Month: March 2009

My Mom Is Trying to Ruin My Life

| Tasha

My Mom Is Trying to Ruin My Life by Kate Feiffer, illustrated by Diane Goode.

Sure, Mom seems nice and sweet but she is definitely trying to ruin her daughter’s life!  She has five ways that her mother ruins her life:  she kisses her in front of her friends, she brings changes of clothes into school in the middle of the day, she talks too loudly, she restricts certain foods, and she worries too much that her daughter might get hurt.  Tragic, isn’t it?  But the little girl has a plan that results in her mother going to jail for trying to ruin her daughter’s life.  She would try to call her husband, but the little girl also knows that her father is trying to ruin her life, so in her plan they both are put in jail.  All seems perfect, until the girl realizes that that would leave her all alone and scared.  So maybe it’s not the best plan after all.

This sassy book has a sense of humor that keeps it from becoming bratty.  The litany of wrong-doings of both the father and mother are humorous and even children will see right through them.  Children will also enjoy spotting the holes in her plan before she realizes them herself.  Her plan is painted with such broad humor that it could only be a daydream, a passing whim.  Because all children feel this way about their parents at some time, they will relate effortlessly to the feelings on the page.  Goode’s illustrations nicely use the white space on the page.  They offer breezy lines done in watercolors that appear effortless and tie into the humor of the text well.

A great ironic choice for Mother’s Day that will cut through books that can become a little too sweet when read all together, this book is appropriate for ages 5-7.

Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar!

| Tasha

 

Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar! by Bob Barner.

Millions of years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth, butterflies fluttered over it.  Butterflies and other insects aided in the flourishing of flowering plants by spreading pollen from one plant to the next.  When the meteor hit the earth and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, butterflies and other insects survived.  The modern butterfly is very similar to its prehistoric ancestors in both size and shape.  The book offers the ability to read just one portion of the text which is more accessible to small children or to add in the interesting facts on each page which offer detailed information on the dinosaurs and butterflies.  This makes the title very flexible for teachers, parents and librarians to use with different ages.

Barner’s pastel and paper illustrations are large, colorful and filled with a playfulness that is charming.  Small children will enjoy the large dinosaurs in a rainbow of hues while older children will love the facts and enjoy the juxtaposition of large lizards and tiny butterflies in history.  The facts are intriguing and tantalizing while the text for younger children is bouncy, brief and friendly.

Recommended for all dino lovers as well as all library collections.  Appropriate for ages 3-7.

Here There Be Wild Things

| Tasha

USA Today has a great article on the Where the Wild Things Are film that is accompanied by breathtaking photographs from the production.  Lovely stuff.

And to make us all feel better, the following is in the article:

Jonze and his co-screenwriter, novelist Dave Eggers, regularly turned to Sendak for advice as they expanded upon his Wild Things universe.

"He was adamant that I make my own thing," Jonze says. "He had strong opinions, but he would ultimately defer to us. He said, ‘Make something personal to you.’ "

Jonze won’t reveal much, but script additions include details about Max’s home life that shed light on why he felt the need to run off to a magical place.

2009 Hugo Nominees

| Tasha

The 2009 Hugo Award Nominees have been announced.  The nominees for Best Novel include some familiar titles for teen and children’s book readers:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

 

And the more adult nominees:

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross

Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi

The Lion's Share

| Tasha

The Lion’s Share: a Tale of Halving Cake and Eating It, Too by Matthew McElligott.

The author of the charming Bean Thirteen returns with this book that features multiplication and division with such style that readers will have no idea they are enjoying a math book.  Every year, the lion invites a group of animals to share dinner with him.  This year, the ant has been invited.  She arrives just on time and is alone for awhile until the others arrive: the beetle, frog, macaw, warthog, tortoise, gorilla, hippo and the elephant.  At the table, all of the others showed horrible manners.  Then a cake is given to the elephant and he is told to help himself.  The elephant, not wanting to be too greedy, slices the cake in half and takes half for himself.  After that, each animal does the same, until it reaches the ant and the piece is too small to cut in half again.  So nothing is left for the lion.  Trying to fix things, the ant offers to bake the lion a cake for the next day.  Each animal doubles her offer, until the elephant is left at the end offering to bake 256 cakes by the next day.  Things work out with mathematical precision and logically fall into place as the ant finishes the book victorious.

McElligott has created a book with a great tone and easy style.  It has the feel of a folktale but many modern touches.  His art is equally appropriate for a folktale but also for a modern story for children.  It is a great look and feel for a picture book.  McElligott has managed to make math fun, silly and delectable.

McElligott’s text is ideal for reading aloud.  The animals are great fun to do with voices and the tiny ant makes a perfect protagonist, one easily related to by children.  The illustrations will also work well for use with a group.  Preschoolers may be young for the math, so save this one for first and second graders who will snap it up in one bite.  Or maybe they will share half with a friend…

North of Beautiful

| Tasha

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Terra plans to leave her controlling father and weak mother behind when she heads to college a year early across the country.  But it will not be so easy to leave her history behind her, she carries it with her every day.  Just like the large port wine stain on half of her face, her ego and every thought are marked by her family life.  And just like that birthmark, she tries to cover over and mask the truth.  When she literally bumps into Jacob, an intriguing Goth boy who immediately understands her like no one else has, her life begins to change.   She starts to face the truth of what her family is and what her own role is in the dysfunction.  But will she ever be able to face the world without her mask?

Beautifully written, this book is like gazing into someone’s soul put to paper.  At times it is filled with such raw honesty that it is painful to read.  Each reader will bring their own stain to the book, see themselves reflected within, and take heart away from it.  Headley writes with a confidence and gentle natural rhythm that carries one through the novel.  It is as impossible to put down as any book I have read recently. 

Headley’s touch with the love story in the novel is deft and brilliant.  From the tiny touches that mean so much, to the electricity in eye contact, it brings all of those feelings vividly to life.  She also weaves cartography into the text with a beautiful touch that allows it to have symbolic meaning to the reader but not over take the book by being heavy handed. 

This book will speak to any reader who picks it up.  It is for those who fit in and those who don’t, those who are in love and those who think they never will be.  Simply brilliant, this is definitely one of the top teen novels of the year.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Butterflies and Moths

| Tasha

Butterflies and Moths by Nic Bishop

Nic Bishop’s latest nonfiction book for children is filled with crystal clear photographs that dazzle and amaze.  This time Bishop has turned his attention to the wonder of caterpillars, butterflies and moths. Accompanying the images is fascinating text that allow readers to better understand moths and butterflies and the way their lives and bodies work.  Bishop has once again managed to take pictures that verge on the impossible.  The furry body of a luna moth with his bright yellow antennae is looming and large.  The actual-size image of a blue morpho butterfly hovering in the air is breathtaking.  The four-page spread of a butterfly taking off from a flower is simply amazing.

Budding scientists and just those who love these lovely insects will find much to see and learn here.  This book belongs in every school and public library.  Period.  Appropriate for ages 5-9.

National Poetry Month – Blog Style

| Tasha

Two must-read blogs are doing great things to celebrate April as National Poetry Month. 

GottaBook will be posting a previously unpublished poem each day of the month of April.  The poets participating are a who’s who list of children’s poets.  Amazing!  You can also follow the action on Twitter.

The Miss Rumphius Effect will be interviewing poets each day in April.  Her list too is amazing! 

What a lovely way to spend the month of April, basking in new poems and great poets every day.

Google Eric Carle

| Tasha

Isn’t it cool?!  A Google logo done by Eric Carle.  Just had to share because it certainly brightened up my dreary spring day.