Leaf Man

Leaf Man (c. 2005) by Lois Elert remains one of those stories that's just pure-and-tee fun!   If you don't believe me, just try to check this book out . . . there's a waiting list at the library . . . and then once you get it, you'll first notice the love-worn cover of this newer book, just published in 2005.  The story begins on the cover jacket flap: Where does a Leaf Man go when the wind blows?  Do you know?  Follow the fantastical journey of the Leaf Man and his Leaf Friends.

While your children examine the creative and intricate construction of Elert's illustrations, they cannot help but recognize the names of the leaves.  Elert constructed the quirky illustrations in Leaf Man through years of collecting and copying actual fall leaves.  A wonderful book to own, Leaf Man inspires the youngest to the oldest of us.  After reading it, my children and their friends have embarked on a journey of gathering leaves to create their own leaf men, leaf animals, and leaf fairies.  What better way to teach children the beginnings of botany than through this fabulous fall read that Lois Ehlert provides.

If your family had a blast reading Leaf Man, then here's some more Lois Ehlert books to check out:

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf (c. 1991) explores the life cycle of a maple tree.

Nuts to You! (c. 1993) follows a day in the life of a squirrel.

Boy Naturalist

Okay folks, I've learned some new things reading the kids' books.  For one, did you know that John James Audubon disproved Aristotle's (and then current) scientific theory that birds don't fly underwater during winter . . . they migrate south.  Now it seems downright silly to even imagine that people used to believe this as truth.  But what is absolutely fascinating to my kids and me is that Audubon disproved the theory while he was a teen.  Not only that, he recognized and copied bird calls and songs when he wasn't even in the "double-digits."

The kids were amazed by other stories of Audubon's life.  In fact, we couldn't get enough of him.  We kept searching for more books and more stories.

If you'd like to read some stories of wanderlust and adventure, you must check out both the childhood and adult stories of John James Audubon.  And then after you've heard the tales of the talented artist / naturalist, check out the books with his very own, intricate bird illustrations.  This has been a delightful exploration week at ReadMeAStory!  I hope your family enjoys the biographies and illustrations as much as we have!

Here are some of our favorites:

Begin with The Boy Who Drew Birds: a story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies and illustrated by Melissa Sweet (c. 2004), which Sweet beautifully illustrates herself, sometimes copying Audubon's field book, note-taking, sketching perspective.

Audubon: Painter of Birds in the Wild Frontier by Jennifer Armstrong and Jos. A Smith (c. 2003) presents three of our favorite WOW stories in Audubon's adulthood.  This book presents Audubon as more of a Daniel Boone frontiersman and explorer than the other books did.

You may also want to check out:
John Audubon: Young Naturalist by Miriam E Mason and Cathy Morrison (c. 2006) presents a great overview of Audubon's childhood and youth.  I would recommend this book for 2nd - 4th grade readers. Although, we did find the illustrations a little odd.

Fanny by Holly Hobbie

We've fallen in love with Fanny around here!  First off, start by checking out Fanny written and illustrated by the Holly Hobbie (c. 2008).  Fanny is the charming child-heroine of a story about a girl whose mother will not let her have the latest "Connie" doll that all her friends have.  How does Fanny handle that disappointment?  You must read the book to discover the clever, creative story that follows.

Then after you read and re-read Fanny five million times, check out Fanny & Annabelle (c. 2009).  This time Fanny finds herself in an ethical dilemma.  Once again, you must read the book to discover the clever, creative story that follows.

I can't rave enough about these books!  But all that I will say is that I'll be purchasing both of them (I know, that's saying a lot!).  However, my girls already think the books are theirs since we check them out of our library so frequently.  It's time to let others share the joy!

And for my boy reading friends, try out the Toot & Puddle series also by Holly Hobbie.  The kids around here LOVE them!  Their parents really enjoy them too! ;)

Magic Tree House #16: Hour of the Olympics

The Magic Tree House books Dinosaurs Before Dark debuted 20 years ago yesterday, on July 28.  Since then author Mary Pope Osborne and illustrator Sal Murdocca have taken her readers on forty-seven more adventures with Jack and Annie. The forty-eighth adventure A Perfect Time for Pandas just hit bookseller's shelves on July 24, 2012.

If your kids haven't gotten into The Magic Tree House craze yet, we suggest you check out a few books, which are easily available at local libraries, used book stores, consignment stores, and local bookstores.  There's something for everyone in this series, whether you like science, history, culture, art, fantasy, etc.  You name it, if your child doesn't find a book in this series that he/she likes, then he/she isn't trying!  Mary Pope Osborne's adventures are perfect for budding readers!  I guarantee you, your child won't want to put down these page turners!

And for this Olympic season, try: Magic Tree House #16: Hour of the Olympics

And also check it's nonfiction companion book: Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #10: Ancient Greece and the Olympics

Fancy Nancy

Here's a series of books that shows how an author paired with the right artist makes the book. Enter Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser which debuted in picture book edition in 2005, with I Can Read books following in 2008 beginning with Fancy Nancy and the Boy from Paris.

What do we love about Fancy Nancy books here at Read Me A Story?  Everything!!!


*   Fancy Nancy teaches vocabulary while introducing various extensions of the sciences, arts, and natural world.


*   Fancy Nancy loves anything and everything fancy (think frilly, prissy, etc.).  She dresses up her vocabulary too, with "big words" and French words.


*   The basic Fancy Nancy storyline goes something like: meaning well, Nancy Clancy ends up getting herself in a pickle of a predicament where an adult comes in to help her solve the problem and figure out a resolution.


* The messages in Fancy Nancy books promote good values of honesty, trust, friendship, etc.


*   Personal testimony: the gals at my house simply ADORE Fancy Nancy!!!


*   Professional testimony: O'Connor and Preiss Glasser's books have remained one of my #1 book recommendations since their debute in 2005.  These are our favorite books to gift and recommend to girls everywhere!

So there you have it folks!  I apologize that I'm just now getting to our beloved Fancy Nancy here in 2012.  If you're not a fan, then what are you waiting for?!  ;)

If you don't take my word for it, read this excellent recommendation: http://www.smartmompicks.com/a-well-spoken-and-well-adjusted-child-with-fancy-nancy-books/

While I don't have room to post all the Fancy Nancy book covers, I'll post our very favorites:

Dave the Potter

Artist, Poet, Slave

Read Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier (c. 2010)
and discover a POWERFUL story based on none other than Dave, the potter.

Happy Spring from Cicely Mary Barker

Happy Spring!  

from Cicely Mary Barker's "Bluebell Fairy" and "Daffodil Fairy" 

in her collection Flower Fairies of the Spring

Mountain Brook

"Mountain Brook"
by Elizabeth Coatsworth

Because of the steepness,
the streamlet runs white,
narrow and broken
as lightning by night.

Because of the rocks,
it leaps this way and that,
fresh as a flower,
quick as a cat.





from Snow Toward Evening: A Year in a River Valley / Nature Poems Selected by Josette Frank with Paintings by Thomas Locker.

The First Thanksgiving

I've introduced the magnificent paintings of Thomas Locker to you.  Here's his take on The First Thanksgiving written by Jean Craighead George (c. 1993).

Wind Has Shaken Autumn Down

Wind has shaken autumn down

left it sprawling on the ground,

shawling all in gold below,

waiting for the hush of snow.

~  Tony Johnston

from Snow Toward Evening: A Year in a River Valley / Nature Poems Selected by Josette Frank with Paintings by Thomas Locker.

Sky Tree

The reason you should purchase or check out Sky Tree: Seeing Science Through Art by Thomas Locker with Candace Christiansen (c. 1995) isn't because it tells such a wonderful story.  There's no reason to turn cartwheels over this text.  The real showstoppers are Locker's illustrations.  I can't think of a better way to tour the season.  And rather than writing about and describing them, I'm going to show you some selections:

Home

I brought Thomas Locker's HOME: A Journey Through America (c. 1998) home from the library, laid it out on the coffee table, and waited.  My youngest picked it up, poured over it, and came running to me: "Mommy, this pictures look beautifully!"

That afternoon the eldest came home from school, poured over the new-found book, and said, "Momma, you have got to look at these pictures!  These are my favorites."

I think old and young alike are amazed that Thomas Locker shares his magnificent oil on canvas landscape paintings not only in art galleries or museums but in childrens' books for all to enjoy.  Seriously, introduce your child to the fine art of Thomas Locker.  You may be astonished at the art appreciation that issues out of his/her mouth.

Seasons

Three words: pure eye-candy!  When I first picked up this book, I thought it must have been published in the '40s or early '50s.  Nope!  What we have here, my friends, is graphic artist's delight, published in France in 2009 and then published in the USA in 2010, that parents will enjoy as much as their children, if not more so.

This write-up, straight from the publisher's website, describes my exact experience:
A visually stunning meditation on the seasons, this book invites the reader to explore weather and the passing of time through strongly evocative images and curious associations.

Using objects, landscapes, activities and different types of people associated with each season (e.g. a skier, a swimmer, fruit pickers), Blexbolex explores the cyclical nature of time, rendering the seasons in a fresh way through the imaginative leaps and puzzle-like play that relate the different images to each other.

The purpose of this book is to encourage observation of the world, and thereby to spur on the reader to form all sorts of logical and imaginative associations having to do with the seasons, memory and the cycles of time.

SEASONS is the result of a beautiful vision matched with great talent. It is an intimate book as well as a book that is ideal for sharing within a family, a classroom, or among friends.

We hope this book will accompany each of you -- its readers -- for a long time in your ceaseless discovery and rediscovery of the world. 

                                              ~     ~     ~     ~     ~

Born in France in 1966, Blexbolex entered art school with the intention of becoming a painter, but left having discovered his talents as a silk-screen artist. He works both as an illustrator and a comic book artist. His work, which is inspired by vintage design, mixes old printing methods with new interpretations and techniques. An illustrator of graphic genius, he received the prestigious Golden Letter Award in 2009 for best book design throughout the world. 


I will note that the Mister and I thought there were a few random illustrations.

Lilac Fairy

The Song of the Lilac Fairy
      by Cicely Mary Barker 

White May is flowering,
    Red May beside;
Laburnum is showering
    Gold far and wide;
But I sing of Lilac,
    The dearly-loved Lilac,
Lilac, in Maytime
    A joy and a pride!

I love her so much
    That I never can tell
If she's sweeter to look at,
    Or sweeter to smell.


from Cicely Mary Barker's The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies

Cicely Mary Barker

Over the next few weeks, months, possibly years, I will be posting some of the poems and illustrations from Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies books.  The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies is an anthology of Barker's works: Flower Fairies of the Spring, Flower Fairies of the Summer, Flower Fairies of the Autumn, Flower Fairies of the Winter, Flower Fairies of the Trees, Flower Fairies of the Garden, Flower Fairies of the Wayside, and A Flower Fairy Alphabet.  Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies books presents an enchanting way of teaching your children to identify various names of prevalent flowers.  Countless children have been mesmerized by Barker's meticulously accurate and beguiling illustrations.

Now a little bit about Cicely Mary Barker :
 ~ born in West Croydon, Surrey, on 28 June 1895; died 16 February 1973
 ~ suffered from epilepsy
 ~ lived a happy, secure childhood with her father, mother, and sister, Dorothy
 ~ her father, Walter, encouraged her artistic talent
 ~ 1908 - 1940s enrolled in the Croydon Art Society; Cicely's father first enrolled her in the Croydon Art Society when she was thirteen years old
 ~ 1908 - 1919 enrolled in an art correspondence course
 ~ like Beatrix Potter, Barker studied natural world with botanical accuracy
 ~ strongly influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and Kate Greenaway
 ~ always used real-life models for her paintings
 ~ remained a devout Christian throughout her life

more by Don Freeman

Okay, folks, I've discovered many of you out there who are pretty wild about Don Freeman.  Who isn't?!  All at our house have really enjoyed your recommendations!  And since we've had so much fun reading more Don Freeman stories, I wanted to pass them along to you, my readers.  Our favorite is still Dandelion, kindly recommended by Tarin Lewis, with a close runner-up of Mop Top.  And who doesn't have a copy of Corduroy?  But lately, we've read and re-read Norman the Doorman and Pet of the Met many, many thanks to Sarah Ellison Murray's recommendations.

Let's begin with Norman the Doorman, isn't that just a fun title to say aloud?!  Norman the mouse serves as an incognito doorman for the Majestic Museum of Art where he doubles as tour guide of the art pieces hidden away in storage.  He dreams of touring the upstairs floors of the art museum.  Meanwhile, he paints in his free time.

Similarly, in Pet of the Met by both Lydia and Don Freeman Maestro Petrini (also a mouse) serves as page turner for the prompter of the Metropolitan Opera House.  "During his spare time Maestro Petrini would put on his own opera performances with his family as the cast.  Of all the operas their favorite was The Magic Flute by Mozart."  Petrini's family dreams of seeing a live performance.

Freeman captivates his audience's attention in both stories by presenting characters with both a passion and a dream.  Then he inserts a hindrance to that dream, which in both books heightens the action and adventure.  As he captivates his young audience through his storyline, Freeman also exposes the arts in such a way that fosters intrigue -- the best way for cultivating arts interest/appreciation.  So check out Norman the Doorman and Pet of the Met and re-discover why we love Don Freeman.  To discover more about Don Freeman: check out the Don Freeman website.

Note: last fall, I had to sneak Norman the Doorman into my bag and back to the library to avoid any further late fees before the children discovered it missing.  We just checked it out again, and the children reacted as though they were reuniting with a long, lost friend.

N.C.Wyeth's Pilgrims

What a treat!!!  In N.C. Wyeth's Pilgrims, acclaimed children's author Robert San Souci takes Newell Convers Wyeth's series of murals originally created for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in New York and gives them a voice with his thoroughly researched text (text copyright 1991 and illustrations copyright 1945).  Souci's succinct yet detailed account presents a thorough summary of events from the excellent contrast between the Pilgrims and the "strangers" to a factual synopsis of life in the village after the feast.

Wyeth's twelve paintings, although not entirely historically accurate, provide a visual feast.  For those of you unfamiliar with N.C. Wyeth, he is father to Andrew Wyeth and to a lineage of talented American artists.  Here's a website to quickly view some of his most recognizable children's book illustrations: click here.  And last, but certainly not least, the book's endpapers supplies a copy of the Mayflower's original passenger list, furnishing a fascinating historical read.

A Pilgrim father shows his son how to shuck corn.

James Mayhew

Rarely do we get to hear an artists' process of how he composes a work.  So I know you'll be pleased along with me when you read the story behind the composition of the Katie series straight from the author, James Mayhew, himself.  Check out his blog (http://jamesmayhew-katiespictureshow.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-it-all-began-part-six.html), and you'll find a talented illustrator whose personal story gives even more depth and meaning to the Katie series.  Now, I know you're going to want to check out Mayhew's Katie books!  And do let me know if you can get your hands on any that I haven't featured!

Art History

I was looking for some books in which to introduce famous works of art to my children.  Then one day as I eavesdropped -- accidentally, I might add . . . okay, maybe I was snooping a little after the cover caught my eye -- in another person's hold que at the library, I ran across the book Katie Meets the Impressionists.  Quickly, I scribbled the title down on a scrap of paper and came home to further research it.  This is what I discovered:

James Mayhew cleverly introduces specific periods, artists, and works of art to children through his  adventurous stories where the beguiling character, Katie, runs into "close calls" while jumping in and out of the art museum's paintings.  Note that Mayhew has published many more "Katie" books; these were the only ones I could get my hands on.

Katie Meets the Impressionists ~ focuses on the Impressionists painters and features: The Luncheon and Field of Poppies by Claude Monet; Girl with a Watering Can and Her First Evening Out by Pierre Auguste Renoir; The Blue Dancers by Edgar Degas.  I find the story and illustrations of this particular book the most charming in the series.

Katie and the Sunflowers ~ focuses on the Postimpressionists, specifically: Sunflowers and Cafe Terrace at Night by Vincent van Gogh; Breton Girls Dancing and Tahitian Pastorals by Paul Gauguin; and Still Life with Apples and Oranges by Paul Cezanne.  This is my second favorite story of the series.

Katie and the Mona Lisa ~ focuses on masterpieces from the Italian Renaissance, specifically: Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, An Angel with a Lute by one of Leonardo's students, St. George and the Dragon by Raphael, Primavera by Sandro Botticelli, and The Lion of St. Mark by Vittore Carpaccio.

Katie's Sunday Afternoon ~ focuses on the Pointillists, specifically: Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Bathers at Asnieres, and Entree du port de Honfleur by Georges-Pierre Seurat; Woman Hanging up the Washing by Camille Pissarro; and Portrait of Felix Feneon by Paul Signac.

On another note, Dogs' Night by Meredith Hooper and illustrated by Allan Curless and Mark Burgess gives a fanciful introduction to paintings (4 specific) in the National Gallery in London.  As the story goes, each year the dogs jump out of their paintings for a frolic.  But this year, mayhem ensues when several return to the wrong paintings.

 

Note: These books are recommended for ages 4-8.

So readers, please weigh in with any other child friendly art history suggestions?  I'm just an eavesdropping novice in this genre.