Picture Book Soak

     I headed over to my local public library right after school yesterday.  I work in a middle school, so I arrived early enough to beat the elementary school crowd.  Our local library was relocated to an old school for a couple of years while the current location was doubled in size and remodeled.  The “new” library has been open for almost two years now, and the designers were very aware of creating a soothing, quiet, and inviting space.  The librarian’s extensive use of signs meant that I found the folklore and poetry section very quickly after introducing myself to the assistant librarian at the main circulation desk.  I was very surprised to see the sheer number of books in both sections.  I had assumed, based on my limited experience as a child, that those sections would be small because I was never attracted to those genres.  Most of my childhood was spent with the Babysitter’s Club and Sweet Valley Twins!  I flipped through some interesting reads for about an hour and then headed to the picture book section.

            I have four children myself, so I’m no stranger to the picture book section.  I have always been impressed with how well the section is laid out.  The wide aisles and low shelves made it easy for me to pull up a stool and start working my way through the many, many books.  It was great to read through books that my children would probably never select, so I felt like I was learning about so many new books!  It was difficult to select only four to write up for class. 

            One book that I really liked was The toy farmer by A. Pelletier.  It was a fictional

story of a little boy, Jed, who wakes up to find that his old farmer toy has come alive in his room.  Soon his carpet starts to sprout little seedlings and vines take over his walls.  Large pumpkins start to grow and Jed enters one in the county fair, winning first prize.  When he wakes up the next morning, the farm in my room has vanished and Jed is sad.  His dad lets him in on a little secret—he also won a ribbon in the fair with his pumpkins when he was a child and assures Jed that the toy returns to life for many more adventures.  My son is currently in love with tractors and farming, so I liked the book immediately for the subject matter.   I found the illustrations to be beautifully done.  The background images of Jed in his room were done in muted, realistic tones, while the farmer toy and the growing plants were done in brighter, primary colored drawings on top of the background.  The illustrations covered the pages, making me feel immediately like I was being drawn into the story.

          

  A book that I can’t wait to use with students is The gingerbread man loose in the school by L. Murray.   The story of the gingerbread man is already familiar to most children, but this story adds the fun twist that the cookie was baked by students in a school as a class project.  The gingerbread man is left behind to cool as the children head out for recess, but he panics that he’s going to be forgotten.  So we get to read about his exciting adventures as he tries to find his class.  The illustrations are adorable and simple.  They really help tell the story.   I would choose this book to read aloud to my class because of the amazing rhyming in the story.  It flows so evenly and perfectly, I almost feel like I’m singing a children’s song while reading the words. 

            It was difficult to find a book that I didn’t care for that was published after 2006. 

Most of the ones I didn’t like were old, poorly illustrated, or the storyline was out of date.  I finally found one that was published in 2011 called Princess super kitty by A. Portis.  The illustrations were simply drawn, but almost had an amateur feel about them.  I was mostly turned off by the storyline.  A little girl pretends to be a kitten and her mother goes along with it, feeding her lunch in a cat dish and throwing toys for her.  The girl decides that being a cat isn’t enough, so now she’s a super kitty.  She puts on a cape and orders her older brother and parents to follow her commands, which consist mostly of going to get her things.  After she becomes bored with that scenario, she decides she is princess super kitty and adds a tiara to her getup.  I was quickly bored with the book.  It felt like the author was just adding more and more twists to the story to keep it interesting, but I found it to be long-winded.  I didn’t like that the parents and brother followed the little girl’s commands because I think some kids are power-hungry enough without the encouragement from this book.  I could picture my daughter trying to immolate the story by ordering me to go get something for her and I can guarantee she wouldn’t like my response!  The illustrations did not to draw in my attention.

          

  A book that caught my attention was Stella brings her family by M. Schiffer.  Stella’s teacher announces that they will be having a big Mother’s Day celebration in a week.  Stella becomes quiet and distracted with her friends while she tries to figure out a solution to her “problem”—she has no mom and two dads.  Her friends ask her who ties her shoes and makes her lunch, and Stella points out that she has two dads to take care of her every need, she just doesn’t have a mom to bring to the celebration.  Stella ends up bringing her entire family including an aunt, uncle, and grandparents to the celebration.  The other students are thrilled that Stella came up with a solution that makes her happy once more.  I liked that the book included examples of nontraditional families, including a classmate of Stella’s that has two mothers and another student who is being raised by his grandmother.  It came as no surprise that the book was published this year considering the modern theme.  It seems like a necessary and appreciated addition to the library.

            Overall, I was very happy to participate in this assignment.  When I visit the library with my own children, they are pulling me in different directions, trying to find their favorite authors.  I rarely have time to select a book from the adult section for myself, let alone explore the picture books.  This assignment opened my eyes to the fact that I will have to be familiar with all types of books when I become a librarian, not just the genres that I enjoy reading. 

Bibliography

Murray, L., & Lowery, M. (2011). The gingerbread man loose in the school. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Pelletier, A., & Nash, S. (2007). The toy farmer. New York: Dutton Children's Books.

Portis, A. (2011). Princess Super Kitty. New York: Harper.

Schiffer, M., & Brown, H. (2015). Stella brings the family. Chronicle Books.