There's A Bumbie Under My Bed!... Blog Tour

Oh Yes, we've all had a Bumbie or two lurking under the bed when the lights go out! Here's a cute  look at the Bumbie's under a certain little boy's bed in There's A Bumbie Under My Bed by Bethany Ramos...

There’s a Bumbie Under My Bed tells the story of a boy who can’t go to sleep because of all the monster bunnies keeping him up at night. Told in the first-person narrative, the little boy delays bedtime, using his flashlight and hand to create scary and silly bunny shadow puppets on the wall. According to the boy, friendly, spooky characters like the Bumbie (bunny zombie), Were-bunny (werewolf bunny), Bunny-stein (bunny Frankenstein), and Count Hop-ula come to visit him in the night. At the end of the book, his mother comforts him to sleep by telling him to let his imagination rest — and put the flashlight away.

What Did I Think?! I loved it! Creative, imaginative and wonderfully illustrated, author Bethany Ramos along with illustrator, Emiliano Billai, gives us a peek into what lurks under the bed late at night when the lights go out... but it's the little boy's mother in the story that helps us learn how to deal with such a vivid imagination. I really thought it was wonderful at the end of the story that the mother tells her little boy, to "put your flashlight away and let your imagination rest. You'll see your friends again tomorrow night." It shows us that the Bumbie's are really our friends and that we can bring them out to play another time. Although I didn't spy a flashlight bringing the Bumbie's to life, there seemed to be light streaming into the room that did give life to those shadows. I also liked that the last two pages of the book show how to make our own shadow puppets (or Bumbies) with our own flashlight. A great way to help children learn to deal with their own Bumbies! (or other cute named monsters!)

There's a Bumbie Under My Bed is 24 pages, Published by Saturn Moon Press and is a Children's picture book.

About the Author...
Bethany Ramos is a children’s book author, editor, and blogger. She is a regular contributor to SheKnows.com. Bethany’s first children’s book, Lions Can’t Eat Spaghetti, was published through 4RV Publishing in 2016. Her second children’s book, There’s a Bumbie Under My Bed, was published by Saturn’s Moon Press, also in 2016. Her first chick lit novel, 5 Stages of Grief, was published by Black Opal Books in 2011; her second chick lit novel, Adventure to Love, was published by Soul Mate Publishing in 2013. Bethany works as Editor in Chief for Naturally Healthy Publications.

Here's Bethany's... WEBSITE ! You can follow Bethany on... TWITTER ! Like Bethany on... FACEBOOK!

Chick with Books is participating in today's Blog Tour courtesy of Pump Up Your Books! Virtual Book Publicity Tours! As part of the tour, I was given a copy of There's A Bumbie Under My Bed! to read and share my unbiased review.

Banned Books Week... #1 Banned Book in 2006, 2007, 2008, & 2010... And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson...

Why was And Tango Makes Three Challenged?
Reasons: homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group.


What the story is about... It's the true story about 2 male penguins at the Central Park Zoo in NYC who enjoyed doing everything together, and when the time came they built a nest just like all the other Penguin couples, but they couldn't lay an egg. Eventually they are given an abandoned egg and raise this as their own. The chick that hatches is named Tango, because "it takes two to make a Tango". This book is one of the top banned books of all time, and it really makes me scratch my head. Can reading this book really change your child's sexuality? I view this book as a cute book about the love between the two penguins, and I'm not really viewing this as a book about homosexuality. Am I wrong?! It could teach children about tolerance. My library does carry the book, but I could not find it in any of my bookstores.

Sherri Machlin of the Mulberry Street Library wrote a wonderful post about the book being banned on the New York Public Library's Blog on September 23, 2013. Here is part of that post...

"Despite the happy ending to the tuxedo-adorned creatures tale, Tango challenged some Americans' ideas and assumptions about homosexuality, age-appropriateness of the material, and raised the thorny question about what makes a family. Since its publication by Simon and Shuster in 2005, And Tango Makes Three has topped the ALA's 10 Most Challenged Books List between 2006 and 2010.

Re-shelving the book was one way that libraries tried to get around the "problem" with Tango. Rolling Hills (Mo.) Library Director Barbara Read moved the book from the popular picture book section to the less-browsed non-fiction area when parents complained about the gay themes in the title. School Superintendent Edgar Hatrick III of Loudon, VA made a decision to move Tango from the Sugarland Elementary School to an area only accessible by parents and teachers after a parent complained about gay themes in the book. What helped Tango remain available in school and public libraries in some cases was the precedent set by the decision in Island Trees School District Board of Education v. Pico in 1981, which ruled that a Board of Education's decision to ban certain books from its school libraries violated First Amendment protections. The challenges against this book have been so profligate, Dr. Marta L. Magnuson, Professor of Library and Information Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, recently carried out a study analyzing the motives behind these various challenges to And Tango Makes Three, published in the journal School Library Media Research in January 2011. But if penguins can survive the brutal Antarctic winter, they can surely survive the challenges of access to And Tango Makes Three."  you can read the full post HERE.

Would you like to listen to the story? Here is Tracey Lai Thom reading and Tango Makes Three...

The Sunday Salon and a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words... especially to children!

Welcome to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post! It's that day of the week bloggers from all over the internet get together virtually in a large gathering place called The Sunday Salon and talk books!  And at The Sunday Post, which is a weekly meme hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, in which more bloggers share their bookish news!

It's finally Summer in Connecticut! The sun is shining and life feels good. This morning we went to a juried art show at the local university and I feel inspired. As a previous art major in college I've always loved creating art, loved walking through a gallery, and appreciate art in all its' forms. Books and art go hand in hand. There's a lot of design that goes into a book, from the obvious design of a cover to the more subtle designs of a book such as type of paper, the weight and feel. One form of books & art are children's picture books. This week I'd like to highlight some outstanding picture books that children are bound to love, but can be loved and appreciated by adults too. These books highlighted today are filled with wonderful artwork and NO words... and as the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words...

The Whale by Ethan Murrow (illustrator) & Vita Murrow (author)... A wordless epic sea adventure. There is a legend that a Great Spotted Whale lives in the ocean, although a sighting fifty years ago was never corroborated. Now two young whale watchers each set out to find the whale, one armed with sound-recording equipment, the other with a camera. When their boats collide, they pool their resources to capture incontrovertible proof that the mythical whale exists. The eventual sighting is a magical moment, especially when the children discover that it was their own grandparents who first glimpsed the whale fifty years ago. The Murrows’ spectacular wordless adventure is brought to life with stunning graphite drawings that convey the drama and haunting beauty of the ocean and capture the majesty of the awe-inspiring whale.

This beautiful wordless picture book is amazing. The black & white drawing are so beautiful!  Ethan Murrow is an artist well known for his ballpoint pen drawings, some of which are wall size. All very intricate and playful. This is his first children's book that he's worked on in collaboration with his wife Vita. I saw a little video about the process behind some of these drawings in The Whale and was fascinated by Ethan & Vita using actors to pose, which shouldn't surprise me having gone to art school, but never thought about it in terms of illustrating a children's book. 

Published by Templar an imprint of Candlewick Press April 2016.

Ethan and Vita are actually going to be at my local indie bookstore, Byrd's Books, on Sunday, June 19th to talk about their book. So, if you are near Connecticut I think it would be worth the trip. Why is my vacation starting on the 17th?! I am tempted to delay leaving for a few days so I can go to the talk. In any case, I'll be purchasing a copy of The Whale and will be reviewing it soon!

The Pool by Jihyeon Lee... What happens when two shy children meet at a very crowded pool? Dive in to find out! Deceptively simple, this masterful book tells a story of quiet moments and surprising encounters, and reminds us that friendship and imagination have no bounds.

Another beautifully illustrated book and the debut children's picturebook for artist Jihyeon Lee. The book is the result of Jihyeon visiting a public swimming pool and seeing the contrast of what was going on above the water and the calm emptiness far below the water. This book also won a Gold Medal in the Society of Illustrator's Original Art Show in 2015. And again, it's fascinating to see how this book came together... at the Picturebook Makers Blog you can read a behind the scenes take on how the book was inspired and then created. 

