Jen Robinson's Book Page

The Lucy Variations: Sara Zarr

Book: The Lucy Variations
Author: Sara Zarr (@sarazarr)
Pages: 320
Age Range: 12 and up

The Lucy Variations is a coming of age story about a 16-year-old music prodigy who, eight months earlier, gave up playing the piano. The Lucy Variations is about Lucy's (often strained) relationships with her family, her adjustment to attending school, and her attempts to figure out (inspired by her brother's new music teacher) whether or music still has a place in her life. In short, she is figuring out who she is and who she wants to be. Whether readers themselves are interested in music or not has little to do with whether or not The Lucy Variations will have relevance for them. Figuring out what you love and how you're going to do it should resonate with all teens (and adults, for that matter). 

Sara Zarr is phenomenal at creating three-dimensional characters. Lucy is talented and imperfect. As a reader, I sympathized with the things she lost out on while practicing and performing throughout her entire childhood. And I envied her the escape the music could provide. I also worried about her constantly, as though she was real. I was on edge for much of the book, because Lucy experiences friendships with / crushes on two different adult men. I kept wanting to tell her, "Stay back! Be careful."  

The other characters are fully realized, too, particularly Lucy's best friend and Lucy's grandfather. Here's a window into Lucy's wealthy, music-obsessed, Type A family:

"Generally, Lucy didn't mind. It would be nice, though, once in a while, to be the kind of family that on a crap day like this would order a pizza and eat it in the kitchen. Maybe even talk about the fact that it was kinda sad and awful that someone who mattered to them had died in their house that afternoon." (Chapter 2) 

Even Lucy's Grandma, who died 8 months earlier, is rendered through by Lucy's reminiscing. Like this:

"It reminded Lucy of Grandma Beck and how she always touched whoever she was talking to. Lightly, and with a calmness. Not clutching or intense. Lucy missed that." (Chapter 6)

Zarr's prose is simply lovely. Like these quotes, both from Chapter 9:

"To the right the Pacific sparkled deep blue, and the midday light cut depth and shadow into the crags of the bluff. Mesmerizingly. Gorgeously." 

"The world was full of beauty. She wanted to grab hold of it and take it all down into her bones. Yet it always seemed beyond her grasp. Sometimes only be a little, like now. The thinnest membrane." 

But The Lucy Variations is filled with down-to-earth details, too. Being late for school. Craving caffeine. The tedium of reading about the Middle Ages. What it's like to live in the San Francisco Bay Area.  

The Lucy Variations is about figuring out who you are (as distinct from your family) and what you love. It's beautifully written, with complex characters and realistic interactions. While the world of competitive piano playing may not be familiar to most readers, nor the trappings of Lucy's well-off family, The Lucy Variations at its heart explores universal truths. It also offers some nice parent/child opportunities for discussion, I think. Recommended for readers 12 and up, particularly girls.  

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (@LBKids)
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Source of Book: Advance review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

I Wish I Had ... : Giovanna Zoboli & Simona Mulazzani

Book: I Wish I Had ... 
Author: Giovannna Zoboli
Illustrator: Simona Mulazzani
Pages: 26
Age Range: 3 to 8 

I Wish I Had ... is a picture book that celebrates the physical attributes and talents of animals. Each page spread features a different animal, with pairs of pages linked together into a single sentence. Like this:

"I wish I had the eyes of a blackbird
to see every blade of grass
growing in the meadow...

... and the feather-light steps
of a tiger as it explores the silence.

There's no particular reason, story-wise, to connect the two page spreads like this, but it does help keep the book from being too repetitive when read aloud (as it might be if one had to say "I wish I had" on every page). 

Giovanna Zoboli uses relatively advanced syntax for some of her comparisons, like the lemur swinging through "the maze of branches" and "the forest of thoughts." She doesn't use complex words, but she does use apt ones that are good for kids to see in context, like "nimble" and "contentment". She avoids the more clichéd comparisons, too. There's a soothing, lyrical quality to the text that I think will make I Wish I Had ... a nice read-aloud. 

