The Childrens Book Review » Picture Books

Review: Coral Reefs by Jason Chin

Bianca Schulze — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:53:06 +0000

By Nina Schuyler, The Children’s Book Review
Published: January 27, 2012

Coral Reefs

By Jason Chin

Reading level: Ages 5 and up

Hardcover: 40 pages

Publisher: Flash Point (October 25, 2011)

Source: Publisher

What to expect: Science, Nature, Biology, Marine life, Water

Jason Chin does something pretty wonderful in his nonfiction book, Coral Reefs: He hasn’t forgotten the wild imagination of a kid.

What makes Coral Reefs unique is that along with loads of interesting information, he’s included colorful watercolor illustrations that tell their own story. In a sense he is blurring the boundary between fiction and nonfiction. The result is something completely engaging. And this hybrid form dishes out just enough facts without overwhelming. So you learn that though coral reefs may look like plants, they’re actually animals; and at the same time, the pictures, which often take up more than half the page, tell the story of a girl who goes to the library and picks up a book about coral reefs.

You learn coral reefs are the largest structures built by an animal on earth! The Belize barrier reef is over 180 miles long!; and at the same time, the illustrations show the girl’s world transforming, with the library slipping away and turning into coral, along with sea plants and fish. “There are so many species living in reefs that they are often called the cities of the sea,” writes Chin. And the water whooshes into the library, and the girl is swept up on a wave that carries with it octopus, sea turtles, fish and more coral. Very quickly, the girl is floating underwater, exploring and learning about the city of the sea. It’s a city, Chin tells us, with “a complex web of relationships, and each has its own place in the system.”

“There are so many species living in reefs that they are often called the cities of the sea,”

After you’ve fallen in love with coral reefs and the teeming life that calls it home—“More than four thousand kinds of fish and thousands of other species have been discovered in coral reefs—more than in any other part of the ocean”—after he’s completely hooked you, Chin has bad news. The reefs, just like so many other living things, are threatened by pollution and over-fishing. Thankfully, he gives a list of things you can do to help. You can—and you’ll want to—form a relationship with the reefs.

Add this book to your collection: Coral Reefs

Nina Schuyler‘s first novel, The Painting, (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill/2004), was a finalist for the Northern California Book Awards. It was also selected by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the Best Books for 2004 and a “Great Debut from 2004″ by the Rocky Mountain News. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco and is working on a third novel.

Caldecott Medal, 2012

Bianca Schulze — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:15:28 +0000

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: January 23, 2012

Medal Winner

Honor Book

“The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.” ~ALSC

Patricia Polacco: Great Artist and Storyteller

Bianca Schulze — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:40:34 +0000

By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: January 10, 2012

Patricia Polacco

Patricia Polacco is the much-loved, award-winning author of many children’s picture books. She brings boundless imagination and her cultural heritage to her storytelling with her uniquely bold illustrations and great ability to spin a yarn. She has most recently published Bun Bun Button and Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln. The new documentary Tricia’s Michigan gives viewers a rare glimpse into her beautiful Michigan home to see her doing what she loves best, working on her books.

Nicki Richesin: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with me. My daughter and I have loved reading your beautiful books for years now. You’ve created quite a remarkable collection of children’s books. Do you consider yourself a born storyteller?

Patricia Polacco: I don’t know that story tellers are born. I think I was shaped into one by being raised by amazing story tellers. My dad was a wonderful story teller, his family was Irish. My mother’s people were Russian and Ukrainian, natural story tellers. So I literally, inherited it from both sides.

You’ve talked of the huge influence your grandparents had on your life and the cultural legacy they left you and your family. We’ve enjoyed reading your many books about doting grandparents who teach important lessons to their grandchildren (such as The Bee Tree, Babushka’s Doll, and Thunder Cake). My best friend read When Lightning Comes in a Jar to my daughter and actually started weeping as she read it. How do you convincingly convey your grandparents’ wisdom to future generations?

I guess I am relating how it happened to me. You can be convincing when you are telling a memory that is true.

You studied iconography, received a Ph.D. in Art History, and used to restore icons for museums. In your illustrations, you have recreated some truly stunning images. You’ve also inserted actual photographs of the people you’ve known and loved in your books. How did you replicate this art work as you did with Russian art in Rechenka’s Eggs and Babushka’s Mother Goose?

You color xerox it and keep reducing it in size until you have the size you want and then simply paste it into the artwork.

