Book of the Week — All In A Day

The newest picture book at our house is Cynthia Rylant's All in a Day. With illustrations by Nikki McClure.

I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but sometimes I can't help it. Based on the pretty cover (observe the gorgeous title lettering) and my knowledge of Ms. Rylant's previous work, I knew my kids would love this. And they do.

Book of the Week: I Like You

I think both me and my sister Jordan post about this book every February. It is hard to imagine a better Valentine's Day book — and I don't think it even mentions Valentine's Day at all.

It's called I Like You. It's by Sandol Stoddard Warburg. And it's just the most charming book ever. Kids love it. Grown ups love it. The illustrations are adorable.




My friend Renae Chambers gave me a copy when we were roommates during my freshman year, and it's been a favorite every since. I tend to misplace my copy from time to time — loan it out, give it as a last minute gift, leave it somewhere — but a new copy always seems to find its way back to me. My current edition was a gift from my friend Audrey, who took perfect care of my kids while I was in Mexico. Thank you, Audrey!

Buy a copy for your friend. Or your crush. Or your own book collection. Or for anyone that needs some kindness. You will love it.

Book of the Week: An Awesome Book

Dallas Clayton emailed me the other day and introduced me to his book. It's called An Awesome Book. You can see the insides here.




I think the illustrations are delightful. Delightful! I'd like to buy a copy, but I have to be patient — the first edition sold out in two weeks. The 2nd edition will be ready to sometime this month. You can pre-order your copy here.

Book of the Week — Charlie Harper. For the Toddler Set.

On Tuesday, I was at Old Navy looking for a white shirt for Maude to wear to her band concert that night. And what should I happen upon but a whole collection of Charlie Harper goodies. Surprise. And delight.

I want Santa to bring Charley Harper's ABCs and 123s to 2 year old Betty this year. But I'm also having a crush on his Flash Cards/Floor Puzzle. His Memory Game. And especially on his gorgeous Coloring Book — only $6.95 — something I think older kids would like as well.

Book of the Week — The Day They Parachuted Cats on Borneo — posted By Guest Mom Rochelle

As someone with a career based on the outdoors, ecology is on my mind. A lot. And I try to pass what I know on to my children. A great book for introducing kids to ecology, and the knock-on effects that our actions have on our environment, is called The Day They Parachuted Cats on Borneo by Charlotte Pomeranz.

Bad news: the book is out of print. Good news: your library probably has a copy. For more fun: I am giving away a couple of garden books over at studio g. Come by and check it out.

Book of the Week — Ghost Poems

During the month of October, instead of our usual bedtime story routine, we like to turn off all the lights, light candles, and read Halloween books. We have a handful of scary/Halloween books in our collection, but I like to supplement with library books. I picked up Ghost Poems a couple of weeks ago and it has been a hit.




It was first published in the 1970's and the illustrations are by Tomie de Paola — which is perfect. His drawings hit the right balance between spooky and charming. And the poems themselves are a well-edited collection. Some silly, some actually a little scary. But all kid-appropriate. And there are a wide-variety of styles from lots of different poets and sources.

It's an old book. So you can't buy directly from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. But they have links to other vendors.

Children’s Books: My Favorites — by Guest Mom Wendy Baldauf

My dear friend’s daughter just celebrated her 8th birthday, and I got her books. A smattering of my favorites. It was hard to choose — there are so many great ones — but these are some of the books I got for her:

Pink and Say by Patricia Polocco
This book makes me cry every time I read it. It’s a good book to have if you have 5th graders, because it’s about the Civil War, which is part of the 5th grade social studies curriculum. It has generated so many great questions with my own kids- so much learning.

The Sunsets of Miss Olivia Wiggins by Lester Laminack
Another tear-jerker. It’s a sweet story of a great-grandmother with Alzheimer’s- totally tender and moving, and perfect for helping children understand the disease.

Tulip Sees America by Cynthia Rylant
If you have a 3rd grader, they’ll be learning all about cardinal directions this year- get this book. Get a map of the United States, and while you’re reading it, have your kids tell you which direction Tulip is heading. So fun.

A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck
This is a terrific read-aloud! Grandma Dowdel is unforgettable, and by the last chapter you’ll love her so much, the end of the book will have you in tears. Or maybe it’s just me…

Sister Light, Sister Dark by Jane Yolen
This is book one in the Great Alta series, there are three books in the series so far. All about girl power, these books are good for girls from 12-90+, but younger girls may be able to handle them as a read-aloud. Such a great storyline- I’ve read it a few times and each time, I can’t put it down.

Oh, if I only had time to share every favorite on my list. I’d need at least 5 blog entries! I hope you are able to read these and enjoy them.

Book of the Week — A Child's Day

I've mentioned the artwork of Ida Pearle before. I'm a big fan. So how happy was I when I found out about her new book? It's called A Child's Day: An Alphabet of Play and it is beautiful. Q is for quack — while a child marches in a parade of ducks. R is for ride — as in a ride on a zebra.





The book is full of happy colors and compositions. Great patterns and imaginative ideas. And you can snag your own hardbound copy for about 10 bucks at Amazon.

Children’s Books — by Guest Mom Jane Maynard

How can I not share my favorite children’s books on Design Mom? I think it would be a crime!



Don & Audrey Wood books are so wonderful. The stories are fantastic, the illustrations even more so. Here’s a quick list:
King Bidgood’s In the Bathtub
Heckedy Peg
Elbert’s Bad Word
The Napping House



Chris Van Allsburg is my other favorite picture book author. Again, beautiful stories & illustrations. And seriously, why does The Polar Express make me cry EVERY TIME? It’s killer.



For your adolescent daughters out there, the Anne of Green Gables series is a must read. I read all of these books when I was young and loved every minute of it. (Yes, I wanted to be Anne. I even memorized the Lady of Shalott by Tennyson. Geeky, yes. But cute, too.)



Okay, I’m not trying to be clichéd or trendy here, but the Harry Potter Books are my most favorite EVER. For those of you who HAVE read Harry, you can just stop reading here. For those of you have have NOT read Harry…please bear with me.

I know how you feel. I was reluctant, perhaps beligerent, in the beginning. I finally gave in and read Book 1. To be honest, I wasn’t much impressed. But I thought Book 2 was worth a second chance. Again, not so into it, but it did make me want to see what would happen next. By the end of the 3rd book I was HOOKED. I had to go to the bookstore THAT DAY to get number 4. They were that awesome and only got better.

So, go buy the books and get busy. In fact, here are the links so you don’t have any excuses: Books 1-6 & Book 7.

From the Archive: Book of the Week — My Father's Dragon

My Father's Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannett

I know I did a dragon book last time, but it reminded me of this one and this one is awesome. Such a great story: an alley cat convinces a little boy to stow away on a ship and rescue a young dragon. Pretty much a can't miss with any child. I love this book as an introduction to reading chapter books aloud at bedtime. The plot is not too hard to follow, the language is fairly simple and there are lots of really great illustrations to aid the imagination.

There are 3 books in the series. The volume we have has all 3. All three are good, but the first is best.

My sister-in-law Traci sent this book, along with a recording she made of the book being read aloud. We have listened to it on roadtrips a hundred times. And read the book as a bedtime story a hundred more. A really thoughtful gift.

A must have for any child's library. Good price on the 3 story volume here.

Originally published on September 14, 2006. A perfect summer read aloud book for school age kids!

TRAVEL — The World of M. Sasek — by Guest Mom Burgin Streetman

Many of you mod-savvy moms out there will already be familiar with M. Sasek. Yet, as a blogger of vintage kids’ books, if I didn’t post on him here under the realm of kids and travel on a blog with the word design in the title, I would be remiss.

Quite possibly one of the coolest mid-century children’s books authors ever, Czech artist, illustrator, and author — Miroslav Sasek — created a series of travel-related books for tots (sort of) called “This Is”. Wonderful illustrations infused with real-life historical tips and a sharp sarcasm make these a great way to introduce your kids to new places without ever leaving your living room. Some of the titles have been reissued, but for the others, you’ll have to join the search along with the rest of us.

This is Paris (1959, reissued 2004)
This is London (1959, reissued 2004)
This is Rome (1960, reissued 2007)
This is New York (1960, reissued 2003)
This is Edinburgh (1961, reissued 2006)
This is Munich (1961)
This is Venice (1961, reissued 2005)
This is San Francisco (1962, reissued 2003)
This is Israel (1962)
This is Cape Canaveral (1963) (Later published as This is Cape Kennedy)
This is Ireland (1964, reissued 2005)
This is Hong Kong (1965, reissued 2007)
This is Greece (1966)
This is Texas (1967, reissued 2006)
This is the United Nations (1968)
This is Washington, D.C. (1969)
This is Australia (1970)
This is Historic Britain (1974)



This drawing is of the Amarillo Livestock Auction from my son’s all time favorite — of course — This is Texas. Check out a slide show of art from the whole “This Is” series here. You won’t be disappointed.

