65. This Baby. That Baby.

This Baby. That Baby. Cari Best. Illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh. 2024. [February] 40 pages. [Source: Library] [Picture book]

First sentence: Somewhere in the big, big city 
across a beep-beep street
along two bumpy sidewalks
up two tall buildings
to the
third
fourth
fifth
floors,
two happy babies look out their morning windows
at the very same time.
This baby.
And that baby.
This baby has a lot of curly black hair.
It bounces when he giggles.
That baby has a floppy red hat.
It falls off
when she wiggles.

I love, love, love, love, love this one!!!! It stars two babies: THIS baby and THAT baby. It chronicles their parallel lives--will these two get a proper meeting??? 

I love the celebration of family life, the ordinary moments, the oh-so-relatable moments, the blink and they're gone moments. The story is adorable. The illustrations are adorable. Highly recommended....and so rhythmic too. Loved everything about this one.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

64. Tangle-Knot

Tangle-Knot. Loretta Ellsworth. Illustrated by Annabel Tempest. 2023. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [Picture book]

First sentence: Fia refuses to brush her hair before she goes out to play. "It's a tangled mess," complains Mom. "I like it this way." Her hair always blows around like a tornado and becomes a maze of snarls and knots. The blustery air twists the curls until they're a swirl of tangle-knot, which is not a word, but which is her hair. It's perfect.

Tangle-knot is my hair as well. (Though not perhaps by choice.) I really enjoyed this playful story starring a young girl and her VERY tangled hair. How tangled is it? A bird makes a nest and hatches her three eggs in it. So VERY, VERY tangled. Will she ever brush her hair?

This was a playful and silly story which I appreciated. I love the illustrations. 

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

63. Henry's School Days

Henry's School Days. (Too Many School Days) Robert Quackenbush. 1987/2023. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [Picture book]

First sentence: When Henry the Duck was growing up, he got into a lot of trouble at school--like the time he went to hang up his coat on an overcrowded rack. Before his teacher could stop him and help him find a place for his coat...all the coats came tumbling down!

I feel seen. Henry the Duck has quite a time leading his teachers to say that Henry has too many school days. Will Henry the Duck ever have a good day at school? 

When I was growing up I loved some of Quackenbush's books. I've loved becoming reacquainted with his books as an adult. I absolutely LOVE the story, the characters, and the illustrations.

I am definitely going to see what other "new" books they have by Quackenbush.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

62. Everything a Drum

Everything a Drum. Sarah Warren. Illustrated by Camila Carrossine. 2023. 24 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book]

First sentence:  You bang and bash. Ta-tum! tum! tum! The trash goes crash! pa-pum! pum! pum! You turn the world into a drum. You turn the world into a drum. The muffin tin says plink! plink! plink! The doggy dish says tink! tink! tink!

A young toddler makes a drum out of everything--literally. The book is written in rhyme and has a certain amount of rhythm to it. Mind you, it will never take the place of Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb (the most perfectly perfect book ever). But it was an enjoyable read for me. The narration definitely worked for me. Lots of onomatopoeia throughout. Plenty of repetition--which is thematically appropriate when talking about beats and rhythm. I didn't love the art, however, art is the most subjective thing about picture books.

I personally think this would be a good board book.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

54-61. More Board Books on Parade

54. Board Book: Marvel Beginnings: Spider-Man Goes to the Farm. (978-1368090377) Steve Behling. 2024. 10 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Moo! On a beautiful spring day, the amazing Spider-Man is swinging back home from a crime-fighting adventure. As he lands on a rooftop, he hears a loud moo. He swings down and sees a cow has broken loose from its corral on a local farm.

Why does this book exist? That's a question you might legitimately have. I certainly did. But this touch-and-feel book surprised me. I thought it would be worse than it actually is. I expected silly cheese, and in part that delivered. It had all the elements you'd expect from ANY farm book: the expected animals and their sounds. Spider-man was "helping" the misadventures. These misadventures weren't quite as dramatic as what you'd find like on Paw Patrol, but somewhat similar vibes. (One adventure is a horse stuck in the mud.) 

Note to self: Though this one released in January 2024, it is NOT on GoodReads. I sure do miss being able to add books. 

