Today we begin our effort to provide you with at least one daily posting about books we think you should know about. Saturdays will be devoted to children’s picture books.
City mayhem in rhyme
Jennifer Armstrong’s Once Upon a Banana uses a technique of minimalist story-telling and it’s sure to be a bedtime favorite. When a street performer’s pet monkey drops a banana peel on a crowded city street, all manner of mayhem breaks loose. Armstrong’s daring conceit is to tell the story using only common signs on the street to tell the story in rhyme (Underpass…Keep Off the Grass). She pulls this off with the striking watercolor drawings of Caldecott Medal recipient David Small. Let me tell you – it works.
Armstrong’s books are great favorites with librarians, and illustrator Small is also in great demand.
Here’s how it was described in the New York Times Book Review:
“This rambunctious tale, by Jennifer Armstrong, with illustrations by David Small, is almost wordless but packed with physical comedy. When a monkey escapes from his owner, swipes a banana, then tosses the peel on the sidewalk, it sets off a chain of clumsy chaos that topples townsfolk like dominoes.” – Jessica Bruder
Simon & Schuster
9780689842511
$17.99
Once Upon a Banana
NewAlbanyBooks 