I love Lane Smith so I scooped this one up when I found it on the sale rack at my local used bookstore.
Ok, it was actually a little more dramatic than that.
I saw that it was only 6.98 and I gasped loudly.
Then I (kind of) yelled:
“Oh my God! This is only 6.98!”
and a guy who worked there came running.
“Miss, are you ok?”
He was really concerned.
“Yeah, it’s just, I’ve heard this is SUCH A GOOD BOOK, and it’s only $6.98, so I’m a little shocked.”
He laughed and smiled.
“Ok then. Happy buying.”
Title: Grandpa Green
Published by: Roaring Brook Press, 2011
Written by: Lane Smith
Illustrated by: Lane Smith
In one word: Sweet.
In one sentence: Take a journey through an amazing sculpture garden and an amazing life.
Favorites pages:
Likes:
- the variations in the artwork. The hedges are so textured and the rest of the scene has simpler lines
- finding the “left behind” things on the second read.
- the font is green! (so fitting!)
- the simple story but the steady pace. You want to turn every page.
- the spread that literally opens up to show you the garden.
Learns:
- This is a very sweet, simple, almost quiet story. I should try one of those 🙂
- Textures in illustration can REALLY stand out, like in this book.
- Green is a soothing color.
Has anyone read this one? What did you think?
What did you read today?
Let us know!
Thanks to the 8 people yesterday who shared their book choices with us!
Updated bookshelf:
Enthusiastically yours,
KE and SS
I really enjoyed GRANDPA GREEN. I picked it off the shelf several months ago to read through and I was thoroughly moved by the story. You are right, its quiet. Not the style that I write, but one that I can truly appreciate.
Today I read STUCK by Oliver Jeffers. Such a whimsical wacky story about just what a boy will do to get his kite out of a tree. Kinda an “Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” story. I’ve actually written something similar about something that fell behind the couch. 🙂
Something that fell behind the couch is a brilliant idea!
I love stories that build…I’ll have to check that one out.
Thanks, Marcie 🙂
What great fun! Reading a picture book before I have to go to work…life can’t get much better. 😉
This morning I read Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld. I love books that kids can relate to their own challenges and concerns…this one is a winner in that department for sure. Little Cloudette searches for a way to make a difference and be useful, even though she is very very small. The author/illustrator adds the funniest little side notes here and there…aimed at the adult reader for the most part, I think.
I went to the library yesterday and got a pile of books…all New York Times bestsellers or other books with similar kudos published in 2011 and 2012…I’m grateful to you, Kathy, for giving me the motivation to check these out. 🙂 By the way, one of them was Grandpa Green (that is tomorrow’s read) and I’m sure all of us will be cross-reading many of these titles.
Vivian, I’m interested to see what you think of Grandpa Green…and I think I’ve seen Cloudette…I’ll have to look back through my reading journal to see if I’ve read it.
I adore Tom Lichtenheld.
And yes, a picture book before work is pretty awesome 🙂
I’ll do Grandpa Green over the weekend, I think…I just put a hold on 2 dozen picture books at the library…almost all 2012 releases!
I read A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE today. I read it in French at out local library awhile back but I sprung for a copy in English & just got it the other day. I just had to read it in it’s original English. Also, the illustrations are so wonderful!!
Dana, I am also a big fan of A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE!
Love that book!
Would love to read it in French too!
I have about twenty children’s books in French from the time I visited Quebec city…and I read them to French speakers any chance I get! They’re mostly picture books and easy readers, but they’re great!
THanks for sharing, Dana!
I’ve just read Audrey Wood’s BLUE SKY — simple text and double-page-spread illustrations showing all the variations there can be in the sky. Singe-Singe would approve — there’s a toy monkey on each spread.
Wow, Beth, I’ll have to get that book for Singe Singe at the library…thanks for thinking of him 🙂
Audrey Wood is great too.
Thanks for sharing!
I really like Grandpa Green. Lane Smith is a very popular author/illustrator in our house.
Today we read The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown and David Diaz. My kids loved the fierce faces the scarecrow boy had to make to scare away the crows.
Woo-hoo, David Diaz! and of course Margaret Wise Brown deserves a woo-hoo too!
I like the phrasing fierce face…sounds like it should be a vocal warm up or something.
thanks, Eric for sharing!
GRANDPA GREEN makes me tear-up every time. So sweet. To complement your pick, we read GREEN by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. She tackles every shade of green in her own special way–the page turns are unforgettable!
Lori, I love Laura Vaccaro Seeger!
Why can’t I think of the names of the books I’ve read by her right now?
I know I’ve read one boy..and that one about the seals and the beach ball?
Thanks for the complimenting picture book tie-in and thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Kathy!
Today I followed up with another gingerbread book…this one by a great children’s book author named Dotti Enderle. Her book is called The Library Gingerbread Man and I focussed my Teaser Tuesday blog post on this fun read. Dottie take the gingerbread man on a fun romp through a local library…just my cup of tea!
Donna L Martin
http://www.donnalmartin.com
http://www.donasdays.blogspot.com
Sounds fun, Donna!
Gingerbread and libraries!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
This sounds like a gorgeous book. I forgot to stop by yesterday and add my post to this comment. I read Pete the Sheep – http://melissawrites.com.au/2012/10/31-picture-books-pete-the-sheep/
Thanks for letting us know what you read, Melissa!
I read Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman, a delightful book about friendship, with a very low word count. Anything with a robot is a hit with boys! I like how the boy and and bot mirror each other in their actions.
I’ve heard great things about this book…I think I tried to get it but the library copies are out! Low word count…awesome!
Day 2 was Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton.
The pictures were beautiful but the story was disappointing- just the lyrics to the famous song. I was hoping for some embellishment on the story, rather than reading “Puff the Magic dragon lived by the sea and frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee” over and over again. My daughter thought I read the same page 5 times!
That’s so funny that she thought you read the same page five times! Yeah, books based on songs can be tricky.
One of my favorites is “Baby Beluga” by Raffi. I actually would sing it every time I read it to my preschool class years ago, and one day, I was sick, so I couldn’t sing it, and they wanted nothing to do with it.
I had about 10 one and a half year olds who had that song memorized by the end of the year!
I read HOW TO CATCH A STAR by Oliver Jeffers. I think his illustration style is lovely, and the pictures in this story did not disappoint. I was a little surprised at how simple the story was–it kind of reminded me of KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON.