Rutabaga's Reads 2022: Part 12

At the library I work at, I’ve spent a fair amount of time covering the Children’s Library. When I’m re-shelving, it’s easy to come across books that look intriguing. Here is the second picture book compilation for 2022.

It’s Raining Tacos! (June 22, 2021) by Parry Gripp.

   Peter Emmerich, illustrator.

It’s not raining drops of water. It’s not raining cats and dogs. It’s raining tacos! Tacos? A young boy is thrilled to be celebrating his birthday. There will be pizza and cake, a bouncy house and presents, but there’s also a birthday dog, and he eats all the pizza. Uh-oh. So the boy wonders if birthday wishes come true and for this birthday boy, they do. Shell. Meat. Lettuce. Cheese. It’s raining tacos!

            All right. I admit that I checked out this picture book because I like tacos. Big fan. Crispy shell. Soft shell. Walking tacos. Taco salad. This vibrant yarn is vibrantly illustrated with a diverse cast of children, though the story arc is simple. Since I have not heard the song, the lyrics/story did seem dissonant when I was reading it, so I didn’t wholly connect with the story. I don’t suddenly see myself buying this book for my young nephew or pulling up the video on YouTube. I do appreciate the exuberance of the story, even when the party appears ruined, and I’m all for a taco bonanza!

Roof Octopus (Mar. 1, 2018) by Lucy Branam.

   Rogério Coelho, illustrator.

Imagine waking one morning to find an octopus on the roof of your apartment building. “It might be part of a migration,” says Nora’s father. The neighbors of the other apartments are skeptical of the roof octopus at first, thinking it’ll go away if they pay it no mind. Nora likes the octopus, giving it a cheerful wave, and the octopus happily gives Nora and her friends rides on a tentacle swing. It turns out the octopus is “a neighborly sort,” which it is. It helps the mailman deliver mail, takes a resident’s dogs for a walk and even carries Mr. and Mrs. Carmen up to their fourth-story room. Nora wants the octopus to come to her school for show-and-tell. “This Friday?” she asks. The octopus is gone from the apartment building’s roof the following day, but is there a school octopus come Friday?

            This picture book is so cute. I don’t think octopuses get a very good rap, as they are a rather intimidating cephalopod. Some might even be a little creeped out by them. But this story paints the octopus in a friendly, delightful way. The illustrations capture lots of color and shape. The octopus seems to be record-breaking big, but it’s got a pleasant countenance. The story itself is fun. Mostly the prose is typed out as words on a page, but sometimes the text appears like thought-bubbles. Where I live surely wouldn’t work for a roof octopus, as I’m nowhere near an ocean, but what an exciting friend to have!

Ten Days and Nine Nights (May 12, 2009) by Yumi Heo.

A young Korean girl is looking forward to gaining a sibling. She’s awaiting a baby sister, and her mother travels to Korea to receive her, while she, her daddy and her grandparents finish preparations. She counts down the days and nights left to go before her mommy will return on the plane, making drawings, redecorating her room, sewing a pink dress and even washing her old teddy bear. All is busy until Mommy and Baby Sister arrive. Then “I have no days and no nights” left to wait.

            This is a simple, sweet tale. When one thinks of adoption stories, the trend seems to focus on how hard the pre-adjustment is for the older sibling, but in this story, there is only pure joy. The girl gets swept up in preparations because she wants her baby sister’s welcome to be the very best, and it’s clear that she already loves this little one she hasn’t met. Although this is an older picture book, it’s a worthwhile one for libraries to have in their collections, and I love that my local library carries it!

            The author/illustrator shares in her author’s note that she was born in and spent her first 24 years in Korea. It would be even longer before she’d meet her first Korean adoptee. She states that she was “proud of him” to thrive after coming such a long way and without his birth parents. Sadly, this author passed away in 2016, but how illuminating it’d have been to have had a conversation with her! Being a Korean adoptee in a Caucasian family, I’ve had an excellent upbringing in a loving home where I never worried about the basic necessities. And for me, living in the U.S. is all I’ve ever known. To me, it’s part of my life and not something to be surprised by. I am American, but I have no issue sharing that I’m ethnically Korean, and I love visiting Korea … as a tourist.

Ten Minutes to Bed Little Unicorn (Oct. 20, 2020) by Rhiannon Fielding.

   Chris Chatterton, illustrator.

In The Ancient Forest in The Land of Nod lives Twinkle and her family. Twinkle is a naughty unicorn, though unicorns aren’t known to cause trouble. But when her dad begins the bedtime countdown, starting with a 10-minute warning, Twinkle is off to cause a riot. Dancing, prancing and dashing about, all is a fun distraction until she realizes she’s forgotten how to get home. As long as Twinkle remembers that a rainbow is made “from a unicorn’s wish,” she can find her way home. But will she ever be ready for bed?

            The first story I’ve read from the Ten Minutes to Bed series, I found this one to be beautifully illustrated, the illustrations bringing to life Twinkle’s magical adventure in an adorable, magical land that would be joyous to explore. The story is in verse, and I’m in the group that loves rhyming poems, so the tempo of reading aloud resonated well with me. I found this children’s book to be really, truly cute. It makes magic adorable and helps imaginations soar.

The World Needs More Purple People (June 2, 2020) by Kristen Bell & Benjamin Hart.

   Daniel Wiseman, illustrator.

Are you a purple person? “Purple is a magic color made when red and blue work together.” Penny is a kid-expert on how to live a purple life. There are five steps, like asking great questions, laughing a lot and working hard.

            If you want a pep talk in a picture book, a youth on the lookout for positive change or a wholesome story that is fun and a small bit gross (“snot-out-our-nose laughing” is not an illustration I needed to see, and I definitely don’t want to see that in real life!), give this one a try. The kids in the target audience will likely not notice what the colors stand for regarding U.S. politics, but people at any age can and should want a nicer world, one with compassion and kindness. The illustrations are colorful and cheerful, and the overall message is one advocating that you be your best you, no matter what you look like. Collaborate with your family, friends and community. Show open-mindedness instead of automatic dissension. Be a PURPLE person!