THAT RABBIT BELONGS TO EMILY BROWN

That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As soon as we told the clerk at the local book store that our daughter loves Iggy Peck Architect, she went straight for this book and told us our daughter would love it, too. True, she loves it, and like Iggy Peck, her parents love it, too.

We've had this book only two weeks, but I've read it every night before bed since we got it and I enjoy reading it each time. Emily Brown and her stuffed animal rabbit, Stanley, are always having adventures, but getting interrupted by representatives of the queen who wants Stanley for her own. The queen's reps ask politely and offer Emily Brown all kinds of treats in exchange for her Stanley, but she never budges. So the queen's secret commandoes are called in...

There is - of course - a happy ending to this book, but there is happiness throughout. The illustrations are fun: partly drawn as if Emily Brown herself had done them, and also using clip art and found images. The queen's representatives are goofy, and the queen herself "naught, silly."

If you're like me and remember at least one stuffed animal you had as a child that never left your side, this book is for you. Really top notch stuff, and one that will find a place of honor on our family's bookshelves.

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THAT

FLAMINGOS ON THE ROOF

Flamingos on the Roof by Calef Brown



It took a while - since she got it when she less than 12 months old - but my now-two-year-old daughter loves this book. And i, a thirty-something dad, must concur.

Inevitably, reading books with a young child leads to endless return visits to familiar stories and characters. Books get read over and over again until parents can recite them verbatim without looking (handy for tantrums in car rides BTW). While the child may enjoy hearing a familiar story told again, we get pretty tired of even the best ones. That's one reason Flamingos on the Roof is so refreshing: it's a collection of short poems that can be read in any order. You can say one more and then lights out, and read just one more. Or you can let your child pick and choose among them all.

Our daughter's favorites are "Peas," "Flamingos on the Roof" and "Combo Tango." My favorites are 'Weatherbee's Diner" and "Biscuits in the Wind." Nothing ground breaking about these poems. They rhyme. They're quirky. And they're done. You can actually read through the whole book in about 15 minutes - an eternity around bedtime.

The other wonderful aspect of this book is that each poem comes with a colorful illustration by Brown. Honestly, they are just as good if not better than the poems. See Medusa's sister Sally! See what you miss watching TV in a taxicab! See Bob's bike in a bottle!

Who could ask for anything more - save for another volume, Calef?

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IGGY PECK ARCHITECT

Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is a must-read AND a must-see. The marriage of Beaty's words with Roberts' illustrations is a match made in this reader's heaven. And - most importantly - our 18-month-old daughter fell in love with the book. She requests it every night now. Admittedly at first, she didn't take to it. The illustrations aren't as cartoonish as she used to like (such as Dr. Seuss, Karen Katz, or the guy who does Tails and all those books). So we put Iggy Peck on the shelf for a few months. When we tried it again, it worked liked a charm.

And really if you read Iggy Peck, I think you'll fall for it, too. Beaty's flow throughout the book is as smooth and fun to read as anyone's I've come across. And I've come across a lot of books since our girl was born. Do yourself a favor and track this books down. Just flip through the pages in the store, and I'll bet you'll think of someone in your life who NEEDS this book. But be sure to read it aloud yourself. You'll have a great time doing it.

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BELLA'S BOOK REVIEWS

Well, she's not writing them, but I am over at Good Reads (or whatever it is).

Little Quack by Lauren Thompson

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
As soon as saw the cover of this book (a gift from a family friend for me to read to my daughter) I was less than thrilled. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that I told myself I'd never read it and regift it for someone desperate for images and words with their newborn.



As much as I hate to admit it, I kinda fell for the story here. Mind you, the story is one in which a mother duck tries to convince her five ducklings to leave their nest and join her in the water. SPOILER ALERT! They all do eventually, and quite honestly how anyone could create a book about that simple act - much less sell mass quantities of it - is beyond me.



They key to reading and enjoying Little Quack is to develop a different voice for each of the ducklings and - most importantly - the mother duck. I use a kind of Vicki Lawrence voice for her - rather deep, motherly, assuring and odd. For Little Quack's two sisters - Widdle and Piddle - I simply use high-pitched voices. The fun comes in with the three brothers: for Waddle, I give him a lispy-but-proud voice; for Puddle, I give him a good ol' boy from middle Georgia voice; and for Little Quack, I give him a pre-pubescent squeal.



This being said: read this book when no other adults are around, or you are in for trouble later on.



The best part of the book is on the fifth spread page after Widdle has jumped into the water. The illustration shows the remaining four ducklings cuddle close in the nest and Little Quack has his hands (wings?) clasped to both sides of his head and his beak is open as if to say "Oh my GAWD!" It's great.



And after reading Little Quack about a hundred times see if you can't get mother duck's constant refrain of "you can do it, I know you can" out of your head. I can't.


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Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
At first glance, you think this is a Dr. Seuss book. But it ain't. However, it does have that Suessian-beatnik-I-grok-kids'-imaginations-and-words-that-rhyme feel about it. I don't know how we got it. Books have a way of just appearing on our daughter's book shelves or in unstable stacks beside our bed.



If Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb has more than 40 words in it - 40 different words - I'll eat my hat. You get a lot of "hands" and "fingers" and "thumbs" - duh, look at the title. But there's also a lot of "monkey" and "drum" or "drumming" and a whole bunch of "dum" and ditty." To read this book cover to cover will take you a minute if you stop to look at the pictures. It's best to do that first, and then tell your baby that you're going to read it again TWICE AS FAST. It makes if more of a challenge for you, and postpones bedtime by another 30 seconds for baby.



I enjoy this book, and our daughter now enjoys it mostly to chew on, but I will say this: it is extremely terrifying if you stop to dwell on what is presented near the end of the book. Close your eyes and picture THIS, my friends: "Millions of fingers, millions of thumbs, millions of monkeys drumming on drums." If that isn't one of the signs of the Apocalypse, I don't know what is. The accompanying illustration is a massive wave of brown fur, smiling monkeys and drums. It'll send chills down your spine.


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Bright Baby Animals by Roger Priddy

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
Much as I wanted to like this book on account of the ecologically friendly paper, I just can't bring myself to recommend you go out and get this. Yes, the pictures of a different animal on each page is bright and clear. And yes, most of them have a colorful background behind them. And yes, the book is a good size for little hands to hold.



But come on. Last time I counted, there were over a bazillion animals on this planets. This book has something like 20 pages to it, so 20 animals. But we get one page with "chicks" on it, and another with a "hen" on it. How about splitting the difference, calling it a "chicken," and give me a new animal like a giraffe or platypus? And why show a "calf?" Why not just a "cow?" Wouldn't that be easier for babies to grasp since EVERY OTHER CHILDREN'S BOOK CALLS THEM COWS? Same goes for the "macaw." Maybe that's it's real name - like dolphin is to mahi-mahi - but I tell my daughter that's a parrot.



And the image of the tiger is that of a little tiger cub, not a full grown specimen. And the photo of the "bear"only shows its head and neck. I could on, but why bother. The same should apply to you when it comes to this book.


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