This is a great list to get librarians aware of the impressive book apps out there. It may also be a handy resource for reference questions at the Children’s Desk about what book apps families should buy. Happily, librarians will know many of the titles from their print form, so ages will be easy to peg.
Based on real life stories from the author’s family, this is a story of survival during the years of the Holocaust. A little girl tells the story of her family in Italy during World War II. The book shows the transition from seeing soldiers around to the growing restrictions and imprisonment of Jewish families. The story starts in Rome where the family has been living, but then their father is sent away into the mountains with the other Jewish men. The family would travel into the mountains to see her father on the weekends. Even this did not last long, because soon there was talk of concentration camps coming, so her father ran away to hide. The Nazis then tried to take her mother, but through a series of skillful tricks, she was able to prevent being sent to a concentration camp. This book takes a very challenging time in history and makes it accessible and understandable for children.
Russo successfully uses the lens of a small girl to explain the situations during World War II for Jewish people. Focusing on the breaking apart of families rather than the atrocities of the Nazis, makes this book powerful on a different level. The horrors of the Holocaust are evident in the story, but do not take center stage. It is very skillfully written and conceived.
Russo’s art has a gentle simplicity to it. The paintings have a flatness that works well and the images are clearly set in the past. The story is compelling and fascinating, yet is definitely suitable for younger readers.
This picture book speaks to the horrors of World War II in a way that children can understand. Appropriate for ages 6-8.
Cam has been battling cancer for the last seven years. At age 16, she has reached a point where nothing more can be done. All she has left is acceptance and a lot of attitude. But Cam’s mother and sister are not ready to give up hope, so they move the family north from their lives at Disney World in Florida to Promise, Maine. Promise is a small community where miracles happen. Cam certainly doesn’t believe in miracles or religion for that matter, but Cam feels the magic of Promise too. Her blemishes from the disease fade, her hair grows long, and she feels better than ever. Then there is her Flamingo List that she created at summer camp. It’s a list of things that she wants to do before she dies. Many of them seem very unlikely at first, but as the summer goes on, she ticks them off the list. Cam has one final summer to reach her goals and even to exceed her own expectations.
This is not a weepy cancer book at all. Rather it is the story of a sarcastic, brilliant girl battling a disease and finding a place to be herself and create the best days ever. In Cam, Wunder has given us much more than a tragic story of the last days of a life. Instead Cam seems more filled with life than the rest of us. She shines, entrances and lives with abandon. It is like watching a shooting star race past.
Wunder also creates an entire cast of impressive supporting characters. They are often introduced as stereotypes, but then they become more fully realized as the reader gets to know and understand them. We as readers get to discover the characters alongside Cam. The setting of Promise, Maine is also beautifully rendered with the magical parts interwoven to create a dance of magical realism and realistic fiction.
Gorgeously written and realized, this is a powerful read with a great, flawed heroine. Appropriate for ages 15-17.
Told through the voice of a fictional child, this is a look at the building of the Watts Towers, a huge art piece that is outsider art and has been named a National Landmark. Simon Rodia, called Uncle Simon in the book, built the towers from glass, pottery shards, seashells and a vision. Each piece on the towers was selected by hand. The book shows the careful selection and then the transformation from garbage to art. This is about the artistic dream and the process more than the man himself. Because the building of the towers took decades, the story shows the girl grown into a woman with her own children. It is a story of an artist, his skill, and the strength and vision it took to make it happen.
Aston has written so simply here that her format speaks also to the simplicity yet complexity too of the art itself. She writes in the first person, inviting people into the story. As she explores the process of the art, it is broken into parts and becomes jewel like too. These are small moments and decisions that contribute to the whole. The moments of creation are exceptionally important to the feel of the entire book. They are moments that are celebrated and savored.
Roth’s incredible collage illustrations also elevate this book. They are bright, filled with motion, and there is a constant feel of confetti and celebration on the page. The shards and small treasures slowly coalesce into the towers and the gates around them. The art is so close to reality that when the final page is turned and one sees a photograph of the towers, there is no jilt to reality. Roth captured the spirit of the art so completely that it just feels right to see the real work at that point.
This is a powerful picture book about the process and importance of art and the act of creation. Appropriate for ages 5-8.
Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books for Young Readers.
I am head over heels in love with the art by Jane Mount, an artist from New York. She has created Ideal Bookshelves for all sorts of readers. Best of all, my children’s lit fans, she has created ones that speak to us as well! Yes, they would also be great in a children’s room. But me, I’ll take one or more for my main living space!
Here are some of her pieces.
You can also order your very own bookshelf with your special books on her Etsy shop. Existing prints can be ordered at 20×200.
This second Gingerbread Girl book continues the story of the sister of the Gingerbread Boy who is much more clever than her poor brother. She survived the fox and now has gotten a box of animal cracker pets for her birthday. But before she can warn them about the dangers out in the world, they run off chanting: “We’re wild Animal Crackers, hear our fierce roar. You can’t catch us, we’re off to explore!” Soon enough, the animal crackers have attracted a parade of people and animals chasing after them. Waiting near the river is the fox, who is eager to offer all of the crackers a ride across. Luckily, the Gingerbread Girl is still clever and figures out a way for them to save the day.
Ernst’s story is a rousing success with clever rhymes, fast moving prose, and plenty of action and suspense. The Gingerbread Girl is a sweet heroine who is creative and smart. The update to the story is in keeping with the traditional tale, but fractures it just enough to be modern and fresh.
Ernst’s art has a timeless feel to it. With the gingham backgrounds to the textual pages, there is a country feel to the entire book that works well with its rural setting.
A pleasing update to a traditional tale, this book calls for sharing animal crackers while reading. But don’t save any for the fox! Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from copy received from Dutton Children’s Books.
Huge congratulations to Laini! Here is her response in EW:
“My goal is always to write stories that readers will want to climb inside of and live in, and which – I hope – will allow them to just lose themselves in the page,” said Taylor in reaction to the acquisition. “It is a hugely thrilling prospect to think about Universal and filmmakers translating my world onscreen and giving it a second life in such a grand way. I’m over the moon.”
And I will look forward to the second book in the series coming out in September, 2012.
BookPage has announced their picks for Best Children’s Books of the Year. Their list spans from picture books through young adult reads. Many of my personal favorites are on the list. Here are the titles:
Waking Brain Cells 