I’m back!

Caldecott picture-book looking is over, and I am now back to talk about picture books to use in storytime! If you want to read a bit about my Caldecott experience, I’ve posted that over on the ALSC blog. And I’ve also got a post about Beekle there as well. Now, on to the new stuff!

The Duck Says by Troy Wilson
A silly duck makes his way through the barnyard, chased by a swarm of bees. Lots of good vocabulary and fun sounds to make for storytime. The text is simple, rhymes, and the pictures are big and clear for group sharing.

No, Silly by Ken Krug
Bright pastels accompany this book that will give toddlers a little chuckle. Animal children like to do things (sleep, ride, eat) – and each time, there’s a “wrong” page—ending with “No, Silly” and the right answer. Just the right length for young listeners and perfect for a bedtime storytime.

Sometimes We Think You Are A Monkey by Johanna Skibsrud
With delightful illustrations by Julie Morstad, this homage to a new baby would work well in storytime. It could be used for baby storytimes, read in a soothing, lilting manner. Or turn it into a guessing game and movement activity for toddlers.
Book-o-beards by Donald Lemke (also masks, hats, and teeth)
Storytime gold right here folks. Each book has a set of rhymes, and then you wear the book!  For instance: pictured here I am “wearing” the pirate beard. This book is so interactive and so silly that kids will just love it. Buy extra copies for your storytime collection, because these are going to get a lot of use.

Board Book Bonanza

We just got a huge order of board books in, just in time for all the grandmas in our office to ooh and ahh over them and sneak off to order them for their new grandbabies. If you have a new baby in your life, here’s your shopping list! These are lovely, exciting new books. And of course, you can borrow them from our libraries, if you just want to look and read.

My favourite of the bunch has to be Alphablock by Christopher  Franceschelli. Each page has a letter of the alphabet die-cut, and the next page tells you what the letter is “for”. This is a rather hefty board book, but little hands will love turning these thick pages and exploring the shapes of the letters inside. Below, you can see the page for the letter F.

  Little You by Richard Van Camp is a sweet, soothing little book all about a parent’s love for their infant. The colors are  soothing as well, and match the tone of the book. This would make a lovely baby shower gift. 

Matthew Porter’s Tails Chasing Tails is a fun guessing game.  It looks like cartoon folk art painted on wood boards, and with one big, bright image per page, is perfect for little eyes to focus on. Toddlers will enjoy trying to guess what comes next. You Are My Baby by Lorena Siminovich has an interesting feature. It is like 2 books in one: the adult animal is on the big page/book, and the baby animal is featured on the smaller page/book. This one will be fun to play with as well as to read. You can see the two books in the photo here.

Hello Baby by Roger Priddy is a series of high-contrast books for the newest reader. These books feature a simple picture and a word– baby’s first vocabulary!

For the vehicle-obsessed, there’s Diggers Go by Steve Light. This book is long (in order to contain these big diggers!) and has lots of great sounds. You’ll be roaring around the room with this fun book.

Opposites by Xavier Deneux has a neat little feature. On one page, there’s a picture, which is raised just a little, and on the verso, the opposite has a relief area where the image fits in. It isn’t a very good photo, but I think you can see what I mean here:   

And last, but not least, is The Finger Circus Game by Hervé Tullet. Kids love to be a part of the story and it is easy with this little book. Your fingers are the stars at this circus. I just love all of his books, from the brilliant Press Here to The Book With a Hole. If you appreciate good design and cleverness, you can’t go  wrong with a Tullet!

And there you have it! The Board Book Bonanza! Books are the best gifts, for any occasion.  Any baby would be lucky to get these little gems!