Too Bookish Kiddo: 2015

Time To Sleep - Denise Fleming (1997)

When we get ready for winter with our snow gear and other preparations, some animals in the forest are tuning themselves for winter sleep, called hibernation.

A call for winter sleep

It is time for winter. Bear can smell it in air. But before starting her winter routine, she calls up Snail and informs the arrival of winter. Of course, Snail has also seen frost on grass in the morning. One more task before the long sleep, Snail meets Skunk with the news of winter. Not to wonder, Skunk has been also noticing the yellow and red leaves on the trees.

"Finders are Keepers". Especially, the animals in this book follow this rule. But, though each of the animal find the same object, they keep it in different ways. Confusing? Read further and you will understand.

A hat? A nest? A boat? A nose?

The hat in this story starts as a marker to where a squirrel stores its acorn. Soon the wind lifts the hat and lands it on a tree and a bird uses it as a nest. (Remember "Finders Keepers"). It doesn't stop there, the hat (Or, the nest now) soon becomes a boat and a clown nose. (Yes, it moves in the hands of various animals). After all life is a circle, so the hat finally reaches the place where the squirrel leaves it.

Vincent van Gogh was an acclaimed painter. But often, it was poverty and unrecognition, entwined his life. This book opens up one small portion of his life in Arles, where he painted his masterpieces.

A starry night dream

Camille lives in a small town, where sunflowers are bright. His father is a postman. One day he meets a strange man in his town. Little does he know that the strange man is going to be a part of history one day.

Oops! Don't misunderstand. That's the real title of this book. But I would say, please ignore the title warning and proceed.

Dangerous fun ahead

You are being warned not to open this book, in the cover image itself. The endpapers post more warnings about the dangers inside the book. But, I know, you are going to proceed, by turning more pages. You are not going to believe what happened to the last guy who read this book. Oh, there comes the monkeys, making a huge mess. Then toucans follow them, making the surrounding more dangerous. The danger does not stop there, as there is an .....

ISBN 10 : 1-60992-433-9
ISBN 13 : 978-1-60992-433-1
(Hardcover)

Will glasses make a giraffe look silly? Well, that's what this nearsighted Giraffe thinks and she refuses to wear one. But, how does she manage to walk through the forest?

A foresight solution

She wears a bicycle helmet, after she banged her head on a branch. She ties a bell to her tail, after she crashed into a rhino. She starts to wear boots, after she hurt her foot on a rock. Not to stop with that, she adds a pillow, an inflatable ring and a ladder one by one, after every crash, until she looks ..... yes, super silly.

ISBN 10 : 1-4027-7130-4
ISBN 13 : 978-1-4027-7130-9
(Hardcover)

Imagine a potato lying on a couch ("couch potato"), a stomach opens its mouth to growl ("stomach growling") and a horse dining in a table("eat like a horse"). Yes, you got it. This book cartoons the various idioms based on food, interluded with the story of a picky-eater changing into a "tough cookie".

Fun Down to a T

The protagonist of this book is a picky-eater, who eats like a bird. Even when he is advised to "think outside the box" and to "use his noodle", he is not ready to change. But things get a different turn, when he is invited over to his friend's house (whose mom is a "health-nut"). Does this picky-eater "chicken-out" or "brave it out"?

ISBN 10: 0-9747217-1-9
ISBN 13 : 978-0-9747217-1-2
(Hardcover)

Is Autism a hard topic for a kid, to understand? No, I believe. It is a comprehensible and even an important topic for every kid.

A happy understanding

Sam is a small boy, part of a lovely family. Playing cello, humming tunes and building puzzles have always made him happy. But there are some aspects, where Sam is a little different from other kids. He cannot make friends easily. He is sensitive towards some situations. Most importantly, it happens that he wanders off out of home, one night. Soon, Sam is diagnosed with "Asperger's syndrome", a form of Autism.

ISBN 10 : 0 8028 5423 0
ISBN 13 : 978 0 8028 5423 0
(Hardcover

A pebble could look like a big rock in an ant's view. Of course, it is our mind's eye that judges things, not just our physical eye. And, here is a book that explores this concept, in a child's perspective.

Perspective Differs

A cat chases a mouse. Well, it is normal. But, in this book, everything around them takes a different perspective in their view. While a ball of yarn looks 'big' in the mouse's view, it is 'little' for a cat. When the mouse crosses a 'deep' puddle, the cat passes it with 'shallow' steps. Finally, there is an another person, who comes to 'end' the troubles of the mouse. Or, does it mean the 'beginning' of cat's troubles?

ISBN 10 : 14778 16445
ISBN 13 : 978 14778 16448
(Hardcover)

(Note : India was ruled by British government for over 200 years. Mohandas Gandhi and various other leaders fought their way against British, for Indian freedom. This book talks about one of the non-violent protests, led by Gandhi, called 'Dandi March'.)

The Sweetest Salt

A march for salt forms the pivotal movement of Indian freedom fight. When salt is very crucial to human life next to air and water, a protest can break out, at the point when people are denied their right to take salt from sea.

ISBN 13 : 978 0 375 97492 2 - First Time Books
(Paperback)

Money-growing trees and dollar-bill rain are not possible in reality. So, it is a hard-core reality that we need kid-sized versions of money management lessons to teach our kids.

A Check To Check

The Berenstain bear cubs are in need of money, for buying baseball cards and a doll dress. They do know about money, like how to play with it and how to spend it, but they do not know how to save it (That's true, which kid knows?).

ISBN 10 : 1 58089 562 X
ISBN 13 : 978 1 58089 562 0

Ripping, folding and tossing a book are no ways to love a book. But, here comes the nightmare to the books and the book lovers.

A Book Lover

A naughty boy enters the library. He picks a book. Oh, no... he is not reading it. He tosses, tears, folds and stomps on the book. And, then leaves it. The poor damaged book is helped by his other book friends (Yes, the books are also characters in this story), with glue and clear tape.

ISBN 10 : 0 544 12988 1
ISBN 13: 978 0 544 12988 7
(Hardcover)

Being blind, his ears have opened a whole new musical world, to the notorious Grammy-winning guitarist, Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson.

A World Of Sounds

Born in a place, where the sky meets mountains, young Watson's surrounding is filled with nothing, but music. Mom's lullaby, clucking of chickens, mooing of cows, whistling of train, wind, rain and every other sound is musical to Arthel.

ISBN 10 : 1 4048 1388 1
ISBN 13 : 978 1 4048 1355 7
(Hardcover)

It is proper. It is common. It could be single. Or, it could be a collection too. Yes, it is a noun. What if you were a noun, detailed under a space mission? First things first, you have to play by rules.

A 'Noun' Mission

Take a common noun and you could be anything like astronaut, spaceship or a mission. Among the nouns, life of singular nouns is simple. But if you are going to be a plural noun, you either attach a 's', 'es' or sometimes change a lot. To make matters worse, you can have two forms ('nebulas' or 'nebulae'). Too bad, sometimes, you don't change at all (How many ever fish you point to, you are just 'fish'. No 's' added).

* Newbery Winner - 2016
* Caldecott Honor - 2016
* Coretta Scott King Book Awards (Illustrator) - 2016

How do you define beauty? Does it come with appearance? Not necessarily. Anything, that is soulful, even if it is dirty, is beautiful.

A ride to happiness

CJ and his nana are coming out of the church, and boarding a bus, when it is raining. Everything in his life is not okay with CJ. Why don't they have a car? Why are they waiting for bus, in rain? How come some (blind) people are not able to see? and various other reasons.

ISBN 10 : 1 55874 5084
ISBN 13 : 978 1 55874 5087
(Hardcover)

(Note : This story is adapted from the story 'The Circus' by Dan Clark. This book is part of the series "Chicken Soup" Books, for young readers, marked as "Chicken Soup For Little Souls".)

It's Not Just A Fun Night

Rocket Science can be taught and learnt. But, how to teach the kids about empathy, nurturing, sharing and caring for others? Well, we can rely on children's literature for this purpose and this book is one such best example for that.

ISBN 10 : 0 439 10431 9
(Scholastic 2004 Edition)
Hardcover

A tomato is happy. An orange is jealous. An onion is sad. Oh, yes, you read it right. Those are all vegetables and fruits, emoting out. And, also they come out with a perfect moral "It's alright to show your emotions".

To Emote Is Your Right

This book talks about emotions, but not in a philosophical way. In a very funny and ingenious way, with the vast array (photographs) of various vegetables and fruits, the authors have showcased emotions from happy, sad, tired, frustrated, angry etc. (The cover shows a smiling bell pepper).

