2006_06_01_archive

Hello and welcome!

Welcome to the Wonderful World of PlanetEsme! With an average of over

five thousand children's books published annually, it's awfully

overwhelming for families, teachers and enthusiasts to navigate the

shelves and get great books into the hands of great readers (and great

readers-to-be). I hope this book-a-day plan will be a boon to anyone

who would like to play a supporting character in a child's reading

life story. This blog is a supporting page to the soul sister site

PlanetEsme.com , where you will find a silly amount of additional

reviews, thematic lists, links, and much more...everything you need to

become an expert in children's literature. I'll also occasionally be

posting advice when you ask for it (and sometimes when you don't),

unusual offers, resources and maybe the occasional rant. Bookmark this

page and start each weekday with a new terrific title!

Since this is the birth of a new blog, it seems only fitting that our

first recommendation be about something great hatching...

NONFICTION

AN EGG IS QUIET by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long

(Chronicle)

Though most children encounter eggs cold, white and by the dozen in

their refrigerator, this book bring eggs to life as the source of just

that, in a multitude of colors, shapes, and textures. From the

frontpapers showing more eggs than a White House Easter hunt to the

endpapers exploding with the animals that emerge, this is a book of

incredible substance and beauty. Also, it has the rare quality of

being nonfiction that works as a read-aloud. In a interview on book

maven Cynthia Leitich Smith's website, illustrator Long remarks:

"Aston's inventive, original and intriguing manuscript was the initial

and continuing inspiration for EGG's illustration. Her mature seed

fell on fertile ground." I promise you, this stunning tour de force

will take your breath away and incite an interest in nature with the

turning of every page. It certainly should be considered for a Robert

F. Sibert Medal, as it is truly hard to imagine a more perfect

informational picture book, a marriage of the naturalist hearts of two

creative spirits beating as one. (Ages 5 and up)

Also of interest:

BUMPETY BUMP by Pat Hutchins (Greenwillow) (A little hen follows a boy

and grandfather around the farm, egg-cited to show them the amazing

thing that she can do. Pair with AN EGG IS QUIET for a grade-A

storytime!) (4 and up.)

MAMA OUTSIDE, MAMA INSIDE, also by our featured author Dianna Aston,

illustrated by Susan Gaber (Henry Holt) (An expectant mother watches