The Dot

 Persistence and grit are something that I desperately try to stress to my daughter.  I recently loaded up on books that have this message in them.  The Dot showed up on a subject search, and when I saw the cover I had to grab it as orange is my favorite color.

Author/Illustrator: Peter H Reynolds
Publisher: Candlewick Press (2003)
Prices: Hardcover - $9.57, Paperback – $4.02, Kindle - $9.09, Audible - $9.95, DVD - $59.99
Reading level: Ages 4-10
Interest level: Lower Grades
Physical Characteristics: Hardcover, 32 pages, 8.5x7.8
Genre: Children's Fiction Picture Book
Subjects:
Art – Fiction
Schools – Fiction
Self-confidence - Fiction

Annotation: A little girl believes she cannot draw until she receives the encouragement of a great teacher, and then she lets her creative juices flow.


Summary
Vashti, a young girl, sits after art class staring at her empty piece of paper.  She is visibly disheartened that she is not good at art.  Her teacher comes over, asks Vashti to just make a mark and sigh her “art”.  The next day when Vashti returns to art class she sees her mark, which was a dot, framed in an ornate golden frame.  This small act of kindness by her art teacher gives Vashti confidence in her art skills.  She makes larger dots, more colorful dots, pen dots, paint dots, single dots, huge wall size dots.  At the school art showcase Vashti’s dots are all on display and she and her art are a hit.  At the end of the book Vashti helps a young boy realize that he too has art potential.

Evaluation:
The Dot is one of a a trilogy of books by Peter Reynolds dedicated to creativity and I love it.  The story is simple, universal and well told.  Many books telegraph to kids that in order to be special they must be spectacular or superheros, not simply themselves.  The Dot shows Vashti as a normal kid, with normal discouragement at her self-perceived lack of artistic talent.  But, a lovely teacher is able to gently show Vashti that she in fact is special and her art, even though it isn’t some intricate masterpiece, is beautiful and important.  Vashti finds her talent within herself.  The pictures are simple black figures with pops of colors in a variation of dots.  The illustrations, like the text, are simple and strong.  I highly recommend this book.
 
Similar Titles or Authors:
Sky Color and Ish are part of a Creatrilogy by Peter H Reynolds
Beautiful, Oops! By Barney Saltzberg
The day the Crayons Quit by Day Daywalt

Websites:   

http://www.peterhreynolds.com/dot/

http://www.fablevisionstudios.com/the-dot

Awards & Recognition:

The Christopher Award

Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award Winner


Publishers Weekly - STARRED Review


Booklist - STARRED Review


Chicago Public Library Best Books for Children and Teens 


School Library Journal - STARRED Review


Nick Jr. Family Magazine - "Best of 2003" Awards

Borders Original Voices Selection


Book Sense 76 selection 


Babyzone Amazing Book Awards 2003


Book Links Editor's Best of 2003


Chapman Awards for Best Classroom Read-Alouds

Professional Reviews:
School Library Journal 

Publishers Weekly

All images (c)Peter H Reynolds

In the Night Kitchen

My daughter has been reading and listening to Chicken Soup with Rice non-stop for the last month.  I needed some variety, and thought I would throw another Maurice Sendak title in to the mix.  I hadn’t liked In the Night Kitchen as a child, but wanted to give this classic another try.

Author/Illustrator: Maurice Sendak

Publisher: Harper Collins (1970)

Prices: Hardcover - $13.66, Paperback - $7.99, Audible - $9.95

Reading level: Age 3-8

Interest level: Lower Grades

Physical Characteristics: Hardcover, 40 pages, 8.5x11

ISBN: 9780060266684

Genre: Children's Fiction Picture Book

Subjects:

Children – Fiction and Literature

Fantasy Fiction

Caldecott Honor Book

Dreams

Annotation: A young boy named Mickey has a dream journey through a fantastical baker's kitchen where he helps three comic bakers.