ISBN 10 : 1 4027 1725 3
ISBN 13 : 978 1 4027 1725 3
(Hardcover)

Folding a paper airplane is always exciting (even for 'grown-up' kids), as it takes us nearer to flying, the human being's most obsessed dream. If just ordinary paper planes are not enough, always this book can launch you into making supersonic jets and gliders.

Fold And Soar

After all, flying desire cannot be satisfied with one single model of paper plane. That's why, this book offers a variety of models, categorized based on various aspects like distance and acrobatic stunts. Along with some experimental models, the book also improves creativity in airplane making, by imbibing new features in already known models.

ISBN 10 : 0 06 225209 7
ISBN 13 : 978 0 06 225209 8
(Hardcover)

A blue's got the blues

Blue Strawberries? Blue fire engine? That's what happens when a blue crayon is wrongly considered as a red crayon.

He is blue (crayon), but wrongly labeled as red. He has a whole set of family members and classmates (all are various colors of crayons). As he goes on drawing blue strawberries and blue foxes, everyone thinks he is not good enough to be a red crayon.

ISBN 10 : 1 55498 382 7
ISBN 13 : 978 1 55498 382 7
(Hardcover)

A story starter pack

Where does a picture book start? Is it from a word, a setting, a doodle or from a scribble? With a fictional twist, author Marie-Louise Gay, has sketched and developed a story on how to build a story.

Believe it or not, every story starts from a blank page. In first person narration, the author first suggests some (imaginary) kids, to check for different colored canvases. (A white color - snow storm, blue - ocean theme, black - horror story and so on.) If canvas does not strike well, some introductory phrases or doodles could work.

Image Credits : alastore.ala.org
The Newbery Medal Seal (Gold)

Overview

While a Caldecott Award honors an illustrator, the Newbery Medal identifies the remarkable authors. Every year, Newbery Medal is given to the author of the "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".

The 'Association for Library Service to Children' (ALSC) selects a children's book as Newbery Medal winner, each year (Represented with a golden seal on the book cover). Apart from this, zero to eight books are selected as Newbery Honor books (represented with a silver seal).

ISBN 10 : 1 77147 139 5
ISBN 13 : 978 1 77147 139 8
(Hardcover)

Do you hate potatoes? Well, obviously, I can assume your answer to be 'no'. But, down in mythology, a king had to introduce this crop to his subjects, with all possible tactics.

A Carb Story

King Fritz gets to know about a new crop (potato) and plants them in a field. Also, he asks the villagers nearby the field, to grow it in their gardens. But the villagers don't like to be told, what to do. After brainstorming, the king has an idea. He sends a troop of soldiers, to the potato field to guard it.

ISBN 10 : 0 544 104439
ISBN 10 : 978 0 544 104433
(Hardcover)

(Caldecott Honor -2015)

Vibrantly Busy, Cheerfully Loud

Every coin has two sides. Whatever that looks scary and dreadful, could also have a tender, brighter side. This book is a lovable, child-size version of this universal message.

A city is busy, loud and filled with scary stuff. A city is not a right place for a grandma to live in. This is the opinion of the young boy, who visits his nana in the city and spends a day with her in the city streets.

ISBN 10 : 0 316 0 4546 2
ISBN 13 : 978 0 316 0 4546 9

Caldecott Honor - 2012

(Apart from Caldecott Honor, this book has received various other awards including National Parenting Publications Awards Gold Winner, New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book Winner, Charlotte Zolotow Award Winner etc.)

A 'dream of life' to the 'life of dream'

How far a dream could take us? Primatologist, ethologist and animal activist Jane Goodall's dream took her to her dream land of African jungles. Any parent would be excited to introduce her inspiring biography through this exquisite book.

ISBN 10 : 0 8027 9563 3
ISBN 13 : 978 0 8027 9563 2

(Caldecott Honor - 2007)

Wildly Graphical

Various animals, which walked on earth once, are now extinct. But, wait, this book is not about dinosaurs. It lists the animals, which have endangered existence. Before you start to think how this book fits for a child, I should say that it is the graphical rendering of animals and their alphabetical listing make this, a wonderful children's book.

ISBN 10 : 0 7636 7544 X
ISBN 13 : 978 0 7636 7544 8

(This book was published under the names "Sometimes" and "No Matter What" in 2007 and 2008).

A Statement of Love

It is unconditional. It is immeasurable. It is irreplaceable. Go ahead and try fitting it with all the goodness in the world. It down weighs everything else. And, yes, it is mother's love.

