Chris Raschka, Illustrator, Chris Raschka, Author Henry Holt & Company $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8050-5143-8
Raschka (Mysterious Thelonius), one of the reigning risk-takers of the picture book world, undertakes yet another challenge in this interpretation of a traditional Shaker song, albeit less successfully. Using oil crayon on pastel paper, he creates...
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On this book's cover, a winking man nudges a letter "I" with his umbrella. This multilayered image, with its homonym and visual game, provides a stimulating introduction to 30 concrete poems by various authors. Throughout the volume,...
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Chris Raschka, Author Scholastic $14.95 (1p) ISBN 978-0-531-06817-5
Several notches below his usual form here, Raschka ( Yo! Yes? ; Charlie Parker Played Be Bop ) delivers a tale that verges on the impenetrable. Out for a bike ride one day, Elizabeth encounters the decidedly weird Madam Uff Da, an overbearing six-foo
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Chris Raschka, Author Orchard Books (NY) $14.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-531-09479-2
A wakeful pup watches and listens as his brother, his mother and his father settle down for the night. Assured that ""the moon will stay awake for you"" after his family has fallen asleep and he's feeling frightened and lonely, he, too, finally...
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Chris Raschka, Author Scholastic $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-531-09532-4
The perfect antidote for anyone who's ever suffered the slings and arrows of an outrageous older sister, this may well be Raschka's (Yo! Yes?) best picture book yet. With what seem like a few effortless strokes of ink and watercolor and a quick...
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Chris Raschka, Author DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley) $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7894-2564-5
This pert and pithy picture book has strong visual echoes of Raschka's Yo! Yes? down to the bright yellow dust jacket. But if the thematic territory of loneliness and friendship is familiar, the development and spirit here are fresh. As a solo white
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Chris Raschka, Atheneum/Jackson, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-689-84601-4
Surrounded by blurry blue watercolor skies and wheat-brown daubs suggestive of autumn fields, a boy sits on a rail fence and talks to a small crow. At first, his rhyming questions seem simple: "Little black crow, where do you go?/ Where do you go in
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Chris Raschka, read by Jessie Bernstein. Scholastic Audio, unabridged, 10 CDs, 11 hrs., $39.99 ISBN 978-0-545-35703-6
Norman Normann is fairly normal, but when he fails an important exam, his parents hire tutor Balthazar Birdsong to help their son get into an advanced high school. With his tutor's idiosyncratic lessons, Norman quickly begins to see the world and...
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Chris Raschka, Author . Random/Schwartz & Wade $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-375-84146-0
Raschka (The Hello, Goodbye Window
) broaches the topic of death in this solemn book, crafted for terminally ill and/or grieving children. Filmy balloons, potato-printed in muted watercolor on beige backgrounds, drift over the cover and endpapers;...
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Chris Raschka. New York Review Children’s Collection, $17.95 (184p) ISBN 978-1-68137-100-9
Eccentricities run rampant in two-time Caldecott Medalist Raschka’s poignant, charming, and very funny fiction debut, which introduces the residents (both human and mouse) of 777 Garden Avenue, a “neo-proto-Aztec-Egyptian-Gothic” apartment building...
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Chris Raschka, Author . Atheneum/Jackson $16.95 (40p) ISBN 978-0-689-84600-7
In an inventive book that pictures U.S. cities as aristocrats, explorers and Native Americans, Raschka (Mysterious Thelonius
) blithely explains that "a thousand names, a hundred languages... and a million people name one nation." New York,...
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Chris Raschka. Eerdmans, $17 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8028-5494-0
Epistle, that fancy New Testament word, means letter, and Paul was a real human being who, “by writing letters to his friends,” the author asserts, “changed the world.” Caldecott Medalist Raschka (The Doorman’s Repose) paints Paul at his desk in...
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Chris Raschka, Author . Holt $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8050-6782-8
Raschka serves up this sassy ("A is for Attitude") abecedary with characteristic verve, but ultimately the whole is not equal to the sum of its rather haphazard parts. "Don't give me numbers. Don't give me 1, 2, 3. Give me...
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Chris Raschka, Author . Atheneum/Jackson $17 (32p) ISBN 978-0-689-84598-7
This innovative visual deconstruction of one of jazz saxophonist Coltrane's most beloved compositions may be Raschka's (Mysterious Thelonious) most ambitious picture book yet. After a playful introduction ("Good evening. And thank you...