Simona Mulazzani's illustrations fill every corner of every page with muted colors and textures. Her animals are largely realistic, except for a series of patterns traced onto the whale and the elephant (vaguely reminiscent of Il Sung Na's illustration style). I actually found those two pages a bit jarring, since the other animals were all colored realistically - it was as though Mulazzani couldn't leave the smooth, gray surfaces of elephant and whale untouched.

Apart from that, though, I liked the illustrations. There are other touches of whimsey, like a series of square windows in a tree, and mice drinking juice out of tiny glasses on the kitchen table. 

I Wish I Had ... is set apart from run of the mill animal attribute books by the creative nature of Zoboli's comparisons and the detail and subtle quirkiness of Mulazzani's pictures. It is well worth a look for storytime or home use. I plan to try it with my daughter this evening. 

Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers (@eerdmansbooks)
Publication Date: March 1, 2013
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

 

Steam Train, Dream Train: Rinker & Lichtenheld

Book: Steam Train, Dream Train
Author: Sherri Duskey Rinker
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Pages: 40
Age Range: 4 - 6

Steam Train, Dream Train is a second collaboration by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld, following their highly successful Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. Steam Train, Dream Train is very similar in composition, with a mix of fact and whimsey centered around something that interests four to six year old boys.

In this case, a steam train stops in the middle of the night to be loaded up. Each type of car is shown, and is loaded differently according to what makes sense for that car type. In Steam Train, Dream Train, cars are loaded with things like toys, ice cream, and a trio of kangaroos. 

Rinker's rhyming text is clearly meant for bedtime reading. Steam Train, Dream Train bears a strong resemblance to The Goodnight Train by June Sobel (perhaps inevitable - there are only so many things that rhyme with the most common train-related words). But Steam Train, Dream Train is a bit longer, and drops in more facts. I personally found the text of Steam Train, Dream Train to drag a bit, though I imagine that the target audience will appreciate it. Here's a snippet:

"The driver signals
to the crew--
each worker knows
just what to do.
Quick!
Before it gets too late,
start to load up
all the freight.

Everything will
soon be stowed,
a train car matched
to every load." 

The above text is accompanied by a picture of a fuzzy bear driving the train, while a green dinosaur, a purple elephant, a giraffe, and several other animals wait to load up the train. As in Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, Tom Lichtenheld's illustrations are a nice mix of soothing and entertaining. Steam Train, Dream Train doesn't have the glowing sunset images of the previous book (which I LOVED), but there is more overt humor. For instance, this page:

"Stacked up on the autorack:
six race cars for a private track!
Rainbow colors, flames, and strips,
shiny engines, chromy pipes.

The autorack
will gently keep
these fast, fast cars...

... all fast asleep.

The autorack contains five colorful racecars. A sixth is being loaded by a two-man crew of ... turtles. Why not, I say. The type of car is always shown in bold text, making clear the educational aspect of the book. But of course it's the gentle humor (a dinosaur reaching for a bone, a giraffe riding with his head out of the caboose, etc.) that will appeal most to young readers. 

While it's again not quite my person cup of tea, I think it's safe to say that Steam Train, Dream Train will be a success. The authors and publisher have taken a formula that worked very well for a book about construction equipment and applied it to trains. If anything, trains are better suited to bedtime stories than construction equipment is. I expect this one to fly off the shelves, and to be a particular hit with four to six year old boys. 

Publisher: Chronicle Books (@ChronicleKids)
Publication Date: April 16, 2013
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Today is Drop Everything and Read Day

Today is Drop Everything and Read Day (D.E.A.R. Day), celebrated every year on April 12th in honor of Beverly Cleary's birthday. D.E.A.R. is "a national month-long celebration of reading designed to remind folks of all ages to make reading a priority activity in their lives."

How will you make reading a priority today? You could:

• Spend some time reading aloud with your child after breakfast.
• Play hooky in the afternoon by sitting outside with your own book.
• Read a book instead of reading email and Facebook on your cell phone while you wait for an appointment. 
• Volunteer to read to your child's class.
• Take your child to a bookstore or the library after school.
• Forego television in the evening, so that you'll have more time for reading books. 

Those are just a few thoughts. I'm sure you can come up with others that fit your family's situation. 

Happy Birthday, Beverly Cleary! Thanks for encouraging people to Drop Everything and Read. 

