Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur!: A Palestinian Folktale by Margaret Read MacDonald

A lively folktale from the middle east introduces us to a woman who longs for a child and prays to Allah "even if it's just a cooking pot" which is what she gets. The mischiveous little pot runs ("Tun-jur! Tun-jur!" is the roll-y noise she makes) off with things that do not belong to her. She learns her lesson when someone fills her up with goat muck- instead of the reward she was expecting.

A lesson of learning right from wrong is shared with strong arabic- styled illustrations.

Author's notes are included.

Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter, by Susan Goldman Rubin

In a format befitting his pop-art style, the early life and work of Andy Warhol is presented against large blocks of bright color. Photographs and reproductions of his work fill the pages along with numerous quotes many from this nephew, James Warhol who authored Uncle Andy's (2003) a great companion to this work. The timeline is a particularly creative example of the form employing bold patterns and colors and filling in the later years of his life and work. The "back" material in this book: glossary, source notes, bibliography, illustration credits, and a list of museums where one can view his work including the Ackland in Chapel Hill are particularly strong. While this book is suitable for elementary school readers, it's hard to put an upper limit on its appeal.

Grades 4 - up.

Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry by Joyce Sidman

A little tan dog zooms out of the front door of his home; a white kitten is pushed from a car by the side of the road. Through the magic of concrete poetry, their stories meet and merge in the park during a thunderstorm. The poet and the illustrator/designer combine talents to create a book full of verbal and pictorial imagery that is charming and inventive. Spiky-topped green letters form the grass in the park and read "PATCHWORK, RABBIT-NIBBLED, MOWER-CROPPED, WIND-WHISPERED GRASS". On the "nosetrail" of the cat, the dog's singlemindedness is momentarily waylaid: "catcatcatcatcat...catcatcatcatCHIPMUNK! The clouds grow from "WISP" to closely layered "SNOW-WHITE ROLLS AND DOLLOPS STUPENDOUSLY SWELLING". The multiple fonts and perfect color palette make this digitally-created book a treat. The poet has had experience teaching children how to write concrete poetry; this amazing little book will inspire others to creativity.

Look! Look! Look! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

A playful look into the intricacies of art. Three fashion-conscious mice (I guess this from their dapper wardrobes) pilfer a postcard from their human homeowners. Its a portrait of a lady in fancy Elizabethan finery, but the mice don't know this. They just have all sorts of fun looking at the pretty lady's clothes and jewelry. They carefully but simply examine pattern, line, color and shapes - all part of the K-1 art and math curriculums. As most of Wallace's books, this one also includes activities and some follow up inf. in the back. This is a clever alternative to the art books that try so hard to hook small children into more formal art. By focusing all the attention on a single painting, this one just might work!

This would also be a great pairing with Mouse Paint from years ago.

Grades K-3

Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea by Chris Butterworth

Illustrated by John Lawrence

A beautifully written description of the life of a male Barbour's sea horse evolves into a description of the life of one of his daughters. Additional facts about sea horses are provided in blue ink against a lighter blue water background. Includes index.

The illustrations are incredible. The backgrounds are woodcut prints with vinyl prints for the foreground. The simple color scheme, drawn from the colors of a coral reef (blue, aqua and red) portrays the richness of the underwater scenery.

Children will find the facts of the sea horse's life very interesting. The index is comprehensive for such an artistic picture book.

starred SLJ, starred Booklist

Flotsam, by David Wiesner

A young boy discovers a camera in the surf at the beach and when he develops the film, he finds fantastic images of underwater creatures. But the most amazing photo is the last one that shows a boy holding a photo of another child holding a photo and so on until a microscopic examination reveals the original boy on a beach decades ago. Completely wordless, the amazing illustrations, some double-spread convey the story and an imaginative journey underwater and back in time.

http://www.amazon.com/Flotsam-David-Wiesner/dp/0618194576/sr=1-1/qid=1166110744/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5407193-2823855?ie=UTF8&s=books

This Blog does have a tag feature. When you are in compose, it's called "labels." We could use as subject headings. See the bottom of this post.