Spork

A perfect way to begin a talk about diversity.

Written by Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Kids Can Press, 2010
$16.95, ages 3-7, 32 pages

Spork feels like an outcast. "What are you, anyway?" the other utensils ask.

He's neither all spoon like his mum or all fork like his dad, and in the world of utensils, blending cutlery is taboo.

So Spork decides he'll try to be a single thing. Maybe this way he won't be passed over when the table is set.

First he pulls a bowler hat over his points to appear more spoonish, then a crown to look more forkish. But none of it seems right, and all the while he's still left out.

At dinner, Spork glumly watches on as spoons play pea hockey and forks rake swirls in the mashed potatoes, then as they all splash into a sudsy bath.

But then one morning a messy thing arrives in the kitchen and none of the forks or spoons can handle it. Could Spork be just the thing to keep its smears, spills and drips under control?

Playfully billed as a "multi-cutlery" tale, this smart, adorable book shows that everyone has something special to give and it's our differences that make us shine.

I loved that it took a baby, untainted by prejudices, to help this lonely fellow. And the fact that sporks really are handy for babies only adds to the charm.

The illustrations -- soft, retro charcoal sketches with splashes of color and a sprinkle of woodcuts -- endear you to this utensil even before you know his story.

At one point, Spork imagines other utensils with no matching kind and they swirl about him, all adorably different: a hand juicer with beater legs, a pie spatula with a potato masher body.

There is a coziness to the gray palette and a subtle sparkle to select pages: faint jacks-like stars glisten in the backdrop always hinting at a happy ending.

Sweet and gently instructive, this is a must for sporks, spoons and forks alike. The perfect book to bolster a child's spirit and spur a discussion about how to treat one another.

Being a Friend: 8 Books to Help Kids Along

from Brun-Cosme's Big Wolf & Little Wolf

There are many things parents hold their breath and wish for.

One is that their children always have a buddy to turn to -- at least one friend who stays true no matter what.

But making friends isn't always easy, especially if children feel shy or awkward, or don't know anyone.

And sometimes, even if they have good buddies, they find themselves on the outs or feeling apart from everyone else.

There's so much to learn about friendship, how to compromise and accept differences, how to stand up for yourself and be heroic when someone needs you.

You may have heard the phrase, "raising happiness." It's the idea that children will blossom if they learn to be considerate, compassionate and confident.

In celebration of that idea, I've pulled together 8 books about being a friend and some of the bumps friends face along the way.

1. Bink & Gollie

Written by Kate DeCamillo, Alison McGhee

Illustrated by Tony Fucile

Candlewick Press, 2010

$15.99, ages 4-8, 96 pages

Two pals get into spats, but discover that if they each give a little, they can work things out in DiCamillo and McGee's adorable 2011 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner.

Bink and Gollie look nothing alike, but as they swap knowing glances on the cover of this early reader, you get the feeling they're alike where it really counts.

Though Bink is short and Gollie is tall, and their clothes and hair-dos are very different, each girl is adventurous and gets what the other is about.

Bink, with her flyaway hair, jumps into life, unconcerned with what others think, and it's that confidence that immediately endears her to us.

Gollie is reserved, but strong-willed. She longs for speed and spurs the two to roller-skate as fast as they can. She also imagines doing thrilling things, though she never goes far from her tree house.

Most of the time Gollie and Bink are game for what the other wants to do, but sometimes they're stubborn and won't budge enough to compromise.

Over three spare, energy-filled chapters, we see how a tiff between Bink and Gollie can blow up into an argument that neither really wants to have and can hide something else that's bothering one of them.

2. Big Wolf & Little Wolf

Written by Nadine Brun-Cosme

Illustrated by Olivier Tallec

Enchanted Lion Books, 2009

$16.95, ages 4-8, 32 pages

When a little blue wolf starts hanging out at Big Wolf's tree, Big Wolf doesn't know what to think.

After all, this is Big Wolf's tree. It's always been that way.

What could a quiet little wolf be after? Will he try to show Big Wolf up?

As one day slips into the next and Little Wolf does nothing to eclipse Big Wolf, Big Wolf gets used to having him around, though he isn't particularly welcoming.

Then one day Little Wolf leaves the tree and Big Wolf's heart glows red through his fir. He realizes just how much Little Wolf has come to mean to him.

In this sweet, gently told story by France's Brun-Cosme and Tallec, two solitary creatures let their guards down and discover the joy of being with someone else.

3. Forever Friends

Written and illustrated by Carin Berger

Greenwillow Books, 2010

$16.99, ages 2-6, 40 pages

A bird and bunny stumble into a friendship that endures through the seasons in this breezy, enchanting book about being patient and true.

As pink blossoms unfold on trees, a graceful blue bird swoops onto a branch above a log, where a brown bunny is waking from his winter sleep.

"Come Play!" the bird sings out, and immediately the bunny bounds out of the log, bursting to go on adventures.

The days are joyful and they play every moment they can through the last days of fall.

They string flowers, twirl around each other, hide under toad stools, and try to catch floating globes of fireflies.

But when the last of the leaves fall and the cool air comes, the bird tells the bunny he must go.

It's time to fly south, but he promises to come back when the air is warm again.

As the bird soars away, the bunny sadly looks up toward the clouds, his arms stretched out to his friend; he is not yet ready to let go.

4. So Close

Written and illustrated by Natalia Colombo

Tundra Books, 2010

$17.95, ages 4-7, 24 pages

Working up the courage to say hello isn't easy when the person you want to say hello to is as shy as you are.

In this sweet book about reaching out to others, Spain's Colombo shows how one little word can transform strangers into friends.

Mr. Duck and Mr. Rabbit pass each other everyday, yet they're always focused straight ahead or down at the ground as they go to and from home.

Neither one lets on that he knows the other exists; perhaps they're too busy or they feel awkward about speaking to someone they haven't been introduced to.

At times they pass so closely, they look as if they'll brush shoulders. Colombo zeros in on their faces and you find yourself wishing they would accidentally touch, just to break the tension.

5. The Boys

Written and Illustrated by Jeff Newman

Simon & Schuster, 2010

$15.99, ages 4-8, 40 pages

A new boy in town longs to join a game of baseball, but is too guarded to ask if he can play until four old guys coax him out of his shell.

Wordless except for days of the week announced every few pages, this hilarious story is about wanting to fit in, but not knowing how.

As the story begins, it's Tuesday and the little boy in a red cap has just moved into his house and is eager to find a game of baseball.

He's got his glove, bat, even a ball. Now he just needs a field of kids.

But when he gets to the neighborhood park and sees a game underway, he freezes up, feeling too self-conscious to ask if he can join in.

With his cap low over his face and his bat dragging behind, the boy slumps off to a park bench, where four old guys are whiling away the day.

6. Day & Night

Written and illustrated by Teddy Newton

Chronicle Books, 2010

$14.99, all ages, 40 pages

When points of view are starkly different, you say they're as different as night and day. But if you are, in fact, Night and Day, do you have to be worlds apart?

In this delightful book adaptation of Pixar's 2010 short by the same name, two doughy shaped fellows named Night and Day discover that being different is nothing to be afraid of.

Against a backdrop of blackness, Day wakes up with a skip in his step. Birds swirl around inside him, flowers bloom in his belly and for a time he lays back soaking in the rising sun.

But as Day gets up to walk again he comes upon Night curled up on the ground sleeping and is startled because he's never seen anything like him.

Uneasy about what Night is, Day tries to slip past him unnoticed. But at that moment Night wakes up, equally out of sorts.

"Yikes!" they yell at the same time as each stumbles back from the other.

7. Don't Call Me Pruneface

Written by Janet Reed Ahearn

Illustrated by Drazen Kozjan

Disney-Hyperion, 2010

$16.99, ages 3-7, 32 pages

It's hard being nice when your new next-door neighbor goes out of her way to raise your hackles, but Paul is trying.

If only he could take the high road and follow Grandma's words of advice -- especially the one about him being "as good as gold."

But how can Paul be the nice guy grandma's sees and endure the ill will of Prudence, aka the Lunatic?

Since Day 1, when Paul welcomed her into the neighborhood, she's thrown one verbal jab after another.

That day she called him "Pill" instead of "Paul," and suggested a better name for his dog Bobo was, "Oops," because a boy like Paul shouldn't have a cute dog.

Grandma says, "You can't judge a book by its cover," so Paul's giving Prudence a week to change his mind and show him there's a nice girl in there after all.

However by the way things are going so far, Paul's not sure he'll make it that far. After all, even nice boys have their limits.

8. Song for a Princess

Written by Rachel Mortimer

Illustrated by Maddy McClellan

Chicken House, 2010

$17.99, ages 4-8, 32 pages

When a princess loses a dear friend, a bird gathers up words the girls once shared and sings them back to her in this heartwarming tale about picking yourself back up.

For many happy hours, the princess and her friend would sit in the palace garden on a blanket scattered with open books, talking, reading, singing and dreaming of faraway places and beautiful things.

The girls loved words and shared them freely: words like "smile," "friends," "rainbow," "star" and "always."

On those days, a breeze would send their happy, colorful words twirling about through the air and a little brown wren who lived in the garden would catch them like worms and line his nest with them.

"They were treasures to him," Mortimer writes. "The words made him feel safe and warm."

But then one day, the friend had to go away, leaving the princess's heart empty. As rain poured down, the wren collected the princess's words, but now they were the saddest he'd ever heard.

Delivery Day at Fairview Elementary!

