Year: 2011

Book Review: Kat Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis

| Tasha

katincorrigible

Kat Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis

Mix a Regency setting with plenty of magic and one smart, sassy heroine and you have this winning novel for children.  Kat never knew her mother, since she died when Kat was born.  She does have a stepmother who is far more interested in the wealth her stepdaughters will bring with strategic marriages than with their future happiness.  Kat is the youngest of the three sisters and she discovers early in the novel that she has inherited her mother’s magical talents.  One of her older sisters, Angeline, has also gotten magical talents of a different sort.  As the eldest sister, Elissa, is about to be betrothed to a grim fiancé, the younger two get deeper into trouble as they explore their magical gifts.  All too soon, Kat will be called upon to use her magic to save those she loves, while trying to act graceful and polite in society.

I’m a huge fan of mixing historical settings with fantasy, and this novel does it very well.  Readers never lose the fact that they are reading a Regency novel, thanks to the elements of society that are woven successfully throughout the novel.  At the same time, the fantasy elements are tantalizingly and beautifully done as well.

The characterization is superb, especially Kat, who is a Regency girl that modern children will relate to happily.  She is intelligent, irreverent and irresistible.  From the first glimpse readers get of Kat with her short-cut hair and her desire to save her family, Kat is an intriguing character.  Happily, Burgis has incorporated plenty of humor into the novel as well.  There are scenes that are filled with genteel sarcasm and bites but sometimes the story merrily heads closer to farce with delightful results.

Highly recommended, this is a book that children will adore with just the right mix of humor, fantasy and style.  Sounds like ideal summer reading to me!  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Check out the book trailer:

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum Books.

Also reviewed by:

Alan Rickman’s Thank You for Harry Potter

| Tasha

I was truly moved by Alan Rickman’s letter of farewell to JK Rowling.  For me, the lifetime passing in minutes is so true as my youngest son turns 10 this week.

"I have just returned from the dubbing studio where I spoke into a microphone as Severus Snape for absolutely the last time. On the screen were some flashback shots of Daniel, Emma, and Rupert from ten years ago. They were 12. I have also recently returned from New York, and while I was there, I saw Daniel singing and dancing (brilliantly) on Broadway. A lifetime seems to have passed in minutes.

Three children have become adults since a phone call with Jo Rowling, containing one small clue, persuaded me that there was more to Snape than an unchanging costume, and that even though only three of the books were out at that time, she held the entire massive but delicate narrative in the surest of hands.

It is an ancient need to be told in stories. But the story needs a great storyteller. Thanks for all of it, Jo.

Alan Rickman"

Via Moviefone.

Book Review: Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts about Peace by Anna Grossnickle Hines

| Tasha

peacefulpieces

Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts about Peace by Anna Grossnickle Hines

Celebrate peace with this book pairing beautiful quilts with poems.  Short poems explore the nature of peace and the myriad of forms it takes.  There is the peace of quiet, of home, of nature.  Then there is the peace that is the opposite of weapons, anger and war.  There is the peace of acceptance, of moments, of prayer.  Then for readers, there is the peace of reading this book.

Each poem itself is a moment of peace, inviting the reader to linger, consider.  The author has created distinct poems that work both as individual poems and as a whole work together.  The flow from poem to poem is very successful, making it difficult to read just one or two poems from this book.

The quilts themselves are done in jewel tones.  They range from strong-lined images filled with words to natural scenes of quiet grace.  Turning the page from one to the next is a journey of color, expression and beauty.

Highly recommended, this book beautifully marries poetry and quilting, resulting in a book that is warm, cozy and lovely.  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt & Co.

Also reviewed by:

Check out the book trailer to see some of the quilts and hear some of the poetry:

Book Review: Meadowlands by Thomas Yezerski

| Tasha

meadowlands

Meadowlands by Thomas F. Yezerski

This nonfiction picture book tells the story of the history of the wetlands that are now known as the Meadowlands in New Jersey.  From hundreds of years ago, when the wetlands had 20,000 acres of marshes through to the 1800s when the land was drained and filled in with dirt to the 20th century when the industries came to surround the Meadowlands with their factories.  The wetlands were used as a garbage dump, filled with waste and filth.  It became a problem area in New Jersey until the state decided that it needed to be cleaned up.  By 1985 with the clean up and then the developers, there was less than 7000 acres of wetlands left.  But the wetlands began to recover, with time the lack of pollution and the rivers and tides cleaned the water and allowed plants, birds, fish and animals to return.  This is a celebration of wetland recovery and the strength of the ecosystem as well as a stirring call to action.

