A Farmer and a Clown Have A Very Good Day: The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee

In a landscape surrounded by a whole lot of nothing, an angular farmer is grimly spearing some hay bales with his pitchfork, when out of the corner of his eye, he sees something colorful in motion.

It is a circus train in the distance, and as it bounces over the plains, he see something (someone?) fall from the caboose.

He hurries toward the place and sees that it's a little clown, in a red suit, peaked cap, with a big clown smile.

What to do? The farmer leads the little one toward the farmhouse, shows the small clown how to wash up, and gives him some dinner. With his big red smile washed away, the little clown looks small and sad, so the farmer tries to coax a small smile with some hat tricks with his wide black hat.

The next day the farmer sets off with the little clown on his shoulders. Together they milk the cow and feed the chickens, and the farmer shows off again, juggling the eggs from their nests, as the little guy laughs. They take a picnic out on the prairie and have a fine time together.

But then they hear a sound:

TOOT! TOOT! TOOT!

The circus train has come back for the little clown! The clown family on the train waves happily, and the little clown jumps for joy to see them. But then, he turns to the tall farmer and, wrapping his arms around the farmer, hugs him tightly. The farmer gives him a kiss and a wave, but the little clown has something else he wants to do: he gives the farmer his tall red hat, and the farmer gives him his wide black hat as a remembrance as well, and the farmer, wearing the red cap, begins the long walk back--alone again. Or is he?

Marla Frazee's newest, The Farmer and the Clown (Beach Lane, 2014), is a wordless picture book that says a lot. In a still, dun-colored landscape, a bit of life and color comes into the old farmer's world and leaves him changed. Frazee's two characters, small in the perspective of an endless "greige" landscape, speak multitudes about loneliness and longing. Multiple Caldecott honors (for All the World and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever) testify to Frazee's mastery of a variety of styles to say a lot with a little. Sharp-eyed "readers" will spot a surprise for the farmer when he looks back that forecasts some fun ahead, a wry touch that ends this book on the upbeat.

New York Times reviewer and author Grace Lin says, "An artist of a wordless picture book must be meticulous, carefully using the tools of color and composition to elicit an emotional experience just as a poet uses words. Marla Frazee's The Farmer and the Clown accomplishes this lofty goal beautifully…the entire book, with Frazee's perfect pacing of images and use of negative space, light and shadow, is true poetry."

What's THAT Thingy? Moosey Moose by Chris Raschka

MOOSEY MOOSE IS MAD!

In fact, he's tossing a tantrum..., pitching a fit..., doing a duster..., raising a rumpus!

Moosey Moose is a mess! But why?

Has he got ants in his pants?

That can't be. He doesn't HAVE any pants. Oh, wait. Maybe that's what he wants! How about these shorts?

Definitely not!

It's long pants or nothing!

Ah, peace!

Thingy Things can be a problem, as three-time Caldecott artist Chris Raschka suggests in the brand-new edition of his Moosey Moose (Thingy Things) (Abrams Appleseed, 2014). For emergent readers trying out their decoding moves, Raschka's signature rough black line and broad strokes of color attract the eye as readers quickly accomplish the whole story in a few active page turns. Earlier redesigned small-format board books in this series include Crabby Crab (Thingy Things), Cowy Cow (Thingy Things), and Whaley Whale (Thingy Things).

Changes, Changes: Winter Is Coming by Tony Johnston and Jim LaMarche

It's a cold September day.

Fall is still here, but I feel it.

Winter is coming.

The trees are still glowing with autumn colors, but the cool wind that ruffles the girl's hair beneath her red hoodie tells a different story. Things are changing.

As she sits quietly in her tree house in the woods with her drawing pencil and notebook, the girl realizes that the animals foresee the changes, too.

A red fox slips into the clearing.that I am watching.

First-sun hits hits his back, the fox shining like a small fire.

I am quiet, quiet.

The red fox sniffs the last apple. Wrinkled or not,

It's food, and winter is coming.

As the autumn passes and the girl returns to her post with notebook and binoculars, she sees other animals, a doe and her fawn snuffling through the leaves, a skunk whose scented calling card precedes him, and even a mother bear and her big cub scratching in the leafy litter for a stray nut and a lynx, like a "lynx of Egypt, eyes the color of the moon," ghosting quietly along behind the rabbits who have left off gnawing the dried weeds.

A woodpecker riddles the tree with holes.

Animals do not waste.

Winter is coming.

Noted author Tony Johnston's Winter Is Coming (Simon & Schuster, 2014) delineates the watcher in the woods through the changes of the fall months in lovely blank verse, while artist Jim LaMarche portrays the signs of earth's turning season, sometimes through the eyes of the girl, sometimes from a higher perspective, as we watch the girl watching the animals, and sometime from below, as we look up to see a flyover formation of Canada geese going south. LaMarche's nuanced gouache, ink, and pencil illustrations are perfectly married to Johnston's evocative prose so that the reader feels the wind, smells the woody leaves, and hears the quiet and the ruffles of the dying leaves as the animals pass below. Even if fall and winter are not favorites, they are part of the cycle of life, and Johnston and LaMarche portray that theme in perfect harmony. A glorious blend of writer and artist that captures the feeling of fall's moments in time.

Teach: Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea

ALEXIA

I knew Teach couldn't move, but like, I hadn't expected him to be hooked up to so many tubes. I found the courage to tiptoe to his bed.
"Hi, Teach." I said. "it's Lexie." Already I fought back tears. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been mean to you. I wanted to hate you for saying those things to me, but you were right. Like, I'm doing better now, Teach. I'm not being mean. You'd be proud of me.

Teach, there's something I need to tell you. I think I saw Peter leaving here. Like, he's the one who threw the snowball. I know he didn't want this to happen. He loves you. All of us do. Peter hasn't, like, said anything in school. Not a word. But no one is trying to talk to him either. He did throw the snowball. So it's still his fault."

I had my face on his blanket when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up, and Jessica was there, and so were Danielle and Anna. I hugged them. I told them I was sorry. And then it was over. All of a sudden I had three friends. Like, Teach has helped me, even in his coma.

Mr. Terupt's fifth grade has some students with some real problems. Jessica's mom is newly divorced and now Jess is far from her California classmates, in a new school, and can't seem to find a friend. Danielle is overweight and Lexie controls her by alternatively including her in her circle and ignoring her. Lexie's mom, too, has had a bitter divorce, telling her "Don't let people push you around like your father did to us. You take charge and fight back," and having been dumped by her friends in fourth grade, Alexia vows to stay mean and in control. Anna, an illegimate child in a small town, is shunned by the more religious kids, although Danielle is sometimes kind to her when Lexie isn't around. Peter has no real friends, either, but he gets laughs when he clowns in class. Jeffrey hates school, and it seems to hate him back. Luke, too, is out on a limb, the smartest kid in the class, resented by everyone. Seven different kids with their own problems, and now they are Mr. Terupt's, problems, too. Helping this class work together for a year is not going to be easy.

Things get better, but when the first big snow comes in February, Mr. Terupt senses that his class seriously needs to blow off steam. The new snow is deep and white, and he gets permission for his kids to have a snow party, a recess off the concrete basketball court for a change. A monster snow mound is waiting, in the middle of the playground, just right for a game of King of the Hill.

PETER

The snow was perfect. The kind that packed and formed super snowballs. I scooped up a handful as we walked across the field, squeezing it over and over. "No snowballs," Mr. T. had told us, so I stuffed it down in my pocket. It was too perfect to toss down.

I was already standing at the top of the hill when I saw Alexia on her way up. I gave her a little shove. I laughed hard. She didn't. Everyone joined in. We knocked each other down and wrestled each other off the top.

I'm not sure how it happened. I fell off the mountain. Lexie ran over and kicked snow in my face. I was angry. I got on my knees, and BAM! I got knocked down again. This time the person held my face down in the snow, too. I was so mad I jumped up, pulled that snowball out of my pocket, and chucked it for all I was worth.

And Mr. Terupt, on his way to cool the action, takes the now frozen snowball right in the head. Unconscious, he's taken to the hospital for surgery, where he remains in a coma for months.

Whose fault is it? As they wait for Mr. Terupt to wake up, each of the kids comes to understand that what they had done all year had something to do with what made Peter throw that snowball. If only Mr. T. would wake up, they could tell him how much they miss him.
In his first book Because of Mr. Terupt (Delacorte Press), Rob Buyea pulls off a tour de force, a coming-of-age novel for seven students, each wrestling with the realization in which each of them share some responsibility for Mr. Terupt's near-death experience. Because of Mr. Terupt, seven children, balanced the brink of adolescence, come to know and understand themselves and each other better and how each one has an effect on the whole class. Learning to be responsible for one's own behavior is a hard enough task, but realizing that each one's responsibility or irresponsibility affects them all is the important lesson that Mr. Terupt leaves with them. It's a changed group of kids that the recovering Mr. Terupt returns to tell that he'll be taking the class through sixth grade next year, in Buyea's sequel, Mr. Terupt Falls Again.

It's like catching lightning in a bottle to construct a story that captures the changes in seven fifth graders just coming into self-awareness, but this best-seller grabs every reader with a recognizable piece of himself in the cast of characters. Buyea takes his students month by month through the school year, set in acts and scenes rather than chapters, with each of the seven providing the narration with their own perception of what happens. Changing points of view offers readers insight as the different accounts of what happened come together as each begins to see the whole picture. It's quite a novel--of a master teacher as his lesson plan for his students unfolds.

"If the school year is a series of events, then Mr. Terupt is the catalyst that starts the chain reaction," says School Library Journal.

Eye Candy! Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson

MOUSE AND BEAR ARE WALKING.
CHITTER-CHATTER TALKING.
SO MUCH FOR THEM TO DO,
AND BEAR SEES... BLUE!

Out strolling with his trusty sidekick, Mouse, Bear suddenly becomes aware of

BLUE DRAGONFLIES, BLUEBERRIES...
BLUE EVERYWHERE!

Bear has as epiphany! Once he starts thinking about blue, he suddenly sees it everywhere, But then....

Hare howdy-doos them from down the trail and points out something ahead.... RED.

Ooh! Right away Bear sees red raspberries on the bush.

Down by the pond Badger bops by in red overshoes, just as Bear sees... YELLOW bees!

And suddenly there are yellow things all around. Wow.

But Mole has a different view down by stream. He spots GREEN.

Before the woodland stroll is done, all of Bear's friends get into the fun. The picnicking Wren, Raven, and Owl are just sitting down, when Bear sees something yummy and BROWN!

The well-browned cookies are passed around, and a good time is had by all in Karma Wilson's first concept book starring her beloved Bear, Bear Sees Colors (The Bear Books) (Margaret K. Elderry Books, 2014). As an introductory colors book for the nursery school set, as a review for older youngsters, or even as an easy reader, Wilson's rhythm and rhyme put kids through their paces, while Jane Chapman's familiar illustrations are just as charming as ever for fans of Wilson's best-selling Bear series, which began with Bear Snores On (The Bear Books) in 2002.

For a fascinating follow up, add Herve' Tullet's delightful new hit, Mix It Up! (see recent review here) to the color mashup to take the color session to a new level.

A-N-T-I-C-I-P-A-T-I-O-N! Waiting Is NOT Easy! by Mo Willems

Piggie enters, page right, with a pronouncement.

"I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU!"

"WHAT IS IT?" GERALD ASKS.

"A SURPRISE IS A SURPRISE!" SAYS PIGGIE.

Piggie is exuberantly smug about her secret, only hinting that it is big, it is pretty, and it can be shared.

At first Gerald the elephant declares that he can wait, but as Piggie keeps that maddening smile on her face, Gerald begins to get antsy.

"WAITING IS NOT EASY."

Piggie is sorry, she says, but they must keep waiting.

Now Gerald is really curious. His forehead wrinkles, his mouth is pressed tight, and now all he can think about is the surprise. He wants his surprise NOW.

GROAN!

Piggie is unbearably calm about it all. She sits, legs criss-crossed and pretends to meditate. But Gerald squirms, his face contorted with the effort, and twists his trunk and his legs into pretzels as he tries to contain himself.

Piggie tries a little teaser.

"IT'LL BE WORTH IT!"

Of course, that only makes Gerald's wait worse.

"GROAN!!

Gerald's elephant-sized moan almost bowls Piggie over. Still the two must wait.

Finally Gerald pitches a little fit. He points out that the day is almost over. It's actually growing darker and darker. They've wasted the entire day waiting, and soon it is going to be too dark to even SEE a surprise. All that for what?

But actually, Piggie's surprise requires the dark, in Mo Willems' latest in series, Waiting Is Not Easy! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) (Hyperion Books, 2014). At last Piggie's big reveal shows Gerald the Milky Way in all its glory, and Gerald has to agree it was worth waiting for.

And as for Piggie's next BIG surprise? Just wait till Gerald sees tomorrow's sunrise!

"I CAN WAIT," GERALD SAYS.

Mo Willems' odd-couple super stars of beginner books never fail to show how their differences--Piggie ebullient and excitable, Gerald anxious but stodgy--make for pure comedy, all in basic emergent reader vocabulary. Although the interplay between their contrasting personalities is actually quite complex, Willems has a magical way of showing that graphically in his simple but artistically sophisticated line drawings rarely matched in this genre. Good things are worth waiting for is Willems' theme here, but as the all too-human Gerald protests and every reader understands, waiting is not easy! He's right! Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie books are such a treat that it is hard for readers (and reviewers) to wait for the next one.

Color Crunch! Mix It Up by Herve' Tullet

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN. ARE YOU READY?

TAP THAT LITTLE GREY SPOT JUST A LITTLE. WHAT HAPPENS?

Herve' Tullet is back with another brain stretching "interactive book," this time devoted to the basics of colors--primary, secondary, and tertiary. With dots of paint so real-looking--wet and shiny--that you expect your finger tip to be colored as you follow the creator's directions,

Tullet takes youngsters through what happens when they combine blobs of blue and yellow and red, producing such realistic results with each page turn that they seem to be occurring for real! Tullet advances through the secondary colors--orange, green, and purple-- and proceeds into mixing in white or black to create hues and shades--white and red becomes pink in a wink of a page turn. Want to see?  OK!

Tullet tells the reader to close the book and smoosh the runny colors on a double page spread, and then tempts speculation as he asks readers to predict what will happen. What happens when you give the book a shake and turn the page? Look and see!

Although this book is aimed toward preschoolers learning the science and art of colors, the faux interactive aspect will have even older kids and adults drawn into the fun, shaking and squishing the book on cue. And it's going to be hard not to break out some paints and play with the knowledge Tullet imparts as soon as he bids readers goodbye.

YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN. LOOK! PLAY!

And Mix It Up!  they will, as author-illustrator Herve' Tullet invites them to do in his 2014 innovative virtual art lesson without the mess for Chronicle Books. As he does in his brilliant and best-selling Press Here and Help! We Need a Title! (read reviews here), Tullet joins other author-illustrators, such as Mo Willems, Kathryn Otoshi, Bill Cotter, and Alex Lluch, who have taken on the challenge of electronic storytelling to show that there's a lot of possibilities going on yet between the covers of the classic picture book. "Rivaling an iPad for its sheer fun and interactive elements," is the way School Library Journal describes Tullet's latest in their starred rave review.

Chicken for Dinner? Dinnertime for Chicks by Janee Trasler

"DINNERTIME, CHICKIES. LET'S ALL EAT

WASH YOUR WINGS AND HAVE A SEAT."

If only it were as easy as their nannies, Cow, Pig, and Sheep, try to make it sound. But it's not so simple to get lively young ones to sit down and eat a proper dinner.

Cow's Tex-Mex tacos are too spicy and Sheep's noodle dish is too drippy. The Chickies insist that they'd prefer something more...um... "chocolate chippy."

But Pig insists that vegetables and meats come before sweet treats, and soon the Chickies are smacking their beaks and chowing down.

PASS THE PEAS...
PASS THE SPUDS AND BROCCOLIS!

Will their tummies have any room left for dessert?

Janee Trasler's dining outing for her darn cute little Chickies, Dinnertime for Chickies (HarperFestival, 2014), has all the appeal of her earlier toddler treats, with a poofy, padded cover, polished pastel palette, and deceptively simply comic characters. Trasler gets a lot of expressive faces out of circles, dots, lines, and a few squiggles, and her vivacious verses are just as memorable. Little listeners will pipe up to finish the clever punchlines the second time around, and the Chickies may even inspire some kids to eat their peas and broccolis when it's their dinnertime.

Trasler's companion board book stories include Bedtime for Chickies, Pottytime for Chickies, and her latest hot and tasty, A New Chick for Chickies.

Going Dotty: Not Just a Dot by Loryn Brantz

What's a dot? It's only a spot.

Or so Dot feels.

"I'M JUST A LITTLE HOLE. NOBODY NEEDS ME."

Poor Dot doesn't seem to know what to do with herself.

But then--she gets some salient suggestions.

THIS DALMATIAN LOOKS LIKE HE NEEDS YOU.

A Dalmation is missing just one spot, and then a one-eyed cartoon guy is short of an eye... and who can ask a question without a dot at the bottom of the question mark? And little Dot has got the right stuff to fill those slots!

"I GUESS I AM JUST A LITTLE BIT USEFUL," DOT ADMITS.

Loryn Brantz' Not Just a Dot (Sky Pony Books, 2014) uses her stylized illustrative style to set off her main character, who manages to project a lot of personality with her eyes, not a small feat for a black circle. Dot finds her place in the grand scheme of things, and, as Brantz points out, if you get far enough from Earth, we all are just little dots, a philosophical point of view that gives Dot a different perspective on it all.

When It Rains....: Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

Who I Am--A Girl Named Rose (Rows)

I am Rose Howard and my first name has a homonym. To be accurate, it has a homophone.

I like homonyms a lot. And I like words. Rules and numbers too. Here is the order in which I like these things.
1. Words (especially homonyms)
2. Rules
3. Numbers (especially prime numbers.

My official diagnosis is high-functioning autism, which some people call Asperger's syndrome.

Although she's advanced in reading and math skills, Rose has a hard time in school. As she is able to observe, only one person in her class, Parvani, has any interest in her long list of homonyms. Rose deals with anxiety by shouting out prime numbers, which even Parvani has no interest in and which her other classmates find either scary, bizarre, or hilarious. And Rose feels obligated to point out the slightest lapse in rules, even her teacher's, so that she is assigned an aide to sit with her and take her out into the hall when her outbursts distract the class.

But Rose has her dog, Rain (with seven white toes and three homophones, reign and rein), which her father brought home, wet and lost late one night, from the Luck of the Irish Bar where he was drinking. Rain greets her joyfully every afternoon when Uncle Weldon drives her home from school and keeps her company at night when her father is out. Rose knows the rules of dog care, and she makes sure that she follows them all with Rain.

Then when a Hurricane Susan moves inland to where she lives, her father lets Rain out into the storm during the night, and she doesn't come back. To keep herself from falling apart, Rose works out a methodical strategy to find her pet. On a local map she draws concentric circles with her house at the center and enters the names of all the animal shelters in the area.  She begins calling with the nearest ones, and when Rain is not reported found, moves on to the next circle. Then, in the last circle, the manager of Happy Tails Shelter tells her that she has a dog with seven white toes, and Rose knows it has to be her Rain.

But she also finds out that Rain has a microchip who shows that her owners are a family named Henderson who have left their storm-damaged house and cannot be located right away. But for Rose, rules are rules, and she feels that she must find that family and return their dog to them. But her father doesn't understand.

Rose's father seems furious. Out of work and silent, he leaves every night after supper, and Rose spends a lot of time alone in her room, staying out of his way, glad that Uncle Weldon still drives her to school and back. But Rose is still anxious, and one afternoon, something happens.

"Do you have a minute?" Uncle Weldon asks.

My father steps away from the hood of his truck. He wipes his hands on a rag that is hanging out of his pocket. "I guess."

"Well, I've been thinking. Rose here... Rose here should have another dog. Don't you agree?"

My father snorts. "Rose here didn't appreciate the dog she had, the one I got her. She gave it back when she could have kept it."

I was trying to do something nice for her. The one great thing I did. The one great thing...."

"But a dog--" Uncle Weldon said. "It's lonely for her. I mean, when you aren't around."

"You think you know best? You don't know best. NOT ANOTHER WORD!" My father slaps his hands on the side of his truck.

"Are you sure you know what's best for Rose?' Uncle Weldon asks quietly.

And then one evening, after midnight, Rose's father wakes her with one sentence.

"I'm taking you to Weldon's."

"My father is gone," Rose says to her uncle when she is left at his door.

Newbery author Ann M. Martin's Rain Reign (Feiwel and Friends, 2014) displays the essence of realistic fiction in a novel that has the power to reveal human personality with all its flaws and virtues. Rose is an admirable and resilient character who tells it as she sees it; as flawed as he is, her father loves her enough to see that his brother is right about what is best for his daughter; and even Rose's teachers and classmates are finely drawn from life. In its depth and the insight revealed for each character, this book is a real tour de force for this notable author, one that should be in every library for every child. Kirkus Reviews says, "... no fluff here, just sophisticated, emotionally honest storytelling." And Booklist concurs, "A strong story told in a nuanced, highly accessible way."

And the Winner Is.... 2014 National Book Award For Young People's Literature

... Jacqueline Woodson, three-time finalist and first time winner) for her free verse novel Brown Girl Dreaming (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014), winner of the 2014 National Book Foundation Award for Young People's Literature.  (See my review October 27 review here.)

Woodson was also a 2009 Newbery Honor Medal winner for After Tupac and D Foster.

Other short-listed finalists of books for young adults were Eliot Schrefer, for Threatened (Scholastic Press), Deborah Wiles, for Revolution (The Sixties Trilogy), (Scholastic Press), John Corey Whaley, for Noggin. (Atheneum Press), and Steve Sheinkin, for The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights (Roaring Brook Press).

Jack's Back! A Bean, A Stalk, and A Boy Named Jack by William Joyce

Once upon a time, there was trouble, right here in Royal City. Not famine or fire or feuding, exactly, but still big trouble.

THE KING'S ROYAL PINKY
HAD BECOME STINKY!

The rains hadn't come in quite a while, and well, frankly, the King was as stinky as the rest of the unwashed peasants in the kingdom..

At first he sent for noblemen and women and ordered them to weep and wail until he collected enough tears for a bit of a wash! But there's a limit to tears, even under duress! And besides, the Princess is totally embarrassed by the whole thing.

People begged the Royal Wizard to do something!

"PUL-LEEZE!"

And...

THERE WAS A SMALLISH GREEN BEAN, AS REGULAR AS THEY COME.

And...

THERE WAS ALSO A SMALLISH KID

WITH THE SMALLISH NAME OF JACK

AND A SMALLISH COW. NO GREAT SHAKES.

Everyone knows what happens when a smallish boy gets his hands on a smallish bean, and this Jack soon has an enormous beanstalk. There's nothing left to do but climb it, and so he does.

At the top he follows some impressive plumbing until he comes to a room and sees a giant bathtub full of giant bubbles, and lolling in the suds, he sees ...

A SMALLISH GIANT KID NAMED DON.

Jack thinks it's time to make a deal.

"SO, DON--"

"YES, JACK?"

"BEEN IN THE TUB LONG?"

"A LONG TIME. MY PINKY WAS STINKY."

Jack thinks he's found the reason that the rains haven't fallen on the kingdom. He and Don's mom agree that it's past time to pull the plug on bath boy.

It's down the drain with Don's bathwater and Jack, as the water cascades down the beanstalk, and soon the kingdom has plenty. The king's pinky is no longer stinky, and Jack and Princess Blah ("You can call me Jill!") find they share a mutual fondness for water pails.

Everyone lives happy (or at least clean) ever after, sorta, in William Joyce's fractured take on the venerable Jack tale, A Bean, a Stalk and a Boy Named Jack (Monobot/Atheneum Books, 2014). Nobody gets eaten or even chased down a beanstalk here, but with tongue in cheek, Joyce's narration, assisted well by the quirky and clever cartoon illustrations of Kerry Callicutt, pokes gentle fun at the familiar fairy tale which will tickle some giggles out of folktale-savvy young readers. Says Kirkus, "Joyce and Callicutt royally fracture the familiar folk tale in this high-concept romp."

Pair this one with Tomie dePaola's rewrite of the Jack tale, in his brand-new picture book, Jack

Roots: Gus & Me by Keith Richards

Who knew?

Before there was "Satisfaction" and "Brown Sugar," there was "Malaguena" and Grandpa Gus.

Keith Richards, rhythm guitarist and co-writer with Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, first heard a guitar played by his grandfather, Theodore Augustus Dupree, "Grandpa Gus" to Keith. An only child. little Keith loved to spend the day with his grandfather "who lived in a house full of instruments and cake." Gus, who had led a dance band called Gus Dupree' and his Boys, played piano, violin, and saxophone, but it was his guitar that sounded best to his admiring grandson. Gus like to take Keith for long walks with his dog, Mr. Thomas Wolff, sometimes talking, and sometimes just singing or humming, symphonies or jazz ballads or hot dance tunes. Once they walked all the way to London, to a shop that made and repaired musical instruments, and Keith was never the same.

MY EYES FOLLOWED A LINE OF GUITARS THAT SNAKED AROUND THE ROOM ON A CONVEYOR BELT. IT WAS MAGIC. AND RIGHT THEN, RIGHT THERE, I FELL IN LOVE WITH INSTRUMENTS.

WHEN GUS AND I GOT BACK TO HIS HOUSE, I TOOK A LONG LOOK AT THAT GUITAR THAT ALWAYS SAT ON TOP OF THE PIANO. IT SEEMED MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN EVER. ALL I WANTED WAS TO MAKE THE STRINGS GO. BUT I COULDN'T REACH IT.

"WHEN YOU'RE TALL ENOUGH, YOU CAN HAVE A GO," GUS SAID.

ONE DAY I FELT LIKE I WAS TALL ENOUGH TO GRAB IT.

"ALL YOURS," GUS SAID.

HE SAT BESIDE ME. "WHEN YOU CAN PLAY "MALAGUENA," HE SAID, "YOU CAN PLAY ANYTHING."

With Gus's lessons, Keith worked day after day at the difficult Spanish song, until at last Gus nodded.

"I THINK YOU'VE GOT THE HANG OF IT," GUS SAID.

And indeed he had. Keith Richards' lovingly crafted memoir of his Grandpa Gus, Gus & Me: The Story of My Granddad and My First Guitar (Little, Brown, and Company, 2014), portrays the story of how a grandfather passed along his love and his love of music to his talented grandson, and the rest is, as we say, rock and roll history. Richards' writing has its own quiet rhythm and harmony as he reveals through the eye and voice of a child how a grandparent gave him the best of himself, his time and his talent and his love for music. Paired with the evocative illustrations of Richards' daughter, Gus's namesake Theodora Dupree Richards, and with family photos and a CD which features Keith's performance of "Malaguena," just as Gus taught it to him, this is a memorable book for youngsters who perhaps don't know they are music lovers yet.  "Told so naturally and with such sweet verve, readers may not notice that this is the legendary guitarist of the Rolling Stones." says Kirkus in their starred review. "A beautiful example of artistic bookmaking, a story of family love and lore, and the magic of music personified in a way that's utterly accessible to children."

After the Fall...: Tiptop Cat by C. Roger Mader

OF ALL THE GIFTS SHE GOT THAT DAY...THE BEST ONE WAS THE CAT.

And he's a beaut! A perfect tuxedo cat with white-tipped paws and tail, we first see him at the birthday party, amid confetti, balloons, with a strip of curled ribbon draped over one ear.

Curious, he explores his new home, peeping into the kitchen, strolling through the chair legs under the table, peering his image in the bathroom mirror, and checking out the fireplace. But there is one place that begs for further inspection--the balcony.

Through the decorative black railing, the cat looks down seven floors to the street far below.

But that's not what intrigues him most. A short jump from the railing takes him from one rooftop to another, along window ledges, and soon he climbs, past a crowd of chimney pots, to the tiptop flue, where he admires the view, the roofs of Paris and the Eiffel Tower.

But one day there is an intruder on his balcony, a pesky pigeon with a can't-catch-me attitude.

A LITTLE JUNGLE BEAST AWOKE WITHIN THE CAT AND SAID....

POUNCE!

The teasing pigeon launches himself out of reach and the cat sails over the railing and

DOWN...

DOWN...

DOWN......

. . . DOWN!

The surprised cat falls, twisting, past an amazed piano player's window, righting himself as he passes a startled gymnist standing on her head and a bemused beagle, right through a red awning and into the incredulous arms of the fruit seller on the sidewalk. The vet's x-rays show no harm done to his bones. Everything seems intact but...

... HIS SPIRIT!

He's a chastened and changed cat. His green eyes are dull and timid. He cowers in the linen closet, tunnels into the laundry basket, and scoots under a rug. It seems there will be no more leaps, no further fun on the rooftops. Until... a cheeky crow appears on his balcony.

AND THAT INNER BEAST STIRRED AGAIN.

Will our spirited cat make that leap of faith to the top of the world once more? In his forthcoming latest cat tale, Tiptop Cat (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), C. Roger Mader takes his little tuxedo kitty to the heights of the rooftops of Paris. Mader's text is both taut but evocative, and his illustrations are totally delightful, capturing cat body language perfectly and using varying perspectives with great skill. A more endearing storytime kitty would be hard to imagine--peering through one opened bright green eye at the pesky pigeon, falling through space with his mouth a surprised O, landing, with startled eyes crossed, in the storekeeper's strong arms, and sitting silhouetted against the sunset sky of Paris. Even Mader's endpapers are lovely, done in midnight blue with a trail of little cat prints across the rooftops. A fresh, funny, and truly lovely picture book that has appeal to all ages.

Roger Madur is also the illustrator his equally charming Lost Cat Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013). See my review here.

Seriously Seeking Housing! Jack by Tomie dePaola

ONE DAY JACK SAID, "I WANT TO SEE THE WORLD AND MAKE NEW FRIENDS AND LIVE IN A HOUSE IN THE CITY."

"WHY DON'T YOU GO TO THE CITY AND ASK THE KING?" SAID JACK'S GRANDPA.

Since time immemorial, young folks have set out into the wide world to find their fortunes, to make their way in their own way, and in his adaptation of folklore's "Jack tales," Caldecott-winner Tomie dePaola's Jack (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014) is off on his personal quest.

Jack is a mellow redhead who soon attracts a following, beginning with a tiny yellow chick who peeps out a greeting and scoots along behind Jack. In short order, a duck spots the small procession and asks if he can go along.

"YES, PLEASE DO!" JACK SAID.

With his peeping and quacking friends behind him, Jack soon welcomes a retinue of animals, a goose, dog, frog, pig, cow, cat, sheep, horse and owl, and even a crow who flies along without asking permission. With all the honking, woofing, croaking, oinking, mooing, meowing, baaing, whinnying, hooting and cawing, Jack's reputation precedes him as he enters the city.

"GOOD AFTERNOON, KING," SAID JACK.

"MY FRIENDS AND I WOULD LIKE TO LIVE IN THE CITY. CAN YOU HELP US FIND A HOUSE?"

Fortune smiles on Jack as usual. It seems that there is a run-down house in one neighborhood that needs a tenant to sort it out.

"YOU MIGHT NEED TO FIX IT UP, BUT I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT."  SAID THE KING.

The house is dilapidated, but soon the critter cacophony is joined by the sound of sawing and hammering, and when the house is repainted in a bright pink and orange coat of paint, the animals find that each one of them has his own window on the street. Peeps, quacks, honks woofs, ribbits, oinks, moos, meows, baas, neighs, hoots, and caws (from the roof) fill the street with happy noise.

"THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD," GRUMBLED THE NEIGHBORHOOD CURMUDGEON.

"ABOUT TIME!" SAID HIS WIFE.

In a light-hearted palette and his familiar folkloric style, Tomie dePaola's latest introduces primary students to the Jack tale. In the many tales in English literature, Jack is a sort of everyboy, eager to try his luck in the world, best known in the classic Jack and the Beanstalk.

In this simple tale, there are no giants or ogres, just an amiable lad setting out on a modest quest. But getting there is half the fun, and dePaola populates the background behind Jack's little parade with many folktale characters setting off into their own adventures--Jack and Jill with their pail and Red Riding Hood heading off the path and into the wood--which will give sharp-eyed readers a chuckle with each page turn. DePaola has a way of giving each of his stories its own irresistible eye appeal, and he pulls out all the stops in this lovely book, filling the pages with colorful rubber stamp interjections from his animal characters and setting his glowing colors as standouts against his characteristic bright white pages. In this playful introduction to English folk literature, dePaola shows that he's still the master of picture book art.