Month: September 2009

Astrid Lindgren Award Nominees

| Tasha

The nominees for the 2010 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award have been announced.  There are 170 people on the list, so I won’t reprint the entire list here!  Scanning for familiar names, I saw that the following are on the list:

David Almond

Quentin Blake

Aiden Chambers

Niki Daly

Morris Gleitzman

Kevin Henkes

Russel Hoban

Shirley Hughes

Maira Kalman

Lois Lowry

Margret Mahy

Michael Morpurgo

Greg Mortenson

Walter Dean Myers

Anne Pellowski

Jutta Richter

Allen Say

Uri Shulevitz

Peter Sis

Shaun Tan

Kate Thompson

Tomi Ungerer

Jacqueline Wilson

Diana Wynne Jones

 

I’m sure I missed authors in my quick scan!  I wonder how they manage to make a selection with so many amazing and diverse authors nominated.  Glad I don’t have to make that choice!

Homegrown House

| Tasha

 

Homegrown House by Janet Wong, illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Her grandmother is 65-years-old but has only lived in two houses!  The little girl on the other hand has lived in three houses already.  Grandma says she is lucky, but the girl doesn’t think so.  While her parents want a house near the water or a home from the glossy magazines, she yearns for a home that feels like her grandmother’s does.  That has walls of different colors, crowded closets, lavender drying in the garage.  With their next house, she has figured out exactly what to do, creating a place that really feels like home.

This book explores moving and what makes a house a home through poetry that is delightfully down-to-earth.  In her stanzas, Wong reveals so much about family, home and expectations in only a few words.  She also has a feel for simple pleasures and small details, that really ground the poetry and make it powerful.  Paired with Lewis’ watercolor illustrations, the poetry is brought further to life.  Lewis depicts the simple country world with a warm and natural feeling. 

Highly recommended for all library collections as families begin to move more and more and children seek their own definitions of home that they can move with them.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

The Indigo Notebook

| Tasha

The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau

Released October 13, 2009.

Fifteen-year-old Zeeta has lived all over the world with her mother who teachers English.  She has been raised to dance in the middle of the night, bathe in mystic pools, and embrace the world and its mysteries.  Her mother spouts the poetry of Rami all the time and doesn’t believe in rules at all.  Zeeta has spent most of her life wishing that she had a normal family.  Now the two are in Ecuador.  Zeeta meets American teen, Wendell, at the market place and is drawn into a quest to find his birth parents with only the clue of a crystal that was placed in his blankets as a baby.  They journey together to a neighboring small village where the answers are hidden in time and everyone seems to have a secret.  As she tries to help Wendell on his quest, Zeeta’s home life starts to change after her mother nearly dies.  Her mother gets a normal boyfriend and starts to watch TV, set rules, and think about returning to the states.  Could it be that everything you really wish for you already have?  The first in a new series.

In this many layered, complex work, Resau has created a fascinating heroine who speaks multiple languages, is at ease approaching strangers, and Can move across the world and in a few weeks feel at home.  Zeeta is an engaging heroine whose life may seem blissful when seen from afar, but living it takes more skill that one would expect.  She is nicely balanced in the story by Wendell, who has left the US for the first time since his adoption.  Their romance is well done, with nothing beyond kissing, and an obvious deep connection to one another. 

The depiction of Ecuador is done without cleaning it up and making it pretty.  There is poverty, begging, alcoholism, deceit, and broken families.  But there are also women who are mothers of the entire village, wise healers, friendly people at the market, generosity, and beauty.  Resau does not make it simple and easy.  She revels in the complexity, creating a real world for readers to immerse themselves in.

Resau’s writing is filled with imagery.  Here is a description of the mountains from Page 98 of the ARC:

Each of the mountains has its own personality. Some beam down at you, gently, like a big-bosomed grandma.  Some are sexy, slinking around in the lacy clouds.  Others shoot up, jagged and fierce, with a passionate energy.  Some guard magical realms, their smiles silent and secret.  No wonder the locals say that the mountains are gods.

With this, her setting is built and strengthened.  Ecuador comes alive in her writing.  One can almost smell the popcorn in the air, the fresh bread baking, and the potato soup. 

Highly recommended for tween and teen readers who are looking to travel.  This book brings a place to life so vividly it is almost like being there.  Add a little romance and it becomes irresistible.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from an ARC.  The quote used should be checked against the final version for accuracy.

Wicked Lovely Coming to Film!

| Tasha

Universal Pictures has purchased the film rights to Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr.  Caroline Thompson, screenwriter of Edward Scissorhands, will be adapting it for the screen. 

How soon can we start speculating on cast members?

Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes

| Tasha

Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes by Margie Palatini, illustrated by Barry Moser

The pair who collaborated on The Three Silly Billies is back with a twist on Aesop’s fable this time.  When fox can’t reach the grapes on his own, he asks bear to help.  Fox stands on bear’s head, but that doesn’t work either.  Beaver is added to the quest for the grapes, but his tail flip doesn’t help.  Porcupine arrives and joins the stack of animals to no avail.  All of the animals try to offer advice, but fox will have none of it.  Possum is finally added to the tip of fox’s nose, but that doesn’t work either.  In the end, the other animals are full of ideas of they alone could have gotten the grapes.  But fox is such a snit by that point that he marches off, leaving the others to enjoy the “lousy, rotten, stinkin’ grapes” without him.

Palatini’s tone is spot on.  The lumbering bear is written in a way that makes him a delight to read aloud, the voice bumbling along slowly.  Fox is frenzied, the other animals befuddled.  The juxtaposition of all of the voices is great fun to read aloud.  The writing is perfectly paced as well with each idea building on the next and the anticipation of success a great tension builder.  Moser’s illustrations are large and funny.  Fox being launched into the air again and again is a real hoot, as are the doubtful looks on the other animals’ faces. He uses white space with great effect to emphasize the distance between fox and grapes.

