Balderdash!

Balderdash!

John Newberry and the Boisterous Birth of Children's Books

Michelle Markel

illustrated by Nancy Carpenter 2017

How much we owe to John Newberry and his desire to provide enjoyable books for children.  He lived in an age when children's behavior was trained by physical punishment.  It was actually a revolutionary thought that children could be encouraged to learn through play and enjoyment!  Newberry, a publisher, managed to create a market for children's literature, publishing bright appealing books that could instruct in a fun way.  

This loose biography (with extra information at the end) celebrates his innovation with cheerful illustrations, word bubbles, and kinetic type font.  It's a fun book, just how Newberry would like it!

 

The Big Golden Book of Fairy Tales

Illustrator Beverlie Manson invokes the style of the Johnstone sisters in this Golden Book collection of fairy tales.  Eleven of the most well known stories are retold, but it's Manson's pictures that make this something special.  

The Big Golden Book of Fairy Tales

retold by Lornie Leete-Hodge

illustrated by Beverlie Manson 1981

Bruno Munari's ABC

Fantastic graphic Alphabet Book. I think I originally bought this at the thrift store with the idea of cutting it up to use for crafts.  But then I realized just how wonderful it was!  Bruno Munari was an incredibly creative Italian artist whose work spanned many fields.

Bruno Munari's ABC 1960

(look how fun these title pages are!)

I think this trumpet page is my favorite!

The Rabbit Story

The Rabbit Story

Alvin Tresselt

pictures by Leonard Weisgard 1957

Alvin Tresselt provides the texts for this adorable bunny story while Leonard Weisgard illustrates.  (Weisgard most often paired with Margaret Wise Brown and created some real classics with her.)  

This midcentury story tells of a litter of bunnies born on the edge of the meadow and protected by their mother.  As they grow, one of them ventures into the farmer's garden where she is caught and turned into a pet for the farmer's son.  But she is a wild rabbit and after awhile she misses her wild freedom.  Soon she makes her escape and is back in the wilderness where she belongs, building her own burrow for her own little bunnies.  It's a very sweet story.  I was impressed with how Weisgard's pictures create a rich natural world with a simple grey palate.

Charlotte, being a bunny lover, loved this book!  We picked it up at a library discard sale.

The Secret Garden Golden Book

The Secret Garden

retold by Fraces Gilbert

illustrated by Brigette Barrager 2017

The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett is one of Madeleine's favorite books.  She particularly liked the character of Mary and the transformation that takes place in her as she becomes caretaker of the secret garden and befriends Colin and Dickon.  This Golden Book version has wonderful modern illustrations that I particularly like.  If the artwork looks familiar, it's because Barrager also did an amazing version of The Twelve Dancing Princesses (along with many other books).

A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls

Patrick Ness

illustrated by Jim Kay 2013

 Charlotte is on her 3rd or 4th time reading this book.  It's probably one of her favorite books (which is why she refuses to watch the movie!) even though she admits that it makes her cry.  

Inspired by the writer Siobhan Dowd, Patrick Ness writes a powerful story about a boy and his love for his mother and the hardship, alienation and pain of her illness.  He is met in the night by a monster in the form of a yew tree. Through the monster's stories and eventually his own he is  forced to face the complicated, messiness of life and death.  

This won all sorts of awards, including the Greenaway Medal for illustrator Jim Kay, and rightly so.  A good chapter book for older kids considering the heavy matter, I loved reading it as well and yes, it made me cry too.  In fact, when I read it after Charlotte I had to go to her so we could hug and cry about it together!  (That's they kind of family we are!)