Whew.
Hello everyone!
Just when I thought I would head into November all excited for not only
PiBoIdMo AND NaNoWriMo,
I got a little sick.
But hey, there’s still four days left!
I’m doing my best to relax, drink tea, and move towards being healthy!
I know some of you have read today’s book.
I cheered when I saw it at the used bookstore for five dollars!
While I waited for books I brought in to receive their trade credit,
I carefully “read” this one.
I soaked in all the pictures.
I went on the journey with the boy and the bird.
And I every much enjoyed the ride.
Title: Bluebird
Published by: Schwartz and Wade, 2013
Written by: Bob Staake
Illustrated by: Bob Staake
Word Count: 0
Pages: 40
In one word: Friendship
In one sentence: A bird befriends a boy who has no friends, and the book follows their day together, until tragedy strikes.
Favorite pages:
Likes:
- I LOVE the illustration style. Lively, fresh, and fun.
- The use of blue is GREAT! There’s only blue, black, and white in this book. (ok, there’s a bit more color at the end when a lot of birds show up, but otherwise…just the three)
- The design. It reads like a graphic novel almost…it’s fun to follow the pictures throughout the pages.
- Being wordless, you can interpret the story anyway you want.
- The ending. I don’t want to give anything away, but I think it weaves reality and a bit of magic in together nicely.
Learns:
- There are many things a picture book can do. This one can be used to discuss making a new friend, bullies, and consequences of actions.
- With restrictions comes some great stuff! I think this would have been a much different book in full color…somehow the story shines brighter in just the three used here.
- Playing around with design and layout can lead to very interesting story formats!
I was so happy to add this book to my collection.
Anyone else read it?
What did you think?
Drinking tea and getting better,
KE and SS
I haven’t read Bluebird, but will keep an eye out. Hope you feel better. I think tea can cure a lot of ailments.
I read “Bobo the Sailorman” by Eileen Rosenthal. I haven’t read anything else in this series, so that that into account when I say something just didn’t sit right with me about it.
I really was upset by the interaction with the boy and his cat. I understand teaching kids that life isn’t fair and that they should not expect recognition for doing the right thing all the time, but this seemed wrong. Maybe the cat does something in the earlier books? I don’t know.
Also, the boy comes off as a jerk in other ways. He smashes the mushrooms. He only makes two hats (none for the cat), and he does not seem sorry when he splashes the cat with water. He is supposed to be an adventurer, but he isn’t very observant. He doesn’t seem to care about his surroundings or his friends.
Glad I checked this one out from the library. I will look for the first book just to see if I am missing something. I just did not get it.
I read BLUEBIRD and posted about it here. I wasn’t crazy about the end.
What I read today is fun and funny. The illustrations are adorable. TEA PARTY RULES by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by K.G. Campbell,2013, Viking (Penguin Young Readers Group)is all about what a real live cub bear won’t do for cookies. He’s wandering about when he smells cookies and finds a stuffed bear and doll at a tea party. He politely asks for a cookie. When the stuffed bear doesn’t reply, he gives the bear a poke, knocking it off its chair. Along comes the little girl, and to avoid being caught, he takes the place of the stuffed bear. That’s when the rules must be applied, and bears troubles begin.
Today I read Harry Bliss’s Bailey at the Museum. Bailey is fascinated by dinosaur bones, totem poles, and tepees, and of course lunch. Funny, funny, funny with marvelous details in the illustrations. Bailey is a lovable, earnest dog!
Today I read Dawdle Duckling by Toni Buzzeo. I really enjoyed the repetitive nature of the phrasing and how the duckling keeps managing to wander off. But it did bother me that there was no real conflict until the very end. And, it was solved so quickly that it was not satisfying.
I also read Elephant Joe, Brave Knight by David Wojtowycz. This one was really cute. I love the use of speech bubbles, labels, and maps throughout the story. They give it a comic book feel.
I read Chicken of the Family by Mary Amato to my daughter. It’s a little long, but gets away with it. It’s about a little girl who’s older sisters convince her she’s a chicken. At the end my 4 year old cheered for Henrietta. Very cute. 🙂
Used bookstores are great! I haven’t read that yet.
I read Dogzilla, by Dav Pilkey, an older picture book with my son today. He loved it, and Dav’s humor is so good.
Hope you get better sooner than later. I read Time Train by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Claire Ewart. It is about a group of students going on a field trip to learn about dinosaurs. They hop on a time traveling train and go back to prehistoric times and study real life Dino’s.
Today, I read SNOWMEN AT NIGHT by Caralyn Buehner. This book is 268-words and is written in rhyme. The book is about what snowmen does when when we turn in for the night.
The illustrations were amazing. This book is really great. I enjoyed it a lot.
We read “Hot Rod Hamster” by Cynthia Lord and illustrated by Derek Anderson.
The story is about an enthusiastic hamster who builds his own hot rod (with the help of friends) to compete against some big dogs. Really cute characters, a fun story with good meter and descriptive words, and best of all- audience participation! After each page of options for the car, the text asks “which one would you choose?”
I read THE DEAD FAMILY DIAZ by P.J. Bracegirdle and illustrated by Polly Bernatene. It’s all about celebrating the Day of the Dead, told by the perspective of one of the dead–super twist–who’s scared of those warm, fleshy live humans! Fun read, plus vibrant illustrations.
“Olivia and the Missing Toy” by Ian Falconer.