What Does Baby Want by Tupera Tupera

Listed as one of the best books of 2017 by Publisher’s Weekly, What Does Baby Want by Tupera Tupera will get to the heart of the matter: what does baby want? This book is best for new moms (and hungry babies). Baby’s face fills the adorable circular format of this board book, and with each page flip, baby gets upset when offered a tambourine and other circular objects. Why? Because baby is hungry, and it is time for breastfeeding! The design of this book is so clever because the circular format not only encompasses baby’s face, but also mama’s breasts. What Does Baby Want  is a great gift for a baby shower--or for the mom who might relate to breastfeeding her hungry child. Tastefully done and funny at the same time, Phaidon’s design and concept is breaking new ground in books for newborn babies.

Watch the video of the book from Phaidon!

Charlotte's Web Turns 65: Here's What to Read Next

Maybe there was a time before, when I loved books and loved stories. But I like to think of my life as before and after. Before Charlotte’s Web, I listened to stories. After Charlotte’s Web, I read them.

For every bibliophile, story-addict, or word-junkie, there is a book, or a story, that turned the tables. So, living my life in a post-reading Charlotte’s Web world, I am always drawn to stories that remind me of the friendship between Wilbur and Charlotte, strong girl-characters like Fern, and comedic entertainment in Templeton the Rat.

And as Charlotte’s Web turns 65 this year, here are two recent stories that will take you back to the wonder of ‘SOME PIG’:

An Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City by Jodi Kendall

This story opens on Thanksgiving Day, at the dinner table. Josie Shillings’ college-aged older brother Tom brings home a baby pig he has named Hamlet who was the runt of the litter. Josie’s father is adamant: “Not a chance,” Dad said, pointing at Tom with a silver fork. “Pigs don’t belong in the city.” It is Josie who comes to the rescue, convincing her father to let her keep the pig, on the condition that she finds a home for it by New Year’s. Josie must juggle her upcoming gymnastics competition, surviving close-quarters living in a large family, a grumpy next-door neighbor, and buying pig-food for Hamlet, who is rapidly growing into quite the porker. You will fall in love with Josie’s determination, Hamlet’s antics, and the Shilling family. As Josie’s favorite book is Charlotte’s Web, there are references to E.B. White’s classic as well.

A Boy, A Mouse, and a Spider: The Story of E.B. White by Barbara Herkert, illustrated by Lauren Castillo

Have you ever wondered by “E.B.” stood for in this children’s author’s name? Turns out, his full name is Elwyn Brooks White. In this beautiful picture-book biography, the story of E. B. White’s childhood, from his life-long love of animals, to his fear of public speaking in school, is truly a one-of-a-kind story for young children who want to know more about E.B. White. Lauren Castillo, who won a Caldecott Honor for her book, Nana in the City, truly captures the essence of New England summer nights, Elwyn’s shyness, and the beauty of his surroundings, and his friendship with animals. Whether it was a mouse in his pocket, who turned into the inspiration for Stuart Little, a spider’s web in the eaves of his barn with a certain Charlotte A. Cavatica at it’s center, E.B. White’s story shows us that his every-day surroundings, while simple, were filled with moments of wonder that he translated into timeless classics for children.

Interior illustration by Lauren Castillo

Nothing Rhymes with Orange by Adam Rex

Finally, Adam Rex has addressed the truth of the matter in a hilarious picture book called Nothing Rhymes With Orange. Maybe, you too, have tried to rhyme orange before, with little success? But does Rex succeed?

The book starts off with the rhyming line “Who wouldn’t travel anywhere to get an apple or a pear?” On the second page, the rhyme continues, “And if that chum hands you a plum, be fair and share that treat!” Stage left, an orange wearing boots peeks around the corner of the page.  Then, he asks, “Hey, are you going to need me for this book?” But all the other fruit ignore him, and carry on singing the refrain found throughout the book, which is “Fruit! They’re healthy happy colorful and cute!” And the way Rex illustrates the fruit (by drawing eyes, mouths, arms, and legs onto a photograph of real fruit, they do indeed look cute and happy). But poor orange is left out of the singalong.

The book takes an odd turn featuring a rhyme of “peachy” with “Friedrich Nietzsche,” as if to emphasize the ridiculousness that Nietzsche gets some prime-time space in a picture book for children, but orange is still being ignored! When the pear turns into a pearwolf, the orange says, “This book’s sorta gone off the rails.” But that’s what I love about it.

At the end of the book, the reader sees orange, alone on the white page, looking downcast and glum. Before long, the other fruit find him, singing, “But the fruit are feeling rotten, ‘cause there’s someone we’ve forgotten!”

