ejp626 Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 (edited) I thought that I would share some of the non-jazz related children's books that I've run across lately. I'm generally focusing here on books that I think are notable or hold some interest for me above and beyond the rewards of reading to my children. I'm also not covering the obvious kids' books: Dr. Seuss, Curious George, Paddington and so on. Probably everyone that reads to children is aware of Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day, but he actually wrote many more. In fact, I don't know exactly how many he wrote about the urban world of Peter and his friends, but I have roughly 12. The background art gets very complex in some of these, with perhaps the ones with the most visual interest being Apt. 3, Dreams and The Trip. Another book with a somewhat simpler story line but absolutely stunning pictures is The Night Eater by Ana Juan. I went ahead and ordered this just for the gorgeous illustrations. I'm a little more on the fence with The Goodnight Train by June Sobel. The rhythm is cathy and the pictures are nice, but this is one that is more for the kids than for me. Several of these are books I checked out from the library and decided that the kids enjoyed them so much, and I got something out of them, so I ordered them. The Great Blueness by Lobel falls into this category. It has the added advantage of teaching kids about the primary colors. Finally, The Great Alphabet Race by Campbell is one that I remember well from my childhood, but nostalgia aside I think it is actually a pretty interesting book. Here's a recent review: Alphabet Race review It is out of print, but it isn't very hard to come by. So those are the books that I thought I would start with. If there is interest, I might add a few others that I have enjoyed (these tend to be the ones I steer the kids towards). Edited March 13, 2009 by ejp626 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownian Motion Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 I thought that I would share some of the non-jazz related children's books that I've run across lately. I'm generally focusing here on books that I think are notable or hold some interest for me above and beyond the rewards of reading to my children. I'm also not covering the obvious kids' books: Dr. Seuss, Curious George, Paddington and so on. Probably everyone that reads to children is aware of Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day, but he actually wrote many more. In fact, I don't know exactly how many he wrote about the urban world of Peter and his friends, but I have roughly 12. The background art gets very complex in some of these, with perhaps the ones with the most visual interest being Apt. 3, Dreams and The Trip. Another book with a somewhat simpler story line but absolutely stunning pictures is The Night Eater by Ana Juan. I went ahead and ordered this just for the gorgeous illustrations. I'm a little more on the fence with The Goodnight Train by June Sobel. The rhythm is cathy and the pictures are nice, but this is one that is more for the kids than for me. Several of these are books I checked out from the library and decided that the kids enjoyed them so much, and I got something out of them, so I ordered them. The Great Blueness by Lobel falls into this category. It has the added advantage of teaching kids about the primary colors. Finally, The Great Alphabet Race by Campbell is one that I remember well from my childhood, but nostalgia aside I think it is actually a pretty interesting book. Here's a recent review: Alphabet Race review It is out of print, but it isn't very hard to come by. So those are the books that I thought I would start with. If there is interest, I might add a few others that I have enjoyed (these tend to be the ones I steer the kids towards). My kids loved Arnold Lobel, and so did I. His "Frog and Toad" series are subtle lessons in friendship, while "Mouse Tales" and "Mouse Soup" are fables, and amusing to a wide age range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Weiss Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 (edited) My aunt was art director for Greenwillow Books so I had a chance to meet several authors like Arnold and Anita Lobel, Donald Crews, Ann Jonas and Peter Sis. Edited March 13, 2009 by Michael Weiss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted March 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 My kids loved Arnold Lobel, and so did I. His "Frog and Toad" series are subtle lessons in friendship, while "Mouse Tales" and "Mouse Soup" are fables, and amusing to a wide age range. I definitely enjoy Frog and Toad and so on, but I don't put them in the obscure category. If you do get a chance to look at The Great Blueness, you should. The illustrations are just incredible, very detailed and fascinating. This page doesn't really do it justice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 When I was "wee", was a big fan of the works of D. Manus or Daniel Pinkwater... THE BIG ORANGE SPLOT FAT MEN FROM SPACE LIZARD MUSIC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownian Motion Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 (edited) Edited March 13, 2009 by Brownian Motion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 The Cat Who Thought He Was A Tiger by Polly Cameron (1956) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted March 14, 2009 Report Share Posted March 14, 2009 "The Little House" by Virginia Lee Burton. Probably well-known at one time, but rather obscure now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted May 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Two more cat books that I find interesting for the art work (and maybe I am not so subtly trying to condition my kids to want a cat when my wife keeps selling them on a dog ). The Calabash Cat by James Rumford and Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein and illustrated by Ed Young. Wabi Sabi is in the general tradition of Muth's Zen Shorts (itself a pretty cool book) though the concept is a little harder to put my head around. Still very nicely illustrated. I'm definitely leaning towards picking this one up. There is actually a fairly interesting backstory to this where the original illustrations were lost (and recovered much later after the artist did them all over again). He feels that the new illustrations far surpass the original ones: Ed Young interview Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostasi Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serioza Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 (edited) by Waldemar Spender & Karl Heinz Appelmann Edited May 29, 2009 by Serioza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted November 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2009 These are pretty clever poems about the classic Hollywood monsters (Frankenstein's monster, Wolf Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon and so on). Now that Halloween is over, they should be back at the public library! Anyway, I'll definitely be checking out more by Adam Rex. One warning is that The True Meaning of Smekday is a long book for upper-level readers, which I found out after ordering the book. C'est la vie. I'll get to it eventually with the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted November 14, 2009 Report Share Posted November 14, 2009 (edited) "The Little House" by Virginia Lee Burton. Probably well-known at one time, but rather obscure now. She was the best. Also the writer/illustrator of "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel," and "Katy and the Big Snow," both of which, like "The Little House," won the Caldecott Medal. My favorite is her 1962 "Life Story," subtitled "The Story of Life on Our Earth from its Beginning Up to Now," in which the saga of our planet is presented as a sort of play, with each amazing illustration depicted within a proscenium arch. It took her eight years, she claimed, to research this amazing book, which I am very happy to see is still in print. Edited November 14, 2009 by Kalo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted November 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2009 (edited) My favorite is her 1962 "Life Story," subtitled "The Story of Life on Our Earth from its Beginning Up to Now," in which the saga of our planet is presented as a sort of play, with each amazing illustration depicted within a proscenium arch. It took her eight years, she claimed, to research this amazing book, which I am very happy to see is still in print. That's pretty obscure. But definitely worth checking out. Thanks. My son is starting to find science interesting (thank you TMBG!) so I will check this out and probably order it. I am particularly intrigued that the one in print (a Nov. 2009 edition!) is an updated edition. What could that possibly mean, I ask myself. I will try to find out who did this updating before I decide which edition to get. Edit: Most likely it was her son according to this article: jump If it is just updating the text about the natural science a bit and not tinkering with the illustrations, I can probably go with that. Edited November 14, 2009 by ejp626 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted November 14, 2009 Report Share Posted November 14, 2009 My favorite is her 1962 "Life Story," subtitled "The Story of Life on Our Earth from its Beginning Up to Now," in which the saga of our planet is presented as a sort of play, with each amazing illustration depicted within a proscenium arch. It took her eight years, she claimed, to research this amazing book, which I am very happy to see is still in print. That's pretty obscure. But definitely worth checking out. Thanks. My son is starting to find science interesting (thank you TMBG!) so I will check this out and probably order it. I am particularly intrigued that the one in print (a Nov. 2009 edition!) is an updated edition. What could that possibly mean, I ask myself. I will try to find out who did this updating before I decide which edition to get. All my sources say she died in 1968. She was born in 1909, so this is her centennial year! I'm not familiar with the updated edition, though I'm curious to check it out. I own a copy of the original 1962 hardcover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 "The Little House" by Virginia Lee Burton. Probably well-known at one time, but rather obscure now. She was the best. Also the writer/illustrator of "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel," and "Katy and the Big Snow," both of which, like "The Little House," won the Caldecott Medal. My favorite is her 1962 "Life Story," subtitled "The Story of Life on Our Earth from its Beginning Up to Now," in which the saga of our planet is presented as a sort of play, with each amazing illustration depicted within a proscenium arch. It took her eight years, she claimed, to research this amazing book, which I am very happy to see is still in print. Yes, I used to read it regularly to my kids as a bedtime story. In fact, all her books were in heavy rotation in my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 I remember when I was younger reading a bunch of "big little books" that belonged to my dad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BERIGAN Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 Next to the Cat in the Hat books, the one I remember most vividly was Lamont the Lonely Monster. Anyone remember this book??? Seems I will have to pay a lot if I ever want a copy again! A review of it, if it rings any bells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Moments Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 this is an old favorite of mine!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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