Happy Monday, friends! It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date, and adapted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts with a children’s/YA focus. The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. These weekly roundups are a great way to discover new blogs and bloggers, share some of the titles you’ve been enjoying, and add to your ever-growing to-read list.
Oh my goodness, it’s been a hot minute since I participated in this Monday blog party! Life has been pretty busy recently, with family visiting and a quick trip down to Seattle, and just general life shenanigans, all keeping me from my regularly scheduled blog posts. But, I’m here this week at least, and ready to share some of the books I’ve been reading over the past few weeks!
But before we get into the book reviews, have you guys heard of the Kidlit Progressive Poem? It’s a really cool project – a group of poetry lovers come together to create a progressive poem. Each day in April a different blogger will add a line or two to a cumulative poem, which changes and grows and develops all through the month, until finally culminating into a complete poem! It’s a lot of fun, and I was thrilled to participate for the first time this month. You can check out my contribution to the poem here!
And now, with that out of the way, on to the reviews!
How did you find this book? Don’t you know this book is a secret book?
Readers will delight in being asked how they found this book. Did Monkey tell? Was it Owl? Giraffe?
Maybe the animal who “told” would rather share than keep a secret. Especially when sharing a book as good as this one makes him so happy!
I didn’t love this one I wasn’t a huge fan of the artwork – there’s no texture, everything just feels a bit too smooth and plastic. The characters have some fun facial expressions, but overall the illustration style isn’t my personal favourite. I also didn’t really connect with the story. This is a secret book, you see, but someone has revealed the secret to the reader. The characters want to find out who spilled the beans, and so the majority of the book is characters saying “maybe X told the secret!” followed by “it wasn’t me”. Eventually it’s revealed that Elephant told the secret, because he simply isn’t good at keeping secrets. The other animals accept this with good humour, admitting that sometimes they tell secrets too. And that’s it. End of story. It just felt a bit abrupt, and not particularly realistic – I mean, I remember being a child – if someone told me a secret and I blabbed it around the playground, that friend was not likely to have accepted my loose lips as sanguinely as these characters! Anyway, it’s not a bad book by any means, it unfortunately just didn’t really resonate with me. I do wonder if perhaps I would have enjoyed the story more if the illustrations had been rendered differently, as illustration does play such a vital role in a picture book.
Source – Raincoast Books
Deep in the woods
is a house
just a house
that once was
but now isn’t
a home.
Who lived in that house? Who walked down its hallways? Why did they leave it, and where did they go?
Two children set off to find the answers, piecing together clues found, books left behind, forgotten photos, discarded toys, and creating their own vision of those who came before.
Julie Fogliano and Lane Smith – talk about a power team! Fogliano is a highly talented poet who crafts beautifully evocative phrases, and Smith knocks it out of the park in this one with his vibrant mixed-media illustrations. This is a beautiful, beautiful book – a wistful, almost bittersweet look at life and the passage of time. This is a complex book, far more so than it might initially appear, and I would suggest sharing it with older children in the classroom, or with younger children on your lap, where you can take the time to work through each line and explore the stunning illustrations. Honestly, I think this is a beautiful picture book for older readers, too – it really is illustrated poetry, and I’m sure it would resonate powerfully with teen and adult readers, too!
And just for interest’s sake, here’s the English cover – I have to say I much prefer the North American version, which just seems more fantastical and unusual. The English version just seems more conventional, not unlike countless other picture books, and not really reflective of the Smith’s work throughout the book. Which cover do you prefer?
Source: Raincoast Books
Reviews are funny, funny things. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – everything I write here on Raincity Librarian is my own personal opinion, which is really worth very little in the grand scheme of things – I’m no expert, just a librarian and author who really, really likes picture books. I have my own personal preferences and biases, just like anybody else.
I’m bringing this up because I just read a review of this picture book that made me laugh – the reviewer disliked two of the very things that I liked most about this book, namely the text style and the illustrations! Neither of us is wrong, of course – we just have different tastes and like different styles. So, always take reviews with a boulder of salt.
Anyway, back to Seven Bad Cats. For my part, I really like the bold text, which is reminiscent of a typewriter – it’s large, clear and stands out nicely against the background art.
I also love the watercolour illustrations – the little girl character is absolutely adorable, and I love all multi-coloured cats. If I was a child and could make up my own illustrations, you’re darn right I’d have blue, pink and purple cats!
Going back to biases, let’s just get this out of the way – I am a cat lady. I love cats. I just do. So, any book featuring seven dastardly cats (who eventually learn the error of their ways), is going to appeal to me! Anyone who has lived with cats knows that they can be devious little devils who seemingly delight in causing pain, or at least inconvenience, to those around them. My own cat seemed to like nothing more than savagely attacking the toes of anyone who walked by. But, when things got bad, like when someone in the family was sick, our cat was always there, curled up at the foot of the bed, purring and providing furry comfort. Cats are mercurial that way, it’s one of the reasons we cat fanciers love them so much! So, these seven naughty cats felt all too realistic!
In other words, whether you’re a cat lover or not, I’d definitely suggest checking out seven bad cats.
Source: Raincoast Books
I hope you’ve all been well, and that spring is finally springing into life, wherever you happen to be! Have a great week, friends!
If my son was younger he would have loved the cat book and I’d definitely have bought a copy. I much prefer the cover of the British version of A House That Once Was. The North American cover looks too abstract. I was instantly drawn to the one I favoured.
The premise to Don’t Tell sounds so cute. I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work well for you. Since it’s coming out in June, it’s possible we won’t see it in my area for a couple years (very secluded and small library).
A House That Once Was looks FASCINATING! When we were growing up and traveling by car, my mom would always ask me and my siblings to tell her stories about old abandoned houses found in the middle of nowhere. So we would have to concoct a story on the spot. Now, we never got out and walked through the house, but still… this book might make a fun gift for my mom. 🙂
I wonder if Elisabeth (Dirigible Plum) has seen Seven Bad Cats, yet. I bet she’ll love this one!
And YES to your comments about “Neither of us is wrong, of course – we just have different tastes and like different styles.” We all have different experiences and tastes, so there’s something out there for everyone. But it’s always funny when the exact things we love are hated by someone else. lol
Ha, yes! I thought it was just too funny to read that review where all the things I loved about a book were the exact things that another person disliked!
I may need to purchase The House That Once Was, so many holds at my library! I know it will be special! I like the cover for North America, too. Interesting about the cat book. I like the illustrations that you’ve shared! Will look for it! Thanks, Jane, and I agree, the Progressive Poem is wonderful!
This was my first time participating in the Progressive Poem, and it was so much fun, definitely a good way to challenge your creative skills!
That Progressive Poem sounds awesome! What a great idea. And I LOVE the idea of Seven Bad Cats! How fun. I love cats, quirks and all. 🙂
A House That Once was looks magical too!
It was a really neat writing challenge, it’s fun to push yourself creatively sometimes! And yes, anything with cats is a plus in my book. ^_^
The poetry project you mentioned sounds interesting. I’ll have to look for Seven Bad Cats!
It’s definitely cute, I love the illustrations!
Trent will love the Seven Bad Cats book! I’ll have to get it for him 🙂
Happy reading this week!
Yay, a fellow cat enthusiast! 🙂
I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things for A House That Once Was. Looking forward to that one!
It’s quite lovely!
A progressive is such a fun idea! Thanks for the book suggestions.
It definitely gets your creative juices flowing! 🙂
I don’t know if they are really related or not, but from the description, A House That Once Was makes me think of House Held Up By Trees. Seven Bad Cats looks very fun. I hope your spring is very springy.
That books has come up twice this week in comments, now I absolutely have to check it out!
The House that Once Was and Seven Bad Cats both look cute. Have you read The House Held Up by Trees? It seems like The House that Once Was would be a good read alike. Come see what I’m reading.
I have been enjoying the progressive poem and was delighted to see your name on the list.
I’m looking forward to reading A House That Once Was. I think it’s the perspective in the American cover that makes the difference. That one focuses on the house where the British one focuses on the kids. Why don’t we have this book in Vancouver?
It’s so frustrating!! It takes sooooooo loooooong for books to come out here sometimes, I get so impatient!! :'(
Lovely reads for young readers.
Yes, they definitely are! One of the benefits of being a children’s librarian is getting to share all these lovely books!
A collab between Julie Fogliano and Lane Smith – wow. I MUST FIND THAT one! 🙂