Thursday, March 11, 2010

Bunnies, Bunnies, Everywhere!

With Easter right around the corner, our local Barnes & Noble had quite the array of bunnies, chicks, and eggs on display in the Childrens' book department. I have to say, I was a little underwhelmed since the covers and imagery started to blend together. It was either soft & safe, ho hum, or character based, which never interests me. A few stand outs however:

Good Egg, by Barney Saltzberg Super simple graphic book, but really fun and innovative. Every spread is a new mechanical to express 'Good Egg', sit, roll, shake, speak, etc. Just a white egg, and the text 'Good Egg' - but so smart. Actually, follow that link and there is a book trailer where you can see it being read to kids. If I had my wallet that day, I would have either bought the book or let my son play with it - I was afraid he'd damage it, although it wasn't all that delicate I know better!
Numbers, by Jane Smith. Illustrated by Jill McDonald I have a soft spot for all Jill McDonald work. I admired her licensing work when I used to hire artists, and am happy whenever I see her joyful, painterly art. You just get the feeling that she loves all things childhood related. I love the simplicity of this book. Each spread has a giant, chunky number that pops out, revealing that same number of little animals or objects. It's tactile and fun and bold. Gosh, I don't even remember it having anything to do with Easter. But the animals and Spring-ness of it suit the display perfectly.

I realize that I linked to Amazon for those books. So, here's a link to 'Easter Favorites' on Barnes & Nobles website. It's always interesting to see what people are actually buying! I apologize if I implied these were the only two good books on display for Easter. It's just what I noticed while keeping an eye on a 1yr old during story time this week. I don't know if all stores do this, but ours has story time every day at 11am - what a nice program!

7 comments:

Gina Perry said...

It's funny, I just noticed that the color scheme on the covers (and horizon line) is EXACTLY the same. Clearly I'm drawn to something about it, haha.

Alicia Padrón said...

I was going to say just that! :o))

They do look cute! I wish there was a B&N here.. I miss it so much.

And why don't you like character driven books? I love those.

Deb said...

Love your little bunny sketch! And thanks for the link to Jill McDonald. Just love her work. So loose and playful!

Gina Perry said...

Thanks Deb. Oh, I don't like 'licensed character' driven books. Like Dora, Backyardigans, etc. I know they have their place but they really do tend to 'take over' the market, esp. at B&N!

Alicia Padrón said...

Ohhh you meant licensed character books! I thought you were referring to character driven books as opposed to story driven books.

I don't like the licenced too much either. Unless is kipper or Maisy :o)

Kathy said...

Gina, I love Jill McDonald's work as well. I was JUST thinking of her over the past few days, it is so funny and so serendipitous that you posted this.
I went to her web site and it looks like it has not been updated in quite awhile (still info on Surtex 2008 up there). BUT (and it is a big but :) ) she has a BLOG! Isn't that great??

http://jillmcdonald.blogspot.com/


kathy

roz said...

Another big Jill McDonald fan here too. Kathy, thanks for the blog link! Bookmarked.

Yes, Gina, definitely see a pattern here as far as palette. =o)