Harry Bliss

I was thrilled to receive Harry Bliss's graphic memoir You Can Never Die. This was a book that made me smile at the love, joy and wonder that Penny, the authors dog, brought too his life and I often found myself sitting back and reflecting on my own fur friends that have graced my life like Penny and Junior did his. But this book is more than just the story of Penny and Harry, although her presence in this book brings such life and wonder to both written text and cartoons, but this is also a show more journey of Harry becoming the person that he shares so humorously and honestly with the reader, a life that has had both bitter and sweet qualities. Bliss has a unique and insightful way of cutting right to the heart of life in these short, poignant, and insightful essays in the same way that his cartoons do. I have been clipping his work from The New Yorker's pages for years. With an eye for both the art of a moment, reproduced beautifully and in full color, he has an almost Zen like way of using brevity to make you reflect and consider an almost unstated argument. This book as a whole had me pondering the power of life to shape us and left me considering how we can also need to have a good laugh at ourselves, together this all reminds me that we have to grab life and live it -- for that is where we truly find the Love of Life.

This book is a beautiful marriage of art, argument, philosophy, and life story. Its is a celebration of the happy, the sad and all the messy chaotic fun that shows a life well lived and reflected on.

Thank you @celadonbooks for sharing this beautiful hardcover with me. This book spoke to me at such a deep level and I will admit I shed some sad tears at memories that are bittersweet, laughed at moments that were too adorable not to, and just enjoyed reading about the experiences, and people, that made Harry Bliss show less

The multi-talented Grace raises funds for her class's pet guinea pig Gus in this mostly wordless comic-book-style picture-book from artist Harry Bliss, sneaking out one night and using her many special skills to earn money. Whether she's playing violin at the 14th Street subway stop, drawing portraits on the sidewalk outside Central Park, or dancing on the subway car itself, Grace's many amazing talents allow her to help the lonely little animal with whom she clearly sympathizes...

I really show more enjoyed Grace for Gus, which is clearly set in New York City, and which contains many amusing nods to current events, other comic book characters, and various works of art and literature. Readers young and old will have fun picking out the many visual details here, whether it be the presence of President Trump (sitting underneath a tax relief poster) and a hijab-wearing woman (carrying a 'Half Foods' bag) near each other on the subway, or the appearance of various characters from the Peanuts comics by Charles Schulz. For my part, as a New Yorker and a one-time Strand employee, I appreciated the appearance of a Strand Books bag, in the subway scene, as well as the fact that one of the commuters is holding a copy of 'The Old Yorker.' I also liked the humorous send-up of classic book titles - 'Lord of the Fleas,' 'Catch & Release 22,' 'The Sun Never Rises' - in the classroom scene at the end. There are so many little details like this, that make perusing this sweet tale of a girl and a guinea pig an absolute delight! Finally, although it is a minor part of the narrative here, I also noticed and appreciated the fact that Grace is apparently the daughter of a same-sex couple - in her home scenes, she is living with two fathers - and have added this to my LGBT shelf accordingly.

Recommended to anyone looking for visually rich, mostly wordless, comic-book style picture-books, for children's stories set in New York City, or for tales about talented and pro-active young girls. show less

This cumulative tale shows how a bad mood - and a little kindness - can spread very quickly.

Bliss' illustrations, familiar to many readers from his collaborations with Doreen Cronin, show a farm that's a perfect mix of cartoon animals and realistic backgrounds. The story begins with Cow, who is a bad mood for a number of reasons. She splashes mud at Duck and when asked why, says "I felt like it...and I'm not sorry." Thus the bad mood begins. Duck calls Frog names, Frog insults Bird's song, show more Bird knocks Goat off a tree, and so it goes.

It ends with Pig crying, big, snorting sobs, and Dog stops by to see what's wrong. Undeterred by Pig's bad move, Dog shares some kind words and a reminder of their friendship and the chain begins to unravel, with each animal apologizes and fixing their previous harsh words. Finally, it gets back to Cow and her bad mood is gone... but now Horse is surrounded by flies...

The ending is both humorous and realistic, acknowledging that bad - and good - moods don't last and all we can do is try to be kind to each other and apologize for mean words.

Verdict: This was funny and touching and had a nice, rhythmic feel to it that I think would work well in storytime. Some adults may want a more pointed moral and dislike the ambiguous ending, but I thought it was realistic and funny.

ISBN: 9781984812476; Published April 2020 by Philomel; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library show less

Countdown to Kindergarten by Alison McGhee is the hilarious story of a little girl who is nervous about going to kindergarten because she can't tie her shoes (which is something she thinks all kindergartners are supposed to know how to do). Her father tries to help her, but she's always easily frustrated and ends up finding another creative use of her shoelaces. Each day that she gets closer to kindergarten, she's a little bit more scared until the big day finally arrives. When she gets to show more school, she's shocked to find out that all of the other children's parents tied their shoes for them too, and realizes that kindergarten is a fun place where you learn to do things with help. This is a great story for sharing with any nervous preschoolers that will help to calm their fears about not being ready for school. It's also a good book to share with young children who avoid tasks they find difficult instead of facing them head on. McGhee did a fabulous job of presenting this melodramatic character in a way that allows children to see a little bit of themselves and learn from her story. show less