August 2015: Meta Fiction (Master List and General Discussion)

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

In August, the Picture Book Club will explore the quirky world of meta fiction. I like this description: "In literary terminology 'metafiction' is the word used to describe works that show the audience that they are aware of themselves as a created work. Often this is done by characters interacting with the reader or the author or by characters changing the path of the work" (Anna Logan).

This is our Master List and General Discussion for those picture books not featured in our August 2015 discussion. Feel welcome to add to it!

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Here are a few suggestions to get us started:

The Book with No Pictures

The Three Pigs

The Pencil

Chester

There Are No Cats in this Book

We are in a Book!

Duck! Rabbit!

Ernest, the Moose Who Doesn't Fit

The Day the Crayons Quit

A Book

Coral Reefs

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear


There's also a great Listopia here:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

and an earlier discussion from our group (though it does extend beyond picture books) here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Don't Push the Button!

A Perfectly Messed-Up Story

Inside This Book: (are three books).

This Book Just Ate My Dog!

When It Snows

The Bored Book

The Character in the Book

Help! We Need a Title!

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

It's a Book

Redwoods

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Kathryn wrote: "In August, the Picture Book Club will explore the quirky world of meta fiction. I like this description: "In literary terminology 'metafiction' is the word used to describe works that show the aud..."

When I checked the poll, both rainforests and meta fiction had three votes each. I do not mind meta fiction as a topic, but since I did choose rainforests, I would have liked to have had a tie break.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Blue Chicken

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Gundula wrote: "When I checked the poll, both rainforests and meta fiction had three votes each. I do not mind meta fiction as a topic, but since I did choose rainforests, I would have liked to have had a tie break. "

I did not vote on the poll so I was the tie-break. Since we just did Rivers and Lakes (with one book about rainforests included), I thought it might be nice for more of a change. But I will put Rainforests on the next poll so it has another chance, of course.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Kathryn wrote: "Gundula wrote: "When I checked the poll, both rainforests and meta fiction had three votes each. I do not mind meta fiction as a topic, but since I did choose rainforests, I would have liked to hav..."

Thanks I would appreciate this.

[Taryn]

The Monster at the End of This Book

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Duck's Vacation

[SamZ]

I really want to read BookSpeak!: Poems about Books

[Fjóla]

Chloe and the Lion
Chester's Masterpiece
Battle Bunny
Press Here
Interrupting Chicken
Z Is for Moose
Warning: Do Not Open This Book!
Open This Little Book
There Are Cats in This Book
Little Red Writing
Help! We Need a Title!

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Just got in a new book today that is similar to "Press Here:"
Touch the Brightest Star
Along the same lines:
Tap the Magic Tree

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Press Here is terrific. I've read it - to myself - obeying all the instructions - at least 1/2 dozen times and it cracks me up every time. When this becomes the master list I will add the others by Hervé Tullet.

The Monster at the End of this Book has a sequel - Another Monster at the End of This Book. I've not read it yet though.

There Are No Cats in this Book is Viviane Schwarz's follow-up....

And I'm finally remembering the nomination I've been wanting to make: The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak

And have we mentioned sources? This is what helped me find the title of that last one above: http://groggorg.blogspot.com/2015/01/...

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Warning: Do Not Open This Book! is a common title/variant, too. The one by Adam Lehrhaupt looks especially cute, I think.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Oh, it looks like Wait! No Paint! hasn't been added yet, either....

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Thanks for the great nominations! These books sound so interesting and fun.

It's now time to VOTE for the five books you would most like to read with the group. Please select your top five choices from our official nominations (messages 2-16) and post in a comment below. Votes will be accepted through July 26th. Thank you!

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

I'll abstain - I'd love to read any and all!

[Dolly]

my votes:

Wait! No Paint!
Don't Push the Button!
Open This Little Book
Blue Chicken
A Perfectly Messed-Up Story

I mainly chose books we haven't read yet, and I'm excited to check them out.

We absolutely love the Chester series, but I didn't choose it because the first book in the series was selected as one of the books for the March 2013 - 21st Century Picture Book Characters discussion

[Jenny]

The Day the Crayons Quit
Wait! No Paint!
This Book Just Ate My Dog!
Inside This Book: (are three books).
A Perfectly Messed-Up Story

There are many others that sound good...and many others that we have already read and fallen in love with....but I like to vote for books I haven't yet experienced.

