---
title: "Chronicle Book Reviews: Picture Books for Art Lovers"
description: "One of the great things about reviewing books is getting a chance to look at books that I wouldn't normally choose for myself. For example, picture books. I have a small collection of picture books..."
url: https://somisguided.com/2008/04/13/chronicle-book-reviews-picture-books-for-art-lovers/
date: 2008-04-13
modified: 2008-04-13
author: "Monique"
categories: ["Book Reviews"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Chronicle Book Reviews: Picture Books for Art Lovers

One of the great things about reviewing books is getting a chance to look at books that I wouldn’t normally choose for myself. For example, picture books. I have a small collection of picture books that I’ve bought because of the incredible artwork but these are not books I actively seek–unless I’m buying for my friends’ kids. (Ok, I secretly look at lots of picture books because I like illustration. I even hang out at “Make Things Night” with friends who are illustrators I just a hanger on.)

(http://blogs.raincoast.com) recently sent me a couple of new Spring books from (http://www.chroniclekids.com) that fall under the “beautiful artwork” category. They also have lovely stories.

!(http://www.chroniclebooks.com/images/items/0811858/0811858154/0811858154_detail.jpg)[**Grandma Calls Me Beautiful by Barbara M. Joosse and illustrated by Barbara Lavallee**](http://www.chroniclekids.com)

Team Barbara is well known to me because they previously published a very popular series called Mama, Do You Love Me and Papa, Do You Love Me. These were simple story books about a parents unconditional love. Barbara Lavallee’s watercolour illustrations are spectacular. In this book the setting appears to be Hawaii. I love the way she depicts Hawaiians and Alaskans in her paintings.

![](http://www.chroniclebooks.com/images/items/0811859/081185924X/081185924X_detail.jpg)[**Wave by Suzy Lee**](http://www.chroniclekids.com)

No text in this book. It’s a great graphic story book about a little girl playing in the waves. This is a fun book. Simple, beautiful. Black, white, blue and fun all over. I wanted to play in the waves after looking at this book. If I’m not mistaken this is the same Suzy Lee who published a very cheeky book called The Black Bird.

![](http://www.chroniclebooks.com/images/items/0811860/081186023X/081186023X_detail.jpg)[**Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosental and Jen Corace**](http://www.chroniclekids.com)

Amy and Jen are the creators of Little Pea, one of my favourite picture books of all time. Little Pea is about a little pea whose parents force him to eat all his candy. It’s horrible: candy for breakfast, sweets at lunch, treats at dinner. Little Pea just wants his veggies. Little Hoot has a similar problem. He’s a little owl and his parents won’t let him go to bed early. Owls stay up late! And that’s that.

![](http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:1o_LE67OX6UJ:http://bestuff.com/images/images_of_stuff/210x600/julius-the-monkey-36879.jpg)[**Only in Dreams: a Paul Frank Book by Parker Jacobs**](http://www.chroniclekids.com)

Julius the Monkey is brought to life in the Paul Frank Books. I love this monkey. Who doesn’t love monkeys? The colours are bold! In this story Julius is off to dreamland. My favourite page is Julius paddling down a strawberry-milk river, near a frosted-cupcake village. I like this dream a lot.

Chronicle Books isn’t the only publisher with great picture books that take an irreverent approach to kids books. Harcourt Books has a fab book this season too.

![](http://www.harcourtbooks.com/images/mrmutt/author1.jpg)[**Help Me, Mr. Mutt: Expert Answers for Dogs with People Problems by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel**](http://www.harcourtbooks.com/mrmutt/)

“Are you always in the doghouse? Don’t yelp, get help! Write to Mr. Mutt, Canine Counselor … Speedy replies guaranteed, complete with diagrams and tips. Help Me, Mr. Mutt is a hilarious collection of letters from dogs seeking advice. Totally brilliant.

(http://www.harcourtbooks.com/mrmutt/contest.asp?source=nav) for a chance to win a copy of Help Me, Mr. Mutt.

(http://www.harcourtbooks.com/mrmutt/interview.asp?source=nav) about writing the book. Get the inside scoop. Mr. Mutt is super cute. Find out if he or any of the other pups are based on Janet or Susan’s pets.