Day: December 8, 2010

Welcome to My Neighborhood! A Barrio ABC

| Tasha

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Welcome to My Neighborhood! A Barrio ABC by Quiara Alegria Hudes, illustrated by Shino Arihara

This alphabet book, from the author of the musical In the Heights, takes a gritty and realistic look at urban life that will be familiar to many children while exposing other children to a new setting.  Ava takes her friend on a tour of her neighborhood and many words in Spanish.  She starts with a hug for her abuela and passes through G for graffiti, M for los muralistas painting murals on the walls, V for vegetables in what used to be a vacant lot, and ends at Z Street where the cars zoom past.  Ava adds lots of small details to her alphabet tour that really show her enthusiasm for her neighborhood as well as giving the reader more details about her home.  This is a tour worth taking!

This book does not sugarcoat what you will see in an urban neighborhood with abandoned cars, graffiti, and a burned building.  But for children who see these things in their own neighborhoods, they will find a picture book that depicts their own world, something invaluable for a child.  The Spanish words add a great rhythm to the book and another layer of information.  Airhara’s illustrations use a lot of open space, emphasizing the stretches of blocks, the expanse of the city.  They are simple and have a pleasant mix of bright color and earth tones. 

A book that fills a need in children’s alphabet books for books set in urban locations, this will be welcomed on library shelves.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Arthur A. Levine Books.

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Lulu and the Brontosaurus

| Tasha

lulu

Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Lane Smith

Lulu was a pain, a real pain.  She demanded that her parents give her everything she wanted.  And if they didn’t?  Then she threw a fit, screaming, throwing herself on the floor and kicking her feet.  Until her parents agreed to give her exactly what she wanted.  But that all changed when Lulu demanded a brontosaurus for a pet for her birthday.  Her parents tried to explain that a brontosaurus was huge and wild and not suitable, but Lulu threw a tantrum.  However, this time it did not work.  So Lulu set off on her own to find herself a brontosaurus.  As she entered the forest, she sang herself a song about getting a brontosaurus for a pet.  Going deeper into the forest, she encountered some wild animals but even they could not scare her from her mission.  Eventually, Lulu does find a brontosaurus deep in the forest, but will he be the ideal pet she has been expecting?

A great beginning chapter book, young readers will enjoy the over-the-top humor that will keep them laughing.  The short chapters will also help keep reluctant readers going as will the large number of black-and-white illustrations from the master Lane Smith.  The illustrations hearken back to Syd Hoff’s Danny and the Dinosaur with the smiling brontosaurus, but are edgier as well with great perspectives.

Viorst has obviously had fun playing with the book format here.  She opens the book saying that of course she knows that humans and dinosaurs have never existed at the same time!  It sets the tone perfectly for the story itself which is filled with humor throughout.  Various fonts are used throughout the book, some for singing, others for effect in reading.  Later in the book, the chapters are numbered by the half chapter just for fun and to laugh about the very short chapters of the book.  And finally, the book ends with different endings for the reader to choose from. 

A winning early chapter book, this has the dinosaur appeal combined with great illustrations and clever writing.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from book received from Atheneum.

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