Ankle Soup (copy)

Seeing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is on my bucket list. It is now in its 88^th year as a parade, but in 1924 it was called Macy’s Christmas Parade complete with animals from the Central Park Zoo. If one does the math, 2014 minus 1924 equals 90 years. In 1942, the rubber used for the balloons was need for the war effort and the parade was suspended for two years.

The famous balloons began as early as 1927 with Felix the Cat, and continues today with Snoopy having the most appearances. I thought it quaint, but in 1929 makers of the balloons installed slow release valves for the helium. This allowed the balloons to float free for a couple of days gradually returning to earth. A return label was sewn into the rubber for finders to mail the character back to Macy’s in exchange for a small gift. 

“Ankle Soup” by Maureen Sullivan is the story of a French bulldog named Carlos and his special day at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. As one can guess, he spends most of the day not viewing the balloons above but the brightly colored socks, hose, and tights of the many people who attend or participate in the event.

He begins his day with his owner, whom he refers to as “mistress,” lodged in a vibrant red carrying case. “I never know what my mistress is doing. She has a routine that she’s always pooh-poohing. The way things change make me jumpy and nervous. Could it be she’s an agent? F. B. I? Secret Service?”

On the next page, readers will see a big yellow taxi with Carlos on the lap of mistress in the backseat. In the skyscape, parade balloons bob up and down with Kermit in the lead followed by three red and white Macy’s stars. The famous clump of circus balls announces Chloe the Clown next followed by Clifford the Big Red Dog who sticks his nose out from around a building.

Carlos continues, “So let me describe what happened one day. It was fall in New York, the parade underway. My mistress and I rushed out the door, and jumped in a cab fearing soon it might pour.”

Sullivan has written three picture books featuring her real pet, Carlos. They all share a rhythmic pace as mistress takes Carlos on adventures around New York City. All three books are illustrated by Alison Josephs whose style is bright colors like Mississippi artist Wyatt Waters. This book is a fun and unique way to see the famous parade.

Ankle Soup (copy)

https://maggiereads.blogspot.com/2014/11/ankle-soup-copy.html

Community Helpers (copy)

One of my favorite memories at Como Public Library was Community Helper Day. All the little first graders from Como Elementary would file into the library for a tour. Activities included throwing things in the book drop (always fun), scanning books to make the beep, and pushing the book cart around. They left with a book bag filled with coloring sheets, crayons, candy, and a library card application.

At the time, Como Main Street included the police station, firehouse, city hall, library, doctor/dentist office, restaurants, and bank. You could watch the little ones centipede to each building and wave at the helpers who greeted them smiling. It felt like an important day.

Cloverleaf books’ Community Helpers series, published by Millbrook Press, uses a unique author/illustrator combination to assure uniformity. Half of the eight books were written by either Gina Bellisario or Bridget Heos. The four illustrators have two books to their credit and are Cate Atkinson, Mike Moran (no relation), Ed Myer, and Kyle Poling. All illustrators obeyed a round, long, or triangular face rule and maintained the same color pallet.

These picture books all begin with Let’s Meet a … followed by the corresponding helper. Helpers include a construction worker, dentist, doctor, firefighter, librarian, police office, teacher, and veterinarian. Since there are eight, teachers can read two a day for four days with a tour at the end of the unit.

The series format is uniform and includes three chapters, an activity, a glossary, and further readings. The chapters for Librarian are “The Spy,” “No Shushing Allowed!” and “A Computer Wizard.” The activity is finding a book and the glossary has words like catalog, e-book and troubleshoot. The further reading section suggests the website kidsclick.org.

I particularly like the Construction Worker book. They are building a new school for the children complete with a playground. Oh, but that is in the future. Right now it is a mound of dirt where they can play "King on the Mountain" wearing fake-plastic orange construction hats.

The activity is to construct a graham cracker house using peanut butter. What a mess! I would read this book in the afternoon and reserve the activity for close to last bell. A little less messy would be to hand out blue construction paper and let them draw up blueprints for the house using chalk.

Don’t forget we look up to you, community helpers. After reading this series, you will have even more admiring eyes.

Community Helpers (copy)

https://maggiereads.blogspot.com/2014/10/community-helpers-copy.html

3 Asian Concept Books (copy)

Three new concept books with an Asian flair are sure to delight your toddlers for hours. These easy books come with a catch, though. You and your mini-me(s) must be willing to read aloud about a Panda waxing and waning over seasonal changes, or be able to perform a proper search for a downtown dragon, or dress in all black and slink around the house as you pretend you are a ninja.

Hi, Koo! is another great book from Caldecott honor recipient, Jon J. Muth. The book features a panda named Koo who looks to be the most limber creature in the world. In the warm watercolors on glossy paper, he can be seen mid somersault on one page and being lifted off his feet by wind on another.

The book has three different elements all working together to tell the story. First, each page contains a Haiku. Haiku is a type of Japanese poetry. The simplest form in use is the 5-7-5 format as in 5 syllables for the first line, then 7 syllables for the second, and 5 for the ending. It makes for an interesting beat when read aloud.

Second, each Haiku contains a capitalized letter. The first page begins with, “Autumn, are you dreaming of new clothes?” Next page begins, “these leaves fall forever my Broom awaits”. As you can guess the next letter will be “C” until the alphabet is complete. It is a subtle A-to-Z list that can be overlooked until they are ready to learn.

Third, the book introduces children to the concept of seasons. The words Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer are to the side of the action on the first page of the season. Hovering out of the scene, these words look to be an afterthought added after the book was produced. The effect allows for additional subtlety for teaching.

