Month: May 2009

My Uncle Emily

| Tasha

My Uncle Emily by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Emily Dickinson has a special connection with her young nephew Gilbert.  They spend a lot of time together laughing.  One day Uncle Emily gives him a dead bee and a poem to share with his class.  Gilbert is hesitant to take it to his class, afraid the other boys will laugh and mock him.  But his mother insists so he takes it and shares it with his teacher and class.  One boy mocks his Uncle Emily on the playground, so Gilbert stands up to him and bops him on the nose.  The two boys have to spend the rest of class in the corner wearing dunce caps.  Back at home, Gilbert doesn’t quite tell the truth about the incident and Uncle Emily notices.  After sharing a poem about truth, Gilbert finds a way to tell the truth but do it gently too.

Yolen is at the top of her game here.  Her verse is free, flowing and perfectly suited to the subject.  She manages to offer a glimpse of a famous poet through the eyes of a child, making Emily accessible, humorous and caring.  It is a lovely portrait of a poet too often seen only as a recluse. Carpenter’s illustrations evoke the time period with real grace.  Her use of lines is deft and really works to create a sense of period illustrations. 

Highly recommended, this picture book on Dickinson is a real winner.  The poetry of hers in the book are nice choices that will have children of today reacting as the children in the book do.  What a great chance to talk about poetry with children and pull out that volume of Dickinson to read a few.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Cromwell Dixon’s Sky-Cycle

| Tasha

Cromwell Dixon’s Sky Cycle by John Abbott Nez

In the years following the Wright Brothers’ historic flight, the world of flying machines took off.  Literally.  A fourteen-year-old boy named Cromwell Dixon loved to invent things and flying caught his attention. So he built, with the help of his mother, a Sky-cycle using a mix of a bicycle and helium balloon.  By pedaling, he could turn the propellers made of wood and silk.  It wasn’t easy.  When the varnish on the balloon was drying it caught on fire and he had to start again.  But on August 9, 1907, Cromwell took to the skies.  He reached an amazing 2500 feet before returning to earth. 

The picture book has a real period feel with the author throwing in turn-of-the-century terms to evoke the time.  The illustrations too offer a sense of history.  I especially enjoyed that it is not until the afterword that you discover that this is a true story.  The imagination and vision that this feat took is amazing and to do it at such a young age is inspiring.  Children will be drawn to this contraption that looks like a bicycle but flies.  Nez’s illustrations and prose will keep children’s interest easily. 

This one is sure to fly off the shelves especially into the hands of young pilots.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Children’s Choice Book Awards

| Tasha

Celebrating Children’s Book Week, the Children’s Choice Book Awards have been announced.  These are the winners selected by children and teens themselves:

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! written and illustrated by Mo Willems

Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year


Spooky Cemeteries by Dinah Williams

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year


Thirteen by Lauren Myracle

Teen Choice Book of the Year


Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Author of the Year


Stephenie Meyer for Breaking Dawn

Illustrator of the Year


Jon J Muth for Zen Ties

You can also check out a short piece on the awards on the Today Show.

It’s a happy surprise to see Jon J Muth recognized by the kids.  I would have expected Mo Willems to win it.

A Small Surprise

| Tasha

A Small Surprise by Louise Yates.

A very small white rabbit heads to try to get a job with a circus of animals even though the advertisement says that they don’t want small animals.  The rabbit has trouble getting his clown nose on, can’t tie the clown shoes no matter how he tries, and can’t walk the length of the tightrope without stopping.  Even eating proves to be messy but when the rabbit gets into trouble, something incredible happens that just may keep it in the circus after all.

The illustrations here tell the bulk of the story.  The quizzical animals are large but not scary at all.  They help the small rabbit get dressed and root for the little one when walking the tightrope.  When the rabbit displays its talent, the book turns riotously funny complete with spitting.  I especially enjoy the giraffe who spends the entire book with a leafy twig hanging from her loopy tongue, watching everything unfold around her.  A book of few words, this book repeats the few it has for most of the book, saying “I am too small to…” again and again.  With such great illustrations, this is the perfect amount of text, offering up support for the pictures but allowing them to tell the real story.

With one large word in the entire book and lots of repetition, this one would be good for emergent readers but it is also perfect for sharing with groups of children who will love the sudden transformation of the small rabbit into a true clown and the laughter that that brings.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

This Little Bunny Can Bake

| Tasha

This Little Bunny Can Bake by Janet Stein

A group of animals begin their lessons at Chef George’s School of Dessertology.  The chef tries to start with more advanced concepts, but is forced to start with the very basics: pot, egg, stove, spoon.  The antics of the animals will have children in stitches.  Sharp-eyed children will notice that the pink bunny (the only animal in color) is hard at work and really cooking.  This is despite all of the noise, confusion and mess that the others are making.  By the end of the class, all of the animals have some sort of creation but none rival the cake of the pink bunny.

Stein has a flair for wordless humor with animals tossing eggs, weighing themselves instead of ingredients, cooking with shoes and socks as ingredients, and using pate as finger paints.  Her art is wonderfully busy, hectic but also clear and clean.  The ink drawings have a soft charcoal quality to them.  Each character has his or her own personality and approach to baking.  It is great fun to follow them from page to page until their baking is complete.  Each ends up with something that makes perfect sense.  The consistency and good humor of this title make it enjoyable to re-read too.

