Otto The Book Bear - a book review

Hi everyone.   Welcome to Storywraps today.  Here is the answer to yesterday's book quote.  The quote I pulled for you was....

"The Lupin lady lives in a small house overlooking the sea."  The book I extracted it from was "Miss Rumphius" by Barbara Cooney.  I hope you guessed right and good for you if you did.

Today's quote is:

"So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookshelf on the wall."

Today's featured book is:

Title:  Otto The Book Bear

Author and Illustrator:  Katie Cleminson

Ages:  K-Gr. 2









Take a peek inside:

What's it all about:

Otto is a charming little brown bear who calls a book his home.  He loves it there and is happiest when his story is being read.  Otto is unique (or so he thinks) because he has the ability at night to climb out of his book and go exploring.  At first he explores all around his owners home but soon farther distances call him as he becomes even more adventurous.

One night, on his return, he finds his bookshelf completely empty and his owners gone.  They have moved away and taken his home with them.   Distraught and forlorn he is beside himself.  His sits down, regroups, plucks up some courage, straps on his little red bag and off he goes hunting....off to find a new home.  He wanders aimlessly and discontented with his options until he stumbles upon a huge building that is lit up and looks inviting.  As he enters he discovers a whole world of books, he uncovers a load of storybook characters just like himself, who befriend him, and best of all, happy children who love to read stories over and over again. He finds his perfect home.

I love the illustrations.  They are pen and ink with watercolours and are simple, kind of a vintage flair, reminiscent of Beatrix Potter or Winnie the Pooh.  I highly recommend this book.

About the author:

Katie Cleminson studied Illustration for Children's Publishing at North Wales School of Art; she graduated in 2007 with a First Class Honours degree and her work has been exhibited in London, Poland, Italy, Japan and Korea. Katie lives in England.

Book Review Rating:  8 (Fantastic!)

Read on and read always!  Have a wonderful day everyone.

Kids' Book Club: Otto The Book Bear

Clever, creative ways to recycle throw-away items

Welcome to Storywraps today.  The answer to Saturday's book quote is:

                             "Chug, chug, chug.  Puff, puff, puff. Ding-dong, ding-dong."

                                    From: "The Little Engine that Could"  by Watty Piper  

Today's first line of a well-known children's book is:

                            "The Lupin lady lives in a small house overlooking the sea."

Can you guess the book title and author of the above?  Good luck.

Top Reasons To RECYCLE

1. Recycling saves trees. Half the Earth's forests are gone, and up to 95 percent of the original forest area in the U.S. has been cut down.
   
2. Recycling protects wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Using recycled mate- rials reduces the need to extract natural resources such as timber, crude petroleum and mineral ores.
   
3. Recycling reduces the use of toxic chemicals. Making products from already refined waste materials reduces -- and often avoids altogether -- the need for manufacturers to use toxic chemicals, essential when using virgin materials.
   
4. Recycling helps curb global warming. Recycling one ton of glass results in en- ergy savings of more than 300% and lowers carbon dioxide emissions by 3.46 tons
   
5. Recycling reduces water pollution. Turning trees into paper is the most water- intensive industrial process in the United States. Paper recycling mills nearly always use less water and they don't pollute the water nearly as much.
   
6. Recycling reduces the need for landfills. Toxic pollution from landfills -- including cyanide, dioxins, mercury, methane, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and lead -- escapes into the air and leaches into groundwater.
   
7. Recycling reduces the need for incinerators. Municipal waste incinerators spew out all kinds of air pollutants, and are often located in urban neighborhoods.
   

8. Recycling creates jobs and promotes economic development. 

Today's featured book is:

Authors:  Simon and Sheryl Shapiro

Illustrator:  Francis Blake

Take a peek inside:

My take:

This delightful rhyming book is a fun, quirky way to start a conversation and teach about the value of recycling, reusing and reducing the waste around us.  In perfect rhythm the authors expose 13 everyday objects that have been transformed into something so creative and imaginative it will surely bring a smile to your face.  Kids are always fascinated by the ability of something being transformed right before their eyes.  Recycling "magic" at its best.  A discarded toilet is morphed into a beautiful flower planter, an old sneaker makes the idyllic bird feeder when nailed to a tree, and a favourite old pair of tattered and worn blue jeans is cut and sewn into a designer purse to extend its life a little longer and bring comfort to its owner.

