A DASTARDLY MISCHIEF-MAKER’S RISE TO VILLAINY

“Mr. and Mrs. Snivels were minding their own business, when they happened to have a baby.” So begins the diabolical tale of a dastardly mischief-maker’s rise to villainy. Young Dylan is a natural escape artist resistant to bedtimes, prone to launching food everywhere, and severely allergic to purple parsnip preserves.

In other words: an adorable tiny terror much like every other baby.

While initially surprised to learn of their baby’s bonafide supervillainy, Mr. and Mrs. Snivels, like any other supportive parents, are quick to adapt to his devious disposition. They croon over Dylan’s fiendish achievements and proudly declare him to be the very best and cleverest supervillain ever. Dylan is sure his parents are right. That is, until he starts school at Astrid Rancid’s Academy for the Villainous & Vile and is dismayed to discover a classmate even more nefarious than he.

When a class contest to create the most diabolical robot is announced, Dylan knows it’s his one chance to prove his absolutely abominably wicked ways. Who will triumph in the quest for ultimate supervillainy? Read to find out, of course.

Charming and whimsical, Dylan the Villain written and illustrated by K. G. Campbell, is the 2017 Southern California Children’s Literature Council award winner in the picture book category. Campbell also illustrated Kate DiCamillo’s Newbery Award winning Flora and Ulysses and Ame Dyckman's Tea Party Rules (also a favorite for this reviewer).

For more picture books stories about tiny tots with devious designs, try Ninja Baby by David Zeltser, Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos, The Boss Baby by Marla Frazee, and King Baby by Kate Beaton (reviewed by Meghan).

Ages 4+

SOME SUPER SILLY FUN PICTURE BOOKS

I Love You Like a Pig by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Greg Pizzoli is a wacky nonsensical (You're sweet like a banker) yet sometimes sensical (I'm lucky like a window) picture book where a child and a pig are enjoying two stolen slices of pie cooling on a window sill.  Comparing loves and likes with fun and expressive illustrations of Pizzoli are great companions to the words by Barnett.  Another winner from this team.  


Toad on the Road by Stephen Shaskan is a cautionary tale, where mom is invoked because little toad is constantly playing in the road.  Each animal on a different vehicle or mode of transportation crashes to avoid toad until the end when... 
I won't give away who comes along to rescue little toad, whose only crime is trying to catch a fly, in the middle of the road.  

In Bumpety, Dunkety, Thympety-Thump by K. L. Going and Simone Shin two children are going down a road in a wagon going bumpety bump and stopping along the way to dunkety dunk in a pond or eating berries and putting them in a buckety buck with a plunkety plunk.  The noises and sounds continue all through the day until everyone in the family falls asleep with hearts beating a thumpety thump.  A lovely illustrated book for a great family read aloud 

For toddlers - Kindergarteners. 

FLEETING FASHIONS

All Harbet wants is to enjoy his Nana’s cozy, hand-knitted hat in peace. But everywhere he goes there’s a constant exasperating bleating from trend-followers about his “old hat.” So Harbet decides to get a new hat. That will stop the teasing, right?

Except the thing to know about following fashion is that trends are fleeting. Once favored flamboyant fruit cocktail hats are swiftly bulldozed by flashy flashing safety cone hats, which are then overtaken by a vogue fleet of naval ship hats, and so on and so forth. And despite all his most determined efforts, Harbet can’t seem to get ahead of the trends or escape the taunts of “old hat.”

Finally, Harbet decides on something absolutely revolutionary, and with that learns an important lesson about being true to oneself that will never go out of style.

Prolific author-illustrator Emily Gravett is an old hand (though not by any means an Old Hat) when it comes to creating gentle-humored fan favorite picture books. For more modish hat reads see this earlier review of Brian Won’s Hooray for Hat! (What can I say? I like hats.)

Ages 4+

WINTER WHERE?

I think Gus Gordon just wanted to draw birds, lots of birds.  The end pages have illustrations of old suitcase advertisements so you get the sense that this is an unusual take on birds going south for the winter.  

It's winter and fowls of all sorts are going every which way, on all manners of transportation.  Some are even using travel agents to help them get to their destinations.

The only fowl not going anywhere is George.  He's too busy baking brownies, carrot cakes, and other pastries.  He tells Pascal, the bear, that there's also ironing to do and yoga to practice so that's a no to Paris. The Andes - Nah.  But Pascal really wants a warm place to stay, like the Carribean.  

After all the excuses, because that's what they are, excuses, George finally admits the truth.  Together Pascal and George form a plan to fly...somewhere else.  

I love this story. It's unexpected.  It's poignant.  

For pre-K and older readers of all ages.

