The "Tim and Sally" series: books to share throughout the year

The beginning of a new year is a wonderful time to discover books for young readers ages 4-8 that are beautiful to look at as well as being fun to read. With the colder winter weather settling in it's great to have a series of books for youngsters and parents to share -- with stories and lessons that can be read and enjoyed time and again throughout the year.

The Tim and Sally series published by Miglior Press is a large-format series of picture books all written by Grady Thrasher and illustrated by Elaine Hearn Rabon. There are three hardback readers in the Miglior series, as well as a fourth, paperback coloring book published by Miglior's Jonquil Books. Each of the readers is written in easy and clever rhyme that children and their parents will enjoy reading together.

All the books in the series can be purchased using the Amazon search box here on BookBag, or by clicking on the individual links below. More information about the author, the illustrator, and the books themselves can be found at the Tim and Sally website: www.timandsally.com.

Tim and Sally's Year in Poems is a good starting place for young readers. It's a jaunty and colorful trip through the seasons and their celebrations, from the sighting of springtime robins to building winter's snowman. The joys of holidays from Independence Day to Halloween, and Easter to Christmas, are captured in original poems and illustrations. There's even a bit of pause for grown-ups in the onward rush of the year: "I meant to drive to work today" celebrates simply sitting on the porch and watching the passing parade of nature, even as the hours meant for work tick away. And children get their own summer daydreaming hour, too, with its important lesson of enjoying the seasons just for themselves.

Spring is a time for planting gardens, and kids will enjoy learning about seeds and sprouts, sowing and watering in Tim and Sally's Vegetable Garden. After a long winter it's time to get started growing again! The book is filled with rhyming details kids need to know about all aspects of gardening, from preparation to planting to harvest:

"For awhile we'll care for each growing sprout,

But in a few days we must thin them out,

So their roots will have room to spread all about

And gather water and minerals from the soil below

To provide each plant with what's needed to grow."

The book offers young readers valuable lessons in cooperation and working together -- not just to put food on the table for everyone to enjoy, but in building lasting family relationships through shared work and experiences.

Tim and Sally's Beach Adventure is pure vacation fun, a trip to a warm ocean beach while there's still snow at home in the mountains. Tim and Sally build a sand castle and run in the waves, enjoying the sunshine and wonderful seafood meals that the ocean provides. The family's dog Flip becomes an unexpected hero when Tim demonstrates his bravery in the surf and discovers the ocean waves have their secret tides. Eventually the family heads back home, and though they are sad to leave they know they'll be back. The book's sun-filled illustrations glow on each page, and kids will enjoy reading Tim and Sally's Beach Adventure in the car as they head to their own special vacation spot with mom and dad.

The coloring book Color the Year With Tim and Sally gives young readers the chance to be artists on their own, with illustrations based on the three Tim and Sally adventure books. Elaine Hearn Rabon's seasonal art is filled with strong lines and friendly scenes, and offers familiar pictures for those readers who know the other books in the series. It makes a good activity book companion, which is a consideration for parents whose youngsters ages 4-8 may just be learning about coloring and would enjoy having familiar subjects.

Books to help you beat the winter blues and blahs

Snow and ice. And then more snow. And then more ice. And ... then more snow. If you're feeling trapped because of the bad winter weather that's kept you inside for days, here are some books that may help you beat the blahs! Look for them using BookBag's search boxes for Amazon and World Catalog for library copies. And phone ahead -- you want to make sure your library is open when you get there!

Papertoy Monsters: Make Your Very Own Amazing Papertoys!
by Brian Castleforte (Workman) Ages 9-12. Paper airplanes meet Origami meets Pokemon. Created and curated by Brian Castleforte, a graphic designer and papertoy pioneer who rounded up 25 of the hottest papertoy designers from around the world (Indonesia, Japan, Australia, Italy, Croatia, Chile, even Jackson, Tennessee), Papertoy Monsters offers 50 fiendishly original die-cut designs that are ready to pop out, fold, and glue. The book interleaves card stock with paper stock for a unique craft package; the graphics are colorful and hip, combining the edginess of anime with the goofy fun of Uglydolls and other collectibles. Meet Pharaoh Thoth Amon, who once ruled Egypt but is now a mummy who practices darkmagic in his sarcophagus. Or Zumbie the Zombie, who loves nothing more than a nice plate of brains and yams. NotSoScary, a little monster so useless at frightening people that he has to wear a scary mask. Yucky Chuck, the lunchbox creature born in the deepest depths of your school bag. Plus Zeke, the monster under your bed, Nom Nom, eater of cities, and Grumpy Gramps, the hairy grandpa monster with his very own moustache collection.

