Where's Walrus?

Looking for a new book for your little one?

Look no further says Emmy!

Where's Walrus? is a wordless picture book illustrated by Stephen Savage. Using a retro graphic style, Savage creates a delightful world for a bored walrus who escapes from the zoo to explore the city. Walrus uses various hats to disguise himself from the zookeeper who is hot on his trail.

Emmy is completely infatuated with this book. She is delighted by the Walurus' disguises especially the red swimming cap.

Don't underestimate the value of a wordless picture book. Such wonderful language and thinking skills come from this type of book experience. If you haven't tried a wordless picture book with your little one before, you must give Where's Walrus? a try!!!!

Take a look at the trailer which truly captures the spirit of the book:

Bridget's Beret

Bridget's Beret by Tom Lichtenheld is simply...remarkable. Let me introduce you to Bridget. Bridget is an artist following in the footsteps of the Great Artists. Her masterpieces are on permanent exhibit - on the front of the refrigerator - while other pieces are available for limited viewing - on the sidewalk.

Bridget's favorite place to draw is outdoors where she feels like she is right where she belongs. Bridget has many art supplies that she uses to create these masterpieces, but her most important art supply is her hat - a big, black beret which she carefully places on her head before she creates any kind of art adjusting it until it sits on her head just right. Emmy and I love saying these lines (referring to the hat)

"It had to have that certain je ne sais quoi. She had no idea what that meant,

but she knew all Great Artists needed it to make art."

Emmy and I now know that je ne sais quoi is a French phrase meaning I-don't-know-what...

that indescribable something which distinguishes one object from another which is similar on

the surface. What a fun phrase to say...je ne sais quoi!

Emmy has now taken over my black beret and uses it whenever she needs some inspiration for her art. ADORABLE!

Tom Lichtenheld's illustrations aren't new to me (Have you read Duck! Rabbit! - it is the funniest children's book ever based on a 19th century style optical illusion) nor are his books (Everything I Know About Pirates and What Are You So Grumpy About?), but I love that this book follows a typical plot. Well, let's let

Mr. Lichtenheld describe it..."Girl loves hat. Girl loses hat. Girl can't draw sans hat, TRAGEDY, DRAMA, HUMOR!"

To find out what really happened to Bridget's stray beret and see the original back-matter for the book drawn in a graphic novel approach click here and find the birds in the lower right hand corner! Lichtenheld opted for the "How to Start Your Art" spread as the back-matter which uses famous paintings to help kids find inspiration for their own art.

An interesting tidbit that I learned after researching Bridget's Beret is that all of Bridget's artwork in the book is based on children's artwork received by Lichtenheld and his inspiration for Bridget - Lichtenheld's niece Madeline.

If you're looking for a book to help inspire your own artwork or that of a child's in your life, definitely check out Bridget's Beret.

To read some older posts related to art click here and here and here.

Millie's Marvellous Hat

Visits to our local library are a weekly event for Emmy and me. It is so wonderful to watch Emmy say hello to the librarians and carefully return the books to the book slot. Even better is the obvious joy she has scanning the shelves and choosing new books to place into her library bag. This picture shows just how comfortable she is at the library. We can spend hours there. Also important to point out is the satisfaction she feels in knowing that Fridays are library day. Creating a routine that is predictable allows your child to feel safe. Emmy measures her life by the order of events in it so our routine helps her make sense of her world and develop a sense of security as well as independence.

On our last visit to the library, Emmy disovered the book Millie's

Marvellous Hat written and illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. It is the story of a little girl who comes across a hat shop as she is walking home from school. She admires the hat with colored feathers and goes inside to try it on. My favorite character is the hat shop clerk. He exudes a stiff, formal manner and has the best little mustache!

"May I see the hat with the colorful feathers, please?' she asked the man behind the counter. 'Certainly, Madam,' replied the man, and he fetched the hat from the window. Millie tried it on. It suited her perfectly. 'I'll take it,' she said. 'An excellent choice, Madam,' said the man. 'That will be five hundred and ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents.' Millie opened her purse and looked inside. 'Oh, dear,' she said. 'Do you have anything cheaper?' 'What sort of price were you thinking of, Madam?' asked the man kindly. 'Well...about this much,' said Millie and showed him her purse. It was empty. 'I see...' muttered the man, and he looked up at the ceiling."

What happens next is so endearing. The clerk goes to the back of the shop and returns with a hat box. He opens it with a flourish and with great care places a hat on Millie's head.

"This is a most marvellous hat, Madam." said the man. "It can be any size, shape or color you wish. All you have to do is imagine it."

Emmy and I love the way the clerk and the little girl pretend together as the hat is just imaginary, but the exchange between the two continues to be a formal affair. As Millie walks home, she imagines her hat to be many different things: a peacock hat, a flowery hat, a fountain hat. Emmy's favorite is Millie's cake hat! I love it when Emmy walks around the house pretending she is wearing a cupcake hat or an ice cream hat!

After reading a bit about Satoshi Kitamura, I am anxious to take a look at the book Once Upon an Ordinary School Day which is a collaboration between Kitamura and Colin McNaughton. It is the tale of an 'ordinary' child and an inspirational teacher. I believe this story will speak to my past life as a primary school teacher!

Taking some inspiration from Millie, Emmy and I will imagine our different hats as we walk to the library today.

"Limitations live only in our minds.
But if we use our imaginations,

our possibilities become limitless."
Jamie Paolinetti