WHERE'S WALRUS by Stephen Salvage

The baby book blogger's dilemma? There is so little time to blog, yet so many books to blog about, how to choose which one to review next? But since I began with wordless picture books, I thought I'd turn next to Where's Walrus by Stephen Savage.

I discovered it recently while browsing through Indie Bound Bestseller archives. It was a new release last January and received a positive review review from School Library Journal and and a starred review from Kirkus. (More on those perhaps at some future point; for now, let's just say that those two, and a few select others, carry some weight for me.)

This is the story of a walrus who escapes the zoo and hides around town to avoid re-capture. The fun for the reader is in the way the walrus hides on the page -- from the zookeeper and from us -- in a fountain, at a lunch counter, as a bricklayer, and a fireman. There's a little twist at the end, after which the walrus returns home to a much nicer, and presumably happier, home. Ultimately, this is one of those rare and delightful, artfully arranged children's picture books that also appeals to adults because it is both beautiful and clever.

It is recommended for children ages 3 and up, and I can see why. It is a more complicated story to follow than Hug, and Little Brother isn't quite as taken with the images. Big Brother, however, delights in spotting the walrus on each page and understands the humor in his hiding.

You now know that I like series, so you won't be surprised to learn that the discovery of illustrator Stephen Savage led me to one of his previous works, Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson.  

In this tale, a polar bear cub ventures out of his warm, cozy den into the stark cold, dark, but beautiful Far North night. On his journey, he encounters a walrus, seals, and whales, and admires the moon and stars, until he is sleepy and at last returns to the fuzzy fur of his mother in their den. It won a Best Illustrated Children's Book award from New York Times Book Review. This is another one that Little Brother can appreciate in pictures all by "self," so we skip the words. There really isn't anything special about them, and some of the sweetest stories are best told by seeing rather than saying.

HUG by Jez Alborough

I make good use of the local library. I particularly appreciate the search-and-hold feature. Sometimes we take the boys in to browse in person, but it's hard to discover the real gems on the shelf when you have about two minutes to scan titles while keeping your toddler from pulling ten DVDs off the opposite shelf and your preschooler is most interested in the hand stamps doled out by the librarian at checkout.

So when Christmas and New Year's were over and I finally returned the stack of holiday books we had had for a month, I was at a loss as to what to search for next. It had been months since I had thought to request anything that didn't include the current seasonal celebration in the title.

And then I came upon this:

How have I not discovered this darling tale of a tail before? It's adorable. Featuring no words other than that of "hug" on each page, it follows a lost little monkey, Bobo, who comes across other animals in the jungle having a hug with each other and embarks on his quest to find and receive a hug of his own.

My 19-month-old took to it immediately. He can "read" it almost all by himself. He says "sad" when Bobo's face falls, and "cry" when he begins to do just that. He leans down and tries to give Bobo a hug himself. He recognizes and can say the names of most of the animals: the el-phants, snakes, hippos, giraffes, and "lie-lies" (lions) all having a hug. And then, at the end, comes the best part of all: "Mommy!" "Hug!" "Happy!"

The discovery of Hug then lead to the discovery of the other Bobo books in the series:

I like series.


Tall is much appreciated by my oldest son, whose most favorite animal in the whole wide world is and always has been the giraffe. Bobo is small, but Giraffe is tall, so Bobo climbs on board ... but then takes a tumble from the top, lands in Mommy's arms, and is happy to be small again.

And Yes is a sweet bath-and-bedtime book. One can never have too many of those. Bobo says yes "Yes!" to baths, but "No, no, no!" to bedtime. At the end, Little Brother says, "Shh, sleeping," when Bobo has finally worn himself out and is at last asleep in Mommy's arms, recognizing that it's now his turn to follow suit.  

Here I Go Again ...

I launched this blog last January, with every intention of posting once a week. Turns out, raising a baby and a toddler while being a full-time graduate student and maintaining a marriage (or getting any sleep) is actually pretty hard. Thus, the blog quickly took a backseat to the rest of my life.

