LOOK!

LOOK!

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PPBF has returned! Perfect Picture Book Fridays took a summer break and I did too. Now, it’s time to share a few books our family fell in love with over the summer.

LOOK!
Author and Illustrator Édouard Manceau or visit the Publisher’s bio.
Owl kids Books Inc., 2015 (North American)
Published in France under the title Le petit curieux by Editions Milan, 2014
Fiction
Suitable for: ages 3-7
Theme/Topic: Exploration, Concept Book, Interactive


Opening Spread: One day, a curious little kid picked up this book.


Brief Synopsis: (from the back cover) Take a LOOK! And see the world in a new way.


Resources: Use the book. The final spread asks “…What do you see?” Take the book out into the world and write down what you see. Turn to the spread asking you to look through the hole — Look for items that are red, orange, blue, and green? You can also talk about the numbers and letters not mentioned on that page of the book.

Why I Like This Book: I’m so grateful my library carries books by Édouard Manceau (See PPBF posts The Race and Windblown). I found this one while studying recent board books and concept books. Oh, I was delighted. Enzo and I had fun reading this together. The design of the book is fabulous. There is a “viewing hole” where you can see beyond the story when the book is open. The story takes the curious little kid through a series of concepts — colors, location, movement, size, distance, sound, shapes, texture, letters, and numbers. From the first spread to the last spread, LOOK! offers a mash up of concepts, but it isn’t overwhelming.


For more PPBF books, visit Susanna Leonard Hill’s Blog.
While I’m not adding this to PPBF, I wanted to share Enzo’s first library check out.

Enzo enjoyed The Magic Gourd by Baba Wagué Diakité. It’s a fable from Mali. I’m volunteering in his school library and love the selection of books for the kiddos.

Windblown

Windblown

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Here’s my Perfect Picture Book Friday choice:

Windblown
Written and Illustrated by Édouard Manceau
Translated by Sarah Quinn
OwlKids, North American Edition, 2013
First published in France in 2011 a Merci, le vent!
Fiction
Suitable for: Ages 3-7
Themes: Animals, Shapes, Imagination, Weather


Opening Lines: One tiny scrap of paper …
{Next double spread} Look, there’s another!
Synopsis: From the jacket — Colorful and oddly shaped scraps of paper blow in the wind. One by one, they take shape, transforming into animals — each one with its own story to tell. The wind has its own ideas about where they came from and what they mean. What do you think?


Link to Resources: Owl Kids Books has the shapes from Windblown on its website. So, you can create your own animals or make the ones in the book. You can also find scraps of paper and create your own animals.


Why I like this book: I randomly spotted this at the library before a meeting.

The cover is simple. The beginning hooked me. I wanted to see how this would unfold. A variety of animals begin to claim the scraps of paper until the wind takes credit and blows the shapes to the reader.
For author and illustrators, you may want to visit Édouard Manceau’s blog. He has some videos on his site. If you speak French or can figure out how to translate his blog.


Find more PPBF at Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog.


Next week, I hope to have my Halloweensie entry completed to post.