Book Review: Doris' Dear Delinquents by Emma Ward

Doris' Dear Delinquents is a picturebook written and illustrated by Emma Ward. It was a silver medal winner of the 2020 Key Colors Illustrators Competition. Doris the gharial crocodile has her motherly hands full with twenty-six misbehaved hatchlings. Follow along on a journey through the alphabet as she tries to bring peace back into her home.

Doris' Dear Delinquents is a charming alphabet book that many adults reading along with young readers will appreciate as well. Doris is a crocodile mom just trying to get her home under control, the the personalities and expected sibling trouble with twenty six energetic hatchlings is making things hard. I could sympathize with her, and still find the situation amusing. I liked the choices for names ad adjectives to show the alphabet, with fun and quirky happenings making it all work. I thought the illustrations were fun and charming, and frankly made my day. I think will be a fun read one on one, alone for emerging readers, or in a group story time setting. 

Book Review: The Cow Said Neigh! by Rory Feek, Bruno Robert

The Cow Said Neigh!, written by Rory Feek and illustrated by Bruno Robert, is the story of some peculiar farm animals who wish they were like other animals on the farm. The cow wants to run free like a horse, the sheep wants a snout like a pig, the dog wants to be inside like the cat. Soon the entire farm is in chaos! 

The Cow Said Neigh! is a cute story about animals seeing the good of being someone else for a bit. The cow appreciates the freedom of the horse, who likes the look of the duck's quiet life, and so on. The rhymes are cute, and I liked the text style that was used. I think it was the art that caught my eye the most here though. I really enjoyed the colors and lines. There was whimsy to the art, but the lines were still nice and clean. The text placement, style, and color effects were balanced well with the art making the pages cohesive and fun. I think this could become a favorite read for many, and will make readers of all ages smile.

Book Review: Birds of a Feather: A Book of Idioms and Silly Pictures by Vanita Oelschlager, Robin Hegan

Birds of a Feather: A Book of Idioms and Silly Pictures, written by Vanita Oelschlager and illustrated by Robin Hegan, is an exploration of fun phrases. The book introduces children to the magic of idioms - words that separately have one meaning, but together take on something entirely different with outlandish illustrations of what the words describe literally. The reader then has to guess the "real" meaning of the phrases (which is upside down in the corner of each spread). 

Birds of a Feather: A Book of Idioms and Silly Pictures is a cute book and worthy of a fun grinsa and chuckles. The illustrations and bright and bold, catching and holding the reader's attention. Some of the paths the book took for the literal interpretations were not the way I would have gone, but they made for fun pictures. I like that the meaning of the idiom way on each page, but I would have liked more information on the background of the sayings, perhaps in the endpages. One offering of such information was there, but I think more of this could have been done beyond encouraging readers to think about sayings more. Maybe suggestions for further reading in books or on websites that might go into more detail. 

The book was fine for what it promised, but I was kind of hoping for a little more.

Early Book Review: A Potato on a Bike by Elise Gravel

A Potato on a Bike by Elise Gravel is a board book currently scheduled for release on October 8 2019. The text's repeated asking Have you ever seen…? preceding the refrain No way! will have toddlers yelling "No way!" themselves as you read through these silly situations. Celebrated artist Elise Gravel brings the silly to a new level in A Potato on a Bike, because really, has anyone ever seen a broccoli counting to ten or a sausage reading a book? But wait, how about a...baby being tickled?! Uh-oh, I think the answer for that is—yes way!

A Potato on a Bike is a book I read because of the Gravel name. I had yet to be disappointed by her work. The illustrations are as cute as I expected, and the text was silly and nonsensical. Since it is a board book it is intended to be silly and simple for the youngest of readers, but I have to admit that I was kind of hoping for something more just because Gravel usually blows me away. It is a collection of silly situations that no one has ever seen, followed by one that most of us have. Simple, cute, and fun but no quirky twist or fact to tie it all together for me- although it would be the great precursor to some tickling.