Hot Off the Press is a weekly feature of picture books that are recent releases. I usually base the post on my weekly visits to Vroman's Bookstore and browsing through their wall of new picture books. However, this week, I visited both Vroman's and Mrs. Nelson's Bookstore in LaVerne. These titles are available at either one or both of the stores.
Author/Illustrator: Bethanie Murguia
Publisher: Scholastic (May 1, 2012)
Audience: Ages 4 to 7
Last year, Bethanie Murguia released the picture book Buglette, The Messy Sleeper which I adored. And Murguia has another one that I really like. This one made me smile and shake my head. How many of you have ever dealt with a child that took forever to pick out clothes and get dressed? I am sure that is a lot of you. Consequently, you will appreciate Zoe's thought process as she tries to get herself dressed on a Saturday morning and also the mounting frustration from her mother who is downstairs waiting for her. I look forward to future books from Murguia. Don't forget to check out the official book trailer.
Check out the book trailer for Zoe Gets Ready:
Author: Meg McKinlay
Illustrator: Leila Rudge
Publisher: Walker Books (June 1, 2012)
Audience: Ages 4 to 7
This book is brilliant on several levels. First, Ruby wants to write a story but her story is not going to have any bears in it. Frankly, she feels that there are too many bears already in stories and she will not have one in her book. Unbeknownst to her, our friend the bear is keeping watch on things including saving the princess from the monster. The second cool thing about this book is the way the story mimics Ruby's own notebook pages providing readers with a reflection of sorts on the writing process. And finally, there are many cool references to fairy tales in the book which begs for re-reading so that you can find them all. I highly recommend this book.
Author/Illustrator: Polly Dunbar
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Audience: Ages 4 to 7
I think I selected this book first for it's beautiful illustrations and second for the imaginative story. Arthur wakes up and wants to share with his family about the pink and green boat from his dreams. A very tiny version of the boat appears on Arthur's head when he first awakes. As he attempts to gain the attention of his family members to tell them about the boat, it seems to be growing larger and larger until it eventually whisks him off on it's own adventure. Very imaginative and fun. Children will enjoy watching the boat develop details from the dream and become larger and larger until it envelopes everyone.
