Carter HigginsRezensionen

My 8-year-old liked this more than I thought she would. I loved it, but she is getting to that age where she thinks she's too big for picture books (no one is too big for picture books). She loved the paper foldouts (obviously) but she also liked making connections between the big, small, and in-between. After she read it through once, she surprised me by reading it again.

I always enjoy art by Miyares and I think he's outdone himself here. This is one of my favorite picture books of the year for sure.

I want this book to be better. Ruth Krauss is a pillar of the children’s book community. Her books are strange and interesting, but her beloved books are still in print. This book tries to take her story and use her style, but it comes out a mishmash. What one hopes to be a biography is more of a headache. There was more to learn in the after notes of this book then was within the story itself. The illustrations are lovely and old fashioned, and they fit the theme of the book, but overall I find there’s nothing probative in this work or memorable either.

Carter Higgins visited the Carle Museum to read aloud from her new book. The brilliance of Some of These Are Snails (and her previous book, Circle Under Berry) might be overlooked at first, but she's doing really mind-bendy things with color, shape, and size. You could build a whole lesson plan or storytime and craft around these books, introducing the idea of organization and comparison. Plus they are bright and cheerful and fun, and have a lovely rhythm.½

First sentence: Diego was flicking boogers again. Not actual straight-from-your-nose boogers, but the crusty crumbly bits of dried up glue that he'd peeled from his palms.

Premise/plot: Audrey L and Audrey W are best, best friends. Or they are supposed to be. But what happens when enough is enough is enough in Room 19? What happens if the table arrangements (the assigned seating at the tables) are completely redone! If Audrey L and Audrey W are assigned different tables, different teams/pods, will they still be best, best, best friends? Or will Audrey W replace her with a new friend (one named Bettina).

Meanwhile, the class is preparing for a talent show. Can Audrey L find her true talent???

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I still enjoy these characters. I still enjoy chapter books with a strong school setting. In particular, ones that flesh out all the students in a particular classroom and follows them through several books. Classroom dynamics are quite interesting. Audrey L is a great main character. But I like seeing the big picture too!

I loved the description of Audrey W being the guacamole to Audrey L's taco.

It is a tad long for storytime I realized. And I should have known. The book is also an awkward size which makes it difficult for an audience.

But kids loved the opposites and talking about things in the world that are big, small, and in between. When I had to move papers around to show words, I knew I had their attention

First sentence: At the beginning of the school year, Audrey had been super-duper-duper sure that second grade would be twice as fun as first. She was ready.

Premise/plot: Audrey L is having a harder time than she'd like adjusting to second grade. When Audrey W joins the class--and is assigned to her table/group--things get interesting. Audrey is her official welcome ambassador. Are the two Audrey's more similar than different? Do they have potential to be best friends? This is a situational school drama-comedy. Audrey L definitely is having a time of it. (I believe the book spans a week or possibly two. Not much longer.)

My thoughts: I LOVED the narration in this one. Audrey L is given quite the unique voice and I absolutely loved getting to know HER. I thought it was super-relatable; it had humor and heart. I look forward to reading book two.

First sentence: Born
a baby
late at night
There's
no parade
just crashing
rain
Soon
the girl
twirls upside-up
and rides her bike
down down the hall
But sickness sticks around a lot
and steals her voice away--
so she wiggle-wiggles little fingers
that's how she says hi
Like this
She listens listens
writes and draws
stitches pages
sews a book
She finds another way
to tell a tale

Premise/plot: This picture book biography is written in verse. It is a biography of children's book author Ruth Krauss.

My thoughts: I was expecting to like this one. While Ruth Krauss is not my absolute favorite and best author. I do remember reading several of her books growing up. Still, any picture book biography about a children's author/writer is going to be on my radar. I'm going to want to read it and try to get a behind the scenes glimpse of the magic.

I definitely was pleasantly surprised by this one. I really LOVED the narrative style. It is not perfectly perfect. I personally need punctuation. I do. I like periods at the end of sentences. (All punctuation has a role to play in text.) But the beauty of the rhythm works for me.

I would recommend this one. I do think young readers would probably benefit most if this biography is read alongside some of Ruth Krauss's picture books.

A rhythmic read that reminded me of Michael Hall's My Heart Is Like A Zoo, with a little bit of the Stroop test thrown in, and some Herve Tullet (Press Here) flavor: Higgins mixes colors, shapes, and animals made of combinations of both (a green rectangle becomes a grasshopper) and asks direct questions ("is this orange? is it oval?") to involve the reader. Oddly captivating; might be good for preschool storytime, with easy art project tie-ins.

Poetic, quirky, not quite what I expected from the title.

