One of the most classic and important children’s books ever published sung by the author…

Thanks to Youtube and www.henryholtkids.com

One of the things I used to love about working in bookstores was when new boxes arrived from publishers. It was like Christmas every month, the anticipation and the joy of finding out what was inside.

Now I get that feeling when I walk into a bookshop to see what is new on the shelves and also when I’m browsing the internet, checking out other peoples blogs for new and exciting books.

A couple of days a go I came across Suzy Lee on Amazon. The book is Wave and it is wordless.

Suzy Lee is amazing and I must now have Wave on my bookshelf; have a look at her website here to learn more about this very gorgeous artist.

Wordless picture books are of course an art because the whole story must be conveyed convincingly in the illustrations. They are very important in education for prompting children to learn how to interpret stories and also to recognise a beginning, middle and end in story telling. Wordless books are great at home as well; younger children can enjoy explaining what is happening in the illustrations and older children can take it further by imagining alternate endings and additional plot lines. Wordless picture books are rewarding.

weheartbooks top 5 wordless picture books

1. Up and Up (Shirley Hughes)

I love Shirley Hughes and one of my favorite books as a child was Dogger, or David and the Dog as it is known in the USA (I’ll post about that one another time). She is one of the best known children’s author/illustrators in the world. Set out in comic strip style Up and Up consists of black line drawings against a sepia background. The story of a little girl who longs to fly, it is purely magical as you follow her journey: she gets her wish and off she goes up and up. Her personality is infectious and she always makes me smile as she drifts along until she is finally rescued by a man in a hot air balloon. There is so much to look at in this book which makes it a great tool for encouraging children to make up their own stories. It doesn’t even have to be about the main character, you could make up different stories for the others she meets along the way. Ages 3+

2. The Arrival (Shaun Tan)

Well I just think this award winning book is incredible, in fact Shaun Tan is incredible. The Arrival depicts the journey of a man who leaves home for a strange, fantastical land in order to support his family. The hundreds of drawings Tan worked on for this stunning book are partly a reflection of his own father’s journey to Australia and his struggle to fit into an alien culture. More than a book The Arrival is an awe-inspiring artwork; every time I pick it up I find new and amazing elements that I had missed before. Ages 8+

3. The Snowman (Raymond Briggs)

Regarded as a cult classic this picture book tells a story in pictures - 175 frames to be exact - of the one night friendship of a boy and his snowman. The boy lovingly creates the man out of snow and when he looks out of his window that night he discovers the snowman is alive. They take each other on a tour of their worlds, the boy of his house and the snowman of his wintery world. In the morning when the boy wakes up the snowman is gone, he has melted and all that is left are pieces of coal. This book is all about the joy of exploring and discovering new things, it is about new friendships and then the fond memories of those friendships. This book really does give children the opportunity to imagine their own ending to the story. 4+

4. Sunshine and Moonlight (Jan Omerod)

These are favorites of mine from childhood, I can remember borrowing them from the school library numerous times. In the last few years they have been re-published and are just as beautiful as I remember them way back in primary school. Sunshine follows the progression of a little girl’s day as she gets up out of bed and begins her daily routine. My favorite scenes are when she hops into bed with her parents while they read their morning papers; everyone in this house has a routine and they all fit into each other’s. Toddlers can compare their routine in the morning before childcare/preschool with this little girl’s. Jan includes so much detail that this is perfect for beginning discussion with children about their own routines. Sunshine won the Australian Children’s Book of the Year Award in 1982. Moonlight is similar to Sunshine but of course follows the routine on the other end of the day; cleaning teeth, bathtime and bed. Ages 2+

5. Tuesday (David Wiesner)

Reading Tuesday is like watching an M. Night Shyamalan film; it is weird, quirky, funny and enthralling. On this particular Tuesday around 8 in the evening a strange thing begins to happen, suddenly frogs/toads start to invade the town levitating on lily pads and seemingly having a great time. The frogs eventually return to their rightful homes BUT the big surprise is what is going to happen on the following Tuesday? Tuesday won the prestigious Caldecott Medal and Wiesner’s amazing speech is here. I love this quote from that speech

Fortunately, kids know funny when they see it. If, after reading Tuesday one evening before bed, they look out the window and see frogs flying by—well, we should all be so lucky.

Wiesner’s art is incredible and I can guarantee that parents will love this as much as their children. Ages 4+

Although we have used some very classic choices here there is also room for a special mention for the fantastic wordless books by wonderful Australian illustrator Gregory Rogers, The Boy, the Bear, the Baron and the Bard and sequel Midsummer Knight. Ages 6+

We Are Wearing Out the Naughty Step by Mick Inkpen has just been released in the UK to great reviews, unfortunately it doesn’t look like it will be released in Australia until November. You could order it in through your local independent bookshop or pop it on your list for later this year.

This is the gorgeous description of the book from the UK Hodder Children’s Publishing website….

‘We are wearing out the Naughty Step - I lost the school hamster, and Josh fed the elephant the wrong way and we made the dog into a panda… Mummy is not happy… but the day she makes Kevin a chocolate birthday cake is the day that ALL of us, including Mummy, end up on the Naughty Step!’

This reminds me of a 30 degree day earlier this year when I made four batches of Nigella’s Cupcakes before one turned out edible! I really needed a spell on the naughty step when I literally had a meltdown over blue and yellow cupcakes. So I definitely know how ‘Mummy’ in the book feels.

This gorgeous new book points out one of the great hypocrisies of childhood, should mummies and daddies be banished to the naughty step too? Because we can all lose our temper can’t we?

Mick Inkpen is one of the most popular picture book writers and illustrators in the world. His Kipper and Wibbly Pig stories have sold millions of copies worldwide. Kipper alone has sold over 6 million books and is this year turning 18 years old. Like Nick Butterworth, Mick Inkpen has a graphic design background so he also places his characters in the middle of crisp white pages which makes the books really enjoyable for toddlers because they can really focus on the character. All of Mick’s characters are irresistible and later this year he will launch a new series based on the enthusiastic Zebra that features in Kipper’s A to Z.

A guest post by Trudy, 30-something-year-old first-time mum to Oscar, 16 months.

You think you’ve had a cow of day, but have you really? Have you ever really thought what a cow might go through during the day? Nor had I until our most recent purchase. I know, yet another animal book to add to Oscar’s already furry and feathered bookshelf.

We were out last week with Grandma (country Grandma as opposed to city Nanna!) and visited our favourite local bookstore, Book Bonding. I saw two sets of big brown eyes looking from the book display and it was too much for me to resist so we purchased Cow by Malachy Doyle and illustrated by Angelo Rinaldi. The front cover in it’s own right hit the right cord with me. When we were at the counter ready to pay, Natasha showed me Malachy’s latest book as well, Horse. Needless to say Grandma reached into her purse and we walked out with another two animal books.

The illustrations in this book are amazing. It’s as if the cows are in your living room. I felt as if I could reach out and pat their fur or feel the steam coming out of their mouths on the cold morning as they made their way to the milking shed. I have included a couple of illustrations from the book so you can appreciate the expertise of Angelo Rinaldi. You can actually see veins on the udder of the cow and could only imagine the milk sloshing around inside and the pain she must be experiencing prior to milking.

It will be a great book as Oscar gets older so we can teach him that milk doesn’t come out of cartons and teach him the process of getting the milk from the cow to the dairy. He can also get an understanding of what it might be like to be a cow. For the first time in my life I sat back and thought too what it must be like in the paddocks at night, on a dewy morning or during the heat of a summer’s day.

“Slowly you rise from the sodden grass, your thick coat wet with morning dew. Big and heavy, you amble to the gate, full udder swinging between your legs”.

The journey is amazing although simplistic in its own right. I was totally encapsulated in the experience and even as I write this blog I am still touched by those big brown eyes.

The trip to the milking shed, the trip back to the paddock and what a cow would experience during the day. Watching the children leave for school and return on the school bus. How the children swim in the river as the cow sits on the banks watching.

“As the midday sun blazes, you rest in the shade of the oak tree, and close your deep dark eyes. Your ears twitch to clear the flies from your face. You swish them from your back with your long bushy tail……”

From now on I will choose my words carefully before I state that I’ve had a cow of day….

“You’re back in the field, the sun has gone, the files have flown and the long, hot day draws to an end. You graze. You chew. And you rest. It’s hard work being a cow……..”

A guest post by Sarah, 38 year old mum to Neve (9 3/4), Cissy (3) and Jemima (10 months).

I think my favourite author would have to be Alison Lester. I love the Australian-ness of her books, the gentle stories and illustrations and the fact that the substantial nature of them kind of creeps up on you. These books are “worthy” without boasting about it. My kids love them too.

Alison Lester grew up on a farm near Wilson’s Prom in Victoria, riding horses, spending time at the beach and her stories really reflect this upbringing. Alison herself says that she thinks what is appealing about her books is that they are “filled with the spirit of the young”. I think she captures this so beautifully. Her characters are adventurous and not afraid to be who they are - great qualities!

Some of our favourites include:

Imagine (for ages 2-5)

“Imagine if we were….” and be transported to other worlds. Every second page opens up to a double spread of other places. Filled with animals of every variety (listed around the outside so you can play an animal version of Where’s Wally).

“Imagine if we were surrounded by monsters where pteradons swoop and triceratops smash where stegosaurs stomp and tyrannosaurs gnash”. Turn the page and you are there. You can also go to the jungle, savannah, Antarctic, a farm, under the sea and the Australian Bush. This book converted me and I’ve been a fan ever since.

My Farm (for ages 4-7)

Inscribed at the front, “to Mum and Dad for a wonderful childhood”.

This book is told in seasons - and includes all the happenings on the farm. Alison takes us to the local show; she rescues a baby wombat, feeds the cows, and musters cattle along the beach. I imagine these events to be highlights of Alison’s own childhood and I end up feeling quite nostalgic for a more innocent time and place. The children in this story have such great adventures - it really is a window into quite a different life than the one of our urban children.

“In September it was time to bring the cattle home from the bush run. That year, Jake and I were finally old enough to go along. It took a day to ride down and muster, and a day to drive them home along the beach. We splashed through the shallows and jumped the waves. I decided to be a drover when I grow up.”

There is a bit more text in this one, so you probably need to be a bit bigger to appreciate it fully.

Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo (for ages 3-7)

“Ernie is going to live in Arnhem Land for a year. His parents are working in a hospital there.”

It’s a new take on the other Tessa, Clive, Frank, Rosie books, with Ernie in Arnhem Land. I think this book is so delightful because in pointing out the cultural differences between us it manages to reinforce the fact that children are the same no matter what their culture.

I absolutely love the pages about the school play.

This book came about following Alison Lester’s own journey to Arnhem Land.

Are We There Yet? (for ages 4-7)

This book follows the travels of a family in a caravan travelling around Australia. Every second page has a map showing where they are and how far they have gone. They visit all the places you expect but it is not just a tourist guide. The book is filled with little vignettes of the experience - caravan park showers, where they sat in the car, playing monopoly in the caravan when it rained and the catch cry of younger brother Billy…. “Are we there yet?”

I’m Green and I’m Grumpy (for ages 18 months - 4)

In this story everyone hides in the cupboard, and there is a rhyming clue to guess what each character is dressed up as. “I’m green and I’m grumpy, I’m huge and I roar. I’m a thundering, rumbling…. (open the flap) DINOSAUR!“, finishing up with Rosie - a bit younger than we see her in Rosie Sips Spiders - asleep in the cupboard. Very sweet.

So if you haven’t visited Alison Lester’s books before, check them out at the library when you next visit - I’m sure you will love them as much as I do.

A guest post by Lisa, mum to Finnan aged 3 years, and Daisy, 6 months

Finnan was just over two and a half when Daisy arrived last November. We were reasonably confident he understood and was excited about getting a new brother or sister, but wanted a book to help illustrate the experience.

Do a search online and you’ll find there are lots of books on this topic. A few that are often recommended in good bookshops include Sophie and the New Baby and Penny Dale’s Big Brother, Little Brother. Both have classic illustrations, and are well-written tales of how life changes in a family with the new arrival. Za Za’s Baby Brother is more contemporary in style and directed at younger toddlers, with shorter text and the gorgeous primary colours of writer/illustrator Lucy Cousins, famous for the Maisy Mouse series.

I’ve always wondered if ‘new baby’ and other ‘topic’ titles could pre-empt behaviour issues before they’re there. (See Katie’s previous post on Toilet Training - “Why, oh why, do so many potty books picture the use of a potty as a hat? Isn’t this the last thing you want to show a toddler who hasn’t thought of it yet…?”)

‘New baby’ books often depict toddlers getting cross at the new baby or playing up when being ignored by their parents. What if your child hasn’t even considered getting upset until they read these books? Or am I being naïve in thinking an older sibling might not feel this?

Anyway, these misgivings made it really hard for me to commit to buying a new baby book for Finn. Instead, we read a few stories featuring babies or big brothers and talked about the characters in the ‘book family’ caring for each other - “like we do in ours, Finnan”. Worth a try anyway!!

However, early in my pregnancy I’d seen There’s a House Inside My Mummy by Giles Andreae. The little boy/narrator isn’t naughty or upset, he’s actually very caring towards his mum when she gets tired, and is very excited about showing the new baby his toys (especially the train set, a big tick for our Thomas-obsessed boy). So the message was good, illustrations bright and beautiful, but I didn’t buy it because the premise was just too bizarre for me to explain (especially when the author mentions Mummy’s door being ‘too tight’ - what is THAT all about??? Finn’s dad still hasn’t stopped sniggering …).

But a very kind work colleague gave us a copy for Finn when we revealed he was to get a sibling, and Finn loved it almost straight away. We read it almost every night in the last few months before Daisy was born and I think he was definitely well prepared for her arrival. Afterwards, we were given a great Dorling Kindersley book called Our New Baby which focuses more on the daily routine of caring for a baby, rather than bad behaviour.

The clincher for Finn was when he arrived at the hospital after Daisy’s birth and “the baby” gave him a new Richard Scarry book WITH STICKERS!!! as a hello present. He ended up getting a book or sticker book every time he came in to visit, on topics unrelated to babies, which kept him excited, gave him something to look at so visitors could coo over the new baby without fear of jealousy, and also entertained him. Finn and Daisy get along famously so far and I’m sure our reading times together are partly the reason!

Ned’s dad and I are loving the Sir David Attenborough/BBC production Tiger - Spy in the Jungle. It is so wonderfully filmed using the most incredible technology of trunk cams, in which elephants are used to place cameras disguised as tree trunks in strategic positions to get the most amazingly close footage of the elusive tigers.

This documentary is intimately following the lives of four tiger cubs as they grow up with their mother in the jungle of India. They really are the most beautiful and majestic animals!

While on holidays recently we found a copy of Nick Butterworth’s Tiger in hardcover and after having watched the first episode of Spy in the Jungle we just had to have it. Ned’s dad thinks it is very cute and it has become one of his favorites. I have always loved Butterworth for his beautiful clean, crisp illustration style that has developed from his graphic design background.

The Tiger of this story is actually a kitten, called Tiger, who enjoys pretending to be the real thing with “great big tigery claws and a loud scary, tigery ROAR!” On the middle of one page we see the adorable little kitten, so soft and cute and then on the next page he transforms into a real tiger taking up the whole page with his enormity.

The text flows so nicely that this picture book makes for an excellent read aloud and toddlers can join in with the repetition “just like a real tiger“.

Tiger is a beautiful story about the joys of imagination and pretend. And as the book ends with Tiger in bed it is also a perfect bedtime story.

Nick Butterworth has also created a companion book called Tiger in the Snow.

Zoo lovers check out this incredible website . It is the stunning companion to the book Bembo’s Zoo by Brazillian Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich.

