MotherReader

These books were nominated for the 2011 Cybils and reviewed from library copies.

Follow Me
by Tricia Tusa
Harcourt, 2011
"Swing into a daydream," states this lovely picture book, and indeed we do. A girl is swinging among the soft pinks, blues, and grays of her surroundings. With a flash of imagination, she is part of the greens of the tree and through the oranges of fall leaves. Time seems to stop or to flow endlessly like a dream, which ends with her back home, where mom is waiting. A beautiful way to look at colors, complemented with gentle, poetic text."Look at me, follow me into the curl of a breeze. I am caught in its folds." Sigh.

Blue Chameleon
by Emily Gravett
Simon & Schuster, 2011
A lonely chameleon changes colors and contorts his body as he tries to make a friend. For instance, looking to find a companion in a banana, he turns yellow and curves himself appealingly (Get it? ap-peeling-ly.) Fortunately, before he loses hope and perhaps his mind he finds a fellow chameleon and together they display all the colors of the rainbow. With very little text it's a simple book, but the fun comes from the character's attempts to fit in and the author/illustrator's clever take on a common book of colors. Brilliant.

The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse
by Eric Carle
Philomel, 2011
That "common book of colors" I just referred to above? That's what this book is. Yes, the colors are on animals not normally that color. But when you look at what else has been done with the topic and by this renowned artist, I cannot understand the buzz for this book at all. With little text and no story, a child artist paints animals in unusual colors. At each page turn, the reader sees the standard Carle artwork for each creature, including a blue horse. Okay, I'll give you that standard Carle is still a pretty great thing, and indeed the illustrations are vibrant and the message of creativity rings true, but I'd say it's not his best work.