My goodness, another good looking movie trailer for a film version of a book! This time it’s for Flipped by Wendelin Vaan Draanen. It’s directed by Rob Reiner and has another great cast.
Thanks to Frenetic Reader for the link.
Month: July 2010
More Life-Size Zoo
More Life-Size Zoo by Teruyuki Komiya
A gorgeous combination of life-sized animal photographs and interesting facts on each creature. Readers will be wowed by the enormous lion that folds out to its full size that is cleverly combined with a lion cub so that the growth can be understood. The bottomless black of the eyes of a seal will draw readers in. The amazing color of an orangutan’s coat will have small hands rubbing the photograph. The final photo of the glory of a hippopotamus and its coarse hairs and moist skin finishes the collection on a high note. This book will be shared between children and appeals to a wide range of ages. Make sure you have the first book Life-Size Zoo at hand too.
The photographs here are the heart of the book. It is a pleasure to see photos with such clarity printed in this large a format. The detail of skin, fur, eyes and mouths is astonishing and invites readers to lean in and really see the animals close up. The facts with each animal apply both to the specific specimen in the photograph and to the animal in general. The section about the close up offer small details that children will enjoy looking for in the photos.
Guaranteed to get appreciative exclamations from young readers who will turn to the photos again and again. Appropriate for ages 4-8.
Reviewed from book received from Seven Footer Press.
Volcano Wakes Up!
Volcano Wakes Up! by Lisa Westberg Peters, illustrated by Steve Jenkins
This book of poems follows a day on a an imaginary Hawaiian volcano. All of the creatures on the volcano know that something is about to happen, from the lava flow crickets to the ferns. Even the sun and the volcano itself have poems from their perspective. Young readers will enjoy the tension as it mounts towards the eruption and then the drama and intensity of the eruption itself.
This is Peter’s second book of poetry about geology. Peter’s poetry ranges through a variety of different styles in the book. Each different voice has its own poetic form. The volcano’s verse is shaped like a mountain. The have a curling but upright form. There are poems told in road signs and then the crickets speak in texts. It is a very clever device that will have children eager to move to the next poem because of the interesting and changing nature of the verse itself.
Jenkins’ illustrations are as gorgeous as always. Done in cut-paper collage, they perfectly capture the changing nature of the day. Some illustrations are crisp and clear, with detailed crickets and ferns. Others are landscapes with mists and mountains that are soft and evocative. Simply lovely.
A perfect marriage of science, poetry and art, this book will be adored by volcano fans and poetry fans alike. Appropriate for ages 6-9.
Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story – The Movie
A charmer of a trailer for the movie version of It’s Kind of a Funny Story. The casting choices are excellent, so my hopes are high!
Chalk
Chalk by Bill Thomson
In this wordless book, three children discover a bag hanging from the mouth of the dinosaur toy in the park. Inside is sidewalk challk, very special sidewalk chalk. When one child selects yellow and draws a sun on the wet pavement, it turns real, leaving the drawing and heading into the sky, ending the rain. Another child draws orange butterflies, which also lift from the ground and into the air. Excitement unfolds when the third child draws a dinosaur which comes to life, chasing them around the playground. The quick-thinking child draws a cloud with rain coming out of it and saves the day. Told in rich photo-realistic illustrations, this book is a magical journey into imagination.
A wordless book that is not strictly for preschoolers is a rare find. One that is told with such energy and style is even more rare. Thomson has created a book that is inviting, mesmerizing and unique. Told in such a way that the story flows through the illustrations, needing no narration, this book is superb. The realistic illustrations add to the modern feel of the book as well as the action and surprise of the magic. In fact, the juxtaposition of magic with photo-realistic illustrations is what elevates this book to another level. Beautifully designed and envisioned.
Highly recommended, this book will fly off the shelves by the strength of that cover alone. It can also be used as the basis for art and writing projects in a classroom setting beautifully. Appropriate for a wide range of ages, 3-8.
Reviewed from copy received from Marshall Cavendish.
Also reviewed by:
Touch Blue
Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord
Released August 1, 2010.
Tess firmly believes in luck and does all sorts of things to try and capture some of it. But wishes and luck are difficult things to grab ahold of as Tess quickly discovers. On her island home, the number of children have fallen below the threshold to have a school. If nothing is done, Tess and her family will have to leave the island and Tess will be unable to become a fisherman the way she wants to. So the islanders decide to take in foster children to both increase the number of children on the island and to help other people. Tess has been envisioning an orphan like Anne of Green Gables, who loves to read, loves the island and loves their family. But real life is more complicated. Her family ends up fostering Aaron, a boy haunted by his past and the loss of his mother, a boy who is silent and distant, moody and who plays the trumpet with amazing skill. Where is the luck in that?
