Synopses & Reviews
Aloo-ki glances up from fishing and sees her sled dogs floating off on an ice floe. She races after them and comes upon an igloo. Being a curious girl, she goes inside only to find no one home. That?s because the polar bear family who lives there is out walking while their breakfast cools off. Aloo-ki eats some soup, tries on their boots, and finally crawls into the smallest bed for a nap. Meanwhile, Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear see her dogs adrift, swim out to rescue them and return home to find Aloo-ki fast asleep in Baby Bear?s bed.
Jan traveled to the far North to meet the Inuit people and see the amazing land where they live. Dramatic illustrations capture the shimmering ice, snow and deep blue seas of the Arctic, and when Jan adds a raven-haired Inuit girl and her appealing huskies, an endearing family of polar bears, and playful Arctic animals in the borders, the result is one of her most beautiful picture books.
The decorative Inuit patterns and clothing Jan uses throughout are sure to attract adult fans and collectors while children will want to listen to and look at this exciting version of a well-loved story over and over again.
Review
-Beautifully conceived and finely wrought.+ -
Booklist, starred review
-Brett+s precise, glowing illustrations, drawing on Swedish folk art, make this a beguiling Advent calendar of a book.+-Kirkus Reviews
-This tale with its humorous close-ups of stubborn reindeer and a sharp child protagonist should prove popular at story hours.+-School Library Journal
Synopsis
That popular little character is back looking for friends, in an adventure he?ll never forget.
Confident and cocky, the Gingerbread Baby happens upon a bakery, where he dances and prances in front of a sugar cookie girl, trying to make friends. But she just stares and doesn?t say a word, like all the other sweet treats he tries to meet.
Discouraged, the Gingerbread Baby runs home, chased by a long line of hungry creatures, where Mattie has a fantastic surprise for him?gingerbread friends that fill a giant fold-out page.
Irresistible images inside the confectionery and outside in the snowy Swiss countryside will delight Jan Brett fans.
Synopsis
The story of Cinderella is transported to snowy Russia in Jan Brett's lavish style. One magical night, Cinders, the most picked upon hen in the flock, becomes the most loved by Prince Cockerel when she arrives at his ball looking so beautiful that even her bossy sisters don't recognize her.
Jan travelled to Russia and readers will be in awe of the Ice Palace aglow under a deep blue moonlit sky, exquisite ball gowns on the comely pullets, uniforms with gold braids and buttons on the cockerels, striking Russian architecture transformed into ice in the borders, and a very funny flock of chickens who provide an appealing, original look at this snowy Cinderella.
Readers will find these dressed up chickens comical as they pour over the extravagant setting, including a WOW-inducing double gatefold of chicken couples whirling around the ballroom.
A feast for the eyes that is sure to become a perennial favorite.
Synopsis
Millions of readers have fallen in love with Jan Brett’s
The Mitten, and over 2.5 million copies have been sold since publication in 1989. This striking oversized anniversary edition with a silver foil jacket and a fresh image of the woodland animals will attract fans old and new, and adult collectors of Jan Brett’s books.
Set in a snowy forest, the fun begins when, one by one, animals crawl into Nicki’s lost white mitten to get warm until the bear sneezes, sending the animals flying up and out of the mitten. On each turn of the page, Jan hints at what animal is coming next in her signature borders, inspired by Ukrainian folk art.
Synopsis
Jan Brett’s lovable bunny hero, Hoppi, and her remarkable Easter Rabbit will enchant readers as they pore over illustrations filled with dazzling eggs made by Flora Bunny, Aunt Sassyfrass and others.
If Hoppi can make the best Easter egg, he will get to help the Easter Rabbit deliver the eggs on Easter morning. But it is not so easy. Discouraged, he goes into the woods to think when a blue robin’s egg tumbles out of its nest. Hoppi keeps it safe and warm until the baby bird hatches, and when the Easter Rabbit arrives, he chooses the empty blue eggshell to reward Hoppi for his kindness.
Spring is everywhere in gorgeous illustrations framed with pussy willows, flowering vines and flowers. Side borders feature busy rabbits making their unusual eggs and, in a border above, the Robin’s family drama unfolds.