Published in 2015 by Chronicle Books. 

Float by Daniel Miyares... A boy’s small paper boat—and his large imagination—fill the pages of this wordless picture book, a modern-day classic that includes endpaper instructions for building a boat of your own.

A little boy takes a boat made of newspaper out for a rainy-day adventure. The boy and his boat dance in the downpour and play in the puddles, but when the boy sends his boat floating down a gutter stream, it quickly gets away from him. So of course the little boy goes on the hunt for his beloved boat—and when the rain lets up, he finds himself on a new adventure altogether.

Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in 2015.

Spot, the Cat by Henry Cole... Simple and stunning images tell the story of a cat named Spot as he weaves his way in and out of a city in this wordless picture book from award-winning author-illustrator Henry Cole. Through this gorgeous visual narrative, Henry Cole shows us a day in the life of a cat named Spot. Spot sneaks away from home by way of an open window to go on a wordless journey through the city. Follow Spot as he weaves through busy city streets, visits a farmers market, wanders into a park full of kite-flyers, and beyond. But while Spot is out on his adventure, his beloved boy owner is looking for him—seeming to just miss him every time. When all seems almost lost, Spot’s story reminds us that there’s always a way back home. With stunningly detailed black-and-white illustrations, readers will love following Spot on his adventure—along the way finding characters and objects that appear, disappear, and reappear—and cheering for the sweet reunion at the end.

Published by Little Simon in March of 2016.

Unspoken by Henry Cole...A young girl's courage is tested in this haunting, wordless story...

When a farm girl discovers a runaway slave

hiding in the barn, she is at once

startled and frightened. 

But the stranger's fearful eyes

weigh upon her conscience,

and she must make a difficult choice.

Will she have the courage to help him?

Unspoken gifts of humanity unite the girl

and the runaway as they each face a journey: 

one following the North Star,

the other following her heart.

Published by Scholastic Press in 2012

Henry Cole has illustrated over 80 children's books and here are two of his, Spot, the Cat and Unspoken, that he has written and illustrated without words. Both show off his beautiful ability to draw. Spot, the Cat being a more fun book, following the adventures of Spot, and Unspoken, a wonderful children's book about the underground railroad. To learn more about Henry Cole, about his inspirations and art, click on the Publishers Weekly interview. And there's a great write-up of Unspoken at Anita Silvey's Children's Book-a-Day Almanac.

Though I enjoy children's picture books for their artwork, wordless picture books are wonderful for children to use their imaginations. Why do we have to spell everything out in a picture book? In the PW interview with Henry Cole, Mr. Cole said that when he visits schools he likes to have the children write about the scenes in his wordless book, Unspoken, and enjoys reading how differently the children interpret what's going on.

Question... Do You Like Children's Pictures Books? 

What are your favorite children's picture books? And are there any other wordless children's books that you have found and love? Please share all those great books right here! I'd love to hear about them! Hope you've found something interesting here today! 

Happy Reading... Suzanne

  

Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins... A Review!

I've been meaning to read this book for a while. I loved the premise of a bear who accidentally becomes mother to some baby goslings. I am so glad I finally opened the book and took it all in! It is hilarious! Especially the bear looking up fancy recipes on the internet!

So, here's the gist... Bruce is a grump. He dislikes everything... EXCEPT eggs! He loves eggs and gets eggs anywhere and anytime he can. One day as he is trying to hard boil his eggs, the eggs hatch instead of hard boil. They turn out to be goslings and they decide he's their mother. Bruce, remember he's a grump, isn't happy and tries all sorts of ways to get rid of them, but they won't have any of it and begrudgingly Bruce ends up raising them. When they are old enough, he thinks he's going to get them to fly south like all the other geese in the sky, but they have something else in mind. I won't give it away, but the ending is perfect.

Beautifully illustrated, humorous, and a wonderful story, Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins is a winner! I give it 5 stars!

