5-Year-Old Boy Books of the Week: Chalk, Gabby & Gator, Mostly Monsterly

Here are Johnny Boo's favorites from the past week:

Chalk
Author/illustrator: Bill Thomson
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Children's Books (March 2010)
Source: Public library

Chalk is a wordless picture book about three children (Johnny Boo named them Annie, Jamie and Ben) who on a rainy day find a bag of seemingly harmless chalk at the playground. The children watch as their drawings magically come to life, but when the boy decides to draw a dinosaur, the children try to figure out how to escape. The illustrations in Chalk so vividly tell the children's story without the need for words and allow the reader to use his imagination (see Johnny Boo's child-naming above). Johnny Boo loves this book and has had me read it to him over and over again.

Johnny Boo's note: I like when the dinosaur came out of the ground and his foot was stuck.

Find it: Amazon, IndieBound

Gabby & Gator
Author/illustrator: James Burks
Publisher: Yen Press (September 2010)
Source: Public library

Gator gets flushed down the toilet by his first owner and ends up in a sewer. As he grows he begins terrorizing and eating any pet who crosses his path and everyone in town, except for a little girl named Gabby, is afraid of him. And so they become friends. Gator helps Gabby, who just wants to find someone who will accept her for who she is, with her bully troubles. Gabby helps Gator when he's captured by animal control and tries to teach him that it's not okay to eat animals or humans. A graphic novel with some funny parts throughout, especially at the end, Johnny Boo and I read this twice, and Tintin enjoyed it as well.

Johnny Boo's note: I loved when that boy flushed Gator down the toilet.

Find it: Amazon, IndieBound

Mostly Monsterly
Author/illustrator: Tammi Sauer/Scott Magoon
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books (August 2010)
Source: Public library

Bernadette is a monster. Unlike the other monsters in her class, however, Bernadette is not 100 percent monsterly. She likes flowers and group hugs, and she likes baking unmonsterly cupcakes for her friends. She has trouble relating to the other monsters and they to her until she discovers how to be monsterly and sweet at the same time. She finally learns how to be accepted but also remain true to herself.

Johnny Boo's note: I like when the mayhem comes.

Find it: Amazon, IndieBound