You might recognize John Butler’s style – his illustrations are amazing – and he’s building quite a library!  Cute and cuddly animal pictures are his forte (he can even make cows look really cute).  He has quite a few great books that you should look at on his website by clicking on his name above.  Whose Nose and Toes is a great book for infants and toddlers.  Watch their little faces light up as they turn each page and tell you what adorable animal is going to appear next.  A book that you can read over and over, each time the child will become more and more familiar with the different animals.  Look for it or order it today!!

Jane Yolen has a lot of great children’s books.  This is absolutely one of my favorites!  I love books that allow children to visit different animals and how they are all unique.  Teachers and Parents alike can read this story and join in mimicking the different animals who, by the way, are going to visit their Grandmothers.  This story is appropriate for toddlers all the way up to Kindergarten.  Have Fun this July!

I thought I would show you something a little different this month!  One of my favorite comics and since the Incredible Hulk movie is being released on the 13th of June I thought it’s appropriate to showcase it this month.  Peter David wrote the Incredible Hulk for an outstanding 12 years and this is one of my favorite stories!  Check this out today!

I must tell you that I own three copies of this book.  A hardcover from its very first printing, a paperback that I read from my childhood, and even a copy that has a record of the story being read that I bought at a Library Book Sale.  I love this book for a few reasons but mainly because it is the Caldecott Award Winner from 1976 – the year I was born.  I love the story and even told a version of it at the Bridgewater Library one year.  In my version instead of the mosquito telling lies he tells terrible jokes – and instead of killing the owl with the branch it just gives the owl a good lump.  Rediscover this story tonight!  Go borrow it from your local library – or even buy a copy at the local bookstore!

After you see Iron Man that is!  Man, I can’t wait to see this movie!

Rabbits and Raindrops is a really great story about a family of rabbits and what they do when the sky opens up and releases rain upon us!  The art is really fun and a great art project that can go along with this book is:  Take a Rabbit shape cut out of cardboard, a white crayon, white paper and blue water color.  Have the children trace the rabbit shape on the white paper with a white crayon.  Then have the children lightly water color the blue paint over it.  Since the crayon is waxy the water color will roll right off!  The Rabbit will appear as if by magic!  Really, try it! 

First off, let me appologize, I know I am a little late in getting the book of the month up.  But this book is worth the wait!  The Salamander Room is a sweet story about a little boy who finds a salamander in the woods and then does his best to explain to his mother why he should keep him.  You really lose yourself in the boy’s world as he explains how he’s going to transform his room into a place fit for a salamander.  By the end of the book you find yourself wanting to go outside and search under logs and rocks for a salamander of your very own!  Anne Mazer does a sensational job of creating this perfectly woven tale about a boys love for the outside – and his plans to bring it indoors with him!

This book blew me away the first time I saw it.  And I can’t take the credit for discovering it, the wonderful librarians at the Walpole Library introduced me to this book.  With every turn of the page you see the horse gallop, or a chicken walk or even a monkey swing from vine to vine!  The animals actually move and fluidly glide across the page!  This is a beautifully inventive and wild book that entertains many, many times over!

Before I tell you about this great winter time tale I just want to mention, when I started this quest of blogging about all the great children’s books I’ve seen and read, and promoting them on my site, as well as the authors and publishing companies I always enjoy seeing the authors sites.  Some authors don’t have sites – but a lot do – and every book that I promote also tells you the author’s name at the top there – and if you click on the name of the author you can visit their site (if they have one).  I have visited Jane Yolen’s site and it is one of the best and most informative sites I’ve been on.  Please check it out.

This month I decided to talk about Jane Yolen’s perfect witer time tale, Owl Moon.  The book captures a cold, winter walk through the woods searching for a glimpse of an owl so vividly, you might want to wear a jacket when you read it.  By the way – the child in the book is a little girl – not that Jane Yolen wanted you to know that.  It says so on her site.  So, again, check it out!  

Winter is here!  I love the winter season.  I love the bitter cold, I love the snow, I love warm feeling you get when inside your house near a warm fire.  But most of all I love winter themed books.  This book, by the wonderful Denise Fleming, shows all of the forest animals letting each other know that the winter is on its way.  Each animal tells another until the little lady bug tells the bear, who is already aware and already going to sleep.  Denise’s images are amazing to say the least.  Her warm, inviting water colors mixed with her ability to create the cutest forest animals makes this a winter book every person should have to read to their little ones. 

As always, click on the image or any of the titles/links above to get more information.

– Big Ryan

This sweet book is “November’s Book of the Month” in honor of my father whose birthday is a little later this month.  I think this story is very important in part that the father in this book has trouble telling his son he that he loves him.  Then, with many strange looks from the people who surrounded them, he finds a very special way to tell his son “I love you.”  I discovered this book thanks to the Plymouth Library Children’s Department who has let me spend hours there reading.  Now I pass this book onto you.  Get it and enjoy!