Babies are great, loving, sleepy, messy little people. These posts are all about them.
Is it possible for a book’s title to be onomatopoeia? Consider My Best Friend from Julie Fogliano with illustrations by Jillian Tamaki. It’s a children’s illustrated book that’s geared for ages four through eight, but will demo younger to those audiences and readers who are open to it. The text will be simple for those on the older range to read. That age isn’t really the ones who’ll get the most out of the book.
How can something be inspirational and divisive? Before we dive into that, I’m Gonna Push Through! is not meant as a threat. It’s meant as a way for kids to become empowered. This is something that they can think or say to themselves when things get challenging. You can do it! I’m gonna push through, who doesn’t want their child-or themselves to have that can-do attitude?
The Astro Cat series is brilliant. They present high concept STEM ideas into graphically pleasing books that make you want to learn. Dr. Dominic Walliman provides the science and Ben Newman presents the illustrations that make the content effortless to look at. Walliman’s text breaks down the complex ideas that could potentially spin our heads and presents it in a manner that’s appropriate for children. Astro Kittens is the board book series from this duo. Cosmic Machines and Into The Unknown take the same concept in Astro Cats and package it in a way that crawlers can consume.
One look at the cover the board book I Love Me by Sally Morgan and Ambelin Kwaymullina and you can tell it’s happy, full of energy and has an Outback vibe that we’ve never seen. Every page on this board book is corner to corner color with just a hint of enthusiasm that will shake up crawlers through kindergarten kids.
Board books represent a special time in a child’s life. Parents don’t realize it at the time; but they’ll come to associate board books that their children liked with that child as they get older. An example of this is the fact that we still have many of the board books that our children enjoyed when they were crawlers or in pre-k. Five Little Thank-Yous is a board book by Cindy Jin with illustrations by Dawn M. Cardona. It’s published on Little Simon Books and is just the sort of Thanksgiving book that crawlers through pre-k will enjoy for a number of reasons.
What do Nate Wright and Archie Andrews have in common? Both of them have the ability to cross generations in an entertaining manner with consistent characters who are totally different. Archie Andrews is Archie, that redheaded kid from Riverdale who has appeared in comic books for decades and a steaming hot television show for the past couple of years. The way that Archie has been reshaped to meet different demographics is remarkable. There’s a property that will engage Riverdale fans between the ages of 6 and 75*.
Nate Wright is Big Nate. Big Nate has been one of the most consistently entertaining and laugh out loud comic strips since it debuted in 1991. However, Big Nate has always been in the same middle-school packaging, until now. Little big Nate, Draws A Blank by Lincoln Peirce is board-book Big Nate, but it takes a look at the character as a pre-k kid. The result is a rhyming book that people will enjoy reading to those crawlers or mother’s morning out ages that want to baby step it into the world of Big Nate.
Big Nate goes board book for crawlers to chew on & laugh along toOur children don’t know art per se. They’ve been to the High Museum of Art many times and know what art is, they just don’t know the key players. I don’t even know a majority of the classic artists. I might recognize their style, but their catalog and finer points will fall between my mental sofa cushion. However, I know animals and I know to count. It’s only because of the fact that I’m an adult and have experienced pop culture that I know some of the artist referenced in this children’s board book.
Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, 3, Count Art with Me, is a board book for those crawlers to toddlers (and the adults who are reading to them) who want to shake up the palette of their counting books. Each page has a number with its respective number of animals who are presented in the style of the artist that it’s referencing. We see 4 Matisse Monkeys, 6 Kandinsky Kangaroos, 8 Seurat Sloths and seven other counting lessons that are done whilst channeling classic artists.
I had to mention those three artists because two of them I hadn’t heard of. Even the title of the book, Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, and 3 is referencing an artist and not the author of the book. The actual author of the book is Grace Helmer, a London-based illustrator who has quite the career ahead of her as a forger, should she want to go on the other side of the law.
The colors and patterns in the book are fabulous and will draw in your eyes. Factor in that Kahlo’s Koalas isn’t even intended for adults and you’ve got a book that crawlers through pre-K will gnaw on for ages. This board book was originally published by LOM ART in England last year. However, it’s not off putting or inaccessible at all. This is a counting, board book with great art that just might happen to inspire kids or parents about the masters. Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, 3, Count Art with Me is available in the United States by Andrews McMeel Publishing for $8.99.
It’s quite shocking that this is the first book featuring characters from Marvel Comics to help teach the A, B, C’s. Granted there might be others, but the Abrams Block Books are our favorite. From the first time we saw Alpha Block when our now 9 year-old was learning the alphabet; to when his brother read Dino Block two years later, this series has never disappointed us. Moreover, the quality of this series stands out so much that we still have all of the books and they’ve held up nicely.
The difference in construction is what makes these block books so sturdy. They’re square books that fit nicely in small hands and the spine is about three times as thick as an individual page. This is a strong series of books that have been through two children and countless visits to elementary schools when I was the guest reader.
Marvel AlphaBlock has select heroes from the MCU taking center stage as they present letters of the alphabet. A is for Ant-Man.V is for Valkyrie. S is for Spider-Man and so on. Of course, there are many heroes that share letters in the alphabet, what about them?
The final two pages of the book are gatefold and open up to show approximately 50 more characters from the MCU that are shown in Marvel Alpha Block. Essentially, it’s a Where’s Marvel Waldo that invites younger readers to go back again and find each character. I say ‘younger readers’ with air quotes because even those who have mastered the alphabet will be sucked into the book quicker than a Peter Quill dance off irritates Gamora.
This is a great, entertaining book that ages 18 months and older will love. The colors bring everything over the rainbow and the characters are those that will make up their entertainment for decades to come.
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