Review #97: Rain Brings Frogs

Lily (age 8):  "Rain Brings Frogs"!
Isaac (age 12):  By Maryann Cocca-Leffler.
Lily:  Cocca-Cola...  Hot Cocca!
Gracie (age 10):  Lily!
Isaac:  The book is about this kid named Nate.
Lily:  He's a "happy side" person.
Gracie:  He's always looking at the bright side.
Isaac:  For example, his sister got a present -- this purple and neon green scarf and hat.  And she thought it was the ugliest ever.  Then Nate saw it and said it was warm.  He found something good to say about it.
Gracie:  He's showing her the bright side.
Lily:  And there is a boy named Ben who has more ice cream than a banana split, and he says to everyone, "Nooo!! I'm not going to share with you!"  But Nate is sharing his.
Gracie:  Even though Nate's ice cream is a billion times smaller than the other guy's.
Lily:  Nate only has one scoop of ice cream, but he's sharing.
Dad:  Does this book help you learn anything?
Isaac:  Be content with what you have.
Lily:  Don't complain.  Be thankful for what you've got.
Dad:  Does our attitude depend on the things around us?
Lily:  Our attitude comes from what's inside.  It's pretty much love and self-control.
Dad:  Would you like to have Nate for a friend?
Gracie:  He would give me ice cream!
Lily:  Nate would be my BFF.
Gracie:  I already have a friend who is happy all the time.  I have Julia.
Dad:  How about you guys?  Could we say that you are like Nate?
Gracie:  No-ho-ho.  No one is THAT perfect.
Isaac:  Nobody could be like Nate.  Not ALL the time.
Gracie:  Except Julia.
Dad:  Could we work to be more like Nate?
Isaac:  Well, we do try to be like Jesus... which is an impossible goal.
Lily:  But we try our best.
Dad:  Are there legitimate things to be sad about?
Gracie:  Like if a person fell down and skinned their knee.
Lily:  But Gracie, there's a bright side -- at least the person didn't break their leg!
Dad:  Has that happened to you before in real life?  Did something disappointing happen, but you looked on the bright side?
Lily:  At Christmas.  Mom was in the hospital having a baby.  So I only got to open one present.  I was kind of sad about that.  We had to wait for three days to open the rest.
Dad:  Ha ha...  But what was the good thing in that situation?
Lily:  At least I got to open one present.
Dad:  What else?
Isaac:  And we got a BABY SISTER!
Lily:  Oh yeah.
Gracie:  Would you rather have gotten a few more Polly Pockets, or had a BABY come into the world?!
Lily:  Ba-by!
Gracie:  Hey... Mom wanted to review this book with us!
Dad:  That's right... what did you want to say about this book, Hon?
Mom:  Just that I loved it.  It gets your kids thinking about thankfulness.  It gets them looking on the bright side.  We all know people out there who are positive...
Gracie & Lily:  Julia!!!
Mom:  And Julia's mom is like that too.  They are a bright-side-of-things family.
Dad:  Is there specific "complaining" that we deal with in our family?  Maybe we can think through a good response instead?
Mom:  All the time when we are homeschooling they say, "I have to do Math again?  Every day?  I'm sick of Math..."
Dad:  So what would be a better response?
Gracie:  "We...  have the ability...  to learn."
Mom:  "I can do Math on my couch."
Gracie:  Yeah, you don't send us away to learn Math!
Dad:  "I can do Math in my jammies."
Gracie:  Yeah!!!
Dad:  How about positive examples.  Can you think of a time when one of our kids looked on the bright side in a hard situation?
Mom:  It seems like something just happened the other day...  What was it?  It seems like...  it might have been Isaac....
Gracie:  That figures.  He's the perfect kid.
Mom:  It's hard having one perfect sibling.  But on the bright side: at least you have four other imperfect siblings -- Ha ha ha ha!