D.E.A.R. sponsors include:

• National Education Association (NEA)
• National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
• Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association
• Reading Rockets
• General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC)
• Newspaper Association of America Foundation (NAA)
• First Book
• Read Kiddo Read
• Walden Media
• HarperCollins Children’s Books

This post © 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.

Links I Shared on Twitter this Week: April 12

Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. It was a fairly light week.

Book Awards

Have you read the finalists for the 2013 E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards | via @tashrow http://ow.ly/jSaz2 #kidlit

Congratulations @CherylRainfield | Hunted Has Been Shortlisted for the 2013 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award! http://ow.ly/jWQnW

The 2013 Indies Choice–Picture Book Hall of Fame finalists are all wonderful titles | via @tashrow http://ow.ly/jSath #kidlit

RT @tashrow: 2013 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Shortlist http://t.co/SVlqlbEvlN

Book Lists

3 #Picturebooks in which Picky Eaters Find Out "you are what you eat" from @bethanyntt http://ow.ly/jRO6s #kidlit

7 Perfect Picture Books for Screen-Free Week http://ow.ly/jRNqM from @momandkiddo #kidlit #literacy

RT @alli_librarian: Excellent round-up including Betsy-Tacy, Half Magic + more! Chapter Book Series for Young Girls: http://t.co/4U0OSoAzgv

Literacy Programs and Research

Must-read article in @NYTimes about programs + studies on increasing how much parents talk to babies http://ow.ly/jYsiT #litrdup

RT @tashrow: The Reading Brain in The Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens: Scientific American http://buff.ly/ZjydYA

Love of Reading

This idea for #Literacy Lockers at school is wonderful http://ow.ly/jRKQ1 @yaloveblog via @catagator

Judging by the 97 responses to @donalynbooks on @NerdyBookClub, I'd say we all have reading slumps sometimes http://ow.ly/jRJ5w

Publishing

Welcome to the Mothership: @100scopenotes balanced Take on Amazon/Goodreads @ShiftTheDigital http://ow.ly/jYNgh

Finding Wonderland: An Author's Take on Self-Publishing: Interview with Gail Gauthier http://ow.ly/jTRHa @aquafortis

RT @literaticat: Delighted by the announcement of @lizzieskurnick books - an imprint bringing back Forgotten YA of the past!

Gender

Must read post from @FuseEight | “Are there any girl bears?”: Gender and the 21st Century Picture Book http://ow.ly/jWdPS #kidlit

Where are the normal boys in fiction? | Julia Eccleshare | @GdnChildrensBks http://ow.ly/jUslz via @PWKidsBookshelf

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.

Monsters Love Colors: Mike Austin

Book: Monsters Love Colors
Author: Mike Austin
Pages: 40
Age Range: 3-6 

Mike Austin's Monsters Love Colors is a humorous introduction to color mixing in picture book format. The storyline is minimal, but the monsters are energetic and engaging. The book starts out with red, yellow, and blue monsters, each representing their own favorite color, and proclaiming reasons that they like that color.  Then a bunch of little gray monsters pop up, asking the first monsters to make new colors, like orange, green, and purple. The new colors are produced through much scribbling and mixing. At the end, there's even a rainbow. 

The text features a mix of declarative sentences and exclamations. Like this (across two page spreads):

"Monsters love to scribble, scribble, mix, dance, and wiggle!

Mix, mash, and splash! Squish, mish, and squash!
Squish! Squash! Mish! Mash!
Mash! Mish! Squish! Squash!"

The latter paragraph is accompanied by a picture of the yellow monster holding (mixing) two balls of paint, while the blue monster jumps up and down in a puddle composed of red, yellow, and blue. Three smaller gray monsters and a host of colored blots also dot the page. The text is in varied sizes, tilted at different angles, with the words from last two lines above fanning out from the color puddle. The monsters' excitement about color leaps from the page. They have huge grins pretty much all the time. 

There is a bit of rhyming, too. Like this:

"My favorite color is YELLOW!

Yellow is the color of PROWL!
and
HOWL!
and
GROWL! GROWL! GROWL!"

It doesn't make sense exactly (though their are pictures of a moon, flowers, and a lion that make more sense with the color scheme). But it's fun to read aloud, and good practice for rhyming.

