The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo
I actually thought this was a Newbery honor book when I picked it up, but I realize now the silver medal on the book cover was actually for the National Book Award Finalist distinction. . . so now I have yet another book list to peruse! I read this one in one gulp during the hours of 1 a.m. -3 a.m. one night when I couldn't sleep! (It's a very manageable short read.)
It doesn't rank with Because of Winn Dixie (also by Kate DiCamillo) but I still enjoyed the read. Like Winn Dixie it takes place in Florida, a place the author knows well because she grew up in a small town in Florida. It involves a boy named Rob and a girl named Sistine (like the chapel). Rob's mom has died and he hasn't cried even one tear since his dad stopped him from crying at the funeral 6 months earlier. Rob and his dad live in a Hotel where his dad also works as a handy man. Rob is also an artist. Sistine is an odd "new girl" at school who "odd new kid" Rob befriends. Rob has discovered a tiger in a cage in the woods behind the hotel. He's also been sent home from school on the pretext that he has a rash on his legs that some parents are afraid might be contagious. With assorted odd characters and unusual circumstances, a story unfolds about friendship and the healing power of grief. I don't want to give away too many of the details!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Lockdown
Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers
2011 Coretta Scott King Author Award
2010 National Book Award Finalist
Exceptionally great book in my opinion. This is a great literal example of the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover"; I never would have picked this up off the library shelf if I wasn't on this mission to read all the Coretta Scott King award books. It's called Lockdown. It has a photo of handcuffs on the cover. It just didn't look like my kind of book. I loved it.
Walter Dean Myers knows what he is doing. He has won Coretta Scott King awards or honors 9 times, the Newbery honors twice and the Caldecott honors once, The Jane Adams Award twice, and the Christopher award once. Walter Dean Myers knows what he is talking about: he grew up in Harlem, dropped out of school, and started writing seriously at night after working all day as a construction worker. He tends to write about African American teenagers dealing with inner city issues, and this book is no exception.
The story is told in the voice of a fourteen year old boy named Reese who is in a juvenile detention facility. You meet the other kids serving their time at "Progress Center" and a few of the staff as well. The story is gritty and I would recommend it for teens and not for younger children. The author does a stunning job of showing Resses' perspective on all that happens. You actually understand why he repeatedly gets in fights, you experience the view from the detention cell, you feel a little relieved when the facility goes on "lockdown" because as Reese points out, "When I first got to Progress, it freaked me out to be locked in a room and unable to get out. But after a while, when you got to thinking about it, you knew nobody could get in, either."
One of the threads that I found most compelling was Reese's agony over whether or not to plead guilty for something he never did because the detectives presented it as an "opportunity" to get less time, and he wasn't confident that he'd get a fair trial.
Reese gets selected to participate in a trial work release program where he is taken three times a week to a senior care facility and helps out. He spends time caring for an elderly white man who is pretty prickly and gruff, but Reese listens to his stories, put's up with the old man calling him a criminal, and over time they build a friendship.
The story follows Reese to a year after his release. Never downplaying the precariousness of his situation even with all he's learned and been through, but definitely ending on a hopeful note.
I've now read all the 2011 Coretta Scott King books, and it's an impressive batch of books over all.
One Crazy Summer, Dave the Potter: Artis, Poet, Slave, Zora and Me, Lockdown, Ninth Ward, Yummy: The Last Days of a South Side Shorty, Jimi Sounds Like Rainbow: A Story of Young Jimi Hendrix. Go read them!
You'll enjoy a visit to Walter Dean Myer's website:
Walter Dean Myers Biography
And to this site Walter Dean Myers' Second Chance Initiative | Resources for Parents and Educators of Kids in Grades 4 - 12 | All About Adolescent Literacy | AdLit.org where you can learn more about his books and more about The Second Chance Initiative, a project the author started to reach out to teens and help them make better decisions. I love any successful person who then works to extend their success to others.
Here is also an interview with the author from the National Book Award site: Walter Dean Myers, Lockdown - 2010 National Book Award YPL Finalist, The National Book Foundation
I'm looking forward to reading more of his books!
2011 Coretta Scott King Author Award
2010 National Book Award Finalist
Exceptionally great book in my opinion. This is a great literal example of the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover"; I never would have picked this up off the library shelf if I wasn't on this mission to read all the Coretta Scott King award books. It's called Lockdown. It has a photo of handcuffs on the cover. It just didn't look like my kind of book. I loved it.
Walter Dean Myers knows what he is doing. He has won Coretta Scott King awards or honors 9 times, the Newbery honors twice and the Caldecott honors once, The Jane Adams Award twice, and the Christopher award once. Walter Dean Myers knows what he is talking about: he grew up in Harlem, dropped out of school, and started writing seriously at night after working all day as a construction worker. He tends to write about African American teenagers dealing with inner city issues, and this book is no exception.
The story is told in the voice of a fourteen year old boy named Reese who is in a juvenile detention facility. You meet the other kids serving their time at "Progress Center" and a few of the staff as well. The story is gritty and I would recommend it for teens and not for younger children. The author does a stunning job of showing Resses' perspective on all that happens. You actually understand why he repeatedly gets in fights, you experience the view from the detention cell, you feel a little relieved when the facility goes on "lockdown" because as Reese points out, "When I first got to Progress, it freaked me out to be locked in a room and unable to get out. But after a while, when you got to thinking about it, you knew nobody could get in, either."
One of the threads that I found most compelling was Reese's agony over whether or not to plead guilty for something he never did because the detectives presented it as an "opportunity" to get less time, and he wasn't confident that he'd get a fair trial.
Reese gets selected to participate in a trial work release program where he is taken three times a week to a senior care facility and helps out. He spends time caring for an elderly white man who is pretty prickly and gruff, but Reese listens to his stories, put's up with the old man calling him a criminal, and over time they build a friendship.
The story follows Reese to a year after his release. Never downplaying the precariousness of his situation even with all he's learned and been through, but definitely ending on a hopeful note.
I've now read all the 2011 Coretta Scott King books, and it's an impressive batch of books over all.
One Crazy Summer, Dave the Potter: Artis, Poet, Slave, Zora and Me, Lockdown, Ninth Ward, Yummy: The Last Days of a South Side Shorty, Jimi Sounds Like Rainbow: A Story of Young Jimi Hendrix. Go read them!
You'll enjoy a visit to Walter Dean Myer's website:
Walter Dean Myers Biography
And to this site Walter Dean Myers' Second Chance Initiative | Resources for Parents and Educators of Kids in Grades 4 - 12 | All About Adolescent Literacy | AdLit.org where you can learn more about his books and more about The Second Chance Initiative, a project the author started to reach out to teens and help them make better decisions. I love any successful person who then works to extend their success to others.
Here is also an interview with the author from the National Book Award site: Walter Dean Myers, Lockdown - 2010 National Book Award YPL Finalist, The National Book Foundation
I'm looking forward to reading more of his books!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Esperanza Rising
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
2002 Pura Belpre Medal for narrative
Based on a true story from the life of the author's grandmother, Esperanza Rising tells of a wealthy young girl in Mexico and her immigration experience to the US.
The story begins in Mexico, in the luscious grape fields of her fathers land. The love of the land is deep and rich. Her father tells her "Our land is alive! The whole valley breathes and lives!" Her father shows her how if you lie on the ground and listen well you can hear the heart beat of the earth. There is a ritual to begin the grape harvest and a fiesta to celebrate the harvest at the end. Esperanza's father owns a vast track of land, "El Rancha de la Rosa." and a team of servants tends to both house and field. Esperanza's life is almost like that of a princess!
A series of unexpected events brings this life to an abrupt end. Having lost everything, Esperanza and her mother find themselves fleeing to the United States. They were forced to leave their abulita, their grandmother, behind because she was not well enough to travel. They journey in the company of some of their servants, a couple and their boy, Miquel, who is about Esperanza's age. But now, they are on equal footing with these servents, all owning nothing, all hoping to find work as laborers in California. They settle in a farm workers camp and begin the hard work and life in their new home.
I enjoyed this book a lot. It deals with issues of class and race, family and love, labor movement and farm workers.
Despite the real hardships of the new life, there are sweet moments of connection with the good things of the past, and a lot of hope for the future. Watching the identities and relationships topple from master/servant to peer/co-workers and seeing everyone help one another and grow in the process makes a good story.
The edition I read also had a bunch of supplemental information at the back of the book including Authors notes, an interview with the author, recipes and projects to extend the experience.
2002 Pura Belpre Medal for narrative
Based on a true story from the life of the author's grandmother, Esperanza Rising tells of a wealthy young girl in Mexico and her immigration experience to the US.
The story begins in Mexico, in the luscious grape fields of her fathers land. The love of the land is deep and rich. Her father tells her "Our land is alive! The whole valley breathes and lives!" Her father shows her how if you lie on the ground and listen well you can hear the heart beat of the earth. There is a ritual to begin the grape harvest and a fiesta to celebrate the harvest at the end. Esperanza's father owns a vast track of land, "El Rancha de la Rosa." and a team of servants tends to both house and field. Esperanza's life is almost like that of a princess!
A series of unexpected events brings this life to an abrupt end. Having lost everything, Esperanza and her mother find themselves fleeing to the United States. They were forced to leave their abulita, their grandmother, behind because she was not well enough to travel. They journey in the company of some of their servants, a couple and their boy, Miquel, who is about Esperanza's age. But now, they are on equal footing with these servents, all owning nothing, all hoping to find work as laborers in California. They settle in a farm workers camp and begin the hard work and life in their new home.
I enjoyed this book a lot. It deals with issues of class and race, family and love, labor movement and farm workers.
Despite the real hardships of the new life, there are sweet moments of connection with the good things of the past, and a lot of hope for the future. Watching the identities and relationships topple from master/servant to peer/co-workers and seeing everyone help one another and grow in the process makes a good story.
The edition I read also had a bunch of supplemental information at the back of the book including Authors notes, an interview with the author, recipes and projects to extend the experience.
The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship
The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship retold by Arthur Ransome, pictures by Uri Shulevitz
1969 Caldecott Medal
I'm a storyteller and one of the highest compliments I can give a story is "I want to tell this one." This is a story I've always wanted to tell a version of, and this is a good retelling. It's a traditional tale and you'll find it in the non-fiction part of the library in the 398's along with lots of other wonderful folk tales.
Uri Shulevitz has won Caldecott Honor's quite a few times. . . four times to be exact. (Snow, The Treasure, How I Learned Geography, plus this one). He uses line drawings with water color washes that have a nice balance of simplicity and fine detail.
In this story you have The Fool of the World as the hero (always a good start!), a flying ship (not bad either), and a whole passel of comrades for the journey with names like Swift Goer--- a fellow who goes about with one leg tied up beside his head because if he uses both legs he'll just plain go too fast! Or The Listener: "I can hear him snoring. And there is a fly buzzing with it's wings, perched on th windmill close above his head." (all this 100's of miles away of course).
In a stunning display of magical skills and team work of course the day is saved!
My 7 year old AND my 10 year old both enjoyed the story.
1969 Caldecott Medal
I'm a storyteller and one of the highest compliments I can give a story is "I want to tell this one." This is a story I've always wanted to tell a version of, and this is a good retelling. It's a traditional tale and you'll find it in the non-fiction part of the library in the 398's along with lots of other wonderful folk tales.
Uri Shulevitz has won Caldecott Honor's quite a few times. . . four times to be exact. (Snow, The Treasure, How I Learned Geography, plus this one). He uses line drawings with water color washes that have a nice balance of simplicity and fine detail.
In this story you have The Fool of the World as the hero (always a good start!), a flying ship (not bad either), and a whole passel of comrades for the journey with names like Swift Goer--- a fellow who goes about with one leg tied up beside his head because if he uses both legs he'll just plain go too fast! Or The Listener: "I can hear him snoring. And there is a fly buzzing with it's wings, perched on th windmill close above his head." (all this 100's of miles away of course).
In a stunning display of magical skills and team work of course the day is saved!
My 7 year old AND my 10 year old both enjoyed the story.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
All The World
All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrations by Marla Frazee
2010 Caldecott Honor
note: Marla Frazee is the author and illustrator of 2009 Caldecott Honor book: A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever
All the World is a book in verse with large two-page-spread paintings to illustrate a families day at the shore. So, it's a day of digging in the sand, picking ripe tomatoes, climbing trees, warming up beside a fire, making music with the extended family, and feeling the stillness at the end of the day.
Here are a couple of samples:
"Body, shoulder, arm, hand.
A moat to dig, a shell to keep.
All the World is wide and deep."
or "Nanas, papas, cousins, kin.
Piano, harp and violin.
Babies passed from neck to knee.
All the world is you and me."
I like this book! It's got a nice way of taking the little and making it big.
2010 Caldecott Honor
note: Marla Frazee is the author and illustrator of 2009 Caldecott Honor book: A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever
All the World is a book in verse with large two-page-spread paintings to illustrate a families day at the shore. So, it's a day of digging in the sand, picking ripe tomatoes, climbing trees, warming up beside a fire, making music with the extended family, and feeling the stillness at the end of the day.
Here are a couple of samples:
"Body, shoulder, arm, hand.
A moat to dig, a shell to keep.
All the World is wide and deep."
or "Nanas, papas, cousins, kin.
Piano, harp and violin.
Babies passed from neck to knee.
All the world is you and me."
I like this book! It's got a nice way of taking the little and making it big.
Zen Shorts; Zen Ties
tZen Shorts by Jon J Muth
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
Zen Ties by Jon J Muth
copyright 2008, no awards that I know about (but why not?)
I love these books! Making Zen philosophy accessible to young children is a mission worth having and to do this successfully is a sweet accomplishment. Plus, the illustrations are wonderful ink paintings and watercolor paintings. I love these books. My children love these books.
Zen Shorts introduces Stillwater. A giant panda bear that arrives in the yard of three children, Addy, Michale, and Karl, and befriends them. Each child goes to Stillwater and receives a story. The frame story is illustrated in watercolors. The traditional Zen stories are illustrated in black ink drawings.
In the authors note at the end he writes:
"When you look into a pool of water, if the water is still, you can see the moon reflected. If the water is agitated, the moon is fragmented and scattered. It is harder to see the true moon. Our minds are like that. When our minds are agitated, we cannot see the true world."
He has the most excellent way of explaining complicated ideas with simple clarity.
The stories have an easy pace and you just feel good reading them!
