Instructions and rules govern a lot of a child’s life, so it’s not surprising how often book plots turn on whether instructions are followed. In these books, we see what happens when you wiggle during a haircut and when you get off the train when told not to. We get a whole book of instructions on a fairy-tale journey and another book with instructions you must read to understand the story. Whether you’re around wild animals or going to a princess’s birthday party, you’d better listen when authors tell you what to do!

In the Wild by David Elliott (Candlewick, 2010, $16.99, ages 4–8)
Author Elliott and artist Holly Meade paired up previously for a cozy picture book of poems about farm animals (On the Farm). This time, Elliott’s poems and Meade’s woodcuts focus on wild animals—from Lion (“when he roars, the wide world listens”) to Polar Bear. Each verse is short and evocative, capturing the animal in a few, quick verbal strokes: Elliott uses the pattern on a jaguar to warn about the dangerous “jungle-raised bouquet.” Meade’s woodcuts feature each animal large and full of personality, with thick, black lines and sweeping color to show the animals’ patterns set against the wild world they live in.

Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin (Little, Brown, 2010, $14.99, ages 5–8)
In this delightful easy reader, identical twins Ling and Ting look very much alike, but Ting’s big sneeze at the wrong moment during a haircut makes it much easier to tell them apart. Lin does an excellent job of limiting vocabulary while still injecting gentle, realistic humor into the six short chapters. When poring over the pictures to try to pick out which girl is which, children may notice how Lin matches the color of the girls’ dresses in each chapter with the borders surrounding each picture, a touch which helps make the chapters distinct and the book a harmonious whole. With its ethnic touches (as when the girls make Chinese dumplings and struggle with chopsticks), this is a very welcome addition to the easy reader section.

Instructions: Everything You’ll Need to Know on Your Journey by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins, 2010, $14.99, ages 6–10)
Here’s the book of instructions you’ll need once you’ve gone through a wooden gate “you never saw before.” Some of the instructions are precise: “Do not touch it; it will bite your fingers.” Others may apply equally well: “If any creature tells you that it hungers, feed it.” Illustrator Charles Vess takes Gaiman’s instructions and creates his own fantasy/fairy-tale world, depicting a catlike creature in boots taking a journey and encountering all sorts of animals and magical beings. Children who know fairy tales will love picking out the parts they recognize and may experience a spark of recognition when they later encounter references they saw here first. Vess’s pictures, with their old-fashioned look and use of foreground and background to extend the story, create a rich experience, but some children may want to take single phrases from Gaiman’s imaginative text to illustrate in their own ways.

Meanwhile by Jason Shiga (Amulet, 2010, $15.95, ages 10–14)
This is one book that requires a page of instructions before you start reading, because rather than pages of text, the book consists of pages of cartoon panels connected by thin colored tubes. Some connect directly to the next panel, but others branch off. The reader must decide which way to go, beginning with the first branch: vanilla ice cream or chocolate? Vanilla leads to a dull ending, but chocolate could lead to accidentally destroying the world. Readers must flip back and forth through the shiny pages and follow the connectors or the story will make no sense—but today’s graphic novel fans are used to pages being laid out unconventionally. With its 3,856 possible directions, this book will lend itself to reading and rereading, and rewards the reader with some great plot twists and funny, Simpsons-like cartoons.

The Birthday Ball by Lois Lowry (Houghton Mifflin, 2010, $16.00, ages 8–12)
Princess Patricia Priscilla is required by law to choose a noble husband on her 16th birthday. She has three (or is it four?) ghastly suitors—one hideous, one cruel and vain, and conjoined twins who fight constantly and delight in bathroom humor. But the princess is more interested in swapping places with her chambermaid and attending school in the town. With its very funny moments, clever wordplay, and entertaining story, this book makes a great read-aloud, as long as listeners get to see Jules Feiffer’s cartoon drawings.

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins (Greenwillow, 2010, $16.99, ages 11 and up)
Ry gets off the train when it’s stuck in Montana and is left behind—without his backpack. So begins 15-year-old Ry’s adventure as he travels on foot, by car, by rickety plane held together with duct tape, and by sailboat in this funny, engaging novel. Perkins, winner of the 2006 Newbery Medal for Criss Cross, ties together multiple storylines and characters, and even throws in a side story in cartoon panels about the family’s dogs that also are traveling. This would be a great discussion book, especially paired with Gary Paulsen’s classic Hatchet.

 

Rules rule when authors say so (August 2010). Reading Today 28(1), 32.