Once Upon a Northern Night by Jean Pendziwol… A Wintery Children's Book Review

There is something so beautiful in Once Upon a Northern Night written by Jean E. Pendziwol and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. A children's book celebrating the wonder of a snow laden winter evening…

                           Once upon a northern night,
                           while you lay sleeping,
                           wrapped in a downy blanket,
                           I painted you a picture.

Like a gentle lullaby soothing us to sleep, the words and beautiful simple illustrations sweep us out into the night to witness the quiet goings on of the natural world around us, beyond a sleeping boy's window. The one snowflake that became two, that soon becomes a snowy blanket for the earth, the snowshoe hares that frolic playing hide and seek with a fox, a mother deer and her fawn nibbling the frozen apples on a tree, and other silent visitors that peek out from their daytime hideaways to enjoy the winter wonderland.

Beautiful prose that carries you softly from beginning to end and beautiful illustrations in muted colors reminiscent of the season create a perfect bedtime story for a snowy winter night. I loved Once Upon a Northern Night!  Published by Groundwood Books.

My Family Tree and Me by Dušan Petričić… A Review

One of my other hobbies besides "books" is genealogy. I've been researching my family genealogy off and on for 20 plus years. My very first questions about my extended family were when I was about 12 years old. I have a piece of notebook paper with my grandparents names and their brothers and sisters and their children, all the way down to my parents. I put that aside for a long time and then got "the bug" again. What I wish I had done was NOT put aside my curiosity at that time, when all my relatives were alive and sharing the family stories. And so, I can appreciate this sweet book, My Family Tree and Me by Dušan Petričić which is being published by Kids Can Press this coming April 2015.

It's a beautiful and simple children's picture book that shows how a small boy came to be, starting with his great great grandparents. The front of the book is the boys' father's family, where you'll leaf through the pages of first the great great grandparents, accompanied by a beautiful color illustration of them and a small bit of prose, then the great grandparents with another beautiful drawing and description, then his grandparents, then his "uncle, aunt and dad", and finally his uncle, aunt and dad with their spouses including his mom and dad, all beautifully drawn out with a description of who they are. Flip the book over and you find the boy's mother's family, starting with his great great grandparents on his mothers' side and working down to his mother and her siblings, and their spouses and parents. In the center of the book is the WHOLE family! All the aunt's & uncles, grandparents on both sides, cousins, Mom & Dad and of course the little boy.

What did I think? I thought the illustrations were beautiful and the simple prose that went with it perfect...

                                                             "Thanks to them,

                                                               a long, long time ago

                                                               there lived my

                                                               great-grandfather,

                                                               who met and married my 

                                                               great-grandmother." 

What a great starting point to begin talking to your child about his or her family history! I like the idea of the flip book, with one side of the family at the front of the book and flipping the book over for the other side of the family. I love the idea of the whole family, both sides of the family in a beautiful illustration in the center of the book.

Just a little aside… The publisher provided an eGalley of the book for me to review. I wish I had a physical copy of the book to review because I think it would work so much better than the eBook. In the eBook as you start at the front of the book, when you get to the end of the boys' father's family and want to flip to the back of the book, you have to leave the book and go to the table of contents to start with the back of the book OR you have to quickly flip through the whole book to get to the back and then slowly start backwards. I found this a bit awkward. Can they fix this somehow in the final eBook? I'm not sure. So, I would buy the physical book instead of the eBook.

My Family Tree and Me is written for 3 - 7 year olds, 24 pages and is written and illustrated by Dušan Petričić, who is an awarding winning illustrator. I would give it 5 family tree leaves as a great book for that beginning genealogist child in your family! (3 leaves for the eBook).

Children's Corner… Is a Worry Worrying You? by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz, a Review

Is a Worry Worrying You?
                ... by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz

Worry takes on the form of a BIG blue/green furry monster is this cautionary tale to children on how to tame the worry monster.

