More From Sylvan Dell

Children love these books from Sylvan Dell. I took my reviewer's copies to a preschool class where I occasionally substitute teach. The children read them over and over at nap time, passing them from mat to mat! Before I give you the next two reviews I want to thank my son Robin who is much more of a tekkie than I am. He helped me set up my blog eventhough he lives in London and I live in New Mexico! Here's his blog site: http://enviroranger.blogspot.com/ Because he's an environmental conservationist I thought his blogs and web site [see the link on his blog] dovetail nicely with the nature messages of Sylvan Dell!

Carolina’s Story: Sea Turtles Get Sick Too!
Did you know that sea turtles can get sick, just like you? To get better they need to say "Ahhh," get shots, and stay in a warm bed of water. This book shows the young reader how Carolina, a sea turtle, was found sick on a beach, and veterinarian Dr. Tom and the team at the Sea Turtle Hospital helped her to get better so she could return to the sea!
The wonderful detailed photographs by Barbara J. Bergwerf dramatize Carolina’s story told lovingly in the text by author Donna Rathmell. Extra fun activities and facts are included at the back. Children 3 - 7 years of age will enjoy this book, as will their parents. Teachers can readily use the book in the classroom as a unit in itself or part of a sea life unit.

Christmas Eve Blizzard
Christmas Eve Blizzard reads like a folktale, which makes one think that this story about Nicholas rescuing a nearly frozen cardinal really happened. The delicate illustrations by Emanuel Schongut are as informative as the text by Andrea Vlahakis. The text and illustrations blend well together, a sign of successful picture books.
In addition the story is multicultural with Spanish words included for bi-lingual families and classrooms. Further information and activities are provided at the end for young readers, teachers, and parents. What a lot of fun families and classes will have making bird feeders and enhancing outdoor environments to make them more bird friendly. Children 5 – 8 years old will delight in this book all winter long, not just at Christmas.

More books from Sylvan Dell soon! Enjoy your day!

Sir Frettirick and India!

You might well wonder what does a delightful children's book and India have to do with one another? I was trying to scan the book cover to add to this page, but was having trouble with my scanner. So, I called Hewlett Packard and spent two very nice hours with a young technician in New Delhi. While we waited for the computer to uninstall and reinstall, etc. she and I had a lovely chat about Indian food, which I love to cook; travel to India, which I haven't yet done and to London, where she's not yet been, and Indian authors. I've just finished reading two of Amitav Ghosh's novels, The Glass Palace and The Hungry Tide. His way with words and imagery is admirable. I wish we could all write with such a command of English!
That's another reason good children's books are so important. Lou Stratten, the author of Hello, I'm Sir Frettirick! promotes not only fun with words in her rhymes, but also child interaction with adults. After all, it is in hearing those around us when we are small that determines how well we speak and then write later on. Good quality education adds to that early modeling. Here is my review of Fretti, as the main character is called:

Hello, I’m Sir Frettirick!
Author: Lou Stratten
Illustrator: Lou Stratten and Sal Denaro
Shaggy Creature Productions
ISBN – 10 0-9747173-1-2
What a delightful and enjoyable book for young children! This rhythmical and heartening story brings in characters and scenes much like in an old-fashioned vaudeville scenario where one act follows another. "Sesame Street" successfully uses this format. Sir Frettirick, also called Fretti, introduces himself and acts as a master of ceremonies bringing his young readers into his World of Zandooney. In this world, which is inhabited by other friends like Skunkooney, Lou, and Skip, children soon discover that learning colors, numbers, and the alphabet is fun.
Author Lou Stratten manages to bring diverse elements into a whole with the continuity of her rhymes, musical sensibilities, and her and Sal Denaro’s playful collage illustrations. The illustrations not only give a warm and colorful feel to the book, but they also create a sense of movement and rhythm. The fonts dance as well, using different colors and sizes to emphasize each concept.
Included in the book are interactive opportunities for both dialogue and activities. There is a thorough parent/teacher guide available, which sparks more ideas and discussion. This book is a plus for teachers who are always on the lookout for fresh ways to approach a subject or unit. Parents too will welcome this book into their homes. Highly recommended for preschool and early elementary children.
The book can be ordered on-line at www.loustratten.com

Children's Books Are Special

Hi! Warm greetings to my blog site! I'll enjoy chatting with you every so often!

I love children's books. I always have. When I was a child you would probably find me curled up on a chair, in the nest of boulders below our house, or under a tree reading. One of my favorite classes at university was "Children's Literature." I've never stopped reading children's books, first to my younger brothers and sisters, then to my own children, then to all the children I've taught over the years, and now for myself as a reviewer of children's and young adult books.

My aim in this blog is two-fold. One is to convey my ramblings and thoughts on literature in general, children's books, and on art, especially picture book art. I may even at times talk about writing. Secondly is to post the books I'm reviewing.

I'm a member of SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrator's) and SCBWI-NM (NM means New Mexico where I live in the northern mountains!). I receive quite a few books each year through my listing as a reviewer in SCBWI. I'm amazed at how good most of the books are. Sadly many of them don't get the published reviews they deserve. I've tried to submit some of the books into larger book review publications, but they only have limited space. The majority of the books I review are either self-published or are published by smaller independent publishers. They also scramble for notice with the bigger review forums in competition with the large publishing houses.

Today I'll start with two reviews I wrote last night for Sylvan Dell Publishing, www.SylvanDellPublishing.com Sylvan Dell specializes in beautiful, readable books that are stories about our natural world. The preschool children I've read these books to love them!

Octavia And Her Purple Ink Cloud

Authors: Donna and Doreen Rathmell

Illlustrator: Connie McLennan

Delightful is the word for this picture book about Octavia Octopus. Children love it that Octavia, just like them as they acquire new skills, has to practice squirting her ink until she get it just the right purple color in order to escape a hungry shark.

Sisters Donna and Doreen Rathmell have collaborated not only to make a very readable book for children ages 3 – 8, but they also teach through story about color, camouflage, and life in the deep sea. Illustrator Connie McLennan adds wonderful perspective, great learning details, and a vivid visual sense of underwater life. Included at the end is a color activity page that teaches children to mix the primary colors. There are also wonderful facts about octopuses and other sea creatures. This is a must have book for classroom and home libraries.


If A Dolphin Were A Fish

Author: Loran Wlodarski

Illustrator: Laurie Allen Klein

We all love dolphins and are fascinated by the uncanny dolphin capabilities told about in stories and legends. In this book author Loran Wlodarski captures the charm of dolphins while giving us the facts that explain their special qualities. Loran depicts these qualities and features through Delphina Dolphin who wonders about the similarities and differences between herself and other sea dwelling animals such as pelicans, sharks, fish, octopuses, sea turtles, and manatees.

Laurie Allen Klein’s informative and often-humorous pencil drawings bring the story even more alive. What imaginative powers both Loran and Laurie have to show us how dolphins live, eat, navigate, and breed. The activity pages are interactive in that they ask children provocative questions. They also suggest activities children might like to follow, One such activity is to draw a line fifteen feet long, in chalk outside, to visualize how high dolphins can leap. What fun as children then try to jump as far as they can. This book is highly recommended for children ages 3 – 8. Preschool through fourth grade teachers will welcome this book into their sea life units.

An interesting sidenote is that I had a fun communication with the publisher about the plural of octopus. The general usage is "octopi", but the scientific journals favor "octopuses." So, for now we'll side with the scientists!

Have a super day!