Drawn Together - Minh Lê and Dan Santat

Drawn Together is a new children's picture book from author Minh Lê and illustrator Dan Santat.

Before Little Guy and Gramma turned the first page we talked about the images on the cover - what would we find inside. As well as the dual meaning of 'drawn'.

Who do you think the two people on the cover could be?  What about the  'elf' with the wand be? And the 'scary' black and white character? The flyleaf has some crayon scribble illustrations that are so real, Little Guy thought someone had colored inside!

There is very little text in Drawn Together, asking the reader to tell much of the story through observing, imagining and wondering about the illustrations. What a great idea! The Grandpa and grandson have differences - food, language, interests etc. Little Guy is quite intuitive when it comes to facial expressions and really focused on these. We kept turning pages asking each other - what do you think?

They discover they can communicate through drawing. "All the things we could never say come pouring out....and we build a new world that words can't describe." Heroes and mythical creatures illustrate the connection and divide between the two. Little Guy is quite literal and was a bit frightened by the dragon. But subsequent pages have the dragon defeated and the distance between the two conquered.

Gramma thought the concept of Drawn Together was excellent - one that can be used in so many life situations. Caldecott Medalist Santat's illustrations are detailed and very beautiful - a perfect accompaniment.

The Littlest Train - Eric Gall

Ahh trains - Little Guy loves his trains. So Gramma thought that The Littlest Train by Chris Gall might appeal to him....and it did!

He first noticed the 'nice' face (no scary faces for Little Guy) on the larger train and then spied the little train riding atop. He was definitely interested, so we turned the cover and started to read.

The Littlest Train lives on a train table until he is knocked off one day. He then goes exploring and is helped along the way by other, bigger trains to find his way back home.

The illustrations are quite lovely, done in muted, soothing colours. The introduction of lines and cross hatching throughout each item give the illustrations depth and texture. Those friendly faces extend to all the toys, trains and characters that populate the story. The little boy who owns the train table is named Mr. Fingers. Which makes sense from the train's point of view I suppose. But perhaps a name like Bobby would have been easier for a little one, with no explanation needed as to why he was called Mr. Fingers. We enjoyed looking at the pictures and places that the Littlest Train got to visit outside of his train table home. This did spark Little Guy to show his trains some new places in his home. Gramma quite liked the mouse's home. (The Borrowers came to mind!) The trains that help him find his way back are all different. (A description of each is included on the last page.) They have names that match their build - Farley Freighter, Sara Speedster etc.

I did like that some pages did not have dialogue. Instead, Little Guy was able to tell that part of the story himself by deducing what was happening from the illustrations. Discussions around exploring, helping and missing something or someone could be started from this story.

The setting, characters and plot will be somewhat familiar to those who have read or played with another well known train and his friends. And after closing the book, Gramma and Little Guy had to go play trains of course!



"Chris Gall is the award-winning author and illustrator of Dinotrux, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book which inspired a Netflix original TV series, and the other books in the series, including Dinotrux Dig the Beach and Revenge of the Dinotrux. His other picture books include Nanobots, Dog vs. Cat, Awesome Dawson, Substitute Creacher, and America the Beautiful, another Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Book. He lives in Tucson, Arizona."

There's a Monster in Your Book - Tom Fletcher

There's a Monster in Your Book is newly released from Tom Fletcher. 

Now, with Little Guy, it's important that any 'monsters' have 'nice' faces and be 'not scary'. Greg Abbot's illustration of Tom's monster was approved by Little Guy, so Gramma started to read....

Well, Gramma can read the words, but There's a Monster in Your Book is an interactive experience. Young readers and listeners are encouraged to help shake, shout, spin, tickle, tilt and blow to get the monster out of the book. There was lots of silliness as we both participated in the actions needed

When the monster does get out of the book, he lands in the child's bedroom. Mom said she would have preferred the monster to land in any other room besides the bedroom. This opened up a good discussion - and of course the book reinforced that everything was okay. (There is a way to put the monster back in the book)

I think we read it together about three or four times and then Little Guy decided to read it to Gramma. The illustrations of each action are colorful, perfectly suited and allowed him to easily tell the story as well.

There's a Monster in Your Book was a fun, engaging read. Thumbs up from Little Guy and Gramma. See for yourself - here's an excerpt. While recommended for ages 3-7, I think the younger crowd would appreciate this book more than school aged.

Tom Fletcher is an award-winning songwriter, as well as a children’s author, YouTube star, daddy,

and McFly band member. He has 1+ million followers on Twitter and Instagram: @TomFletcher and on YouTube as tommcflytwitter. He has a huge social-media presence and his viral videos, including “Buzz and the Dandelions” and “My Wedding Speech,” have been featured on Good Morning America. He and his bandmate Dougie Poynter are the co-authors of the Dinosaur That Pooped picture books, which have sold over one million copies in England. Tom is married to the author Giovanna Fletcher, and they have two children.

Greg Abbott is an illustrator and graphic designer based in West Sussex, England. In addition to children’s books, he has created prints, apparel, toys, greeting cards, and other merchandise. Visit him on Tumblr or follow him on Twitter.

Zip! Zoom! On a Broom - Teri Sloat, Illustrated by Rosalinde Bonnet

Zip! Zoom! On a Broom by Teri Sloat is the latest in the Gramma and Little Guy reads.

Little Guy knows what Hallowe'en is and immediately labeled the book as a Hallowe'en read from the witches on the cover. We had to look at the witches's faces before opening the book and he found some of them to be 'mean.' Onward to the inside.....

Zip! Zoom! On a Broom is specifically a Hallowe'en themed counting book. Ten witches end up packed onto a broom - we count up as they appear and down as they leave the broom.

The prose are in rhymes that allows the reader to achieve a nice rhythm. But there are a few that seem somewhat stilted and forced and just not quite 'there'. "Seven spiral through a cloud. One witch whirls off, shrieks out loud!" Some of the words used are perhaps a bit above the reading level of those who would pick up this book - incant and plummet definitely are. Those that would perhaps understand those words are beyond counting to ten.

Rosalinde Bonnet's illustrations are quite unique, distinctive and detailed. However I found some of the pages to be just too dark, both physically and in tone. Little Guy found the witches and creatures that populate the pages to be just too mean and scary, especially the wolf that catches the last witch.

We'll try this one again later, but both Gramma and Little Guy can only give it a middle of the road rating - *** - right now.

If You Ever Want to Bring a Circus to the Library, Don't! - Elise Parsley

If You Ever Want to Bring a Circus to the Library, Don't! is the third book in the 'Magnolia' series by Elise Parsley. Parsley is both the author and illustrator.

Magnolia has previously brought an alligator to school and a piano to the beach. So is a circus in the library a good idea? Well, the poster says...."You Can Do Anything at the Library!"

I work in a public library and have a small grandson who adores being read to as well as visiting the library so this newest book was a great fit for us.

He was interested in the book right away - the cover caught his eye - and it held his interest 'til the last page.

He started to remember the 'chorus' line with repeated readings...."You can do anything at the library - except......" and shouted the lines as they came up. There's a wonderful rhythm to reading this book out loud and so many opportunities to be vocally expressive. I do wonder if another word could have been found for 'concessions' (used in the food sense) as I ended up paraphrasing. There's a countdown moment that he loved as well.

Subsequent readings had us stopping to look at the pictures more closely (Library Gramma quite enjoyed the posters!) to see details more closely. There's lots of opportunity for discussion based on the book -  talking about what his library looked like and what he does at the library and what he might like to do - both 'approved' and over the top like Magnolia. I do want to say as a library employee that things have changed over the years. Things do get 'loud' at the library sometimes and we do bring in 'events'. Not a circus so far though....

Magnolia as a lead character is wonderful - she is full of life, enthusiasm and imagination. The illustrations are colourful and quirky. The facial expressions allow a little one to interpret what the characters might be thinking or feeling.

Gramma and Little Guy both enjoyed this book. You can connect with Elise Parsley on Twitter.