and Illustrated by: Mélanie Watt                     

 

Summary:

“You’re Finally Here” engages you from page one with a rabbit that seems highly annoyed with someone that is extremely late meeting the rabbit.  After the initial greeting, the rabbit goes through several stages of happy and then disdainful, on why someone is late.

 

Several times he does this and it seems he’s past the indiscretion, but his phone rings and interrupts.  He takes the apparently important call and talks about you finally picking up the book and reading it.  At the end of the book he’s distraught about your leaving.

 ---“But where were you?”---

Personal Evaluation:

Pros: I really enjoyed the artwork contained in the pages.  I feel that they brought the already good story concept a great deal of added detail that illustrated the sheer annoyance and multiple emotions of the rabbit.  The use of “But where were you?” was a nicely added element that can easily bring a child to announce it when read.  

Cons: None that I had noticed, but I am biased about anything by Disney. 

                                                                 

Final: While I maybe the exception, I didn’t realize that the rabbit was in a dialogue with the reader (me) until the final few pages of the book.  I took me by surprise and I laughed when I finally caught on to the object of the bunny’s displeasure.  

The humor of the story with the added artwork makes this a must have book for young readers.  Even adults will get a kick out of the concept of the story and maybe like myself, be surprised when they realize whom the impatient rabbit is upset with.  

With the limited space on a already crowded bookcase, I don’t just add any old book to my collection.  Even so a copy is already on its way with a high anticipation to be able to read this book to a young audience.

 

Additional Information:

Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (2011)

ISBN: 1423134869

Book Type: 40 Page; Color Hard Cover

 

Frizzy

Written by: Nancy Parent

Illustrated by: Glen Mullaly, Ken and Joan Steacy 

                 

Summary:

Frizzy starts with an adorable monster quite sad and alone on monster planet.  Wanting to make friends, he discovers a fellow monster on the beach and quickly makes a new friend.  As luck would have it, his new friend Dizzy had friends of his own.  Soon Frizzy meets all sorts of new monsters and befriends them.  After a good crunchy lunch (bugs), they make plans of the next day to go swimming, thus leaving Frizzy with plenty of new friends and feeling happy.

 

Personal Evaluation:

Pros: From the start, the story draws you in from the illustrations of the characters.  All the monsters are cute and friendly looking.  The addition of the tabs that show the next monster that is introduced it a nice feature and allows children to flip though the pages easier and shows the next monster to be introduced.     

Cons: I would say that the addition of two to four more pages would have added a little more entertainment value.  So it’s hard to fault a book intended to keep children occupied as the copy that I found was placed in a waiting room.  It was well read and seen many readings from young minds, thus performed as intended and still holding up. 

                                                                 

Final:

Frizzy can be used in several ways.  First the message of friendship is there in the pages.  Then the values of making friends and what it feels like to not have them.  But the most important message is the one of tolerance.  I don’t think that a child would get the message on their own, but for a parent reading the book to a child can easily point out that monsters (people) come in many shapes sizes and colors.  Thus stressing that even with differences you can still be friends and treat them with kindness.   

 

Additional Information:

Publisher: Paradise Press (2001)

ISBN: 157657685X

Book Type: 10 Page; Color Boardbook
 

I Broke My Trunk!

Written and Illustrated by: Mo Willems
(2012 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor)

Summary:

"I Broke My Trunk" is a story of an elephant named Gerald who happened to injure his trunk.  His long story is told to his friend Piggie and describes the events leading up to the grievous accident through a series of stunts performed by the unlucky fellow.

 

Gerald manages to emerge from his daredevil acts unscathed and in doing so becomes so proud that he runs to find someone to tell the tail to!  Unfortunately for the clumsy elephant, he trips and that is when his nose is broken.  After the unbelievable and crazy story, Piggie decides that he needs to tell someone else about Gerald's accident, but in doing so falls himself and had his nose broken just like his friend.

Personal Evaluation:

Pros: There are a few ideas that could be used in the story to educate the readers.  Such as paying attention and not trying something that your unable to do.  The story was also an easy read with nice size fonts.

Cons: While reading the story, I didn't feel as if there was a rhythm forming in the words.  At times the conversation between Piggie and Gerald seemed to stall, giving the audience's mind time to wonder from the story.  The use of the word "no" was done nicely to have the audience anticipating Gerald's answers, but was still not enough to engage the reader and or listener.

 

The Illustrations in the book did not attract my eyes to the book or the story.  The majority of the book was done in grey and pink with the occasional blue during the rhino and hippo's part in the story.  Hardly colors that would excite a child, even on the bright white backgrounds.  

Final: After reading the story I find myself wondering if a child would have the attention span to sit, listen and involve themselves into the story.  This is something a don't feel would happen without extra from the reader.  Over all the book is a decent read, but lacks several elements that would help it in finding a space on my shelf.

