The Night the Forest Came to Town tells a gentle, rhyming story of some little ways that bits and pieces of wildlife "arrive" overnight in a city. From bird nests to flowers, from rodents to new seedlings, the forest reclaims certain sections of the city that become more visible and beautiful as the sun dawns.

I suppose it's a little bit of a "human vs. nature" story without feeling antagonistic, though a bit idealized in its outcome. Still, I enjoyed the illustrations, especially the colors and vantage points, and I can see how this could bring a bit of gardening inspiration even to a busy city landscape.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

Scrounged From: NetGalley

Format: Kindle
Author: Charles Ghigna
Illustrator: Annie Wilkinson
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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We've encountered many, many alphabet books so far -- some better than others -- but most do a great job introducing the alphabet using familiar (or strange) objects or ideas. Here are some of the most memorable ones we've read:

This is probably my favorite Lois Ehlert book. I love food, and being a "list person" anyway, found Eating the Alphabet to be a very engaging, colorful way to teach children about various fruits and vegetables that start with every letter of the alphabet. While it doesn't purport to teach colors as well, it could certainly function as a color reminder/primer as well. Visually appealing, and makes you hungry!

I don't know how popular artist Dahlov Ipcar is outside of Maine, but I know that I really love her artwork style, especially when animals are involved, so we've really enjoyed this colorful board book of animals for every letter of the alphabet, complete with rhyming text. The Wild Animal Alphabet includes animals in the wild, but also a few doing anthropomorphized things like sewing or banging on drums.

It's a popular one, but Dr. Seuss's ABC is another favorite due to the silly rhymes and odd characters and words that it introduces (like a fiffer-feffer-feff or a zizzer-zazzer-zuzz!). It also takes its time and periodically reviews the alphabet up to the current point (at least in the hardcover version -- the board book is fairly abridged). 

Animalia is not only my favorite alphabet book, but it's one of my favorite picture books, period. Not only does each letter have a clever sentence about an animal doing something alliterative with that letter, but the illustrations include many hidden (and some more obvious) items that also begin with that letter. Even after many readings I'm sure I haven't found them all! Full review here.

This is one of the weirder alphabet books I've come across, but it's certainly unique. Once Upon an Alphabet is a quirky book with a succinct "story" about each letter of the alphabet, which includes at least a few other things that begin with that letter. Some of the stories are connected and get referenced later on, but others are stranger and some even a bit dark. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, and is probably geared more toward children who are quite old enough to already know their alphabets, but it's still fun and funny at times.

Caps for Sale is such a fun story, and I can see why it's still a classic even after 75+ years. I don't remember reading it as a child, but even as an adult I can find amusement in it and enjoy reading it to my children even after many repetitions.

I think one of the story's strengths is its simplicity -- there is a good blend of repetition and mystery throughout. The peddler seems like a sincere, unassuming fellow, and the way the whole situation plays out with his missing caps is made even better by the way that it appears his outwitting the monkeys might have been just an accident. And when it's all over he doesn't pat himself on the back... he simply picks up his caps and gets back to work. 

This is also a great book to read to groups (which is where I first encountered it) because that makes it all the more fun when kids get to imitate the motions of the monkeys. "Monkey see, monkey do!"

Scrounged From: A Christmas present

Format: Hardcover
Author/Illustrator: Esphyr Slobodkina
Pages: 48
Content Advisory: None

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I can't say I've read my children many picture books that focus on a (currently) illegal activity, which is partly why The Man Who Walked between the Towers is so interesting. I'd heard the story of this tightrope walk before, in generalities, but just kind of assumed it was an "approved" act. But no, in 1974 Philippe Petit really did sneak a large roll of cable into the World Trade Center and fasten the cable (with help) between the towers so he could walk and perform at a dizzying height.

This book treats the story fairly matter-of-factly, without moralizing or giving excessive words or details. The illustrations are certainly evocative, and remind me why I'd never even attempt anything this crazy! Petit must have been out of his mind, and yet there's a part of me that has to admire his charisma and courage/insanity a little after reading this.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author/Illustrator: Mordicai Gerstein
Pages: 34
Content Advisory: The act described is illegal and dangerous, so there is that. But I don't get the impression that the book is encouraging such things.

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Beatrix Potter books are classics that many of us grew up with -- I can remember bits and pieces of them from early on, especially from a large treasury we had. One thing I notice is how different they are from your typical picture books nowadays -- while the animals are very much anthropomorphized, they display a more shrewd and realistic view of the dangers of life than books tend to now. More than one of these stories involves an animals barely escaping from death at the hands of another animal.

Of all the Potter books I've enjoyed, here are my five favorites (in no particular order):

1. Tom Kitten appears to be a story about the perils of trying to dress kittens up in human clothes, as attempted by a mother cat who also wears human clothes -- so perhaps it's really just about the boundless curiosity of children that refuses to be contained with pieces of frippery. Either way, I find it amusing in its matter-of-fact descriptions of how the whole affair falls apart. I've also included this in my 5 picture books featuring cats list.

2. Peter Rabbit pretty much IS Beatrix Potter, as far as many of us know. So much so that it can be hard to find a basic, original copy of this story since it's been adapted into so many other forms since it's been published. He's become a nursery theme, stuffed animals, and apparently a movie now, the idea of which I find even more terrifying than Mr. McGregor. Full review here.

3. Benjamin Bunny is the follow-up to Peter Rabbit, and involves an amusing contrast between the optimistic inexperience of Benjamin vs. the wide-eyed PTSD of Peter. Their experience in McGregor's initially lacks the excitement of the Peter Rabbit story, until Benjamin's father shows up. Full review here.

4. I've always enjoyed Squirrel Nutkin, not only for the interesting riddles it includes, but for the build-up of Nutkin's continuous "impertinence" (as the book puts it) toward Old Brown, the owl (in modern terms, he was an obnoxious twat). There is a certain sense of foreboding of what is eventually going to happen, and once again, Beatrix Potter does not hesitate to physically injure her characters in order to portray the dangers of overstepping the boundaries of nature.

5. The Tailor of Gloucester is wordier than most of the other Potter tales, and so might appeal more to older children, but I really enjoyed it as a child, especially after watching an animated BBC version of the story (which retained the declaration, "No more twist!"). I remember feeling so bad for the tailor, and appreciated a story in which animals did something intelligent and helpful. It also makes a nice Christmas story, although the holiday itself doesn't play a major part in the book.