55. Mary Had a Little Lamb. (Board Book) (Touch and trace) Silver Dolphin. 2024. 10 pages. [Source: Library] 

First sentence: Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Its fleece was write as snow.

This board book features five nursery rhymes. I was tempted to say familiar nursery rhymes, but, that isn't necessarily the case. (Four were familiar. One was NOT.) It features: Mary Had a Little Lamb, Five Little Speckled Frogs, Bingo, The Ants Go Marching, and Mulberry Bush. Each rhyme has its own two-page spread. Some pages feature cut-outs or holes. There are "tracing" elements. I'm not exactly sure what the point of the tracing elements are. They are not a touch-and-feel element--not really. No new textures to feel or sense--just cardboard and more cardboard. 

56.  Board book: Kisses: A Lift the Flap and Sliding Parts Book. Marta Comin. 2023. [December] 16 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: In the sea, six fish are swimming round and round. They say, "Bloop, bloop, kiss. I'm so glad you're safe and sound." 

I have to say that I crazy love and adore the "kissing" fish which is the first spread. They started with the best--for better or worse. Little ones can slide the fishes to one another and make them kiss. Perhaps parents reading aloud can join in with kissy fish lips of their own. While there are plenty of elements to manipulate in this one--most of them are flaps. (For example, opening the petals of a flower). The most disturbing--for me personally, and this is completely subjective--is the flapping baby head. You can turn a flap to have him kiss one parent and then the other. So there are three baby heads in total. The elephant trunks touching is a good spread. This one--for me--was hit or miss. 

57. Boop Me! Yappy Puppy. (Board book) Claire Baker. 2024. 10 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Puppy's at the park today, looking for a game to play.

Is it a gimmicky interactive book? Yes. Probably. Was it fun--at least at first--to "boop" his nose and have it make a squeak? Yes. I think it would be fun--at least at first. The puppy's nose is also velvety soft. So with the softness of the nose AND the delightful squeak, this one could work well with little ones that love dogs. The adventure itself is simple--puppy playing at the park. The dog is making his own nose boop. The elements are better than the story perhaps.

58. What is Snow? Very First Questions and Answers. (Board book) Katie Daynes. 2018/2023. 12 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: What is snow? It's what flutters down on freezing days.

Is there such a thing as too many flaps? I wouldn't have thought so before picking this one up. I never knew if the flap would reveal text--like an answer to a question--or if it would just be an illustration. Some spreads felt like they had ten or so flaps. Some had text. Some didn't. Some moved the plot forward. Some didn't. The board book format and the lift-the-flap feature seem like they'd be for a younger crowd (toddler, early preschool) the amount of text felt like it might not hold attention spans. This one could work depending on the presentation of the one reading it aloud.

59. Christmas at Nana's House. (Board book) Larissa Juliano. 2023. 20 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Christmas is here, and it is the most magical time of the year at Nana's house. We stand on the sidewalk (I helped shovel!) and see the colorful Christmas lights flicker.

I liked this one more than I thought I would. (Though I have questions.) It is a straightforward enough Christmas-themed story starring a lovely family celebrating Christmas together. Two grandchildren and their grandparents. (No parents in sight, which is one of the questions I have. But it doesn't matter. Not really). This book goes through many traditions. It ends with leaving cookies for Santa. 

60. That's Not My Santa (Board book) Fiona Watt. 2008/2012/2023. 8 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:  That's not my Santa...his sleigh is too sparkly. That's not my Santa...his sack is too rough.

I have a weakness for GREAT touch-and-feel elements. The story can be a little weak, but give me good textures to feel, and I'll be drawn to it. The story is simple and a bit repetitive. But the textures for the most part are satisfying. I particularly love the rough sack. (Though I will argue that SPARKLY is never, never, never a texture.) Technically, Santa's gloves (look like mittens and definitely are NOT fuzzy despite the text) aren't quite right. But overall this one was pleasing.

61. Baby's First Passover. (Board book). DK Publishing. 2024. 13 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Passover, known in Hebrew as Pesach, is a Jewish festival of eight days. It celebrates how the Jewish people became free from slavery, many years ago. 

