The Box Turtle -- Perfect Picture Book Friday

Title: The Box Turtle
Author and Illustrator: Vanessa Roeder
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2020.

Themes: Self-esteem, creativity/imagination, determination

Little Terrance the box turtle is born without a shell. His parents gave him a a shell that fit just right. Terrance was happy until one day some other turtles told him his shell was weird. Off he went to find something better. Terrance tries many shells, but each has something not quite right. Tag along with Terrance and his hermit crab friend to see what he discovers.

What I like about this book:

The artwork! Illustrations are created with Prismacolors, acrylics, and a box full of digital tricks. You can see from the cover that the colors are bright and cheerful. There is a lot going in in some of the illustrations, but you always know where to look to find Terrance and discover the problem.

Humor: Many of the box choices are so silly, kids will be laughing and pointing out why the idea was so bad.

Sweetness/Cuteness factor: This is just adorable, but not saccharine sweet, sunny and endearing sweet which make it appealing to so many kids.

Search and Find: Throughout the illustrations, there are little threads you can follow from characters appearing before their scene, to color palettes, and the raccoon.


Activities and resources:

Before you turn and look at the back end pages, see if you can think of other things that Terrance could use as a shell? Did you come up with some that Vanessa didn't illustrate? Did you come up with the ones that she did?

Check out the Teacher's Guide. It is STEAM Powered! and created by Marcie Colleen

If you haven't already read Lucy and the String, be sure to get your hands on that one too.

Learn more about Vanessa and her books on her website. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram too.

Be sure to check out Susanna Hill's Perfect Picture Book Friday Posts. Not only will you find out what she likes, but there's a list of books recommended by authors and illustrators too.

Flamingo Hugs -- Perfect Picture Book Friday

This Perfect Picture Book Friday, I am thankful for Ciara O'Neal, Alicia Young, Kaitlyn Sanchez, and Flamingos.

I won this wonderful book with my Fall Frenzy writing contest submission. 

What?! Flamingo hugs aren't for everyone? No way! Who wouldn't want a hug from a flamingo?

Title: Flamingo Hugs Aren't For Everyone
Author: Ciara O'Neal
Illustrated by: Alicia Young
Publisher: (Ciara did it herself. Yes, that right, this is a self-published picture book), 2019. You can find it on Amazon.

Opening Lines: While most flamingos dreamed of dancing and dining on delicacies, Flaminga hoped for a hug. Day after day, she watched as the zoo's ponies were petted. The calves were cuddled. Even llamas were loved. Have you ever met a llama? They're grumps! But no one EVER wanted Flaminga's hugs.

Themes:
Hugs, Flamingos, clumsiness

Why I like this book:
1. Flaminga is sooooo cute.
2. Hugs are wonderful.
3. Pair Flaminga and hugs, and it's just downright cuterful. Yep. I made that word up. This book is cuterful. Maybe it's wondercute. Either way, it's a fun and funny story with bright and cheerful illustrations.

Flaminga is a bit clumsy and in her attempts to give and receive hugs, things don't always go well. We've all been there. In our excitement, we move too fast, miss a step or two and Splash, Crash, we go tumbling. But that doesn't stop Flaminga from getting up and trying again and again to find somebody to hug. Join her as she attempts to wrap her bright pick wings around all the zoo visitors.

This would make a great gift book for Valentine's Day.

Activities and Resources:

At the back of the book you will discover some fun flaming facts and a coloring page.

Here's and adorable handprint flamingo craft.

Two things I have learned about flamingos over the years.
1. Flamingos need to get a running start to take flight.
2. Most flamingos in the US are domesticated. The wild flamingos were hunted out of existence. But, they are making a comeback.

More flamingo facts.

Don't miss Ciara's interview with Susanna Hill.

Can't get enough of these incredible pink birds? Here are more crafts and baking ideas.

Here are a few bonus photos of flamingos. The first two were taken in the Camargue in the South of France. The last one has become one of my Halloween decorations.

I see one ready for a hug.

Did you know they run?

Yep, a skeleton riding a skeleton flamingo. That's the way I roll.

Looking for more Perfect Picture Books? Follow Susanna Hill's Perfect Picture Book Friday Blog. She write great posts and she has made it a place for others to share their perfect picture books.

Boo and Baa Have Company-- Perfect Picture Book Friday

I was at the library last week picking up a few books. This book caught my eye. Read on to find out why.

Title: Boo and Baa Have Company

Authors/Illustrators: Lena and Olof Landstrom 

Translated by: Joan Sandin

Publisher: R & S Books, 2006

Themes: Humor, Fall, Cats, Animals, 

First Lines: It's autumn. The tree has dropped its leaves. 

Boo and Baa are a couple of sheep out raking their yard. The wheelbarrow squeaks so they oil it and then it meows.

Why I love this book:

I grew up on the Scandanavian-American Ole and Lena jokes. Here's one I found online:

Ole, Lena, and Sven were lost in the northwoods and were becoming desperate, having run out of food several days ago. It was winter, the snow was deep, their situation was looking very bleak. 

When Ole dug down into the snow to look for something to eat , he found an old lamp and upon rubbing it to get the snow off, a genie came out.

The genie says, "I am the great genie of the North and I can grant each of you one wish."

Ole says, "I vish I vas back on my farm." Poof, Ole was gone.

Lena quickly says, "I vish I vas back on da farm wit Ole." Poof, Lena was gone.

Sven was sitting there looking sad and the genie finally says, "What is your wish?" and Sven says, "Gee, I'm really lonely. I vish Ole and Lena vas back here with me".

OK, so now you know a little something about my sense of humor and a little bit of why I love stories.

This is the long way of saying, when I saw the authors names on the book cover, I had to bring it home and read it. As it began, I thought, hmm, I don't know about this book, then I turned to . . .

She greases the axle. "Now it meows when I push it," says Boo.

It cracked me up. I stopped and made my husband read it with me. The illustrations and text really create the whole story. Kids will be in on the joke before Boo and Baa. Boo and Baa are adorable and timeless.

While the story has a fall setting, it would be cute to read any time of year.

Activities: 

• Go outside and play in the leaves. Or if you are in the Midwest, make a leafy snowman. (Our seasons got jumbled and the leaves fell after the snow.)

• Check out a joke book and tell each other silly jokes and see who laughs first.

• There are loads of sheep crafts on Pinterest. I chose this one because it looks like a scene and kids can create their own Boo and Baa stories.

• Make a leaf craft.

Be sure to keep up on all of the Perfect Picture Book Friday posts at Susanna Hill's blog. You can find lots of fun books by theme at this page.