Lee says, "It's so green"
Nate says, "It's so yummy"
- by Lily

When Mom says, "What a mess"
Nate says, "Yuuummm!"
- by Gracie

Jake says, "It's too long!"
Nate says, "But it's worth it!"
- by Isaac

Author/Illustrator: Maryann Cocca-Leffler
Published, 2011: Harper
Like it?  Here it is

Review #91: Clementine

We tend to focus our family group reviews mostly on picture books -- it's easy to pile everyone up on the couch and read three or four of them together in a single sitting.  But the kids do plenty of reading on their own as well.  So I've decided that from time to time we'll check in with the kids individually to see what books they've been enjoying for their own pleasure reading.  These will be books that I haven't read with them, so I will be learning about the stories right along with all of you!  Today Lily is going to share a book she recently finished:

Dad:  Alright, Lily.  Time for our One-On-One Bookie Woogie review!  Go ahead and tell me about your book.
Lily (age 8):  Well, it's called "Clementine."
Dad:  Do you remember who the author is?
Lily:  It is written by Sara Pennypacker.  And pictures by Marla Frazee.  The book is hilarious.
Dad:  What kind of girl is Clementine?
Lily:  She is a wild idea'ed person.  She's creative.  She's crazy.  She's a trouble maker.  And she memorizes shoes.  They live in the basement, so out the window they see all the feet.  And Clementine memorized every shoe of every person.
Dad:  Tell me about some of her wild ideas.
Lily:  I will tell you a few funny things.  And naughty things.
Dad:  Naughty?
Lily:  Naughty.  She tries to do good things -- to help people and to make them feel better.  But sometimes the things she does turn out to be bad.
Dad:  Gottcha.
Lily:  Yeah.  So, Clementine was doing art class with her friend.  I don't remember her name - it is hard to remember.  Margaret.  Margaret got some glue in her hair.
Dad:  Hmmm.
Lily:  I don't know how she got glue on the top of her head.  But sometimes I don't even know how I get frosting on my forehead... so...
Dad:  Things just happen sometimes.  You are messy too, huh?
Lily:  Margaret tired to cut the glue off.  But she cut some of her hair instead.  Then Margaret decided she wanted short hair like Clementine, so Clementine started cutting her hair for her.  She cut Margaret's hair... her beautiful hair.  Then the principle came in and saw them.
Dad:  Uh-oh.
Lily:  So she got in trouble.  Really big trouble.  Then they went to Clementine's house.  And they got out markers, and they colored Margaret's hair orange.  She wanted hair like Clementine.  They wanted to match.
Dad:  This is the same friend?
Lily:  Yes.
Dad:  Oh dear.  I'm surprised their parents still let them play together.
Lily:  So the next thing -- Clementine cut her own hair.  Margaret had been sad, so Clementine cut her own hair to make her feel better.  It was already short, but she cut her hair even shorter.  Then Clementine told Margaret that she could color her hair any color she wanted.
Dad:  Why?
Lily:  Because Clementine had colored Margaret's orange.  So Margaret colored Clementine's hair.  Bright green!
Dad:  Do any of your friends remind you of Clementine?
Lily:  Hmmm.  No.
Dad:  Who does remind you of Clementine?
Lily:  Me.
Dad:  I know!
Lily:  Tee hee hee!
Dad:  The way you are describing her sounds exactly like the kind of trouble you've gotten into in the past.
Lily:  When I was three I cut my hair.
Dad:  Yep.  You were hiding behind the chair in the living room, cutting your hair, and stuffing it into Mom's shoe.
Lily:  Hah ha ha!  Yeah.  I even cut my bangs too.
Dad:  Right down to the nub.
Lily:  It was NOT a good haircut.  I couldn't reach the back, so there was a strip of hair in the back that was long.  So it went around -- short, short, short, long.  But actually my hair was even.  Except for the long part.
Dad:  Yeah, evenly too-short everywhere!
Lily:  Okay... Now I'm moving to another thing.  Let's stop talking about this!
Dad:  Instead of talking about naughty Lily, you want to go back to talking about naughty Clementine again?
Lily:  Yeah.
Dad:  Well, tell me about illustrations in the book.
Lily:  They are black and white and really good.  They are detailed and cartoony at the same time, which I really like.  The pictures helped the story a lot.  I want to show you a funny part...  (starts flipping through the book)
Dad:  Oh dear.  I just saw a picture of her short hair.  That is very short isn't it.
Lily:  I know.  (Flipping, flipping)  That picture.
Dad:  So that's your favorite?
Lily:  Yeah.  She's yelling, and one eye is smaller and one eye is bigger.  It's my favorite because of her expression.
Dad:  So why do you think it's fun to read about Clementine's troubles?
Lily:  It would be kind of boring to read about a good girl just walking around her house.  But it is cool and funny to read about a mischief maker.  You can learn about all the things you shouldn't do.
Dad:  And who would like a book like this?
Lily:  Eight year olds.  Like me.  And people who have good imaginations.
Dad:  Thanks for telling me about your book, Lily!
Lily:  You are welcome.

Clementine's hair: orange, cut, green, & under a hat; by Lily

Author: Sara Pennypacker
Illustrator: Marla Frazee
Published , 2006: Hyperion
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Review #85: You Are What You Eat

Isaac (age 12):  This book is by Serge Bloch.
Lily (age 7):  "You Are What You Eat" is about a boy.  He was a bad eater.  A picky eater.  Not as picky as Gracie though.
Isaac:  No one could be as picky as Gracie.
Gracie (age 10):  Stop it.
Lily:  Hee hee hee...
Isaac:  The boy is invited to a friend's house to eat.  He's nervous.  Because they might make something he doesn't like.  But he tries the food, and then he loves it.  He even got seconds.
Lily:  He learned to eat.  But Gracie will never learn to eat.  Poor Gracie.
Gracie:  Grr.
Dad:  What is the cool thing about the story?
Gracie:  The whole entire writing is made out of puns.
Lily:  All these little sayings.  Puns.  About food.
Dad:  And how about the pictures?
Isaac:  The pictures!  The pictures are not like regular pictures.  He takes photographs -- usually pictures of food -- and then he doodles on them so they look really cool.  He turns them into stuff.
Gracie:  He doodles on the food to make bodies and stuff.  He can make a cookie into a head.
Isaac:  I think that would be a fun, fun way to make a book.  To get to doodle on photographs!  I think he must really like his job.  This is a fun idea.
Dad:  What are your favorite examples from the book?
Gracie:  "The apple of my eye."  Because the mom looks really pretty...  the pretty, pretty mom with a very pretty apple in her eye.
Isaac:  I like "Drives me bananas."  It's a picture of someone riding in a banana.
Gracie:  It's the mom.  She's really pretty.
Lily:  I like the page that says "You are what you eat."  The boy looks really funny with peas for his mouth.
Dad:  Can you think of any other food expressions the author didn't use?
Gracie:  "Say Cheese!"
Dad:  Ahh!  There you go!  So is that what you are going to do for your fan art picture?
Gracie:  Yep!  I thought of that idea days ago.
Dad:  Awesome.  We'll have to look up some food pictures on the internet.  Then I'll print them out and you can doodle on them.  Sound good?
Gracie:  Woo!
Dad:  This was a pretty short review.  But I guess the book doesn't need a ton of explaining.
Gracie:  It's just awesome.
Dad:  Can anyone summarize the book in a few words?  Give me a blurb?
Isaac:  I can't think of any right now.
Dad:  How about "Expressive expressions."
Isaac:  What is that supposed to mean?
Dad:  He takes expressions -- common phrases -- and he makes them very expressive.  He adds eyes and stuff.
Isaac:  I still don't get it.
Dad:  How about: "He enfreshens expressions."
Gracie:  Does it have to rhyme?
Dad:  Aw!  "A fresh take on fresh food."  How about that?
Isaac:  I don't get that one either.
Dad:  Ppppbb.
Isaac:  Maybe you should just stop.

