Children is the broader term for infants, toddlers and tweens. These posts are about children of all ages.
Paint By Sticker Kids Christmas is the latest in the best selling activity series that’s been entertaining our kids for years. The concept behind these books is very simple. There’s a sheet that has a couple dozen stickers on it. Beneath each sticker is a number that corresponds to a number that’s within a blank space in the final image. Young mosaic artists will put the stickers in the picture one at a time until the final image is revealed.
Write, craft, play. That’s the backdrop to The Kids’ Book of Paper Love by Irene Smit & Astrid Van Der Hulst. For kids of a certain age this will be a creative cul de sac where they’ll be able to spend hours playing, dreaming and enjoying the love of paper. From the moment you pick up the book it’s obvious that there are details upon details lovingly crammed into every corner of every page. It’s thick, compact and just like those collector stamps at the post office, meant to be used.
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao is not a book about babies. My very limited Chinese knowledge knew that bao bao means baby. Thus, this is obviously a book about Amy and her search for the perfect baby. I was wrong. Had I thought about it for a moment the very large dumpling on the cover should’ve pointed me in the correct direction. Instead, Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao is about a young girl in search of the perfect dumpling. It’s a book about family traditions, good food, not getting discouraged and learning how to do things by yourself.
Like pizza, a cat video or peeking under the wrapping paper, Superbuns is impossible to resist. Superbuns is by author/illustrator Diane Kredensor and if you’ve read Buck’s Tooth you’ll recognize her style. The feel of the book is as at home with the classic vibe of a comic strip. Its size compliments the cuteness and takes a rabbit named Buns across the city with a hot pie of a happy time.
Buns is a rabbit. Actually, she could be a bunny as the other main character is Superbuns is her know-it-all sister, Blossom. Blossom means well, but is insistent that being kind is not a super power. Sure Buns may hold open doors for old people, take out garbage and pay compliments to lots of people, but being kind is not a super power.
On this particular day the two rabbits are being quite kind. They’re taking a pie that they baked to their grandmother’s house. Halfway through their journey they notice that a stranger is following them. This is the city and stranger danger is a real thing, but it’s also a city populated with impossibly cute anthropomorphic animals. However, things are further complicated by the fact that this stranger is a fox.
A fox who has been following two rabbits can’t be a good thing, can it? In this case Blossom freaks out when Buns starts innocently talking to the young fox. Foxes eat rabbits, you silly rabbit. As this is a children’s illustrated book, Superbuns turns the animal world on its head and this particular fox is just trying to get home. Thankfully Blossom knows all about directions and getting lost, all of which she’s eager to share with their new pointy eared friend.
Superbuns is cute. It’s disarmingly cute and will suck readers in who are 4-8 years old. Those on the upper end of that scale will be unwittingly charmed by the illustrations. The text in the book is such that those ages should be able to read all of it effortlessly. There are some sight words for the emerging readers that are on the younger spectrum of that scale.
Ultimately what makes Superbuns work is its illustrations and the simple, home-spun nature of the story. It feels like the book equivalent of a pillow with two cold sides. Kredensor is an Emmy Award-winning director and producer for lots of animated shows that you and your kids have seen before. Have you ever seen Pinky and the Brain (!!), Clifford the Big Red Dog, Curious George or a couple others? Her resume is a cartoon lover’s watch list and Superbuns rides into your child’s library as effortless as using Superbuns power.
Our 9 year old is a hanger on to The Bad Guys and we are 100% OK with that. He’s going into fourth grade and has been reading The Bad Guys since the end of first grade. In real world time I know that‘s not a long time, but through the eyes of a kid’s library it can be an eternity. Two years ago he wouldn’t have dreamed of reading the stuff that he’s reading now. These books have no pictures, chapters that are more than a dozen pages long and might even mention the subject of boys and girls ‘liking’ each other.
The ninth book in The Bad Guys series of books from Scholastic is called The Bad Guys in The Big Bad Wolf. Each book in this series has our title characters in such elementary school adventures as in…The Furball Strikes Back, in Attack of the Zittens, in Do-You-Think-He-Saurus and other books that your kids aged five and older have already read. When you visit an elementary school library ask where their copies of any books featuring The Bad Guys are. You’ll see a handful of beaten up, dog-eared books with yellowed pages that most likely have some degree of little hand prints all of them. These books have been loved, read, re-read and had their spine tapped several times in order to extend their life span.
Our 9 year-old has been counting the days until The Big Bad Wolf was released. We got to the store and saw a couple of older books by Aaron Blabey on the shelf, but no sight of the new one. At first he was dejected and looked like he might cry. He was certain, absolutely positive that it was hitting stores on this day. I suggested that he ask a person at the store where the book is. This is an important leap of faith for him because he’s not one to ask questions to people that he doesn’t know.
However, as we were buying some other stuff I suggest that he go to Guest Services and ask them. No sooner had I looked up then I saw his every growing flip-flop covered feet blazing a train to see where the book was. Guest Services directed us to the area where the book should’ve been, but it wasn’t. Again I suggested that he go ask someone in a red vest about the book. They checked their computer; saw that it was in the back, still in the box, but that they’d go get a copy for us.
