I See by Joe Cepada and Where is Mommy? by Pat Cummings

Brian E. Wilson works as a children’s librarian at the Evanston Public Library in Evanston, IL. He served on the 2015 Odyssey Committee and the 2017 Caldecott Committee. He blogs at Mr. Brian’s Picture Book Picks at mrbrianspicturebookpicks.wordpress.com.

One of the best parts of being a children's librarian is sharing new books with young readers in my regularly scheduled storytimes. Every month I visit a preschool class filled with 25 of the most amazing 4- and 5-year-olds, many ready to take on the world when they start kindergarten this upcoming autumn. For this Guessing Geisel assignment, I decided to try out the two new additions to Holiday House's enjoyable I Like to Read series on them. Joe Cepada's I See, which has the publisher's Guided Reading Level B (Middle of Kindergarten) designation, serves as a companion to the author/illustrator's Up and I Dig and stars a boy who examines little creatures with a magnifying glass. Pat Cummings' Where Is Mommy?, given a Guided Reading Level D (End of Kindergarten), shows a girl piecing together clues about her nearby mommy's location after waking from a nap. Would the students enjoy these books?

I See contains very simple sentences never longer than four words. Each double page spread offers only one sentence. The crystal clear, large bold font is easy to read. Cepada's uncluttered illustrations follow the boy up a ladder and into an attic. The older relative (the children said "his dad" or "brother" when I asked about him) accompanying him finds a microscope while the protagonist holds up a magnifying glass.

The boy then travels solo outside carrying his beloved new object. "I see," he keeps saying. The children started saying the words along with me, unprompted. The next page finds the boy examining tiny critters, seen from a distance, with the magnifying glass. "I see," the boy says with a smile. The students already started yelling "ants" by the time I turned the page. And sure enough, they were right. "I see an ant," the boy declares as we see an enlarged view of the happy ant. We then see the child looking at a butterfly, snail, and robin eggs. The children told me they all loved the book. They liked the way Cepada drew the animals. And they loved the final moment that show all the animals following him into his house.

Where Is Mommy? has slightly longer sentences (never longer than six words) and more text. Some spreads have two or three sentences on them. The children had a blast watching the girl trying to solve this lighthearted mystery. Cummings fills the story with delightful visual cues. Mommy has seemingly disappeared, although the girl's cat, and the children in my group, observe mom outside in her garden. They liked knowing something the girl did not notice. When I asked the students their favorite part, they said they loved the girl putting on her mother's glasses, slippers, and scarf. They found the cat funny, the ending happy. The kids followed the story with ease.

I did not ask them which book they enjoyed more. I simply asked "who liked both of the books?" All the hands shot up in the air. Success!!!

Little Penguin's New Friend by Tadgh Bentley

Amy Laughlin works as a youth services librarian at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, CT. She served on the Notable Children's Books committee in 2017 and 2018, and co-wrote a column for School Library Journal from 2014-2018 titled "Mix it Up."

Cover of Little
Penguin’s New Friend
by Tadgh Bentley

Adorable Little Penguin teaches readers a valuable lesson about gossip in this cautionary tale about believing everything you hear.

Little Penguin immediately breaks the fourth wall and addresses the reader directly—“Oh! Hi! Sorry! I did not see you there”—setting the jovial, conversational tone of the book from the very start. All the usual hallmarks of a stand out beginning reader are here: large font, plenty of white space, clear contrast between text and background, and predictive vocabulary that matches the illustrations.

Image from Little Penguin’s New Friend

Readers hear from Little Penguin that a polar bear is traveling all the way from the North Pole to visit the South Pole. He also learns many details about Polar Bears from his friends, including the fact that they have sharp teeth and terrifying roars, they are mean hunters, and they tell very bad jokes. But should we always believe everything that we hear?

When Polar Bear arrives (by boat), she immediately tells Little Penguin a series of bad jokes. Does this mean that all three facts Little Penguin learned about Polar Bears are true? Should Little Penguin be scared for his life?! Instead of laughing at Polar Bear’s humorous jokes, Little Penguin dives behind a rock in fear! Is Polar Bear going to eat him?

Image from Little Penguin’s New Friend

Imagine Little Penguin’s surprise when he learns that Polar Bear has heard something untrue about penguins. The final line of the book, effectively the punchline of a 32-page gag, reads: “I heard that penguins have no sense of humor,” she [Polar Bear] says.” Cue the ba-dum-cha sound on the drums.
Repeated readings of the book reveal a layer of added meta-humor that most books for emergent readers lack, that of the irony that both Polar Bear and Little Penguin believed untrue facts about each other. This irony delivers readers a satisfying chuckle at the end that boosts readers’ confidence—it’s a joke meant to make them laugh without any explanation needed.

Could a book that—more or less—describes the perils of believing gossip become a Geisel honoree? I say absolutely this might win a Geisel!

(Psssst: don’t forget that we shouldn’t always believe everything you hear!)

Our 12 Mock Geisel 2020 Contenders - Read Them Now, Vote Next Month!

This year we here at Guessing Geisel are trying something new. In the past, we would include 30+ titles on our mock ballot. While we loved highlighting so many great books for beginning readers, it could also be overwhelming. This year, with the goal of streamlining to encourage participation, we’ll be featuring just 12 titles on our mock ballot. And we’re sharing them now so you can get a jump start on reading them before voting begins in January, 2020.

Wishing you could have in-person discussions about these titles? Want to introduce your colleagues/patrons/students to excellent books for beginning readers? We encourage you to visit your local library, check out the titles, and share them. Here are a few ideas:

• Put them on a table in a common area. Send out an email to invite colleagues to explore titles at their leisure. 
• Make a display and encourage patrons to read them and provide feedback (written or verbal). 
• Share them at a staff meeting. Take a couple quick minutes to tease the books or spend a longer chunk discussing a handful of titles and invite others to explore the other titles later. 
• Host a mock with your colleagues, patrons, or students. Take a look at past posts from Patrick Gall, DaNae Leu, and Amanda Foulk, as well as our guest post for SLJ, for ideas. 

Without further ado, here are the 12 Guessing Geisel 2020 mock titles listed in alphabetical order by author. 
*Don’t see your favorite on this list? Let us know in the comments! You’ll also be able to vote for write-in contenders on the ballot.

• Chick & Brain: Smell My Foot by Cece Bell
• King & Kayla and the Case of Found Fred by Dori Hillestad Butler, illustrated by Nancy Meyers
• Save the Cake by Molly Coxe
• Let’s Have a Sleepover by Norm Feuti
• Penny and Her Sled by Kevin Henkes
• Whose Footprint is That? by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Kelsey Oneida
• See Me Play by Paul Meisel
• Frank and Bean by Jamie Michalak, illustrated by Bob Kolar
• Poof! A Bot! by David Milgrim 
• Fox + Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier
• Charlie & Mouse Even Better by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Emily Hughes
• Stop! Bot! by James Yang

Ana & Andrew series by Christine Platt, illustrated by Sharon Sordo

Book covers for four Ana & Andrew titles by Christine Platt, illustrated by Sharon Sordo

Siblings Ana and Andrew make their debut in four simultaneously published titles from Abdo. (In 2020 readers can look forward to an additional four titles in this series, as well as Spanish language versions of the first four.) Each title works as a stand alone and can be read in any order. Divided into four chapters, the text includes vocabulary and concepts targeting more confident readers, with many pages featuring 7-9 lines of text. Full color, digital illustrations appear on every page and provide visual support for some words. 

In Dancing at Carnival, the siblings visit their maternal relatives in Trinidad and learn about the origins of Carnival. “Many years ago, there were slaves on the island of Trinidad, just like there were in American,” Uncle Errol tells them. Their paternal grandmother comes to visit the siblings in Washington, DC in A Day at the Museum. She takes the whole family to the brand new National Museum of African American History and Culture. A trip to visit their father’s hometown encourages an oral sharing of the history of the construction of their church by slaves in Summer in Savannah. In A Snowy Day, the title that touches the least on history and culture, Ana and Andrew frolic in the snow with their neighborhood friends and wish their relatives in Trinidad could experience snow too.

Image of family and tour guide outside of the National Museum of African American History and Culture from A Day at the Museum by Christine Platt, illustrated by Sharon Sordo

This series excels at incorporating history and culture into fiction for developing readers, something not done often in the beginning reader world. For example, slavery is mentioned specifically in three titles. On the other hand, not all concepts are adequately explained in the narrative, which could cause confusion for some readers who may not be reading these books with a grown up who could explain the Underground Railroad or what “ancestors” means. An author’s note, glossary, or other back matter to provide more background knowledge would have been a helpful addition. Repetition of words and concepts, happens occasionally, but not as much as one would wish.

