It's So Fluffy, I Could DIE!

Are you someone who loves fluffy, cuddly animals? Do your parents refuse to bring you to the animal shelter out of the inevitability you're going plead, "Can I pleeeeeeease keep the kitty? Please? PLEASE!"

In Peter Brown's story, this is exactly what happens. To Lucy the bear, that is. Lucy is an exceptionally girly bear who wears a pink tutu and is a sucker for anything adorable. When she is out in the forest one day and discovers a little boy, she simply can't resist bringing him home. Unfortunately, Mom and Dad don't react with the same enthusiasm. Though Lucy is warned that "children make terrible pets," she's so lovestruck by cuteness, she couldn't care less. She and Squeaker do everything together, having just as much fun as she imagined. When playtime is over and it's time to adhere to the household rules, Squeaker goes rogue on the bear family in a hilarious fashion and Lucy quickly learns the difficulties of pet ownership.

If you're looking for a humorous tale about role reversal, Children Make Terrible Pets is the book for you. The trials of domestication - with a twist - had me laughing and wondering what my pets think of me when I smother them with attention...

With Fancy, More is More

Today was a day unlike any other. On this fateful day, January 22 around noon, I discovered Fancy Nancy. 

Today's quest involved going to the bookstore and talking with informative employees about what they consider to be the most popular picture books. After getting sidetracked by the Rick Riordan table, the tantalizing Sara Shepard display, and President Obama's contribution to children's literature, Of Thee I Sing, I finally made it to a source of knowledge. Her immediate pick for little girls, age 4-7? Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor with illustrations by Robin Preiss Glasser.

"Fancy Nancy is about a little girl who loves big words and dressing up," she explained. 

"Sounds like my kind of girl," I replied. 

With one look at sassy Nancy on the cover, decked out in a tiara, pink sunglasses, and high heels with lace socks, I quickly made off to a squishy armchair to indulge.  

If my big smile didn't reveal my enjoyment enough, I'm pretty sure my highly public laughter did. Fancy Nancy prefers to spell her name "Nancée," wants to learn French because it sounds elegant, and says words like "plume" and "posh". Nancy does not understand why her family is so plain. Quelle horreur! So she goes into Mission Makeover Mode and teaches her family what she knows best - how to be fancy. Turns out, even Nancy, Queen of Chic herself, can pick up a thing or two from Mom and Dad!

The illustrations are enchanting and incredibly detail-oriented, corresponding beautifully with everything Nancy embodies. What little girl isn't going to fall in love with all the pink and glitter? As someone completely besotted with sparkly jewelry and gorgeous dresses, I identified with Nancy's enthusiasm and panache. And I want to commission her to bedazzle my room. 

Love, Love, Immeasurable Love

As I was digging through my collection of children's books, I came across a special one that makes me melt every time I pick it up. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney is heartfelt and irrevocably genuine in its simplicity. The Nutbrown Hares - Little and Big - stretch, reach, flip, and hop to try to define love in a quantifiable way. When Little Nutbrown Hare finally thinks he has outfoxed his father, one beautiful line is spoken that will be eternally acclaimed in children's literature.

"I love you right up to the moon...and back," whispers Big Nutbrown Hare.  

That line still moves me to this day (as I'm sure it does a lot of people). With kids, you get one chance to make an impression. They are clever that way. In the world of adult fiction, the plot line can take chapters to develop and most adult readers tolerate it. With picture books, however, this is just not so. You have maybe 30 pages to make an impact through words and illustrations. If a child doesn't like a book, it will be left unread. On the other hand, if a book succeeds in enchanting a child, it will be loved forever. Guess How Much I Love You is exemplary of how the most basic ideas can be the most magical and stay with you always.

I've Got Hungry Eyes

Two and a half weeks. That's how long it took me to spend the entirety of my Christmas Barnes & Noble gift card. I'm somewhat impressed. Granted, I may have gone a teensy bit overboard, but honestly I think waiting this long showed some real self-restraint on my part.

So, most exciting thing I've done all week? Purchasing Catching Fire and Mockingjay, books 2 and 3 of Suzanne Collins' mind-boggling and completely addicting trilogy. Finally I get to see what happens! If you think this is sad, then CLEARLY you haven't read The Hunger Games. It is a brilliant, thought-provoking, and captivating trilogy. Like Survivor for teens, but way more hardcore than you'd ever imagine.

I don't even think I'll be able to review these because I don't want to give anything away...

Which means you'll just have to explore the world of Panem yourself.

Monsters Monsters Everywhere

When I first saw the previews for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, I was a bit skeptical. To be quite candid, the plot line featuring unknown superpowers and monsters out of Greek Mythology screamed 12-year-old boy to me. The gap being quite large between myself and prepubescent, pimply, squeaky specimen such as the pre-teen boy, I was determined to uphold an objective state of mind and read Rick Riordan’s novel to see what all the fuss was about.

I’ll let you in on a little secret of mine. From fourth to sixth grade, I was a Greek Mythology geek. I have my fatigued copy of D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths to prove it. I loved reading about the big 12 up on Mount Olympus, the playful dalliances of certain gods, and the talented progeny undergoing dangerous quests. I had the thirst to absorb as much of it as possible. As you can imagine, it came as a shock to me when we were learning about the subject in history class and instead of being fascinated, my classroom contemporaries dished about Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and other monumentally riveting topics. That’s when it dawned on me that I was a nerd.

Having been ten years since I last indulged in my childhood hobby, I was somewhat reticent about what I may find in the pages of Percy Jackson. Incredulously enough, it took only one chapter for me to be completely hooked. Riordan’s writing seamlessly echoes a young kid who really doesn’t know what he’s good at, or why he keeps getting into trouble at school. Once Percy discovers the truth about his half-blood heritage, he finds within himself a sense of purpose while retaining the inquisitive and headstrong personality traits that make him, well, Percy. His impulse for action drives the story right along and Riordan introduces monster after monster to keep both Percy and the readers on their toes. I fell right into the pace of the story and marveled at the innovative ways that Riordan chose to introduce the monster of the moment. 

The Lightning Thief is a good example of why I am so keen to work with children’s books. With the flip of a page, I was instantly transported back into the younger version of myself. To the visual eye, I resembled a somewhat put-together 22-year-old, but internally I was a gangly, frizzy, Gap Kids wearing 11-year-old that was a die-hard Greek mythology fan. Amazing how that happens. My passion having been successfully rekindled, I quickly renounced my prior judgment on the series in favor of more positive feedback.