Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended

Watching the text play across the page.

There's not a lot to it, but it doesn't seem like it's trying to be more than it is. It kind of has a dreamlike quality to it, as the words swirl around the pages, and the images are almost like sketches rather than full-on realism.

Message

None.

Might be better as an art installation.

This is a weird book. It kind of shows opposites and comparisons. It kind of rhymes in parts, but not everywhere. Only sometimes, when it feels like it.

Message

Even if you don't like everything about someone, you can still love them?

Will the real fishing buddy please stand up?

It's just about a girl spending time with her granddad. It's kind of cool how it's a girl going fishing, where stereotypically it would be a boy.

Message

It's fun to spend time with your granddad.

Decent book that might inspire dance moves.

It's cute, but there's not really much to it. It kind of sounds like lyrics to a song, all about moving. Younger kids would like this book.

Message

None.

Cute story from toddler's perspective.

It's just fun. There's nothing really to it, and no real point. But it captures the feel, at least as far as an outsider can, of the mind of a young child who is walking but not yet speaking in complete sentences.

Message

None.

Chasing chickens, if you know what I mean. And I don't.

Is that a thing? Am I missing something? Is that some kind of meme that I'm out of the loop on? Chicken chasing?

Message

Don't be mean to chickens.

Mom and Dad get a human baby.

It's a recognition of the important role that pets play in people's lives, understanding that just as it's difficult for children to accept new siblings, it's also difficult for the pets to accept it.

Message

Babies are a big change, but a positive one.

Hot days make everyone grouchy.

It's a prose poem where the repetition is enough to create parallelism but not too much where it becomes annoying. The diction isn't overly simplistic and the pictures are interesting to look at.

Message

People get mad at their friends, but then they get over it.

Gets sinister at the end.

Wow. I was not expecting the dark turn at the end.

Message

Be excited about things or nobody will care about you.