say cheese! by Gracie

berried alive, by Isaac

a perfect pear, by Lily

Author/Illustrator: Serge Bloch
Published, 2010: Sterling
Like it?  Here it is

Review #72: Hugo and the Really, Really, Really Long String

Dad:  Today we are taking a look at "Hugo and the Really, Really, Really Long String" by Bob Boyle.
Isaac (age 11):  Okay -- there is one thing we cannot say.  We cannot tell anyone what the extremely awesome, super cool, awesomeness surprise is at the end of the string.
Gracie (age 9):  It's funny.
Isaac:  It's so awesome at the end.
Dad:  When you saw this book, did you immediately know who made the pictures?
Lily (age 7):  YES.
Gracie: (singing)  Wow Wow Wubbzy, Wubbzy Wubbzy, Wow Wow!
Isaac:  Bob Boyle made all the characters up for the show "Wow Wow Wubbzy."
Dad:  How would you describe his style?  You can tell immediately that Hugo and Wubbzy come from the same guy.
Isaac:  It's the exact same style.
Gracie: (singing)  Go Go Hugo, Hugo Hugo, Woo Woo.
Dad:  But how would you describe that style?
Gracie:  He barely makes any circles.  There are always square faces.
Isaac:  But there is not one sharp edge.  All the squares are ovally.  It is all round and swerved.  There are no sharp corners.
Gracie:  And he has wiggly lines.  He draws wiggly.
Lily:  He draws cartoony.  It looks like video games.
Isaac:  It really looks like a computer game, or a book that teaches you how to get through the levels of a video game.
Dad:  So, tell us what the story is about...
Isaac:  There is this guy named Hugo who looks like a purple... hippo.  Or is it a cow?
Gracie:  We especially like hippos when they are purple.
Isaac:  Hugo finds this mysterious, awesome, cool string.  So he follows this string thinking there is treasure or something amazing at the end.  He is following, and following, and he meets lots of people like an alligator policeman.
Lily:  And he meets a noodle person.
Isaac:  The noodle man who gives all the otters noodles.
Gracie:  No.  Bunnies.  He gives the bunnies noodles.
Isaac:  Otters must get french fries.
Gracie:  He stirs his noodles with an oar.
Dad:  Because the pot is so big...
Isaac:  He must be the famous bunny noodle man.
Gracie:  Hugo also meets a fish snake.
Isaac:  It's a snake that looks like a sea serpent.
Gracie:  She looks like a fish.
Isaac:  She does.  It's actually just her hair-do that makes her head look like a fish.
Gracie:  She would be a fish if you cut off her body.
Isaac:  There's a whole bunch of different people that Hugo meets.
Gracie:  Why is that mole taking a bath underground?  In the dirt?
Isaac:  That is a good question.
Dad:  Regardless of what he finds at the end of the string, what does he meet along the way?
Lily:  Friends.
Gracie:  And a fish.
Dad:  It's a snake.
Isaac:  Who is your favorite character?
Lily:  I like the Noodle Bunny.
Isaac:  I like the Mr. Alligator Police Officer Dude Man.
Lily:  I also like the Fish Girl.
Dad:  It's a snake.
Gracie:  I like the surprise at the end.
Dad:  Did you have any guesses of what was going to be at the end?
Lily:  At first I thought it would be a ribbon that says "Hugo" and a heart.
Dad:  You mean like a present for him?
Isaac:  I just thought it was going to be a ball of yarn.
Gracie:  I thought it was going to be this really big thing.  But actually we were all so surprised.  And it was so funny.
Isaac:  Everyone reading this review will be really curious about what the surprise is and will go get the book.
Gracie:  Red strings and purple hippos.  Even just that would make me excited to read it.

some really long string, by Gracie

this blue string leads to a piñata!  by Isaac

Hugo tangled in his really long shoelaces, by Lily

Author/Illustrator: Bob Boyle
Published, 2010: Random House
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Review #71: The Cobble Street Cousins

A special treat this week!  For a year and a half we've reviewed books that we read together as a family.  But the kids are all voracious readers on their own as well.  So I thought I'd chat with them one-on-one to find out about the books they are reading for their own pleasure.  These are books I personally know nothing about, so I'm learning too!  Here's the schedule for the week:

Monday:  Isaac with the "Percy Jackson" series
Yesterday:  Gracie with the "Just Grace" series
Today:  Lily with the "Cobble Street Cousins" series

So let's hear from Lily...


Dad:  Alright, we need to find out what Lily is reading right now.
Lily (age 7):  I'm reading The Cobble Street Cousins.
Dad:  Who are the Cobble Street cousins?
Lily:  There is one girl named Lily.
Dad:  Just like you?
Lily:  Yes!
Dad:  Oh my lands.  Gracie reviewed a series about a girl named Grace, and you are reviewing a series with a girl named Lily!
Lily:  Hee hee hee!
Dad:  Who are the other cousins?
Lily:  There's Rose and Tess.
Dad:  And what do they do?
Lily:  The cousins make a whole bunch of stuff.  They make cookies.  They sell cookies.  And they make a dollhouse out of cardboard and scraps.  They have to get the little teeny furniture.  And they make little paper dolls of the people in their family.
Dad:  Wow, that sounds like the kind of stuff you guys like to do!
Lily:  Yeah.  But we don't sell cookies.
Dad:  Right.  But you guys like making stuff.  Don't the cousins also make a newspaper?
Lily:  Uhhhhh...
Dad:  Maybe that's in a book you haven't gotten to yet.  I think I remember that from when Gracie read the series.
Lily:  I'm still on book number two.
Dad:  They sound like creative, crafty kids.
Lily:  They live at their aunt's house.  In the attic.  And they put up blankets like forts for their rooms in the attic.  It's cool.
Dad:  And I know you are learning some big words.  What word did you ask me about the other day?  "Botanist"?
Lily:  You said it was a plant guy that studies plants.
Dad:  And now you know a big word.
Lily:  Botanist.
Dad:  Do you like reading books that help you learn new words, or would you rather read books where you already know all the words.
Lily:  I just like reading books.  Any books.  I just read books that seem interesting.
Dad:  And what is one reason you like these "Cobble Street Cousin" books?
Lily:  They give you all these different ideas of stuff to do.  Like, if you are old enough to sell cookies, you could do that.  And they have little adventures.  Realistic ones.
Dad:  So it's not like the cousins are flying to the moon.  They are adventures that you could even have.
Lily:  Yeah, selling cookies or making dollhouses.  And catching birds.
Dad:  Woah, they catch birds?
Lily:  This old lady had a parrot that flew away, so they had to catch him!  And Rose said, "He's on the turkey!"
Dad:  On the turkey?
Lily:  I mean, "He's on the chicken!"
Dad:  A parrot was sitting on top of a chicken?
Lily:  You know those little chickens that tell "north"...
Dad:  Ahhhh... a weather vane?
Lily:  Yeah.
Dad:  Thanks for telling me about these stories Lily!  It makes me want to read them.
Lily:  Yeah.
Dad:  We should tell people that these are written by Cynthia Rylant.
Lily:  Do you know her?
Dad:  No, I've never met her, but I know about her.  We have lots and lots of her picture books.  "The Cobble Street Cousins" books are chapter books, but they do have pictures too.  How would you describe the pictures?
Lily:  Like... old timey.  And realisticyness.
Dad:  Realistic-y?
Lily:  Ness.
Dad:  Realistic-y-ness?
Lily:  Because they are realisticynesses.
Dad:  Realistic-y-ness-es?  Oh my lands, this word is getting longer and longer!
Lily:  Hee hee hee ha ha hahh!
Dad:  The pictures are by Wendy Anderson Halperin.
Lily:  I love her drawings.  They are cool.
Dad:  Now, I did meet her once.
Lily:  Aaaaaaaah!  I'm flabbergasted.
Dad:  Did you see what she wrote in this one?  "To Lily..."
Lily: (Gasp!)
Dad:  Oh, you haven't gotten to that book in the series yet!  You didn't know?
Lily:  What?
Dad:  You girls each have one signed to you.
Lily:  I have a new favorite book!  It is signed "To Lily."

Lily, Tess, and Rosie, by Lily

Author: Cynthia Rylant
Illustrator: Wendy Anderson Halperin
Book 1: "In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen" published, 2000: Aladdin
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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

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Review #56: The Cuckoo's Haiku

Dad:  "The Cuckoo's Haiku..."  That's hard to say out loud, isn't it?
Lily (age 6):  It's a tongue twister!
Dad:  This is "The Cuckoo's Haiku" by Michael J. Rosen, illustrated by Stan Fellows.
Gracie (age 9):  This book is all haikus.
Dad:  Who can tell me what a haiku is.
Gracie:  It's a poem where you have to have 5 syllables, then 7 syllables, then 5 syllables.
Dad:  Does it have to rhyme?
Gracie:  No.
Dad:  "Poem" doesn't always mean "lines that end the same."  Poems are just when you write with rules in mind... when you fit words into a pattern.  Maybe the pattern is made of the last words in the lines rhyming.  But that's not the only kind of pattern.
Lily:  Five, seven, five.
Dad:  Can you describe this book?  We don't really have a plot to explain.
Isaac (age 11):  Haikus about birds.
Dad:  Well, that about sums it up...
Isaac:  Yup!
Gracie:  They are fun haikus.
Isaac:  They are cool.  They are very descriptive.
Gracie:  It doesn't just say "This is a gray bird / It can fly very high up / This is the end now."
Dad:  Ha ha - yes, that would have been a haiku...
Gracie:  But it would be boring.  The ones in this book are not boring.  Like the bluebird one goes: "on a staff of wires / blue notes inked from April skies / truly, spring's first song."  He made the poem awesome.
Isaac:  It's a very descriptive way of explaining birds.
Dad:  What do you like better, the paintings or the poems?
Gracie:  They are equally matched.  They are both stinking awesome!
Lily:  Awesomely stinking awesome!
Dad:  We talked about Michael J. Rosen's poems a bit already.  Tell me about Stan Fellow's illustrations.
Gracie:  He paints cool.  Isaac can paint birds that way!
Lily:  And when the artist drew something and changed his mind, he didn't even erase it.
Gracie:  But that makes it cool!
Lily:  He wanted to draw a grasshopper, and then he was like, "Nah, I don't want to do it anymore."
Dad:  So he left that part of the painting unfinished, huh.
Lily:  He didn't even finish drawing this bird.  He was like, "I want to color this bird in... naw... I don't want to color it anymore."
Gracie:  And he didn't even erase that unfinished part.  He doesn't care.  Whatever parts he wants to draw, he just draws.
Dad:  And he uses watercolors.  You guys like using watercolors don 't you?
Lily:  Yeah!  And sometimes he goes "splat-ly."  Sometimes it looks like he just whacks with the paintbrush so the paints go all over the paper.
Isaac:  He also puts all kinds of little pictures around randomly.
Gracie:  And he puts them in panels, panels, panels.
Lily:  This picture is on the same page as this picture, but he just put a square around it.
Gracie:  That's called a panel.
Dad:  Did you have a favorite page in this book?
Gracie:  Yes.  I'll find it.  I like this one.
Dad:  The Cedar Waxwing...
Gracie:  Yeah.  I like this part right here.  The part in the panel with the berry in his mouth.  I want to hang this up.  If we ever get 100 copies of this book, can I have one and cut this part out?  It's so pretty.
Isaac:  I like the turkey one.  It's just cool.
Dad:  That's my favorite too.
Gracie:  It would be better if the bird was the prettiest bird in the whole world instead of just a turkey.
Dad:  Turkeys might be goofy looking, but sometimes the goofy animals are more fun to look at than the pretty ones.
Lily:  I learned that turkeys' footprints look like arrows -- but the turkeys move the opposite way of the arrows.  So you can tell where a turkey is when it runs away.
Dad:  You just follow the arrows backward.
Lily:  Yep.
Dad:  We really liked the apple tree poem too...
Gracie:  Oh yeah, that was funny.
Dad:  To what did they compare the apple tree?
Gracie:  An actual apple.
Lily:  With "apple seed" birds.
Gracie:  If you flip the book upside down on the page with the white tree and the crows, the tree looks like an apple.
Lily:  A sliced open apple.
Gracie:  The black crows look like the seeds in the middle.
Dad:  So did this book inspire you?  Are you all creative and poetic now?  Do you have ideas flowing out of your brains like melted butter running down toast?
Gracie:  Dad, that was awesome!
Isaac:  No.  It's more like bricks stuck in my head that won't come out.
Dad:  There you go!  That sounds poetic too!  Just throw it into a haiku... 5, 7, 5.  "Bricks stuck in my head / Those darn thoughts will not come out / My poem is stuck."
Isaac:  You're good at haikus.  See, I could never do it that fast.
Dad:  Does anyone have a descriptive way to summarize the book?
Isaac:  Like, make up a haiku about the book?
Dad:  Yeah.  That's what Michael J. Rosen does.  He doesn't just say, "This is how it is."  He paints with words.  He makes a painting in our imagination, and his words are the brush.
Isaac:  How do you do that?  You are good at this stuff!
Dad:  How would you describe this book poetically?
Lily:  This book is like a bird.  Because they are both beautiful.
Gracie:  This book reminds me of music.  It's really pretty.  It's really graceful, and it's got its own rhythm.
Dad:  Good job.  Very poetic of you.

Just like a whistle
Hear my song both far and near
Turns frowns upside down

                        - picture and haiku by Lily

Changing dark to light

Two wild fires in the still night:
Searching yellow eyes

                        - picture and haiku by Isaac


Sweetest little bird,
Like cherries and strawberries
A feast for the eyes

                        - picture and haiku by Gracie

Author: Michael J. Rosen
Illustrator: Stan Fellows
Published, 2009: Candlewick Press
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Review #52: The Happy Hocky Family

Dad:  Today we're looking at "The Happy Hocky Family."
Lily (age 6):  Lane Smith wrote this book!  Lane Smith.  Yeah.
Dad:  Do you know who that is?
Lily:  No.
Dad:  Lane Smith also illustrated--
Isaac:  "Stinky Cheese Man"?
Dad:  You're right!
Lily:  I love that one!
Gracie (age 9):  This book is even funnier than Stinky Cheese Man.
Dad:  Do you know any of the other books Lane Smith worked on, Isaac?
Isaac (age 11):  The other Happy Hocky book.  The sequel.
Dad:  Ha ha.  Yes he did.  What would you say about "The Happy Hocky Family" to people who have never had the pleasure of seeing it before?
Gracie:  It's your loss.
Dad:  What if they go read it now?
Gracie:  Your not-loss.
Dad:  How would you describe the art style in this book?
Gracie:  Average.
Dad:  Average?  What do you mean by that?
Gracie:  Not too complicated.
Dad:  You mean "simple" maybe?  Not average.  "Simplified."
Lily:  Simplified.  I like that.
Isaac:  The pictures are stampy looking.
Gracie:  Pretty much it's just red, yellow, black and white.
Isaac:  The book is a whole bunch of little, tiny stories.
Dad:  Does the style of the writing match the style of the pictures?
Isaac:  They are both simple.
Dad:  Give me an example of what the stories might sound like.
Isaac:  "I like cookies.  Do you like cookies?  I like cookies.  I like my cat.  He is a brown cat.  He fell in an apple pie."
Dad:  Who are the characters?
Gracie:  Mr. Hocky, Mrs. Hocky, Henry Hocky, Holly Hocky, Baby Hocky, and Newton.  Newton is their dog.
Dad:  Tell me about the kids in the family...
Gracie:  Henry and Holly are the brother and the sister.  And I want a "tomato ketchup" shirt!  Henry's got a shirt that says tomato ketchup on it!  The Hocky family is so lucky.
Isaac:  Henry and Holly are trying to get back at each other over and over again.  They are archenemies.
Dad:  I wouldn't say they are enemies.  Remember - they play together nice with their toys.  Are they just like brothers and sisters that tease each other?
Lily:  Yes.  Just like what Gracie does to me.
Dad:  What does Gracie do to you?
Lily:  She teases me.  She calls me a "Lumpy Monkey."
Gracie:  Hee hee HA heehee heeee...
Lily:  Tah, hah Ha ha ha...
Gracie:  But she is though!
Lily:  YOU are a Lumpy Monkey!
Gracie:  No you are.
Dad:  Alright, what about Newton?
Isaac:  Newton is a dog.  And that dog has eye problems.  His eyes are totally opposite sizes.  One is little and one is huge.
Gracie:  They are the exact same size - look.
Isaac:  No they are not...
Gracie:  That's his spot.
Isaac:  That's a spot?
Gracie:  Yes!
Dad:  He has a ring around his eye.
Isaac:  I thought it was an eyeball!
Gracie:  Ha ha hah hah ha...
