Review #68: Mathilda and the Orange Balloon

Dad:  Today we are looking at "Mathilda and the Orange Balloon" by Randall de Seve, illustrated by Jen Corace.
Lily (age 7):  This book is about balloons.
Isaac (age 11):  And imagination.
Lily:  Imagination and balloons.
Dad:  Do you guys remember who Jen Corace is?
Gracie (age 9):  She illustrated Little Pea, Little Hoot, and Little... um... Pig.
Isaac:  She's back.  And cooler than ever.
Dad:  Who is the star of this book?
Isaac:  The book is about this sheep who has a huge imagination.
Gracie:  Mathilda is the sheep.  Mathilda is kind of a weird name for her.  It sounds like a boring name, even though she is fun.
Dad:  You think the name "Mathilda" sounds boring?
Gracie:  It sounds like a name you would give one of those really proper stepmothers that live in the big mansions.
Isaac:  It sounds like a name from Anne of Green Gables.
Gracie:  I think the sheep's name should be "Marshmallow."
Lily:  Mathilda saw a big, orange balloon.  And she wanted to be one.  But all the other sheep said, "You can't do that, because... we are boring - that's why.  Sheep are boring, so you are not allowed to turn into an orange balloon."
Isaac:  She changed their minds by proving them wrong.  By turning into a big rubber round thing.  And turning colors.  And turning fluffy.
Gracie:  She imagined all the things that balloons look like.  Round, flying, and orange.  So when the sheep say, "A balloon is round," all of a sudden Mathilda is like - POOM!  And she is round.  Then the sheep say, "And it flies." And she says, "Like this?"  And then she's 15 feet off the ground.  And when they say "orange," she turns into a freaky tiger and all the sheep freak out.
Lily:  You said "freak" two times.
Dad:  Was she really doing these things, or was she imagining them?
Gracie:  I hope she was really doing it.  Because that would be funny.
Isaac:  It would be funny if it really was happening, and then right when she turns all big, round, and fluffy and started floating, the farmer opens up the door!
Gracie:  She is a balloon.  A freakishly strange balloon.
Isaac:  She has an orange imagination of fun.
Lily:  And all the other sheep turn into flowers, bees, buses, and even sailors!
Isaac:  Actually - it just occurred to me...  When she turns into the tiger, all the other sheep are cowering.  So it must be real.
Dad:  Or maybe they also got caught up in her imagination...  Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever gotten swept up into someone else's imagination?
Gracie:  Yeah!  That happens a lot.
Dad:  Think of movies even.  Other people just make them up, but you get caught up into the story and for a while you feel like it's real.
Gracie:  I had to stop watching a movie.  Right in the middle of "2012," it scared me half to death.
Isaac:  Like "Signs" did for me.  That's the first scary movie I ever watched.  I did not expect that.
Dad:  So maybe all the little lambies had to stop in the middle of Mathilda's orange tiger story because it scared them half to death.
Gracie:  Ha ha!
Isaac:  Did you see that tiger's teeth!  They look like huge bent up needles!  Look at them!
Gracie:  They are so shocked.  Look at their faces.
Dad:  So, do you guys have good imaginations?
Gracie:  I don't want to toot my own horn...
Dad:  I don't know, (sniff)...  I think I just heard Gracie's horn toot.  Or...  something tooted over there...
Isaac:  Ha ha ha ha HA!
Lily:  Grammy always says to me, "You have such a good imagination."
Gracie:  Dad, you are most like the old sheep.
Dad:  Why?  Because I'm old?
Gracie:  No.
Dad:  Because I'm gray?
Gracie:  No.
Dad:  Because I'm poofy?
Kids:  Ha HA HAH ha ha!!!
Gracie:  No - because sometimes instead of letting us have fun, you make us clean the living room.
Dad:  Well, just use your imaginations!  Maybe you can make clean-up fun!  Now, do you guys ever do what Mathilda does?  Do you ever imagine you are some other thing?
Isaac:  Hmmm... I'm trying to think.... what's the weirdest thing I've ever pretended I was.
Gracie:  Oh!  Oh!  Remember.  Just last night you were pretending to be--
Isaac:  NO!!!  NOT THAT!!!  DON'T SAY IT!!!
Gracie:  UNDERWEAR MODEL!!!
Isaac:  NO NO NO!!!
Gracie:  UNDERWEAR MODEL!!!!
Dad:  Alright...  I know what picture I'm drawing for the review...
Gracie:  Isaac the underwear model!
(Laughter by all)
Isaac:  It was pajama pants.
Dad:  How about you, Lily -- Do you ever pretend to be something funny?
Lily:  Yes.  A bird.  I make a nest out of blankets, and I pretend I'm a bird.
Gracie:  Sometimes I wish with all my might that I could be small enough to fit into Polly Pocket clothes.
Dad:  Be careful what you wish for!

Mathilda as an orange balloon, by Gracie

Mathilda as an orange tiger, by Lily

Mathilda as an orange...  orange! by Isaac

Author: Randall de Seve
Illustrator: Jen Corace
Published, 2010: Harper Collins
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Z-Mom

Bookie Woogie has been a great place for the kids and Dad to have fun, to learn, and to bond.  And even though Mom is mostly behind the scenes of this blog, she is front and center in our lives.  Sure I get to share kidlit-knowhow once a week -- but she schools them all week long!  Sure, the kids and I talk about books -- but she taught them to read!  Sure, I tell them about art techniques -- but she keeps order in a house filled with all the paint and its splatter, pencils and their shavings, paper and its scraps.

So I'd like to take a moment to thank Z-Mom, and recognize how very precious she is to us all.  And in doing so, also acknowledge the matchless impact all YOU moms have in the lives of your dear little ones as well.

In honor of Mother's Day, I invite you to check out this post from last year.  And I'd also like to share a Mother's Day recording made in 2002 when Isaac was just 3, Gracie was 1 1/2, and Lily had yet to be discovered:


I don't think  the above audio needs translating.  But just in case the only reason I can understand the toddle-speak is because they're my own kids, here are some subtitles to scan as you listen:

Dad:  Who does Gracie love?
Gracie (age 1):  Ba-bub!
Dad:  Who?  Who does Gracie love?
Gracie:  Cee-cie!
Dad:  Gracie?
Gracie:  Uh-huh!
Dad:  Who is a pretty lady that Gracie loves?
Gracie:  I do too!
Dad:  You do too?  We'll ask brother first.  Isaac, who do you love that is a pretty lady?
Isaac (age 3):  Mommy.
Dad:  You do!  Who does Gracie love?
Gracie:  Mommy.
Dad:  You do!  Who does Daddy love too?
Isaac:  Umm...  Turkey!  Ha ha!
Dad:  What?  No - it's Mommy!  Why do you love Mommy, Cee-cie?
Gracie:  Moose.
Dad:  Moose?  You love Mommy because she is a moose...
Isaac:  Ha ha ha!  I love Mommy because her is pretty.
Dad:  Because she's pretty?  Oh, why else do you love Mommy?
Isaac:  Because... I love her because her says "I love you" to me.
Dad:  That's very nice.  Why do you love Mommy?
Gracie:  Jesus!
Dad:  You love Mommy because of Jesus?
Isaac:  Daddy?  I want to hear the sounds. [from the taperecorder]
Dad:  Would anybody like to sing a song about Mommy?
Isaac:  Yeah.
Dad:  Okay.  Let's hear your song.
Isaac: (singing)  I love Mommy.  I love Mommy.  I love Mommy.  Yes I do.  Yes I do.  I love Mommy.  I love Mommy.  Because her pretty.
Dad:  Good one!  Does Gracie have a song?  Let's hear your Mommy song.  Can you sing it, Gracie?
Isaac:  Can you sing that moose song?  That moose that you just said on the radio?
Dad: (singing)  I love Mommy...
Gracie: (singing)  I do too...
Isaac:  That was my song!  Gracie, that was my song I was doing!
Dad:  Yeah, Gracie knows it.  Let's hear you sing it.  Let's hear you sing the I love Mommy Song.
Gracie: (singing)  Love Mommys...
Dad:  That was great.  That was very pretty.
Gracie: (singing)  I do too...
Isaac: (singing)  I love Mommy...
Gracie:  I do too...
Isaac:  I love Mommy.  Yes I do.  Yes I do.
Gracie: (heavy breathing)  Love Mommy.  I do too.  I do too.
Dad:  Very pretty.
Gracie:  I do too.  I do too.
Dad:  What are some of the things you can think of that Mommy does for you that you are very thankful for?
Isaac:  Her sings me songs.
Dad:  That's good.  Does Mommy do anything else?
Isaac:  Yeah.  Her tells me "I love you."
Dad:  She tells you that she loves you...
Isaac:  Her say "I keep you."  Yep.  And Mommy... her make me food, and her said "I love you."
Dad:  Wow.  Those are great!  What does Mommy do for you Gracie?
Gracie:  Jesus.
Dad:  She tells you about Jesus?  What else does Mommy do?
Gracie:  Jesus!  Do too!
Dad:  Does Mommy give you huggies?
Gracie:  I do too.
Dad:  Does Mommy give you kisses?
Gracie:  Yeah!  I do tooooo!
Dad:  Who likes Mommy's kisses?
Gracie:  I do too.
Dad:  Who likes Mommy's hugs?
Gracie:  I do too.
Dad:  Do you like to give Mommy hugs?
Gracie:  Yes!
Isaac:  Her says, if something is breakable, I can't touch it.
Dad:  Why does she do that?  Does she say that to keep you safe?
Isaac:  Yeah.  Like a sword.  If I have a sword backward, it would hurt myself.
Dad:  Mmm.
Isaac:  Happy Mother's Day, Mommy.

Review #67: The Quiet Book

Gracie (age 9):  I can't see the book!  Your head is too big.
Isaac (age 11):  Shh!  It's "The Quiet Book."  You have to be quiet.
Dad:  Two people worked on "The Quiet Book"...
Lily (age 7):  Deborah Underwood and Renata Liwska.
Isaac:  People should know -- if you are reading this book to kids, it is not going to be a very quiet book.
Dad:  And why is that?
Isaac:  You are going to find yourself actually laughing.  Everyone here just kept laughing.
Dad:  So, what is the book about?
Lily:  "The Quiet Book" is about people being quiet.
Dad:  People?
Lily:  No.  Animals.
Gracie:  Cute animal characters.
Isaac:  Fluffy.
Gracie:  Cute.
Isaac:  And some have bad haircuts.
Dad:  Why was it so funny?
Isaac:  The pictures are really funny.  And sometimes the words help a picture to be funny.  If you just saw the picture by itself you would think, "Oh that's kind of sad."  But with the words it's really funny.
Dad:  The book lists many different kinds of quiet.  What were some examples?
Lily:  "Looking at your horrible new hairdo quiet."  And "underwater quiet."  And "I don't have a flashlight quiet."
Isaac:  And "trying not to hiccup quiet."  A bear is just holding this bunny up by his legs, dangling him down!
Lily:  There are tons of characters.  My favorite character is a porcupine.  Because he has an awesome hairdo.
Isaac:  Ha ha!  It's freaky.
Gracie:  It looks horrible.  He has the worst hairdo in the whole world!
Isaac:  I want that porcupine to come back.  He's funny!  He does not have very good luck.  Everything that has to do with that porcupine is hilarious.
Gracie:  Look at the kid in the background!  She's trying to get away from the barber!
Dad:  She doesn't want to end up like the porcupine...
Isaac:  Hi, little freaky hair dude!
Lily:  I like quiet.  I also like loud.  Crazy loud.
Dad:  What are some times that you guys are quiet?  Gracie, are you ever quiet?
Gracie:  Nope!
Isaac:  I like "trying to sleep quiet."  Or "getting out of bed quiet."
Gracie:  I like "first bite of cake quiet."
Dad:  Does the first bite of cake make you quiet?  Really?  Of course not long after, the sugar winds you up.
Lily:  I don't like "Daddy taking an hour on the phone quiet."
Dad:  Yeah, sometimes you guys have to settle down while I'm on the phone.
Lily:  I hate it.
Isaac:  One kind I don't like is "Being sent to my room quiet."  But nobody likes that.
Gracie:  Actually, if I was in trouble, I would like that.  Quiet means I wouldn't be getting yelled at.
Isaac:  (yawn)
Dad:  Talking about all this "quiet" made Isaac yawn.
Gracie:  (yawn)
Dad:  Now Gracie is yawning too!  We should save this book for before bed.
Isaac:  (yawn)  Agh - I keep yawning.
Lily:  (yawn)
Gracie:  That was a big yawn.
Dad:  Do you recognize the style of the drawings in this book?
Gracie:  "Little Panda."
Dad:  That's one of our favorite books by one of our favorite artists.
Gracie:  In "The Quiet Book" there is a clue that Renata Liwska also made "Little Panda."  In one of the pictures there is a "Little Panda" book on a shelf.
Isaac:  Her books have really good artwork.
Gracie:  She draws sketchy and cute.
Isaac:  Very sketchy.  Scribbly.  But amazingly cool.
Gracie:  The pictures have dull colors.  But that matches the book.
Dad:  Does that mean it's a dull book?
Gracie:  No!  It's hilarious.  But if the pages had bright purple or neon pink, that would wreck the book.  It's a quiet book, so it needs quiet colors.
Dad:  That's pretty clever of Mrs. Liwska, huh?
Lily:  She's one of our favorites.
Isaac:  She's going to get that medal thingie someday probably.
Gracie:  The Caldecott.
Isaac:  Yeah.  The Caldecott.  The drawing just looks so good.

picking a flower quiet, by Gracie

sneaking up on a duck quiet, by Lily

sailing through space quiet, by Isaac

Author: Deborah Underwood
Illustrator: Renata Liwska
Published, 2010: Houghton Mifflin
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