I was interested to note that McCloskey only wrote eight books. To quote Eleanor Blau, the author of McCloskey’s NY Times obituary, “It had to be right, and it often was.” My girls and I have also enjoyed Time of Wonder, another book for which McCloskey won the Caldecott Medal. It didn’t grab me quite as much as One Morning in Maine, but it also doesn’t have such an endearing heroine. I also think I prefer the black-and-white illustrations of his earlier works over the color ones in Time of Wonder.
I would really like to read McCloskey’s Homer Price
If you haven’t introduced your children to the wonder of Robert McCloskey, don’t wait. I’m planning to “Row” Lentil some time this spring. I can’t wait! (For more on Lentil, check out Lisa’s post.)
Filed under: Author/Illustrator Spotlight, Award Book, Best Books, Caldecott Award, Education, Five in a Row, Juvenile Fiction, Picture Books | 5 Comments »
Maybe I should’ve called this edition of 
Just in case I haven’t shared enough books about show this week, I thought I’d share one more. (You can read my other posts 
, and just before Christmas I ran across a banged up copy of Winter’s Tale at T.J. Maxx. I paid more than I should’ve for it, given its condition (some of the pop-ups are a little crumpled; some feature, I suspect musical, at the end of the book just doesn’t work), but I couldn’t resist. I’d already given the book a place of honor on our shelf, next to our other pop-up titles, when I happened to remember it. I’m so glad I did! The girls really enjoyed this 3-D version of a world covered in snow, and we all marvelled at Sabuda’s ability to create such intricate likenesses of snow-bound creatures like an owl, a family of deer, and a moose. This would make a great companion to any book that focuses on snow and its effects on the animal world. One bonus for me was that since the book is already less-than-perfect, it was easier for me to give in and let the girls really look at it. If you’re unfamiliar with Robert Sabuda, be sure to visit 
(by Robert Frost; illustrated by Susan Jeffers) (this one is also in volume one of Five in a Row, but I’m choosing not to “row” it with my girls this year)
(by Hans Wilhelm)
for our next chapter book selection (Louise having declared that she’s afraid of the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was my other choice), but it turns out that I no longer own this book, or at least I can’t find it. I settled on 
I have a neat anthology of Christmas stories called A Newbery Christmas that I picked up for a few dollars at 
Honestly, I would probably have waited until my girls are a little older to read this one aloud, but I had motivation this year: my nephews are in a local theater production of this heartwarming story this week. We went to the public performance on Sunday, and ‘though we hadn’t finished the book then, the looks on my girls’ faces were priceless: They KNEW the Herdmans! I find Barbara Robinson’s take on the Christmas story so poignant; of course I was teary-eyed and quavery-voiced by the end (my girls are used to this by now). This is the bit that got me right in the heart:
a few times with my girls and expect to use even more as they get a little older. It’s 
big anthology coming to her door. . . .
. It is the touching biographical sketch of Allen Say’s gradfather’s immigration to the United States as a young man and his eventual return to Japan as an old man. It is all about discovering a new country and missing an old country. It is about restlessness and wanderlust. It makes me cry, and despite that, my girls love it. 🙂 
How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman. In this humorous story, a young girl explains how both chopsticks and knives and forks came to be the utensils of choice in her home. It is the story of her Japanese mother and her American father, a sailor stationed in Yokohoma. We read of the beginning of their romance, which is speeded along when her father learns his ship will be leaving in three weeks. The young couple has enjoyed spending time together, but they have never eaten together due to their discomfort at each other’s manner of eating. What follows is a story faintly remisicent of “The Gift of the Magi” in which each person sacrifices to learn the other’s traditions. Allen Say‘s illustrations are recognizable in this story. In fact, my girls were pretty sure that the young woman in How My Parents Learned to Eat is the same one in the next selection. . .
In this story, a young girl is born outside San Francisco and spends her youth there, until her Japanese father grows so homesick for Japan that he relocates his family there. Masako cannot assimilate into life in Japan, and she eventually grows restless enough to move away from her parents’ village into the larger city of Osaka. In Osaka she gains employment in a department store, and it is there that she eventually meets her future husband (the father of Allen Say). Their meeting is through a unique turn of events that happens precisely because they both, though they are both Asian, speak English.
The sets I found at Sam’s are larger in size, and they are more of a kit–they include stickers, a door hanger, etc. Best of all, though, they were only about $10 a set! I couldn’t find an exact link on Amazon to share, but it might be worth a trip to Sam’s if you’re in need of some very basic phonics readers.
Our 
We’ve 
Each page contains a rhyming couplet and ends with the question, “How big is a pig?” This is a great preschool book because it offers ample opportunity to look at contrasts and to count animals, etc. What I like most about this book, though, are the illustrations. According to the publication information in the book, “the illustrations were prepared in felt with brain, beads, and sequins.” The result are very tactile, interesting pictures that almost look quilted. I give this one a Highly Recommended for the younger set, and if you can convince your kindergartener who is learning to read to give this one a try (I couldn’t), it might even pass for an early reader. 🙂
style repetition which always ends with a new passenger on this flood of bathwater, and the new passenger always rides on something interesting. For example, “Sue and Vern clung to a fern” while “Uncle Nash sat in the trash.” My girls LOVE this. Tedd Arnold’s illustrations are just as bright, colorful, and fun as you would expect. This is one fun read-aloud!
According to the author notes, Paul O. Zelinsky’s Rapunzel is a hybrid of the Grimm’s fairy tale and earlier versions, with more details than I remembered. Rapunzel’s parents appear in this story, as does the sorceress, the prince, and Rapunzel and the prince’s children. I honestly think the reason this book appeals so much to Lulu is because it begins with Rapunzel’s mother’s pregnancy, and in the story both she and later Rapunzel give birth. Of course, there is nothing detailed about the circumstances or the process, but Lulu is very interested in this right now (which is, of course, another post for another day). However, the illustrations alone in this book make it worth more than a glance. Paul O. Zelinsky created this portraits in the style of Renaissance art, and they are gorgeous. This book even won the 
I might have gone a little overboard at the library while I was looking for go-alongs for 
The Rain by Michael Laser is one of those books that surprised us. I expected it to merely be a few observations about the rain, but it’s more than that–it’s a story that starts out in very disparate places and ends with a few shared experiences. A young man, an older man, a woman, and two children all experience a warm-weather shower, and they all enjoy it in their own ways. I particularly love that the rain motivates the woman, a busy teacher, to pull out her old watercolors and paint a picture of “the yellow house across the street [that] looked so pretty, with the wet flowers in front and the rain bouncing off the walk.” My girls love the interaction between the brother and sister who play in the rain: they tease each other and sing together, and this especially appeals to Louise, our own resident nightingale. Jeffrey Green’s illustrations are right on target–soft, muted, and blurred. We’ve returned to this one time and again, and we’ve all enjoyed it each time.
After investigating thunderstorms and a gentle rain, Hide and Seek Fog provided a little different take on precipitation. I’m really glad I came across this 
Another great go-along for The Carrot Seed is the Caldecott honor book Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens. This book purportedly picks up where 
Hope Is the Word 