WINTER FOWL

In Bear and Chicken, Chicken wakes up to see sharp teeth, a cookbook and a pot of boiling soup.  AAARRRGGGHHH!  Bear is going to eat Chicken for dinner after finding her frozen outside in the snow.   

My question is, why is the chicken walking around in the snow with a hobo stick?  Why is the bear walking around in the winter?  Isn't he suppose to be hibernating? 

A case of misunderstanding leads Chicken and the reader to think that Bear will be eating Chicken but Bear is just trying to warm up the unconscious thing.  There's even a recipe for soup (minus the chicken) at the end of this humorous book by Jannie Ho.  

For a  read-aloud and readers in Kindergarten to Second grade. 

WILL DANNY MCGEE BE ABLE TO SWALLOW IT ALL?

A book review by Katherine: 

Can he swallow the whole world, that Danny McGee?  Don’t take my word for it, you’ll just have to see. 

What starts as two siblings’ trip to the beach, quickly becomes Danny’s mission to consume everything, and I do mean everything, in the world.  Fans of Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein will positively devour the rhymes and flow of Danny McGee Drinks the Sea.  With a pinch of naughtiness, a dash of gluttony and a smidgen of sibling rivalry, this book is the perfect recipe for some lighthearted reading fun.  Andy Stanton’s entertaining rhyming text is perfect for read alouds, while Neal Layton’s amusing illustrations beg for closer inspection in one-on-one or independent readings. 

For ages 4-10    

FROM MOTHER GOOSE TO MOTOR GOOSE

Ready to enjoy some nursery rhymes with a twist? Just take Mother Goose rhythms and Rebecca Colby’s poems, and together they make a rollicking fun book called Motor Goose: Rhymes That Go! These entertaining poems are sure to delight fans of nursery rhyme and cars, trucks, and airplanes. Itsy Bitsy Spider becomes Swoopy-Loopy Airplane and Little Miss Muffet becomes Little Miss MIxer. The whimsically illustrated vehicles by Jef Kaminsky are memorable because of their bright colors and cartoon drawings.

This exciting book is a great one to share with children. Read the unique rhymes fast or slow because they are a fun way for children to develop their phonological skills. By singing these rhymes over and over again, children will have an opportunity to hear the small parts of each word, which will help them as they learn to read. Beep! Beep! Check out this book and goooo... have fun!

For ages 2-5

HOPE IS THE THING WITH FLOWERS

It's a busy, busy, busy at the construction site. Dozer, Crane, and Digger are pushing, hoisting, and digging to build tall buildings for working, roads for driving, and bridges for crossing. One day Digger comes across a small, blue flower growing amidst all the construction. As the other construction vehicles keep building up the city, Digger visits the flower each day to nurture it's growth. Soon, the space where the lone little flower is growing is the only place that's not built up, and the Crane insists that they need to put a building there too. Will Digger be able to stop them, and if not, what will become of the last little flower in the city? 

The Digger and the Flower, simply yet poignantly written and illustrated by Joseph Kuefler, is a deceptively quiet picture book that packs a huge emotional punch. Just when things seem devastating, hope peeks through the darkness, and we readers are reminded of the triumph and resilience of the human spirit. Have your tissues handy, parents, because this book might make you cry--first from sadness, but then ultimately from the beauty of hope. 

This is not your typical construction vehicle book--it's a deeply touching read to share with preschoolers through second graders. 

SHARKS, PIRATES, AND DEATH!

Fidelia Quail and her family were on their last outing at sea before winter and the beginning of the Undertow, when her parents perished in a storm. Deep in a depressive state over the loss of her family, Fidelia's aunt Julia wants to move to the mainland, but Fidelia doesn't want to move away from Aborley Bay and all she knows and loves.  

But when she is kidnapped by the notorious pirate Merrick the Monstrous, Fidelia is forced to use her knowledge of sharks and her skill in invention to find his most prized treasure. Pursued by Her Majesty's Naval Admiral, Merrick presses Fidelia to finish her underwater breathing invention before time runs out. Will Fidelia ever be able to just go back home to her Aunt Julia? 

Race to the Bottom of the Sea by Lindsay Eager is a thrilling novel about an eleven-year-old's love of sharks, the sea, and her family, told both in the past and in the present.

Ideal for readers in 5th through 8th grades.

TIME WITH GRANDPA

There aren't many stories about grandfathers and these two deserve a special mention.  Check out my all time favorite, Grandpa Green by Lane Smith from a few years ago, too. 

The Lost Picnic by b.b. Cronin is a very unusual and intensely colorful story of going on a picnic with grandad.  Instead of following the classic rhyme of putting something into the basket, something falls out of the basket on each double page spread.  At the end of the story, everyone realizes the basket is empty and they have to go back and search for the picnic food.  Now the reader must retrace page by page to help the family find everything.  See if you can find all the food falling out at each turn and stop.  

