Review on “Sitting in My Box” (by Camila Chaves)

by Dee Lillegard; illustrations by Jon Agee

An empty cardboard box does not mean much to anyone. However, interesting things can happen if there is someone with a little bit of imagination inside the box. Dee Lillegard’s rhythmical writing joins Jon Agee’s attractive illustrations and makes “Sitting in My Box” an interesting book for little children.

A boy gets into a cardboard box accompanied by a book of wild animals. Soon after he begins reading the book, his imagination sets off a series of characters and situations. A tall giraffe knocks on the box and asks him to let her in, so the boy moves over. Then, some more animals knock on the box and, one by one, each animal gets into the box too. Eventually, there is no more place in the box. “Someone has to go,” says the boy, but none of the animals move. Suddenly, one more visitor arrives and provides the story an unexpected twist.

“Sitting in My Box” perfectly shows that imagination can turn an ordinary object into the scene of a curious adventure. Interesting and funny, the story will attract the audience and surprise them at the end. After reading, more than one child will want to get into the cardboard box.

Eat up, Gemma (review by Natalia Brucciamonti)

Written by Sarah Hayes

Illustrations by Jan Ormerod

Entertaining for learners who are in kindergarten, “Eat Up, Gemma” is a story about a baby who doesn’t want to eat her food. Sarah Hayes, the writer, shows in the book the way Gemma’s entire family care about her. They all try to make the toddler eat up her meals.

Gemma is asked to eat by her mother, grandmother, dad and friends, but all she does is throwing, squashing and banging her food. The baby’s relatives get more and more worried as days pass and Gemma continues without eating. Fortunately, the toddler’s little brother finds a clever solution to end with this situation.

Although the story might be interesting for your learners you should be aware of the discriminatory message that can be inferred by reading the book. The context of the story is a black-colored community. Gemma and her relatives are black-colored people who have black-colored friends. It’s not possible to see in Ormerod’s illustrations a person who doesn’t belong to that specific ethnic community. The issue about this is that the characters of the book are presented as a preferential group, segregated from the rest of the people.

If you’re interested in teaching your young learners values and the importance of tolerance towards a multicultural society, this isn’t the book I would recommend you to read them.

The Great, Big, Enormous Turnip (review by M.A.)

Alexei Tolstoy, Helen Oxenbury (Illustrations)

Mammoth; New edition edition (Sep 18 1998)

Paperback: 28 pp $ 10,43

The Great, Big, Enormous Turnip is a lovely old story for children by Alexei Tolstoy, one of the most famous Russian writers of all times. This story shows that through cooperation and sustained effort, big problems can be solved and difficult aims can be achieved.

“Grow, grow little turnip, grow sweet. Grow, grow little turnip, grow strong”. These are the words that the old man, one of the main characters of the book, utters at the beginning of the story when he plants a little turnip. What he doesn’t imagine is that the vegetable will not only grow sweet and strong but also big, great and enormous! The impressive size of the vegetable makes it impossible for the old man to pull it up on his own, and consequently, he needs to look for help. This is the point from which the whole story develops, through a repetitive sequence of actions in which different characters, ranging from an old woman to a little mouse, help the old man with the onerous task of trying to pull the enormous turnip up. The simplicity of the vocabulary used by Tolstoy, and the predictability of the sequence of events make this story suitable and engaging for children of all ages, but especially for younger ones.

On the other hand, Helen Oxenbury’s humorous and fresh illustrations vividly portray the huge effort that all the characters make in order to pull the great turnip up. This makes the story wildly funny and fascinating for children.

Undoubtedly, in The Great, Big, Enormous Turnip, Tolstoy and Oxenbury show that it is not necessary to create a big, enormous story to engage children with reading, but that simplicity and humour can be the best combination to make a story absolutely charming and delightful for them.

Two Greedy Bears: a story about not being greedy (review by Julieta Acevedo)

“Two greedy bears” is a fascinating story which has been adapted from a Hungarian folk tale by Mirra Ginsburg. In order to enthrall children, the book has captivating pictures drawn by Jose Arruego and Ariane Dewey, and the main characters are two lovely cubs who live in the woods.

The book tells the story of two little bears who always quarrel because they are too greedy and selfish. After observing them, a smart fox appears and takes advantage of this situation. The story has an unexpected and surprising resolution and also implies a message for children. This tale may try to express that being greedy leads to negative consequences and also to highlight the positive and important value of sharing.

I highly recommend this book, not only because parents may read it to their children and share a wonderful and pleasant moment with them, but also because this tale promotes the value of sharing.

Hello, House! (review by Julián Riobó)

Linda Hayward, Lynn Musinger (illustrator)

Publisher: Random House Trade

Hello, House! is the story of a sly rabbit that uses his wits to triumph over a not particularly clever wolf that wants to catch him. This lovely and funny tale takes place in the middle of the woods, where the little rabbit lives in a cosy house with his family. Linda Hayward, the author, and Lynn Musinger, with his utterly charming illustrations, show how intelligence prevails over physical strength with an engaging story for children between four and eight years of age

Hello, House! has a mixture of humour and didactic elements. The shrewd little rabbit using all his cleverness in order to get rid of the foolish wolf makes up a gripping story. Children are bound to have much fun when they see the way this naive-looking rabbit can make a fool of the big, hairy wolf. “Brer Wolf is bigger. But Brer Rabbit is a whole lot smarter”. The wolf spends his days trying to catch the little rabbit without any success since he sees himself outwitted by his “prey”. The author conveys a message that tells children that using their intelligence is much more important than using physical strength.

The little rabbit plays tricks on the wolf which make him feel silly and inferior. He places figures made of straw resembling rabbits in the woods with the purpose of making a fool of the unintelligent wolf. The main part of the story begins when the whole rabbit family goes out on a picnic. Brer Wolf is determined to take advantange of this situation and he has a plan that is likely to lead him to success for once and for all. But will he be clever enough to carry it out?

Undoubtedly, a perfect story to keep children amused as well as teach them a lesson. The tale will not disappoint them. Containing wonderful drawings and a hugely enjoyable story, this tale will surely fascinate any child. Highly recommended for kids between the ages of four and eight.

The Foot Book (review by Valeria Niell)

Dr. Seuss gifts us The Foot Book, perfect to read along with young children because of its short and repetitive phrases and attracting drawings.

The Foot Book describes all sort of feet and the characters are simple and funny, like doodles, and they clearly express what the words depict. For example, for “slow feet” there’s a big monster denoting laziness with his long ears and arms hanging still, and there’s a sense of calmness in his eyes and smile. We can easily imagine him walking in slow motion. And for “trick feet” there’s a dog juggling with his feet.

The most interesting feature of this engaging book is the rhyme and the repetition of phrases, encouraging the young reader to “foresee” or anticipate what the words will read (to cite an instance , the repetition of “Here come...”).

Dr. Seuss plays with words and their sounds creating rhymes, like “In the house and on the street, how many, many feet you meet”.

The presence of rhymes and repeated phrases is an excellent resource in children's books, because the readers will never sound dull or boring due the melody these rhymes give to their voice. I recommend this book because it will help young readers/listeners to include new words to their vocabulary, such as adjectives (since all the feet in The Foot Book are accompanied by an attribute: Sick, slow, fuzzy, etc.) and opposites (small and big, etc.).

The Wiener Dog Magnet (Review by G.V.)

"The Wiener Dog Magnet" is a story written and illustrated by Hayes Roberts, which tells a tale of how a little monkey named Kiki Marie saves the day with just a magnet dog. After paying a nickel for a wiener magnet, she heads towards different places and comes across a difficulty when reaching a river, where real wiener dogs live. The experience Kiki Marie lives is a great example for children to learn certain values in the book.

