1. Happy Cats

Happy Cats. Catherine Amari and Anouk Han. Illustrated by Emi Lenox. 2021. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: white cat
black cat
blue cat
brown cat
high cat
low cat
always upside down cat
fluffed cat
bare cat
round cat
square cat
long cat
short cat
rarely-ever-there cat

Premise/plot: Plenty of cats can be found in Catherine Amri and Anouk Han's Happy Cats. This one is essentially an illustrated poem. The stars of the show are the cats themselves, perhaps. 

My thoughts: I love cats. I do. I really LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cats. Crazy about cat books as well. Most of the time. This one was so delightful. Not just because it stars cats. Not just because the illustrations are satisfying--they are though. No, I love this one so much because the rhythm and rhyme delight. Rhyme can prove challenging, but, it is so much easier to "get right" than rhythm. Rhyming can be accomplished with practice and effort. Rhythm, however, I think is more of a gift. Some rhyming books just lack all sense of rhythm. Other books just make it look absolutely effortless. Rhythm looks so effortless in this one. It is FUN. The rhythm of the text makes you WANT to read it aloud (even if you're alone). I also think the rhythm will help make this one appeal as an again-again.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

161. What Bear Likes Best

What Bear Likes Best: Rhymes for Children. Erwin Moser. Translated by Alistair Beaton. 2023. [April] 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The eagle's sitting on her nest.
A walk is what the bear loves best.
The parrot's longing to be free.
The little chick says, "Look at me!"
The hippo's wading through the mud.
The beaver's dam's about to flood.

Premise/plot: Looking for rhyming couplets? Rhyming couplets that star all sorts of different animals? Perhaps this poetry book will be a good fit for you. Each spread rhymes with each other. There is no cohesive story.

My thoughts: These rhyming books are beginning to grow on me the more I read them. I do like the rhythm and rhyme of it. As long as your expectations are reasonable. Now that I know more what to expect, I'm liking them more.

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers

69. This Little Kitty

This Little Kitty. Karen. Obuhanych. 2023. [January] 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: This little kitty starts the day
and meows "Wake up! It's time to play!"
All the little kitties get out of bed.
Their bellies grumble--
it's time to be fed.

Premise/plot: Spend the WHOLE day with super-adorable kitties. This picture book is told in rhyme and is complemented perfectly with playful [and colorful] illustrations. 

My thoughts: I love, love, love, LOVE cats [and kittens]. I do. If I see my library has ordered a new picture book with a cat on the cover, I'm sold. It's gonna get put on hold immediately. Such was the case with This Little Kitty. It did not disappoint. It was just what I wanted/needed it to be. I loved all the mischief. I loved all the fun.

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers

148. Jazz for Lunch

Jazz for Lunch! Jarrett Dapier. Illustrated by Eugenia Mello. 2021. [September] 48 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Struttin' with Auntie Nina
down to a club,
We're gonna hear some music
and then eat some grub.

Premise/plot: Jazz for Lunch! celebrates jazz music, food, and family. Auntie Nina and her nephew have a special relationship. She shares her love for cooking and her love for JAZZ with her young nephew...teaching him both how to cook and how to appreciate jazz.

This book--entirely written in rhyme--starts with the two going to a jazz club. But it also has the two going to her place to cook a great meal (while listening to jazz).

Jazz for LUNCH!
The beats got SOUL!
Jazz for LUNCH!
Ham on a ROLL!
Jazz for LUNCH!
The tunes got swing!
Jazz for LUNCH!
Shout, dance, and sing!

(Jazz for lunch being the refrain carried throughout the picture book.)

My thoughts: This book celebrates so many things. Yet it never seems too busy. It feels natural--right. The end papers--if you pay close attention--can serve as an introduction to readers of all ages of some jazz legends.

 

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Hooray for Babies

Hooray for Babies! Susan Meyers. Illustrated by Sue Cornelison. 2019. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

 First sentence: I'm glad that I'm a baby. I love my baby face. Two eyes, two ears, one mouth, one nose, each in the perfect place. I love my tickly baby toes, my fingers big and little. I love my baby belly. There's a button in the middle!

Premise/plot: Hooray for Babies is a rhyming picture book celebrating BABIES.

My thoughts: If you find babies irresistible, then you might love this book. The illustrations are cute, sweet, adorable, precious, delightful, lovely--the expected bunch of adjectives that like to hang around together in books for this age group. Some people love and adore cutey-cute books. Some people don't. There is much to love in this one. The illustrations. The cutesy text. (To name just two.) I personally liked this one. The pages showing off belly buttons is a special favorite of mine.

We're babies making baby friends.
We love to play together.
We take our turns.
We share our toys.
At least until we don't.

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

© 2019 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Night Train, Night Train

Night Train, Night Train. Robert Burleigh. Illustrated by Wendell Minor. 2018. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Train ride! Bump-bump. Chug-chug. Slow. Faster. Faster. Off we go.

Premise/plot: A little boy goes on a train ride...at night. This picture book is told in rhyming verse.

My thoughts: I love, love, love, love, love the illustrations. I do. But I--as an adult who isn't particularly a train enthusiast--was disappointed with the rhythm and rhyme of the text. I guess part of me was hoping it would be more like Freight Train...only at night. This one does focus on colors--gray, black, red, blue, white, orange, purple, green, yellow.

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10

© 2019 Becky Laney of Young Readers

A Squash and a Squeeze

A Squash and a Squeeze. Julia Donaldson. Illustrated by Axel Scheffler. 1993/2004/2017. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: A little old lady lived all by herself with a table and chairs and a jug on the shelf. A wise old man heard her grumble and grouse, "There's not enough room in my house. Wise old man, won't you help me please? My house is a squash and a squeeze."

Premise/plot: Will the 'little old lady' learn a valuable lesson when she takes advice from the 'wise old man'?!

My thoughts: I really like this one. I remember hearing a similar story on Between the Lions back in the day. I enjoyed the rhythm and rhyme of it.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10


© 2018 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Mini Racer

Mini Racer. Kristy Dempsey. Illustrated by Bridget Strevens-Marzo. 2011. Bloomsbury. 32 pages.

Start your engines! Time to race,  
round the corners, take your place.
Ready, steady; green light, go!
Mini Racer won't go slow.
Out the gate and down the hill,
jump a speed bump, show your skill!
Over, under, in, and through,
obstacles are tough to do.

The animals are the drivers of the race cars in this one. And it's just a cute, fun story. It's fun. It's playful. It rhymes. The good kind of rhyme--you know, the kind with actual rhythm. The illustrations are bright, colorful, and match the playful spirit of the text. There are some GREAT details in the illustrations. The things that you probably won't notice until the second time through.

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10

© 2011 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Begin Smart: Bouncy Baby

Bouncy Baby. Begin Smart Books. 2009. October 2009. 12 pages.

Bouncy baby
Bouncy lap
Little baby likes to
clap, clap, clap

Feet kick
Feet prance
Little baby likes to
dance, dance, dance

This Begin Smart board book is for babies six to twelve months. It is a fun little book! A lift-the-flap book. The rhythm of this one, the rhyme of it, just works perfectly! It's just a fun little book to read aloud.


© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Baby, I Love You

Baby, I Love You by Karma Wilson. Illustrated by Sam Williams. 2009. [December 2009] Simon & Schuster. 30 pages.

I love babies. I do. I really love babies. And I love books that celebrate loving babies. Books that sing praises of how cute, how precious, how sweet, how adorable, how wonderful babies are. Books that focus on those sweet little bellies, sweet little toes, oh-so-cute chubby cheeks, etc. I love books celebrating the bond between babies and their caretakers. I do. So I found much to appreciate in Karma Wilson's Baby, I Love You. Through sweet and simple rhymes, babies are celebrated. (I also love the fact that we're celebrating all babies, all skin tones).

Love my baby's
little hands,
love those
little fingers, too.

Love my baby,
little one.
Oh, my baby,
I love you!

I really enjoyed the illustrations in this one as well. The colors were sweet and gentle and complemented the text well.


© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Wow It's A Cow

Wow It's A Cow! By Trudy and Jay Harris. Illustrated by Paige Keiser. 2010. [January 2010] Scholastic. 16 pages.

Are you looking for a cow?
Do you want to find one now?

Search high and search low--
When you find one, you will know.
Now let me tell you how....

Readers can use rhymes (and animal sounds) to help predict in this fun and playful book. Wow It's A Cow is a farm-themed book with flaps to lift. It's a silly little book. And I'll try to explain just why it's so silly (and fun).

If it goes, "Neigh-Neigh,"
And it's pulling a plow,
It's not a cow!
Of course it's a....

In place of a horse...the illustrations show a cow! Lift the flap, and of course, you'll find it's *really* a horse that pulls the plow and goes neigh-neigh. It can be silly to see a cow there. But in some of the other rhymes, it gets even sillier.

If you hear "Quack, quack"
Coming from the pond somehow,
It's not a cow!
Just your luck,
It's a...

Yes, instead of a duck floating in the pond, readers will see a silly looking cow floating on its back, udders pointing towards the sky. Lift the flap to see the oh-so-appropriate duck.

Will readers ever find a cow, a real cow? Read and see for yourself!

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Kitten's Spring

Kitten's Spring. By Eugenie Fernandes. 2010. [February 2010] Kids Can Press. 24 pages.

Morning hums,
Kitten listens.
Frog croaks,
Tadpole glistens.

I like this one. I liked both the text and artwork in this one.It's simple. But it works. With just two short lines on each spread, it's great for reading to little ones. As a young kitten explores her surroundings, little ones are exposed to all sorts of animals--pairs of animals really: cows have calves, frogs have tadpoles, ducks have ducklings, etc. I definitely like the wonder of it. Seeing kitten's wonder at the world around her, the natural environment. It captures the newness of it all. The text has a poetic flow to it.

Chicken clucks,
Chick scratches.

Duck quacks,
Duckling hatches.

Eugenie Fernandes is a popular author-illustrator in Canada.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers