No, David!

No, David!
by: David Shannon
Illustrated by: The Author
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Blue Sky Press
Language: English
ISBN: 0590930028
Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches
Price: (without shipping) $15.95 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

David is, as we'd spin it in the teacher's lunchroom, an energetic child. One who looks a little wild. One who is drawn in a style that every child can identify with. A brilliant artistic choice.

The book, the author tells us, was first written years ago when he was a child and the only words he could spell where "No" and "David". When his mother sent him the book years later he decided to remake it and so he did and it's good for us that he did.

This is a fun book that all kids will be able to identify with.

Message:
[Parents] We may say yes but they remember the nos.
[Kids] See, it's not just you.
[Teacher WARNING] This is a funny book but may not be suited for the classroom due to the naked rear end picture half way through.

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5

Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Fly Pie

Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Fly Pie
by: Judy Sierra
Illustrated by: Edward Koren
Paperback: 40 pages
Publisher: Alfred A Knoff; 1st edition
Language: English
ISBN: 0375832181
Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
Price: (without shipping) $16.95 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

This book is the first that reminds me of the works of the late Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends, Runny Babbit, The Giving Tree and more) both is text and artwork. Thelonius Monster decides to make a fly pie with hundreds of juicy flies but sometimes things don't work out the way you intend but are fine anyway. It is the same here.

Judy Sierra's rhyming text is a delight and Edward Koren (noted New Yorker cartoonist) provides illustrations in a self limited color pallette to delightful effect.

This is a great book with no overbearing message. Just monsterous fun.

Message:
[Parents] There is life after Shel.
[Kids] When cooking things that fly, do cook them.

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5

Where Do Balloons Go?

Where Do Balloons Go?
by: Jamie Lee Curtis
Illustrated by: Laura Cornell
Paperback: 36 pages
Publisher: Joanna Cotler; 1st edition
Language: English
ISBN: 006027980X
Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.1 x 0.5 inches
Price: (without shipping) $16.99 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

Jamie Lee Curtis must be able to be in contact with her inner child every moment of every day. It is this ability that makes her seem to be such an effortless actress but more importantly, for the purposes of this blog, it must be this ability that allows her to write with such wonder and innocence.

Illustrator Laura Cornell, once again, has brilliantly illustrated Curtis' text and the result is wonderful.

Where do balloons go? You'll have to read the book to find out.

Message:
[Parents] Always wonder.
[Kids] Always wonder why.

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5

When I Was Little

When I Was Little
by: Jamie Lee Curtis
Illustrated by: Laura Cornell
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Joanna Cotler; 1st edition
Language: English
ISBN: 0060210788
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 10.2 x 0.3 inches
Price: (without shipping) $16.99 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

Once again Team Curtis/Cornell deliver a delightfully fresh and original story in full and vivid color.

This is a memoir but a memoir unlike anyone you've ever read. In this, a four year old reflects on her life as a child and the differences between her life at four and when she was a baby.

This is a keeper and one that parents will enjoy as much as the child it is purchased for.

Message:
[Parents] See how much your child thinks he/she has grown and matured.
[Kids] You're a big kid, keep up the good work.

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
by: Judi Barrett
Illustrated by: Ron Barrett
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Aladdin; 1st edition
Language: English
ISBN: 0689707495
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 9.5 x 0.1 inches
Price: (without shipping) $6.99 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

This, and the sequel, Pickles to Pittsburgh, are hard to classify. They are very fun books. The concept is a new one, for me anyway. In the town of Chewandswallow food comes from the sky. This is a great thing until the weather goes a little nuts and supersizes everything and the town takes such a beating that the townspeople flee. The story is told through the eyes of a brother and sister who are retelling the story first told to them by thier grandfather.

The illustrations are wonderful and have an old-fashioned look with fine detail done in ink and watercolor.

This is one, like Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel, that needs to be in the family library.

Message:
[Parents] Fun and witty a good lesson as to the power, however absurd, of nature.
[Kids] Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5