Little Brown Books for Young Readers

May 12 – National Odometer Day

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About the Holiday

In 1847 William Clayton invented a little add-on to the automobile that provides perspective, history, and interesting information on our beloved cars—the odometer! Whether you like to keep track of how many miles you travel on a trip, how economical your gas mileage is, when your next tune-up is due, or just marvel at how long your car has lasted, the numbers on the odometer tell the story. Today, take your car out for a spin—perhaps to the car wash or out to the open road!

Are We There Yet?

By Dan Santat

 

When you’re invited to a very special birthday party and it’s far away, what do you do? Pack up the car, of course, and head out on an adventure! Going to Grandma’s house is always exciting—at least for the first hour, but after that each minute seems to take for- ev-er. You might even think “Are we there yet?” or “This is taking forever.” Wait! Did you say that out loud? The look on your parents’ faces tell you you did!

You can only stare out the window at the landscape for so long. “But what happens when your brain becomes too bored? That’s when your whole world can turn upside down. Minutes feel like hours. Hours turn to days. Days seem like months and then years. Pretty soon that “quick trip” feels like a million years.

As you ride in the car, tucked in the back seat, feeling a little sick, needing to use the bathroom, your butt growing numb—and bored, bored, bored—could time actually be going backward? While you’re zipping down the highway suddenly a steam train is chugging past, trying to outrun a team of bandits. Now pirates have captured your car and sent it down the plank toward the briny deep! I hope you’re good with a lance because somehow your family’s the main attraction at the royal jousting tournament. And there’s no stopping for the bathroom in Ancient Egypt, or you’ll be put to work building a pyramid.

You think you’ve reached the end of your patience? You’ve actually reached the beginning of time. You may love dinosaurs, but you don’t belong in the Cretaceous Period. So play fetch with T-Rex one time and then climb aboard his back for a wild ride back.

But as quickly as you turned back time you can find yourself in the future—a future you don’t even recognize, where everything you love is gone. So take time now—yes, while you’re bored, bored, bored—to really look around you and see what’s going on. After all, you don’t want to miss this party—it’s the one you’ve been invited to.

Dan Santat’s Are We There Yet? is a rambunctious reminder to enjoy the moment you’re in, because Time is a wily beast that creeps up on you when you’re not paying attention. The art in this book is the star, with its full, two-page vibrant spreads and topsy-turvy format. An old steam train is chased by bandits in the western heat. A rag-tag crew of scallywag pirates menace the family at sword point. Crowds roar at a medieval jousting tournament. Ancient Egyptians toil in the golden sun overshadowed by the Sphynx and pyramids. And it’s love at first sight when the boy comes eye to eye with T-rex in the lush jungles of early Earth.

The scenes of the future, complete with flying cars, neon colors, and helpful robots make clever use of QR codes, and kids will relate to the funny twist ending.

Ages 4 – 8

Little Brown and Company, 2016 | ISBN 978-0316199995

Gardening for Wildlife Activity

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Who’s in the Garden Dot-to-Dots

 

Completing a dot-to-dot puzzle can be a little like taking a trip—you go from stop to stop, not knowing exactly what you’ll find at the end. In these dot-to-dots, you’ll discover who’s hiding in the garden.

Printable dot-to-dot, page 1

Printable  dot-to-dot, page 2

April 9 – Cherish an Antique Day

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Once Upon a Memory by Nina Laden and Renata Liwska Picture Book Reivew

About the Holiday

When you look at an antique chair with its faded upholstery or a brooch handed down from your great-great-grandmother, do you ever think about the day when it was new? Imagine the excitement of sitting in the chair for the first time or opening the jewelry box on a shining pin. Today we remember our collective and individual treasured past, held in the objects of days gone by. Cherish an Antique Day is a perfect time to learn more about the stories of any antiques you may own.

Once Upon a Memory

Written by Nina Laden | Illustrated by Renata Liwska

 

This stunning, quiet book is so evocative in its premise that certain lines can bring a lump to your throat even before you reach the endearing end. A little boy sits in his playroom surrounded by his stuffed toys and pet dog, enjoying a tea party. A feather blows through the window, eliciting the question, “Does a feather remember it once was…a bird?” and then more musings: “Does a book remember it once was…a word?”

The simple patterned phrasing and rhyming couplets lend the story a surprising suspense as the reader tries to guess what one-time material or emotion transformed into another before the clever answer is revealed: “Does a statue remember it once was…stone? Does an island remember it once was…unknown?”

In the last pages the queries become more personal—“Does love remember it once was…new? Does a family remember it once was…two?” Adult readers will recognize where the reflective path leads, giving this book a deeper level of meaning for both adults and children: “Does the world remember it once was…wild? Will you remember you once were…a child?”

The question is not an idle one. In these busy, stressful times it’s good to remember what it meant—and means—to be a child.

Nina Laden’s subtly anthropomorphic world invites readers into a new realm of imagination as well as reality. Readers and listeners receive a new perspective on life as Laden’s poetic voice opens up a wide world of possibilities.

