The Wheels on the Bus
from Dutton Juvenile
"The wheels on the bus go round and round.... All over town." This traditional song, a favorite of children everywhere, is adapted and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, winner of the Caldecott Medal for his lush version of Rapunzel, and Caldecott honors for Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, and Swamp Angel. Fantastic paper engineering with movable parts, flaps, and wheels that spin makes this an interactive book that young readers will love to pieces (maybe literally!). Pull one tab to make the "wipers on the bus go swish swish swish," and another to see the "babies on the bus cry Waah! Waah! Waah!" On closer inspection, children will be tickled to discover several subtle and humorous subplots, as well as a full-circle finale: the last stop on the bus is at the Overtown public library, where the day's program includes a folk singer. Guess what he's singing!
Zelinsky's warm, inviting illustrations are a perfect match for this classic play rhyme. Children who have learned the hand motions to the song will enjoy helping the characters in the book enact their own roles. The back cover includes the musical notation for "The Wheels on the Bus," so everyone can sing along. (Ages 3 to 7) --Emilie Coulter
When The Wheels on the Bus, by Caldecott Medalist Paul O. Zelinsky, broke onto the scene twelve years ago, it created a sensation with its clever characters, sly subplots, luscious colors, and the incomparable flair of its moving parts. Almost a million young readers have enjoyed the wheels that go round, doors that open and shut, and people who go bumpety-bump. Today it remains as fresh and engaging as when it was first published.
Dear Mr. Henshaw (rpkg) (HarperClassics)
by Beverly Cleary
from HarperTrophy
- Made with the Best Quality Material with your child in mind.
- Top Quality Children's Item.
Although her books have been enjoyed by generations of kids, Beverly Cleary herself didn't enjoy reading as a child at least not at first. In first grade she was grouped with the slowest readers in her class.
When, in second grade, Leigh writes to an author to tell him how much he "licked" his book, he never suspects that he'll still be writing to him four years later. And he never imagines the kinds of things he'll be writing about:
Dear Mr. Henshaw, I am sorry I was rude in my last letter... Maybe I was mad about other things, like Dad forgetting to send this month's support payment. Mom tried to phone him at the trailer park where, as Mom says, he hangs his hat.It's not easy being the new kid in town, with recently divorced parents, no dog anymore, and a lunch that gets stolen every day (all the "good stuff," anyway). Writing letters, first to the real Mr. Henshaw, and then in a diary to a pretend Mr. Henshaw, may be just what he needs.
This Newbery Medal-winning book, by the terrifically popular and prolific Beverly Cleary (Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and Runaway Ralph), exhibits a subtlety and sensitivity that will be appreciated by any youngster who feels lonely and troubled during the transition into adolescence. Winner of numerous other awards, including two Newbery Honors, Cleary teams up with Caldecott winner Paul O. Zelinsky, who creates a quiet backdrop for the realistic characters. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter
The Pigman
by Paul Zindel
from HarperTeen
For sophomores John and Lorraine, the world feels meaningless; nothing is important. They certainly can never please their parents, and school is a chore. To pass the time, they play pranks on unsuspecting people. It's during one of these pranks that they meet the "Pigman"--a fat, balding old man with a zany smile plastered on his face. In spite of themselves, John and Lorraine soon find that they're caught up in Mr. Pignati's zest for life. In fact, they become so involved that they begin to destroy the only corner of the world that's ever mattered to them. Originally published in 1968, this novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Zindel still sings with sharp emotion as John and Lorraine come to realize that "Our life would be what we made of it--nothing more, nothing less."
A Most Unusual Friendship
When sophomores John and Lorraine played a practical joke a few months ago on a stranger named Angelo Pignati, they had no idea what they were starting. Virtually overnight, almost against their will, the two befriended the lonely old man; it wasn't long before they were more comfortable in his house than their own. But now Mr. Pignati is dead. And for John and Lorraine, the only way to find peace is to write down their friend's story -- the story of the Pigman.
Harry the Dirty Dog
by Gene Zion
from HarperTrophy
"Harry was a white dog with black spots who liked everything, except getting a bath." Taking matters into his own paws, he buries his family's scrubbing brush in the backyard and runs away from home before they can wrangle him into the tub. Harry gets dirty playing in the street, dirtier at the railroad, and dirtier still playing tag with the other dogs. When sliding down the coal chute, he actually changes from a white dog with black spots to a black dog with white spots! Of course, by the time he gets home he is completely unrecognizable to his family--even when he does all his clever flip-flopping tricks. In a stroke of doggy genius, he unearths the bath brush, begs for a bath, and the rest is history. Youngsters will completely relate to the urge to rebel, the thrill of getting dirty, and, finally, the reassurance of family. Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham's Harry the Dirty Dog, first published in 1956 and now rereleased with splashes of color added by the artist herself, is one of those picture books that children never forget. (Ages 3 to 8) --Karin Snelson
Harry is a white dog with black spots who loves everything . . . except baths. So one day before bath time, Harry runs away. He plays outside all day long, digging and sliding in everything from garden soil to pavement tar. By the time he returns home, Harry is so dirty he looks like a black dog with white spots. His family doesn't even recognize him!
Gilgamesh the King (Gilgamesh Trilogy, The)
by Ludmila Zeman
from Tundra Books
Gilgamesh, half-god and half-man, in his loneliness and isolation becomes a cruel tyrant over the citizens of Uruk. To impress them forever he orders a great wall to be built, driving his people to exhaustion and despair so that they cry to the Sun God for help. In answer, another kind of man, Enkidu, is sent to earth to live among the animals and learn kindness from them. He falls in love with Shamhat, a singer from the temple, and he follows her back to Uruk. There, Enkidu, the “uncivilized” beast from the forest, shows the evil Gilgamesh through friendship what it means to be human.
Rumpelstiltskin
by Brothers Grimm
from Puffin
Paul O. Zelinsky, 1998 Caldecott medalist for Rapunzel, also has three Caldecott Honor Books under his belt: Hansel and Gretel, Swamp Angel, and this fine edition of Rumpelstiltskin. Zelinsky's oil paintings are perfectly suited to the strange saga of the little man with the secret name who knows how to spin straw into gold. The golden light infusing the late medieval setting subtly reinforces the theme.
The visual characterization of Rumpelstiltskin is a triumph: an odd elfin man with bulbous eyes, a gigantic, flat black hat, impossibly skinny arms and legs, and long, pointed black shoes. This Rumpelstiltskin is not scary or horrid, but rather mischievous and weird. When the young queen finally guesses his name, and thus is able to keep her baby, he flies off on his huge cooking spoon (with a pout), true to the Grimms's 1819 version of the story. (Zelinsky provides notes on his text in the back of the book, indicating his careful research into various editions of the original Grimm tale.) Zelinsky's retelling is straightforward and smooth, with only a few lines of text on each page to complement the truly magnificent full-page illustrations. A delightful book worth its weight in gold! (Ages 3 to 7)
The funny little man who spun straw into gold and helped the beautiful miller's daughter marry the king gives her three days to guess his name or he will take away her child. Reprint. Caldecott Honor Book. SLJ. AB. NYT. H.
Harry by the Sea
by Gene Zion
from HarperTrophy
Harry, a friendly little dog on a visit to the seashore, is mistaken for a sea serpent when a big wave covers him with seaweed. `Very few children can resist [the stories about] Harry. The ridiculous but somehow plausible situations capture even the most reluctant reader.' —SLJ.
Rapunzel (Caldecott Medal Book)
by Brothers Grimm
from Dutton Juvenile
In older versions of the classic tale Rapunzel, it always seemed improbable that a grown man could scale a tower using only his beloved's hair. Not so in Paul O. Zelinsky's Caldecott Medal-winning version of Rapunzel. Here, Rapunzel's reddish-blonde mane is thick with waves and braids, and cascades like a waterfall down the walls of her isolation tower. In Zelinsky's able hands it's easy to believe that a prince would harbor no hesitations about scrambling up our fair heroine's hair.
