Have You Gotten Your Library Card Yet?

Just one more day until Library Card Sign-up Month ends!

What are you waiting for?

Visit ILoveLibraries.org/library-card 

Image courtesy Schulz family and ALA

Leap of Faith

“You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.”

-Annie Dillard*

Batwoman bookplate courtesy Piotr NaszarkowskI

*via Marcie Atkins

PPBF: Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild!

Today's Perfect Picture Book Friday pick

Harriet, You'l Drive Me Wild!, by Mem Fox and Marla Frazee

Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild!
Written and by Mem Fox
Illustrated by Marla Frazee
Voyager Books, 2000
Ages 4-7


Themes:
Parenting, Mischief


Opening:
"Harriet Harris was a pesky child. She didn't mean to be. She just was."

Synopsis:
Harriet Harris is constantly in trouble for things that "just happen," like the jam that just happens to fall on her pants, the paint that just happens to drip on the floor, or the pillow that just happens to explode. Harriet's mom is patient. She quietly corrects her daughter until the antics push her past her motherly limits. What happens next is a source of learning for both mother and daughter.


What I Love:
Every mom knows the exasperation of a child whose curiosity and playfulness keep getting them into trouble. This book is for the harried mom who is running out of patience and the toddler who can't seem to understand why these things just happen: Engaging text by Mem Fox, who understands families like no one else. Beautifully illustrated by Marla Frazee with lots of detail and plenty of white space.

Bonus: 
1. Reading Rockets has interviewed author Mem Fox. Watch the video here.
2. The Children's Book Review has posted a lovely interview with illustrator Marla Frazee.
3. Find a teachers guide for the book at Teachers Pay Teachers.
4. Messy kids? Try this homemade, non-toxic paint for little ones from the BowerPower blog.

Have you reviewed a Perfect Picture Book along this theme? Please leave the link in the comments below. Thanks!

Check out all the recommended titles for Perfect Picture Book Friday
for September 25, 2015 available on Susanna Leonard Hill's blog.

Let's Eat Grandma

Happy National Punctuation Day!

Commas save Lives tee available from Signals

Stop in the National Punctuation Day site.

One Step At A Time

"The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to take the stairs... one step at a time."
-Joe Girard*

Bookplate courtesy Davidson Galleries

*from Jo Linsdell Feliciani via Facebook

PPBF: Again!

Today's Perfect Picture Book Friday pick

Again!, by Emily Gravett

Again!
Written and illustrated by Emily Gravett

Simon and Schuster Books For Young Readers, 2011
First U.S. edition, Macmillan, 2013
Grade K-2, level 2.6

Themes:
Bedtime, Reading


Opening:
It was nearly bedtime.
[The parent dragon reads from the little dragon's story book.]
"Cedric the Dragon's a bright angry red, / He's never, / His whole life, / (Not once) been to bed."

Synopsis:
Again! tells the story of a little dragon at bedtime. He has gotten his snack and brushed his teeth. Now it's time for his bedtime story, but the little dragon wants to be just like his storybook hero, Cedric. Cedric the dragon never goes to bed. He stays up all night eating princesses and causing havoc. The little dragon causes  havoc of his own as he pleads with his parent to read the story again and again. Each time, the parent changes the text to try to get his son to go to sleep.


What I Love:
Parents will relate to the toddler who stalls to avoid sleep. Kids will appreciate the pleas of the little dragon who doesn't want the story to end. I am pretty picky when it comes to rhyming text, but since the rhymes are limited to the "storybook" text within the story, and since the adult dragon is constantly changing the words on the fly, I can forgive a bit of clunkiness. The designer and illustrator must have had a marvelous time with this book. The twist ending is one that would've kept me coming back to this as a child. A fairly simple, but fun addition to the bedtime routine.


Bonus: 

Courtesy Activity Village

1. Emily has posted a video on how to draw using her dragons from Again! 
2. Trace and cut little ones' handprints from paper to make a splendid dragon of their very own, via Activity Village. This link also includes a red dragon bookmark.
3. Turn ordinary pears into a fun dragon-head snack, courtesy Almost Unschoolers.
4. Check out these and more Perfect Picture Books at your local library.

Reviewed by Laura

Reviewed by Dianne

Reviewed by S. N.

Reviewed by Joanne

Reviewed by Jen

Reviewed by Susanna

Have you reviewed a Perfect Picture Book along this theme? Please leave the link in the comments below. Thanks!

Check out all the recommended titles for Perfect Picture Book Friday
for September 18, 2015 available on Susanna Leonard Hill's blog.

The Coolest Card in Your Wallet

Remember, September is Library Card Sign-up Month, sponsored by the American Library Association. 

Visit ILoveLibraries.org

Grab a card at your local branch today.

Happy Belated Birthday, Roald Dahl

"A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom."*
-Roald Dahl

*From Boy. Thanks to Jessica Warman and Tara Lazar.

International Literacy Day: The Power of People

Cut paper ILD poster by Liza Flores

Today is 

International Literacy Day!

Check out the International Literacy Association website.

Shop for sweet ILD merchandise.

Partner with Little Free Library to begin sharing the gift of reading.

Read about the #Read4Fun mission to lead by example. Pick up a book or donate your favorite read to a teacher.

Why not help fight illiteracy in your community to by mentoring adults and immigrants with literacy challenges? Volunteer today!

Picture Book Audience

"Picture books transcend their intended audience."
-Margie Myers-Culver

Bookplate by Harry Townsend
Courtesy University of Illinois Library

*via Writing for Kids While Raising Them

Alfie, Molly, and a Clever Fox

More picture book finds from my local library's an annual book sale. I couldn't pass up these classic illustrators.

Amazing examples of composition and watercolor

Some say we are in a golden age of picture books, but when I hear that phrase I think of illustrations like these:

What's in Fox's Sack?, written and illustrated by Paul Galdone

Moving Molly, written and illustrated by Shirley Hughes

Alfie's Feet, from the Alfie series by Shirley Hughes

Which authors and illustrators influenced your childhood?

Which ones influenced your decision 
to write and illustrate children's books? 

Hit The Books

A new school year is beginning around here. The Literacy World blog has a list of fun back-to-school titles from picture books to YA.

Or sample one of my favorites below to dispel the end-of-summer blues.

back-to-school books from kindergarten to high school

Something Queer in the Cafeteria, by Elizabeth Levy and Mordicai Gerstein

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute, by Jarrett Krosoczka

The Principal's New Clothes, by Stephanie Calmenson and Denise Brunkus

Ready, Freddy! Homework Hassles, by Abby Klein and John McKinley

Judy Moody Goes to College, Megan McDonald and Peter Reynolds

Love That Dog and Bloomability, by Sharon Creech

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J. K. Rowling

Project Mulberry, by Linda Sue Park

Artwork by Liza Flores

Don't forget to download your free activity kit to help celebrate International literacy Day on September 8. I hope to start two new Little Free Libraries and plan to drop off a couple of books to my favorite teachers in honor of #Read4Fun.


What are your plans to promote literacy in your community?

Library Card Signup Month

September is

Library Card Sign-up Month 

Visit the American Library Association website for details and spread the word.

Image courtesy Schulz family and ALA

Support literacy. Support your local library.