“Have You Seen My Dragon?” by Steve Light brings the city to any country child. Our tiny hero begins his day by asking the doorman, Have you seen my Dragon? On the right side of the page is a white “1 Dragon” in a bold black banner. Everything in the two-page scene is pen and ink, but the dragon is painted a deep green.

The second page states, “Maybe he got hungry and stopped for a hot dog.” The pen and ink represents a hot dog cart with pedestrians eating. On the upper right corner is “2 Hot dogs” encased in black like the first page. The only color comes from the two hot dogs. The book continues on until we reach “20 Lanterns” in Chinatown. A map is included.

The last book in the Asian trilogy is Ninja! by Arree Chung. Our 5-year-old hero displays the attributes of a Ninja by being courageous, strong, and silent. Gather the equipment needed and put on the dark clothes and see how many family members you can sneak up on. Chung designs video games during the day and writes and illustrates children’s books at night. Sayonara!

3 Asian Concept Books (copy)

https://maggiereads.blogspot.com/2014/09/3-asian-concept-books-copy.html

New Pet Picture Books (copy)

I am the proud co-caretaker of two wacky pets - one cat, Sandy, who eats five times a day but weighs 5lbs. and one dog, Taylor, who would eat the cat if she smelled like bacon and who weighs a whopping 75lbs. They both travel indoors and outdoors with ease as long as the magic wood with windows moves.

What if they did not get along, though? Would our house turn into a war zone like in Dog vs. Cat by Chris Gall? Mr. and Mrs. Button go out on separate chores around town and come back with respective pets in this picture book. Dog represents Mr. Button’s choice and Cat acknowledges Mrs. Button as servant.

Unfortunately, Dog and Cat must share the same room in the house and it soon becomes a hassle for Cat is a clean freak and Dog is a slob. Battle lines are drawn and walls are built to separate the two, but to no avail. Both lose out when another pet with human vocal chords moves in.

What would I think if my slim Sandy turned into a 20 lb. cat in a month? Is that My Cat? by Jonathan Allen has such a cat with fluctuating weight issues. She is now too slow to chase mice. Her tree skills are rapidly diminishing. She can no longer fit through the cat flap. This cat has gone from “ready to play” straight to nap. Allen’s picture book explains with a surprise ending.

Thank goodness we got Taylor as an adult dog who was no longer in the teething stage. Shoe Dog by Megan McDonald with illustrations by Katherine Tillotson has such a little dog who is in full-fledged teethe. Every shoe brought in the house soon leaves in the trash can. Shoe Dog thinks his name is Bad Dog. How will he ever get to the “Land of Upstairs?”

Matilda’s cat would also like to be in the “land of upstairs,” but Matilda will have none of that. Matilda tries activity after activity with her cat and nothing seems to work. It is a long list that slowly gets marked through as it is determined that Matilda’s cat really likes to nap in the new picture book by Emily Gravett titled Matilda’s Cat.

Fred has the opposite problem. He may be allowed in the “land of upstairs,” but he takes advantage of the situation. Same with our Taylor as the last walk for the night sees her rolling in something dead or jumping in a watery ditch. Time for Bed, Fred! by Yasmeen Ismail shows Fred rolling in mud before lights out. Bedtime just turned into bath time for both Fred and Taylor.

Shout out to all those people associated with Human Societies in Tate, Panola, DeSoto, Lafayette, and Tunica. You guys do an outstanding job!

New Pet Picture Books (copy)

https://maggiereads.blogspot.com/2014/07/new-picture-books-copy.html

What Does the Fox Say? (copy)

Have you seen the video, What Does the Fox Say? It first appeared on YouTube September of last year. Since its debut, over 400 million people have watched it and tried to imitate the noises the fox makes. This fox is very unique and a little jazzy.

Musician brothers Bard and Vegard Ylvisaker make up the band, Ylvis, pronounced Elvis. They are also comedians with their own talk show in Norway. Christian Lochstoer, managing editor for the boys, helped them write the song and produce the video.

It is a simple song based on the fact that fox noises are unfamiliar to most humans. We know that a cow moos and a cat meows, but what does a fox do? We have a frog croaking and a bird tweeting, but the fox is sly. What sound does sly create.

This fox says, “Ring-ding-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!” or “Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!” You will hear it say, “Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!” and “Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!” Like I said, he is a very jazzy fox. At the end of the video, the animated fox comes out and does a little dance while scatting, “Boo-boo-bop-weydo!” Apparently, foxes scat.

Enter the highly popular children’s book, What Does the Fox Say? illustrated by another Norwegian, Svein Nyhus. This Simon and Schuster production uses the lyrics of the song and borrows the masquerade party atmosphere from the video as a back drop for the wacky red, yellow and gray scenes involving oddly shaped animals.

In the music video, the brothers sing and dance while wearing fox outfits similar to a team mascot. Most of the revelers are also clad in mascot-like animals such as a dog, mouse, elephant and bird who dance around the foxes in an odd line dance that emphasizes the different animal paws/feet.

Amongst the dancing, sits an older man in a rocking chair with a little girl on his lap. As the boys sing “A-hee-ahee-ha-hee!” the man attempts to read the same words as if they are coming out of the picture book. In the book, it is a frog reading to two chicks and a fish in his bowl. The rocking chair is reaching to the sky as the frog looks to be horizontal and tongue-tied.

I say, grandparents beware! This is a messed up, crazy noise making book and you will need to watch the video before attempting the fox’s vo-SCAT-ulary. 

What Does the Fox Say? (copy)

https://maggiereads.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-does-fox-say-copy.html