My Grandfather's Chair by Jiyeon Pak
Grandpa needs a new chair and so the search begins for that one special chair, but after trying many, many chairs none feel right.  Eventually he gets a brand new custom made chair fitting only him but he worries about bad things happening to the chair, so he puts it away for safe keeping.  Grandpa goes for a walk, a rest and a bit of reading when he realizes he has just found the perfect seat - a tree stump.  

These two books are great reads for preschool up to second grade readers.

A DOG AND TWO CATS

Just sharing some sweet new dog and cat picture books from the collection.   

The Very Very Very Long Dog by Julia Patton Bartelby is a very very long dog who can't see his tail's end and causes mayhem for his friends whenever he goes out.  A creative solution makes for a happy ending for Bartelby.   

I love Cats! by Sue Stainton and Bob Staake is for someone who loves cats: Happy cats, prancing cats, blinking cats, cats, cats, CATS! 

My Lazy Cat by Christine Roussey is another fun book about a girl and her very very round cat who does "nothing" all day long.  

For Preschool through Kindergarten readers. 

THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF MRS. WHITE RABBIT

Mrs. White Rabbit (wife of that famous White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland) shares her concerns and many household problems in her diary after having just moved to a new home. First on her list is her oldest daughter, who wants to be a housewife one moment and a scuba diver the next. The twins are always up to something and not always a good thing. She is concerned about all of her other children as well as her husband, the White Rabbit. On top of all this, an invisible cat, probably from Cheshire, just suddenly shows up everywhere in the house, too. 

The amazing thing about this is book are the illustrations and the references to Alice in Wonderland and other fairytale characters, if one looks carefully. In one spread Bachelet draws 100 different carrot dishes from the cookbook 100 Ways to Cook Carrots! Fantastic!  Mrs. White Rabbit by Gilles Bachelet is great fun for parent and child from preschool through second grade. 

A LOVE STORY

Ox writes a letter to Gazelle, raving about her beauty and telling her how much he adores her, but arrogant Gazelle just sends him a generic fan photo, insulting him in letter after letter. Undeterred, or being thick, Ox continues to extol her virtues, intelligence and honesty. Another fun picture book by the team of Adam Rex (author of The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors) and Scott Campbell (illustrator of the Zombie in Love books), XO, OX combines great watercolor illustrations with hilarious word play, making this a good read aloud for kindergartners to adults.  

XO, OX is a thought provoking read right before Valentine's Day. Is this an unrequited love story or an obsessive stalker-ish love? Either way you see it, I love it.  

I LOVE MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS

The month of February often brings many families to the library looking for books about Valentine's Day. This month, in addition to the all the typical Valentine's stories, try exploring other books about love and friendship all month long.  

Read and talk about the concepts of family and familial love with your little ones. Authors such as Karen Katz, Eric Hill, Emma Dodd, and Anne Dewdney are just of the wonderful storytellers that write on this topic. Some books you and your little one might like are:

In addition to books about family you might like to read books about friends and what it means to be a good friend. The library also has many great titles on this topic to share and enjoy with your little ones.

TURN A BAD DAY INTO A GOOD DAY!

From the moment we wake up from a good night's rest, we can only hope for a good day to begin.  But what happens when we wake up on the wrong side of the bed?  Georgie knows exactly how this feels and his friends feel the same way.

Ruth Chan's darling story and illustrations capture many examples of what can go wrong in a day.  The message she conveys is that sometimes an unexpected event can really turn things around for the better.  So, with a sprinkle of patience, wonderful friends, and lots of laughter, you can also have a version of Georgie's Best Bad Day!  

For ages 2-5.

LADY LIBERTY IN ACTION

The Statue of Liberty is an enduring symbol of freedom in America, but for such a well known emblem, there is still much to learn about her. How did such a big statue--a gift from France--get from Paris to her home in the New York harbor? Why did she start her life brown and then turn into her signature greenish-blue color? But perhaps the most interesting of these lesser-known details of Lady Liberty has to do with her feet. Specifically her right one, hence the title of this book. If you look closely, you can see that her foot is lifting up as if in mid-stride. That's right, the famous 150-foot-tall statue, representing liberty as she welcomes many immigrants and visitors to American shores, is on the move! Where might she be going? 

Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris, is a fun, fascinating, and deeply affecting portrait of the Statue of Liberty, which posits that her active pose serves as a reminder that liberty and freedom from oppression "require action...courage...an unwillingness to rest." From the first immigrants she welcomed in 1886 to those still arriving today from every country around the world, Lady Liberty's job receiving the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, never ends--and it never should. 

This dynamic and poignant extended-length picture book will make an inspiring read for kindergartners and up. 

