A Couple of Odd Ducks

I’m not sure where I saw Odd Duck listed, but when I saw it was by Cecil Castlucci and Sara Varon I put it on my hold list at the library. It took so long to come in I forgot all about it!  I also couldn’t remember if I’d ordered it for myself or the kids. It’s a bit of a toss up because Cecil Castelucci has written YA books I’ve really liked, and I was the one who read Sara Varon’s Bake Sale (absolutely charming.)  I read it aloud to everyone and we all liked it and it certainly could have been something for my son to read on his own. Theodora is a duck who lives by herself and has a very particular routine.  She swims with a teacup on her head, visits the library and checks out books no one else wants, doesn’t fly south, and is very pleased with herself.  One day a new neighbor moves in who is everything she’s not-messy, sloppy, and rude.  The neighbor is very friendly towards her, but Theodora doesn’t want a friend, especially one like him.  But then it turns out that he doesn’t fly south either and as it’s just the two of them there over the winter they get to know each other and end up having a grand time.  Then one day in the spring (when the rest of the town is back) they overhear someone saying “odd duck”—but who is being referred to? No surprises in the ending, although shockingly, neither one of my kids could guess what was going to happen.  This is a charming story of friendship and quirks and has lots of illustration details that are fun.  Not surprisingly, it’s published by First Second!

Dodsworth in Tokyo by Tim Egan is an easy reader with short chapters.  I was attracted to it by the title alone-an easy reader about Tokyo? I had to see what it was like!  I read this aloud to my younger child and she was definitely interested in the setting, as well as the funny story.  Dodsworth (a pig??) and his duck travel to Tokyo.  Dodsworth is pretty apprehensive about the whole thing because Japan is a land of manners and customs and his duck has proven, in the past, to be uncouth and make a spectacle of himself.  Dodsworth seems to know a lot about the land and culture and points out famous sights to the duck and teaches him a few words. Duck is most interested in the wagashi, colorful Japanese desserts, which Dodsworth promises to him as an incentive to behave.  Of course, Duck ends up causing a scene anyway, but it turns out it’s all for a good reason.I had never read a Dodsworth book so was delighted when we got to the end and saw on the back cover that there are actually several books about Dodsworth’s travels. We’ll definitely be checking out more! Arigato, Mr. Egan!

Meet Bobo and Have Some (Red) Lemonade

Even though my children are at the upper range of picture book reading in terms of age, it delights me when they are delighted by books that I think are for much younger readers.  Sometimes I think they are appreciating the elements of the story that an adult would like, and sometimes I think they just have a good sense of appreciation for a funny joke or well told story.  We read a few books last night that are examples of this.

I Must Have Bobo ! and I’ll Save You Bobo! by Eileen & Marc Rosenthal are short and simple stories about a little boy and his beloved stuffed monkey, Bobo.  The problem is that his cat, Earl, also adores Bobo and wants to steal him away whenever he can.  I think it’s so sweet that the cat loves Bobo, but the boy becomes increasingly angry at Earl and is frequently yelling at him. The expressions on his face when he snaps, “Earl, No! Go away!” are hilarious.  The illustrations are really quite brilliant-Earl’s ears peering over a chair, a paw snaking out to touch Bobo, angry eyebrows when the boy says “a big snake is about to EAT EARL ALIVE” while Earl sits placidly on the drawing depicting such a thing.  The boy’s running commentary to Bobo combined with the clever pictures had all us laughing wildly.

The Red Lemon by Bob Staake starts out as a bouncy rhyming story about Farmer McPhee and his precious lemon trees.  He loves his lemons and lemon grove and admires the beautiful fruits. “Bright yellow lemons for miles and miles! Bright yellow lemons give farmers big smiles!”  He extols the many virtues of the beautiful fruits in big round computer generated illustrations. But then, gasp! A red lemon in the midst of all the yellow ones.  “I can’t have red lemons where yellow fruit grows! Imagine a world where lemonade’s red!” He gets rid of the offensive fruit immediately. But then, in a surprising ending we fast forward in time 200 years to see what has become of that red lemon and of Farmer McPhee. It’s actually a rather thought provoking ending and one the kids really liked it.