Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was the compact camera. This sprightly tale of curiosity and determination puts the spotlight on the inventive young man who made photographers of all of us, one improvement at a time.

On this date, September 4, in 1888, George Eastman registered the trademark Kodak. You can learn more here.

Other books mentioned:

• One Beetle Too Many — The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin
• Neo Leo (the Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci)
• The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau
• The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.

Playful, edge-to-edge illustrations and cheerily worded nuggets of history, mystery, physics, and biology paint a thrilling picture of a brilliantly curious and creative man that will tickle the scientist in all of us.

Right now, you can test out over 60 of Leonardo da Vinci’s prototypes at Leonardo da Vinci: Man Inventor Genius.

Mentioned in this chat:

• Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin
• Wind Engineering Pioneer, Alan Davenport (palm tree observations)

More intriguing lives on JOMB:

• One Beetle Too Many — The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin
• The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau
• Marco Polo
• Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum
• Buffalo Music
• Priscilla and the Hollyhocks
• The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.

New, crescent, quarter, gibbous and full then all the way back to new, this ingeniously illustrated poem gives us a solid understanding and new appreciation for our revolving neighbour.

UNESCO has designated 2009 as International Year of Astronomy. You can get excited and get involved in IYA2009 here.

More science on JOMB:

• Astronaut Handbook
• Animals at the EDGE (Saving the World’s Rarest Creatures)
• Nic Bishop’s Frogs
• One Beetle Too Many — The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin
• The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau
• Bubble Homes and Fish Farts
• The Snow Show — with Chef Kelvin

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.

Doey eyes, gangly legs and silent, tangible devotion make this true tale of rescue, regret and release a thought provoking look at the value of life and freedom.

Other books mentioned:

• Saving Samantha: A True Story

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.

Catchy, four-line rhymes and an energetic animal cast aim to take the sting out of multiplication long before the onset of Times Table Torture.

More math on JOMB:

• On the Scale, a Weighty Tale
• Missing Math (A Number Mystery)
• A Very Improbable Story
• Full House: An Invitation to Fractions
• Interview with David Schwartz

Pop over to Critique de Mr. Chompchomp for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show

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Colour drenched, stylized illustrations, carefully selected quotes and simple, informative text open our eyes and imaginations to the creativity, curiosity and commitment of this explorer, inventor, filmmaker extraordinaire.

More eye-opening biographies on JOMB:

• One Beetle Too Many — The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin
• Marco Polo
• Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum
• Buffalo Music
• Priscilla and the Hollyhocks
• The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Today, our 9 year old daughter, Lucy, tells us why she absolutely adores this beautifully written and inspiring Amazon adventure.

Click here to listen to our chat with Eva Ibbotson on her 83rd birthday.

Other beloved books by Eva Ibbotson:

• Which Witch?
• The Great Ghost Rescue
• The Secret of Platform 13
• The Star of Kazan
• The Beasts of Clawstone Castle
• Dial-a-Ghost
• Island of the Aunts (a.k.a. Monster Mission)

Click here for other Eva Ibbotson book reviews by Lucy and click here to see the postcard Eva sent to Lucy and Bayla earlier this year in response to their 84th birthday cards.

LISTENER HOTLINE: Chuck Stanley enjoys sharing his childhood love of Fox in Socks (by Dr. Seuss) with his own children.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Quick! What’s used for communication, transportation, self defence, sound-dampening, warmth, entertainment and hatching and doesn’t cost a cent? If you didn’t say “bubbles” – and even if you did – you will be blown away (how could we resist?) by this beautifully illustrated and light hearted look at the ingenious uses of suds in the wild.

More fascinating animal facts on JOMB:

• There’s a Babirusa in My Bathtub
• Animals at the EDGE (Saving the World’s Rarest Creatures)
• Where in the Wild?
• Nic Bishop’s Frogs
• A Horse in the House
• Over in the Ocean … in a Coral Reef

HOTLINE VOICES: Chel Pixie recalls a colourful favourite, The Very Hungry Caterpillar (by Eric Carle).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Starring pop-eyed recruits and friendly second-person narrative, this Cybils 2008-2009 NonFiction Picture Book category finalist dispenses enticing details of space training while gently nudging keen readers toward the healthy habits that just might make their dreams come true.

