friday's five

Friday brings happiness all over the world, and in my little bloggy world, it's also a lovely day to celebrate another week's worth of picture book fun. Thanks to our fabulous public library system, these five books have brought smiles and giggles to my littlest ones.

1. Mini Racer by Kristy Dempsey and illustrated by Bridget Stevens-Marzo --Silly rhymes, colorful illustrations reminiscent of Richard Scarry, and a whole bunch of crazy and goofy vehicles. Guess who in my family LOVES this book? From the moment he ran up to me at the library grasping it in his hands, I knew this would be one that would get renewed several times and reread even more. I happen to like the little frog who appears in most of the illustrations as a referee of sorts for this race, waving his red flag and calling out some racers on their less-than-stellar driving skills.

2. Cars Galore by Peter Stein and illustrated Bob Staake -- Are you sensing a theme here? Yup, here's another Pudge's Pick, and I gotta say that I'm so enchanted by Staake's illustrations. The blocks of bright colors, the wacky depictions of people- love it all. Here, the focus is directly on a whole bunch of cars, traditional ones and others that are very much nontraditional. These are the ones that get the big laughs, and the pictures and text complement each other just wonderfully. My car loving child is in heaven this week.

3. Imogene's Antlers by David Small -- Red was perusing the paperback book boxes this week, and this was one of the classics that came home from the R-S-T collection. What an adorable story that wholly embraces the unexplainable and fantastic in a realistic context. Some might say "Poor Imogene," but she and those around her (discounting her prone-to-fainting mother) find wonderful ways to embrace the gigantic antlers that suddenly graced her head one day. The ending brought Red to a fit of giggles. Fun stuff.

4. Time for Bed by Mem Fox and illustrated by Jane Dyer -- Another classic, and one that we've read before naptime several times in the last few days. The quietness of the word choices and soft, muted illustrations makes it perfect for pre-sleep reading. Each animal caregiver (nicely, not specified Mom or Dad, so as to be inclusive for all) gets his/her baby ready for sleep in each two-page spread with a rhyme that children will quickly memorize. I mean, it's Mem Fox-- does it really need my endorsement?

5. The Truth About Fairies by J. Angelique Johnson and illustrated by Carolina Farias -- Okay. I've got some mixed feelings about this one, but I'm not sure how well I can articulate them. It appears that this book (as well as the others in the Fairy-Tale Superstars series) is coming from a 'debunking' perspective, since it opens by answering the question of "Are fairies real?" with a strong-feeling "Of course not!" It then proceeds to share stories of fairies from literature and folklore, and finishes with a page devoted to "Fun Facts About Fairies." Am I the only confused one here? Regardless of how I might feel about it, Red loved it and doesn't seem discouraged in her love for fairies.


Wishing you a week of happy reading,