Trapdoor Shopping

Has the silent solitude of your life vanished?  Do your most prized possessions frequently get moved around or disappear?  Are your nighttime dreams constantly disturbed?  Are you usually blamed for happenings in which you had no part?  If you answered yes to these questions, it appears you are being haunted and taunted by a downright, annoying younger brother or sister.

As you will have duly noted by now, it does no good to point out the lack of fairness in any of these situations to your parents.  This state of affairs calls for drastic, clandestine action.  You need to read The Monstore (Aladdin, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division) by debut author, Tara Lazar with illustrations by James Burks.

At the back of Frankensweet's Candy Shoppe, under the last box of sour gum balls, there's a trapdoor.

This is no normal trapdoor...oh no, sirree.  Entrance is only granted after the exchange of a secret code and certain sweet treats.  You are now in a shop like none other; a shop filled with fabulous, handy dandy monsters.

With little sister, Gracie, pushing Zack to his wit's end, it's time to make a purchase.  Manfred should scare her silly, ending her prying and spying.  Well, that backfires royally.  To Zack's dismay the manager of The Monstore informs him there are no returns, no exchanges.  

Maybe another monster will be the ticket to success.  Mookie is sent out into the sleeping household so Zack can get an uninterrupted good night's rest.  Two monsters plus one energetic little girl put a quick end to that plan.

Back at the monster market, Manfred and Mookie in tow, the manager utters his standard reply to Zack's total frustration.  When the manager again recommends another freakish fiend, Zack decides to give Mojo a whirl.  But that girl, that irresistible (to the monsters), irritating (to Zack) bundle of female impishness, wins herself another friend.

This scenario happens so often, Zack's bedroom is a tad overcrowded, leaving him no choice but to head down to the basement.  Prepare to be amazed by the night's further revelations.  And, of course, there is the problem with what to do with all those monsters.


There's something rich and rare about the cadence created by the words Tara Lazar has selected to tell this story.  She cleverly captures the interplay of an older brother and his younger sister plus all the marvelous monsters who seem to delight in doing the exact opposite of their intended purpose.  Increasing the playfulness for readers is the repetitious reply of the manager and his rhyming suggestions.  The mix of narrative and dialogue is polished, flawless.


With a single glance, opening the matching jacket and cover, readers know they're about to enter into fiendish frolic; those wide eyes, goofy grins, lighted (and bitten) marquees and still more eyes peering out from the dark, say "come on in".  The first page done in eerie glowing greens in a shadowy room, a single arm outstretched holding the secret treat as the trapdoor raises, sets the stage for the next two-page spread; the store filled with monsters galore in all shapes, sizes and bright colors, all googly eyed.  The small, wiry manager, with balding head, tufts of hair sticking out, bushy eyebrows, sly toothy grin, dressed in vest and bow tie, is the ultimate image of trickster shopkeeper.

By alternating the size of the illustrations, the perspective and extending the elements beyond the frame, James Burks compliments and amplifies the narrative.  For example, in interpreting the text The kind that glow in the dark, he pictures a little girl reading under her blanket at night, stuffed animals sharing her space as a hairy purple monster's single, large, shining eye arches above her head.   Details accentuate the fun factor; the clock in Zack's bedroom, when all the racket wakes him up, shows it's 3:37 AM, Gracie's pigtails standing straight up on her head,  Zack in a welder's helmet with tongs getting rid of the scariest thing, and the bulging house with the monsters' antics in abundance.


Be prepared for requests of repeated readings of The Monstore written by Tara Lazar with pictures by James Burks.  It's absolutely golden when read aloud.  You also might want to stock up on bags of a particular wiggly, jiggly kind of snack, just in case someone you know is thinking of visiting a shop specializing in monsters.

This is a link to an earlier sketch James Burks did for the cover.  John Schumacher at Watch. Connect. Read. interviews Tara Lazar.  At Design of the Picture Book, Carter Higgins interviews both the author and the illustrator about this title.  Inkygirl the blog of Debbie Ridpath Ohi interviews Tara Lazar and James Burks about the process for creating this book.  At the publisher website are three activity sheets to use with this title.  Links embedded in the author and illustrator names above are to their official websites.  Update:  There is now a teacher's guide to accompany this title.

Chilly Mathematics

Regardless of the fact the calendar shows spring arrived almost a month ago, the piles of snow in my yard coupled with the forecast for wind gusts over forty-five miles per hour with more snow signifies Mother Nature is having her way.  Nevertheless, driving down one of the side streets in town the other afternoon (during Spring Break), I saw children gathered in front of one of the houses.  Industrious and hopeful they had set up a table, a pitcher filled with their beverage of choice and cups on top, with crates for seats.  A sign lettered by hand proclaimed their product and price.

Clearly those girls and boys had caught spring fever.  Then again, when a mind gets in the mood, an idea growing and growing, spring things might happen in the middle of a snowstorm.  Author Emily Jenkins and illustrator G. Brian Karas work their combined magic to bring readers Lemonade In Winter:  A Book About Two Kids Counting Money (A Schwartz & Wade Book, September 2012) where that very thing happens.


An empty street.
Outside, a mean wind blows.
Icicles hang from the windowsills.

Pauline has an idea.  Her little brother John-John can't wait to help.  Her mom and dad are calmly skeptical.  Pauline wants to sell lemonade, limeade and lemon-limeade at a stand...outside...in the wind...and the snow.

Excited and determined the sister and brother search the house collecting quarters.  Bundled up they head to the grocery store to make their purchases.  Lining the coins up on the counter, sugar, lemons, limes and cups are bought.  Trudging back inside, happily they walk past their parents who are still calmly skeptical.

Beverages made, table set up, signs written, Pauline and John-John wait for their customers to arrive.  No one comes.  The words of their parents might be right.

Mom says, "Nobody will be on the street."
Dad says, "Nobody will want cold drinks"

They decide to advertise by singing a song.  That gets the dog-walking Mr. Harvey's attention.  They decide to offer entertainment with cartwheels, drumming and singing.  That gets toddler-toting Ms. Gordon's attention.  They decide to have a sale, singing a slightly different tune.  That gets Heather-hugging Aidan's attention.  With each new attraction, customers arrive.  As they leave Pauline carefully explains to John-John what each amount means adding it to their container.

Eventually not a single drop is left.  Cups sold are tallied.  Coins are counted.  Pauline starts to cry.  With the optimistic exuberance of youth, John-John has the perfect solution; one usually reserved for summer.  Satisfied smiles can be worn in any season.


Within the first two pages the enthusiasm of Pauline and John-John rises from the story and surrounds the reader.  Emily Jenkins does this with her choice of words and descriptions; skipping with her idea, run through the bitter air and shouting wildly.  Jenkins has the two focused on the fun of their venture; one or the other is suggesting ideas to keep the day positive. Her simple sentences, short phrases, the variety of customers and their friendliness toward the children keep the narrative upbeat.  The adding of the money with every transaction is seamlessly blended into the story.


I dare you to look at the matching jacket and cover of this title and not smile.  Those two children dressed in winter clothing, head to toe, selling drinks in a snowstorm is a comical contrast.  On the back snow covered, a trail of snow behind them, heads tilted, they strain to reach the counter with their purchases and coins laid out before the grocer.  Pale pastel opening and closing endpapers feature a few scattered snowflakes.

The text on the tile and verso pages is placed on signs stuck in snow.  G. Brian Karas has rendered these illustrations with brush and walnut ink on (a heavier, matte-finished) paper, colored in Photoshop, and finished in pencil.  Whites, creams, browns, grays, lemony yellows, limey greens and some rusty red, all muted, contribute to the overall warmth of the story despite the wintry season.  Alternating perspective and picture sizes makes the reader feel like a participant.  His humorous touches ( the cushions off the sofa when the children are hunting for money, the sink overflowing in the kitchen, only John-John's feet sticking out of the snow after a cartwheel) further endear readers to these two characters' endeavors.


You'll want to have plenty of lemons, limes, sugar and quarters handy after reading Lemonade In Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money written by Emily Jenkins with illustrations by G. Brian Karas.  It's pure fun with numbers when readers follow these two supportive siblings.  
Your neighbors might think you're crazy but this could be the ticket to surviving those unexpected winter storms.

There's A What Where?

If you have a younger sibling, raise your hand?  If you have an older sibling, raise your hand?  No matter where you fall on the older or younger spectrum of the brothers and sisters line, frustration with one another is as inevitable as sunrise and sunset.

When this frustration is fed by imagination, it's hard to predict the outcome.  What's even more fascinating is when the line between reality and illusion is blurred, or is it?    Tiger In My Soup (Peachtree Publishers) written by Kashmira Sheth with illustrations by Jeffrey Ebbeler is imagination gone WILD.

Today, my big sister is in charge of the house, the lunch, and me.

What this brother wants, more than anything, is for his sister to read to him.  She has other plans for her time. Looking at the pictures over and over, while interesting is not the same as sharing the experience with someone else.  He asks her again.

She does not reply.  When he yells that he is hungry, she definitely hears him.  After heating up soup, as she is handing him the bowl, she warns him about it being hot.  He views the steaming soup as another opportunity; he asks her to read to him as it cools.  Does she read to him now?

Of course... she does not.  What happens next proves that either the soup or the boy are extraordinary.  One innocent stir and a tiger emerges from the liquid warmth; a full-blown, grown tiger.  

In his dumbfounded fright, the boy drops his spoon and yelps, "Help!"  Peeved the sister, surprisingly unaware of the tiger, hands him another.  It's up to the lad to protect himself from this ferocious feline on his own.  It's an out and out battle.  But wait...could it be?  Where did the tiger go?

Annoyed the sister looks up from her book wondering why her brother let his soup get cold.  Despite his frantic pleadings, she places the bowl in the microwave.  A scream, a sigh and a page read later, the boy is not sure about the book, soup or his sister any more.

Through the first person narrative and dialogue created by Kashmira Sheth we experience a fantastical adventure which springs forth from the simple desire to have a story read.  It's the play between the two which generates the rhythm of the story, adding to the tension, action and surprise.  Conversations between the brother and sister are so typical you can't help but smile.  When the boy is speaking to the reader about his taming of the tiger smiles will turn to laughter; word choices are wonderfully chosen.  I really enjoyed this sequence of sentences.

I look at the pictures by myself...

downside up and upside down,

front to back and back to front,

with my eyes open and

with my eyes closed.

When opening up the jacket and cover readers know this book is going to be a tad bit different and more than a little bit funny.  It's hard to miss the lifelike tiger crouched on the table with a colander-clad boy, chair and belt in hand, trying to keep it at bay.  On the back cover the boy is lying on his back reading his book, feet propped in a Adirondack chair with a seagull lying on his back, feet stuck straight in the air, next to him, also reading the book. (As long as the boy is outside the seagull is his constant companion plus he peeks inside during the story, eyes popping at the sight of the tiger.)

Pictured, using a heavier matte finished paper, on the front and back endpapers are cans of alphabet soup in rows with the frightened boy in various poses of escape, hungry tiger in pursuit.  Both sets of title pages, verso and dedication pages feature tiger skin, a tiger tail swishing in a steaming bowl of soup, and the beautiful stylized illustrations from the boy's book; a story from India.  Readers will fall in love with family's home looking like a tree house perched atop a rock island, rows of twisting stairs needed to get to the front door.

Jeffrey Ebbeler rendered these illustrations with acrylics on archival 100% rag watercolor paper using a color palette combining hues that reflect the seaside setting with the warmer colors associated with the tiger and the boy's book.  The effect is captivating.  Lots of movement, facial expressions and switching perspective contribute to the reader not knowing what is going to happen next but being more than willing to turn the page to see.  His details, the grinning kitchen clock, pasta spelling words, the patterned fabric on the placemat, and the chair and table legs shaped like paws, add to the overall appeal. 

Get ready to be entertained when reading Tiger In My Soup by Kashmira Sheth with illustrations by Jeffrey Ebbeler.  The brother and sister dynamics, the suspense, the action, the humor and the energetic pictures will have readers saying "read it again" as soon as the cover closes.  This title is on its way to my 2014 Mock Caldecott Learnist board.

Please follow the embedded links in their names above to the official author and illustrator websites.  As soon as I read this post at Jama's Alphabet Soup I knew I could hardly wait to see this book.  When I read these two posts by Julie Danielson at Kirkus and Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (with lots of illustrations) I knew I had to own a copy for myself.

A Day On The Lake

Tucked away in a shoebox are years of memories in shades of yellow, red, white, black and silver.  In looking at them the clock turns back; I am a young girl getting ready to spend a morning or evening fishing with her Dad.  Our two heads are bent over his open tackle box as we debate the merits of one lure over the other; deciding whether to use bobbers or not.

How fortunate I am to still have those lures, bobbers, and flies, tangible reminders of wonderful hours spent in the company of my Dad fishing.  Debut author Tamera Will Wissinger and illustrator Matthew Cordell, no stranger to starred reviews and placement on year's best lists (linked here are my reviews of Another Brother and hello! hello!), pair to present this poetic piece, Gone Fishing: A novel in verse (Houghton Mifflin).  It does not matter whether you are a fisherman or fisherwoman now, in the past or perhaps, ever, this story of Sam, Lucy and their Dad will conjure up a vision of a day well spent.


In the darkness of night, Sam and his Dad collect worms for the big fishing trip the next day.  Later Sam dreams of spending time alone with his Dad but his little sister, Lucy, has other ideas.  Not only has she invaded the sanctity of his tackle box replacing his treasured compass, map, lucky fishing cap and stringer with her princess doll, and assorted paraphernalia, but the next morning she asks to go along.  And his Dad says yes. What?!

After waiting for Lucy to pack all her goodies, traveling down the road, arriving at the lake (Eureka!), launching the boat, and loading all the gear on board, they are finally speeding across the lake to the Lucky Fishing Spot.  Unfortunately not once but twice the good part of lucky seems to allude Sam and shine on Lucy instead.  It seems impossible that someone who makes so much noise, forms an attachment to a worm and sings heeere fishy, fishy, fishy could catch not one, not two, not three...but eight fish!

While Sam is rethinking his choice in sports a surprise strikes.  Too soon the day is done but all hearts are happy as the triumphant trio heads home to dinner and the telling of tales.  Twenty-four hours of near blissful perfection, minus a few unexpected glitches, shift an older brother's assessment of his pesky younger sister.


Listed in the contents are forty-one original, lively poems easily able to individually gleam but blended together they form a familial adventure glowing with a brilliance that can only come from a winning weaver of words.  Tamera Will Wissinger has written using a variety of poetic forms, (acrostic poem, cinquain, concrete poem, couplet, curse poem, free verse poem, haiku, limerick and ode, to name some) employing such techniques as alliteration, hyperbole, imagery, onomatopoeia and simile to give voice to Sam, Lucy and their Dad as the narrative unfolds.  It's the choice of words by Wissinger which gives these poems their rhythm and rhyme like the beat of an unforgettable tune beckoning readers to join in the fun.
Here are the first three verses in the first poem spoken by Sam; a Tercet Variation titled Night Crawlers.

Dark night.
Flashlight.
Dad and I hunt worms tonight.

Grass slick.
Worms thick.
Tiptoe near and grab them quick.

Hold firm.
They squirm.
Tug-o-war with earth and worm.


As soon as you see the cover you can't help but smile in anticipation of the possibilities this fishing trip will bring.  Take note of the fish scales on the spine, Lucy running in from the left, the use of twigs for the title lettering and the fishing line to form the words in the book's sub-title.  These are the detailed, distinctive artwork of illustrator Matthew Cordell created using pen and ink with watercolor.

His black and white images throughout the book enhance, elevate, animate and surround the text.  You wonder if perhaps Cordell might have a younger sister himself as he convincingly portrays all the emotions the siblings feel on their facial expressions in addition to the upbeat, carrying attitude of the Dad.  Again, as we did on the cover, we see the thematic details; the words GO FISH on the license plates of the truck, the fish weathervane on top of the snack shack at the lake, and the fish picture on the wall of the family kitchen.  Some of his illustrations are one page, some extend from one page into the other and several are edge to edge on both pages, contributing to the overall pacing of each particular poem and the book as a whole.  Two of my favorites are the three peering over the edge of the boat quietly waiting for a fish to bite, eyes wide open and at the end when all three are home in the bathroom, the two children on stools on either side of their Dad, looking in the mirror as he shaves, pretending to do the same.


Gone Fishing: A novel in verse written by Tamera Will Wissinger with illustrations by Matthew Cordell is a high energy, humorous and endearing depiction of a family outing.  I predict as a read aloud listeners will beg for its non-stop continuation.  As an individual read it will be finished and promptly started over again.

At the close of the book, Wissinger gives a brief author's note before defining at length poetic techniques and forms.  She mentions which of her poems in this title demonstrate each.  Please follow the links embedded in Tamera Will Wissinger's and Matthew Cordell's names to their official web sites.  Here is a link to a preview of the book with illustrations and text.