I was immediately attracted to the beautiful cover art on Red Sky at Night. The colors are so soft, complement each other well, and seem filled with light. The human characters in the illustrations appear to be paper cut-outs, so I took a look at author/artist Elly MacKay's website to see what she shares about her artistic process. There she provides some examples of the "layers" that she builds in a theater setting to create her images -- so cool!

The text of this book is comprised of "weather sayings," some of which we have probably all heard before (such as the title). The illustrations serve as the primary narrative, and depict a grandfather taking his grandchildren on a fishing trip. Since so many weather sayings revolve around the sea, this is a fitting framework for the text, and I really love the accompanying images, especially the one with the whale!

To be honest, I was a bit skeptical of many of these sayings until I reached the end of the book and found an explanation for the scientific principles behind each one. Of course, none of them are foolproof and some may be questionable, but when you consider that these were written by people, such as farmers and fishermen, whose lives revolved so closely around the weather, it makes a lot more sense. 

In short, I really enjoyed this book, and the beautiful illustrations have inspired me to check out more work by Elly MacKay.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced review copy.)

Scrounged From: NetGalley

Format: Kindle
Author/illustrator: Elly MacKay
Pages: 40
Content Advisory: None

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Anne's Colors is the second Anne-themed book I've come across recently, the first being an Anne of Green gables graphic novel (see my review here). 

This adorable book uses very simple text, as well as illustrations made of fabric and embroidery, to perfectly encapsulate the charm of Anne of Green Gables in a way that's friendly for babies and toddlers. Each scene will be familiar to fans of the book, and highlights one item and its color (green for green gables, of course!). To be honest, I couldn't tell you off hand whether anything was made up for this book, because I have no idea whether, for example, Anne's puffed-sleeve dress was really brown or not! Not that it makes any difference to me.

Anne's braids are referred to here as "orange" which, while it may not match the book exactly ("red hair"), more accurately portrays that misnomer so as not to confuse children.

Some "items" are less concrete, such as "pink cheeks" which shows Anne angry at Gilbert grabbing her braid. But I don't think any of these selections were too contrived, and each manages to recreate a memorable scene or concept from the story, whether it's Anne and Matthew in the carriage, or the fateful party with Diana and the cordial.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

Scrounged From: NetGalley

Format: Kindle
Author/illustrator: Kelly Hill 
Pages: 20
Content Advisory: None

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Dictionary.com defines "meta" as: "pertaining to or noting a story, conversation, character, etc., that consciously references or comments upon its own subject or features, often in the form of parody."

See also: breaking the fourth wall -- in other words, when something such as a play, movie, or book acts as if conscious of its status as a play, movie, or book, by means of referencing the audience, alluding to itself as fictional, etc. Here are some picture books that, in one way or another, seem conscious of their audience, or of themselves as books.

While I'm generally not a fan of picture books based on TV characters, The Monster at the End of This Book is a clear exception. Since it's been around for 45 years now, this is probably one of the more obvious meta picture books for people from my generation. Grover is quite emphatic throughout the book that the reader must not turn any more pages, because that will only get them closer to the monster at the end of the book, and he devises all kinds of ways to make them/us stop. Even though I didn't grow up with this book, I've really enjoyed it, and my children have too -- especially once they realized it wasn't as scary as it sounded.

A Book, by Mordicai Gerstein, is almost entirely meta, because the characters know they live in a book, and the main character is a girl in search of her story. She lives with family members who go off to their "character jobs" in the morning, while she has to find out what hers is, searching through pages of fairy tale characters, mysterious characters, pirates, and even a historical novel. By the end, she finds a way to take ownership of her distinct story. I thought this book was pretty clever, and I like how the scenes are drawn at something of an angle, with shadows that make it feel as though you're looking down into a three-dimensional world rather than the flat pages of a typical book.

All of us here enjoy the "Elephant & Piggie" series by Mo Willems, but We Are in a Book! is definitely my favorite. These books are written in "graphic novel" style, with colored speech bubbles to make it easier for young readers to see who is talking, though these can be enjoyed by pre-readers as well. In this book, Gerald (the elephant) and Piggie become aware that they are being read by a reader. This is very exciting to them -- until Piggie informs Gerald that the book is eventually going to end, which causes a bit of a freak-out. 

The Hole, by Norwegian artist Oyvind Torseter, was an interesting library find for us -- the book simply has a hole punched all the way through it, and the mostly wordless story involves someone moving into his new apartment and encountering "the hole," which moves about until he is finally able to capture it for analysis. Though of course, since the hole goes right through the book, it can never really go away...

The Red Book, by Barbara Lehman, is a short, wordless story about a boy who finds a magic book, which functions something like a mirror that allows him to make a connection with someone far away. 

Extra Yarn is an interesting, imaginative tale about how a small town with a lot of soot is transformed when a girl named Annabelle finds a box of extra yarn, which she uses to knit sweaters for everyone and everything she can. The story appears to be set simultaneously in the 1950s (there's a pickup truck) and 1500s (there's an evil archduke and a castle), but I guess that's part of its charm.

I love the illustrations and the way the drab monochromatic tones are gradually lightened up as the colors of the yarn spread. If you've read I Want My Hat Back, the bear shown briefly in this story will probably look familiar, as this is the same artist.

Sometimes I don't like it when stories don't "explain everything" at the end, but I think it's fitting here -- is it a story about magic? or not? I guess you'll have to read it and decide for yourself.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author: Mac Barnett
Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Pages: 40
Content Advisory: None

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The Pink Umbrella, originally published in French, is a tender story about a woman named Adele who manages a cafe, and loves the sunny weather. But when it rains, she has a hard time coping. 

But then someone begins leaving her gifts to help protect her in the rainy weather, and she wonders who it could be... 

The illustrations here are just perfect -- there's a lot of pink of course, but it doesn't feel overdone because the tones are so soft and beautiful. The story has just the right touch of romance to it which is communicated through thoughfulness and friendship -- the very best kind, in my opinion.

The only thing I didn't like was how the first quarter or so was written -- it felt like too much direct "summary" that didn't flow very well, and sometimes switched tenses as well. Of course, perhaps the fact that this is a translation is why it feels a bit clunky to me, but it's absolutely worth reading. It's not even that wordy, overall, but probably would appeal more to older children (or adults!) than younger ones.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

Scrounged From: NetGalley

Format: Kindle
Author: Amélie Callot
Illustrator: Geneviève Godbout
Pages: 72
Content Advisory: None

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