Title: Mr. Seahorse
Author/Illustrator: Eric Carle
Reviewer: Lee
Feminists and SAHDís alike will likely rejoice in this book. Join Mr. Seahorse as he cares for his eggs and wanders through the sea meeting other aquatic life for whom the daddytype in the relationship is the primary caretaker. Iíll bet you didnít know that Mr. Tilapia, Mr. Stickleback and others all care for their eggs themselves, whether it be on their heads, backs or in their mouths. Between interactions with these enlightened fish, you are also treated to creative pages with other fish who camouflage themselves behind clear plastic pages of rocks and coral.Check out Mister Seahorse or see if you can find any other Eric Carle books you have memorized at Amazon.I don't want to spoil the ending, but I love the fact that when one of the baby seahorses tries to move back home (so to speak), Mr. Seahorse says no.
Did you know there's an Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art?
I took my four month old to the Eric Carle Museum last week. It's great! VERY kid-friendly, as you would expect. The galleries are not huge, and one was closed for the installation of a new Beatrix Potter exhibit, but we had a blast anyway.
The library's collection is alphabetized by the illustrator's last name. We were there for storytime, which was well-attended and nicely done by the reader. Jennifer, maybe? My son enjoyed "Bark George". Storytime is at a different time each day.
The shop is great too. And while we didn't get to the cafe (brought a picnic instead) I hear all the cookies have a hole.
I hope to go back again when my son is a little older.
My vote goes to this book, which is a complete delight. Really.
Wait. The winners are based on the review itself, not the book, right?
[oh, everyone's a winner in his own way, Kaz. The prizes will go to reviewers picked at random. More of a drawing than a contest, really. -ed.]
Memorized? All I know of the Eric Carle books is what my 13 month old daughter let's us read. Reading one of his books is pretty much:
"There's the lonely firefly" {daughter flips page(s)}
"look out kids!" {flip}
"uh oh, a cat!" {flip}
"and all the fireflies are lit up..."
{daughter attempts to flip "pages" that are in the extra thick last page which houses all the electronics because, darn it, there must be pages there because no single page would be THIS thick!}