"Fall" into a Colorful Array
of Books this Autumn
By Selene Vasquez
Picture Book: Ages 5 thru 10
"My
creature teacher's strict and stern-she growls so I will wait
my turn. If we want to howl and shriek we must put
up our paws to speak." Jokingly creepy beasts with green
skin, single eyeballs and bizarre body shapes inhabit this
one of a kind ghoul school.
Exhausted desperate families try
endlessly to get their little ones to sleep. When a toddler
yells "Pillow Fight!" all
havoc breaks free with kids hanging from their bunk beds in
wildly patterned pajamas! Ink and watercolor cartoons capture
the hilarious deterioration of bedtime rituals.
Poetry: Ages 6 thru 10
A rhyming
celebration of all things 100 in joyful gouache illustrations.
Each poem works in triple digit numbers, such as "100 Inches Tall" in
which a girl speculates about the pros and cons of being so
tall.
Nonfiction: Ages 6 thru 8
The universal
topic of death is handled in a sensitive poetic manner. When
people die, "They...become part of the earth
and of nature;" "They go to heaven, a place of peace...They
go into our memories and become the past." Muted watercolor
illustrations match the non-threatening and soothing selection
of responses given.#
Selene S. Vasquez is a media specialist at Orange Brook
Elementary School in Hollywood, Florida. She is formerly
a children's librarian for the New York Public Library.