Up and Down, by Oliver Jeffers (Philomel) Ages 4-8 Once upon a time, in a book called Lost and Found, a penguin appeared at a small boy's doorstep. Since that adventure, in which the two traveled to the South Pole in a rowboat, the boy has crash-landed his plane on the moon and rocketed into space to catch a star. In this installment, the fearless, practical, and sympathetic child–drawn as a circle (head), square (striped shirt), and two lines (legs)–is back with his penguin friend. A chance sighting of a circus help-wanted poster takes the penguin off on his own and both friends must follow exciting, suspenseful, and wistful paths back to one another. Jeffers has an endearing, deceptively simple style that will warm the hearts of children and adults. An expert draughtsman and a gifted colorist, he creates artwork that is as masterful as it is eccentric. (Devoted readers will be delighted to find pictorial references to his earlier books.) His peculiar plots combine with a saccharine-free sensitivity to the nuances of friendship, making this book just plain special. (Susan Weitz, Amazon)

DC Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book (Little, Brown) Ages 4-8. Reinhart incorporates images created by a number of DC artists into a set of spectacular 3-D portraits – both the sort that leap up in massively muscled splendor from the center of each spread and smaller but no less eye-popping figures tucked into folding booklets in the corners. Superman leads off, of course, a solar-powered “living symbol of truth, justice, and the American way” towering over a view of his spacecraft while escaping an exploding Krypton on one side, and, on the other, cameos by a trio of sidekicks. Plus Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and (temporary) nemesis Doomsday. The Man of Steel is followed by Batman (with battery-powered Bat-Signal), “Warrior Goddess” Wonder Woman, the squad of intergalactic Green Lanterns, Lord Darkseid (in a spread devoted to the Bad Guys), and, finally, a 45-character composite of the Justice League of America and its prominent adversaries complete with a numbered legend. Other heroes and villains from Captain Marvel, Teen Titans, and even the Justice Society of America to the Joker and Anti-Monitor take bows in the side galleries.

Scribbles: A Really Giant Coloring Book, Taro Gomi (Chronicle Books) Ages 4-8. Scribbles is full of many zany ideas to get kids' imaginations flying. Gomi's simple artistic style is appealing to kids and adults alike. Pages have simple instructions that will guide kids without them feeling hemmed in. Gomi often has several pages in a row with the same simple illustrations but with different leaders: a quaint town drawn at the bottom of several pages has the headings: "Its a beautiful day today: draw a bright sunny sky," "Today it is not so nice: Draw a dark cloudy sky," and "Today there's a thunderstorm: draw lighting and rain." Or a simple stick drawn on several pages and children being asked to draw a dragonfly sitting on one, a sparrow on another, a crocodile balancing on another and finally an elephant! Kids will love the crazy ideas. There are also masks, mazes, time-telling exercises etc. The sheer abundance of ideas makes up for the few that fall short of perfect.

Fortune Cookies,
by Albert Bitterman & Chris Raschka (Beach Lane) Ages 4-8 An intense meditation on the ups and downs of life? Or, a super adorable kids book, complete with kitties? We'll let you decide which. A box arrives for Fortune from her Uncle Albert with seven fortune cookies. How wonderful ... a cookie and a fortune for each day of the week! Best of all, each fortune comes true, but not in ways that Fortune expects. A. Bitterman is the pen name of Pete Cowdin, owner of the beloved independent children's bookstore Reading Reptile. This is his first book. Chris Raschka is the illustrator of The Hello, Goodbye Window, which was awarded the Caldecott Medal. He is also the illustrator of the childrens' books Yo! Yes?; Charlie Parker Played Be Bop; Mysterious Thelonious; John Coltrane's Giant Steps; and Can't Sleep.

Tween fantasy and adventure for a new year

If winter's got you down, if the holidays seemed so last year, it may be time for stories set in other times and places. Here are some new titles that will take readers away with fantasy and adventure, available here at BookBag using the Amazon and World Catalog search boxes.

Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool (Delacorte Press) Historical Fiction. Feisty 12-year-old Abilene Tucker isn't too keen on spending the summer away from her daddy, but since she can't accompany him on his new railroad job, she'll be staying with a family friend in Manifest, Kansas, where her dad once lived. Abilene is disappointed in Manifest when she first gets off the train--it looks like any other ratty, worn-out old town in the throes of the Depression--but she soon uncovers all kinds of mysteries to investigate. Spies, outlaws, secrets, and even murder are woven into this complex, multilayered story that's sure to please fans of memorable characters and richly detailed settings.

