Henry Cole is the author and illustrator of many picture books and the superb, generously illustrated novel A Nest for Celeste that features a young John Audubon as a character. Now, three years later, Cole is back with another illustrated novel, Brambleheart: A Story About Finding Treasure and the Unexpected Magic of Friendship.
The trim size of Brambleheart, small and almost square, is perfectly suited for the story inside, and there is an illustration on almost every page. And it is completely engaging - I read it in one sitting. Brambleheart feels a little familiar at the start, but it takes an unexpected and exciting turn almost a quarter of the way in. Twig lives on the Hill, a jumble of detritus that provides homes for the rodents and small animals who live there as well as parts for their creations. Young Twig attends classes where his skill (or lack thereof) will determine his future career, a career that will be bestowed on him at the Naming Ceremony. Unfortunately, it seems that every class is a challenge for Twig. In the Weaving Burrow, Professor Fern, a beaver, teaches knot tying. The Snape-like Professor Burdock teaches Metal Craft, where his nephew, Basil, is the star pupil, despite Twig's best friend, Lily, who seems to excel at everything she touches. Things take a very big turn for the worse when Twig almost burns down Professor Dunlin's welding class. Just when it looks like he is doomed to the lowliest position of Errand Runner, Twig decides to run away and this is where the story takes off.
************SPOILER ALERT************
Twig heads past the boundaries of the Hill and into the surrounding forest where he finds something that changes his life - an egg. The contents of this egg, seen in the illustration below, created all kinds of problems and opportunities for Twig. He discovers, with the help of the baby dragon, that his is a gifted welder and metal worker. But, it's hard to keep a baby dragon hidden - and fed - for long and soon questions are being asked. And, it seems, that Char, short for Charcoal, a name given to the dragon by Lily, is growing sicker by the day. The two decide that Char needs to return to the place where Twig found the egg and the adventure - and the next book - begin!
Source: Review Copy
Ursula Vernon is the author of the excellent, comic hybrid Dragonbreath series (Book 11 comes out January, 2016!) and the superb stand alone novel, Castle Hangnail. Vernon is a triple threat when it comes to kid's books. She is a great illustrator who makes creepy cute on every page. She is an imaginative author, always adding to the fantasy genre. And, best of all, she is a very funny
Riff Raff the Pirate Mouse and Riff Raff Sails the High Cheese are the first two books in a new early reader series by Susan Schade who, along with her husband Jon Buller, created one of my all-time favorite trilogies, The Fog Mound, which is a brilliant blend of traditional and graphic novel. For this new series, Anne Kennedy illustrates with a colorful, cartoonish charm.
In Riff Raff
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I reviewed Penny and Her Song, Kevin Henkes's first foray into beginning readers, a year ago. Henkes's pictures books have been special to me because his career was really taking
If you have read Yummy! Eight Favorite Fairy Tales by Lucy Cousins, a favorite of mine and many story time attendees, or, for that matter, any of her Maisy books, then you know that Cousins knows her audience (four and under) very well. I know that there are many, many crafty moms and dads out there creating things with their kids as soon as they can grasp a glue stick, nevertheless, I still
Penny and Her Song is now in paperback!!
I am so excited that, with Penny and Her Song, Kevin Henkes has written his first book for emerging readers. This man is so talented, across the board, and this seemed to be the one genre he hadn't tackled. Besides being a wonderful illustrator, he writes picture books with a range of complexity as well as chapter books for a range of readers. As
You might know Axel Scheffler as the frequent illustrator of the wonderful British picture book author < a href="http://www.juliadonaldson.co.uk/"target="_blank">Julia Donaldson, best known in the US for her books The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child and one of the best Halloween books out there that can be read any time of the year, Room on the Broom. Donaldson is a great story teller and an
Benny and Penny in LIGHTS OUT! is Geoffrey Hayes's fourth Benny and Penny titles and his fifth TOON Book. And I still love these little mice as much as I did when I read and reviewed their first book back in 2010. As many parents know, including François Mouly, who founded TOON Books as a response to the dearth of good primers, it is very hard to write an engaging beginning readers title.
The Fog Mound trilogy by Susan Schade and Jon Buller, bills itself as part graphic novel part heroic fantasy, and an adventure like no other! And it is all true! I LOVE this book! A week of reading books with squirrels as main characters - realistic squirrels, cartoonish squirrels, villainous quasi-medieval squirrels - has lead me here to Travels of Thelonious (published in
Interesting review!
Sound like something Audrey would love. I requested all 3 from the library. Thanks for the link to the SDCL website, by the way! Saves me a lot of trouble when I want to reserve a book you recommend.
Hope she does! Be sure to check out some of Henkes's other books - especially his "mice stories" with Lily and Chester and Owen. I think Aaron would even enjoy them. Glad the link is working for you!
Thanks for the additional suggestions! I will check them out.
What about 'The Birthday Room' or 'Sun & Spoon'?
Henkes is very diverse and writes novels as well as illustrating and writing picture books. THE BIRTHDAY ROOM, SUN & SPOON, PROTECTING MARIE and OLIVE'S OCEAN are his novels and they are center around kids dealing with family and social issues. Probably not the best bedtime read-out-loud material.
Thanks! I couldn't tell they were longer novels just from the cover on the library website.