Month: December 2011

Russell Hoban Dies

| Tasha

  

The Guardian has the news of Russell Hoban’s death.  Hoban is one of those authors whose book is a large part of my childhood.  First there as Bread and Jam for Frances, a book that has such a tangible reaction for me that I can taste and smell home when I pick it up.  We also read The Mouse and His Child again and again.  It was part of our breakfast readalouds that my mother did to keep us from fighting as we waiting for the school bus.  So this is particularly melancholy news for me. 

Death, Hoban predicted in 2002, would "be a good career move". "People will say, ‘yes, Hoban, he seems an interesting writer, let’s look at him again’," he said.

And so I will look at him again and I encourage you to too.  I want to return to The Mouse and His Child and also check out Riddley Walker, a book by Hoban that I missed and that the article says is his best known.

Review: A Christmas Tree for Pyn by Olivier Dunrea

| Tasha

christmas tree for pyn

A Christmas Tree for Pyn by Olivier Dunrea

Little Pyn dreams of having a Christmas tree of their own, but her gruff Papa (who insists that she call him Oother) refuses to have one.  While her father works outside in the woods all day, Pyn tidies up the house.  Through it all, she thinks about a Christmas tree.  When Oother continues to say no to a tree, Pyn decides to handle matters herself.  She waits until her father heads out to work and then dresses herself in warm clothes and takes a small hatchet along with her.  But before she gets far at all, she is up to her waist in snow with more tumbled down and burying her.  Oother rescues her at once, sweeping her up onto his shoulders.  Together the two of them find the perfect tree and bring it home, where Pyn decorates it with all sorts of natural treasures she has saved.  Oother too has something to add to the tree, that speaks to the memory of Pyn’s mother.

Dunrea has managed to create a gruff bear of a father who has trouble expressing his love for his tiny daughter, but that children will understand easily.  There is a palpable love between the two characters though both have trouble voicing it.  It is the warmth in the story, the glue of their small family.  Towards the end of the book, the sorrow of the loss of Pyn’s mother is tangible too.  It is almost achingly there, a physical presence that explains the strained relationship and the reason a Christmas tree is vitally important to them both.

Dunrea’s art is beautifully done with his signature white backgrounds upon which his characters build their lives.  The book is filled with small touches that show the snugness and warmth of their home.  The huge stone fireplace, the cozy slippers, and the steam rising from pots and bowls.  It all creates a family and home.

This book speaks to the heart of the Christmas season, where families grow closer, memories are shared, and a tree becomes more than it could ever seem to be.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Penguin Young Readers Group.

Review: Strega Nona’s Gift by Tomie dePaola

| Tasha

strega nonas gift

Strega Nona’s Gift by Tomie dePaola

In the small Italian village where Strega Nona lives, everyone is busy preparing for the holidays.  They stretch from December 6th and the Feast of San Nicola to January 6th and the Feast of Epifania.  This picture book looks at the various Italian feasts, focusing mostly on the Eve of Epifania where animals are said to be able to get the power of speech.  So all of the people in the village made delicious food for the animals to keep them happy.  However, when Big Anthony realizes that he is eating a simple meal of pasta and not the beautiful food Strega Nona has cooked for the animals, things start to go wrong.  Big Anthony eats the food that was meant for the goat, so she is left with just hay and oats.  Strega Nona uses her magic to send everyone dreams of food that night, but Big Anthony misses out because the goat ate his blanket and he cannot sleep.  In the end, Big Anthony makes everything right again but it takes some holiday luck to make that happen.

dePaola manages to weave the feasts into the storyline deftly, creating a book that shows how some cultures have an extended holiday filled with different sorts of celebrations.  The relationship between Big Anthony and Strega Nona is a large part of the success of this picture book.  Their unique ways with one another adds the spice to the holiday story that it needs.  There is a gentle humor about the story that works well.

As always, the illustrations are simple, humorous and completely appealing.  This is the Stega Nona we have all grown to love, showing her care for her village through her cooking and magic.  It is a quiet sort of Christmas book, one that shows the depth of the holiday season and speaks to more than Santa and gifts.

For families looking for a book that explores a different holiday tradition, this book will be great fun to share and informative too.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Penguin Young Readers Group.

Review: Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck

| Tasha

secrets at sea

Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck

A wonderful mix of Upstairs Downstairs and The Borrowers, this is the first animal story from the incredible Peck.  Helena is the eldest of the Cranston family of mice.  Her parents are both dead as are her older sisters.  It is 1887 and the human Cranston family is planning a trip to England to get their eldest daughter wed.  So the mouse family also has to decide.  Do they travel across the dangerous and deadly water with the family or stay behind in an empty house.  Helena hopes that the trip will help with some of the problems she has been fretting about.  Her younger brother is always getting into scrapes and needs some direction.  One of her younger sisters is far too attached to one of the human daughters.  So the family embarks on a trip where they discover the large impact a family of mice can have on their humans.