Summary:

A little boy is snug in his bead when he is awoken by a loud clanging from the kitchen.  He floates down to the night kitchen where there are three comically odd bakers preparing a morning cake.  They mistake Mickey for milk and end up putting him in the batter and into the oven.  He tells them he is not the milk, and goes on a surreal journey to gather milk for their cake.  Eventually the cake gets made and Mickey ends up back in his bed asleep.  Of course, this is all a surreal and hazy dream.

Evaluation:

This book freaked me out when I was a kid, and I had the present notion that I still didn’t like it, but after reading it with adult eyes I found I was really enamored with In the Night Kitchen.  I love the illustrations.  The color scheme that Sendak uses is mature yet whimsical and dreamy.  And all the kitchen details of the architecture are amazing.  I think what I find so good about this book is that it invites imagination, it is simple and surreal and ultimately very childlike.  I look forward to reading it and looking at the illustrations again, soon.

Similar Titles or Authors:

Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak

Blackout by John Rocco

Boy on the Brink by David McPhail

Websites:

http://www.harpercollins.com/cr-100369/maurice-sendak

Awards & Recognition:

Caldecott Honor 1971

25th place on ALA’s  "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000"

Notable Children's Books of 1940—1970 (ALA)

Best Books of 1970 (SLJ)

Outstanding Children's Books of 1970 (NYT)

Best Illustrated Children's Books of 1970 (NYT)

Brooklyn Art Books for Children 1973, 1975

Children's Books of 1970 (Library of Congress)

Carey-Thomas Award 1971—Honor Citation

Professional Reviews:

In the night kitchen (Book Review). (1971). TLS, 769.

In the night kitchen (Book Review). (1970). Time, 9668.

Notes:

One of the significant facts about this book in historical terms is how often it has been challenged, and how much controversy or perceived controversy has surrounded In the Night Kitchen.

Many Moons

Lately, I have been looking for children's books that I have never read.  Recently, I went through Caldecott Award winners and found Many Moons.  I was drawn to the colors of the cover and also to a book written by the humorist James Thurber.  I was not disappointed in what I found.

Author/Illustrator: Story by James Thurber, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin

Publisher: Harcourt Brace and Company (January, 1943)

Prices: Hardcover - $13.60, Paperback - $7.00

Reading level: Ages 4 - 8

Interest level: Lower Grades

Physical Characteristics: Hardcover, 48 pages, 8.8x10

ISBN: 9780156569804

Genre: Children's Fiction Picture Book

Subjects:

Caldecott Winner

Princesses

Wishing - Wishes

Children – Fiction and Literature

Annotation: A sick Princess believes that the only thing that will make her well is if someone can bring her the moon. 

Summary:

Princess Lenore gets sick when she eats too many raspberry cakes. While she is laying in bed she looks out the window and sees the moon. She tells her father that if he gives her the moon, she will be well again.  The King calls in many wise men and they all tell him why she cannot have the moon.  The King does not know what to do.   He complains to the Court Jester.  The court jester then crafts a solution to the King’s problem and gives the young Princess the moon.

Evaluation:

I had never read this book before this past week, and I loved it.  The humor, wit and details of the story made this an easy and engrossing read.  And the watercolor illustrations by Slobotkin are lovely.  They are very evocative of another time, yet they are thoroughly engaging in this modern day.

Similar Titles or Authors:

Tatterhood and other Tales by Ethel Johnston Phelps

The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch

Not all Princesses Dress in Pink by Jane Yolen

Websites:

http://slobodkin.net/books/target45.html

Awards & Recognition:

Caldecott Winner 1944

American Library Association’s prize for the best children’s book of 1943

School Library Journal’s “Top 100 Picture Books List,”

Professional Reviews:

HornBook Magazine

Many moons (Book Review). 1943. The new Yorker. vol:19  pp120

Notes:

Even though this book won the Caldecott Medal with Louis Slobodkin's illustrations, the book was reprinted in 1990 with new illustrations by Marc Simont. 

This was Thurber's first children's book

Many Moons has been made in to both an Opera and a Play.

All images (c)1943 Louis Slobodkin