The encounter with these real dogs represents a trouble for Kiki Marie, but the turning point in the story comes when she uses her imagination to rescue two alligators that she happens to see trapped in the rapids of a river and she decided to put them into safety by using her magnet. This innocent but inventive idea turns out to be an unforgettable moment when the king of alligators gives her a blue ribbon as an acknowledgement for her kindness and bravery.

There are several topics that the story touches upon such as solidarity, friendship, no discrimination, courage, which you can read when Kiki rescues the alligators. All these topics are special for kindergarten children since they can understand certain values easily by reading Kiki Marie’s adventure.

All Hayes’s pictures shown in the book or the online version, which look the same, are simple and really attractive, triggering children’s interest from the beginning and putting a hook in readers from the first pages.

As a negative aspect, the story is a bit short and the action is really fast. There is no space for enlarging vocabulary. However, whether you choose to buy the book or read the online story, you will enjoy it.

The Old woman who lived in a vinegar bottle (review by Paola Vellere)

“The old woman who lived in a vinegar bottle” is a short story about an old woman who always complains about her living situation till a fairy hears her laments and decides to help the woman.

The author, Margaret Read MacDonald, uses repetitive and funny sentences to narrate the story that makes it easier for children to follow. The old woman thinks that she would be happy living in a cottage, but when the fairy makes the woman’s dream come true, the old woman complains again and again.

“What a pity, what a pity, pity, pity

That a woman like me should live in this…”

The woman’s greed increases every time the fairy grants her desires of living in different places. But the fairy decides to teach her a moral. The old woman is an ungrateful and unhappy person who thinks that happiness is a matter of material things.

The book has got colorful illustrations with many tiny details that call young children’s attention. This Book is highly recommended for children and for every person who is able to listen to a simple children’s story and reflect upon how people sometimes relate material things to happiness.

Two Greedy Bears (review by Nadina J. González Nomi)

The story titled “Two Greedy Bears”, by Mirra Ginsburg, is concerned with highlighting the idea of sharing. The author tries to show how greediness affects behaviour. Not only does she achieve this, she also engages children’s attention with bright and colourful drawings, where the furry beards look like real ones.

This story is about two greedy bear cubs that learn a lesson of sharing after an unforgettable experience. One day, they run across a piece of round cheese. But they are afraid that the other one would get the bigger piece. They argue and fight due to the cheese. Suddenly, a fox comes and offers to divide the cheese in equal parts. However, he separates the food into two unequal ones. Thus, the fox eats and eats and eats until the parts are equal. However, they are two very little crumbs.

The story in intended to teach children that generosity is something necessary in order to establish a good and strong relationship with friends. The bears’ behaviour is badly affected by the competition between themselves. However, they get a valuable lesson through hard experience.

A children’s story should demand a certain level of emotional involvement on the part of the reader and/ or the hearer. To put it simply, the story should not just describe some narrative events; it should allow the reader and /or the hearer to participate in it. This involvement can be achieved while reading the tale to children because the reader and/ or the hearer can participate commenting the events that take place in the story.

I believe that “Two Greedy Bears” teaches a valuable lesson. Hence, this story will work for children of any age. It can have an enormous impact on kids by having important implications for future children’s behaviour. Children can reflex on their own conduct towards others. Therefore, this tale would be a good choice for story times and lap times, to help children choose the best way to behave with peers.

“So can I” (review by Gabriela Belitzki)

In this book, readers will meet a friendly girl who carries out several actions which are concerned with daily routines. From brushing her teeth to carrying groceries, this girl is able to do anything. But this child is not alone; she is joined by different animals that can perfom these same actions very well, and even greater than this sweet girl.