Books — New or Old... It's All Good — by Guest Mom Burgin Streetman

If vintage books aren’t your thing, there are a ton of great illustrators and writers creating classics now for the next generation. Author and certified readiologist — Esme Raji Codell — keeps a wonderful blog with current (and past) recommendations worthy of any child’s bookshelf. The two Aussie mums at We Heart Books do a great job highlighting anything that is literary-related for your wee one, and they sort their picks by age so you can choose appropriately.

As for me, I love David Wiesner, Mo Willems and Christopher Wormell, but my favorite contemporary picture book author is Eric Rohmann. When August was only a year old, he wanted to hear Rohmann’s Caldecott Medal-winning book, My Friend Rabbit, over and over again. He was so enthralled with the stories and pictures of both Rabbit and The Cinder-Eyed Cats that I felt compelled to write the guy a letter (because that’s the kind of thing you do when you are book obsessed) telling him how special my family thought his talent was. Three weeks later, a box arrived on my doorstep filled with posters, an autographed copy of Clara and Asha, and a hand-doodled letter thanking us for being inspired. Needless to say, we are now his number one fans for life.



New or old, books are an important part of any child’s early development. I made a point from the moment my son first shifted in my belly to have books tucked in every corner of our house so that at a moment’s notice we could be trekking out to the hundred acre wood (Pooh) or sneaking over to the Plaza Hotel to share scones with Skipper Dee and Weenie (Eloise).

Once out in the world, August graduated out of board books pretty quick. Though some are really beautiful and teach our babies important lessons like how a cow goes and the basic ABCs, too many parents lean for too long on these books. My advice? While you have your child sitting there in your lap, still unable to run or crawl away, why not try engaging them in a longer picture book or even a chapter book? Turning your child onto full stories when they are still lap-bound will help them build an incredible attention span and become early talkers. I know sometimes is seems like life is too full to read to your kids all the time and hearing Curious George for the 120th time is mind numbing. But, trust me, if you make the commitment to seek out the books you loved as a kid, passing on your favorite stories just might help you stay engaged for a little while longer.

Books — Random Fun Picks — by Guest Mom Burgin Streetman

I find books by scouring my local hotspots and discovering titles at random, but sometimes I hear about a book that sounds so awesome… so amazing… so grand that I just have to have it right that moment or I will DIE. A friend will tell me about a great book August doesn’t possess, and it will eat me alive until I have it in my hand and am reading it aloud to him.

Here are just a few of the titles that in past moments have made me insane with greed. Perhaps they will spark a flame, and you too can lose sleep thinking about all the books out there that some child other that your own is enjoying.




OUT-OF-PRINT
1) Switch on the Night by Ray Bradbury, pictures by Madeleine Gekiere
2) The Crows of Pearblossom by Aldous Huxley, by Barbara Cooney
3) The Tyger Voyage by Richard Adams, pictures by Nicola Bayley
4) Grandpa’s Farm by James Flora
5) The Circus Baby by Maud and Miska Petersham

IN-PRINT
1) D'Aulaire's Book of Animals by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
2) Zoo by Bruce Minari
3) Summer by Alice Low, pictures by Roy McKie
4) The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse
5) A Very Special House by Ruth Krauss, pictures by Maurice Sendak

You can join me in my obsession daily at Vintage Kids’ Books My Kid Loves… but be warned. It is contagious.

Books — Eye Heart Vintage — by Guest Mom Burgin Streetman

Before I quit work to stay home with my son and have a go at writing, I spent my early career in book selling and publishing because, quite simply, I love books. I love the smell. The cut of the cover. The guts and the mysteries they hold. So when my son August was born, it was only right that I begin to build a classic book collection for him. Slowly, I picked out special gems ~ starting with Where the Wild Things Are and moving on from there. Very quickly, however, I found that buying my son all the favorites I’d loved as a child was beginning to put me in the poor house — dropping around $25 for a quality hard cover.

Even though I am somewhat of a thrift nut, it never occurred to me to buy vintage until one day – perusing at a used book shop – I stumbled across a copy of Why I Built the Boogle House written by Helen Palmer (aka Mrs. Dr. Seuss) for $1.25. Written in 1964, it is a fabulous book. A hilarious book. A classic book. It is no longer available in print and was only (did I mention?) $1.25. From there, the floodgates opened. I realized there is a world of books out there just waiting to fill my son’s imagination… at yard sales… library sales… junk shops… thrift stores… online. Books that are not only classics, but that can be purchased for as little as 25 cents if you find them before the for-profit collectors do.



That epiphany was over two years ago, and August’s collection now is somewhere in the thousands. Though my car is a veritable book mobile, and August’s many cases are stuffed two rows deep, I figure, what the hay. You can never have too many. Really, children’s books are the ultimate conduit for teaching us not just about the world, but design and illustration and how words flow from one into the next to form a perfect union of communication. They are art on the go, and inspiration in your pocket.



I do buy August new books for holidays and birthdays, just so he has some in his collection that aren’t inscribed “To Cousin Willy, Love Aunt Edna, Easter 1971”. For the most part though, he’s falling in love with books that some other child already adored. Which is a pretty sweet thought, after all.

Book of the Week — People

My mom recently posted about this book — People by Caldecott medalist Peter Spier. I was so happy to be reminded of it. We had this volume in our home growing up and I remember loving to study and stare at the detailed pictures of cultures and people from around the world. And I remember being completely fascinated that there were so many, many different sorts of people — it was definitely my first introduction to a global way of thinking.



Once, my mom was helping my Dad decorate the bulletin boards in his classroom. For one large board, she created cut outs of people based on the drawings from the book. I LOVED it. I stared at it for hours (it was probably minutes, but I was 10 or 11, so holding still at all was pretty impressive). I couldn't imagine a more wonderful bulletin board.

I think I'm going to pick up a copy for my own library.

Books — by Guest Mom Kristin Fine

My absolute favorite pastime is wonderful independent bookstores. Yes, reading too. Although this particular place in my life isn’t so great for reading — or at least remembering what I have read! Anyway. My point was that to me, a good hour in a great bookstore is like a mini vacation.

Books grab me. Sometimes the story. Sometimes the cover. Often the beauty and smell of the pages. The weight in my hand. I’ve been to independent bookstores in every city I go to and my favorite (lucky me) remains right where I live in Connecticut. Diane's Books in Greenwich is simply the best.

And not just for books for grown ups, it's also spectacular for kids. I have never been steered wrong — and often I simply start to mention a direction and they manage to read my mind. Their advice is always rich and dead on. Diane, the owner, has such a passion for books, stories and reading. She’ll even stay open late — as she did for me tonight.

I’ve been finding parallels in my preference for independent retailers that line up with the locavore movement for food. (Which as an aside reminds me of a book I love: Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. I digress again!) I try to shop locally and support my local independent retailers over the chains.

Greenwich has changed so much from when I was a child — the Five and Dime is now a Saks! As for kids stores, it is ours, Baby Gap, and Best and Co..Ugh!

Back to Diane's. She’s the best. Call her for books as gifts and for your self — and go there if you can. Come to LOVE also! Shopping locally you get an opinion, a point of view, an interaction. Probably something different and special. Quality over quantity.

So the great books I left with tonight are for kids:


Pippi Longstocking, which has always been a favorite, is now available in an edition illustrated by Lauren Child of Charlie and Lola fame. I am so excited to share this with my daughter.


The Lonely Moose by John Segal is beautiful and sweet. And funny. With a wonderful comment on friendship.


The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers is also about friendship.

And for me:
The Shadow Catcher by Marianne Wiggins. My coolest writer friend recommended this.

Red Bird by Mary Oliver is a collection of incredibly true poems. I keep it by my bed and say I’ll read 3 before sleep, but like chocolates, I cannot stop very easily. Just one more I tell myself until the chance of going to bed at a reasonable hour evaporates.

Lastly a Random:


The Backyard Birdsong Guide by Donald Kroodsma, is a true birders science book that can be appreciated by kids and adults alike. It is part bird book with pretty and clear illustrations and on the other part you press a button and have a clear perfect sound guide of the birds call. Very cool.

Books of the Week — Bob Gill

I love these books so much! And was delighted to find that Phaidon just reissued them. I think Bob Gill is a genius. He was a freelance illustrator in New York before he moved to London in 1960 — where he started a design firm that eventually became Pentagram(!). What a cool guy. I love that he has both Pentagram and awesome children's books on his resumé. Nice.

In A Balloon for A Blunderbuss a child starts with a butterfly and imagines what he could trade it for. A butterfly for a wishbone. A wishbone for a flag. A flag for a straw hat. A straw hat for a green umbrella. Until eventually he figures out a way to trade for everything-in-the-world.

In What Colour is Your World? there is a simple discussion of how different people view color. A gardener would see things in green. A milkman would see the world in white. And an artist might view color altogether differently.

The style and illustrations are perfection — authentically retro cool. These books would make great gifts for the children of any artsy parents you know.

Book of the Week — Sow and Grow

Happy May Day! I have the perfect book to tell you about — it totally feels like a May Day book. It's called Sow and Grow, A Gardening Book for Children.

And it is just delightful. All of the illustrations are vintage. Actual vintage images, not vintage-like. The book has a cloth covered spine and feels good to hold. And the information is just right. Everything a curious kid would want to know. From the names of plant parts to "how to print with leaves".

