Review #66: Bunny Days

Gracie (age 9):  Bunny Days!  Ha hah ha!
Dad:  And Gracie is already laughing...  just thinking about the book makes her laugh...
Lily (age 7):  It was hilarious.  It was Bunny-Funny.
Gracie:  The person who made it is Tao Nyeu.
Isaac (age 11):  There are three stories in this book.
Lily:  Each story is about bunnies.  And "Bear."  And a goat.
Dad:  We've got three stories and three Z-Kids.  How about you each tell me about one of the stories.
Lily:  Okay.
Dad:  The first one is called "Muddy Bunnies."
Gracie:  Nnnnah ha haa!
Dad:  And there she goes again.  Why are you laughing already?
Gracie:  The bunnies are so cute!
Dad:  What happens in this one, Lily?
Lily:  Mr. Goat was driving his tractor, and he splatters a whole bunch of mud all over the bunnies.
Dad:  Is there a way to fix the bunnies up?
Isaac:  Yes.  A funny way.
Lily:  They went to Bear and he stuck them in a washing machine!!!
Isaac:  Look at that bunny's face - he's covered in suds.  I think they are happy in there.
Lily:  Then Bear hangs them on a wire to dry for a day and a night.
Gracie:  He snapped them up by their foreheads.
Dad:  So who is going to tell me about story number 2: "Dusty Bunnies?"
Gracie:  Me.  There's this goat-lady -- Mrs. Goat.
Lily:  See - another goat!
Gracie:  She's vacuuming the grass.  And the bunnies are all sleeping in their holes.  And then she sucks them right out of the ground!  And you can see their little heads getting clunked together!  Ha ha ha!  They are so cute!
Isaac:  Look at that bunny's head - it's getting pulled!
Gracie:  He's got his little bunny buns hanging out.
Isaac:  Their eyes are huge and their heads are stretched extremely long.
Dad:  And who knows how to fix everything?
Isaac:  Bear.
Gracie:  He has a gi-normous fan.  Just so happens to have a gi-norous fan right then.  And he dusts them off.
Dad:  And Isaac, tell me about story 3, "Bunny Tails."
Isaac:  The bunnies are playing Hide and Go Seek.  They are hiding in the bushes and their tails look like flowers.  Mr. Goat is trimming the bushes, and he doesn't realize it but he -- snip, snip -- cuts off all their little tails!  Then they are all really sad...  just looking at their tails.
Gracie:  You snipped our buns off!
Isaac:  So they walk over to Bear who is sitting on a log with some tea and a sewing machine.
Dad:  Good news!
Gracie:  Ha ha!
Isaac:  Bear just sews them back on.
Gracie:  That bunny looks horrified!
Isaac:  He does!
Dad:  So, what is so funny about this book?
Gracie:  The bunnies!  Their feelings!  Their expressions are hilarious.
Lily:  And the bear put them in a washing machine!
Gracie:  And where would a bear even get a washing machine?
Isaac:  I know - it's so convenient.
Gracie:  A convenient comedy.
Dad:  So if we took our neighbor Gina's pet bunny and put it in a washing machine, would it be funny?
Isaac:  No way!
Dad:  So why is the book funny?  Why isn't it a horrible book?
Gracie:  Because the bunnies are so cute!
Isaac:  The bunnies are funny.  They don't talk and their expressions are funny.
Gracie:  You just know that the bunnies don't talk.  Here in the picture when the goat is snipping off their buns, this one bunny is looking at him really freaked out, and you KNOW that if he could talk, he would scream for him to stop.
Lily:  But the bunnies don't have any mouths.
Isaac:  And it is also funny because Bear always happens to have some big machine - sitting right next to him - and it's the one thing they need.
Gracie:  What are the chances!
Lily:  It's funny.
Gracie:  It's awesome!  A washing machine!  Where would he even plug it in?  It's part of the funny.
Isaac:  Maybe he has millions and millions of extension cords.
Gracie:  Something horrible always happens to the poor little innocent bunnies.
Dad:  Now, you guys each have your own sewing machines.
Gracie:  Me and Isaac.
Dad:  Would you know how to sew a tail back onto a bunny?
Isaac:  No - but I could figure it out.
Dad:  Tell me a little bit about what Tao Nyeu's illustrations look like.
Gracie:  Simple shapes.
Isaac:  But she has to have everything filled with all these lines and designs.  The hills are not just green hills -- they look like big green quilts.
Gracie:  And she makes stinkin' awesome trees.
Isaac:  Is this book made with watercolor?  I can't tell...
Gracie:  What is it done with, Dad?
Dad:  Let's see if the book tells us...  Oh, it's silkscreen.  I don't know much about how silkscreen works.  We'll have look later to see if she has any information on her website.  I think you print each color one at a time.
Isaac:  Yeah -- Remember when we looked at the video of that guy who was making CD covers...
Dad:  Oh yeah - Michael Wertz!  From when we reviewed "A Curious Collection of Cats."  Good memory.
Isaac:  I saw a whole video clip about silkscreen.
Dad:  That's one reason why these pages have a limited palette.  She had to make a different layer for each color.
Isaac:  That must have taken a long time.
Dad:  Can you imagine any more mishaps for the bunnies?  What do you think happens next?
Lily:  Look on the back cover!  A goat with a lawn mower!  Be careful!  Be careful when you are mowing the lawn!
Dad:  Ooo...  I envision another episode coming along...  "Bunny Slices..."
Gracie:  Oh!  I just hope Bear has super glue.
Dad:  Would bunnies find this story funny?
Gracie:  No!
Isaac:  Danger!  Bunnies, do not look at this book!

Mrs. Goat has a lawnmower!  Bunnies lose some ears!  Good thing Bear has some glue...  - by Lily

Mr. Goat's carrot picker picks up bunnies too...  - by Isaac

Mrs. Goat's freezer accidentally turns bunnies into cubes of ice.  It's a good thing Bear has a microwave to thaw them out...  - by Gracie

Author/Illustrator: Tao Nyeu
Published, 2010: Dial Books
Like it?  Find it

(or watch Michael Wertz silkscreen)

Review #65: Grover-palooza

Dad:  Today Lily wanted to look at a bunch of our "Grover" books.  Why did you pick these, Lily?
Lily (age 7):  They are hilarious-es of hilarious-es.  I love them.
Dad:  What is so funny about them?
Isaac (age 11):  He is funny -- Grover is funny.
Dad:  Here's the book I think most people are familiar with... "The Monster at the End of This Book, Starring Lovable Furry Old Grover."  That is a long title.
Lily:  Grover sees the title, and he freaks out.
Gracie (age 9):  He tries to keep us from turning the pages.
Lily:  Because of the monster at the end of the book.
Gracie:  He makes a brick wall... and nails the pages together.  It's hilarious!  All these Grover books are hilarious.
Elijah (age 4):  Buh-larious.  Huh-larious, buh-larious.
Dad:  So, it's not just about Grover...
Isaac:  Grover is actually living IN the book.
Gracie:  What is that thing called when they know they are in a book?
Dad:  Yeah!  Can you remember???
Gracie:  Arrg - no!
Dad:  What is the special word?
Isaac:  "Adramadoo?"
Dad:  Not adramadoo.  We talked about it when we reviewed "The Three Pigs..."  Remember, you thought it sounded like a superhero name.
Gracie:  Megatron?
Dad:  Close... "metafiction."
Gracie:  Metafiction!  It's when the characters know they are in a book.
Lily:  Like Grover!
Dad:  How do you feel about the fact that it's a character from television?  Would it be better with some randomly invented new guy, like "Bob the Cat"?
Isaac:  I like that it's Grover because of his personality.
Gracie:  It wouldn't be as funny if it wasn't Grover.
Isaac:  Like, if it was Big Bird instead of Grover, it wouldn't be as funny.  Grover's personality helps it.
Gracie:  He always gets frustrated.
Dad:  What about Elmo?  Usually people my age love Grover, while kids love Elmo.
Isaac:  I like Grover better.
Gracie:  I like Grover better too.
Dad:  A lot of people know this book, and a lot of people love it.  But they might not know that there are more Grover books by the same people who made this book... Jon Stone and Mike Smollin.
Isaac:  These books are great.  They are hilarious.  They are so funny.
Gracie:  You do awesome with Grover's voice, Dad.
Dad:  This one has an even longer title!  "Would You Like to Play Hide and Seek in This Book with Lovable Furry Old Grover? Please Say Yes!"
Gracie:  That whole thing is the title!
Dad:  And actually, I like this book even better than "Monster at the End..."
Gracie:  Me too.  It's even funnier.
Isaac:  It's so funny.  Grover is playing Hide and Go Seek with us.
Lily:  He knows that he's in the book.  He's like, "I'll hide in the crack between the pages!  AHH! - No, no, no that won't work!"  We could still see him.
Isaac:  You can't really hide in a book.
Dad:  Especially if it's just full of blank white pages.
