Ten Picture Books with Spare Words for the Very Young

Picture books are still exerting their magic in our household, partly because I insist on bringing home a dozen every week from the library. It's a hit-or-miss these days -- some picture books are clever and interesting enough to warrant repeat reads, some are too blasé.

Now that kids have moved on to more engaging pursuits, reading-wise or otherwise, it is fun to see which picture books still appeal to them.



Shh! We Have A Plan 

Little Owl Lost
By Chris Haughton

The illustrations take center stage in Mr. Haughton's books, with stark, minimal text (just about 100 words) conveying everything that needs to be conveyed, and more!

Be it the deep blue and purple hues of the night in Shh! We have a Plan, or the earthy olives and fuchsias and oranges in Little Owl Lost, the pages are a treat to behold.

Little Owl Lost is incredibly cute with its catchy refrain and simple language that flows smoothly enough for the 2 and 3 year olds to enjoy. Little Owl has fallen off its nest and is looking for its mother. Big eyes, pointy ears, and a big body (bigger than Little Owl's at least) does not a Mommy Owl make.

In Shhh! We Have a Plan, four friends go to the forest to catch a bird. Of course, the littlest of the four is the smartest of them, which we gather as the story unfolds. He tries to greet the bird rather than capture it. A subtle lesson in kindness is woven in without overwhelming the young readers.

The making of A Bit Lost/Little Owl Lost and Shh! We Have a Plan are certainly enlightening. The thought and effort that went into each of these books is staggering.


Froodle 

by Antoinette Portis

After This is Not a Box and This is Not a Stick, it is hard to think of anything that could be better, but Ms. Portis has done it again. With spare words and delightful illustrations, the book is a wonderful read for the 2 to 3 year olds.

A little brown bird is tired of singing the same old song. We all know the familiar bird calls. Caw. Coo. Chip. Peep. And those four are the only words that the birds say. All birds, except, our little brown bird, who is tired of singing her assigned birdsong. So, she starts a trend of saying the most bizarre things. Slowly other birds follow suit. All except Crow who steadfastly sticks to his Caw. Does he get adventurous? What is Crow's new song?

Stick and Stone 

by Beth Ferry
illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

The illustrations captured the kid, even if the story was quite simplistic.

It's all about how the genial-looking roundish rock, aka Stone, and comical lonely branch, aka Stick, meet and become friends and help each other out.

Spare words and relatable situation makes it perfect for younger kids.

A Perfectly Messed-up Story

by Patrick McDonnell

Interactive books , like Press Here by Hervé Tullet, invite the young readers to respond to the book in a specific way. It might work, it might fail, depends on the kid willingly participating.

Much like Open Very Carefully: A Book with Bite by Nick Bromley illustrated by  Nicola O'Byrne, little Louie in this book can't seem to have things just so. Perfection eludes his story. In the end, he realizes his story is just right, imperfections and all.



The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend

By Dan Santat

The idea that a friend from the imaginary world awaits to be picked and paired with the imaginer (it's a word, as of now!) is interesting. The story itself was rather uneventful, not much to get the kid excited enough for a repeat read, but it was refreshing enough to enjoy the first and only read.


Flashlight

By Lizi Boyd

The illustrations needed no words, the book is a perfect bedtime companion.

Wordless for the most part, the book capitalizes on nocturnal goings-on in a verdant environment where curious critters go about their business until our protagonist shows up.

What's in the dark is just as interesting as what's in the beam of light. With just a few tools, the protagonist is exploring with the curiousness only a kid can muster.

The twist at the end, plus the details tucked into each page, kept the 7 year old reading the book a few times to catch it all.


I Don't Want to Be A Frog

by Dev Petty
illustrated by Mike Boldt

A little frog doesn't want to be a frog because he doesn't like the frog-like things he is supposed to like. He doesn't like being wet, so he wants to be a cat who we all know can't stand getting wet.  He wants to be a rabbit because he can hop... and so it goes.

Each time, the parent shoots the idea down by simply reasoning that, "you are a frog." And the little frog simply does not like being a wet, slimy thing.

However, as is the only way such stories can end, frog ends up being happy because he is not wolf-food as wolves don't prefer wet, slimy things.


This Is Not My Hat

By Jon Klassen

Klassen's unique brand of humor and style of illustrations are sublime, where the reader is in on the joke, and the characters have these perfect eyes that convey so much despite their deadpan expressions. However, this book was a bit of a disappointment in terms of content/story.

A little fish steals a hat from a big fish and tells us about it at the beginning, confident that he won't get caught. Of course, he gets caught in the end, but it is not transparent. Sometimes, open-ended stories allow the kids to imagine their favorite ending. But, this was too ambiguous and yet a bit too limited.

Did the big fish eat the little fish and get the hat back? Why did the little fish steal in the first place? Why couldn't he have just asked to borrow that hat if he liked it so much? Why was he sure he won't get caught? These were some things that bothered the kid...


The Book With No Pictures

By B. J. Novak

A bit gimmicky, and probably would not have worked if it wasn't B.J.Novak writing it, the book lacked charm and wit for me, but the kid was laughing his head off the first time he read it.

The book relies on mashing up odd combinations of words and forcing the adult to read them out loud. And sure enough, there are no pictures in this book.

Of course, every time the kid hears "Butt" or "Fart" type words or even made up sounds like "Blarg" or "Blurf" he breaks into convulsive giggles, so, not terribly hard to get him to keel over laughing.

[image source: multcolib.org]

Hypnotize A Tiger

Hypnotize A Tiger

Poems About Just About Everything
By Calef Brown

This collection of playful and whimsical poems with the characteristically quirky Calef-Brown-esque illustrations are more for the middle-grade readers than younger ones.

Organized into categories like The Critterverse, My Peeps, Schoolishness, Facts Poetic, Word Crashes, Miscellaneous Silliness and so forth, the poems tackle anything from creepy crawly insects and creatures large and small to Edible rarities and culinary peculiarities.

The joy in reading works by Silverstein and Kenn Nesbitt and Prelutsky is that the beauty of words strung together is seemingly nonsensical but manage to excite the young readers' imagination nonetheless.

Much the same way, the 10 year old got these poems for the most part, and enjoyed some of the sillier ones like Big-Hair Cats,
When cougars and lynxes
get fur stuck in their larynxes
they cough up hairballs
like an ordinary kitty.
It isn't very pretty,
not in the least,
to see a gob of gooey fleece
released by such a noble beast.

and Greta,
Greta can't make up her mind
if she should make up her bed
or practice gymnastics instead.
She likes to jump on the mattress, you see,
which often ends in catastrophe,
with pillows and blankets everywhere,
and then her parents are there
giving her a blank stare.
"Are you aware," they ask,
"that is it one a.m?"
"Yes," she replies, "I am."

I think she identified most with Carsick:
Car rides have always
been awful for me.
I try not to look,
but as soon as I see
that the needle is pointing
to forthy-three
on the ol' speedometer,
I'm a vomiter.


The seven year old enjoyed some of the animal poems and especially the off-beat outlook in poems like The Vulture where it introspects with,
...
This is my diet?
If it died, I try it?
...
A normal dinner would feel so nice.
Grilled asparagus and wild rice
without the wretched carrion.
Something vegetarian."

and Pupae:
Just because we're the pupae
people give us the poop-eye.

how can you go wrong with "poop-eye" and the younger reading crowd?

But what I liked even better was the bottom edge of pages: they are packed with mini-poems and absurd observations of sorts that were quite amusing. A few of my favorites:

I only eat cuttlefish from Cuddalore.
Sure, they cost a little more,
but ones from Delhi are sometimes smelly.

I prefer Swiss chard from Mumbai,
which is hard to come by.

Oh no! Now there are geese loose in the ghee sluice!
Ghee is butter. 
Thanks for clarifying.

Forcing compliance through orders and decrees?
Oh, please!

The last one in the book is Q&A with Calef Brown answered with enough jest and yet a good glimpse into the writer.

Tell us about your early days.
My life began in a tree fort
in Shreveport, Louisiana.
A sort of breezy cabana
with one of those fantastic lawns--
the kind with gnomes and plastic swans.
I was a weaselly child,
easily riled and wildly erratic,
full of dramatic "tin-drum tantrums"--
the loudest kind...

The kooky illustrations and off-center perspective on everyday things certainly amused the kids and me. To be able to pick a page at random and just enjoy the wordplay and the perspectives is a simple pleasure that this book offers in plenty.

[MacMillan View Inside the Book]

[Image source: MacMillan]

Hook's Revenge

Hook's Revenge I

by Heidi Schulz
illustrated by John Hendrix


I picked up the book after meeting the author, Heidi Schulz, at a gathering and hearing her talk. She completely bowled me over with her sunny charm. She is from Oregon and she home-schools her daughter. I instantly liked her. And the more she talked about the book and the story behind the book, I got curious and decided right then to pick it up and read it, just to see if the book is as charming as the author. And it is!

With the introduction saying, "Children Have Sticky Fingers and Ask Impertinent Questions," followed by the first chapter titled, "In Which Our Heroine Displays a Clear Need for Professional Help," I knew I was in for a riot of a good time. But still, I didn't raise my hopes up too much. I didn't want to go in with high expectations and feel let down. But I needn't have feared.

An old salt of a curmudgeonly narrator unfolds the tale of  young Jocelyn, the sole living progeny of the infamous Captain Hook. Yes, the very same Captain Hook, with Peter Pan and the gang.

Jocelyn's mother is no more, and she is the ward of her maternal grandfather, who wants to forget the fact that there ever was a vile man named Captain Hook who had anything to do with his family. Moreover, the law of the land dictates that only a male offspring can inherit the family fortune, so, despite his wealth, the grandfather cannot do much for Jocelyn in terms of financial security.

However, Jocelyn has other plans. She wants to follow in her father's footsteps and become the most fearsome pirate captain ever. The girl romanticizes sailing the seas and plundering and pillaging, once she joins her father. But, with no word from him, and days rolling into months, she is left with no choice but to accede to her grandfather's decree and enroll in Miss Eliza Crumb-Biddlecomb's Finishing School for Young Ladies. That, as her grandfather points out, is Jocelyn's only hope of acquiring a suitable life partner who can support her when he shuffles off the mortal coil.

Life is full of disappointments. Chocolates melt or are eaten by rodents. Ponies die. Kittens grow into cats-- and cats are such hateful creatures. However, when Jocelyn arrived at the place that her grandfather intended to be her home, school, and prison for years to come, she was not disappointed: it was just as terrible as the girl had expected.

She faces the usual spiteful rich-and-spoilt peers at the school, and while Miss Eliza is fair and resourceful, she is also a strict disciplinarian who will tolerate no nonsense. No exceptions. However, Jocelyn makes a new friend, Roger, a kitchen assistant, and life seems a bit more bearable, even if terribly stifling all the same.

We'll leave our heroine there, no spoilers. She does go on an adventure, she does manage to experience what she had been longing for all her life. But did it turn out the way she had dreamed?

The writing is cheeky, playful, clever, witty, and utterly delicious. I read this aloud to my ten year old. She immediately picked up on phrases (after asking for explanations for some).

"I am sorry for coming in late," Jocelyn said to the boy, "but I was lost in the best part of my book. A giant Cyclops threatened to eat Odysseus and his crew. In order to escape and return to their ship, they had to get the monster drunk, wait until he was firmly asleep, find a sharp stick, and" -- Jocelyn leaned in and spoke in a reverential whisper --"gouge his terrible Cyclops eye out. Isn't that marvelous?"

Ambrose yawned. He did not bother to remove his finger from his nostril, choosing instead to speak around it. "This is rather disgusting talk for the dining table." His sinus spelunking paused for the briefest of moments while he looked Jocelyn over.

Although the style of writing is saucy and deliberate, the ten year old enjoyed the read-aloud sessions. She might not have picked it up on her own and stuck with it. But, the more I read aloud to her, the more she got into it. And that is the strength of this book. Aside from cantankerous narrator regaling us in his snarky voice, the story progresses with care-- things happen, Jocelyn gets caught up in them, and discovers things about herself that she would have sworn was not possible.

The week before Jocelyn's grandfather decided to send her away to finishing school was an eventful one, even by her standards.

On Monday, the girl's newest tutor found his pupil unable to do her history lesson. Someone had torn most of the pages from her lesson book in order to make paper boats. This same unidentified person had then floated the paper vessels on the garden pond, after lighting them on fire, of course. Jocelyn sat at her desk, the very picture of wide-eyed innocence-- with a spot of soot on her nose and the faint smell of smoke still clinging to her rumpled dress.

The story could use some intensity, the supporting characters could use some oomph, the quest could use some girth, but Jocelyn is every bit the spunky, spontaneous heroine with endearing flaws which makes her grow on us over the course of the journey.

"Oh Jocelyn, children are ever so much more powerful. The proof is simple. What happens when a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies'?"

"Every time a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies,' a fairy falls dead," Jocelyn recited.

"Something similar happens when a child turns that doubt inwards. The part of her that can do anything fades away. In time, and fed enough disbelief, it will die."

Before I end up quoting the whole book here, let me wrap up by reiterating that this is an absolutely delightful, riotously adorable, glorious debut novel by a super-talented writer.

There are books that I read for the gripping story, books that I read for the possibilities, books I read for the absurdity, books that I read for the poignant heartbreak, and then there are books I read for the sheer pleasure of the language. This book is in that last category.

The U.K. version of this book is called Hook's Daughter, and Heidi Schulz reads a bit of it aloud in this video.

There is a sequel, of course, The Pirate Code, and I hope it lives up to its older sibling!

[image source: http://heidischulzbooks.com/]