Great fun whether you enjoy baking or not.  This tasty book is appropriate for hungry 3-5 year olds.

Maggie’s Monkeys

| Tasha

Maggie’s Monkeys by Linda Sanders-Wells, illustrated by Abby Carter.

A family of pink monkeys has moved into the family’s refrigerator according to Maggie.  Everyone except her older brother goes along with her imaginary creatures.  Mom made an extra bowl of banana pudding for the monkeys, Dad watched out for shutting the door on their tails, and the older sister pretended to dress them up.  The brother tries to get the others in the family to stop playing along with Maggie, but all of them give him reasons that there just might be real monkeys in the fridge.  Even when he tries to play along with Maggie eventually, he keeps on messing it up, sitting on the invisible monkeys, reading zoo stories, and making monkey noises.  All wrong in Maggie’s eyes.  When his friends come over one day and discover Maggie’s imaginary monkeys, they start teasing her.  That changes everything!

This book perfectly captures the great imagination of children, the willingness of a family to be supportive and creative, and the sullen concern of a child who just doesn’t understand what the family is doing.  The transformation of the older brother is done believably and openly.  The rest of the family is nicely portrayed, trying to support both children.  The character of the brother is nicely balanced, showing disbelief but never sinking into being unlikeable.  Carter’s illustrations are done in black colored pencil and gouache.  They are friendly, cartoony and bright colored.

The text is nice to read aloud and the pictures will work well for a group.  I’d try it with older preschoolers who may have younger children at home that they are just as mystified by.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

A Very Curious Bear

| Tasha

A Very Curious Bear by Tony Mitton, illustrated by Paul Howard.

From the moment he wakes up to when he dozes off at night, a little bear is asking questions of a big bear.  The questions and answers create a dance of a poem that is charming and graceful.  Howard’s illustrations show a similar grace and charm, filled with plush, fuzzy bears, the wonder of a woods, and the thrill of the wind.  The little bear asks about all sorts of natural interests, wind blowing, stream gurgling, daisies growing, rain falling. And to each the big bear answers with poetic responses that show no exasperation but a respect for each question.

The spirit of the verse and the illustrations is so nicely matched here.  As the poem shows a caring adult, the illustrations show a caring large bear who guides and looks after the smaller.  Filled with a sweetness and gentleness, this book is great for bedtime reads or for any toddler who spends their day asking questions about the world.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Judy Blume Controversial?!

| Tasha

Judy Blume is controversial?!  Say it ain’t so! 

Judy Blume is liberal?  You are kidding me!

Please, can we get past the fact that Judy Blume is not only controversial and liberal but also a very strong voice and advocate for women’s rights?  It’s a no duh sort of thing.  But obviously some in the pro-life movement were surprised like Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com.  He opens his article railing against Judy Blume’s letter of support for Planned Parenthood with:

Famous children’s author Judy Blume is no stranger to controversy, but she’s added to herself to a list of people who will be remembered for something more devastating.

He goes on to solicit complaints about her support for Planned Parenthood.  Which is just fine.  You go use that freedom of speech!

But remember that critical thing about free speech!  It swings both ways and Blume’s fans have decided to express their support of her stance.  You can find it on Twitter and Facebook.  Planned Parenthood said on Friday that Blume has received over 25,000 messages of support.  This compares to the 300 emails against Blume’s support.

Blume was one of those authors in my childhood that I read again and again.  My mother bought me my own copies of the books which was a big deal for a family living on a small teacher’s salary.  I started to list my favorite books of hers, but it became her bibliography.  I never did read Forever as a teen or preteen because by that point I was reading adult fiction.  Funny since now as an adult I read teen and children’s fiction!

Please add your voice of support for Blume, or your voice against her support if that’s how you feel.  Free speech and the freedom to read is what it’s all about.

It’s Time to Sleep, It’s Time to Dream

| Tasha

It’s Time to Sleep, It’s Time to Dream by David A. Adler, illustrated by Kay Chorao

This gentle picture book has two parallel stories. One follows the words of the book and gently rocks and sways its way to slumber.  It moves season by season until winter comes and it is truly time to sleep.  Done in beautiful paintings by Chorao, there is sweetness and happiness and bliss throughout.  A different story, more familiar to parents of tiny ones, is told in silhouette one each page.  A toddler doesn’t want to sleep as his parents rock him, trade back and forth, put him to bed, sneak out, and then have to return to get him to sleep.  These small black images keep the book from being too sweet and offer an alternative view of what it’s really like to get a child to sleep.

The text here by Adler is wonderful.  His use of repetition, rhythm and phrasing is masterful, ideal for toddlers.  It creates its own lullaby, a rocking sensation, a sway which is hard to find in bedtime books.  Chorao’s illustrations are equally successful, showing the passing seasons, each captured in loving paintings, but also taking joy in the more lifelike silhouetted story going on at the bottom of the page.  

A great gift for new babies, this book will be treasured by any family lucky enough to read it at bedtime.  It is a quiet, sweet book not intended for the romp of a story time.  Appropriate for babies to 2 year olds.