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.
It’s been so hot and so smokey in these parts for the last few weeks, and we finally got some much needed rain – who would’ve thought I’d ever be happy to see rain?!
Here are just a handful of the books I’ve been reading recently.
Louise Loves Art – Kelly Light
First things first – look at that cat! The expression on that kitty’s face just cracks me up. Love it! This is the utterly adorable of siblings Louise and Art – Louise is a passionate artist for whom each creation must be absolutely perfect. Louise’s little brother art wants to be just like his big sister, and keeps trying to get Louise’s attention. When Art accidentally ruins one of Louise’s drawings, Louise is furious, until she realizes that Art has captured the two of him in his own little work of art. The resolution felt a bit quick for me – I would probably have pouted a bit more than Louise does had my younger sibling ruined my work of art! – but it’s very sweet to see Louise realize that what really matters isn’t perfection, but love – her love for art, and for Art.
Also, I had the same hair cut as Louise for the majority of my life, so there’s that. 🙂
Source: Library
I Hate My Cats (A Love Story) – Davide Cali, Anna Pirolli
As any longtime reader of this blog will know, I am a bit of a cat lady. I love cats. If the Raincity Software Engineer and I weren’t both so terribly allergic to cats, I would probably be up to my ears in feline friends. I have lived with cats in the past despite my allergies, and I know very well the highs and lows of being owned by such a creature. I Hate My Cats (A Love Story) is exactly that – a tongue-in-cheek account of the joys and headaches of sharing your life with a cat or two! Honestly I feel like this picture book will appeal most to adults – the illustrations are elegant and sophisticated, and the narrator is an adult male. In fact, I would buy this as a gift for a fellow adult cat lover!
One of my favourite aspects of I Hate My Cats is the illustrations. They’re so very chic! You’ll just have to excuse my terrible photography skills here and take my word for it.
I’m not necessarily sure how much children will relate to I Hate My Cats (A Love Story), but I know many cat-loving adults who will adore it!
Source: Raincoast Books
“When pigs fly!” That’s what we exclaim when we think something is unlikely to happen. But in Il Sung Na’s The Dreamer, one determined piggy dreams of doing just that, and so he sets off on a mission to join the birds in the sky. I love, love, love, books like this, books that show characters achieving their goals through blood, sweat and tears, through determination and hard work and dreams and plans. While trying to master flight, the little pig asks for help and listens to advice. He tries new approaches and learns from his mistakes and adapts his plans, until finally he achieves his precious goal and soars up, up, up. But this little dreamer isn’t satisfied – once he achieves his goal, his eyes start looking for the next dream. And his determination inspire those around him to start working towards their own dreams. Success is about taking risks, experiencing failures, working your heart out and never losing sight of your dreams, something Il Sung Na captures beautifully. What a wonderful, wonderful book!
Source: Raincoast Books
Little Bear’s Big House – Benjamin Chaud
Little Bear is bored, bored, bored. He’s sure that little boys don’t have to sit around with their boring little brothers, so he sets off to leave the forest and find an adventure. But Little Bear might end up finding more adventure than he can handle!
I’ve had a chance to read several of this author-illustrator’s other Little Bear books, and I’ve enjoyed every one of them. I love the amount of detail that Chaud puts onto each page, it’s so much fun to look through each illustration and enjoy every little figure and creature.
There’s a sweet little misunderstanding where Little Bear’s family sets out to find Little Bear and keep missing him, which I think little readers will find hilarious. Little Bear’s Big House is a great book to spend time with, examining, exploring and enjoying.
Source: Raincoast Books
So, what have you been reading this week, bookish friends?
I Hate My Cats sounds amazing! I’ll have to check that one out. Thanks for the recommendation!
I loved Louise Loves Art, particularly because I’ve never considered myself much of an artist. The book might have encouraged me if I’d had it as a child. The rest of your books look like terrific ones too. I’ll have to check them out. Thanks for sharing and have a great week!
I know a few people who would probably enjoy I Hate My Cats.
I Hate My Cats looks soooo adorable! Those illustrations are gorgeous, too. I’m thinking of all of my cat friends would might love a copy of this one. Thanks for sharing, Jane!
Those illustrations of I Hate My Cat are fabulous to see. I’ve had only one cat, love them, but my daughter-in-law is very allergic, so no more. And I love bear books, will be sure to find Little Bear’s Big House which looks terrific. Thanks, Jane, glad the rain helped with the smoke!
Oh my Goodness, I want to read Little Bear’s Big House!! Looks fantastic.
One of my kids is trying to convince us we need a cat. I’ll have to get my hands on I Hate My Cats to read with him! All of these books you shared look so lovely. I think my favorite part about children’s books is the art.
Mine too! I’m so in awe of the artwork in children’s books, there’s such variety of styles, it’s really amazing!
Ooh, a new Chaud book. Can’t wait to read that.
Oh my goodness. Little Bear’s Big House looks simply fantastic!
I need I Hate My Cats RIGHT NOW! Those illustrations are so lovely. I so admire you for living with cats at different times despite your allergies. We just added cat #9 to our household, so we are literally up to our ears in cats, and it is wonderful! Or will be, once the dynamics get figured out and Toast finds a way to tolerate Oliver. Our longtime cats are so used to newcomers, they barely even look at him, just go about his business. But the younger ones are quite outraged by the presence of an interloper! Thanks for sharing all these picture books–will be looking for Little Bear’s Big House especially.
I Hate My Cats: A Love Story. Best title ever. I think you could replace “Cats” with lots of things–maybe even “Kids” every now ad then.
The rain was such a blessing! I’m here in the Okanagan again and the smell of smoke is getting heavy in the air again.
I really really wish that the VPL had The Dreamer by Il Sung Na. We have a few of his board books that are delightful to read. I’m sure the Little Bear books will be very entertaining for little ones. The illustrations remind me of the Richard Scary books that my boys used to pore over for hours at a time. There is so much to see.
I love the art of all of these, especially Louise Loves Art, which looks like a lot of fun! I always discover such great kids reads on your blog! <3
Thank you, that’s lovely to hear! 🙂