Lord’s writing is effortless and enjoyable. While this book feels like a light summer read, it offers many insights into family, loss, luck and bravery. Lord has again tackled a difficult subject with such a brilliant approach that readers will be happily afloat in her hands before realizing that the book has a lot more depth than they may have expected.
Lord also excels at characters. Here Tess is the main protagonist, a girl who holds onto her haven of a community and clings to all the luck she can. She is a complex character written with restraint and understanding. Her delightful mix of bravery, self-assurance, and doubt is masterfully presented. Another great characterization is Aaron who reveals himself to the reader slowly, just as he does to Tess and her family. He is a foil to many characterizations of foster children, yet at the same time he has a darkness and need to him that speaks volumes.
You are guaranteed to have luck if you pick up this title, even more if you share it with another. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.
Also reviewed by:
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same!
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same by Grace Lin
Twin sisters Ling and Ting are twins, but definitely not the same. Sure, they look the same, up until the end of the first chapter when a sneeze on the barber’s chair changes that. But they like different things, have different skills, and approach projects in different ways. At the same time, the girls are obviously great friends as well as sisters despite their differences. In short friendly chapters, readers get to know these young sisters and will be able to happily identify with both of them. This is an early reader with depth and something to say. It never loses its friendly, lightness and still offers an amazing amount of story.
Lin excels at creating universal characters and these two twins are definitely that. She also has woven Asian culture into the story in ways that make sense for the story. Her superb choices in the book work very well. Lin also did the art for the book, which has the same engaging style as the story itself. The art is filled with bright, bold color and will serve new readers well as they read this book.
Highly recommended, this is an impressive easy reader. Let’s hope that Ling & Ting return for many more adventures. Appropriate for new readers, ages 4-6.
Reviewed from library copy.
Is It Night or Day?
Is It Night or Day?: A Novel of Immigration and Survival, 1938-1942 by Fern Schumer Chapman
As anti-Semitism and the Nazis overtake Germany, 12-year-old Edith is put on a boat by her parents and sent to the U.S. She travels alone on a boat with many other children separated from their parents too. She moves in with her uncle and aunt in a small apartment in Chicago. There she works for them more as a servant than a niece. Though her older sister is also in Chicago, they rarely see one another and her sister seems to have had an easier time adapting to her new life. Edith must learn a new language, understand the many differences between the two cultures, navigate the new family she finds herself in, all by finding an inner strength to go on without her parents. Inspired by the experiences of the author’s mother, this book offers a poignant and often painful look at loss and survival.
Chapman’s writing is beautiful. It captures the feeling of loss, the desperation of loneliness, and the small moments that help one survive. The author is so skilled that readers feel deep connection to Edith and her plight without ever feeling manipulated. Instead the emotions depicted are so raw and real that they are impossible not to feel at a gut level.
Edith is a wonderfully human heroine, filled with both good and bad emotions. She is at times naive and at others very wise. She is a complete portrait of a young girl caught in a situation that she cannot fix, trapped in a time without answers. An additional appeal of the book is this glimpse into a history that few know about in the United States, when children were rescued from Nazi Germany.
A gut-wrenchingly personal view of historical events, readers will feel connected to Edith and her plight very deeply. Appropriate for ages 9-12, this book would do well as a class read aloud for learning about World War II from a unique perspective. Get this into the hands of children who enjoy historical fiction with a lot of truth woven in.
Reviewed from copy received from Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Check out the author’s website for more information on the true story that inspired this book.
Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy
Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy by Denise Fleming
One sleepy animal after another is shown with the refrain of “sleep, oh so sleepy.” The words form a lulling rocking feel, perfect for bedtime. Every three animals, a line is added: “Where’s my sleepy baby?” It completes the story, drawing the child into the book. The animals are far from barnyard livestock, instead they are anteaters, elephants, koalas, orangutans and many exotic beasts. Fleming’s illustrations are equally soothing with their soft lines and velvety textures. A beautiful bedtime book for every family.
As you can see from the cover, it is Fleming’s art that is the real star here. The book is done in double-spreads with large images. Fleming creates her images with pulp painting, a papermaking technique that lends it a very interesting style and feel. It creates a depth of color that brings additional dimension to the illustrations. Far from flat, each color contains specks of other colors and a direct relationship to the colors near them. It is a soft, but never muted, form of illustration that is very successful here.
Highly recommended, this drowsy book will appeal to parents and babies alike. Appropriate for 0-2.
Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt.
Waking Brain Cells 