Hello and welcome!

Welcome to the Wonderful World of PlanetEsme! With an average of over five thousand children's books published annually, it's awfully overwhelming for families, teachers and enthusiasts to navigate the shelves and get great books into the hands of great readers (and great readers-to-be). I hope this book-a-day plan will be a boon to anyone who would like to play a supporting character in a child's reading life story. This blog is a supporting page to the soul sister site PlanetEsme.com , where you will find a silly amount of additional reviews, thematic lists, links, and much more...everything you need to become an expert in children's literature. I'll also occasionally be posting advice when you ask for it (and sometimes when you don't), unusual offers, resources and maybe the occasional rant. Bookmark this page and start each weekday with a new terrific title!

Since this is the birth of a new blog, it seems only fitting that our first recommendation be about something great hatching...

NONFICTION
AN EGG IS QUIET by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long (Chronicle)

Though most children encounter eggs cold, white and by the dozen in their refrigerator, this book bring eggs to life as the source of just that, in a multitude of colors, shapes, and textures. From the frontpapers showing more eggs than a White House Easter hunt to the endpapers exploding with the animals that emerge, this is a book of incredible substance and beauty. Also, it has the rare quality of being nonfiction that works as a read-aloud. In a interview on book maven Cynthia Leitich Smith's website, illustrator Long remarks: "Aston's inventive, original and intriguing manuscript was the initial and continuing inspiration for EGG's illustration. Her mature seed fell on fertile ground." I promise you, this stunning tour de force will take your breath away and incite an interest in nature with the turning of every page. It certainly should be considered for a Robert F. Sibert Medal, as it is truly hard to imagine a more perfect informational picture book, a marriage of the naturalist hearts of two creative spirits beating as one. (Ages 5 and up)

Also of interest:
BUMPETY BUMP by Pat Hutchins (Greenwillow) (A little hen follows a boy and grandfather around the farm, egg-cited to show them the amazing thing that she can do. Pair with AN EGG IS QUIET for a grade-A storytime!) (4 and up.)
MAMA OUTSIDE, MAMA INSIDE, also by our featured author Dianna Aston, illustrated by Susan Gaber (Henry Holt) (An expectant mother watches as a bird's preparations for the new arrival mirror her own. This especially tender story is a perfect shower gift.) (4 and up.)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.