Mercy Watson

Kate DiCamillo long since conquered children’s publishing with a Newbery, Boston Horn Book Award, and as a National Book Award finalist. 

Two films based on her books didn’t hurt her reputation any

(though I thought the animated Tale of Desperaux ill-advised to jettison most of the original story).

But the books which most appeal to my family are her starter chapter picture books starring the “porcine wonder,” 

Mercy Watson (Theodore Geisel award). 

Mr. and Mrs. Watson as depicted by illustrator van Dusen 

are rather round and pink themselves, so perhaps their adoption of a pig as surrogate daughter should

not surprise us.

Mercy’s immense fondness for buttered toast and willingness to sleep tucked up in a child’s bed may puzzle adults, 

but children rarely worry about such trifles,

focusing instead on Mercy's attempts to drive a car 

and capture a thief (among other exploits).

Again, the series format allows kids a chance to get familiar with the characters,

who include not only the Watsons, but their neighbors, 

the elderly Lincoln sisters (Eugenia and Baby, who both embody and defy older women in kids' stories stereotypes),

and various bit players like Officer Tomallelo.
I've mentioned Mercy before, as a librarian pick, and
if you're interested in finding other good choices for elementary readers, you may want to visit that blog 
entry. 

woof meow tweet-tweet

woof

meow

tweet - tweet

by Cecile Boyer

This book kept my son giggling from start to finish

and I think he would have reacted the same way

at age four as he did at age twelve.

Boyer begins “Do you know how to tell the

difference between a dog, a cat and a bird?”

and uses design and font styles to describe

the individual habits of each animal,
and the clash when the

three animals encounter each other.

The humor is that each is always illustrated with

its animal noise word (as shown in the title). 
The dog is a brown “woof,” 
the cat a black “meow,”

and the bird a blue “tweet-tweet.”

Amusingly, Cecile Boyer wrote this first in French

so the original title was Ouaf Miaou Cui-Cui.

The francophone ontomotapoeia is a fun fact 
to share with an older reader,

another is that woof is set in Futura, 
meow in a font designed by Emmanuel Pevny for the book,

and tweet-tweet in Elementa - the
personality and effect of typeface is a 
sophisticated discussion made easy by
the amusing examples in the book
(the rest of the text is in Neutraface named after Richard Neutra. I find the name Neutraface irresistibly comic).

Kids love making animal noises and this is a great

book for a read along.
I keep the typeface of my reviews simple, but
I'm sure you've noted I enjoy adding a spectrum
of hues to them, as in
-Spectrum Mom

365 Penguins

For the New Year, an old book about a new year
 - the numerically and graphically engaging
365 Penguins which my boy read years ago and
enjoys thinking about. Without prompting he will
suddenly tell me how many penguins there are
today and ask if I remember the book.
I remember it quite well. I even mentioned it
once here back in 2010 when my posts resembled 
essays more than reviews and usually included 
multiple titles.
It's a bold big book which restricts its palette
and makes its impact with a graphic punch
usually reserved for product labels.
The story of penguin daily delivery is sweet, 
simple, utterly impossible and likely to charm
both parent and child.
The Amazon review says 
"Kindergarten-Grade 4–This hilarious, oversize picture book integrates 
challenging math concepts and environmental concerns into a clever narrative."

Sounds right to me. You can also find penguin

math activities on the web.

Enjoy, but be warned, if my boy is any 

indication, you may be living with these

penguins for a very long time.

Happy Nine Penguins Day,

-Spectrum Mom

What Animals Really Like

"Cows can't dig. Lions can't arrange flowers. 
Horses can't go deep sea diving because they're not seahorses."
What Animals Really Like by Fiona Robertson
is a picture book performance of animals who sing about 
what they really like to do, destroying the original musical composition by Maestro Timberteeth, the unimaginative beaver who is conducting them.
Both the idea of a song and the outrageously silly exploits of the animals entertained and amused my sons. 
My boy with autism stretched out on the floor and sang the book
to himself (he provided the music, which is only implied in the book).
The quote above is from him as he joyously contradicted the assertions of the book's characters.  
He liked the book because "it's funny."
The more absolutely silly a book is, the greater its appeal
to him. Emotions and plot developments 
fail to engage his interest, singing animals with absurd 
past times instantly rivet his attention.
So if you need a giggle, check this one out.
-Spectrum Mom
Next Wednesday: What happens when Bear Gives Thanks.

Dick King-Smith

Family and friends may recall that my 
boy on the spectrum recalls what day 
he read which book.  The fall of 2008 
(he was 8) was partly devoted to the 
works of Dick King-Smith. 


You may know King-Smith from Babe



probably the movie version, but
King-Smith has written many books,
usually, but not always, about animals.


My boy says we read Lady Lollipop
in September, 2008 and the
Twin Giants in October.

Whimsy and simple stories helped us
read these books, though Lady Lollipop
proved tough going sometimes. The 
Princess and her new friends the pig
Lollipop and the pig boy have sometimes
complex emotions. Kids with autism can
have a difficult time understanding
other people's emotions beyond happy
and sad. Frequent pictures helped.


Twin Giants pleased with lots of
pictures, large text, and a simple
goal oriented plot.


Perhaps King-Smith should
write a book about a giant
pig .   .    .


-Spectrum Mom

Animals, Animals

This should be an itty bitty post before I run to get my itty bitty boy.


My older boy just mentioned The Lighthouse Family, a series I mentioned in an older post. He almost never mentions titles and clearly 
remembers this series, read mainly in third grade, fondly.


We should probably read the series again and try to increase
comprehension with questions. Turning delight into work.
Ugh.


Anyway, these charming stories by Cynthia Rylant are sort of 
advanced Beatrix Potter tales.  All of the animals have very
human personalities. A cat keeps a lighthouse and meets
a dog sailor and together they rescue a pair of orphan mice.
All this happens in the first book, The Storm (no picture in
Amazon).


Also wanted to thank author Ilene Fine for her comment
on yesterday's post and express curiousity on how
she combines dogs and books to help kids communicate.
Her books, Brandy and Val.
etc. look interesting and Amazon has pictures of them-
thank goodness, I was beginning to wonder if I wasted
a lot of time signing up with Amazon affiliates-see
disclaimer.


Ms. Fine hasn't sent me a book or paid me anything,
I just read her comment and was curious. 


My oldest boy is very funny with dogs. He gets fairly
close, then says-"hope he doesn't bite me."
He seems more intrigued than scared, but I haven't
noticed any deep bond with our furry friends.

Judging from the thousands of children's books with

animal characters, from Pooh to Olivia, most children

enjoy a good animal story. That my boy does is a bit

counter intuitive, since he doesn't take much interest

in animals. I wonder if expressions are easier to

see on an illustrated animal?

Do any of you have children who communicate easily
with animals and/or love animal books? Which animal
book does your child like best? Post a comment at the 
bottom of this post.


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