Tag Archives: Animals

Jumping Jack

Jumping Jack, a show-jumping horse, and Roger Trotter, his best friend and rider, were international champions. However, at the International Tournament of Primrose, they fall and look like very bad amateurs. They visit a veterinarian and a psychologist to discover that there is nothing wrong that would cause their problems on the course. They even try a two-week vacation. After a mishap at the next International Tournament, they invent a new style, finish the competition brilliantly, and see that Jumping Jack just needed glasses. The vividly colored gouache paintings are downright comical. On a small stool in the vet’s waiting room, Jack’s knees are up to his chest. And in the psychologist’s office, Jack lies on his back on the couch. The final spread shows Roger reading Sports Weekly and Jack reading Don Quixote, both wearing red, round spectacles. mjw

Title: Jumping Jack
Author: Germano Zullo
Illustrator: Albertine
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: French
Translator: Taylor Norman
Original Title: Dada
Original Publisher: Editions La Joie de lire SA, Geneva, Switzerland
Original Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4521-3152-8
Hardcover pages: 40
Age range: 5-8
Genre: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity: Swiss
Author’s residence: Switzerland
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Swiss
Illustrator’s residence: Switzerland
Awards: 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator Award
Subjects: Confidence, Glasses, Horses, Show-jumping, Sports

In This Book

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I am in the poppy, said the bee. I am in the hair, said the barrette. Each page contains a simple, straightforward linocut with subjects of people, animals, food, places, and other everyday objects, each of which (or whom) declares its location. Although a coherent, flowing story is not present, this whimsical book offers a springboard for wondering, learning, dreaming, and storytelling. cc

Title: In This Book
Author: Fani Marceau
Illustrator: Joelle Jolivet
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC.
Copyright: 2014
Original language: French
Translator: Chronicle Books
Original title: Dans le livre
Original publisher: helium, Paris
Original copyright: 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2588-6
Hardcover pages: 64
Age range: 3-8
Genre: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity: French
Author’s residence: France
Illustrator’s ethnicity: French
Illustrator’s residence: France
Subjects: Animals, Families, Food, Sports

Welcome To Mamoko

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Search for twenty-five crazy characters in this wordless book to create stories. Cosmo Lens is an alien with a camera. Claude Van Clue solves a mystery of stolen artwork. Malcolm Ratz makes deliveries on his bicycle. And Vincent Brisk is ready for romance. The characters’ paths often cross as they go about their day from morning to night at the Town Carnival. There are also hidden items to find on each page in this colorful cartoon world. mjw

Title: Welcome To Mamoko
Author: Aleksandra Mizielinski and Daniel Mizielinska
Illustrator: Aleksandra Mizielinski and Daniel Mizielinska
Publisher: Big Picture Press, an imprint of Candlewick Press, Somerville Massachusetts
Copyright: 2013
Original language: Polish
Original title: Miasteczko
Original publisher: Wydawnictwo Dwie Siostry, Poland
Original copyright: 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6891-4
Board book pages: 16
Age range: 5-8
Genre: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity: Polish
Author’s residence: Poland
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Polish
Illustrator’s residence: Poland
Awards: 2010 IBBY Outstanding International Books List
Subjects: Activity books, Animals, Board books, City life, Town life, Wordless books

Woolly Jumpers

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Twins Mike and Jake reluctantly move with their family to sheep country in Australia. They miss email, the dishwasher, and their friend Justin, until their father offers them spending money for mowing the grass. They borrow the neighbor’s sheep to do the job. Chaos results as the sheep end up in their bedroom closet and in the family car. The story is told from both Mike’s point of view and the animals’ with whom he interacts. Four black-and-white drawings appear multiple times. mjw

Title: Woolly Jumpers
Author: Nette Hilton
Illustrator: Emma Quay
Publisher: Kane Miller, A Division of EDC Publishing
Copyright: 2012
Original language: English
ISBN: 978-1-61067-050-0
Paperback pages: 150
Age range: 8-11
Genre: Contemporary realistic fiction
Book setting: Australia
Author’s ethnicity: Australian
Author’s residence: Australia
Illustrator’s ethnicity: English
Illustrator’s residence: Australia
Subjects: Animals, Australia, Farm life, Rural

