New Books!

So one of the gifts I was given for Christmas were some gift cards to Barnes and Noble. What a perfect gift! I can always buy more books. So last night, my sister-in-law, my brother, my dad, and Jeff and I went out to Barnes and Noble to knit. I'm working on an ear warmer for a friend of mine and almost finished it last night. My sister-in-law is working on an awesome felted bag. It looks fantastic. The boys (all of them) were working on scarves. We had a really good time and Jeff learned some new knitting stitches from my sister-in-law. But before we left I went upstairs to pick out some books. I've been focusing for a while on children's books so that is what I picked up. All three are books that I've wanted to pick up for along time. They are all favorites, all Caldecott winners, and all very different.

The first and perhaps the newest is Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems. This sweet story of a stuffed animal and a laundromat was an instant classic. Perhaps it is because the story is timeless. All kids can identify with the emotions in this story. But what drew me to the book were the illustrations. Willems uses sepiaed photographs as his background and successfully weaves his cartoon like characters into those settings. The images, rather than jarring, are simply enchanting. But this a sweet warm story that anyone will love.

The next book was The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith. If Knuffle Bunny was sweet, this is the exact opposite. The book is inventive and hilarious but with a touch of maniacal. The stories are fairy tales turned on their heads. The little red hen just complains all the way through the book, even extending to the front pages and back of the book. Jack, who is our narrator, continues to elude the giant throughout the book. And of course there is the Stinky Cheese Man, (a takeoff on the gingerbread man) who no one wants to chase. Scieszka's writing is inspired and downright hilarious. Lane Smith's illustrations are silly and fun and a little mischievous. This may be one of my favorite books of all.

The last book I picked up was Tuesday by David Wiesner. Wiesner has made a name for himself with wordless picture books and this is definitely my favorite. Tuesday is about the strange going-ons of a mid-summer tuesday night. A night just like any other, except for the frogs. In this delightful story, frogs rise up on their lily pads and fly around the city at night, causing havoc wherever they go. The illustration are beautiful with more than a little touch of silly. The premise is odd but seems more magical than anything. Cute story.

So three new books for me to add to my ever expanding children's book collections. One of these days I will need to add another bookcase up there to contain my growing collection. Until then I'm not about to stop buying them. Or reading them.