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bob the artist + artsy beak craft + giveaway!
Bob the Artist by Marion Deuchars (2016).
This picture book is about creativity. About how it can solve problems in unexpected ways. About how—and this is the most important thing—it can solve a problem you’re having with yourself.
Filled with the signature creativity of its creator, this one’s fun and full of flair.
(click image(s) to enlarge)
Bob has long, skinny legs. (They are good for walking.) Bob likes them. But then, others tease him about those legs and his perception begins to change. He tries to alter his legs, to make himself different. (You might guess his attempts don’t work.)
So Bob does what he always does: goes for a walk.
I like that Bob goes for a walk. It seems simple enough, but it does so much. It shows how walking or movement or taking a break—I’m a firm believer in this—is integral to figuring stuff out.
His legs take him to an art museum, and there, he’s inspired (by Matisse! by Jackson Pollock!). Getting out of our own heads and experiencing something new often is inspiring, isn’t it?
Bob brings his attention from his legs to his beak: something he can change. But not because he doesn’t like it. Because his beak can be his canvas.
At the beginning, Bob is a bird with skinny legs. At the end, he is an artist. He discovers himself. And he discovers that a physical attribute others mock doesn’t make a lick of difference when he’s found what makes him really tick. And while that thing may be on the outside, it comes from the inside, from his own creativity.
Big thanks to Laurence King Publishing for images!
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Let’s design our own artsy beaks the way Bob did! They can double as party hats!
Marion Deuchars is all about encouraging kids to make art so that they can be artists—like the great masters, like her, and like Bob, so this craft fits the bill. (haha.)
What you need:
White cardstock
Pencil
Markers/crayons/colored pencils/paint
Tape (double-sided works best)
Scissors
A one hole punch
Elastic cord
Your artistic imagination!
First, cut out a party hat shape in cardstock (I loosely followed this template). After you test that it will wind up like a cone, lay it flat again and get creating. Draw whatever design you like. Then roll up the paper and tape it so the beak/hat sticks together. Then make a hole on each side and thread elastic through the holes. Tie the elastic through each hole and around it, making a knot. (Make sure the length of the elastic is just right to fit you or yours.) And, voila!
I hope you feel inspired like Bob!
Finally, Laurence King is generously giving away three copies of the book + a Bob the Artist tote bag to three lucky winners!
picture books about mail: a guest post from The Picture Book Club
I’m super excited that YiLing Chen-Josephson from The Picture Book Club is here to share picture books about mail. It’s a fitting post because the subscription service is all about two wonderful things: books and mail!
YiLing, take it away!
There has never been a time in my life when I haven’t loved mail. I can still remember what day of the week each of the family’s magazine subscriptions would arrive, and the names of all the companies — many long since shuttered — whose catalogs I would pore over. As I got older and started to write and receive letters of my own, the prospect of mail took on a whole new richness of anticipation.
Even now, with so many communication options available to us, I love the mail. Especially now, in this age of instant gratification, I feel like there’s something important about having to wait for something to arrive. Part of the impetus of The Picture Book Club was to create a gift that would unfurl over time and that would arrive, of course, through the mail.
I’m thrilled that Danielle has asked me to share a few of my favorite picture books about mail.
Mr. Postmouse’s Rounds by Marianne Dubuc (2015).If there’s one thing (besides mail and picture books, of course) that I’m a sucker for it’s intricately-imagined drawings of animals’ homes. This book had me at hello.
A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats (1969).
Peter decides to write a letter to his friend Amy to invite her to his birthday party because it will be more special than asking her in person. Keats’s nuanced exploration of the joys and challenges of being 7 is a thing of beauty.
The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters by Janet and Allan Ahlberg (1986).
The fun of this book, which details the correspondence received by familiar nursery rhyme characters, is that actual envelopes are affixed to its pages. Open them to find letters, postcards, catalogs, and gifts!
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, pictures by David Small (1996).
This touching story of a Depression-era girl who is sent to live with her uncle in the city is told entirely through her letters home.
The Post Office Book by Gail Gibbons (1982).
A cool, detailed look at the inner workings of the USPS from Gail Gibbons, a master of the non-fiction picture book.
A Letter for Leo by Sergio Ruzzier (2014).Leo is a mailman who longs to one day receive a letter of his own. A sweet story about loneliness and friendship, accompanied by Ruzzier’s typically hypnotic illustrations.
Katie Morag Delivers the Mail by Mairi Hedderwick (1984).
A lovely evocation of life on a tiny Scottish island.
YiLing Chen-Josephson reads hundreds of picture books every month. Her favorites make their way to other families via The Picture Book Club, the subscription service she runs. The Picture Book Club offers completely customizable subscriptions as well as themed packages such as Around the World in 12 Books and the Big Sibling Book Bundle. Before launching The Picture Book Club, YiLing worked as a writer, an editor, and a lawyer. She lives in NYC with her family and many, many books.
This Picture Book Life readers get $5 off any purchase at The Picture Book Club with the code, “Dd.” Hooray!
knock your socks off non-fiction picture books about the natural world + giveaways
I love the kind of non-fiction picture books that make you cry. But also the kind that inform and dazzle. Here are a few of those about the natural world that will enlighten, enchant, and knock those socks right off!
Mad About Monkeys (2015) and Smart about Sharks (2016) by Owen Davey.
I adored the first book and the follow up. Each of these is a compendium on its subject told and illustrated in fascinating ways; both include information about challenges facing each species. I can’t recommend this pair highly enough.
What will knock your socks off? The combination of stylish design and spellbinding information.
The Disgusting Critters series by Elise Gravel (2016).
Rats and lice have never been so charming. Each narrator introduces you to one critter-kind by way of hilarious spreads with at least one attribute to learn and at least one joke to laugh at (from the critter herself). Not to mention, the art is bold, vivid, and engaging. What better way to learn about the creatures who’ve been relegated to repulsive, but are anything but boring.
What will knock your socks off? The concept and humor.
A Beauty Collected by Rachel Garahan (2016).
A beauty indeed. This is an ABC, from aloe to bougainvillea to coconut and beyond. Each page has exquisite photos of elements of the natural world, some familiar, some perhaps new additions to a child’s vocabulary. But this is a book for any age to bask in the amazing stuff of nature told in lovely rhyme.
What will knock your socks off? Those photos.
The Wonder Garden by Jenny Broom and Kristjana S. Williams (2015).
The Wonder Garden showcases extraordinary flora and fauna on Earth: five amazing habitats and 80 of the incredible animals that live there.
What will knock your socks off? The technicolor illustrations.
Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman (2013).
I definitely want an Astronaut-Cat-Professor teaching me about space and stars and the speed of light. Don’t you? Inventive and overall stunning, this is the book about the universe to own.
What will knock your socks off? Having Professor Astro Cat as your guide.
And now, two non-fiction giveaways for you! First up, Mad About Monkeys and Smart About Sharks by Owen Davey, courtesy of Flying Eye Books! One winner gets the set!
And a set of 6 from Elise Gravel’s Disgusting Critters series, the ones pictured here, thanks to Tundra Books. One winner gets all six paperbacks!
penguin problems + penguin paper doll craft
Penguin Problems by Jory John & Lane Smith (2016).
This picture book is full of the narrator’s problems. Which means they’re the penguin kind. But basically they’re the kinds of problems anyone can relate to. The kind that stem from being bummed out about every little thing and how the world and our place in it sometimes feels completely utterly wrong, wrong, wrong.
Luckily, this little guy is hilarious.
Penguin’s problems include a cold beak and a lack of fish, the too-salty ocean, the inability to fly, and the way everybody looks the same. This narrator even mistakes the wrong penguin for his own mother. See?
The voice here is downright hysterical and as a reader you’re right there with the narrator’s list of grumbles. Until. There’s a big until in this book. The until is for a walrus. When the walrus talks, the whole tone changes. No more clipped complaints. Instead, a long zen speech about mindfulness ensues. And you know what? It works! It works in the book as a technique and it works for our little penguin’s problems. Well, sort of. You know how it is when you’re trying to be mindful and grateful and stuff. Your beak might still get cold.
A perfect prescription for a grumbly kind of mood or a book for when you want a good laugh. Penguin Problems is super clever and amusing at the same time and one of my top-shelf picture books in recent memory.
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My favorite part of the book (aside from the waddle demonstration) is the “Everybody looks the same as me” section. So, I thought this craft called for not just one penguin, but many penguins. The kind that all look pretty much the same. Enter, penguin paper dolls!
(Extra points if you spot one that’s slightly different!)
What you need:
White paper
Pencil
Scissors
Black marker; orange marker
Black colored pencil or marker
Fold an 8 1/2 by 11” sheet of paper into quarters long ways and then cut along the folds. With one long strip, fold in half and in half again until it’s all folded like a book. Then, unfold and refold accordion style.
Draw half a penguin shape along the left/folded edge of the top of the accordion booklet making sure its wing extends beyond the edge of the paper. Cut around that shape and unfold to see your paper doll penguins! Then, draw in the eyes and belly and color in. Voila! Penguins holding hands. (Repeat if you want more penguin chains.)
These would be cute on a wall, in a doorway, or as company any place. It’s nice to have company when you’re dealing with so many problems, right?
13 picture books to celebrate reading
Both the release of A Child of Books and a new school year got me thinking about wonderful picture books that celebrate reading. So here goes—some of my favorites that say cheers to a good book, to reading, to story itself:
A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston.
“We’re made from stories.” And many of the book’s extraordinary illustrations are made from the typeface of beloved ones. Stories make life exuberant, colorful, and imaginative. Come see.
Madeline Finn and the Library Dog.
Just right for a struggling reader who needs a kind, quiet ear in order to overcome the worry of not getting words right.
The Jacket by Kirsten Hall, pictures by Dasha Tolstikova.
There is a special moment of finding a book just for you and this book imagines what it must feel like to be found.
Surf’s Up by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Daniel Miyares.
The surf may be up, but when you’re in the middle of a good book (or in this case, a classic one), you just can’t be torn way. And your friends may get hooked too.
This is Sadie by Sara O’Leary and Julie Morstad.
Sadie is sometimes The Mad Hatter, or Mowgli, or on an adventure riding a white horse. You can be those characters too and step into stories with your imagination.
This is Not a Picture Book by Sergio Ruzzier.
This will convince a kid they can read a book that’s not a picture book (by using a picture book to do it!). Always Ruzzier’s quirky, wonderful illustrative charm.
Red Knit Cap Girl and the Reading Tree by Naoko Stoop.
A reading nook turns into library with the help of friends. After all, “It is good to share books.”
How to Read a Story by Kate Messner, illustrated by Mark Siegel.
The nuts and bolts of how to go about it.
The Story Blanket by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz, illustrated by Elena Odriozola.
This is really a story about kindness, sharing, and community, but it all starts with how the children gather on that blanket to listen to Babba Zarrah’s stories.
Let Me Finish by Minh Lê, illustrated by Isabel Roxas.
A plea against spoiler alerts, taken to great lengths. (p.s. I’ve made a reading glasses craft for this one.)
Mom, Dad, Our Books, and Me by Danielle Marcotte, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon.
Celebrating all the different kinds of reading one can do—where and how and what. Read the sky! Read a book! Read a cookbook! In a hammock. In a waiting room. In a kitchen.
Books Always Everywhere by Jane Blatt, illustrated by Sarah Massini.
An adorable ode to reading for the youngest set. “Book park/book shop/book start/book stop.”
The Whisper by Pamela Zagarenski.
A book about the magic of reading a wordless book in a book with words. A story in a story that empowers readers to invent their own.