A Tale Of Two Parrots

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This delightful tale about the importance of love and freedom was inspired by a story by Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet. A wealthy mustachioed merchant, elaborately dressed in traditional wide-legged silk pants, flowing robe, and tall black hat keeps a beautiful parrot in a shiny golden cage. But the parrot is sad. When the merchant travels to India to bring a message to the parrot’s friend, the friend drops dead. The merchant returns home, tells the parrot the sad news, and his parrot also drops dead. He removes the bird from the cage and it flies out into the garden. The parrot tricked the merchant. The wise merchant learned a valuable lesson and became friends with the parrot, who now lives freely in the garden. Hidden in the whimsical, mostly green and red, acrylic paintings is a Farsi narrative written on an envelope that further explains the Persian concept of gifts and the parrot’s message to his friend. There is an accompanying animation on North South Book’s YouTube channel. mjw

Title: A Tale Of Two Parrots
Author: Rashin Kheiriyeh
Illustrator: Rashin Kheiriyeh
Publisher: North South Books Inc., New York
Copyright: 2014
Original language: English
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4171-0
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 5-8
Genre: Picture book
Book setting: Iran/Persia, India
Author’s ethnicity: Iranian
Author’s residence: United States
Subjects: Friends, India, Iran, Merchants, Parrots, Persia, Southern Asia

The Big Woods Orchestra

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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

Once Upon A Northern Night

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In this enchanting, poetic lullaby, an unnamed narrator paints a picture of a northern winter night. It begins with one tiny snowflake. Soon the night sky is filled with “sparkling specks of white” and a mother deer and her dawn discover some frozen apples. A great gray owl, two snowshoe hares, an auburn fox, and a scurrying mouse all join the peaceful panorama. Bursts of color are added throughout the mostly sepia mixed-media illustrations until the final lavender and white shimmering double-page masterpiece- “And then I had the moon gently kiss you and the wind whisper…I love you.” This is a perfect bed-time read-aloud. mjw

Title: Once Upon A Northern Night
Author: Jean Pendziwol
Illustrator: Isabelle Arsenault
Publisher: Groundwood Books, Canada
Copyright: 2013
Original language: English
ISBN: 978-1-55498-138-0
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 4-7
Genre: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity: Canadian
Author’s residence: Canada
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian
Illustrator’s residence: Canada
Awards: 2013 Governor General’s Literary Award Shortlist
Subjects: Animals, Canada, Night, North America, Snow, Winter

Pomelo’s Big Adventure

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Pomelo, the petite pink pachyderm, packs his knapsack with his toothbrush, pumpkin seeds, a world map, a good book, his courage, and other useful and silly necessities for the road. He ties a ribbon to a stone and tosses it to determine the direction he will travel. He passes through mythic landscapes, gets swindled by a fast-talking rat, shares a sausage with Papamelo, builds a boat, and sails to a land where he befriends a starfish. Bright, lively, oversized cartoon artwork depicts the surreal landscapes in Pomelo’s big, wide world. This story about Pomelo’s curiosity, courage, and fortitude is number four in the “Pomelo the Garden Elephant” series. mjw

Title: Pomelo’s Big Adventure
Author: Ramona Badescu
Illustrator: Benjamin Chaud
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Copyright: 2014
Original language: French
Translator: Claudia Bedrick
Original title: Pomelo et la grande aventure
Original publisher: Albin Michel Jeunesse
Original copyright: 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59270-158-2
Hardcover pages: 40
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity: Romanian
Author’s residence: France
Illustrator’s ethnicity: French
Illustrator’s residence: France
Subjects: Animals, Adventure, Elephants, France, Self-reliance, Western Europe

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly

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Sprout is a feisty, philosophical egg-laying hen who escapes from her cage and dreams of raising her own chick. She is shunned by all the other farm animals except for an outcast mallard duck named Straggler. Straggler protects her while she hatches an egg she found in a briar patch. At first she is unaware that her offspring is a duckling, not a chick. Sprout is brave, strong and heroic in her struggle to overcome violent and harsh conditions. This unforgettable fable is about life, death, a mother’s unconditional love, survival, and freedom. Spare line drawings enhance the story, which is part of the school curriculum for fifth graders in Korea and has been made into a record-breaking film. mjw

Title: The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly
Author: Sun-Mi Hwang
Illustrator: Nomoco
Publisher: Penguin Books
Copyright: 2013
Original language: Korean
Translator: Chi-Young Kim
Original title: Madangeul maon amtak
Original publisher: Sakyejul Publishing Ltd, Seoul
Original copyright: 2000
ISBN: 978-0-14-312320-0
Paperback pages: 134
Age range: 10 up
Genre: Novel
Author’s ethnicity: Korean
Author’s residence: Seoul, South Korea
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Japanese
Illustrator’s residence: London, England
Awards: 2013 Amazon Best Book of the Month (November), 2013 Sejong Children’s Literature Prize, 2012 Best Book of the Year in Poland
Subjects: Animals, Chickens, Eastern Asia, Individuality, Korea, Mother and child

Mikis And The Donkey

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When young Mikis receives a donkey from his grandpa, he falls in love with the animal and carefully (with the donkey’s help) names it Tsaki. Grandpa Pappou wants the donkey to be a working animal but Mikis convinces him that Tsaki can be a pet, too. Mikis plans a special stable for Tsaki, finds a donkey friend, and they all have some delightful adventures. Black and white pen and ink drawings bring the gentle story and the Greek island to life. An afterword provides information about a donkey sanctuary on the island of Corfu in Greece. mjw

Title: Mikis And The Donkey
Author: Bibi Dumon Tak
Illustrator: Philip Hopman
Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
Copyright: 2014
Original language: Dutch
Translator: Laura Watkinson
Original title: Mikis de ezeljongen
Original publisher: Em. Querido Uitgeverij, B.V. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Original copyright: 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5430-8
Paperback pages: 89 (Advanced Reading Copy)
Age range: 8-12
Genre: Fiction- novel
Book setting: Corfu, Greece
Author’s ethnicity: Dutch
Author’s residence: The Netherlands
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Dutch
Illustrator’s residence: The Netherlands
Awards: 2015 Mildred L. Batchelder Award
Subjects: Animals, Donkeys, Grandfathers, Greece, Southern Europe

If You Can…We Can!

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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

Title: If You Can…We Can!
Author: Beth Shoshan
Illustrator: Petra Brown
Publisher: Sandy Creek, an imprint of Sterling Publishing, New York
Copyright: 2013
Original language: English
Original publisher: Meadowside Children’s Books
Original copyright: 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4351-4800-0
Hardcover pages: 24
Age range: 3-6
Genre: Picture book
Author’s residence: England
Illustrator’s residence: England
Subjects: England, Friendship, Western Europe

The Runaway Hug

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Lucy asks to borrow her mother’s very last hug before heading off to bed. She promises to give it back and decides to keep it safe. As she shares the hug with all of her family members, Lucy gets the hug back each time until Annie, the family dog, dashes away with it. This charming and warm story conveys the power and love in ordinary bedtime routines of family life. Mixed-media illustrations follow Lucy’s journey around the house until she is tucked snugly into bed. cc

Title: The Runaway Hug
Author: Nick Bland
Illustrator: Freya Blackwood
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books, New York
Copyright: 2013
Original language: English
Original publisher: Scholastic Australia, Sydney
Original copyright: 2011
ISBN: 978-0-449-81825-1
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 3-7
Genre: Picture book
Author’s residence: Australia
Illustrator’s residence: Australia
Awards: 2012 Children’s Book Council (CBC) of Australia Award
Subjects: Australia, Bedtime routines, Family life, Hugging, Oceania