So besides the fact that he’s unbelievably dreamy,he’s also my favourite picture book author and illustrator.
His books are always a hit in my story times and have a wide appeal for many ages including adults. When I saw this trailer for his new title which you can pre-order now and releases in June, I just had to share it.
This makes me happy. I can not wait to have this book in my collection.
One hot summer night in the city, all the power goes out. The TV shuts off and a boy wails, “Mommm!” His sister can no longer use the phone, Mom can’t work on her computer, and Dad can’t finish cooking dinner. What’s a family to do?
My Thoughts:
I was so happy to stumble across this picture book (it just came in to the library) the friday before Earth Hour on Saturday. The book opens with the images of each member of the family in different rooms “doing their own things”. The power goes out, and the family comes together to find ways to wait out the blackout.
Exploring the stars, playing games by flashlight, joining the neighbours for ice cream in the street.
I shared the story by candle light with my family during earth hour. It’s a wonderful reminder of how easy technology can take over, how dependant we can be on it, but also how easily we can make the choice to put the gadgets away and spend time together.
After reading it we played flashlight tag. I’ve done this in a preschool group before for a pjamma time program where I had parents and kids bring flashlights and we used them during storytime. It was a big hit! I think it would make a wonderful activity to compliment this story. Great for Earth Day too.
For those of you who know me, you know that I am a HUGE fan of the author Jan Thomas. I love the humour, the text, the illustrations. They all come together to create fantastic read aloud books for story time. Rhyming Dust Bunnies is my all-time favourite, but this one comes in a close second. The story opens with the Easter Bunny introducing himself and his assistant “Skunk” He begins to tell the steps for dyeing Easter Eggs, but Skunk becomes sooo excited that he lets his smell..well…smell. The Easter Bunny tries to keep his “assistant” calm, but skunk can not contain himself. Kids and their grown ups with laugh out loud.
At the end of the books are the steps for “dyeing” eggs. I like how the book also includes instructions on incorporating crayons as well as dye. Highly recommended.
