Rosie and Rasumus is an old soul, book that 4 and up will love

Normally I’m not a fan of any children’s illustrated book that has lots of white space on its pages. I feel that it’s a cop out and that they’re leaving me out of some of the show. For the record, I’m also not a fan of the sound of crinkling potato chip bags and drinking orange juice after I brush my teeth. Every once in a while a children’s book will come around and utterly demolish my silly pet peeve. Rosie and Rasmus is the latest Trojan Horse to charm me, and other kids, who discover this lovely illustrated book for ages 4-8.

Rosie and rasmus, serena geddes, childrens book, children’s illustrated book

From the first four pages it’s obvious what the Achilles Heel is and that is its artwork. We meet Rosie, who’s a shy young girl who lives in a picturesque, coastal town. She sees all of the kids playing, laughing or having fun and simply wants someone to see her. The next page starts out just like the first two pages, except this time we see Rasmus, a dinosaur who lives in a big tree that overlooks the town where Rosie lives.

One day Rosie goes for a walk, where she’s given a flower by Rasmus. The two become friends, despite their obvious differences, but what Rasmus really wants to do is fly.   Rosie plants and schemes, like only a 6 year-old can, in order to help her much larger friend with thagomizers* down his back and tail.

Soul is a characteristic that few children’s illustrated books have. Most of them are entertaining and enjoyed by children, but very few of them have soul. I don’t mean the get-up-and-dance James Brown kind of soul. I mean, at some instance in reading the book, or looking at the art, the book pierces your soul, stays there for a moment and asks you to remember when you felt how the characters in the book feel. Rosie and Rasmus has that kind of soul.

Ironically, it’s the combination of the pages that are not fully colored, the economy of words and the illustrations that make the book remind parents of childhood. Rosie and Rasmus will resonate as much with children. Sometimes kids want to play by themselves. However, some kids are shy and want other kids to say hello first. This book is great for either camp of kids.  It’s written and illustrated by Serena Geddes and it’s the illustrations that will make you feel like this book is written just for you. Moreover, Rosie and Rasmus deals with the difficult subject of good-byes, but it does it with a smile and the promise that even though things change, they can also get better.

The Hotel Between, top tier fantasy/adventure for 9 and up

Describing The Hotel Between, is much like the story that binds the book together. It treats borders between categories as an entry to more adventure; whereas some it its contemporaries would stumble at how to weave adventure, magic, time travel, intrigue and family drama into a coherent, thrilling book. My wife read this book first and said, “You must read this”. She finished The Hotel Between in just under a week and now I must pass along this message. You must read this.

Of course ‘must read this’ could sound a bit pompous and I completely understand that, Mr. How Do Know What I Must Read. Let me clarify, The Hotel Between is an upper elementary school and up science-fiction book that people who like adventure and mystery will love.

Elements of the plot might make some cautious readers raise an eyebrow. Cameron and Cassia are twins. They’ve been told that their father abandoned them and that their mother died, but they’ve never really believed it. All these two need to do is somehow find a magical world and you’ve got any number of bad movies that were developed from good books recently.

That’s where the similarities stop and the book goes down a rabbit hole that bends your mind, explains it all perfectly and leave you wanting more. The book’s cover, with it’s upside down landmarks from around the world invoke an M.C. Escher madness is a great tell as to how trippy and fun it is.

 Shortly after meeting Cameron and learning just a little about his back story we’re shown the world of The Hotel Between. Readers of any age will appreciate how quickly the book moves and how well it does in explaining everything-and everywhere in the book.  Once in The Hotel Between Cameron meets a variety of characters, including Nico, who is his guide for most of the book and might not be exactly who he says he is-or is he?

The guessing game that happens in The Hotel Between is the stuff of The Usual Suspects. You won’t know who is good and who is bad, or what the real motivation is for any of the double crosses that happen in this brave, upside down world.

Each chapter is around 14 pages and has vocabulary that upper elementary school kids will be able to read. It’s the unknown, upper age that is impressive also. This is smart, fun reading that doesn’t dumb down the adventure or plot development. It’s a well told story that ages 9 and up can-and will want to read, but its quality makes it so that older readers won’t feel like they’re reading a kid’s book.

