Book Beat hours are Mon-Fri. 10 am-8 pm, Sat. 10 am-7pm, Sun. 12-5pm, closed Christmas Eve at 5 pm, closed Christmas and New Years Day. Support your local bookstores, schools, libraries and museums. *It matters. Book Beat is a locally owned metro-Detroit independent bookstore located here. Join the discussion on Facebook. Part one of our favorite 2013 children’s picturebooks and early readers for the season are noted below, thank you for visiting!
Here I Am (Hardcover)
Kirkus Book of the Year!
“Vivid illustrations depict a touching wordless story of surprising depth . . . The universal tale of the irony of loss that leads to acceptance and growth is portrayed with a rich yet simple sequence of lively visuals. This is a charming and meaningful book I wish I’d had when my son was young”. –Eugenia Kim, award-winning author of The Calligrapher s Daughter
“. . . a marvelous picture book, a motile encapsulation of the turbulent world of a child uprooted from a faraway land, the confusion and sadness of his strange new world. Strongly compelling with powerful and whimsical visuals, young readers will feel deeply for and celebrate with this child as he finds himself burgeoning like a seed upon this beautiful soil called America. A must read. What a triumph. –Da Chen, New York Times best-selling author of the memoir Colors of the Mountain
Yoo-Hoo, Ladybug! (Hardcover)
Energetic Visual game & Book Beat favorite!
Effervescent graphics and an engrossing hide-and-seek game make this a diverting book to share. “Yoo-hoo, Ladybug! Where are you?” calls a voice at the start of a series of puzzles. “There you are…” the voice continues, directing readers to full-page collages cluttered with cartoon toys, animals, and objects—from letter blocks and dice to an abstract brown squirrel and giraffe.
“This is a beautiful book that belongs in most collections; it will engage browsers for hours, and the many textual features make it an excellent choice for classroom curricula.”–Booklist, (starred review).
“With so much to look at, this attractive browsing book will fascinate children thirsty for animal facts.” —School Library Journal
The Tortoise & the Hare (Hardcover)
“Pinkney’s magnificently illustrated version of this famous fable gives the race the excitement of an Olympic event.”–Publishers Weekly, (starred review)
“The limited text, used sparingly but extremely effectively, reinforces the theme of the story–that the journey is as important as the ultimate goal…. This spectacular success is certain to become a classic in its own right.” —School Library Journal, (starred review)
Mr. Wuffles (Hardcover)
Another classic book by illustrator-genius David Weisner.
“… three-time Caldecott winner David Wiesner knows how to turn ordinary into eerie — or is it the other way around? In this new, almost wordless picture book, a sleek black-and-white feline named Mr. Wuffles starts on his excellent adventure by stalking disdainfully past a series of conventional cat toys…Once again, author-illustrator David Wiesner has done what he does so well: Create a world so real that we can see the grain in the floor-boards, the seams in the jeans and the rust on the radiator — then he turns it upside down to show us the hidden worlds that lie on the other side of ordinary. We must all take a lesson from the sharp-eyed cat, he suggests, and not only learn to look, but turn our own world upside down and look to learn.” — Washington Post
Henri’s Scissors (Hardcover)
an elegant, accessible portrait of expressive artist Henri Matisse
“Simple, folk-style paintings show Matisse in a wheelchair in a studio amid his collages; in a quiet visual cue, a plant with oversize leaves suggests inspiration for their big, organic shapes. He continues to create until his death, another moment Winter handles gracefully…. Old age can be fertile and useful, Winter implies; disability doesn’t mean the end of creating, and triumph is possible where only sadness could have been foreseen. All of these messages lie obliquely in the text, but even readers who don’t dig that deep will share Matisse’s joy.” -Publisher’s Weekly
Memoirs of a Hamster (hardcover)
A scary foray into the wide (indoor) world cures a hamster of any yen for adventure in this variation on the creators’ Memoirs of a Goldfish (2010).
Seymour the hamster has the perfect life. He has a spacious cage, a constant food supply, and a FuzzyBoy 360 exercise wheel that lets him run to his heart’s content. Life could not be better. Or could it? When Pearl the cat tells Seymour of the goodies beyond the safe confines of his cage, he starts to think he’s missing out. And out is the new in! It’s only after Seymour is out of his cage that he begins to fully appreciate his safe and cozy home.
Alphablock board book
A GREAT intro to the alphabet!
Children and parents will enjoy this peek-through guessing game around the letterform (ages 1-4 yrs).
“It’s small, but about 2.5 inches thick and sturdy enough for the most reckless readers. The bold bright colors and stylized graphics are instant eye candy for kids….and adults! But, the most captivating thing about this book is how the cut-out form of each letter creates a tactile learning element and then blends into the corresponding picture when the page is turned.” -Mom Colored Glasses review
Old Mikamba Had a Farm (Hardcover)
Lovely to look at and a pure joy to read!
“Old Mikamba had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.” But there are no cows or ducks here, because Old Mikamba lives in Africa on a game farm. Here, readers are introduced to a baboon, cheetah, zebra, and elephant as well as a dassie and a springbok. Meant to be shared aloud, the text provides a variety of fun sounds to re-create with a partner. The “trill-trill” of the dassie and the “bleat-bleat” of the giraffe are sure to delight. Isadora’s stunning collage brings the colors and textures of the African plain to life. Newsprint and printed paper provide rich textures and vivid color for both the animals and the fabric of Mikamba’s clothing.” –School Library Journal
The Family Christmas Treasury (Hardcover w/CD)
Fun, festive, and full of holiday spirit! A perfect gift for the entire family.
Local author/artist Wong Herbert Yee’s out-of-print title “Small Christmas” (a Fireman Small story) is included as well as Lyle, Strega Nona, Tacky the Penguin and others.
“There’s something for everybody in this festive volume. . . . A handsome collection that will be appreciated by busy families looking for a lot of holiday cheer all in one place.” —School Library Journal, Ages 4-8 years
I Saw Three Ships (Paperback)
A Goudge Christmas gem, new reissue, happily brought back into print.
Celebrating the magic as well as the mystery of Christmas.
‘I absolutely adored it. It had a cracking plot and a perfect tone throughout.’ –J.K.Rowling, creator of Harry Potter
Elizabeth Goudge (1900-1984) received the MGM Literary Award, the Literary Guild Award, and a Carnegie Medal for The Little White Horse (which J.K. Rowling claimed was her favorite childhood book). She wrote many books, both fiction and non-fiction, for adults and children.
Elegant and enlightening tale, Ages 7 and up – a long out-of-print and wonderful reissue.
“This story of the death and reincarnation of a Tibetan woodcutter is a beautifully gentle look at one human being dealing with life’s choices and possibilities. As a boy, he thought about other worlds that he would someday visit; as a man, he thought of other countries and people, yet “he was always busy with his work and his wife and children.” After his death, he is given the option of being part of “the endless universe some call heaven” or living another life, and he chooses another life… Children will appreciate the well-told tale and the joyous satisfaction of being one’s own self in a large and magical world.” -School Library Journal
Dream Snow
A new reissue of a charming out-of-print Eric Carle classic.
A charming, gentle story the entire family will love and a sure classic in years to come.
“Visual and musical gimmicks enhance Carle’s signature bright, textured collages in this holiday-cum-counting story. A white-bearded farmer lives the simple life with a few animals that he names One through Five. Children don’t find out which number matches which animal, though, until they follow the farmer through a visually clever dream.” — Booklist
When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop
One of the few books ever on hip-hop & the DJ — for ages 6-10 years.
“This picture-book biography introduces one of the unsung creators of hip-hop, Clive Campbell, who was born in Jamaica in 1955. He was entranced by the massive dance parties thrown by a neighbor, and when his family moved to the Bronx, he took up the name Kool Herc and created the innovative techniques behind hip-hop DJing.” –Booklist
It Jes’ Happened:When Bill Traylor Started to Draw
Autographed copies available!
A biography of outsider artist Bill Traylor, a former slave who at the age of 83 began to draw pictures based on his memories and observations of rural and urban life.
“This picture-book introduction to the artist Bill Traylor is astonishing in both its biographical facts and how they are depicted in Christie’s beautiful illustrations. . .” –Booklist (starred review)