Grandpa telling Ana and Andrew about the Underground Railroad from Summer in Savannah by Christine Platt, illustrated by Sharon Sordo

At times the page turning dynamic is held back by mundane digressions that seem extraneous. Will readers really care to read four sentences about the black shutters and red door of a house, or want to read a recap of adventures they’ve just read about? One possible explanation is that these passages were added to achieve a particular word count.

These titles cover a lot of ground when it comes to racial/cultural representations. At the same time they also exhibit gender stereotypes. For instance, Ana is almost always depicted in a dress, in traditionally feminine colors with bows in her hair, and her doll always has a matching outfit. Another example comes after their visit to the museum and each family member is sharing what they enjoyed most. Ana says the dolls, while Andrew liked the old sports team uniforms. Similarly, Mama liked seeing how food was cooked in the past, a contrast to her husband who found learning about African American achievements the best part. 

Overall, although this series has some flaws, it also stands out in a field of contenders sorely lacking in diverse representations.  If I had to pick one, I’d say Dancing at Carnival is the most engaging of the bunch. Is there one title in this series that seems to rise above the rest for you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Smell My Foot! by Cece Bell

Robbin Friedman is a children's librarian at the Chappaqua Library. She writes reviews for School Library Journal, serves on ALSC's Budget Committee, and reads a lot of science fiction.

In her new early reader series, "Chick and Brain", Cece Bell ostensibly sends up stilted "Dick and Jane" primers. Of course, today’s beginning readers don’t know that. They’ve never heard of Dick and Jane. And the rare child who might understand the reference probably wouldn’t associate those dry slices of white suburbia with these two weirdos.

Image from Chick and Brain: Smell My Foot! by Cece Bell

Fortunately, the first book—Smell My Foot!—shares more DNA with Tedd Arnold or Ethan Long than with Zerna Sharp (two points to anyone who already knew the author of "Dick and Jane").

Using a straightforward comics format broken into four short chapters, Bell introduces her protagonists: Chick, a fastidious yellow bird with a commitment to manners, and Brain, a white human with stick limbs, heart-print boxers, and a brain-like poof of hair atop his head. Bell has mastered the visual elements of comics for early readers, reveling in the intense goofiness of her subjects here.

Simple backgrounds, adequately-sized speech bubbles, and a clean, serif font pair well with the humor of Bell’s oddly-proportioned duo. Characters regularly break the confines of the basic two to four panel pages, but the visual story proceeds smoothly enough that errant feet or beaks won’t confuse beginners. In fact, Bell uses the spatial perspective of the panels beautifully to convey emphasis and tone, as in this page when Brain’s insistent demand grows too large for the panel next to Chick’s consistent denial.

Image from Chick and Brain: Smell My Foot! by Cece Bell

The story—as silly as it sounds—allows for ample word repetition. Brain’s foot smells great! Everyone should smell it! Chick wants to hear please and thank you before agreeing to anything. But once Spot, a hungry dog, has said the magic word, Chick merrily agrees to lunch. Both Brain and the reader recognize that Spot wants to eat Chick. Brain arrives to save Chick and makes Spot pass out because guess what? His other foot smells really bad! Early readers will finish this book experience confidently tackling words like smell, foot, please, sniff, and you’re welcome, some of which will absolutely come in handy again.

With visual support and reinforced vocabulary, this book may offer smooth sailing for some readers looking to branch out from Mo Willems. For certain readers, though, Bell’s quirky Brain may introduce a hiccup. Brain responds to social niceties differently than Chick (and most readers) expect, and while therein lies the fun for some folks, other readers might find the non sequiturs confusing.

Chick corrects Brain and gets the dialogue back on track. But for readers looking to the narrative to confirm they’re reading accurately, Brain’s unusual style may cause them to wonder if they’ve gotten something wrong.

For readers unfazed by Brain’s approach, Cece Bell has brought us something peculiar and effective, presented in a masterful comics package. If the Geisel Committee is looking for a change from more traditional, earnest early readers, they might want to take a big sniff of this one.

Duck & Goose: A Gift for Goose by Tad Hills

Cover of A Gift for Goose
by Tad Hills

Duck has a gift for Goose! He plops it into a box, then proceeds to decorate the box with paint, ribbon, and a handwritten card. But silly Goose, upon receiving the package, believes the box itself is the gift. A few pages proceed during which Goose is full of excitement at how wonderful the box is, while Duck quietly attempts to interject with the information the reader already knows: the gift is inside the box! Goose runs off to get his special things, and returns with wings full of crayons, hats, and yarn to put into his new box. Duck finally finds the moment to explain that the box is, in fact, not Duck’s gift. The next page turn is priceless, revealing Goose’s sad dismay as he misunderstands.

Image from A Gift for Goose by Tad Hills

The misunderstanding is quickly cleared, however, and Goose discovers the real gift: a box for his special things!

A Gift for Goose has all the trappings of a quality beginning reader: large font set against ample white space, simple sentences that are contained on the page spread, and repetition of key words. The bright, uncluttered illustrations clearly reflect the text, giving young readers plenty of clues to help them decipher the text.

The plot is simple, but effectively strikes an emotional chord that will resonate with many children. One friend does something for the other, there is a misunderstanding followed by some brief hurt feelings, then all is resolved. The pacing pulls the reader through the story as they anticipate the moment when Goose will finally figure out that the box is not the gift. The joke is well-delivered, and following the image of Goose’s misunderstanding as it does, delivers a quick jolt of humor at the perfect moment.

All in all, Duck & Goose: A Gift for Goose is a solid contender for this year’s Geisel Award. Will the committee agree? What do you think?

#WNDB - Still Important

As we’ve discussed in previous #WNDB posts, the world of beginning readers is incredibly homogeneous. And what’s more, there are more books about animal and inanimate object protagonists than there are about human kids from diverse backgrounds. This year alone there are beginning readers featuring: 

• Mice 
• Fish 
• Hedgehogs 
• Squirrels 
• Rabbits 
• Hot dogs 
• Beans 
• Robots 
• Invertebrates 
• A brain with smelly feet 
• Pasta 

Not to mention the plethora of beginning readers that feature protagonists that are assumed white.   

I’m not saying any of these books shouldn’t exist. There are reasons to love each and every one of them individually. But when we look at them as a whole, it’s obvious that #WeSTILLNeedDiverseBeginningReaders. Because what we don’t see (or see very little of) in this year’s Geisel contenders are representations of characters with diverse abilities, family structures, socio-economic situations, cultural backgrounds, as well as any representations of LGBTQIA+ characters and hardly any #ownvoices books. 

Why is this so important? In two words, reading motivation. As Gigi Pagliarulo wrote in a post from earlier this year, “This reading motivation comes from several areas, including choice and personal relevance. Kids who can self-select books that reflect their interests and life experiences demonstrate more reading motivation. This is where diversity and equity in beginning readers come into play.” Being able to hand a kid a book with a character that reflects their experience is affirming and validating. And for kids from dominant cultures, reading a book with a protagonist from a non-dominant culture widens their view of the world and subverts the idea that stories/life are centered around dominant culture experiences and stories. 

One book/series about a particular diverse representation isn’t enough. We need lots of books with diverse representations at all stages of the learning to read process. As Amanda Foulk wrote in a post from last year, “There’s room on our shelves for so many more types of readers to see themselves reflected at every age and stage of learning to read.” We need to be able to give kids stacks of books that provide windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors. We cannot and should not expect a handful of books to pull that weight. 

I appreciate books like Charlie & Mouse, King & Kayla, Ana & Andrew, Katie Woo, Ling & Ting, Meet Yasmin (although this last series is sadly not eligible for the Geisel). And I encourage our readers to champion for more diverse beginning reader titles. As Danielle Jones said in an earlier post, “The Geisel Award should be for all children, but a book has to be published for it to have a chance. Many children have yet to see themselves represented in this format. This has to change.” 

Wondering what you can do to champion this cause? Take a look at the three actionable steps Gigi laid out in her post.

Fox + Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier

Image of Ellysa Stern Cahoy.
Courtesy of Ellysa Stern Cahoy.