There are sections on making potpourri, growing plants from seed, forcing bulbs and branches, terrariums, and a whole bunch more.

Tina Davis is the author and she's done a lovely job. Sow and Grow would make a great reference in a school-age child's library. It's got me all excited to get out my trowel!

Yay for May!

Readable Children's Books — by Guest Mom Allysha

“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.”

So go the famous opening lines of “Winnie-The-Pooh” by A. A. Milne. I love the crew of the 100 acre wood, with an especial fondness for, I must confess, Eeyore, who is indeed woefully funny.

In college I took a class about writing children's books. It wasn't until I had children of my own, however, that I learned The Truth: many children's books are Quite Boring and Really Awful to read aloud. If you are a mother or father you know this. You know that the best kind of book is one the equally appeals to both parent and child. Which is why I like the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. My children like them. I like them. I have been known to keep the whole stack by my bed and chuckle to myself as I read through the lot. The two volumes of poetry, Now We Are Six and When We Were Very Young, if you aren't familiar with them, are as equally charming as the story books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.

Some other books I enjoy reading to my children are:

Frog and Toad...(fill in the rest of the title here, because any Frog and Toad story will do). I like Arnold Lobels' amphibians for the same reason I like Winnie the Pooh. The stories are funny and accessible to everyone involved. In fact I think these are better stories for the younger set, and yet are equally suited to keep adults completely entertained.



The Rainbow Book of Nursery Rhymes by Sam Childs. I think this book is officially out of print, but you can still find it online. It's really beautiful. And utterly readable, as nursery rhymes are.



Drummer Hoff by Ed and Barbara Emberly. With gorgeous color woodblock print illustrations, this is a fun read. It can get kind of tongue-twistery, so don't hurry through too fast!

Ballerina! by Peter Sis. Simple illustrations. Simple story. But if you have little aspiring dancers at your house, they will really love this book. I always replace the little girl's name with the name of one of my daughters, and that is always a big hit.

Book of the Week — The Lorax

Book of the Week is usually on Thursdays. But this week's selection is oh-so-Earth-Day-appropriate that I'm bending all my hard and fast rules. (Oh the chaos!)

Adriana let me know last week about the new edition of The Lorax by Dr. Suess, that just recently came out. Random House published the new edition on recycled paper and there's even a website full of related activities. All in celebration of Earth Day.



If you're unfamiliar with The Lorax here's the short version: The Lorax is the person who speaks for the Trees. And when a new resident moves to town and greedily chops down all vegetation in site, the Lorax warns about what happens when you mess with Mother Nature. And clearly the story has some legs — it was written ages before our current Eco-Chic culture was born.

Book of the Week — In A Blue Room

This is a new book at our house. In a Blue Room by Jim Averbeck with illustrations by Tricia Tusa. And it's already showing a bit of wear and tear from all the loving and handling and reading.

A story about bedtime that's a perfect bedtime story. Very calming and engaging. And not-too-long (which is crucial at the end of the day when I. Am. Worn. Out.)

Alice, who only likes blue things, is trying to fall asleep, but is having a hard time of it. Her mother brings her lovely things that engage all 5 senses, but alas, those things are not blue — until the Moon works it's magic.

The illustrations are charming and graceful with lots of little details. I especially love the image of Alice taking a deep breath of the gorgeous flower arrangement. My kids love this book.

Book of the Week: 365 Penguins

I heart this oversize picture book. 365 Penguins by by Jean-Luc Fromental, illustrated by Joëlle Jolivet. Everyday for a year a new penguin arrives at one family's home, beginning on January 1st.

Why are they coming? Who is sending them? We find out on New Year's Eve when Uncle Victor, the ecologist, arrives. And while we await the answer, there's lots of math and sorting and organizing happening — and plenty of space on each oversize page to showcase the penguin havoc as the popular increases.

The flat illustrations in black, white, orange and blue are beautiful and fit the story perfectly. A great addition to your child's library!

Book of the Week — Little Hoot

Little Hoot just wants to go to bed. But no. Poor Little Hoot. His parents require him to stay up all night and play. Play. Play. Play. He is not allowed to go to sleep until the sun rises.




And that's pretty much all you need to know, because how could a book premise be more charming than that?

Oh. And you also might want to know that the illustrations are by Jen Corace — a talent of gigantic proportions. While I save up for an original Corace, it's nice to be able to bring her work into my home right away. The book is beautiful. As further proof, I offer you the publishers name: Chronicle Books. (When was the last time you saw a Chronicle book that wasn't beautiful?)



Plus also, you might want to know that there's a sort of companion book called Little Pea by the same author/illustrator combo. Little Pea just wants to eat his dessert: spinach. But no. Poor Little Pea. His parents require him to eat 5 pieces of candy for dinner before he can have dessert. . .

Dinosaur Soup

Yesterday I received an email from Martin at Bob's Your Uncle and I just had to share. They are looking for recipe submissions written by children to be featured in an illustrated book — to be published this year. Here are some charming sample pages from the book:





Want to have your children submit something? Here’s the brief as I received it from Martin:

This should be a project without any parental help or referring to cook books, the more instinctive the recipe, the better. The child should not be corrected or advised about any aspect of the recipe, even if measurements, temperature or timing is way off (that’s what we are looking for!).

It's ok for an adult to write down the recipe as dictated, it does not need to be an illustrated page or presented in an artistic style, as we will design and layout the finished product.

Please send submissions by e mail to: recipes@bobsyouruncle.com

Too fun! I hope you send something in. I'm definitely going to see if my kids want to write one.

Book of the Week — Five Chinese Brothers

Design Mom Reader, Burgin, emailed me about her new blog: Vintage Children's Books My Kid Loves. And before I even checked it out I knew I would love it. Did I mention it was about vintage books for kids? How could I not love it.

One of the books she featured is The Five Chinese Brothers — do you remember this one? I loved it as a child!

The First Chinese Brother could swallow the sea.
The Second Chinese Brother had an iron neck.
The Third Chinese Brother could stretch and stretch his legs.
The Fourth Chinese Brother could not be burned.
And the Fifth Chinese Brother could hold his breath indefinitely.

It's fairly impossible not to be hooked after reading that. Plus, that drawing of the brother with his cheeks full of the sea — awesome. You could just feel he was ready to burst. I swear I remember every page of the book.

I can't believe I haven't added this to our library yet — and was so glad to be reminded of it. You can find a hardcover edition of The Five Chinese Brothers here.

Book of the Week — Gallop!

Design Mom Reader Shannon J, sent me an email recommending the book Gallop! I finally made some time to check it out and now I simply must add it to the family library. It sounds/looks amazing.

Since I still haven't seen it in person, I'm going to grab the well-written (anonymous?) review right off of Amazon:

"There's never before been a book like Gallop! Employing a patented new technology called Scanimation, each page is a marvel that brings animals, along with one shining star, to life with art that literally moves. It's impossible not to flip the page, and flip it again, and again, and again.

A first book of motion for kids, it shows a horse in full gallop and a turtle swimming up the page. A dog runs, a cat springs, an eagle soars, and a butterfly flutters. Created by Rufus Butler Seder, an inventor, artist, and filmmaker fascinated by antique optical toys, Scanimation is a state-of-the-art six-phase animation process that combines the "persistence of vision" principle with a striped acetate overlay to give the illusion of movement. It harkens back to the old magical days of the kinetoscope, and the effect is astonishing, like a Muybridge photo series springing into action—or, in terms kids can relate to, like a video without a screen. Complementing the art is a delightful rhyming text full of simple questions and fun, nonsense replies: Can you gallop like a horse? giddyup-a-loo! Can you strut like a rooster? cock-a-doodle-doo!

Every child who opens the book will be amazed—and so will every parent."

Are you with me? Does Gallop! sound awesome or what?

And speaking of awesome and books, the 2008 Caldecott and Newbery winners were recently announced. I'm a collector of Caldecott books and look forward to finding out the winners every year. (This year's Caldecott winner is The Invention of Hugo Cabret — a great choice, and one I reviewed here.)

Book of the Week — Alison Jay's Board Books

Aren't these board books gorgeous? Alison Jay's illustrations are inventive and beautiful.

In Alphabet (which also seems to go by ABC depending on which country it's sold in), each scene features one item (A is for apple) with several smaller a-word-objects surrounding the main item. The final scene shows everything and everyone from the book together in a non-traditional zoo. And throughout the book there's an underlying story of a man on a journey encountering objects from the book.

In Numbers (which also seems to go by 123), you'll count from 1 to 10 and back again with fairy tale characters as your companions. Watch for characters from one scene as they make appearances on further pages. So well done!

These would be a wonderful addition to your child's library and are pretty enough that you'll want to leave them out on display.



And while my brain is on Alison Jay, check out her Picture This board book as well — clearly Alison can do no wrong!

I spotted the Alphabet book on the great new blog Babyccino (4 cool mothers blogging from 4 cool cities: London, Amsterdam, Paris & Milan).

Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books — by Guest Mom Leslie

We've collected lots of fun non-fiction children's books in addition to our picture and chapter books. Whether the kids have questions about space, rain forest animals, the Great Pyramid, bog people, or the first Thanksgiving, it's fun to have a library of books at home so we can find answers together. If a book can teach and entertain at the same time, it gets a double nod of approval from me.

