 The big woods orchestra’s birds welcome a new spring day. The thrush sings a cheerful song, the woodpecker taps away, the wood pigeon practices coo-cooing, and the robin warms up his vocal chords. Others join the beautiful concert and greet rabbits and more forest animals in a bright gatefold finale. This simple story is beautifully illustrated with realistic bird paintings and individually colored and sized bird calls. mjw |
| Title: The Big Woods Orchestra Author: Guido Van Genechten Illustrator: Guido Van Genechten Publisher: New York: Clavis Publishing Company Copyright: 2012 Original language: Dutch Original title: Het Grote bosorkest Original publisher: Clavis Uitgeverij, Haselt- Amsterdam Original copyright: 2010 ISBN: 978-1-60537-113-9 Hardcover pages: 24 Age range: 3-5 Genre: Picture book Author’s ethnicity: Belgian Author’s residence: Belgium Subjects: Animals, Birds, Birdsongs, Nature, Western Europe |
The Big Woods Orchestra
Leave a reply
Two rabbits, one big and one little, decide to be friends forever in this touching tale with a very positive message regarding friendship. They giggle, sing songs, tell stories, and run around. All of these activities are enjoyed together. The simple, heart-warming text compliments fun, lively illustrations. Every reader will enjoy this story that exemplifies what friends are, what they do, and how friends make us feel. cc
Kioni is busy rounding up her mischievous goats who have roamed away from home and broken into the garden of a Kenyan schoolhouse on soup day. Meanwhile, her friends are gathering ingredients for soup. Just as the goats begin wreaking havoc on the garden, Kioni and her friends problem solve and find a way to make the soup even more delicious. They add goat milk. Striking 3D artwork combining paper sculpture and mixed-media collage illustrate the Kenyan community. A recipe for pumpkin vegetable soup that can be made by children and adults accompanies the story. cc
In 1915, ten-year-old Aileen Rogers’ father, Lawrence Browning Rogers, enlisted in the Fifth Canadian Mounted Rifles. Aileen, left in Quebec with her mother and younger brother, sent her precious stuffed Teddy bear to the front lines in Europe to protect him. Teddy came home to the Rogers farm. Lieutenant Rogers did not. He was killed at the battle of Passchendaele in Belgium. In 2002, Lawrence’s granddaughter found Teddy, letter, and war memorabilia in a family briefcase. This moving story, narrated by Teddy, is accompanied by family photographs, newspaper cuttings, and warm oil paintings. Today Teddy lives in a glass display in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Canada. mjw
As a boy, Wu Daozi (689-759), often considered to be China’s greatest painter, was taught calligraphy, but his brush did not cooperate. Instead he painted squiggles, twists, and dots that became butterflies, horses, flowers, and clouds that came to life. People traveled from all over to admire his work. One day, the emperor asked him to paint a mural on the walls of the palace. This masterpiece took years to finish and revolutionized Chinese painting. Ink, watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil illustrations capture the beauty of Chinese art and culture. An author’s note provides background information on Wu Daozi’s life and artistic techniques. mjw
The deadpan, bearded storyteller declares, “Last winter, I found a penguin.” The wayward penguin knew how to fly until some other birds told him that he couldn’t fly. That’s when he crashed. The man takes the penguin home, determined to help the little penguin out. They eat fish sticks together, test the penguin’s body stress level in a clothes dryer, and try all kinds of schemes to get him airborne. Fireworks, ites, and glued-on feathers don’t do the trick. Finally, when he sees a group of penguins flying above, he stretches his wings and takes off. And he “flew pretty well…for a penguin.” The straightforward tone and black-and-white pencil sketches with splashes of color will delight children and adults. This contemporary fable is about believing in yourself and dreaming and creative problem solving. mjw
This 1932 masterpiece is a picture of life as it once was in Norway. Ola is a young boy who travels from one end of Norway to another. He meets new friends, attends a traditional bridal feast, gets caught in a tree, and learns folklore from fishermen before he returns home. Charming stone lithographs illustrate the fantastic Northern landscape. mjw
In this fantastical picture book, the big brother sets the rules. The rules and consequences are arbitrary and unpredictable. “Never leave a red sock on the clothesline” is followed by an image of a gigantic red rabbit glaring at the terrified boys. “Never be late for a parade” leads to a procession of weird mechanical toys. And finally, “Always know the way home” shows the two boys safely sitting on the couch watching TV. The living room walls are covered with images of all the out-of-this-world creatures they encountered in the book. Lavish, thick oil paintings epics the mysterious world of the two boys’ imagination. An app of the story, published by Wheelbarrow- Australia, draws readers into Tan’s surreal landscape. mjw
OmniLibros 