Little Red Reads

Children’s Book Review: Stopping By Woods on A Snowy Evening

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Stopping By Woods on A Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost and Susan Jeffers
Paperback: 25 pages 
Published 1969
by Scholastic 
ISBN-10: 0590098454
ISBN-13: 978-0590098458
Book Source: Bought
5 Stars
Book Description from Amazon: Ever since it was published in 1978, the picture-book presentation of Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” has been an enduring favorite. For this special edition with a new design, trim size, and three new spreads, Susan Jeffers has added more detail and subtle color to her sweeping backgrounds of frosty New England scenes. There are more animals to find among the trees, and the kindly figure with his “promises to keep” exudes warmth as he stops to appreciate the quiet delights of winter.
Mary’s Review: The story of this book is written in poetry form using one of Robert Frost’s poems which tells of a man while journeying to keep a promise takes the time to enjoy the beauty of the woods, snow and animals on his way.
I love poetry and the poetry of Robert Frost has been set in this lovely  book with the beautiful black and white illustrations of Susan Jeffers.  
I recommend this book for ages 4 and above.


About The Author: Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes. One of the most popular and critically respected American poets of his generation, Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime, receiving four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.
Illustrator Bio –Susan Jeffers: “I realize now that I have always done the same things. When I was little, my best moments were spent drawing pictures, reading stories with my parents, playing with friends and sitting by the Ramapo River dreaming of horses. This has not changed. Being a childrens book illustrator has combined all of these things.
Literature has been a great support in my life. The story of Black
Beauty kept me company growing up. I longed to be gentle and steadfast as he was. I was inspired by Velvet’s courage and wanted to win the Grand National on my beloved piebald horse like she did. I remember sitting in the choir loft deciding on how I would illustrate the Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen that my parents had read to me. Retelling that story to myself got me through many tedious moments. I wished I were as brave as Gerta but I was pretty sure that I was the wayward Kai and my older sister, Judy, was going to have to come rescue me from the frosty Queen. I loved these stories, they always asked me to be the best I could be.
The first part of my work is to find a story that inspires pictures in me. It is like being a dancer and having to wait for the music to move your feet. Everything comes from this.
I enjoy researching books like Hiawatha so much that I have trouble extricating myself from old photos and first person diaries of being captured by Indians, which are of course more stories.
For the most part I work in pen and ink and guache, an opaque watercolor. I make thousands of little lines with a fine pen to describe the forms. Tnis looks hard, but it is actually the easiest part and is very relaxing. The most difficultpart for me is telling the story with the right relationship of composition and characters to convey the emotion of the story. This requires making many little drawings, called thumbnail sketches, until the drawing says what you want it to say, hopefully. Sometimes this does not happen.
My favorite things to do these days are riding and studying dressage with a beautiful horse named Hans, (Hans is much the better student) and painting landscapes and portraits. Happily this is a lot like my work.”

Children’s Book Review- Groundhog’s Special Secret

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by Iris Kiskey Arno
Paperback, 32 pages
Published 2003
by Scholastic Inc
ISBN-13-978-0-545-15210-5
ISBN-10-0-545-15210-0
Book Source:  Bought
Rated: 5 Stars

Book Overview: When Lila, a young groundhog, objects to going to sleep for the winter, Uncle Wilbur tells her to rest so that she can try to be the first one to wake up in the spring and discover a big secret. She is indeed the first groundhog to awaken and quickly runs up the tunnel and outdoors, where she is greeted by all of the animals that do not hibernate and learns from them how important her shadow is. Lovely, warm illustrations, created with gouache, colored pencils, and acrylics, depict the groundhog household as well as a variety of winter animals
Mary’s Review:  Can you keep a secret?  This quaint paperback book tells the story of Lila Groundhog.  She doesn’t want to go to sleep for the winter with the rest of her family.  She wants to play and stay awake.  She also wants to know why Uncle Wilbur is always the first one awake and Above Ground before everyone else.  His reply to her is that it’s a secret and Lila wants to know the secret because she loves secrets.  Uncle Wilbur tells her that if she wants to know the secret then she needs to make sure she is the first one up and Above Ground before anyone else.  Does Lila make it Above Ground before everyone else?  Does she learn the secret of the Groundhog?  Well, you will have to read the book and see for yourself.
This book is illustrated by Renee’ Graef with lovely and warm illustrations depicting the groundhog family and many of the beautiful winter animals. 
I recommend this book for ages 4-8.   
About The Author:  Iris Hiskey Arno began her career as a classical singer. She toured the US, Canada, and Europe singing opera, medieval, and contemporary music. When she became a mom, she took off her traveling shoes and started writing children’s books. She also combined her interest in music with her interest in children’s literature and wrote several musicals for children to perform. Iris lives with her family just outside New York City in a house with a rainbow-colored porch.
About the Illustrator: Renee’ Graef received her Bachelor’s Degree in Art from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  She has illustrated over 40 children’s books, including the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, and the “Kristen” books and paper dolls from the American Girl Collection.  Renee’ lives in Wisconsin with her Husband and their two children.

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Book Review- Goldilocks and the Three Bears

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Goldilocks and the Three Bears
by Carolyn Buehner and Mark Buehner
Paperback, 30 pages
Published October 2008
by Scholastic, Inc.
ISBN-13: 9780545118965
ISBN-10: 0545118964
Book Source: bought
 Summary from Goodreads: Some stories become favored childhood classics with good reason, such as the tale of Goldilocks. Here, in an abundantly funny retelling, the timehonored drama unfolds. This outrageously frilly, jump-roping Goldilocks skips through the bears’ house, reciting saucy rhymes as she goes. Her wide-eyed glee makes a hilarious contrast with the genteel bear family, and children will love poring over the wonderful visual details, such as the bear-related knickknacks slyly scattered throughout the cottage. Another outstanding collaboration from Caralyn and Mark Buehner, Goldilocks and the Three Bears is perfect for sharing with children, adults, and fairy-tale collectors alike.
Hones’ Review: My children and I love to read books that are variations of familiar tales.  There are so many takes off of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  It was fun to read a book that stuck with the original story but had some fun twists.  We liked that Goldilocks spoke in rhyme so that my kids could try and fill in the blanks of what she might say next.  
I recommend this book for ages 3-8.

 About the Author: Caralyn Buehner & Mark Buehner

Caralyn Buehner was born in St. George, Utah and grew up in Salt Lake City. She lived in a home that valued books and where lap reading was the norm. As a teen she wrote a chapter of a romance novel and also won state and national awards for her writing. She met her husband in college, and they currently have 8 children.
Caralyn needed some encouragement from her husband to pursue her talent of writing children’s books. He is an illustrator, and they’ve worked together on many of her books. Her first full length book was Escape of Marvin the Ape. She writes about manners, values, family relationships, and life in general, but her focus has changed lately from “wanting to get a deep point across to just wanting to bring a little light and joy into my work”(UCWI, 2004).
Mark Buehner will commonly add hidden images to his illustrations, like rabbits, cats, and dinosaurs. visit his site at http://buehnerbooks.com/