You lived in Oakland, California for many years and then decided to move back to your childhood hometown Union City, Michigan. How did living in the San Francisco bay area influence your work and how has returning to Michigan again after all these years changed, if at all, how you work?

Well obviously, living in Oakland, the multiculturalism of that life influenced how I wrote. I don’t know that it has changed how I work. If anything, it has added a richness due to the absolute difference of living here. Small town compared to big city.

In your new book, Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln, you tell a time travel story about two little boys who meet President Lincoln during the Civil War. I got chills when the boys show him a penny with his profile on it and tell him that one day there will be an African-American president. I know your home at Meteor Ridge Farm was once part of the Underground Railroad and briefly visited by President Lincoln. Did you feel his spirit move you to write this book?

In a strange way, yes. I was also influenced by taking many, many train trips through Harpers Ferry, which is the setting for the story. But I have been a Lincoln scholar for years.

I’m told your latest book Bun Bun Button was inspired by a young fan who gave you her much-loved stuffed animal at a reading. I know other children’s book authors, like Beverly Cleary, have been similarly inspired by letters or by meeting their fans. You also host bi-annual events, like the Meteor Festival, at your home for your devoted readers. Could you tell us a little bit about your relationship with your fans and how they have inspired you in your work?

Just a correction here; the little girl, Morgan, did not “give” me her Bun Bun, she let me hold it briefly. I do between 150 and 200 school visits a year and you can’t help but be inspired when you are around young people. I am inspired everyday by observing things that children do and think and say.

You’ve written so many award-winning books. Is there a story you’ve been longing to tell that you haven’t written yet?

I have a wonderful Christmas tale that I am going to be writing in the next couple of months that is a grand tale that I have wanted to write for years. It is called Gifts of the Heart and is a personal story of my childhood.

I recently read your marvelous Babushka Baba Yaga to my daughter and it was the first time I had read a version of this story wherein Baba Yaga was a kind and sympathetic character. How did you come to create this story?

I took 50 American school children one summer with me to Russia. We were doing an art camp in a small village about 60 miles north of St. Petersburg. These children ranged in age from 9 to 17 years old. They had preconceived ideas, as most Americans did, about what Russians are like. So in a real sense, they believed all Russians were like the original Baba Yaga that appears in so much folklore. I took these kids for a walk through a dense forest and we started talking about the legends of the Baba Yaga. I put the notion to them, what if everything we read about her is a lie? Just as everything they had heard about Russians, they were discovering was quite untrue. This inspired a version in my heart of a Baba Yaga who had been completely misunderstood and demonized by vicious rumors and untruths.

A documentary called Tricia’s Michigan has just been released about your life and work in your hometown. It received a starred review from the School Library Journal and gives viewers the rare opportunity to enter your everyday life. Could you tell us a bit about how this project came about and your experience making the film?

The young filmmaker, Evan Polivy, is the son of a former book store owner that I have known for the last twenty-seven years. He contacted me and asked if he could bring his crew to my farm and collect film footage for a video. I jumped at it because I have known him since he was a little boy. I was stunned at the professionalism and the questions that he asked. I think he got a very real slice of life while he was here and put it together so beautifully.

What projects are you working on now and what can we expect to read from you next? What gives you the most satisfaction about your work?

The project I am working on as we speak is the prequel to The Keeping Quilt. It is called The Blessing Cup and describes Anna’s life during the pogroms in Russia and why the family was forced to leave and come to America. I am also working on new chapters to be added to the existing end of The Keeping Quilt, bringing it up to current times.

The Art of Miss Chew is about a wonderful art teacher that changed my life. This book is being released in April of this year. Also, Bully, which is about cyber-bullying among 6th grade girls. I believe that comes out this fall. Coming after that will be The Keeping Quilt and The Blessing Cup and also a biography of Clara Barton. My first young adult novel about the Holocaust, called The Pishky Box, will be coming out in a year or two.

What gives me the most satisfaction about my work? I guess the completion of it, leaving a record here that is going to last longer than my flesh and bones.

Nicki Richesin is the editor of four anthologies,What I Would Tell Her: 28 Devoted Dads on Bringing Up, Holding On To, and Letting Go of Their Daughters; Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers Reflect on the Mother-Daughter Bond; Crush: 26 Real-Life Tales of First Love; and The May Queen: Women on Life, Work, and Pulling it all Together in your Thirties. Her anthologies have been excerpted and praised in The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, Redbook, Parenting, Cosmopolitan, Bust, Salon, Daily Candy, and Babble.

