Books I Love!

BOOKS I LOVE!!

A Perfectly Messed up story!
bY: PATRICK MCDONNELL

PUBLISHED ON APR 12, 2016 A CHARMING, HUMOROUS READ ALOUD OF A PERFECTLY MESSED UP STORY, A CHILDREN'S STORYBOOK BY PATRICK MCDONNELL. READ ALOUD BY KAZ WEIDA FROM ASWEETLITTLELIFE.COM.

My First Mandalas Coloring Book
by: Anna Pomaska

A Far Eastern design tradition symbolizing the universe and the movement of energy, mandalas feature symmetrically arranged patterns within their intriguing centers. This beautifully rendered book invites little artists to add their choice of colors to 30 large, simple re-creations of mystical mandala designs. Within each mandala's fascinating focal point are hearts, moons, suns, insects, unicorns, geometric designs, and much more. When complete, each beguiling illustration will surely dazzle the eye of every beholder!

Click Here for My First Mandalas Coloring Book

THROUGH GEORGIA'S EYES
BY: RACHEL VICTORIA RODRIGUEZ

A gorgeous, evocative biography of one of America's most beloved artists.

Georgia O'Keeffe saw the world differently from most people. As a child she roamed the prairie with a sketch pad in her hand, struggling to capture on paper what she saw all around her. At art school she learned to speak in paint on canvas.
But Georgia felt confined by city life. She longed for vast expanses of space, and she found it in the red hills and silent deserts of New Mexico.
Lyrical and vivid, this is a portrait of an exceptional artist, a woman whose eyes were open to the wideness and wonder of the world.
Through Georgia's Eyes is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

In the Garden with Van Gogh
by: Julie Merberg, Suzanne Bober

With a narrative that will entertain art lovers of all ages, this new board book is a fun way to introduce young children to fine art. The sleepy trees, golden haystacks, and juicy fruits of In the Garden with Van Gogh will delight little ones. Playful rhyming texts accompany the artists timeless paintings in this little masterpiece.

CLICK HERE FOR: IN THE GARDEN WITH VANGOGH

CAMILLE AND THE SUNFLOWERS
BY: ANHOLT

One day a strange man arrived in Camille's town. He had a straw hat and a yellow beard. It was Vincent Van Gogh. This book offers an introduction to the artist, as seen through the eyes of a small boy, and includes reproductions of his work.

CLICK HERE:
CAMILLE AND THE SUNFLOWERS

Linnea in Monet's Garden

Linnea has visited Claude Monet's garden! In Paris, she got to see many of his actual paintings. Now she understands what it means for a painter to be called an Impressionist. This innovative art book for children contains full-color photos of many of Monet's famous paintings.

Enjoy the Read-a-Long version below!

This super deluxe pop-up book celebrates seven of Dr. Seuss’s bestloved classics–The Cat in the Hat; Green Eggs and Ham; The Sneetches; I Can Read with My Eyes Shut; One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; Fox in Socks; and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back!
An extravaganza of paper-engineering captures theSeussessence of each book using selections from the original text and art. Bold, sturdy pop-ups, gargantuan gatefolds, and spritely slide tabs bring these classics to
Seussational life–from the Cat in the Hat balancing a cake, an umbrella, and the fish to the Sneetches getting stars on their bellies, the tweetle beetles battling with their paddles in a puddle, Mr. Gump riding his seven humped Wump, and more! The magic of Dr. Seuss pops right off the page to thrill children of all ages!

In Freddy the Cowboy, Freddy buys a pony, learns to ride, and winds up in a tussle with the rascaliest varmint in Centerboro. It seems Mr. Flint, owner of the dude ranch, is plotting to rob the First Animal Bank where the animals keep their valuables. And from there on in Freddy and Flint develop a mutual dislike for one another-so much so that Flint lets it be known he will shoot Freddy on sight! With the aid of a brave mouse, the Horrible Ten, and the Bean Farm gang-not to mention Cy, his trusty mount-Freddy shoots it out with Flint in the aisles of the cosmetics department of the Busy Bee. The Wild West was never like this!

