Author: Caryn

Book Review: Back to School Tortoise By Lucy M. George & Merel Eyckerman

It happens of course, that occasionally after I post a book list, I will come across a new favorite that should have made the list. Such is the case for today’s book, so instead it gets a review all its own! A sweet back-to-school story that confronts the “what ifs” about a new situation and also politely turns the situation on its head. Here is Back to School Tortoise by Lucy M. George, illustrated by Merel Eyckerman, 2011.

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Quote From Paul Schmid

“With my own art, I try to invite readers to seek meaning in expressions, body language, or through visual clues. I endeavor not to tell the story directly but make enough suggestions so my reader moves beyond being a watcher and, instead, becomes a participant. I have read the recent articles regarding progressing kids out of picture books quickly. That is an idea I believe to be very harmful, robbing children of some fine opportunities to hone essential skills. Being able to decipher visual clues is extremely beneficial. We should remind ourselves that words, powerful as they are, are still only ONE form of communication.”

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Book Review: How To Paint The Portrait Of A Bird By Prévert & Gerstein

A French poem translated and illustrated in a way that ponders creativity, art, waiting, and wonder. It is a book that requests and deserves many reads and I feel the reader always leaves with a new discovery. Allow me to show you How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird by Jacques Prévert, illustrated and translated by Mordicai Gerstein, 2007.

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Caryn2 Comments

Children’s Picture Books For Back To School, 2013

Believe it or not, August is here and that can mean only one thing: back-to-school themes are everywhere! I wouldn’t normally call myself a follower, but I openly admit to loving the back-to-school time of year. Those store sections suddenly packed with notebooks, pencils, backpacks, and the smell of Scotch Tape absolutely make me giddy. I’ve always felt this way. Getting my new school books each year was like a sort of Christmas in September. (Why on earth do schools start so early now?) Since I’m no longer in the mass of students and my child won’t be for a while either, I will celebrate the oncoming of the school year (and the hint of fall right behind!) by making lists of my favorite school-themed picture books, and inevitably buying a few school supplies for myself while I’m at it. You never know when you’ll need an awesome patterned folder or another pack of Sharpies!

Here is my 2013 list of fifteen picture books that center around school in some form and make me slightly nostalgic for those childhood schooldays.

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Book Review: Noah Webster’s Words By Ferris & Kirsch

There are a lot of things in life that I never stop and wonder where they came from. Occasionally though, I will get curious about a product or a person or even a word. Those moments of curiosity are when it is lovely to discover that someone else already did some research for me and has prepared a presentation of that piece of history in a delightful package called a picture book. For example, on the Fourth of July, I posted a Cooney illustrated edition of “the blue-backed speller” which was created in the late 1700s by Noah Webster. I am very familiar with Webster’s Dictionary, especially when it comes to quick searches for words online. But I’ve really never stopped to ponder who that “Webster” was until that post. Thankfully, someone handed me a great new book that covered a lot of the questions I should have had about a certain Mr. Noah Webster. Allow me to share some newfound knowledge with you today found in this book. Here is Noah Webster’s Words by Jeri Chase Ferris, illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch, 2012.

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Caryn4 Comments