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Chris Raschka, Author . Holt/Owlet $7.95 (, $7.95 ISBN ) ISBN 978-0-8050-6817-7
"Raschka translates the Shaker musical paean to a simplified life into a sort of peaceable kingdom where various animals dwell together in harmony with nature," said PW. "He creates an exceedingly handsome stained glass effect with heavy
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Chris Raschka. Atheneum/Jackson, $17.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-4814-4902-1
Dreamy signature spreads by Raschka (New Shoes) capture Mozart’s famous opera scene by scene, explaining the action with simple text and peppering it with speech-balloon exclamations. A beginning note introduces the characters: Sarastro, the ruler...
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Chris Raschka. Atheneum/Jackson, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4814-8627-9
Caldecott Medalist Rachshka studies an oft-overlooked group of city dwellers—pigeons—conveying through their sociable flocks a message about making friends. In his loose signature style, he pans across a sweep of brownstones and brick buildings,...
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Chris Raschka, Author, C. Raschka, Author Scholastic $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-531-05469-7
Raschka's innovative picture book aims to explore the nature of friendship in only 34 words. It's a risk, but as a writer and artist Raschka is no stranger to risk-taking--his debut ( Charlie Parker Played Be Bop ) was a sly, joyous exercise in...
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Chris Raschka, Author, C. Raschka, Author Scholastic $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-531-05999-9
Regardless of whether they've heard of jazz or Charlie Parker, young readers will bop to the pulsating beat of this sassy picture book. In a daring attempt to capture the raw energy of Parker's music (and in language recalling the verbal theatrics...
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Chris Raschka, Author, Vladimir Radunsky, Illustrator . Candlewick $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7636-1453-9
This ever-so-cultivated manual, decorated with elegant script lettering, tablecloth gingham and snow-white doilies, praises courtesy while giving counterexamples of gauche conduct. The authors dispense the calls to etiquette in a stuffy style,...
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Chris Raschka, Author, Vladimir Radunsky, Illustrator , illus. by Vladimir Radunsky. Harper $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-123963-2
Raschka (John Coltrane's Giant Steps
) supplies the verbal beats and Radunsky (What Does Peace Feel Like?
) sets the gritty scene in this story of a down-and-out dog made good. Like many hip-hop heroes, Hip Hop Dog reports a hardscrabble youth:
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Chris Raschka, Author, Raschka, Author Scholastic $14.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-531-30057-2
Raschka (Charlie Parker Played Be Bop), one of the most original illustrators at work today, is at it again, pushing the limits of his chosen craft. Here, bound in a delightful hand-sized volume, his paean to jazz great Thelonious Monk doubles as a...
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Chris Raschka. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-449-81741-4
Another toy ball—a blue one, this time—sets in motion the events in this emotionally incisive companion to Raschka’s Caldecott-winning A Ball for Daisy. A game of fetch leads to a squirrel chase, which leaves Daisy lost and alone in the forest....
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Once again, Raschka (Yo! Yes?) captures the essence of a mood with the merest hint of text and the briefest of brush strokes. Waffle, a likable fellow who resembles a vaudevillian character sporting what looks like checked plus fours and high laced...
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Chris Raschka. Greenwillow, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-265752-7
With deep, intuitive understanding of a child’s perceptions, Caldecott Medalist Raschka explores the experience of buying new shoes. Readers see the child’s legs and feet from above as the story is told in real time. Big, bold colors and free,...
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Chris Raschka, Author, Chris Raschka, Illustrator . Atheneum/Jackson $16.95 (48p) ISBN 978-0-689-84599-4
Raschka, composer of such visual-musical interludes such as John Coltrane's Giant Steps
, explores all five senses here. The "little one" of the enigmatic title is a young bunny who's urged to experience "flowers and foods,...
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John Keats, illus. by Chris Raschka. Candlewick, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-7636-5090-2
At age 22, Romantic poet John Keats (1795–1821) wrote home to his younger sister, Fanny, while hiking the hills of Scotland. His letter included a playful and self-deprecating “song about myself,” whimsically illustrated by Raschka (A Ball for Daisy)
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Chris Raschka. S&S/Atheneum/Jackson, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4424-1655-0
Two strong-willed elves harry a farmer in this pitch-perfect folktale by Caldecott Medalist Raschka. While harvesting apples, the farmer meets Take, “a tiny little man” dressed in black. The farmer heeds Take’s advice to “take as much as we can,”...
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Chris Raschka. Candlewick, $15.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-7636-5806-9
For jazz fans who welcomed Mysterious Thelonious and John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, Raschka profiles the uncategorizable musician Sun Ra. One century ago, in 1914, “Sun Ra landed on Earth. Looking around, he found himself in Birmingham, Alabama.”...