In Zen Ties Stillwater is back, and so is his nephew, Koo, who has come for a visit. Stillwater picks him up at the train station. Koo says
"Uncle Stillwater!
summer! I have arrived!
seeing you brings smiles."
"Hi, Koo!" And delivers a gift of balloons. The nephew responds:
"An uplifting gift!
could you carry my case,
generous uncle?"
The newphew speaks in Haiku! ("Hi, Koo!") tee hee!
Addy, Michael and Karl are back for this story, and Michael when Stillwater learns that Michael is anxious about an upcoming spelling bee, he invites them to come along to visit an old woman in the neighborhood named Miss Whitaker. The children know her as a cranky old lady. . . "That Miss Whitaker?" asked Karl. "She hates us! She's really old and she spits when she talks! Every time we walk past her house, she shouts at us. She scares me."
Stillwater says "She isn't feeling well and we must bring her something to eat.
So, they do. And in fact Miss Whitakers isn't feeling that well and IS a little cranky.
But more visits follow and it turns out that Miss Whitaker used to be an English teacher, she coaches Michael for the spelling bee, and everyone becomes friends. Michael wins the spelling bee "The judges were nothing compared to Miss Whitaker!"
"Yeah," said Karl. "Just this morning she was shouting at us again."
"Then why are you smiling?" asked Stillwater.
"She was telling us to get out of the street and play in her yard."
Have I mentioned I LOVE these books!? To have so many layers of values I care about presented to my children (and me!) in such an appealing gentle way is SUCH a gift!
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
Zen Ties by Jon J Muth
copyright 2008, no awards that I know about (but why not?)
I love these books! Making Zen philosophy accessible to young children is a mission worth having and to do this successfully is a sweet accomplishment. Plus, the illustrations are wonderful ink paintings and watercolor paintings. I love these books. My children love these books.
Zen Shorts introduces Stillwater. A giant panda bear that arrives in the yard of three children, Addy, Michale, and Karl, and befriends them. Each child goes to Stillwater and receives a story. The frame story is illustrated in watercolors. The traditional Zen stories are illustrated in black ink drawings.
In the authors note at the end he writes:
"When you look into a pool of water, if the water is still, you can see the moon reflected. If the water is agitated, the moon is fragmented and scattered. It is harder to see the true moon. Our minds are like that. When our minds are agitated, we cannot see the true world."
He has the most excellent way of explaining complicated ideas with simple clarity.
The stories have an easy pace and you just feel good reading them!
In Zen Ties Stillwater is back, and so is his nephew, Koo, who has come for a visit. Stillwater picks him up at the train station. Koo says
"Uncle Stillwater!
summer! I have arrived!
seeing you brings smiles."
"Hi, Koo!" And delivers a gift of balloons. The nephew responds:
"An uplifting gift!
could you carry my case,
generous uncle?"
The newphew speaks in Haiku! ("Hi, Koo!") tee hee!
Addy, Michael and Karl are back for this story, and Michael when Stillwater learns that Michael is anxious about an upcoming spelling bee, he invites them to come along to visit an old woman in the neighborhood named Miss Whitaker. The children know her as a cranky old lady. . . "That Miss Whitaker?" asked Karl. "She hates us! She's really old and she spits when she talks! Every time we walk past her house, she shouts at us. She scares me."
Stillwater says "She isn't feeling well and we must bring her something to eat.
So, they do. And in fact Miss Whitakers isn't feeling that well and IS a little cranky.
But more visits follow and it turns out that Miss Whitaker used to be an English teacher, she coaches Michael for the spelling bee, and everyone becomes friends. Michael wins the spelling bee "The judges were nothing compared to Miss Whitaker!"
"Yeah," said Karl. "Just this morning she was shouting at us again."
"Then why are you smiling?" asked Stillwater.
"She was telling us to get out of the street and play in her yard."
Have I mentioned I LOVE these books!? To have so many layers of values I care about presented to my children (and me!) in such an appealing gentle way is SUCH a gift!
Beautiful Blackbird
Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan
2004 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
I love this author/illustrator, Ashley Bryan. He shows up at storytelling festivals sometimes because his reading/writing style is very much based on oral storytelling in the African tradition. He's a fun person to hear, and I have liked his books a long time. In fact he has had quite a few Coretta Scott King awards over the years, and when I checked and realized that he had NOT ever won a Caldecott Award, I was surprised.
Anyhow, Beautiful Blackbird is illustrated in brilliantly colored paper cuts. The story is told in both regular storytelling with little rhyming songs interspersed:
"Beak to beak, peck, peck, peck,
Spread your wings, stretch your neck.
Black is beautiful, uh-huh!
Black is beautiful, uh-huh!"
The story is based on a traditional tale from Zambia. It tells the story of how the birds got their markings. They started all the colors of the rainbow, but no markings at all, each bird was a single color "From the tops of their heads to the tips of the tails. . . " The rainbow colored birds all thought Blackbird was the most beautiful and asked Blackbird to color them black.
Blackbird said, "Color on the outside is not what's on the inside. You don't act like me. You don't eat like me. You don't get down in the groove and move your feet like me. But come tomorrow to the Sun-Up Dance. I'll brew some blackening in my medicine gourd."
And next morning he decorated them all. But before he did he said "We'll see the difference a touch of black can make. Just remember, whatever I do, I'll be me and you'll be you."
Fun tid bit---- the scissors that is collaged in with the paper cuts on the end papers is the scissors that his mom used when she was sewing and embroidering, and the scissors he now uses for his paper cuts.
If I had to recommend ONE Ashley Bryan book, this wouldn't be the one, but I do like it. Dancing Granny is my personal favorite and I don't think it ever won any awards at all! I also like Beat the Story Drum, Pum Pum.
2004 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
I love this author/illustrator, Ashley Bryan. He shows up at storytelling festivals sometimes because his reading/writing style is very much based on oral storytelling in the African tradition. He's a fun person to hear, and I have liked his books a long time. In fact he has had quite a few Coretta Scott King awards over the years, and when I checked and realized that he had NOT ever won a Caldecott Award, I was surprised.
Anyhow, Beautiful Blackbird is illustrated in brilliantly colored paper cuts. The story is told in both regular storytelling with little rhyming songs interspersed:
"Beak to beak, peck, peck, peck,
Spread your wings, stretch your neck.
Black is beautiful, uh-huh!
Black is beautiful, uh-huh!"
The story is based on a traditional tale from Zambia. It tells the story of how the birds got their markings. They started all the colors of the rainbow, but no markings at all, each bird was a single color "From the tops of their heads to the tips of the tails. . . " The rainbow colored birds all thought Blackbird was the most beautiful and asked Blackbird to color them black.
Blackbird said, "Color on the outside is not what's on the inside. You don't act like me. You don't eat like me. You don't get down in the groove and move your feet like me. But come tomorrow to the Sun-Up Dance. I'll brew some blackening in my medicine gourd."
And next morning he decorated them all. But before he did he said "We'll see the difference a touch of black can make. Just remember, whatever I do, I'll be me and you'll be you."
Fun tid bit---- the scissors that is collaged in with the paper cuts on the end papers is the scissors that his mom used when she was sewing and embroidering, and the scissors he now uses for his paper cuts.
If I had to recommend ONE Ashley Bryan book, this wouldn't be the one, but I do like it. Dancing Granny is my personal favorite and I don't think it ever won any awards at all! I also like Beat the Story Drum, Pum Pum.
All The Things I Love About You
All the Things I Love About You by LeUyen Pham
copyright 2010
no awards that I'm aware of, but it's award winning at our house!
My daughter Makayla loves this book!
It is both loving and silly. The pictures are fun. It is a happy book! A great one to share with your little ones. A lot of the "I love you" books for kids are a little sappy (I actually like the sappy ones too), but this one has a little SPUNK to it as well. It's dedicated to mama's who love their little BOYS, but I'm pleased to report that Makayla (despite all her princess inclinations) seems to be spunky enough to relate just fine!
copyright 2010
no awards that I'm aware of, but it's award winning at our house!
My daughter Makayla loves this book!
It is both loving and silly. The pictures are fun. It is a happy book! A great one to share with your little ones. A lot of the "I love you" books for kids are a little sappy (I actually like the sappy ones too), but this one has a little SPUNK to it as well. It's dedicated to mama's who love their little BOYS, but I'm pleased to report that Makayla (despite all her princess inclinations) seems to be spunky enough to relate just fine!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Charlotte Zolotow Awards
The Charlotte Zolotow Award goes to the best picture book TEXT for that year (where as the Caldecott Award for picture books goes to the illustrator.) They have been giving this award since 1998, so it's a relatively recent award. I'm adding this to my list of books worth looking at!
Hot Air The (mostly) true story of the first hot-air balloon ride
Hot Air, The (mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride by Majorie Priceman
2006 Caldecott Honor
This story begins in France in 1783 at the sight of the first ever Hot Air Balloon launching! It details much about the city and spectators in the first few pages and then introduces us to the "first brave passengers" . . . A duck, a sheep, and a rooster.
After that the ride is all in pictures and from the point of view of these three animals. Which is fitting because the author heard the story "from a duck, who heard it from a sheep, who heard it from a rooster a long, long time ago."
It's a fun ride! And based (loosely) on a true historic event.
2006 Caldecott Honor
This story begins in France in 1783 at the sight of the first ever Hot Air Balloon launching! It details much about the city and spectators in the first few pages and then introduces us to the "first brave passengers" . . . A duck, a sheep, and a rooster.
After that the ride is all in pictures and from the point of view of these three animals. Which is fitting because the author heard the story "from a duck, who heard it from a sheep, who heard it from a rooster a long, long time ago."
It's a fun ride! And based (loosely) on a true historic event.
Cinderella or The Little Glass Slipper
Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper freely translated from Charles Perrault and illustrated by Marcia Brown
1955 Caldecott Medal
My 7 year old daughter is seriously into princesses. Personally, I'm more inclined towards the active heroine in a story, so please understand that is my bias! The story of course will be familiar, but it is definitely refreshing to hear an interpretation that is directly translated from one of the first written sources. Pleasantly free of the very strong Disney stamp that is currently on the story!
The illustrations are line drawing with simple washes of color. Nothing too extraordinatry, but they carry the story well. The goodness of Cinderella comes across in text and pictures. . . although I find it a little funny that someone of such "good" character could also be deceitful with her step sisters when they arrived home from the ball (yawing and rubbing her yes as if she had just waked out of a sound sleep!)
I can't really rave about this book, but if you love Cinderella stories it should definitely be on your list.
1955 Caldecott Medal
My 7 year old daughter is seriously into princesses. Personally, I'm more inclined towards the active heroine in a story, so please understand that is my bias! The story of course will be familiar, but it is definitely refreshing to hear an interpretation that is directly translated from one of the first written sources. Pleasantly free of the very strong Disney stamp that is currently on the story!
The illustrations are line drawing with simple washes of color. Nothing too extraordinatry, but they carry the story well. The goodness of Cinderella comes across in text and pictures. . . although I find it a little funny that someone of such "good" character could also be deceitful with her step sisters when they arrived home from the ball (yawing and rubbing her yes as if she had just waked out of a sound sleep!)
I can't really rave about this book, but if you love Cinderella stories it should definitely be on your list.
A Tree Is Nice
A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Udry, illustrated by Marc Simont
1957 Caldecott Medal
I agree, a tree IS nice! This is a sweet celebration of trees. Makes me want to go out and plant one. Makes me want to go out and plant one with each of my kids. And I'd read it to the wee kids in our Outdoor Explorer (environmental education) program as well. Makes me want to think about all my favorite trees. We have a great one in our yard that my husband Holmes transplanted from the woods when he first moved there. It's a willow oak, and for years we called it "The Shade Tree" but it was a joke. It cast enough shade for a pair of dogs if they were strategic about where they lay down, and that was about it.
Now it really IS a shade tree, and the most EXCELLENT climbing tree as well. And during our summer camp sessions there are sometimes a half dozen kids or more all climbing at once.
This is a quiet book but I think it's still doing exactly what was intended when it was published more than 50 years ago! I was pleased to see that in the book jacket notes about the author she talked about spending a lot of time searching out a nursery where they could buy a Ombu tree---- a tree that grows rapidly to enormous size. They found one and planted it, and Ms. Udry reports it "grew nicely."
I like an author who lives their story!
1957 Caldecott Medal
I agree, a tree IS nice! This is a sweet celebration of trees. Makes me want to go out and plant one. Makes me want to go out and plant one with each of my kids. And I'd read it to the wee kids in our Outdoor Explorer (environmental education) program as well. Makes me want to think about all my favorite trees. We have a great one in our yard that my husband Holmes transplanted from the woods when he first moved there. It's a willow oak, and for years we called it "The Shade Tree" but it was a joke. It cast enough shade for a pair of dogs if they were strategic about where they lay down, and that was about it.
Now it really IS a shade tree, and the most EXCELLENT climbing tree as well. And during our summer camp sessions there are sometimes a half dozen kids or more all climbing at once.
This is a quiet book but I think it's still doing exactly what was intended when it was published more than 50 years ago! I was pleased to see that in the book jacket notes about the author she talked about spending a lot of time searching out a nursery where they could buy a Ombu tree---- a tree that grows rapidly to enormous size. They found one and planted it, and Ms. Udry reports it "grew nicely."
I like an author who lives their story!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
2004 Caldecott Honor
Also:
Don't let the Pigeon Stay Up Late
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy
I have to admit, I think Mo Willems is brilliant. He has a way of getting in the brains of young people like few others. My daughter age 7 LOVES his books, particularly the Knuffle Bunny series and the Pigeon series, both of which seem to be based on his "hands on" experiences with his own daughter.
He has a couple of websites worth checking out. He has one: Mo Willems
and the Pigeon (and other characters) have their own! : Pigeon Presents! Starring Mo Willems' Pigeon!
Anyhow, back to the book report. The pigeon books are funny. Based on a one sided conversation full of all the things kids say. "Hey, can I drive the bus?" "Please?" "I'll be careful."
In a cartoony style with "talk bubbles".
At my house our favorite hands down, is Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late. I have read that one to my 7 year old daughter at least once or twice a day since it arrived from the library. And I'm afraid there are reasons she finds it funny (but I won't go into the bedtime issues at our house at this time!)
I've just about memorized it, in fact if I'm not getting these quotes exactly right it's because the book is downstairs beside the bed, and I"m quoting from memory, but I think you'll get the idea!