Additional Information:
Publisher: Hyperion Book (2011)
ISBN: 1403133099
Book Type: 64 Page; Hardback Cover

My Friend Rabbit

Written and Illustrated by: Eric Rohmann
(2003 Caldecott Medal for Artwork)


Summary:

My Friend Rabbit is a simple tale about a mouse, and you guessed it, a rabbit. These two are great friends; however trouble follows rabbit around like a dog during hunting season. It’s bad for mouse since he’s always in the crosshairs of rabbit’s misfortune. Difficulty strikes the duo when the toy plane in which they were playing with lands out of reach in a tree.

Rabbit had an idea and starts to put his plan into motion. He acquires the involuntary help of some strange fellows, stacking them end on end to reach the wayward toy. This is not enough to reach as mouse jumps unto the plane when the odd shape stack comes toppling down much to the dismay of everyone involved. Once on the ground the group glares at rabbit with devious intent.  Mouse now with the plane free from its entrapment soars downward to rescue rabbit from his predicament. Shortly after his rescue, rabbit’s luck strikes again as he causes mouse to fly into the grip of another tree.

Personal Evaluation: 

Pros: “Poor Rabbit” is the first thing that comes to mind when reading this short but wonderful tail. The theme is friendship thru any and all hardships and the story makes this evident. The artwork makes this story come to life considering the lack of text on the pages. The heavily outlined work make the characters stand out and place the images in a very nice sharpness. It’s even to the point that the story is not even needed to convey the meaning in the artwork.

Cons: While I don’t like to leave this section blank, I truly cannot see anything negative about the story of the artwork. I will give a little constructive criticism however and say that perhaps a little artwork could have been used on the inside of the cover. The copy I reviewed was solid green and a pattern of grass or leaves could have added a little more to this already wonderful book.

Final: At the conclusion of this book I found myself laughing at the exploits of the troublesome duo. With the great artwork and the short text, this book is ideal for a quick read at bedtime and the message conveyed of friendship is what makes this a book a must for small children and even parents alike.

 
Additional Information:
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (2002)
ISBN: 0761324208
Book Type: 32 Page; Hardback Cover

My Shovel

Written by: Lee Howard                     

Summary:

The story is about two friends, a raccoon named Jake and Kimberly the rabbit and a guessing game between the two about a certain digging implement.  The game transpires over several pages with each of them taking turns guessing the others new sandbox toy. 

Personal Evaluation:

Pros: The book uses the guessing game to involve children the game as well. Several guesses are made in the book that allows the audience the chance to make a guess along with the two friends. This has repetition to the story that will have the guesses coming in the form of a shovel as the name and the shape of the book suggests. The use of several popular construction devices also helps to keep children’s attention.

Cons:The only thing I would have liked to have seen is a few more pages (2-4) added to allow for a little more repetition on the readers part. Another side note it the difficulty in finding the publishers presence on the internet. Multiple searches brought to light lists of books published by the publisher but nothing indicating a solid backing.

Final: Overall “My Shovel” is a very good book for early readers. The book is constructed very well as the copy I had was well used and the use of repetition and the ability to guess the stories outcome was well used.
 
Additional Information:

Publisher: Paradise Press (2000)
ISBN: 1576574873
Book Type: 10 Page; Color Boardbook

Sun Flight

Written and Illustrated by: Gerald McDermott            

Summary:

Sun Flight is a retelling of the story of Daedelus and his son, Icarus.  The story is about the craftsman Daedelus and the labyrinth that he created for King Monos of Crete.  Upon completion, the king imprisoned both Daedelus and his son Icarus to keep the labyrinth a secret.

Daedelus created wings so that the duo can escape the labyrinth.  He warns his son not to fly too high so the sun doesn’t burn him or to low so the sea does not swallow him up.  Icarus forgets himself and flies to high leaving Daedelus to weep for the loss of his son.  

 

Personal Evaluation:

Pros: The illustrations make this book very attractive to young eyes.  The use of contrast, simple shapes and vivid colors quickly grabs your attention from page one.  Another interesting faucet of the book is that the illustrations take up both pages for an even grander view and even resemble artwork found on ancient Greek urns.

Cons: Nothing really stands out as this is a simple book telling a simple story.  More detail or story could have been used; however the added text would have taken away from the books illustrations.

                                                                 

Final: Sun Flight is not a happy ending type of book and as being such, should be read from a more historical point of view.  One lesson that can be taken from the story is listening to parents.  A lesson best learnt early or tragedy like that of Icarus could result.

 

Additional Information:

Publisher: Four Winds (1980)

ISBN: 0590076329

Book Type: 40 Page; Color Hardcover