Eric Rohmann: Day 6

A Kitten Tale
By Eric Rohmann
Knopf, 2008

I had to wait FOREVER to get my paws on a copy of this book at my local library. Someone else snatched it up before I did. This book is perfect for preschoolers.

Four little kittens are talking about snow in the middle of the summer. Three of them are dreading and worrying about the coming snow. The fourth kitten can’t wait. Then the fall comes. They continue to talk about snow with trepidation. The fourth kitten is so excited about the possibility. Finally, the snow comes. The fourth kitten jumps right out into the snow and has a rollicking good time. Of course, the others follow out and enjoy themselves too. It is a simple story, told with fun language that reminds me of little kittens frolicking.
Here’s an excerpt of the short, frolicking dialogue that takes place between the kittens:

When autumn winds ruffled the trees, the first kitten said, “Soon the snow will
fall and fall. We’ll be cold and wet and snow will cover everything!”
“Piles and drifts!” said the second kitten.
“Heaped to our whiskers,” said the third kitten.
Still the fourth kitten said, “I can’t wait.”

Eric Rohmann: Day 5

This post is a day late. I was having difficulty with blogger last night. It wouldn't let me post at all. So today, you get the last two installments of Eric Rohmann.


My Friend Rabbit
Written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Roaring Brook Press, 2002

This book won the Caldecott Medal in 2003. I remember buying this book and thinking: WOW. The illustrations are so bold and so toddler-minded. The text is simple and has a wonderful cadence to it. Rabbit’s toy airplane is stuck in the tree. He tries to come up with an inventive way to get it out, so he gathers, pushes, and shoves his animal friends on top of one another until they form a tall tower. This of course comes crashing down!

I love his use of perspective in the illustrations. On one spread rabbit is in the far corner of the page pulling on an elephant’s tale. Everything looks so small and the spread is rather bare. Then the next page explodes with a giant elephant taking over the entire spread. When all of the animals are piled on top of one another, you must turn the book vertically to view it correctly. Then they all come crashing down and we see wild animal eyes of every sort as they looked surprised, shocked, and flabbergasted. Then we see those same animal eyes all glaring at rabbit. Every spread is full of surprises and delight. The illustrations are appealing to a very young audience. In fact, a non-reader could figure out what is going on in the story even without the text.

A romping fun read and so well-deserving of the Caldecott Award.

Eric Rohmann: Day 4

Pumpkinhead
By Eric Rohmann
Knopf, 2003

This is a funny book. It would appear on the outside to be a book that really, really young kids would like. However, I think some upper elementary kids would find it funny. There is a boy name Otho who has a pumpkin for a head. His family doesn’t seemed to be worried by it, but one day a bat comes by and wants to scoop up the pumpkin for a place to live. He seizes upon Otho’s head and runs away with it. Otho’s head makes quite a journey. It flies in the air, gets dropped into the ocean, gets eaten by a fish, is found by a fisherman, and finally bought by his own mother at the fish market. It’s an unusual tale. It could be read any time of the year, but would be particularly interesting at Halloween with the bat and the pumpkin (even though it’s not about Halloween). The language Rohmann uses is interesting and would not bore an older reader.

The book itself is small in size and square. Rohmann’s illustrations are small boxes with heavy lines (like My Friend Rabbit--to be reviewed tomorrow). The font cover has a cut out that reveals the pumpkinhead on the title page. The book was an unexpected (and pleasant) surprise.

Eric Rohmann: Day 3

Time Flies
Illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Crown Publishers, 1994

This wordless picture book begins when a bird is inside of a museum where dinosaur skeleton exhibits are displayed. The bird flies around and suddenly the dinosaur is no longer just bones, but a full living creature. The setting changes to a land full of dinosaurs of all kinds. The bird flies around among the dinosaurs until he gets eaten by a dinosaur. Then the dinosaurs slowly began to change back to skeletons.

This book will delight little dinosaur lovers.

Eric Rohmann: Day 2

Clara and Asha
Written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Roaring Brook Press, 2005

Amazing things happen when it gets dark. Just as in The Cinder-Eyed Cats where animals move around while we sleep, Clara and Asha is a tale of a girl and her animal friends that visit at night. Clara opens her window at night and Asha, a fish she met as a stone in a park water fountain, comes to visit her. Asha has been her imaginary friend and has been with her on many adventures including Trick-or-Treating and snowman making. Asha even takes Clara on a night flight through the sky.

This book celebrates the imagination of children and their connection with the world. Children are so good at bringing the concrete to life. This book shows how much fun imaginary friends are. Rohmann’s illustrations are large and beautiful. He is an ace at flying fish.

Eric Rohmann: Day 1

I am going to be featuring Eric Rohmann books for the next few days. I wasn't able to get ahold of all of his picture books, but I am doing reviews on the ones I could find. I was first introduced to Eric Rohmann through My Friend Rabbit, but I was thrilled to find other fabulous books by him that I wasn't aware of.

For a really fabulous interview with Eric Rohmann, head over to 7-Imp. They did feature on Eric Rohmann in February.

The Cinder-Eyed Cats
Written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Crown Publishers, 1997

I have read some amazing books lately where kids go to imaginary lands. This one is one of the books. It opens with a little boy climbing into a boat in the sky. He sails away in the sky to an island. On this island there are cinder-eyed cats. At night the creatures from the sea rendezvous with the cinder-eyed cats and the boy. The boy gets to watch as the creatures intermingle only until the sun comes up. The little boy sails back home in his flying boat.

The illustrations are large and make the animals appear large and the boy just a small observer in the great big world. I love the fish illustrations and there is even a fish sculpted into the sand. Rohmann illustrates another fish like this in his book Clara and Asha (to be featured tomorrow).