Sometimes I fall in love with a book just for the idea of it. This is one of those times. Amy Gibson starts this story with a reminder that "[a]t any given moment, someone, somewhere, is blowing a kiss" and those kisses are swirling around us, filling the air and waiting to be caught. When the winter cold settles in and we wait for spring, what could be better than thinking we're surrounded by kisses? Not much.
~via Amazon

Speaking of hairy, there's a special kind of love between kids and their pets that deserves a mention around Valentine's Day, especially when that love means you have to wash your pet woolly mammoth. Because, let's be honest, you have to really love your large, hairy, ticklish, sensitive pachyderm if you're going to let it get in the bathtub with you, which may be the only way he gets clean. Hilarious and instructive, this step-by-step instruction guide to mammoth bathing will definitely make you smile. ~via Amazon

LOVE SPLAT
BY: ROB SCOTTON

Splat, the black cat, returns on Valentine's Day. Along with the cards he has made for everyone in his class, he has crafted a special one for white Kitten. He likes her "more than fish sticks and ice cream." But whenever she sees him she teases him and runs away. He sets out for school, so preoccupied when rounding a corner that he runs right into Kitten. Again she teases and he is puzzled. During recess at school, Spike, a tough cat in a striped jersey, spots the special Valentine addressed to Kitten and insists that he likes her more. He even has a much bigger card for her. Splat groans, sighs, and throws his away. To his surprise, Kitten retrieves it, then gives him one with a poem inside, along with words that echo his and make him smile: "I like you." On the front end page sits Splat on a bench, alone except for a small mouse. The mouse follows Splat around, sometimes on a bicycle, but on the back end page it is just Splat and Kitten. Splat is a bulky, rectangular furry feline with skinny arms and legs and white eyes set close together. The comic illustrations are mainly in shades of black and white, with touches of red for Splat and pink for Kitten. A small black cloud rains on Splat when he is particularly puzzled. Except for the action around the schoolyard, there are few props. Perhaps this story may help youngsters through their first crush.
Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marant

CLICK HERE FOR LOVE SPLAT

Monster lives in Cutesville, where everything is fluffy and cute and cuddly. Think kittens and bunnies, not hairy googley-eyed monsters. Which makes finding love difficult, even for a good-hearted lonely monster. So he looks and looks and looks and looks for someone to love and learns that "sometimes, when you least expect it... love finds you." ~via Amazon

This is the shape of us,
the shape of you and me
This is the shape of our eyes,
and this is the world that we see...
From sun up to sun down, from our hands and our feet, to animals, cars, food, and teddy bears, the world is alive with endless shapes to identify. Once you start to look, who knows what shapes you'll discover next! With its gently reassuring text and vivid illustrations, The Shape of My Heart invites readers to look beyond the obvious, and explore the world in a whole new way.

Click here: The Shape of My Heart

Celebrating Valentine's Day
by: Kimberly Roark

A nice little book about Valentine's Day and how we show others that we love them on that day. Would be good for young readers.

CELEBRATING CHINESE NEW YEAR
by: Rosa drew

Help Children Appreciate a World of Holidays
All around the world, people celebrate holidays, like the Chinese New Year, with special traditions and festivities. The Holiday Series focuses on children's favorite holidays. Written specifically for emergent and early-fluency readers! Click Here for Celebrating Chinese New Year: Rosa Drew

