Knapp, Andrew. Find Momo: Hide and Seek with an Adventurous Border Collie March 4th 2014 by Quirk Books
Copy provided by the publisher
While I am not a very visual learner, I was very impressed by Mr. Knapp's photographs. His ability to locate interesting color and texture combinations in his travels and photograph them beautifully is impressive. The lighting in the pictures is really superb, as well. The fact that he can then hide his dog in these great pictures in amusing ways will intrigue people who grew up with Where's Waldo.
This is a really beautiful book of photographs. I'm debating whether to put this book in my middle school library, where the children will look for Momo but not fully appreciate the photography, or give it to a thirty-something friend who will appreciate the Neo Hipster Aesthetic of the entire project.
All I know is that I have to get the book out of my house. If my twenty year old daughter reads this, she will drop out of Kent State where she is majoring in accounting, try to find a Volkswagen van and a large dog, and take off across the country to try to be a freelance photographer. Or to find Andrew Knapp and say "Hey". Anyone who would support her dream of living on a self sufficient organic farm and escaping the routine life that, um, some of us have is quite the role model for her.
I used to be 20. Now even my dog prefers a comfortable chair.
I adore getting books in the mail, and certainly Quirk (Find Momo) and Chronicle Books are very generous. I do get to keep books sent to me, so they usually end up in my school library, which is great, since I have spent all of the money from the school board for the year. I do try to write honest reviews in return.
That said, if other publishers would like to send me books, please keep in mind that my primary focus is fiction and nonfiction for students ages 10-14, with a focus on books for boys. I can't tell you how many paranormal romances I get through the Baker and Taylor ARC program, and I can't even review most of those. To save money, publishers should definitely e mail me first to see if I am interested in a book. I love Netgalley.com because I don't have to worry about the paper ARC if a book isn't right for my blog or library.
That said, many thanks to Lara Starr at Chronicle Books for a fabulous box of goodness that arrived in the depth of winter storms and -25 degree weather that kept us home. I spent the good part of a snow day reading and reviewing these beautiful books, and I am just sorry that I am not competent at reviewing things outside of my demographic.
Arndt, Michael. Cat Says Meow: And Other Animalopoeia March 4th 2014 by Chronicle Books
Copy received from publisher
This was really very clever. The silhouettes of the animals include the letters in their names. The colors are vibrant, the text is simple, and this is a great book to use when teaching children animal sounds in United States English. The end papers in this book would make awesome nursery wallpaper, and I appreciated the inclusion of a squirrel (CHOMP) and rabbit (THUMP), which while still not answering the question of what they really "say", at least addresses the issue.
What I really want is an animal sounds around the world book. I never enjoyed reading these to my girls, though, because I felt an odd compulsion to completely make things up. I never gave in to it, since that might have ruined their early school careers, but every time I pick up one of these books, I want to say "The cow says 'oink'."
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