The cartoonish illustrations blend perfectly with the poems and the combination of real photos plus manmade illustrations work flawlessly.  "What Can You Do With Only One Shoe?" Reuse, Recycle, Reinvent, will have your kids looking around your home to see what they can invent from your throw-away pile.  This book will surely give them inspiration to do just that.

About the authors:  

When Sheryl and Simon Shapiro met over 35 years ago in South Africa (where they were born and grew up), they had very different interests. Simon had studied subjects like applied mathematics and physics, and worked as a computer programmer. Sheryl had studied print-making and oil painting and worked as an art teacher. Over the years, their lives—and their interests—changed. Simon took up photography as a hobby, learning about color and composition, and now loves visiting art galleries. Sheryl became an art director and book designer, and now spends all day, every day, using a computer.

They have other things in common like enjoying music, movies, theater, reading, and spending time with their son Stephen who has written four books for Annick Press. They also discovered that they liked writing humorous rhymes for special occasions. When the opportunity came up to write a book together, they jumped at the chance.

Their different abilities and different approaches made working on the book interesting. And there were many happy hours along the way. But they agree that working separately could never have produced the amusing mixtures book called Better Together (2011). Their second rhyming picture book, Slither Slide, What’s Outside? (2012) is a National Parenting Publications Awards, Honor Winner. Now they have written two picture books in verse that explore the concepts of shapes. Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots and Zebra Stripes Go Head to Toe (Fall 2013) combine vibrant photos and bouncy rhymes to introduce young children to the concept of shapes.

Sheryl and Simon live in Toronto, Ontario.

About the illustrator:

Francis Blake has been an illustrator for as long as he can remember, and his artwork appears in magazines, books and advertising campaigns across North America and Europe, as well as the Far East.

His original paintings and drawings are in private collections as far apart as Melbourne, Toronto and Wigan.

Through the medium of ink and water-colour, his illustrations employ a subtle line, augmented by intoxicating flourishes of colour. The apparent simplicity of his work belies a considerable technical ability.

Francis' pictures can be darkly satirical or warm and personable, but are always informed by a sharp wit.

He is represented exclusively by Three in a Box Inc., and lives in London with an increasingly demanding and occasionally very bad-tempered cat called Sufi.

His hobby (by necessity rather than vocation) is a sixty-foot garden from which he acquires colour, inspiration and backache in equal measure.

Book Review Rating: 8 (Fantastic!)

Read on and read always!  Have an excellent day everyone.

O'Shae the Octopus-book review

Happy Saturday morning everyone.  You are always welcome here at Storywraps and I am glad you dropped by.  The answer to yesterday's book quote : "This is Geroge. He lives in Africa," is from the book "Curious George by H. A. Rey."

               Today's quote is:  "Chug chug chug, Puff puff puff.  Ding-dong Ding-dong."

Do you know the title of the book and the author for the above?  Answer will be posted Monday.


Today's feature is: 

Author:  Brandee Bublé

Illustrator:  Eiska Liska

This book is written in rhyme and has a great message for all the kids out there.  Sometimes being different doesn't make you odd or an outcast but makes you very, very special.  O'Shae is a young octopus that has the distinction of having not eight, but ten arms.  He feels strange but his mother fully supports his uniqueness as does his BFF Shelton the Shark.  One day he and Sheldon go to Seaweed Park and unfortunately two bullies show up and start poking fun at him for his oddity.  O'Shae takes his reality and turns it into something so wonderful and exciting that all his friends, underwater strangers and even the bullies come to him and praise his special gift and want to hang out and play with him.  It is a story you will want to read and then let the conversation about being your own person, celebrating who you are and feeling good in your own skin pour forth and affirm and verify exactly who you are.....you are one of a kind....you are....YOU... the best! 

Take a peek inside:

About the author:

Brandee Buble grew up in Burnaby, BC, with her big brother Michael and little sister Crystal. Growing up as the daughter of a fisherman, Brandee spent many summers aboard her father's boat, where she had plenty of time to let her imagination run wild about all the creatures that surrounded her. Brandee taught children with special needs for eight great years and that's where her stories were born. She loved writing fun stories to keep her students engaged, often communicating with them through rhyme. Now married to her high school sweetheart, Brandee is a stay-at-home mom to her two awesome kids, O'Shae and Jayde. She is crazy about her family... in fact her sister Crystal is her next door neighbour! She still absolutely loves the ocean and can be found most sunny days on her boat with her family and friends.