Peck writes with a sly humor here that takes on the establishment and the constraints of society in the late 1800s.  The same sort of tiers that make up the human society are found reflected with the mouse society as well.  It makes for a delight of a novel that has depth and a lot of heart.  Peck’s young heroine, Helena, is a mouse burdened with many cares but who also starts to see herself differently as her travels continue.  She is an engaging and richly drawn character.

Peck has also vividly created the setting of a Victorian ship at sea.  From the lavish parties to the lifeboat drills, the mice are involved throughout.  This is a world of privilege that is gloriously redrawn mouse sized complete with royalty and romance.

Highly recommended, this is a dazzling book that will find a place among other great animal stories.  Peck has amazed me once again.  Appropriate for ages 8-11.

Reviewed from ARC received from Penguin Young Readers Group.

Also reviewed by:

Best Picture Books of 2011

| Tasha

 

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art has Susan Bloom’s picks for best picture books of 2011.  Susan Bloom is Professor Emeritus at Simmons College and a reviewer for The Horn Book.

Her picks are filled with my personal favorites but she also has some books that I have yet to get my hands on.  Some even that I can’t find in our library system catalog, which is quite unusual. 

So enjoy her list!  I’m sure you will find new reads in it.

The First Annual Nerdies

| Tasha

nerdy book club

The Nerdy Book Club invited nominations for the best children’s and young adult books of 2011.  If you missed that call for nominations (like I did) you can still participate!  You now have the chance to vote for your favorite books among the nominees. 

And let me tell you, the nomination lists are good enough that choices are very painful.  I was happy to see that the votes are broken down by category, so you can pick a few favorite picture books, then vote for teen fiction separately. 

I’ve voted, I’ve added new books to my reading pile, and I am impressed with the caliber of the nominees.  I can’t wait to see who wins!

Australia’s First Children’s Laureates

| Tasha

 

Australia has announced their first Children’s Laureates and they are a pair of children’s authors.  Alison Lester and Boori Monty Pryor will serve for two years.  During that time, they will travel to every state and territory in Australia in order to reach as many children as possible with their message to read more.

Both authors had responses to their appointments:

”One of the most frightening things in the world is a child who can’t read and write,” Pryor said.

”People keep saying books are going to have their day,” Lester said. ”But especially for a child a book is the most wonderful way to travel and escape and discover.”

The William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalists

| Tasha

And the nominees are:

 

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

  

Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard

Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

 

Goodness, I haven’t read a single one of these!  They are all patiently waiting on my to-read list, but I haven’t managed to get to any of them.  So please, let me know which ones are your favorites!

Review: The House Baba Built by Ed Young

| Tasha

house baba built

The House Baba Built: An Artist’s Childhood in China by Ed Young

Illustrator Ed Young grew up in Shanghai during World War II.  His father managed to get them a house that was safe because he built it himself.  He made a deal with the landowner that he would build a house and after 20 years, the landowner would get it free and clear.  But in those 20 years, Ed Young’s family lived there.  It was a huge home with a swimming pool, space to roller skate on the roof, staircases to slide down, and lots of other places to play.  This is the story of growing up in that house with the war raging around them, but also feeling very safe as a family because of the house.  It is the story of welcoming people beyond their family to stay with them, giving refuge and forming a larger family unit.  It is the story of years of playfulness and joy together despite the outside forces because his father thought brilliantly and quickly.

It will come as no surprise to those who know Young’s work that this is a beautifully designed book.  Young weaves together paper cutting, sketches, painting and photographs into a dreamlike world of his childhood where some things stand out crystal clear and others are fogged by time.  It is like looking into someone else’s memories along with them.  They are beautiful and mesmerizing.

This book may have trouble finding an audience.  While the illustrations are gorgeous, the story is told in vignettes rather than one large story.  This technique will resonate more with slightly older readers than usual picture book preschoolers.  On the other hand, teachers looking for a book to inspire telling a biography in more than words will delight in this book.  It will share aloud well and the illustrations will invite readers into Young’s world.

A book for older elementary school readers who may take some encouragement to pick it up.  Once they do, they will be transported to Shanghai in the 1930s and 40s.  Pair this with Drawing from Memory by Allen Say for two artist’s childhoods in Asia.  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from ARC received from Little, Brown.