Week of Reviews
25 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in children's picture books, Picture book authors, children's book authors, Picture book illustrators and illustrations Tags: children's picture books
I’ve decided to try something new here on Frog on a Blog. My plan is to do a review everyday for a week. Lately, I’ve been coming across a lot of awesome new picture books and I want to share as many of them as possible with all of you. So, my Week of Reviews starts right now.
If I gave out letter grades for picture book illustration, More by I. C. Springman (2012, Houghton Mifflin) would receive an O for outstanding. Using mainly acrylic paints, the illustrator, Brian Lies, depicts with amazing detail a beautiful magpie bird and its found treasures. Kids will have a grand time discovering the numerous individual items that appear on each page. Some examples include: a marble, a coin, keys, an earring, a Lego, a watch, a toothbrush, and the list goes on and on. The story is simple, told in very few words, it conveys the message that “less is more” or perhaps that less is just the right amount. For the magpie, less equaled more friends and more space in its nest. The story brings to mind, a silly poem I wrote about a boy with too much stuff, entitled, aptly enough, Too Much Stuff. I think I’ll post it later today.
Finley Hopped In
19 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Hello from Finley, Welcome to my blog!
Our esteemed host, Finley, hopped in today. Here’s what he had to say:
Me: Hi Finley! Why are you so upset?
Finley: I had a fight with my brother.
Me: Can you tell us about it?
Finley: About what?
Me: The fight with your brother.
Finley: Which brother?
Me: You have more than one brother?
Finley: Yes, I have 21.
Me: Wow! Any sisters?
Finley: 59, but I don’t count them.
Me: Why not?
Finley: Because I can’t count that high.
Me: That’s a lot of siblings. Are you a handful?
Finley: That depends.
Me: On what?
Finley: On the size of the hand.
Me: Okay, tell us about the fight you just had with your brother. What’s his name?
Finley: Flip.
Me: What did you and Flip fight about?
Finley: He’s trying to steal my friend Chelsey away from me.
Me: Chelsey’s your best friend. Why would Flip try to steal her away from you?
Finley: Because he’s jealous.
Me: Why is he jealous?
Finley: Because he doesn’t have any friends.
Me: Why not?
Finley: Because he’s always flip-ping out.
Me: Okay, are you telling us a story?
Finley: Maybe.
Me: Why?
Finley: Because I love, love, love to tell stories!
Me: It’s okay to tell stories, but maybe you should write them down instead of pretending they’re true. We really thought you were upset and we were worried about you.
Finley: I’m sorry. I’ll go home right now and write my story down. And maybe the next time I visit, I’ll have a finished story to read to everyone.
Me: That would be great! We can’t wait to hear it.
Finley: So long!
Amphibian Minds Want to Know…
22 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in children's picture books, Hello from Finley, publishing industry, Welcome to my blog! Tags: Support Literacy
Please take a second to answer the poll at the bottom of the sidebar to the right. I really want to know what your favorite kind of children’s book is. Thank you for participating!
Caldecott Thoughts
17 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in children's picture books, Picture book authors, children's book authors, Picture book illustrators and illustrations, publishing industry Tags: children's picture books
The 2012 Caldecott Medal winner is A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka (2011, Schwartz & Wade Books). It’s a wordless picture book featuring a lovable little dog named Daisy. Daisy loves her ball. Daisy loves to play with her ball. Daisy is sad when her ball bursts. Daisy gets a new ball and a new friend. Daisy loves her new ball. The ink and watercolor illustrations clearly, beautifully, and colorfully convey the deceptively simple story of the little dog and her prized ball.
Three Honor books have been chosen this year. Blackout by John Rocco (2011, Disney Hyperion Books) showcases large, dynamic illustrations that depict one urban dwelling family’s unusual summer night. The story starts with a family together in their apartment, but separated by their busy lives. Then, they are brought together by a power outage and discover that spending time as a family is the best kind of time of all. This is a great modern-day tale.
Grandpa Green by Lane Smith (2011, Roaring Brook Press) features multimedia illustrations that sport very few colors. But because this book is so cleverly illustrated, it doesn’t need a lot of color. The story is told by the great-grandson of Grandpa Green. He tells his great grandfather’s life story in words while Grandpa Green “illustrates” his life via the shapes of the topiary trees in his garden. The text is understandably quite simple, allowing the appealing pictures to sing out loud and clear.
Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell (2011, Little, Brown and Company) is my personal favorite out of the picks this year. It tells the story of environmentalist and humanitarian, Jane Goodall, when she was just a little girl who dreamed of helping animals one day. The ink and watercolor illustrations are cheery and sweet. But what I like most about this book are the photographs of Jane and the drawings she did herself as a girl. This is a must see for kids and adults alike.
Omer’s Favorite Place
17 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in children's picture books, Picture book authors, children's book authors, Picture book illustrators and illustrations Tags: children's picture books
I like the way the author, Ifeoma Onyefulu, used real photographs to illustrate her picture book Omer’s Favorite Place (2011, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books). The story is a simple one; the young boy, Omer, shows the reader all of the places he likes to play in and around the house and ultimately reveals his most favorite place of all. It may be a simple concept, but it is one that children everywhere can relate to. Do you remember your favorite places to play when you were a child? My siblings and I used to set card tables up in the living room and drape sheets and blankets over them to make little private “forts”. Inside, we had several toys to play with. The setting for Omer’s Favorite Place is his home in Ethiopia. Readers will learn about a few Ethiopian games and a popular Ethiopian food, as well as meet Omer’s happy family.
Happy New Year!
03 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Hello from Finley, Welcome to my blog!
Wishing a very Happy New Year to all of our Frog On A Blog fans! 
2011 in review
03 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,200 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 37 trips to carry that many people.
Jane & Mizmow
19 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in children's picture books, Picture book authors, children's book authors, Picture book illustrators and illustrations Tags: children's picture books
If you’re looking for a terrific picture book about friendship, Jane & Mizmow (2011, Harper) by Matthew Armstrong is the perfect choice. The text is short and sweet, allowing the wonderful, bright illustrations to do most of the “talking”. (My favorite illustration is of bath time for Mizmow.) The story is about best friends, Jane and Mizmow, who despite their little (and perhaps not-so-little, you be the judge) differences, and even despite an argument, remain the best of friends. These two know that life is more fun when you have a friend to share it with. Jane & Mizmow is a sweet book with two charming main characters who will delight children ages 3 to 5 and beyond.
Blue Chicken
07 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in children's picture books, Picture book authors, children's book authors, Picture book illustrators and illustrations Tags: children's picture books
Those who have been following my blog know that I often choose books to review that I find unique. Blue Chicken by Deborah Freedman (2011, Viking) definitely qualifies as unique. The text is simple, moves the story along nicely, and neatly wraps it up at the end. You’re wondering, “what’s so unique about that?”. It’s how the story is told that’s unique. The story is about a little white chicken. What is special about this chicken and all of the characters in the story is that they are part of an illustration that comes to life. The illustration is unfinished and the little white chicken wants to help. What happens next is a complete disaster. Did the little white chicken fix things before the picture got ruined? You’ll have to read the book to find out. Blue Chicken is truly an enjoyable and unique picture book. Artists and art enthusiasts will appreciate the unusual perspectives in some of the illustrations. Kids will find this book to be just plain fun.
Interview Alert!
02 Nov 2011 1 Comment
in children's picture books, Picture book authors, children's book authors, publishing industry, Welcome to my blog! Tags: children's picture books
It’s time for another wonderful interview. This time the interviewee is author Lisa Wheeler. I had the good fortune of attending one of her recent Picture Book Boot Camps, a one-day inclusive workshop for picture book writers. It was a great experience. She really knows her stuff. She ought to, she’s had many books of her own published. The three pictured above are a small sampling of some of my favorites. Enjoy the interview!
Interview with Author Lisa Wheeler (11/2/2011)
Q. Why do you like to write children’s picture books and how did you get started?
LW. Like most writers, I’d been writing all my life. But it wasn’t until 1995 that I felt the desire to be published. I began sending my work out and gathering my rejections. It took nearly 4 years and 225 rejections before I ever sold a book. In the meantime, my writing had been improving and I was learning what makes a good children’s story. I’d had some success in children’s magazines and also did a freelance job writing very tight stories for the educational market. This was all a very helpful education. No one I knew had the internet when I began doing this. It wasn’t until 1997 that we decided to try it out. That was when I began meeting other writers, forming critique groups, and I learned about SCBWI. I do think I learned more in 6 months after joining SCBWI than I was able to find out on my own in the years prior to that. I sold One Dark Night—my first sale—on Oct. 30, 1998.
Q. I really like your book One Dark Night. How did you come up with the idea for that one?
LW. It’s hard to recall. That book started with wordplay and scribbles on a piece of paper. I was at work and on my clipboard I had written In a wee little house/in a wee little hole/lived a wee little mouse/ and a wee little mole. At the time I wrote that, I just liked the way it sounded and had no idea where the story would go. This was back in 1998, so I cannot recall how I figured out the rest of the story.
Q. You have written several books, any favorites?
LW. You know I can’t pick a favorite! The books are like my kids, if I pick a favorite, they’ll fight. My house would be full of imaginary fur and feathers. But like my kids, my books are each good at different things. For instance, my favorites to read aloud are Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum, Sixteen Cows, Jazz Baby, Ugly Pie, and the dino-sports series. The characters I like to spend time with are Sailor Moo, Cushion the porcupine, and Fitch and Chip. I think my funniest books are Turk and Runt and Spinster Goose. For each of my books, I have a different reason for it to be a favorite.
Q. What are you working on right now?
LW. I am working on the 6th book in the dino-sports series, Dino-Wrestling. I am also preparing for another Picture Book Boot Camp, which is my one day intensive workshop on picture book writing.
Q. Who are your favorite picture book authors?
LW. Phyllis Root, Brock Cole, and Kevin Henkes
Q. Where can fans go to learn more about you and your books?
Q. Any closing thoughts?
LW. Writing picture books for children is my dream come true. It took lots of years and lots of hard work, but I feel as if I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing with my life. If you have a passion, back it up with hard work, surround yourself with supportive people, and be willing to ‘put yourself out there for rejection’, you will be following your dreams. Getting paid to do a job you would do for free—icing on the cake!
Recent Comments