GRANDMA MOSES
BY: ALEXANDRA WALLNER

(K-4) This inviting picture book covers the childhood, courtship, and mature years of Anna Mary Robertson, the self-taught artist whose cheerful, upstate-New York landscapes and scenes of family gatherings first garnered serious attention as she turned 80. Robertson's experience with and exposure to creative endeavors throughout the years are woven naturally into the narrative: she built "air-castles" (played make-believe), designed homemade paper dolls, watched her father paint "landscapes" on their living room walls, and, as an adult, painted an outdoor scene on her parlor wall. An author's note puts the artist's life in perspective, historically, and a bibliography highlights the source of the text's quotes. Wallner's folksy illustrations depicting both the chores and the glory of farm life serve her subject well. This work complements W. Nikola-Lisa's The Year with Grandma Moses (Holt, 2000), a title that presents Robertson through her own voice and art, but is more circumscribed in its coverage. Grandma Moses is sure to be appreciated during units focused on the accomplishments of women, artists, or octogenarians.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

http://www.amazon.com/Grandma-Moses-Alexandra-Wallner/dp/0823415384

SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY
BY: JACQUELINE BRIGGS MARTIN

Based on a true story, Martin has written about the first known snowflake photographer, Wilson Bentley, and his interests of capturing snowflakes. Wilson lived on a farm with his family in Jericho, Vermont, between Lake Champlain, and Mount Mansfield. The annual snowfall there can reach up to about 120 inches. Wilson was very fond of snowflakes, and wanted to one day capture them to share with others. With a telescope, Wilson tries to captivate the snowflakes through drawings, but could never finish because the snow would melt too fast. As Wilson grew older, he asked his parents if they could get him a camera, so that he can photograph snowflakes. Wilson’s parents decide to spend theirs savings to buy Wilson his camera, because they wanted to support his dreams in capturing snowflake photos. With his new profound camera, Wilson went out to take hundreds of pictures. At the beginning Wilson’s photos were a bunch of failures, but that did not stop him from pursuing his dream. Wilson furthered himself by experimenting more with lighting, lenses and camera exposures. Although, not many people were interested in what Wilson was up to, and did not care for pictures. When it wasn't winter, Wilson loved taking pictures of nature, but taking snow pictures would always be his favorite. Wilson would even hold evening slideshows on his lawn to show his friends. Later down the road, Wilson wrote a book about snow and published his photos in magazines. When Wilson went to go publish his first book to share to the world, he got caught in a blizzard on his trip, which caused him to catch pneumonia, and become ill. Two weeks later, Wilson dies of the illness. In memory of him, Wilson's friends and neighbors build a museum of his work so all would know of "Snowflake Bentley". ~Wikipedia

http://www.amazon.com/Snowflake-Bentley-Jacqueline-Briggs-Martin/dp/0547248296

An Early American Christmas
By: Tomie dePaola

In this small New England village, no one makes much of a fuss about Christmas—until a new family moves in, that is. The family works tirelessly to prepare for the holiday: decorating the house, hand-dipping candles, baking mounds of delicious cookies, and carving nativity pieces. In the end, these new neighbors show their small village how to celebrate the holiday in a very special way.

The Cat and the Bird
By: Geraldine Elschner
Peggy Nille

A treasured painting by Paul Klee is the basis for this whimsical tale about a cat and a bird, and about the themes of freedom and friendship. A cat lives in a house filled with toys, but everyday she dreams of being free like the bird she watches through the windo. Finally with the bird's help, she is able to escape and dance on the roofs of the city by moonlight. This lovely story unfolds in a series of playful, brilliantly colored illustrations based on the artist Paul Klee's work. Influenced by the artist's bright palette and use of shapes and line, the book culminates in a dazzling reproduction of Klee's Cat and Bird. Accompanied by information about the artist and this iconic painting, the book invites appreciation of the unfettered joyfulness that makes Klee one of the most universally loved artists of all time

The Greedy Triangle
By: Marilynn Burns

Bored and dissatisfied with his life, a triangle visits a local shapeshifter to add another angle to his shape. Poof! He becomes a quadrilateral. But then he gets greedy and keeps adding angles until he's completely transformed. Kids will enjoy this boldly colorful introduction to shapes and basic math concepts.