Various Picture Books - Part 2
It's been a while since I've acknowledged Ezekiel, so here is another list of picture-books we are reading to him, most of which he is enjoying quite a bit. Now that he is beginning to 'interact' with things a bit more (he's almost a year old!!!), you will notice that a lot of these books have a common element...
Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct - Mo Willems.
Never Touch a Tiger - Rosie Greening and (illustrator) Stuart Lynch.
Bedtime Peekaboo Prayers - Kelly McIntosh and (illustrator) Angelika Scudamore.
Bathtime for Little Rabbit - Jörg Mühle.
Wonders of Jesus: Ready, Set, Find - Cecile Fodor and (illustrator) Sandrine L'amour.
Baby Fox - Finger Puppet Book - Illustrated by Yu-Hsuan Huang.
Hairy Maclary and Friends: A Touch and Feel Book - Lynley Dodd.
The Very Noisy Farm - Rosamund Lloyd and (illustrator) Gareth Lucas.
Bruno's Box - Nicola Pontin.
Who's Hiding in the Park? - Axel Scheffler.
Karl's List:
Published by Hyperion Books for Children: New York, NY, 2006.
This one is almost a cheat. I have known about this book since it was first published, and love its humour, so recently purchased a copy just so I could read it to Ezekiel and put it on this list. I've only read it to him once so far, and probably won't read it to him much until he's a little older, but I like it, and so here it is!
The basic story of Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct is that Edwina is (surprise) a dinosaur who doesn't know she is extinct. She is friends with everybody in town, helps people out, bakes cookies for the children, and is generally loved. However, one boy - the brilliantly named Reginald von Hoobie Doobie - is frustrated that no-one in the town seems to realise that dinosaurs are extinct, and is determined to prove that they are. Annoyingly for Reginald, no-one wants to listen to him, too busy enjoying Edwina's company. In the end, only Edwina is kind enough to set aside time for Reginald's presentation.
It is a funny story with quite an odd sense of humour, with an interesting message that people really just want to be heard, even if you don't end up agreeing with their views.
And some day Ezekiel may even enjoy it.
Published by Make Believe Ideas Ltd: Hertfordshire, 2020.
Another book with an odd humour to it, Never Touch a Tiger is part of a series of similarly titled books, that 'states' not to touch the various animals while filling the book with textured images that encourage children to touch the animals in question.
Ezekiel loves this one, particularly the page with a cheeky monkey and the page with a DJ bear on it - yes, each animal in this book has a party theme to it. In fact, he loves it enough that it has the distinction of being the first book that he has man-handled enough to break the spine of. Perhaps its ongoing shelf life may be limited.
Elise, as well as a friend of hers with a different book in the series, doesn't really enjoy the mixed message of don't touch/touch, and both of them change the written narration to something like "Be careful when you touch..." I can see why they do that, but in the interests of teaching Ezekiel to read I stick with 'Never'.
Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.: Uhrichville, Ohio; 2023.
Another book with interactive features that Ezekiel loves. This time around, the feature is a "flap" on each page that opens in the other direction from the main page, revealing a variation on the main page's picture (often another character), along with a bible verse and PEEK-A-BOO! in large letters. Ezekiel is super-quick to grab at the flaps, and really enjoys this book as a result (he often points to it when we give him a choice).
In terms of MY enjoyment, I think the book has a good message - each page has a bedtime prayer with a supporting verse - but don't think the rhyme and rhythm scheme is very strong. Not personally my favourite but happy that Ezekiel likes it.
Published in English by Gecko Press: Mundt Agency, Düsseldorf, 2020 (2017).
Originally published in German as Badetag für Hasenkind.
Continuing the theme of books that have features allowing for interactions, Bathtime for Little Rabbit goes in a different, but still engaging, direction. This time around, the book talks directly to the audience, with phrases like 'Wipe the water from his nose' or 'Rub him dry' encouraging baby to actually do the actions stated. Ezekiel is now at the age that he is beginning to understand this, and watching him reach for the rabbit's nose or rubbing his own belly (we tend to do each action twice, once for Little Rabbit and once for Ezekiel) when each page is turned it is a cute treat for mum and dad reader.
There are also a few funny moments to enjoy, such as a hair-dryer with a switch, and the statement 'Oh, look at that, the switch is broken' followed up by the instruction to blow him dry, and accompanying picture of the rabbit being blown dry.
Lots of fun.
Who said Germans don't have a sense of humour?!
Published by Scandinavia Publishing House: Copenhagen, Denmark, 2020.
A beautifully illustrated picture book, each page of Wonders of Jesus tells a story from the life of Jesus in simple terms. Each page also contains various objects to find, with the objects labelled and pictured on the opposite page.
Stories include Jesus healing blind men, raising a dead child, healing Peter's mother-in-law, and calming the storm, among others.
