Saturday, May 12, 2012

Kid Konnection: Picture Book Assortment


Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week, I'm going to feature some cute picture books.

Summary: Squares, rectangles, ovals, triangles, and other colorful shapes are sorted and arranged into - two robots! But why stop there? Shape by shape, costume by costume, Robot and Robot play a game of oneupmanship that zips, zooms, and whirrs from friendly to hilariously out of control in nanoseconds. Robot Zombie? How about Robot Zombie Frankenstein? Can you handle Robot Zombie Frankenstein Pirate? What could be next? Where will it all stop? When the race makes a surprise (and delicious) turn, Robot and Robot are happy to be plain old robots - and buddies - once again. 

Perfect for high-energy story times, this cumulative tale is a madcap mash-up featuring robots, shapes in motley amalgamation, and . . . pie! -- Candlewick Press

ROBOT, ZOMBIE FRANKENSTEIN! by Annette Simon is a book that kids and parents alike will appreciate. Kids will love this book for it's adorable illustrations and parents will like the tongue-in-cheek look at today's competitive society. It's definitely a book that can be read over and over again!

ROBOT, ZOMBIE FRANKETSTEIN! tells the story of two robots who try to one up each other with better shapes and costumes. They start as simple robots, but with their multiple costume changes, they become "robot zombie Frankenstien pirate superhero-in-disguise outer space invader chefs" by the end of the book. They also find that they are now robot buddies and they celebrate by sharing pie!

As cute as the story is, I think I was most impressed with the illustrations. These robots and their costumes are extremely cute. The robots are full of bright colors and the costumes just keep getting sillier and sillier. Kids will like seeing the various shapes that make up the characters and some might even be tempted to create their own shape drawings.

Highly recommended for both classrooms and bedtime reading!

Summary: The walls would tremble. The dishes would break.
Oh, what a terrible mess we would make!

If all the animals came inside, bears would run down the stairs, kangaroos would bounce on the couch, and hippos would play hide-and-seek through the halls! Join one family's wild romp as animals of all shapes and sizes burst through the front door and make themselves right at home.


Extraordinary collage artwork from beloved illustrator Marc Brown (Arthur series) pairs with Eric Pinder's hilarious rhyming verse to make this the perfect book to read aloud again and again. -- Little, Brown


IF ALL THE ANIMALS CAME INSIDE by Eric Pinder and illustrated by Marc Brown
is another silly book for little ones. Eric Pinder's imaginative story about what would happen if you let wild animals into your home, combined with Marc Brown's awesome (there really is no other word for them) illustrations, is a sure-fire hit!

IF ALL THE ANIMALS CAME INSIDE describes all of the zaniness that would take place when elephants, hippos, pandas, and many more animals come into a family's home. There's lots of trembling and shaking, and a huge mess is made. Of course, the kids are loving all of the excitement, but the parents are less than thrilled. I would imagine that youngsters will find this part of the story to be hilarious!

After all of the chaos, there is a cute message at the end of the story. The kids start to realize that living with wild animals isn't all fun and games. They decide that a cat and a dog are enough for them; and it's at this point, that the parents reading this story can relax.

Very cute with wonderful (and exciting) illustrations! Kids will love this book!

Summary: Vroom! Vroom! From the backseat, what do you see? Whether on a cross-country road trip or a quick jaunt across town, there’s no end to what a child can see from the backseat of a car. Using familiar road signs, this striking book introduces little ones not just to the alphabet but also to the world around them. Equally perfect for transportation-obsessed children and those just learning to read, this fresh and dynamic picture book will entertain and educate at home, in the classroom, and on the go. -- Chronicle Books

I sure wish BACKSEAT A-B-SEE by Maria van Lieshout had been available when Booking Son was a toddler. It is positively adorable! BACKSEAT A-B-SEE is an alphabet book with a twist. This picture book features different street signs for each letter of the alphabet. For example, B is for Bike Route and S is for Stop.

The book is extremely simple with black backgrounds, white capital letters and big street signs; however, it all works perfectly. In addition to teaching and/or reinforcing the alphabet, this book also introduces kids to the various road signs. I guarantee most kids will want to start searching for these signs during their daily travels.

Take a quick peek at this video to get an even better idea BACKSEAT A-B-SEE:



Thanks to the authors and publishers for providing review copies of these books.

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!

5 comments:

Laura at Library of Clean Reads said...

Yeah, I wish Backseat A-B-See had been available too when my kids were young. I could see how it would have made commuting a whole lot easier.

bermudaonion said...

They all look great! I'm sure Vance would have loved Robot, Zombie Frankenstein!

rhapsodyinbooks said...

My Kid Konnection book today continues on the theme of National Asian Pacific Heritage Month.

Literary Feline said...

How fun! I will have to see if I can get a copy of Backseat A-B-See for Mouse.

I meant to post photos of the books I talk about today, but I couldn't get to the computer to search and add them in. :-(

Stacy at The Novel Life said...

Oh I love the Backseat book! And the clip was great...I need to get this one for my grandson and my niece. Thanks for sharing