I like the color mixing pages best, though. Like this:

"Dribble! Scribble! Mix, dance, and wiggle!

Mixing yellow and blue makes GREEN!"

The letters in "wiggle" wiggle about. The names of the colors are shown in the appropriate color. And the scribble of yellow and blue that is becoming green is messy and enthusiastic, just like something a kid would draw. 

With its crazy scribbles and plethora of exclamation points, Monsters Love Colors is probably not your best choice for bedtime reading. But as a read-aloud, or a book to read before settling in to do some finger painting, Monsters Love Colors shines. Recommended for preschoolers and kindergartners, ages 3 to 6. Monsters Love Colors is also a Baby Bookworm favorite. 

Publisher: HarperCollins (@HarperChildrens)
Publication Date: February 5, 2013
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Tiptoe Joe: Ginger Foglesong Gibson & Laura Rankin

Book: Tiptoe Joe
Author: Ginger Foglesong Gibson
Illustrator: Laura Rankin
Pages: 32
Age Range: 2-5

Tiptoe Joe, written by Ginger Foglesong Gibson and illustrated by Laura Rankin, is a nice read-aloud bedtime book for younger readers. Tiptoe Joe, a red sneaker-wearing bear, runs around gathering all of his animal friends, repeatedly warning them to be quiet. Each animal makes a different sound ("SLAP, SLAP" for the beaver, "THUMP, THUMP" for the rabbit, etc.), but they all try to tiptoe along with Joe as he takes them to his cave to reveal a surprise. The conclusion will hardly be astonishing to adult readers, but it will be satisfying for preschoolers (who, as far as I can tell, pretty much all love babies).

The repetitive structure of Tiptoe Joe makes it a soothing bedtime book. Like this:

"Rabbit, Rabbit, come with me.
I know something you should see.

THUMP, THUMP.

Turkey, Turkey, come with me.
I know something you should see.

FLAP, FLAP." 

The varying sounds of each animal's movement are predictable enough to give kids a chance to participate, but also add to the fun of reading this book aloud. The sounds are repeated several times throughout the book, giving kids plenty of chances to chime in. 

Rankin's watercolor illustrations lend a gentle humor to the book. Each animal is wearing some typically human accessory, from glasses on the moose to a cap on the beaver. The animals are rosy-cheeked and smiling, reminiscent of stuffed animals. Each animal is shown first in its own habitat (woods, field, etc.) and then in more of a closeup, adding a very non-intrusive educational component to the book. The last page is sure to make readers say "Awww!". 

Tiptoe Joe is aimed squarely at younger readers, from the relatively simple, repetitive text to the participatory sounds to the charm of the animals' faces. It could certainly work in a toddler storytime, but I think it is better suited to at-home bedtime read-aloud. I look forward to trying it with my daughter. Recommended.

Publisher: Greenwillow Books (@HarperChildrens)
Publication Date: April 23, 2013
Source of Book: Advance review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Unplug and Read! Screen Free Week is April 29 - May 5

Random House Children's Books is strongly promoting this year's Screen Free Week, April 29th - May 5th. They are urging kids and parents everywhere to Unplug and Read. Today they published this video, in which four well-known author-illustrators (Bob Staake, Chris Raschka, Dan Yaccarino, and Tad Hills) call for kids to unplug, and spend their time doing other, more active things. It's well worth a look. 

There are lots of great reasons to get kids to unplug, though of course it's hard to do. More time to read, more time to play, more active play, more use of the imagination.... The list goes on.

Here are a few things I've noticed about screen time and my three year old:

• The more time she gets, the more time she wants. This goes for movies and iPad time, her primary sources of screen time. Screen time is highly addictive.
• When she's absorbed in the iPad, she is oblivious to things going on around her. 
• When she watches movies in the evening, she doesn't sleep as well. She tends to wake up during the night, and wake us up, because she's afraid of something. Presumably, she is having bad dreams.
• When we watch television in the evening, we end up with less time for reading books, mostly because my husband and I get tired, and can't stay awake to read as many as our daughter would like.

This is not to say that we don't derive any benefit from this screen time. Most of the apps that she uses on the iPad are educational in some way. She does puzzles, she learns some vocabulary, she does some concentration-type practice, etc. And when we watch movies as a family, we build a common frame of reference. My husband and I can share movies that we love with her. We now sing songs from The Sound of Music most nights before she goes to sleep. And of course, screen time sometimes provides a break for me, time to read the paper or take a shower in the morning. But I try to keep it to minimum, because of the above behaviors that I've noticed.

So what I plan to try to do during Screen-Free Week is replace my daughter's several mornings per week iPad time with reading together, even if it means I have to find time to shower and finish the paper later in the day. I'll also see what I can do about not watching any television in the evenings. (We don't watch much, but as I said, she gets a bit addicted, and always asks. She doesn't get any screen time during the day as it is.) I'll be interested to see how that affects her sleep. I'll report back.

How about you? What are your plans for Screen-Free Week?

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

The Big Bad Wolf Goes on Vacation: Delphine Perret

Book: The Big Bad Wolf Goes on Vacation
Author: Delphine Perret
Pages: 64
Age Range: 4 and up 

I'm not quite sure what to make of The Big Bad Wolf Goes on Vacation, but it is definitely entertaining. It's sort of a cross between an early chapter book and a coffee table book, if you can imagine such a thing. Written by Delphine Perret, this book is a sequel to The Big Bad Wolf and Me, published in 2006. In the first book (which I haven't read), the Big Bad Wolf, named Bernard, moves in with a boy and is kept a secret from the boy's family.

In this sequel, Bernard helps the boy, Louis, with his homework and eats a lot of cookies. Bernard also begs to go along on a road trip to the beach with Louis and his grandfather. Disguised, sort of, as a dog, the Big Bad Wolf, Louis, and a tolerant grandpa, do typical road trip things (stopping for lunch, sticking their heads out of the window, pushing cows out of the road, etc.). This is all conveyed via a series of small panels on each page, with a mix of dialog and chapter titles (Chapter 9: Every five minutes, Bernard asked, "Are we THERE yet?") telling the story. 

There are running gags about Bernard's sensitivity. He doesn't like being mistaken for a dog, or being seen as not scary, even if he doesn't eat children anymore. But when he successfully chases away a yappy poodle, he is the picture of satisfaction. 

The grandfather is delightful, taking everything in stride, with only the slightest bit of teasing. At the end, when Bernard and Louis are both acting too mature to run into the ocean, the grandpa shows them how it's done.

As for Louis, he reminds me quite a lot of Willy from I MUST Have Bobo! He is drawn in a similar minimalist sketch style, with a big smiling mouth and a hint of touseled hair.  The wolf, on the other hand, is shown dark brown, with a big, toothy mouth and no visible eyes. He's a bit like a shadow. I wasn't sure at first whether or not Bernard was supposed to be imaginary. But the grandpa, and even a woman working the drive-thru, seem to see him. So I think Perret is playing this straight up. 

There's a Calvin and Hobbes feel to the panel-style illustrations, and to the quirky humor. When Bernard tells the grandpa that he's the Big Bad Wolf, grandpa responds that he is the queen of England. Or maybe King Kong. The toll ticket ends up being used as a gum wrapper. Bernard goes foraging in the woods, and comes back with ... chocolate chip cookies from a nearby vending machine. 

The Big Bad Wolf Goes on Vacation has 11 brief chapters across 64 pages, with comic-strip style illustrations. It's not quite an early reader, not quite a graphic novel. But it is funny and visually appealing. I still think it could work as a coffee table book. But it's also one that might draw in reluctant new readers (especially boys). It's definitely worth a look. Fans of the first book will certainly not want to miss it. 

Publisher: Sterling Children's Books (@SterlingKids)
Publication Date: March 5, 2013
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Our Favorite Birthday Books

Today is my daughter's third birthday (can you believe it?). I suppose that I'll have to stop calling her "Baby" Bookworm eventually. But not quite yet! In honor of her birthday, I'd like to share some of our favorite birthday books. 

Birthday Monsters by Sandra Boynton. Workman. Board Book. This has been one of our family's favorite read-aloud books since Baby Bookworm was tiny. My husband especially enjoys it (and he tends to be very hard to please when it comes to children's books). We've read this one so much that is has entered into our family vocabulary. Like if it happens to be 6:08 someone might say "It's 6:08." Then someone else would respond, "Your present-opening can't wait." Birthday Monsters is a book that truly lends itself to reading aloud, and showcases Boynton's genius. 

