0 F is for Fleming, Denise - In the Small Small Pond

F is for Fleming, Denise

Denise Fleming
Winner of the Caldecott Medal for In the Small Small Pond is an author and illustrator.

Pic Courtesy: Google Images

Books that Bubble Ink has read :
In the Small Small Pond

Books read to the Bubbling:
In the Small Small Pond

Bubble Ink pick:
In the Small Small Pond

Bubbling Pick:
In the Small Small Pond

Some more that we think are great:
In the Tall Tall Grass

We will review In the Small Small Pond.

The Book:
In the Small Small pond is written and illustrated by Denise Fleming

Buy here on Flipkart:
The Bubble:
A book that is excellent in illustrations and in rhyme. The book introduces on each spread animals, the actions or the things that they are upto on the pond with just 4 words to describe them.

All pond animals are introduced one on each page with action words to describe them or by naming them. Tadpoles, Geese, Raccoons, Muskrats, Crabs, Fishes, Herons, dragonflies and all of that appear in the book.

Sample lines:

Wiggle Jiggle, Tadpoles wriggle

Splitter splatter, minnows scatter

Click Clack, Claws crack

Dabble Dip, Tails Flip

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love the illustrations and the intelligence in being able to convey the text in excellent rhyme and amazing brevity.
Our interpretation of the plot in the book is of a frog who is trying to go to sleep but is going around the pond being disturbed by all the action like minnows splattering, crabs clacking, paws flashing. The frog is even shown as dozing off in one of the spreads. But slowly towards the end, after all the action in the pond, the frog settles down as it starts snowing, "Cold Night, Sleep Tight"

For the youngest book lover, the illustrations and the spotting the frog appeal.
For beginning readers, the rhyming text, learning some new animals in the pond work well.
For older readers, the large font aid in reading and a great start to a good vocabulary.
Ours was a borrowed read.
We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
She loves books where we name each animal and the spotting the frog from this book. She starts the book with Frog jumping over the boy.
It is a bubbling-tantalizing-three (A very recent read for us)

0 Mom's Day Week @ Bubble Ink : Contest

A mother's day contest at the Bubble Ink
Join the event here to get more updates.

We will run a 5-day long contest on the Bubble Ink FB page and on the blog. Each day activity will gain you a point and the winner will be the one who has accrued the maximum points.

#1: On all 5 days [From May 9, Friday to May 13, Tuesday] you have got to read one book with your child and post on the Facebook page on what you read. Just reading for the day gains you 1 point ( even if you more than 1 book). A maximum of 5 points from this activity if you read on all 5 days.

#2: Mom-Baby Theme Book Reads : On any day if you read a book on the Mom-Baby theme, you get 1 additional bonus point for the day in which that book was read. Only a maximum of 2 points from this activity. Eg: Even if you read Mom-Baby books on all 5 days, only a maximum of 2 bonus points can be accrued.

#3: On Saturday May 10, 2014: Post a single pic having all the mom-baby theme books in your collection. Maximum of 1 point if you post this pic. Even if you post multiple pictures only 1 point can be accrued. You could also list the books in a comment on FB post or the blog post for the day.

#4: On Sunday, May 11, 2014 : Play Virtual Treasure Hunt: We have on-board 5 blogger : picture book lovers and even a children's book writer who will blog about one Mom-Baby book each without revealing the name of the book or the author. The blog post will hold the clues for you to identify the book and its author , both of which should be left as a comment on the blog. This blog will either be a guest post on the Bubble Ink Blog or in the blogger's own blog. You will be intimated on where it is on the day. 1 point for guessing the book and 1 point for guessing the author. Maximum of 2 points on each blog post and 5 such posts leaves you with a maximum of 10 points for this activity. 

P.S: The book bloggers themselves can be participants but they will start with an opening balance for 2 points since they can't guess their own book and for being generous and agreeing to do the blog post. Bubble Ink will ensure that bloggers themselves don't get to know each other's books. 

#5: On Monday, May 12, 2014: Mom Baby Picture books quiz: A quiz having 5 questions on Mom-Baby picture books will be held and 1 point for each right answer. Maximum of 5 points on this quiz. The quiz will be hosted on Google Forms and the link will be published on the blog and FB page on the day of the Quiz.

#6: On Tuesday, May 13, 2014 : Make a wish for a Mom-Baby Picture Book. If you are the winner, we will try to get you that book or give you a 200Rs Flipkart voucher. While you make that wish, don't forget to read to your baby on this day.

Points Table

Reads:5 points
Bonus Reads: 2 points
Picture: 1 point
Treasure Hunt: 10 points 
Quiz : 5 points

A maximum of 23 points can be accrued throughout May 9 to May 13.

Rules:
1. Children who are being read to or children who read on their own can participate. Mothers can help the older children make the contest entries in the form of comments etc.
2. The contest will remain open till May 15 to accomodate the completion of the activities other than the reading activity. ie. The Quiz will open on 12 May but will remain open for answers till May 15, so will the BookPhotos Contest and the Treasure Hunt.
3. The one with maximum points will be the winner. In case of a tie, the one with maximum Treasure Hunt points and Quiz points put together will be the tie breaker. Even if that doesn't break the tie, Bubble Ink will do a lucky draw to pick one winner.
4. Winner will get the book wished for. If unable to procure it , an optional Flipkart voucher of Rs.200 will be sent to the winner. Winners residing out of India will be given a Amazon voucher of worth 5USD  if applicable in their country of residence, or will be asked for an Indian Address to courier the book.

4. Detailed instruction for the day-to-day activities on where to post will be communicated on a daily basis on the Blog and the Facebook page.
5. Bubble Ink's decision of the winners is final. The decision to dispatch a book or the voucher will be worked out with the contest winner.
6. The points table will be published on a regular basis till the end of the contest.

P/S: This post will be edited in case of any change in rules.
Email bubbleink.writes@gmail.com or leave a comment here in case of any questions.

0 E is for Eric Rohmann : My Friend Rabbit : Review

Part of the A to Z authors Illustrators

E is for Eric Rohmann

Pic Coutesy:http://www.ericrohmann.com/

Eric Rohmann
Winner of the Caldecott Medal for My Friend Rabbit is an author and illustrator.

Books that Bubble Ink has read :
My Friend Rabbit

Books read to the Bubbling:
My Friend Rabbit

Bubble Ink pick:
My Friend Rabbit

Bubbling Pick:
My Friend Rabbit

Some more that we think are great:
Oh! No.

We will review My Friend Rabbit.

The Book:
My Friend Rabbit is written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann and is a Caldecott Medal winner for 2003.

#CaldecottCollector s click on image to Buy Now or on Flipkart here
The Bubble:
The book is about a Rabbit and a Mouse who are friends. Rabbit though means all well gets into trouble with everything he does.
The Mouse gives his airplane to the rabbit to play invites big trouble for him. The airplane gets stuck. Rabbit, again, meaning only well, gets animals one by one for the mouse to reach the tree, he himself lifts the animals up to get the airplane out. He has the most awesome ideas always! He plans to get the animals one on top of the other and he climbs a top of all of them, he holding a squirrel and the squirrel holding the mouse to fetch the airplane out of the tree branch.
The animals all tumble down except rabbit , who again meaning well saves the mouse by holding onto the airplane with the mouse abroad. And the end is hilarious.

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love the lovely illustrations in this book. The animals are illustrated in an unique way and the teeny-weeny rabbit carrying the huge animals is cuteness overload. A beautiful story of friendship can be told in the most humorous and playing way only through picture books. Caldecotts are Caldecotts not without a reason.

We picked this book up from Hippocampus Bangalore without paying attention to the medal (not sure how the nonCaldecott obsessed me missed it, then ) on the cover but liking the illustrations on a quick flip, and the book just didn't fail us in any way.
We give it 4-bubbles.


Bubbling's verdict:
Bubbling loves books these that have stuff getting piled up and then tumbling down for her to say "Daaaammmmaaaaaaaaaaal". So , this book is one of her giggly reads by the sight of the huge animals being carried by the bunny.
It is a bubbling-tantalizing-three.

0 D is for David Shannon : No! David Book review

Part of the A to Z Authors/Illustrators

D is for David Shannon

David Shannon:
Winner of Caldecott Honor for No!David and well known for his David books.