The pictures are cute, well-drawn, clear and kinda cartoony, with a lot of bright colours. Out of the Christian picture books we own, this is one of the better ones.
Elise's List:
Published by Chronicle Books LLC: San Fransisco, CA, 2020.
Another interactive book (sensing a pattern here? This is definitely the phase of life Ezekiel is in), Baby Fox includes a finger puppet built into the book. Ezekiel loves looking at, reaching for, and occasionally trying to eat the Baby Fox puppet.
Parents' fingers beware!
Potential amputation risk aside, Baby Fox is a cute look at the life of a baby fox, and gives some insights into the behaviour of foxes that I hadn't actually realised before. Did you know that foxes ate berries and worms? I didn't! But thanks to a picture book aimed at small children, I now do.
The end of the book is also sweet, and somewhat helpful. Baby Fox curls up in his den with his family and goes to bed, with the final phrase being "Goodnight, baby fox!" It is a helpful way to end a book if you are reading it as a bedtime story, and want your son to also go to sleep.
Published by Penguin Books Ltd/Puffin Books (New Zealand): New Zealand, 2011.
Material first published in New Zealand by Mallinson Rendel Publishers Ltd: 1983, 1984, 1985, 1994, 2009.
We have a few versions of Lynley Dodd's stories in our repertoire, and this one is one of the most straight-forward. Each page simply has the name of one of her well-known dog characters (plus Scarface Claw) from the first Hairy Maclary book and the rhyme that goes with it, such as "Bottomley Potts, covered in spots." There is no story per se, but each page also has a section of different material to touch, often part of the dog in question.
It is mildly amusing to me that the inspiration for each texture seems to be the breed of the dog in question, and since some of the dogs (particularly Bottomley Potts, Bitzer Maloney and Schnitzel von Krumm) are short-haired varieties of dog, their pages aren't all that exciting to touch.
Ezekiel doesn't mind, though. His favourite pages are Hairy Maclary (who has a fluffy body and also a nearby ridged fence), Muffin McLay (a woolly English Sheepdog) and Scarface Claw (the cat, who has a rough tongue).
Someday he'll enjoy the story more, and then I'm sure we'll upgrade to the full story version.
Published by Little Tiger Press Ltd: London, 2019.
A nice simple storybook with 'press for sound' functions, The Very Noisy Farm lives up to its name by having pressable heads on a cow, sheep, pig, cat and rooster, each of which then gives its usual exclamation.
A sheep-dog, meanwhile, who is involved heavily in the plot, does not get any sound.
The basic storyline revolves around the animals in question going on on the farm for the day, getting muddy, having to wash in the creek, and then eventually getting covered in feathers from the chicks, oh no! The story itself is not the most important element, however. That would be the sounds.
When we first began reading this book to Ezekiel, he wasn't co-ordinated or strong enough to push the 'head buttons' himself. Plus, some of the sounds (particularly the sheep and cow) made him nervous. As time as gone on, however, his skills have developed, and now he even enjoys occasionally mimicking the animals as they moo, baa or crow.
Fun, but not something you want to listen to for hours at a time, so we are beginning to stagger how often we have this one out.
Published by Koala Books: Mascot, NSW, Australia, 2011.
First published by Meadowside Children's Books, London, 2011.
Not as interactive as the majority on this list (and so not yet quite as popular with Ezekiel), Bruno's Box is a fun story about imagination, that I'm sure Ezekiel will appreciate in a future season.
Little Bruno has been given a box that he loves. Over the course of a few pages, he shows us that it can be a number of things, helping Bruno become an astronaut, a pirate, or even a ferocious dinosaur.
As the book continues, the pictures show that the box has become a bit 'tatty', and at a certain point, the twist arrives: Bruno cannot find his box anymore!!
A humorous touch is that we as the audience see it sticking out of the kitchen bin behind him...
However, the happy ending is that Bruno finds a long cardboard tube, and begins imagining again.
A fun message, and an interesting style in terms of illustration.
Published by Campbell Books/Pan Macmillan: London, 2023.
This book is from the author of The Gruffalo, which is a book I haven't read to this point. I imagine that Who's Hiding in the Park? is a far simpler storyline, however.
Puppy has gone missing, and is hiding somewhere in the park! Is he hiding behind the bush, or in the grass, or swimming in the pond...? Each page has a large brightly coloured piece of felt on it in the rough shape of whatever puppy could be hiding behind, and the felt can be moved out of the way to reveal whatever animal is hiding in the various locations.
It's a fairly simple concept, but once again a concept that Ezekiel is at the right age for. Some of the flat shapes are a bit random (why are the reeds near the pond pink??) and some of the illustrations are, shall we say, slightly unnerving (the butterflies in particular have oddly human-like faces), but a book that enables Ezekiel to reach out, grab something and brush it aside is a winner, everytime.
(Ezekiel Books)
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