Happy Birthday, Little Pookie by Sandra Boynton. Robin Corey Books. Board Book. This has been another longtime household favorite. Baby Bookworm especially loves it when Pookie is so excited to start his birthday that he wakes his parents up at the crack of dawn (they later need a nap). Hmmm. Perhaps we shouldn't be reading this one around Baby Bookworm's birthday after all. This book inspired us to acquire all of the other Pookie books, but I think this is the best of them. 

Scaredy Squirrel Has A Birthday Party by Melanie Watt. Kids Can Press. Picture Book. Reviewed here. In truth Baby Bookworm is still a little young to appreciate the humor of this one. But it is one that all Scaredy Squirrel fans should own. Basically, Scaredy tries to plan his own, completely safe, birthday party. But when his friend dog becomes involved, things change (becoming less safe, but more fun). There are tons of tiny details in this book to entertain adults or older children. But Scaredy's cuteness will appeal to younger readers, too. 

Happy Birthday, Hamster by Cynthia Lord (ill. Derek Anderson). Scholastic. Picture Book. We are big Hamster fans in our house. See my review of Hot Rod Hamster. Not sure why I never reviewed Happy Birthday, Hamster, but I can tell you that we read it all the time. It's taken Baby Bookworm a while to completely appreciate what's going on in the story (Hamster's friends pretend that they have forgotten his birthday, only to surprise him at the end). But she loves all of the birthday trappings (cake, presents, balloons, etc.), and the participatory nature of the story (the text asks, frequently "Which would you choose?").

A Birthday for Bear by Bonny Becker (ill. Kady MacDonald Denton). Candlewick. Early Reader. Bear and Mouse are also popular in our household year-round (see my reviews of A Visitor for Bear and A Bedtime for Bear). Baby Bookworm gave a little gasp of joy when she spotted this book in the Early Reader section of the library. She enjoyed it so much that the Easter Bunny put a copy in her Easter basket this year. Although technically an Early Reader, A Birthday for Bear reads much like the other books in the series. Baby Bookworm especially enjoys pointing out Mouse in this one, even as he disguises himself as a mailman, and even as Santa. 

The Cake that Mack Ate by Rose Robart (ill. Maryann Kovalski). Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Picture Book. This one is only loosely a birthday book. It's about the entire food chain that's required to produce a birthday cake, a cake that is, sadly, eaten by Mack the dog. We have a paperback edition of this book, and it's one that we frequently take on trips with us. It has a nice cadence for reading aloud, and never gets old. 

And finally, two books that aren't birthday books but that end with birthday parties (and with which we always sing Happy Birthday).

Bear's Busy Family by Stella Blackstone (ill. Debbie Harter). Barefoot Books. Board Book. This was more a favorite when Baby Bookworm was a bit younger, and I still know it by heart. It celebrates the different things that various family members do ("Smell the bread my Grandma bakes", etc.). At the end, all of the family members and their contributions come together for a feast for Baby's birthday. 

Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers (ill. Marla Frazee). HMH Books. Various Editions (we have the lap-size board book). Reviewed here. This book remains one of our all-time favorites. Each page spread features a different aspect of the life of babies. For example, "Every day, everywhere, babies are fed." Then rhyming text, and pictoral vignettes, give more specific examples (in this case, of what babies eat). Frazee's illustrations include multicultural babies, and families of all types. But Baby Bookworm just likes seeing so many pictures of babies. At the end of the book, a baby celebrates her first birthday.

We have other books floating around the involve birthdays, but these are our favorites. What are your family's favorite birthday books? 

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Links I Shared on Twitter this Week: April 5

Here are some highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. I also shared a sub-set of these links on my Growing Bookworms Facebook page, and on Google+. However, I try to share everything on Twitter, so that it's all in one place. 

