319-324. Board Books on Parade (Holiday Edition)

319. Tough Cookie: A Christmas Story. Edward Hemingway. 2018/2023. 30 pages. [Source: Library] [Board book]

First sentence: Once upon a time, while Fox was visiting Christmastown, in the Land of Holiday Treats...a little cookie--still warm from the bakery oven--burst out the front door and shouted, "I'm a sweet cookie!"

Premise/plot: Sugar Cookie Man thinks he should be both sweet and fast...but he isn't. Can he learn to be okay with that? Sugar Cookie Man may not realize his purpose, but he does have one.

My thoughts: I liked this one. I have always enjoyed the Gingerbread Man story. This playfully touches on that story...but only a little. It stars a FOX and a COOKIE. The cookie does boast and the fox does give chase. Sugar Cookie Man learns by trial and error that he was baked with a specific purpose in mind. He's not for eating...but for hanging as an ornament on a tree. (If he was an EATING cookie the book would be quite short since the Fox would have gobbled him up by page two or three.)
 

320.  First Stories: A Christmas Carol. Jean Claude. 2018. 8 pages. [Source: Library] [board book]

First sentence: Ebenezer Scrooge found Christmas a bore. "Bah humbug to all of it!" the old man would roar. On Christmas Eve ghosts came--one, two, and three--To show Scrooge how much fun his dull life could be.

Premise/plot: This board book is a simplistic, basic rhyming adaptation of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Can Dickens' classic holiday story be retold in just eight pages? Yes and no. It introduces little ones to the bare bones basics of the story.

It is an interactive adaption. It features activities for little hands on every page. There are things to spin, push, pull, and slide. 

My thoughts: Is this the most faithful adaptation? Of course not. Is it a fun interactive book for little ones? Yes. The fact that it is "A Christmas Carol" is more for parents than little ones. But the 'surprise' elements of the interactive nature of it is a treat, I think. I enjoyed, for example, making the holiday dinner appear and disappear from the table. It was just fun. 

Is it durable enough to last? It might depend. Not only on your little one, of course. I checked out the library copy. I believe I was the first to do so. One page already has a very loose slide. You pick up the book and it starts sliding down. I was not rough or forceful in my reading. I am a gentle, careful reader.

 

321. The Very Snowy Christmas. Diana Hendry. Illustrated by Jane Chapman. 2013/2023. 16 pages. [Source: Library] [Board book]

First sentence: It was Christmas Eve. Big Mouse was making cheese pies. Little Mouse was making paper chains. "Merry Christmas to us!" sang Little Mouse. "Big Mouse, can I decorate the tree now? Can I? Can I? 

Premise/plot: Big Mouse and Little Mouse are celebrating Christmas together...until they aren't. Little Mouse slips off on his own to go gather some holly. This holly-gathering adventure has a little excitement in it. 

My thoughts: This one--for whatever reason--reminded me of the delightful Brown Bear, Snow Bear by Joyce Dunbar. I enjoyed this one very much. It's a sweet and predictable little story to share with little ones. Mice are always cute and adorable in fiction books.

322. My Magical Santa. [Abrams Appleseed Board Books] 8 pages. [Source: Library] [Board book]

First sentence: On a magical sleigh with his gifts piled up high, Santa set off as the elves waved goodbye. Sleigh bells a-ringing, he soared out of sight and raced round the world in only one night!

Premise/plot: Board books without authors have their own standard perhaps by which they should be judged. Or not. This one is part of Abrams' "My Magical..." series. The premise is simple: Santa is....you guessed it...magical. 

The "quality" of this one comes in the interactive nature of this one. There are things to spin, push, pull, slide. The text is rhyming, but the text is almost irrelevant. (Perhaps why there is no author credited. Or illustrator for that matter.) 

My thoughts: If your little one loves interactive books, then this one might prove serviceable enough. It's a sturdy, holiday-themed board book with plenty of things for little ones to do while parents read aloud the rhyming text. 

I would give it two and a half stars if I was actively giving out half stars. I don't think it merits the one star average on GoodReads. It isn't that bad. 

323. Touch and Trace Nursery Rhymes: Jingle Bells. Editors of Silver Dolphin Books. 2023. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [Board books]

First sentence: Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

Premise/plot: This one includes [some] lyrics from five familiar Christmas songs [jingles]. The songs included are "Jingle Bells," "Let It Snow," "Deck the Halls," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." Each song takes up one two-page spread. There are playful illustrations. Each illustration includes a tactile element to "trace." (I ABSOLUTELY LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these tracing elements.)

My thoughts: I really loved this one so much. It is so obviously simple yet it is SO enjoyable. 

