Moo, Moo, Brown Cow, Have You Any Milk? written by Phillis Gershator and illustrated by Giselle Potter is a contemporary take on Ba Ba black sheep with added versus. The rhythmic style of writing lends itself to being sung to the tune of Ba Ba black sheep as well making it perfect for a bedtime lullaby. The book follows a little boy as he asks about getting honey, milk, eggs, down and wool so chidren get a sense of where things come from. Potter's pictures are a colorful display of whimsy that illustrate what each item in question is. For those children who don't know what down is Potter shows them with pictures. This book is good for children up to 8 years old.
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown is a book that I wish I had picked up long ago. It's an adorable story of hope and determination. There once was a town that had no gardens, no grass, no flowers or foliage of any kind. It was a dreary town until one day Liam decided to explore an old railroad where he discovered a few plants in need of a gardener. Liam didn't think himself a gardener, but he thought he would give it a go. Things didn't always work out as planned, but Liam kept trying and became more knowledgable about gardening and because of his tenacity the town transformed into a gardeners dream. This book shows the importance of persistance and education and the illustrations wonderfully depict the transformation from dreary to refreshingly lush. This book varys from some pages with no writing to pages with several sentences so this book would be great for children with a little longer attention span. It would be great for children ages 3-8 and with this years Summer Reading Club theme as dig in, it's a perfect summer read.
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carl work together in this picture book for young children ages 2-5. This is a book about a boy who is dreaming of different types of animals "all wild and free". With few words to a page and colorful pictures this book is great for early readers.
The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot is written by Margaret McNamara and illustrated by Mark Fearing is a space aged take on the tale of The Three Little Pigs. Mother alien's house had gotten too small for herself and her three little aliens so she sets them loose in the universe and tells them to find a good home and stick together. At first they didn't stick together and it was only Nklxwcyz who had the forsight to build a sturdy house instead of a whimsical one and it was he who Bork and Gork sought out after their less sturdy houses were destroyed by the big bad robot. Fearing's illustrations give distinct personalities to the little aliens. This book has several sentences on eash page making this book ideal for children who are a bit older, about 4-8 years old.
Race The Wild Wind: A Story of the Sable Island Horses is by Sandra Markle with paintings by Layne Johnson. This story and it's painted illustrations are very realistic. The story follows one stallion as he arrives on the island and it shows his life as a bachelor and how he came to be the head of a herd. This story talks about pregnant horses, the death of a stallion, and is fairly long, as picture books go, so this story is probably best for older children, Kirkus suggests ages 5-9, but I'm inclined to say that 5 is a little young. Having grown up around horses I probably would have been ready for this book before others just because I saw it anyway, but for some young children this could bring up some pretty big questions. I like that the story is about a real place and that there are facts in the back of the book for those who want to know more.
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