Book Lists and Awards

Thursday Three: Bedtime | 3 standout bedtime books reviewed by @MotherReader http://ow.ly/jKIby #kidlit

One of my favorite genres is featured today by @catagator on Stacked: Get Genrefied: Mysteries (+ Thrillers) http://ow.ly/jI0MH

2013 IBW Book Award Children’s Shortlist | via @tashrow http://ow.ly/jKHM4 #kidlit #awards

Fun list! Favorite Picture Books About Construction Vehicles and Sites | @thepbreview http://ow.ly/jFVku

15 Wonderful Wordless Picture Books suggested by @momandkiddo http://ow.ly/jE3Ph #kidlit

A great selection. Top Ten Wordless Picture Books by Kristen Remenar | @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/jDY2L #kidlit

RT @imaginationsoup: books for world autism day -- http://fb.me/14LyfLKSQ

Growing Bookworms

Parents, don't miss this post! Getting Boys Into Reading: Ideas, Books & Resources from @TrevorHCairney http://ow.ly/jKJtF #litrdup

The Peculiar Case of the Reading Dad by @mochadad. Sad that a dad reading to preschool class should be so rare http://ow.ly/jGxdP

Spring into Literacy: #Literacy Lalapalooza w/ ideas and recommendations | Family Bookshelf http://ow.ly/jKIyv @readingtub

Tips for #parents on Sharing Wordless Picture Books | @ReadingRockets http://ow.ly/jIme8 #literacy

This post from @bethanyntt has some great tips on Reading to Babies {10 real-life tips} http://ow.ly/jE1d4

The Book Chook: Visual #Literacy - Investigate and Play with Images http://ow.ly/jE0aO @bookchook

How to Find 20 Minutes to Read to Your Child Today by @TheBookWormMama @bonbonbreak http://ow.ly/jE00m #literacy

The First Thing You Should Do When You Start To Read Aloud is keep it exciting, @ReadAloudDad http://ow.ly/jDXTM

RT @tashrow: 5 Tips For Getting Children Excited About Reading | Edudemic http://bit.ly/X1BMWT #literacy

Kidlitosphere

On the #Cybils blog: Suggestions from @aquafortis for Keeping the Cybils Ball Rolling until nominations open in Oct http://ow.ly/jE1U7

RT @GregPincus: It's Kelly Fineman up today at 30 Poets/30 Days. Where are your shoes? Come find out! - http://bit.ly/Z75Ewv #30p30d #kidlit

Bloggers, join The Chocolate War read & blog along, organized by @LizB @bkshelvesofdoom + @catagator http://ow.ly/jDYqP

Just in time for @The_Pigeon 10 year anniversary, an interview with Mo Willems @playbythebook http://ow.ly/jDOi0 #kidlit

Publishing and e-Books

Calming thoughts: Dan Blank: Amazon Buys Goodreads: What Does It Mean for Authors and Readers? http://ow.ly/jE42j via @FuseEight

The Simple Reason Why Goodreads Is So Valuable to Amazon - @JHWeissmann - The Atlantic http://ow.ly/jL8ac 

Chronicle Books Named Best Children’s Publisher of the Year - @GalleyCat http://ow.ly/jyFlk via @tashrow @ChronicleKids

Programs and Research

This is cool. Kids can call the Indianapolis Public Library's 24 hour Call-A-Story line to hear Pacers read #kidlit http://ow.ly/jE2L0

Welcome to Mission Read, a new grassroots #literacy promotion campaign, by Beth Panageotou @bonbonbreak http://ow.ly/jFS7i @pagescorner

Food for thought, no clear answers: What Does a Tablet Do to the Child’s Mind? @NYTimes http://ow.ly/jGwOV via @PWKidsBookshelf

I think this is true. RT @tashrow: BBC News – Children should be allowed to get bored, expert says http://buff.ly/11rFaZI

Good article about how dyslexia forced several successful people to get creative to Get Ahead - @WSJ http://ow.ly/jGooH

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.

Another Little Literacy Milestone

Baby Bookworm also had another little literacy milestone this week. She came running in from her playroom, all excited, waving an orange marker. "Mom, I drawed an A." Alas, the A was drawn on the floor, and didn't actually look a whole lot like an A. But she gets that drawing letters is an accomplishment, so that's something to celebrate.

Thank goodness for washable markers. I don't know how any parent manages without them. 

This post © 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.