324. Slide and See First Words Christmas. Helen Hughes. Illustrated by Kathryn Selbert. 2023. 12 pages. [Source: Library] [board books]

First sentence: Christmas friends. Elf. Santa Claus. Reindeer. Santa is getting ready for Christmas with help from his friends.

Premise/plot: This interactive board book focuses on the WORDS of Christmas. This interactive book even asks questions with sliding elements to reveal the answers. It also asks more open-ended questions. I really like this aspect of it.

My thoughts: Even the cover of the book is interactive. Little hands can make Santa pop up out of the chimney. This one does have more to offer than some of the other interactive books I've reviewed today. [I'm looking at you, My Magical Santa.] It seems to have some thought and care put into the actual narrative. Yes, it's a vocabulary book in some ways. Perhaps it won't "grow" with your little one every year. But I do think it has something to offer parents and little ones.

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers

310. Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

 Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree. Robert E. Barry. 1963. Random House. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

Mr. Willowby's Christmas tree came by special delivery. Full and fresh and glistening green--the biggest tree he had ever seen. He dashed downstairs to open the door--This was the moment he'd waited for.

I loved, loved, loved Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree. It celebrates giving in a fun and playful way. Mr. Willowby starts off a long chain of giving when he chops off the top of his too-tall Christmas tree. A tree that is splendid in every other way. He gives the tree-top to the upstairs maid. She's delighted. Very delighted. How thoughtful! How cheery! But the tree is too-tall for her small room. The top must go! Chances are you can predict at this point how the story will go. But that doesn't mean it is in any way less delightful. This little tree-top gets passed down and re-trimmed again and again and again and again and again. And it's just WONDERFUL to see how much happiness and cheer it brings to others.

I loved the premise. I loved the writing. The rhyming was delightful. It worked very well for me! I think this one would make a great read-aloud. I also loved how uplifting it is. (After reading Baboushka and the Three Kings, I needed a cheery story!)

Why didn't someone tell me about this wonderful and charming picture book?! Why?! Well, I am glad to have discovered it now!

Which Christmas books would you consider classic? Which would you recommend?

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers

116. Cowy Cow

Board book: Cowy Cow. Chris Raschka. 2014. 24 pages. [Source: Library] [Link to cover image]

First sentence: Cowy Cow has one hundred ideas. Here are some of her ideas. Number 79: Green is the best color ever. Number 34: If you chew grass long enough, it might taste like a gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookie. Cowy Cow, have you ever tasted a gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookie?

Premise/plot: Board book to read aloud to little ones. (Farm books should be their own genre or sub-genre.)

My thoughts: I definitely enjoyed Cowy Cow. What you should expect: silliness, more silliness, even more silliness. A genius cow with "one hundred" ideas shares two of her ideas in this board book. 

When I first read Cowy Cow I was not a special gluten-free diet. Now that I am, it personally works for me a little bit better. Is this humor kid-humor???? I don't know. I really don't. I can see how someone might read this one cover to cover and be like THIS GOT PUBLISHED? But I liked it more than not.

I liked the illustrations.

 

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers

99. Too Many Lollipops

Too Many Lollipops. Robert M. Quackenbush. 1975. 32 pages. [Source: Book from my childhood]

First sentence:  One sweltering Sunday Henry the duch had a headache. So he called his doctor. The doctor told him to wear a woolen bonnet, and rest...and EAT A LOT OF LOLLIPOPS. Out shopping on muggy Monday Henry the duck was caught in a flash storm and got a sore throat. The doctor told him to wrap a scarf around it, and rest...AND EAT A LOT OF LOLLIPOPS.

Premise/plot: Will Henry the duck need a new doctor, a better doctor by the end of the week?!?!

My thoughts: Too Many Lollipops is one of my favorite books from childhood. It is definitely one of the more memorable. It has lollipop end papers. The repetitive text which just keeps building and building and it is just DELIGHTFUL. I love the illustrations as well.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10

 

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers

90. Caps for Sale

Caps for Sale. Esphyr Slobodkina. 1940. 48 pages. [Source: Childhood Copy]

First sentence: Once there was a peddler who sold caps. But he was not like an ordinary peddler carrying his wares on his back. He carried them on top of his head. First he had on his own checked cap, then a bunch of gray caps, then a bunch of brown caps, then a bunch of blue caps, and on the very top a bunch of red caps.

Premise/plot: One morning--after having no luck selling his caps--he decides to take a detour, a walk in the country. This leads to a nap, of course! While under a tree--sleeping--some naughty monkeys steal almost all of his caps!!! Can the peddler outsmart the monkeys?

My thoughts: My mom loved to read this one aloud!!! She did a great job voicing the angry peddler yelling at the monkeys! It's a fun book and very silly.

 

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers

85. Pat the Bunny

Pat the Bunny. Dorothy Kunhardt. 1940. 18 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Here are Paul and Judy. They can do lots of things. You can do lots of things, too.

