The Long, Long Line, by Tomoko Ohmura

Sat, 11/30/2013 - 4:49pm by manz

The Long, Long Line is such a charming picture book! Fifty animals line up for an adventure, literally. You’ve got a line that includes a frog, a rabbit, a sloth, a beaver, a hyena, and even a skunk. These fifty impatient critters wait and wait and wait in line. And complain. And get bored. “It stinks,” says one. Another asks “what’s the line for?,” while another furry creature decides to start a word game they can all can play. What are they in line for?! Something giant and fantastic. This cute story features colorful illustrations and a whopper of an ending. It’s a great lap book that teaches the art of waiting.

Shapes In Art

Thu, 11/21/2013 - 5:16pm by manz

The next time you’re at the Downtown Library stop by the art table in the Youth Department and work with shapes! We have a variety of wooden shapes that children will enjoy making into different designs. We have some templates out for you to get ideas from.

If you’re inspired to read some picture books about shapes, check these out. And for more shapes in art books check out: Museum Shapes, I Spy Shapes In Art, and Shapes.

Welcome To Mamoko

Wed, 11/20/2013 - 12:44pm by manz

Welcome to Mamoko! There is trouble in town! Follow each character through this wordless picture book and discover a new tale on each page. The pages are full of colorful, detailed illustrations of critters and characters in a bustling town, similar to the style of Richard Scarry’s beloved Busytown. The first pages of the book give you clues to some of the characters to follow through Mamoko. If you have a little one that likes to hunt for things on pages of books, this one’s for you! With its large cardboard pages, it’s great for even the youngest of hands.

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, by Peter Brown

Mon, 11/11/2013 - 1:27pm by manz

Mr. Tiger is bored with being proper. He wants to have more fun. So he decides to go wild, which is just what this suit and tie wearing tiger does! He goes a little bit too wild and ends up confusing his fellow proper animal friends. They tell him he should go to to the wilderness where he belongs! And he does go away, but he gets lonely and misses his city and his friends. When he gets back to town he is so surprised and happy by what he sees.

Peter Brown is a Caldecott Honor illustrator and the images in Mr. Tiger Goes Wild were made with India ink, watercolor, gouache, and pencil on paper, then digitally composited and colored. They are simply amazing in this picture book.

The book was recently listed on Publishers Weekly's Best Picture Books of 2013.

At the Art Table: Veterans Day Cards!

Mon, 10/28/2013 - 3:13pm by manz

Next time you’re at the Downtown branch, stop by the art table in the Youth Department and create a Veterans Day card! We've got the supplies needed to make a SUPER STAR card for a Veteran. All cards collected in time will be delivered to the Ann Arbor VA hospital in time for Veterans Day on November 11.

Too Tall Houses, by Gianna Marino

Mon, 10/28/2013 - 11:09am by manz

Too Tall Houses is a beautiful new picture book by Gianna Marino. In the story, Rabbit and Owl live in two small houses on top of a hill. They were good neighbors and friends… until Rabbit’s garden got too tall and Owl couldn’t’ see the forest. So Owl decided to build his house taller, which blocked the sun from reaching rabbit’s garden. Oh my! These two friends have found themselves in a pickle of a house mess. Will they stop competing to make the tallest house and make up and enjoy being neighbors again? Check out this beautifully illustrated picture book to see how it all ends.

Harold Finds A Voice

Thu, 10/24/2013 - 1:41pm by manz

The picture book Harold Finds A Voice is a fantastic debut by author and illustrator Courtney Dicmas. This delightful, sweet and funny story features a parrot named Harold who lives in Paris. Harold could hear just about any sound and mimic it perfectly. He was good at making the alarm clock sound – RING RING! And the washing machine sound – WHOOSH WHOOSH! And even the toilet flushing – FLUSSSSHH! But he was tired of the same old sounds. He longed to find out what other noises were out in the world, and one day he ventured off to explore. Oh! What he did find out there! Read this beautifully illustrated picture book to find out what sounds Harold discovered and what sound he claimed as his own. It’s a great lap book and children will enjoy making the sounds along with Harold.

Parent’s Corner: What’s New

Fri, 10/11/2013 - 10:09am by manz

We are always adding new titles to the Parent Shelf. This shelf is located at the Downtown library in the Youth Department and is where you’ll quickly find a variety of parent-child related books on a multitude of topics- including everything from language to tantrums to bullying to homework. These books are available for checkout, and can be found in the catalog when searching “parent shelf,” if you’d like to have one sent to a branch of your choice.

Here are some new and hot titles on the parent shelf to keep an eye out for:

Beating the lunch box blues : fresh ideas for lunches on the go!

The big disconnect : protecting childhood and family relationships in the digital age

The parent backpack for kindergarten through grade 5 : how to support your child's education, end homework meltdowns, and build parent-teacher connections

Taking charge of ADHD : the complete, authoritative guide for parents

For more titles, check out this list!

Windblown

Wed, 10/09/2013 - 12:42pm by manz

Windblown is a darling children’s picture book by Édouard Manceau. Readers will be drawn to the sparse, colorful shapes and simple line drawings as animals for the illustrations. As various shapes appear the narrator asks the reader where the paper shapes came from. Whose paper is it? Simple and funny, the book gets readers to play along as the chicken, the frog, the bird, and more animals claim that the paper shapes are theirs. It ends up being a cumulative story where the paper comes from many places.

Windblown was featured in Miss Amanda’s preschool storytimes this week!

The book is great for fans of Hervé Tullet's Press Here, which is another wonderful, interactive and colorful picture book. Why not check them both out?!

Monsterific Picture Books

Thu, 10/03/2013 - 4:55pm by manz

Many families are familiar with Ed Emberley’s picture book Go Away, Big Green Monster. He has a new monster book done in the same way, with colorful cut-out illustrations, called Nighty Night, Little Green Monster. It’s cute! And the monster going to bed is cute!

More great monster picture books by Emberley are There Was An Old Monster and If You’re A Monster And You Know It. For even more monster books, see this list.

These books are sure to be sweet (or spooky?) treats at bedtime this October.