Month: June 2010

Ladybug Girl at the Beach

| Tasha

Ladybug Girl at the Beach by David Soman and Jacky Davis

The latest Ladybug Girl book explores what courage means.  Ladybug Girl and her family head to the beach in the book, and it’s Lulu’s first time on a beach.  She is sure she is going to love it.  But when she sees the huge waves and hears the roar of the surf, she is afraid to get into the water.  Lulu and her dog Bingo spend a lot of time avoiding the water.  They build a sandcastle, fly a kite, go for ice cream, and plays on the shore.  It isn’t until the emergency of her bucket floating away gets her into the water that she realizes that she was right!  She does love the beach!  And even better, she’s not afraid any more.

Soman and Davis have once again captured the emotions of childhood with humor and honesty.  Lulu continues to be true to the character she was in the first Ladybug Girl book, still wearing her antennae and her wings.  It’s great to see a character who is so self-assured be scared and overcome it.  Soman’s art is wonderful.  He uses lines to capture emotions with such skill.  Even background characters have great body language and facial expressions.  His use of large washes of color for the beach, sea and sky add to the summery, sunshine, sand feel of the title.

Recommended for any library where Ladybug Girl is popular, this book stands just fine on its own and will have new families and children asking for the other titles.  A perfect summer beach read for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books.

Easy as Pie

| Tasha

Easy as Pie by Cari Best, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Jacob’s favorite TV show is Baking with Chef Monty, so when Jacob sets out to bake his first pie, he knows all of Chef Monty’s rules by heart.  He knows that: a happy baker makes a happy pie.  He finds all of his ingredients in the kitchen and sets to work.  When his sister Charlotte comes to get him ready to go out for dinner and celebrate their parents’ anniversary, Jacob makes sure he keeps working because one of the rules is: Concentrate on what you’re doing – no matter what.  He rolls out the dough, fixing his mistakes like Chef Monty advises.  He flutes the edges of the pie and pricks holes in the top crust, slightly larger than Chef Monty would have recommended.  Soon the pie is in the oven, though his family is getting tired of waiting for Jacob to be ready to go.  But there is one solution to that!  Dessert first!

So many children’s books about cooking have the child making a horrible mess, combining strange and unappetizing ingredients together, all resulting in an inedible creation.  This turns that formula on its head with a child who is confident and capable, creating a pie that makes the parents’ anniversary even more special. 

Best’s writing is a pleasure to read aloud with the sprinkling of Chef Monty quotes throughout, great asides of noises, and plenty of action.  Sweet’s art is light-hearted and funny, filled with peach-colored splashes and funny touches like the titles of the books on the shelves.  The writing and text go together like ice cream and warm pie.

A great read aloud for any classroom starting a cooking project or any story time where food will be featured.  Guaranteed to be a favorite around Thanksgiving too.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

The Dancing Pancake

| Tasha

The Dancing Pancake by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

Bindi is facing a lot of changes in her life.  First, her father has left their family to find a job in another city.  A few months later, she learns that her parents have separated.  Now her mother and her aunt are starting a restaurant called The Dancing Pancake.  They will be moving into the apartment above the restaurant and out of their house.  As all of these changes hit, Bindi finds herself feeling sad and angry about them.  People at the restaurant and her extended family help her deal with her feelings and show her the positive in her life. 

This verse novel features a full cast of interesting characters.  The poems are written from Bindi’s point of view.  She is a protagonist who is open and honest about her feelings, even when she is struggling with them.  She offers readers a clear view of what children deal with when parents separate and life changes.  At the same time, she is uniquely Bindi, a girl who loves to read, worries about what sort of friend she is, and tries to help others whenever she can. 

Spinelli’s verse is short and sweet.  It has a clarity and understated feel to it that makes it very easy to read.  Lew-Vriethoff’s illustrations have a breezy, effortless quality to them.  They are simple line drawings that capture the moments in the book.  The verse format and the illustrations throughout the book will make this a very inviting title for young readers.

Highly recommended, this book strikes just the right balance between a girl’s life falling apart and a family ready to catch and hold her.  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from copy received from Knopf.

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

| Tasha

The 2010 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award has been given to Belgian illustrator, Kitty Crowther.  This Swedish award is the world’s largest prize for children and young adult literature.  The award money equates to about 490,000 Euros. 

Here is a quote about Crowther’s work from the award’s website:

Kitty Crowther is the master of line but also of atmosphere. She maintains the tradition of the picture book while transforming and renewing it. In her world, the door between imagination and reality is wide open. She addresses the reader gently and personally, but with profound effect. In her deeply felt empathy with people in difficulty, she shows ways in which weakness can be turned into strength. Humanism and sympathy permeate and unify her artistry.

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Stand Straight, Ella Kate

| Tasha

Stand Straight, Ella Kate: The Story of a Real Giant by Kate and M. Sarah Klise

When Ella Kate was born in 1872, she was normal sized, but that soon changed.  At school she needed a larger desk that her father built for her, and she was wearing her father’s shoes, size 12.  Ella Kate was sometimes ridiculed for her size.  At age 17, she reached 8 feet tall, finally growing to a height of 8 feet 4 inches tall.  When she was 18, she was approached to appear at a museum because of her height.  This started a six year tour of museums, exhibitions and circuses where she made enough money to pay off her family’s farm and build her own house.  It was a house that was built specifically for her height with very high ceilings and tall windows.  After building her home, Ella Kate returned to the exhibition circuit, continuing her travels around the world.

Ella Kate is an example for all of us: she took what made her different and strange and made it into an asset.  The Klise sisters have created a book that has just the right tone.  It is playful and fun, but always treats Ella Kate with awe and respect.  It is not just her size that is impressive for modern readers, but an understanding that Ella Kate was an independent woman in a time when women did not live that sort of life.  The art in the book, done with acrylics, echoes the playful spirit of the text.  The images often show Ella Kate’s height in a unique way without it being mentioned in the text.  Just the family laundry on the line is worthy of attention.

A warm picture book biography of a giant of a woman.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books.

Accomplice

| Tasha

Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan

This book will be released in August 2010.

It was a perfect plan, but then it all went wrong.  When their college prep advisor tells them that it takes more than good grades and community service to get into the best schools, Finn and Chloe decide to make themselves and their college essays very special.  They stage Chloe’s kidnapping, hiding her in the basement of Finn’s grandmother’s house because she is out of town.  It was supposed to be simple, but their carefully staged deception starts to wear on Finn as she is forced to lie to everyone, carefully staging her emotions and reactions to not only keep the lie going but to make sure that they get enough attention from the media.  When CNN shows up to cover the kidnapping, Finn and Chloe know that it cannot end the way they had planned and are forced to make dreadful choices.  Don’t pick up this page turner without clearing your day first, it is impossible to put down!

With a great premise, the book opens with Finn in the midst of the situation already.  There is little time to draw breath as readers are immediately plunged into a faked kidnapping staged by two very smart but very naive girls.  The drive to have a bit of fame combined with the pressures of college applications make for a potent combination for a book. 

The story is told from Finn’s point of view as she deals with attending school and lying to everyone in her life, including Chloe’s parents and her own. Finn is in denial about a lot of things throughout the book, facing complicated feelings about her best friend.  This tension about their relationship and what is at the heart of it makes the book even more compelling as Finn tries to navigate a situation of her own making.

This riveting novel is tightly written.  The book builds tension as Finn struggles with her emotions and with the fallout from the kidnapping.  It is not breakneck paced, rather it is woven into an intense read. 

Ideal for booktalking to teens, this book will have everyone right from the premise.  It completely lives up to its promise as a thrilling look at lies and fame.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of 2010

| Tasha

For the first time, the Bank Street College of Education is offering their list of the best books of the year online.  You can check out the books included in the list on their website.  The lists are nicely arranged by age.  They are in pdf format which is nice for those of us who would like to refer to them again and again.

One nice feature of the list is that even for teens, some of the books are marked as good read alouds.  I can see teachers and parents finding that very useful. 

How to Clean a Hippopotamus

| Tasha

How to Clean a Hippopotamus by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

A fascinating tour through symbiotic relationships in the animal kingdom, this book uses comic book frames and short text bubbles to become incredibly appealing to reluctant readers.  Filled with Jenkins’ paperwork illustrations that offer clarity beyond that of photographs, this book is a visual treat.  It is also filled with interesting facts, and is sure to surprise even the most informed reader with several of the relationships inside.  Journey through symbiotic relationships where one animal cleans another one to others where enemies become friends and supporters for a time.  Get this one into the hands of children who love animals and struggle with books, they are sure to feel right at home here.

Jenkins’ art is done with such confidence and cleverness.  His use of fuzzy papers to get the feel of fur, of color to get the feel of skin, and of pattern to get the texture right really take him beyond most other paper artists in children’s books today.  The fact that he manages to capture what an animal actually looks like is amazing.  Animals have a light in their eyes, a focus and in this book a relationship with each other, all captured with paper. 

The facts here are done with just the right amount of text and a playful, interested tone.  The book invites readers in and marvels alongside them.  The design here is wonderfully done, breaking what could have been paragraphs of text to wade through into windows of color filled with bite-sized bits of text that get readers wanting more.

Highly recommended, every library needs this book on their shelves.  Guaranteed to go home over and over again.  Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Check out another review at A Patchwork of Books.

Picture the Dead

| Tasha

Picture the Dead by Adele Griffin

After his death, Jennie had always felt the spirit of her twin brother near her.  Now her fiancé Will has died in the Civil War.  His brother, Quinn, has returned with injuries.  According to the army, Will died honorably in battle, but his brother tells a different story of prison and Will being a criminal.  Jennie seeks out the help of a spiritualist photographer, who takes the family’s picture and edits it by adding another image of an angle.  Jennie is not fooled, but soon she experiences things that she cannot explain.  Images of her are edited without anyone touching them, clues lead her deeper into a mystery, and time is running out as her place in Will’s family is threatened.  This paranormal, spiritualist mystery will have readers enthralled.

This book is so beautifully designed.  Lisa Brown’s illustrations take the book to another level, ensuring that readers are completely surrounded by Jennie’s world.  Jennie keeps a scrapbook and often takes small items to add to her book without the owners knowing.  As she adds these bits and pieces to her scrapbook, a series of visual clues start to emerge.  At the start of each chapter, readers will see items that will be added to the scrapbook in the next chapter.  This way each chapter starts with the clues and continues with the story itself.  This is an immensely entertaining way to read a book.

Griffin has created a book that lingers, slowly revealing its secrets.  The book is beautifully written.  Griffin has intertwined Jennie’s brother’s voice in the chapters, his advice for spies always right at hand when courage is needed.  Jennie is an intriguing protagonist who is multidimensional with her small thefts, desperation for a home, and ability to love two brothers.  It is her complexity that makes the book so fascinating.

Eerie, haunting and mysterious, this book is one that takes over your world.  Bright summer sun dims into streets at night, heat becomes a chill, breezes blow on still days.  Griffin and Brown have created a book that is an immersive experience that readers will not soon forget.

Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from copy received from Sourcebooks.

Check out other reviews at Bookalicious, Good Books & Wine, BookLust, Through the Looking Glass, Cindy’s Love of Books, and Poisoned Rationality.