I just heard about this one at Hicklebee’s
and was SO HAPPY to see that they had it at the library!
Huzzah for a great library system, I say!
Title: Sebastian and the Balloon
Published by: Roaring Brook Press, a Neal Porter Book, 2014
Written by: Philip C. Stead
Illustrated by: Philip C. Stead
Word Count: 495
Pages: 40
In one word: Dreamy
In one sentence: Sebastian takes an adventure in a balloon and discovers many people (and animals!) that he can help along the way.
Favorite pages:
Likes:
I LOVE the art. The line is so free and fun and the colors are so bright.
The perspective in the spreads are great. I feel like we get pulled in really close, and then sent back to see everything sometimes too.
I love how the story is so open and fluid.
Great cast of characters! Some I thought I’d never see in a book together!
I really like how open ended the ending is too.
Learns:
Whimsy can carry a story.
Knitting is awesome!
*and yes, I realize these are getting more ridiculous as I go…
What did you read today?
Ok, what’s behind the doors?
Door 1: Flora and the Flamingo
Door 2: Ninja! Yay Eric!
Door 3: Hello, Hello…Yay, Chris!
Door 4: Open this Little Book
Lily and Lisa, get choosing 🙂
I really liked seeing what everyone read in the spreadsheet.
I think doing it that way will make it much easier to share the results,
but I think it did shut discussion down. By writing comments, people were able to see what everyone was reading and talk about it. There wasn’t much discussion this year, and I wonder if the spreadsheet is why.
That being said, I even wonder if this is a challenge that I should ask people to contribute to.
I wonder if, next year, I just keep it as: You read 31 books in October. That’s your challenge, and if you do it, let me know, you’re entered for prizes, sort of like PiBoIdMo.
Maybe I’ll make a sort of form if people want to print it out and write in what they wrote.
I like doing these posts because it helps me find new picture books and share them with you all. I may even start doing a post like this every once in a while on the blog to have more reviews here.
I think next year I’m going to add book trailers too, and I’ll do that with ones that I add later this year. Who knows, MAYBE I’ll go back and add them into these posts.
I’m going to work really hard (after NaNoWriMo of course!) to make sure that these are archived in an easy way for people to get to them.
Thank you for reading and playing along!
Any suggestions for future 31 in 31 challenges or anything you’d like to see on my blog (or not see, that’s good to know too!) are always welcome!
Happy Halloween and let’s go November! It’s going to be a great one!
KE
I must have seen this book in the Hicklebee’s newsletter and added it to my wish list on Amazon (which I use to remind myself to check for books at the library and put them on hold). LA County Public Library doesn’t have it yet, but I will keep checking back. I love that roller coaster page!
And wow! you did it again. I haven’t read or heard of “Hello! Hello!”. I do have a copy of “Flora and the Flamingo” (although not signed, but I did buy it before it was awarded the Caldecot Honor).
I think you are right that there was less discussion this year because we weren’t leaving comments about the books we were reading, and instead putting them in the spreadsheet. Maybe do both next time around?
Another idea would depend on if most people who participate have a blog (or some online account) in which they could post their books and link back. You could get people to follow the participants at the beginning of October and see if that doesn’t help spark discussion.
Happy Halloween! It looks like it might actually RAIN for the first time in ages in Los Angeles and keep those little candy beggars away. My husband and I are debating a Plan B for what to do with the candy if that happens. We only bought it last night so we wouldn’t eat it.