Picture Book Saturday (18)

The Little Pea
By Eric Battut
Published 2011 by Sky Pony Press
This is another terribly cute story from Battut. This time, we have a little pea who has different dreams for himself than just your run-of-the-mill peadom. It's funny and sweet and I think will really appeal to kids. Once again, my only complaint is that the pictures are so tiny! It's difficult to see what little pea looks like, which is unfortunate because he is embellishing his appearance throughout the book. This has a fun ending. Very enjoyable story. Does Battut only work in miniature? Must investigate.

The Easter Bunny's Assistant
By Jan Thomas
Published 2012 by HarperCollins
So basically every children's librarian blog I read declares an undying love for Jan Thomas and her books. I'd never really known about them until a few months ago when I started my new job. One of her books popped up on our new cart and the teen librarian fawned over it and explained how much she loved her books. A similar thing happened with this one: I picked it up to read and my supervisor hovered over my shoulder. She actually couldn't resist reading it aloud as I was reading it to myself. Anyway, I've learned to love Thomas and this book is no exception. It's funny and endlessly appealing to kids. This would work wonderfully in a storytime about Easter. Or bunnies. Or skunks.

Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass
By Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E. Ransome
Published 2012 by Simon & Schuster
This is basically what it says it is: the story of Frederick Douglass as a young boy. Once again, picture books teaching me things I didn't know (or in this case, perhaps I knew but had forgotten): Douglass was born a slave and escaped on the Underground Railroad before becoming to author and speaker we know him as today. Interesting and very well-done, this book is a little long, so would be suited for the elementary audience. I'm not sure how helpful it is as a biography (say if a child needed to do a report), but for an interested kid wanting to know more about Douglass before he became respected and well-known, this would be a good choice. The illustrations are nice and match the text in style.

Vivaldi and the Invisible Orchestra
By Stephan Costanza
Published 2012 by Henry Holt and Co.
Did you know there are sonnets that accompany Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"? Nope, I had no clue. So the intent of this book was a little lost on me. But basically, what we're getting is the story behind these sonnets. Other things I didn't know: Vivaldi wrote for an orchestra made primarily of orphan girls. This story decides that one of these orphans was the author of the sonnets and explains how she loves working for Vivaldi and how thrilled she is when he incorporates her words into his music. An interesting notion but how many kids know who Vivaldi is? Or care? The illustrations are bright and dreamy. I just don't know who might go looking for this one.