I Want My Hat Back

“Have you seen my hat?” / “No. I haven’t seen your hat.” / “OK. Thank you anyway.”

I’d like to say that great works of art have been built on less, but I doubt it’s true. However, I Want My Hat Back, written and illustrated by Jon Klassen (who received the 2010 Canadian Governor General’s Award for his illustrations in Cat’s Night Out by Caroline Stutson, and worked on the animated film Coraline), is a lovely children’s book, all the same.

The story is simple: the bear, pictured on the cover, has lost his hat, and wants to find it again. He asks the other creatures he encounters whether they have seen his hat, but none of them have–or so they say.

It’s difficult to convey the humor of the book without simply including the whole book in this post. The simple, sparse illustrations, together with the simple, repetitive dialogue, are charming, and the ending, when the bear realizes where his hat is, and goes to retrieve it, is hilarious. The calm, understated way the bear goes about asking after his hat, and his despair when he can’t find it (“What if I never see it again? What if nobody ever finds it? My poor hat. I miss it so much.”) combine to make a very funny scene, too.

Though I’ve not tested this one with kids myself, the prevailing sentiment seems to be that both children and adults find it very funny. I personally recommend it to anyone looking for a humorous children’s book, and anyone who just wants their hat back.

Meena

“The children of Fly Street were afraid of Meena. ‘Meena is a witch,’ Christa declared. ‘She eats toads,’ Klaas shouted. ‘She drinks blood,’ Thomas added.”

Christa, Klaas, and Thomas are afraid of Meena, and when they find a girl, Anna, that has clearly been bewitched by Meena, they try to warn her, only for her to angrily reply that Meena is not a witch–she’s Anna’s grandmother! Could the three children be wrong about Meena?

Meena is a children’s picture book by Sine van Mol, illustrated by Carianne Wijffels. Originally published in Dutch in 2010, as Mina lieverd, and English version is scheduled to be published on September 15, 2011 by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.

The first thing I noticed about this book–surely the first thing anyone would notice–is the unique art style. Or, more correctly, the unique art styles. The book contains two very different kinds of art. The children imagine Meena to be a witch, so we see Meena-as-a-witch drawn in crayon in a simple style by the children. The real events of the story, on the other hand, are drawn in a much more detailed style–especially noticeable are the very detailed patterns of the clothing. Each kind of illustration is very nice and appropriate, and the contrast between the two styles provides a wonderful effect.

The story is pretty simple: the children believe Meena to be a witch, but when they meet her granddaughter and taste her cherry pie, they learn that she is just a kind old woman. It is too simple to be engaging as a story for older readers–I fear that the children at the top end of the 5-9 age range the book suggests may find it slightly dull–but the art is interesting enough, I think, for even adults to find the book worthwhile.

I’d recommend Meena for young children, especially those just beginning to read. Anyone can enjoy the beautiful illustrations, though, so you might consider it for both older readers and children not quite up to reading by themselves, yet.

Disclosure: this review is based on an advance copy received free for review.

Barbie and The Rockers: The Fan

Delia wins a contest to spend a weekend with Barbie and The Rockers, for her essay “What Music Means to Me.” Delia is to try out for a place at the Los Angeles High School of Music, and has been practicing hard with her violin. When she sees the glamorous lifestyle of The Rockers, though, she decides she’ll give up violin and learn to play guitar, so she can join the band. The Rockers show Delia that being in a rock band isn’t all fun, though–it’s a lot of hard work, too. So, Delia decides to keep practicing with her violin, and The Rockers promise her a seat at any of their concerts.

Barbie and The Rockers: The Fan, written by Teddy Slater and illustrated by Tom Tierney, features characters from the popular Barbie toys. My summary above makes the book sound like a pretty good book for kids, but it’s got some problems, too.

First, the book (like the toys, I suppose) implies that the kind of ‘glamorous’ clothing worn by the band is something that Delia (and, by proxy, all girls) should be envious of, and that they should feel that ordinary clothing is inadequate. It says that Delia “was dazzled by the glittering clothes and couldn’t help comparing them with her own skirt and sweater. She felt painfully plain–especially when Derek’s eyes lit up at the sight of Diva modeling one of the outfits.” But Delia is wearing a perfectly nice outfit. One might expect the book to give the lesson that it’s not necessary to dress in flashy clothing, and that it’s the person, not the clothes, that matters, but it doesn’t. The message from the book is that Delia is right to be ashamed of her (relatively) simple clothing, and that if girls want to attract the eyes of someone like Derek, they must also dress in fancy clothing. Bad lesson.

