Book Finder

Sparkle, Lucy’s unicorn, becomes a bit jealous when Cole comes over to play. Dance and a drum bring the three friends together in this gentle but illuminating story of friendship.

The race is on and Mama Lion and young Tigey are off! The Italian countryside provides the backdrop for this charming tale of friendship and monkey hijinks. Translucent watercolors illustrate the race with spiffy cars driven by toys come to life are worth reexamining.

In this wordless fantasy, a girl loses her stuffed fox but finds it in a fantastic forest. This imaginative tale is told in sequential panels (rather like a graphic novel) in which no words are needed.  

Though well-meaning, the good deeds just don’t turn out quite right when Clifford the big red dog tries to help Mary Elizabeth and her neighbor Tim around town. This vintage edition uses limited color illustration in a humorous modern classic.

Examine each double page spread in this oversized book. See the realistically pictured animals and where they live. Make up or find a story about them.  If you’re curious, you can look in the back for the names of the real animals. Handsome scenes from different natural environments make this a book to examine again and again.

“Giant Whale or Giant Hoax?” headlines read in the opening of this mostly wordless book. The adventure continues as two young people prepare to find and record the massive mammal through wordless, realistic, highly detailed monochromatic illustrations. Their breathtaking escapade continues until the final spread depicting another newspaper, announcing that the boys have solved the mystery of the spotted whale.

The illustration looks like a fairy tale but this book actually dispels the myth of the luxurious life of princesses who lived in the Middle Ages. Not at all like Cinderella, it seems. The smell would have been the moat (filled with potty water), banquet halls cluttered with bones, grease — and rats — you get it.  An author’s note and bibliography about the period conclude this myth-buster.

Private I tries to assuage 6 who just knows that 7 is coming to get him! Why? Because 7 8 9, of course! Wordplay and over-the-top humor make this satire of old detective stories sophisticated. Told with tongue in cheek language and colorful illustrations, this is a very funny tale.

How one person helped make one community into the bicycle capital of the world is told in animated illustrations and easy text. It began in the 1970s when Maartje Rutten and her friends strived to change one city. The impact of that movement is still evident in Amsterdam today where bicycles remain more prevalent than automobiles. 

Can you find the ice cream cones that look alike?  How about the tractors? Can you spot the leaves that are the same? It’s not as easy as it looks! Poems ask readers to identify the pair on the opposing page from among similar, clear but tough-to-tell-apart illustrations in this playful book that requires a keen eye!

Sophie admired Jean-Pierre Blanchard, the first man to cross the English Channel in a hot air balloon. She would marry him and become the first woman to first fly solo in a balloon after her husband’s death. Colorful illustrations dramatically bring 18^th century France to life; when coupled with an action-paced text Sophie and her bravery come into crisp focus.

Jasmine is only 8 years old but wants to do what the boys do. It’s her family Japanese tradition for the boys to pound the rice for mocha at her family’s New Year’s celebration. But can she really handle it? Readers of all backgrounds will empathize with Jasmine’s dilemma and see themselves in her. 

Since little is known about the real Amelia Simmons, the author invites readers to imagine what became of her after her father’s death. Amelia would become a “bound girl,” to work for others. She may have made an Independence Cake perhaps tasted by General George Washington! The colonial period is clearly imagined here in illustration and lively text, complete with a cake recipe.

Drasko is Milo’s son who carries on his father’s flower business even after things in Sarajevo change seemingly overnight. Milo is called to the battlefield. A blast kills people in line at the bakery. Only the power of beauty through music brings hope. Based on actual events, this moving story is one of faith in spite of hatred and violence.  A CD read by the author provides additional information about the event and includes the music played by cellist Vedrun Smailovic.

Visually stunning and informative, Ali’s early life, how it influenced him, as well as his many accomplishments are presented. Dramatic illustrations are enhanced by the presentation of text in different typefaces. A timeline concludes this brief biography.

Colette’s loses her imaginary parrot but finds friends in her neighborhood while the children help her search for it. Sequential art expressively tells the story in mostly blacks and grays punctuated with yellow. Limited text completes the appealing package. 

Elementary school-age boys start at the beginning of the school year to study with Pamela at the National Dance Institute of New Mexico. By the end of the year, some will perform “Treasure Island,” others will perform Mexican folktales. All in all, over 20 dances lead up to the grand finale. Dancing is hard work but lots of fun, too, chronicled in this photoessay. 

A mistake: a splat of ink.  In fact, “it started with one mistake.” That mistake became a pattern, then a good idea, then ultimately into a remarkable work of imagination. Don’t let the format let you race through this book. Slow down; examine each double page spread to discover the hidden treasures in it — and maybe inspire your own book of mistakes.

Poetry comes in many forms; some rhymes, some doesn’t. Inspiration comes from many places, too. “Poems tall or short or wide — /All are infinite inside…” of each of us. Slightly abstract illustrations of children together or admiring the world around them completes this thoughtful look at language and poetry.

Triangle — a triangular shape with big eyes and stick legs — decides to leave his triangular house to play a trick on square. But turnabout is fair play in this whimsical but sardonic tale. The illustrator’s signature style are textured, deceivingly simple, and placed on open pages.  

When their parents go on a trip, Yorick decides to play around with his father’s alchemy. Accidentally inventing a shrinking potion, a very tiny Yorick must rely on his younger — now much larger brother — Charles to keep him safe until the spell can be reversed. Steig’s rich language and cartoon illustration set the tale in medieval times and remain as fresh today as when the book was first published. 

Spritely, translucent watercolors jaunt across the pages of a poem by romantic poet, John Keats. The nonsensical adventure begins: “There was a naughty Boy,/A naughty boy was he,/he would not stop at home,/He could not quiet b—“ and ends with the boy still a’wondering.  This poem was written by — and about — Keats in a letter to his sister as he traveled, now illustrated and presented for others to delight in its fancy.

A year in the life of Vixen, a red fox, reveals how these canine omnivores live, hunt, and reproduce. A muted palette allows Vixen to stand out as she moves throughout her territory. Additional information and resources conclude this attractive, evocative, and informative book.

When Hee Jun’s father accepts a position in West Virginia, everything changes for the boy and his family. His grandmother, a teacher in Korea, now stays at home; his little sister becomes a discipline problem at school; and Hee Jun does not understand English. With time, however, Hee Jun finds a friend whose yard contains a rose of Sharon, a “mugunghwa” in Korea.  It is a piece of home. Gentle illustrations convey the characters’ emotions to enhance the story.