For five weeks beginning Oct. 25, I held a giveaway to help a Denver area elementary school in need that I called, The Great Library Giveaway.

I'd set aside 300 books from reviewing for the contest, knowing that many schools in the area were facing budget cuts and could use books to fill a shelf or two in their libraries.

In my heart, I imagined the winning school being a place where the books would mean the most, where resources are sparse, life doesn't come easily and books are treasured.

But after the contest began, I realized that the giveaway might not reach the very people I'd most wanted to help.

Less affluent communities wouldn't have easy access to computers and the Internet, and thus could be at a significant disadvantage entering the contest.

What I didn't anticipate was the tenacity and spirit of Fairview Elementary School, a fiercely proud little school in Denver's most impoverished neighborhood.

In a week's time, Fairview came up from behind and not only won the contest, but by more than 50 votes.

So worried they'd lose their lead against the other 13 schools that entered, the staff, volunteers, families and friends at the school kept voting even after their win seemed secure.

And as I discovered while delivering the books a week after Thanksgiving, this is a school that doesn't take anything for granted.

What a Marvelous Book! Holiday Gift Guide 2010

A book may not zip when it moves, bop when it stops or whir when it stands still, like the whatsit in Tom Paxton's song The Marvelous Toy, but it can be just as wondrous.

Every year, as I prepare this list, I am amazed by how many wonderful books came out that year, and it's always hard to pick favorites. I pile up the books I'm especially fond of, then send each through a filter of sorts in my head.

I try to imagine myself as a child, picking each one up for the first time and reading it through, and I ask myself whether, like a marvelous toy, it could become my heart's delight, the kind of book I'd never forget.

In some cases, a book sneaks up on me and only after letting it sit do I realize how much I loved reading it, and in other cases, it's like the marvelous toy in the song and it pops the first time I read it.

1. A General and His Wish for Peace

The General: Anniversary Edition 50 Years, by Janet Charters, illustrated by Michael Foreman, Templar Books, $16.99, ages 4-8, 48 pages. On his quest for glory, a general is sidetracked by the beauty of nature, and comes to realize he'd rather bring peace to the world than tower above it. In this splendid reissue, General Jodhpur dreams of two things: to be the most famous general in the world and have his army admired by generals from other countries. Everyday from sun up to sun down, he orders his troops to polish everything he can think of, from their drills to their boots and weapons. Then one Sunday while riding in the country, an accident changes everything he thought he wanted. A fox crossing his path spooks his horse and the general is thrown to the ground. Landing on a soft patch of grass, he is unharmed but discovers he's lost all desire to get up. The grass is lovely and he lays on his back, nibbling on a blade as the sun's heat blankets his body. Finally, after a long time, the general decides he'd better head back to camp and begins to follow the familiar path home. Without his horse, it is slower going and he notices creatures he never appreciated before.

2. A Book to Sing!

The Twelve Bots of Christmas, written and illustrated by Nathan Hale, Walker Books, $14.99, ages 4-8, 40 pages. Stand to the side, true love. Robo Santa's got his own gifts for The Twelve Days of Christmas. In this clever techno-twist on the classic English Christmas carol, gizmos fly, roll, swim and snooze before being packed into a sack for Robo Santa and his eight super-charged reindeer to deliver to little boys and girls. You'll be sold from the first verse, A "Cartridge in a Gear Tree," and by the time you belt out "Five Bot-to-Ries," the rest of the family will be chiming in too. "Four Calling Borgs, Three Wrench Hens, Two Turbo-Doves, and a Catridge in a Gear Tree..." My favorite image: The Three Wrench Hens bobbing their hook jaws as they roll through the snow.

3. Up, Up and Away!

DC Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book, engineered by Matthew Reinhart, Little, Brown and Company, $29.99, ages 4-8, 12 pages. Earth's mightiest superhuman heroes leap, pounce and lasso off the folds of this fantastic tribute to the DC comic universe. Reinhart, one of today's most celebrated paper engineers, captures the larger-than-life personas of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and others doing what they're famous for: Superman leaps off tall buildings with his fists raised, Batman soars off the ledge of a skyscraper in Gotham, the warrior goddess Wonder Woman flies through the clouds lashing her golden whip and the four Green lanterns shoot toward us from a massive battery as their power rings illuminate the page in green light. Of course, a hero would be nothing without his nemesis, and in one mighty leap, the Dread Lord Darkseid, reaches up out of a fiery pit on another spread to try to grab us.