Yezerski offers just the right amount of information here for an elementary-aged audience.  From the brief history of when the wetlands were unchanged, readers see how steadily the impact of humans deteriorated the size and quality of them.  The garbage portion of the story is startling, stark and brief, indicating the small amount of time it took to do such extensive damage.  When the book turns to the recovery of the Meadowlands, the tone lifts and the text turns to celebrating the nature returning to the area.

The pages of the book are bordered with objects pulled from that illustration.  So the two-page spread of the 1800s is bordered with a knife, musket, scythe, trap, kettle, muskrat and more.  This adds to the feeling of time changing and the area changing along with it.  The watercolor illustrations are often looking at the wetlands from above, showing the devastation and changes.  Beautifully, as the wetlands recover, the illustrations become more close and intimate with the wetlands and the animals.

Get this one on your elementary nature and ecology shelves.  It is a readable and very successful look at wetland renewal for children.  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from copy received from Farrar, Straus & Giroux. 

Book Review: Underground by Shane W. Evans

| Tasha

underground

Underground by Shane W. Evans

Using only the shortest of sentences, the smallest of words, Evans has created a picture book that captures the fear and hope of escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad.   The well-chosen words add to the tension, keeping it taut with danger.  It reads as if the author too is trying to be quiet, near silent and to escape notice. 

The palette is one of darkness with bright whites of eyes shining, the colors capturing the oppression of slavery.  As freedom nears, the colors change, almost glowing with the light and brightness of freedom.  The art here is what makes the book so special.  The images are collage mixed with the texture of brushstrokes, all evoking a rustic, roughness.  Yet in the faces there is a nobility, a grace, a hope that shines through.

A beautiful, evocative book that is haunting and ever so strong.  It will work beautifully for elementary aged children learning about the Civil War and slavery.   Appropriate for ages 7-10. 

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

Book Review: The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall

| Tasha

penderwickspointmouette

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall

In this third Penderwicks novel, the family is separating for the first time.  For two weeks in the summer, their father will be heading off and so will Rosalind.  The remaining Penderwicks are off to vacation in Maine.  This leaves Skye as the OAP (oldest available Penderwick) to take care of the others, along with Aunt Claire.  Skye is overwhelmed with the responsibility, particularly for Batty and even more so when a soggy note warns her vaguely about the potential that Batty could “blow up.”  Jane continues to write books, but this summer she has decided to write about romance and doesn’t know much about it, so she develops a Love Survey.  Batty and Hound continue to easily make friends, and this summer Batty discovers a hidden talent all her own.  Jeffrey escapes the binds of his mother and stepfather to join the others in Maine and he too makes a discovery with the help of Jane and Skye. 

So many series become rather drab and dull in their third book, but the Penderwicks seem to be growing ever better and stronger.  The characters here are funny, bright, and complete individuals.  Birdsall writes each character as if they were her favorite, making it nearly impossible for readers to figure out which sister they enjoy most.  It was a pleasure to have a book where Skye shines so much as she struggles with new responsibilities and not wanting to let anyone down. 

In such a character-driven work, it can be easy to not notice the skill with which Birdsall interweaves the setting of Maine into the story.  But it is there, filling in the spaces in the novel where the characters have a quiet moment.  As if it is waiting for them to stop being busy and to notice the beauty around them.  From the seals on the islands, the moose on the golf course, and the cold of the water, Maine is a spectacular setting for this third book.

A cozy, wonderful story that is filled with humor, these books have the feel of a classic but remain modern.  If you are looking for a series to start reading aloud with your children, this is a great one.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House Children’s Books.