This book is new to our library, and I actually got it from a Scholastic Book Order from my daughter's class. I have a hard time not getting one teensy little book (or two) from those monthly pamphlets. This book is told as a story, but you can talk to your children how it is real, it's history, and they will forever know that Abraham Lincoln was a good and honorable man. This book is illustrated beautifully with simplistic, folksy oil paintings by Nancy Carpenter. But my favorite part of this book is that it teaches children about Mr. Lincoln, one of the greatest men of all time.


Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books
by Kay Winters
illustrations by Nancy Carpenter

A few of my favorite passages: "In the wilds of Kentucky, 1809, a boy was born. His mother called his Abraham, his last name was Lincoln. His bed was made from corn husks, his covers, skins from bears. His cabin built with logs from towering trees."

"As Abe grew, he talked to travelers--heard where they'd been, where they were going. He saw their world was wider than his own. His ideas stretched. His questions rose. His dreams were stirred."

This simple narrative follows Abe as he grows up, as his family moves, and his mother dies. It shows us how he eventually went "from the wilderness to the White House," as he learned that "it was unjust to own another," that "words could change the way folks thought," and as he discovered the "power of words and used them well."

I love words, too, and Ms. Winters puts them together beautifully in this book. Now you know why it's one of my new favorites. You can get it here.

Bear by Himself — by Guest Mom Leslie

What child doesn't enjoy a trip to the library? We go almost weekly, and come away with a backpack FULL of books, which my daughter has usually read by the time we get home. We also have a pretty extensive children's book collection here at the house. I hope one day we'll have a library in our house just for the kids. I buy books like I buy milk, and I have so many favorites. Some are from my childhood, and some we've recently discovered. This is my number one all-time favorite children's book, and I think you would agree with me that it is perhaps the sweetest little book ever written.



Bear by Himself
by Geoffrey Hayes

"There are times when a bear has to be alone with himself. To think his own thoughts and sing his own songs."

The small bear in this story spends one perfect day all alone, except that we readers get to come with him on his adventures. Bear is content to be all by himself, and seeks out activities that one can only enjoy when unaccompanied. His daily actions are so simple ("smelling the rain, listening to the quiet"), and so endearing, that you will find yourself, when you have come to the end of the story, with a little tear in your eye and a compulsion to go back to the first page and read it again. I'm serious, it's that good!

When I was young, my sister, Stephanie, and I would take out this book from our little library over and over again. We kept it for months at a time. The bear in the original version looks strikingly similar to her cherished childhood bear friend, and I think we both secretly hoped that if we checked this little book out enough times, eventually they would just let us keep it.

I found vintage copies of the first printing for me, my mom, and sister a few years ago. The photo above is of the newer printing, and although it is cute, the original (1976) illustrations are just charming, simple pencil drawings with hints of green watercolor splashed in all the right places.



Perhaps it's the memory of reading it with my mom as a child that makes it so special to me, but this one is a must for every children's library! You can purchase an original printing of the book here or find the newer version here.

Book of the Week — Almost Everything and Zoo-ology

A few months ago I saw both these picture books at ABC Home and have been meaning to pick them up. They are gorgeous. Almost Everything and Zoo-ology by Jöelle Jolivet.

They are extra-large and finely printed — the colors are stand out delicious. There's no story, it's just like a — what do you call it? — picture dictionary, I think. And each image is illustrated, beautifully illustrated, no photographs.

If you've ever wandered the pages of this kind of book with your baby or toddler, you already know how intensely interested they are in seeing images of the world around them. Books like these are bound to be a hit with any child. Plus — what a gorgeous statement they'd be in a Nursery or child's room.

Also available in French if you're feeling all euro.

Book of the Week: A Few New Favorites

Our house gained so many great books this Christmas that I'm going share a bunch all in this one post.



The Invention of Hugo Cabret
First of all, get your hands on a copy of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick. It's a gorgeous volume, thick and heavy, but geared toward tweens. Sort of half graphic novel/half traditional novel. It's such a beautifully made book. I love holding it in my hands. The story is excellent and the volume is winning all sorts of awards. I finished it before I handed it over to Ralph. He's in the middle of it and loves it.



Spatulatta Cookbook
I had never heard of the Spatulatta Girls until I took my kids to one of their cooking demonstrations at the Scholastic store opening a couple of months ago. But now I consider myself a big fan. The Spatulatta Girls are two young sisters who love cooking and wrote a cookbook. Good recipes for kids learning to cook and really yummy too. They were so fantastic and approachable during their demonstration that my kids couldn't stop talking about them on the ride home. We ended up with a signed copy of their cookbook under the tree and it was one of the highlights of Christmas morning.



Click
This book is written for teens. The story is fascinating. The cover is beautiful. But the really interesting part is that each of the 10 chapters was written by a different talented author — Nick Hornby, Roddy Doyle, Gregory Maguire, Linda Sue Park, David Almond, Tim Wynne-Jones, Ruth Ozeki, Deborah Ellis, Margo Lanagan, and Eoin Colfer. I gobbled this story up. It was so great to see the different writing styles and discover where the new author would take the story. A great book for the teens in your life. Extra bonus: all proceeds of this book go to Amnesty International.



The First Adventures of Incredible You
This is a recap, I know I've already written about this book, but we didn't give it to 6-year-old Olive until Christmas. She was amazed. She could not believe how these authors knew her name and her brothers' and sisters' names and so many facts about her life. It's the main thing from Christmas that she wanted to take to school for show and tell.


Star Wars Pop-up
Another recap. But I have to say, now that I've taken the time to study this book, I am more than stunned with all the detail. The pop-ups are unbelievable. The illustrations are fantastic. If you know a Star Wars fan — child or adult — they will love owning this book. Really, truly amazing.

Book of the Week — Robert Sabuda's Christmas Pop Ups

If you don't have any Robert Sabuda pop-up books in your library, Christmas is a perfect time to acquire one. Pop up books are generally non-stop fascination for children and Sabuda's are no exception. Children can't get enough of them. And neither can adults. These aren't the pop-up books we grew up with. They're a whole new level of intricacy and details. A whole new level of cool.

Mr. Sabuda has several winter/Christmas themed options.



The 12 Days of Christmas



Winter's Tale



The Night Before Christmas



Christmas Alphabet

You really can't go wrong with any of them.

And speaking of super-cool pop-up books. Look what Ralph is getting for Christmas:



Star Wars Pop-up Guide by Matthew Reinhart (one of Mr. Sabuda's pop-up colleagues).

Looky Book

Clever Laurie just sent me a link to Looky Book. A great new site that lets you view childrens' books online — cover to cover. Seriously. Every page. What a brilliant idea and useful tool. Check it out. It's still in beta and I'm sure their collection of books is growing fast.

Book of the Week: Phooey!

I just received a copy of Phooey! by Marc Rosenthal and before my kids have even seen it, I can guarantee it's going to be a favorite.

Not much text. Because it doesn't need it. The illustrations tell the whole story. And the story is this: A boy is bored. "Phooey!" he says, and concentrates so hard on being bored that he misses the very un-boring craziness happening all around him. A classic sort of story that is endlessly appealing.

The style of the drawings feels authentically retro. They are beautiful and simple. Kind of deceptively simple. As you study the picture you realize just how much is happening. Like a woman pulling an enormous canoe out of her tiny car trunk. (She doesn't even play a part in the story. She's just there being charming.) Or a pie hitting a poster of a viking heroine singing opera, landing right on the opera singer's face.

I would call this a first comic-book. As I said, the pictures tell the story. The text is made of simple dialogue and great sound effects: WHIZZ! ZOOP! SKREE! SPLOOSH! OY! And the pictures are full of so many subtle and charming details that there is something new to discover with each reading.

A great addition to your library. Find Phooey! here.

Book of the Week: Custom Book

So I ordered a book a couple weeks ago especially for my daughter Olive. It was a customized book. I've never tried something like this before and I was little skeptical about the whole thing. Were they going to throw Olive's name on every page where it would stand out as an obvious and awkward addition to whatever the original story was?

But my skepticism was wasted. The book arrived last week. And it is adorable. And I have to share.

It's called the First Adventures of Incredible You. It's written by Sarah Riley Headrick and Sarah Foreman Rivera. Illustrated by Jill Dryer Bartolucci. Clearly, Sarah and Sarah and Jill make a great team, because the book is really well done. It involved much more customization than I imagined when I started — things like your street name, your favorite park, the child's favorite dish, and on, and on. We even managed to use all four of her siblings names.

But the customizations are worked in so seamlessly, that it's pretty much like internet magic. In fact, our 10-year-old Ralph read it and was increasingly amazed, as he turned page after page, that there were authors in the world that knew his little sister so well.

In addition to the cool factor of the customization, the writing really is very sweet. And the illustrations are bright and appealing and oh so likeable.

Olive hasn't seen it yet. We're saving it for Christmas. But I know she's going to feel like a superstar when she realizes who the main character is.

If you're wanting to get one for your own special little one, type in discount code dm10 (keep it lowercase) when you place your order and you'll get 10% off through November 30, 2007.