ISBN 10 : 03162 0384X
ISBN 13 : 978 01362 03845

A Sweet Mission

A Ninja! A mission! A target! A ninja goes on a mission. The mission is to attain a target. The target is, well, inside a refrigerator.

It has been a quiet, night time. When the clock strikes midnight, the ninja starts on his mission. He crosses all the hurdles by climbing, clambering and with all his ninja techniques. Nothing is going to stop this brave ninja from accomplishing his mission.

ISBN 10 : 15957 22785
ISBN 13 : 978 15957 22782
(Hardcover)

A new 'theory of relativity'

colossal > enormous > huge

large > medium > small

miniature > miniscule > itty-bitty

Can't get a hand on these equations? No problems. The author Emily Jenkins has presented a neat book, that has clear-cut illustrations and equations, to better understand the relative sizes.

The book starts with a small, a medium and a large character (imaginary ones, look like a dog or mouse). Don't stop just there, as we witness an extra-large, a huge, an enormous and even a colossal one (It is so colossal, that it can't even fit in the book). Now the scale changes, as the tiny, teeny, miniature, miniscule and itty-bitty creatures are on the line.

ISBN 10 : 07636 6510X
ISBN 13 : 978 07636 65104

Out-of-the-world Princess

Princesses are pretty. Princesses are perfect. Princesses wear pink. Princesses ride ponies. (Ufff... how many 'p's?) But, not this princess Magnolia. The authors Shannon Hale and Dean Hale portray a princess who breaks almost every rule of 'Princess' community.

Princess Magnolia (minus her thrilling secret) is a perfect princess, sipping hot chocolate in a gracious way, with her nosy guest, Duchess Wigtower. All goes well, until Princess' monster alarm sounds 'Brring'. Without making the Duchess to doubt her, now the princess needs to change from adorable pink to mighty black and become 'Princess In Black'.

ISBN 10 : 01424 0702X
ISBN 13 : 978 01424 07028
(2006 Puffin Books Edition)

Newbery Honor - 1976

A Hundred Year Memory

What could be a hundred years of life like? Is it burdened with pains of past, or flashes with delightful memories? Or does it dangle between the array of emotions? Maybe, this book can tell you that.

Dewbet Thomas, the great-great-aunt of Michael John Jefferson, is one hundred years old. She cherishes an old wooden box, as dear as her life, where she collects a penny for every year of her life. As she moves to Michael's house, Michael grows attached to her and the box. His favorite time is counting the pennies from the box and hearing the past stories from Aunt Dew, as her memory relapses to past.

ISBN 10 : 05442 80008
ISBN 13 : 978 05442 80007

( Note : The author and the illustrator (of this book) together has come out with a "Very Little" series, putting a modern spin on classic tales.)

A Very Big 'Good' change

It is completely unfair of humans to treat wolves as mean and cunning animals. But, this Very Little Red Riding Hood is taking a chance and believes Wolf. Will the Wolf live up to her belief?

ISBN 10 : 14263 07934
ISBN 10 : 978 14263 07935

Why are sweets, sweet? Why is salt salty? Why is the sun hot? Why is the moon waxing and waning? Do you have a kid around, who has a 'Why' question, about everything in this world (like mine)? Then, this is the book you should consider.

For All The Big 'WHY's

The series of 'Why?' questions are classified into four broad categories in this book.

A) Starting with self exploration, the book answers questions about every person's self. (Why does skin wrinkle when wet? When do baby teeth fall out? etc.)

ISBN 10 : 03758 36799
ISBN 13 : 978 03578 36794

A Petrifying Pet

Dinosaurs are so adorable (except the times when they chase us to eat us). Some day, you might like to have a pet dinosaur. But where do you start? What kind would you buy? How to take care of it? Not to worry, the author Laura Joy Rennert has come up with this complete guide on how to buy, train and care for your pet dinosaur.

ISBN 10 : 00607 99846
ISBN 13 : 978 00607 99847

An Alphabet Catastrophe

'M is for Moose' is all, what the moose (in this book) wanted. But, wait, 'M' can be anything like 'monkey', 'mole' or a 'mouse'. This small mishap caused a big rampage in this story.

Zebra is conducting an alphabet show (A huge line of alphabetical objects and animals are waiting behind stage). Moose is all excited to appear for 'M'. He can't wait from the time 'D is for Duck' appears. He is questioning zebra annoyingly, till 'M' comes.

