It’s not often that the combination of picture book and haiku get “mashed-up.” Andrew Clements used a series of haikus to tell his story, Dogku but as endearing as the book is, those were more a series of poems fit to describe the dog and his family. In Won Ton, Wardlaw is able to tell the story using only haiku and it doesn’t seem stilted or strained—not that Clements’ did, it was wonderful, too.
There’s nothing revolutionary about the story. Won Ton, a cat, finds himself in an animal shelter, is finally adopted by a family, reluctantly settles in and becomes the “ruler of the roost.” Don’t get me wrong, he is a cat of great personality and definite opinions. He’s very “cat-like” and engaging.
It’s the haiku though, that makes the whole thing work. The short, precise form fits perfectly with the cat’s “thoughts” and actions. It will also appeal to those youngsters who need shorter but fulfilling texts. All in all, just like the boy in the book, you’ll be beguiled by Won Ton, a new friend you’ll want to visit over and over again.
Posted by: Eileen
Poor Nini! She is confronted with a chaos of shoes and boots and hats and books and coat and suitcases. This can only mean one thing: her people are going away without her!
For a certain type of child, there is nothing better than anything tiny. Tiny books, tiny toys, tiny leaves and flowers. These are the children that tend to have elaborately tended dollhouses–no matter how patchily put together–and shelves full of miniature ‘found’ objects.
The Bed and Biscuit is an animal hospital and kennel. Grampa Bender is owner and veterinarian. He has a little pig named Ernest who takes showers and helps with chores, Gabby, a Mynah bird, who answers the phone, although Grampa Bender would rather he didn’t, and a kitty named Milly. All the animals love Grampa Bender. One day, Grampa Bender takes in a baby which survived a barn fire. The baby’s mother rescued it before she died. Grampa has the baby in an incubator and spends all of his extra time taking care of the baby. This makes the other animals out of sorts. They miss Dr. Bender. Will the poor baby survive and what kind of baby is it? This is a sweet series with animals that have charming personalities. The books have lots of pen and ink illustrations and they are easy reads. Recommended for children grades 3 through 5 who like fantasy books about animals.
I am enjoying sharing one of my childhood favorites with my son. In I Am a Bunny, children are introduced to Nicholas Bunny and his activities throughout the year. Eddie loves smelling the flowers and making the frogs hop in the springtime and kissing Nicholas goodnight when it’s time to hibernate. Beautifully illustrated by Richard Scarry, this is a great introduction to the changing of the seasons.
Really little children already know all the uses for a book – to chew on, to sit on, to pretend to read – but now they will know even more creative uses for books. In this charming story, a variety of animals happen upon something WONDERFUL (a book)! Each animal has a special use for that something wonderful as a cozy little house, a pretty hat, a perfect table, a comfortable bed, etc. – all good uses until the little boy happens upon the book and finds the best use of all – to READ! The Wonderful Book does not disappoint and is in fact, WONDERFUL!
DC Super Pets are fantastic easy readers. The text is clear, sentence structure is perfect for beginning readers, and they even use comic book style fonts and color to denote dialogue which helps beginning readers distinguish dialogue from the rest of the text AND adds a fun, comic book element. The illustrator, Art Baltazar has won the Eisner award and it shows in his illustrations for this book. The Eisner award is awarded to outstanding comic book artists each year. Backward Bowwow contains high gloss, bright illustrations that will draw kids into the stories.
Pete the Cat is one cool cat! He has brand-new white shoes and he loves them so much he walks along singing a song, “I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes.” Then UH-OH . . . he steps in a pile of strawberries. His shoes aren’t white anymore, but does Pete care? NO WAY! He keeps walking along singing his song with new words to match the new color of his shoes. As you might guess, he continues to have mishaps along the way.
When Pretty Princess Pig decides to have a tea party, she goes all out! She thinks that this is the perfect opportunity to spiff up her home to get ready for her party. She cleans, she bakes, she folds fancy napkins, she even paints and plasters! The only problem is that while getting her house ready, she is really making a BIG MESS – well, she is a pig after all!! All ends well though as her friends arrive at the party and no one comments on the mess – they are truly good friends. In a simple and funny way, the story reminds us that you really don’t have to be perfect to be wonderful — AND to have wonderful friends. What a good message for kids of all ages (even grown-ups).
One of my favorite parts of summer is the return of butterflies. Little Lucy shares this same love in the book Butterfly, Butterfly. This story follows her quest around the yard for a butterfly that she spotted. She comes across beetles, ladybugs, and worms but can’t seem to find the butterfly again. Finally, when she settles down in the yard to look at the sky the butterfly reappears. Young readers are in for a pop up surprise. This beautifully illustrated book is a nice introduction to colors and bugs. The simple plot is engaging and a good summertime read for young preschoolers.
