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Author: Judy Butler

  • Flood Disasters

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    Judy Butler
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    How does an author appeal to a young reader when the topic is about the volatile earth? Two picture books that came my way took care to soften the brutal reality of such trauma. Selvakumar Knew Better by Virginia Kroll (2006) tells the story of the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 by featuring a family’s…

  • Musical Prose: Jonathan London

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    Judy Butler
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    Occasionally, I discover an exceptional picture book at a library sale. It’s the only place to locate books with illustrations that are fine art paintings nowadays. Red Wolf Country (1996) with pictures by Daniel San Souci was such a book, and so I took it home. Thank goodness because it introduced me to the sound…

  • Show Your Collage

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    Judy Butler
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    I’m listening to an interview with Austin Kleon because I enjoyed his trilogy: Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work, and Keep Going. In this interview, he references his blog, so I take a look at it. One post shows a collage and I think, hey, I could show my work. Here’s a trio of…

  • Companion Biographies by Allen Say

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    Judy Butler
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    In his speech at the 2011 National Book Festival, Allen Say mentioned two autobiographies. The Ink-Keeper’s Apprentice (1994, Houghton Mifflin Company) is for readers in middle school and above. It’s a chapter book of 149 pages and has no illustrations. Drawing From Memory (2011, Scholastic Press) is for the older elementary school age student. It…

  • Deja Vu All Over Again

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    Judy Butler
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    The Good~Bye Book by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Kay Chorao (1988) gave me a sense of déjà vu. It reminded me of Don’t Forget to Come Back by Robie H. Harris and illustrated by Harry Bliss (2004). And for the third time, I find two books that are similar, but not the same. Both…

  • Kindness and Stone Paper

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    Judy Butler
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    The Lonely Mailman (2016) and A Mystery in the Forest (2020) are two stories about kindness published on Stone Paper. I sure hope that Susanna Isern and Daniel Montero Galán team up again to create more heartwarming picture books. A badger (I think it’s a badger) rides a bicycle to deliver mail to animals in…

  • lmnop

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    Judy Butler
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    Someone changed the melody to the English alphabet song. No more rushing through lmnop! Funny how, in all the years I sang that song as a child and then as an SLP, I never questioned the intelligibility of that middle section. This modification got me thinking about the many alphabet books I’ve come across. Some…

  • Sandra Louise Woodward Darling

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    Judy Butler
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    A friend pulled Carl’s Afternoon in the Park (1991) from a bookstore shelf and said, “You’ve got to see this.” That was in 1992. What fun it’s been finding books by Alexandra Day ever since. Carl is an enormous Rottweiler that looks after a child while his owners are away. The idea for this series…

  • Barry Moser’s Amazing Animals

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    Judy Butler
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    Energy literally flies off the page of Earthquack (2002) as the wings of a huge white goose extend beyond the borders of the cover. I nearly hear honking from the bird’s wide-open beak as it flails above the crumbling ground below its airborne feet. A small, bright yellow duck mirrors the panic. The sky isn’t…

  • Praise for Patricia Polacco

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    Judy Butler
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    Thank you, Mr. Falker (1998) was the first book I read by the amazing Patricia Polacco. This story is about a girl who has trouble learning to read. In first grade, “when Trisha looked at a page, all  she saw were wiggling shapes, and when she tried to sound out words, the other kids laughed…