Entries Categorized as 'Picture Books'

Mop Top

Our rating: ***½

Young “Moppy” doesn’t want to get a haircut, but is sent against his will to the barber shop by himself. What will convince him to get a haircut?

Mop Top is yet another delightful book from Don Freeman. Everything works out well, with a quite funny turn-around before the end. Some picture books are more fun for the adults reading aloud than for children, but here, everything is equally enjoyable by all ages. The pictures are fun, too.

Katy No-Pocket

Our rating: *****

Katy the Kangaroo has a problem. She has no pocket in which to carry little Freddie, her son. All the other animals have ways to carry their babies, but Katy just can’t find a good way to carry Freddie. In desperation, she goes to the city to try to find a pocket.

This is such a sweet little book, and the pictures (drawn by H. A. Ray, co-author of Curious George) are so cute. I’ve read this one to many of my little friends, and it has yet to grow old.

The Sign of the Seahorse

Our rating: *****

A tale of greed and high adventure in two acts. In which our heroine Pearl Trout, along with her brother and the brave Corporal Bert, must thwart the villainous Gropmund Grouper and his devious scheme to not only cheat the inhabitants of Reeftown out of their money, but to destroy the very town itself!

Graeme Base’s combination of beautifully-done, full-color pages of illustrations with perfectly (and often comical) rhyming prose makes for such an enjoyable experience. It’s a terrific read-aloud, but everyone will surely want to go through and study each picture by their self, too. As with most of Base’s books, there are hidden things to be found—in this case, the sign of the seahorse is tucked somewhere on every page, and close examination will also reveal the continual appearance of “two largely unnoticed shrimps,” to quote the list of the Cast. All in all, great fun for any age.

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel

Our rating: *****

Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel, Mary Anne, do various digging jobs. The more people watching them, the faster and better they work. Then newer shovels that are not steam powered are invented and no one wants to hire steam shovels anymore. One day, Mike Mulligan sees in the newspaper that the town of Popperville is building a new town hall and Mike Mulligan decides that he will dig the cellar for the new town hall.

This is a great book for young children who like machines and it also tells a very good story.

On the Day Peter Stuyvesant Sailed into Town

Our rating: ****

Peter Stuyvesant is the new director-general of New Amsterdam. He arrives in town to find the fort crumbling away, garbage in the streets, and animals roaming everywhere. Peter Stuvyesant sets out to fix this town, despite the lazy townspeople.

This book is written in rhyme. The text and pictures will keep you laughing. At the beginning of the book, there is a historical note about Peter Stuyvesant and the town of New Amsterdam. Make sure that you read this. It gives a good background for the rest of the book.