Now found also in
board book format, this almost wordless book shows animals from
the African grasslands playing hide and seek.
While a small red rhino-like animal closes his eyes,
the other animals hide and viewers look for them as they are
camouflaged on the savannah. When it is the turn of
the red animal to hide, he does so with a humorous twist.
The illustrations are perfect in picture book format. Only the paperback
version is available in reprint (Harper, 1988).
Mary Ann Paulin; Director, Superiorland Preview
Center, Marquette, MI
32 years of experience as a school library/media
specialist
Dornbusch, Erica. FINDING KATE’S SHOES. Toronto &
New York: Annick, 2001. 30p.
1-55037-671-3; hb. 1-55037-670-5;
pb., $6.95
PreS-Gr.3 E
The pencil crayon illustrations in this wordless picture
book contain a pair of hidden red tennis shoes.
The shoes are easy enough to find which is lucky
because there is no key to their location anywhere in
the book. Children need to read the instructions on
the first page to learn how to search for them in “imaginary”
landscapes. Without reading this page, readers will look
in vain for the shoes in the girl’s real house. Anyone
who has lost shoes, or any other items, can identify with the search
for the shoes. The illustrations are colorful. Add
this to school and library collections of wordless picture books.
Mary Ann Paulin; Director, Superiorland Preview
Center
Geisert, Arthur. OOPS. Illus.
by Arthur Geisert. New York:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.
32p. ISBN
978-0-618-609048, 0-618-60904-0; hb.,
$16.00 Gr. K-3
EP (Easy Picture Book)
In this story without words, a chain reaction and sequence of events
leads to disaster, but not a total loss for the pig family.
The author/illustrator shows, through his minutely detailed
illustrations, what happens when a little spilled milk can lead to catastrophe.
This story can be a tool to teach reading comprehension without words and
how to pay close attention to detail to “see” how a story’s events unfold.
You can tell a lot of time and thought went into this book’s creation.
Young children will be intrigued by the use of the
cleverly designed hill house with intricately done landscaping. This is a good
read-and-discuss story. When disaster strikes the pig family, the reader
experiences the destruction of their home, but also sees how grateful and happy
they are no one is hurt. You can feel this book; and even without the words, it
is a “good read.”
Jana Aho, Gladstone School and Public
Library, Gladstone, MI
Geisert, Arthur. HOGWASH.
Illus. by author. New York:
Houghton Mifflin Company,
2008. 32p.
ISBN: 978-0-618-77332-9 hb. $16.00.
Gr. PreS – 1 E PIC
The HOGWASH story is told with colorful pictures only; no words.
Countless piglets traipse through complicated Rube-Goldberg cleaning
contraptions in order to emerge freshly scrubbed at the end of the book.
In great graphic detail, a procession of pigs travel through water troughs, into
ponds, into reservoirs, all herded by mother pigs with brooms. Eventually they
all return to their homes clean and smiling. Lots of artistic detail should
intrigue the young reader and, perhap,s stimulate their own bathtub innovations.
Judy Bennett, Clerk, Ironwood Carnegie Library, Ironwood, MI
Horenstein, Henry. A IS FOR...? A PHOTOGRAPHER'S
ALPHABET OF ANIMALS.
Illus. with photos. San Diego:
Gulliver/Harcourt, 1999. unp. 0-15-201582-5;
hb., $16.00
98-31424 Gr. K-3+
590 or E
PAULIN'S PICKS citation
In a photographer's note at
the end of the book, Horenstein explains that
he shot 200 rolls of film or 7,000 pictures from which
he selected the 56 pictures in this book. "The
images I was looking for had to be mysterious enough so
you'd have to guess what animal was represented, and they
had to be interesting enough so you'd want to take the time to
guess." Horenstein succeeded spectacularly.
Brown and white photos shows part of each animal with a capital
letter. This reader missed P for parrot (I thought
it was a pigeon) U for urchin, X for ox, and Y for yellow
jacket but was proud to guess iguana, jellyfish, kudu, newt,
ray, and tortoise. Easier ones to guess are quail, vulture,
ostrich, shark, and whale. Fortunately there is an answer
key at the end of the book with the a more descriptive picture
and the name of the creature. This picture book works
as an alphabet book and also enriches animal studies. This
is a truly interactive book that will appeal to all ages.
No school or public library will want to miss this one.
The Caldecott committee needs to look at this one.
Mary Ann Paulin; Director, Superiorland Preview
Center, Marquette, MI;
Lehman, Barbara. THE
RED BOOK. Illus. by author.
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin
Co.,
2004. 32p.
ISBN 0-619-42959-5 hb. $12.95
Gr. K-3 EP
We
all dream of faraway places. If you
picked up a book where could it take you? The
magic of this story takes a young girl on a journey to a fantasy place to meet a
new friend. Each page is full of
surprises. The pictures are
captivating and easily tell the story without words.
Children and adults of all ages will enjoy the magic found in the art
work. Lehman was awarded a 2005
Caldecott Honor Medal for outstanding illustrations.
Debra Ely, Children’s Librarian, Ishpeming
Carnegie Public Library
Milich, Zoran. CITY SIGNS. Photos by Milicih.
Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can, 2002.
32p. 1-55337-003-1; hb., $15.95 C2001-902830-X
PreS-Gr. 3 659.13
This wordless picture book includes photos of signs
on vehicles, signposts, buildings, and shirts.
The last photo is of a stop sign. Children
and adults can make up stories or information about
a railroad crossing sign, a school bus, a fire station, trash
cans, and cars entering and exiting a parking building.
The photos are clear and colorful. Consider this
book for your wordless collection.
Mary Ann Paulin; Director, Superiorland Preview
Center, Marquette, MI
Roberts, Michael. THE JUNGLE. Illus by author.
New York: Callaway/Hyperion,
1998. 65p. 0-7868-0398-3; hb.,
$19.95 Gr. 2+
97-33404 428.1 or
E
Roberts uses collages of cut colored paper against
plain or corrugated paper backgrouonds to create
this handsome book. Even the end papers
are part of the design. Each letter of the alphabet
is a cutout of black and tan on a black background.
Facing that page is an animal, person, or vegetation from
Africa. There is no text to the book but the answers
are woven into the design of the last pages. This is
not an alphabet book for preschoolers but rather a book for
intermediate students to use when studying Africa and for Art
teachers to share with students of all ages.
Mary Ann Paulin; Director, Superiorland Preview
Center
Sis, Peter. DINOSAUR! Illus. by P. Sis.
New York: Greenwillow, 2000. 32p.
0-688-17049-8; hb., $14.95 99-32923
PreS-Gr.2 E
PAULIN'S PICKS
The simplicity of this book is part of the total
charm. The black line drawings and shades
of green and brown bring the book to life.
When a little boy takes a bath with his toy dinosaur,
other dinosaurs join them. The triple fold has many
dinosaurs painted in greater detail and shows the boy dwarfed
in a pond with his toy. The fantasy ends when mom runs
toward him with a towel just as the tail of the last dinosaur
disappears. The end papers finish the book and share
a dozen dinosaurs and their names with readers. This picture
book, which captures the imagination of children,
is worthy of Caldecott notice.
Mary Ann Paulin; Director, Superiorland Preview
Center
Van Ommen, Sylvia. THE
SURPRISE. Illus. by author.
Asheville, NC: Front
Street, 2007.
Originally published
in the Netherlands in 2003.
ISBN
1932425853 hb. $15.95. Gr. K-2
E PIC
The ever popular wordless book is the ideal way to convey a message of
friendship in THE SURPRISE. By the
third illustration, where Sheep is measuring the length of her wool with a
ruler, readers can guess that she is planning to put it good use.
That use is not revealed until the end of the story.
Until then, follow Sheep through the shaving, dyeing, spinning, and
knitting steps necessary for making a garment.
This story is similar to Tomie DePaola’s CHARLIE NEEDS A CLOAK, as they
were both sweet stories with practical information folded in. The target
audience is early elementary students between the ages of 5 and 10.
Lynette
Suckow, Youth Services, Peter White Public Library, Marquette, MI
Wiesner, David. SECTOR 7. Illus. by author. New
York: Clarion, 1999.
32p. 0-396-74656-6 hb; $16.00.
96-40343 Gr.
2+ E
Wiesner draws on the reader's intellectual energy
to interpret the story he has created through
bordered watercolor illustrations. In this
story a class is taking a field trip to New York City's
Empire State Building. The hero of this story is
whisked away to Sector 7 by a cloud he sees at the top of the
building. The reader learns that Sector 7 is home base
for clouds who receive their instructions and assignments.
In every illustration emotions are clearly revealed by the facial
expressions and features of the human and cloud characters.
Children will return to this imaginative and challenging story
to discover new details and possible interpretations.
This book was awarded the 2000 Caldecott Honor Medal.
Sandra Imdieke, Professor, Northern Michigan University,
Marquette, MI
*
Editor's Note: Imdieke was a member of the 2000 Caldecott
Committee, ALSC/ALA