Books by Murray McCain & Illus by John Alcorn

This book is outrageously colorful. A toy shop we were in near Philiadelphia had five copies of this on top of the bookshelves to announce the book area and believe you mean, it was rather powerful! 

This book is a joyous celebration of all things books! 

Glancing through this I was amazed how completely the illustrator nailed that weird 1960s-70s Monty Python vibe. Then I checked the publication date and realized it WAS published in the 1960's. Hence the vintage feel. 

This book celebrates all the things we love about books.

Look at that dust jacket

Most books are just right for holding.

Look at the font variations and the coloring. 

A list of things books can be about.

These illustrations! The insane pink eyed lion! 

Books can be for coloring (or is that colouring?) or singing. 

Then we get into the words in the books. Here are some hard words

Some happy words. 

I think every person would have a different list of happy words. But I love reading other peoples! 

Funny words! 

All the different potential fonts

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

This book. 

I heard so much about this book in the lead up to the Caldecott awards. And being contrary and not particularly in love with the art in the past few Caldecott winners, I was pretty ambivalent about this one, assuming it wouldn't really be something I would love. 

BUT I DO. 

This gorgeous book is multilayered, detail oriented, and full of love for children and books. 

My heart! 

The illustrations are amazing. Just really, truly amazing. 

In this illustration, childhood drawings of the artist/author are overlaid with a perfectly adorable illustration of the artist as a child. 

These pictures are reminiscent of the intricate embroidery and flamboyant colors of Central American traditional clothing.

Everything in the illustrations is carefully thought out and meaningful. The pathway here is a photograph of the road in her hometown in Mexico. As she is moving across the border to be with the American father of her baby, she is followed by other famous Central American-American migrants: Monarch butterflies and swallows. 

This new land, with a new language was difficult to navigate and make sense of. 

But armed with a stroller and backpack, Yuyi and her baby explored their new world.

One day they stumbled upon a public library. 

They were told they could just take books home without paying. How could that be?! 

I ADORE that actual books are pictured here. 

Worlds and words began to open up to them through the books they brought home. 

Walking with loads of books. I feel like Yuyi and I are kindred spirits. 

When my first two kids were tiny and we were living near Lake Placid, I had a double stroller that I would push one mile to the public library and a nearby thrift store. The number of days I pushed that stroller uphill overflowing with books are hard to count. 

We are stories.

We are two languages.

We are lucha.

We are resilience.

We are hope.

We are dreamers, 

soñadores of the world. 

At the end of the book, Yuyi shares her and her son's story of coming to America. 

There is a list of books that were beloved by her and her son. 

I LOVE reading people's list of books that they love or care about. 

January 30 by Julie Fogliano & Illus by Julie Morstad

January 30

it is the best kind of day

when it is snowing

and the house 

sounds like slippers

and sipping

and there is nowhere to go

but the kitchen

for a cookie

                                                                              --From  When Green Becomes Tomato

Bunny's Book Club by Annie Silvestro & Illus by Tatjana Mai-Wyss

This is such a darling little book. 

The endpapers. A pretend library card pocket! Could it get any cuter? 

This is bunny. Bunny is a big fan of books and stories. 

When stories are read, he lurks in the background so he can hear. 

Summertime story hour at the library is held outside, delighting our story hungry bunny. 

When fall comes, his story hours disappear....

Back into the library. 

A librarian with red cat eye glasses! A library with a gigantic window seat! Cushy seats for the library users! (That last is the school librarian in my coming out.)

Of course, bunny couldn't hear stories being read inside. This worried him. How could he find a way to hear stories again?

He went to the library at night and tried to find a way to break in. 

Unfortunately, it seemed impossible. 

Until he found the book drop. Wiggling through the book drop was nothing to a wee little bunny. 

He was in the kingdom! 

He reversed the usual use of the book drop and took home a large stack. 

Do you SEE how delighted his little face is while shoving books out the book drop?! I love this bunny. 

He goes home and reads. And reads. 

He repeats the take out procedure several times. 

His friends begin to wonder why bunny isn't hanging out with them anymore. 

They come to inquire and bunny takes them to the library. 

 "Whoa," said Porcupine.

"I know," said Bunny.

 "Do you think there is a story about balloons? I have always wondered about balloons."

"Most definitely," said Bunny. 

Porcupine finds his book about balloons. 

I literally can't even with how cute this book is. A porcupine hugging a book about balloons with a rapturous look on his face! 

The two friends went home to carrot cupcakes, tea, and companionable reading. 

I need more carrot cupcakes, tea, and companionable reading in my life.  

Soon other friends became curious. Bunny invited them all in to his book filled house. 

You do have to feel a little bad for the librarian in cat eye glasses who was clearly missing a lot of books by this point. 

All the animals have to go see the library for themselves. Bear going through the book drop was not easy.

Since they were all so excited about the library, they stayed a little too long and were... 

...caught!

Instead of being angry, the librarian (who now has adorable shoes and a spiffy retro dress. Can I be this librarian? She clearly has style.) tells them about library cards. 

And now the friends have unlimited access to the library and the story treasures contained there in. 

Bunny's Book Club is born. 

With plenty of carrot cupcakes .

I know I just gave you the whole story, but this book is so cute that you simply must go look at it. Now! 

Mom, Dad, Our Books, and Me by Danielle Marcotte & Illus by Josée Bisaillon

I was so excited to find this book. The blurb on Amazon says--

Reading takes many forms. Some of us read novels, while others read cookbooks, sheet music, tarot cards, or even the stars in the sky. We read clocks, train schedules, and facial expressions. In this ode to reading, each form is lovely and worth celebrating. Mom, Dad, Our Books, and Me follows a young boy and those around him — parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and neighbors — as they all read, immersed in what moves them. 

Doesn't that sound marvelous?! A delightful revel in the world of reading. 

It follows a young boy around as he discovers what reading is like in the real world. For some inexplicable reason, this isn't a book that makes me heart squeal with joy. It is lacking a something or other, but it is a book that I can love and appreciate.

Plus the author and illustrator are from Montreal. And with a mother who grew up just outside Montreal, I have a soft spot for all things Canadian. 

Mom reads, Dad reads. 

And I read, too!

Reading as a family activity. Yes!!

Unfortunately, the pets cannot join in.

Everyone around me reads.

(If only every little kid were this lucky.)

After five or six pages, Grandma's head is in the clouds. 

Grandpa takes cover beneath a canopy and sinks into his novel.

Cookbooks--

a kitchen scented with eggplants and thyme.

Music books--

wonderful stories made of sound.

Vacation reads, bathtub reads.

Reading the weather.

Facial expressions--

love poems in her boyfriend's eyes. 

The emotions we feel when reading.

Books are unifying, not divisive. 

I do really love this book.