But now, one year later, the master's degree is complete (check!), the job search is underway, and the baby and toddler have become the toddler and preschooler, respectfully. Still hard, but not as hard, especially since decent sleep occurs on a pretty regular basis for us all (at last!).

So now I'm back for round two, and hope to be more dedicated this time. I belong to an adult book club, but due to said life schedule above, I haven't attended in ages. (Miss you all and hope to see you again someday soon! Especially since you will likely be my only blog readers. :-) ) However, one thing throughout this past year has remained the same: I still read a LOT of children's books. Perhaps I should start a book club for kids ... 

(Postscript: Interestingly, nuks are no longer in use around here. My oldest reluctantly gave up his when he turned three. Originally my husband and I thought two was a good age to begin the weaning process -- until Little Brother was born and it was very hard to tell Big Brother he could no longer have one but Little Brother could. As for Little Brother, when Mommy replaced some of the old nuks with new, bigger, age-appropriate ones at 18 months old, he didn't like them so much and decided he was just done. Apparently, that is that.)  

HEADS by Matthew Van Fleet

When I originally had the idea for this blog I thought it would be fun to focus on holiday books. This was last fall, when I was spending hours perusing and then reading Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas books to my sons, and I discovered some real gems. But here I am writing in January so I'll have to wait until next fall to tell you about those and you'll have to wait to hear about them. I think President's Day books appropriate for two-year-olds are a little hard to come by. (I can't actually be sure of this as I haven't searched too deeply. Our local library has placed a hold on holds for the next month while they update their system.) In any case, since it's a new year let's start at the top: with Heads by Matthew Van Fleet.

We have several other titles in the Matthew Van Fleet collection. I think they're delightful, and this newest creation does not disappoint. True to form there are all sorts of different textures for babies to feel ("woolly heads" and "hairy heads," "furry ears" and "floppy ears") and things for a toddler to pull and push, including elephant ears that twitch and a frog's tongue that flicks. The text is clever and concise, and there's just enough of it, but not too much, to complement the illustrations. I thought my youngest, who is seven months, would most like the fuzzy, fluffy, scratchy, and smooth elements, and he does, but he likes the moving parts best too -- particularly when he gets to explore the book on his own terms instead of having Big Brother show him how it's done.

The downside to these tactile books is that in the past they haven't always held up well. The "shake, shake, shake" dog in said title is missing his head (it is a little disturbing) and the "swish,swish, swish" pig's tail in second said title has broken off (fortunately, not so disturbing). Ah, well. I consider these matters signs of a well-loved book. Heads, however, has a new element: some of the moving parts here are covered by a clear plastic sheet. This allows for just enough movement to keep little hands curious but likely a little protection to keep them from going overboard. I'm happy to see Heads has a chance of holding up a little longer than some of the previous titles. But if it doesn't, that's okay too. For now, it's a new favorite, one that gets a little love every night.

Welcome!

Welcome to The Book Nuk! So who am I and what qualifies me to write this blog? I love books. I have always loved books. My idea of the perfect winter weekend (and perhaps summer weekend too; it doesn't even have to be raining) is to spend hours curled up with a good book in hand. Sometimes I dream of being a college professor solely so that I can have an office full of books. As a little girl I secretly read by flashlight beneath my covers long after I was supposed to be sleeping. And frankly, today I still do the same: I read by tiny book light while my infant son dozes nearby in his bassinet. 

I was an English major and spent eight years as book editor in a publishing house. (Full disclosure: Although I have edited children's books, I am not a children's book editor per se.) But most importantly, I am a mom. Since my first son came into my life two and a half years ago, I haven't had as much time as I might like to read big people books -- but I read a lot of little people books. So after careful consideration I decided to start a little people book review: a blog for people who use nuks -- or, more specifically, for the people who read to them. After all, books can be just as soothing to little souls as pacifiers. I hope you enjoy it! I look forward to hearing your feedback and possibly your suggestions too.