inventiveness

Center for Children's Literature, Carthage College  A celebration of the absurd, this will appeal to children who can chuckle over the impossible and respect inventiveness.  The nameless mouse hero feels 'down in the dumps,' but know what to do when that happens.  He gathers his friends (contacting them in a clever way) and then the horde of helpful friends make the preparations. It is indeed 'simple,' in words, at least.  A problem arises: despite the size of the pot, the lid won't fit.  It is a disaster that because of this there is no soup to enjoy.  But the resourceful mice make good use of the pot, nonetheless.  Who wouldn't enjoy sliding down an elephant's snout into one's own private pool? The elephant is helpful, the mice delighted, and hunger is forgotten.  Wonderfully clever! Big, double page spreads, bled to the edge, allow plenty of room for these cheerfully colored depictions of collaboration.Midwest Book Review (July, 2010)'Elephant Soup' is a clever child's picture book about a fantastic adventure involving hundreds of mice, a large pot of water, simmering gently over a fire, assorted vegetables, and a volunteer elephant (to flavor the soup). Outrageous, funny, appealing and slightly daft, 'Elephant Soup' is sure to entice a smile out of young readers age 2-6. Amazing full color illustrations bring 'Elephant Soup' to vibrant life, while cheery, cooperative, friendly mice by the hundreds troop to create their own special brand of cheer. There is a trace of Lewis Carroll-like influence in 'Elephant Soup,' sure to be appreciated by children everywhere.

Mother

Sonya Sones has written five YA novels-in-verse: To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story), Stop Pretending, One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, What My Mother Doesn’t Know, and its companion, What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know. Her books have received many honors, including a Christopher Award, the Myra Cohn Livingston Poetry Award, and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize nomination. But the coolest honor she ever got was when What My Mother Doesn’t Know made it onto the American Library Association’s list of the Top 100 Most Banned Books of the Decade (to see why, see p.46). She lives near the beach in southern California, and only tells the occasional fib. Visit her at SonyaSones.com or follow @SonyaSones on Twitter.

TIME

The editors of TIME For Kids® are committed to informing millions of kids about the world and their place in it. As part of a national news organization, they bring expert and age-appropriate reporting and photography from around the globe to books, classroom magazines, and a website.The editors of TIME For Kids® are frequent visitors to classrooms all over the country. And the TFK Kid Reporters have appeared on The Today Show, CBS Morning Show, CNN, and Fox News.TFK editors also publish the TIME For Kids® Science Scoops series, giving kids the inside scoop on the world’s most fascinating topics.