Dog Loves Books

I'm a sucker for stories about books. Most librarians I know are as well. Standing in my local library I spotted a title sticking out from the stack called Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates. I pulled out the book to see a smiling happy dog carting around a pile of books. I checked it out immediately. The very next day I stopped into my local bookstore to order the book. I couldn't imagine my own personal library without it.

Dog loves books. He loves how he can disappear into the stories and meet fun characters. So he decides to open a book shop. He does all the work of setting up shop, but after opening he's a bit short on customers. He waits and waits and waits. And he grows bored. Until he remembers...he's surrounded by books. He starts reading and suddenly the quiet bookshop is gone. He's playing with dinosaurs or in space. He's so busy he doesn't even notice that he has his first real customer. And he gets the joy of sharing the books he loves so much.

For a librarian this is about as wonderful of a book as you can get. Not only does Yates write a love letter to books, she writes a love letter to connecting people with books. This is about the transformative power of stories. About getting lost in the worlds in the pages. It's magical. The text is sparse. Yates lets her pictures tell much of the story. A two page spread just says "...a new adventure begins" as we see Dog bounding across the landscape in the pouch of a kangaroo.

Yates' pencil and watercolor illustrations were the highlight of the book for me. Dog is a wonderful character. He's noble and enthusiastic. He has a wonderful smile on his face for most of the book (other than his sad waiting scenes). His excitement for books is incredibly contagious. But at the same time he has a wonderful nobility about him. This is a dog who is proud of his store and proud of his books. The other characters have a great sweetness to them. The dinosaurs are more friendly than fierce. His first customer, a little girl, is rosy cheeked and excited. This is one of those magical books that will make you love reading and love books. Just as much as Dog loves them.

Toot and Puddle

The first time I saw the name Holly Hobbie on the book Toot and Puddle, I thought it was a mistake. Actually what I thought was “I had a doll with that name when I was young” and “I remember greeting cards with that character”. I thought the author had borrowed the name. Instead the author is the one who created the namesake character. Holly has been in the business of creating memorable characters for quite a while. I loved my Holly Hobbie doll but Toot and Puddle, the pigs living at Woodcock Pocket, completely stole my heart.

Toot and Puddle is actually a series of books. There are 11 stories so far and Holly does seem to be stopping anytime soon. Toot and Puddle are adorable pigs who share a house in the woods. Puddle is a homebody, content to bake and cook in the kitchen, wallow in a good bath, and play in the snow. Toot is a traveler, constantly seeking out new places and friends. The book follows the adventures of each during the course of a year. Toot’s story is told in the postcards he sends home to Puddle along with full page illustration of his adventures. On the other side, we get to watch Puddle enjoying his favorite parts of the season. So when Toot is spending winter in Africa with the hippos, Puddle is ice-skating and playing in the snow at home. Both are having a wonderful time, doing the things they love.

The story itself is very basic, often just telling what each character is doing. Toot’s story gives a bit more detail since his are told through postcards. The writing is wonderful on that account. The postcards sound like what people typically send on postcards. Puddle’s story is often told in little snippets. But you really don’t need the text for Puddle’s story. The images say it all. Holly’s watercolors are amazing! She manages to create lovable characters through her detailed illustrations. It’s the little things that make a difference in her art. Every part of the house is lovingly created and I was floored at how beautiful her images are. I want to live with Toot and Puddle. The house, the grounds, and Toot’s locations are created in adorable detail. There is a warmth to these places. Plus the characters themselves seem to radiate warmth and joy. We can see the obvious happiness on both of the character’s faces as they do the things they love. But we can also see the connection between the two friends. In only 32 pages we see two very different friends who have one of the strongest friendships I’ve ever seen in a children’s book. Whether it’s traveling to exotic destinations or just baking a soufflé, these are some wonderful pigs.

Bringing Down the Moon

Another moon book made its way into my pile of books to review and I thought that it would be fun to have it side by side with Kitten's First Full Moon. Bringing Down the Moon, written by Jonathan Emmett and illustrated by Vanessa Cabban, is similar in some ways to Henkes' book but there are more than enough difference to make this one another book that would make a perfect bedtime story.

Bringing Down the Moon follows Mole who burrows out of the ground one night to find the full moon hanging in the sky. It is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen and he decides that he wants it. He tries to jump to bring it down until Rabbit who sagely tells him that it's "not as close as is looks". Then he finds a stick and tries to poke it down until he runs into Hedgehog and she tells him the same thing. Then he starts throwing stones at the moon but hits Squirrel instead who also tells him that it's not as close as it looks. When Mole finally climbs a tree to grab the moon, he goes to far until the branch and falls down into a puddle. When he looks into the puddle he sees the reflection of the moon and tries to grab it. It ripples and at that moment a cloud goes over the moon. Mole begins to cry thinking he's broken it, until the other animals, hearing his cries, come to let him know that the moon is always in the sky and he can always look at it there.

