Category Archives: PICTURE BOOKS +

the mermaid’s shoes + mermaid tails you can wear!!

06.24.2014

The Mermaid’s Shoes by Sanne te Loo (2014) published by Lemniscaat, originally produced in the Netherlands (2012).

Who hasn’t dreamed of being a merperson? It’s no wonder there are so many stories about them—they’re magical. I’ve recently put scuba diving on my bucket list because of my own desire to swim and breathe underwater like a creature of the sea.

(click image(s) to enlarge)

On her last day of summer vacation, Mia finds a pair of curious objects (aka swim fins) on the sand and decides they must be mermaid shoes. After that, she wears them everywhere (including in her sleep; see them jutting off her bed in the blue picture?). Mia fancies herself a mermaid. She even fashions a tail to attach to her fins.

One of the many beauties of this book is how the ocean follows Mia. It’s in her dreams and it’s at the zoo she visits; the museum; it’s painted on a bus in the road and displayed on platters in the seafood shop window.

From the very first page, Sanne te Loo creates the joyful whoosh of the sea that calls to Mia like a song.

At the end of the book, Mia finds the perfect place to let her mermaid tail be talk of the town! (Hint, hint: there’s a clever clue that appears in all the scenes of said town, even Mia’s view from her window in that first spread subtly shows where she’ll eventually end up.)

Thanks to Myrick Marketing & Media for the images!

I received a review copy; opinions are my own.

Guys, the Mertailor makes realistic looking mermaid (and merman) tails. The kind you can swim in!

In fact, his site says, “they are built with a custom polycarbonate Monofin that will provide power and speed for swimming through water like a dolphin.” Like a dolphin!! Dreams can come true!

Many are pricey, okay, but perhaps worth it for someone who really truly has a dream of playing mermaid. Or maybe just fun to look at and play fantasy mermaid for a moment. That’s what I do every time I’m in a pool or the ocean anyway. So here they are:

(photos by Chris Crumley.)

Then, check out this video of The Mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida. Yeah, it’s an underwater mermaid performance. Must see to believe.

And since I can’t be a performer in that show, I’ll plan a trip to Tulum to go snorkeling or scuba diving in the cenotes.

the frank show + old stuff is new

PICTURE BOOKS +

06.12.2014

The Frank Show by David Mackintosh (2012).

I love this book. I love it for its retro and architectural illustrations, its humor, and good old Grandpa Frank who is so persnickety and old-fashioned and endearing.

I read it aloud to my husband, who laughed the whole way through it.

Basically, this kid needs to do a show and tell presentation in which he talks about a family member to his class for a full minute.

Talking about Grandpa Frank for a full minute seems an impossible task because he’s always saying stuff like, “They don’t make ’em like that anymore.” Everyone else in class has a cool relative to talk about, but this kid’s just got Grandpa Frank whose arm hurts when it’s about to rain. Ugh.

“He doesn’t like noise,

or today’s music,

or gadgets and gizmos (or new things),

or haircuts, or weather, or doctors,

or any sort of ice cream that isn’t vanilla.

And today I have to talk about him for a

full minute.”

But wouldn’t you know it? At the very last minute, Granda Frank surprises the kid. And the class. And it turns out he’s pretty cool.

This book is smart and wry and hilarious and I just dare you not to enjoy it immensely for even ONE FULL MINUTE

Thanks to David Mackintosh for the images!

Lots of stuff Grandpa Frank likes is cool again. In fact, his taste is de rigueur. So I give you stuff sold at Urban Outfitters that Grandpa Frank would probably dig. (Urban didn’t pay me to do this either lest you think it’s an ad.)

Mustache Wax. Because mustache. (There’s pomade for hair too.)

Portable record player. Because records.

Brass comb. For shirt pockets. (There’s still room for pens.)

Suspenders. Pants-holding up purposes.

Fedora. Obvs.

Cropped pants a la Albert Einstein. (I think I must get these for my dude.)

Finally, I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that Grandpa Frank would like these t-shirts. I mean shuttle lift-off and National Geographic? Right up his alley.

Hope you check outThe Frank Show if you haven’t already! It would make a great dad/grandad gift (as would everything in this post—bonus).

skin again + humans of new york

PICTURE BOOKS +

06.05.2014

Skin Again by bell hooks, illustrated by Chris Raschka.

“The skin I’m in is just a covering.

It cannot tell my story.”

bell hooks‘s text is rhythmic, poetic, like music when read aloud. Chris Raschka‘s illustrations are bold and layered, messy and childlike with wonderful color palettes.

The book’s basic premise is that skin tells something about someone, something about you. But that’s not all there is. There’s all the stuff inside them and you and all of us.

“You can find all about me—

coming close and letting go

of who you might think I am.”

I love the eyes, scribbles, onions, snakes, squares, and bars of color. Hands reaching out and grasping one another. Skin and not skin. Outside and in.

I think the Humans of New York blog might be the perfect extension of this book. Do you already know it?