Isaac:  And Grover read my thoughts!  I was thinking, it's too bad the page is just white... he can't blend in...  But right then Grover said, "I'll get my finger paints and turn the book blue so you can't see me!"
Dad:  Did it work?
Elijah:  It would work if you colored his eyes blue.
Isaac:  Grover would have to close his eyes and paint his lips.
Gracie:  So far, in both of these stories, Grover destroys the books.  All the pages get wrecked.
Isaac:  You destroyed our book, Grover!
Dad:  So how about this next book?  "Lovable Furry Old Grover's Resting Places."
Lily:  This one is also metafiction.
Gracie:  Here's another cool thing about these Grover books...  In most books the characters just talk to each other.  But in these, he's not talking to somebody else -- he's talking to us.
Dad:  So it's almost like we are a part of the story too.
Gracie:  In this one, he shows you all these "resting places" for parts of your body.
Dad:  Your elbow...  your ear...  your hands...
Gracie:  My favorite was the belly button resting place!  And Grover didn't destroy the book in this one, but he did destroy his room.
Lily:  Those guys should make more of these books.  There should be more.
Dad:  These books came out quite a while ago.  One was made in 1971 -- that's before I was born.
Lily:  Hmmm... those guys probably are not alive.  But maybe their kids could make more.
Dad:  We have one more here: "Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum."
Gracie:  All of these book have the longest titles ever.
Dad:  This one was made by some different people, but I think it fits well with these other three Grover books.  What makes these four a good set?
Gracie:  They are all hilarious!
Lily:  The drawings look exactly the same.
Gracie:  And Grover is still talking out to us.  He's interacting, and he knows he's in a book, and he's funny.
Dad:  So tell us what this one is about...
Gracie:  It's about Grover going to a museum to see everything in the whole wide world.  There's a "Things-that-can-tickle-you Room."  "The Things-that-you-can-trip-over Room."  "The Tall Hall."  "The Small Hall."  "The Things-you-see-on-the-ground Room."
Dad:  What was your favorite room?
Lily:  "The Cute and Furry and Cuddly Room."
Dad:  You would belong in there, Lily.  You're cute and cuddly.
Lily:  But I'm not furry.
Dad:  When I cut my hair, maybe I can glue the clippings all over your body.
Lily:  But then I wouldn't be cute any more.
Dad:  Ha ha haha....  Then I guess we're stuck.
Lily:  Maybe I could get a cute furry sweater.
Dad:  I wonder if there are any more Grover books like these that we don't know about?
Gracie:  I hope there are.  We could go online and check it out.
Dad:  Maybe people could leave a comment if they know of more.
Lily:  Sweet!

Grover, by Elijah

Grover making a stone wall so we can't turn the page, by Lily

Gracie drawn by Grover, drawn by Gracie

Grover, by Isaac

Author: Jon Stone
Illustrator: Mike Smollin
"Monster at the End" published 1971, Golden Books
"Hide and Seek" published 1976, Random House
"Resting Places" published 1984, Random House

Authors: Norman Stiles and Daniel Wilcox
Illustrator: Joe Mathieu
"Everything Museum" published 1974, Random House

