Global Babies

Global Babies
By The Global Fund for Children
http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/
0-2 Preschool Charlesbridge 18 pp.
 978-1580891745 Board $6.95
Non Fiction

Global Babies is simple in its message - that babies, regardless of culture, are united by the fundamental fact that they are loved - and straightforward in its presentation. Taking into account that babies love to look at faces, particularly the faces of other babies, Global Babies features 17 color portraits of babies from around the world, (in many cases wearing the traditional garb of their countries). Each portrait is also labeled with the baby's country of origin, places that range in diversity from Greenland and India to Rwanda and the United States. The accompanying text is likewise straightforward, ("wherever they live, wherever they go[...] babies everywhere are beautiful, special and loved"), just patterned enough to be rhythmic without feeling false or forced. Unlike many board books that are really picture books for older children mushed into board book form, Global Babies is specifically designed with infants and toddlers in mind. It is a beautiful and colorful introduction to the idea that there are many different kinds of faces and people, but that, while the faces may be different, love is still the fundamental connection between them all.

We All Went on Safari

We All Went on Safair: A Counting Journey Through Tanzania
By Laurie Krebs
http://www.lauriekrebs.com/
Illustrated by Julia Cairns
http://juliacairns.net/
3-4 Preschool Primary Barefoot Books 32 pp.
978-1841484785 Hardcover $16.99
Non Fiction

As far as concept books go, We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey Through Tanzania, is one of the best I've come across. There is no part of the text or the illustrations that fails to educate the reader in the most entertaining, layered way. Even more, We All Went on Safari does something that not many books - concept or otherwise - manage to do. It gives the reader a tantalizing taste of a completely foreign culture, just enough to plant curiosity and engender a desire to learn more.

The book's primary goal is to introduce the concept of counting from one to ten, which it does under the guise of an adventure through the grasslands of Tanzania. The protagonists are a group of Maasai children and their caretakers. As Arusha, Mosi, Tumpe and their friends walk through the savannah, they discover and count many different kinds of African animals, including lions, giraffes and warthogs, in both English and Swahili. Krebs's smooth rhyming text helps lead the reader on, making it easy for children unfamiliar with the numbers to intuit what comes next ("We all went on safari, When the day had just begun. We spied a lonely leopard. Arusha counted one"). A large, red numeral "1" is placed in the right hand corner of the page with the Swahili word, "moja" next to it in black, making it easy to connect the word "one" with the number "1" and it's corresponding name in Swahili. The rest of the book progresses in the same way, ending with the adventurers, portrayed in traditional Massai costumes, building a campfire and saying goodnight.

The strength of We All Went on Safari lies in two places. The first is that, in addition to the counting aspect and the easy rhythm of the story, Krebs included a map of Tanzania, a collection of facts about the country, notes about each of the animals encountered on the adventure, information about the Maasai, including translations of each name and a pronunciation key for the numbers 1-10 in Swahili. All of this additional material is organized intuitively at the back so, while not cluttering the main text or confusing younger listeners, it offers curious preschoolers more information on what they've just read. The book's other strength is in Cairns's beautiful illustrations, which have a rich, iconic, almost primitive aspect while portraying the animals, Tanzanian grasslands and Maasai people with dignity and certain natural elegance.

We All Went on Safari is a can't miss. Toddlers and pre-readers will enjoy hearing the rhyming text and seeing the gorgeously depicted animals - and as an introduction to counting, it's hard to beat 2 ("mbili") ostriches sprinting through green grass. Preschoolers and kindergardners will likewise love reading the text for themselves while the animals tantalizingly present themselves for counting. Best of all,  We All Went on Safari inspires curiosity and gives parents and children a chance to learn about a new culture together.

Grandfather and I

Grandfather and I
By Helen E. Buckley; illus. by Jan Ormerod
No Author Site; No Illustrator Site
3-4 Preschool Harper Collins 24 pp.
978-0688125349 Hardcover $16.99
Fiction

Originally published in 1959 with illustrations by Paul Galdone, this 2000 reissue of Buckley's classic with updated illustrations by Jan Ormerod is, quite simply, lovely. Having seen only the cover of the original, I will refrain from making comparisons except to say that the reissue is different in at least one respect - Galdone's pictures were of a caucasian grandfather and grandson, while Ormerod's take is of a decidedly cozier looking African-American pair. That said, the race of the protagonists is beside the point. Grandfather and I's quiet celebration of this close, inter-generational bond is in no way altered by the change - a testament to the universality of the theme.

At its heart, Grandfather and I is a meditation on the special relationship between the oldest and youngest members of a modern family. The narrator informs the reader that he and his Grandfather are going for a slow walk, a prospect the boy enjoys. Even Buckley's prose and punctuation reflect his relish as he and his Grandfather take their time. ("We walk along and walk along and stop... and look... just as long as we like"). This time-taking is at the heart of their bond. Everyone else in his busy family rushes - his mother pulls him past a friendly cat, his dad hugs him before he goes to work and his siblings leave him behind, a fact effectively mirrored in Ormerod's illustrations (a family of ducks paddles past the disconsolate looking boy as the smallest duckling scrambles to keep up).

While the family is in no way neglectful or mean, the prose and illustrations on "hurry" pages have a rushed quality, one that is missing from the "Grandfather" pages, which are peaceful and expansive. This boy is relaxed around his Grandfather, a smiling, supportive figure who encourages the boy's curiosity. Together they walk through watercolored natural world, full of pines cones to pick up and heather to inspect. The white background lends to the expansive, relaxed quality while Buckley's prose, which is both loose and deliberate by turns, reflecting the boy's state of mind, verges on poetic. Her repetition of the chorus, "just as long as we like" beautifully communicates the peace this boy finds in his Grandfather's company, as well as the partnership the two have formed.

Grandfather and I is a gentle, quiet book, one best suited for one-on-one reading at home. For younger readers, it's full of opportunities to engage the text (questions like what are they doing? and do you like to rush or take your time? seem like natural extensions of the story), while older children can read Grandfather and I on their own with the help of an adult. Grandfather and I is lovely, old-fashioned, un-flashy book. While it may not stand up to the glamor of bus-driving pigeons and mice with purple plastic purses, it's more than worth finding and sharing with a cuddle, preferably with a beloved grandparent.

Handy Manny

Handy Manny
Series created by Roger Bollen, Marilyn Sadler and Rick Gitelson
Disney Junior TV Series / DVD
http://disney.go.com
2-4 Preschool Primary
Fiction

With the rise of cultural awareness and immersion programs in schools, there is a need in children's programming that has never existed before. It is no longer enough that a series teach a love of language or the joys of science. We now need shows that support bilingual education and Spanish / English bilingualism. Handy Manny, which airs on Disney Junior, does just that, while modeling kindness, acceptance and the art of being a good neighbor and friend.

Each 30 minute episode of Handy Manny features two stories revolving around the need to fix a broken item. Enter Handy Manny, a bilingual handyman and his anthropomorphic tools. The tools, which range in character from Pat, the well-meaning hammer, to the sarcastic, insecure screwdriver, Turner, fill decidedly child-like roles, each with their strengths and quirks. Though the tools and Manny speak to each other primarily in English, they are all bilingual, as evidenced in the frequent manner in which Spanish phrases are interleaved with English. For example, someone will ask a question like "where are you going?" and the response will come in both Spanish and English - "vamos a la tienda - we're going to the store". This happens repeatedly throughout each episode, reinforcing vocabulary development and language acquisition in both Spanish and English. Given that the target audience is young enough to absorb languages holistically, the approach is an effective introduction to Spanish, and a great support to Spanish language immersion programs.

As a protagonist, Manny is a kind and patient role model willing to go out of his way to help his neighbors without compromising his integrity. The overall effect is one of acceptance and diversity. Paired with the show's bilingualism and the language acquisition it supports, the social aspects of this preschoolers' show model behaviors that support cultural diversity and acceptance in its young viewers, all while laying the foundation for the linguistic skills its audience will need to apply these lessons in real life.

More, More, More Said the Baby

More, More, More Said the Baby: Three Love Stories
By Vera B. Williams; illus. by author
No Author Site
0-4 Preschool Greenwillow 32 pp.
978-0688091736 Hardcover $17.99
Fiction

More, More, More Said the Baby is as joyful a book as the title suggests, and the subtitle, 3 Love Stories, couldn't be more accurate. Williams, who won the Caldecott Honor for her effort, offers babies (and toddlers) and their grown-ups an exuberant celebration of love, play and happiness. More, More, More Said the Baby is effortlessly multigenerational and multicultural. The first "baby", Little Guy, and his daddy are white, the second "baby", Little Pumpkin, is African-American while her grandma is white, and the third "baby", Little Bird, and her mom are Asian-American. Williams makes no effort to point out the differences or similarities in each pair. She simply presents each short narrative in warm, colloquial language ("But Little Guy's Daddy catches that baby up all right") and expertly rhythmic prose ("Just look at you with your ten little toes right on the ends, right on the ends, right on the ends of your two little feet, good enough to eat"), underscoring the universality of the love expressed by each couple. The language can only be described as bubbly, almost leaping off the page in rainbow colors. It's not only fun to read, but it's wonderful hear read aloud. Little ones will be especially taken in by the effortless repetition of sounds, words and patterns in each narrative. Williams illustrations, though expertly rendered, have a spontaneous, active quality to them with wide brush-strokes and bold colors, that further supports the playfulness of the text. While this would be a good book for toddler storytimes, the real strength of More, More, More Said the Baby is the affection and love it unlocks between a baby and her grown-up, making it an especially great read for intimate storytimes at home. I can already hear the giggles of parents and babies playing and snuggling, inspired by the down-to-earth sweetness of Williams' work.

the little red fish

The Little Red Fish

By Taeeun Yoo; illus. by author
http://www.taeeunyoo.com/

3-4 Preschool Dial 32 pp.

978-0-8037-3145-5 Hardcover $15.99

Fiction

"JeJe's grandfather was a librarian at an old library in the middle of the forest." 

An old library in the middle of the forest.... From the moment one reads those words, one understands that one is entering a subtle, magical place. But even before the story begins, the reader is primed for something special. While covers are, quite famously, nothing to judge a book by, the red cloth binding and illustrated inset on the cover of The Little Red Fish makes a beautiful package, one that is added to by the endpaper and title page illustrations. These show, respectively, in shadowy pen and ink, the shelves of the mysterious library and the image of a grandfather and grandson pedaling through a curving wood toward a solid, square building that looks like nothing so much as an English boarding school. Strapped to the back of their bike, on top of a stack of books, is a small red fish with sweet wide eyes, floating happily in its bowl. It's an image that at first seems reasonable, but that hints gently at the surrealism of the story that's about to unfold. 

The muted red of JeJe's fish stands out from the sepia-toned watercolor background without jarring the eye, as if to imply that the fish belongs in the library in the middle of the forest, which is much larger than it's exterior would imply. While JeJe's grandfather works, JeJe and the fish explore. Soon, JeJe grows tired and falls asleep in a darkened room. When he wakes, it is night. He feels swallowed by darkness (a statement Yoo underscores by illustrating JeJe and his fish sitting in a shadow shaped like a whale). Then, JeJe notices that his fish is gone. As JeJe searches for his fish in the stacks, young readers are invited to look for it too, catching glimpses of a red tail floating in the shadows, until one's eye is caught by a book the same color as the fish. JeJe opens the book, unleashing a flood of red fish in a double page spread. What follows is a nearly wordless chase over 16 pages as JeJe tries to recapture his friend, ultimately succeeding (the fish manages to look bewildered and relieved) just as his grandfather finishes says it's time to go home. 

Yoo's prose is straightforward and clear, providing a spare, well-balanced narrative on which to hang her beautiful, emotive illustrations. The illustrations, while evoking traditional Chinese art, (especially in the etched figures of JeJe, his grandfather, and the red fish), are timeless and oddly universal, inviting children of all cultures to join JeJe on his unexpected adventure. While The Little Red Fish, with its delicate illustrations and quiet story, is best suited to one-on-one sharing, it is a book that preschoolers will enjoy having read to them more than once. With so many images and so much room for the child-reader's imagination, parents aren't likely to mind given the book's aesthetic appeal, an appeal that is a stand-out for children's material.