If not, it’s photos of people on the streets of New York. But more than that, the photographer Brandon Stanton includes one quote from each individual as well. And that quote, it sometimes surprises. Even if it doesn’t, it gives a window into his/her life. And what’s inside.

Here are some recents, taken from Humans of New York facebook page.

“I told her: ‘You know that feeling you get about Dad? Well I feel that way too. About a girl.'”

“I’m gonna be an ice cream man!”

“I’ve been training in martial arts for 24 years. And I’ve never once been in a fight outside the academy.”

“I’m trying to determine how sensors can be used to collect information about soils and plants so that farmers in India can better manage their crops.”

“I tend to be cynical about a lot of things, but Maya Angelou is somebody that no matter how much I pick her apart, she still has integrity. She was a victim of incest and rape, and she worked as a stripper. And now she’s a literary icon and Nobel Laureate. It goes to show that life is cumulative, and you can’t devalue any type of experience.”

“I’m always checking the Wikipedia pages of my idols to see where they were at my age.”

“I’m trying to succeed in real estate without being a douchebag.”

And as of last year, the blog is a book.

please bring balloons + balloons!!

PICTURE BOOKS +

05.20.2014

I adore the kinds of picture books that can be interpreted as either fantastically real adventures or dreams that didn’t actually happen but are flights of fancy instead. Either way, it’s magic.

Please Bring Balloons by Lindsay Ward is one of those books.

“It appeared unexpectedly.

Peeking out of the polar bear’s saddle, a hint of paper.”

The first page has the word “paper” in it. It’s a note from a carousel polar bear. And paper is also what makes the illustrations in the book so unique. They’re collaged and pasted together with bits of papery stuff—notebook paper, a doily, maps.

The carousel polar bear wants balloons to fly. To fly with the girl. To fly with the girl all the way to the North Pole to dance with other polar bears. (To rumpus with them, in a shout out to Where the Wild Things Are.)

It’s wild and magical, but my favorite line in the book is pretty down to earth:

“Emma was thankful she had worn her boots.”

(Wonder Bear by Tao Nyeu comes to mind as an excellent pair to this one. Both have that dreamlike quality and a fabulous white bear leading the way.)

Thanks to Lindsay Ward for the images!

So, balloons!! A polar bears says, bring ’em so here they are!

My first stop for balloon inspiration has got to be Studio DIY.

She decorated O shaped balloons to look like donuts. With sprinkles! How happy are they (and us)?

This is a pretty way to paint balloons that even I could do. (I think.)

DIY Fruit Balloons from Oh Happy Day.

How cool would it be to have these balloon lamps?

This balloon art installation in the Netherlands in 2012 is pretty wonderful.

And Daisy Balloon‘s balloon dresses? Out of this world.

Bjork wore one once. I rest my case.

Big shout outs to Geronimo Balloon in Los Angeles and Brooklyn Balloon Company too.

My turn. For my latest birthday, my dude, who is kind of a balloon guy, surprised me this way. (Now you know my age and what my bed pillows look like.)

cecil the pet glacier / ice is nice

PICTURE BOOKS +

05.13.2014

Cecil the Pet Glacier by Matthea Harvey & Giselle Potter.

Guys, this is a strange book. And I mean that as high, high praise.

The first line:

“Ruby Small was a normal little girl.”

But I can’t help but notice the three identical dolls in her arms who are dressed exactly like Ruby (in brown pinafores). It makes me think Ruby herself wants to be a normal little girl. Or hopes she is. But maybe she actually isn’t.

Because you see Ruby Small’s parents, well, they’re “not-normal-at-all-parents.” Mr. Small makes topiaries. Mrs. Small designs tiaras. Also, they tango. In the yard. It’s all quite horrifying to Ruby.

When discussing a vacation spot, Mr. Small suggests China. When Ruby answers, “No way,” it’s misinterpreted as Norway by the elders. So that’s where they go.

On the plane, between Ruby taking care of their passports and her parents playing ping-pong, pets are discussed. Her parents have wild ideas. Ruby wants a dog. (Something NORMAL.)

There are glaciers in Norway. And there are baby glaciers. And one of those baby glaciers decides to be Ruby Small’s pet. It follows her. Norwegian Sven gives it the name Cecil. Her parents take care of it. Her weird parents love this weird pet. But Ruby doesn’t.

“Ruby had no interest in her pet. On weekends, she and The Three Jennifers would go into their room and lock Cecil out. He would nudge the door, leaving a wet patch below the doorknob. After a bit, he would slide sadly back to his cooler.”

But Cecil, like most “normal” pets, is sweet and empathetic. Cecil loves his human, Ruby. And, eventually, he proves this to Ruby and she loves him too.

A strange book in all the best ways. But it’s also sad and sweet—an ode to pets and making peace with strangeness.

Thanks to Giselle Potter for the images! You can see and shop her artwork here.

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Since the weather is warming (aka we’re having a heat wave in L.A.), here are ice cubes in honor of Cecil. They’re far from the norm in the sweetest, best way. I can’t wait to try these!