Moonlight, the Halloween Cat — by Guest Mom Katherine Center

Moonlight, The Halloween Cat (by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet) is a new book at my house. Our neighbor brought it over the other day to read to my kids, and while she was reading, this line caught my ear:

Moonlight walks the night.
She sees lights going off in the houses.
Now only pumpkins will shine.



The language was so simple and poetic, I stopped what I was doing to listen to the rest of the book. The language reminds me of Margaret Wise Brown. Simple words, simple motion, a repetition that feels like rocking. The language is easy and elegant here. It tells the story of Moonlight, a cat whose favorite night is Halloween:

She walks, soft and black,
Over the grass, along the fences,
Through the trees.

There’s something very cozy about the book. I’m not sure how, exactly, a book about a black cat prowling around on Halloween night manages to feel cozy—but I think it has something to do with the simple and pleasant description of her travels.

Pumpkins smile at her.
Straw laps welcome her.
And children are out.
Moonlight loves children.
She follows them, but they don’t see her.
She is black, like the night.



It’s fun to think about what cats might do and where they might go after people are all tucked in. It’s immensely soothing to think of raccoons and bunnies and owls going about their nighttime business after the stars are out. Moonlight also feels so at ease moving through the night air. It’s clear there’s nothing to be afraid of, even on Halloween.



Part of the cozy feeling also comes from the beautiful illustrations. The colors are so rich, and there’s so much contrast. The night sky is a deep, brilliant blue, the jack-o-lanterns are a cheerful orange, and the yellow light just seems to overflow from the houses’ windows—balancing the cool darkness of Moonlight’s travels with all the promise of warmth and brightness waiting at home.

Ken Jenning's Alphabet Mural

Remember Ken Jennings, the guy who made headlines winning like a bazillion rounds of Jeopardy? Well apparently, in addition to knowing every possible bit of trivia in the world, he also paints awesome murals on his child's bedroom wall. What?

No, seriously, he does. He's up to "H" now and is taking suggestions for which children's book characters he should feature on the rest of the mural. What a fantastic idea. You can read his post about it on his blog.

Thanks for the tip, Heather!

Dr. Suess — By Guest Mom Katherine Center

After much struggle, here are my Top Five Dr. Seuss Books: Horton Hatches the Egg, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Sneetches and Other Stories—and, in particular the three-page story Too Many Daves (which cracks me up every time), There’s a Wocket in my Pocket, and Green Eggs and Ham.

Dr. Seuss is not news. Everybody knows him. Everybody loves him. The man wrote 44 books for children. He was a children’s book juggernaut.

But there’s a reason he wrote and illustrated all those books. He was really, really good at it. I could write about anything Seuss: His bold, charming, and totally unique illustrations. His distinctive and lovable characters. His plots, and the brilliant and accessible ways they instruct. His choice of words, both standard and made-up.



But I’m going to write about his rhymes. Man, could he rhyme. He was a genius, and that’s one of his many legacies: He’s the Shakespeare of the children’s book world.

There are a lot of children’s books that rhyme. Paying attention is a learned skill, and for little ones whose language is still developing, rhymes help keep them caught up in the story, in its sound, even if they don’t understand everything. Rhyming is a good thing. But not that many authors do it well.

Because rhyme is not just about sound: it’s about rhythm. More than anything, it’s about anticipation. It’s about setting up an expectation for the motion of the words.

Lesser writers lose the rhythm all the time. But Dr. Seuss never does. His stories are music. And I mean that literally. James Brown could bring his band to your house and back you up as you read. Reading those words out loud creates nothing short of a groove.



You remember The Sneetches? It’s just one of a hundred examples. The Star-Belly Sneetches think they are better than the Plain-Belly Sneetches—and then Sylvester McMonkey McBean comes along to profit from their snootiness. He brings machines that can remove and/or replace belly stars, and he starts a Sneetch frenzy. The story builds to this wild climax that is so fun to read:



All the rest of that day on those wild screaming beaches,
The Fix-it-Up Chappie kept fixing up Sneetches
Off again! On again!
In again! Out again!
Through the machines they raced round and about again,
Changing their stars every minute or two.
They kept paying money. They kept running through.
Until neither the Plain nor the Star Bellies knew
Whether this one was that one . . . or that one was this one
Or which one was what one . . . or what one was who.



The rhythm here is impeccable. He owns that rhythm.

All the REST of that DAY on those WILD screaming BEACHes
The FIX it up CHAPPie kept FIXing up SNEETCHes.

And then the rhythm shifts:

OFF again! ON again!
IN again! OUT again!

The accent shifts to the first word, and the exclamation points add a staccato undertone. Then a longer sentence :

THROUGH the maCHINES they raced ROUND and aBOUT again.



He shifts the accents and the rhythm without ever missing a beat—emphasizing different parts of the story, matching the sound to the meaning. It’s phenomenal. I’ve read The Sneetches a hundred times at least, and, like his others, I never get tired of it.

On the rare occasions my kids let me choose a book, I go for Seuss nine times out of ten.

The King is Naked — by Guest Mom Katherine Center

In The King Is Naked! by Bruno Gibert, a big lion gets so hot that he unzips his fur and takes it off. Underneath all that fur, it turns out, he’s a scrawny little pink guy with only a leftover crown to recommend him. He hides his fur under a bush and goes strolling through the jungle in his stripy underwear. He discovers, of course, that the jungle is not such a fun place for scrawny little pink guys to stroll. He decides to go back for his fur, but it’s gone!



It’s a great story about putting yourself in others’ shoes. The big predator spends some time as prey. And in the end, just when he thinks he’s about to be eaten by a big lion as ferocious as he used to be, the lion says he’ll spare him if he’ll promise to eat only “dog biscuits, artichokes, turkey, and grated cheese.” The King promises, and the lion unzips his skin to reveal an antelope.



The pictures are fantastic—as is the crazy use of color. The colors are wild: red savannah, yellow sky, orange and purple shadows, pale blue tree against a black night. At one point, when the little pink lion is very scared, he is pea green. Every time you turn the page, a different color dominates. A mostly red page gives way to yellow, which gives way to lavender.

But I love the language, too. Very simple, very straightforward. No frills or extra words. It has the economy of poetry. Here’s an example:

“And with the gazelles and zebras he had hunted so often thundering after him, he fled. ‘HELP! HELP ME!’ he shouted. What a nightmare!”



It’s an immensely appealing book: the fantastic illustrations, the clear language, the message. The pages turn quickly, the colors dance by, and when you get to the end you want to go back to the beginning.

Dog Eared — by Guest Mom Katherine Center

One of my favorite books in our vast collection is Dog Eared by Amanda Harvey. It’s the story of Otis the dog, who gets teased about his floppy ears one day and enters into a personal crisis of self-esteem.



A large dog calls him “big ears,” and before he knows it, he’s realizing that his ears “were quite large. HUGE, in fact. How had I never noticed?”



Suddenly, all he wants to do is “get home and sort this ear problem out.” He tries to conceal his newly huge ears: “Should I tie them up? Or gel them under? Should I tie them in a bow? Or wear them in a spiraling tower?”



Nothing looks right. Otis heads down to bed, pausing to eat some “horrible peppermint creams” along the way. But he has trouble falling asleep, and then he has nightmares about his massive, uncontrollable ears tripping him, and flying away with him, and getting caught in trees. In the end, only a kind gesture from a friend helps him feel better.



I love the illustrations in this book—gentle watercolors and very specific characters. The look of each human and dog is distinctive. Everything always seems to be in motion—braids or hems caught on the breeze. I like the story, too. A self-esteem tale. A cautionary story about how we can see ourselves with the wrong eyes.

But what I really love about this story is Otis. I love the way he looks—his floppy ears and lips. I love his earnestness and the way he’s willing to lay his feelings on the line.

In my experience, most children’s books are told in third person. But this one is told in first person. I love the “I.” I love that it’s a dog telling us this story about himself. The tone is very intimate. It’s like talking to a friend—a very nice dog friend having a bad ear day.

I’m not sure how important that self-esteem message is for my 4- and 2-year-olds. They don’t seem to have too many issues with self-esteem at the moment. But, I figure, a message like that can’t hurt. And as long as Otis is the messenger, I’ll go back again and again.

Simms Taback — by Guest Mom Katherine Center

I’m always looking for those Big Three in children’s books: story, language, and art. And in Simms Taback’s books, the story and the language ARE the art. And the art is the art, too.



The illustrations are bright and folk-y, in paint and colored pencil, with found images and collage. The pages are colorful and jumbled and exciting. The colors are strong and engaging. The pictures are rich and full of little details to notice with your kids and talk about: the back cover of This Is The House That Jack Built is jammed with drawings of power tools, labeled in type script: Screwy-Drivers, Runny Needle-Nose Pliers, Noisy Hammer, Just Coping Saw.



And the text is not a separate thing from the art. It is not typed on a little white square in some unimportant corner of the picture. The text IS the art. The letters are hand-made or collaged and they weave themselves through and shout themselves across every page. Each letter looks different. Each letter has personality. Some are block print from the newspaper, some are drawn with crayon, some are big, some are little—and they change color constantly. They are exciting. The letters themselves are exciting!



