Oh No, George, written and illustrated by Chris Haughton

-

Chris Haughton's fist picture book Little Owl Lost is a simple but sweet story about an owl who falls out of his nest. What makes this book memorable, besides the dry humor, is the unique color palette that Haughton uses to tell his story. Haughton treads familiar picture book terrain again with his second book, Oh No, George!, and again he manages to make his story feel fresh and funny despite this. George is a dog with some impulse control issue who very much wants to do the right thing. As the owner of my own George, both dog and toddler versions, I felt an affinity for this book immediately. And, Oh No, George! stands up pretty well next to one of my all-time favorite picture books by Jules Feiffer, Bark, George! For a great review of Feiffer's book, check out Excellent Kids' Books.

Oh No, George! begins with George's owner Harry telling him that he is going out. Before he leaves, he asks George if he will be good. George assures Harry that he will be good, but temptation is never too far away.


OH NO, GEORGE!
Kids will love the repetitions of the question and response - "What will George do?" and "Oh no, George!" Being a good dog at heart, George is abashed when he realizes he has eaten the whole cake. Geroge goes on to be tempted by Cat and by a dirt-filled planter. When Harry comes home the house is a mess and George feels bad again.




 He offers to give Harry his favorite toy, but Harry thinks they should go to the park for a walk. George is tempted all over again as they stroll past picnickers, Cat and a fine pile of dirt. George does a fine job controlling his impulses until.... George finds a trash can. Haughton tells us, "There's nothing George likes more than digging in trash. What will George do?"



With their simple, easy to relate to stories, cute animal characters and bright colors, Haughton's books are  perfect for reading to toddlers who are ready for real picture books a beginning, middle and end. I can't wait to see what Chris Haughton does next!


OH NO, GEORGE!. Copyright © 2012 by Chris Haughton. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA on behalf of Walker Books, London.

Popular posts from this blog

Be a Tree! by Maria Gianferrari illustrated by Felicita Sala

-
Image
Be a Tree! by Maria Gianferrari illustrated by Felicita Sala Review Copy from Abrams Kids I picture-walked Be a Tree! three times before I actually read the words. Felicita Sala's illustrations for Maria Gianferrari's poetic text are mesmerizingly immersive and richly colorful within a palette of earth tones. Throughout the text, Gianferrari, who shares her inspiration for this book in the author's note ( Peter Wohleben's The Hidden Life of Trees ), gently maintains the human connection to trees and the connections (and communications) trees share with each other.  Be a Tree!  begins exuberantly, inviting the reader to "Be a tree! Stand tall. Stretch your branches to the sun. Let your roots curl, coil in the soil to ground you." From your spine/trunk to your skin/bark and your heart/pith, the words carry you inward and then zoom outward and up to the canopy and ultimately, the forest. "You are one of many trees," and our roots "twine with fung
Read more

Under Earth, Under Water by Aleksandra Mizielińska and Daniel Mizieliński, 112 pp, RL: ALL AGES

-
Image
Under Earth , Under Water by Aleksandra Mizielińska and Daniel  Mizieliński is their fourth book I have reviewed here and their fourth book with the marvelous Big Picture Press , a publisher of oversized, highly illustrated, gorgeous books who believe that books should be "visually intelligent, surprising, and accessible to readers of all ages, abilities and nationalities." BPP definitely achieves this with every book they publish and, if you are a book lover, you will want to seek out all their titles. Under Earth , Under Water will appeal to anyone who likes to look inside things and understand how things work. With Under Earth, Under Water , the Mizielińskis, who have an illustration style that is filled with tiny details and a unique palette, take readers on a detailed journey, from the top of the page to the bottom, over and under land and then sea. The endpapers serve as the introduction and table of contents, with images scattered across the spread, page nu
Read more

Reading Levels: A Quick Guide to Determining if a Book Is Right for Your Reader

-
Image
While I wrote an article titled Reading Levels: How I Assign Reading Levels to Books, How the Publishers Do It and How You Can Help Your Reader Find the Right Book at the Right Time that discusses how reading levels are determined by professionals and amateurs like myself, there is more on this subject to discuss. Determining the reading level of a book from the children's section is never easy, mostly because there are several different standardized methods of determining reading levels. Add to this the fact that knowing their children's reading level is most often the only tool a parent is armed with when exploring the bookstore, library, website, etc, and the job becomes even more difficult. While I think that knowing a child's reading level is a very valuable tool if your child is reading below grade level, I think that it is a secondary consideration when finding books for children reading above, especially well above, grade level because, in most cases, content app
Read more