Revisiting the Moon
A full moon on December 29 ended the year 2020. New year, new moon, and we are thinking once again about moon books – we’ve looked at some of these before, but good books, like the moon, keep coming back.
cats
Dogs and Cats, Part 2
Peter McCarty doesn’t just include his dog, but also his cat in Hondo and Fabian, a 2003 Caldecott Honor book. This story describes a day in the life of his pets. Hondo goes to the beach while Fabian stays home, but both have a good time. The soft pencil illustrations of the yellow Labrador retriever and the gray tabby on the front jacket cover are matched with photographs of the real Hondo and Fabian on the back jacket flap.… more
Dogs and Cats, Part 1
It is almost guaranteed that children will respond favorably to animal stories, especially stories with dogs and cats. Two-thirds of American households own dogs or cats. Nineteenth century British illustrator Randolph Caldecott seemed to understand the natural affinity between children and animals. Before science documented the importance of pets in children’s lives, he included animals in most of his illustrations, and they added to the frolicking fun that animated his scenes.… more
A Kindle* of Cats
Phyllis:
*Even though kindle means cats born in the same litter, the alliteration was hard to resist.
“All my work is done in the company of cats,” writes Nicola Bayley, wonderful picture book artist and writer, in her book The Necessary Cat.
I know what she means. Right now my cat Luna is sitting on the open copy of The Kittens’ ABC, clearly a cat of discerning literary taste.… more
Coming Home to Safe Harbor
Phyllis: This summer I had the opportunity to sail for a week in Lake Superior, so we are turning our thoughts to books about the sea (including the great inland sea that borders Minnesota, so vast it makes its own weather). If we can’t go sailing right now, we can at least read about it in a fleet of good picture books.… more
August Shorts
Warning: There’s a lot of enthusiasm ahead for these books!
Where Do Pants Go?
Written by Rebecca Van Slyke, illustrated by Chris Robertson
Sterling Children’s Books, 2016 Well, this is just adorable … and I can already hear households throughout the English-speaking world chanting: “Where do pants go? On your arms? No. On your neck? No. No, no, no. Pants go on your legs, that’s where pants go.”… more
Written by Rebecca Van Slyke, illustrated by Chris Robertson
Sterling Children’s Books, 2016 Well, this is just adorable … and I can already hear households throughout the English-speaking world chanting: “Where do pants go? On your arms? No. On your neck? No. No, no, no. Pants go on your legs, that’s where pants go.”… more
Jennifer A. Bell
In this interview with Jennifer A. Bell, illustrator of many endearing books, we’ve asked about the process of illustrating Little Cat’s Luck, our Bookstorm™ this month, written for second, third, and fourth graders as a read-aloud or individual reading books.Jennifer was also the illustrator for Marion Dane Bauer’s earlier novel-in-verse, Little Dog, Lost.
What media and tools did you use to create the soft illustrations in Little Cat’s Luck?… more
Sunflower Cat Treats
Patches in Little Cat's Luck (Marion Dane Bauer and Jennifer A. Bell) would find these healthy treats a reason to purr.
Marion Dane Bauer
In this interview with Marion Dane Bauer, we’re asking about her novel-in-verse, Little Cat’s Luck, our Bookstorm™ this month, written for second, third, and fourth graders as a read-aloud or individual reading books. It’s a good companion to her earlier novel-in-verse, Little Dog, Lost.
When the idea for this story came to you, was it a seed or a full-grown set of characters and a storyline?… more
Bookstorm™: Little Cat’s Luck
Many people love cats. You might be one of them. Many children consider their cat or their dog to be one of the family. Marion Dane Bauer understands that. She wrote Little Cat’s Luck, the story of Patches, a cat, and Gus, the meanest dog in town, out of her deep affinity for both cats and dogs.… more
That Lovely Ornament, the Moon
by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and Phyllis Root
Jackie: We’ve passed the Solstice but we still have more night than day. We can watch the moon with our breakfast and with our dinner. We thought we’d celebrate this season of the moon by sharing some stories featuring that lovely ornament.
Phyllis: And Christmas Eve we saw an almost full moon casting shadows on the snow before the clouds blew in. Moonlight… more