MONDAY FUNDAY: October 30, 2017

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date, and adapted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts with a children’s/YA focus. The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. These weekly roundups are a great way to discover new blogs and bloggers, share some of the titles you’ve been enjoying, and add to your ever-growing to-read list.

Exciting news, friends! We’re less than ONE WEEK from the launch of my first picture book, Wild One! If you’re in the Vancouver area next week, come by the Book Warehouse store on Main Street between 1 and 3pm next Saturday and say hi! There will be treats, a prize draw, tasty goodies, and of course, copies of Wild One to take home!

With that exciting news out of the way, here’s what I’ve been reading this week!

Imagine

Join one little pigeon as she sets out on a journey to spread a message of tolerance around the world. Featuring the lyrics of John Lennon’s iconic song and illustrations by the award-winning artist Jean Jullien, this poignant and timely picture book dares to imagine a world at peace.  Imagine will be published in partnership with human rights organization Amnesty International.

This is an interesting little book – it’s an illustrated version of the famous John Lennon song of the same name, and it follows a pigeon as it spreads peace and happiness throughout its bird community. I love the illustrations, with their bold lines and bright colours and endearing little figures.

I’d definitely recommend Imagine for individual or classroom use on the strength of the bold, colourful imagery, and I sincerely appreciate Lennon’s sentiments and his fervent wish for world peace, which remains deeply relevant today. As my friend and fellow book-blogger Nafiza explains in her review, however, there are aspects of Imagine that can be problematic, and the song is very much a product of both its time and its creator. That’s not to say that this is a bad book, or that Imagine is a bad song, simply that there is more to the story than the colourful illustrations might initially suggest. I’d strongly recommend using this sweetly illustrated wish for peace as a starting point for conversations with children – talk about Lennon’s lyrics, look at them in context, discuss the world then and the world now, and really engage as you read it together. I think that’s what Lennon would’ve wanted – anyone can sing a song about how much they want peace, but that isn’t going to change the world. Really digging deep and encouraging children to ask difficult questions and have meaningful discussions together really can help make the world a better place.

Review copy provided by Raincoast Books. 

Piggy

Piggy loves books so much that he never has time for friends. But his favorite story has always been about two friends and the special times they share together.

One day, Piggy sees a girl reading alone. And he wonders, perhaps, if they could be best friends? Try as Piggy might–in increasingly spectacular ways–the girl just doesn’t notice him. Will Piggy ever be able to tell her how he truly feels?

From the mind of Trevor Lai, an internationally renowned creator and animation entrepreneur, comes the lovable Piggy in an incredibly cute story about the wonder of new friendship that is sure to win your heart!

Bookish Piggy goes to all sorts of lengths to impress a little cat, only to discover that the best way to make a friend is to be yourself.

A well-meaning story about preschool friendship with cute illustrations and a sweet if sometimes disjointed text.

Review copy provided by Raincoast Books. 

Henry’s Awful Mistake

Henry the Duck sure gets himself into some sticky situations! Just when he thinks dinner is almost ready, he spots an ant in the house. 

A mystery patron recently donated a stack of books to the library, and among them was hidden this incredible gem of a book (along with the title shared below). Oh. my. word. How have I never heard of Robert Quackenbush before? His stories about Henry the Duck are ridiculously, terribly, horribly over the top disastrous (for Henry), and yet so very hilarious for readers! It’s reminiscent of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in the way that the events in he story cascade, but unfortunately for Henry, things just get worse and worse and worse. 

Poor old Henry!

Henry Goes West

Henry the Duck sure gets himself into some sticky situations! When he finally goes out West to visit his friend Clara, he finds out that he has another surprise waiting for him back home. 

Honestly I feel kind of bad for finding this book so hilarious – I mean, oh my goodness, poor Henry! But Henry’s run of disastrous luck really is so ridiculously, completely and utterly over the top that I just couldn’t help but laugh. We don’t have any copies of this in the library, which is a bit of a shame – I have a feeling a number of kids might just find this absolutely hilarious. Poor old Henry!

And there you have it – another week wrapped! Have a great one, friends!