The carefree life we imagine for children is in reality sometimes fraught with all sorts of stress. How to help children deal with their stress? In Is a Worry Worrying You, the authors use whimsical illustrations to help children learn how to creatively make worries go away…

What if you "had a lots elephants over and didn't have any tea to serve them?!" Well, you'd just serve them lemonade instead! Or, what if a monster lives under your bed and you're afraid to go to sleep? Well, "you can get rid of that worry by singing the monster lullabies until you both fall asleep." Creative ideas to get your child brainstorming their own solutions to their BIG blue/green furry monster.

Wonderful illustrations that will make you and your child smile as you turn the pages of this creative book on how to deal with stress. 32 pages, geared towards 4 - 8 year olds, and published by Tanglewood Press. Adults could also take a lesson from these pages, because we all have stress now and again! I enjoyed the humorous ways the authors presented dealing with the silly problems illustrated, and thought the illustrations were wonderful. 3 1/2 Big Blue/Green Furry Monsters for creativity!

I want to thank Tanglewood Press for the eGalley for my honest review!

Children's Corner… Birds of a Feather by Vanita Oelschlager, a Review

Birds of a Feather: A Book of Idioms and Silly Pictures…
written by Vanita Oelschlager and illustrated by Robin Hegan

This silly and delightful book will teach children what idioms are with humorous and cute illustrations. And do you know what an idiom is?! An idiom is a group of words that have a meaning when put together, but generally nothing to do with the words themselves. One example is "It's raining cats and dogs!" It's not really raining cats and dogs, but that's an idiom. Of course it means it's raining very heavy, but what does that have to do with cats and dogs?! These idioms have origins, but what Birds of a Feather does is illustrate some of these idioms we use every day in a humorous, colorful way. The explanation of the meaning of the idiom is explained, with an example in a sentence in the corner of the page, so everyone understands.

"Goosebumps", "Bright eyed and bushy tailed", "Look what the cat dragged in", are only some of the idioms explained. Very cute and sometimes very funny illustrations make for a picture book that will be enjoyed many times after the first reading. Oh, and it's educational too! 32 pages, and written with Pre-school - 3 year olds in mind, I enjoyed it myself and I'm nowhere near 3!

BTW, I received Birds of a Feather as an eGalley from Vanita Books for an honest review. Thank you!

Memoirs of a Goldfish... a Review for Memoir Monday!

A Solitary Life for a Clever little Fellow...

until One Day ...

Memoirs of a Goldfish is, simply said, Wonderful! Written by Devin Scillian and beautifully illustrated by Tim Bowers, we are introduced to a clever little goldfish that loves his simple solitary lifestyle. He recounts 14 days of his life that start out simply as,

Day One

I swam around my bowl

Day Two

I swam around my bowl. Twice.

But life even for a goldfish can get complicated and as the simple little bowl that serves as his home starts to fill up with other "fishbowl" items, such as Mr. Bubbles the scuba diver (he's creepy), Mervin the disgusting snail, and plants which he knows he's going to have to "water now!", the little goldfish laments for the simple solitary life he once had- until his wish comes true and he then realizes being alone isn't really as nice as all that.

Children will delight in the beautiful illustrations of the ever crowding fishbowl. They'll meet a crab named Fred, 2 guppies named Rhoda & Clark, a diva angelfish named Cha-Cha, along with Mr. Bubbles & Mervin the snail. It's a sweet story, with memorable characters, where children will learn the value of friendship and the importance of sharing their lives with others as our sweet hero suddenly,

" With a whoosh, and a splash, and a clank and a plunge,"

is transported to a new home, void of all objects crowding up his old bowl. He begins to worry and miss everyone! No need to fret though, there's a very happy ending that will have everyone, including our little goldfish, smile! A sweet choice for children, but the adults in my household loved the story too! You will laugh, and you will smile, as you read the cleverly written Memoirs of a Goldfish. And Memoirs of a Goldfish will be available at your local bookstore June 1st!

I met the wonderful people from Sleeping Bear Press at BEA this year, and want to thank them for sending home a copy of Memoirs of a Goldfish with me to review & share with my readers! You can learn more about the other fabulous childrens books Sleeping Bear Press publishes at their website, Sleeping Bear Press.