I loved the repeated "It's not as close as it looks" which each animals says to Mole. At the end, as they all stare up at the big beautiful moon, Mole finally agrees with the statement and the story comes full circle. Jonathan Emmett plays with the language throughout the book making this a wonderful read-aloud. As Mole is jumping for the moon we hear "thumpety bump" and the stones make a plinkety plink when thrown. I loved the moment when Mole is explaining the troubles he has with the other animals. "'I'm all right,' sobbed Mole. 'But the moon isn't! I pulled it down, and then I broke it, and it was SO beautiful...and now I'll never see it again." I can just see a child saying the same thing while crying. The dialogue is just perfect with Mole playing the child, learning as he goes, and the other woodland creatures acting as the sage teachers and comforters. And of course the sweet ending will make everyone smile.

Vanessa Cabban's illustrations are simply beautiful. They are done in watercolor which gives everything a softer tone. She stays mostly with browns and blues and greens but the colors are subtle, creating the impression of nighttime. Where Henkes used black and white, the use of color makes this seems more child-like and softer. Most of the animals are brown like the dirt so Mole who is a purply-blue stands out even more clearly. He is adorable with his little snout and cute little hands and feet. All the animals are adorable. The images where Mole is up the tree and venturing out onto the branch has to be one of my favorites. Cabban portrays his cautiousness with a simple body pose. Beautiful illustrations, a cute story, and a sweet ending. A perfect bedtime story.

The Dog Who Belonged to No One

It is obvious from the cover alone that The Dog Who Belonged to No One, written by Amy Hest and illustrated by Amy Bates, is going to be adorable. Just the image of the smiling but scruffy looking dog tells you that this is one story that will tug at your heartstrings and make you go Awwww. The cover is not lying. This is one of the sweetest and cutest stories I've read in a while. I even got chocked up at the end.

The story alternates between the little dog that no one wanted and a little girl named Lia who makes deliveries for her baker parents. We see how the little dog tries to be helpful and friendly and how the girl works all day. Both the dog and the young girl are sweet and helpful but both are very lonely. The dog sleeps in the street and dreams of a warm porch. The little girl lays in bed and dreams of finding a friend. One night as a storm brews, the little girl races for home after her last delivery. At the same time a little dog is desperately trying to outrun the storm. And of course they both end up on the same porch, Lia's family's porch. After they both dry off, the girl and the dog become fast friends and they live happily ever after.

I'm sure that I've read this story before but I've never heard an adoption story told with such heart. The section about how the little dog tries to outrun the night because it doesn't want to be alone is just heartbreaking. The shared joy when they both, warm and dry, decide to adopt each other was enough to bring tears to my eyes. In fact, Hest manages to make us smile and cry numerous times in the book, which is impressive for a mere 32 pages. The story is told as alternating pages and it is only as we get close to the end that we see how the friends will finally meet up. There is a wonderful spread at the end where we can, through words and pictures, see how the two will come to the same spot and finally meet up. A sweet story, told well.

The illustration, by Amy Bates, are done with pencil and watercolor and are simply stunning. There is no other word to describe how beautiful and captivating the images are. I was completely in love with her depictions of the dog, which range from heartbreaking to cheery (a scene with the dog sleeping in an alley, made me tear up a little). It is the kind of depiction that would make anyone want to adopt this little dog. The setting, a small town in the late 1800s, is well captured. Little details like the storefronts and the costumes make it very believable. Bates uses a fall palette and mixes in some leaves to make it seem like winter is just around the corner for both of these characters. Bates manages to mix absolute adorableness with surprisingly detailed.

It is rare to find a book that tugs at the heartstrings quite as much as this one has done. I was in love with the dog and the girl from the beginning. And although I could see how it would end from the very start of the book, the beauty and the sweetness of the story made the journey more than worth it. One of my new favorite books. I'll be picking this one up immediately.