Interview with Bestselling Author & Illustrator LeUyen Pham

Bianca Schulze — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:48:43 +0000

By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: January 9, 2012

LeUyen Pham

Bestselling author and illustrator, LeUyen Pham, began her career as a layout artist for DreamWorks Feature Animation. She wrote and illustrated All The Things I Love About You and Big Sister, Little Sister and is the illustrator of numerous other picture books. LeUyen maintains a blog with regular updates about her forthcoming titles. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, artist Alex Puvilland, and two sons.

Nicki Richesin: You made a rather dramatic exit from Saigon when you were two years old. Does your Vietnamese ancestry influence your work at all?

LeUyen Pham: I don’t think it does in the way that you mean. I never studied Vietnamese art in school, nor did we ever have much in the manner of art around our house. We were an immigrant family, refugees, and art was not a big part of our childhood. But I think the Vietnamese work ethic has definitely affected how I work. I’m one of those illustrators who will remained strapped to the drawing for days on end if somebody doesn’t stop me, and I have a hard time separating what I’d call from what I’d do on my own free time anyway. If I’m not staying busy, I tend to go a bit nutty. I think my mother was the same – she always seemed to be juggling multiple jobs, multiple projects. Sundays were no more or less a day of rest than Mondays for her.

Your first book (that you wrote as well as illustrated) was the lovely Big Sister, Little Sister. Why did you want to write this book for your sister?

LP: That book is so funny to me. It was originally written as a birthday present for my sister, laced with vignettes and comments that I thought only she would understand and find funny. We were on vacation together in Italy when I gave it to her. I remember we had just gotten into a big fight, too, about where to eat dinner. We had returned to our hotel room, and we were both being pouty. I tossed her the gift, rather off-handedly, saying something like, “Well, here’s your present anyway.” And she opened it, read it, started crying. And then we both got all emotional together, and went out for a gelato.

I hadn’t intended for it to be published, but when one of my editors first saw it, she immediately wanted to send it to print. I guess that’s the beauty of that particular book, the theme is so universal and relatable that I could have written it for any sister out there. But in the true theme of the book, once it was published, my sister called me up to ask for her share of the royalties. Sisters!

You’ve illustrated picture books for some very famous authors like Archbishop Desmond Tutu (God’s Dream) and Julianne Moore (the Freckleface Strawberry series). Did you collaborate with them on these projects or did you have the freedom to interpret their work in your own way?

LP: In both cases you mentioned, I was lucky enough to have some very smart and considerate editors who sort of let me have at it first. I think it was for my own protection more than anything, and probably a good thing, as I was admirer of both authors. In the case of Freckleface Strawberry, I was actually living in Paris for a while, and sketched her at cafes. Consequently, she’s a pretty savvy fashionista. Julie seemed thrilled with how I’d interpreted her, and that cemented our trust in each other as author/illustrator. Now Freckleface comes so easily to me, in terms of her emotional responses and gestures that I don’t think even my editor would suggest too many changes.

With Archbishop Tutu, I found an equal amount of liberty. In fact, I even recall an instance where the editor called for a change to an image that she found to be too controversial, I think it was an image of children praying in different manners around the world. I was asked to remove them from the thumbnails, but when Archbishop Tutu saw them missing, he insisted that the image be returned. So he was sort of my partner-in-crime, on that one. In fact, his daughter Mpho Tutu, who is a reverend in her own right, loved that particular piece so much that I gave it to her as a gift.

Could you walk us through the first steps you take when you begin sketching and dreaming about the book you’ve agreed to illustrate? How do you choose the books you want to work on?

LP: My main requirement is that on the initial reading of the manuscript, I have to immediately have a vision of the story in my head. That sounds simple enough, but you’d be surprised at the number of manuscripts out there that are visually very limiting. Stories with excessive word counts, embellishments, over-whelming descriptions, are always turn-offs. I always find that the best picture books operate on two tracks – the oral rhythmic speech (the story ALWAYS has to read well aloud), and the parallel visual story. Sometimes the two aren’t telling the same story, though they’re servicing the same script. Or for instance, in a book I completed just recently called Vampirina Ballerina (Hyperion Books for Children), the story is actually an instruction manual for a vampire who would like to become a ballerina (i.e. “Take night classes,” “You won’t be able to look in the mirror for proper form,” “Don’t bite the other students”). But the accompanying visual story is really about a young outsider who finds a way to achieve her goals without losing her identity. The emotional resonance I put in the character reflected me as a child, never quite fitting in, being an AWFUL ballet dancer, and wearing a bathing suit rather than a leotard to class. Finding that emotional turning point for me was key to making the manuscript more than it was.

