★
REVIEW TEAM FAVORITE
White Snow, Bright Snow
By: Alvin Tresselt
Illustrated by: Roger Duvoisin
Medal Winner
Reviewed by: Jeannette Tulis
Also read and recommended by: Deanna Knoll, Lara Lleverino, Sandy Hall, Sara Masarik, Sherry Early
This is the story of a town and a snowfall. The most striking aspect of this book is the vivid illustrations which are colorful and slightly blocky but very gestural and perfectly aligned with the text which is sparse but evocative of what life is like for different characters as they await the snow and then experience the snow. There is a postman, a policeman, a farmer, a group of children, and a burrow of rabbits. The snow affects each one in simple ways which are a delight to read aloud. The slightly larger than average text makes it easy for a beginning reader.
Bambino the Clown
By: Georges Schreiber
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Recommended age: Ages 4-8
Perhaps if I had read this to one of my daughters when she was young, she would not have been so petrified of clowns. Bambino, an Italian clown, and his pet seal entertain children at the circus. A little boy had lost his hat, and Bambino gives him another one as well as a ticket to the circus show. The plot is quite simplistic and the text is more wordy than most picture books, but the illustrations are bright, lively, and colorful and portray a happiness the clown has for making others happy.
McElligot's Pool
By: Dr. Seuss
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Confidential note to parents . . .
McElligot's Pool
is one book you won't tire of reading aloud!
We admit that if your child makes you read it more than 8,000 times, you may then, possibly, feel you've had enough.
But up to approximately 8,000 readings, a Dr. Seuss book is guaranteed to hold the parent's interest as keenly as the child's.
First published in 1947, McElligot's Pool features Marco, the character made famous in Dr. Seuss's first book for children, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. (He is still happily dreaming big in McElligot's Pool.) It also features a fleet of fanciful sea creatures worthy of any Seuss bestiary.
From the dust jacket of a later edition
Roger and the Fox
By: Lavinia R. Davis
Illustrated by: Hildegard Woodward
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Roger, a young boy about age 7 or 8, longs to see a fox, but he has to be very, very quiet in order to do that. And that's hard for a little boy to do. I love how the concept of sound, or lack thereof, is developed throughout the story. In the end, he actually sees two foxes and excitedly skis home to tell Seth, the hired man on his father's farm. The story line is a little more extensive than more modern picture books but is well written.
The illustrations are lovely in soft-toned pencil drawings and touched with a light red and soft blue. The pictures step you back into a world of gentler farm days - kind of like my grandfather's farm in Pennsylvania at the start of the 1900s. Even the barn looks like his barn.
I love this sweet story!
Song of Robin Hood
By: Anne Malcolmson
Illustrated by: Virginia Lee Burton
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Recommended age: All ages
A trio of women collaborated to produce this "triumphant achievement:" Anne Malcolmson--fifteen carefully-researched, original ballads of Robin Hood; Grace Castagnetta--the musical notation; and Virginia Lee Burton--the detailed illustrations. Careful attention to history, actual musical scores, and elaborate period-style illustrations all combine to present the well-known legends of Robin Hood. When studying the Middle Ages, don't miss this book! And if you are musically inclined, play the songs and try to sing a few with your family.
Stone Soup
By: Marcia Brown
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Three soldiers came marching down the road towards a French village. The peasants seeing them coming, suddenly became very busy, for soldiers are often hungry. So all the food was hidden under mattresses or in barns. There followed a battle of wits, with the soldiers equal to the occasion. Stone soup? Why, of course, they could make a wonderful soup of stones... but, of course, one must add a carrot or two... some meat... so it went.
Marcia Brown has made of this old tale a very gay book, a carnival of activity, of dancing and laughter. So much goes on in the pictures that children who have once heard the story will turn to them again and again, retelling the story for themselves.
A French version of the story is available under the title Une Drôle de Soupe.
From the 1975 dust jacket