A gatefold surprise reveals the Easter Rabbit.
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Synopsis
For two decades, readers have loved this classic Christmas story, which was one of the first children's books to hit the
New York Times bestseller list. Now, this beautiful 20th anniversary edition, with a foil cover and a heartfelt note from Jan herself, makes a perfect introduction for new fans to this cherished yuletide story.
Featuring the wintry northern setting and the border illustrations that have become a hallmark of Jan's work, readers will love watching Teeka's humorous attempts to control the rambunctious reindeer in time for their Christmas run.
Synopsis
The Three Little Pigs with a twist! In the tradition of her bestseller
The Three Snow Bears, Jan Brett finds inspiration for her version of a familiar story in Namibia, where red rock mountains and vivid blue skies are home to appealing little dassies and hungry eagles.
Mimbi, Pimbi and Timbi hope to find "a place cooler, a place less crowded, a place safe from eagles!" to build their new homes. The handsomely dressed Agama Man watches from the borders as the eagle flies down to flap and clap until he blows a house down. But in a deliciously funny twist, that pesky eagle gets a fine comeuppance!
Bold African patterns and prints fill the stunning borders, but it is the dassies in their bright, colorful dresses and hats that steal the show in this irresistible tale, perfect for reading aloud.
Synopsis
Originally published in 1989, this luminous reissue of an all-time favorite fairy tale will attract an even wider audience with its romantic new jacket and a shortened text.
Exquisite illustrations of Beauty and her mysterious suitor, the Beast, are set in a magical castle where animals dressed in period costumes serve them. Woven into glorious tapestries throughout are hidden clues hinting at the Beast's secrets, setting Brett's version apart from others.
Synopsis
Who will help Mossy return home to Lilypad Pond?
Mossy, an amazing turtle with a gorgeous garden growing on her shell, loses her freedom when Dr. Carolina, a biologist, takes her to live in her Edwardian museum. Visitors flock to see Mossy, but it is Dr. Carolina's niece, Tory, who notices how sad Mossy is living in a viewing pavilion. She misses the outdoors and her friend, Scoot.
Dr. Carolina finds a way to keep the spirit of Mossy alive at the museum. She invites Flora and Fauna to paint Mossy's portrait. Then she and Tory take Mossy home, where Scoot is waiting for her.
Jan Brett fans will pore over the colorful paintings of Lilypad Pond and lush borders displaying wildflowers, ferns, butterflies and birds in contrast to elegant spreads of the museum filled with visitors in stylish Edwardian dress and exquisite borders of shells, rocks, crystals and birds' eggs.
MOSSY gives readers a fascinating look at nature in the wild and on display in a natural history museum.
Synopsis
Jan Brett sets her Cinderella story in a snowy Russian winter where one magical night, Cinders, the most picked upon hen in the flock, becomes the most loved by Prince Cockerel when she arrives at his ball looking so beautiful that even her bossy sisters don't recognize her.
Jan travelled to Russia and readers will be in awe of the Ice Palace aglow under a deep blue moonlit sky, exquisite ball gowns on the comely pullets, uniforms with gold braids and buttons on the cockerels, striking Russian architecture transformed into ice in the borders, and a very funny flock of chickens who provide an appealing, original look at this snowy Cinderella. Readers will find these dressed up chickens comical as they pour over the extravagant setting, including a "WOW"-inducing double gatefold of chicken couples whirling around the ballroom. A feast for the eyes sure to become a perennial favorite.
Synopsis
In a rollicking, cumulative tale, a badger family and their friendsHedgie, Mr. Ram and Vanya, the horsestruggle to pull up a giant turnip. A cocky rooster steps in and pulls, sending him into the air, holding onto the turnip. No one knows that a mother bear in her underground den has kicked the turnip up through the soil to give the family room to sleep through the winter.
Once again Jan Brett brings an original twist to a favorite folktale. Snow covers the farm in rural Russia as badgers and friends in old-fashioned clothes, and bears marching through bright-colored borders, send young readers laughing from page to page.
About the Author
With over thirty four million books in print, Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books. Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.
As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."
As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."
Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."