Book 155

The Cow Who Clucked, by Denise Fleming, Henry Holt, 2006.

The Cow Who Clucked starts off with a quote by Vincent Van Gogh in the preface and an homage to Van Gogh in the endpapers.  It’s a great start – a brilliant start -- to a wonderful book.

The Cow Who Clucked is about animals.  Farmyard animals.  Talking farmyard animals.  Silly talking farmyard animals.  It is repetitive enough that young children can catch on right away, but no so much that their parents will be driven crazy.  The story is funny.  And silly. And full of animal noises.

The star of this book, however, is the artwork.  Denise Fleming is wonderfully imaginative, not only in what she creates, but how she creates it.  As a result, the illustrations are lush in color and rich in texture. 

Thomas' January Stories, part 2

18.

Once upon a time, there was a Doctor Thomas.  He had smoke in his house.  He had a ghost in his house.  A ghost with his pants on backwards.  The End.

19.

Once upon a time, there was a robot snowman.  He lived in the garden.  He had no buttons.  He had no black hat.  He had a yellow hat.  He didn’t like rain.  Or snow.  The End.

20.

Once upon a time, there was a lighthouse.  And there was a bottle of water for the lighthouse.  A bottle of water from the ocean.  And on the ocean was a boat.  It was a ship of no stories.  The End.

21.

Once upon a time, there was a Molly named Molly.  She was grumpy.  She was lost.  She said, “I want my cat food.  And some water.  And a sparkler cake.” 

She found a rock.  And an acorn.  The End.

22.

Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas.  He jumped in the curtains.  He broke the curtains.  His mommy said, “Why did you do that, Thomas?!”  The End.

23.

Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas.  He had a pocket watch.  Like Sir Topham Hatt.  He was a train master.  Like Sir Topham Hatt.  He was Trainmaster Thomas.  With a pocket watch.  The End.

24.

Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas.  And a mommy named Mommy.  Mommy had a gold piano necklace.  Thomas played the piano necklace.  Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.  The End.

25.

Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas.  He made a button.  On a lantern.  It pushed an airplane out into the sky.  Out to the twinkle stars.  The End.

26.

Once upon a time, there was a train.  It had floors and windows.  It had coal.  It had a BIG caboose.  It went down the stairs of the house.  It sounded like an express.  Toot!  Toot!  The End.

27.

Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas.  He was lost and sad.  He lost his tooth.  He said, “I lost my tooth!  I want it back!”  The End.

28.

Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas.  He had a pocket watch.  Like Sir Topham Hatt.  Thomas wasn’t a train master.  Thomas was an angel.  The End.

29.

Once upon a time, there was an ocean.  With fish.  And whales.  And starfish.  And a duck.  It was in Thomas’ house.  It was Thomas’ ocean.   The End.

30.

Once upon a time, there was a soap.  A blue soap.  It was lost and sad.  It was running.  It ran into a red soap.  Whoosh!  Splash!  And they slipped away.  In the rain.  The End.

31.

Once upon a time, there was a phone box.  A music box phone box.  It played happy music.  It was happy.  And it was “surprise!”  And it was a happy birthday every night.  But not really a birthday.  And the happy music went on and on.  The End.

32.

Once upon a time,  there was a Thomas named Thomas.  He had a purple shirt.  Like the story.  He had a balloon.  A beautiful balloon.  There was a helicopter outside.  Thomas flew with his balloon.  To the helicopter.  He said, “Hello, Helicopter.  Go away, please.”  The End.

33.

Once upon a time, there was a birdhouse.  A blue birdhouse.  A Thomas birdhouse.  The birdhouse lost its hook.  It fell out of a tree.  It fell in the mud.  And a bird fell in the water.  The End.

34.

Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas.  He was sad.  He had a sad mask.  He was hot.  His stomach hurt.  Poor Thomas.  The End.

35.

Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas. He built a house. With blocks. For Mommy. It was red, and green, and blue, and yellow. It was a beautiful house. It was a lighthouse phone box castle. A beautiful castle. Molly broke it. The End.

36.

Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas.  He built a Lego city.  With a xylophone.  And a violin.  And a guitar.  And a snow angel.  And a ghost.  The End.

37.

Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas.  He was ten years old.  He had a racecar.  A white racecar.  And there were six racecars.  Thomas’ racecar vroomed away.  And there was a monkey.  With a screw and a screwdriver.  And an elephant that squirted water.  And Thomas was winning.  He was ten.  The End.

38.

Once upon a time, there was a robot monster.  He was lost and sad.  He lost his head.  He lost his neck.  He lost his hair.  He lost his glasses.  Then he found them.  And the sun closed down.  The End.

39.

Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas.  And there was a kitten named Molly-pop.  Molly was playing.  In Thomas’ room.  Thomas said, “Get the kitten out!  I want to go to bed, Mommy.”  The End.

Stream of consciousness poem -- part XI

October 15, 2011 – Later still

We laughed

At the hospital

We four, we laughed

We shared memories

We shared stories

And, above all,

We laughed

We four

Were a cord

Of four strands

Intertwined

Interlaced

And together

So much stronger

Than one.

The threat

Of death

Had not disappeared

Had not lessened

Had not altered

It was there

In the room

With us

But we

Were together

Our brother knew

We loved him

We could tell him

We could show him

And that, then,

Was all that

Mattered

And so

We laughed.

Book 154

My Little ABC Book, by Bob Staake, Little Simon, 1998.  Baby to Toddler to Preschool.

The other day, my four-year-old son told me this story:  Once upon a time, there was a Thomas named Thomas.  He was reading a train book.  To a dinosaur.  And the dinosaur turned into a robot.   And rode the train.  With a bee.  The End.

He was holding Donald Crews’ Freight Train, and Bob Staake’s My Little ABC Book was open next to him on the sofa.  Not surprisingly, a train, a dinosaur, a robot and a bee can all be found in the ABC book.

I have read that this ABC book was one of Mr. Staake’s first forays into digital art.  It shows, but not in a bad way.  The shapes elemental; the colors are saturated; the lines are sharp; and the shading is blocky, yet these qualities all work really well for a book that is as basic as the alphabet.  This book reminds me of alphabet blocks in book form and since I often find this book in with my son’s alphabet blocks, I must not be the only one.

While the illustrations clearly consist of basic shapes, they are still instantly recognizable.  My son can “read” this book because he can recognize the pictures.  As an added bonus, he also recognizes the shapes used to form the illustrations, so they reinforce his knowledge of them and HE is learning to draw by using shapes.  

Book 153

Freight Train, written and illustrated by Donald Crews, Greenwillow Books, 2003 (1978).  Baby to Toddler to Preschool.

Yesterday, my son told me a story about a train book that he was reading to a dinosaur that turned into a robot.  Freight Train was the train book.  Our copy is an English/Spanish edition.  I bought this edition because the text is so simple it seemed a great way to introduce my son to a language besides English.  I've done this with a couple of other books (e.g., Goodnight Moon), and it's been pretty successful.

Freight Train does have very simple text.  The text is also large and easy-to-read.  My son can't yet read, but he can recognize some words, so when he was reading this story to the dinosaur (from another book), he was doing a pretty good job.  Gateway books -- books that transform children from active listeners to readers -- are vital in developing young readers.  I'm pleased that Freight Train is a gateway book for my little boy because, although the text is simple, it is not dull.

The illustrations in Freight Train are beautiful, bold, colorful and perfect.  The train is clearly a train.  Each car can easily be distinguished from the next, but without being overly detailed.  The two-page spread where the train crosses a trestle is a gorgeous study in geometry.

Book 152

Skippyjon Jones in the Dog House, by Judy Schachner, Dutton Children's Books 2005.  Early Elementary.

A few months ago, Skippyjon Jones books were Kohl's Cares books, so, of course I bought some.  If you are not familiar with Skippyjon Jones, he is a Siamese cat that thinks he is a Chihuahua dog.  And the books just tend to get crazy after that.  In this book, Skippyjon Jones colors on the walls and then has a highly imaginative adventure.  My son is four, and he colors on the walls and tells highly imaginative stories, so he can relate pretty well to this books. 

The artwork is also over-the-top insane -- fun -- but insane.  Skippyjon Jones is adorable with his big brown ears and round blue eyes and teeny-tiny body.  He tends to be the most normal thing on any page of illustration. 

I could not read this book every day; it would drive me loco.  But an occasional foray in joyful madness is a treat.

Book 151

Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia, by Barbara O'Connor,  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003.  Mid- to Upper Elementary.

One of the best things about being a children's librarian is discovering new (to me) children's authors.  Barbara O'Connor popped up on my radar when Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia was a Sunshine State Reader for the school year 2005-2006.  I checked it out one night after work, read it, and brought it back the next morning.  In those few hours of a hasty reading, Ms. O'Connor won me over. 

Barbara O'Connor has a clear, distinct, Southern voice.  Her characters are quirky, funny, a bit tumble-down, rumpled and flawed, but with hearts as big as the state of South Carolina.  I fell in love with Bird, the main character in Fame and Glory, about seven years ago when I first read this book, and all over again today when I re-read it. 

Bird's story ends with a happy ending, but not a fairy tale ending.  She is not a passive person.  She is not a perfect person.  She is, however, a perfect character; as, I suspect, is Ms. O'Connor.