Blog Archives
Green Toenail Soup and Bat Fuzz
![Green Toenail Soup and Bat Fuzz by [Sharon CassanoLochman, Lucy Belle]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51LUKnRH8+L.jpg)
The town of Madwacky is experiencing a bout of bad weather, so the citizens head over to the local wizard to ask him for help. Unfortunately, the wizard feels under the weather. It is up to the youngest wizard trainee to put his skills to the test and see if he can bring good weather back to the town by waving his wand and stringing together wild and wacky magical words.
Green Toenail Soup and Bat Fuzz uses sharp but simple sketch art to really bring this fun children’s story to life. The wizard trainee tries several times to bring good weather to the town, and each time he can’t seem to get it right, and brings about even more bizarre weather. The color schemes change and the townspeople run around in a flurry. I really appreciated the full range of emotions the diverse cast of characters show throughout the story.
Kids will love the wacky words included in each chant, ensuring a giggle every time a line is read. I really enjoyed the ending scenes with the strong contrast between darkness and light. As with all of author Sharon CassanoLochman’s children’s books there is a lesson hidden in this enchanting story. With all the magical spells cast, the most powerful magical word of all brings everything back to normal, ‘please’.
This is a fun kids book that will surely delight young readers and get them thinking of their own silly magical chants. This will help children develop a strong understanding of sentence construction and inspire the imagination.
Pages: 31 | ASIN: B082MVKGB1
Ellibot and Aunt Maple
![Ellibot and Aunt Maple by [Sharon CassanoLochman, Lucy Belle]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bFTX7a+oL.jpg)
Ellibot and Aunt Maple follows a young boy who is supposed to spend the day with his aunt, but dreads the inevitable boredom of it. He hatches a plan to construct a makeshift robot that will take his place with his aunt so that he can go play in his room. But he realizes that the fun he seeks cannot be found alone in his room.
This is a charming and imaginative children’s book that speaks to the boredom some kids feel when spending time with their aunts and uncles. But it also shows that, while it can be boring sometimes, our aunts and uncles also take care of us and can be fun as well. The art in this book has a wonderful sketch art style that keeps the focus on the action with vivid colors. Ellibot is a hilariously constructed ‘robot’ that takes on its own personality throughout the story. I loved that the story also shows the aunt being sad, as this provides an opportunity to learn that adults have emotions too, and that we need to be mindful of that.
Ellibot and Aunt Maple is a delightful picture book that teaches a valuable life lesson in a short but amusing story. Children will love seeing Ellibot in different situations throughout the story and will be able to relate to Elliot as well.
Pages: 16 | ASIN: B08CY73D5Q
Hugo Deani Runs Late
![Hugo Deani Runs Late by [Sharon CassanoLochman, Pearly Lim]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XmII0bRkS.jpg)
Hugo Deani Runs Late is a charming children’s story about a boy who is given a task by his grandmother to get some cake and flowers and hurry home. But along the way he gets distracted by all the fun things happening around him.
This is a fun and relatable children’s book that really builds a sense of urgency. After he’s told by nearly everyone he meets that he must hurry home Hugo, l like any child, just wants to have fun, and has plenty of opportunity to do so. This is a fantastic children’s book that teaches kids to stay on task and not get distracted. The words in the story are simple, in context, and repeat so new readers will have an easy time reading the story and build their vocabulary in the process. The wonderful graphic art has a spray-painted feel with lots of depth that really catches your eye.
Although Hugo often gets distracted he knows he must hurry and his race to both have fun and get home gets the interest of those he encounters along the way and I loved that they all followed him home, creating a parade of characters near the surprise ending.
Hugo Deani Runs Late is a fun kid’s picture book that is reminiscent of classic children’s literature. This is a great book for parents and teachers that want to educate their young readers to stay on task in a fun way.
Pages: 33 | ASIN: B095J4M7R1
Impatient Patience (What I Tell Myself)
![Impatient Patience (What I Tell Myself) by [Michael A Brown, Lovyaa Garg, Michelle Mathews]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/513VsTYjdaS._SX260_.jpg)
Impatient Patience follows a little girl named Patience who is very impatient. When in line, or ordering food, or riding her bike she is a very impatient child who is about to learn why patience is a virtue. A simple and colorful rhyming book brings into focus a quality that a lot of children often struggle with. Being patient is not easy, but being impatient can bring painful consequences as Patience soon learns in this educational picture book.