I have not read any in this series so I don't have anything to compare it to. Is it short on details? Have too many details? Don't know. Want to know. I definitely had a few questions. Is it unrealistic for a board book to answer all my questions? Probably. This one blends illustrations with photographs. It briefly--very briefly--mentions plagues of Egypt. For "disease" it shows a cow with a thermometer in its mouth. I don't have experience with other board books about Passover to compare this one with. I have read a few picture books, but that definitely does not seem fair. 

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

50-53. Board Book Parade

50. Butts. Katrine Crow. [Board book] 2020. 20 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Who has a fluffy butt like this? A bunny! Who has a feathery butt like this? A chicken!

This is an admittedly silly and playful book featuring photographs of animal butts. There are a series of questions and answers--the question shows the back side, the answer the front side. 

I really LOVED some of these photos. Some of the photos are so incredibly cute and adorable. I think this would be a fun book to read aloud to a little one. 

51. Bellies. Katrine Crow. [Board book] 2020. 20 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Who has a furry belly like this? A lynx! Who has a wet belly like this? A sea turtle! 

I'm not sure if Bellies or Butts was published first. But these two are good companions, and, of course, they are by the same author. This one features photographs of animal bellies. Again, a series of questions and answers. 

I really enjoyed some of the photographs. I do think the answers are perhaps not quite as obvious in this one. Lynx bellies, Bengal bellies, they don't look all that different from any/every cat. Both books--both Butts and Bellies--feature a range of animals. 

52. Counting Our Blessings. Emma Dodd. [Board book] 2020. 24 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: We're counting our blessings one by one. How many will there be? Let's count together, just us two, and very soon we'll see.

Two dogs count their blessings in Emma Dodd's newest board book. The illustrated dogs--parent and pup--are SUPER, SUPER, SUPER, SUPER adorable. The text itself--written in rhyme--is serviceable. Nothing objectionable about it, perhaps a tiny bit bland, but it gets the job done. It celebrates an attitude of gratitude AND counts to ten. 

53. (Little Chunkies) Animals in the Forest. DK Publishing. 2023. [Board book] 10 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The bees swarm around the nest. The bear wakes up from its afternoon rest. The wolf howls at the glowing moon. The birds sing their pretty tune. 

I was disappointed. Despite it saying this is a "touch and discover" book, there are no touch and feel elements. There are cut-outs, but holes aren't a touch and feel element. There are raised elements, but cardboard in and of itself is not a touch and feel element. The holes might make for an amusing way to turn pages for little hands. Raised elements may or may not catch the eyes and keep attention. But this is hardly an interactive board book.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

49. Poetry Comics

Poetry Comics. Grant Snider. 2024. 96 pages. [Source: Library] [poetry]

First sentence:  I want to put down on paper the feeling of fresh possibilities. 

Poems told in comic book format. This is a combination I never knew I needed, but now I do know. I want MORE, MORE, MORE, MORE. Love this combination so much.

The book is arranged into the four seasons. It opens with spring. 

This one was love at first sight. I enjoyed many of the poems. I did. But I loved the recurring subject. Each of the four seasons contains a poem titled, "How To Write A Poem." (Each one is numbered.) 

How To Write a Poem #1
Find a quiet place.
A sharp pencil.
A blank page.
Sit still.
Keep quiet.
Wait.
A poem will rush in to fill the space.

What I can't really convey is how LOVELY the poems are when illustrated in the comic format.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

48. Sing High, Sing Crow (The Great Mathemachicken #3)

Sing High, Sing Crow (The Great Mathemachicken #3) Nancy Krulik. Illustrated by Charlie Alder. 2024. 112 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Feathers tickle
feathers fly
But I've got a feather in my eye!
Chirpy curled up in a tight little ball. She covered her ears with her wings. But nothing she did blocked out the noise of the crows singing their song up in the tree.

Premise/plot: Chirpy (and friends) return in their third adventure. In this one, the chicks are ALL disturbed by the oh-so-noisy crows and their "music." The band isn't made up exclusively of crows. Can the chicks work together to find away to make their super inconsiderate neighbors HUSH or SHOO? Perhaps it's time for Chirpy to go to school and learn a clever way (based on math and/or science) to solve the problem. What Chirpy learns is that music and math go hand in hand...but can that fact prove helpful????

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I do like the series. The first book is Hide and Go Beak and the second is Have a Slice Day.  

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers