Sweet (but not sappy).

Charley's First Night by Amy Hest
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A child narrates the events of the first night a puppy spends in the house of his new family. Just-right sweetness.

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The All-Star Team

If I were playing fantasy baseball with books, here's who I'd want on my team. These All-Star picks of mine, I suspect, most people are missing out on. I want these books to stay on the staff picks display not for the usual 30-60 days, but forever--until everyone in the world has enjoyed them! And make no mistake--although these are children's books, I want adults as well as children to have the pleasure they bring, regardless of whether they have a child in their life sharing the experience.

Pitcher: A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck. This one has the advantage of a male protagonist--de riguer when recommending to boys. Grandma Dowdel is one character you'll never forget. Follow up with A Year Down Yonder and Fair Weather.

Catcher: Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath. The most unexpected happy ending ever. Follow up with The Trolls.

1st Baseman: A Bargain for Frances by Russell Hoban. It's never too early for a little girl to be warned about potential cattiness in a playmate. And if, Like Frances, you can give as good as you get, you can still remain friends! Follow up with the other Frances books by Hoban.

2nd Baseman: Dear Mr. Blueberry by Simon James. A story of imagination, friendship, and ecology. It's a shame, but I betcha haven't even heard of author-illustrator Simon James. And he'll never win a Caldecott, 'cause he's a resident of Britain.

Shortstop: C D B! by William Steig. If you know your ABCs, that's all you need to read these ear-puzzles. Follow up with C D C?

3rd Baseman: In the Town All Year Round by Rotraut Susanne Berner. A rich reading and perusing experience at any age; can even be "read" by those who don't know their ABCs yet.

Right Fielder: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George. Okay, so this did win a Newbery Medal. I love it so much, however, that until I find something less well-known to replace it, it's on my list.

Center Fielder: In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord. Baseball as seen through the eyes of Shirley Temple Wong, a young Chinese immigrant in New York City, 1947.

Left Fielder: Yucka Drucka Droni by Eugenia and Vladimir Radunsky. Even exceeds the zaniness and tongue-twisting of "There's a Gnuthbrush on my toothbrush".

3-D illustrating

Remember the beginning of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, when the camera floats over the miniature set of buildings? I always found that view fascinating, and wished that the whole show featured those little buildings. Home, a wordless picture book by Jeannie Baker, offers views on a city neighborhood in a somewhat similar fashion. The illustration technique is relief collage. I feel a bit tardy on "discovering" Jeannie Baker as an illustrator, because she has been publishing since 1977. Home was a 2005 ALA Notable book, originally titled Belonging, when it was published in Australia. This summer I have caught up with Ms. Baker by reading Home, Grandfather, and Where the Forest Meets the Sea.

Another noteworthy illustrator, Salley Mavor, makes "fabric-relief." She takes broadcloth, felt, knits, ribbons, eyelet, buttons, yarn, and painted wood, and then sews, embroiders, crochets and arranges them into pictures. My two favorites among her work are The Hollyhock Wall by Martin Waddell and In the Heart by Ann Turner. In both books, the magic of a high-quality story is added to by intricately detailed illustrations. A quote from Salley Mavor herself, from the book jacket of The Hollyhock Wall, helps describe how this works: "she chose to illustrate Mary's garden-fantasy world in this medium because 'sometimes the vivid world of fantasy seems more real than real life.'" In art, realism has a place, but the audience often benefits more when guided to see things through a filter which the artist provides.

The Orchestra--Snicket Tells All

The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket is rife with puns and wordplay, as well as inside scoop about the orchestra. Snicket reveals personal traits about the instruments, all of which have the ring of truth. For example, the clarinets and oboes are sneaky and manipulative. And doesn't it sound perfectly right that the Tuba is a bachelor who stays at home and plays cards with his landlady? The accompanying CD is not just a ho-hum reading aloud of the text. The music, composed by Nathaniel Stookey, wonderfully expands the experience in the same way that quality illustrations extend the storytelling in good picture books.

Lemony Snicket, the narrator on the CD, has improved his performance since the days of his audio readings of the Series of Unfortunate Events books 3 to 5. His deadpanness (if I may coin a word) then was likely a conscious decision to complement the series' theme, but for me he was downright boring. Others seem to have agreed, because Tim Curry picked back up narrating books 6 to 13. For The Composer Is Dead, however, Snicket is sufficiently and fabulously dramatic, even operatic. He has come into his own on this reading.

Carson Ellis, the illustrator, was recognizable to me as the artist who does The Mysterious Benedict Society and, I thought, perhaps a Decemberists album cover. A little Googling reveals that she is married to Colin Meloy of the Decembrists, and drew many (or all?) of their covers. Her blog, at http://littlelittlegreenhouse.blogspot.com/ has lots of great work available to view.

A definite thumbs up for all three creators of this picture book/music/audiobook in all its formats. I would call it a Listening Experience.

Goldilocks--the Best Version

In my opinion, the best version of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears is as retold by Jim Aylesworth and illustrated by Barbara McClintock, 2001. It has the flavor of dramatic fireside storytelling. Goldilocks is a likable character in this version, because her motivations are explained sympathetically. Rather than coming across as the usual greedy, inconsiderate boor, Goldilocks is shown to be a curious little girl who at times just forgets her better self. For example, it is explained that she eats up Baby Bear’s porridge “without really meaning to.”

Aylesworth employs the old storytelling tool of repetition, describing how on this day Goldilocks keeps forgetting “not to do what her mother told her not to do.” She forgets “not to go into other people’s houses without being invited”, “not to touch other people’s food”, “not to use other people’s things without permission”, and “not to be nosy about other people’s private business.” She finally comes to herself at the instant the Bears wake her up, by remembering “not to talk to strangers”, and so she runs home.

Old-fashioned storytelling flavor comes from little, added words and phrases, like miniature commentaries, revealing the narrator’s presence and opinion of the events. Instead of merely reporting that the porridge smelled delicious, the narrator savors it, “And mmm, yes! That porridge smelled so delicious…” After Baby Bear’s chair crashes to the floor, the narrator offers, “Well, you might think that being dropped on the floor like that would have put a stop to her being so curious, but no, it didn’t, sadly no.” The narrator emphasizes the shock of Goldilocks’s misbehaviors by reinforcing with “Yes she did” or “No, indeed, she didn’t!” These informalities make the story seem like a juicy piece of gossip shared over the back fence. “And from all that I’ve heard, Goldilocks’s scary experience there in the woods that day did wonders to improve her young memory.”

Barbara McClintock’s illustrations show a great range of expressions on Goldilocks’s face as she proceeds on her adventure—glee, curiosity, disdain, gusto, and discomfort of several kinds. And as always, McClintock sets her pictures in the late nineteenth century period. I found two inside jokes. First, Goldilocks is holding a book in her room which just may be the Aylesworth-McClintock Gingerbread Man. Second, she loses a shoe while hastily descending the bears’ staircase.

The book ties in with three earlier Aylesworth-McClintock nursery tales by featuring a recipe for Mama Bear’s Porridge Cookies. The Gingerbread Man (1998), Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy (1999), and The Tale of Tricky Fox (2001) each has its own recipe on the dust jacket.

This outstanding version of what is a very old story is a witness to the power of nursery and fairy tales to inspire writers and captivate readers even after many years and versions.

Weeklies, briefly

My picture book of the week is The Secret Circus, written and illustrated by Johanna Wright. This depicts a circus in Paris, about which only the mice know.

My novel of the week is Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien. I have spent so much time this week thinking about this epic story and reading passages from it, that I haven't finished my intended novel of the week and its review. Lord of the Rings fascinates me continually. I can't get enough of the history of the rings, the peoples and creatures of Middle-Earth, and comparing differences between the Peter Jackson-directed movie trilogy versus the books.

Great paintings--this is why I love picture books!

My picture book of the week is Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, which relates the story of Henry "Box" Brown's escape from slavery, by having himself mailed in a crate from Richmond, Virginia to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The trip took 27 hours.

The book jacket says that Kadir Nelson's paintings for this book were inspired by an antique lithograph of Henry Box Brown, made in 1850. To give the feel of the lithograph, Nelson crosshatched pencil lines, then applied layers of watercolor and oil paint. These illustrations are outstanding, and a great example of why I love picture books. They reproduce fine art, making it available to many people at one time, inexpensive, easily transportable, can be enjoyed an unlimited number of times, and most importantly, easily shared with children.

The crosshatched texture and rich color in Nelson's paintings really make them exceptional, so it's no surprise that this book was awarded a Caldecott Honor. I've been behind on my reading of award winners, and I couldn't remember what was the medal winner that year, so I assumed I must not have read it. I undertook to look it up and compare, wondering, "How is it that Henry's Freedom Box didn't merit the medal--what book published the same year could possibly have been better?" When I looked up the award list, I was reminded that the winner was The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. My mind had drawn a blank on 2008's medal winner because I was trying to remember something in the 32-page format, which Cabret was not. I don't need to quibble over who got the #1 spot--both books deserved recognition. How wonderful it is that there are so many marvelous and beautiful books, and new ones every year, to enjoy. Long live picture books.

How to Be Green, for Wee Ones

Picture book of the week: Big Earth, Little Me written by Thom Wiley, illustrated by Kate Endle. Short and sweet. The day I ran across this book I read 18 picture books, and Big Earth, Little Me was the best one of the day! I picked it up because I have a thing for cut paper collage illustrations. Seeing the wonderfully simple and succinct message of ways you can help the earth won me over. The 16 pages are made from sturdy cardstock and include flaps to further the action. Printed with soy ink. Published by Scholastic, 2009.