I’ve read snail picture books before, but few have plumbed their humor quite as well as Tabor has in “Snail Crossing”. Less a story of persistence than a lesson in karma, this may well be the first snail-adjacent picture book that has ever made me AND my kids laugh out loud for long periods of time. I can think of not better praise than that.
Judging a picture book based on humor alone really comes down to the sense of humor of the reader. On that note, let me state clearly that the books you’ll see here were just the ones that highly amused ME this year.
I don’t know what it took to make Mr. Nogginbody come into the world, but whatever confluence of the planets allowed this madcap exercise in increasing hijinks to happen, I say let’s have more of it! In a sea of picture books that remain unmemorable five minutes after you’ve read them, Mr. Nogginbody hits the nail on the head. Hard.
There’s something going on in this book. A wry, whipsmart, funny tale that actually may have a thing or two to say about female empowerment. Or not? It’s easy to read too much into this book, but I’d say it’s also just as easy to read into it everything that you need it to be. Intelligent writing for kids that will not just appeal but engage and entice.
A book that effectively establishes normality, disrupts it with horror, and then assures the reader that normality can return. If Tsurumi’s previous picture book, Accident, was about taking responsibility for your mistakes, Crab Cake is about taking care of yourself when the mistake is not your own.
You have other books about emotions that you love, I have no doubt, but seriously consider supplementing them with Rash’s latest. A loving little book unafraid to be happy, sad, angry, scared, and supremely good.
This might be my favorite picture book list of the 31 Days, 31 Books countdown. How could it not be? Get ready for titles that’ll have the small fry howling in the aisles.
Every year in December I do this 31 Days, 31 Books series. On each day I present a different list full of the best of the year. Board Books one day. Funny picture books another. And somewhere in there I put out a list I like to call Transcendent Holiday Books. These are the books […]
A Storytelling of Ravens By Kyle Lukoff Illustrated by Natalie Nelson Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press $18.95 ISBN: 978-1-55498-912-6 Ages 4-7 On shelves now Humans love groups. We love separating ourselves into them, or putting other people into them (even when they don’t particularly want to be grouped). As small children, it’s one […]
The Funeral By Matt James Groundwood Books (an imprint of House of Anansi Press) ISBN: 978-1-55498-908-9 $18.95 Ages 4-7 On shelves now They say you don’t truly fear death until you have children. I’ll tweak that slightly. I say, you don’t truly fear talking about death until you have children. At least if you’re an […]
We Don’t Eat Our Classmates By Ryan T. Higgins Hyperion (an imprint of Disney Book Group) $17.99 ISBN: 978-136800355-1 Ages 4-7 On shelves now Each year, as the new school year draws ever closer, a bounty of first day of school books are published. The bulk of them are overly familiar. A couple of them […]
I Hate Everyone By Naomi Danis Illustrated by Cinta Arribas POW! (a division of powerhouse) $17.99 ISBN: 978-1-576870874-3 Ages 4-7 On shelves now Childhood is riddled with contradictions. Wait. No. Scrap that thought. Let’s rewrite it slightly. Childhood’s fine it’s the CHILDREN that are riddled with contradictions. In the same breath a child can scream […]
It’s Springtime, Mr. Squirrel! By Sebastian Meschenmoser Translated by David Henry Wilson NorthSouth Books ISBN: 978-0-7358-4310-3 $18.95 Ages 4-7 On shelves now. There is an old joke here in America regarding the Germans and their sense of humor. Mainly, that they haven’t got one. I’ve heard everything from Patton Oswalt routines to old commercials that […]
I don’t actually do interviews. I don’t! Honest! I tend to turn them down when asked, even when I adore the book. Then I read this: If the author’s name doesn’t sound familiar, how about “Honest Toddler“? Any of you out there follow that feed? If you have, are planning to have, or have already […]
HIC! By Anushka Ravishankar Illustrated by Christiane Pieper Tara Books $18.00 ISBN: 9789383145645 Ages 4-7 On shelves now Ladies and gentlemen I ask you, and I ask you truly, can you think of a more international childhood experience than the hiccups? Here we have an unwanted occurrence that comes to every nation in the world. […]
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