Recent Read: Counting By 7s

Willow Chance is a girl who doesn’t fit in. She’s strange, and she knows it. She has three obsessions: medical conditions, plants, and the number 7. And she’s a legitimate genius. She’s always had difficulty making friends. And it’s when she makes her first friend and things really start looking up that her world falls apart. She comes home to find policemen at her house, saying, “There’s been an accident.”

The writing here is great. Holly Goldberg Sloan's Counting by 7s is heartbreaking, but more than that, it’s uplifting, and funny and heart-warming. It’s a story of loss, but also of belonging and friendship and family and service. Willow is odd, yes, but she’s also thoughtful, kind, and sympathetic. She’s observant, and it’s fun to see the world through her intellectual and rational point of view. A motley crew collects around her. We get to know all of them, and we come to care about each of them (sometimes in spite of them). One of the things I loved about this was how they rally around her, and in caring for her, they improve themselves. They become better people because she was in their lives.

Picture This: Journey

Journey by Aaron Becker

A young girl goes to her room when she can't find anyone to play with her. She spots a red crayon on the floor, draws a door on the wall and walks through to discover another world.

I think this book will win the gold next year. This is Becker's first picture book, but it is a wonder. The watercolor and ink illustrations are gorgeous and imaginative and detailed. He has created connections throughout the story in small ways (for instance, did you notice that the boy with the purple crayon that we meet at the end is just outside her door at the beginning?). The full-color pages of cities are impressive, but even his use of white space and muted colors enhances the story. It's a story of imagination, creativity, and friendship. The New York Tiems called it a "masterwork" and I'd have to agree. After a debut this stunning, I'm very much looking forward to what Aaron Becker will create in the future. (see a video of about the process of creating this book here.)

Picture This: Count the Monkeys

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Kevin Cornell

Can you count the monkeys?

This is no ordinary counting book. It's interaction at its best. On the title page we get ready to count the monkeys but are interrupted by 1 cobra, who is then chased off by 2 mongooses (or is it mongeese?), who are frightened off by 3 crocodiles, and so on. We start to wonder if we're ever going to see any monkeys! Throughout, Barnett converses with the audience and gives them instructions. "Move your hand in a zig zag whie you turn the page--it will confuse them," he says of the crocodiles. At another point: "Was that your idea? Because it wasn't mine." It's a book where kids will be shouting responses and having a fantastic time laughing and watching what unfolds on every page. And when you think it's all over, you turn the page to reveal a terrific surprise on the endpages.

Picture This: The Day the Crayons Quit

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

Duncan goes to get his crayons one day and finds a stack of letters. He opens them to find notes to him from his crayons. Many of them are dissatisfied! Red Crayon is overworked and needs a rest. Purple Crayon can't stand that so much of his color goes outside the lines. Beige Crayon is unhappy that he's passed over so often. Gray crayon is getting worn out from coloring such big animals, like elephants and rhinos and whales. Every crayon Duncan uses has something to say. Will he figure out a way to please them all?

This book is hilarious. Each color crayon has distinct personality and something unique to complain about. The letters are written in Oliver Jeffers's signature scrawl, and each letter is accompanied by a messy illustration by that particular crayon. Red features a fire truck with Santa on top, surrounded by hearts and apples. One of my personal favorites is gray crayon: "I know you love elephants. And I know that elephants are gray. But that's a LOT of space to color all by myself. And don't get me started on  rhinos, hippos and HUMPBACK WHALES." Next to the letter is a page almost entirely filled with gray crayon filling in the exaggeratedly big elephant, hippos and rhino. The text and illustrations are perfectly paired. It's clever, fresh, and creative. And Duncan's solution to his crayon problem? Perfect.

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