Tackylocks and the Three Bears (2002)

Tackylocks and the Three Bears by Helen Lester (2002) is a funny story about penguins who put on a play for a class of very young, fuzzy penguins. Five of the six penguins act as announcers and the bears. A more enthusiastic and less conventional penguin named Tacky has to play the role of Goldilocks. The penguins learn their lines but seem not to have had a full dress rehearsal. Tacky stumbles through his scenes like a veteran slapstick comedian. The young audience, bored by the bears’ careful performances, laugh and cheer for Tacky. The last page reads “Tacky was an odd bird, but a nice bird to have around.” The illustrations by Lynn Munsinger are perfect. They bring home the hilarity.

Josefina Javelina: A Hairy Tale (2005)

Josefina Javelina: A Hairy Tale by Susan Lowell (2005) was a disappointment for me. I’d only read one other book by Susan Lowell, The Tortoise and the Jackrabbit (1994), which I loved. The text and story were well crafted. The art was beautiful. A Hairy Tale was without the same charm. Josefina dreams of becoming a ballerina. One day she moves to Pasadena to visit her cousin Angelina. She auditions at the Big Break Talent Agency only to find a wolf in sheep’s clothing. As she and her cousin run from the wolf, Josefina accidentally enters the spotlight. She becomes a star, a star who misses her roots. It’s an ok plot made even more mediocre by Bruce MacPherson’s caricatures. Over the top cartoonish illustrations make this silly story even more ridiculous. 

*Hey, Al (1986)

*Hey, Al by Arthur Yorinks (1986) is a fun story with illustrations by Richard Egielski that earned a Caldecott Medal. The book in my hand is the seventh printing (1993). “Al, a nice man, a quiet man, a janitor lived in one room on the West Side with his faithful dog Eddie.” One day, they argued about their poor living conditions (yes, Eddie talks). The next day, a giant bird pops its head through Al’s bathroom window and offers to take him and his dog to a better life. That better life is on an island in the sky. They’re warmly greeted by a variety of birds, which, after finishing the book, feels a little creepy. In fact, the two-page spread illustrating this welcome has a single, subtle clue about what is to come. The island is paradise, until it’s not. Al and Eddie make it back home. The final sentence reads, “Paradise lost is sometimes Heaven found.” 

Night of the Moonjellies (1992)

Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasta (1992) is a true story. It takes place in New London, Connecticut. Most of the story is about a refreshment stand called Mar-Gra’s owned by Shasta’s grandmother and her sister. Marc helps out during a long, busy day at the stand. He is a child, yet so his jobs are filling jars of condiments and straws while grownups prepare hamburger patties, fried clams, and lobster rolls. 

At the end of the day, at the end of the story, Mark and his grandmother “headed out to the dark sea” on friend Tyler’s boat, the Periwinkle. They’re in search of a tiny moonjelly that Mark found on the beach earlier in the day. Tyler knows where the stranded moonjelly belongs. Indeed, “Thousands of moonjellies stretched along the sea in every direction.” In the author’s note at the end of the book, we learn that the scientific name for moonjelly is Ctenophore. “They usually grow no larger than a child’s Riski and in New England are most plentiful in late summer. . . Moonjellies are harmless. They are also bioluminescent, meaning they are able to create light, like fireflies.” 

This book won the Marion VannettRidgway Honor Book Award in 1993. The paintings in this story fill every page with a soft, colorful narrative, appropriately representing the author’s fond memories. 

As Warm as the Sun (2019)

As Warm as the Sun by Kate and Jim McMullan (2019) fooled me at first glance. The title font was so similar to Don Freeman’s Corduroy books, that I thought he was connected to this story. He’s not. The illustrations, which appear to be watercolor, fill each large page with colorful pictures of a French Bulldog, Toby, in his home environment. The text font is large and there’s only one or two sentences per page. The plot is simple. Life is good until another French Bulldog joins the family. There’s something about this book that left me satisfied. Was it the color pallet, the minimalist text? I don’t know. Maybe I just like dogs. 

The Table Where Rich People Sit (1994)

The Table Where Rich People Sit by Byrd Baylor (1994) causes me to pause and reflect upon the tangible and intangible in my life. The narrator is a young girl who’s called a family meeting to talk about how little money they have. She wonders why her father doesn’t “notice my worn-out shoes” or that “my little brother has patches on the pants he wears to first grade.” They sit at a handmade table made from discarded lumber as she challenges them to get better jobs. Her parents pan for gold “in the rocky desert hills or back in some narrow mountain gully where all the roads are just coyote trails.” Her parents suggest she write down the value of the things in their lives. Watching sunsets, hiking, and looking for eagle nests is worth twenty thousand dollars. Hearing coyotes howl is worth another ten thousand. And so it goes. Their lifestyle adds up exponentially. This is a book to ignite conversation, for sure. Peter Parnell’s unique illustrations are well suited to this story. They are abstract and breathtaking. 

The Three Golden Oranges (1999)

The Three Golden Oranges by Alma Flor Ada (1999) is the retelling of a popular Spanish tale. The author’s note at the back of the book reads, “The popular story of Blancaflor, the youngest of three sisters who is bewitched and held prisoner inside an orange, has taken many forms over time. . . Oranges were brought to Spain by the Arabs who held kingdoms in southern Spain from 711 to 1492.” I’m not a fan of stories based on spells. This one is actually a morality tale in which two brothers model vanity and greed while the third is virtuous. The virtuous one has his wish granted. Regarding the other two brothers, “No one really knows what happened to Santiago and Tomás. . .” Reg Cartwright’s illustrations fit the artificial atmosphere of this book. They are grand,  filled with color, and a bit cartoonish.