"But I'm not tired! In fact, I'm in the mood for a hot dog party! What do you say? . . . NO?! . . . humpf."
"How about five more minutes? . . . What's FIVE MINUTES IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS?"
"YAWN . . . That was NOT a yawn! I was stretching!"
"It's the middle of the day in China!"
etc.
Hilarious. I recommend Mo Willems in general and Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late in particular!
2004 Caldecott Honor
Also:
Don't let the Pigeon Stay Up Late
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy
I have to admit, I think Mo Willems is brilliant. He has a way of getting in the brains of young people like few others. My daughter age 7 LOVES his books, particularly the Knuffle Bunny series and the Pigeon series, both of which seem to be based on his "hands on" experiences with his own daughter.
He has a couple of websites worth checking out. He has one: Mo Willems
and the Pigeon (and other characters) have their own! : Pigeon Presents! Starring Mo Willems' Pigeon!
Anyhow, back to the book report. The pigeon books are funny. Based on a one sided conversation full of all the things kids say. "Hey, can I drive the bus?" "Please?" "I'll be careful."
In a cartoony style with "talk bubbles".
At my house our favorite hands down, is Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late. I have read that one to my 7 year old daughter at least once or twice a day since it arrived from the library. And I'm afraid there are reasons she finds it funny (but I won't go into the bedtime issues at our house at this time!)
I've just about memorized it, in fact if I'm not getting these quotes exactly right it's because the book is downstairs beside the bed, and I"m quoting from memory, but I think you'll get the idea!
"But I'm not tired! In fact, I'm in the mood for a hot dog party! What do you say? . . . NO?! . . . humpf."
"How about five more minutes? . . . What's FIVE MINUTES IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS?"
"YAWN . . . That was NOT a yawn! I was stretching!"
"It's the middle of the day in China!"
etc.
Hilarious. I recommend Mo Willems in general and Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late in particular!
The Treasure
The Treasure by Uri Shulevitz
1980 Caldecott Honor
This is a retelling of a folktale that involves a dream coming to a man telling him where treasure lies. A long journey is made to the place of the treasure. And in the end we discover where treasure really lies. "Sometimes one must travel far to discover what is near."
Uri Shulevitz has won Caldecott Honor's more than once (Snow; The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship; How I Learned Geography)
The story is told very simply and I personally find the retelling of the story a bit spare.
The Treasure is illustrated with luminous little watercolor paintings and, for me, these are what carry the book.
1980 Caldecott Honor
This is a retelling of a folktale that involves a dream coming to a man telling him where treasure lies. A long journey is made to the place of the treasure. And in the end we discover where treasure really lies. "Sometimes one must travel far to discover what is near."
Uri Shulevitz has won Caldecott Honor's more than once (Snow; The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship; How I Learned Geography)
The story is told very simply and I personally find the retelling of the story a bit spare.
The Treasure is illustrated with luminous little watercolor paintings and, for me, these are what carry the book.
My Friend Rabbit
My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann
2003 Caldecott Medal
A very likable book about a well meaning rabbit, told by his friend mouse. "My friend Rabbit means well. But whatever he does, where ever he goes, trouble follows." The story is told in both text and pictures. I like that in a picture book, when the pictures don't just "illustrate" the story, but carry the story line all by themselves in part. I looked up Eric Rohmann's website and he said this: "This book also began with many words and as I made the images I saw that the silliness was best left to the pictures." Glad he figured that out!
His website is a fun visit: Eric Rohmann - Author & Illustrator - My Friend Rabbit
I like the pictures in the book a lot. They are hand colored relief prints and I'm partial to that bold "wood block print" look.
In the end you just like the two characters a lot, and their friendship. Rabbit is plucky, "Not to worry, Mouse. I've got an idea!" Mouse is loyal. "But Rabbit means well. And he is my friend."
2003 Caldecott Medal
A very likable book about a well meaning rabbit, told by his friend mouse. "My friend Rabbit means well. But whatever he does, where ever he goes, trouble follows." The story is told in both text and pictures. I like that in a picture book, when the pictures don't just "illustrate" the story, but carry the story line all by themselves in part. I looked up Eric Rohmann's website and he said this: "This book also began with many words and as I made the images I saw that the silliness was best left to the pictures." Glad he figured that out!
His website is a fun visit: Eric Rohmann - Author & Illustrator - My Friend Rabbit
I like the pictures in the book a lot. They are hand colored relief prints and I'm partial to that bold "wood block print" look.
In the end you just like the two characters a lot, and their friendship. Rabbit is plucky, "Not to worry, Mouse. I've got an idea!" Mouse is loyal. "But Rabbit means well. And he is my friend."
An Apple for Harriet Tubman
An Apple for Harriet Tubman bu Glennette Tilley Turner, illustrated by Susan Keeter
no award that I know of, though I don't see why not!
I love this book. It's based on stories told to the author by Harriet Tubman's great niece Alice Brickler, who learned it from Harriet herself. I like it when stories about big people and big events have specific little details that pull us in.
Harriet Tubman loved apples. Who knew?
This story carries her from picking apples while being forbidden to eat any, and getting whipped for taking a bite of one. . . . to owning her own land in NY and planting a row of apple trees that she ate her fill of shared with her neighbors.
Both of my children (age 10 and 7) enjoyed the book also.
no award that I know of, though I don't see why not!
I love this book. It's based on stories told to the author by Harriet Tubman's great niece Alice Brickler, who learned it from Harriet herself. I like it when stories about big people and big events have specific little details that pull us in.
Harriet Tubman loved apples. Who knew?
This story carries her from picking apples while being forbidden to eat any, and getting whipped for taking a bite of one. . . . to owning her own land in NY and planting a row of apple trees that she ate her fill of shared with her neighbors.
Both of my children (age 10 and 7) enjoyed the book also.
Pura Belpre Award
Another children's book award I'll be tracking-----
The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
Here is a link to the website:
The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
Here is a link to the website:
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Interrupting Chicken
Interupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
2011 Caldecott Honor
This is definitely a book on the light side. In fact it's silly! It was bedtime for the little red chicken. Her Papa says "And of course you are not going to interrupt the story tonight are you?"
"Oh no, Papa. I'll be good."
But, you guessed it. . . she interrupts every story!
This book will be best appreciated by people who are familiar with the traditional stories that are interrupted!
Hansel and Gretel . . . "out jumped a little red checkin, and she said 'DON'T GO IN! SHE'S A WITCH!' So Hansel and Gretel didn't. THE END!"
Little Red Riding Hood . . . "Out jumped a little red checkin, and she said 'DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS!' So the Littel Red Riding Hood didn't. THE END!"
etc.
This type of story honestly isn't my cup of tea, but I did appreciate the ending. . . Papa falls asleep before the little red chicken. Something I can certainly relate to!
2011 Caldecott Honor
This is definitely a book on the light side. In fact it's silly! It was bedtime for the little red chicken. Her Papa says "And of course you are not going to interrupt the story tonight are you?"
"Oh no, Papa. I'll be good."
But, you guessed it. . . she interrupts every story!
This book will be best appreciated by people who are familiar with the traditional stories that are interrupted!
Hansel and Gretel . . . "out jumped a little red checkin, and she said 'DON'T GO IN! SHE'S A WITCH!' So Hansel and Gretel didn't. THE END!"
Little Red Riding Hood . . . "Out jumped a little red checkin, and she said 'DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS!' So the Littel Red Riding Hood didn't. THE END!"
etc.
This type of story honestly isn't my cup of tea, but I did appreciate the ending. . . Papa falls asleep before the little red chicken. Something I can certainly relate to!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Rosa
Rosa by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
2006 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
More poets should write history for children. This is a splendid and powerful book. And beautifully written. I suspect that Nikki Giovanni was able to talk with Rosa and others in the story personally. The text is full of intimate details about what people were thinking and doing through out first days of the historic events of the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.
"Jo Ann Robinson was at the PIggly Wiggly when she learned of the arrest. She had stopped in to purchase a box of macaroni and cheese. She always served macaroni and cheese when she baked red snapper for dinner. A sister member of the Women's Political council approached her just as she reached the check out lane.
'Not Mrs. Parks!' Mrs Robinson exclaimed. She then looked furtively around. 'Pass the word that everybody should meet me at my office at ten o'clock tonight," she said."
I love the person of Rosa Parks. Her long life lived with dignity and strength.
Pete Seeger tells a story about being at a training for civil rights activists at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee. On the last day, they went around the circle and everyone said what they were going to do when they got home. Several "movers and shakers" were there, and each person spoke about their plans. But one woman, when it was her turn, said she just didn't know what she would do. That, was Rosa Parks.
She wasn't just a worn out seamstress. She was an activist making a choice. A spontaneous choice! But one very much in keeping with her participation in the movement.
Here is a link to her website: Rosa Louise Parks Biography
The illustrations strong and luminous, by Bryan Collier, someone who has won a bunch of awards before and since. I like his work and his choices about what he illustrates, often powerful stories from African American History. Here is a link to Bryan Collier's website. I enjoyed learning about him, especially his dedication to community service and empowerment of young people. Bryan Collier | Bio
I personally liked this book a bit better than the 2006 Medal winner! And would definitely recommend it!
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
2006 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
More poets should write history for children. This is a splendid and powerful book. And beautifully written. I suspect that Nikki Giovanni was able to talk with Rosa and others in the story personally. The text is full of intimate details about what people were thinking and doing through out first days of the historic events of the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.
"Jo Ann Robinson was at the PIggly Wiggly when she learned of the arrest. She had stopped in to purchase a box of macaroni and cheese. She always served macaroni and cheese when she baked red snapper for dinner. A sister member of the Women's Political council approached her just as she reached the check out lane.
'Not Mrs. Parks!' Mrs Robinson exclaimed. She then looked furtively around. 'Pass the word that everybody should meet me at my office at ten o'clock tonight," she said."
I love the person of Rosa Parks. Her long life lived with dignity and strength.
Pete Seeger tells a story about being at a training for civil rights activists at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee. On the last day, they went around the circle and everyone said what they were going to do when they got home. Several "movers and shakers" were there, and each person spoke about their plans. But one woman, when it was her turn, said she just didn't know what she would do. That, was Rosa Parks.
She wasn't just a worn out seamstress. She was an activist making a choice. A spontaneous choice! But one very much in keeping with her participation in the movement.
Here is a link to her website: Rosa Louise Parks Biography
The illustrations strong and luminous, by Bryan Collier, someone who has won a bunch of awards before and since. I like his work and his choices about what he illustrates, often powerful stories from African American History. Here is a link to Bryan Collier's website. I enjoyed learning about him, especially his dedication to community service and empowerment of young people. Bryan Collier | Bio
I personally liked this book a bit better than the 2006 Medal winner! And would definitely recommend it!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
2008 Caldecott Medal
2007 National Book Award Finalist
This book gets a very large WOW! distinction from me. Everything about this book totally captivated me and it is fair to say I have never ever seen or read a book like it.
2008 Caldecott Medal
2007 National Book Award Finalist
This book gets a very large WOW! distinction from me. Everything about this book totally captivated me and it is fair to say I have never ever seen or read a book like it.
The book is more than 525 pages long. Let me just remind you that the Caldecott award is for picture books. The award is actually granted to the illustrator. Most Caldecott awards go to typical picture books that are written for young children. This is a middle school novel. BUT 284 pages of it are PICTURES. It is the coolest book ever. The introduction asks us to close our eyes and imagine we are in a movie theatre, the curtain opens as we zoom in on the sun rising. . . in Paris. . . to a train station. . . we enter the station, crowded with people. . . The book IS like a movie.
And then every once in a while, there are a couple of pages of text. The pictures aren't illustrating the text. The pictures TOGETHER with the text tell the story. There is a whole case scene in the book that is told only in pictures, for example. So, it's part movie, part graphic novel, part conventional novel. But the pictures and layout aren't like a typical graphic novel. It's not cartooney. The pictures are full double page pencil drawings.
So, the novelty of the actual physical book is exciting. . . but that is not the only thing it's riding on. The illustrations and layout are wonderful. But it's a good story too! It tells the story of a real film maker from France in the early days of film; but through the eyes of a boy named Hugo Cabret and his friend Isabelle who are entirely the authors invention. The story has mystery and magic in it. And the characters are completely fascinating.
Hugo comes from a family of clock makers. His uncle maintains all the clocks in the train station. When Hugo's father dies in a tragic fire, he is taken in by his uncle, who has a serious drinking problem. Turns out that clock makers are often magicians. Both require the same level of intense dexterity. Hugo learns magic and makes magic. Before his father died he was working on repairing a mechanical man who sat with pen and ink and was about to write. Hugo tries to take up this work and succeeds in repairing the automaton. And then discovers it's maker.
I have told more people about this book than any other I've read recently, because it is so unusual and because I think so many people would enjoy it.
In fact, my son Jabu who is 10, and a bit of a reluctant reader and tends towards things like Captain Underpants in his reading choices, loved it. My DAD age 92 who absolutely NEVER EVER reads fiction saw it on the table while Jabu was reading it, and read the entire book cover to cover in one sitting! Dad's normal fair in the reading dept. is economics, global warming, world health issues. . . but he thought it was excellent. I also loved it. If three readers who are as different from one another in their reading inclinations all loved this book, that right there is an amazing testimony!
Highly recommended!
Here is a cool interview with the author from the National Book Award site:
The National Book Foundation
Here is a cool interview with the author from the National Book Award site:
The National Book Foundation
The author has a second book in this same style. I ordered it from the library, but there are 39 people in line ahead of me! Can't wait to see it though!
Love, Louise
Zora and Me
Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon
2011 Corretta Scott King new talent award
I didn't realize this was an award winner until just now. I was going to post about it anyhow, because I thought it was very good. I found it because I was looking for books about Florida to share with the kids before we traveled there earlier this fall. This book caught my eye while I was searching because Zora Neale Hurston's book Their Eyes Were Watching God is one of my all time favorite books, and this book is a fictionalized account of her growing up years in Eatonville Florida.
It's based on her writing and other historical info and is true enough to fact that it is the only project to be endorsed by the Zora Neale Hurston Trust that was not written by Hurston herself.
I read this one aloud to Jabu (age 10) and we both enjoyed it. I was a little worried about selling him on it at first, but I shouldn't have been concerned. . . the first chapter tells the story of an alligator attack! He was hooked from that point on!
The characters of Zora and her friends (one of whom is telling the story), the people of Eatonville both distinguished and odd, were all people I was glad to meet and the authors did a great job of bringing them to life.
There were several strands of the story that I appreciated very much. One featured a misunderstood loner named Mr. Pendir who the kids in the book spent most of the story being completely afraid of. Turns out "All the time Mr. Pendir had lived in Eatonville knocking around in his old house, alone and weary-looking, he had been making things, and the things he made were beautiful."
But the one that still stays with me the strongest (I'm writing this actually a couple of months after reading the book) involved a sister and a brother of mixed race. The brother was brown, the sister could "pass" and DID. The price of turning away from her people was very dear and watching Jabu come to realize that as the story unfolded was definitely worth the read all by itself.
I liked this book very much and would recommend it.
2011 Corretta Scott King new talent award
I didn't realize this was an award winner until just now. I was going to post about it anyhow, because I thought it was very good. I found it because I was looking for books about Florida to share with the kids before we traveled there earlier this fall. This book caught my eye while I was searching because Zora Neale Hurston's book Their Eyes Were Watching God is one of my all time favorite books, and this book is a fictionalized account of her growing up years in Eatonville Florida.
It's based on her writing and other historical info and is true enough to fact that it is the only project to be endorsed by the Zora Neale Hurston Trust that was not written by Hurston herself.
I read this one aloud to Jabu (age 10) and we both enjoyed it. I was a little worried about selling him on it at first, but I shouldn't have been concerned. . . the first chapter tells the story of an alligator attack! He was hooked from that point on!
The characters of Zora and her friends (one of whom is telling the story), the people of Eatonville both distinguished and odd, were all people I was glad to meet and the authors did a great job of bringing them to life.
There were several strands of the story that I appreciated very much. One featured a misunderstood loner named Mr. Pendir who the kids in the book spent most of the story being completely afraid of. Turns out "All the time Mr. Pendir had lived in Eatonville knocking around in his old house, alone and weary-looking, he had been making things, and the things he made were beautiful."
But the one that still stays with me the strongest (I'm writing this actually a couple of months after reading the book) involved a sister and a brother of mixed race. The brother was brown, the sister could "pass" and DID. The price of turning away from her people was very dear and watching Jabu come to realize that as the story unfolded was definitely worth the read all by itself.
I liked this book very much and would recommend it.
The Hello Goodbye Window; Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie
The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster, illustrated by Chris Raschka
2006 Caldecott Medal
Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie by Norton Juster, illustrated by Chris Raschka
Both of these books feature a girl and her visits to her Grandpa and Nanna. The Hello, Goodbye Window got the award, but at our house we LOVE Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie even more! Sourpuss and Sweetie pie discusses the very relevant topic of rapid mood changes in young people! My seven year old daughter has asked us to read it multiple times each day for the past couple of weeks!
Both feature these wonderful loose colorful illustrations by Chris Raschka. And a really fun connected loving relationship between the grandparents and kid. There is humor and wisdom which is a combination I favor. I'd recommend both books, but especially Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie!
2006 Caldecott Medal
Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie by Norton Juster, illustrated by Chris Raschka
Both of these books feature a girl and her visits to her Grandpa and Nanna. The Hello, Goodbye Window got the award, but at our house we LOVE Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie even more! Sourpuss and Sweetie pie discusses the very relevant topic of rapid mood changes in young people! My seven year old daughter has asked us to read it multiple times each day for the past couple of weeks!
Both feature these wonderful loose colorful illustrations by Chris Raschka. And a really fun connected loving relationship between the grandparents and kid. There is humor and wisdom which is a combination I favor. I'd recommend both books, but especially Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie!
Time-Traveling Twins
Time Traveling Twins by Diane Stanley
I've read Roughing It on the Orgeon Trail
and Joining the Boston Tea Party
No awards that I know of, but I just enjoyed these books and so did both of my children (Jabu age 10 and Makayla age 7). It reminds me of the Magic School Bus books, but about history.
The Time Traveling Twins go to see their grandma, they select an ancestor they'd like to visit, they dress accordingly, the grandma puts on her time traveling hat, they hold hands, someone grabs the dog, and they find themselves in another time and place! They have their adventures, and then return to Grandma's house.
Lot's of pictures, and a cartoon element on each page with "talk bubbles" coming from the characters in the illustrations (including the dog!)
A fun way to learn some history!
I've read Roughing It on the Orgeon Trail
and Joining the Boston Tea Party
No awards that I know of, but I just enjoyed these books and so did both of my children (Jabu age 10 and Makayla age 7). It reminds me of the Magic School Bus books, but about history.
The Time Traveling Twins go to see their grandma, they select an ancestor they'd like to visit, they dress accordingly, the grandma puts on her time traveling hat, they hold hands, someone grabs the dog, and they find themselves in another time and place! They have their adventures, and then return to Grandma's house.
Lot's of pictures, and a cartoon element on each page with "talk bubbles" coming from the characters in the illustrations (including the dog!)
A fun way to learn some history!
Ella Sarah Gets Dressed
Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
2004 Caldecott Honor
My daughter loves to dress up and I enjoyed sharing this book with her. It's a story about a little girl who gets up and says "I want to wear my pink polka-dot pants, my dress with orange-and-green flowers, my purple-and-blue striped socks, my yellow shoes, and my red hat."
Mom, Dad, and big sister all try and talk her out of it, but it turns out to be the perfect outfit!
The pictures are prints (looks like silk screens to me, but the book says "a variety of printmaking techniques." And are bold and colorful.
I can't rave about this book, it's not that exciting for me, but it's a sweet read.
2004 Caldecott Honor
My daughter loves to dress up and I enjoyed sharing this book with her. It's a story about a little girl who gets up and says "I want to wear my pink polka-dot pants, my dress with orange-and-green flowers, my purple-and-blue striped socks, my yellow shoes, and my red hat."
Mom, Dad, and big sister all try and talk her out of it, but it turns out to be the perfect outfit!
The pictures are prints (looks like silk screens to me, but the book says "a variety of printmaking techniques." And are bold and colorful.
I can't rave about this book, it's not that exciting for me, but it's a sweet read.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Ninth Ward
Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
2011 Corretta Scott King Honor
Lenesha is 12 and lives in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans and this is her story. And the story of the 9 days stretching from the Sunday before Hurricane Katrina to the Tuesday after the storm hit. It's also the story of Mama Ya-Ya, the midwife, seer, and healer that has raised Lanesha since birth; a boy named TaShon and his dog Spot. Lanesha shares the gift of sight with her Mama Ya-Ya, so the story includes the ghosts that visit her.
This story is beautifully written and conceived. The author says in her acknowledgements "Books were my lifeline during a difficult childhood. For my entire writing life, I've been waiting to grow up enough to write what I hoped would be a good book for young audiences." I think she's achieved that.
First of all, you will love Mama Ya-Ya and Lanesha. They are both fascinating and likable people. Mama Ya-Ya is wise and loving. Lanesha is smart and sweet and determined. They are complex characters with their share of hard times, but the love between them is sure and strong.
What I admire most about this book is the balance between the devastation, terror, and drama of the hurricane and the levees breaking---- and the love between the characters (both living and dead), the will to survive and the coming of age that comes of that effort, and the hope remaining intact in the midst of all the destruction and chaos.
It describes the intensity of the storm from the mayor announcing the mandatory evacuation. . . "Mama Ya-Ya bites her lip, shakes her head muttering, 'How can it be mandatory if I don't have a way to go?'"
To the earth shaking force of the hurricane passing over. . . "The house shakes, teetering, in the wind and rain's violent game. Dodgeball. Tug-of-war. Shakes Sways and I swear, it's going to fall. . . fall. . . fall over. Down. The bed is rattling, creeping across the floor like it grew feet."
To the water rising . . . " I sit and count, 'One, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand. . .' I count until my mouth cracks dry. I watch the black liquid crawling up the steps. Sixty-one one thousands equals a minute. I count six hundred minutes. That's ten minute for the water to rise halfway up a step. Another ten to cover a new step. Twenty minutes for each whole step. There are twelve steps to the attic floor.
Twenty minutes times twelve. We've got two hours left.
Survive."
But through out all that intensity is a cord of loving wisdom and fortitude that is like a torch passed from Mama Ya-Ya to Lanesha. "As time slips by, as the water rises, I try to think about what's next, about what Mama Ya-Ya would want me to do.
8 + 4 = 12. Spiritual strength. Real strength, Lanesha. Like butterflies."
I very much enjoyed this book and can recommend it!
2011 Corretta Scott King Honor
Lenesha is 12 and lives in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans and this is her story. And the story of the 9 days stretching from the Sunday before Hurricane Katrina to the Tuesday after the storm hit. It's also the story of Mama Ya-Ya, the midwife, seer, and healer that has raised Lanesha since birth; a boy named TaShon and his dog Spot. Lanesha shares the gift of sight with her Mama Ya-Ya, so the story includes the ghosts that visit her.
This story is beautifully written and conceived. The author says in her acknowledgements "Books were my lifeline during a difficult childhood. For my entire writing life, I've been waiting to grow up enough to write what I hoped would be a good book for young audiences." I think she's achieved that.
First of all, you will love Mama Ya-Ya and Lanesha. They are both fascinating and likable people. Mama Ya-Ya is wise and loving. Lanesha is smart and sweet and determined. They are complex characters with their share of hard times, but the love between them is sure and strong.
What I admire most about this book is the balance between the devastation, terror, and drama of the hurricane and the levees breaking---- and the love between the characters (both living and dead), the will to survive and the coming of age that comes of that effort, and the hope remaining intact in the midst of all the destruction and chaos.
It describes the intensity of the storm from the mayor announcing the mandatory evacuation. . . "Mama Ya-Ya bites her lip, shakes her head muttering, 'How can it be mandatory if I don't have a way to go?'"
To the earth shaking force of the hurricane passing over. . . "The house shakes, teetering, in the wind and rain's violent game. Dodgeball. Tug-of-war. Shakes Sways and I swear, it's going to fall. . . fall. . . fall over. Down. The bed is rattling, creeping across the floor like it grew feet."
To the water rising . . . " I sit and count, 'One, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand. . .' I count until my mouth cracks dry. I watch the black liquid crawling up the steps. Sixty-one one thousands equals a minute. I count six hundred minutes. That's ten minute for the water to rise halfway up a step. Another ten to cover a new step. Twenty minutes for each whole step. There are twelve steps to the attic floor.
Twenty minutes times twelve. We've got two hours left.
Survive."
But through out all that intensity is a cord of loving wisdom and fortitude that is like a torch passed from Mama Ya-Ya to Lanesha. "As time slips by, as the water rises, I try to think about what's next, about what Mama Ya-Ya would want me to do.
8 + 4 = 12. Spiritual strength. Real strength, Lanesha. Like butterflies."
I very much enjoyed this book and can recommend it!
Monday, November 14, 2011
What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? and more by Steve Jenkins
What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
2004 Caldecott Honor
Big and Little by Steve Jenkins
What Do You Do When Someone Wants to Eat You? by Steve Jenkins
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this author illustrator. Since I also have environmental education in my bag of tricks, I have a particular appreciation for these books that convey fascinating information about animals together with beautiful paper cut collages made from hand painted water colored paper. Luscious combination!
The illustrations remind me a little of Eric Carle, these are also paper cut collages, but the papers used for the collages are more delicate--- water colored and hand made paper, and the results are a little more refined. (Make no mistake I love Eric Carle!)
What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? talks about unusual animal body parts. Noses of platypuses, elephants, star nosed moles, hyenas, and alligators. Ears, tails, eyes, feet, mouths of an array of other animals. The format gives close ups of the featured body parts first, and then you turn the page to learn more. That way you can guess at what's going on before turning the page. I like a book that is interactive that way. At the end of the book there is more information about each animal. I love it when facts are so amazing they read like poetry. . . . "The platypus closes it's eyes under water and uses its sensitive bill to detect the faint electric pulses emitted by its prey." Or "The entire human body has more than 600 muscles, but there are as many as 100,000 muscles in an elephant's trunk."
What Do You Do When Someone Wants to Eat You? Introduces us to 14 animals peculiar defense mechanisms. "The blue-tongued skink startles attackers. . . by sticking out it's large, bright blue tonuge and wiggling it from side to side." Or, "The basilisk lizard is known in South America as the Jesus Christ lizard. It can escape it's enemies. . . by running across the surface of ponds and streams, using its large feet and great speed to keep it from sinking into the water."
Again the wonderful paper cut illustration and "wow" inspiring fascinating facts!
Big and Little is about animals that are related to one another but very different in size. The animals are illustrated to scale for comparison (one inch equals 8 inches). "The capybara, the world's largest rodent, weighs as much as one thousand deer mice." OK, I'm totally a sucker for this kind of thing. I love it.
He also has a page of silouettes that are at the scale of one inch equals two and a half feet. With a human being included to compare all the animals at once. And there is a couple of pages of additional information about each animal. I always find this "additional information" to be really interesting, but also hard to get through for some reason and I wonder how many young readers actually get to read it. My kids never have the patience for that kind of thing!
Anyhow, I can totally recommend this author illustrator and look forward to seeking out more of his books! Plus I'll be sharing these with my outdoor explorer campers tomorrow!
2004 Caldecott Honor
Big and Little by Steve Jenkins
What Do You Do When Someone Wants to Eat You? by Steve Jenkins
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this author illustrator. Since I also have environmental education in my bag of tricks, I have a particular appreciation for these books that convey fascinating information about animals together with beautiful paper cut collages made from hand painted water colored paper. Luscious combination!
The illustrations remind me a little of Eric Carle, these are also paper cut collages, but the papers used for the collages are more delicate--- water colored and hand made paper, and the results are a little more refined. (Make no mistake I love Eric Carle!)
What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? talks about unusual animal body parts. Noses of platypuses, elephants, star nosed moles, hyenas, and alligators. Ears, tails, eyes, feet, mouths of an array of other animals. The format gives close ups of the featured body parts first, and then you turn the page to learn more. That way you can guess at what's going on before turning the page. I like a book that is interactive that way. At the end of the book there is more information about each animal. I love it when facts are so amazing they read like poetry. . . . "The platypus closes it's eyes under water and uses its sensitive bill to detect the faint electric pulses emitted by its prey." Or "The entire human body has more than 600 muscles, but there are as many as 100,000 muscles in an elephant's trunk."