4. Read it Again! Two Worthy of Awards.

The Legend of the Golden Snail, written and illustrated by Graeme Base, Abrams Books, $19.95, ages 4-8, 48 pages.  A plucky lad named Wilbur sets sail on a wooden chair to find a giant snail from his favorite bedtime story in this grand and wondrous tale. According to the legend, a Grand Enchanter once cast a spell on a giant Golden Snail that turned it into a ship and forced it to take him wherever he wanted to go. But when the enchanter tired of life, he banished the Golden Snail to the Ends of the Earth so no one else could ride in it. Now, whoever finds the golden galleon must utter a magic verse if he wishes to master over it too. Wilbur can think of nothing more exciting than to be the next Grand Enchanter, so he sets off, with his tabby as his mate, to fulfill his dream. As Wilbur pretends to turn his boat to the wind in his living room, his chair becomes a skiff and the room around him, wide-open seas. Fitted with a captain's hat his mother sewed, Wilbur recites the spell and bravely heads off into the unknown, equipped only with a watering can, a broom, scissors and a corkscrew.

5. Two Feisty Gals: Lulu & Olivia the Pig

Lulu and the Brontosaurus, written by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Lane Smith, Atheneum Books, $15.99, ages 4-10, 128 pages. A little smarty named Lulu finally asks her parents for something they won't give her, then storms off to get it for herself in this wry book about the follies of being high and mighty. Up until now, Lulu has gotten whatever she's wanted (tons of toys and cartoon-viewing time). Even on those rare occasions when Mom and Dad have said no, she's worn them down with her screeching. (After a good lung blast, then flopping onto the floor and flailing around her limbs, one or the other parent always caved in, saying, "Well, just this once.") But this time, Lulu's request, an enormous dinosaur for her b-day gift, is going nowhere. Fighting mad, she says, "Foo on you," to her parents and runs off to the forest to track one down for herself. Along the way, she sings a brontosaurus song at the top of her lungs and startles awake three creatures who are now so grumpy they try to do her in. But being such a pain, Lulu knows how to hurt them worse.

6. What a Scamp! Two Adorable Tales.

The Chicken Thief, written & illustrated by Beatrice Rodriguez, Enchanted Lion Books, $14.95, ages 4-8, 32 pages. A red fox bounds out from a bush and sweeps a hen off her bony feet in this adorable wordless book that has fun with us as it goes. One lovely day, Hen is pecking about in the back of Bear, Rabbit and Rooster's cottage when a crafty fox plucks her off the ground as brazenly as if raiding a chicken coop. As the fox takes off into the woods with the white hen pressed to his chest, the Bear, Rabbit and Rooster charge after him, one piled on top of another (Rabbit riding Bear's shoulders and Rooster standing on Rabbit's head). At first, the fox holds the chicken's beak closed to calm her squawking, but as night falls and all of the parties tire, he releases his paw, and her chin falls sleepily onto his shoulder.

7. Bye, Bye Knuffle Bunny

Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion, written & illustrated by Mo Willems, HarperCollins, ages 4-8, 52 pages. Letting go of a pal who's been in your arm as long as you can remember is tough. But maybe, after awhile without him, moving on isn't so impossible after all. In this final, heart-melting book in Willems's epic, Caldecott-winning love story, Trixie takes Knuffle Bunny on a trip to Holland with her parents and loses him like she's never lost him before. This time, her parents can't go back to a laundromat or call up a classmate's parents to get him. In her excitement to leave the airport and see her grandparent's, "Oma" and "Opa," Trixie forgets Knuffle Bunny on the plane, but not just any plane, a plane that's only half-way to somewhere else. At first Trixie is so distracted by all that's new that she doesn't realize that she's left him behind. Then, sitting in a yard chair at her grandparent's home with a glass of chocolate milk, she notices that something doesn't feel right. That part of her that's always snuggled up close to a pal is empty, and it hits her. Knuffle Bunny is gone.

8. Do This! Two Craft Books.

Candy Construction: Edible Crafts, by Sharon Bowers, Storey Publishing, $14.95, all ages, 144 pages. One peek inside this book and your kiddos will be chanting:  "Give us candy and we will build." In this splendid ode to all things sugary, Bowers gives adults and kids step-by-step directions for turning leftover candy, and store-bought cookies and cakes into Willie Wonka-like wonders, ranging from a choo-choo train with a Swiss Roll cab and peppermint wheels to a bi-plane with wafer cookie wings and a body cut from a Charleston Chew. But before you dump out Halloween leftovers onto the table and cut open bags of gummy this or rock-hard that, consider adopting three ground rules that Bowers uses on her own pint-size construction workers. 1) No eating on the job  2) Pick one candy or construction to set aside and gobble up after cleanup and  3) Always brush teeth after excavating delights. Bowers, a producer for the Food Network's website, covers all facets of construction, from gathering candy (her top tip: shop at the dollar store) to preparing the mortar (icing) and building blocks (from Rice Krispies treats or edible play dough). Then, to our little workers' delight, she launches without further a-do into how-tos for making almost every concoction a child could want, from vehicles to aliens to princess castles and board games, all entirely out of sweets. Probably the best reward: kids see what is possible then can't wait to invent a candy creation for themselves.