There are rules such as, Don’t Touch that Flower! and Do Not Bring Your Dragon to the Library. And there should be one, no matter how fun your game is, if you do
not listen to your mom you will Gotta Go! later. Or in other words, those are the three picture books I read recently.
Starting with Don’t Touch that Flower! I will start with I was not exactly in the mood for the slightly annoying “don’t get it” child personality of Squirrel. Still, this book is fun and a clever way to teach children how to take care of plants and wildflowers in particular. Squirrel finds a flower between his and Birds house. It is one of the signs of spring. Squirrel is noticing. And since it is closer to his house, it is “his” and no one else can enjoy. Alice Hemming will go on to show that flowers will not blow over as they are strong, and will wilt without air, water, and food. And this is all nicely illustrated by Nicola Slater. The art is simple, not overly detailed, but the colors are nice and cozy. The story is good for a classroom setting or a one-on-one reading. (Due late March 2023)
Of course, Do Not Bring Your Dragon to the Library is a good idea. After all, if you bring a dragon in, no matter how nice, they could bump into people, or shelving and even accidentally set books on fire. They might get too excited when dancing, and sometimes there just will not be enough room for everyone and your dragon. Andy Elkerton makes their case very clear about how it just cannot happen, and even though the young child asks very nicely, the librarian just cannot allow it. However, there is a terribly clever solution to the problem. Julie Gassman rounds things up with boldly colorful and sweet (and funny) images. I read the board book format, which I felt was too small and subject a bit “much” for the age but does come in a traditional sized hardcover and paper edition, too. Plus, there are others in the series.
And finally, due in September 2023, Frank Viva will give you tips on how to stop thinking about your Gotta Go! by thinking of other things. We start with Owen, who is more interested in his video game than listening to his mom. But halfway to grandpa’s house Owen must go (Viva cleverly shows you the build up of the fluid with the use of yellow/orange and poor Owen’s eyes tell of his woe to go). His mom distracts him, they arrive, he runs as fast as he can, goes, then spends the day with grandpa who teaches him a few other tricks. Now I am all for doing a pee-pee dance, but some of the ones Grandpa and Owen make up, well, would not work for most. Yet, the concept is to just distract until you can. In the background we are given a little show that is important to the story arc with more of the basic colors and minimum details.