What Do You Do When Someone Wants to Eat You? Introduces us to 14 animals peculiar defense mechanisms. "The blue-tongued skink startles attackers. . . by sticking out it's large, bright blue tonuge and wiggling it from side to side." Or, "The basilisk lizard is known in South America as the Jesus Christ lizard. It can escape it's enemies. . . by running across the surface of ponds and streams, using its large feet and great speed to keep it from sinking into the water."
Again the wonderful paper cut illustration and "wow" inspiring fascinating facts!
Big and Little is about animals that are related to one another but very different in size. The animals are illustrated to scale for comparison (one inch equals 8 inches). "The capybara, the world's largest rodent, weighs as much as one thousand deer mice." OK, I'm totally a sucker for this kind of thing. I love it.
He also has a page of silouettes that are at the scale of one inch equals two and a half feet. With a human being included to compare all the animals at once. And there is a couple of pages of additional information about each animal. I always find this "additional information" to be really interesting, but also hard to get through for some reason and I wonder how many young readers actually get to read it. My kids never have the patience for that kind of thing!
Anyhow, I can totally recommend this author illustrator and look forward to seeking out more of his books! Plus I'll be sharing these with my outdoor explorer campers tomorrow!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Jane Addams Children's Book Award
I just found another list of books to add to my project!
What is the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award?
The Jane Addams Children’s Book Award is an annual award that honors children’s books of literary and
artistic merit that invite children to think deeply about peace, social justice, world community and
gender and racial equality. The Jane Addams Peace Association has presented the Jane Addams
Children’s Book Award since 1953. The association is the educational arm of the Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom founded by on April 28th in 1915 with Addams as its first president. The
Awards are announced each year on April 28. Information about the Addams Award can be found at
www.janeaddamspeace.org or by contacting the
Jane Addams Peace Association,
777 United Nations Plaza, 6th Floor,
New York, NY 10017
(212) 682-8830
japa@igc.org
Henry's Freedom Box; A True Story from the Underground Railroad
Henry's Freedom Box; A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
This is a powerful book worth reading and sharing. It's not a happy book and deals with gritty real life issues. Henry is a slave that successfully puts himself in a box and mails himself to freedom. But the "success" of that plan is against the backdrop of his dispair after his wife and children have been sold, never to be seen again.
The illustrations by Kadir Nelson are beautiful and convey the emotions of the story well. The text is also excellent. There is depth and sensitivity in how she shares the story. She doesn't overplay any of the painful elements, she tells it like it is, but in a steady poets voice, without punishing us with the facts.
"His friend James came into the factory. He whispered to Henry, "Your wife and children were just sold at the slave market."
"No!" cried Henry. Henry couldn't move. He couldn't think. He couldn't work.
"Twist that tobacco!" The boss poked Henry.
Henry twisted tobacco leaves. His heart twisted in his chest.
The pictures and stories together also convey well the closeness in the bonds between mother and child, husband and wife. I also appreciate the white people in the story who don't believe in slavery and assist in the plan, especially the character of Dr. Smith, who helped Henry mail himself to Philadelphia.
Slavery is something I have discussed with my children starting in pre-school. I think it's a necessary discussion and I appreciate this and other picture books for giving us the jumping off places and the context and details for those conversations. My son LOVED learning about history from a young age and developed a keen sense of justice from reading this kind of book, and we read a lot of books about African American history. My daughter is more inclined towards fantasy than non-fiction, so we haven't done as MUCH of this kind of reading, but I intentionally include this kind of book in the mix.
I recommend this book.
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
This is a powerful book worth reading and sharing. It's not a happy book and deals with gritty real life issues. Henry is a slave that successfully puts himself in a box and mails himself to freedom. But the "success" of that plan is against the backdrop of his dispair after his wife and children have been sold, never to be seen again.
The illustrations by Kadir Nelson are beautiful and convey the emotions of the story well. The text is also excellent. There is depth and sensitivity in how she shares the story. She doesn't overplay any of the painful elements, she tells it like it is, but in a steady poets voice, without punishing us with the facts.
"His friend James came into the factory. He whispered to Henry, "Your wife and children were just sold at the slave market."
"No!" cried Henry. Henry couldn't move. He couldn't think. He couldn't work.
"Twist that tobacco!" The boss poked Henry.
Henry twisted tobacco leaves. His heart twisted in his chest.
The pictures and stories together also convey well the closeness in the bonds between mother and child, husband and wife. I also appreciate the white people in the story who don't believe in slavery and assist in the plan, especially the character of Dr. Smith, who helped Henry mail himself to Philadelphia.
Slavery is something I have discussed with my children starting in pre-school. I think it's a necessary discussion and I appreciate this and other picture books for giving us the jumping off places and the context and details for those conversations. My son LOVED learning about history from a young age and developed a keen sense of justice from reading this kind of book, and we read a lot of books about African American history. My daughter is more inclined towards fantasy than non-fiction, so we haven't done as MUCH of this kind of reading, but I intentionally include this kind of book in the mix.
I recommend this book.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Knuffle Bunny
Knuffle Bunny; A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems
2005 Caldecott Honor Book
Knuffle Bunny Too; a Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
Knuffle Bunny Free; An Unexpected Diversion by Mo Willems
I love the Knuffle Bunny books and so does everyone in my family. They are worth reading again and again. They are hilarious and deal with the stuff real kids care about!
The series begins with Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale where in our hero Trixie is a pre-verbal toddler and on a trip to the laundry mat with her dad, her beloved Knuffle Bunny gets thrown in with the wash. After a frantic race through the neighborhood back to the laundry mat, the bunny is recovered.
The pictures in these books are extra cool. They have black and white PHOTOS of real places with cartoon characters "playing" in these photographed "sets." So, there is, for example a photo of a city block with cartoon people walking down the real sidewalk and Trixie's mom standing on the front steps waving. There is something really fun about this juxtaposition of real and imaginary. I love the luscious art work of many other picture books. These illustrations are not that. They are silly. Profoundly, wonderfully, silly.
I viewed an interview with Mo Willems on you tube and he said that he purposely tried to draw his main characters so SIMPLY that a small child could make a reasonably good drawing of Knuffle Bunny or Trixie themselves, and thus extend their adventures into their own imaginative play.
In Knuffle Bunny Too Trixie is a little older and she and Dad are walking throught the neighborhood on the way to Pre-K at the local school. Trixie is excited to be taking her one-of-a-kind Knuffle Bunny to meet all her friends at school. When she gets there another girl Sonja has Knuffle Bunny too! "Suddenly, Trixie's one-of-a-kind Knuffle Bunny wasn't so one-of-a-kind anymore."
So many conflicts arise that the teacher takes the bunnies! And returns them at the end of the day. In the middle of the night Trixie realizes "That is not my bunny!" at which point Trixies daddy tried to exaplain what "2:30 a.m." means. Another race through the neighborhood in the middle of the night returns the bunnies to their rightful owners. And a new friendship is forged!
Knuffle Bunny Free concludes the saga. When Knuffle Bunny is left in an airplane after an international flight. And then miraculously FOUND on the way home. And then even more amazingly, then given to a small baby who was crying on the plane.
The books acknowledgements refer to "The real Trixie and her mommy" and I very much WANT these to be true stories. I searched for the answer to my question (Did this really happen? Is Trixie your little girl? Are YOU the Dad?) In his FAQ someone asks "Are the Knuffle Bunny stories true?" and he replies "They are completely true, except for the parts I make up."
Friday, November 11, 2011
A River of Words
A River of Words; The Story of William Carlos Willams by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
2009 Caldecott Honor Book
Ever since my son Jabu, now 10 years old, was little (like 3 or 4) he has loved picture book biographies. And I have loved them right along with him. Our children are adopted and African American (I am Japanese American-Russian American mixed, and my husband is European American). I used my sons interest in biographies to share lots of African American history with him. I don't know if there were as many great picture book biographies when I was little, but I sure didn't discover them if there were! I can honestly RAVE about many of them that I have read. It's just a part of the library worth spending time in!
OK, now to the book at hand! This is a picture book biography of the poet Willam Carlos Williams. I can DISTINCTLY remember being introduced to his poetry in a high school English class and loving it immediately. I can remember especially the poem:
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depend
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
******
I loved this poem! So I was excited to learn more about this poets life! He was a doctor. And a Dad. He wrote his poetry, several volumes of it, on top of all those other responsibilities, until the end of his life when he'd had some health difficulties that allowed him to curtail his medical career but still allowed him to write.
The illustrations in this book are a combination of drawings, paintings and collage. Many of the illustrations have his poetry embedded in them, either hand lettered or typewritten on an old fashioned typewriter. All in all a pleasing combination!
There is also a cool time line in the back of the book that has three columns, one for events of his life, one for the poems he published, and one for world events. It's amazing to think about the years his life spanned, from 1883 to 1963, going all the way from the first car to space capsules orbiting the earth .
I think older children (8 and up?) would be most likely to enjoy this book. I wouldn't hesitate to share it with my 10 year old.
2009 Caldecott Honor Book
Ever since my son Jabu, now 10 years old, was little (like 3 or 4) he has loved picture book biographies. And I have loved them right along with him. Our children are adopted and African American (I am Japanese American-Russian American mixed, and my husband is European American). I used my sons interest in biographies to share lots of African American history with him. I don't know if there were as many great picture book biographies when I was little, but I sure didn't discover them if there were! I can honestly RAVE about many of them that I have read. It's just a part of the library worth spending time in!
OK, now to the book at hand! This is a picture book biography of the poet Willam Carlos Williams. I can DISTINCTLY remember being introduced to his poetry in a high school English class and loving it immediately. I can remember especially the poem:
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depend
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
******
I loved this poem! So I was excited to learn more about this poets life! He was a doctor. And a Dad. He wrote his poetry, several volumes of it, on top of all those other responsibilities, until the end of his life when he'd had some health difficulties that allowed him to curtail his medical career but still allowed him to write.
The illustrations in this book are a combination of drawings, paintings and collage. Many of the illustrations have his poetry embedded in them, either hand lettered or typewritten on an old fashioned typewriter. All in all a pleasing combination!
There is also a cool time line in the back of the book that has three columns, one for events of his life, one for the poems he published, and one for world events. It's amazing to think about the years his life spanned, from 1883 to 1963, going all the way from the first car to space capsules orbiting the earth .
I think older children (8 and up?) would be most likely to enjoy this book. I wouldn't hesitate to share it with my 10 year old.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, Illustrated by Erin E. Stead
2011 Caldecott Medal
The illustrations in this book are pencil drawings combined with blocks of color. It's a sweet whimsical story of an old man zoo keeper and his daily visits with various animals in the zoo. He runs races with the (who never lost), played chess with the elephant (who thought and thought and thought before a move, etc. When he gets a cold, the animals take the bus to his house and return the favor.
I might have passed this by if I'd not known it was a medal winner. But it is warm story of devotion in friendship and the bonds that that creates.
2011 Caldecott Medal
The illustrations in this book are pencil drawings combined with blocks of color. It's a sweet whimsical story of an old man zoo keeper and his daily visits with various animals in the zoo. He runs races with the (who never lost), played chess with the elephant (who thought and thought and thought before a move, etc. When he gets a cold, the animals take the bus to his house and return the favor.
I might have passed this by if I'd not known it was a medal winner. But it is warm story of devotion in friendship and the bonds that that creates.
First The Egg
First The Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
This book will appeal to the very youngest reader, but is definitely not lost on me! The very simple text and pictures are elegant, as well as simple. And although it has that little kid appeal, there is no "talking down" which I appreciate. It also has a playful "a book can be a toy" aspect. . . each page has a cut out and the pages lead to one another in a way that invites participation and predicting what comes next.
For example, the first pages read "First the EGG" and there is a cut out shape of a white egg. You turn the page and read "then the CHICKEN". The cut out egg shape now flips over and becomes the yellow body of the chick that just hatched out of the egg. The white of the egg on the previous page was the white mama chicken you see on this page.
So, when you get to the next page and it says "First the tadpole" small children want to guess "then the FROG!" Plus it's fun and intriguing to see how the same cut out shape becomes different things as the page turns. And the last line. . . "First the CHICKEN" (turn the page) "then the EGG!"
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
This book will appeal to the very youngest reader, but is definitely not lost on me! The very simple text and pictures are elegant, as well as simple. And although it has that little kid appeal, there is no "talking down" which I appreciate. It also has a playful "a book can be a toy" aspect. . . each page has a cut out and the pages lead to one another in a way that invites participation and predicting what comes next.
For example, the first pages read "First the EGG" and there is a cut out shape of a white egg. You turn the page and read "then the CHICKEN". The cut out egg shape now flips over and becomes the yellow body of the chick that just hatched out of the egg. The white of the egg on the previous page was the white mama chicken you see on this page.
So, when you get to the next page and it says "First the tadpole" small children want to guess "then the FROG!" Plus it's fun and intriguing to see how the same cut out shape becomes different things as the page turns. And the last line. . . "First the CHICKEN" (turn the page) "then the EGG!"
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The Red Book; The Museum Trip; The Secret Box
The Red Book by Barbara Lehman
2005 Caldecott Honor Book
Also by the same author---
The Museum Trip
The Secret Box
I am pretty excited to be introduced to this author who I was previously unfamiliar with. I looked up The Red Book because it was a Caldecott Honor book, and when I saw it was a wordless picture book, I got everything on the shelf that she had written! My kids like wordless picture books. Jabu (age 10) likes graphic novels and comic books and these are akin to that somehow. And Makayla (age 6) is just learning to read, so to be able to "read" a book entirely on her own is satisfying to her.
Some wordless picture books are designed with pre-readers, that is VERY YOUNG children in mind. But this author/illustrator is more in the ilk of David Weisner (Flostsom, and Tuesday, among others). She creates, through pictures alone, COMPLEX, intriguing story lines that are engaging for all ages, including adults!
Her illustration style is very different from David Weisner. His pictures are very fine and detailed. Her pictures are warm and simple. But The Red Book really does remind me of Flotsom.
All three of these books I read this evening by Barbara Lehman involve the characters entering into pictures or pages and thus entering other worlds. So, there is a surreal, fantastical element.
In The Red Book a girl finds a book and sees a boy finding a book and looking at HER in the book, while she looks at HIM in her book. It's all a little twisted and hard to wrap your mind around ---- in a good way!
The Musuem Trip shows a boy getting lost on an art museum field trip, entering a little door to a small room where there are pictures of mazes in a glass case. He runs onto the paper, and works the mazes, running each one's route successfully, into the center and out again.