ISBN 10 : 11274 99599
ISBN 13: 978 11274 99595

(Newbery Honor - 1972,

California Book Awards, Juvenile, Silver - 1971,

Christopher Award Winner -1972)

Beginning of the End

"Whatever, that comes from the Earth, goes back to the Earth in the end". Is there any other precise way, to explain the inevitable death and to talk about the harmony of our world, to a child?

Annie's little world of mesa, in the land of Navajo, is filled with her mother's weaving loom, her father's jewel-making fire and her grandmother's profound love and intimacy. Though insisted, Annie has not started to weave yet. When her mother starts to weave a new rug, the grandmother tells them that when the rug is finished, she would go to Mother Earth. The grandma, living in perfect harmony with the nature, can know of her death early.

ISBN 10 : 03992 57683
ISBN 13 : 978 03992 57681

(Note : This is the second book, with the Hueys, the oval shaped creatures, introduced in "The Hueys in the New Sweater", also by Oliver Jeffers.)

Is it me, or you?

There are certain aspects about children's fight,

1) They won't know why they are fighting.

2) Every kid, involved in the fight, thinks that he didn't start it.

ISBN 10 : 16291 46226
ISBN 13 : 978 16291 46225

See The Bigger Picture

What is a dot? It depends on from where you are seeing things. Ants are like dots, from distance. People are like dots, when seen from sky. Here is the story of a dot, who learns this.

Dr.Seuss

Theo LeSeig (Reverse "Geisel")

Dr.Theophrastus Seuss

Rosetta Stone

He could have written under any pen name, but the very magic of his writing is the same, captivating the young (and old) readers, still today. Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr.Seuss, could be the first name for many, that flashes, at the mention of children's literature.

ISBN 10 : 03992 27741
ISBN 13: 978 03992 27745

(Note: Eric Carle has written a 'The Very' quartet, starting with 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. This book is the last one among them.

Is it Science, or, Poetry?

Science - Fireflies have bioluminescence.

Poetry - Fireflies are little stars, that flicker.

Apart from science and poetry, Eric Carle shows a little firefly, who is searching for a place, where it belongs. (Eric Carle's words classify that "The Very Lonely Firefly" is about belonging (to a group)).

A lonely firefly, born at the time of sunset, sets out on a search for other fireflies. But, the night takes the firefly to various lights such as a light bulb, a candle, a flashlight and a lantern. Even, the firefly flies towards the gleaming eyes of a dog, a cat and an owl.

ISBN 10 : 14424 73495
ISBN 13 : 978 14424 73492

Story of Jack and the Beanstalk, Kinda

You gotta admit that a smallish boy and a smallish bean can achieve a lotta biggish things, after reading this book.

(Oh, my, I have been reading this book a lotta times, this past week. So my language is sorta (Oh! No!) influenced by the Brooklyn accent of this book.)

Image Credits : alastore.ala.org
The Caldecott Medal Seal (Gold)

Overview

Caldecott Awards are awarded every year, to the illustrator of the "most distinguished American picture book (from the preceding year) for children". Only an artist, who is a citizen or a resident of United States, is eligible to receive this award.

The Association for Library Service for Children(ALSC), selects a best illustrated picture book every year as the Caldecott winner. Besides, one to six books are selected as runner-ups, and mentioned as "Caldecott Honor" books. (Only after the year 1971, the "Honor" was introduced, before that they were mentioned as "Runner-ups).

ISBN 10 : 15545 5313X
ISBN 13 : 978 15545 53136

( Note: This book was originally written and published in German language by Kerstin Schoene in 2013. It was translated into English by Natalie Hyde in 2014)

Penguin can fly

Penguins are flightless birds. But, if a penguin is among a great group of friends, things might take a different turn, like in this story.

A penguin wants to, but cannot fly. He wishes to soar through the clouds one day. No matter how hard he tries, he could not fly. Then comes this great group of friends, including you (Yes, you, as a reader, are part of the group).

ISBN 10 : 14521 18930
ISBN 13 : 978 14521 18932

3...2...1... To Planet Kindergarten

The Countdown starts!

3.... Suit up.

2.... Gears up.

1.... Heads up.

Now................ launch into mission kindergarten.

Well, yes, it is first day of kindergarten. This brave boy is all set to accomplish the great mission. Assigned to a commander (teacher), he takes a look at his space capsule (classroom). After some initial disagreement, he becomes friendly with a crewmate (classmate). But after some time, he cannot withstand this new atmosphere. But, it is time, he remembers the saying in NASA: "Failure is not an option".

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