★
REVIEW TEAM FAVORITE
The Biggest Bear
By: Lynd Ward
Medal Winner
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Recommended age: Ages 4-8
Also read and recommended by: Jeannette Tulis, Lara Lleverino, Sherry Early
Johnny befriends a bear cub and brings him home. Gradually, the bear grows and grows and is wreaking havoc on farms in the area, eating everything in sight. Johnny tries over and over to get his bear to go back to the woods, but to no avail. Finally, Johnny's father tells him there is only one answer to the problem. Johnny takes his gun and leads his bear into the deep woods. But then....
The Biggest Bear was Lynd Ward's first children's picture book after a successful writing career for magazine articles. And what a delightful success the book was, winning the Caldecott Medal, and his first attempt at writing and illustrating a book! Although many of his illustrations were done in woodcuts, the illustrations for The Biggest Bear were done with casein paint in soft sepia tones. Throughout the book, each two-page spread consists of short text at the bottom of the left-hand side and the illustration on the right with lots and lots of white space. Soft and gentle, the illustrations show the growing bear, from cub to towering adult. Johnny is smaller and smaller in comparison, and the "problem" of his bear grows and grows.
I find it interesting that a young boy of age 8 or 9 is carrying a rifle as long as he is tall. That probably would not be found in a children's book of today. And animal rights folks would probably be opposed to shooting the bear as it became a nuisance. The story ends without that happening, though.
Ape In A Cape: An Alphabet of Odd Animals
By: Fritz Eichenberg
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Recommended age: Ages 4-8
With very simple rhyming text, each letter of the alphabet, capital format only, is portrayed with a short phrase about an animal. Some are quite imaginative like "Mouse in a blouse" or "Nag with a bag," and others are more realistic like "Whale in a gale" or "Owl on the prowl."
Alphabet books are some of my very favorite picture books, and this one is no exception. Some of the animals and objects might be new to young children and will expand their vocabulary. The illustrations are full-page using only two to three colors per page. The pictures are vintage in their appeal and a little quirky. I think young children will be delighted with this book.
Parents might want to know that the "L" page says "Lizard with a wizard."
Five Little Monkeys
By: Juliet Kepes
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
BUZZO, BINKI, BIBI, BULU and BALI were a nuisance to all the animals in the jungle—that is, to all the animals but Terrible, the Tiger, and everyone was afraid of him. The five monkeys were always playing tricks, even on Peccary, the gentle wild pig; they dropped coconuts on Lion; they propped Crocodile's mouth open and rowed him up the river.
But there came a day when the monkeys had to be punished. It was Peccary who saved them from a sad end and made them promise to be good. They even had a few good deeds to their credit, when one day Terrible went on the rampage and Mrs. Kepes' delightfully humorous story comes to a climax that will have young readers cheering.
This is a distinctive picture book bound to tickle the funny bones of all ages. Children will laugh at the antics of the little monkeys and will exclaim at the unusual pictures of Eland, Peccary, Terrible, and the other jungle animals.
From the dust jacket
One Morning in Maine
By: Robert McCloskey
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
This story is laid on the Maine seacoast, and the big-double spread pictures of the gulls and the boats and the harbor are full of sunshine and country loveliness. More than that, it is full of warmth and excitement of everyday living. When Sal loses her first tooth and discovers she is growing up, it is a very big moment. And a trip to the village is an enormous adventure for little Jane. The mother and father share these experiences with solemnity and humor and love.
Here is a typical American family and a lived-out story. You know that from the homey details in the kitchen, the way Sal appropriates her father to help look for her lost tooth, the way they dig clams for lunch, the motorboat that has to be rowed to the mainland, the gleeful expression on Jane's face as she creeps about the garage floor, forgotten in the serious discussion about spark plugs. The island and harbor are real too, for the McCloskey's live in northern Maine from springtime till October.
From the dust jacket
Puss in Boots
By: Marcia Brown
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Make way for the Marquis of Carabas and his famous cat! This is one of the stories that has delighted children through the years. How they love the sly cat as he struts through the countryside in his little red boots.
Secure in the red boots, he threatens to chop trembling mowers into mincemeat, vanquishes an ogre, takes over a castle and sees to it that his master marries the king's daughter.
What fun he is! Marcia Brown has made a new translation, keeping close to the original yet giving it flexibility for story-telling. Her handsome, lively pictures speak for themselves and make Puss a real character.
From the dust jacket
★
REVIEW TEAM FAVORITE
The Storm Book
By: Charlotte Zolotow
Illustrated by: Margaret Bloy Graham
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Recommended age: Ages 4-8
Also read and recommended by: Christine Kallner, Jeannette Tulis, Sherry Early
With more text than is usual for picture books, The Storm Book carries the reader through the storm from the earliest gray sky to the height of the storm to the rainbow at the end. Every other two-page spread is extensive text and then illustrations.
Margaret Bloy Graham's lovely illustrations are done in watercolor, showing the gradual progression of the storm from the little boy's farm to the city to the seashore. My favorite picture is the mother sitting in her home holding an infant, quietly watching the storm, totally unruffled by its intensity. That would be reassuring to a young child who fears these storms.
