Surprise! Surprise!

Surprise! Surprise!
by
Gyo Fujikawa
board book
ages 18 months - 4 years

Rabbit is a trickster and the other animals don't trust him. Animals are frolicking around one day and trying to decided what to do to entertain themselves. They decide to jump over a fence and see what is on the other side. Surprise! You have to read the story to find out what is on the other side of the fence.

Unfortunately, the ending is ruined because the publisher put a picture of the ending on the front cover. So much for the surprise. What were they thinking?

Overall I enjoyed the pictures of the animals more than the text. The scruffy dog was my favorite picture.

I can't help but read the title as if someone from Mayberry was saying it.

Not a Stick

Not a Stick
by
Antoinette Portis
Ages 2-5.

This is a simple yet delightful book that shows the stick figure main character pig pretending that a stick is all kinds of things - a sword, a hobby horse, and more. Kids don't need all kinds of toys - just give them sticks!
In case you hadn't heard, the stick made it into the Toy Hall of Fame as a classic toy. I don't know if the author wrote this book inspired by the press surrounding this event or if it happened to come out at about the same time. All hail the STICK!
This book was on a reading list that the park system handed out.
The cover says that this is a Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, but maybe they meant that the author won for a different book.
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/geiselaward/index.cfm
I see that the author also has a book called "Not a Box". I am assuming that the plot is similar.

Here is what the Museum of Play has to say about sticks:

http://www.museumofplay.org/nthof/toys/index.php?toy=stick

Stick

The stick may be the world’s oldest toy. Animals play with sticks, and we use them to play fetch with our dogs. Children find sticks an endless source of make-believe fun. Sticks can turn into swords, magic wands, majorette batons, fishing poles, and light sabers. When children pretend with sticks, they cultivate their creativity and develop their imagination. They explore as they search outdoors for just the right one. Children build with sticks, bat balls with them, and walk with them. They are the original building blocks for creative play. Sticks also promote free play—the freedom to invent and discover. They encourage playing outside instead of inside. Sticks are all around us; they are natural and free. And playing with sticks isn’t just for children and animals. Adult artists, crafters, decorators, and architects all make use of sticks in sculptures, wreaths, furniture, and building design. Few adults or children can resist simple play with sticks—from drawing in the sand on the beach, to building a campfire and then toasting marshmallows. Sticks are not only possibly the oldest toy, they’re possibly the best!