Premise/plot: Pat the Bunny is an interactive book for very young children. It was originally released in 1940. I don't know how many other books for VERY young children existed at the time. (Certainly not as many as there are in recent decades). But this is one of the books from 1940 that has lived on, if you will, from its original publication and become somewhat iconic. (Though perhaps less so these days? I know it was iconic in my own childhood.)

Judy and Paul do "lots" of things. "Judy can pat the bunny. Now YOU pat the bunny." Judy can play peek-a-boo with Paul. Now YOU play peek-a-boo with Paul. Paul can smell the flowers. Now YOU smell the flowers."

My thoughts: Pat the Bunny is one of the books I remember my mom reading to me. I could NOT find my own copy--perhaps long destroyed????--for the purposes of review. Though it has been decades since I last read Pat the Bunny, I remembered more than half the activities. I think, for some generations at least, this book is iconic. I'm not sure it is *still* iconic for the past few generations. Is this still being bought and read today? Has it been replaced with other board books, other interactive books in the past fifteen to twenty years? Perhaps. I don't know. I know that Guess How Much I Love You and Love You Forever are certainly become icons. Goodnight Moon--an older title--is still an ever-present icon. 

This one is a spiral bound interactive, "activity" book. I haven't heard any outlandish stories about it being canceled, but, honestly it wouldn't shock me if there was someone out there somehow, somewhere who could find reasons to take offense at this one.

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers

57. Rosetown Summer

Rosetown Summer. Cynthia Rylant. 2021. [July] 96 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Rosetown Paper and Press sat on Main Street in Rosetown, Indiana, and it was one of Flora Smallwood’s favorite places to be. The shop belonged to Flora’s mother and father, and all of its beautiful cards and calendars and journals had been printed on an old-fashioned letterpress in the back room.

 ETA: I first read Rosetown Summer in August 2021. I enjoy this sequel. Definitely. Both books are great. But this one is shorter and even less happens. The writing is still great. But set your expectations a bit lower. Definitely character driven.

Premise/plot: Yesterday I reviewed Rosetown by Cynthia Rylant. Rosetown Summer is the sequel. It is set in the summer of 1973 in Rosetown, Indiana. Fourth grade is complete, and Flora and Yury have the whole summer ahead. But change is coming...the owner of Wings and a Chair Used Books may be moving away!

My thoughts: I loved, loved, loved the first book. I love, love, love this second book. Flora and I are just kindred spirits I tell you. Except FLORA is better with glue. Definitely better at glue! This was just a treat of a book.

Quotes:

Yury says I should write stories,” Flora said. “But I’d rather read them.”
Her father nodded. “I’d rather look at photographs than take them,” he said.
“Really?” asked Flora.
“But I guess if all photographers felt that way,” answered her father, “we wouldn’t have any photographs to look at.”


The bookshop had, in many ways, become their story, Flora and Yury’s. Every story needs a setting and a beginning, and Wings and a Chair had given them both.

“Is Miss Meriwether going to move away?” she asked her mother. Flora wasn’t sure she really wanted to know the answer. When a question is so big inside one’s mind, sometimes a person does not really want to know its answer.
Her mother sighed. She looked away a moment, then looked back at Flora.
“She seems torn,” Flora’s mother said. “Miss Meriwether is at one of life’s crossroads: to stay or to go. This is a problem many people face.”
Flora shook her head. “Not me,” she said. “I would always choose to stay.”
Her mother smiled. “But if you aren’t at a crossroads yet, dear,” she said, “how can you know? Sometimes a person really must choose between two good things.”
Two good things, thought Flora.
“I would choose the thing that involved a cat,” she said.
Her mother laughed.

“Could I help you with Toddler Story Time until school starts?” she asked, looking partly at his large friendly face and partly at the craft table in the far corner.
“I am good with glue,” she added.
Mr. Anderson hesitated for just a moment, and then he laughed.
“You’re hired!” he said. “I am terrible with glue!”

Mr. Anderson was pleased to see her.
“Good morning, Flora!” He beamed at her. “Are you ready to get started? We need lettuces and carrots and paper pails to put them in. Here, let me show you.”
And just like that, Flora stepped from the old to the new. Here she was, by herself, being Flora in a different way. She could hardly believe it. This thing she was doing alone.


“Do you remember the story of Peter Rabbit?” Flora asked Nessy.
“Sure,” said Nessy. “He squeezed under the gate.”
“He did,” said Flora. “Mr. Anderson read it to the toddlers today, and they listened to every word. Two little girls held hands while they listened.”
“That was us,” said Nessy with a giggle.

