The ABC's of the Alphabet

Hi everyone! I'm going to admit right off the bat that this post is probably a bit less cohesive than the rest--I'm in the midst of traveling up and down the east coast trying to get things done, and I'm writing this post a little later than usual. But fear not, blogosphere, it'll still rock your world...

So originally I was going to do a combo alphabet/counting post, but when I started pulling out all of my alphabet books I realized that was the craziest idea I’ve ever had. There are just too many! Therefore, this post will be exclusively alphabet books. And (like always) there are sooooo many good ones out there!

When I was a wee one my mom bought me Anita Lobel’s Alison’s Zinnia, and I immediately fell in love with it. Each spread features a girl who gives a flower to another girl, but the catch is that the giver always gives a flower to a girl whose name begins with the next letter of the alphabet, and the flowers go alphabetically, too. For example, Alison gives an amaryllis to Beryl (lovely name, no?) and Beryl passes on the love by giving a Begonia to Crystal until eventually it makes it down the alphabet and Zena brings it full circle by giving Alison a zinnia. At the time, it really made me think about the alphabet not letter-by-letter, but as a concept that can be taught in a creative, colorful, and floral way. 

Venice Beach

So today I’m going to break away from tradition and talk about a group of books that don’t really have a common theme. These are the books I bought in Venice Beach when I was in LA a couple of weeks ago, and I think they’re all so lovely and unique that I couldn’t wait to write about them later. The store, Small World Books (and I even got to meet the cat pictured there--so sweet!), had a fabulous children’s department that was filled with lots of surprises and books I’d never heard of before. It’s a great store to visit if you’re ever in LA (especially because it's right on the beach!).

First let's chat about Stephen and the Beetle by Jorge Luján and Chiara Carrer. From the moment I picked up the book I knew it was special. The book tells the story of Stephen, a young boy who comes across a beetle and decides that he should kill it. But as he raises his shoe he studies the beetle, who is going about its day, completely unaware of what is about to happen, and a major question pops into his mind: where is the beetle going and why? This prompts young Stephen to contemplate the meaning of life, realizing that if he kills the beetle it won't really affect his own day-to-day life, but he still will have taken a life away from the world. Stephen ultimately puts the shoe away and watches the beetle go about its routine. A seemingly innocuous story, it's a wonderful tale that begs the question how much is a life worth? It also makes me feel terrible for killing that gross spider the other day...

The Royal Treatment

Hello blogosphere! So the book that sparked this post is King Hugo's Ego by Chris Van Dusen. Hugo tells the story of a very tiny but very egotistical king who mistreats the wrong person, a sorceress in disguise. The consequence for his behavior? A swollen head to match his swollen ego, of course. And the more egotistical he acts, the bigger his head gets until it finally falls off his body and rolls out of the castle. Eventually the king sees the error of his ways, and, after a long discussion with the sorceress, he lives happily ever after with her.

Illustrator Spotlight: Emily Gravett

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! I just got back from LA so it's been very whirlwindy for me...

Having been a fan of Emily Gravett for many years, I've decided to spotlight her here! Have you seen her work? It’s incredible. The texture, the funny storylines, the unique book designs…she’s fabulous. No joke, I own eleven of her books. Eleven. And I'm waiting for a twelfth in the mail. How many illustrators can you say that about?

The Ambiguous Ending

Happy Monday everyone!

I read the most fascinating book today. I accidentally bought a book I already owned at the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge so I hastily returned it and grabbed the first awesomely-illustrated book I saw, Bluebird, written and illustrated by Bob Staake, and left the store without reading it. And I’m so happy I did.

Children's Book Week

Children's Book Week has arrived! Check out the site here. From their site:

"Established in 1919, Children's Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes -- wherever young readers and books connect! 

Children's Book Week is administered by Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. The Children's Book Council, the national non-profit trade association for children's book publishers, is an anchor sponsor."

Read more here and enjoy the week!

Mel

Illustrator Spotlight: Isol

Now that I’ve graduated from a dual-masters degree at Simmons College I have a lot of free time on my hands. I’ve been emailing back and forth with an awesome blogger lately who blogs about picturebook design and she’s inspired me to start writing here again. So naturally I’ve decided to move, reformat, and rename my blog. I've copy-and-pasted the past posts from the other site here and tagged them as best I can so I can finally say...

Welcome to Let’s Talk Picturebooks!

In honor of this grand re-opening, I’ve decided to post something a bit different. Usually I like to pick a theme or concept and discuss a few books that strongly encompass those themes/concepts, but today I want to break from the usual and focus on one illustrator in particular, Isol.

I’ve chosen her because she was recently chosen to win 2013’s Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The Swedish government awards the £500,000 prize annually to an individual or organization working "in the spirit of Astrid Lindgren [to] safeguard democratic values.” A jury of twelve picked her out of 207 candidates, praising her ability to create picturebooks “from the eye level of the child," and the award will be presented later this month. I’ve long been in love with her illustrations, and I’m so excited to see her earning the praise she deserves.

My personal favorite is Nocturne: Dream Recipes, an anthology of sorts that provides dream “recipes” for its readers just before bed time. Suffice it to say there’s a lot of glow-in-the-dark ink.