The authors, Allan Ahlberg and Colin Mc Naughton, draw different comparisons between these girl’s abilities and these animals’ abilities, which happen to be really funny. These comparisons are expressed through repetition, which is the authors’ main stylistic resource. As repetition implies the use of the same grammar structure throughout the story, it is easy for young readers to predict the following comparison between the girl and the animals. What is more, children can participate by creating new comparisons among the characters. Besides, the colourful and expressive illustrations clearly support the story, increasing children’s engagement.

This book is highly recommended for parents who enjoy reading with their children and for those children who are starting reading on their own.

A fantastic story not to be missed (review by Daniela Pugliese)

Engaging and surprising, when the elephant walks shows children that all of us are afraid of something. This book is brilliantly written and illustrated by Keiko Kasza, who includes so many humorous details in the pictures that children will feel amazed.

The story begins with a series of events in which an elephant scares a bear, who is stealing honey from a beehive when the bear runs away, he scares a crocodile and so on. Fear spreads among other animals until a mouse appears and the question is ‘who would be scared by a little mouse?’. Since the outcome is unexpected for children, it creates a great suspense. This book is wonderful for preschoolers and children who are beginning to read because each page has few words and each picture shows perfectly what is happening.

If you are looking for a book containing a moral then you should get this book. It shows children that there may be someone bigger than you who gets scared. I definitely recommend when the elephant walks.

The great, big, enormous turnip (review by Jésica Torres)

“The great, big, enormous turnip” tells the story of an old man who plants a little turnip hopping it would grow strong. But his wishing is so huge, that he will need many hands to pull it up. By this retelling, Alexei Tolstoy, leads young readers to involve themselves with the values of cooperation, teamwork and diversity.

The little turnip grows great, big and enormous being impossible for the old man to pull it up by himself. For this reason, he calls for help to the old woman. But as their strength is not enough, he goes on asking for help and joining more people and animals who accept to cooperate with the old man despite the differences they may have as regards culture, age, race and gender. In fact, it is not until they are all together hauling the turnip up at the same time and direction, that the big plant comes up.

Tolstoy’s retelling is great for young learners of the English language. Its repetitive use of the regular and a few irregular verbs in the past tense and the reiteration of lexical items that children are familiar with, make the book and effective resource; easy for children to understand and enjoy while learning collective principles in the foreign language.

Eat up, Gemma (Review by Gisela Méndez)

Gemma's family tells her that she must eat, but she doesn't like being pushed around. Instead she does what she wants: she throws her breakfast on the floor, pulls grapes off one by one, bangs her spoon on the table and gives her dinner to the dog. When Gemma,the main character in “Eat up, Gemma”, finally decides to eat, she chooses not only an unusual time and place, but also a funny presented meal. Sarah Hayes has written this story with a focus on the difficult stage for parents in which children are not willing to eat anything.

The text does not imply race, but its illustrator, Ormerod, extends Hayes’ witty prose with warm and lively drawings of a black family, sometimes frustrated but always willing to understand and care for its youngest member. The little Gemma, is a lovely character: showing in every action the lively curiosity of her age group.

The book will work as an interesting tool for parents to deal with toddlers who are determined not to eat their food.

Eat up, Gemma (review by Betina Ricchezza)

“Eat up, Gemma” is a wonderful and lovely story in which a whole family encourage baby Gemma to eat. The author, Sarah Hayes, uses simple language to describe funny situations of a family dealing with common problems of a baby. The author´s choice that Gemma´s elder brother narrates the story makes it much warmer and more sensitive.

Baby Gemma decides not to eat and when she hears her mum, dad or grandma saying “Eat up, Gemma”, she throws her breakfast on the floor or gives her dinner to the dog. All family´s attempts to encourage Gemma to eat fail. A Sunday morning at church, Gemma becomes fascinated with an unusual hat of a woman. This amusing situation gives her elder brother an intelligent idea to solve the problem.

Along the story the author manages to combine humour, worries and smartness which make “Eat up, Gemma” a great story.

Recommended for preschoolers and younger. They will reflect on it ; and even their parents !