Month: October 2010

The Gobble Gobble Moooooo Tractor Book

| Tasha

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The Gobble Gobble Moooooo Tractor Book by Jez Alborough

Alborough, author of the Duck in the Truck series, returns with a new cast of animal characters and plenty of mischief to keep young listeners entertained.  Early in the morning, when the farmer was still in bed, Sheep climbed onto the tractor and made the sound that the tractor makes when it’s starting up.  Ba-a-a-a.  Cat comes and can make the sound the engine makes when its starting to move.  Purr. Turkey arrives.  He can make the sound of the tractor when it heads down the road.  The three of them pretend the tractor is starting, running and heading off.  Then Mouse, Goose and Cow arrive with their own noises which combined make all of the sounds of the tractor driving away.  Which is just what the farmer thinks when he hears them all together!

The cacophony of animal sounds is great fun here, especially with the twist of them sounding like the motor, wheels and other parts of a tractor.  Children will love trying to make the noises of the animals sound like machinery.  Alborough excels at making picture books that are friendly and very accessible for children.  His text is simple and fast moving, taking readers directly to the humor and the action.  His bright colored illustrations are zippy and jolly.

Add this to any farm themed toddler story time for plenty of noise making fun.  It will also appeal to children who enjoy machines.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Kane Miller.

 

  

And I Love You

| Tasha

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And I Love You by Ruth Krauss & Steven Kellogg

A celebration of parental love, this book has verse that pairs large and small together in relationships.  The big forests love little trees.  Big seas love little shells.  And my favorite: Big stories love little words to fly around in.  Each large element is shown and then the page turns to reveal the other smaller element that matches it.  Krauss’ poem is lovely, gently showing the devotion of a parent in ways that are tangible and in relationships that children will understand.  The book will work equally well for any adult with a child, whether it is a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or guardian. 

Krauss’ poem is very brief, just a few words per page.  Her verse captures love in so few words that it is amazing, making it very accessible for young readers. 

Kellogg’s art has his signature style, but also an added dimension that is very interesting.  His usual characters with their bright eyes are featured.  On some of the pages, where appropriate, a texture has been added to the illustrations, sometimes organic like grass clippings and other times thicker paint that is built up for the background.  His friendly characters are shown on these textured pages as well, creating a wonderful mixed media picture book.

The perfect book for a new baby gift or for adoptive parents, this book would also make a great board book too thanks to its few words and gentle spirit.  Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Scholastic.

The Very Best Pumpkin

| Tasha

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The Very Best Pumpkin by Mark Kimball Moulton, illustrated by Karen Hillard Good

This is a great fall story that focuses not on Halloween, but on pumpkins and autumn.  It is a story about how one perfect pumpkin can create a new friend.  Peter lives with his grandparents on Pumpkin Hollow Farm.  They grow different crops other times of the year, but in the fall they specialize in pumpkins.  Peter helps care for the pumpkins throughout the summer.  One day when out in the field, he noticed a vine that went out of the field.  Following it, he found a pumpkin all by itself.  He started taking care of that pumpkin too.  Nearby, a girl, Meg, moved into a new home and noticed Peter caring for his special pumpkin.  But she stayed out of sight so he wouldn’t notice her.  Peter also thought that no one was seeing him and his pumpkin.  When it was time to harvest the pumpkins, Peter offered his special pumpkin to Meg and they both realized that this one secret pumpkin had already made them friends.

Moulton portrays an idyllic farm life in this book.  Peter does work hard and diligently throughout the summer, so children will see that farming and growing plants does take time and care.  There are several touches that make this book work very well.  One is that the pumpkin is not the largest, but a special one that is perfectly round.  Another is that there are wonderful moments in the text where pumpkins and autumn are dwelled on.  The prose fills out with descriptions of the vines, the growing pumpkins, and the joy of the harvest. 

Good’s illustrations bring a winning element to the book.  Her illustrations are done on paper that is wonderfully splotched and textured, creating a real feeling of autumn as well as intriguing textures.  On top of this interesting background, her illustrations are done in crisp black outlines and warm earthy colors.  The friendly characters pop against the very natural feel of the book. 

A great addition to fall story times and units, this book celebrates autumn in all of its colors.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Larklight – The Movie

| Tasha

The director of Let the Right One In, Tomas Alfredson, has been signed to direct Larklight, based on the book by Philip Reeve.  This steampunk book will be one of the first YA books of the genre adapted to film by a major studio.  Another to keep your eye on.

Thanks to /Film for the news.

Baby Baby Baby!

| Tasha

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Baby Baby Baby! by Marilyn Janovitz

A board book filled with a jaunty rhythm and fun rhymes, this is a book that the littlest ones are going to love (and so will their grown ups!)  The book starts with action and movement, like clapping hands, dancing feet, and crawling away.  It then moves into preparation for bedtime with a bubbly bath, laughs, and some peek-a-boo.  Oh, and a little chasing of the cat too.  Then it slows down into hugs, sleeping and kisses.

Though the rhythm stays the same all the way through, it can be read with plenty of action and then moves gracefully into the quieter moments.  The verse is engaging and fun, matching well with the illustrations which are filled with color and pattern.  Plenty of bright colors also transition at the end to more pastels, making the quiet part that much more soothing.

