"Painting Pepette" by Linda Ravin Lodding

"Painting Pepette" 

by Linda Ravin Lodding

40 pages /  Print / Realistic

Summary: A little girl from Paris adopts a small rabbit, Pepette. The girl notices that the walls in her home are covered with painted portraits of each family member, but not Pepette. She decides to wander into town with Pepette to get its portrait painted. The girl and Pepette encounter four famous artists, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, and Henri Matisse. They all paint Pepette in their own unique style, but none look realistically like Pepette. The girl and the rabbit return home where the girl decides to paint Pepette's portrait herself.

 Evaluation: This book is a work of art, illustrated in beautiful watercolor painting. The book can teach students about different famous artists and what makes their style unique. This would be a good introduction for an art history unit. The theme of "being yourself" is present when the girl decides to illustrate what Pepette looks like.

Appeal Terms: animal, realistic, easy, gentle, art, character centered, vivid, well developed

"Leaves" by David Ezra Stein

"Leaves" 

by David Ezra Stein

30 pages /  Print / Fantasy

Summary: A bear encounters falling leaves during an afternoon stroll. It tries to catch them all before they fall to the ground. The bear becomes overwhelmed and decides to put all the leaves in a hole in the side of the hill. The bear then enters the hole and stuffs it closed. The bear stays in there for the winter, warm and safe. Winter passes and Spring comes, when the bear awakes and greets the new season.

Evaluation: This book is a simple yet effective way to teach young learners about animals that hibernate. The images play along with the text, adding a clear explanation for bears and hibernation. This book could be used as an introduction to a unit on bears, hibernation, or Fall.

Appeal Terms: animal, easy, heartwarming, gentle, well developed

"How This Book Was Made" by Mac Barnett

"How This Book Was Made" 

by Mac Barnett

48 pages /  Print / Non-Fiction

Summary: Mac Barnett brings you on a journey from start to finish on how to create a picture book. Through humor and clever illustrations, he makes it easy and fun to learn the process of bookmaking. He teaches us how a book starts with a good idea, goes through drafts, editors, revisions, illustrations, printing, and finally gets delivered to you, the reader.

Evaluation: This book presents the facts of bookmaking in a clever and engaging way that all ages will appreciate. I think most children have the dream of publishing their own picture book, and this book serves as a resource and inspiration for them. It also teaches young readers that making a book takes a lot of effort and time between a lot of different people. Apart from being a non-fiction text, this book is just as fun to read as a fiction picture book would be.

Appeal Terms: engrossing, humorous, engaging, fact-filled, well developed

"The Eleventh Hour" by Graeme Base

"The Eleventh Hour" 

by Graeme Base

40 pages /  Print / Fantasy

Summary: Horace the elephant decides to invite 11 friends over to his house for a big celebration. He cooks up a big feast of delicious foods and desserts for everyone to enjoy. The 11 animals guests arrive, all dressed up in costumes and ready to celebrate. Before they can hear the feast Horace has prepared, they spend the afternoon and evening playing games with each other. The feast would have begun at the eleventh hour, but a thief has eaten all the food! Every animal friend denies that he or she ate the food. Horace thinks quickly and makes sanwiches for all the friends. They eat the sandwiches outside together. But who ate all the food? It is a mystery that the reader must solve.

Evaluation: The ending of this book really caught me by surprise. I was so distacted by the wonderful rhyming verse that told the stories, and the realistic images, that I wasn't paying attention to the fact that this book is full of clues and mystery. At the conclusion of the book, Graeme Base has a secret section that explains how to solve the mystery of who ate the food. He also explains the artwork and reasoning behind each illustration in the book. After finding clues on each page and solving the puzzle message at the end of the book, it is revealed that the mouse ate the food with his 200 mouse friends. The author then invites you to locate the mice on each page of the book, which are skillfully hidden in different images. This is a great book for a class to read together and to try to solve as a team. Solving the mystery is very difficult, but many eyes and minds working together would make it easier. Besides the interactive aspect of the book, it is beautfully illustrated. The images and scenes come to life. I looked at each page for a long time, appreciating how detailed and wonderful the illustrations were. This book could be read time and time again, trying to solve the mystery of who stole the food.

Appeal Terms: animal, mystery, engrossing, engaging, event oriented, multiple plotlines, well developed

"Harold and the Purple Crayon" by Crockett Johnson

"Harold and the Purple Crayon" 

by Crockett Johnson

64 pages /  Print / Fantasy

Summary: Harold explores a world as he draws it with his purple crayon. He draws himself into different situations; climbing mountains, sailing the see, and sharing a picnic with animals. When it is time for bed, Harold draws him back back home with the help of the moon.

Evaluation: What a great book that captures the imagination of a young child. The illustrations are simple but important to the plot of the story. Johnson's use of line on each page makes your eye follow the shapes and movement of Harold's journey. The line from the purple crayon moves the story along and leaves you excited with the next magical thing to happen. The visual clues left on each page makes you guess what will happen next. This is a great story to read as a class and guess where Harold will go off to next!

Appeal Terms: adventure, easy, humorous, magical, gentle, well developed