Yellow Kayak

Nina Laden’s lyrical narrative—consisting mostly of swift, succinct two-word phrases—reads like a dream.  A sea dream.  You’ve never seen skies these colors, lines so emotional and scenes so otherworldly.  Melissa Castrillon’s palette is mythical and so strangely fantastic but at the same time it exudes a certain warmth and familiarity.

In this story, a boy and his giraffe best friend sail off on an adventure which takes them through a pounding squall which they bravely face, and later has them exploring life in the deep of the sea before they reach the rosy-skied docks of home.  Actually if this book is a dream, we’re not sure we want it to end.  Probably one of the best books we’ll read this year.

Yellow Kayak was written by Nina Laden, illustrated by Melissa Castrillon and published by Paula Wiseman Books.

love

We made a simple craft inspired by Matt De la Peña and Loren Long’s new book LOVE, a book about everything that can be love.  To make heart-shaped pencil toppers, all you need are pencils and pipe cleaners.

1. Bend a pipe cleaner in half.  Wind it around the top of a pencil a couple of times.  Pull both ends of the pipe cleaner to make sure it’s wrapped around the pencil tightly.  

2. Bend and shape the rest of the pipe cleaner into the shape of a heart.  Twist the ends of the pipe cleaner together to finish off the heart. 

You can watch the book trailer for LOVE here, and find out about Matt and Loren’s upcoming book tour dates here.

bolivar

Wow.  WOW.  First of all, Sean Rubin, you had us at “Bolivar.”  The name, the iconic typeface, the cover, the promise of a great story.  And then you blew us away with your first couple of double page spreads and their sweeping urban skyline.  We lingered over these opening scenes and heard the unmistakable sounds of New York; we heard the noisy din of cars, traffic, people walking the sidewalks en masse, and then we were drawn into the quiet quotidian life of...a dinosaur in New York.  A dinosaur named Bolivar.

Bolivar has an apartment on 78th Street, and he lives on corned beef sandwiches and tonic water with lime (like most dinosaurs).  His interests include used books and old records.  And The New Yorker of course.  Everyone in the city is too busy to notice him except for his next door neighbor Sybil.  After months of spying on him, she finally corners him in front of the recycling bins where their long-awaited meet cute takes place.

Writer/illustrator Sean Rubin on how the story came about — “I realized that if a dinosaur lived in New York City, no one would notice him, but then I began to wonder, what would his life be like? The story really came from trying to answer that question.”

BOLIVAR is a special book and a brilliant debut.  Its written and visual narratives come together seamlessly to tell this tremendous tale which is also a beautiful and meaningful tribute to New York City.  Do yourself a favor and get a copy—for you and for everyone you know.

Written and illustrated by Sean Rubin and published by Archaia | BOOM! Studios.

Apples for Little Fox

Fox is an aficionado of mysteries and is ecstatic when one comes his way.   He’s off to investigate the case of the missing apples.  Just when he thinks he’s run out of leads, he sniffs out a major clue.  Ekaterina Trukhan definitely has a way with colors and her modern, cheerful palette in Apples for Little Fox is giving us all sorts of inspiration.

Apples for Little Fox was written and illustrated by Ekaterina Trukhan and published by Random House Books for Young Readers.

the littlest viking

Though he’s the littlest in his tribe, Sven is fierce and is always up for anything.  What he loves best is a good yarn and his forte is storytelling.  He’s used to ruling the roost until a baby sister makes inroads into his world.  Suddenly there’s crying all the time and the little warrior princess cannot be soothed.  But Sven has an idea.

We are longtime fans of Isabel’s work and her use of color and pattern really sings in this one.  Her palette of verdant greens reminds us of Scandinavia’s warmer season with some ruddy counterpoints thrown in to represent the fiery but sweet temperament of Sven’s little sister.

The Littlest Viking was written by Alexandra Penfold, illustrated by Isabel Roxas and published by Knopf Books for Young Readers.