One book of his I love: I Miss You Every Day. It’s just a book about missing someone. But it comes back over and over to that refrain:

When the sun is shining bright
or when it’s wet and gray
I think about you all the time
I miss you every day

The colors of the book are so sunny—as is the plot—that it finds a way to mix cheer with sadness, hope with longing, being together with being apart. The tension between all these things, and the refrain “I miss you every day,” both give the book an energy and a rhythm that makes you want to read it over and over.



I also want to read over and over two of his books that re-energize oldies but goodies. In There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly, he uses cut-outs to show the contents of the old lady’s stomach as it fills up with: the fly, the spider, the bird, the cat, the dog, the cow and the horse. The cutout gets bigger and bigger—as does the old lady—as the visuals and the story build to up to: “She died, of course.”

And the same thing happens in This Is The House That Jack Built. Each line of text is a different color, and the pages become just as wired and nutty as the rhyme does. Near the end, it looks like a carnival, and the sing-songy rhyme keeps your little ones riveted to the story, even though, by that point, there are a lot of words on each page:

This is the farmer planting his corn
That kept the rooster that crowed in the morn,
That waked the judge all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the cheese
That lay in the house
That Jack built.

A lot of words—and great ones: crumpled, forlorn, shaven, shorn, crowed, maiden, torn. It is so fun to read out loud. Everything about the pictures says that words are important. And it’s a page-turner. The pictures, text, language and rhythm all grab hold of you—and your kids—and do not let go.



portrait of Simms Taback via Ventana

Pirate Girl — by Guest Mom Katherine Center

Now that I have kids (ages 2 and 4), I read a lot of children’s books. And it’s always such a pleasure to find ones that work on more than one level: great stories, great illustrations, great language. If I can get at least two of these things in a book, I feel lucky. If I can get all three, it’s a jackpot.

Pirate Girl by Cornelia Funke (illustrated by Kerstin Meyer, translated by Chantal Wright) is one of these books. The story rocks: It’s about a girl, Molly, on her way to visit her grandma in a little sailboat, who is captured by a band of pirates. She lives with the pirates while they wait to find her parents and demand a ransom—and they make her do all the work while they relax. At night, she slips bottles with letters for help into the sea. Finally, her mom finds one of the bottles and comes to rescue her—and it turns out her mom is the scariest pirate of them all!

It’s a great, simple plot. And it’s fun to anticipate the moment when Molly is rescued and shows those pirates who is boss. But it’s also fun to read just for the pleasure of the language. The words of the story are rich and textured. They’re fun to say. They feel good in your mouth. Here’s the opening paragraph:

“Captain Firebeard was the terror of the high seas. His ship, the Horrible Haddock, sailed faster than the wind over the waves. Whenever the Horrible Haddock appeared on the horizon, the knees of honest seafaring folk would shake like jelly.”

There are so many good consonants and great words. Like the names of the pirates: Morgan O’Meany, Bill the Bald, Willy Wooden Hand, and Crooked Carl. On page 3 alone, there are more great words than you can shake a stick at: fearsome, motley, figurehead, hammocks, and casks of rum.



If you’re going to read a book over and over, it’s nice if that book has some fun words to say. And it’s also nice if that book has amazing illustrations. And this one does. The color palette is a little muted, the pirates all have very distinctive faces, and the images are rich and complicated enough to hold little ones’ interest for a while. Plus, I just love to see Molly’s buxom mom hit the scene with her shock of red hair and her ferocious crew of lady pirates.

I always clap and shout, “Hooray! Pirate Girl!” when my kids pick this book to read.

Book of the Week: The Daring Book for Girls

My home acquired a copy of The Daring Book for Girls last week and it was an instant hit. Not a big surprise — we were already fans of The Dangerous Book for Boys and couldn't wait for the girl version to come out. It's written by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz. I know nothing about either author, but I think they did a great job.

And to be honest, I was a little worried I might not like it. Would it be too pc? Would it be too girly and assume girls mostly like to groom? Would it pretend girls are the same as boys? But my worries were unfounded. It's lovely.

Some of my favorite sections:
Make Your Own Quill Pen
Telling Ghost Stories
How to Play Four Square (My kids were totally asking me about Four Square and I couldn't remember the rules. Hooray for the book!)
How to Tie a Sari
Lemon-Powered Clock
Campfire Songs
Robert's Rules
Books That Will Change Your Life
Plus, lots of interesting women throughout history. And the French and Spanish words and phrases that every girl needs to know. And many, many, many more sections.

Oh. And the cover has this subtle glitter thing going on that is really fantastic. I've already bought two copies as gifts. A great book. Ralph finds it as interesting as Maude found The Dangerous Book for Boys. If you have both sons and daughters, you'll enjoy having both books in your home.

Available here.

Book of the Week: 101 Things You Should Do With Your Kids Before They Leave Home

My Book of the Week feature is solely dedicated to children's books, expect occasionally, like today. but I saw this book somewhere — I'm thinking on my way out of Anthropologie. (Am I remembering that wrong? Has anyone else seen this at Anthropologie?) I quickly glanced through it and made a mental note to buy a copy, which I still need to do. But I'll go ahead and share it with you anyway.

I love books that celebrate parenting and families. And I love lists. Therefore, having yet to read it, I already love this book. Available here.

Book of the Week: A Million Dots

I saw this book by Andrew Clements at the library and was so excited. I have the best memory relating to a million dots (not to this book, but to actual dots).

When dot matrix printers first came out, my dad picked one up for our home computer. We figured out we could print a million dots (5000 dots per page, 200 pages) and put the printouts all over the walls of his classroom, so his students could get an idea of what a million was. This was a big idea at the time — to actually be able to visually see, or hold in your hand, a million of something. I remember helping to hang the printouts and thinking how amazed his students would be.

And this book is the same concept only much prettier and more interesting than any dot matrix printer could produce. On each page are different bits of trivia relating to different numbers between one and a million. It's very cool. And very well art directed.

Especially good for school age kids. Available here.

Book of the Week: Freight Train

My friend Rebecca is really, really good at acknowledging birthdays. Knowing I collect Caldecott books, this year she sent me Freight Train, by Donald Crews. It arrived in an Amazon box and when I opened it, I could tell just from the cover it was my new favorite book. Why? Because the freight train's cars are red-orange-yellow-green-blue-purple. That's why.

I also love that's it's simultaneously in Spanish and English. I also love that the pictures are simple and clean and styled. There is one picture in the middle of the book of the train in motion that should be framed and hung in every busy child's home.

Freight Train has proved a hit with my 2 year old and the pictures are interesting enough that my older kids have been curious to read it as well. A beautiful book both to read and to display.

Available here.

Book of the Week: the Prince's Bedtime

Laurie M from Reading Barefoot introduced me to Barefoot Books recently and I think I'm their new biggest fan. Things I love about the Barefoot collection:

• Excellent illustration. I especially love the sewn pieces by Clare Beaton. — really great details.
• Not at the chain stores. It's nice to know there are still independent booksellers.
• Great stories. We've seen 6 or 8 books from Barefoot so far, in age ranges from baby through 10, and my kids have loved each one.

But I think the Barefoot book that has been getting the most attention at my house is The Prince's Bedtime, written by Joanne Oppenheim and illustrated by Miriam Latimer. My toddler likes the rhyme-y-ness off it. My oldest likes the cleverness of it. And I love the drawings. The King and Queen look for assistance from all sorts of people to help the Prince fall asleep, but it's the kindly old woman who know just the trick.

Artistic Picture Books — by Guest Mom Rachel Jones

When kids are ready to graduate from board books, these ones are great artistic picture books.



Bruno Munari was an incredible italian designer. I've had my eyes on his kid's work for a while. I was excited when they reprinted these in the states! Yeah for us.


For those of you unaware, Paul Rand was one of the greatest graphic design masters of our time. It is great to see that him and his wife had some play time together, creating these youthful books. These two above are the easiest to find, because they just reproduced them. I hope that they will reproduce their other great books as well.


P is for Peanut by Lisa Gelber and Jody Roberts uses famous black and white photos from the Getty collection. It is a marvelous and awe inspiring alpha-photographic book.


The Little Windy series of books by graphic designers Robin Mitchell & Judith Steedman, makes me smile whenever I see them. The quirky little handmade models and 3-D backgrounds are charming, delightful and uber modern.


I adore this book by Sara O'Leary. The storyline is quite nice and it has exceptional illustrations. It won an award for one of the top designed covers in 2005, maybe because it has a cloth spine and feels more like a handmade book — pure genius.

Board Books — by Guest Mom Rachel Jones

While looking around various stores for well-designed children's board books, most of the time I would come up with nada. It wasn't until a short time ago, that I found a few that I really fancied. Let me know if you have seen any others that are worth a gander.





The first two are by UK painter Matthew Porter who now resides in the Seattle area. 'ABC', is full of happy animal delights and teaches about the alphabet. He used acrylic paints on wood and explores beautiful color combinations, giving it a modern look with vintage charm. 'Count the Birdies' is based after the japanese woodcut style and has detailed blossoms, birdies and fabulous typography.



