Children's books make great holiday gifts!

The holiday season is upon us and if you’re looking for some children’s book recommendations, here are a few with Louisiana connections.

Pelican Publishing

Pelican of New Orleans has several children’s titles out this fall.

Rhonda Lynn Rucker and her husband James “Sparky” Rucker have penned a soulful book about the Civil Rights Movement that gently explains segregation to young readers in “Make a Change,” illustrated by Brock Nicol. Young Marvin attends the grand opening of Rich’s department store in 1960 Knoxville, Tenn., only to find that its lunch counter won’t allow him access. African Americans gather in church to organize a boycott and decide instead to pray in front of the store. Much to Marvin’s surprise, the grandson of the store’s owner joins him. The Ruckers have won numerous awards for their activist work and their precious book, “Swing Low, Sweet Harriet.”

Children’s book author and performer Johnette Downing, winner of this year’s Louisiana Writer Award, takes on the Cajun Mardi Gras with “Mumbo, Jumbo, Stay Out of the Gumbo,” illustrated by Jennifer Lindsley. Readers will learn about the Cajun courirs, enjoy French words and laugh at the rooster who warns the animals of the Cajun prairie to stay out of gumbo to be cooked on Mardi Gras Day. As the author states in the Author’s Note, “I root for the chicken!”

Nancy Allen takes readers to the country this holiday season with “A Down-Home Twelve Days of Christmas,” illustrated by Apryl Scott. Instead of five golden rings, there’s five razorbacks. On the ninth day, it’s nine bluegrass pickers. You get the idea. What makes the book unique are the letters attached to each day, like the bills from Walmart and the citations from the sanitation department. Cyndi Lou gets pretty aggravated with Billy Ray and ends up dating one of the 10 Nascar drivers while Memaw takes the menagerie and hunts Billy Ray down. It’s all in good fun and will naturally bring a laugh to the old song.

Louisiana author Dianne de Las Casas and illustrator Marita Gentry return with the Cajun cornbread boy, this time with company in “The Cajun Cornbread Boy and the Buttermilk Biscuit Girl.”

If you’re in Baton Rouge, Melissa Maloney Wallace has published a coloring book just for Capitol City kids, “It’s Great to be a Baton Rouge Kid.”

UL Press

Paul Schexnayder of New Iberia created a painting of a Trojan horse, a king and a blue monkey and pondered their story while it hung on his wall. The result is the whimsical “In the Time of Joy and Wonder,” which celebrates the discovery of a tree seedling that grows into a live oak tree with the care of the three explorers. It reads like the tale continues. Let’s hope so.

Denise Gallagher of Lafayette, who has illustrated books and worked with designers and advertisers, has produced her own story with “A Tip Tap Tale,” the adorable story of BouZou, a hound dog who loves to perform in the swamps of Louisiana. BouZou makes it big and travels to New Orleans but he never forgets his roots.

Both books are published by the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Press. You can meet the authors at the Press’ “Art of Giving” sale from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday at the UL Alumni Center in Lafayette. In addition to Gallagher and Schexnayder will be Philip Gould and John Slaughter.

William Joyce

William Joyce, Shreveport award-winning author, illustrator and filmmaker, returns with TV robot character Rolie Polie Olie, who wishes his world would turn snowy, in “Snowie Rolie.” Because he lives in a sunny climate, he must take a rocket trip to Chillsville, a cool world filled with frosty friends, even Klanky Klaus. Joyce has also reissued “Santa Calls,” where three children head to the North Pole to help Santa defeat an army of evil elves. The new version includes lift-the-flap letters from Santa.

Other new releases

Author Rickey Pittman and illustrator Alexis Braud offer a unique “Cajun ABC” that’s as much a travel guide to Cajun Country as a fun way to learn the alphabet. Each letter emphasizes items indigenous to South Louisiana, from personalities Michael Doucet and Chef John Folse to French immersion, fried turkeys and Evangeline. Kids will have a ball perusing this book and its local illustrations. Storyteller Pittman is known as “The Bard of the South” and Braud hails from Acadiana, a graduate of Nicholls. The book is published by River Road Press of New Orleans, which began in 2014 to publish children’s books, history, Southern culture and food.

 

Candlewick Press has produced an astonishing line of oversized children’s books designed to engage young readers with science and social studies. The previous books in the series include “Animalium,” “Dinosaurium” and “Historium.” New this fall is “Botanicum” by Kathy Willis, beautifully illustrated by Katie Scott. The book explains plants in their many categories, including the first plants, trees, palm and cycads, herbaceous plants, grasses, bromeliads and those that adapt to environments. Designed for ages 8-12 and perfect for home and school libraries, children will love spending time dissecting these plants and the scientific-style artwork accompanying them.

Bayou Santa

We published this review in a previous blog post but here goes again:

There have been lots of Louisiana takes on holiday classics and fairy tales but Leif Nedland Pedersen’s “Bayou Santa” offers a unique perspective. The story centers on Noel Robicheaux, who loves living with his wife on a sleepy South Louisiana bayou. They plie their pirogue through the waterways admiring wildlife and scenery and by night Noel crafts small toys for the area children, little duck decoys in bright colors that he gives out at the Christmas fais-do-do. The bayou children adore the couple and before Christmas they all build bonfires to light the way for Santa’s arrival. Santa Claus notices the love Noel gives to his toys and the neighborhood children. Since traveling through the swamps is difficult at best for Kris Kringle, he asks Noel for help. Noel agrees and helps Santa deliver toys in his pirogue with alligators leading the way. It’s a heartfelt story with gorgeous illustrations by Mickey Asche of Mandeville. The sweet tale that emphasizes both the love spread at Christmas and the ties we have to the land is sure to become a Christmas favorite. Pedersen is a New Orleans native who now divides his time between Slidell and Lake Charles, where he serves as senior vice-president of philanthropy at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital Foundation. He is the author of the children’s book series, “The Adventures of the Swamp Kids.”

Book events

Stella Barcelona signs “Concierge: A Black Raven” at 6 p.m. Thursday at Garden District Book Shop of New Orleans.

A panel discussion titled "New Orleans and the World, 1718-2018" with Nancy Dixon, Jack Davis, Freddi Evans and Alison Fensterstock will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Octavia Books of New Orleans.

The Louise Williams branch of the Ouachita Parish Library will hold an open house from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Kim Sunee and Seung Hee Lee will discuss “Everyday Korean: Fresh, Modern Recipes for Home Cooks” from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Ancora, 4508 Freret St. in New Orleans.

University of Louisiana-Lafayette Press authors and staff members will host an “Art of Giving” sale from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday at the UL Alumni Center in Lafayette. Denise Gallagher, Philip Gould, Paul Schexnayder and John Slaughter will be on hand to autograph their publications.



Louisiana Book News is written by Chere Dastugue Coen, award-winning author of several non-fiction books about Louisiana. She also writes novels under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her novel series all begin with a book that's available as a FREE download.