Review #87: A Pet for Petunia

Dad:  Tell us about "A Pet for Petunia."
Elijah (age 5):  Petunia wants a pet skunk.
Lily (age 8):  Petunia really likes skunks.  Actually, she really, really, really, really, really so-much-likes skunks that she LOVES skunks.
Isaac (age 12):  She loves skunks more than anything in the whole universe.  And so she wants a skunk.  You don't hear that every day.
Elijah:  I wouldn't want one.
Lily:  Petunia doesn't know the secret-secrets of skunks.  A smell.
Gracie (age 10):  I've never smelled one, and I don't want to.
Lily:  Petunia runs out to the forest.  She sees a skunk.  And she smells the smell of her life: Stink.
Elijah:  She loved the stink.
Lily:  She smelled the Stink of Stinks.  After that, she still loved skunks, but she stopped wanting a real one.
Gracie:  She decided her pet would be a stuffed animal skunk.
Isaac:  But then Petunia wants a porcupine.
Lily: (singing)  "Now I love porcupines just the way they are..."
Dad:  What did you think of that skunk in the book?
Elijah:  He's adorable!
Gracie:  He's so cute!
Lily:  I would want that skunk.  If we got gas masks I would.
Gracie:  Paul Schmid draws the cutest skunks in the world.
Lily:  The key is big foreheads.
Isaac:  Little eyeballs.  Little cute smile.
Gracie:  It's just so cute.
Isaac:  I love that skunk!
Gracie:  For these pictures Paul Schmid only uses black and white and purple.  And tiny bits and pieces of yellow.  But most of the book is just black, white, and purple.
Elijah:  It's like he used watercolor.
Isaac:  Little splotches.
Dad:  Just like Petunia loves her skunks, each of you guys has your own favorite animal, don't you.  Lily is our duck lover.
Lily:  I want a real duck.  Ducks are adorable.  Our neighbor Gina had a real duck from a farm.  Why can't I have a duck?
Gracie:  Gina used to have a turtle.  But she had to give it away.  And then she had a duck.  But that ran away.  And she used to have three bunnies.  But two of them died.
Dad:  Yikes.  I don't think I'd give Gina any more animals.  Now, we saw that skunks have drawbacks -- are there any problems with having a duck?
Lily:  They nibble you.
Elijah:  I want a turtle.  I love turtles.
Gracie:  I love, love, love pandas.  They are absolutely adorable.  Even more adorable than skunks.  But I can't have a panda because they are almost extinct, and they are protected by Chinese police.  But I want one so bad.  I at least want to see one in real life.
Elijah:  I want to see a real turtle in real life.
Dad:  I think your chances are better than Gracie's.
Gracie:  I could fly to China...  smuggle a panda bear onto the plane...
Dad:  Even little sister Evie has her "own" special animal.
Lily:  Owls!
Dad:  And you each have lots of stuffed versions of your favorite animal.
Elijah:  Yeah.
Isaac:  I don't.
Dad:  What is your animal Isaac?  Do you even have one?
Isaac:  A turkey.
Dad:  What?  You are making that up.  I've never heard you say that once ever.
Isaac:  No, no, no.  I decided that two weeks ago.  I decided I need to get a real turkey, so ever since I've wanted one.
Dad:  I thought dragons were your favorite.  You are Dragon-boy.
Isaac:  Dragons don't exist.
Gracie:  You don't have any stuffed turkeys do you?
Isaac:  Nope.
Dad:  On Thanksgiving we get stuffed with turkey.
Isaac:  Or we get turkey with stuffing.
Dad:  Alright.  So Isaac likes turkeys now.  Now you each have an animal.
Isaac:  I want a real turkey so it can guard the house.  I could train it to attack robbers.
Dad:  I think Elijah's animal is the most realistic.  We might be able to get an aquarium with a little turtle someday.
Gracie:  How much do you think they cost?
Elijah:  Ninety million.
Dad:  Wow.  Well, maybe we won't be getting one.

a porcupine for Petunia, by Gracie

a duck for Lily, by Lily

a turtle for Elijah, by Elijah

a turkey for Isaac, by Isaac

Author/Illustrator: Paul Schmid
Published, 2011: HarperCollins
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Review #80: Gabby and Gator

Dad:  "Gabby and Gator" by James Burks.
Gracie (age 10):  Gabs and Gades.
Dad:  How did you like it?
Gracie:  "Gabby and Gator" is great and good and glorious.
Lily (age 7):  The book is about a girl named Gabby who has no friends because she doesn't talk that much.
Gracie:  The bad bully boy said she was a freak.
Lily:  She was looking for a friend.  And she found a friend.  That would be the big, dog-eating, monster alligator.  But he didn't want to be a monster.  He wanted to be nice.
Elijah (age 5):  But he didn't know how to be nice.
Dad:  Why not?
Elijah:  He eats dogs!
Gracie:  Gator is a poodle-chomper.  He's hungry, and there's nothing else for him to eat.
Isaac (age 12):  Poor Fifi.
Gracie:  I think I know why he eats dogs.  When he was a little gator, he snipped that dog tail.  Remember?
Isaac:  And he's been addicted to dogs ever since.
Lily:  Gabby doesn't eat anything in this story except for that vegetable milkshake.  But Gator eats everything, even dogs.
Elijah:  They are opposites.
Gracie:  But it's not food that makes them a good match for each other...
Lily:  They both play instruments.  They recycle other people's trash together.  They played alligator-pulls-Gabby-around-on-skis.
Isaac:  They play together until the big bad bully comes and teases Gabby.  Gator throws him in the mud.  Then the bully tells the animal control.  It is actually the Inhumane Society, because the guy wants to kill all animals, even innocent teddy bears.
Gracie:  The animal control guy has a lumpy belly and a big nose.
Isaac:  He chases them, and Gator faces his worst fear.  Water.
Gracie:  His worst fear is a toilet.
Isaac:  No, water.
Gracie:  And a toilet.
Isaac:  Toilet water.
Gracie:  He's afraid of toilets because he got flushed down a toilet when he was a little baby gator.
Isaac:  But they live happily ever after.  Kind of.
Dad:  How would you describe the art in the book?
Gracie:  This is a graphic novel.
Lily:  The pictures are unrealistic.
Isaac:  My favorite thing about the book is how he doesn't try to draw the pictures realistically.  He likes to draw the characters with pointy noses and exaggerated sizes.
Lily: (speaking to Gator)  You're just a big cartoon!
Gracie:  I think it's funny how the bully boy is so wide and flat!
Lily:  He's like a skinny square.
Gracie: (holding up her hands)  He's only that thick.
Dad:  What about Gator's design?
Gracie:  He's pretty cool.  He's got checkers on him.
Lily:  His eyes aren't even on his head.
Dad:  And he's got floating eyebrows.
Gracie:  Everybody should have floating eyebrows.
Lily:  I like the three twins.
Dad:  I believe "three twins" is called triplets.
Lily:  Ha ha ha ha!
Gracie:  He did a good job making the triplets look like popular people.
Dad:  Would you guys be friends with Gabby?
Gracie:  I like her.  I'm friends with everybody.
Dad:  Would you be friends with an alligator?
Gracie:  Maybe.  If I got to know him well.
Lily:  I would make a model of a dog and give it to him first to see if he eats dogs.  I would make him a dog out of bacon.
Gracie:  I'd be afraid he'd eat our little sister Evie.  I'd bring Gator home, but I'd just lock Evie up in the bathroom.
Dad:  You'd rather lock up Evie than the alligator?
Gracie:  Oh yeah.  I'd lock up the alligator.  Sorry, Evie!
Dad:  But the gator is terrified of the bathroom.
Gracie:  Oh yeah.  Sorry, Gator.  I wouldn't lock him up.  I'd just wait until Evie was on vacation.
Dad:  Who is this book for?
Gracie:  Everybody.
Isaac:  The book is especially for people who don't fit in.
Gracie:  If you don't fit in, buy yourself an alligator.
Lily:  And hope it doesn't eat you.

Gabby and Gator, by Elijah

Gator and Fifi, by Isaac

a peek inside Gator, by Lily

off to the pool, by Gracie

Author/Illustrator: James Burks
Published, 2010: Yen Press
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Review #34: The Amazing Trail of Seymour Snail

Dad:  The mailman brought us this wonderful book.  We sure have a nice mailman.
Gracie (age 8):  Mail Lady.
Isaac (age 10):  It's a girl.
Dad:  She keeps bringing us nice things.  This is "The Amazing Trail of Seymour Snail."
Isaac:  It's cool.
Lily (age 6):  I like it.
Dad:  Do you guys know anything about snails?
Lily:  They leave a track.  A slimy track.  And they are slow.
Dad:  We don't really have snails around where we live, do we?
Isaac:  We only have slugs.
Lily:  Is a snail like a slug with a shell on it?
Dad:  This is a good book for beginning readers.  It's a chapter book...
Lily: ...but every chapter is just a few pages.
Dad:  And there are pictures - big pictures - on every page.
Isaac:  It looks look like a Chapter Picture Book.  It's a picture book and a chapter book mixed together.
Lily:  It's about a snail and his track.  Seymour Snail.
Dad:  And Seymour was a...
Lily:  Snail.
Dad:  Ha.  He was a snail.  "Seymour Snail, he was a snail."
Gracie:  Ha ha ha!
Dad:  And he was a...
Lily:  Snail.
Gracie:  Artist!
Isaac:  He likes to paint, but he's shy about letting his friends see it.  Then this big gust of wind blows all the art out of its hiding places.  Then his friends see it and think it's really good.
Dad:  Do you guys ever get shy about your art?
Gracie:  Nope.
Lily:  Sometimes.
Isaac:  I don't like letting people see me drawing fish, because I'm bad at fish.
Gracie:  Oh, I think you are good at fish.
Lily:  When I try to make a 'possum, it looks horrible, that's why I never show anybody.
Gracie:  I like letting people see my art.  I even show them my bad pictures.
Dad:  Why do you think Seymour is shy about his art?
Gracie:  Because he's a snail.
Lily:  After his friends see his paintings, Seymour wanted to get a job as an artist.
Gracie:  So he gets the phone and starts calling people for an art job.  The first guy he called said, "You can have a job cooking escargot.  You can cook the snails."  But Seymour was a snail so he goes "Ahhhhhghhhh!"  And then he almost got a job painting dead bugs for the pest control.  But Seymour was a snail so he goes "Ahhhhhghhhh!" again.
Lily:  Finally he got a job at the Speedy Art Gallery.
Gracie:  Yeah, even though he was a snail.
Isaac:  There is this mean old stink bug there.  He makes him do all this stuff.
Gracie:  Seymour had to seal shut envelopes and go up a million hundred stairs to deliver a painting.
Lily:  The stink bug is grouchy and mean!
Gracie:  He's stinky.  He stinks literally, and he stinks in attitude.  Both ways.  Literally -- he's smelly.  And he stinks in attitude -- he's very mean.
Dad:  But would that be fun -- to get a job at an art gallery?
Gracie:  Yes.  I like making art and being around other people's art.
Dad:  This is a good book for you guys, because Seymour is an artist...
Lily:  And we are artists!  And he has great art.
Gracie:  Seymour could make a slimy trail that was glittery.
Lily:  So he finally got a job as an artist, making pretty snail goo trails.
Gracie:  Everyone saw the slimy trail he made.  They thought it was pretty and shiny, and then Seymour became a famous artist.
Dad:  Would you like it if you left behind a big slimy, glittery trail everywhere you walked?
Isaac:  No way.  Then in hide-and-go-seek we would always be found first.
Dad:  Is there anything else that we as humans might think is disgusting, but animals themselves might think is beautiful?  Remember when we were watching "Planet Earth" the other day?  What did those birds make their nests out of?
Gracie:  Saliva.  And that's the main ingredient of bird nest soup.  Bird saliva.  Which is spit.  Dad, put this in the review as a warning so no one eats it.
Dad:  You eat honey.  Bees make slimy goo, and you love it.
Isaac:  Hey Dad, there's one thing I don't understand.  In the book, why did the bugs have such big stairs?  Why don't they make them bug sized?  Since bugs were the only ones that were going up and down them?
Dad:  That's a good question...  I don't know.  Well, the book mixes and matches.  Some of this takes place in a "bug world."  Like the cockroach's/gallery owner's door.
Gracie:  And the art they make.  And the bug's briefcase.
Dad:  Right.  But part of the story is also in the "people world."  Like the chef and the pest control lady.  Even the envelopes Seymour licks aren't bug sized envelopes.  They are people sized envelopes.
Isaac:  And the telephone.
Dad:  Right, the telephone is a "people telephone."  How do you think Seymour took that giant telephone off the receiver?
Isaac:  HA ha ha!  I don't know!
Gracie:  Hee hee hee!  And how does he push the buttons on a gi-normous phone anyway?
Dad:  See, some of those things are funny.  Is this supposed to be a serious book?
Gracie:  No, ho ho ho ho!
Dad:  Some stuff is just funny.  So it's a mishmash.  Some of it is bugs living in a "people world," and some of it is bugs living in a "bug world."  They use whatever makes the most sense for each particular scene in the story.
Isaac:  Maybe bugs took over half the world.
Gracie:  It's really funny the way the guy made the pictures.
Dad:  Doug Cushman made them.
Gracie:  They are cooooool.
Dad:  And Lynn E. Hazen wrote it.  Did you read her other book too?
Lily:  Yeah!  Cinder Rabbit!
Dad:  Is there anything you can think of that is similar between the two books?
Gracie:  Yes.  They are both Chapter-Picture Books.
Dad:  And they are both about creative pursuits.  Cinder Rabbit is about acting and dancing...
Gracie: ...and Seymour is about painting with slime goo.
Lily:  And both characters think they can't do something.  Cinder Rabbit thinks she can't hop, and Seymour thinks he can't get a job as an artist.  But they learn that they can!
Dad:  Why do you think she wrote these books that have similar messages?
Gracie:  To encourage kids!
Dad:  Why do kids need to be encouraged?
Gracie:  Sometimes people think they can't do something.  Like, I once thought that I couldn't do a headstand, but then I practiced it, and I learned how to do a headstand.
Dad:  Are you encouraged to try anything after reading these books?  Squeezing goo out?
Gracie:  No!  Ha ha ha ha!
Lily:  I'm encouraged to try to get a job.
Dad:  Get a job?!
Gracie:  HA HA ha ha ha ha!
Dad:  Alright, go get the phone...
Gracie:  Cook escargot!
Lily:  No... I want to be an artist.
Dad:  Ohhhhhhh...
Lily:  What's the phone number?
Isaac:  That's not going to happen.
Dad:  Well, Lynn Hazen says You can do it!
Gracie:  You can do it, baby!

Seymour Snail paints, by Gracie

a very demanding Stink Bug, by Isaac

snail trail, by Lily

Author: Lynn E. Hazen
Illustrator: Doug Cushman
Published, 2009: Henry Holt
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Review #19: A Book

Dad:  Alright, who's excited?
Kids:  MEEEEEE!
Dad:  Oh for the love...
Kids:  We got a new book!  We got a new book for Bookie Woogie!
Dad:  What does it say on the package?  It says "Gerstein."  Do you remember who Mordicai Gerstein is?
Gracie (age 8):  "How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird!"
Dad:  Do you remember what Mr. Gerstein said in the email he wrote to you?
Gracie:  He liked our review, and he would send us his new book!  This must be it!
Dad:  Let's see what it's called... (opening package)  It's called...
Isaac (age 10):  "A Book."
Dad:  Of course it's a book.
Lily (age 6):  It's called "A Book."
Gracie:  It has a whole bunch of crazy guys on the cover.
Isaac:  A clown, a goose, a parrot...
Gracie: ...the "I'm-late-I'm-late-for-a-very-important-date" Rabbit.
Dad:  Alright, let's read it!

Reading commences....
...Reading concludes.

Dad:  So what do you think?
Gracie:  This is a funny book.  I liked it a lot!
Isaac:  The story is a story of a girl finding a story in her story!
Gracie:  That's a lot of "stories."
Dad:  A family of characters lives in this book, and each person has their own story.
Gracie:  But the girl didn't know what her story is.  So she tries to find it.
Dad:  She visits different kinds of stories to see if any of them are a good fit.  What kinds of stories did she check out?
Isaac:  Fairytales, a pirate story, a mystery story, a historical story, a science fiction story with aliens...
Lily:  The aliens are funny.
Isaac:  One of them says "Pipick" and the other one says "Pupick."
Lily:  I like the pink one -- it's a girl.
Isaac:  They look like little suns and they have one eyeball.
Dad:  Do you know what a "historical" book is?
Isaac:  From a long time ago.  Like "Little House on the Prairie."
Gracie:  Like me!
Dad:  Like you!  I think you belong in the historical story.  Tell everyone how you were dressed when the book arrived.
Gracie:  I'm wearing a dress that looks like it's from olden days, and an apron, and a bonnet!
Isaac:  Try jumping into the book!
Dad:  It's cool because the characters know they live in a book.  How did the girl find out that there are people reading about her?
Isaac:  The goose said to look up.
Gracie:  And the girl screamed "Ahh!  What's that big blobby thing that looks like a face!"
Dad:  You almost started crying when she said that!
Gracie:  I'm not a blobby thing...
Dad:  Maybe she was looking at Lily.
Lily:  No, you!
Dad:  Me?
Lily:  Yeah, because you were reading it!
Dad:  True enough.  I probably have the blobby head.  Besides, if she had been looking at Gracie she would have said, "What's that thing in a baby bonnet?"
Gracie:  It's a Little House on the Prairie bonnet!
Isaac:  She couldn't see me - I hid behind the book.
Lily:  I don't want to be seen.
Dad:  What do you think about the illustrations?
Isaac:  The pictures in this book are cool!  They look like 3-D popping up.
Lily:  The people look like they are walking on the pages.
Isaac:  One of the ways he makes it look like 3-D is with shadows.
Dad: ...cast shadows.
Isaac:  And he kind of makes the people look like they are tilted, coming up at you.
Gracie:  And when he makes speech bubbles, he makes them look like they're popping up too.
Dad:  If our family lived in a book, who do you think the main character would be?
Gracie:  All of us.  Or... probably Lily.  She's the one who is most interesting in our family.
Lily:  I am?
Isaac:  She is?
Lily:  I would like to be in the story of Cinderella because there was a prince in there.  All those kinds of stories are princess stories, so I would be a princess.
Gracie:  I want to be in a comedy story.  About candy.
Isaac:  I want to be in a book about cool stuff like how to build tree forts and how to make bows and arrows.
Dad:  You guys are kind of in a story every week through Bookie Woogie.  And you have Readers.  We just can't see them.  Or their blobby heads.
Gracie:  I know what story we are in.  We are in a story about an artist family.  A family where everyone is an artist - except Mom.
Mom:  I want to be in a book about a clean house.
Dad:  Anything else you want to say?
Gracie:  Thank-you Mordicai Gerstein!
Isaac:  We really love the book!
Dad:  "A Book" hits shelves in April.  Be on the lookout!

pipick, pupick, pepick, papick, popick, by Gracie

mysterious scene, by Isaac

hitchin' a ride, by Lily

Author/Illustrator: Mordicai Gerstein
Published, April 2009: Roaring Brook Press
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Review #13: Knuckleheads

Dad:  We're all gathered around a special secret package that came in the mail!  From a very nice person...
Isaac (age 10):  It looks like a book!
Dad:  And we're going to record a Bookie Woogie review as we unveil it...
Isaac:  "Knuckleheads!"  This one looks good.
Dad:  So, what do the characters look like?
Isaac:  Hands...
Gracie (age 8):  That's why they're called Knuckleheads.
Isaac:  I think that's a nose though...
Dad:  Yep.  "Nose White"  Here are the four stories in the book: "Handsel and Gretel," "Handerella," "Thumbelina," and "Nose White."
Isaac:  I want to see this book!  I want to read!  I want to read!
Dad:  Wowsers, you're excited...  Okay this is "Knuckle Heads," written by Joan Holub, illustrated by Michael Slack.
Gracie:  I want to read "Handerella" first!
Isaac:  I want to read "Thumbelina."
Dad:  Well we're going to read all of them...