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Chris Raschka. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-375-87007-1
Two-time Caldecott Medalist Raschka (A Ball for Daisy) crafts an encouraging, artful, and eminently practical approach to a childhood rite of passage: learning to ride a bike. Freewheeling watercolors feature a balding man—perhaps an older father or
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Chris Raschka, Author, Chris Raschka, Illustrator DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley) $15.95 (40p) ISBN 978-0-7894-2614-7
Proving once again that Raschka dances to a different drummer, this engaging picture book bounds off in a wholly original direction and features a return engagement by the two friends from Yo! Yes? Here, readers find themselves privy to half of a...
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Chris Raschka, Author, Chris Raschka, Illustrator Scholastic $15.95 (40p) ISBN 978-0-531-30111-1
Raschka is at it again, setting picture-book precedent in this witty fjord-to-can account of how one little fish became a sardine. In addition to the deliciously eccentric subject matter, there's also an anomalous plot development: midway through...
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Chris Raschka, Author, Chris Raschka, Illustrator Orchard $6.99 (14p) ISBN 978-0-439-57823-3
Popular picture books now appearing in the sturdy format and board book originals gather together in a variety of favorite subjects. Chris Raschka's Charlie Parker Played Be Bop makes the transition to board gracefully, with its one line of text...
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Vladimir Radunsky and Chris Raschka. New York Review Books, $19.95 (80p) ISBN 978-1-59017-817-1
Radunsky and Raschka, the team behind Hip Hop Dog and other titles, collaborate on an unusual volume of vintage studio portraits. Radunsky supplies favorites from his collection of photographs of long-ago children, purchased secondhand in the U.S.,...
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Chris Raschka, Author, Vladimir Radunsky, Author, Raschka Radunsky, Author , illus. by Vladimir Radunsky. Chronicle/Seuil $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-2-02-067608-3
With two covers and title pages and with text written both upside-down and right side–up, Raschka's quirky text resembles a Möbius strip that never stops. The ending of each story leads to the beginning of the next. Depending on which
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Chris Raschka. Phaidon, $18.95 (48p) ISBN 978-0-7148-7866-9
In an album filled with carnival colors, Caldecott Medalist Raschka paints portraits of fathers playing with their children. A girl with long dark braids rides on her dad’s back, beaming with happiness: “Horse/ and rider.” A page turn, and she’s...
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Chris Raschka. Eerdmans, $17.99 (44p) ISBN 978-0-8028-5521-3
“Saint Spotting” is the name given by Caldecott Medalist Raschka’s mother to her method of wandering through Catholic churches, a practice that made trips to imposing cathedrals “light, not scary, and even kind of floaty.” In a direct, confiding...
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Chris Raschka. HarperCollins/di Capua, $21.99 (312p) ISBN 978-0-0628-5827-6
While looking for her cat Muffin, self-possessed 12-year-old Cleopatra Stein meets Jane Oakhurst—an ostensibly childless cat lady who turns out to be the leader of PURR (Peace Urgently Requires Reasonableness), a secret global society of talking...
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Chris Raschka. Candlewick, $14.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7636-9060-1
Raschka (The Magic Flute) captures the intimacy between mother and infant with animated watercolors that celebrate imitative play. Mama has a wavy dark pate and expressive eyebrows; Baby has a fluff of golden hair and a rosebud mouth. They face each
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Chris Raschka. Greenwillow, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-293776-6
Spare text and images center the titular cerulean table, around which a small family—and later, a second—gathers to share meals and gratitude. Instead of showing human figures, Caldecott Medalist Raschka showcases tabletop objects and dishes from a...
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Chris Raschka. Greenwillow, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-304935-2
Raschka (The Blue Table) chronicles a search for intimacy from a cat’s point of view. In his distinctive watercolor style, he sculpts the feline’s furry contours in buttery gold, giving it green eyes, nodding whiskers, and huge paws. The cat sighs...
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Chris Raschka. Greenwillow, $19.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-321050-9
On the jacket of this rhyming verse telling inspired by the life of jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams (1920–1981), Raschka, in ink, oil pastel, and watercolor, paints the figure’s face and body seated at a piano. Inside, though, spreads center the...
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Chris Raschka. Greenwillow, $19.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-304937-6
Watercolor lilies, which each “bloom/ for just/ one day,” blossom for varied subjects across a week’s time in these spring rhymes addressed to “pretty lily.” Establishing the short lifespan of the genus (“You open in the sun,/ and close at the moon,/
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Chris Raschka, illus. by Vladimir Radunsky. Candlewick, $17.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-7636-7523-3
This collaboration, completed before Radunsky’s death in 2018, suggests that the real Mother Goose was Elizabeth Foster, a young woman from 17th-century Boston who married a widower named Isaac Goose. A printer on Pudding Lane is said to have...
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