Winter Reading 2024 - Toon Books Round Up

Toon Books is a division of Astra Books for Young Readers. Even if you haven't heard of Toon yet, you probably recognize Astra. Here are a few books they released last fall that deserve attention.

Know someone who always ignores the wise advice to "try and go now while you have the chance"? Owen (see hilarious cover illustration) didn't listen when Mom urged him to go. Now he is in a predicament, a very uncomfortable predicament. Mom tells him to try and think of something else, but Owen isn't sure he will make it.

Owen has to zip quickly into the bathroom when they reach Grampa's apartment, or else! (In case you were worried, he does get there in time.) Grampa gives him some advice while they are walking in the park. He says that dancing helps him. The duo try out several dances especially for those who gotta go. There are the Tinkle Twist and the Piddle Patter among others. While Owen and Grampa dance in the foreground readers can see folks in the background waiting in a long line for the park restroom. Some of them even seem to be following Grampa's advice and doing their own dance.

Perfect as a gift for a youngster who enjoys bathroom related jokes, but also for those who too often make the same mistake and don't go when it is convenient. Pair it with Taro Gomi's Everyone Poops and share a little bibliotherapy with kids who have potty anxiety. [Level 2 - recommended for ages 5-7]

Next up, Shapes and Shapes by Ivan Brunetti is an exploration of geometry and creativity. A diverse group of students work with simple shapes to make pictures of elephants, trees, planets, and more. They discover they can use them in combinations or divide them into other shapes like semicircles.

As they head outside for recess they notice the shapes of doors, windows, stairs, and sports equipment. Back in the classroom they move from art with 2-D shapes to an investigation of  geometric solids such as cubes, cylinders, and cones.

Great for an introduction to the use of shapes in art or to use with math lessons on shapes of all sorts. [Level 1 - recommended for ages 4-6]

Need a STEAM title, but one that deals with creepy crawlies? It says it right there on the cover, "Giggle and Learn." Join a couple of young friends as they learn about life cycles, silkworms, moths and butterflies, and metamorphosis - with a lot of laughs along the way.

A caterpillar may not need a changing room, but the idea is sure to garner a few chuckles. There are also diagrams of a caterpillar and a butterfly (handy to compare and contrast). Youngsters may even be amazed that to "fly like a butterfly, you'd need wings as big as ten cars." This is the sort of book that gets pulled off the shelf in the classroom reading corner and read repeatedly by budding naturalists. [Level 1 - recommended for ages 4-7]

Remember reading about Paul Bunyan and Babe in class, or watching the Disney animated version? Well, this is not that story. The graphic novel features a train full of people traveling through Minnesota in 1914 and amusing themselves with tales of lumberjacks. This is "bracketed by rich contributions from contemporary Native artists and storytellers with a very different connection to the land." A set of maps shows the lessening extent of old growth forests from 1620 to 2010. Another map marks the locations of Dakota villages and sacred sites around Red Wing. Archival photos depict log jams, sawmills, and loggers. 

Although this book is recommended for grades 2-3, it also would be a useful text with slightly older students who are studying point of view. Is Paul Bunyan an American legend celebrating the pioneering spirit and the drive to claim natural resources? Or is that story part of a narrative created to put a positive spin on seizing Indigenous lands and leveling old growth forests? Let students read, research further, and share their findings.