1001 stories 1-929132-92-1 Publisher's Weekly

Why do whales spout water?

They're watering the sea grass.

It's their runy noses! They always have colds.

For fun.

* Whales don't spout water but from a distance it might look as if they do...When they come to the surface of the the water, they blow the moist air out fo their nose--the blowhole on top of their head.

The illustrations are chalk or pastel and will inspire the artist in all of us. This is a book I would want to share with art teachers.

It is also an excellent model for a research or Big 6 product. Animal reports are a staple of research skills lessons. Students could illustrate their animal and surround it with facts they discovered through research.

WILFRID GORDON MCDONALD PARTRIDGE

0-916291-04-9

0-916291-26-X
School Library Journal (Saturday, February 1, 1986):

A small boy, Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, knows and likes all of the old folks in the home next door, but his favorite is Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper she has four names, too. Hearing that she has lost her memory, he asks the old folks what a memory is (“Something from long ago”; “Something that makes you laugh;'' “Something warm;” etc.), ponders the answers, then gathers up memories of his own (seashells collected long ago last summer, a feathered puppet with a goofy expression, a warm egg fresh from the hen) to give her. In handling Wilfrid's memories, Nancy finds and shares her own. The illustrations splashy, slightly hazy watercolors in rosy pastels contrast the boy's fidgety energy with his friends' slow, careful movements and capture the story's warmth and sentiment.

Amazon.com

The offbeat style of this wonderful story--and of Julie Vivas' perfectly matched illustrations--couldn't be summed up better than by the oddness of the first sentence: "There was once a small boy called Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge and what's more he wasn't very old either." Wilfrid lives next to a retirement home, filled with folks like "Mrs. Jordan who played the organ" and "Mr. Hosking who told him scary stories." But his favorite old person is 96-year-old Miss Nancy. Everyone says Miss Nancy has lost her memory, and despite the fact that Wilfrid doesn't even know what a memory is, by accident he helps her find it. Mem Fox's original take on the capacity of children to help the old remember is especially notable for its non-patronizing focus on old people.

The Boston Sunday Globe (October 5, 1996):

A wonderful tale that celebrates both the exuberance of childhood and the dignity of old age.

WILL YOU CARRY ME?

978-1-933605-22-7

Kirkus Reviews (Saturday, January 15, 2005):

This simple story of a familiar plaint is charmingly carried out in capricious scenes featuring a clever mom and a cute kid.  Thomas has played in the park all day long and is tired. "Will you carry me?" he asks.  Mommy suggests that if he's too tired to walk, maybe they "should try...JUMPING!" And she hitches up her pants, bends her knees, and jumps past the pond and through the grass - with Thomas right behind her.  Swimming and flying are the next ploys and finally running as Mommy laughingly chases Thomas home. Whimsical, airy illustrations portray Mommy in red pedal-pushers, banded, frizzy hair, hoop earrings, and a knapsack and Thomas with a white brush cut. Various birds, butterflies, bees, even a fairy, flutter around in the scenes mimicking the action. Repeated readings will reveal many quirky, humorous details such as the boy on a bike wearing a mask and snorkel with a bowl of fish strapped to the back and a mermaid perched on the handlebars. A universal experience that will have both toddlers and parents grinning, turning the plea for "carry me" into playful fun.

Publishers Weekly (April 4, 2005):

Here’s a book from a Dutch team that should resonate with both preschoolers and the adults who end up lugging them home: a savvy mom manages to evade the title request – and still make her son feel like the luckiest kid in the world. After a wonderful day in the park, Thomas decides he’s too pooped to make the return trip on his own two feet. “Well,” says Mommy, assuming a frog-like posture, “if you’re too tired to walk, maybe we should try…jumping.” When the charm of that option wears off, and home is still not in sight, she suggests swimming down the street, flying and lastly a sprint. “And they run and laugh all the way down the street, until, finally, they are home.” Van Rossum’s crisp, engaging text is a model of economy, while van Harmelen’s fluid ink lines give Mommy (who wears a mod, navel-baring ensemble) a wacky balletic grace; her wiry limbs and expressive face (especially her glee after hitting on yet another idea to distract Thomas) augment the upbeat watercolors’ visual punch lines. To underscore the infectious fun of Mommy’s ingenuity, van Harmelen also adds a growing panoply of fanciful hangers-on – a blue kangaroo, a snorkel-outfitted boy carting a fish tank on his aquatic-themed bicycle – who seem to represent toys come alive. It all adds up to a lovely confection, and one that may just inspire some similarly creative walks home.

School Library Journal (June 2005):

When it is time to return home from the park, tired toddler Thomas asks Mom to carry him. A wonderfully funky, contemporary, creative young woman, she suggests that they jump home instead of walking. "She hitches up her pants and bends her knees," and the two hop off. When the tot tires of this and asks again to be carried, Mom convinces him to pretend to swim, fly, and finally run and chase, laughing all the way home. The two are framed by a confection of candy colors and accompanied in the clever illustrations by an increasing mélange of toys, fairies, bugs, birds, and various other companions that mirror the glee or distress of the pair. The succinct and bright text is perfectly matched by the light, sparkling art and expressive faces on the frizzy-haired mom and sweet child. Parents (who may pick up tips for the next time they are in this situation) and toddlers will enjoy this refreshing romp.

Hornbook Guide to Children (Friday, July 01, 2005):

When Thomas is too tired to walk home from the park, his resourceful mother persuades him to try jumping, swimming, flying, and running instead. Rendered in bright spring colors, the amusing, fanciful illustrations include images suggesting various forms of locomotion. For example, winged creatures--birds, bees, fairies--appear just as Mommy is about to propose "flying" home.

Book Sense 76 Pick (Spring 2005):

Thomas is tired after a long morning playing in the park and wants his mother to carry him home. But this creative Mom has lots of tricks up her sleeve to keep her boy moving. This is an energetic tale, illustrated with verve, and one [that] preschoolers will want to hear over and over.

New York Magazine (July 4-11, 2005):

Top 5 Books for Summer Reading:

After a morning on the playground, Thomas the toddler is too tired to walk home and wants to be carried. This beautiful watercolor picture book tells the tale of an imaginative city mom who comes up with whimsical ways to bring her bundle of joy all the way home without ever lifting him.
Children’s Bookwatch (April 2005):

Enhanced throughout every page by Peter van Harmelen's intricate pastel artwork, Heleen van Rossum's Will You Carry Me? is the picturebook story of a toddler who is too tired to walk but too big to be carried. When he asks his mother, "Will you carry me?" she comes up with inventive solutions--if he's too tired to walk, then the two of them can jump, swim, fly, or run home together! The warm and cheerful illustrations set alight the charm of this playful read-aloud story.

For Immediate Release (September 2006):

Fresh from the Netherlands comes a delightful tale of a child who becomes tired on his way home from the park, and all the tactics his mother comes up with to distract his tired little legs.

It's been a long day for Thomas. He has spent a long, fun-filled morning at the park, and now, it's time to go home. He asks his mommy to carry him. His mommy tells him that perhaps, since he is too tired to walk, he should try some other ways to get home. Thomas and Mommy jump, swim, fly, and run all the way home, where it's time for Mommy to collapse, tired, on the couch with Thomas.

The prose is sweet, and the illustrations are impeccable. I enjoyed this book with 4 children between the ages of 3 and 9, and all of us wished the book was not ending. We laughed all the way through the book. This book, to me, is one of the best children's books I've had the privilege to read this year, or, quite possibly, one of the best books of any genre that I've read this year. At an affordable price of only $3.99, this book should be a staple on every home, school, and library shelf, as well as the coffee tables of every person that has or loves children. Very highly recommended!

YELLOW UMBRELLA

1-929132-36-0

Publishers Weekly (Monday, December 9, 2002):

The acoustic, compelling "plink, plink" of higher note piano keys appropriately sets the mood for paging through Yellow Umbrella (Children's Forecasts, noted Nov. 25), a wordless picture book packaged, and designed to be read with, a classical-style music CD. Originally published in South Korea, the volume is both delicate and handsome, with author/illustrator Jae Soo Liu presenting a high-rise view of colorful umbrellas carried by children on a rainy-day walk to school. The umbrellas (and joyful hues) multiply with each successive spread, until a rainbow of galoshes and bumbershoots approaches the school building. Composer Dong II Sheen gracefully glides between rhythms throughout the 15 tracks (a deep, persistent beat accompanies paintings that include a train, jaunty notes indicate a sprinkle of rain in other scenes), maintaining an overall happy tone.

Kirkus Reviews (September 15, 2002):

This lovely and unusual treat will lend itself to multiple readings and interpretations, and inspire classroom activities ranging from art and creative writing to quiet contemplation.

Hornbook Guide to Children (Wednesday, January 1, 2003):

Recalling the famous title sequence from "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", this wordless book consists entirely of paintings of umbrellas as viewed from above, gradually gathering and revealed to be sheltering children on their way to school on a rainy day. The concept is slight but its execution is completely gorgeous; an enclosed CD of sprightly piano variations is cued to the page-turns as a soundtrack.

YOU BE ME, I'LL BE YOU

0-916291-47-2

School Library Journal (May 1, 1990):

Anna, the child of a biracial couple, doesn't like her curly hair or dark skin. Her father insists he has never liked his pale skin and straight hair, and that he wishes he could be darker, like Anna. The child and father then ``trade colors'' by using coffee ground to darken his face and flour to lighten hers. The two then go out to meet Anna's mother, who is not especially pleased with their appearances. The fact that the father denigrates his physical characteristics in an attempt to solve the problem does not present a positive approach to Anna's concerns. The earth-tone illustration makes the child look unrealistically like one of her rag dolls, while her father has well-delineated features. Books such as Arnold Adoff's Black Is Brown Is Tan (Harper, 1973) and All the Colors of the Race (Lothrop, 1982) celebrate diversity without compromising any race. Hoffman's Nancy No-Size (1987) and Bradman's Wait and See (1988, both Oxford) also portray biracial families in a positive multicultural context. Although Mandelbaum deserves credit for attempting to address this issue, this Belgian import needn't have made the Atlantic crossing.

Midwest Book Review (1990):

Anna, the interracial child of a white father and black mother, explores questions and yearnings she has about her identity by "switching" skin-colors with her father. With wit, compassion and a very light and non-didactic hand, You Be Me, I'll Be You examines issues of concern not only to interracial children, but to all children who have ever worried about their "differences.

Early Childhood News (Jan/Feb 1991):

Examines issues of concern not only to bi-racial children, but to all children who have worries about differences.

Hornbook Guide to Children (Monday, January 1, 1990):

In a story of an interracial family, Papa lightheartedly explores his daughter's dissatisfaction with her color and hair texture. After darkening his face and lightening hers (with flour), they go out to meet Mama. The collage illustrations are appealing, but the message - the pressure to conform to physical and cosmetic ideals - is heavy-handed.

THE ZOO

978-1-933605-28-9

The Thinking Mother (January 9, 2007):

The Zoo is a children’s picture book which Suzy Lee has written and illustrated. This book actually blew me away! This is the most integrated example of a story which is told more through the illustrations than in the actual text.


If you were to read the text of this book by itself (separate from the book itself) you might thing the story is boring, short, and nearly pointless, lacking a plot, lacking excitement and not worth reading. However the actual story is told MORE through the illustrations than in the text. The text itself is short and a low word count.

The story is about a mother and father who bring their daughter to the zoo. The girl gets lost, plays with the animals, and then is reunited with her parents. I know, that seems so simple if it is taken as the entire story, but it is not the entire story. (If you are wondering if this is a scary book due to the fact that the girl gets lost, don’t worry. There is no fear other than that of the parents. The little girl has the time of her life while she is lost.)


The story actually starts on the front cover’s illustration and continues to the first end papers, then continues on to the page where one would think the first official page of the book is. The story is told more through the illustrations than in words, and there are entire pages that are wordless. The story continues on the back cover’s end papers and ends on the illustrated back cover of the book.


The author’s use of color is very important to this story. The world of the humans is depicted in grey tones while the world of the animals is depicted in full color. In the book the girl turns from having just pink cheeks to joining the world of the animals and turning into full color. The girl plays with the animals in an imaginative and dreamlike way even flying like a bird! All the while the panicked parents are searching frantically to find their lost daughter (who is never in harms way as the animals are all friendly and loving toward her). In the end when the girl and her parents leave the zoo and return to the world of the humans the sad gorilla is left holding the little girl’s lost pink boot.


Actually at one point I was wondering if the part where the girl plays with the animals was imagined or dreamed while the girl sleeps (she is found napping on a park bench). However since we learn at the end that the gorilla has the boot in his hand and that he treasures it, I take that as a sign that this really did happen. Perhaps the flying part was imagined but at least some of the rest was real or the gorilla could not have found the boot! This is a fun imaginative, light-hearted story.


It is hard to describe what this story is like and to do it justice. This book provides a lot to look at and much to talk about in the illustrations. Children will love finding details in the illustrations such as looking at what all of the other zoo visitors, adults and children are doing in the illustrations.


The topic of getting lost and what to do is also something that is important for parents to speak to with their children and this book is a good way for parents to start speaking about that with children.


I hope that all parents will see the connection with the illustrations showing more of the story than the text and that they will point this out to the children if the children have not already figured it out. This could lead to a good discussion of the use of art in a children’s story and how it not only copies what the text is saying literally but how it can expand upon the story and sometimes such as with this book, not only enhance the enjoyment of the story but it can create and be a majority of the story itself.


Due to the simple story line and the short text, this story can be read aloud to the youngest of children (toddlers, aged one or two years old). However due to the more complex story that unfolds in the illustrations, this captivated the attention of my nine year old son!


This book is not only good for parents to read to children, it would also be good for teachers could also use this book in the classroom. This is a great book for a public library also as it could be enjoyed by the many children who use the library. With all that can be talked about with the illustrations it would also make a good read-aloud to a group of young children at public library story time’s, or at preschools or in elementary classrooms.


I hope that Suzy Lee continues to write and illustrate children’s books as I’d like to read more of her books to my children. I see she has written more books in her native South Korea and has already won awards there but I can only wish that Kane/Miller Book Publishers will translate more of her books into English so that our family can enjoy them. As of right now I can’t find any other children’s books by Suzy Lee published in English (what a shame).


Kane Miller is a children’s book publishing company located in the United States. They select children’s books from around the world and translate them into English and publish them for distribution in English speaking markets. They carefully select which books they will publish and they look for certain qualities in a book. For more information about what they look for in children’s books, you can read the information on their website which explains it better than I can.
Kirkus Reviews (February 1, 2007):

A small girl’s visit to the zoo is very different from the one her parents experience in this witty tale of few words. The opening shows her on her dad’s shoulders, holding the bird balloon her mom has just purchased, her eye caught by the splendid peacock in the foreground. The scene is crowded with schoolgirls, lovers, picture takers and other parents, all in grays, blues and sepias, but the peacock is purple and turquoise and radiant. “We visited the monkey house, and Bear Hill,” the text says innocently, but what we see in the pictures are empty cages and enclosures and the small girl chasing after the peacock’s bright tail. Soon the pages burst into full color, and the child is among hippos and elephants and giraffes. Her increasingly frantic parents, however, seen on the grey pages between, are searching for her amidst the curiously empty enclosures. They find her asleep on a bench. What she sees upon departure is the candy-colored animals gathered to say goodbye, the peacock’s tail in full fan; her parents see an empty gateway. (Alert children will note that the child loses her pink boot while flying with the birds and spot which animal is chewing on it at the end.) Lee’s pictures, both color and grisaille, are wonderfully detailed, patterned and angular, with much to look at with delight.
Curled Up Kids (January 2007):

The towering city skyscrapers disappear through the gates of the city zoo. A new world is open to children longing to reach the fantastic animals that came from worlds away. Pieces of the jungles, savannahs and habitats of the world share space with the coldness of modern living.

The Zoo by Suzy Lee is short on story but long on the magic of being a kid at the zoo. The immediate attraction to The Zoo is Lee's artwork. Pastels and colored pencils give texture and depth, a wonderful break from the flat images of many other children's books.

The story follows a little girl who, along with her family, visits many of the popular animals across the zoo. The parents can only see the drab blues and grays that color the streets and city architecture, but the little girl is open to the bursts of colors, plants and animals that leap from the following pages. Lee's artwork seems to literally come alive and give the animals much needed character and depth.

Younger children will love the bounding, prancing, playing animals, but it is the adults who should pay close attention to the book's message. The parents in the story are too consumed with moving along with the day that they miss out on the moments of play with these spectacular creatures, something a child naturally reacts to.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Suzy Lee is an accomplished painter and received an MA in Book Arts from Camberwell College of Arts in London. The Zoo is her first North American release and draws its style from many of her distinctive sketches. Her art has also appeared in magazines, artist organizations and accompanying other writer's books.

Lee's work relies very little on spoken words. The images tell the story, creating a space and time for the reader to take their ideas wherever the want. Hopefully North America will see much more come from this talented individual.

Book Buds Kidlit Reviews (February 1, 2007):

I love Kane/Miller, a publishing house that specializes in reprinting foreign titles. I especially love discovering that parents overseas are as neurotic as myself. When I first had Seth, my family dispensed such loving advice as, "try to remember where you put the baby."

So I had great empathy for the couple in this book, who are merely a backdrop to the little girl who narrates. It's really two stories: the girl's version, told in words, and the "reality" we see in clashing sets of pictures. 
Lee uses colored pencils, graph paper and cut paper collage to give us the crowded zoo on a clear, autumn day. Everything's gray or slate, except for a lovely peacock in brilliant blues and purples. Uh-oh. Guess who's eye roves? The little girl's!

In her version, she's having a fun day looking at animals. In the gray reality, she's off chasing that bird, lurching into a rainbow-colored series of pencil sketches as the girl frolics with various animals. She's fully immersed in fantasy, or is she? Meanwhile, it takes gray, dull Daddy a couple pages to notice he's holding only a balloon where a little girl's hand should be. Whoops.

Lee then cuts back and forth between the two adventures: the girl's and her frantic parents. Been there, done that, had the heart attack. If this doesn't make you chuckle knowingly, you don't have kids.