Of course, this is not the work of an amateur--Zelinsky's lush versions of Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin, and Swamp Angel all earned him Caldecott Honors. His gorgeous, Italian Renaissance-styled illustrations are characterized by warm golden tones and the mesmerizing sensation of trompe l'oeuil. Not only does he have the touch of a world-class illustrator, Zelinsky has also proven himself a master storyteller. We are frightened when the sorceress demands to take the baby Rapunzel, we are alarmed when the flowing locks are cruelly shorn, and we rejoice when the prince and his now modest-haired love are reunited. The notes at the back of Rapunzel reveal his careful scholarship regarding the long history of the story (tracing its origins and transformations from Italy to France and finally to Germany and the Grimm brothers)--work that no doubt contributed to his clean, compelling version of the age-old tale. Children will be captivated by the magical story and evocative pictures and adults will delight in the fresh feel of a well-loved legend. (Click to see a sample spread. Illustration © 1997 by Paul O. Zelinsky, published by Dutton Children's Books, a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers.) (Ages 4 and older)
Surely among the most original and gifted of children's book illustrators, Paul O. Zelinsky has once again with unmatched emotional authority, control of space, and narrative capability brought forth a unique vision for an age-old tale. Few artists at work today can touch the level at which his paintings tell a story and exert their hold. Zelinsky's retelling of Rapunzel reaches back beyond the Grimms to a late-seventeenth-century French tale by Mlle. la Force, who based hers on the Neapolitan tale Petrosinella in a collection popular at the time. The artist understands the story's fundamentals to be about possessiveness,confinement, and separation, rather than about punishment and deprivation. Thus the tower the sorceress gives Rapunzel here is not a desolate, barren structure of denial but one of esoteric beauty on the outside and physical luxury within. And the world the artist creates through the elements in his paintings the palette, control of light, landscape, characters, architecture, interiors, costumes speaks to us not of an ugly witch who cruelly imprisons a beautiful young girl, but of a mother figure who powerfully resists her child's inevitable growth, and of a young woman and man who must struggle in the wilderness for the self-reliance that is the true beginning of their adulthood. As ever, and yet always somehow in newly arresting fashion, Paul O. Zelinsky's work thrillingly shows us the events of the story while guiding us beyond them to the truths that have made it endure.
The Revenge of Ishtar (Gilgamesh Trilogy, The)
by Ludmila Zeman
from Tundra Books
In this second volume in the Gilgamesh trilogy, Enkidu joins Gilgamesh in the quest to slay Humbaba, the monster who has attacked the city and caused great destruction, including the death of the beautiful singer, Shamat. Gilgamesh and Enkidu successfully slay the monster and in so doing, Gilgamesh attracts the attention of the goddess Ishtar. In rejecting her advances, he incurs her revenge and an attack by the Bull of Heaven. Enkidu manages to kill the bull, but is slain by Ishtar, striking at the bond between the two friends. Shattered, Gilgamesh vows he will destroy the last monster: death.
The Last Quest of Gilgamesh (Gilgamesh Trilogy, The)
by Ludmila Zeman
from Tundra Books
In his final quest, Gilgamesh, still mourning the death of his dear friend Enkidu, sets out to find the key to immortality. His journey is perilous. He must fight ferocious serpents and wild lions. He travels through bitterly cold caves, across scorching deserts, and over the fatal waters of the Sea of Death. Finally he arrives at the palace of Utnapishtim, the only human who knows the secret of immortality. Utnapishtim sets Gilgamesh a test to stay away for six days and seven nights, but Gilgamesh fails. His last hope, a flower of eternal youth, is eaten by the goddess Ishtar, who exacts her revenge. Finally, Enkidu comes from the underworld to show Gilgamesh true immortality: the king will be remembered for his good deeds, courage, and love for his people.
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