Ellysa Stern Cahoy was a member of the 2019 Geisel Award Committee. She is an Education Librarian and the Assistant Director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book in the Penn State University Libraries, University Park, PA. At the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, Ellysa serves on the jury for the Baker’s Dozen: Thirteen Best Books for Family Literacy, and administers the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize. 

Fox + Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride
and Other Stories by Sergio
Ruzzier book cover

Sergio Ruzzier is back with a second Fox + Chick book, The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories! As in the first entry in this series (The Party), Fox and Chick are friends with very different personalities. Fox is contemplative and thoughtful. Chick is disruptive and devilish! Ruzzier shares three tales of the two friends -- The Quiet Boat Ride, Chocolate Cake, and The Sunrise. The Quiet Boat Ride is anything but -- Chick sees danger -- pirates, shipwreck, and sea monsters around each corner. Fox patiently abides the vagaries of Chick, his voyaging companion. In the second story, a gifted chocolate cake presents a quandary -- how will Chick eat the entire thing by himself? Luckily, Fox is there to help out. And in the final story, The Sunrise, Chick’s disarray and disorganization mean a missed sunrise viewing, but the two friends find something even better (and just as beautiful) to enjoy together.

The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories follows the same format as The Party, with colorful endpapers that hint at elements in the story and a layout (including a table of contents and chapter headers) that is easily accessible to new readers navigating their first chapter books. The format is a hybrid of a graphic novel and an early reader, with the action shown in comic panels that are easy to follow. 

Ruzzier’s pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations perfectly depict the humorous depths of each story. When Chick imagines sea monsters, they materialize on the following wordless page as fantastic creatures -- a winding eel with a horn for a nose, a lemon shaped fish, a menacing creature with a foot for a tail. Chick’s house is a small tower (with accompanying miniature outhouse), perilously perched on a singular tree branch. Fox and Chick wander through muted landscapes of lilac, chartreuse, and Tuscan orange that feature rolling hills, fanciful trees, and the occasional cacti. 

Panels of Fox and Chick going on a not so quiet boat ride from 
Fox + Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier

The text is structured entirely as dialogue between Fox and Chick to help the reader tell the story dramatically -- Chick yells in all caps, and Fox speaks gently and directly to his friend. The layout is consistent and the font is large and almost always enclosed within speech bubbles (an exception is when Chick ‘smooch’es the ground when he reaches land and Fox’s alarm clock ‘riiiiiing’s in the morning). Even these onomatopoeic sounds provide an opportunity for the reader to apply sound effects to the story! 

Panels of Fox and Chick going on a not so quiet boat ride from
Fox + Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier

The pages are numbered, and at 46 pages, meet the minimum number of pages required for Geisel consideration. The dialogue contains a mix of simple and unusual words, such as plunder, shipwreck, worried, salami, and hammer. Many of the more challenging words are repeated multiple times in the text. The funny stories, imaginative illustrations, and unique friendship of Fox and Chick combine to make a very enjoyable experience for the reader. 

Sergio Ruzzier received a Geisel Honor in 2019 for The Party and Other Stories. Full disclosure: I served on the 2019 Geisel Committee, and I love the originality and accessibility of Ruzzier’s art and stories! Perhaps these winning friends will march forward for Geisel recognition once again this year!  

What are your thoughts? Will Fox + Chick once again gain Geisel attention?

Noodleheads: Fortress of Doom by Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, and Mitch Weiss

Oh, those Noodleheads! Fans of this series will be glad to see the bumbling duo back for more fun. In this volume, the Noodleheads go to the library to acquire knowledge. They come away with a book of jokes and a book about the Fortress of Doom, both of which inspire their afternoon adventures. A pile of lumber in the back yard becomes their own Fortress of Doom, and when neighborhood bully Meatball shows up, they engage in a tall tale contest for possession of the Fortress.

Jokes, folklore, and tall tales form the basis of these funny stories. As with other books in the series, the format is in the style of comic books, with panels and speech bubbles. While not suited for the very beginning reader, the reader who has gained some proficiency will find success with this book, particularly as it employs good repetition of potentially tricky words ("knowledge," "fortress"). The humor will appeal to young readers, and the short chapters give a pleasing feeling of accomplishment.  

Noodleheads See the Future was a Geisel Honor in 2018 – will Noodleheads: Fortress of Doom gain recognition in 2020?