Tag: animals

Seven Blind Mice

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Author: Ed Young

Book Link

Seven Blind Mice are trying to identify a strange object in their path. Each one goes on each day of the week to figure out what the object is. My daughter guessed the object right on the first page but it was still a lot of fun to read through the book as the illustrations are colorful and there is even a moral to the story. The book is easy to read and there are several words that a kindergartener can sound out and read. It is a thoroughly enjoyable book even for smaller children

Negative Cat

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Author & Illustrator: Sophie Blackall

A boy wants a cat desperately. He is begging his parents while shopping, while bathing and even while reading a bedtime story. Finally, his parents agree. They adopt a cat but the cat turns out to be an introvert. How the boy turns around the cat’s behavior and not only makes his cat happy but an entire community of cats purring is the rest of the story.

Sophie Blackall is a decorated storyteller. She brings the boy’s joy, despair and triumph to life with her illustrations. My daughter really loved the page where the boy gets to choose a cat from a “stable” of cats at the shelter. She even picked her own cat to adopt from the picture. She also noticed that we had read the book that his mom was reading to the boy at bedtime. The book was “They all saw a cat“. I thought that was a nice touch by the author to call out yet another decorated book.

 

Negative Cat - Blackall, Sophie

Elmer

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Author: David McKee

Elmer is like Rudolph, the reindeer. The one animal unique in his herd. Unlike Rudolph, whose reindeer mates did not allow him to join in reindeer games, Elmer is loved for his goofiness by his fellow elephants. They turn gloomy when he is not around and thats when Elmer realizes that his true value is in standing out and not fitting in. I am not sure my five year old got all of the intent behind the book but she definitely found it interesting that there is an elephant in the herd who was colorful and not grey.

 

Elmer - McKee, David

Felippe and Claudette

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Author: Mark Teague

Opposites attract is the theme of many romantic comedies and Teague applies this time to an unlikely friendship between a cat and a dog whoa re waiting to be adopted at their local shelter. Felipe is the snooty, proper cat and Claudette is the dirty, rambunctious dog. They dont get adopted even after multiple adoption events. Then one of them gets to go to a permanent home and what happens to their bond is the plot.  We have an adopted dog and the girls have been asking us for a cat so the book went down very well with our five year old. This is a very simple book with adequate images to convey the mood.

I hate to preach from this blog but considering the animals that are available for adoption, always consider adopting pets rather than buying them from a breeder.

'Felipe and Claudette' [Orchard Books/Scholastic]

They all saw a cat

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Author and Illustrator: Brendan Wenzel

Here is a spoiler : Pay attention to the pictures. If you just read the story, you are going to miss the point. The details are in the pictures and they paint a truly remarkable “perspective”.  Mr. Wenzel deserves the credit for saying so much with this pictures using a cat with its whiskers, ears and paws. I am still awestruck at the point the book makes and I also felt that I should have read this book to my 5 year old a little bit later.  I felt she was not in the mindspace to fully grasp the book.  This is a stupendous book but you should know the right time to read it to your child. They need to be a little bit more evolved mentally to get the full meaning of the book. Take a bow, Mr. Wenzel!

 

 

They All Saw a Cat - Wenzel, Brendan

Mel Fell

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Author & Illustrator: Corey R Tabor

If there is a Hall of Fame for kids books, this book should belong in it. Mel is a Kingfisher who is trying to get out of his nest and fly for the first time. She is going to do it in the absence of his mom. She steps right to the edge of her branch and has an epic fall. The entire ecosystem living in that tree comes to her rescue but none of them can save her from falling straight down into the pond. What happens next forms the plot? The emotions of all the fauna in the tree are vividly captured as Mel is doing her thing.  This is a story of despair and triumph so breathtakingly brought to print.  This book and its author deserves all the kudos it has got.

 

Ps: My daughter loved the ladybug’s reaction.  I felt the helplessness and joy felt by the ants.

