Book Review: Dinosaur Kisses by David Ezra Stein

Book: Dinosaur Kisses
Author: David Ezra Stein
Illustrator: David Ezra Stein
Published: 2013
Source: Local Library

A newborn dinosaur witnesses a kiss and wants to try it out. But she’s predisposed toward stomping and chomping, and the kisses don’t really go well. Actually, disaster is a more accurate description. Poor Dinah! Will she ever successfully kiss anybody?

Do you guys know how hard it is for me to find Valentine’s Day books that aren’t swimming in pink and twee adorableness? It’s hard, I tell you. Luckily, there’s a book like Dinosaur Kisses to fill the gap.

Even though the dry, funny text is a winner, the pictures really make this book. They’re simple and yet enormously expressive. At one point, Dinah goes back to her egg to think. The picture shows her plopped next to half of her eggshell, the other half perched on her head like a hat, a consternated expression on her face. It makes you laugh and feel for her at the same time.

No Roundup This Month

It was such a light reading month for me that I don't really enough to round up. I'll combine January and February into one post next month.

Storytime Favorites: I'm a Frozen Icicle

I'm starting a new feature here on Ye Olde Blogge to share some of my favorite storytime things. These could be fingerplays, crafts, songs, and even some of the more out-there themes we hit on. (Yes, I am a theme-user. We have four separate weekly storytimes and up to five different storytime presenters where I work. If we didn't plan with themes, we'd be replicating an awful lot of work. I know other people don't use them, and that's cool too.)

About a year ago I started keeping these in Evernote so I could actually find them and use them when we get to a theme they work with, instead of going, "Awwww, man, I forgot about (insert here)!" on Saturday when all the storytimes for the week are done. Every so often, I'll be looking at my notes and think, "Man, that's a cool one. I should really share more."

So this is me, sharing. I'm a fan of full-body fingerplays (bodyplays?) like the one below.

(start by standing up straight)
I'm a frozen icicle hanging in the sun.
First I start to melt, then I start to run.
(Let your body droop slowly toward the floor)
Drip, drip, drip, drip.
Melting can be fun!!
(sink to floor)

Where I live, we're not subject to a lot of cold, so the whole notion of an icicle is a little alien to my kids, but they enjoy it anyway! We inevitably end up flopped all over the floor, and they beg to do it again and again.

I'm not sure where I found this; it's been in my arsenal for so long that I've forgotten. If anyone knows who originally wrote it, please let me know so I can credit them.

Reading Roundup: 2013 plus New Year's Resolution

By the Numbers
Picture Books: 143
Early Readers: 3

Sources
Library: all

Standouts
Writing (selected in August) Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Dan Santat
"Ahahahaha! Those poor carnivores; what are they to do? They like eating meat. Unfortunately, the meat has a distinct aversion to being eaten, and they're shunned. How can they change their ways? I love how this ends."
Illustration (selected in July) Let the Whole Earth Sing Praise by Tomie dePaola
"While it's not for everyone in its unabashed religiosity, the art in this one is top-notch. Flowers, animals, and people in the signature dePaola style (additionally influenced by native Mexican art) spill over the pages in washes of color."
Overall: (selected in April) The Dark by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen
"A beautiful story about a universal childhood fear. This was absolutely amazing."

Since I did it for the bigger kids, I'm going to make a New Year's resolution over here. I want to read more early readers. Three? The whole year?! That just ain't right.

Reading Roundup: December 2013

By the Numbers
Picture Books: 14
Early Readers

Sources
Library: all

Standouts
Writing: Neville by Norton Juster, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
It's tough being the new kid in town. Convinced that he'll never find any friends, this little boy discovers them in an unexpected way. It made me smile, and I think you could have an argument over whether his unorthodox method was on purpose or a random accident.
Illustration: My First Day by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
It's a neat premise to begin with--what do animals do on their first day of life?--and Jenkins' detailed and beautiful cut-paper illustrations bring this book richly to life.
Overall: Moonday by Adam Rex
When the moon lands in a family's backyard, the whole world is thrown into confusion. Nobody can quite wake up. This is a dreamy, magical book that swims around in your head. And the endpapers look like my desert hometown. They do, they do!

Because I Want To Awards
Yay for Jeff Mack and Different Intonations: Ah Ha! by Jeff Mack
With only two letters (A and H), this book follows a wily frog in and out of trouble, with the attendent exclamations of dismay, triumph, and discovery. Can't wait to read it aloud.
Probably Already Being Used in English Classes Across the Land: Little Red Writing by Joan Holub, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
This is quite a fun examination of the multi-level mechanics of creative writing. Everything from grammar to plot to run-on sentences is encountered by a little writing implement.

Book Review: Oliver and His Alligator by Paul Schmid

Book: Oliver and His Alligator
Author: Paul Schmid
Illustrator: Paul Schmid
Published: 2013
Source: Local Library

Oliver is a little worried about his first day of school. So he brings along an alligator. As you do. Handily, the alligator eats everyone who scares Oliver (including the lady who asks his name and the overly friendly classmate). Unfortunately, with all the scary people eaten, Oliver finds himself quite alone and not a little bored. What’s a boy with an alligator to do now?

This hits two of my favorite picture-book themes: shy or introverted children and people getting eaten. (WHAT. I never said I was normal.) Oliver’s worries are immediately recognizable. New people! New surroundings! Being asked to make conversation with strangers! For the kid on the quiet side, it’s a nightmare, to which an alligator to make you feel brave is a reasonable solution. You can read the alligator as entirely imaginary (his outline is in a pale green, in contrast to everyone else’s black outline) with Oliver really just hiding from the other kids. But I prefer to read it literally, because it makes me giggle.

Reading Roundup: November 2013

By the Numbers
Picture Books: 12
Early Readers: 1

Sources
Library: 13

Standouts
Writing: A Dog is a Dog by Stephen Shaskan
Picture books, breaking little brains since 1899. (Date possibly incorrect.) This one follows a dog that's actually a cat that's actually . . . well, I won't spoil the surreal delight.
Illustration: Cheese Belongs to You! illustrated by Viviane Schwarz, written by Alexis Deacon
This almost won for Overall, because the story is just as fun as the pictures. But I wanted to recognize the pencil-and-digital-media art that went into making all these fighting rats, because they're funny and individual and delightful.
Overall: Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann
One scary Halloween, a little boy's dead dog comes to his rescue. It's a rare skillmaster who can make something creepy, sad, and sweet all in 32 short pages, but Eric Rohmann is that man.

Because I Want To Awards
Don't Overthink It, Folks: Dinosaur Christmas by Jerry Pallotta, illustrated by Howard McWilliam
Santa remembers a time before he had reindeer, when dinosaurs pulled his sleigh. Sly and funny and, yeah, don't examine the premise too closely.
Violently Adorable: Dinosaur Kisses by David Ezra Stein
How does a baby dinosaur figure out kisses? With much destruction, apparently. I'm saving this for Valentine's Day.