More Holiday Gift Suggestions: HELLO, CROW and MORE

A fantastic fiction picture book reached me just as I began gathering and reading nonfiction titles for this year's Cybils Awards. I've been shifting this lovely book to the top of a "future posts" pile since it released in September, and It has been calling to me ever since. I can't ignore it for even a moment longer, and I'm sharing it here just in time to suggest as a wonderful option for holiday gifting.

Greystone Kids, 2019
David Suzuki Institute

HELLO, CROW is written  by Candace Savage and illustrated by Chelsea O'Byrne. Franny frustrates her father by leaving things around the house, overlooking simple tasks, and ignoring nearly anything except NATURE. As the endpapers and title page reveal, Franny only has eyes for the wonders of the great outdoors and it's creatures.
Franny sees, smells, explores and hears the call of the wild, longing to connect with it.
This book was inspired by the true story of such a girl. In this version, Franny steps into the great outdoors daily. Many edible lunch bits surround her during one of her outdoor excursions. Crumbs catch the attentive eye of a crow. I love the way the crow eyes Franny cautiously, aware of human presence, and behaves naturally. 
In time, Franny is more intentional in sharing her lunch. Crow appears often, hopping in, then flying in to share lunch and and exchange conversational CAWs. 
Franny is convinced she has made a friend, but her father dismisses it as featherbrained dreaming. 
After many days sharing lunches, Crow delivers a special gift, left where Franny can't miss it. She treasures Crow's gifts of a button, then a bead. She insists to her father that they are proof of their loving friendship. 
When he denies it yet again as dreaming, Franny drags him along to meet Crow. 
Together they sit.
They wait.
They scour the landscape and sky.
No crow.
Just as Father is warming up for an "I told you so" speech, Crow swoops in and lands on Franny's head. 
I love the simple, direct language and charming story, sprinkled with clever word play that parallels familiar home scenes sprinkled with Franny's messy trails. These validate Father's frustrated annoyance and labeling. 
I spent several years working in wildlife rescue, some of which included memorable crows. With that experience, I'd have never doubted Franny's story, but the illustrations make it understandable that he did. 

Even so, this is an important story for parents and children to share, sparking discussions about how important it is to trust a child when they share their stories of daily life. 

The situation in this story reminds me of the kerfuffle about a Sesame Street character several years ago.
(If you missed it, check out the full story HERE). 
The running gag about SNUFFLEUPAGUS was that only the young (kids and characters) ever saw the big goofy guy, because he always left before adults arrived. That premise was dropped/corrected when it became clear that children NEED to know that they will be believed by trusted adults when they report what they see and hear. Helping children learn to explore imagination while being trusted with the truth is a crucial developmental landmark.

HMH Books for Young Readers, 2019

As for Crow's gift-giving of tiny found bits, that  is a well-documented pattern within many bird species, most especially crows, ravens, and magpies. Another book I highly recommend, especially at this season of excess consumption, features a rather greedy magpie who learns the hard way that  sometimes less is more. 
MORE, written by I. C. Springman and illustrated by Brian Lies, gets my full-throated praise in a review in a prior post, HERE. Originally published in 2012 and 2014, it was reissued in fall, 2019. 

So I hope you'll add these two titles to your shopping list, or shop for them with your holiday gift cards, or keep them in ind for future occasions.  Remember, too, that lifetime memories are formed by sharing library trips and treasures with kids. 
Happy reading!

For Peet's Sake, Check These Out!

Let me start by saying I’m a fan of book blogs. Booklist, School Library Journal, and Hornbook were my “suppliers” for hooking up with new titles before the advent of blogs, but now reviews of new and special titles feed right into my digital links. My current vote for the coolest blog about kids’ books goes to The Nerdy Book Club. Day after day, each post reminds me of familiar, well-loved titles or introduces me to amazing new books.

Sarah Wendorf’s March 10 post on Memorable Read Aloud Titles included many of my own favorite titles. Right there, smack dab in the middle of her list, was Bill Peet's The Whingdingdilly!
In case you don't know the book, here's the essence of a fantasy story rooted in genuine experiences: Scamp the dog has been in a mournful mood for weeks, weary of life as a dog and longing for a change. "Oops, be careful what you wish for", right?

There is something in the way Bill Peet captures Scamp's inner voice that reminds me of Katherine Applegate's Ivan of the incredible The One and Only Ivan. It shouldn't be a surprise, considering that Peet was major creative voice behind Disney's Dumbo and many other unforgettable characters.

Bill Peet, like Theo "Seuss" Geisel, Jan Berenstain, and so many other creators of remarkable kids' books, left behind a collection of classics. Just a few of his titles will be listed here with links, but all are featured in rich detail on Peet's web page.

Cock-a-Doodle Dudley, The Wump World, and
Caboose Who Got Loose are some of my favorites. You can view a reading of his eerily timeless, almost prescient Wump World here.
Current picture book publishing emphasizes text of 400-800 words (at most), but his books are perfect examples of complex, vocabulary-rich, multi-layered stories for established readers. In fact, I recommend using a collection of Bill Peet's books to introduce author studies up through middle school and beyond.

I'm not a fan of the famous (or infamous) Accelerated Reader listings, but their reading “levels” for his titles range from a rare 3.5 (Eli), a 3.7 (The Gnats of Knotty Pine, an authentic practice opportunity for silent consonants) through to 6.9 Bill Peet: An Autobiography. More importantly, the length and content allow established readers to consider unknown words, nonsense words, wry humor, irony, deep themes, and complex stories within the time constraints of crowded school days. Some specific word counts include: The Wump World- 1542 words; Whingdingdilly- 3424 words; Huge Harold- 1660 words; Fly, Homer, Fly- 3218 words; and Bill Peet: An Autobiography- 17,358 words. His website offer richly detailed insights into his work, including this sketch of an early version of a cover for his autobiography.

Peet's books are widely available on library shelves and should be making their way into the hands of readers of many ages. Wouldn't it make a great discussion to compare readings of Mo Willems titles and his background working on Sesame Street to Bill Peet titles and his long career with Disney?

After learning more about these two, who wouldn't want to grow up and become a maker of books for kids? It certainly made Bill Peet a happy man.