In The Secret Box three children find a small collection of treasures left by a child long ago. They travel into the world of the clues left in the box. . . some ticket stubs, a postcard, etc.
All very cool stuff. Much cooler than I'm able to describe here. I like this author A LOT. And am so very happy to have discovered her as a result of this project!
2005 Caldecott Honor Book
Also by the same author---
The Museum Trip
The Secret Box
I am pretty excited to be introduced to this author who I was previously unfamiliar with. I looked up The Red Book because it was a Caldecott Honor book, and when I saw it was a wordless picture book, I got everything on the shelf that she had written! My kids like wordless picture books. Jabu (age 10) likes graphic novels and comic books and these are akin to that somehow. And Makayla (age 6) is just learning to read, so to be able to "read" a book entirely on her own is satisfying to her.
Some wordless picture books are designed with pre-readers, that is VERY YOUNG children in mind. But this author/illustrator is more in the ilk of David Weisner (Flostsom, and Tuesday, among others). She creates, through pictures alone, COMPLEX, intriguing story lines that are engaging for all ages, including adults!
Her illustration style is very different from David Weisner. His pictures are very fine and detailed. Her pictures are warm and simple. But The Red Book really does remind me of Flotsom.
All three of these books I read this evening by Barbara Lehman involve the characters entering into pictures or pages and thus entering other worlds. So, there is a surreal, fantastical element.
In The Red Book a girl finds a book and sees a boy finding a book and looking at HER in the book, while she looks at HIM in her book. It's all a little twisted and hard to wrap your mind around ---- in a good way!
The Musuem Trip shows a boy getting lost on an art museum field trip, entering a little door to a small room where there are pictures of mazes in a glass case. He runs onto the paper, and works the mazes, running each one's route successfully, into the center and out again.
In The Secret Box three children find a small collection of treasures left by a child long ago. They travel into the world of the clues left in the box. . . some ticket stubs, a postcard, etc.
All very cool stuff. Much cooler than I'm able to describe here. I like this author A LOT. And am so very happy to have discovered her as a result of this project!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
The Wall; Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
The Wall; Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
I found this book fascinating. It is a first person narrative about growing up in Czechoslovakia and spans from the late 1940's through the 70's, and references the wall coming down in 1989. I love learning about history through a personal lens, and this book definitely provides that. I found the journal entries especially powerful.
I read it aloud to Jabu, my 10 year old, and he both didn't much like it and had no patience at all for the journal entries (my favorite part). I don't know if I just caught him at the wrong time, or what, Jabu usually really likes biographies and books based on history.
Looking at it again today, I think the problem might have been that the layout/format of this book doesn't lend itself to reading ALOUD. The story doesn't run in a straight line. And this is actually part of what makes it an interesting book. There are definitions in small print running along the edges of some pages (Cold War, Communism, Iron Curtain). The introduction gives a great overview of the historic context of the book, but for a read aloud listener is not story-like at all. There is a thread of text about the authors own life "As long as he could remember, he had loved to draw."that is "interrupted" by captions giving historic details beside the frames of cartoon like pictures "1948. The Soviets take control of Czechoslovakia and close the borders." And all of this is "interrupted" or (in my opinion supported) by pages of journal entries that are interspersed occasionally.
Here are a few examples from the journal entries:
"April 1956 My father's cousin Lamin is in prison as an enemy of the state. My grandmother talks to my parents about it in German so my sister and I won't understand. But we understand some of it. He was on a national volleyball team that was going to a tournament in the West, and the players were all planning to stay there. The secret police found out. Lamin is twenty years old and will be in prison for the rest of this life."
"1961 We watch an American movie called On the Bowery at school. It shows poor people sleeping in the street. We're told this is how people in a capitalist country live."
"May 19665 Allen Ginsberg, the American beat poet, comes to Prague. Students make him our Kral Majales (King of May). Then the secret police accuse him of subversion and deport him."
The picture Peter Sims paints of life behind the Iron Curtain is not pretty. It sounds pretty scary and oppressive. I'm have my concerns about capitalism as well, but what he grew up with would not be an attractive alternative!
Anyhow, a very interesting read. Possibly a better book for ADULTS than children. But, in the Afterward I learned that the book was written in an attempt to explain his childhood to his own children. "Now when my American family goes to visit my Czech family in the colorful city of Prague, it is hard to convince them it was ever a dark place full of fear, suspicion, and lies. I find it difficult to explain my childhood; it's hard to put it into words, and since I have always drawn everything, I have tried to draw my life---before America--- for them."
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
I found this book fascinating. It is a first person narrative about growing up in Czechoslovakia and spans from the late 1940's through the 70's, and references the wall coming down in 1989. I love learning about history through a personal lens, and this book definitely provides that. I found the journal entries especially powerful.
I read it aloud to Jabu, my 10 year old, and he both didn't much like it and had no patience at all for the journal entries (my favorite part). I don't know if I just caught him at the wrong time, or what, Jabu usually really likes biographies and books based on history.
Looking at it again today, I think the problem might have been that the layout/format of this book doesn't lend itself to reading ALOUD. The story doesn't run in a straight line. And this is actually part of what makes it an interesting book. There are definitions in small print running along the edges of some pages (Cold War, Communism, Iron Curtain). The introduction gives a great overview of the historic context of the book, but for a read aloud listener is not story-like at all. There is a thread of text about the authors own life "As long as he could remember, he had loved to draw."that is "interrupted" by captions giving historic details beside the frames of cartoon like pictures "1948. The Soviets take control of Czechoslovakia and close the borders." And all of this is "interrupted" or (in my opinion supported) by pages of journal entries that are interspersed occasionally.
Here are a few examples from the journal entries:
"April 1956 My father's cousin Lamin is in prison as an enemy of the state. My grandmother talks to my parents about it in German so my sister and I won't understand. But we understand some of it. He was on a national volleyball team that was going to a tournament in the West, and the players were all planning to stay there. The secret police found out. Lamin is twenty years old and will be in prison for the rest of this life."
"1961 We watch an American movie called On the Bowery at school. It shows poor people sleeping in the street. We're told this is how people in a capitalist country live."
"May 19665 Allen Ginsberg, the American beat poet, comes to Prague. Students make him our Kral Majales (King of May). Then the secret police accuse him of subversion and deport him."
The picture Peter Sims paints of life behind the Iron Curtain is not pretty. It sounds pretty scary and oppressive. I'm have my concerns about capitalism as well, but what he grew up with would not be an attractive alternative!
Anyhow, a very interesting read. Possibly a better book for ADULTS than children. But, in the Afterward I learned that the book was written in an attempt to explain his childhood to his own children. "Now when my American family goes to visit my Czech family in the colorful city of Prague, it is hard to convince them it was ever a dark place full of fear, suspicion, and lies. I find it difficult to explain my childhood; it's hard to put it into words, and since I have always drawn everything, I have tried to draw my life---before America--- for them."
When You Reach Me
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
2010 Newbery Medal winner
This story in told in the voice of 6th grader Miranda and takes place in New York City. The story is constructed in a fascinating way, like a puzzle you are trying to solve, and when it all came together in the end, I was flipping back through the book to take a second look at the clues that were being supplied all along.
Miranda's favorite book is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. She reads it continuously, over and over. In this science fiction book time travel is a feature.
When You Reach Me does a great job with characters. Miranda, her friends at school, her mom, her mom's boyfriend, people in the neighborhood, people on the street, are all believable interesting people. The setting of NYC is also a place that I felt I knew better reading this story. Especially the point of view of a child growing up in the city. The relationships of Miranda and all the characters is particularly well done and the relationship are complex and evolve in interesting unpredictable ways.
At some point Miranda starts receiving mysterious little notes from an unknown source. Some of them predict the future. Accurately. The story is in great part a letter to the person sending the notes. And it is an intriguing puzzle to try and figure out who the letter is to and who is doing the sending. There is an element of really not knowing WHAT is going on through out the entire book, but this pulls you along in a fun way. And suddenly at the close of the book it all comes into focus.
I enjoyed the book! I don't think it's one that I'd INSIST anyone read, but it's very good and I can recommend it.
Miranda's favorite book is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. She reads it continuously, over and over. In this science fiction book time travel is a feature.
When You Reach Me does a great job with characters. Miranda, her friends at school, her mom, her mom's boyfriend, people in the neighborhood, people on the street, are all believable interesting people. The setting of NYC is also a place that I felt I knew better reading this story. Especially the point of view of a child growing up in the city. The relationships of Miranda and all the characters is particularly well done and the relationship are complex and evolve in interesting unpredictable ways.
At some point Miranda starts receiving mysterious little notes from an unknown source. Some of them predict the future. Accurately. The story is in great part a letter to the person sending the notes. And it is an intriguing puzzle to try and figure out who the letter is to and who is doing the sending. There is an element of really not knowing WHAT is going on through out the entire book, but this pulls you along in a fun way. And suddenly at the close of the book it all comes into focus.
I enjoyed the book! I don't think it's one that I'd INSIST anyone read, but it's very good and I can recommend it.
Gone Wild an Endanged Animal Alphabet
Gone Wild An Endangered Animal Alphabet by Dave McLimans
2007 Caldecott Honor Book
I often wish books would give more information about the art work. The bold graphic illustrations in this book look like papercuts to me, but I am not entirely sure how they are made.
There is an introduction, explaining a little about endangered species and the different classifications of this (Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable)
Then there is an alphabet. Each LETTER is made into a picture of an endangered animal. M is for Prairie Sphinx Moth and the middle of the letter M is made of the wings and body of the moth. L is for Snow Leopard and the letter L is spotted like a leopard and has a claw on the "foot" of the L. It's a little hard to describe! On each page there is also a box with a smaller picture of the endangered animal and some basic information: Class, Habitat, Range, Threats, Status.
Then, at the very back of the book there are 5 pages with additional REALLY INTERESTING information about each animal (one short completely fascinating paragraph per animal) and some resources listing further reading and organizations that help endangered animals. This is where you learn stuff like: "The boa is a mighty hunter and has heat sensitive pits around its mouth enabling it to hunt for warm-blooded prey in complete darkness." or "Thanks to its large webbed feet, the blue duck can move easily through swift rapids and climb over large boulders."
My 6 year old didn't like this book. She thought the ABC animals "weren't really pictures."
I also wasn't quite satisfied with it. I especially didn't like the choice of the more interesting info about the animals being pulled out and listed separately. I can see why, for purely graphic reasons, it's nice to have the bold black ABC animals floating on an uncluttered white page. But I doubt many people get to reading the dense text at the back of the book. I found the information absolutely amazing, and still had trouble sticking with it for 5 pages. I would have preferred to have the text about the animals included the first time around.
2007 Caldecott Honor Book
I often wish books would give more information about the art work. The bold graphic illustrations in this book look like papercuts to me, but I am not entirely sure how they are made.
There is an introduction, explaining a little about endangered species and the different classifications of this (Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable)
Then there is an alphabet. Each LETTER is made into a picture of an endangered animal. M is for Prairie Sphinx Moth and the middle of the letter M is made of the wings and body of the moth. L is for Snow Leopard and the letter L is spotted like a leopard and has a claw on the "foot" of the L. It's a little hard to describe! On each page there is also a box with a smaller picture of the endangered animal and some basic information: Class, Habitat, Range, Threats, Status.
Then, at the very back of the book there are 5 pages with additional REALLY INTERESTING information about each animal (one short completely fascinating paragraph per animal) and some resources listing further reading and organizations that help endangered animals. This is where you learn stuff like: "The boa is a mighty hunter and has heat sensitive pits around its mouth enabling it to hunt for warm-blooded prey in complete darkness." or "Thanks to its large webbed feet, the blue duck can move easily through swift rapids and climb over large boulders."
My 6 year old didn't like this book. She thought the ABC animals "weren't really pictures."
I also wasn't quite satisfied with it. I especially didn't like the choice of the more interesting info about the animals being pulled out and listed separately. I can see why, for purely graphic reasons, it's nice to have the bold black ABC animals floating on an uncluttered white page. But I doubt many people get to reading the dense text at the back of the book. I found the information absolutely amazing, and still had trouble sticking with it for 5 pages. I would have preferred to have the text about the animals included the first time around.
How I Learned Geography
How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz
2009 Caldecott Honor Book
This story is based on the author/illustrators memories of being a boy during World War II. They had to flee Poland empty handed. As refugees in a strange place, they were often hungry.
One day the boys father going to market to get bread and coming home instead with a map of the world. "I had enough money to buy only a tiny piece of bread, and we would still be hungry" he explained apologetically. Both Mother and Boy were bitterly angry.
But the next day, the Father hangs up the map. It is bright and colorful and takes up a whole wall. The boy spends many hours gazing at the map, making magical incantations out of the names of the cities and countries, and traveling to all the parts of the world in his mind.
There is also an authors note with a photo of the author at this age and a picture he drew at age 10 of Africa. I read it to both of my children (ages 6 and 10) and they both enjoyed it. I like a book that makes kids think and inspires conversations about big topics. I like a book that combines fancy with substance. This book definitely succeeds; recommended!
2009 Caldecott Honor Book
This story is based on the author/illustrators memories of being a boy during World War II. They had to flee Poland empty handed. As refugees in a strange place, they were often hungry.
One day the boys father going to market to get bread and coming home instead with a map of the world. "I had enough money to buy only a tiny piece of bread, and we would still be hungry" he explained apologetically. Both Mother and Boy were bitterly angry.
But the next day, the Father hangs up the map. It is bright and colorful and takes up a whole wall. The boy spends many hours gazing at the map, making magical incantations out of the names of the cities and countries, and traveling to all the parts of the world in his mind.
There is also an authors note with a photo of the author at this age and a picture he drew at age 10 of Africa. I read it to both of my children (ages 6 and 10) and they both enjoyed it. I like a book that makes kids think and inspires conversations about big topics. I like a book that combines fancy with substance. This book definitely succeeds; recommended!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
The House in the Night
The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson, pictures by Beth Krommes
2009 Caldecott Medal winner
A lovely picture book with black and white etchings that are simple yet detailed. Each page has gold highlights but no other colors. The illustrations are very pleasing. The text is simple in a "house that Jack built" kind of way. But unlike One Fine Day which also has that familiar pattern, this book has that emotional resonance and poetry that I look for, and the illustrations definitely support that deepening of the simple text in an important way.
My daughter Makayla (age 6) liked the pictures when she "read" it herself (with out reading) and liked hearing me read it as well.