This book is great and super cool! I love that it incorporates different types of treehouses and individuals who made the treehouses. I liked look at all the different tree house styles and places they were in.

soothing text; clear and simple illustrations - all about WHERE/positions

I loved the lyrical language and the illustrations brought me back to my treehouse days as a child growing up in North Vancouver, B.C. This book captures the imaginations of young and old.

«Todo lo que necesitas para hacer una casa en un árbol es tiempo, mirar hacia arriba e imaginar…»

Así comienza este libro lleno de inspiradoras escenas de naturaleza, en las que los árboles parecen amables gigantes que invitan a vivir infinitas aventuras. Se trata de un original manual de instrucciones ...

Initially, I wasn't enamored...though I think it was the abstract way the story unfolded and the color palette utilized that did it for me; in hindsight, it had it's own cute factor. It tells of an unlikely friendship developing from an unfortunate meeting thanks to chance, circumstance, and the particularly awesome skills of one bicycle shop owner. Both Maurice and Lotta are dedicated to their chosen crafts and when those are put on pause, it obviously saddens their hearts. When they discover their beloved bicycles, thought lost forever, were given a new life...they take it in stride and push the pedal forward on a new adventure with smile on their faces and some pep in their step...err, push.


**copy received for review; opinions are my own

«Todo lo que necesitas para hacer una casa en un árbol es tiempo, mirar hacia arriba e imaginar…»Así comienza este libro lleno de inspiradoras escenas de naturaleza, en las que los árboles parecen amables gigantes que invitan a vivir infinitas aventuras.
Se trata de un original manual de instrucciones en el que tanto el texto como las ilustraciones descubren, paso a paso, el divertidísimo juego de imaginar, construir y habitar no una, sino más de una decena de casas diferentes, alojadas en los árboles más maravillosos....

Maurice and Lotta both loved their bicycles, using them to sell lemonade, in Maurice's case, and to gather and give out sticks, in Lotta's. But when they meet with misfortune, in the form of a stick and a banana peel, and their bikes are wrecked, it looks like the end of their riding fun. Fortunately, what is now junk to them offers possibilities to Sid, the bicycle repairman, and he cobbles together a new mega-bike. It is this new vehicle that brings Maurice and Lotta together...

The third picture-book I have read from author Carter Higgins, after her This Is Not a Valentine and Everything You Need for a Treehouse, and the fifth I have picked up from illustrator Zachariah OHora, Bikes for Sale was a book I expected to like far more than I did. Somehow, despite appreciating the cute artwork, done in acrylic, the story itself fell flat for me. I couldn't really manage to muster up any interest in the two main characters or their bicycle-related drama, and the concluding episode involving their friendship elicited no heartwarming feeling. It's hard to say what went wrong here, but this one just didn't work, perhaps because it felt too much like a list of happenings, and not enough like an actual story. Readers looking for engaging picture-books featuring bicycles might want to pick up Alison Farrell's Cycle City instead, or possibly Larissa Theule's recent Born to Ride: A Story About Bicycle Face.

imagine a tree house ...½

Author Carter Higgins and illustrator Emily Hughes join forces in this lovely picture-book tribute to treehouses - how to build them, and how to use them. "Everything you need for a treehouse starts with time and looking up and imagining a home of timber and rafters in wrangled, gnarled bark." So begins Higgins' poetic narrative, which sets out everything you will need, whether physical or spiritual, to build a house in the trees. The accompanying illustrations depict a wide range of treehouses, in a wide range of settings, all beings used by a diverse range of children for a variety of fun activities...

Although I did find the text of Everything You Will Need for a Treehouse engaging, in the end it was the artwork that really made this one special for me. Emily Hughes, those Wild and The Little Gardener both offer beautiful examples of picture-book illustration, creates absolutely gorgeous visual feasts here, and I found myself longing to live in a number of the treehouses she depicted. There is something magical about some of these scenes, something that captures that enchanted feeling of being in the forest. The scene with the treehouse libraries, in particular, felt almost elvish to me, as did the one with steps leading up and around the tree's trunk, to the structure above. Recommended to all young children who long for a treehouse of their own, or for some other space in which to dream and play.

Although the young boy-narrator of this sweet little picture-book insists that each gift and message he gives his friend is NOT a Valentine, it is clear that they indicate great fondness and attachment. They also demonstrate that the boy knows the object of his affections quite well, from her interests to her preferred colors. In the end, despite the absence of glitter and chocolate, can it really be said that these aren't Valentines...?

A warmhearted look at young friendship, one that explores the distinction between substance and show in our demonstrations of love, This Is NOT a Valentine is author Carter Higgins' picture-book debut. The story is sweet, although I did finish it with the feeling that I liked the concept - style vs. substance - more than the actual execution. The artwork, done by Lucy Ruth Cummins, is quite fun, capturing the schoolroom and playground antics of the two main characters quite nicely. Recommended to anyone looking for new picture-books suitable (the title notwithstanding) for Valentine's Day.