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24 pp.
| Holt/Ottaviano
| May, 2013
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8050-8687-4$12.99
(3)
PS
In this brief, sweet adventure, a small elephant shares the details of his perfect Saturday with his father: waking up early, a trip to the hardware store, a backyard cookout. Andreasen's text is utterly simple, leaving plenty of narrative space for his retro-style illustrations. Though it's light on substance, this is likely to become a sentimental favorite.
(4)
K-3
This offbeat retelling of the traditional Christmas song suggests that the partridge in the pear tree may be a bit overwhelmed by the ensuing gifts: six geese wearing earmuffs, seven swans decked out in goggles, and eight maids depicted as kittens, among others. Grainy cartoon-style illustrations are certainly lighthearted and energetic but drain the majesty from the song.
40 pp.
| Holt/Ottaviano
| August, 2009
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8050-8686-7$16.99
(3)
PS
A cake batter–smeared little boy is marched to the bathtub--and an adventure begins. He finds himself surrounded by fish, then he follows a treasure map and discovers a treasure chest (it's stuffed with soap, and the sea creatures give the boy a cleaning). Readers will stick with this fantasy, whose well-composed and fine-tuned oil-paint illustrations ably tell the wordless book's story.
32 pp.
| Holt
| July, 2007
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8050-7809-1$16.95
(3)
PS
"The baker takes great care / to make one cream éclair." This pleasing book features a concise couplet--and a different treat, from four sticky buns to eight strudels--for each number up to twelve. Then: "At last his job's complete-- / now thirteen folks to greet!" The uncluttered design showcases Andreasen's retro-style oil paintings of a jolly, rosy-cheeked baker and his delicious-looking goodies.
32 pp.
| Abrams
| March, 2007
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8109-0988-5$15.95
(3)
K-3
Size matters in this fictionalized picture book biography based on an incident in Captain Martin Van Buren Bates's life. The seven-foot, eleven-and-a-half-inch tall Bates was a Confederate officer and circus attraction. Searching for a place to retire, he stops in Seville, Ohio, where the townspeople obligingly accommodate him. Andreasen's narrative is conversational and lively. Folksy bordered illustrations depict Bates's larger-than-life personality.
40 pp.
| McElderry
| April, 2004
|
TradeISBN 0-689-84977-X$$15.95
(4)
PS
For Mommy on her special day, a pig child enthusiastically fixes breakfast, makes a card, assembles sandwiches, and decorates flowers with a neat toilet-paper bow (a rather unlikely accomplishment). The humorous if heavy oil paintings show her good-natured mother following behind, cleaning up the inevitable messes. Cute, but rather parent-pointed.
(3)
K-3
In this retelling, clever Rose Red rescues a trapped and ungrateful dwarf by cutting off his beard, hair, and mustache. Doing so frees her friend the bear prince from the dwarf's enchantment. The elegant illustrations in warm earth tones are framed with gold and textured with small patterns of squares that create a tapestry-like effect.