SPECTACULAR POSSIBILITIES

I took a trip up to the Bay Area last weekend. It’s a 5.5 hour drive (without traffic) from LA, and I settled into the driver’s seat, automatically reaching for a familiar audiobook: Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, read by Lincoln Hoppe. It’s a trip I’ve made several times and a story I’ve listened to several times more since its publication in 2011, yet it has never failed to elicit the same depth of emotion each time. It draws me back to a place I’d never visited and a time I’d never experienced: a small town in upstate New York in 1968, the peak of the Vietnam War era.

Fourteen year old Doug Swieteck is starting eighth grade in a new school in a new town, where his father has just secured a new job after being fired for a poor attitude and a questionable work ethic. The Dump, his family’s latest residence, is small and dingy. His father is spiteful. His older brother is a menace. His gentle mother rarely smiles anymore. And Doug can’t think of a single good thing about the stupid town they've just moved to.

You can easily envision the trajectory for a kid like that: he’ll grow up to be a bully, a thief, a liar, a victim and a victimizer. And everyone else in town thinks so too-- including Doug himself.

Until he finds unexpected solace in a public library and purpose in a rare copy of John James Audubon's Birds of America. There’s something mesmerizing about the paintings in Audubon’s book, even for Doug, who would be the first to tell you he’s no artist. Soon he’s drawn into the stories he sees in each carefully crafted bird, which become the metaphor by which he interprets his world. His spirit soars and dives throughout the novel as he faces a deluge of circumstances that test his resolve to sketch a different future for himself.

Another librarian (whose name I unfortunately cannot recall) wrote in her review of the book that it had broken her heart and put it back together a thousand times. I can certainly relate to that feeling. There’s a lot to mull over here: the tangible and intangible effects of the war on returned veterans and their families, the dichotomy of wealth and poverty, the cyclical nature of abuse, and the problematic prejudices of adults. At the same time there’s the thrilling freedom of art, the unexpected kindness of others, the gentle glow of first love, the healing found in offering compassion even when it seems undeserved, and a long lingering note of Possibility. It’s a tale of resilience and redemption.

I highly recommend listening to the audio version of book (which still counts as reading, in case you’re wondering!) Lincoln Hoppe’s reading of Okay for Now received an American Library Association Odyssey Honor in 2012 as one of the best audiobooks produced for children and young adults, available in English in the United States.

A truly rewarding read for grades 6 and up.

THE EGG AND THE FALL

After the Fall - How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again by Dan Santat is the follow up story to that famous incident where Humpty Dumpty fell and was put back together again, but he didn't escape unscathed. Humpty now fears heights. He can't sleep on the top bunk. He can't climb to reach the "good" cereal on the top shelf.  
Humpty discovers a new hobby making and flying paper birds, which allows him to watch beautiful birds fly high again. His acrophobia comes to a head one day, when one of them gets stuck wayyyy up high.  

What now? Can Humpty climb up to get it? 

Humpty's emotions are illustrated beautifully to evoke sadness and joy with different colors and hues. Everyone talks about being surprised by the ending and I agree. You will too. 

For readers in preschool and up.  

A SURPRISE FOR EUGENIA

Eugenia Lincoln and the Unexpected Package by Kate DiCamillo and Illustrated by Chris Van Dusen another story in the Tales From Deckawoo Drive series.

Eugenia Lincoln, the older of two sisters living on 52 Deckawoo Drive, does not like surprises and does not indulge in frivolity.  She's practical and has no time for fun, silly things like an accordion.  One day a little man shows up at her door trying to get her to find that little bit of music in her heart.  Everyone has a bit, he claims.  

After a night of music and merrymaking by everyone but Eugenia, she bumps into little Stella on her way to the trash, who asks to try the accordion.  Before Stella could play anything, Eugenia accidentally squeezes out a bit of music on the keys and Stella excitedly claims that she just made music and should keep on playing.  

Maybe there is a place for some frivolity in Eugenia's life after all.  Will she ever find out who sent her the accordion?  Maybe it doesn't matter anymore.  

A beginning chapter book perfect for 2nd-4th grade readers. 

OH, WHAT BIG TEETH YOU HAVE ALAN!

Alan the alligator has enormous and brilliant white teeth. He does much to take care of them, brushing for at least ten minutes. These chompers are useful for many things but when he couples them with a variety of scaring techniques, the other animals are not amused; just downright scared! That is, until one day, a beaver comes and discovers a secret that Alan has been hiding. Instead of keeping the secret to himself, beaver shares it with the other animals. Will Alan find other ways to scare his friends?  

Jarvis’ story and illustrations in Alan’s Big Scary Teeth are hilariously fun and although Alan has a bit of a problem with scaring others, readers will find ways to root for him too.

For ages 3-7