Picture Book Spotlight: Clever Jack Takes The Cake & The Duchess of Whimsy

Picture Book Spotlight is an original weekly post that will highlight relevant and/or popular picture books and suggest age groups and storytime themes for them. It will also include a mini-review. 
Today I have a double whammy because these two books share so many themes.  Another great pairing would be Apple Cakes.

Title: Clever Jack Takes The Cake
Author: Candace Fleming Pages:40 Audience: K-2 Themes: fantasy, fairytales, food, love, humor 

Summary: 
What would you do if you were invited to the princess’s tenth birthday party but didn’t have money for a gift? Well, clever Jack decides to bake the princess a cake.

Now he just has to get it to the castle in one piece. What could possibly go wrong?                                      

My Thoughts:  I LOVED this picture book. It has really charming illustrations and a storyline that will make you slap your head and laugh at the same time. Jack tries to take a cake to the princess but little by little it gets eaten away by other creatures on his journey.

Title: The Duchess of Whimsy
Authors: Peter de Seve Pages: 32 Audience: K-2 Themes: fantasy, fairytales, stories, food, love, humor

Summary:  
The great New Yorker artist Peter de Seve teams up with the author of bestselling Toy Boat in a slightly outrageous fairy tale. The Duchess of Whimsy is fancy and fussy—and definitely not ordinary—surrounding herself with wild friends, fabulous foods, and fancy dress. The Earl of Norm (ho hum) is completely ordinary, but he adores the Duchess. She ignores him, until the chef gets sick, and her friends have to make a super supper—which includes tracking down truffles, spinning sugar stars, and looking for quail eggs.

But the Earl is hungry! He sneaks off to an ordinary grilled cheese sandwich—and suddenly takes the Duchess’s eye. Maybe there’s something to simplicity after all. Maybe there’s something to the Earl after all . . .

This deliciously told and illustrated love story by the remarkable de Sèves shows how utterly charming and extraordinary a picture book can be                                           

My Thoughts:  Cute! I loved these whimsical ;P illustrations full of color and fun and crazy things. The story is about a normal Duke who falls in love with the Duchess of whimsy. The moral is you should get to know people before judging them. Because this is really focused on romance, I probably wouldn't read it for a storytime. It has a very princess-story feeling with your typical themes. The language was fun and had some rhymes.

Mini Reviews (Becky): Fairy Tale Anthologies Continued

Fairy Tale Anthologies

I'm currently in a storytelling class where I learn to tell tales without using a book. Terrifying, right?  One of our major responsibilities is to read as many story collections as possible to find stories that appeal to us.  As Randi well knows, I dislike most of what I read, so this is really taking some digging.

My first row reviews the scary anthologies I have been reading and the second just shows some general collections.

Scary Stories

Passion and Poison, by Janice M. Del Negro.  This is a very small collection of YA horror stories to tell aloud.  I loved how each of them had a strong female protagonist, and a few of them were very familiar, as they had been adapted from traditional stories.  Del Negro really makes these stories her own by adding creeptastic imagery and new character names.  I loved the grayscale illustrations!
Here There Be Witches, by Jane Yolen.
Ask the Bones: Scary Stories from around the world, by Arielle North Olson and Howard Schwarts.

A Wolf at the Door: and Other Retold English Fairy Tales by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.

General Collections

Ten Small Tales, by Celia Barker Lottridge Possibly the worst collection I've read lol.  I don't know if it is because these stories are aimed at very young children, but it seems like all the flavor has been washed out of these stories.  I could barely get through them, and this is a short book!  Needless to say I won't be telling any of these. The Boy Who Lived with Bears: and other Iroquois Stories, by Jospeh Bruchac A stunning collection of stories and images.  I would have no problem telling any of these, and I enjoyed the trickster tales.  My favorite was the book's namesake.  This collection has a lot of authentic atmosphere and spirit (or it feels that way to me).   A Treasury of Trickster Tales, by Valerie Marsh I normally don't care much for trickster tales, and I care even less for animal tales lol.  I thought this book did a good job with them, regardless, organizing by anti-hero and adding all kinds of supplementary telling devices such as sign language, cut outs, puzzles,etc.  Favorite Fairy Tales Told in Russia, by Virginia Haviland.   I would not mind owning this collection.  It has most of my favorites from Arthur Ransome's larger collection and streamlines the stories while keeping the colorful imagery and spirit.  I prefer Ransome's version of the snow child, however.  The illustrations are messy but atmospheric.

Picture Book Spotlight: Lovabye Dragon

Picture Book Spotlight is an original weekly post that will highlight relevant and/or popular picture books and suggest age groups and storytime themes for them. It will also include a mini-review.

Title: Lovabye Dragon
Authors:Barbara Joosse Pages:32 Audience: K-2 Themes: fantasy, fairytales, friends, humor

Summary:                                                      

When a lonely dragon follows a trail of princess tears, a beautiful friendship is born. They march and sing, roar and whisper, hide and seek, then settle into snug companionship at bedtime. Barbara Joosse’s fiercely protective and gently loving dragon cavorts across the pages, endearingly illustrated by Randy Cecil. At the end of the day, who can resist curling up in the embrace of a lovabye dragon?

My Thoughts: This is a really cute, simple rhyming story about a princess who wishes for a dragon friend. She cries silver tears that drip all the way to the dragon's cave. He wakes up and they find each other. This would be a great pick for a dragon storytime The illustrations are muted colors, adorable cartoon-style with a hilariously goofy looking dragon. I'd pair with Puff, the Magic Dragon!

Top Ten Favorite Characters in Fantasy (Becky)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.  

This week our list (brought to you by Becky) is Top Ten favorite characters in the fantasy genre! 

Fantasy is my favorite genre, right after horror haha.  I tend to like antiheroes or straight up evil characters better, possibly because I find them harder to understand and more of a challenge.  So here are my picks in reverse order. 

10. Achmed from Rhapsody:child of blood: tall, dark, cranky and awesome.  What more could you ask from an anti-hero?  He usually does the right thing in the end...usually.

9. Damon from Vampire Diaries: Damon vascilates from outright evil to vulnerable and lonely.  I love a redemption seeker!

8. Vivian from Blood and Chocolate: I like the complexity of Vivian's emotions and her inner strength.  She's  strong woman/werewolf :).

7. Julian from the Forbidden Game:
Who doesn't want a semi-evil demon stalker who may be young and gorgeous right now, but will eventually warp into a disgusting monster?  He was being a creeper when Edward was still a baby.  I like to picture him as David Bowie from the Labyrinth.  

6. Scarlet from Sisters Red:
Possibly the coolest and most tragic female character in fantasy.  She is laser-focused on wiping out the wolf-like creatures that hunt young women.  She doesn't even have time for the attractive boy who is in love with her.

5. Celia from the Night Circus:
Ok, so I mostly want to be Celia, minus the magical torture her father puts her through in her training.  Then I'd get Magic and Marco.

4. Julia from the Magicians:
Julia is cray cray in such an awesome way.  She's really the only character in the magicians I wanted to identify with...at least in some ways.  Her epic struggle to obtain magic was fascinating.

3. Sean from the Scorpio Races:
I love moody, monosyllabic, male characters.  Sean seems so wild yet focused.  Definitely a win for Stiefvater.  

2. Lestat from Interview with the Vampire:
This hardly needs explination. Best vampire ever?

1. Quentin from the Magicians:
There isn't much to like about Quentin and I think that's why I love him.  He represents the worst in all of us, trying too hard, always wishing for more, and screwing up royaly.

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment, but I think they're some pretty great bookish memories, if I do say so myself! So what are YOUR best bookish memories? Link us up!

Mini-Reviews (Becky): Fairy tale Anthologies

Fairy Tale Anthologies

I'm currently in a storytelling class where I learn to tell tales without using a book. Terrifying, right?  One of our major responsibilities is to read as many story collections as possible to find stories that appeal to us.  As Randi well knows, I dislike most of what I read, so this is really taking some digging.  My first row reviews the anthologies I liked and the second shows anthologies that didn't appeal to me for one reason or another.  Expect another similar post later in the month because I just brought home another stack of these, lol.

p.s.  I don't know why the covers of these are so tragic.  Most of them are pretty old, but that hardly explains the hideousness of some of them.

Favorites

The Troll with No Heart in His Body, by Lise Lunge-Larsen.  This was my first and favorite collection.  There is something about Norway that just screams old magic to me.  This collection of troll stories includes all my favorites and some I'd never heard before.  It contains just the right amount of frightening imagery without getting too adult.  I also love how most of these are trickster tales.  My very favorite tale? The Eating Competition!
Old Peter's Russian Tales, by Arthur Ransome. Russia is another of my favorite locations for fairy tales.  I like cold climates and lots of landscape atmosphere.  Having just read the Snow Child, I was delighted to find "Little Daughter of the Snow".  In the end, this is the one I decided to tell for my first class performance.  Wish me luck! Ready-To-Tell Tales: Sure-Fire Stories from America's Favorite Storytellers, by David Holt. I'm still in the middle of this collection, containing both traditional and authored tales, tailored by some of the best known storytellers with bio information on each of them.  Favorites include Godmother Death, The Black Prince, and Urishima Taro.  Honestly, though, I'd feel comfortable telling any of these and I suppose that is the point lol.  I kind of want to buy it.

Multicultural Folktales: Stories to Tell Young Children, by Judy Sierra.

I love how this marvelous collection offers felt board ideas as well as providing sanitized versions of folk tales and rhymes appropriate for the 3-5 crowd.  My favorite story was a tie between the Stonecutter and Stone Soup.

Least Favorites

English Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs The compiler notes in the back that these versions of fairy tales were often overlooked when face with the smoother, more romantic French adaptations. I could see why....these were gritty and without much appeal or charm for me. The People Could Fly, by Virginia Hamilton I really wanted to like this one, but the structure of the stories fell flat for me.  I felt like they built up dramatic tension and then rushed the endings and completely left out any kind of satisfying conclusions for most of them.   I also had trouble with the dialect. The Wonder Clock, by Howard Pyle These tales felt like endless repetitions of the same elements without satisfying conclusions or justice and were too gritty for the age group I think they best fit.  Many of them seem like they may have other versions or adaptations that I would like better and have been streamlined. Mightier Than the Sword, by Jane Yolen.   Most of these just didn't catch my attention.  They may have more appeal to boys.  I did enjoy the Magic brocade immensely, however.

Picture Book Spotlight: No Bears

Picture Book Spotlight is an original weekly post that will highlight relevant and/or popular picture books and suggest age groups and storytime themes for them. It will also include a mini-review.

Title: No Bears Authors: Leila Rudge Pages:32 Audience: K-2 Themes: fantasy, fairytales, stories, books, humor

Summary:                                                      

Ruby wants to tell you a story. A story with absolutely no bears. You don’t need bears for a book. You need pretty things like fairies and princesses and castles. And maybe funny things and exciting things – but definitely no bears!

My Thoughts: I love this book! A little girl named Ella decides to us a story with absolutely NO bears in it, because she doesn't think you need them, even though they always show up. As she tells her story, we can see in the pictures that a lovely, friendly bear has indeed crept into it, although Ella doesn't notice. Just when the princess of her story is about to be kidnapped by a monster, "someone" saves her. Ella thinks it is the fairy godmother, but we can see the bear's sleeve :). The illustrations have lots of warm, natural colors, and remind me a little of Oliver Jeffers. This book will probably be a hit with most little girls and could be used for an early elementary story time

Author Study: Kazu Kibuishi

Kazu Kibuishi 

I've been reading graphic novels this year, not because I like the format but because others do and I'm going to have to be able to do readers' advisory for them.  Hands down, my favorite author/illustrator of the genre/format is Kazu Kibuishi.  Born in 1978, he is an American author artist who draws such stunning and detailed images that they feel both real and surreal.  he is best known for editing and contributing to the Flight anthologies, volumes 1-8, and the Amulet series for tweens.

Flight

What I really enjoy about these collections is that there are so many different artists in each volume.  You are practically guaranteed to find stories and art styles that appeal to you.  I tend to like the more ornate, lushly colored and atmospheric art with whimsical stories.  There are, however, also flat cartoon style illustrations with humorous stories or war themes.  Fans of Jellaby will be delighted to find more of the series included here.  I loved how fast the stories went.  Some of them are like flash fiction, only a few pages long, like a sketch.  Others are nearly as long as a full book.  You do not have to read these in order, although there are a few series stories.  I enjoyed volumes 1-4 best.

Amulet

Goodreads summary:
"After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous. Before long, a sinister creature lures the kids' mom through a door in the basement. Em and Navin, desperate not to lose her, follow her into an underground world inhabited by demons, robots, and talking animals.
Eventually, they enlist the help of a small mechanical rabbit named Miskit. Together with Miskit, they face the most terrifying monster of all, and Em finally has the chance to save someone she loves."

This series smacks strongly of star wars with a fantasy bent.  It is very popular with tweens and the decadent art gives it adult appeal as well.  I mostly read it for the sweeping landscape views and the puzzle of the stones.

Review (Becky): The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

Title: The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There Author: Catherynne M. Valente  Pages: 272 Audience: Tween/ early Teen Genre: Fantasy (high fantasy/ fairies) Rating: 4-I'd go on a quest with this <b>book again</b>

Goodreads Summary

September returns to Fairyland to reunite with A-Through-L, Saturday, and Gleam, and to confront her shadow-self, who has become the queen of Fairyland-Below, the upside-down world beneath the Fairyland of the first novel, filled with creatures of water and shadow, tales of ancient Fairyland before the human world was born, and not a few hungry buffins, blind birds of ice and moonlight. The yearly revels of Fairyland-Below climax in a mysterious rite September must avert or else lose her shadow forever

My Thoughts
I ended up liking the plot of this book at least as much as the first one, if not more. The whole shadow chasing shenanigans were a delight and put me in mind of Peter Pan. I found the narrator far less annoying, as he/she/it doesn't jump in and spoil the story quite as much this time. Personally, I don't care if the narrator is "a sly narrator" or what it thinks we were wondering lol.

Much of the old cast comes back with a few new friends. There were nearly too many characters, really, and it felt a little precariously balanced as a result. I liked September better in this story because she has more internal struggle and deals with a few more adult issues and the complexity of the questions she has to face increases. The barely budding romance with Saturday was awfully cute. 

FTC Disclaimer

All reviews are solely the opinions of Becky and/or Randi. We are not paid in any way for our reviews, and all opinions are 100% honest.

Picture Book Spotlight: Apple Cake

Picture Book Spotlight is an original weekly post that will highlight relevant and/or popular picture books and suggest age groups and storytime themes for them. It will also include a mini-review.

Title: Apple Cake Authors: Julie Paschkis Pages:32 Audience: K-2 Themes: love, food, cooking, fantasy

Summary:                                                         
In this lovely valentine of a book, Julie Paschkis offers young readers a glimpse of the extraordinary world that can be hidden in the simplest of things. Alfonso loves his colorful, magical existence. He also loves the brilliant, beautiful Ida. But Ida, nose in a book, just doesn’t seem to notice. Can he win her heart with a cake of his own creation if the salt is gathered from the deep blue ocean, the butter from the summer sun, and flour like snowflakes from a night sky? An exquisitely illustrated story about imagination for children, but also a wonderful gift for lovestruck adults. (A treasured family recipe for apple cake included!)

My Thoughts: oh my gosh, so cute. I love the whimsical, colorful illustrations on the mostly white background! This would be a great food storytime selection, so long as you have some kind of treat afterwards lol. I like that it actually tells how to make a cake but the illustrations also tell a fantastical story. It would be fun to say "where did he get the salt?" and the kids can call out the answer based on the picture.