I kid you not, our nine year-old was skipping up and down the isle with nervous energy. After a couple of minutes he grew tired of this and started to peek around the corner like he was scouting out a drive-by for a teenage girl in 10 years. “He’s got it. He’s got it!” I heard.
For adults who need to know what the plot’s about, Mr. Wolf gets blown up to a massive sized monster and The Bad Guys need to find a way to stop him ASAP. Toss in some new friends, lots of humor, a few potty jokes, some more humor, several dashes of action and you’ll see why elementary readers will absolutely love this series. They don’t need to know the series before reading The Big Bad Wolf. Most elementary school kids will know the characters, their role in the story and are already eager to be the first ones to tell the other kids that they’ve read the new book. A bonus for parents is that The Bad Guys, Big Bad Wolf only retails for $5.99, even less if you shop around.
Our children don’t know art per se. They’ve been to the High Museum of Art many times and know what art is, they just don’t know the key players. I don’t even know a majority of the classic artists. I might recognize their style, but their catalog and finer points will fall between my mental sofa cushion. However, I know animals and I know to count. It’s only because of the fact that I’m an adult and have experienced pop culture that I know some of the artist referenced in this children’s board book.
Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, 3, Count Art with Me, is a board book for those crawlers to toddlers (and the adults who are reading to them) who want to shake up the palette of their counting books. Each page has a number with its respective number of animals who are presented in the style of the artist that it’s referencing. We see 4 Matisse Monkeys, 6 Kandinsky Kangaroos, 8 Seurat Sloths and seven other counting lessons that are done whilst channeling classic artists.
I had to mention those three artists because two of them I hadn’t heard of. Even the title of the book, Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, and 3 is referencing an artist and not the author of the book. The actual author of the book is Grace Helmer, a London-based illustrator who has quite the career ahead of her as a forger, should she want to go on the other side of the law.
The colors and patterns in the book are fabulous and will draw in your eyes. Factor in that Kahlo’s Koalas isn’t even intended for adults and you’ve got a book that crawlers through pre-K will gnaw on for ages. This board book was originally published by LOM ART in England last year. However, it’s not off putting or inaccessible at all. This is a counting, board book with great art that just might happen to inspire kids or parents about the masters. Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, 3, Count Art with Me is available in the United States by Andrews McMeel Publishing for $8.99.
It’s quite shocking that this is the first book featuring characters from Marvel Comics to help teach the A, B, C’s. Granted there might be others, but the Abrams Block Books are our favorite. From the first time we saw Alpha Block when our now 9 year-old was learning the alphabet; to when his brother read Dino Block two years later, this series has never disappointed us. Moreover, the quality of this series stands out so much that we still have all of the books and they’ve held up nicely.
The difference in construction is what makes these block books so sturdy. They’re square books that fit nicely in small hands and the spine is about three times as thick as an individual page. This is a strong series of books that have been through two children and countless visits to elementary schools when I was the guest reader.
Marvel AlphaBlock has select heroes from the MCU taking center stage as they present letters of the alphabet. A is for Ant-Man.V is for Valkyrie. S is for Spider-Man and so on. Of course, there are many heroes that share letters in the alphabet, what about them?
The final two pages of the book are gatefold and open up to show approximately 50 more characters from the MCU that are shown in Marvel Alpha Block. Essentially, it’s a Where’s Marvel Waldo that invites younger readers to go back again and find each character. I say ‘younger readers’ with air quotes because even those who have mastered the alphabet will be sucked into the book quicker than a Peter Quill dance off irritates Gamora.
This is a great, entertaining book that ages 18 months and older will love. The colors bring everything over the rainbow and the characters are those that will make up their entertainment for decades to come.
We’ve had our copy of National Geographic Kids Almanac 2020 for a couple of weeks. It’s something we meant to write, but every time we open the book up for inspiration we get sucked down the knowledge (or lack thereof) hole. Every year since 2010 this almanac has provided stunning illustrations, deep dive facts and surfaced based knowledge for those who know a little about a lot.
This is the 10th Anniversary Edition and it’s aged in all the right places. For instance, look at the brown bear on the cover. It’s embossed so that the bear looks like he’s running off of the page. Kids will immediately notice this, touch the 3D bear and start flipping through the book.
a Rafflecopter giveawayIn theory, any age is OK looking through National Geographic Kids Almanac 2020. In practice the book will be best enjoyed by those readers who are 9 and up, but way up, because it’ll be read by adults when not being used by younger readers. The book is great because it manages to have the complex and the simple, with a side of pop culture or puzzles that will entertain kids for hours. It has subject matter that those in middle elementary through high school will be studying.
To celebrate the 10th Anniversary Edition they’re giving away a GoPro camera, it’s a $315 value and will help deliver the NatGeo-esque photos that you’ve always wanted to take.
We’re also giving away a copy of National Geographic Kids Almanac 2020. It’s a $14.99 value and will provide hours upon hours of entertainment for those 9 or older. Do you have a summer car trip coming up? This book is mandatory so that you can A. Do less screen time and B. Not have them say “are we there yet?” every 10 minutes. To enter our giveaway for the book only just leave a comment below.
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