These two famous artist based books are by Susan Goldman Rubin and published by one of my favorite publishers - Chronicle Books. What a great way to introduce children to art history, while they are young.

Book of the Week: Blueberries for Sal

It's too easy to fall in love with Blueberries for Sal. Everything about it is endearing and captivating. We hadn't read it for awhile, but we were eating blueberries the other day and I asked my kids if they remembered the story — Oh boy did they! They practically recited the book. The basic story: Mother bear and baby bear are eating blueberries to get ready for their long winter's hibernation. Sal and her Mother are gathering blueberries to preserve for their own long winter. They meet on Blueberry Hill.

Robert McCloskey is a genius. He writes simple, sweet stories and creates amazing illustrations. This book is worth adding to your library just for the drawings on the end papers. My oldest, Ralph describes the artwork as "popping of the page". First published in 1948, it's still an ideal read aloud.

Find it here.

Book of the Week: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

I thought I had already featured this book by Simms Taback, but my son promises that I haven't. It's a great one. A family favorite.

The charming basics: Joseph has an overcoat that gets worn out. So he remakes it into a smaller item of clothing. Again and again and again. Until it's only a button. It's one the best kid-friendly examples of reuse/recycle I know of.

The illustrations are fantastic. And if you'd like to sing along (the story is based on a Jewish folk song) there are even music notes included at the back. A great addition to a family library.

Book of the Week: 2 Patriotic Selections

Independence Day is so close! I'm feeling very American. I find myself humming patriotic songs and looking forward to introducing my two youngest to sparklers. So for today's Book of the Week, I've got two American themed books for you.


First, The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong. Perfect for school age kids. 100 true (and short) stories about America. From the beginning through the most recent Presidential elections. A nice thick book.


Second, John, Paul, George & Ben, by Lane Smith. Not too factual. But very clever. And I love Lane Smith. Bonus: hardcover currently on sale for $5. John as in Hancock. Paul as in Revere. George as in Washington and Ben as in Franklin. Plus Thomas Jefferson as a bonus.

Books of the Week: Not A Box and Selma

Note: My friend Josh, a man with impeccable taste, sent me an email about two books, which I vowed to check out immediately. But weeks later, I still haven't. So I thought I would tell you about them today anyway, because I think they look fantastic. And maybe this post will be the thing that finally gets me to place a book order already. Both have great reviews at Amazon and are under $8 in hardcover. Thanks, Josh!

From Josh: I was just at the library, and I came across two really cute/well designed books you should check out.


The first: Not a Box
Cute, simple line drawings. It is about a bunny that keeps insisting his cardboard box is not a box, it is a rocket ship, a mountain, etc. Find it here.


Number two: Selma
It is one of those cute books that you would give as a gift to your mom, or a co-worker or whoever. It is about a sheep, with a simple life who is happy with her simple life. Here it is at Amazon.

Book of the Week: Sock & Glove

I'm so enamored with this book by Miyako Kanamori. I've totally got a book crush.

The cover is charming and I opened it expecting a simple but excellent how-to book, and found it was so much more. This is no skimpy volume. Before the instruction section even begins, the author spends the first 40 pages introducing us to the 13 different sock-and-glove animals — and their outfits — through a happy story and excellent photography.

The creatures, including monkeys, elephants, piglets, bunnies — even a fish, have the perfect detailing and are just too yummy for words. It's my two-year-old's new favorite book.

I can't say enough about the photography and styling. Just a really well-done book. I wish I could show you every page.

I haven't tried my hand at making any of the toys yet, but I have been setting aside potential sock candidates. I'm thinking these could be fun for my older kids to make and give to the babies. We'll see. . .

Find it here from Penguin Publishers.

A Few Favorite Children's Books — by Guest Mom Hailey Meyer Liechty

Bembo's Zoo
by Roberto de Vinq de Cumptich


It's a Spoon Not a Shovel
By Caralyn Buehner
Illustrations By Mark Buehner


The 3 Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig
By Eugene Trivizas
Illustrations by Helen Oxenbury

Book of the Week: Runaway Bunny

This is the perfect book to showcase the week leading up to Mother's Day. Made in the same era and by the same brilliant team that came up with Goodnight Moon, it's the story of a little bunny with an independent streak whose ready to test the bounds of his mother's love.

If you run away, said his mother, I will run after you. For you are my little bunny.

The little bunny is comfortable imagining pretty much any future, knowing his Mother will be there to love and support him. A sweet and gentle story and very comforting to the toddler set.

I know there's a 90% chance you already have it in your collection, but if not, it's worth adding.

Find it here.

Book of the Week: The Dangerous Book for Boys

Just in time for today's book of the week, my brother Jared (a really wonderful uncle and sometime guest blogger here) gave my son Ralph The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hall Iggulden. I had never heard of it before, but I was a believer based on the cover and heft of the volume alone. It's a beautifully put together book.

And then, I looked inside and I wasn't just sold, I was converted. It's packed full of all the information that should fill your son's head. Bits of Trivia about the world. Information on famous battles. Adventure stories of men who trekked to Antartica. The most important knots to know. Remember the Great Brain books? Well, the Great Brain, a real boy's boy, would have known all this stuff.

Ralph sat down with it and just started eating it up. "Look Mom, all the different pirate flags. Wow, there's way more than I thought. Look Mom, the 7 wonders of the world. Hey! We've seen one! Look mMom, check out this shot of the Great Wall of China. It's awesome!" And it's not just an afternoon read. It's a big, thick book. I can imagine Ralph studying it all summer long and then some and then some.

There's a really lovely interview with one of the authors on Amazon here (scroll down) where he talks about why he wrote the book and his view that the world is hurting boys by sheltering them too much. If you have a son, a nephew, or a boy who lives nearby in the 8 or older range, do get them this book — it's a treat just to have it in the house.

I would also suggest it as a perfect gift for any man about to become a father to a son. Even though he won't be able to use the book with his son for many years, I can't imagine a better way to get him excited to be a dad. This book will give him the vision of an ideal childhood that he had, wanted, or will want for his own son.

You can find it here.

Book of the Week: Eloise in Paris

It's not like the Eloise empire needs any love from me to keep afloat. But it occurred to me not every Design Mom Reader may be familiar with this series of books. Personally, I didn't grow up with Eloise. I discovered Eloise in Paris as I was browsing a book store when my oldest two where just babies. It was too old for them, but I bought it anyway because I was so charmed by the writing and the line drawings. And Eloise in Paris is still my favorite of the Eloise books — because Paris just comes off as fabulous, even through the eyes of a little girl. Plus, I love all the bits of french thrown in.

Eloise lives at the Plaza hotel in New York. Her parents are jet-setters, so she spends her life with an exhausted, but kind Nanny. Eloise talks really fast and gets distracted really easily. And I think the book is best when you can get in the Eloise mindset and feel a rush about life as you read it. If I'm honest, I probably like it more than my kids.

Eloise enjoyed her 50th anniversary in 2005. Find Eloise in Paris here.

Book of the Week: Oh What A Busy Day

I love the artwork of Gyo Fujikawa. She's illustrated/authored over 40 children's books — a Mother Goose Collection, a Poetry Collections, a Fable Collection, and on and on — and each one looks so comfortable and familiar to me. I assume this is because much of her work was originally published when I was a child.

Two things I especially love about her work: She was a real pioneer of multicultural children's books, showing children from lots of backgrounds interacting together long before it was politically correct. And her illustrations typically feature many tiny things to discover, which is something that my children seem to love.

If you do a search on Amazon, you'll see that most of her work is out-of-print, but still available from smaller booksellers. I found this copy of Oh What a Busy Day on an Ebay search.

Ask Design Mom: Books for Toddler Boys (first posted 10/25/06)

Ask-Design-Mom Question:
Amy writes: I wanted to start my Christmas shopping and was thinking about which books I could purchase for my boys, age 1 and 2 1/2. I'm at a loss. They are into all things boy. . .trucks and animals and fire engines, etc. I saw your Caldecott winner list, and purchased The Ox-Cart Man, but was wondering if you could make a Top Ten Books for Toddler Boys list or something like that. Thanks for your help!

Design Mom Answer:
So many excellent questions have been coming in lately. I love it! Just for you, Amy, I went through my library then called on two friends, Juliane and Rebecca (both mothers of 4 boys), for more recommendations. And here it is, in no particular order:

Design Mom's List of Picture Books for Toddler Boys

1 Where the Wild Things Are
2 Curious George
3 Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
4 Little Bear
5 We're Going on a Bear Hunt
6 Big Red Barn
7 Make Way for Ducklings
8 Eric Carle's From Head to Toe
9 Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
10 Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
11 Richard Scarry's Things that Go
12 Goodnight Gorilla
13 The Napping House
14 Kitten's First Full Moon
15 Are You My Mother?

Of course, there are others I've already recommended and dozens more that are awesome that didn't make my list, but I thought 15 was a good starting place. I know my readers will have many great ideas to add to these. Please do so!

Book of the Week: the Jolly Postman

I remember when this book first arrived at my childhood home. I think I was already a teenager, maybe just a tween, but I loved the cleverness of it and liked taking the time to study the details.