Be sure to check out the complete list of 2008-09 Cybils finalists in all nine categories.

HOTLINE VOICES: Beatrix (who learned about us from our appearance in Canadian Living Magazine) calls in to share her favourite, The Tale of Peter Rabbit (by Beatrix Potter).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Startling facts, silly poems and the thrill of a hidden picture hunt make this warmly illustrated smorgasbord of strangeness a sly and slippery segue from fiction to non-fiction.

More amazing animals on JOMB:

• Animals at the EDGE (Saving the World’s Rarest Creatures)
• Where in the Wild?
• Nic Bishop’s Frogs
• A Horse in the House
• Over in the Ocean … in a Coral Reef

Pop over to Mommy’s Favourite Children’s Books for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

HOTLINE VOICES: Author/Illustrator Peggy Collins makes a good case for Sleepyhead (by Karma Wilson and John Segal) as a great last-read-aloud-before-bedtime book.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Gentle, realistic illustrations and intriguing text tell the true tale of an adorable stray dog that restored health to critically ill children in a London hospital and hope to those who cared for them.

You can take a closer look at our long awaited (and long resisted) new family member, Phaedra, here.

Working dogs on JOMB:

• How Smudge Came
• Rosie: A Visiting Dog’s Story
• Heroes of Isle aux Morts

More dogs on JOMB:

• Doggie in the Window
• Owney the Mail-Pouch Pooch
• Night Running: How James Escaped with the Help of His Faithful Dog
• Stella, Unleashed!
• Little Lions, Bull Baiters & Hunting Hounds: A History of Dog Breeds
• Biscuits in the Cupboard
• Good Dog
• May I Pet Your Dog?
• “Let’s Get a Pup!” said Kate
• My Pup
• The Pound from the Hound
• Poodlena
• The Trouble with Tilly Trumble
• The Outside Dog
• Lady Lupin’s Book of Etiquette
• Dogs’ Night
• I Want A Dog
• Safe and Sound
• Dirty Dog Boogie

You can listen to our to vain attempt get our doggie dose through children’s books here.

HOTLINE VOICES: Katrina Morse of FamilyReading.com explains how one of her favourite books, the 1948 classic Blueberries for Sal (by Robert McCloskey), shows that children can have more common sense than grown-ups.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Don’t judge this Cybils 2008-2009 NonFiction Picture Book category winner by its cover.

This gorgeously photographed and casually narrated ramble through the often mindboggling traits, anatomy, actions, stats and abilities of the humble frog family will change your view of frogs forever.

Be sure to check out the complete list of 2008-09 Cybils winners in all nine categories.

HOTLINE VOICES: Librarian Peggy Northcraft believes that part of who she is as an adult, today, is because of the Anne of Green Gables series (by Lucy Maud Montgomery).  Be sure to listen to our documentary, Before Green Gables and the 100th anniversary of Anne Shirley.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Fabulous photos of scarce, strange and, often, sweet-looking animals and intimate glimpses of the young scientists who are working to save them make this exciting look at work of the Zoological Society of London’s EDGE of Existence Program an engaging introduction to the science of conservation.

HOTLINE VOICES: Mrs. Incredible talks about the poetic devotion she and her three year-old son share for A Light in the Attic (by Shel Silverstein).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Cheery, matter-of-fact narration and gorgeous fridge-door worthy art give us a mind’s eye view of one whopping lunar adventure in this beautiful tale of space travel, spunk and solidarity.

HOTLINE VOICES: Victoria Long fondly remembers her mother reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond) to her.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Saucy cartoon-style illustrations and catchy rhyme make this gritty ditty so much fun it just may etch examples and relative sizes of ounces, grams, pounds, tons and tonnes into unsuspecting little minds.

More math on JOMB:

• Missing Math (A Number Mystery)
• A Very Improbable Story
• Full House: An Invitation to Fractions

More cartoonist creations on JOMB:

• Sandy Mackenzie, Why Look So Glum?
• Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big
• Baby Brains
• She’s Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head
• Cinderella Skeleton
• interview with Simon James
• interview with Christine Tripp

HOTLINE VOICES: Sarah Hatfield of No Whey, Mama shares her thoughts about Blueberries for Sal (by Robert McCloskey)

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

Pop over to Karen Edmisten’s Blog for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

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Wonderfully wonky, earth-toned images and casual, lilting narration treat us to the antics, adventures, achievements and apprehension of Charles Darwin, the curious young collector who changed our view of the world.

Other books mentioned:

• Marco Polo
• The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur
• The Lamp, the Ice and the Boat Called Fish

More inspiring biographies on JOMB:

• Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum
• Buffalo Music
• Priscilla and the Hollyhocks

Be sure to make Esme Raji Codell’s Biography Break blog a regular stop on your great book gathering rounds.

HOTLINE VOICES: Michelle Brownlow of My Semblance of Sanity tells sings the praises of Hooway for Wodney Wat (by Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger)

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Hoopla, bloopers and the rantings of temperamental talent turn a lesson in the science of snow into a boisterous blast of behind-the-scenes TV-making lunacy — who knew deposition, sublimation, sectored plates and radiating dendrites could be so much fun?

Other books mentioned:

• The Scrambled States of America Talent Show
• Do Unto Otters

HOTLINE VOICES: Author and Professor of Library Science at Texas Woman’s Universit, Sylvia Vardell explains why Diamond Willow (by Helen Frost) is one of her current favourite books.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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A ghastly cast of grinning graveyard neighbours pool revolting resources to concoct (and consume) an oozing, gurgling, gruesome stew in this superbly illustrated Hallowe’en counting rhyme.

Other books mentioned:

• The Ghost of Nicholas Greebe

Pop over to Big A, Little A for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

HOTLINE VOICES: Thanks to Todd Melby of 2 Below Zero for telling us about The Witches (by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave us a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

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Beautifully bound in a soft unevenly edged journal and told with humour, innocence, intimacy and affection, the daily entries of a fictional twelve year old disclose the spellbinding details of life during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-19.

Our daughter Lucy (9) also contributes to the discussion of the book, which she tells us is part of her current favourite series.

More books touching on war and peace on JOMB:

• The Donkey of Gallipoli (A True Story of Courage in World War I)
• A Poppy is To Remember
• Gleam and Glow
• Janusz Korczak’s Children
• What We Remember
• The Cello of Mr. O
• Lugalbanda: The Boy Who Got Caught Up In A War
• One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II
• Seven Brave Women
• And to Think That We Thought That We’d Never Be Friends
• Aunt Claire’s Yellow Beehive Hair

More illness on JOMB:

• The Tortilla Cat
• The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur
• Farm Flu

HOTLINE VOICES: Author Michelle Mulder from Victoria, British Columbia shares her thoughts on The Composition (by Antonio Skarmeta and Alfonso Ruano). Thanks, Michelle!

Snappy storytelling and lively illustrations convey how disorder and diversions inspire an oasis of creativity while a sterile environment can be like a desert for an inventive mind.

Other books mentioned:

• Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art
• Willow
• The Clay Ladies
• Cat Magic
• The Trouble with Tilly Trumble

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Funky paint and collage artwork and breezy first person narrative provide an eye-opening peek at a young girl’s experience with amblyopia and strabismus in this upbeat tale of personality, patches, perspective and pride.

You can read more about eye patching treatments here and here.

Other books mentioned:

• Carmine: A Little More Red

Shocked expressions, rhyming clamor and high contrast chaos create a dazzling disguise for this sneaky introduction to the importance of numbers.

You can read the interesting history of this book here.

