Big Plans is a big hit with me!

BIG PLANS – View on Amazon

by Bob Shea; illustrated by Lane Smith;  published (2008) by Hyperion Books for Children

I’m always drawn to bold, unusual books with unusual plots and offbeat illustrations. And BIG PLANS fits the bill to a T.

A BIG book with BIG pictures and EVEN BIGGER action, BIG PLANS is a marvel and a hit with me. Crackling with humour, booming with personality – if you’re buying, it’s one big bang for your buck.

Believe it or not, BIG PLANS is about a little boy without a name. He isn’t feeling very big, sitting time-out, in the classroom, in the corner, facing the wall.  He’s been a bad boy, judging by the writing on the board….

…. What I say does not go.  I am not the boss of the class….It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice…

And now he’s mad and really scheming. Soon, the entire world will know of his big plans.  So big he’ll   “…need Dad’s shiniest tie and fanciest shoes…“

So big he will fly a copter, score with the local team, declare himself mayor, and oust the president!  Then he’ll build a rocket and fly to the moon!   “…in the night sky for all to see, it will say….I GOT BIG PLANS!  BIG PLANS, I SAY!”

His imagination takes us far, to high places and low places, as he threatens the sorry, sorry world with his BIG and BIGGER plans.  It is a story that is funny and quirky and brilliant; a book that doesn’t miss a beat.  In my opinion, a perfect book.  Does the world not yet know of BIG PLANS?  It is really THAT good.

Author Shea has a website.

Illustrator Lane Smith has done the book absolute justice in a really big way.  The art is all big and wonderful.  He has a website, check it out.

Lulu and the Brontosaurus

LULU AND THE BRONTOSAURUS –  View on Amazon

by Judith Viorst;  illustrated by Lane Smith; Published (2012) by Atheneum Books

Judith Viorst, in her unique and utterly excellent writing style, has penned a tale that is just plain cutesy.  Lane Smith’s green-toned pencil on pastel drawings are fresh and expressive.  And I like the very unusual slender book shape.

Our heroine, spoiled and only child, Lulu, has never had to say ‘please’ because mom and dad give her everything.  When Lulu’s birthday comes around, Lulu wants a brontosaurus for a pet.  For once, mom and dad stand firm and Lulu absolutely HATES hearing  NO.  And because she absolutely hates hearing NO, she sallies off into the forest in search of a brontosaurus, singing her brontosaurus song and with a suitcase full of useful things.  She whops a snake good along the way, too, in her truculent, snooty Lulu-fighting fashion, and ditto for Bear and Tiger. But the brontosaurus is one tough nut.

“A pet,” says the brontosaurus, “is a very good thing.”  Meaning that LULU will make a very good pet for HIM.  Lulu has a problem.  She has never been a pet before and being entirely rude is no way to sway the bronto.  By and by, pet life wears our poor Lulu down and has to learn to resort to niceness; at last she tackles this challenge with a smart and considerate win-win solution and, best of all, she learns to say a very nice please.

A lovely, well-paced chapter book that I highly recommend.  Judith Viorst is an outstanding writer.  I love that Judith Viorst!