New Books for Children from Flying Eye Books

 Flying Eye Books is the children's division of Nobrow Publishing. They sent me several books to look at, so I was able to put on my children's librarian hat. The books from this company have a unique look and feel. My grandchildren really enjoy them. Here are three that have just recently been published.

 Archie Snufflekins Oliver Valentine Cupcake Tiberius

by Katie Harnett

Flying Eye Books     2016    Picture Books

Both of my grandchildren liked this tale of a roving cat that visits all the houses in the neighborhood and then unites all the neighbors to help a lonely neighbor woman make some friends. The title comes from the fact that each of the neighbors have a different name for the cat. The drawings are excellent, and the book has a vaguely 1960s cast to it, which is utterly appealing. Both children were eager to tell me the story about when their cat strayed to their old house about a month after they had moved to their new house. He apparently had gone there for a visit.

Archie etc. reminded me of the book Six-Dinner Sid by Inga Moore that always engendered a lot of discussion when I read it in my library. Children who have cats understand the imperious nature of cats—and Archie etc. definitely is imperious, if not downright snooty.  

Do You See What I See

by Helen Borten

Flying Eye Books     2016    Picture Books

Helen Borten's books were originally published in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This particular series of books includes 5 volumes, all part of the Do You Hear What I Hear series. They are returning to print following extensive enhancements to the printing process, including an authentic reproduction of the colors. 

Do You See What I See introduces children to the process of combining lines, shapes, and colors to form pictures. Basically, it is an introduction to art. Adela, age 5, was very interested in the concept of the book and drew a picture using shapes and lines. Davick, 3, was too young to appreciate the book's intricacies and soon wandered off. I can see this book used very successfully in a beginning art class for early elementary children. 

Here is an extremely interesting article in Publisher's Weekly about how Flying Eye Books, the children's imprint of Nobrow Press, found Borten and her series and returned them to print.  

 Smart About Sharks

by Owen Davey

Flying eye Books     2016    38 pages     Children's Nonfiction

What I learned from reading Smart About Sharks to my 3-year-old grandson is that he wants to interact with the books that we are reading together. This is different from his sister who wants to know the story. Davick really liked the pictures in this book—all the different types of sharks, their size and shape, and most importantly the size of their teeth. He wasn't particularly interesting in having me read all the interesting facts the book has, he just wanted to talk with me about the pictures.

 I learned a great deal that I didn't know about sharks, and I think that a 7 or 8-year-old would have a great time with this book. I can even see Davick transitioning from his fascination with dinosaurs to a fascination with sharks if I present this book to him again in a year or so. More importantly, this book is a great introduction to nonfiction reading for children. It has a table of contents and an index.