Other books mentioned:

• The Looking Book

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More math on JOMB:

• Full House: An Invitation to Fractions
• A Very Improbable Story

Be sure to pop over to Under the Covers for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

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What’s the likelihood that a crusty feline sticking stubbornly to a boy’s skull expounding statistical concepts would not only be strangely engaging but would clearly communicate what probability is, what it’s not, how to pronounce it and how to use it to improve soccer scores? In this case, 100%

More math on JOMB:

• Full House: An Invitation to Fractions

More cats on JOMB:

• Someday When My Cat Can Talk
• Cat Magic
• The Tortilla Cat
• The Looking Book
• The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza
• Pumpkin Soup

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Brilliantly peppy polymer clay sculpture and enticing, educational details transform the traditional “Over in the Meadow” toddlers’ tune into a celebration of sea life that has captivated our whole family.

Other books mentioned:

• Going Around The Sun: Some Planetary Fun
• books by Barbara Reid

You can learn more about 2008 International Year of the Reef here.

More singable books on JOMB:

• Sing, Sophie
• Sitting On the Farm
• The Eensy-Weensy Spider
• Wenceslas
• Monster Goose
• Science Verse

Be sure to pop over to Two Writing Teachers for today’s full menu of poetry offerings.

Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

Author: Gloria Spielman
Illustrator: Matthew Archambault
Published: 2007 Kar-Ben Publishing (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0822570505

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Uncommonly rich illustrations and detailed, yet accessible, early reader text relay the haunting, true story of Janusz Korczak — doctor, writer, educator and champion of children’s rights.

You can read more about Janusz Korczak here.

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Cheerfully wobbly illustrations combine with rhyme, repetition and a cast of colourful characters to make this sneaky introduction to fractions a read-aloud hit.

Other books mentioned:

• Minnie’s Diner: A Multiplying Menu (ill. John Manders)
  
• Sleeping Dragons All Around

Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

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Ten pleasantly familiar animals perch boldly exposed — yet cleverly concealed — in full page photographs tossing tantalizing clues to their whereabouts through an assortment of snappy, lyrical, comical and informative poems in this 2007 Cybils Non-Fiction Picture Book Award Finalist.

Click here for the Tricycle Press Reading Guide.

Pop over to Cybils Central to get the scoop on all the 2007 Cybils finalists and, while you’re there, check out the full list of non-fiction picture book nominees.

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Mother Goose, Longfellow and Edgar Allen Poe get a jolt of unshakable Scieszkan nonsense in this addictive collection of twisted belt-it-out classics.

Other books mentioned:

• Math Curse
• The Frog Prince, Continued
• The True Story of The Three Little Pigs

Check out 7-Imp’s interview with the amazing Jon Scieszka here.

Check out our chat with Lane Smith here.

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Full of meaty words, infectious beats and fact*-based blackish humour, this invigorating feast of illustrated, dinosaur poems is permanently woven into the fabric of our family.

*The facts upon which the poems are based are twenty years out-of-date — but what’s twenty years between 225 million year old friends?

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Stunning in its sensational simplicity and resplendent with scientific details, this gorgeously illustrated and warmly worded masterpiece is a stirring introduction to the modest magnificence that is life.

Other books mentioned:

• A Seed is Sleepy

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How can I have lived this long and never noticed that two of a parrot’s toes are on backwards? This playful and original book about life as a parrot is as entertaining as it is educational. My view of parrots is forever changed!

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With its casual, fun storybook approach and its familiar Marc Brown illustrations, this book smoothly and effectively demystifies sexuality, privacy, gender stereotypes, and more, well before mystification has a chance to begin. Our girls think this book is a riot!

Amazon

With cartoony illustrations and stripped down stories the ValueTales Series of books use imaginitive devices to introduce young readers to historical figures and the personal attributes that helped them make a difference in their worlds.

If you are curious about the fate of the ValueTales, you can listen to an interesting interview about an attempt to revive these books on Mark’s ElectricSky podcast.