You’re a mentor with the Motivarti Mentors Program. How important is it to you to make time to encourage and help young artists?

LP: I used to teach a while back, but found that it was actually extremely difficult to motivate others while maintaining my own identity as an artist. When you teach, the energy level required is extremely high, and you come home exhausted and not wanting to do your own work. I had to stop teaching as a consequence, but I’ve really really missed it. So when I got emails from students and young artists looking for advice, I’m always very keen on giving lots of advice if I can. With two young kids, that’s not always the easiest thing to do, but I try. I remember how important mentors were for me as a fledgling artist, and how much their words carry weight even to this day. I’d hardly expect my own words to be so far-reaching, but nowadays, it’s such a difficult business, and any words or advice I can offer up I will. Although sometimes students won’t like what I have to say! As a teacher, I think I had a reputation for being rather critical. But my goal in critiques was not to give the students my own opinion, but to get them to give theirs, to self-analyze and improve their work on their own. Because of course after you graduate, you’re facing that drawing table alone!

Your husband Alex Puvilland is also an artist. Do you ever work together and if so, do you have any future projects percolating?

LP: Besides our two kids you mean? Which believe me, are projects unto themselves. My husband and I used to work in animation together, actually, back in the day when we were young students fresh from school. The first time I met him, he didn’t speak much English, but he was already an amazing draftsman. We didn’t get together until years later. And we only started working on a joint project about five years ago. I had been offered the manuscript for The Prince of Persia by Mark Siegel. I had never worked with him personally before but he had seen my work when he was a designer at Simon and Schuster. I had illustrated a book there called Twenty One Elephants by Phil Bildner, a historically based picture book based in Brooklyn about the Brooklyn Bridge. I must have really impressed Mark with that book, because I had completed in record time, about three months from when I was handed the manuscript to when I delivered the art. I think it was my speed that affected him the most, because when he offered me the script for Prince of Persia, he warned me that it came with a deadline of nine months. It was a 180 page book! I don’t think he offered it to many artists, because I think most artists would have thought him crazy. And honestly, if I were more of a sane person, I would have felt the same. But for some reason, the only reason I thought of rejecting it was because at the time he offered me the script, I was two months pregnant and hadn’t told anyone in the publishing world yet. I talked it over with Alex. He works as a production illustrator for Dreamworks Feature Animation. His first love, however, has always been comics, having been raised in France where graphic novels are read as commonly as any other novel. While we were discussing the offer Mark had made me, I realized that Alex would be the PERFECT person to illustrate this story with. Not only is he an amazing artist with a very acute gift for storytelling, but he was also a true comic book connoisseur. So what that we had never worked on a project together before? And with Alex at the helm, we would be sure to make the deadline. Alex was hesitant at first to do it—probably wisely more concerned than I about us working together. But he finally agreed, and we suggested it to Mark, who was immediately enthusiastic about it. Mark had been looking for an excuse to work with Alex for a while anyway, and this would be a good point to start. And between the two of us, we managed to not only make the deadline, but we also turned the book in a couple weeks early. This, of course, was mostly because the due date of the book coincided with the due date of our baby. We had many many arguments about story interpretation to design and our artist egos were definitely bruised along the way, but over all, it was great practice for having a baby. We were forced to make decisions together, we learned how to compromise, and we felt the inexplicable pleasure of having accomplished something we both were proud of.

Following Prince of Persia, Mark offered us another manuscript by the same creator, Jordan Mechner. This was to be a massive endeavor, a historical graphic novel about the Templar Knights called Solomon’s Thieves. I think the title has changed, but what started out to be a three book collection has turned into a whopping 400+ book. We’re just finishing it up now, and I can tell you it’s a whopper. I think we’d like to work together again, as it’s a lot of fun to work with your partner on things. We’re one of those really rare couples who can work very well together (thank goodness!).

You recently published Freckleface Strawberry: Best Friends Forever. Freckleface Strawberry has been made into a musical. Have you seen it and what can you tell us about it? Were you at all involved in the production?

