Review #44: Oliver Finds His Way

Dad:  Guess what is coming up this week?
Lily (age 6):  Fall, Fall, Fall, Fall.  I see a tree out the window that has already changed colors.
Dad:  Are you glad or sad that Fall is here?
Gracie (age 9):  I don't want Fall to be here.  I have to do Math and it's hard.  You have to do Math in the Fall.
Isaac (age 11):  I'm happy.
Gracie:  I do want it to be cold so I can wear long sleeves again.  It's pleasant wearing long sleeves.
Lily:  I'm filled with joy because I can jump in big piles of leaves.
Dad:  Do you like raking leaves too?
Lily:  NO!  It's hard work.
Dad:  So Dad does the hard work, and you guys get to do the fun part?
Lily:  Yep.
Isaac:  Leaves are my favorite part of Fall.  I like to make a big, big pile of leaves, and I can crawl under them without anyone knowing I'm there.  But once Lily jumped on me.
Dad:  Oh, that does sound like fun.  I want to jump on you too.
Gracie:  I like eating cranberries, ham, and potatoes.
Isaac:  Oo!  Carmel Apples!
Dad:  So in honor of the first week of fall, we're looking at one of my favorite books, "Oliver Finds His Way."  It's written by Phyllis Root and illustrated by Christopher Denise.
Gracie:  It's got really, really cool pictures.
Lily:  The little bear is so cute.
Dad:  Do you remember when we reviewed "Flip, Flap, Fly"?  I told you Phyllis Root gets the best illustrators.  This is another great example.
Gracie:  The bear has such small legs.  He doesn't even have legs!  Just feet!  (Gracie begins waddling around the room)  It's hard walking like a midget...
Dad:  Alright, tell me about the book...
Isaac:  It's about a bear named Oliver.  Oliver sees this yellow leaf, and he chases it around a clumpy bush and a twisty tree.
Gracie:  It's a big, big yellow leaf that is practically the size of his head.  Oliver gets lost in the woods while he's chasing the leaf.  So then he starts to cry.  But crying doesn't help nuttin'.
Lily:  And I learned something from this book.  I learned that I shall not cry.  When you are in trouble, you have to use your head and think, think, think.
Dad:  Crying doesn't fix problems?
Lily:  No way, no, no, no.
Gracie:  Unless you are having a Who-can-cry-the-longest Contest.
Dad:  I've never heard of any such thing.
Gracie:  Well, I would certainly win.
Dad:  So how did Oliver solve his problem?
Isaac:  Oliver thinks, and he figures out what to do.
Gracie:  His idea was to communicate.
Lily:  He found his way back home by roaring.  He roared, and then his mom and dad roared back, and he found his way home.
Gracie:  He used his mouth.  And his ears.  And his pink, squishy, little brain.
Dad:  Do any of you ever remember getting lost?
Gracie:  I remember one time.  Grammy, Mommy, and I were at the store.  I was hiding in the clothes hangers.  Then I got out and they were still there.  But then I turned around -- because I took one of the shirts off the hanger, and I put it against me, and I looked in one of those mirrors, and I was like "Oooooo," and kept looking at myself.  And when I turned around they weren't there anymore.
Dad:  Vanity.  Will get you in trouble every time...
Gracie:  Momma taught me not to run around.  She taught me to stay where I am, then call for her and look for the colors she is wearing.  But that was a little difficult because we were in the clothes section.
Dad:  Christopher Denise is one of my favorite illustrators.  Do you think he goes out into the woods and looks at nature?  Or do you think he can draw trees like that out of his head?
Gracie:  To draw like that, he definitely would have to do observation.
Lily:  Oliver is little and cute.  But the mom and dad are fat so they can be snug in their fur.
Dad:  That's good for bears.  Especially if winter is coming up.
Lily:  But they have clothes and blankets.
Dad:  Yeah, so these guys aren't quite like real bears, are they?  I don't think they will necessarily hibernate.
Isaac:  The pictures are all made out of very rich colors like browns, yellow, reds.  Mostly orangey-reds and greens.
Gracie:  I think he uses pastel.
Dad:  Let's see if the book tells us...  Um...  Yep, it says that the illustrations were done in pastels and charcoal.
Gracie:  Yea!  Let's use pastels to do our pictures today!  WOO!  Yes!  Let's do it!
Isaac:  I love using pastels.
Gracie:  Let's go do it!  WOO!  We're using pastels, baby!

Oliver, by Gracie

Oliver and friend playing baseball, by Lily

Oliver in the woods, by Isaac

Author: Phyllis Root
Illustrator: Christopher Denise
Published, 2002: Candlewick Press
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Review #36: Flip, Flap, Fly!

Gracie (age 8):  "Flip, Flap, Fly!"  Ha ha!  I said the title first!
Dad:  It's written by Phyllis Root and illustrated by David Walker.
Gracie:  It has such cute little characters!
Dad:  David Walker is one of my new favorite illustrators.  I look for every book of his that comes out.
Gracie:  David Walker, you have the cutest drawing skills ever!
Dad:  And Phyllis Root... we own a few books by Phyllis Root.  She always manages to land awesome illustrators.
Isaac (age 10):  This is a good book.
Dad:  Lily, why did you pick this one today?  We have lots of library books to choose from.
Lily (age 6):  It has the cutest duck in the world.
Gracie:  The duck is adorable!
Dad:  What do people need to know about Lily and ducks?
Lily:  They are my favorite animal.  I have a whole bunch of ducks in my room, like a collection.
Dad:  How many do you think there are?
Lily:  Uhhhh, 23.
Dad:  23?  That sounds like a very specific number.  Did you count them?
Lily:  No, ho, ho...
Dad:  I bet you have way more than 23.
Lily:  Yah.
Dad:  But we've seen lots of books with ducks.  Why this one?
Lily:  This one has the adorable-est duck in the world!  My favorite duck!
Gracie:  He has such a round head.
Lily:  He's cute.
Isaac:  Yup.
Gracie:  He looks so fluffy.
Dad:  So, there are cute pictures.  Tell me about the story.
Gracie:  It rhymes.
Dad:  But each verse leaves off the last word of the rhyme and instead ends with "dot dot dot..."
Gracie:  So you know that it's going to continue on the next page.
Dad:  Right, and the reader can guess which animal completes the rhyme.
Gracie:  And it also shows the animal's tail on the page before.
Dad:  So between the clues of seeing the tail and anticipating the rhyming word, a little kid can guess the animal that comes next.
Gracie:  The story also lists colors.
Dad:  "Green, green lake."
Gracie:  "Pink, pink roses."
Dad:  Lots of elements go into the cycle.  Every verse has...
Gracie:  A baby animal.
Lily:  A mother animal.
Gracie:  A color.
Dad:  A hanging rhyme-word.
Gracie:  Every one shows a tail.
Isaac:  Except for the kid.
Dad:  Right.  The kid doesn't have a tail.  What about: "Flip," "Flap," "Fly."  Do you remember what that's called?  We talked about it before...
Gracie:  When we reviewed "Jazzmatazz."
Dad:  You're right -- you remember the book.  But what is it called?  "Splish," "Splash," "Swim."  They're not rhyming words.  Do the ends of the words sound the same?
Gracie:  Nope.
Dad:  "Ziggle," "Zaggle."  What's the same?
Gracie:  The beginnings.
Dad:  And that's called?
Gracie:  Wonga-snozzer...
Dad:  Not wongasnozzer.
Lily:  Wichitak?
Isaac:  It's... that one thingie.
Dad:  It's called "allit...."
Gracie:  Alliteration!
Dad:  You remembered!
Gracie:  ALLITERATION!!!  Yeah!!!
Dad:  2 points for Gracie.
Gracie:  Alliteration!  Alliteration!
Dad:  Can you guys make up some new alliteration?  Actually, let's make up our own verse.  "In the..."  wait, where should we be?
Isaac:  In the jungle.
Dad:  And what color should the jungle be?
Lily:  Green.
Dad:  "In the green, green jungle where the bushes grow..."
Lily:  High.
Dad:  "...high, 'Look,' says the..."
Gracie:  Monkey.
Dad:  "...'Look,' says the baby monkey, I see a..."
Lily:  "Fly!"
Gracie:  Hee hee hee hee!
Dad:  I see a tsetse fly that's going to bite me and give me diseases!
Kids:  Ha ha ha...
Dad:  "...'Bite,' says the tsetse fly..."
Gracie:  "Bite, bite, bite!"
Dad:  "...so the mama helps the tsetse fly..."  now we've got to come up with some alliteration.
Gracie:  "Bitty buggy bite."
Dad:  There you go.
Gracie:  Yea!
Dad:  So, do you think that's the sequel?  We'll have David Walker draw a book that has monkeys and tsetse flies?
Isaac:  That give monkeys diseases!
Gracie:  "In the green, green jungle where the bushes grow high, 'Look!' says the baby monkey, 'I see a fly!'  'Bite!' says the tsetse fly, 'Bite, bite, bite!'  So the mama helps the baby take a bitty buggy bite."
Dad:  Ahh, lovely.
Isaac:  And then they give him diseases.
Gracie:  And the monkey gets diseases and dies!  Hah hah ha!
Dad:  Oh, wonderful.  Silliness from all.  Now, Isaac, who is "Flip, Flap, Fly" for?  Is it for 10 year olds?
Isaac:  Naw.
Dad:  Do you like it anyway?  Now, that's a good question...  Why do a 10 year old and an 8 year old have a blog reviewing books like "Flip, Flap, Fly"?  Is it weird, or is it good, that you guys still like picture books?
Isaac:  I like picture books.
Dad:  Why?
Isaac:  Because the paintings are cool.  I like learning different ways to paint -- how people paint and draw... and techniques.
Dad:  So you're learning techniques as an artist?
Isaac:  Yeah.  And because picture books are just cool, and I like them.
Gracie:  I'm learning how to make things look cute.  These animals are adorable!
Dad:  So what did you learn?  What does David Walker do to make them cute?
Gracie:  He makes things round.
Dad:  Right!  Good observation!  And how about the eyes?
Lily:  They are all little dots.
Dad:  And where does he put the eyes?
Gracie:  He puts them right by the mouth.
Dad:  He puts them down low so the animal has a big...
Isaac:  Forehead.
Dad:  Right.  Big foreheads make things look cute.  Some people might freak out about mice in real life.  So artists have to know tricks and secrets to make them cute.  And what did you guys just discover the trick is?
Gracie:  Big foreheads, tiny dots, and round heads.
Lily:  Little ball-heads.
Dad:  So even big kids can learn things by taking time to look at picture books, huh?
Gracie:  The people who made this book did a really good job.  This is an adorable book of animal cuteness.

snake, mouse, and duck, by Gracie


fish, otter, and snake, by Isaac


duck and boy, by Lily

Author: Phyllis Root
Illustrator: David Walker
Published, 2009: Candlewick Press
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