About the Illustrator:

Eliska Liska is a world-travelling freelance artist currently based in Victoria, BC. She has a master's degree in Contemporary Art and New Media from Ostrava University, Czech Republic. Her book Suzie’s Sourdough Circus was published in 2011 and she was the 2013 Summer Reading Club artist for BC.

Book Review Rating:  8 (Fantastic!)

Read on and read always!  Have a great weekend and see you back here Monday! 

A book to motive you to move

Hello to you today.  Love having you here with me for a visit each day.  I will first give you the answer to the book from yesterday.  Remember,  I give you the "first line" and you guess the book title and author.  Here is yesterday's answer:  "Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown."

Today's quote is:

                                                    "This is George.  He live in Africa."




Look familiar?

This fabulous book can help kids get up off their duffs....get outside...and let their creative juices flow........

Authored by:  Nancy Honovich and Julie Beer

Forward:  Richard Louv

Ages:  10+

It's time to take our kid's minds, bodies and spirits back.  Our kids are turning electronics into their passion and we need to show them that being outdoors, running, exploring, creating and observing nature with all it's complexities, beauty and splendour is very, very important to their health and well-being.  

This fabulous book is done in excellence as we have come to expect from National Geographic.  It is full of magnificent photos, sidebars, fun tips, information and facts that will boost your child's knowledge and make him aware of the world around him. It is designed in such a fun, kid-friendly way that your child will want to dive into the book and will have no alternative but to learn interesting facts and  then go forth and celebrate the great outdoors.  

The book has very cool ideas for adventures in forests, fields, on beaches, on playgrounds, in city parks, and right in your own back yard.  I especially like that their are many suggestions and instructions to create crafts, engage in activities and above all discover the fascination of nature by taking the time to explore and engage in it.  I highly, highly recommend this book.

About the author:   

Nancy Honovich is the author of several articles, short stories and books for children. She works as an editor in New York City.

  Book Review Rating:  9 (Close to Perfection!)

Read on and read always!  Get your kids out and exploring today.

Get off the couch...get moving

Hello everyone.  Welcome to Storywraps today, glad you are here for a visit.  Here is the answer to yesterday's book excerpt:  "Fly Away Home" by Eve Bunting.

Today's quote is:

                     " In the great green room, there was a telephone and a red balloon."

                                                             Author:  Sean Jackson


Take a peek inside:

What's it all about?

This book with it's lovable characters will get you thinking about what is truly important in your life. Spud, a young potato, turned couch potato, does nothing all day but sit on the couch,  flick his remote and watch endless hours of t.v.  He sleeps in late and watches his family engage in fishing expeditions, his brother and sister read, paint and play outside while he just sits like a lump and doesn't move off his couch nest.  Then one day his worst nightmare comes true and his t.v. screen goes completely black.  He is distraught without his techie BFF and does a very daring feat....he steps off of his comfy couch and steps into the unknown world that surrounds him.  Once outside he runs into some tater tots who are playing baseball and they actually ask him to play along with them.  Well he is stunned, first because they invite him to play, and secondly because he has no clue how to play the game. He has never bothered to learn because t.v., sadly has become his life.  Happily they are willing to teach him how to play with no judging.  He hesitantly agrees and after a few weeks finds that exercise, the "real time" comradery and the fresh air are quite pleasant indeed.  After some reflection he acknowledges that he was wasting his time watching so much t.v. and it is much more fun to be outside jumping rope, running around and playing hide and seek with the other taters.   The last line sums it up perfectly:

"So take it from Spud

the couch loving tater

It's more fun to be active

and watch T.V. later."

Very, very good advice indeed Spud.  We all need to heed it no matter what our age.  

About the author:

born

in Stillwater, OK, The United States

gender

male

website

http://www.spudthecouchpotato.com

genre

Children's

member since

March 2014

About this author

edit data

Sean Jackson is a native Oklahoman now living in New York. Growing up in small town America his family always encouraged him to be active and try new things. At an early age his father exposed him to camping, climbing, and skiing turning him into an avid adventurer and endurance athlete. He has competed in races all over the world including the Gobi March in China and Ironman Arizona. His love for adventure prompted him to start his own company, Bonvoy adventure travel, in 2009. Taking what he had learned from his family, Sean wanted to help promote an active lifestyle for young kids prompting the creation of Spud.

Book Review Rating:  8 (Fantastic!)

Read on and read always!  Have a perfect day everyone