LP: I did see it, when it had its official opening. Julie was there, red-carpet and all. It was really weird to see, to be honest! In a good way, of course. I think I’m considered an official creative partner, but really I got to view some of the set designs and sign off on them. I didn’t really know what to expect until the curtain went up, and there was my book, blown to larger-than-life size on the stage. And there were props and costumes, all inspired by the book. It was surreal! I felt like asking if I could take some of the props home! The musical is great, amazingly fun, and the main character has been interpreted in such a lovely way. I kind of wish that if the book goes into a T.V. series, they could get the main star of the musical to do the voice. And of course, the set designer and the director spoke with me afterwards, and told me how capturing the look of the book was their main goal in the design. It was really pretty cool. Even now, I get friends in New York texting me or emailing me photos of Freckleface on bus stops, posters, kiosks, etc.

With which authors would you most like to work? Do you have any books you’re still dreaming of illustrating?

LP: Of course! I’ve got lots and lots of ideas I’d like to bring out. It’s taken me years, but I think I’ve finally reached a point where I’m focusing on my own stories. I think I’ve never felt as comfortable with words as I am with a paintbrush. But I’m not finding that my pictures are driving the stories so much more now, and I even find myself wanting to change some of the manuscripts I’m given. So that’s definitely a sign to write my own stuff. I’ve got one I’m working on next year called There’s No Such Thing As Little (Bloomsbury), a sort of concept book about little being a state of mind. And I’m working on a manuscript about an octopus at the moment. And just lots and lots of ideas. As for other writers, there are too many to count. I’m illustrating a book for Jerry Spinelli next year, which I’m looking forward to. But what’s funny is that I’d love to illustrate a book for someone outside of the world of children’s writers. I keep wishing Diablo Cody would send me something. Or if David Sedaris ever felt like having one of his animal tales illustrated, I’d beg for that job.

Is it true that you have a pet monkey?

LP: Only if you count my husband. And now two little boys too.

Review: The Woods by Paul Hoppe

Bianca Schulze — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:56:03 +0000

By Nina Schuyler, The Children’s Book Review
Published: December 29, 2011

The Woods

By Paul Hoppe

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Hardcover: 44 pages

Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 4, 2011)

Source: Publisher

What to expect: Bedtime, Boys, Animals, Fear, Emotions

A good story finds some way to surprise. In Paul Hoppe’s The Woods, the narrator, a small boy, has lost his bunny and can’t go to sleep without it. In the first pleasing surprise, the boy doesn’t look in the obvious places. No, he must gather his supplies and look for his bunny in the woods.

There, he immediately encounters “a BIG, SCARY, BROWN BEAR!” Of course there are echoes here of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, but this is tamer, gentler, milder. The bear turns out not to be scary at all. The bear is “just afraid of the dark.” So the boy shares his night-light with him. (You’ve got this nice sharing element threading through the story line). The logic is set—stereotypes will be turned on their heads. The bear and the boy next encounter two scary giants, who turn out to be bored. So the boy shares his bedtime story with them. And so the journey goes.

In the same way the story turns on itself, so do the pictures. On one page, a picture of a big scary bear with huge teeth and claws; on the next, the bear is small, subdued, sitting on a log, looking frightened. The fire-breathing triple-headed dragon takes up more than half the page when you first encounter it. But on the next page, when we learn the dragon just suffers from a stomachache, it is drawn small, with droopy necks. The picture of the big, hairy, scary monster at the end is quite beautiful, done in watercolor blues with huge white teeth and big eyes and claws. By the end, the bunny is found, the monsters subdued and transformed (one more great surprise here!) and the boy can finally go to sleep.

Add this book to your collection: The Woods

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Books About Toys

Bianca Schulze — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:35:38 +0000

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: December 21, 2011

‘Tis the Season for Toys.

Toys are the heart and soul of every child’s playtime. The following books bring the world of toys to life through story, adventure and impressive artwork, offering children an opportunity to explore and expand their wild imaginations to infinity and beyond.

Click on the images to learn more about each title.

Ages 6+

Ages 4+

E-mergency! By Tom Lichtenheld & Ezra Fields-Meyer

Bianca Schulze — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 07:18:33 +0000

Reading level: Ages 5-8

Add this book to your collection: E-mergency!

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Video courtesy of ChronicleBooks: “It’s an E-mergency! The letter E took a tumble and the only way to get her back on her foot is for people to stop using her. But who can take her place? The other letters have to make a decision ASAP. Z is too sleepy and Y asks way too many questions. Thankfully, O rolls in to try and save the day. Now E can rost up and got bottor . . . as long as ovorybody follows the rulos. Chock-full of verbal and visual puns, this zany book by Ezra Field-Meyer and New York Times bestselling illustrator Tom Lichtenheld is sure to tickle both the brain and the funny bone.”