Pic Courtesy :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Shannon

Books that Bubble Ink has read :
No! David, Oh! David, Too many Toys

Books read to the Bubbling:
No! David, Oh! David,

Bubble Ink pick:
No! David

Bubbling Pick:
No! David

Some more that we think are great:
A bad case of Stripes.

We will review here,  No! David.

The Book:
No! David is written and illustrated by David Shannon and is a Caldecott honor for 1999.
The author illustrated parts of this book when he was a 5 year old boy knowing only to spell the word No and his name. He did a remake of the book and it came to be called No! David.

The Bubble:
An almost wordless picture book, which on each page has the naughty David do the things he shouldn't be doing and his Mom calling out to him, "No! David". 
We love the pictures that show all of David's naughtiness as he tumbles down a fish tank, kicks a ball to break the vase, puts on a superman cape when sent to bed, makes noise with pots and pans, his toy-strewn floor and his gross digging nose act!

Bubble Ink's verdict:
A great book to remind a parent on how many times the toddler hears a "No..." during their growing up years. We love the last page of how despite all the No s the mom hugs the child and says "Yes, I love you".
Been there, Done that, Felt that - Moment that.

A must read with every toddler. Bubble Ink personally likes this book for the delight it brought to the bubbling on its read and how that giggle and chuckle that she makes is contagious.

We borrowed our copy from Hippocampus Bangalore.
We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling verdict:
Not many books are an instant hit with the bubbling with its very first read. This one, is! We brought it from the library this evening and have already done 5 non-stop reads. At every page, I narrate what David is doing and ask what did his Mother say and she goes "No, David , No" and then I say "David is a..." and she completes ..."Naughty boy" - with the naughtiest giggle. 

It is a bubbling-full-five.

0 C is for Crews : Freight Train Review

Part of the A to Z of Picture books

Donald Crews:
Winner of 2 Caldecott honors, he writes and illustrates his books mostly based around vehicles.

Pic Courtesy: http://inspirationlaboratories.com/the-virtual-book-club-for-kids-author-list-2013-2014/

Books that Bubble Ink has read :
Freight Train

Books read to the Bubbling:
Freight Train

Bubble Ink pick:
Freight Train

Bubbling Pick:
Freight Train

Some more that we think are great:
Truck (Caldecott Honor), Ten Black Dots, Big Mama's

We will review here,  Freight Train.

The Book:
Freight Train is written and illustrated by Donald Crews. The book is a Caldecott Honor 1979.

The Bubble:
The book introduces the components of the Freight Train in different colors and its journey through day and night, through tunnels, over bridges and past busy cities. Red caboose, Orange tank car, Yellow hopper car, Green cattle car, Blue gandola car, Purple box car, Black tender and a black steam engine are all chugging their way on the tracks. The journey is illustrated beautifully as the train moves in these lovely colors through tunnels, passing cities, during daylight and in the night.

Bubble Ink's verdict:

The illustrations in this book are exceptional. We love how the static Freight train is shown introducing most of the lovely rainbow colors and then the moving Freight train looks prettier appearing to be movie with those lovely colors.

We love the details in the illustrations , specifically the pages, where going through the tunnel, the part of the train is hidden as being inside the tunnel and the passing by cities page showing high skyscrapers.

The book is great for introducing colors, playing a game of color matching and to learn the components of a Freight Train.

We bought ours in a book sale.

We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:

The bubbling didn't take to this book all that well, meaning she wouldn't bring the book on her own to be read. However, we always sing the Mother Goose Freight Train song whenever we pick this book.

It is a bubbling-teeny-two.

0 B is Brown, Margaret Wise : Runaway Bunny Review

Part of the A to Z Authors/Illustrators

Margaret Wise Brown:
Most famous for her classic , Good Night Moon, she has written some beautiful ones.

Pic Credit:http://www.abdopub.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=13433

Books that Bubble Ink has read :
Good Night Moon, Big Red Barn, Runaway Bunny, Home for a bunny

Books read to the Bubbling:
All the 3 except Home for a bunny(a recent buy).

Bubble Ink pick:
Runaway Bunny

Bubbling Pick:
Runaway Bunny.