You get to see the Postman deliver mail to many familiar childhood friends, and that's lovely in itself. But even more fun: there are actual little letters to pull out of actual little envelopes so you can read the mail. I remember one letter from Jack, who was vacationing on a sunny island and writing the Giant, thanking him for the gold that made this little holiday possible. It's such a treat to read, full of little surprises.

In a word the book is charming. Charming concept. Charming text. And charming illustrations.




You can find it here.

Book of the Week: The Stinky Cheese Man

This book was introduced to me as a design student and if I remember correctly, we owned it before we had children. It's a collection of very short, very silly versions of the classic Fairy Tales: Little Red Riding Hood is Little Red Running Shorts. The Ugly Duckling is The Really Ugly Duckling. The Gingerbread Man is the Stinky Cheese Man. My personal favorite is the Princess and the Pea turned into the Princess and the Bowling Ball.

The stories are not isolated. Characters from one story can show up in another. The Table of Contents arrives late. The narrator takes time out of narrating to be featured in his own story. The whole story feels like it's in a hurry. If read aloud, it's a book that makes sense only when you're looking at the pictures — the text and illustration are so completely interwoven.

Lane Smith's illustration style is sort-of dirty and messy. Lots of texture. Bits of repurposed material worked into the drawings/collages. Very distinctive. Sometimes I find them a little on the dark or icky side — but my children don't see them this way at all. My son Ralph studies the illustrations and could easily identify the work of Mr. Smith long before he could actually read.

I think part of the appeal is that parents get a kick out of this book as much as children, and once kids are old enough to get the humor, they feel like they're sharing some kind of inside joke with their parents.

Jon Sieszka and Lane Smith have teamed up on a number of irreverent or slightly irreverent books and my kids seem to just eat them up. Their picture books are appealing from about age 4. Then, their collaboration on the Time Warp Trio Series with titles like See You Later, Gladiator and Your Mother was a Neanderthal, are perfect early-chapter-book-material for 2nd, 3rd & 4th graders.

available here

Book of the Week: Raggedy Ann Stories

I first picked up this book — a reproduction of the original stories first written in 1918 — because the illustrations are so beautiful. The quality and style of children's book illustrations from early in the last century are endlessly appealing to me. Plus, my children's bedrooms tend to take on a vintage vibe and this book fit in well.

But one day, we read it. And LOVED it. I felt a little bit dumb — Raggedy Ann has been a tried and true children's icon for generations, why was I surprised the stories were good? (Maybe it's because many current icons, like My Little Pony and Barbie, aren't based on stories at all.)

The writing is lovely. The language sounds a hundred years old, and I like my children to hear it. And the stories are so sweet and kind — bravery, honesty and friendship are each reccuring themes. Some of those dolls in the playroom are quite snobby to little Raggedy Ann, but she always forgives.

We also have another volume called Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees. In my opinion, it's not nearly as good as the original — maybe Johnny Gruelle sold out with the later stories when he realized he had a hit.


available here

Book of the Week: Petite Rouge

This is another book given to my children by my in-the-know friend Audrey.

Petite Rouge, a Cajun Red Riding Hood, was written by Mark Artell and illustrated by Jim Harris. Little Red is replaced by a duck, the forest is replaced by the swamp, and the wolf is replaced by an alligator named Claude.

It's a top notch read aloud — if you read the text as it stands, you'll sound like you have a perfect cajun accent. Most appealing to my 4 and older kids and best when they're wide awake, because listening children have to concentrate — the accent is thick and there a several unfamiliar words. (Luckily, there's a simple glossary at the back for those of us unaquainted with Cajun cuisine.)

The story is charming and the illustrations are terrific. Lots of humorous details: Mona Lisa as a duck, the enormous alligator in Grandma's tiny bed with her frilly night clothes on. Just a fun, fun book.



And while we're talking about Petite Rouge, I must tell you about a new-to-me website: Just One More Book. Basically, 2 friends get together three times a week at their favorite coffee shop and post podcasts discussing their favorite children's books — specifically, books that haven't received as much attention as they deserve.

One of their very first podcasts, featured Petite Rouge. It was episode 2 and now they're on episode 111. In addition to book discussions, they also feature conversations with Authors and Illustrators. You can find all their offerings by scrolling down their right margin. Expect each podcast to last 5-12 minutes and know that this site is "powered by passion" — no ads and no money to be made. What a cool site.

Put on a podcast while you fold some laundry or go through some mail and have fun getting to know some new books.


The book, like everything else in the world, is available here.

Book of the Week: The Story of Ferdinand

I have a thing for books that calm children, and this is another one.

First published in 1936 this book must be one of the most beloved children's books ever. Ferdinand is a bull who has no interest in doing bullish things. He prefers to sit under his favorite tree and smell the flowers. And then one day he gets stung by a bee and finds himself at a bullfight in Madrid.

My kids respond immediately to this character that doesn't mind doing his own thing. And they also think it's wonderful to see and read a few bits about Spanish bull-fighting. This is an especially good book read aloud.

Apparently it's been banned from time to time because of it's overtly pacifist message, so you can feel a tiny bit rebellious by putting it on your bookshelf.

Written by Munro Leaf. Illustrated by Robert Lawson. Of course, it's available here.

Book of the Week: Polka Bats and Octupus Slacks

My super-stylish friend, Audrey, introduced my kids to Calef Brown's work when she gifted us 4 of this books. Each is well-loved at our house, but today I'm going to feature Polka Bats and Octupus Slacks. Made up of 14 "stories" which are actually poems, you'll feel cooler just reading it.

One poem, Funky Snowman, is read by my husband in a kind-of hip-hop/beat box/DJ-speak manner:

Funky Snowman loves to dance.
You think he wouldn't have much chance,
Without two legs or even pants.
Does that stop Funky Snowman? No!

Turn up the music with the disco beat.
When you're in the groove you don't need feet.
Crowds come out and fill the street.
Kick it Funky Snowman!

The poem is great. My husband's performance is great. And I have the most wonderful memories of a 2-year-old Olive walking around the house repeating, "Kick it, Funky Snowman!"

The illustrations, also by Calef Brown, are silly, and folk-arty and very hip. This book is great for lots of ages — we've even given it as a birthday gift for grown-ups. One reviewer described it as "A must for uncles who want to be in the know." I fully agree.

Widely available.

Book of the Week: So You Want to be President

In our [very minor] celebration of President's Day last Monday, we made sure to pull out this book: So You Want To Be President, by Judith St. George. Illustrated by David Small.

We love this book like crazy. Even on non-minor-holidays. I totally wanted to be President when I was a kid and I would have lapped this book up. Smart, political-looking illustrations. Great bits of funny information on all the Presidents, but not the usual, boring stuff. Things like: you have a better chance of becoming President if your name is James. Or "You probably weren't born in a log cabin. That's too bad. People are crazy about log-cabin Presidents. They elected eight." The overall theme: anyone can grow up to be President.

If I remember correctly, Ralph started liking this book at age 7 or 8.

Extra bonus: you know how we dig Caldecotts at the Blair house.

widely available

Book of the Week: The Fantastic Mr. Wani

I first came upon The Fantastic Mr. Wani on an exploratory trip to the bookstore. I was looking for a gift and didn't have a particular book in mind. The cover of Mr. Wani caught my eye so I read it then and there and loved it immediately. It has become one of my favorite books to give.

The basic story: Mr. Wani is running late, trying to get to a party. He has lots of stumbles and lots of help along the way — including having balloons tied to his snout. The story is told in a very exciting way — perfect for 3 & 4 years olds. And adults will be drawn to the color scheme and illustrations. Both are fantastic. Hats off to Kanako Usui.

You can find Mr. Wani here.

Book of the Week: I Like You

Jordan posted about this book yesterday, but I think it needs an extra little shout out. And I can't think of a better selection for the Book-of-the-Week right before Valentine's Day.

My excellent freshman dorm roommate, Renae, introduced me to this book and it was my favorite gift to give for a year or two. The whole book is only about 6 inches square, so it feels gift like. The writing is smart and sweet. My heart-strings tug reliably when I read it.

From a perfect review on Amazon:
"Written in 1965 by Sandol Stoddard Warburg, it still makes the perfect present for your best friend. Not just any run-of-the-mill best friend, though. This book is for the kind of friend who yells for you when you get lost in Grand Central Station or pretends to save you when you pretend to be drowning. I Like You is simple and quirky, uses words like "snurkle," and is laden with delightful Maurice Sendak-style pen-and-ink illustrations of alligators dancing, lively children, mirth, and general goofiness."

Give a copy to your sweetheart or friend or child on February 14th, or just because everyone should have a copy.

You can find it here.

Book of the Week: Napping House

Don and Audrey Wood make a dynamite combo. We have a few of their picture books, but I think Napping House is my favorite. It's one of those books where the text builds, like This-is-the-House-that-Jack-Built, which seems to be a no-fail way to engage children in the story.

The text is charming, but the illustrations are amazing. The details are clever and the light in each illustration changes and brightens as the story progresses. The whole book is sweet and gentle and makes you smile. Really, really well done.

Widely available at any children's book store. Or you can find it here.