Picture Book Review: The Circus Ship

The Circus Ship
Written and illustrated by:  Chris Van Dusen
Published by: Candlewick Press, 2009

* This fictional story about a circus ship is told in rhyme.  When a circus ship en route from Maine to Boston crashes, the fifteen animals swim all night in the cold water, until they reach a small island village.  At first the villagers were a bit annoyed and bothered with the circus animals roaming about.  But after the tiger rescues little Emma Rose from a fire they have a change of heart.  The animals and villagers were living peacefully when there was word that the circus owner was coming back to get his animals.  Mr. Paine was greedy and mean and the animals didn't want to go back so the villagers came up with a plan to hide them. (The kids found this part to be especially humorous!)  Mr. Paine looks everywhere for his circus animals but eventually leaves the island empty-handed.  The villagers and animals end up living happily ever after.

I found it interesting to learn that this book was inspired by an actual event.  On October 25, 1836, the Royal Tar, a steam ship with 103 passengers and a complete circus ended up burning in flames after hitting a gale off the island of Vinalhaven, Maine.  Unfortunately, most people and all of the animals died in this accident. 

Van Dusen took this tragic story and used it to help him create a fun tale.  Van Dusen is also the illustrator of the Mercy Watson books by Kate DiCamillo.  His colorful and almost cartoonish illustrations are perfect for this story.

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Early Chapter Book Review: Mrs. Noodlekugel

Mrs. Noodlekugel
Written by:  Daniel Pinkwater
Illustrated by:  Adam Stower
Published by:  Candlewick Press, 2012

* This book is aimed at the transitional reader who is past the beginning reading stages but not quite ready for large chapter books. In this book Nick and Maxine discover a little house behind their tall apartment building.  They learn about a secret door in the boiler room that leads to Mrs. Noodlekugel's house.  Here you can find a talking, standing, piano-playing cat and four far-sighted mice who like to help make cookies.  They eventually discover that Mrs. Noodlekugel will be their babysitter.

This didn't feel like a complete book to me....more like an introduction and meeting of Mrs. Noodlekugel.  The writing seemed a little awkward, with the scene between Nick and Maxine discussing their meeting with Mrs. Noodlekugel, especially sticking out in my mind.  The illustrations though were cute and abundant!

 My 6 year old daughter and I read this early chapter book together over one weekend.  As critical as I am about the book, I have to remember that it's target audience is right around my daughter's age.  For her it was an entertaining and enjoyable read. She enjoyed this book and is looking forward to reading the next book in the series Mrs. Noodlekugel and Four Blind Mice which comes out later this year.

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

Picture Book Review: Sky Color

Sky Color
Written and illustrated by:  Peter H. Reynolds
Published by: Candlewick Press, 2012

* What color is the sky?  Most people would probably say blue.  In this book Marisol is a young artist who loves to paint.  When her class paints a mural for the library Marisol volunteers to paint the sky.  But when she goes to the paint box there's no blue.  Marisol doesn't know how she's going to paint the sky.  A bus ride home and a dream help inspire Marisol to paint the sky.  The illustrations in this book are mostly done in shades of black, white, and gray with splashes of color, highlighting the paints and paintings. 

While we were reading this book I stopped when Marisol couldn't find blue paint and asked the kids to predict what she might do.  They thought that she could bring blue paint from home (a realistic possibility!).  It took a lot of hinting and reading on but my daughter finally came up with another, more accurate possibility.

I think this book helps children with creativity and thinking outside of the box.  It helps them see that there's more than one way to look at things.  We all enjoyed this book. 
This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up .

Picture Book Review: Big Mean Mike

Big Mean Mike
Written by: Michelle Knudsen
Illustrated by: Scott Magoon
Published by: Candlewick Press, 2012

I wasn't so sure about this book based on the title.  Big Mean Mike is a big, tough dog who dresses in big, black combat boots and wears a spiked collar. He's very surprised to find a little, fuzzy, white rabbit in the trunk of his car.  But Big Mean Mike and soft, cuddly rabbits don't go together so he leaves the bunny on the sidewalk.  The next day two fuzzy, white rabbits appear in his car and so on, until he has four rabbits that he can't get rid of.  In the end he discovers that he likes the cute, cuddly things and he doesn't care what his friends think of him.  He likes what he likes and that's just the way it was going to be.  The book has a good message about how kids shouldn't care what other people think of them.  I'm just not sure that I like the emphasis on the "big and mean" since we really try to raise our kids to be nice.  I also am not a fan of the idea that you have to dress a certain way to uphold an image.  Luckily, I don't think the kids read into the story too much and they enjoyed the dogs going to the monster truck show (especially  my son!) and seeing the fuzzy, cute bunnies. 

This book was borrowed from the library.  

Family Rating:   1 thumb up.