Of course, it’s orange. But I’m not going to tell you if he rhymes with anything!

*Advisory: Laughter may ensue

Circle, Triangle, Elephant!: A Book of Shapes & Surprises

A simple book of shapes turns into a delightful game in Circle, Triangle, Elephant by Kenji Oikawa and Mayuko Takeuchi. A vibrant board book for children ages 0-3, it is indeed a “Book of Shapes and Surprises.” It begins innocently enough, with a red triangle balanced on top of a pink circle balanced on top of a blue square. The next page is not too different, with the order being “circle rectangle triangle.” But, turn the page and there’s an elephant?! Smack dab between a triangle and a circle. Each page turn brings more unexpected surprises, such as a boat, a face, and lemons! This book is a great way to teach children to recognize basic shapes even when the order and color of the shapes change. Read this outloud enough times, and soon, your child will be pointing at the shapes (and other surprises), reading, “Circle, Triangle, Elephant!”

On the Spot: Countless Funny Stories by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Lea Redmond, illustrated by Sanne Te Loo

Perhaps you may know  the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, where a book could have a wide variety of endings. ON THE SPOT: COUNTLESS FUNNY STORIES by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Lea Redmond, and illustrated by Sanne te Loo is a “choose your own adventure” story for readers ages 4 to 7, where no two tellings will be the same. Even better? It’s a book the reader can play as a game. To play ON THE SPOT, the reader must gather an assortment of objects. No object is too mundane. A button can be just as exciting as a plastic dinosaur. On each page is a blank “spot”. This is where the reader places the object of their choice, making for an equally hilarious read.

For example: “I headed to the kitchen to fill my rumbling tummy. I poured a big bowl of…(PENNIES) Super-duper yummy!”

The penny could be substituted for a big-bowl of crayons, or a big bowl of legos. But it doesn’t matter what is actually on the spot because it will ensure giggles from everyone reading. The book follows the adventures of a little girl throughout her day as she eats, runs, and plays, but as it is written in the first-person, will have all readers identifying as the main character. With each reading, and with each object placed “on the spot,” the reader becomes the character in the story, choosing the direction the story will go. If found objects are not readily available, there are reusable stickers in the back of the book.

So now that you KNOW you can choose your own adventure, go, read and play, ON THE SPOT!

Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder

Laurel Snyder has written a middle grade novel that is equal parts mystery and coming-of-age story. Nine orphans live on the island. No more. No less. And they don't know how they came to be on this island, except for the changing ceremony once a year. The story follows Jinny, the eldest orphan on this idyllic island where food is plentiful and the snakes don’t bite. The only clue to an outside world is the library cabin, where Jinny reads books that used to be owned by a girl named Abigail. That, and the fact that each year, at the changing ceremony, a small child arrives in a boat to stay on the island, while the Elder steps into the boat to be whisked away over the horizon and into the unknown. Jinny knows she is supposed to leave, but she does not believe that Ess (the child she is charged to care for) is ready to be on her own. So when the boat arrives with a new child...Jinny doesn’t step into the boat. When she refuses to leave the island, there is no longer enough food, the snakes are no longer docile, and the cliffs and the calm water provide real danger.

How did these children come to be on this island? Who is controlling the mysterious boat? And why can there only be nine children, or the balance is upset? With gorgeous imagery and beautiful language, Snyder creates an atmosphere that is both enchanting and eerie. Part summer camp without adults, part survivor for kids, kids ages 10 and up will enjoy this read.

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley is one of the best Young Adult books I have read this year. Gorgeous prose, great characters, and an incredible setting, you will be unable to put this book down.

Before the opening of the novel, the reader is informed that three years prior, Rachel wrote a love letter to her best friend, Henry. And she put this love letter inside of a book inside Howling Books, in the Letter Library, where patrons of the secondhand bookshop write letters to each other, leaving them inside the books, or they underline favorite passages. That letter never got delivered. So she moved away to the coast of Australia. But when tragedy strikes her family, and she loses her brother Cal, she fails her 12th year, and instead of going to college, moves to the city to live with her aunt and work. She finds herself, after three years of silence between her and Henry, her former best friend, back at Howling Books, which is the bookshop that Henry’s family owns. What happened to the letter she wrote all those years ago? What will happen to Henry and his family, and the patrons of the Letter Library, if the bookshop goes out of business?

Words in Deep Blue is an ode to the written word, to books, to everything people who are a little book crazy (like you and me) love.

When you love a story, you return to the lines that you love, to the well-worn pages that hold your heart. This book will hold the hearts of its readers. For the readers who underline, highlight, write notes, and pass along their favorite books--this story is for you.