A very cute board book to share with a toddler or baby story time or to have at home to enjoy again and again.  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from copy received from Sourcebooks.

The Memory Bank

| Tasha

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The Memory Bank by Carolyn Coman, illustrated by Rob Shepperson

Hope Scroggins lives with her little sister, Honey, and her neglectful and uncaring parents.  Perfectly horrible people!  One day when they are out in the car, Honey laughs out loud and doesn’t stop.  So her parents leave her behind on the side of the road.  The only thing that Hope can do is watch out of the back window.  Her parents order her to forget her sister, but she can’t.  Instead Hope starts to sleep more and more, retreating to a dream world.  Readers don’t have to fret about Honey.  Her part of the story is shown in wordless pictures, showing her being rescued from the side of the road almost immediately by a truckload of children.  Hope receives the first letter she ever had which summons her to The Memory Bank.  She is picked up and taken there where she discovers a place where memories and dreams are stored like treasures.  She has not been making enough new memories and has been creating too many dreams, so her account is imbalanced, but they had never expected her to be a child!  As Hope spends time at the Memory Bank with its band of interesting characters, she starts to remember more and more about Honey.  Perhaps even enough to find Honey again!

Coman has created a book in the vein of Roald Dahl where the adults tend to be either horrible humans or wonderful adoring people.  This is a new book that reads like a classic.  It has a timelessness about it as well as a winning combination of fantasy and reality.  Coman’s world building at the Memory Bank is wonderful, each new area revealing itself to the love-starved Hope like its own treasure. 

I have an Advanced Reader Copy of this book, so I don’t have all of the finished illustrations.  The ones that are finished have a grace to them.  Done in black and white, they too hearken back to classic children’s books.  Shepperson manages to tell all of Honey’s story with his illustrations, making sure that readers know that not only is Honey safe, but her life is pretty sweet too.

This book cries out to be shared aloud with Dahl fans and others who are looking for a book with a little zest, plenty of creativity and lots of dreams and memories.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

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The Familiars : The Movie

| Tasha

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The Familiars will become an animated film.  The director is Academy Award winner, Doug Sweetland who won the award for his short film, Presto.   Sweetland is a veteran Pixar animator, having worked on films like The Incredibles and Cars.  The authors will be writing the screenplay.  Definitely one to keep your eye on!

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Thanking the Moon

| Tasha

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Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival by Grace Lin

Join a Chinese-American family as they head out into the night to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.  They bring a night-time picnic and set up the moon-honoring table.  There are glowing lanterns and tea to drink.  There are also special mooncakes to munch.  Then everyone thanks the moon for bringing them together and make secret wishes.  This will have every child wishing that they could celebrate the Moon Festival too.

A gentle and simple story, Lin offers a glimpse of Chinese heritage in this picture book.  With just one or two lines of text per double page spread, she invites readers to the picnic and the celebration.  Her illustrations are jewel-toned and delightful.  She fills the night time sky with swirls and plays with other patterns throughout as well.  From the plate to the tea cups to clothing and lanterns, everything has a touch of pattern to catch the eye. 

This short, simple book concludes with some additional information on the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival that will answer any questions that readers may have.  Lin has once again created a book that is inviting, interesting and culturally fascinating.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.

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The Properties of Water

| Tasha

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The Properties of Water by Hannah Roberts McKinnon

Released October 26, 2010

For Lace, the lake she has grown up living on has been an integral part of her childhood and her life.  All of the seasons of the lake, as well as the sounds and smells of it, are the background to her days.  When her older sister, Marni, is injured jumping into the lake from a height, Lace is unable to return to her beloved lake or even to the city’s swimming pool.  Lace works to continue having some order to her life, but her mother is hours away caring for her sister, her father is grieving himself, and her grandparents dart in and out of her summer.  There is the new family care giver, Willa Dodge, but Lace sees her as an invader and perhaps even a thief.  One happy part of her summer is that an older boy is paying attention to her.  As Lace faces her first summer without her older sister, she begins to realize that everything has changed and she can do very little to repair any of it.

Written with a clear voice, this book has lustrous prose that makes Lace’s struggles come beautifully to life. 

To show the author’s skill with words, I have to share one passage, though there were many to choose from:

He sinks on the bench beside me, and we sit, shoulder to shoulder, like two battered bookends holding up all the sadness in the world.  This time I put my arm around him, and Cinder wedges under the bench beneath us, his black fur collecting our tears like gemstones.

This is a book about grief and the horrible time when grieving seems like the wrong thing to be doing, but forward motion is impossible too.  It is the story of a loving, devoted family torn apart by an accident.  It is Lace’s story and the lake’s story.  It is about the power of nature, the horror of brain injury, and the healing powers of time and love (as well as a great dog). 

This very short book by today’s standards is a small jewel.  It is dazzling as it shows emotions so thoroughly that it is like readers are experiencing it themselves.  Her prose is deep and radiant, but never leaves a young reader puzzling.  Rather her images are taken straight from the world of the lake, of summer and of sadness.

Highly recommended, this book is a great choice for tweens who will understand everything that Lace is feeling.  Appropriate for ages 11-13.

Reviewed from ARC received from Farrar Straus Giroux.