Caldecott Award Honors

That's a pretty big catnap.

Of course, she falls asleep, but it's very nice how the parents give her the option as long as she stays in bed. Which is a reasonable thing to do for kids, and matches well with my parenting style. It's very well written and doesn't have a strong message but the message it has is good.

Message

Everything in the world sleeps.

What's the opposite of racism?

Byrd Baylor just kind of annoys me. Her books are just full of glorification of and romanticization of ancient cultures, especially Native Americans, in a way that I don't feel is realistic and comes off as sappy and too reverent of people who are no better or worse than we are.

Message

People should worship the sun.

Deducing the whole from the smallest fragment.

The creative genius of this man and his time, and how he ran into problems but persevered beyond that, makes for a fascinating book. All the little details of model construction and the beautiful pictures are informative as well as interesting.

Message

Dinosaurs are awesome, and science is awesome.

Doesn't even attempt to answer the “which came first” question.

There's no story line, really, it's just playing with artistic holes in paper and what appears to be oil paints. It doesn't seem intended to be educational, just a series of paintings that are all interconnected. It's one of those books that would be better as an art installation than a book.

Message

None.

Bones are people-- er, pigs-- too.

So, yeah. Very deus ex machina ending there, coming out of nowhere. We have a bone and talking animals, and the bone is magic and can imitate sounds, and all of a sudden it can cast spells. But it doesn't know how it knows the spells, or what spells it knows. It apparently only casts them in times of great distress.

Message

Be nice to magic talking bones and they'll be nice back.

You would think he would be too short to see over the wheel anyway.

It's fun because it's interactive, but the only problem is, if you have a contrarian kid who decides to say yes, it doesn't work. Other than that, it's fun, and as the book says, it allows the little kid to say "no" and be more or less rewarded for it, which is kind of good because toddlers like to say "no" to many things despite not being in control.

Message

None.

Book with a... something that rhymes with book.

Not terribly interesting. I don't feel that my life has been enriched by reading this book. It's not terrible, but it's not terribly good.

Message

None.

Follow your dreams.

Basically it's got a pretty strong, but not anvilicious message of "don't let people get to you." All you need is one person to help you with your dream.

Message

Don't let other people dissuade you from following your dreams.

All falling asleep.

Pretty boring book. The pictures are very quaintly 1950s. A man walking a dachshund, wearing a plaid jacket, with a cigar between his two fingers makes me think of Disney cartoons from that era. Everything just looks precious.

Message

None.

Intro to ASCII art.

It think rather than a book, it might be better as a series of posters. It's more like an art installation than a book. The artistic transformation is nice. I'm glad I read it, but I don't need to read it again. Check it out from the library.

Message

None.