[BC]

Book Speak!
Blue Chicken
Chloe and the Lion
The Day the Crayons Quit
A Perfectly Messed-Up Story

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

I am voting for some that I haven't seen yet:
A Perfectly Messed-Up Story
The Pencil
Don't Push the Button!
When It Snows
The Character in the Book

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

The votes are in! Here are the book we will read together in August:

Don't Push the Button!

Blue Chicken

A Perfectly Messed-Up Story

The Day the Crayons Quit

Wait! No Paint!

Sixth/Alternate:
Open This Little Book

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

This list now becomes our Master List and General Discussion for "meta fiction" picture books not featured in our August 2015 discussion.

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Here is a new one our library just got in:

I Will Chomp You!

It is pretty cute, with the "chomper" protecting his cakes from the invasive reader. The pictures by Bob Shea really move the book along.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Bob Shea has done some terrific work; I will definitely look for this, ty Beverly.

It reminds me just a bit of Go Away, Big Green Monster! which also belongs on this list.

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Another new title at our library:

I Thought This Was a Bear Book

A bookcase collapses, and an extra-terrestrial from one book crash lands in his space ship in "Goldilocks & The Three Bears" book. Adventures and chaos ensue as he tries to get back to his own book. The reader is addressed a couple of times, as well.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Sounds like fun! Thanks, Beverly.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Oh I will look for that! I don't recognize the name Tara Lazar but I do see this is not her first book, so it's not just a newbie jumping on a bandwagon.

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

I just read today: The Best Book in the World. This has brightly colored, kind of retro stylized artwork, in which a girl gives advice and tips on reading a book.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Thanks, Beverly! Sounds good.

[Jenny]

Princess Wannabe is a cute story of a young girl who wonders what it would be like to be a princess. She opens a book and ends up inside, where she meets the frog prince, the big, bad wolf and a host of other characters (including a few that are in the illustrations but not the text). And finally, she gets a chance to talk to the princess and find out what it's like to be a princess.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Oh that sounds cute!

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Normal Norman is both Meta and about Normal vs. Different.

A common theme, but exceptionally successful imo. It cuts to the chase, instead of pussyfooting around describing how some unfortunate feels like they don't fit in. The point here is that *nobody* is "normal." And that's a good thing. More than Mr. Rogers saying that everyone is special, this humorous Metafictional gem reveals that life is more fun when we pursue our individual passions, whether science, dance, sports... explore them all while young, and choose the one that resonates the most deeply.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Most of Mo Willems books are Meta. I just discovered I Lost My Tooth! (with "Unlimited Squirrels!") and it's hilarious even before it starts....

"Hooray for Research Rodent!" And hooray for the science facts at the end, and the ridiculous riddles. Willems can do more than Elephant & Piggie... he's truly a treasure.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

I caught Kathryn's review of Christie Matheson's Touch the Brightest Star and realized it fits here, along with the two companion books, Plant the Tiny Seed and Tap the Magic Tree. They've been added to my lists!

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Cheryl wrote: "I caught Kathryn's review of Christie Matheson's Touch the Brightest Star and realized it fits here, along with the two companion books, [book:Plant the Tiny Seed|..."

I'm glad you remembered to post on this thread, Cheryl! They are very fun and imaginative and my four-year-old loved them all.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Adding the recently published A Book for Bear :-)

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Ooh, thanks for bringing this thread forward, one of my favorites. I will check out that book!

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Cheryl wrote: "Ooh, thanks for bringing this thread forward, one of my favorites. I will check out that book!"

My pleasure :-) Overall, I waffled between three and four stars for the book but most people loved it and I hope you do, too.

[QNPoohBear]

Any Questions?

This is a hilarious and super cute story about the process of writing a book/storytelling. It opens with kids asking the author questions and her explaining her process of creating a story (with input from the kids) until finally, there's a story with a beginning, middle and end.

The illustrations show a diverse array of kids with funny questions and comments. I enjoyed this story a lot and it feels very realistic. The story she comes up with may not appeal to all kids - it's a fantasy piece about a giant and a beast. The beast isn't terribly scary but might frighten some very young readers.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Sounds fun, thanks!