Some more that we think are great:
The Color Kittens

We will review here, the Bubble Ink and Bubbling pick : Runaway Bunny

The Book:
The Runaway Bunny is written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd.

The Bubble:
This book is about mother-child love with some beautiful illustrations alternating in black and white and color. It is the story about a baby bunny which wants to run away from the mother bunny and the mother bunny who retorts saying he will run after the baby bunny to find him.

We love the different imaginative forms that the baby bunny thinks up to run away and the mother bunny devising the fitting form to find him. 
When a fish, the mother would become a fisherman to fish for him; When a crocus in the garden, the mother would become a gardener to find him; When a bird, the mother would become the tree to fly into. 

Sampe Lines:
"If you are gardener and find me", said the little bunny, "I will be a bird and fly away from you."

"If you become a bird and fly away from me," said his mother, "I will be a tree that you come home to"

Bubble Ink's verdict:
At least one mother child book is a must own in every child's library. If you are little one loves bunnies or if these illustrations appeal to you, this might that ONE.
We were impressed by the bonding and the protective nature of mothers that the book brings out in the form of text and illustrations. The text touches you, the illustrations move you. 
We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling verdict:
We had this since the bubbling was a little over 18 months. While she wasn't ready then to understand the mother-baby thing, she loved the illustrations and we both delighted spotting the baby bunny disguised in the many forms. She loves the mountain climber page and spotting the bunny hidden so intelligently amidst the mountain peaks.
It is a bubbling-fab-four.

0 A is for Ahlbergs - Peepo Review

Part of the A to Z of Picture book authors and illustrators.

This is the first author roundup at the Bubble Ink blog. 

An author round-up post will have the following sections:

Author/Illustrator introduction

Books that the picture book lover Bubble Ink has read : This will include books read at libraries, borrowed from friends or even bookshop reads :).

Books read to the Bubbling: Some of the books may not be age-appropriate for the bubbling, so the ones read to her will be listed here.

Bubble Ink pick: This is my favourite choosing only from the ones I have read by the author

Bubbling's pick: Bubbling favourite from the ones that have been read to her.
More reads that we think are great : This is also limited to the books that we have come to hear. Any suggestions on this are welcome as comments in the blog.

The Ahlbergs:
A husband-wife duo with Allan, the writer and Janet the illustrator.

Coutesy: http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/library/authors/janetandallanahlberg.htm

Pic courtesy: http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/library/authors/janetandallanahlberg.htm
Books that Bubble Ink has read :
Peepo, Each Peach Pear Plum, FunnyBones, Clothes Horse and other stories and The Pencil.

Books read to the Bubbling:
Peepo and Each Peach Pear Plum

Bubble Ink pick:
The Pencil (This is only Kid-Lit eBook that we own)


Bubbling pick:
Peepo


Some more that we think are great:
Starting School, Previously have been on our wish list.

This post will review the book - Peepo.

The Book:

Peepo is written by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Janet Ahlberg.




 The Bubble:
A perfect first book for babies , the book has a circle cut out on every page to have a peek on to what it happening around the baby. For babies, the baby illustrations are easy to relate to, for toddlers - peeping entertains, for older toddlers - it is a great game of guessing. 
The book features the activities of a baby from morning till bedtime and what he sees from his crib, in his high chair, in his push chair, at the park, on his sister's lap.It offers a small peep to what he sees the rest of the family doing and the following opens to the family scene. The book ends on a beautiful note with the baby put back to bed leaving the read guessing what he sees in his dream.

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love the pretty and detail oriented illustrations. The page spread that shows the scene of the family has been done with a lot of attention to detail. Details to the extent of the baby's night suit being hung to warm on the oven door to the baby actually wearing it to bed when kissed good night. The text says the sisters are looking for a tin to go fishing and the next scene has the sisters sitting beside the pond fishing with the tin nearby. Details like this and the lovely rhyming text will sure have this book grow with the baby.
We bought ours at a book-sale.
We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
The bubbling didn't have this book as a baby but when she was about 2 years old when she still loved Peek-a-boo books and also had a liking for babies. So the book was an instant hit. She explains what the baby does on each page and we discuss the page which shows the rest of the family.
It is a bubbling-tantalizing-three.

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