Gator Gumbo

I’ve read tons of Little Red Hen variations but none with quite the enjoyable flair of Gator Gumbo, written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Sally Anne Lambert. The story follows Monsieur Gator, an alligator living down in the Bayou who can never find enough to eat. He’s gotten too old to hunt and because of that he is teased by the local critters. One day Monsieur Gator gets tired of the teasing. He decide to cook up some gumbo like his mother used to make. So he asks the critters who will help him gather water and no one will help. Then he asks about catching crawdads and again no one will help. The picking of okra, the grinding of spices, and the adding of rice is the same story. No one will help. But when Monsieur Gator asks who will help eat the gumbo all the critters rush towards the pot. But the gator sends them back saying that he cooked so he’ll be the one to eat. When they beg for one single taste he finally relents and they end up with far more than they bargained for.

This could have been a simple Little Red Hen story but Fleming decides to give the story a little more spice. First there is the obvious Southern dialect that Fleming uses. Monsieur Gator answer the critters after they say they won’t help, “Then I’ll be doin’ it myself”. This dialect is subtle but adds just the right amount of flavor to the story. I enjoyed how Fleming takes a character that we probably shouldn’t like (alligators tend to be villains in other stories) and makes him devious but lovable. We see the other critters (possum, skunk, and otter) as the more despicable characters. That makes the ending more bearable for young children. By that point we are rooting for Monsieur Gator and his tasty Gumbo. The book was a delight to read, mixing onomonepia words with each action. As Gator mixes in the rice that will thicken his gumbo we hear Pour! Scrape! Glop! And when he cuts up the okra to got into the pot it is Pluck! Slice! Pop! These added sound effects give the book just a little added flavor. This would be a wonderful read aloud.

Lambert creates beautiful watercolor illustrations that give the story emotion and highlight the action well. Monsieur Gator is portrayed with plenty of emotions. We see him at the beginning of the book as a sad and tormented creature, then angry, and finally the devious and determined reptile that will hatch a plan for his revenge. The other critters are presented as mean hooligans who think nothing of tossing eggs and rocks at our poor alligator. The backgrounds tend to be muted greens and browns and really capture the feeling of the swamp. The animals are dressed in bright colors and stand out nicely. In fact each critter wears a different color to make for some very colorful scenes when they are all together. I was particularly impressed with Lambert’s depiction of the cooking pot. The steam, the crawdads, the okra all sit at the top making for a very tasty looking meal. Finally when the animals beg for just a taste of the wonderful smelling stew, the look on their faces is of fake sincerity. And Monsieur Gator looks so sneaky when he finally gives in. The last line is a wonderful surprise. And be sure to read the cookbook lying on the ground next to the very happy alligator. A fun book, a great read aloud, and a spicy story.

Cowboy Ned and Andy

David Ezra Stein has a talent for taking the simplest stories and giving them lots of heart. I wanted to review his book Leaves but my copy is out on loan and the library's copy is out. It's the perfect book for this time of year and one of my regular Fall books. But while I was at the library I picked up a copy of Cowboy Ned and Andy which I hadn't read.

Cowboy Ned and his horse Andy are best friends. They are driving cows across the desert together when Ned mentions that the next day is his birthday and that he's missing his family. Andy decides that he wants to do something special for his friend and settles on a birthday cake. After the sun goes down and Ned goes to bed, Andy sets off to find a cake. He runs into numerous desert animals but none of them know where to find a cake. Andy keeps walking until almost the sun is up. He heads to a house on the edge of the desert and the man there offers the horse some advice. He recommends that rather than worry about a cake, that Andy just spend time with his friend. So Andy runs back as fast as he can and gets back just as the sun has risen on Ned's birthday. The friends hug and the cows sing Happy Birthday.

This sweet little story has a pretty quiet plot but a ton of heart. The character of Andy is just wonderful. He's such a good friend and he's so incredibly polite to the other animals. Even the scorpion who is a bit rude to him. He refers to everyone as sir and he asks about a cake in the nicest possibly way. He doesn't think about how tired he is, he only thinks about making things better for his friend. I was just loved the character. Ned is a bit of a background character in the book. I did love the names of his family members: Nedna, Nedrick, and Ma. The story was simple but so sweet.

David uses watercolor and ink to create the illustrations. The ink has been brushed on to give the images a rougher look which fits well with the western theme. Actually the rough look of the pictures really adds a sweet element to the book. David has imbued the book with energy and a childlike enthusiasm. The book's palette includes a lot of browns, blues, and yellows, mixed with the occasional orange or gray which works beautifully with the theme. We see the huge expanses of brown sand. I love the beautiful clear blue sky and the rough moon that hangs. My favorite spread had to be one where Andy has just left the scorpion and is heading toward the rancher's house. A majority of the page is sand with just a touch of sky at the top of the page. There are a couple clouds and we see Andy heading into the distance. It's not a pivotal scene but the colors work so well together with the rough mountains and clouds. It's just a gorgeous simple image. And that pretty much summed up the book for me. Gorgeous, simple and sweet. A great buddy story with a huge heart.

Clown

Finding out that Quentin Blake has books of his own was a little like winning a contest. I stood at the library terminal glancing through the hundreds of books that he's illustrated for others until I came upon Clown. And I literally jumped for joy. Then I checked to make sure it was in and then rushed to pick it up before anyone else could find it. I drove home and then sat down on the couch and started my afternoon reading with it. I didn't even wait for my coffee to finish brewing. And that should tell you a lot.

Some of the first chapter books that I loved were all by Roald Dahl. The BFG was a particular favorite. And of course all of those were illustrated, at one time or another, by Quentin Blake. He has illustrated for Roald, Dahl, John Yoeman, Dr. Seuss, Russell Hoban, and Michael Rosen just to name a few. At least 360 books bear his very recognizable style. His collaboration with Daniel Pennac on The Rights of a Reader is next on my list of books to buy. But I had no idea that he'd done books of his own. Apparently I've been living in some kind of cave.

Clown has to be one of the cutest stories you will ever see. This wordless book follows the adventures of a toy clown who is tossed out, along with some other stuffed creatures, at the beginning of the book. He escapes from the trash can and set out (with some new sneakers) to get help for his stuffed friends. He encounters all types of kids but they aren't able to help him for various reasons. Some are pulled away by parents, others think he is too dirty and old for their children. He is finally flung way high into the window of a single mother and her two children. The mother is at work and the children want to help the clown. But first they must help take care of their mother. The clown helps the children clean, cook, and make the dingy little apartment brighter. Then they rush down and save the toys. Everyone, even hard working mom, ends up happy at the end.

Blake is a master at taking just a couple lines, a bit of color, and creating some deep emotions. The triumph on the little clowns face when he finds his "new" shoes is enough to make you want to buy the book. The illustrations are alive with so much emotion and mood that no words are really needed to make this story complete. I'm sure children will enjoy adding words and dialogue to the book but I found the wordlessness made the message that much stronger. Blake inadvertantly tackles the subjects of poverty and altruism in this little book. The clown is constantly tossed out by well-to-do parents and ends up bringing immense joy to a family who is poor. We feel for the clown because of his constant concern for the other toys. He is a hero, saving the unfortunate and by doing something nice for others finds a home. The moral is there although a bit more subtle than that.

The book is done in Blake's regular ink and watercolor style. His line work is interesting because he uses what seem like fast haphazard strokes but they always come out perfectly. The clown itself is a model of this. He seems to be quickly drawn but Blake creates such deep emotions on such a small character. The reader knows what the toy is feeling through a simple raised eyebrow or body posture. This is an adorable book, filled with emotion and excitement. Even without words Blake is a master of storytelling.

Milo's Hat Trick

I wanted to start at the beginning of the alphabet. My idea was to read every children's book at the West Des Moines library who's author started with an A. I glanced through a few of the titles that were available and stumbled onto Jon Agee's book Milo's Hat Trick. (no it's not sports related) Again the cover drew me in and I picked it up to take home and read. 

The book follows Milo who is a terrible magician. His big shame is his hat trick. He doesn't have a rabbit so he can't pull one out of a hat. Normally he pulls a mouse which just isn't as good. He is constantly booed. So the manager informs Milo that he needs to get a rabbit. He sets off to trap one and manages to catch a bear instead. But the bear can also do the trick. He can fold himself up to fit in the hat and is willing to jump out at a whistle from Milo. They head back to the theater together but on the train Milo's hat gets switched with someone. He is panicked. His bear and hat are gone. The bear in the meantime is jumping out of the hat at the worst possible moment. A hunt is taken to find the bear who still has the hat. He finds his way to the theater to save the day at the last moment. He becomes part of the act. But after hundreds of shows the bear gets tired and Milo must find a new trick. And this one is a wonderful surprise.

The story in this book is clever but the illustrations are really what made it for me. The gawky looking Milo and the silly bear convey emotion easily. Agee uses pencil and watercolor to bring the scenes to life. One of my favorite images is Milo crouched down talking to the bear who is already tucked into the hat. Only his mouth protrudes from the hat. The silliness of the situation and Milo's odd posture (including pants riding up to show white socks) makes for a wonderful scene. The story is fun and we feel for the bear as he tries to get back to the show. Even with the blank eyes that the characters have we can see his fear and desperation. A clever book with fun illustrations.