I promise you it is amazing, especially for fans of graphic design and typography combined with children’s books.

A guest post by Trudy, 30-something-year-old first-time mum to Oscar, 15 months.

What is it about animals that kids find so interesting, actually what is it about animals that I find so interesting? Is it their shape, the noises they make, the colour of their skin, fur or feathers? Yes you guessed it, Oscar, Matt & I made a recent trip to the zoo. I am not sure who was more excited, Oscar, his dad pointing out all of the wonderful animals, or me watching the expressions on both of their faces.

Ever since our adventure to the zoo last week, we have had even more fun with our vast array of animal books at home. I actually didn’t realise how many animal books we have got!

Some of the books have already been reviewed by Lou & Katie [Dear Zoo (Rod Campbell), Zoo! (Lori Froeb) and Dog (Matthew Van Fleet)] but I have included another favourite to share with the weheartbooks.com family.

Animal Babies A to Z: A Pop-Up Book by Chuck Murphy

Open the front cover and you are taken aback by the most beautiful bold black and white letters. The anticipation of what’s behind is too much for Oscar as he grabs at a letter. [He needs to be reminded again that it's a special book and we need to be careful! He is learning slowly.]

A = Antelope B = Baboon C = Chameleon. The bright colours of the Chameleon against the black shiny background is truly amazing and the pop-out three-dimensional branch which holds the Chameleon and its five offspring is like the real thing.

As you work your way through the alphabet, you are greeted with wonderful pop-outs or lift the flaps to see who may be behind that wonderful letter. The range of animals is just amazing and it’s always nice to see some Australian classics such as the koala and wallaby (what a clever man to put a wallaby, but I guess when you’re confronted with “k” for kangaroo and koala you have to think a little more laterally).

Most of the classics such as the gorilla, elephant, snakes, tigers and lions are in there. I was disappointed that the giraffe couldn’t squeeze into the book but when you see the family of gorillas you forgive him for the oversight! We then move to some of the more obscure animals including the okapi, numbat, quetzal, urial and vicuna - all very interesting to say the least.

I have shared a couple of our favourite pages below so you can see how wonderful the illustrations and pop-outs are. (Forgive some of my photography skills but it’s a tricky book to capture.)

A fabulous day for me today. It was a recipe for success: a day in the city (of Melbourne) including a visit to Metropolis (more on that later), a coffee at Degraves, a little bit of shopping and people-watching, a kids’ book illustration exhibition and a stop on the way home at a friend’s house, filled with talk of kids’ books… I. Heart. Melbourne.

It’s amazing how many ideas can be generated from one day on the town when you don’t get out as much as you used to. But I will stay focused, and the topic of this post is the aforementioned kids’ book illustration exhibition. It was called Hooked on Books, exhibited at Artplay, as posted here by Lou. The exhibition runs til 13 June, and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in children’s book illustration.

The exhibition is of original illustrations from a range of Australian picture books, collected by Albert Ullin. Ullin is most famous for establishing the specialist children’s bookshop, The Little Bookroom, here in Melbourne. Ullin’s collection of original illustrations from Australian children’s books was initially driven by his desire to support young illustrators of picture books who were struggling to make a living. In 1973, he started by buying the works of Ron Brooks (illustrator of John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat – reviewed by Lou here – and of one of my favourites, Fox, by Margaret Wild). Later, he was approached by Peter Pavey, a friend of Brooks, who had not yet found a publisher for his illustrations. (Pavey later went on to publish One Dragon’s Dream which became a Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year.)

Part of the joy of the exhibition was seeing the original artworks for illustrations of books I know well - books by Graeme Base, Bob Graham, Alison Lester, Shaun Tan and Kerry Argent. Seeing the vibrancy of colour in the originals was amazing, as well as the three-dimensional aspect to works which included media such as fabric or paper sculpture. The other part of the joy for me was discovering many books I had not heard of. I took furious notes and have a new long list of books to search for in the library and in second-hand shops… Plenty of inspiration for future posts!