I'm not sure if this is a book that will stay in my mind and insist people read (time will tell!). But I definitely enjoyed it.
2009 Caldecott Medal winner
A lovely picture book with black and white etchings that are simple yet detailed. Each page has gold highlights but no other colors. The illustrations are very pleasing. The text is simple in a "house that Jack built" kind of way. But unlike One Fine Day which also has that familiar pattern, this book has that emotional resonance and poetry that I look for, and the illustrations definitely support that deepening of the simple text in an important way.
My daughter Makayla (age 6) liked the pictures when she "read" it herself (with out reading) and liked hearing me read it as well.
I'm not sure if this is a book that will stay in my mind and insist people read (time will tell!). But I definitely enjoyed it.
Kitten's First Full Moon
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
2005 Caldecottt Medal Winner
"It was Kitten's first full moon. When she saw it, she thought , There's a little bowl of milk in the sky. And she wanted it."
I read this aloud to Makayla (age 6) and she loved it. She absolutely loved that the kitten thought the moon was a bowl of milk.
The story continues, describing all the different ways that Kitten tries and tries and tries to get that bowl of milk. The black and white drawings have a bold line and simplicity, and do a GREAT job of conveying a full range of emotions on the face of this little kitten.
By the end of the story, and all her efforts to get this big bowl of milk in the sky, Kitten is "wet and sad and tired and hungry." So, she head back home, to find a big bowl of milk waiting for her. "Lucky Kitten!"
It's a sweet book. I like it and recommend it. Especially for little ones. But with enough substance to be pleasing to me as well!
2005 Caldecottt Medal Winner
"It was Kitten's first full moon. When she saw it, she thought , There's a little bowl of milk in the sky. And she wanted it."
I read this aloud to Makayla (age 6) and she loved it. She absolutely loved that the kitten thought the moon was a bowl of milk.
The story continues, describing all the different ways that Kitten tries and tries and tries to get that bowl of milk. The black and white drawings have a bold line and simplicity, and do a GREAT job of conveying a full range of emotions on the face of this little kitten.
By the end of the story, and all her efforts to get this big bowl of milk in the sky, Kitten is "wet and sad and tired and hungry." So, she head back home, to find a big bowl of milk waiting for her. "Lucky Kitten!"
It's a sweet book. I like it and recommend it. Especially for little ones. But with enough substance to be pleasing to me as well!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday; Art & Max, both by David Wiesner
Tuesday by David Wiesner
1992 Caldecott Medal Winner
Art & Max by David Wiesner
caldecott author
David Wiesner as I've mentioned before has won the Caldecott Medal THREE times (and has a couple of Caldecott Honor books as well) so, after reading Flotsom and The Three Pigs I was eager to see some of his other books. Here are two more. . .
David Wiesner enjoys fantastical journeys of various sorts. Tuesday is another almost wordless visual story involving things fantastical. Mainly, frogs lifting off the pond and flying on their lily pads, all through one Tuesday night.
The next Tuesday it appears to be flying pigs. And in fact it is those very flying pigs that inspired The Three Pigs story (also a Caldecott Medal winner.)
Art & Max I was especially curious about since I'd watched a video interview of the author talking about his creative process with this book. It features two lizards, both artists, one more established one a student and it's a grand and fanciful exploration of different art media.
1992 Caldecott Medal Winner
Art & Max by David Wiesner
caldecott author
David Wiesner as I've mentioned before has won the Caldecott Medal THREE times (and has a couple of Caldecott Honor books as well) so, after reading Flotsom and The Three Pigs I was eager to see some of his other books. Here are two more. . .
David Wiesner enjoys fantastical journeys of various sorts. Tuesday is another almost wordless visual story involving things fantastical. Mainly, frogs lifting off the pond and flying on their lily pads, all through one Tuesday night.
The next Tuesday it appears to be flying pigs. And in fact it is those very flying pigs that inspired The Three Pigs story (also a Caldecott Medal winner.)
Art & Max I was especially curious about since I'd watched a video interview of the author talking about his creative process with this book. It features two lizards, both artists, one more established one a student and it's a grand and fanciful exploration of different art media.
Fun Stuff. I recommend this author in general.
One Fine Day
One Fine Day by Nonny Hogrogian (author and illustrator)
1972 Caldecott Medal
Inspired by an Armenian folk tale, this is a cumulative story about a fox who helps himself to an old woman's milk, get's his tail chopped off as a result, and then goes through a series of efforts in order to repay the old woman so she'll sew his tail back on. (Which does eventually happen.)
It's the kind of "add on" story, like the house that Jack built, that kids would enjoy saying along with the story as the story builds. The pictures are particularly pleasing in a bright, happy, colorful sort of way.
I found it to be a "nice" book, but nothing earth shattering. I go for a little more substance in the story line, so it's not something I could count as a favorite.
1972 Caldecott Medal
Inspired by an Armenian folk tale, this is a cumulative story about a fox who helps himself to an old woman's milk, get's his tail chopped off as a result, and then goes through a series of efforts in order to repay the old woman so she'll sew his tail back on. (Which does eventually happen.)
It's the kind of "add on" story, like the house that Jack built, that kids would enjoy saying along with the story as the story builds. The pictures are particularly pleasing in a bright, happy, colorful sort of way.
I found it to be a "nice" book, but nothing earth shattering. I go for a little more substance in the story line, so it's not something I could count as a favorite.
A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever
A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marl Frazee
2009 Caldecott Honor Book
I love this book! It's a picture book with a cartooney feel. It's not in traditional comic book frames, but there are "talk bubbles" in the pictures. And it is funny.
It tells the story of a boy named James and a boy named Eamon who go to spend a week with Pam and Bill, who are Eamon's grandparents in order to spend a week at Nature Camp. It's based on real people and real events and is dedicated to Bill, Pam, James and Eamon.
What this book does delightfully and well is juxtapose the "what's expected" of these boys with their honest reality. There are lots of pages where the grown up world and the boys world are shown in their amuzing discordant harmony. Mari Frazee, both author and illustrator, often does this by having the words and the pictures doing two completely different things . . . a couple of examples:
James arrived "with just a couple of his belongings" reads the text. The accompanying picture shows a pile of stuff about three times higher than the boy!
The text reads "They decided to stay home and enjoy Bill and Pam's company." the illustration shows the boys running of the side of the page, leaving Bill and Pam in a cloud of dust!
The heart of the story though, is "as the nature camp week went by, James and Eamon practically became one person. They did everything together in exactly the same way. To save time, Bill began calling them Jamon.
The thing I love about this story is how clearly it shows up adult interest in organized activities for children. . ."On the way back that afternoon, James and Eamon described their first nature camp day to Bill.
James: I thought you are supposed to walk on a hike.
Eamon: Yeah, not stand and look at some flower for an hour."
. . . . In favor of just messing around with your friends!
Pam and Bill tolerate it all with warmth and hugs and stacks of pancakes, and are about as lovable as "Jamon"
Really sweet book. I think 5 and up would enjoy it. Adults and older kids will get more of the jokes.
2009 Caldecott Honor Book
I love this book! It's a picture book with a cartooney feel. It's not in traditional comic book frames, but there are "talk bubbles" in the pictures. And it is funny.
It tells the story of a boy named James and a boy named Eamon who go to spend a week with Pam and Bill, who are Eamon's grandparents in order to spend a week at Nature Camp. It's based on real people and real events and is dedicated to Bill, Pam, James and Eamon.
What this book does delightfully and well is juxtapose the "what's expected" of these boys with their honest reality. There are lots of pages where the grown up world and the boys world are shown in their amuzing discordant harmony. Mari Frazee, both author and illustrator, often does this by having the words and the pictures doing two completely different things . . . a couple of examples:
James arrived "with just a couple of his belongings" reads the text. The accompanying picture shows a pile of stuff about three times higher than the boy!
The text reads "They decided to stay home and enjoy Bill and Pam's company." the illustration shows the boys running of the side of the page, leaving Bill and Pam in a cloud of dust!
The heart of the story though, is "as the nature camp week went by, James and Eamon practically became one person. They did everything together in exactly the same way. To save time, Bill began calling them Jamon.
The thing I love about this story is how clearly it shows up adult interest in organized activities for children. . ."On the way back that afternoon, James and Eamon described their first nature camp day to Bill.
James: I thought you are supposed to walk on a hike.
Eamon: Yeah, not stand and look at some flower for an hour."
. . . . In favor of just messing around with your friends!
Pam and Bill tolerate it all with warmth and hugs and stacks of pancakes, and are about as lovable as "Jamon"
Really sweet book. I think 5 and up would enjoy it. Adults and older kids will get more of the jokes.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Flotsam; The Three Pigs---A couple of books by David Wiesner:
Flotsam by David Wiesner
2007 Medal Winner
The Three Pigs by David Wiesner
2002 Caldecott Medal
Let's just start with the fact that David Wiesner has won THREE Caldecott medals and TWO Caldecott Honors. He's good! I haven't gotten my hands on the other medal and honor books he's written yet, but I look forward to doing exactly that!
FLOTSAM is a wordless picture book of a sophisticated nature. Many wordless picture books are designed for people too young to read. Not this one. Older children and adults will also enjoy Flotsam. The illustrations, depicting a boys exploration on the beach, are detailed and fine, and there are lots of them--- some pages have more than a dozen frames.
If you love exploring on the beach and finding little animals and trash and treasures, you will resonate with the boy in this book. He's taking a close examination of a crab when a wave knocks him over. When he sits up again, he sees an ancient underwater camera that the wave washed up. And here the adventure begins. I'm not giving any of the rest of it away. It's cool. It's magical. This book is worth chasing down.
One of the things I love about the book is the way the illustrations, and really the whole story, show the process of LOOKING. For example you see the hermit crab, huge, in sharp focus, looking startled. . . with the boys eye in the background. Then you see the boy stretched out on a blanket in the sand, a magnifying glass held up to his face (and making his eye enormous) and the hermit crab in his hand. If you are someone who loves this kind of LOOKING (and I do!) there is a lot of happiness seeing that process shown from various perspectives. You are pulled into the boys LOOKING and actually experience the story.
Highly recommended. All ages.
THE THREE PIGS is also totally clever and cool (though I'd have to say Flotsam would easily be my personal favorite.) This story begins with the usual "Once upon a time there were three pigs who went out into the world to seek their fortune. The first pig decided to build a house, and he built it out of straw."
I was thinking, "huh, I'm surprised that David Wiesner would want to do this story. . . " but then when the world huffed and puffed and blew the house in the little pig says "Hey He blew me right out the story!" and the pig actually sails OFF the page, and the wolf is supposed to be eating him up. . . but he's gone!
The rest of the book features pigs scrambling around doing their own thing IN BETWEEN the PAGES of the book. . . and then OTHER books! This is so clever it's hard to explain! Which would be a good reason to give this man a medal! Heck the pigs even fold a paper airplane out of one of the pages in the book and fly away on it for a few pages. Ingenious and fun. In both books, for different reasons, the sheer intelligence of this author-illustrator's artistry impress me!
Here is a you-tube video of the artist talking about his most recent book. Seems like a very interesting man who likes to challenge himself! Art and Max by David Wiesner - YouTube
And here's an interview with the artist talking about getting the news of winning the Caldecott for the Flotsam and talking about his creating process: David Wiesner interview - YouTube
Love, Louise
2007 Medal Winner
The Three Pigs by David Wiesner
2002 Caldecott Medal
Let's just start with the fact that David Wiesner has won THREE Caldecott medals and TWO Caldecott Honors. He's good! I haven't gotten my hands on the other medal and honor books he's written yet, but I look forward to doing exactly that!
FLOTSAM is a wordless picture book of a sophisticated nature. Many wordless picture books are designed for people too young to read. Not this one. Older children and adults will also enjoy Flotsam. The illustrations, depicting a boys exploration on the beach, are detailed and fine, and there are lots of them--- some pages have more than a dozen frames.
If you love exploring on the beach and finding little animals and trash and treasures, you will resonate with the boy in this book. He's taking a close examination of a crab when a wave knocks him over. When he sits up again, he sees an ancient underwater camera that the wave washed up. And here the adventure begins. I'm not giving any of the rest of it away. It's cool. It's magical. This book is worth chasing down.
One of the things I love about the book is the way the illustrations, and really the whole story, show the process of LOOKING. For example you see the hermit crab, huge, in sharp focus, looking startled. . . with the boys eye in the background. Then you see the boy stretched out on a blanket in the sand, a magnifying glass held up to his face (and making his eye enormous) and the hermit crab in his hand. If you are someone who loves this kind of LOOKING (and I do!) there is a lot of happiness seeing that process shown from various perspectives. You are pulled into the boys LOOKING and actually experience the story.
Highly recommended. All ages.
THE THREE PIGS is also totally clever and cool (though I'd have to say Flotsam would easily be my personal favorite.) This story begins with the usual "Once upon a time there were three pigs who went out into the world to seek their fortune. The first pig decided to build a house, and he built it out of straw."
I was thinking, "huh, I'm surprised that David Wiesner would want to do this story. . . " but then when the world huffed and puffed and blew the house in the little pig says "Hey He blew me right out the story!" and the pig actually sails OFF the page, and the wolf is supposed to be eating him up. . . but he's gone!
The rest of the book features pigs scrambling around doing their own thing IN BETWEEN the PAGES of the book. . . and then OTHER books! This is so clever it's hard to explain! Which would be a good reason to give this man a medal! Heck the pigs even fold a paper airplane out of one of the pages in the book and fly away on it for a few pages. Ingenious and fun. In both books, for different reasons, the sheer intelligence of this author-illustrator's artistry impress me!
Here is a you-tube video of the artist talking about his most recent book. Seems like a very interesting man who likes to challenge himself! Art and Max by David Wiesner - YouTube
And here's an interview with the artist talking about getting the news of winning the Caldecott for the Flotsam and talking about his creating process: David Wiesner interview - YouTube
Love, Louise
Saturday, October 29, 2011
One Crazy Summer
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
2011 Coretta Scott King Award Winner
2011 Newbery Honor Book
2011 Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical Fiction
2010 National Book Award Finalist
Delphine is the oldest of three sisters at eleven years old. Dephine, and her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern travel from Brooklyn, where they live with their Pa and "Big Ma" (his mother) to Oakland CA during the summer of 1968. The girls have been sent to meet their mother, Cecile, who left them immediately after Ferns birth, and isn't exactly "motherly." Cecile has changed her name to Nzilla, is a poet with a small printing press in her kitchen, and is involved with the Black Power movement. The girls spend their summer going to Black Panther summer camp where they get a free breakfast, learn the meaning of revolution, make friends with the children of freedom fighters who's parents gave their lives in the struggle or are imprisoned. It's a long way from Brooklyn and Pa and Big Ma. Cecile seems distinctly NOT glad to see them, and Delphine steps up to look out for her sisters the best she can.