Renata Liwska’s illustrations are simply adorable and represent each couplet with depth and imagination. The feather that blows in the little boy’s window comes not from some single, random bird, but from a happy barber shop where an owl is getting a haircut. “Book” is both the volume lovingly read by the boy and the word painted on a busy bookshop sign. Liwska’s sweet bears, squirrels, beavers, birds, raccoons, bats and more as well as the tiny boy are rendered in gauzy browns, grays, reds, and yellows that are as soft and comforting as a favorite memory.  Once Upon a Memory would be a perfect companion on a walk, a trip, or during times of waiting, where readers and listeners could make up their own “once was” pairs. Its cadence also makes it a nice, comforting bedtime book.

Ages 4 – 7

Little Brown and Company, 2013 | ISBN 978-0316208161

Cherish an Antique Day Activity

CPB - Antique Day

Share the Stories of Your Antiques

 

Whether you have old photographs of great-great-grandparents or special heirlooms, today’s holiday is a wonderful time to share them and the stories behind them with children. The feeling of being part of several generations or holding history in your hands is exciting and comforting and can lead to more understanding and closer relationships.

Adults can collect a few family heirlooms and/or photographs to share with children. Children can choose which of their toys, books, or other favorite objects they think will last to become a cherished antique in the future.

Take time to get together and discuss the objects you’ve collected with a cup of tea or hot chocolate and some special treats.

March 11 – Johnny Appleseed Day

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About the Holiday

If you love apples, apple pie, applesauce, and all things apple, you probably have John Chapman to thank. John Chapman was a remarkable man who lived his values of kindness and generosity as he journeyed across the newly opened American frontier in the early 1800s. He is most commonly known as Johnny Appleseed for the apple seeds he planted and nurseries he founded across the country. Apples were a welcome crop—easily grown and stored for consumption throughout the year. He was well loved by the people he met on his travels, respected by the Native Americans, and gentle with all animals. Today we remember his contributions to the growth of America and his inclusive beliefs.

Johnny Appleseed

Written by Reeve Lindbergh | Illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen

 

As the poem opens, John Chapman approaches the simple Goodwin cabin in the woods. “Young Hannah Goodwin saw him first, / A stranger lean and lorn, / His face was thin, his feet were bare, / His clothing old and worn.”

Hannah first meets Johnny Appleseed when she is a little girl and he accepts the family’s invitation to dinner. He is an engaging source of entertainment, news, and stories about the American frontier, but he cannot stay long as he must continue his mission to plant apple trees across the country. Although John Chapman’s work takes him far away, Young Hannah heard the tales of him / All through her growing years / As he brought apples, sharp and sweet, / To other pioneers.

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Image copyright Kathy Jakobsen, courtesy of kathyjakobsen.com

The stories are exciting and comforting. Johnny Appleseed walks through any weather, is trusted by Native Americans, and lives peacefully with all animals, all the while scattering seeds along his path.

As an old man John Chapman returns to the Goodwin house, now nestled among a mature apple orchard. “Old Hannah Goodwin saw him last / when many years had gone. / He came in by the orchard gate / A quiet hour past dawn.”

Again, he regales Hannah with stories of his adventures and how the trees he had planted helped families thrive and make America strong. “There was spicy apple cider now / Out on the western plain. / There was applesauce in Iowa / and apple pie in Maine.

Although Hannah never sees John Chapman again, she passes down his legacy to her children, just as we still do today.

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Image copyright Kathy Jakobsen, courtesy of kathyjakobsen.com

The format of Reeve Lindbergh’s rhythmic and rhyming poem is a fitting tribute to the life of Johnny Appleseed. The lyrical lines flow as smoothly as the reader might imagine John Chapman tread across the Midwest plains and rugged West. With evocative language and a straightforward delivery, Lindbergh echoes the philosophy of simplicity and steadfastness that guided John Chapman’s life.

Kathy Jakobsen, one of America’s premiere folk artists, has embraced the story of Johnny Appleseed in stunning paintings of an America at her beginning. Depictions of rolling hills dotted with farms and trees, stone mills, horse-drawn carts loaded with apples, families at home and on the move in Conestoga wagons, as well as lush scenes of John Chapman interacting with nature and Native Americans portray the grandeur of America and the singularity of Johnny Appleseed. A quilt of small paneled scenes surround the text on each left-hand page, while the right page is fully dedicated to Jakobsen’s work.

Ages 5 – 8

Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 1998 | ISBN 978-0316526340

Johnny Appleseed Day Activity

CPB - Cinnamon Apples (2)

Cinnamon Apples Recipe

 

Cinnamon apples are a delicious side dish to any meal! This tasty recipe is fun for kids and adults to make together.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of apples, Macintosh or Granny Smith apples are good choices
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

CPB - Cinnamon Apples ingredients (2)

Directions

  1. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon
  2. Peel and core 2 large apples
  3. Thinly slice apples
  4. Combine apples and cinnamon sugar/brown sugar mixture
  5. Stir until well combined
  6. Drizzle with lemon juice and stir again
  7. Cook apples on the stove at medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until desired texture