A kitten is convinced that the full moon is a bowl of milk just out of her reach, leading to shenanigans. The story is cute, but it's hard to believe A kitten is convinced that the full moon is a bowl of milk just out of her reach, leading to shenanigans. The story is cute, but it's hard to believe it won the Caldecott for illustration in 2005. The drawings are very underwhelming and occasionally not quite cat-shaped.
Rarely will you find a children's book that contains the words "improvident" and "soporific" and "doleful". But hey, Beatrix Potter doesn't have time Rarely will you find a children's book that contains the words "improvident" and "soporific" and "doleful". But hey, Beatrix Potter doesn't have time to explain her vocabulary to your kids, okay? She's got bunnies to draw (and dissect). But her illustrations in this are as gorgeous as they ever were:
A gorgeously illustrated fusion of Mi'kmaq folktales and the traditional French version of Cinderella. The youngest sister of three, scarred an[image]
A gorgeously illustrated fusion of Mi'kmaq folktales and the traditional French version of Cinderella. The youngest sister of three, scarred and ashed-stained, is the only one who can see the powerful Invisible Being for who he truly is, which eventually leads her to leave her abusive family for a better life. Here we see the tried-and-true concept of internal beauty triumphing over external, wonderfully detailed by the illustrations of David Shannon.
A cute story based on real events. The authors take pains to foster the idea that diversity in family structure makes no difference as long as there iA cute story based on real events. The authors take pains to foster the idea that diversity in family structure makes no difference as long as there is love abound. ...more
... without the dark, everything would be light, and you would never know if you needed a lightbulb.
Wise words.
I adore Klassen's art. My reviews of hi
... without the dark, everything would be light, and you would never know if you needed a lightbulb.
Wise words.
I adore Klassen's art. My reviews of his projects are just repetitious little ditties of love. There's just something about it that makes me so happy, like a bright little star inside my chest. Even when he is illustrating an anthropomorphic version of darkness (or maybe especially when he's doing that, who knows? Not this lady)....more
This is definitely a rating for me, in that I loved it, rather than a rating for how well I think it fits the overall demographic of children's books This is definitely a rating for me, in that I loved it, rather than a rating for how well I think it fits the overall demographic of children's books it falls into. Lemony Snicket does understated creepy so well. There are surely kids who can appreciate that, yeah?
[image]
This is like something right out of Welcome to the Night Vale....more
I absolutely adore Jon Klassen's work. This Is Not My Hat has a lovely, yet subtle, dark humor to it that keeps it fresh and interesting for the adultI absolutely adore Jon Klassen's work. This Is Not My Hat has a lovely, yet subtle, dark humor to it that keeps it fresh and interesting for the adults (who I'm sure have to read it dozens upon dozens of times for their children), but it's still simple enough for the intended audience to enjoy.
Stealing is wrong, kids. Because someone might kill you for it.
I requested this one from one of the libraries in my local system and ended up with a beautifully illustrated version quite by happy accident.
[image]
TI requested this one from one of the libraries in my local system and ended up with a beautifully illustrated version quite by happy accident.
[image]
The Secret Garden is one of my POPSUGAR challenges, "a children's classic you've never read". I have, however, seen the 1993 film adaption and I was surprised to see how faithful it had been to the source material. They aged up Mary, Colin and Dickon a bit, but the overall story is very much the same, without the more blatant period-typical racism we see in the novel.
Mary is an unpleasant young girl, raised in British-occupied India, whose parents died in a cholera epidemic. She is shipped off to northern England to live with her gloomy widower uncle, Archibald Craven. The adults around her spend quite a lot of time discussing how ugly and sallow she is - thankfully the fresh air of the moor will cure what ails her! That and like, being forced to dress and entertain herself. The horror!
[image]
The Secret Garden is a love letter to nature in general and the wild moors of England specifically - we see it work wonders on plain, disagreeable Mary and her spoiled, invalid cousin Colin. Dickon, born on the moor, seemed to be hatched out of the very forest, a nature boy who has a cadre of wild animals absolutely in love with him. The joy the children have in growing and planting and maintain the garden is magical - and truly, they believe it to be Magic itself helping them along. It's a sweet story that would go along very well with many kids who are interested in having their own "bit of earth" for the first time.