Picture book- fiction Archives - Page 11 of 19

November 21, 2013November 21, 2013

Chalk: Perfect for Picture Book Month

Over at Growing with Science on Friday I’m featuring a giveaway of Bill Thomson’s fabulous new wordless picture book, Fossil.

I thought I’d also mention his older wordless picture book, Chalk, which would be a perfect way to celebrate Picture Book Month.

Bill Thomson has planned a trilogy of wordless picture books. Chalk is a tribute to art, Fossil gives a nod to science and we’ll just have to wait to see what the third one will be.

In Chalk, children use sidewalk chalk to draw the sun and the sun comes out. A girl draws butterflies. Suddenly the air is full of live butterflies. Can they do it again? What should they draw next?

Aren’t wordless books amazing? I think that bag full of chalk left behind is begging for the story to continue. What a lovely book to share with children!

Bill Thomson has been called “a master at visual storytelling.” He is the illustrator of several children’s books. Thomson is also Professor of Illustration at the University of Hartford. He lives with his family in Connecticut. Visit Bill at www.billthomson.com.

Kid Lit Frenzy has some great ideas how to use Chalk to get kids excited about books and art.

Age Range: 3 – 7 years
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Two Lions; 1st edition (March 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0761455264
ISBN-13: 978-0761455264

Disclosures: I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at not extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

November 1, 2013December 27, 2013

Celebrate Picture Book Month with King for A Day

November is an exciting month in the world of children’s literature because it is Picture Book Month! Let’s read, blog about, and get excited about picture books! Be sure to visit the link for daily essays and information about children’s picture book authors and illustrators, as well as lesson ideas and activities.

What better way to start out than sharing a fascinating new picture book, King for a Day by Rukhsana Khan and illustrated by Christiane Krömer?

Set in Lahore, Pakistan during the kite festival of Basant, Malik has made only one kite to use in the kite battles. It is a special kite named Falcon. Will one kite be enough to help him defeat the bully next door? Will it be enough to allow him to become the king of Basant?

Illustrated with mixed-media collages, the reader can almost feel the breeze that lifts the kites off the pages. The lively, fast-paced text keeps up the excitement and suspense.

Canadian author Rukhsana Khan was born in Lahore, Pakistan and is a perfect tour guide to introduce children to the region.

Looking for a book to accompany a geography lesson, introduce a culture, tackle the theme of bullying or teach an important lesson about overcoming obstacles? King for a Day is all that and much more. It is a terrific example of why we celebrate Picture Book Month!

Preview available at Lee & Low

Reading level: Grade 3
School & Library Binding: 32 pages
Publisher: Lee & Low Books (October 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1600606598
ISBN-13: 978-1600606595

Disclosures: This book was provided electronically for review purposes. I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at not extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

October 30, 2013October 30, 2013

Baba Didi and the Godwits Fly

If you haven’t traveled much, then you just might get inspired by Baba Didi and the Godwits Fly by Nicola Muir and illustrated by Annie Hayward with a foreword by Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark. This book is about amazing migrations, both by tiny shorebirds and by determined humans.

Baba Didi of the title is the narrator and Isabella’s grandmother. When they discover brown shorebirds called bar-tailed godwits feeding on the beach near their home in New Zealand, Baba Didi explains how the birds make a migration flight all the way to Alaska each year.

It turns out Baba Didi made an equally perilous journey when she and her husband left Croatia when they were young and sailed all the way to New Zealand. Although the lure was the potential for finding gold, their group didn’t have the money to buy the required license to even look. Instead of giving up, they found deposits of amber that gave them the opportunity to buy marginal land. Working hard and using insight, they began growing vineyards and were soon able to support themselves. With every turn of the page, the reader learns something new about the history of immigration in New Zealand.

Baba Didi and the Godwits Fly is about migrations, but it also has a strong theme about perseverance and doing what needs to be done to survive and even prosper. It is the type of book a grandparent would enjoy reading to his or her own grandchildren, and then sharing their own family stories. Perhaps it would be time to plan some far-reaching travels of their own.

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If you are looking for nonfiction/fiction pairs for a lesson about bird migration, consider reading Baba Didi and the Godwits Fly with some of the picture book nonfiction in this list at Science Books for Kids:

Taking Flight

Ages: 5-9
Series: Searchlight Books
Paperback: 40 pages
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group (August 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1467715522
ISBN-13: 978-1467715522

A portion of the sales of this book benefit UNICEF.

Disclosures: This book was provided for review purposes. I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at not extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

(Photograph of a bar-tailed godwit by Maslowski, Steve – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service )

August 21, 2013August 21, 2013

Glasswings: A Butterfly’s Story

Once again we have the pleasure of participating in a blog tour for artist and author Elisa Kleven’s children’s books.

Today we are sharing Elisa Kleven‘s newest picture book, Glasswings: A Butterfly’s Story.

Claire, the delicate glasswing butterfly, lives among the flowers and ferns of the forest.

(See if you can find all the butterflies. Are there any other animals? How many children are there?)

One day she gets swept up by the wind and deposited in another place.

(Where do you think Claire is?)

Fortunately she finds friends and a small garden to call home, but will she ever see her family again?

(What do you think?)

Tucked into this gentle, delightful story is real-life information, such as

Butterflies drink nectar and pollinate flowers
Ladybugs eat aphids
Pigeons scatter seeds
Ants stir up the soil
Glasswings migrate, like the monarch butterfly does
Even the tiniest garden can be important

Glasswings is a lovely book that will appeal to those who love nature. Hopefully it will inspire others to create resting places for butterflies on their journeys.

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See Monarch Watch for information about planting a butterfly garden

For more information about glasswing butterflies, see our sister blog Growing with Science.

You might also be interested in our review of Elisa Kleven’s The Paper Princess.

Glasswings: A Butterfly’s Story

Age Range: 3 – 5 years
Grade Level: Preschool – Kindergarten
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Dial (April 18, 2013)
ISBN-10: 0803737424
ISBN-13: 978-0803737426

I wish to thank Elisa Kleven profusely for the use of her illustrations.

Disclosures: The book was provided for review purposes.

I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at not extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.