 

Mel Fell

Turtles are found on every continent except Antratica

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Author: Todd Sturgell

When a dung beetle follows a turtle and a host of other animals on a mission to reach Antartica, there will be surprises and laughes along the way. When my daughter laughs for scatological humor, I smirk at how the fruit does not fall too far off the tree. The author keeps emphasizing throughtout the book that his intent was to give us animal facts and not the silliness that has ensued. At one point, he even quits. Does the turtle and its friends reach Antartica and rewrite history about species found in America is the rest of the plot.

 

Except Antarctica

The Baby BeeBee Bird

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Author: Diane Redfield Massie

Illustrator: Steven Kellogg

There is a famous saying “If you think you are too small to make a difference, you have never been in bird with a mosquito”. True to that saying, a small nocturnal bird keeps the entire zoo of much larger animals awake at night due to its singing. The rhyme scheme keeps repeating throughout the book and if you are not careful, you could be singing it when you are checking out groceries the next day morning.  How do the large animals get their sleep back forms the rest of the plot? The drawings are nothing to write home about but the plot itself is very entertaining.

 

The Baby BeeBee Bird

You must bring a hat

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Author: Simon Philip

Illustrator: Kate Hindley

The cover shows a rather bewildered boy with a present in his hand in front of a house hosting a party. The title is “You must bring a hat” . The boy does not have a hat. This book is a riot with a cast of animals and a very strict party host. Also, when you show up at a party, read the invitation clearly.  It also helps to know your numbers. My daughter loves books with a ensemble of animals with their own idiosyncrasies.

 

You Must Bring a Hat

Giraffe Problems

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Author: Jory John . Illustrator: Lane Smith

Just this morning, I was thinking that this blog has an animal problem because I was reading and writing about too many books with animals as central characters. Along came this book. Giraffe Problems opens with a Giraffe Edward who has insecurities about this long neck. How he helps someone with his neck and realizes everyone needs to be comfortable in their own shoes is the rest of the book. I love the writing- it is simple and I love the illustrations as they are simple and expressive. Even I, who has two left hands, copied the giraffe on my daughter’s etch a sktch (fancier one than the classic) and thought it was not bad.

I am not sure what it is called but this book has one of those pages where you flip the page and you have go from landscape mode to portrait mode . I first saw it in the book Mell the Fell but is a nice addition whenever the story demands it because it changes the eyeline and makes the reading more enjoyable.

 

Giraffe Problems by Jory John

Take your time: a tale of Harriet, the Galapagos Tortoise

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Author: Eva Furrow and Donna Jo Napoli; illustrated by Laurel Molk

Perfect read for a fast hyper stimulating world we live in. Harriet, the tortoise, goes on a vey satisfying and enjoyable adventure spanning seasons. Knowing her shortcoming in speed, she shows the value in planning ahead and leaving early, which I am very bad at. So it naturally resonated with me and definitely with the five year old.

Make way for Ducklings

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This is another book that was written in the early 1940s . I fear I might have to drop the word – “Classic”. (Read Mark Tawin’s quote on Classics and you will know the reason for my apprehension). A Mallard and his wife take you on a tour of Boston as they attempt to start a family. The family with fantastic duck names experience wonderful human kindness and thrive in the public parks of Boston. An uplifting book with a great room for conversation with the kids.

 

Make Way For Ducklings Book

Help Me Mr. Mutt

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This is a really funny book. The therapy suggestions offered by Mr. Mutt to troubled dogs brought out waves of laughter from the five year old. I dont think she quite grasped the format. of the book but she loved the silliness and the graphics of the book.

[Update: We had borrowed this book from the library. She returned it with a heavy heart. She has asked me repeatedly about owning the book]

Help Me, Mr. Mutt!

I want 100 Dogs

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My daughter loved this book. The desire to have something lofty and through continuous discussions (illustrated realistically, playfully) the parents manage to bring down expectations to a level where both sides feel they won the day. But in the day, there is always only one winner.

My daughter who is beginning to read and count large numbers went back to the book multiple times.