I thought that this month I’d focus on picture books! While publishing usually slows down for the winter, there’s some really great books coming out. So even if you feel too busy with the holiday season approaching, I’m hoping you’ll still be able to make time to sit and enjoy one of these picture books.
“Grown with Love” by Valeria Wicker
Oliver loves plants, and he especially loves finding the perfect plant for each person. Since Oliver is also a scientist, he’s able to graft plants to make beautiful and useful gifts for his neighbors. For the mail carrier, Oliver develops the “Climatus Enduris” that protects him like an umbrella, and for Ms. Lloyd and her prone-to-wander puppy, he makes the “Shrub Architectis” that surrounds her yard like a fence. But elderly Mrs. Kroftombottom poses a significant problem. She has “black thumbitis” and nothing grows in her garden. Will Oliver be able to develop exactly what she needs? With beautifully detailed illustrations and fantastical plants, this sweet book also highlights kindness and community.
“Bert the Bowerbird: the Small Bird With a Big Heart” written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Catherine Rayner
Male bowerbirds build a bower (or nest), decorate it, and wait for their future mates. Bert has completed his bower, and happily decorates it with a single purple flower. When Nanette arrives, she ridicules his design skills and tells him he needs to find more decorations if he wants to please her. A discouraged Bert flies off to find other items, like a silver bell and a snail shell, in a lovely cumulative rhyme structure. Yet all his hard work may be for naught, unless he can find someone who will appreciate him and his humble purple flower. Not only does this book highlight a fascinating bird, it’s got a great message about finding people who will love you for who you are.
“Haiku Kaiju Ah-Choo!” by George McClements
Are you ready for a picture book written entirely in haiku? No peaceful cherry blossoms in this one though — instead a huge blue kaiju has the sniffles. When he wakes up sneezing and feeling yucky, Kaiju stomps into the nearest city for help. Naturally, the city’s inhabitants assume the big blue monster is here to terrorize the town, and his arrival is heralded by sirens and panic. A boy touring his father’s office at Kaiju Central realizes that Kaiju needs help, and persuades his dad not to order an attack. Instead, they procure giant tissues, blankets and a bowl of soup for him, before he stomps back to his cave. “Kaiju is back home. / Many adventures today— / now it’s time to rest.” The comic book style illustrations and frequently hilarious words make an inviting introduction to haiku for budding poets.
“A Sea of Gold: A Ukrainian Family’s Story Through the Generations” by Patricia Polacco
We’ll end on something a bit more serious. This book follows the lives of three generations of Ukrainian women, as they flourish along with their sunflower farm. The story opens with a wedding between the two children of neighboring sunflower farmers. Readers are treated to rich descriptions and illustrations of Ukrainian wedding traditions, as the two start their lives together on their own plot of land. Their community celebrates with them when they have their first crop of sunflowers, a “sea of gold.” Soon they have a daughter who eventually marries and has her own daughter, and the whole family delights in their farm and life. But when Russia invades, they’re forced to flee. Adrift and grieving, they end up in America with extended family. What renews their hope and love is a handful of hidden sunflower seeds that promise them a sea of gold again. Like many Patricia Polacco books, this one has more words and complex sentences than some of my other choices this month. It’s perfect to read together with your child, and can open up all kinds of conversations from family traditions to warfare and refugees.