Dad:  That would have been a huge eye.  What else can you say about Newton?
Isaac:  Well, his mouth is like a duck-mouth.
Dad:  Newton didn't have too many stories in this book, did he?
Isaac:  He got eaten.
Gracie:  By a crocodile.  There's a crocodile's mouth, and Newton's leash is leading into it.  But then he got thrown up.
Dad:  Well, we don't know if he got thrown up...  But he does reappear at the end of the book.  Now, which is your favorite story in the book?
Gracie:  I like the Baby Hocky stories.
Dad:  Baby Hocky is definitely the best, huh?
Gracie:  Baby Hocky rocks!  Peace out dude!  Peace out Baby Hocky!
Dad:  What does that even mean?
Gracie:  I have no idea.
Isaac:  I like Baby Hocky.  He's cool.  Or she.
Gracie:  Me too.  Awesome.  And I have a question for Mr. and Mrs. Hocky.  Why do you call him Baby Hocky?  Doesn't he have a real name?
Dad:  Tell me about Baby Hocky.
Gracie:  He's always looking at the best of things.
Isaac:  He's an optimist.
Dad:  Oo!  Big word, Isaac.
Isaac:  Most of his stuff gets half-destroyed.  Half-ruined or destroyed.
Gracie:  Every time he's proud of something -- then it gets ruined -- then he says "Look at what I've got."  Like, once his balloon popped, and then he says "Look, now I've got a string!"
Isaac:  I want a string!  I'm going to pop my balloon so I can get a string too.
Lily:  And his white coat gets splashed with oil, but now he has a white hat!  It is awesomeness.
Dad:  Does Baby Hocky get upset when the candy apple yanks his tooth out?
Lily:  No.  Because he's got a tooth for the tooth fairy!
Isaac:  I wonder if I've had a candy apple?
Lily:  I'm always glad when I get a tooth out.  I had a tooth for the tooth fairy last night!
Dad:  Lily has a tooth for the tooth fairy practically every night!
Isaac:  I want a candy apple!  I've never had a candy apple.
Dad:  Maybe that's what we need to do, Lily, when you have your teeth hanging there for so long...  we'll just give you a candy apple.
Lily:  Yeah!
Gracie:  Baby Hocky has a huge belly button.
Lily:  And he only wears diapers.
Gracie:  Baby Hocky doesn't have a nose.
Lily:  And the only one without a neck is Baby Hocky!
Isaac:  That's true.
Lily:  Everyone else has stick-necks.  And the baby doesn't have any neck.
Gracie:  They are stick figures.
Lily:  And everyone has red ears.
Dad:  They do.  I never noticed that.
Gracie:  They have bloody ears.
Dad:  Ew.
Gracie:  Probably because Holly's red ants bit all their ears.
Dad:  Wonderful.
Gracie:  They should make Baby Hocky plush toys.  They would be awesome.
Dad:  Maybe his tooth would be detachable.
Isaac:  There could be a red string stuck to it.
Dad:  Ew.  That's what Lily's teeth look like when they won't come out, hanging from tooth guts.
Gracie:  I love you Baby Hocky!

Baby Hocky likes seals and Newton likes crocodiles, by Lily


crocodile x-ray, by Isaac


and a new Baby Hocky story by Gracie:"I have 2 pets!  Do you have 2 pets?  I have 2 pets!"

(the elephant is spooked by the mouse)

(the elephant bolts...)
"I have 1 pet!  Do you have 1 pet?  I have 1 pet!"

Squish!

"I have 2 collars!  Do you have 2 collars?  I have 2 collars!"

Author/Illustrator: Lane Smith
Published, 1993: Viking
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