Category: Center Right

This Is Not a Picture Book!

fbad1

This Is Not a Picture Book! came out on May 3, 2016, published by Chronicle Books. You can find a copy at your local bookstore or order it on Indiebound.

“Such a lovely, irreverent illustrated ode to books and why we read.” –Brain Pickings

Named a New York Times Notable Book of 2016

Named a Publishers Weekly Best Picture Book of 2016

Named a School Library Journal Best Picture Book of 2016

A Parents’ Choice Gold Medal.

“An affirmation of the transformative power of reading.” –Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“A book about learning to read. offers gentle empathy for kids tackling this intimidating task.” –Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Sweet, profound book… pays a sneaky tribute to the power of words and pictures to work together. Brilliant endpapers.” –The New York Times

“Effectively demonstrates the magic of reading and the power of imagination.” –School Library Journal, starred review

“Read. Share. Repeat. This one is a joy.” –Julie Danielson, Kirkus Reviews

 

Have You Seen My New Blue Socks?

hysmnbs

Four starred reviews!

Have You Seen My New Blue Socks?

“A great addition to the literature on ducks. . . or socks!”
Kirkus, starred review

“Bunting and Ruzzier create a lightly surreal and emotionally benevloent landscape. . . . The book’s gentle takeaway [is] reinforced by Ruzzier’s signature offbeat aesthetic . . . and Bunting’s solid, conversational rhymes.”
Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Such angst over a pair of socks has never been conveyed so well. . . . A perfect book for the newest reader, especially one with a grand sense of humor.”
Horn Book, starred review

“This is a whimsical delight for children whose parents clamor for phonics-based books.”
School Library Journal, starred review

 

Tweak Tweak

tweakcover

Tweak Tweak, published by Clarion Books in 2011.

“Young children will enjoy following Little Elephant’s fantasies….Along with the imaginative silliness, the nurturing parent-child tenderness is the core of the story.” – Booklist

“The pairing of Bunting’s traditional text, powered by an elegant repeating structure, with Ruzzier’s offbeat art is unexpectedly fabulous.” – Horn Book Magazine, starred review

Love You When You Whine

lywyw

Love You When You Whine written by Emily Jenkins. Frances Foster Books/FSG, 2006

Jenkins (That New Animal ) extols the limitless love of parents in her accounting of the numerous patience-stretching antics of young children, which may appeal more to the caregiver than the child. “Love you when you pour cereal on the floor.And when you ask for every toy in the whole store,/ one after the other.” This observant tally of misdeeds ranges from small annoyances, such as interrupting, to larger misdemeanors like putting crayons in the dryer or spreading jam on the computer. The same mother and child-two white, upright cats with wide, deep-set blue eyes and outsize ears-feature in illustrations that Ruzzier (The Room of Wonders ) fans will quickly recognize. His earthtone colors and spare backdrops fill small, uneven portholes, surrounded by white space. What the slightly offbeat paintings lack in the warm and fuzzy department is made up for in the book’s reassuring message and wry humor (e.g., one spread reads, “Love you when you paint the walls…”-a turn of the page reveals, “and the dog”). The quirky art and missing first-person pronoun confer a subtly avant-garde quality, while the tone evokes a parent heaving an exhausted sigh. But the mother’s love never wavers and culminates with a big hug and comforting tuck-in scene. “Love you, always. Yes, I do.” Youngsters will smile at both the kitten’s tolerance-testing tricks and also the knowledge that a parent’s devotion will withstand a bit of a whine and other transgressions. –Publishers Weekly

 

Why Mole Shouted

whymole

Why Mole Shouted and Other Stories written by Lore Segal. Frances Foster/FSG, 2004

A Parents’ Choice Gold Award

This read aloud, four stories in one book, about a mole who lives with his
grandmother is a sweet unassuming masterpeice. The relationship between adult
and child is endearing as any in children’s literature. The two get on quite nicely
even when Mole looses his much needed glasses, shouts loudly and frequently
asks “Why?” again and again and again and again. Even then, Grandmother
leans down and kisses him on the nose. When he is outside she gives him a
wooly scarf to wrap around his throat, makes sure he has his mittens, and that his
cap is pulled down over the place his ears would have been if he had ears outside.
As cold as it is, he is building a snowmole. In the house, Grandmother buttons
her wooly sweater all the way up, and puts another log on the fire.
Illustrator Sergio Ruzzier shows us a picture of her waiting there. The artist’s
tempo is simple. His muted colors are gentle. No line is wasted. All quietly
convey an extraordinary relationship that he skillfully makes appear ordinary.
Diana Huss Green ©2004 Parents’ Choice

 

”Why Mole Shouted and Other Stories,” by Lore Segal, runs in the tradition of
Arnold Lobel’s ”Frog and Toad” stories, or James Marshall’s ”George and Martha”
tales, those sweet, seemingly simple stories of great and abiding friendships.
Children may learn more of friendship from books like these than from years of
painful trial and error. Just as important, they learn that love takes all kinds of
forms, not merely the predictable or traditional ones. […]
Segal has written versions of fairy tales illustrated by no less a great light than
Maurice Sendak. Here she is accompanied by tender watercolors by Sergio
Ruzzier, in muted shades of blue, green, tan, brown, and orangey-red, with a
dash of lavender thrown in for spice. His pictures are not pretty in any
conventional sense; indeed, they are almost deliberately weird, and the creatures
are homely, if immensely likable. ”Why Mole Shouted” is quietly stellar: gentle,
warm, and witty. It’s a great book for reading aloud, and inviting enough for
early readers. This is another Frances Foster imprint book, which simply means
that the great editor has struck gold yet again.  –The Boston Globe

Protected: The Birds

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: