Mathilda and the Orange Balloon

March 25, 2010 | Tasha

Mathilda and the Orange Balloon by Randall de Seve, illustrated by Jen Corace.

Mathilda’s world is small, only a few things in it: gray skies, green grass, green barn, gray stones, and gray sheep. It was all ok, until she saw the bright orange balloon float past. Then all she wanted to be was an orange balloon herself. First, she made herself as round as the balloon. The hardest part is turning herself orange. The other sheep offer up ideas of things that are orange: fierce tigers, the sun, autumn leaves. Mathilda imagined herself orange and round as hard as she could and suddenly, there she was, a Mathilda-shaped orange balloon. That was when the lives of all of the sheep changed.

A wonderful book about the power of dreams and imagination, this book is simple and delightful. De Seve’s writing is straight-forward and plain, offering a wonderful contrast between it and the subject matter. Corace’s illustrations use white space to great advantage, emphasizing the simplicity of Mathilda’s world until imagination enters it. Her sheep have great personality, with winning facial expressions.

Bravo for such a creative little book that takes imagination into reality with no hesitation. This will make any sheep story time less gray and more colorful! Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Harper Collins.

Also reviewed by Creative Literacy.

Meanwhile

March 25, 2010 | Tasha

Meanwhile by Jason Shiga

Combine a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book with a graphic novel and you have this book. Open the book and you are immediately stopped and the format is explained. Follow the tubes, they move in all directions, and you get the chance to make all sorts of choices. The first choice you have is ice cream: chocolate or vanilla. That small decision sets you off on an adventure that could involve a time machine, entropy or even immortality. The choice is yours. Chocolate or vanilla?

Shiga has taken the best of both formats and combined them into a stellar book. Readers get to make decisions that have direct impact on the storyline, they get to try to figure out codes to reach new areas, and there is the joy of a book with thousands of potential stories inside it. At the same time, it also has the appeal of a comic book. It’s filled with humor as well as drama. One never knows where the next turn in the tube or story will take you, making it virtually impossible to put down until you have tried story after story after story.

Highly recommended for all library graphic novel collections, this book will be adored be reluctant readers, embraced by comic lovers, and simply enjoyed by most. Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by 100 Scope Notes, Books4YourKids, and Comic Book Resources.

Sit-In

March 24, 2010 | Tasha

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illlustrated by Brian Pinkney

Inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. four young men sat at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960. They placed their simple order of a doughnut and coffee, with cream on the side, and sat quietly, refusing to comply with the Whites Only rule. The next day, more people joined them, sitting still for what was right. The sit-ins got bigger and moved beyond lunch counters to buses, parks and libraries. The students were jailed for loafing, but they didn’t resist. All of these brave actions led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Pinkney has written this book with such verve and style that it reads like a King speech. Throughout, she has woven the threads of the lunch counter, coffee and recipes, reminding readers again and again where it all started. Her use of repetition and poetic style really make the book sing. Brian Pinkney’s illustrations are done in watercolor and India ink. They capture the time with an exuberant style that is filled with colors and the swirls of motion. Though the people sit still, the illustrations are in motion, moving to the future with them.

Highly recommended, this book truly captures the wonder of this time, the courage it took to sit still, and the progress that was made. This husband and wife team have created a powerful book about a vital time in our history. Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from copy received from Little Brown and Company.

Also reviewed by Muddy Puddle Musings and Wild Geese Guides.

Mockingbird

March 24, 2010 | Tasha

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

Released April 15, 2010.

In this small novel, Erskine has combined the tragedy of a school shooting with the unique voice of Asperger’s syndrome. Caitlin’s older brother, Devon, has been killed in a school shooting along with others. As Caitlin struggles to understand the emotions around her and the feelings she herself has, she has to do it for the first time without her brother helping her. She tries to do it without flapping her hands, without burying herself in her father’s sweater, but she does retreat to her safe places like under the dresser in Devon’s room. Her world is black and white, just like her award-winning drawings, color only confuses things. But as the days go by, Caitlin begins to connect with other people in new ways and perhaps through her own literal understanding of things she just might find closure and help others find it too.

I don’t feel that I can encapsulate this book in a paragraph. It is so much larger than I can describe, so much more profound and uplifting. Erskine has taken two ideas that seem very divergent and created something amazing from them. The two become more vital and important joined into a single book than they would have been separately. Caitlin’s own grief is explored in such a literal and detached way that it becomes even more painful to witness. Her inability to speak her emotions hands them over to the reader to feel for her. We all become a part of her syndrome and feel it to our bones.

Through the lens of Caitlin readers also get to witness the grief of others. Get to wince when Caitlin puts something too bluntly. Cry when she is unable to understand. Rejoice when connection is made, no matter how small. Through Caitlin we get to see difference as a sliding scale that we too fit on somewhere.

This is a book about one family, one tragedy, one girl, but it reaches far beyond that. It is a book about surviving, about scrambling for connections, about living life in color. It is about fear, about being alone, and about reaching out despite how very hard it is.

I think we are going to hear a lot about this book with its large scope of ideas offered in a small package through the eyes of a brilliant girl. I hope we do hear a lot about it. It should be read in classrooms, discussed and embraced.

Beautifully written, this book has the power to unite. Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from Advanced Reader Copy provided by Philomel.

2010 Astrid Lindgren Award

March 24, 2010 | Tasha

Kitty Crowther has won the 2010 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for children’s literature. She is a Belgian illustrator and author of more than 30 books.

The award comes with a 5 million kroner prize, about $620,000.

2010 Bistro Book of the Year Awards Shortlist

March 24, 2010 | Tasha

Ten books have been named to the shortlist for the best children’s books in Ireland. The winners will be announced on Monday, May 24th.

An Greasaí Bróg agus na Síoga by Catríona Hastings, illustrated by Andrew Hastings

Chalkline by Jane Mitchell

Gluaiseacht by Alan Titley

Colm and the Lazarus Key by Kieran Mark Crowley

Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells, illustrated by PJ Lynch

Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd

The Eyeball Collector by FE Higgins

The Gates by John Connolly

The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke

There by Marie Louise Fitzpatrick

Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom for the link!

Where Is Catkin?

March 23, 2010 | Tasha

Where Is Catkin? by Janet Lord, illustrated by Julie Paschkis

Catkin heads out to hunt in the garden. He sees and hears different animals in the garden but he can’t catch them. There is a cricket, a frog, a mouse, a snake, and a bird. After Catkin pounces them they disappear from view. But sharp-eyed readers will be able to spy them hiding. Finally, Catkin climbs a tree to catch a bird, but goes too high. Now it is Amy’s job to find Catkin in the garden and rescue him!

The first thing you will notice about this book is its amazing illustrations. Done in an almost Slavic motif, they are rich, deep colored and stylized. As Catkin pounces an animal it appears in the yellow and red border, adding another layer to this book. Lord’s text is brief and invites young readers to participate in the seeking and finding of the animals. Readers will enjoy spotting not only the animals in the text, but also insects and other animals.

A richly illustrated seek-and-find book that is perfect for the youngest listeners. I would suggest using this with only a very small group, because the pleasure of the book is to look closely at the illustrations and talk about them. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Peachtree Publishers.

Also reviewed by Beth Fish Reads, 7 Imp, and We Love Children’s Books.

Boom Boom Go Away!

March 23, 2010 | Tasha

Boom Boom Go Away! by Laura Geringer, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

Vintage toys combine with noise and mayhem to create a fabulous bedtime read!

When a small boy is asked to go to bed, he responds by starting up his toys one by one in response. The little gnome is at the heart of it all as he bangs the drum with a “Go away, boom boom. Go away!” An elf dings on a gong, a prince screeches on his bassoon, a knight plays his bells, more and more toys join in, creating a great rhythm and song as they do. But in the end, the noise is not enough to keep the little boy awake and they all wind down with a “Go away! Hush, hush… boom boom. Go away.”

Reading this book is great fun. Geringer has created just the right mix of noises and sounds to make reading this book aloud a treat. The rhythm makes it easier, the sounds are different enough to be interesting, and her framing of the story is done with a gentle touch. Ibatoulline’s illustrations are beautifully done in a soft yet bright palette that really reinforces the vintage feel of the toys. The writing, the fonts and the illustrations all work together to create a charmer of a book.

Highly recommended for pajama story times or a bedtime read, this book may become one of those books that is asked for again and again. If you are going to use this with a group, consider handing out instruments or assigning noises to kids. They are sure to love adding to the rhythm. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from book received from Atheneum Publishers (Simon & Schuster)

Also reviewed by The Excelsior File and Young Books.