Also reviewed by:

Book Review: Follow Me by Tricia Tusa

| Tasha

followme

Follow Me by Tricia Tusa

A girl swings on a swing, traveling from one color to another.  As the colors change, so does her swinging speed and style, until she flies free from the swim altogether.  She gets lost in green and travels down into the brown of the forest, and then out into the blue of the sky once again.  Until she drifts back down to green.  Finally, returning back home.

If that description of the book seems loose and floaty, that’s because the book is that way too.  While it does mention colors, this is not an introductory book about colors.  Rather it is about colors in a larger sense, an emotive way.  It is a poem that dances along, inviting us all to take to the air too. 

Tusa’s illustrations are filled with gentle colors that are airy and light.  They are colors that make you take deep breaths, as they seem to be filled with fresh air.  The girl who we follow through the book and the poem has a charming quirky quality to her.  The distinction between the clarity of the air and its emptiness vs. the clutter of the girl’s home is lovely.  Both have their own appeal.

This book captures the freedom and lightness of swinging through the air and combines it with childhood imagination.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by Cracking the Cover.

Book Review: Little Mouse’s Big Secret by Eric Battut

| Tasha

littlemousesbigsecret

Little Mouse’s Big Secret by Eric Battut

When Little Mouse discovers a juicy red apple on the ground, he decides that it will be his secret.  So he hides it in a hole in the ground.  Once it is safely hidden, his friends appear one-by-one and ask him what he’s hiding.  Little Mouse insists to each animal that he will not tell because it’s his secret.  As Mouse talks with animal after animal, his back is to the apple and the hole he hid it in.  Soon a sprout appears from the hole, then a stalk and finally a tree.  Apples appear on the tree just as Little Mouse declares that he will keep his secret forever!  Then the apples fall to the ground.  All of the animals reappear and Little Mouse discovers that some secrets are even better when shared.

Battut has created a picture book perfect for very young children.  From the simple, friendly illustrations that have plenty of whitespace to the repetition built into the animals asking what the secret is, this book has lots of child appeal.  Each double-page spread has only two lines of text on their own page, creating a book that is quite engaging and fast moving.

Children will immediately get the humor of a fast-growing apple tree that the mouse is completely oblivious to until the apples fall around him.  The book also has a high cute factor, with the animals dwarfed by the growing tree, all bright-eyed and merry.  They are on a buttery-yellow background that adds to the coziness of the title.

Add this book to your autumn and apple book lists.  The very little mouse and other animals make it more appropriate for small groups or individual sharing.   Appropriate for ages 2-3.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by

Book Review: The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine

| Tasha

absolutevaluemike

The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine

Released June 9, 2011.

Mike takes care of his father, who is a rather absent-minded mathematical genius.  But Mike is definitely not mathematical, despite his father’s hopes.  When Mike’s father decides to send him to spend the summer with distant relatives in rural Pennsylvania to work on an engineering project, Mike sees it as a way to finally prove himself to his father.  Mike discovers far more than an engineering project when he arrives.  In fact, there is no engineering project at all.  There is his wild-driving nearly-blind aunt, his uncle who is so deep in mourning over the death of his adult son that he can’t move, a homeless man who has good business sense and is willing to give the shirt off his back, literally, and a tattooed and pierced girl who needs a family.  He finds a town that is working on a project to adopt a boy from Romania, a boy that Mike realizes is very connected to him in a personal way.  Mike has a lot to learn this summer, just not about engineering.

Erskine is a chameleon of an author, changing her tone, her writing style to match this lighter novel that has a strong, meaningful core.  The humor here ranges from subtle to laugh-out-loud funny observations and asides.  At its heart, this is a book about a boy who doesn’t know his own strengths or his own worth, because it can’t be measured mathematically.  It’s a book that is steeped in math down to its chapter titles, but at the same time speaks to the knowledge that humans and their abilities sometimes don’t add up logically.

This is also a book about loss and grief.  It’s a book about handling what the world has given you either by giving up altogether or by continuing on.  It’s a book about connections, building them, creating them.  And about how the hardest connections to create can be the closest ones.

This is a funny, light book that reads quickly and will stun readers by being far deeper and more meaningful than they would have ever expected.  Appropriate for ages 11-14.

Reviewed from ARC received from the author.

Also reviewed by: