Shelley Rotner

In the past, I've sometimes disliked the I like to Read series because I felt the illustrations were lackluster, but I'm completely behind this delightful entry.

I've been really enjoying Rotner's books with photographs - I think she's a bit of a modern Tana Hoban (whose books I've been weeding because she's no longer popular). This easy reader was just perfect for our quasi-rural community.

Each page features a different farm animal and many also show kids. There are cats, cows, dogs, pigs, show more and chickens. There's also a picture of a tractor and farmyard at the end of the story. The text is simple variations on the title, "I like the piglet."

What I absolutely loved about this is that it showcases a wide range of diverse kids! Boys, girls, dark and light skin, Hispanic, African-American, and Indian. It's so rare to see kids of color shown in books about rural life.

Verdict: Farm animals, an emergent reading level, and a diverse cast of real kids. This is the perfect addition to your easy reader section and I'll be buying several copies!

ISBN: 9780823438334; Published 2017 by Holiday House; F&G provided at ALA 2017; Purchased for the library show less

Shelley Rotner introduces young readers to all the delights of the autumnal season. She starts with leaves but unlike many picture books that end there, she goes on to describe autumn holidays, animal behaviors (e.g., food storage, migration, hibernation, etc.), and the harvesting of fall fruits and vegetables. Each page has only a few sentences at most and is accompanied by beautiful photographs. Some of these are close-ups that display amazing detail. While many photographs show only show more plants or animals, others include children as well, featuring a diverse set of kids in terms of age, ability, and race. These photographs are very appealing and will be sure to capture young readers' eyes (and older readers' eyes also!). I'd highly recommend this book for educational settings for children in preschool through second or third grade, as well as for other caregivers whose children are interested in the changing seasons around them.

Edit: Apparently I read, rated, and reviewed this book last fall as well. Oops! show less

As I believe I've said before, I consider Shelly Rotner to be the new Tana Hoban, creating lush photographic masterpieces showing a diverse range of children. Of course, more modern technology means her books burst with color and life, something that wasn't available to Hoban back when she used photography.

This latest book examines color. The first spread has a simple sentence "Green hops." against a background of the color. On the left page, a single photograph is accompanied by a show more checkerboard of shades of the color. For green, we see a frog and eight different shades of green. The following page has an array of brilliant green photographs and a list of green words, "Green grass grows. Green peppers, leaves and peas. Lizards and limes, green eyes." The photographs show a bright green lizard, translucent peapod, thick field of grass, green pepper, vibrant limes, my favorite - nasturtium leaves!, and a tabby cat with green eyes.

Further spreads cover blue, yellow, red, orange, purple, white, and black. I was disappointed that there wasn't a brown spread, especially since the red one included a red-haired, white child. I also would have liked to see more specific identifications of the items in the photos - what kind of green lizard? Most people will know the orange butterfly is a monarch, but it's good to have those specific labels.

Verdict: A bright and colorful celebration of colors, great for use in storytime and in preschools.

ISBN: 9780823440634; Published July 2019 by Holiday House; Purchased for the library show less

Shelley Rotner’s picture book, “Senses at the Seashore, is about a child who shares the sights, sounds, smells, touches, and tastes of a day at the seashore. The message of the stimulating book provides readers with reasons to appreciate your five senses, especially when at the beach. I love this book. I like this book because the writing is engaging by luring the reader into experiencing the beach. The writing is paced well, for example the beginning of the book the page of children show more running on sand reads, “At the seashore…” to invite the reader into flipping the page to read more. Next, the illustrations are lively which instruct the five senses mentioned throughout the book. For instance, a page mentions to touch a soft feather and the picture underlying the message shows a young boy holding a seagull feather and looking down at the feather as if he is examining the feeling. I love how the illustrations and writing captivates the reader’s thoughts and feelings. Along with the writing, the language is clear yet descriptive. The read is simple enough for young children, but descriptive to meet all the five senses. I like how the language is patterned so that the reader feels the sensation of all the five senses, five different times. This picture book is fun and interactive for readers through details about seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching features at the seashore. show less