Apples and Oranges: Going Bananas with Pairs

I have a new favorite children's picture book author. Oh, I still love Mo Willems books, but Sara Pinto also makes me and my grandchildren laugh with her new book _Apples & Oranges Going Bananas With Pairs. How are an apple and an Orange alike? What about a bird and a kite? Or a book and a letter? If you think you know the answer, you probably do, but I'm sure it's not the answer that the author Pinto gives. That's okay, because everyone's answers will contribute to the rollicking good time you'll have when reading Apples & Oranges Going Bananas With Pairs_. I love the interactive nature of Pinto's book. Guessing the answers is just plain silly fun that brings giggles and guffaws from the readers. And we all know that laughing is a good thing. The illustrations are wonderful. I found myself finding such fun and interesting things in the pictures. Children will adore this loveable and silly book, and I predict it will become a favorite of most. It's already one of my favorite books. Armchair Interviews says: Add this to your child's must-have children's book library.

From Publisher's Weekly E-Newsletter, January 10, 2008: "As readers might expect, Sara Pinto's new picture book Apples and Oranges: Going Bananas with Pairs (Bloomsbury, Jan.), focuses on fun word and object associations. Editor at large Victoria Wells Arms spoke with Bookshelf about how the book landed its clever title. "The concept for the book came from Sara's memory of one of those awful IQ tests they always have you take when you're little," Arms recalls. When asked what the apple and orange pictured in front of her had in common, a young Pinto answered, "They both don't wear glasses." Arms credits art director Donna Mark with the fruity moniker Apples and Oranges. "Maybe that points to how visual the book is," Arms notes. "And we knew from the beginning we wanted to put the apple and orange on the cover." But after nailing a snappy title, the creative forces at work still needed a nifty, descriptive subtitle to, um, pair it with. Arms says that Pinto's husband, architect Robert Mantho, came up with the catchy--and accurate--Going Bananas with Pairs one night at home when the couple was throwing around ideas. Now Pinto's childhood experience has come full circle. A whole new generation of young- sters has a chance to try their hand at Apples and Oranges' brainteaser comparisons--though this time around it's all just for goofy fun. --Shannon Maughan