Like 'em?  Find 'em

Review #64: The Wonder Book

Dad:  Today we are taking a look at "The Wonder Book," written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Paul Schmid.  What did you guys think of it?
Lily (age 7):  Kids should pick this book up.  They would like it.
Gracie (age 9):  Any kid would like this.  It's hilarious.
Lily:  I want everyone to know the hilarious-ness-es of this book.
Isaac (age 11):  This is a poem book.
Dad:  Did you have a favorite poem in there, Lily?
Lily:  I don't know which is my favorite.  But the one I remember most is with the boy in the water, and he says: "Tinkle / Tinkle / In the sea / Don't look under / While I pee."
Dad:  Ah, so sophisticated...
Isaac:  It's funny!
Dad:  How about you, Gracie?
Gracie:  I like the Various Friends of Mary Mack.  You know that rhyme that goes "Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack / All dressed in black black black..."  Well, these are the Less Famous Friends of Mary Mack.  So there is "Miss Mary Fred Fred Fred / All dressed in red red red..." and stuff like that.
Dad:  And many of these poems involve wordplay...  Making a pun...  Or making a palindrome...
Lily:  A whatty-what?
Gracie:  A palindrome is a word that is the same spelled both backward and forward.
Dad:  And Isaac, tell us about puns.
Isaac:  This is an example from the book...  If you said, "Puns of the Week," then "Sun" Day would be hot.  And "Twos" Day would be a girl and her reflection.  And "Fry" Day would be french fry day.
Gracie: (flipping through the book)  I like this poem too...
Dad:  It's a funny list of names...
Gracie:  The illustrator could have drawn anything, but he drew all these kids piled on top of a camel, and the camel is the one named Bob.
Dad:  So the poem is funny by itself.  And even the picture is funny by itself.  But what happens when you put the two together?
Gracie:  It explodes into little nuggets of laughing goodness.
Dad:  So what did the illustrator bring to the book?
Gracie:  Hilariousness.
Isaac:  I don't think it would have been as good without the words, and I don't think it would have been as good without the pictures.
Dad:  So the book needed both Mrs. Rosenthal and Mr. Schmid.
Gracie:  Paul Schmid makes skinny, little, stick ears on his guys.  Look at them!  Bumpy, stick ears.
Isaac:  And they have little, teeny legs and little, teeny arms.
Elijah (age 4):  They look like little moosh-kins.
Dad:  What is a mooshkin?  You mean munchkins?
Elijah:  Moosh-kin.
Isaac:  The drawings look like they were done really fast.  They are really good though.  I really like his drawings.
Gracie:  Loose doodley black and white.
Dad:  Did you have a favorite drawing?
Gracie:  At the very beginning of the book where everybody is standing in a line, there is this hilarious bunny.  He's freaky!  A fat monster bunny!  He's got big eyebrows and he's the freakiest bunny in the world.  And standing in line there is also a little teeny short dude in a superman costume that we all thought looks like Grandpa!
Isaac:  Ha hah!
Dad:  Does "The Wonder Book" remind you of any other books we have?
Isaac:  Yes!  Those other two poem books.  "The End of the Sidewalk..."
Gracie:  It's called "The Edge of the World."
Dad:  Actually, it's "Where the Sidewalk Ends."
Isaac:  And the other one is called something like "I Have a House on My Head."
Dad:  Ha ha -- "A Light in the Attic."  Those are both by Shel Silverstein.
Gracie:  Those books have a whole bunch of poems in them too.  And look at these pictures!  They are very much the same style as the pictures in the Freaky-guy books.
Dad:  Freaky-guy?  You mean Shel Silverstein?
Gracie: (running to get the Silverstein books)  There are really freaky photographs of him on the backs of the books.  This one has a picture of his foot.  And this one... is... Eeeeea!  They are all freaky, freaky pictures of him, his face, and his feet.
Dad:  So should they have taken a really scary, horrifying picture of Amy Krouse Rosenthal for the back of The Wonder Book?
Isaac:  Ha hah ha... No...  Ha ha...
Dad: (turning to the jacket flap/author bio in The Wonder Book)  See, this is what she looks like in real life...
Gracie:  Oh, she's cute!
Dad:  What about this picture of Paul Schmidt?
Gracie:  He's... not as cute...
Isaac:  Ha ha!
Gracie:  Um.
Lily:  He's got cool hair.
Gracie:  Yeah!  He's got REALLY cool hair!

monster bunnies attacking grandpa boy, by Gracie

Miss Mary Bean Bean Bean
All dressed in green green green
Had the cutest kitten kitten kitten
You've ever seen seen seen

- poem and picture by Lily

And some "Month Puns" by Isaac:

Ape Rule

Jewel Lie

Sup' Timber

Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrator: Paul Schmid
Published, 2010: Harper Collins
Like it? Find it