May I Bring A Friend?
By: Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
Illustrated by: Beni Montresor
Medal Winner
NOT REVIEWED
What could be more natural, when invited by the King and Queen to tea, than to ask to bring a friend? And that, of course, is what the hero of May I Bring a Friend? does. Not only to tea, but to breakfast, lunch, dinner, apple pie and Halloween—one invitation for each of six days of the week.
The King is most gracious. "Any friend of our friend is most welcome here," says he. And his graciousness extends to giraffes, lions, hippos, monkeys, all kinds of friends. Not all of whom are on their very best behavior.
It must be assumed however, that everyone (including the reader) enjoyed the friends, for why else would the king and queen step off to the zoo for tea on the seventh day.
From the dust jacket
A Pocketful of Cricket
By: Rebecca Caudill
Illustrated by: Evaline Ness
Honor
Reviewed by: Lara Lleverino
Recommended age: 4-6 years of age
This book will make you long for slow living. The perfect antidote to today's social media and virtual living this book is long slow wallow in a sensory explosion of nature. The story follows young Jay as he interacts with the natural world around him as he walks to bring the cows in after a day of grazing on the hills around his home. A perfect example of a child that has over hours of experience grown the skill of "seeing" the world around him. Then Jay goes to school and shares with his class and teacher the wonder and awe of the natural world around them. I love the teacher of this book as well who takes the time to ask her student clarifying questions about the noise coming from his pocket when the temptation to get on with her planned lesson which opens the classroom to the wider lessons of nature and noticing.
Rain Makes Applesauce
By: Julian Scheer
Illustrated by: Marvin Bileck
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
This is a book of silly talk. It doesn't pretend to be anything else. And yet it is an extraordinary creation, in which author and artist speak to children in a very special way. The fanciful nonsense and marvelously intricate pictures are full of sly subtleties and happy surprises for eye and ear.
It is a book of absurd delights, of tiny, fey graphic details, of captivating scenes and lyrical phrases that stretch the imagination. Children will return to it again and again for new meanings, new images, new responses.
As a former political affairs writer and a present space program administrator, Julian Scheer has dealt with some of the most sophisticated facts in the adult world. Yet, for him, the play of a child's mind is even more marvelously far out than space-probing. With a poet's awareness, he recognizes children's instincts for relating nonsense and natural wisdom. He often exchanges silly talk with his own and other children, and out of that offhand play grew the extravaganza of Rain Makes Applesauce.
From the dust jacket
The Wave
By: Margaret Hodges
Illustrated by: Blair Lent
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Recommended age: Ages 4-8
So many powerful lessons come through in this retelling of an old Japanese folk tale: the wisdom and foresight of the elderly grandfather, the power of nature, the impetuousness of youth, and self-sacrifice for the sake of others. Grandfather Ojiisan set fire to his own rice fields to warn the villagers of the coming danger of a tidal wave. The illustrations reflect old Japan, using just three colors: gray, brown and gold. The waves flow through the pages. This story reminds me of my own father. One time we were traveling out West, getting ready to head up into the mountains of Wyoming on our way back home to Michigan in early September. My dad asked my husband to make sure the propane tank was also filled when we stopped for gas. My husband thought we probably wouldn't need it since we were toward the end of our long travels, but he did as my father asked. Sure enough, as we journeyed into the night and up into the mountains, we encountered a serious snow storm. The roads quickly became impassable, so we pulled into the church parking lot in a very small town and requested permission to park there for the night. Because my dad had foreseen the storm and cold, we were warm and snug in our camper that night. Hodges' book The Wave helps the young listener to understand the value of the wisdom of the elderly, an excellent lesson indeed.
