Children’s Book Review, B is for Bedtime

Children’s Book Review by Anastasia Gonis

B is for Bedtime is a children’s picture book written by Margaret Hamilton, illustrated by Anna Pignataro and published by Little Hare Books (2014.) 32 pages. Source: (Review Copy)

From the publisher: A sleepy wander from A through to Zzzzz and off to bed. Beautifully narrated in soothing rhythmic verse, and with adorable illustrations by Anna Pignataro, B is for Bedtime looks set to become a before-bed classic.

Publisher Margaret Hamilton’s first picture book is a perfect bedtime book created in rhythmic verse. It contains thoughtful text, and delightfully entertaining illustrations by Anna Pignataro. These have been created with mixed media: pencil, watercolour, gouache, and collage comprised of vintage fabric and felt. A great deal of effort has gone into creating a book of beauty and learning.

Soft pastel colours, expressive delicately presented characters, and excellent design amalgamate perfectly with the text. This alphabet book is one to treasure and learn from for the 1+ age group. Its fly pages are an outstanding asset, for there are so many pictures in vibrant colour to be used as tools for seek and find, and improving vocabulary.

BIO: Anastasia Gonis is a Freelance Writer, Reviewer and Interviewer who currently writes, reviews and interviews for Buzz Words, Kids Book Review, and other publications. She has published two educational books and is currently working on a YA novel, and a non-fiction book.

Find more children's book reviews at The Book Chook by clicking Reviews in the right sidebar.

The Book Chook’s Ten Top Picture Books

The Book Chook’s Ten Top Picture Books

by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

Oh, the agony! Being asked to choose only ten children’s picture books for a start. And then the self doubt- who am I to say this or this picture book is above or below another? However, that’s not much use to someone who wants advice for ten top children's picture books to start a grandchild's library. I tried to balance the books I’ve selected: some important books, some to make a child laugh, some to get the rhythms and rhymes that encourage joy of words into our heads. Some are by Australian authors, some not, some have been published more recently than others. Here’s my annotated list:

Kissed by the Moon by Alison Lester, published by Viking/Penguin. This is probably the most traditional choice for babies in my list. Part poem and part lullaby, it’s a very special book for new parents to share with their kids. My review.

In the Lion by James Foley, published by Walker Books Australia. Aside from being lots of fun, this children’s picture book introduces little ones to the repetition of a cumulative story. Read more in my review.

The Duck and the Darklings by Glenda Millard and Stephen Michael King, published by Allen and Unwin. This one’s an important book, hopefully an award-winner, that’s coming up for review in a week or so’s time. I love it, quack waddle and wing. Children need picture books like this that give them hope for the future.

The Elephant and the Bad Baby by Elfrida Vipont and Raymond Briggs, published by Penguin. I have loved this book for many years, and it has never left my top ten list. The baby is naughty, the elephant delightfully polite and I have read it aloud so often I don’t need the text. Rollicking rhythm and lots of repetition means kids will internalise the story too.

The Jolly Postman and Other People’s Letters by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, published by Penguin. While I probably wouldn’t give this book to a toddler to play alone with, on account of the tiny letters inside, I think it should be in a starter collection of picture books. I still have the version my son received as a pre-schooler, intact (just), and many many other children have shared and enjoyed it. Here’s more information.

Silly Galah! by Janeen Brian and Cheryll Johns, published by Scholastic. Every young reader’s library needs poetry in it. This is a vibrant, colourful collection of rhyming fun. Read more in my review.

Can You See a Little Bear? written by James Mayhew, illustrated by Jackie Morris, and published by Frances Lincoln/Walker Books. A library collection needs a book that’s book and toy or puzzle in one. In Can You See a Little Bear, kids follow the rhyming text to find named objects in the sumptuous illustrations. Check out my review.

Mirror by Jeannie Baker, published by Walker Books. A wordless picture book is another necessity for a beginning collection. Mirror has a stunning design as well as Baker’s trademark collaged illustrations. This is another important book. Check out my review.

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson, published by Walker Books. This makes a lovely reassuring bedtime story and we all need those! Here’s my review.

The Wrong Book by Nick Bland, published by Scholastic. This is one of those special children's picture books that are not so much a linear story as an invitation to play… They remind us that, most of all, reading is supposed to be fun and enjoyable. Kids love to join in and help Nicholas Ickle tell characters they are in the wrong book.

By the way, I read over what I said last time I wrote a top ten list, and the same holds true: these are this week's top ten. I fully expect next week's list to be different, but just as wonderful!

How about you? Are any of your favourite children’s picture books on this list? What would you add to it? Chime in via Comments.

You might also like to read Beautiful Books for Babies. Find lots of book reviews by clicking Reviews in my right sidebar.

Visual Literacy and Self-Expression

Visual Literacy and Self-Expression

by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

Visual literacy is not just about working out the meaning of visual images, but also expressing ourselves in visual form. I have a couple of favourite ways to explore this concept with kids that involve combining succinct text with well-chosen images.

Add a caption to an image

It doesn’t take much actual writing to write a caption, but the thinking and learning are considerable. Learning to write succinctly is important for all students. They also need to think about their audience and purpose for composing a caption. An enjoyable activity for home or classroom is to find interesting images, and ask kids to come up with captions to suit, or to demonstrate understanding. Grab some tips for doing this in Writing Fun for Kids - Create a Caption.

The opportunities for self expression may be limited in choosing/creating images and creating and adding captions to them, but this is the sort of self expression and visual literacy activity that can be fitted into spare moments in a day. Websites we can use for adding captions are Big Huge Labs Captioner, PicFont and online image editors like Ribbet and PicMonkey. For an iPad app, try Phonto.

Make a visual joke

A visual joke is sometimes another name for a sight gag, a theatrical or movie term. But here I mean it as a way of telling a joke using a digital image. It’s a lot like an image with a caption, and can be found too in cartoon format. Basically we want kids to concentrate on expressing themselves by using humour as a tool. The joke may be a drawing that accompanies text, a single frame cartoon, a play on words like a pun with an image that extends or explains the meaning. By choosing and telling a visual joke, kids are both expressing themselves, and connecting and communicating with others.

Create a cartoon

Creating a cartoon online is hands-down one of my favourite ways to sneak some writing into children’s lives. Software like Comic Life is great, but don’t ignore the benefit of having kids explore sites like ToonDoo, Creaza and MakeBeliefsComix (all under adult supervision naturally.) Creating cartoons involves kids in developing characters, plots, settings and dialogue, and being able to express themselves, all in an achievable way. If you’re interested in creating digital cartoons with kids, check out my free PDF, Using Comic Editors with Kids. One of the iPad apps for creating comics I like is Comics Head; another is ToonToolKit. You will see samples of the latter in my post, Activities for Children’s Book Week, 2014.


Tell a story in five frames

Tell a reluctant writer they are about to write a story and you may hear groans. But explain to them that their task is to set up scenes to photograph with a camera or iDevice, then add captions that help tell a story, and you may well hear cheers. In Visual Story Telling, I described my own process of telling a story using only five frames.

Create a haiga

A haiga is an image combined with a haiku. Haiku is a very condensed way of writing a poem that often only has 17 syllables. You can read about using haiku with kids here. Kids can use paper and paint, or create a digital haiga. You’ll find more information in Poetry with Kids - Creating Haiga.

Write a six word memoir

As with haiku, six word memoirs force us to choose words carefully. We need to cram as much meaning as possible into our words, and create or choose an image that adds to that meaning. You can read more about it in Create Six Word Memoirs with Kids.

Create a poster

Making posters is a tried and true classroom activity. Online poster makers make the creation of digital posters fairly easy, and children will learn lots of valuable skills during the process. They need to create or select images that convey meaning, select the textual details necessary to communicate their ideas, and carefully consider placement of images and text, font style and size. See some examples in my article, Online Poster Makers.

The activities above CAN be achieved in a short time, but kids will benefit from lots of discussion and reflection time. When we think hard about what message we want to put out to the world, our communication takes on a purpose and very often a passion that lifts it above the mundane. I believe that kids will gain from simply playing with words and images, but I know they will learn even more when they think about a potential audience, a purpose and the many literacy concepts involved. Any form of self-expression is great for children’s imaginations, and feeds a very human desire to connect with others.

You might also like to read: Questions to Promote Visual Literacy,

Poetry with Kids - Presenting Haiga, Start Kids Writing with Fun Image Editors, and Use Images to Start Kids Thinking.

Children's Book Review, Little Piggy's Got No Moves

Children's Book Review by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

Do you know any children who love to dance? Introduce them to Little Piggy. Kids who haven’t yet discovered the joy of dance will also enjoy this hilarious children’s picture book! Little Piggy’s Got No Moves was written by husband and wife team, Phillip Gwynne and Eliza McCann, illustrated by Tom Jellett and published by Little Hare, an imprint of Hardie Grant Egmont (2013).

Poor Little Piggy. All the other kids can dance. Mouse can do the macarena. Toucan does the tango. But everyone tells Little Piggy, “Us piggies, we’ve got no moves.’ Sadly, Little Piggy believes the bad press, and even though he goes to the school dance, he won’t join in. Until there’s a tail-twitching, toe-tapping moment and Little Piggy GROOVES!

Kids will enjoy Jellett’s energetic illustrations, especially the many double page spreads of the townsfolk heading to the school dance. There’s a great refrain repeated throughout the story that children will love to join in. What fun they’ll have too, in trying out all the moves mentioned! And hopefully they’ll also realise how special and unique they are, just like Little Piggy.

There’s lots of alliteration to find in Little Piggy’s Got No Moves. Can your children think of more dances that start with the same sound as an animal? For an easier challenge try to think of animals and actions that start with the same letters or sounds. Children will have a ball drawing and writing about side-stepping sandpipers and waggling wagtails, and the results would make a great collaborative, creative class book.

Find more Children's Book Reviews on The Book Chook by clicking Reviews in the right sidebar.

Children’s iPad App, Imagination Box

Children’s iPad App, Imagination Box

by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

I love to find iPad apps or any digital toys that children can create with. Even a simple act like choosing colours, changing shapes, or setting up a background can exercise the creative side of kids’ brains. So I was keen to install Jump App’s Imagination Box and check it out.

From the developer:

FEATURES

- This application is appropriate for kids of all ages.
- This app has a kid-friendly design, and is easy to use.
- This app includes 62 pieces of play dough, including shapes, numbers, and uppercase letters in 9 different colors, for a total of 558 pieces, giving your child endless creative learning possibilities
- 12 colorful backgrounds available in the application. You can also add your own background image from the iPad camera roll
- 10 colorful markers, which can be used to decorate your pictures
- The pictures created are stored and displayed right in the application
- You can also save your masterpiece as an image to your device

What I liked: The app works well from the start. It’s responsive and reasonably intuitive. Colours are bright and varied, and elements customisable. Providing the alphabet letters is a great idea, encouraging kids to practise building words or even revising spelling. I loved the feature where kids can choose a photo for their background. The privacy policy is very child-friendly.

I was disappointed to see that although the app had the digits 0-9, there were no operation signs. Including them would have extended the app’s educational usefulness. However, creative children can certainly find a way around this by using the play dough shapes to invent their own signs. Lower case letters would have been great too.

Nothing can replace the important physical activity where children manipulate real play dough, mess or no mess. They acquire much-needed manual dexterity this way, and improve their fine motor skills. It’s also a wonderful way to sculpt, create and express themselves. However, if you’re looking for an app that gives kids SOME of the benefits of play dough, and one that encourages them to create their own scenes and words, check out Imagination Box.

iTunes Australia

iTunes USA

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