You will love these three girls. Several other characters are also memorable. The window into that time and place and movement is very satisfying. The intensity of Cecile/Nzilla and the mother she isn't is very compelling. Near the end of the book the girls take place in a rally that leaves them empowered. But the real culmination of the story happens the night before they leave when Cecile and Delphine have a heated discussion where Delphine finally learns her mothers life, and in the last moment before they step on the plane, to go home.
I like this book! I could totally recommend it. Middle school and up. There are complex issues and scenes of arrests, stories about black panthers who were killed in episodes of police brutality, etc. So, I'd consider it ideal for adults and young people to read together as it would be a rich jumping off place for lots of worthy discussion!
I feel the quote on the back of the book by Linda Sue Park (Newbery Medal author for her book The Single Shard) summed it up well: "One Crazy Summer is a genuine rarity: a book that is both important in it's contents and utterly engaging in its characters. . . with the tremendous bonus of being beautifully written."
Friday, October 14, 2011
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Originally posted 2003
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
1984 Newbery Medal
I thought this one was a bit “light weight” for a Newbery Medal. It’s told by a boy in his correspondance with an Author he likes and then in a journal he keeps. Tells of his parents breaking up and deals with family issues with his mom and dad. I didn’t love it. It was OK.
Related Blog-----Newbery Project Blog
I found this blog today that invites people to join and review Newbery Medal books.
It was fun to read other peoples impressions of some of the books I have read and if you want a second opinion, there are plenty of them here.
Love, Louise
The Wanderer
Originally posted 2003
2001 Newbery Honor book
I liked Walk Two Moons so much that I made a project of reading everything Sharon Creech wrote! I like the Wanderer the best! A transatlantic sailing voyage sets the scene. An adopted girl is the central character and adoption issues figure into the story in a central way. There are great dipictions of family relationships especially with fathers and sons. Everyone is transformed by the voyage and the difficulties of a particular storm in a positive way. There are the characteristic Sharon Chreech wonderful people, including a wonderful boy character on the voyage.
The Higher Power of Lucky
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
2007 Newbery Medal
The town of Hard Pan population 43 is located in the Mojave Desert. Ten year old Lucky is one of those 43 residents and has one of the few jobs in town. She cleans up after the 12 step meetings that take place in the Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center. "All the anonymous people left lots of litter, and each group could not bear to see the butts or the cans or the candy wrappers of the group that met before it. . . . The recovering alcoholics hated to see or smell beer cans left by the recovering smokers and gamblers, the recovering smokers could not stand cigarette butts left by the recovering drinkers, and the recovering overeaters hated to see candy wrappers left by the recovering drinkers, smokers and gamblers. Which means Lucky has a job."
She also has a spot behind the building where she eavesdrops on all the rock bottom stories the anonymous people tell. And listens carefully for any clues about finding your higher power, since she would like to find her own.
Lucky's mom died a few years ago and she has a guardian, Bridgette, who is from France. The main thread in the story follows Lucky's recovery from that loss. It has a happy ending.
I liked the book.There are a bunch of quirky characters who live in Hard Pan who are fun to read about. The book was funny and did a good job viewing the world through Lucky's eyes and in her language. But, it wasn't JUST funny, it also dealt with good themes of loss, love, recovery and community.
Although I think younger readers would enjoy the character of Lucky, and there's nothing horribly scary in the book, various things make me recommend it to middle school and up. A younger child reading WITH a parent might be OK. The whole context of the anonymous meetings, the opening rock bottom story has a snake biting a dog on the scrotum, stuff like that, makes me think of an older reader.
Love, Louise
Thursday, October 13, 2011
A Year Down Yonder; A Long Way From Chicago
Originally posted October 24, 2003
Both of these are by Richard Peck. A Year Down Yonder was the Newbery Medal Winner in 2001 and A Long Way From Chicago was a Newbery Honor book in 1999. I read A Long Way from Chicago first because it is the "prequel" to A Year Down Yonder and I wanted to do it in order.
These stories have a storytellerish style, a kind of tall tale, yarn spinning quality. In A Long Way from Chicago each chapter tells a story about a gun toting, don't care what anybody thinks, tough as nails/heart of gold Grandmother that two kids from Chicago go visit each summer.
A Year Down Yonder follows the younger child through an entire year with her grandmother, during the depression when her parents are in a hard way in Chicago and decide it's best for the girl to live with her Grandmother for the year.
The chapters of each book stand on their own as stories. I bet it would be a fun one to read aloud.
I found that the each chapter a story format didn't suck me in quite a thoroughly as a regular novel does. The stories are funny, the Grandmother character outrageous and with good moral fortitude despite (or maybe because of?) her out law mentality. I think a lot of kids would love these books. Even though there's some gritty events, they are all placed in such an amusing, ridicules light that I don't think any of it is scary. I'd say it's aimed more at a middle school, high school audience, but I bet a much younger reader would enjoy them as well, especially if read with a parent.
Julie of the Wolves
Originally Posted October 24, 2003
Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George. Newbery Medal 1973
What a wonderful book. This is a Newbery winner that I'd easily put in the "classic" category. I read My Side of the Mountain by the same author in fifth grade and loved it (was also Holme's favorite book as a young person, and I think I'll need to find this one to read this again now) and this is kind of a girl version of the same kind of writing. Both stories reflect this authors love of the wilderness and fascination with going solo in nature.
Julie is the english name of an eskimo girl who lost both her mother and her father as a child. She lives with an aunt for a time and then at age 13 goes according to eskimo tradition to marry a boy who is the child of one of her father's close friends. When this situation turns unbearable, Julie runs away, hoping to travel by boat to San Francisco, becomes lost on the tundra and manages to survive partly because she is able to communicate with and befriend a pack of wolves.
The story details the life and ways of the wolves as well as the skill and native knowledge of the eskimo people. Julie struggles with her plight and then eventually comes to love her simple tools and the way her skills and knowledge, these traditional ways, are keeping her alive both in body and spirit. It's a story of coming to embrace her traditions and wanting to live in the old ways, which are rapidly vanishing among the eskimos. The ending is bitter sweet, with a realization that the old ways ideal she has come to embrace may no longer be viable.
Much of this book would be enjoyed by all ages. There are several key events, however that would be better skipped or saved for younger readers (alcoholism and a sexual assault triggers her running away for example) and the complexity of the cultural survival issues that the end of the story features, would be more deeply understood by older readers, so I'd recommend it for the 10 and up gang, but sections (all the stuff about being accepted by the wolf pack is pretty wonderful) could be read by the whole family.
The Secret Life of Bees; Three By Cynthia Voigt
Originally posted October 24, 2003
Secret Life of Bees (not actually on any of these award lists!)
Come a Stranger; Sons from Afar; Building Blocks---- all by Cynthia Voigt
OK, here I clear my recent reading list of various tangents that are often by Newbery authors, but not actually medal winners...!
The Secret Life of Bee's- I read this one because it's the Pittsboro Libraries project to get every one in the community to read this book in a Community Read project. I really enjoyed it a lot, and actually think teen readers would like it very much as well. The very beginning of the book is brutal and I almost wondered if I'd ever like it, with such a harsh start, but it quickly turns into a very good and gentle story. I wouldn't recommend it for young readers though for this reason. I think anyone 14 on up would do fine with it and some younger ones if they had some one to talk about it with could also do fine.
It's basically a coming of age story involving a girl who is being raised by her father as her mother is dead. Her dad is not a kind man, and she runs away along with a black woman who worked in their home. They end up finding a safe haven that leads to the disclosing of many aspects of the girls personal history that she was in search of. Plenty of thought provoking stuff on race relations in the south, womanhood, sisterhood, mothers and daughters, etc.
********
Now I begin the book reports on my massive Cythia Voigt tangent. After loving Dicey's Song so much I wanted to read more from this author. There are a couple of other books that follow the Tillerman family. . .
Come a Stranger is about Dicey's good friend Mina, who is African American. It deals with her dream of being a ballet dancer, the painful extinguishment of that dream, and the following rebuilding of her self concept and self esteem. It also deals in depth with the experience of an African American girl in a elite white world (the world of the dance camp she had won a scholarship to) and the many tensions and conflicts with in that experience. It's a good read. I'd suggest this one for 10 and up. Nothing scary that I remember, but I think the issues involved would be more of interest to the older reader.
Sons from Afar is the story of the two boys in the Tillerman family. Having lost their mother, and lived most of their lives with their Grandmother, the two Tillerman boys finally face the question of their father and go off in search of him, and really, in hope of learning more of themselves. The journey itself answers many of their questions and they eventually, after some dead ends and a harrowing adventure, come to peace with the issues at hand. I'd call this one for the 10 or 12 and up crowd. There is some scary stuff in the final encounter in the search.
Building Blocks is a different kind of a book, not about the Tillerman's and with more of a twist of fantasy than the other Cynthia Voigt books I read. It is about a boy who's mother and father are in conflict about what to do with an inheritance, and really in conflict in their relationship at the core. The boy ends up time traveling back to meet and know his dad as a boy, and returns with a much fuller understanding of his father. This might work for a slightly younger reader, maybe 8 or 9 and up if reading with a parent, but I still think it would be best appreciated by the 10 and older crowd. Her books are kind of introspective by nature and I'm not sure all the emotional, relational stuff would really be appreciated by the younger ones, but maybe I'm underestimating. There's some mildly scary stuff in this one, a getting lost in a cave scene, and some just mean dysfunctional family stuff in the family of the dad.
All in all, Cynthia Voigts mark as a writer is the depth with which she knows and presents her characters. They are stories about people. I found all her books good, but Dicey's Song (the medal winner) easily the very very best of the batch. She has a Newbery Honor book as well, A Solitary Blue, so I'll have to get my hands on that one eventually.
What are you reading?
Love, Louise
MC Higgins the Great; Whipping Boy
Originally Posted May 13, 2003
MC Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton
1975 Newbery Medal
The Whipping Boy by Syd Fleischman
1987 Newbery Medal
I found I never really "got" MC Higgins the Great. I just felt kind of lost and bewildered through most of it. Anyone else have a different (hopefully better) experience. I absolutely LOVE her book The Planet of Junior Brown, it was my favorite book in Junior High and I still liked it when I re-read it as an adult. Oh and I definitely would avoid MC Higgins with young readers for a variety of reasons. Sexual stuff, violent stuff, a very edgy relationship with a parent. . .
And The Whipping Boy didn't do it for me either. Just seemed kind of silly. (but NOT in the wonderfully silly kind of way.) HOWEVER, it was pretty harmless, and I think it would be fine to share with a young reader. (Maybe that would even redeem it, I don't know.)
Interested in other people's impressions of these two.
Love, Louise
Caddie Woodlawn; The Cat That Went to Heaven
Originally posted June 29, 2003
Here's a report on two of the earlier Newbery Medals. . . The Cat That Went To Heaven by Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth (1931) and Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink (1936).
Of these two books I liked Caddie Woodlawn A LOT, and would recommend it enthusiastically. I liked many things about The Cat That Went To Heaven as well, but couldn't recommend it quite as strongly.
Caddie Woodlawn is a true story about a pioneer girl growing up in Wisconsin at the time of the Civil War. Caddie Woodlawn was the authors grandmother and Carol Ryrie Brink grew up hearing her grandmother tell these stories and then set them down into a book. The book is a series of episodes that chapter by chapter nearly stand on their own. There's not one big climax but a lot of little adventures. I think it would make a great read aloud book and it would definitely be fine and good for the whole age range, including the younger ones.
Caddie is a totally likable tom boy character who is allowed to run wild with her two brothers because when a younger sister died soon after they'd arrived in Wisconsin and Caddie herself was weak, her father convinced her mother to agree to an experiment: Caddie would run wild with the boys and they would see if this would improve her health. It did.
Her adventures with her two brothers are rollicking good fun.
Rollar Skates had a similar "no big climax" style, but Caddie Woodlawn for me was a much more engaging read. And there was a subtle coming of age theme that made for some good closure in the end. I liked this book for it's "girl power" aspect! The only thing I found myself a little uneasy with was a some of the assumptions and attitudes re: Indians. Even though Caddies family was certainly progressive in their thinking for that day, and Caddie herself stuck her neck out on the Indian's behalf at least once, there are still moments of objectification or condescension to watch out for. (And other Pioneer/Indian encounters portrayed that are quite fine.)
Considering the book was published in 1935, that this is the only thing I found awkward I think is a good testimony for it's greatness! I know Lucinda enjoyed this one as well and my 14 year old sister in law, Sara loved it and has read it by now several times.
*****
I was excited when I realized that The Cat That Went To Heaven was set in Japan and was a story about Buddhism. (My mom is Japanese and Buddhist.) The story is about a poor artist who is commissioned by the temple to paint a picture of the Buddha's death. The book uses this frame story to tell many many traditional stories of the Buddha's life and of his previous lifetimes often as animals. As a storyteller, I've told or considered telling many of these same stories myself, so many of the Buddhist stories were ones I know or have studied. My main question about this book is how these stories come across to people who know NOTHING about Buddhism. I felt the retellings to be somewhat incomplete or sketchy and wasn't sure how easy it would be to follow if you didn't already know the stories. I liked the frame story a lot, following the artist in his spiritual preparations for this painting was very beautiful.
There are several early Newbery Medal winners that take place in Asia but are by Western authors. I'm curious about this, I think some of these authors were just interested in the cultures, others had grown up in Asia as children of missionaries. . . I personally am encouraged by the voices of Asian American authors telling stories of Asia and Asian American experience coming into print more recently.
I will say this about the earlier Newbery Medal winners I've read so far. . . they are vastly more tame in terms of gritty themes, violence, etc. So, those of you with the 8 and 9 year old and under kids, I think you might find some good read aloud choices among the 1950's and earlier books on this list!
I did enjoy The Cat That Went To Heaven, especially the frame story and would really love to hear from anyone else who reads it, especially if you aren't particularly familiar with the story of the Buddha, to see how it came across to you!
Love, Louise
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