Happy Thanksgiving!

May many a meatball roll across your plate today!

Chick Lit with Katie Green

Chick's been busy preparing meatball stuffing for Thanksgiving and after all the eating he'll need a good nap and a good story! Thank goodness there's a new story to share!

This weeks Chick Lit selection comes from UK Illustrator Katie Green!

Her favorite children's book is:

Dinosaurs and all that rubbish

by Michael Foreman

In Katie's words:

One of my favourite books from my younger years is Dinosaurs and All That Rubbish by Michael Foreman.  Its a wonderful tale about a selfish and horrible human who makes a mess of his planet in a quest to fly away to a distant star.  

While he's gone, this dinoaurs on his planet wake up to the mess he made and are horrified!  They decide to trample all the roads and rubbish heaps and return the world to its former beauty, before the man destroyed it.

Then, the man's rocket lands and out he comes into what he thinks is paradise.  He doesn't recognise that he's landed back on the same planet he came from.  He declares that this new found paradise is his. 

The dinosaurs are not very impressed and they teach him that its not ok to 'own' parts of the world, but that the whole world belongs to him.....and to everyone else too.  In the end, the man learns to take better care of his planet and the 'people' he shares it with.

I love this story for the gentle way it introduces environmental issues, but I also love the illustrations.  I love the contrast in colours from the stinky dirty planet to the beautiful paradise that the dinosaurs restore.  And I love the watercolours used for the dinosaurs' skin; when I was little I remember feeling as though I could reach out and touch them!  I think the fact that it still sits on my shelf more than 20 years later is testament to how good it is...I hope you enjoy it Chick!

Thanks so much for sharing Katie! Chick is very eco-conscious, he always eats all his meatballs and composts the spaghetti. He wishes he had some dinosaur friends to share a meal with! Do you think they would like meatballs too?

Have this story read aloud to you with some crafty graphics here!

Eataly

Chick lit with Anne Harwell

This weeks Chick Lit selection comes from the wonderful artist Anne Harwell of Annechovie. I've known Anne since I first began blogging almost 2 years ago! She is truly one of the most supporting and kind artists I've met online! Be sure to stop by and check out her beautiful bold, bright patterned chair illustrations and say hello!

Anne's selection: Flat Stanely
Written by Jeff Brown
Images by Tomi Ungerer
and Scott Nash

In Anne's words:

I'd have to say my favorite children's book is Flat Stanley. It captured my imagination as a kid because I had a serious case of wanderlust and it's about a boy named Stanley whose bulletin board falls on him while he's sleeping.

The good part is that, unlike what would happen in reality, Stanley is completely unharmed, yet completely flattened at the same time.

His "flat" status opens the doors to seriously discounted travel....not via internet discount sites, but via being mailed everywhere in an envelope! He's able to visit relatives and go all sorts of places.

He finally decides he misses being 3 dimensional, so, not a problem! They pull out the trusty bicycle pump and he regains his 3D status back in no time FLAT. Haha, apologies for the pun!

As one of the escapees from a hatch that included 31 brethren, 29 of which were flattened, Chick can relate. Oh that they could be like Flat Stanley! But alas, they couldn't be. Like Stanley Chick's a survivor, although he doesn't know why... And like Flat Stanley, Chick gets pumped up too, not with a bicycle pump but with gassy meatballs!

Chick Pose

Flaunting his girth. He had grown to Pavarati-like dimensions...

Chick Lit with Jen Appel

This weeks selection comes from Canadian artist/illustrator Jen Appel, one of my very own students from Pikaland Bootcamp, who also just completed her own short story, I'm so proud, tear in eye!
Find more out more about Jen and her eccentric sense of humor via her blog Jennifer Appel Illustration

Jen's pick: Alligator Pie

poems by Dennis Lee

pictures by Frank Newfeld

published by Key Porter Books, ltd., 2001

Here's what Jen has to say:

Actually when I got it as a kid, it kind of freaked me out - the same kind of freak out that you get looking at an accident scene. It disturbs you, but you keep looking, trying to piece together what you see.

There are poems about having to eat your meat - a big theme in my life at that age - even the illustration resembles my father at that time (in Tricking), monsters running off with mothers (Billy Batter) and eating human body parts (in In Kamloops). The language is great as Lee likes to play with words and make new words and silly rhymes.

This book was originally published in Canada in 1974. It is a great example of (tongue in cheek) Canadian content, with lots of Canuck references. Also, the illustrations have a wonderful 1970s Electric Circus feel to them. The book was rereleased as a collector's edition in 2001 and is still available in stores.

Chick's kind of edgy around Alligators, 15 of his brood were inhaled in one bite, he narrowly escaped a big tooth! Good thing he lived to tell the story, but he always gets sweaty when he sees a picture of an alligator... As far as alligator pie goes, he still prefers meatballs, whether eating or being eatin he still avoids alligators!

Thanks for the contribution Jen!

The Last Picture Book