The Clockwork Three, by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press) Fantasy. Giuseppe is an orphan who plays the violin on street corners for spare change, most of which goes to his cruel master, Stephano. Hannah works as a hotel maid, trying to earn the money for an operation that her father desperately needs. Frederick, apprenticed to a clockmaker, is building an automaton in secret. In this adventure that melds magic, action, myth, and mystery, the three characters' separate paths converge...and none of their lives will ever be the same. If you liked the historical setting and suspense of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, be sure to give The Clockwork Three a look.

Blue Fire, by Janice Hardy (Balzer + Bray) Fantasy. Like other Takers, 15-year-old Nya can physically remove a person's pain, but her ability to transfer pain from one person to another is extremely rare. In this thrilling sequel to The Shifter, Nya must use her healing powers as a weapon in order to rescue her sister and a small band of Takers from the sadistic ruler who has invaded their homeland. Fans of action-packed fantasies with girl heroes (such as Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper books) will finish Blue Fire breathless for the next volume in The Healing Wars series.

A Long Walk to Water: A Novel, by Linda Sue Park (Clarion Books) Fiction. When rebel soldiers attack his Sudanese village in 1985, 11-year-old Salva runs away. Separated from his family in the chaos, he walks--sometimes with other refugees, sometimes alone--all through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of a safe haven. Many years later, a young Sudanese girl also spends most of her time walking, but her trek is the same every day: it takes her eight hours to reach the place where she fetches water for her family. Both of these spare, harrowing stories are based on real-life events, and readers are sure to be surprised and uplifted when they learn what connects them.

Virals, by Kathy Reichs (Razorbill) SF/Thriller. While exploring an abandoned laboratory near their secluded South Carolina home, science geek Tory Brennan and her friends rescue a quarantined dog...and, soon after, they all develop much keener senses and quicker reflexes. It's a bizarre situation that the friends--now more of a "pack" than ever--use to their advantage when an unsolved murder case from years ago suddenly becomes news again. Fans of the TV show Bones (Tory is Temperance Brennan's niece) will love the forensic science details in Virals, and anyone who enjoys fast-paced, action-packed fare will be eager for the next volume in this new series.

Books for young artists

It's a new year, and maybe one of your new year's resolutions is to paint. Whether you're a beginner or need help learning more about the different techniques of painting, here are a group of helpful books with lots of great ideas. Look for them using the Amazon search box, or locate a copy at your local library using the World Catalog search engine here on BookBag. And have a colorful New Year!

A Book about Color, by Mark Gonyea (Henry Holt) Nonfiction. Doctors have to learn how human bodies work; lawyers have to learn how the law works (and how to win arguments about it); artists have to learn how color works. And believe it or not, the rules of using color can get pretty complicated! This book, however, explains art terms such as "primary," "secondary," and "analogous" in simple words and demonstrates them in pictures. It also shows how different colors can feel different--cheerful, dangerous, calm, or fun. Budding artists who like this book might also want to check out the author's books about design.

Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children about Their Art, from the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (Philomel Books) Nonfiction. Do you ever think about the artists who illustrated your favorite picture books? If you're curious about how people become professional artists and illustrators, how they think about their artwork, what inspires them, or where they work, you'll love this book. It presents letters from 23 famous artists (from Maurice Sendak and Quentin Blake to Ashley Bryan, Jane Dyer, Eric Carle, and many more) written to kids who like to paint or draw, along with samples of the artists' work, a self-portrait of each artist, and photos of the artists in their studios.


Here's Looking at Me: How Artists See Themselves, by Bob Raczka (Millbrook Press) Nonfiction. While it's quite slim, this book introduces a whole world of intriguing things to ponder about the many styles, techniques, and meanings of art. To prove the point that there's no right or wrong way to create a picture of yourself, Here's Looking at Me presents the unique self-portraits of 14 renowned artists, both historic (as far back as the 1400s!) and modern-day. Author Bob Raczka points out interesting details in the portraits that you probably wouldn't notice otherwise--such as the tiny candles on the brim of Spanish painter Francisco de Goya's hat--and explains why the artist included them. Fans of this book will also want to check out Raczka's art books No One Saw and More Than Meets the Eye.


Drawing: The Only Drawing Book You'll Ever Need to Be the Artist You've Always Wanted to Be, by Kathryn Temple (Lark Books) Nonfiction. This book's subtitle really means business! With lots of encouragement, visual examples, and step-by-step illustrations, Drawing shows how to master the basics of line drawing, light and shadow, proportion and scale, and perspective. It also includes chapters on "opening your artist's eyes"--yep, they're different from ordinary eyes--and on using the basics you learn to draw faces, bodies, and more. Anyone who wants to create realistic drawings (whether 10 years old or 100) will find fun and practical guidance here.