Once Upon A Cool Motorcycle Dude
What happens when a boy and a girl have to work together on a project to create a fairy tale?
The boy and girl do not exactly see eye to eye on the story. The girl begins with a princess story in which her ponies are stolen by a giant so she cries and makes gold thread.
Not at all the boy’s style, he takes over and introduces a big biker who guards the last pony and fights the giant while he gets rich off of the gold thread.
They go back and forth, each improving upon the story, effectively working together. They even agree with each other at one point. It was really cute.
Recommended for children seven to nine years of age.
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Kevin O’Malley is a writer and illustrator of children’s books, including Once Upon A Royal Superbaby and Cinder Edna. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife and children.
Carol Heyer is a full-time writer and illustrator. She attended Moorpark College and California Lutheran University. Before writing and illustrating full-time, she worked as a production designer and writer for for a movie production company. She is pictured with her dogs, Cashew and Peanut.
Scott Goto is a native Hawaiian who graduated from the University of Hawaii, Manoa with a BA in Secondary Art Education. He also attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA and graduated with a BA in Illustration. He works as a freelance illustrator and fine artist.
The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School
Zoe Fleefenbacher has bright red, wild, amazing hair that can do all kinds of things, like play with the cat, brush her teeth, and turn on the television all at the same time. Zoe’s hair has a life of its own and her parents and Kindergarten teacher think its great.
But Ms. Trisk, Zoe’s first grade teacher, is all about rules and order. Wild hair has no place in her class. How will Zoe cope?
The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School is a very cute book with vibrant illustrations. The things Zoe’s hair does are funny and will highly entertain little girls. It is a story with the underlying message that although rules should be followed, you should not contain what makes you special and for Zoe, that is her hair.
Recommended for girls four to seven.
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Laurie Halse Anderson writes for people of all ages. She is best known for her young adult books that tackle tough subjects such as Speak and Chains. She lives in Northern New York with her husband and four children.
Ard Hoyt has always loved picture books and at a young age his dream was to become a children’s book illustrator. His other books include Tilly the Trickster, Some Dog!, and Utterly, Otterly Night.
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Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving
The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse
What a beautiful book. For children, it is colorful and fun. For adults, it is about learning something new. Most everyone is familiar with Eric Carle’s illustrations even if they have not cracked open one of his picture books. With beautiful brush strokes and painted on texture, they are truly phenomenal. Like many of Carle’s books, The Artist Who Pained a Blue Horse, teaches children about different animals through art, but in this book the animals are all the wrong colors which will astonish children and make them laugh.
As an adult who can read the writing in the back of the book, I learned that Eric Carle created this book as homage to Franz Marc, an artist born in Germany in 1880 who loved to paint animals in bright, non-traditional colors. This kind of art was not all that popular back then but Marc and artists like him formed a group that became influential in the modern and expressionist movements. Apparently Marc painted a lot of blue horses which is where the title comes from and a young Eric Carle living in Nazi Germany was shown some reproductions by a teacher that have stuck with him seventy years later.
For children four to ten and children of all ages!
Eric Carle is a children’s book author and illustrator. He is famous for his distinctive illustrations and most especially for The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He and his wife, Bobbie, even opened The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts in 2002. The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse is his first picture book in four years.
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Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?
Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?
Uh oh! Baby Bear has been separated from his mother, but as he journeys to reunite with her, he comes across all kinds of other animals!
Baby Bear, Baby Bear is a super cute children’s picture book. With colorful full-page illustrations and easy words in large print, it is the perfect book to engage and delight your young ones. I was glad that a blue heron was featured in the book. I see them all the time at parks and they are amazing creatures. Along with a variety of animals, this book teaches young children colors through rhyming. At the end of the book, there is a recap of all of the animals to help refresh the young reader’s memory. The fourth in a collaborative series with Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle, it is a delight for the eyes.
For young readers between the ages of two and six.
William Martin, Jr. was both an author and a teacher. He wrote classic children’s books such as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? He even has an award names after him: the Bill Martin, Jr. award. He grew up in Kansas, attended Kansas State Teacher’s College, and served in the Army Air Force in World War II. He passed away in 2004.
Eric Carle is a children’s book author and illustrator. He is famous for his distinctive illustrations and most especially for The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He and his wife, Bobbie, even opened The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts in 2002. His latest book is The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse.
Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving
Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving tells a different side of the story of Thanksgiving. Most everyone knows the basics about the Native Americans and the pilgrims, but the story of Sarah Hale’s thirty-eight year fight to save Thanksgiving is not as well known.
Way back when, Thanksgiving was not uniformly celebrated. Unfortunately, a lot of people began to lose interest in the holiday. As a teacher, author, and editor, Sarah Hale took up her pen to write thousands of letters to politicians requesting that Thanksgiving be made a national holiday and she urged others to do the same. Countless politicians and four presidents dismissed Sarah’s letters before she found one who agreed with her cause.
Thank You, Sarah is also full of fun facts about Sarah. She fought for playgrounds and schools for girls and she was against slavery. She also wrote all kinds of literature and even composed “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”
Thank You, Sarah not only expresses the importance of Thanksgiving, but it also demonstrates the importance of writing and making oneself heard. With the refrain, “She was bold, brave, stubborn, and smart,” Thanksgiving food puns, facts about the salvation of Thanksgiving, and beautiful full-page illustrations, Thank You, Sarah is an informative and fun holiday read.
A great and informative book for all ages, but probably best serves those between the ages of five and eleven.
Laurie Halse Anderson writes for people of all ages. She is best known for her young adult books that tackle tough subjects such as Speak and Chains. She lives in Northern New York with her husband and four children.
Matt Faulkner is an author in his own right but enjoys illuminating historic stories and fanciful tales. His recent work includes A Taste of Colored Water which he authored and illustrated, Thank You, Sarah, and The Monster Who Ate My Peas. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design and currently lives on a little island across the bay from San Francisco, California with his son and their two cats.
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