Author Sean Easley has set up a fabulous story with The Hotel Between. It stands on its own, but it also sets up future stories that could be told due to the richly detailed characters that have been laid out. Either way, this is a great book that readers 9 and up will enjoy. It’ll most likely inspire them to read more books as they chase the next book that they hope will be as great as this one. Update: after checking his website it looks like it’s the later as the sequel to The Hotel Between will come out in the fall of 2019.  

Plum, neither a lump of coal nor that pony that you wanted

Plum is the back story behind the Sugar Plum Fairy. How did she get her wings? What’s up with that green outfit? Is Captain Planet her father? What are her super powers? All of these things, and more are questions that I’ve never entertained. Actually, truth be told I did see Nutcracker and the Four Realms and saw lots of a ‘Plum’ type character in that film. Thankfully that film has been purged from my short term memory and now the only notion of her is when she’s dancing in my head whilst I read The Night Before Christmas.

Plum, sean hayes, scott icenogle, robin Thompson, Christmas book, sugar plum fairy,

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Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy-a great good-night book

Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy absolutely nails the frustration and love that can come from putting a child to bed. Some nights it’s cute if they try ploys to delay the inevitable. Other times you’ll need them get horizontal ASAP due to the work that you need to accomplish or their questionable behavior. Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy is an illustrated book that is a joy to read and look at for children aged 3 and up.

Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy-a great good-night book

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Chomp Goes the Alligator, a counting board book with real bite 

To a new parent counting books might appear be quite similar. They were to us. The numbers don’t change; they go in order, what’s the difference. However, there are variables that need to be considered. If it’s a flap book (where you have to flip something up) are the flaps strong? Will they rip off easily? How thick are the pages? Will they be ripped or compromised with ease? Also, don’t forget the spine of the book-be sure that it’s strong enough to merit the cost of the book. Chomp Goes The Alligator by Matthew Van Flee gleefully devours all of those expectations into the best counting book that we’ve seen in years.

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 Hip & Hop In The House!, 4 fly 4YO and up

The tortoise raps slow. The hare raps quickly. There is no racing involved. They do walk briskly for a moment, but that’s only after the two anthropomorphic animals meet each other and see a poster for a rap battle.  Hop lives in Breakbeat Meadow and Hip lives in Slowjamz Swamp, both of which are in Oldskool County. If you’re tongue isn’t fully in cheek yet there are more than two dozen cute puns that seal the deal in this book  hits home for elementary school readers; or for those parents of young readers who want to have fun reading it to them.

Hip and Hop, Hip & Hop, Hip & Hop in the house!, Hip & Hop in the house, jef czekaj, graphic novel, comic. Continue reading  Hip & Hop In The House!, 4 fly 4YO and up

Baby Sees Colors! is a bright, kawaii-culture board book for 0-3

Baby Sees Color! is a statement of fact and a board book for those babies that just got off the baby boat. Why are board books important? Babies as young as 6 weeks old can make out shapes and colors.   For parents who want their kids to see the brightest, most vivid and certainly the most kawaii book need to check out Baby Sees Colors! This board book is a phenomenon in Japan and has sold 700,000 copies there. Baby Sees Colors! is available in the United States for the first time in all of its bright colored, wavy-lined glory so that new parents can watch their babies go down the rabbit hole.

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Born to Dance, for the dance (and photo) enthusiasts

I completely blame (or credit) Born to Dance for planting songs in my head. Ever since I received our copy of the book that fabulous (or horrible) song by Patrick Hernandez, Born to Be Alive, pops in my head. That song stays there until I’m able to clean the slate, then it’s immediately replaced by Maniac by Michael Sembello. That song is there for a moment and then it’s replaced by the current favorite, Carpenter Brut version of the song. I state all of this to say that I don’t really dance. The last time I danced was at my wedding just over a decade age-which I did because my bride was dancing and my sometimes friend Al Chol was there. Wait, I did dance last week in the house, but it was in a mocking sense that even led my still bride to ask to promptly stop.

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