Wednesday 5 February 2014

Kid Lit Blog Hop #32

Welcome Back To The Kid Lit Bog Hop #32


We are super excited to be in my home town visiting family, so today's post is going to be home grown....
 
 
Well, I returned to my childhood library for the first time in about 30 years, no kidding.... I know, I know, this may come as a surprise as I am book obsessed, but I was not a reader until my late 20's.
 
So, I was expecting it to be a little dingy, as I remember it be pretty old and decrepit as a child, but I was pleasantly surprised.
 

 

 The selection of books for Gigi were absolutely fabulous and more up to date than my library at home.
 
 Just look at this line up....
 

 Quite a few of these have already been reviewed on our hop so I won't review those again.
 
Today I will review.
 
The Day The Crayons Quit
By Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
 
 
 
Description From Amazon:
 
Poor Duncan just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: His crayons have had enough! They quit! Beige Crayon is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown Crayon. Black wants to be used for more than just outlining. Blue needs a break from coloring all those bodies of water. And Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking—each believes he is the true color of the sun.

What can Duncan possibly do to appease all of the crayons and get them back to doing what they do best?

 
Our Review:
 
Well,  I can see why this book has got about 451, 5 star reviews and I think it won best picture book of the year in the US.
 
The premise to me is hilarious.
Each coloured crayon has a unique gripe about how they are being used, what they are sick of drawing and basically asserting their rights as crayons...
My favourites are Peach and Pink. Duncan removed Peach's paper crayon cover, so he gripes about how he is now naked and can't ever leave the crayon box, and pink begs Duncan to use him, trying to convince him he is not a girly colour.

Now I have been somewhat obsessed with picture book length as some of you know I have joined the 12x12 Challenge over at Julie Hedlunds blog. Hop over to my side bar to check it out.
The rule is that 500 words or less is average.
Well, this is wayyyyy over....

So once again, the rules are broken LOL. 
The text is done in crayon of course and kid like writing, as well as the illustrations.  Oliver Jeffers has stamped his style on this as per usual and the pictures are great.

HOWEVER!!!!!!!!

When reading this to my 2.5 year old who is I think quite advanced.  I mean every parent thinks that I know, but she sits through the entire Runaway Dinner and doesn't miss a word.

This one did not take her attention at all.

Admittedly she remembered that Peach had no clothes and proceeded to remove the covers of all her crayons the next day... Grrrrrr

So, I am going to give it 4 stars because I thought it was a hoot.  Maybe it is meant for an older age group but the proof is in the pudding, Gigi is not a fan.

As an aspiring picture book writer, I know the hard fact is not everyone will love your book.

So when I saw this on Facebook, I was crying with laughter.

Here's a group of Kid Lit Authors reading their worst reviews.  I was so chuffed when I watched this to find that Drew Daywalt was one of them. Episode 3 I think. I hope you get a chuckle out of this....
http://noblemania.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/childrens-authors-read-reviews-of-their.html

Happy Hopping folks.


Welcome to the 32nd Kid Lit Blog Hop where twice per month (the 1st and 3rd Wednesday) we continue to develop a dynamic and engaged community of children's books bloggers, authors, publishers, and publicists. So, you are always more than welcome to join us by popping in a post and hopping around to meet some of your fellow Kid Lit bloggers and authors! We are pleased to welcome with us this week a new full-time permanent hostess on the Hop, Maria from the blog Music Teaching and Parenting is joining us. Plus, we are also happy to have Savannah Mae from the book blog http://saywhatsavannahmaekids.com/   Big welcome to Maria and Savannah Mae!

Happy Hopping everyone and enjoy the Hop!

Kid Lit Blog Hop
 

Kid Lit Blog Hop Rules *Please Read*

1. We ask that you kindly follow your hostesses. You can follow us any way you choose (Email, GFC, Twitter, Facebook, G+, Pinterest, etc.), but we've added our preferences below. If you could just give us a quick "follow" or "like" that would be much appreciated! Make sure to leave us a message if you are following us (i.e., on Twitter or Facebook or on our websites) and we will be sure to follow you back. Thanks! :-)
Hostesses:
Co-Hostess:
2. Link up any Kid Lit related post. This can be a link to a children’s book review, a discussion about children’s literature/literacy, or a post on a recently-read children’s book or one that you love from your childhood.
* Don't link directly to your blog, it must be a specific post.*
* For Authors, we prefer you to link to your blog if you have one. Please link unique posts each time ~ no repeats please. *
* Make sure you include an image relevant to the POST (e.g., book cover), not your blog button or photo of yourself.*
* Feel free to link more than one post.*
3. Please visit AT LEAST the TWO LINKS directly ahead of your own and leave them some love in the form of a comment. We are trying to build a community of bloggers, readers, parents, authors, and others who are as passionate about children’s literature as we are so please CONNECT and follow any or all of the blogs that interest you! 4. If you like, grab the button above and put it somewhere on your blog, preferably the post you're linking up. If you'd prefer, you can just add a text link back to this Hop so that others can find it and check out all these great book links! 5. It would really help us get the word out about the Kid Lit Blog Hop if you would be so kind as to tweet, share, and spread the word about the Hop!
Interested in co-hosting the Kid Lit Blog Hop? Please email renee @ motherdaughterbookreviews (dot) com and put Co-Hosting Blog Hop in the subject line.
Happy Hopping!

22 comments:

  1. 'Tis probably a good thing that the crayons left - if they'd hung around too long round our place they would have been eaten by the mini-fleshling or melted onto canvas as art by the she-fleshling!

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  2. Oh Bruce, we are so delighted you stopped by... Maybe you could plan an unofficial sequel entitled " The Day The Gargoyle Quit " seriously, you should demand more money for all the work you put in on that shelf.....LOL Thanks for joining us again.

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  3. I read Drew's book to the third graders at my daughter's school recently and it is wonderful. Pretty sure you will also enjoy Dragon's love Tacos which I reviewed a while back. Happy Reading!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Aileen, we are reading Dragons love Taco's next he he.....

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  4. This book has been on our wishlist for awhile now, so I'm happy to read this review! Thanks for sharing - looks fun!

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    1. It will certainly give you a chuckle Brittany. See if the older kids like it????

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  5. This book has been on our wishlist for awhile now, so thanks for sharing! This looks like fun.

    Brittany at Tales of a Bookworm

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  6. I saw this in the book store and also thought it was clever. I agree about that 500 or under rule - I think publishing has that one wrong. To me it's not *enough* words. When you read a book that's that short to a child, you often have to add words as you go along.

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    1. Under 500 is tough to impart a good story but I do find Gigi gets board at this stage with anything much longer. Perhaps as she grows her attention will too, he he

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  7. This book was just a favorite one for me as I reviewed it a while back. I just loved it and now think I need to read it again! Thanks for sharing it to new readers as well as ones that loved it a few months ago!!
    Reading and loving' it, ~ linda

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  8. I love this book and bought it for my five year old but I haven't read it to her yet as I wasn't sure how interested she would be in the long explanations. I'm intrigued that you read it to your two year old (and have to confess to laughing when I heard what she did to her crayons!). Maybe I should just give it a try.

    Hopping over from the kidlit bloghop.

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    1. Give a try Catherine, it has had such glowing reviews and the illustrations are great

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  9. My six-year old twns are big fans of The Day the Crayons Quit - in fact my daughter asked my to buy it after reading at the school. However the two of them like to argue about which are their favourite crayons. #kidlitbloghop

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    1. I think you nailed it there Kriss, 6 is probably more the target audience than 2.5, but I did enjoy it very much

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  10. I must check out that book, I know Dino would love it...must have been so amazing to see the library now. I know they are updating the library in our town and I can't wait to see all the amazing changes. There is someting so magical about a library.

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  11. Julie its so good to see the pictures of your childhood library! I agree the selections at the library look great!
    I have to admit that I wasn't quite taken in by the Crayons book. After I had seen all the noise around it, I was really eager to read it. And then I was so disappointed! I can't quite put my finger on it, but this one just didn't click for me. I am not a fan of the illustrations either. Maybe this one is like a love it or not kind of a book. :) My DD also wasn't too keen on this book...
    LOL! I agree we MUST have Bruce do a sequel!
    -Reshama @Stackingbooks

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  12. This book is for a little bit older age bracket, but I love it. My 3 year-old did enjoyed it though he didn't understand all of the humor. We are actually featuring this book in our Family Dinner Book Club this month!

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  13. You are so right that length is important, especially when you're trying to capture and hold the attention of a toddler. Thanks so much for the link and for hosting once again, Julie!

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  14. Hi, Julie!
    What a great selection you have there. We are big fans of "Dragons Love Tacos" and even have given it as a gift to friends (friends who love tacos). :) The library looks lovely and I am thoroughly enjoying the videos of authors reading their "not so lovely" reviews. Extremely entertaining.
    We've been without power & internet connectivity for a couple of days. This post was so much fun to read. Thanks and enjoy your time there!

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    1. LOL I knew you would love those reviews.... Thanks so much for stopping by and oh dear, without power for a few days is awful. Catch you soon

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  15. Ok, so I watched Episode 1 - I was literally laughing out loud!! Some of the reactions by the authors were so priceless. Talk about a thick skin! It seems pretty logical that the children's reaction to the book is what matters (as long as they are the right target audience for age, gender, or other considerations). LOVE the Runaway Dinner - we've gotten that one from the library many, many times! It's great! Thanks for hosting the Kid Lit Blog Hop.

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