Books for Christmas

Bianca Schulze — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:48:35 +0000

Best Kids Christmas Books of 2011

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: December 6, 2011

Home for Christmas

By Jan Brett

A new holiday favorite about the importance of family and working together. Jan Brett’s clever storytelling begs to be read aloud while eyes devour her wonderfully detailed illustrations. More wintery, holiday favorites from Jane Brett: The Night Before Christmas and The Mitten. (Ages 3-5)

The Carpenter’s Gift: A Christmas Tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree

By David Rubel; illustrated by Jim LaMarche

David Rubel, a children’s historian, captures the essence of giving and charity, showing the importance of compassion during the holidays. The colored-pencil illustrations by LaMarche are evocative of the 1930′s era, depression time, and warm the sol with their glow. (Ages 5-8)

A Bad Kitty Christmas

By Nick Bruel

Bad Kitty is a little on the greedy side; however, with the help of an old friend and a new friend, he learns the true meaning of Christmas. Bruel’s alphabetical and lyrical format combine well with the busy and entertaining illustrations that fill the pages with a comical and epic Christmas journey. A Bad Kitty Christmas is for those that enjoy a good giggle. (Ages 4-8)

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

By Barbara Robinson; illustrated by Laura Cornell

Based on her 1972 bestselling novel, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, popular author Barabra Robinson delivers an amusing picture book about the Herdmans family (“the worst kids in the history of the world”), who single-handedly capture the true meaning of Christmas with their candid interpretation. Bestselling illustrator Laura Cornell, who is well known for her artwork in actor/author Jamie Lee Curtis’s books, adds to the authenticity of the Herdmans candidness with her pictures that are purposefully unruly and farcical. This book is lots of fun. (ages 4-8)

The Story of Christmas

Illustrated by Pamela Dalton

Pamela Dalton has masterfully created intricate artwork using her paper-cutting scherenschnitte skills to bring the Nativity story from the King James Bible story alive. This is a great selection for those that are looking for a respectful, spiritual book. (Ages 4-8)

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Illustrated by Laurel Long

This is a splendid visual celebration of one of the most beloved Christmas carols, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Adults and children alike can get joyfully lost in the detailed oil painting illustrations as they search for hidden gifts from each of the previous verses. Destined to be a family favorite. (Ages 3+)

A Christmas Goodnight

By Nola Buck; illustrated by Sarah Jane Wright

Nola Buck has written a sweet, rhyming Christmas story that doubles as a bedtime book for young readers. The illustrations are charming and offer a gentle visual introduction to the traditional Nativity story. (Ages 2+)

The Helpful Elves

By August Kopisch; illustrated by Beatrice Braun-Fock

The Helpful Elves is a classic German tale with a cautionary message that will discourage children from unnecessary investigation into the lives of elves. The retro illustrations are enhanced by ten die-cut elves, each with their own little personality, that are perched at the top of each page. This is quick read that lingers on the mind well after the last page has been turned. (Ages 3-7)

Here are a couple more suggestions for the youngest readers in your family: Santa’s New Idea by Nina Chen, What am I? Christmas by Anne Margaret Lewis, and Duck & Goose, It’s Time for Christmas by Tad Hills.

Add these books to your collection by clicking on the book cover images above.

Source of books: Some of these books were provided by the publishers. Submissions are evaluated based on the following particulars: literary value, illustrative quality, and over-all presentation. Our reviews are always positive because we only appraise those books with the strongest potential impact on the reader.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Creating the Images

Bianca Schulze — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 07:07:18 +0000

Reading level: Ages 5-8

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Video courtesy of ChronicleBooks: “Artist Pamela Dalton demonstrates how she created the intricate paper-cut illustrates for Brother Sun, Sister Moon, a reimaginging of St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Animals by award-winning author Katherine Paterson.”

The Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz

Bianca Schulze — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 21:02:56 +0000

Reading level: Ages 3 and up

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Video courtesy of MacmillanChildrens: “Watch this book trailer video and see The Babies on the Bus sing la la la! The Babies on the Bus is a picture book for children by best-selling author and illustrator Karen Katz. Follow along as this adorable children’s picture book comes alive in this video!”