Reading commences....
...Reading concludes.

Dad:  So what did you think of "Knuckleheads," you knuckleheads?
Isaac:  It's good!
Gracie:  It's really good!  Awesome!
Lily (age 5):  There was a lot of stuff with hands.
Isaac:  Hands, hands, hands, hands, and one white glove.
Gracie:  And a nose.
Isaac:  And an oven mitt.  And a foot.
Gracie:  The pictures look like "Scrambled States of America" and "Arnie the Doughnut" because the drawings are kind of cut-papery and there are little picture-thingies off to the side of the pages.
Isaac:  There were lots of jokes.
Lily:  There was "finger food..."  like, because they have fingers.
Isaac:  I realize why the police said "caught you red-handed..."  Get it - she has the red oven mitt on.
Gracie:  The evil oven mitt...
Dad:  Did you catch any other hand jokes?
Isaac:  Catch them?  The police would have to catch them.
Dad:  Ha ha...  I see you're making up your own jokes now.
Gracie:  The book had "step sisters" - get it?  Because they are made out of feet!
Lily:  And "thumbs up..."  Get it - Thumbs up!
Gracie:  "Hand in marriage..."  Get it - Hand in marriage...
Lily:  Get it!  Handing in my resignation!
Gracie:  Get it!  Shoe in!
Dad:  I kept thinking she was going to run out of hand puns, but she kept coming up with more and more.
Isaac:  Hands, hands, hands, hands...
Lily:  There were one, two, three, four stories in this book.
Dad:  How was the first story different from the normal Hansel and Gretel story?
Gracie:  It was a finger food house instead of a candy house.  They dropped fingernails instead of breadcrumbs.  And the kids didn't get along at all.
Lily:  When they got to the fingerfood eating house, that's when the bad, bad, bad, bad witch came.
Gracie:  The evil witch - she's green.  And she's evil.  And she's ugly.
Isaac:  Once she dressed up as a foot.
Gracie:  She's in every single story.  She's popular.
Dad:  She kind of ties all the stories together doesn't she.
Lily:  Get it!  Ties them!  You tie things with your fingers!
Dad:  What--  Now you're finding too many puns - even in places they don't belong!
Lily:  Hee hee!
Dad:  What did you think of the characters?
Isaac:  Hands, hands, hands, hands...
Lily:  I like Gretel.
Isaac:  I like Officer Whiteglove.  But, uggh - the teacher was freaky.
Gracie:  Thumbelina looks weird.  She's blue.
Lily:  I like her.  I think she's cute...
Isaac:  Thumbelina's story was fast.  Maybe the author did run out of jokes.
Lily:  I like Handerella.  She looked beauuuuu-ti-ful...
Gracie:  You always like all the girls.
Isaac:  I see a dog with fingers for ears...
Dad:  What is that stuff Handerella is holding -- it's disgusting.  It's got nail clippings in it.
Gracie:  Maybe it's the crud from between the step sisters' toes...
Dad:  Ewwwww...
Isaac:  Yuck.
Gracie:  The Hand-some Finger Prints had fingerprints floating over his head.
Lily:  Look at his crown - it's like fingers!
Gracie:  Oh, and this guy has weird hair on his knuckles.
Dad:  Do you see what all the guests are doing at the ball?  What are they spelling?  You guys know some sign language, don't you?
Gracie:  L - O - V - E... that's love!
Lily:  I like that girl....
Gracie:  Nose White has a ring on her nose -- which is her head.
Dad:  So, would you read "Knuckleheads" again?
Gracie:  Oh yeah baby.
Lily:  Let's read it again.  Now.
Dad:  Right now?  Guess so...  Lily is opening the pages as we speak...

handprint people, by Gracie

footprint person with toe people, by Lily

thumbprint people, by Isaac

Note: you can always click on the pictures for a larger view...

Author: Joan Holub
Illustrator: Michael Slack
Published, 2008: Chronicle Books
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