A read aloud with action, humor and animals!  What more could anyone want?  Appropriate for ages 4-8.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Travel Game

| Tasha

The Travel Game by John Grandits, illustrated by R. W. Alley

A little boy lives in Buffalo, New York over the tailor shop his family owns.  He is still expected to take a nap in the afternoon, which angers him.  Seeing his frustration, his Aunt Hattie offers to play the Travel Game with him.  It’s a wonderful game, but the problem is that every time they play, he falls fast asleep right at the end.  This time he is determined it will be different.  To play the travel game you need two things:  a globe and a copy of 1001 Pictures from Around the World by George P. Smithers.  Aunt Hattie spins the globe and he puts his finger down.  First, they land in the Atlantic Ocean, but he gets to try again.  This time it lands on Hong Kong.  The book has four pictures and the two of them pretend that they are right there experiencing what it shows in the pictures.  But on the way to the pagoda in a boat taxi, Aunt Hattie falls asleep!  Now he can head back to the shop and help out instead of napping himself.

This book depicts a warm extended family who work and live together.  Small details make the book especially enticing, from the minutiae of their lunch meal to the functioning of the shop.  Grandits has created a world that is friendly, safe and filled with imagination.  I especially appreciate a story that brings the power of books to transport you to another part of the world so vividly to life.  Alley’s art is equally delightful.  His art is all about the small details, from a crowded street outside the shop to the small touches in the boy’s bedroom.  These are illustrations you will want to linger over.

This book may inspire a travel game of your own, perhaps with photographs from the Internet to fuel your imagination.  A great concept, well executed and delightfully done.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Princess Hyacinth

| Tasha

Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) by Florence Parry Heide, illustrated by Lane Smith.

Released September 22, 2009.

Princess Hyacinth had a very distinct problem:  she floated.  Unless she was tethered to something, she would float up and up.  So she wore a heavy crown with a strap to hold in on and had weights in her hems and socks.  She was allowed to float indoors because they could get her back down, but she was never allowed to float outdoors.  As she watched the children play outside, a boy who could fly his kite higher than anyone else came and said hello. Princess Hyacinth ventured outside with all of her heavy weights on and noticed a man selling balloons.  Because she was the princess, her wish to be tethered in the bunch of balloons was granted.  But when the string breaks, where does that leave the princess as she floats up and up into the sky?

The tone that this book is written in will have you smiling.  It has a certain confidence and silliness that makes it irresistible.  And it has obviously been written to read aloud to children.  The book design itself is clever, as words float very high on the page when the Princess is floating.  The size of text is played with as is the color, making reading it aloud that much more pleasurable.  Heide’s writing is paired perfectly with Smith’s art.  The illustrations match what is happening on the page with a heaviness to the art when the princess is tied down and a lightness when she is in the air.  As with all of Smith’s art, there is a tongue-in-cheek aspect to many of the pictures which will be appreciated by adults and children alike.

Highly recommended, this is a wonderful read-aloud for classrooms or story times.  This is a princess story that all children will enjoy, which you can’t say often!  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Do Not Build a Frankenstein!

| Tasha

Do Not Build a Frankenstein! by Neil Numberman

A little boy dashes up and tells a group of children that they must never build a Frankenstein!  It takes an immense amount of time and effort.  At first, it might seem like fun to have your own monster to play with, but then it just becomes annoying.  They will break your toys and scare your pets.  They want constant attention and are very needy.  Because they won’t take a hint and leave you alone, you are then forced to move to a new town.  And just when you think that that might work, they show up with very unexpected results!

Numberman has created a Frankenstein that is so far from frightening and so very funny.  The big green body atop spindly legs are ridiculous in the best sense.  Then you add in the googly eyes and patchwork and he becomes a lovable monster.  The illustrations are vibrantly colored, and have a great sense of movement.  The pacing of the story itself is fast and almost breathless.  When reading it aloud, make sure to save enough breath for the shouts of warning about building a Frankenstein!

A very loud, fresh picture book that is all about friendship and fun.  Perfect for sharing at storytimes as that final special book.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.

| Tasha

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner

Gee would much rather be out running than sitting and hearing about the leaf project that is due next week.  Her place in sectionals is in jeopardy though, if she doesn’t get this project in on time.  But her life is more complicated than that and she has always had problems with deadlines.  Now with her grandmother’s health in decline, Gee has very serious things on her mind.  Plus her relationship with one of her best friends could be turning into something other than friendship.  And another girl is out to steal her place on the team.  Sometimes a girl just can’t catch a break! 

Perfectly set during the glory of changing autumn, Messner captures the season’s sounds, smells and feeling.  As Gee faces difficult situations that have her world changing, nature too is in mid-change.  Messner manages to capture this with a delicate hand, allowing readers to connect the two themselves. 

Gee is a wonderful heroine.  The combination of athlete and artist is an unusual one that works very well.  The characterization is very strong for not only Gee, but all of the people around her.  Nonna, the grandmother, is captured with a warm and heart that is exceptional.  The passages about her becoming more foggy and forgetful are written with a beauty and grace that is breathtaking. 

This is a pre-teen book that is not about kissing, not boy-crazy, and not pink!  It is a book that will work for many kids who are looking for something real and beautiful.  And who isn’t?!  Appropriate for ages 11-13.

Reviewed from ARC received from publisher.

Also reviewed on A Patchwork of Books, Writing and Ruminating, Jen Robinson’s Book Page, and Welcome to My Tweendom.

Check out Kate Messner’s blog.