As for the lesson that it’s hard work being in a rock band: well, that’s true, but that’s all the lesson is. They just have Delia watch them spend a few hours trying to record an album, and she decides that it’s too much work, and that’s that. They mention that when Delia has a violin concert, they want tickets, because they’re fans of her, too, but that just comes out of the blue. The book doesn’t really push the message that Delia’s hard work practicing with the violin is also valuable, or anything like that. The book just says that being in a rock band and wearing expensive clothing is way better than anything else, but you have to spend time recording music in order to do it. And… that’s it.

The art is weird. The characters are often in very odd poses, with strange facial expressions. Delia has a pretty much continuous blush, and everyone tends to have an odd open-mouthed look, all the time. And their outfits and hair are just hilarious.

Barbie and The Rockers: The Fan isn’t wholly unsalvageable, but it misses plenty of opportunities for good lessons, and seems to teach very bad lessons. I can’t recommend this one.

My Visit to the Dinosaurs

What were the dinosaurs like? What did they eat? How do we know about them?

In My Visit to the Dinosaurs by Aliki, a Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science Book, children can learn about the different kinds of dinosaurs, with information both about the dinosaurs themselves, and how we come to know about them, through fossils.

This one is good, but I don’t like it as well as the other two books in this series that I’ve reviewed, Ducks Don’t Get Wet and What Makes Day and Night. The illustrations are nice, but the book is more like a collection of trivia than the other two. Still, it’s quite a good book for kids.

I’d recommend My Visit to the Dinosaurs especially for kids interested in dinosaurs, but anyone might find it interesting. It’s a solid children’s picture book, well worth reading.

Ducks Don’t Get Wet

What do different kinds of ducks eat? Why do ducks fly south for the winter? Are ducks very good swimmers? And, when they do swim, why don’t ducks get wet?

The curious child will learn plenty about ducks from Ducks Don’t Get Wet, a Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science Book by Augusta Goldin, illustrated by Leonard Kessler.

Like What Makes Day and Night, Ducks Don’t Get Wet is interesting and informative, and the illustrations, though sometimes a little odd, go well with the text. Also like What Makes Day and Night, Ducks Don’t Get Wet includes some experiments children can do at home to help them understand why ducks, as the book says, don’t get wet.

There’s a newer edition than mine with illustrations by Helen K. Davie. It looks to have much more realistic illustrations, compared to Kessler’s version, but it seems a shame to miss the strangeness of Kessler’s illustrations. Either version should be good, though.

Ducks Don’t Get Wet is another wonderful book in the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science Books series, and a great choice for children. It’s educational and fun–you can’t go wrong!

What Makes Day and Night

Why is it sometimes night, and other times day? Why does the sun seem to move across the sky? Does the moon have day and night?

These questions (and a few more) are answered in a clear and understandable fashion by the excellent children’s picture book What Makes Day and Night by Franklyn M. Branley, illustrated by Arthur Dorros.

What Makes Day and Night is a Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science Book, which explains that the Earth is round, and rotates once a day, causing the apparent movement of the sun across the sky, and therefore causing day and night. This explanation is accompanied by great illustrations, as well as a beautiful photograph of Earth, taken from the Apollo 17 spacecraft, which help make these basic science facts accessible to the young reader.

I’d highly recommend What Makes Day and Night for young children. It encourages curiosity and a rational view of the world, excellent accomplishments for any children’s book.

How to be a Grouch

Ever wondered how to be a grouch, like Oscar from Sesame Street? Well, with the help of How to be a Grouch by Caroll Spinney, you can learn from the best–Oscar himself!

How to be a Grouch is a guide to everything the prospective grouch needs to know: what to eat; where to go on vacation; how to start your day so you can be grouchy right from the get-go; and plenty of other useful information, like grouchy modes of transportation and how to recognize different kinds of grouches.

The illustrations in How to be a Grouch are hilarious and excellent, and the book is full of funny grouchy things, like the Grouch Trashplane or the suggested foods, like hot beef stew with chocolate gravy in a melon–quite a (disgusting) mouthful!

How to be a Grouch is a wonderful book not just for fans of Sesame Street, but for anyone who’d like a funny and beautifully illustrated children’s picture book.

The Big Snow

Some animals leave for warmer climates when winter approaches, while others store up food or prepare in other ways. When a big snow comes and covers up all the food, the animals must rely on the kindness of an old man and woman who feed them to help them through the harsh winter.

The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader is a children’s picture book which receive the Caldecott Medal in 1949. It tells of how different animals prepare for the coming winter, and how they survive after a big snow.

The art is charming. Some pages are black-and-white, done in pencil, while others contain watercolors. The penciled illustrations are quite detailed, and the watercolors are lovely, too.

Although the animals are ultimately secure, I think it’s a little sad that all their preparation was for naught. It makes the deer, who believed that there would be food for all, growing plentifully, seem quite foolish. Then again, they are just animals.

The Big Snow is an excellent children’s book, featuring many creatures, beautifully illustrated. Definitely recommended.

The Berenstain Bears and the Attic Treasure

When Mama reads an article about converting an attic into a family room in Tree Housekeeping magazine, the family decides to have a yard sale to clear out their attic. However, each item in the attic is important to them, from Mama’s old trumpet, to the cracked honey pot that was a wedding gift, to Papa’s baseball card collection. It turns out that the attic was already a great family room–it just needed a little cleaning.

The Berenstain Bears and the Attic Treasure by Stan & Jan Berenstain portrays the Bear family reminiscing about some of their forgotten possessions. The moral, if there is one, is that our old things, and particularly the memories they evoke, are important to us.

The art is nice, even if the bears occasionally have very odd expressions–that’s par for the course in the modern Berenstain Bears books, though. It fun to see Mama and Papa’s wedding photos, and it’s amusing to see Sister “twirl-a-hooping up a storm” after Brother fails to twirl at all. Incidentally, I guess that, like Game Bear this is an attempt to avoid trademarks. Unlike Game Bear, though, which was amusing, twirl-a-hoop is just weird-sounding. Berenstains, think of more creative names, if you’re not going to say hula hoop.

My copy of this book was published as part of a promotion with McDonald’s, along with three others: The Berenstain Bears’ Life with Papa, The Berenstain Bears and the Substitute Teacher, and The Berenstain Bears and the Eager Beavers. I don’t have any of those three, as far as I can remember, so I can’t say whether there’s any common theme. However, The Berenstain Bears’ Life with Papa definitely sounds amusing to me. I’ll have to try to pick up a copy, some time.

The Berenstain Bears and the Attic Treasure is a pretty good Berenstain Bears book. Not much story nor much of a lesson, but it’s still fun, with amusing art, and it isn’t hampered by the sort of mean-spiritedness I noted in some of the others. Unfortunately, this one seems to be out of print, so you’ll have to pick up a used copy, if you want to read it for yourself.

The Five Chinese Brothers

In China lived five brothers, each in appearance exactly like the others. Each, too, had a special ability: the first could swallow the sea; the second had an iron neck; the third could stretch his legs very far; the fourth couldn’t be burned; and the fifth could hold his breath indefinitely. When a young boy is drowned while collecting shells from the sea bed after the first brother had drunk up the sea, the first brother is sentenced to be killed. However, his brothers’ special talents may be just what is needed to save him.

The Five Chinese Brothers is a picture book, written by Claire Huchet Bishop and illustrated by Kurt Wiese. I enjoyed it greatly as a child, though, looking back on it as an adult, there are some problems with it.

The problem is with the illustrations. They are lovely and entertaining, but they are also sadly stereotypical of Chinese people. I’d hesitate to call them racist, but they certainly reflect the time the were published, back in 1938. The Chinese people in general, and not merely the identical brothers, are all drawn as being essentially identical, with yellow skin, closed eyes, and hands together in their sleeves. Usual, I suppose, for the time, though such illustrations would be fairly offensive today–the book would probably not be published.

I understand that there’s a more recent retelling of the story by Margaret Mahy, with illustrations by Mou-Sien Tseng, called The Seven Chinese Brothers, which may lack these problems and so be preferable, but I’ve not read it, so I can’t comment.

Even with its problems, The Five Chinese Brothers is a great book. If it should, perhaps, be read by parents together with their children, in order to ensure an appropriate understanding that the book doesn’t accurately represent Chinese people, well, that’s not so bad–children’s books are usually best read by parents and children together, anyway.