Flora regarded this necklace as something so meaningful that she had carefully put it away and planned to wear it only on special occasions.
So why she decided to start wearing it every day during these ordinary last days of summer, Flora wasn’t sure. One morning she opened a dresser drawer, removed the box, and put the necklace around her neck. And now she did this every morning.
There is a meaning to some things that a person cannot always define. When an object has some link to the heart, it is often because it came from someone dear or was loved by someone dear who has passed away. Or sometimes the object is a treasured reminder of an experience: a winning game, the first sight of the ocean, a project carried through with intense devotion.


“Did you know that people used to ride horses to the bank in Rosetown?” she asked him. She would have to think all of her many thoughts later.
“You have told me that a million times,” said Yury with a smile.
Flora smiled too. They had spent a lot of time together if a story had been shared a million times. A lot of time. Enough for a foundation.
Flora bent over and gave Friday a big hug.
Maybe someday she would take Yury to see the Tree of Life.
But for now it was almost time to start fifth grade.
What a beautiful day this was. In Rosetown, Indiana.

 

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers

56. Rosetown

Rosetown. Cynthia Rylant. 2018. 149 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Wings and a Chair Used Books was where Flora Smallwood's mother worked three afternoons a week. Inside, it had a purple velveteen chair by the window for anyone who wanted to stay awhile, and Flora, who sometimes felt quite acutely the stress of being nine years old, and sensitive, loved this chair. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays were her favorite day because of it.

ETA: I first read Rosetown in August 2021. I loved it then. I loved it now. I may have even loved it more the second time around. I definitely noticed more details the second time around. Still highly recommend this one!

Premise/plot: Flora Smallwood (9) lives in Rosetown, Indiana--the year, 1972. She loves vintage books and reading, and she loves hanging out with her new friend, Yury. What she doesn't love is change--at least not too much change, too quickly.

My thoughts: Rosetown is a character-driven book. Flora, our protagonist, is adjusting to being a fourth grader AND to her parents separating AND to life without her dog (Laurence). The book takes place over a school year. The focus is on family and friends.

I loved, loved, loved the WRITING. Rylant (one of my favorite authors) just has a way with words. I believed in Flora's voice from the first page. By the end of the second chapter I knew were were kindred spirits. I knew that Flora was going to end up being a good, good friend.

Here's a quote from chapter two:

What Flora noticed at once on the first day of fourth grade had been the sudden confidence all the former third graders seemed to have found, and she wondered where they had found it. Nearly all of her classmates appeared to be taller, louder, stronger, and possessed of a sureness of opinion that had been entirely absent the year before. The stumblers, the wanderers, and the floaters of third grade had suddenly, mysteriously, found their feet. They weren't afraid of school anymore. Or maybe of anything. All of this made Flora a little shy. She missed the uncertainty. Fortunately, a new and uncertain person had arrived in room 22, and with him Flora was beginning to build that precious thing called friendship. His name was Yury, which set him apart right away. His Eastern European name, combined with the burden of being the new boy, made Yury a very uncertain fourth-grade person indeed. He wore large round glasses, which made him look rather owl-like. And he was very smart, like an owl, beneath all of the new-boy uncertainty. Flora knew this right away because he was clever....but he shared his cleverness with only one person in fourth grade: Flora. He sat behind her in class, so it was easy for him to whisper to the back of her head. Yury whispered, Flora smiled, and the seeds of friendship were planted.

I highly recommend Rosetown. I loved everything about it!

 

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers

27. The Real Mother Goose

The Real Mother Goose. Illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright. 1916. 128 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep. And can't tell where to find them; Leave them alone, and they'll come home, and bring their tails behind them.

Premise/plot: This Mother Goose collection was originally published in 1916. Its cover (and interior illustrations) are recognizable by generations. There are hundreds of poems/verses. 

My thoughts: I enjoyed reading The Real Mother Goose. While I was familiar with some of the Mother Goose rhymes, there were so many that were new to me. The rhymes do vary in quality and relevance. (I'm not sure little ones need to be familiar with each and every poem in this collection in order to "know" their Mother Goose properly). Here are a few of my favorites:

The Tarts
The Queen of Hearts,
She made some tarts,
All on a summer's day;
The Knave of Hearts,
He stole the tarts,
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
And beat the Knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts
Brought back the tarts,
And vowed he'd steal no more. (107)

Sing a Song of Sixpence
Sing a song of sixpence,
a pocket full of rye;
Four-and-twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie!
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing;
Was not that a dainty dish
To set before the king?
The king was in his counting-house
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlor,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes;
When down came a blackbird
And snapped off her nose. (62)

The Bunch of Blue Ribbons
Oh, dear what can the matter be?
Oh, dear what can the matter be?
Oh, dear what can the matter be?
Johnny's so long at the fair.
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
To tie up my bonny brown hair. (127)

Do you have a favorite Mother Goose rhyme?

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers