Week 5:

Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! VSA Sick Day for Amos McGee

Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!:

Age range: Probably around 2-5 yrs old.

Summary:

Friends come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. In Amos McGee’s case, all sorts of species, too! Every day he spends a little bit of time with each of his friends at the zoo, running races with the tortoise, keeping the shy penguin company, and even reading bedtime stories to the owl. But when Amos is too sick to make it to the zoo, his animal friends decide it’s time they returned the favor.

Review:

This is a simple and fun book, and it’s written by one of the children’s literature “greats.” It made me laugh. That’s a good sign! The illustrations are simple as well, and they fit the story perfectly. The story, which is about a bird giving excuses/demands to stay up late, is great for a little one because it starts and ends pretty quick, but there’s not much else there.  It’s entertaining and that is obviously one of the bigger goals of children’s books, but for me there just wasn’t enough there to really make me want more. Though again, it did make me laugh.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee:

Age range: Maaayyybe around 2-7 yrs old. The wonderful illustrations allow it to be enjoyable for the little ones, so ya.

Summary:

It's getting late and the bus driver is going to brush his teeth and get ready for bed. Will you do him a favour while he is gone - don't let the pigeon stay up late. But this pigeon is wide awake: he isn't even tired - in fact he's in the mood for a hot-dog party.

Review:

A Sick Day for Amos McGee has the quality of a timeless book. It has illustrations that make me want to buy prints to hang on my son’s wall. They’re breathtaking, they really are. The book is done by a husband and wife duo (The wife does the illustrations), and they clearly work great together. It has a soft hearted story, and the artwork knocks it out of the park.

The Winner:

Congratulations to A Sick Day for Amos McGee! We will see you in November!

We’ll see everyone else next week!

Week 4:

Nightsong VS Flo & Wendell!

Nightsong:

Age range: Probably around 4-8 yrs old.

Summary:

Sense is the song you sing out into the world,
and the song the world sings back to you.

With these words, Chiro's mother sends him off into the night for the first time alone. It's an adventure, but how will he find his way? And how will he find his way home? As the young bat discovers, navigating the world around him is easy as long as he uses his good sense.

Review:

I enjoyed this book. 

More than anything, Nightsong makes you think about that moment when you will have to let your child take that first step into this beautiful, yet dangerous world, all on their own. The illustrations were nice, but I do wish they were done with the same detail as the cover illustration. That cover alone makes me want to buy it! The night scenes were done in a beautiful scribble-like manner that truly gives the reader empathy for this young bat’s struggle to use his navigation sense for the first time. This book has tenderness and tension wrapped up in one big black ball of night sky moss.

I think you’ll enjoy it too.

Flo & Wendell:

Age range: Probably around 3-6 yrs old.

Summary:

Meet Flo. She’s a sophisticated big sister who’s part of a very artistic family. She likes playing with paint and wearing sweaters her mother knits. Flo also likes teasing her little brother, Wendell. They play hide-and-seek, but Flo doesn’t look very hard. They play dress up, too, but Wendell always gets the bad costumes. Their parents wish they would get along, and they do try…sometimes.

Review:

I can now honestly say, do not judge a book by its cover. The cover for this book DID NOT grab my attention in a good way. However, once I began reading I found myself thoroughly engaged. Oddly enough, this book’s greatness comes from a combination of choices that I’m usually not very fond of when they are done individually. Sloppy illustration painting. Photos mixed with illustrations. Photos of dogs mixed with illustrations. Sigh. Somehow though, when these choices were all put together they actually worked, and they even made me laugh. The story is very simple, and it’s nice that way. It lets you enjoy the visuals with the humor in the text. This book really did surprise me.

The Winner:

Congratulations to Flo & Wendell! We will see you in November!

Nightsong had some good qualities, but Flo & Wendell made me laugh, and in the end I think kids will enjoy this book the most.

See you next week!

Week 3

Ribbit!  VS  The Day the Crayons Quit

Ribbit!:

Age range: Probably around 3-6 yrs old.

Summary:

A group of frogs are living happily in a peaceful pond, until they discover a surprise visitor: a little pink pig. Sitting contentedly on a rock in the middle of their pond, the pig opens his mouth and says: RIBBIT! The frogs are bewildered at first, and then a bit annoyed—"What did that little pig just say?", "Does he think he's a frog?", "Is he making fun of us?"

Soon the pig draws the attention of all the nearby animals; everyone is curious to know what he wants! After much guessing (and shouting) and a visit to the wise old beetle, the animals realize that perhaps the pig was not there to mock them after all—maybe he just wanted to make new friends!  But is it too late?  This is a warm, funny, and beautifully illustrated story of friendship, with boisterous RIBBIT!s throughout—perfect for reading aloud.

Review:

Now this is a good book indeed. The illustrations are great. The story is intriguing. And the lesson/moral of the story is a good one too. It’s an easy read, and the silliness will definitely give you an opportunity to make your kids giggle. I’d recommend this book for sure.

The Day the Crayons Quit:

Age range: Probably around 5-8 yrs old.

Summary:

Poor Duncan just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: We quit!

Beige is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown. Blue needs a break from coloring all that water, while Pink just wants to be used. Green has no complaints, but Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking to each other.

What is Duncan to do? Debut author Drew Daywalt and New York Times bestseller Oliver Jeffers create a colorful solution in this playful, imaginative story that will have children laughing and playing with their crayons in a whole new way.

Review:

I have to admit, the story for this book was very smart. The cover title, though, made me like it more than the actual book, because I love the story possibilities with a title like that. For the book itself I enjoyed it. It’s a very different delivery than most children’s books, but it’s interesting none the less. It’s quite funny (especially for the grown-ups), and the illustrations don’t fall short. I’m not a big fan of mixing illustrations with photography, but in this case I was ok with it by the end of the book. This isn’t a book I see parents reading their kids over and over, but it was definitely fun for a one time read.

The Winner:

Congratulations to Ribbit!! 

We will see you in November!

Week 2

How To Babysit A Grandpa  VS  The Shape of My Heart

Week 1

Rocket Writes a Story  VS  This Is Not My Hat

My first impression was that Rocket Writes a Story was a much better book, not because of how good it was, but because of how non-age appropriate This Is Not My Hat was.

These were my first thoughts of Rocket Writes a Story
-a bit too long/wordy. 
-great illustrations!
-good story.
-all around cute.

These were my first thoughts of This is Not my Hat
-It's probably really funny, but really just for adults.
-VERY quick read.
-great illustrations, though definitely a style taste judgment.
-Simple story that can teach that stealing is bad, but the consequences in the story will likely have to be explained to the child.

I then re-read both books and the race between both books quickly tightened. Here are my second impressions:

Rocket Writes a Story:
This is a solid children's book. It's delivers quality in all the areas you can judge it in. It's a good story for older kids (4-8) opposed to younger kids (2-3) because of it's wordiness at times, but that doesn't change this from being a great book. 

This Is Not My Hat:
After thinking about this story I realized how valuable this book really is because of it's directness and simplicity. It's simple. It's clean. It's straight forward. And because of that it allows the message to resonate loud and clear: DON'T TAKE OTHER PEOPLES STUFF. This book is worth it's weight for sure.

The Winner:

I have to go with the Rocket Writes a Story. This Is Not My Hat is very good, but Rocket Writes a Story is an all-around better children's book.

Rocket Writes a Story, we will see you in November!

Since this is the first week of this Children's book tournament I'm going to give a brief explanation:

• The tournament will consist of brief reviews of 88 children's books over 44 weeks. 
• All the books in the tournament will come from the children's book section in Barnes & Noble.
• Every week I will be reviewing 2 books.
• 1 book will win and advance to the "playoffs" in November.
• And finally, in November the remaining 44 books will battle it out for the crown of "The Best Children's Book of 2014"... according to us.

Here we go! 

FYI, I have a pretty short attention span, so longer/wordy children's books that don't have a PHENOMENALLY intriguing story line will often get my attention... or should I say, lack of attention.