Baking

Anderson and I do a lot of cooking and baking together.  Pouring, mixing, measuring... he never tires of these.


Baking Day at Grandma's
by Anika Denise
illustrated by Christopher Denise
2014

Baking Day at Grandma's is the perfect winter-time read.  The artwork is warm with browns, greens, and grandma's pretty pink shawl, and matches the calm rhythm of the story.  Toddlers younger than three years would also enjoy this book because of the rhyme, repetition, and simplicity of the story.  I thought it might be too young for Anderson, but we both enjoy its coziness: Old-time music, soft and sweet.  Skippy notes and tapping feet.  Learning songs that Grandma sings- when the kitchen timer rings! 

I've noticed grandmothers in books don't resemble today's grandmothers... wearing a shawl and listening to music on the gramophone, as in this book- but I love the archetypal warmth of the big grandma bear.  Safe is the word that comes to mind for grandma's house in this book.  The snow blankets everything outside, grandma is large and encompassing, and it feels insulated from any worries of the outside world.



Bunny Cakes
by Rosemary Wells
1997

You are perhaps acquainted with Max and Ruby, brother and sister rabbits created by Rosemary Wells.  This book was my first encounter with the funny duo.  I quickly looked for more Max and Ruby books at our library thinking I would review two from Wells, but from what I found (there weren't nearly as many as what I see listed online), this one "takes the cake".

I have read few picture books that I find laugh out-loud-funny, so I was surprised to find myself doing just that while reading this story.  While the premise is simple, the way the story is told is what makes it fun to read.  Ruby is making a birthday cake for grandma, and Max keeps getting in the way and spilling ingredients.  Max is repeatedly sent to the store to pick up what he's spilled, and unfortunately for Max, the grocer cannot read his additions to the lists.  Max is eventually banned from the kitchen altogether, so he sets himself to making an earthworm cake with caterpillar icing.

It's fun to watch Max making a mess and annoying his sister, since sometimes its hard to laugh when it's happening in my own house.  If it's on purpose, he's surely not letting on.  Max's failed efforts to communicate with the grocer remind me of how hard toddlers work to communicate and get what they want!  Max is undeterred and smiles through it all... perhaps unlike most toddlers, but so endearing in a little bunny!

Harry

Harry is no one new to many of us.  I've recently tracked a few of the Harry books down and it is important for you to know, that they are still good!  At age 3, Anderson likes some plot, but it still can't be too wordy or complicated so as to lose his attention.  They Harry books are just right.


Harry the Dirty Dog
by: Gene Zion
Pictures by: Margaret Bloy Graham
1956

The illustrations by Graham are entertaining even without the story.  I'm reminded of the Flintstones - it must have been a popular style of the time.  Anderson loves a story about mischief or being silly, and Harry is a master of both.  If you don't remember, Harry refuses a bath, and becomes so dirty that "he changed from a white dog with black spots to a black dog with white spots."  A jaunt through town gives a glimpse of life in the fifties: coal chutes and delivery trucks, pillbox hats, workers carrying metal lunch boxes - and it's liberally sprinkled with trucks, trains, construction workers, and of course, dirt, to keep a boy (or girl) interested.


No Roses for Harry!
by: Gene Zion
Pictures by: Margaret Bloy Graham
1958

The plot of No Roses for Harry! is as clever as or more so than any current picture books.  Harry's spunk is admirable and charming, as he continuously tries to 'lose' the sweater with roses on it that grandma gives him for Christmas.  The scene where his family is looking all over the house for it, when he knows very well that a bird picked a lose string from it and unraveled it, is still entertaining.  Again, the pictures tell the whole story, but the writing it still good.

I just read that Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham were married while they collaborated on the Harry books and others, and later divorced.  Zion never published after that.

I have to also mention:

Harry by the Sea
by: Gene Zion
Pictures by: Margaret Bloy Graham
1965

I'm breaking the rules by mentioning this one, because Anderson doesn't like this book nearly as much as me.  But, I think it's hysterical.  Harry's family is at the beach, and there is no room for him under the umbrella, so he is forced into the hot sun.  He tries in vain to find a cool spot, including walking in the shadow of a fat lady, who of course is displeased at this.  Finally he thinks to take a swim, and comes out of the water covered in seaweed.  Everyone at the beach thinks he's a sea monster, and the pictures are a riot.  A must read, if only for your own entertainment amongst the other tedious stories your child undoubtedly makes you read over and over!

*You can still purchase/order newly printed books in the Harry series.

Precipitation

I am not always reviewing the newest books, or those that get the most attention at Barnes and Noble.  

Rather, I think it's more useful to highlight some that may have gotten missed, that aren't on the bookstore shelves, and that may have to be special ordered.

Snow on Snow on Snow 

by: Cheryl Chapman

paintings by: Synthia Saint James

1994

We've moved into reading winter books and this is our favorite so far.  I've always loved the poem by Christina Rossetti, "In the bleak midwinter....", from which Chapman borrows the phrase: snow on snow on snow.  Chapman plays on the thrice repetition of phrases throughout the book - which captures the magnitude of winter: lots of snow, lots of blankets, lots of layers of clothing, lots of kids on the sled hill.

The oil and acrylic paintings are reminiscent of cut-up construction paper, with the addition of fuchsia.  Why were those packs only in primary colors?  I'm sure nowadays there are packs with every Crayola color invented.  The shock of bright winter coat and hat colors against landscapes of white is nicely captured by the artist. 

If it were just describing the feel and look of winter, it would have been ho hum, but a simple plot twist wakes my emotions.  The boy's hairy dog, Clancy, goes missing.  A lost pet definitely gets Anderson and mine's attention: the searching, the tears on tears on tears...and of course it has a happy ending.  

Who Likes Rain?

by: Wong Herbert Yee

2007

This book is worth reading for the pencil art work - so beautiful!  It's tempting to order a copy so I can tear out the pages and frame them for seasonal artwork.

Here are the great elements of this book:

1. Use of sound words like: Pitty-plip-PLOP.  Anderson loves to make funny sounds with his mouth, and they immediately grab his attention in a story.

2. Asking questions for kids to answer: When it rains, who's the first to scat?  I know! Do you? Mew, mew...

3. Rhyme that feels like the girl in the book has grabbed our hands, and is skipping with us through the pages.