Monday Monday

Monday Is One Day
By Arthur A. Levine
Art by Julian Hector
Scholastic, 28 pages
$16.99, ages 3 to 8


It's Monday – a dreary rainy Monday where I live. For many 9-5 work-a-day folks it's the start of a long stretch until they can look forward to the long family days of the weekend.
According to the jacket flap, that was in Arthur Levine's mind when he developed the concept for his comforting and charming Monday Is One Day, which opens with the line: "The hardest part of going to work is being apart from you."
So "let's count the days till we're both at home."
Each day is marked by something special, puddle stomps, playing with a toy T. rex, helping dad pick out a special tie. Then it's the weekend and time for fun.
Hector's bright illustrations have a retro feel, but there's nothing retro about the families he depicts: multiracial, grandparents caring for a child, single mom, gay dads.

Happy Father's Day

I'm posting a little last minute, but we should celebrate dads tomorrow, too, and every day!

Dad and Pop: An Ode to Fathers and Stepfathers
By Kelly Bennett
Illustrated by Paul Meisel
Candlewick Press, 36 pages
$15.99, ages 4 to 8

This sweet book demonstrates that love is not finite; a kid can love her stepdad without being disloyal to her original father. It doesn't say that in so many words, just fun pictures and simple, comparative words.
"To meet them, you'd think Dad and Pop were as different as two fathers could be."
One takes pictures, one naps. One's into gadgets; the other likes plants. One plays sports with the girl; the other plays board games with her. They both love music, but the pictures show that one likes classical and the other rock. They both like biking, one motorcycles, the other pedal-powered.
But "in the most important way they are exactly the same – they both love me!" the girl declares.
It's a great book for kids that aren't in traditional two-parent families.


Stars Above Us
By Geoffrey Norman
Illustrated by E.B. Lewis
Putnam, 32 pages
$16.99, ages 4 to 8

Not all children have their daddies nearby this Father’s Day. Some are far away in dangerous places as in Stars Above Us, a tender father-daughter story.  As the story begins, Amanda’s father helps her deal with her fear of the dark by taking her outside at night and showing her nighttime magic – stars and fireflies.  Then he glues glow-in-the-dark stars to her ceiling to bring some of the magic indoors. When he’s shipped off to the other side of the world with the military, she looks up at the North Star on the ceiling – their star – and wishes for it to bring him home soon. Before he does come home, Amanda and her mother prepare a celestial surprise for him.  Despite a little clunky writing, this is a comforting story for youngsters in similar situations. And it’s beautifully illustrated by E.B. Lewis.

My Father Knows the Names of Things

By Jane Yolen

Illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch

Simon and Schuster, 32 pages

$15.99, ages 4 to 8

It’s a wonderful thing to be a parent who knows it all. Enjoy it. It lasts until your children are about 10 if you’re lucky.  A lilting new tale by veteran kids author Jane Yolen celebrates that charmed time. The young protagonist’s dad seemingly knows the name of everything, dogs, cheeses, birds, seven shades of blue, human bones, cats, candies – and which soaps make you cleanest. Best of all, “he points out everything we see and teaches all the names to me.”  Sweet with lively, happy illustrations by Stéphane Jorisch.

Your Daddy Was Just Like You

By Kelly Bennett

Illustrated by David Walker

Putnam, 32 pages

$16.99, ages 3 to 8

Grandma’s tells this story to her grandson. It’s divided into vignettes from her son’s babyhood to boyhood, each ending with the refrain, “just like you.”

“Most days your daddy was my sweet boy. But some days he turned into a wild thing. … He fumed. And fussed. On those days, your daddy was sent to TIME-OUT . Just like you.”

It ends sweetly with grandma kissing the dad’s cheek and saying the dad is still her baby. (That part’s reminiscent of “I’ll Love You Forever,” without the super-ick factor of the mother crawling through her son’s window in the middle of the night.)  Children love hearing true stories about when their parents were little. This can serve as a jumping off point. Great pictures by David Walker.

 

Happy Mother's Day!

My Mother is So Smart!
By Tomie dePaola
Putnam, 32 pages
$16.99, ages 3 to 8

You've got to like a book that ends with a picture of a boy standing proudly next to his mom as she demonstrates a perfect headstand.
My Mother is So Smart!, by Tomie dePaola, creator of Strega Nona and dozens of other beloved children's books, celebrates the awesomeness of moms.
The protagonist knew his mother was smart from Day 1. She always changed his diaper and fed him at the right times and taught him to walk. She baked the best cookies, taught the whole neighborhood to sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and on July 4th, showed the boy and his friends how to carefully write their initials in the air with sparklers. She could drive the grandfather's old delivery truck – and she could stand on her head.
Some of this mother's attributes combined with the art have an old-fashioned feel. Those familiar with dePaola's Tom, The Baby Sister, The Art Lesson, etc. will recognize this as one of his autobiographical picture books.
It's illustrated with dePaola's recognizable always-charming style, though I'd wish for a little more expression on the mother's face. She's got a somewhat vacant, unsmiling look, the same in nearly every picture. I'm curious about that choice.
In a classroom it would be a fun story starter. "My mother (or father, grandmother, sister, etc.) is so smart that ..."











Taking Care of Mama
By Mitra Modarressi
Putnam, 32 pages
$16.99, ages 3 to 8

When I read the title of Taking Care of Mama, by Mitra Modarressi, to the first graders at my school, one boy blurted out: "I don't take care of my mama, she takes care of me!"
After I started reading and the kids learned that mother in this story is sick with a fever, taking care of her didn't seem like such an alarming idea.
This is the sweet rhyming tale of a family of appealing raccoons. Papa, sister, brother and baby Mabel are worried when Mama wakes with a fever of 102.
"Papa called the doctor
And the doctor said,
'Please tell Mama
To stay in bed!'"
Mama protests, but the caretakers win out and spend the day making meals and – predictably – making a mess. When they discover Mama is feeling better around suppertime, they have to scramble to clean up.
There's nothing radically new about the story, but the rhyme is bouncy and fun to read aloud and Modarressi's watercolors are irresistible.
Admirably on a page where the brother and sister pretend to be doctor and nurse, the sister is the doctor, and brother is the nurse. That lead to a lively little discussion in the kindergarten class I read to. One little boy said "doctors are boys and nurses are girls" then admitted he had a woman doctor. Amazing how entrenched stereotypes are.

-Rebecca Young

'Grand' picture books

My Pop Pop and Me
By Irene Smalls;
illustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson
Little, Brown, 26 pages, $15.99, ages 4-8

My Nana and Me

By Irene Smalls;
illustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson
Little, Brown, 26 pages, $15.99, ages 4-8 
The Grandpa Book
By Todd Parr
Little, Brown, 24 pages, $9.99, ages 2-6 
The Grandma Book
By Todd Parr
Little, Brown, 24 pages, $9.99, ages 2-6 

Grandparents play major roles
in some excellent tales for younger kids
Published in The News Tribune, Sept. 5, 2006

A child who knows grandparents is a lucky child.
Grandparents' Day, which is this Sunday, is a good excuse to share some good picture books that honor those special bonds that bridge a generation.
Grandma and Grandpa are featured separately in a pair of lovely books written by Irene Smalls and illustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson.
"My Pop Pop and Me" came out this year, joining "My Nana and Me," published in 2005. Both feature black families, as, happily, more and more everyday books do these days.
In the new book, a boy helps his grandfather bake a lemon cake. The words are joyfully rhythmic. "Pift pift the sifter's swift.
"Mash mash I love to smash."
The simple text communicates the fun of baking and time together.
In bright, beautiful watercolors the love between Pop Pop and boy almost bursts off the pages.
Johnson's paintings are playful, decorated with swirls, speckles and little squares. Bubbles float across the pages - eggs and lemons, too. The perspective shifts in fun ways. In one picture, the boy is tiny and pouring milk with the carton on his back. In another, Pop Pop and child carry a giant slice of cake.
A recipe for Lemon Bar Cake Bake is included.
In "My Nana and Me," a girl and grandma have a tea party, and then spend the day together, all the way until bedtime. It's either an overnight visit, or the pair lives together. We don't know - or need to. Whatever the case, the love is as evident as in the first book.
"Then we played hide-and-seek.
"My Nana can never find me.
"I am the smartest girl in the world.
"I know because my Nana told me so
"and she knows everything."
Johnson contributes the same swirls, lovely colors and shifting perspectives. On one page, the girl is pouting because Nana has called her "baby girl." She is pictured as huge, the grandmother tiny.
Another pair of books, "The Grandpa Book" and "The Grandma Book," by Todd Parr, presents entertaining and true descriptions of varied grandparents.
"Some grandpas put extra money in your piggy bank," one says.
"Some grandmas give you a lot of books," says the other. That will be me, someday. Both books make a few statements about "all grandpas" and "all grandpas."

"All grandmas like to give you lots of kisses."
Parr's pictures are fun - neon-bright and childlike. His people come in a mix of colors, including purple and green. Their faces are uncluttered by noses.
Here's a list of some other recent and classic grandparent books:
"Here Comes Grandma!" by Janet Lord, illustrated by Julie Paschkis: Grandma is coming to visit. She might ride a bike, take a train, ski down a mountain, fly a plane or race a submarine. Charming illustrations by Seattle resident Paschkis look like folk art (Henry Holt, 28 pages, $12.95, ages 2-4).
"The Grandma Cure," by Pamela Mayer, illustrated by John Nez: When a child stays home sick with a cold, it sets off a two-grandmother competition over who can take better care of her. The girl keeps the peace. Lively pictures are by another Seattle resident (Dutton, 32 pages, $15.99, ages 4-8).
"Abuela," by Arthur Dorros, illustrated by Elisa Kleven: An enchanting tale by yet another Seattle resident about Rosalba and her grandmother who fly over New York City in their imaginations; includes many Spanish phrases where the meaning is clear in context. Abuela and child take an imaginary visit to the Caribbean in a sequel, "Isla." Kleven's collages are magical (Dutton, 40 pages, $7.99 paperback, ages 4-8).
"Tom," by Tomie dePaola: An autobiographical picture book by a beloved children's author/illustrator details a special relationship between a grandfather and his namesake (Putnam, 32 pages, $6.99 paperback, ages 4-8).

"My Grandma is Coming to Town," by Anna Grossnickle Hines, illustrated by Melissa Sweet: A nicely illustrated, sweetly told story addresses long-distance relationships. A small boy and his grandmother have a close bond by mail and phone. He's thrilled when she plans a visit, but gets a sudden attack of shyness when she arrives (Candlewick, 16 pages, $13.99, ages 2-6).

-Rebecca Young