Maggie and Michael Get Dressed

 

 

Maggie and Michael Get Dressed

written and illustrated by Denise Fleming

Henry Hold and Company

April, 2016

 

What’s not to love? A boy and his dog, morning routine, and colors! Denise Fleming has done it again, created funny endearing characters while skillfully infusing preschool life-lessons like making choices and self sufficiency.

Even a two year old can tell you that socks belong on your feet not in your mouth, but Maggie loves to chew things. Maggie is a good sport though and allows Michael to dress her before he dresses himself. And I bet no one is surprised that Maggie is found chewing on something when Michael gets home.

I was lucky enough to score an Advanced Reader Edition this week when my friend and critique partner returned from the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards in Boston. Michael and Maggie will be available to everyone in April this year. I’m sure it will quickly become another Fleming classic!

 

I Know a Wee Piggy

I Know a Wee Piggy written by Kim Norman and illustrated by Henry Cole (2012)

I know a wee piggy who got into a terrific mess. This little piggy appears to be headed to the fair all shiny and clean, but in the excitement of the moment he wallows in brown becoming muddy and dirty. And from there he wallows in red to go with the brown, and he wallows in white to go with the red, and he wallows in pink to go with the white… and so on until he has wallowed in all the colors of the rainbow. Finally he heads for the dunking booth where he’s going to wallow in blue. Surprisingly, the water in the dunking booth does not clean up this little piggy, but he does end up winning the 1st place blue ribbon in the art show!

This story is written in the style of ‘I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly’. Kim Norman uses the familiar rhythm of the traditional verse of a silly old woman, and tells us an even sillier story of a fun-loving piggy who wallows in color and wins first prize in the art show.

Henry Cole does a prize-winning job himself with the illustrations in this book. They start off simply with the wallowing in mud, after all that’s expected of a pig. But when this wee piggy starts wallowing in other colors as well, the hilarity mounts with each spread. Little ones will love investigating each new circumstance the piggy gets into, heck I did too!

This is a definite must-have addition to any picture book collection. It is particularly good for a collection of color-naming books for preschoolers. The text and illustrations are funny and heartwarming. Readers may not be able to ‘sit-still’ for a reading of the story, but they will certainly be rooting for the wee little piggy as he races through the crowds and tents of the county fair.

It’s an Orange Aardvark!

It’s an Orange Aardvark! written and illustrated by Michael Hall (2014)

Michael Hall has produced another wonder in picture book magic.  His newest book, It’s an Orange Aardvark! is so much more than a book about colors for preschoolers. Oh no! It’s detailed enough to hold the interest of any fun-loving, humor-loving, gotcha-loving reader. Picture this – a small colony of adventurous, hard-working, construction-hat-wearing, carpenter ants watch as the yellow hatted ant makes a hole in their stump to see what’s outside. With each hole he makes the others imagine what awaits on the outside. They fear it might be an aardvark who is just waiting with his long, sticky tongue to eat them through the peephole. The colors they see through the holes made are both reassuring and terrifying at the same time. What if it’s an orange aardvark? What if it’s an orange aardvark wearing blue pajamas? ‘Goodness! Gracious! Yikes! Whrrr…’ there he goes drilling another hole. With each hole, which is an actual hole in the pages of the book, the reader and the carpenter ants see another color and imagine another terrible disaster. In the end, they see a beautiful rainbow and dare to go outside.  ‘Yippee! Hooray! Whee! Arrrggghhh!’

Michael Hall has done it again! He’s created more than a color concept book, his artwork and story are masterful. A really funny and interactive gem for toddlers.

This is definitely one I’ll share with my family and friends!