Patience represents a lot of children, or all children in at least one moment in their lives, when they want everything now. With easy rhymes and repetitive words, this charming kids book also serves as a great beginners reading book.
This marvelous book shows Patience being impatient throughout the story, it then shows the consequences of being impatient, and it also shows several moments at the end where her mother is speaking to her, in very calm terms, about patience and why it is important. This was my favorite part of the book because I think this provides a wonderful opportunity to show children where their parents fit into their life lessons.
Impatient Patience easily conveys a singular but important lesson to children in elementary school with cute imagery throughout. Talking to children about patience can often be abstract, but author Michael A. Brown gives parents and teachers a fantastic tool to teach children that sometimes slowing down can be a great thing in this fast paced world.
Pages: 17 | ASIN: B08LQY4VB1
Stay on Track!
![Stay on Track! (What I Tell Myself) by [Michael A Brown]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51uWyheMcYS._SX260_.jpg)
Stay on Track! Is a colorful, and lyrical, children’s book that follows a train, and an engineer, as they shuttle passengers to Oakton Park station, learning a valuable life lesson along the way. Will Eddie the Engineer know what to do when the train takes a wrong turn? Luckily Travis the Train is there to support his friend and provide sagely advice to get them back on track.
Author Michael A. Brown adds another beautiful book to his What I Tell Myself series that helps kids understand that mistakes are normal and, while it’s okay to aspire to be like others, everyone is different and take different paths in life. The art in this book, like in many of Michael Brown’s books, is vivid, cute, and emotive. This story is reminiscent of Thomas The Train, but readers will enjoy the modern suburban feel in this story.
Kids’ books rarely surprise me. I knew that something was going to happen to challenge our character, like many stories do, but I didn’t see this one coming. I was like Eddie the Engineer, distracted by the fun time and Oscar the other Train Engineer, that by the time the turn came and Eddie missed it, I was just as shocked.
The story is easy to read, with rhymes throughout, ensuring that new readers will easily be able to follow along and build their vocabulary. Stay on Track! is a fun children’s picture book that conveys a valuable life lesson.
Pages: 31 | ASIN: B094HLM5DG
Ack! The Nantucket Duckling
![Ack! The Nantucket Duckling by [A.K. Spurway, Jacqueline East]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Jh1sPSH3L.jpg)
Ack! The Nantucket Duckling is a charming children’s story about a duckling that is different from the other ducklings. His beak is shaped like a trumpet, giving him a different, but distinct quack. Or should I say ack! In this wonderfully illustrated picture book Ack learns the value of being different, and accepting who he is, no matter what.
Author A.K. Spurway provides young readers with a heartwarming story of a duckling that struggles with his self-image and doubts himself. Every page has beautiful watercolor inspired images with a soft color palette that is easy on the eyes. All the little ducklings in this story are so cute. Children will have a wonderful time pointing out all the cute animals and bugs found throughout the book as parents read the story. The characters are emotive and children will be able to identify all the emotions they see throughout the story. It is not often that children’s books surprise me, but while I knew there was going to be a redeeming act somewhere in the story, I wasn’t sure where it would come from. When Wilson, Mrs. Crabapple and Ack all come together at the end, there was a real moment of suspense for me.
Ack! The Nantucket Duckling is a delightful children’s book that will teach kids about self-acceptance in a fun and entertaining way. I highly recommend this educational book to parents and teachers that want to have a discussion about self-worth and self-image. This is a wonderful story that children will keep coming back to.
Pages: 25 | ASIN: B0876LTRLD
Fill an Educational Gap
The Rainbow Blots teaches children about the colors of the rainbow in a fun and entertaining way. What inspired the idea behind the Rainbow Blots?
The Rainbow Blots was inspired by my son and my niece who had independently drawn little characters with circular bodies, no separate heads but with arms, legs and smiling faces. I was inspired to create characters like these for a children’s book and put colours inside the circular bodies.
There are lots of colours books and I wanted my characters to be unique. It struck me that children are rarely taught the seven colours of the rainbow in order. We teach them ‘purple’ or ‘pink’ but not indigo and violet. This has always bothered me, ever since I realised that yellow was not the second colour of the rainbow, at the ripe old age of eleven! I wanted to teach my children properly and a rainbow storybook teaching the seven rainbow colours in order seemed a good proposition and it would help to fill an educational gap.
Children learn best through play, so it was a great opportunity to have my characters play with objects that were the same colours as themselves in order to teach the rainbow colours.
The art in this book is wonderfully creative. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Victoria Mikki?
I created the overall storyboard for the book and it was important to me that each character had its own personality and physical identifier (e.g. Red Blot’s glasses or Orange Blot’s baseball cap) but Victoria brought all the characters and scenes to life. Her illustrations are so beautiful and humorous! She surprises and delights with every page turn.
I like to have a balance between not being too prescriptive but giving enough information that the illustrations returned are in line with my overall vision. For example, I asked for a Mummy Rainbow character to lower down her Blots by a ladder. I also wanted Mummy Rainbow to appear when there had been sun and rain at the same time. The double spread Victoria returned was so fantastic and inspirational for the opening scene that I knew I had to use the image on the cover as well.
Similarly, I knew what objects I wanted the Blots to be playing with. Victoria was in her element with these playing scenes. They were such a joy to receive as an author and it has been wonderful to hear the feedback from parents enjoying the illustrations and to see and hear children giggling along in delight, too!
This book serves as a great educational tool. How do you see this fitting into a students curriculum?
The Rainbow Blots is brilliant for use in kindergartens (UK preschools/nurseries) and first grade (UK reception class). For early learners, the book teaches colour recognition and helps children associate objects with colours. Rainbow colours are introduced in order and children are invited to recap the colours together. I know one second grade (UK Year 1) teacher who has used my book and song in conjunction with teaching a weather module in class. Older children can also enjoy reading The Rainbow Blots as it is written as a storybook. My six-year-old daughter enjoys reading it to herself and out loud to her toys!
Children learn in a variety of ways. The first thing my children did upon reading my book was to try and sing the colours of the rainbow in order. They couldn’t do it with the rainbow song we all knew, which had ‘pink’ in it. So, as a musician, I composed my own rainbow song called, ‘Do You Know The Colours Of The Rainbow?’ My rhyming song teaches the seven colours in order. The tune is so catchy, and children learn their colours really quickly when my book and song are taught in combination.
I have two versions of the song, with the same tune. Both can be found on my YouTube channel. The original has more of a nursery rhyme style, and I have had it animated in a 2D video featuring the characters from The Rainbow Blots. For slightly older children, there is a dancier version that gives more time to sign the song in sign language. To date, I have only had the song signed in British Sign Language, but I hope it can be translated into other languages as well to aid inclusivity and diversity and help embed a little sign language into a child’s early learning journey.
Do you have future books planned for The Rainbow Blots?
The Rainbow Blots was written as part of a series. I hope to publish ‘The Rainbow Blots Learn Numbers’ later in 2021.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook
Have fun learning the seven rainbow colours in order, with Mummy Rainbow and her Rainbow Blots. The Blots love to play with their colours and to play together as a family. Join in with their day and keep a lookout for their special trick!
The Rainbow Blots : A Children’s Storytime Book About Rainbow Colours and Learning Through Play
The Rainbow Blots follows a family of color blots that have a colorful day of play, educating readers along the way, until they get tired and head off to bed. Author Carlie Wright has provided readers with a wonderfully creative children’s picture book that teaches young readers about different colors and shows them how those colors exist around them.
The art in this imaginative children’s book is very cute, with vibrant illustrations filling each page. This gives kids plenty to look at as parents and teachers read the story to them. Each color of the rainbow is represented and each is given its own charming personality. Each color states what they love, and it just so happens to be related to their color, and this provides an opportunity for children to think of other things that are the same color. This makes The Rainbow Blots a fantastically engaging educational tool. My child kept giggling at all the cute things on the pages. My favorite was the orange pumpkin, so cute!
This is a perfect picture book for children in kindergarten and first grade as it teaches different colors, color identification, and helps build kids imagination. I can easily see these delightful Rainbow Blots going on many more color-oriented adventures. The Rainbow Blots is an adorable children’s book that educates as well as it entertains.
Pages: 19 | ASIN: B08TMVNP21
LITERARY TITAN 