Year: 2011

Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic

| Tasha

nightflight

Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Wendell Minor

This gorgeous and beautifully written picture book follows Amelia Earhart as she tries to be the first woman to pilot a plane across the Atlantic Ocean alone.  Beginning with Earhart rolling down the runway in Newfoundland on May 20, 1932, the book is not only about the trip but also about the beauty of flight, the moments of wonder, the fears, the dedication it takes, and the incredible feat that Amelia Earhart accomplished. 

Burleigh has written the book in paired lines that are filled with poetry and grace.  He uses words to capture the emotions and the events on the journey.  From the beauty of the star-filled sky to the drama of a storm out over the ocean, readers will thrill to this adventure.  As I look over the writing, I am caught up again and again by the words, the pacing, and the incredible Earhart.

Minor’s paintings add to the drama and beauty of the title.  When the book begins, readers can see the smiling face of Earhart peeking through the plane windows directly at them.  Minor manages to capture both the scale and expanse of the adventure and the personal story of Earhart.  He makes it both monumental and personal as does Burleigh in his text.

While there are many titles about Amelia Earhart out there, this is one of the best and would be a thrilling read for any class exploring women’s history.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

To see some of the beauty of the illustrations, take a look at the book trailer below:

Also reviewed by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Shaun Tan Wins Astrid Lindgren Award

| Tasha

Shaun Tan is the winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, also known as the most lucrative children’s book award in the world.  The award is given for outstanding contribution to children’s or young adult literature.

"Shaun Tan is a masterly visual storyteller, pointing the way ahead to new possibilities for picture books," the jury said in its citation.

"His pictorial worlds constitute a separate universe where nothing is self-evident and anything is possible. Memories of childhood and adolescence are fixed reference points, but the pictorial narrative is universal and touches everyone."

Tan recently won an Oscar for best animated short for his animated version of The Lost Thing.

I look forward to reviewing his new Lost and Found soon.

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Time to Eat: Nature and Nibbles

| Tasha

timetoeat

Time to Eat by Steven Jenkins and Robin Page

Jenkins and Page continue their collaboration with a new series of nature books for young children.  The other two books in the series are Time for a Bath (coming in May) and Time to Sleep (just released).  In this book, readers learn about the many strange and different things that animals eat.  From the rocks that an ostrich has to eat to chew its food to the tapping thin fingers of an aye-aye looking for lunch, the facts are fascinating. 

Those facts are paired with Jenkins’ illustrations done in paper collage.  As always, his collage work captures the texture of fur, the softness of feathers, and the smoothness of skin.  They manage to be simple yet demonstrate the complexity of the animals. 

Make sure to turn to the end of the book for more details about the featured animals.  The facts included in the body of the book read aloud very well, offering just enough detail to be interesting and yet to move along quickly. 

This is a great book to add to any library’s nature section and to keep on hand for any nature or animal story times you will be doing.  The dung beetle alone is sure to get children intrigued!  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

2011 RITA Awards Finalists

| Tasha

The Romance Writers of America gives out RITA and Golden Heart awards every year.  Here are the finalists for the best Young Adult Romance of the year:

   

Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

The Clearing by Heather Davis

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan

  

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

 

Hmm.  I’ve read one of these but it wasn’t one of my favorites.  Anyone have one they adore on the list?

The Hobbit Illustrated by Maurice Sendak

| Tasha

When I was a kid, my mother read us The Hobbit at breakfast to keep my brothers and me from fighting while waiting for the bus.  It wasn’t the only book read, Watership Down was also enjoyed.  But I think it was the book we read most often.

Now the LA Times has the news that there was a potential for Maurice Sendak to have illustrated The Hobbit in the 1960s. 

As I look at the incredible image above, I think about what a missed opportunity this partnership of two greats was.  I only wish I could have seen more of the illustrations, because we all would have immediately switched our mental images of Bilbo and friends to Sendak’s. 

Wither: Surprising, Exceptional Dystopian

| Tasha

wither

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

In future America thanks to genetic manipulation that went wrong, people have a very short and specific lifetime.  Women live until they are 20, men until they are 25.  Society has collapsed with science turning toward trying to save the human race.  In this world, girls are stolen from the streets and kidnapped to become wives and keep the population up.  Rhine is a girl who is taken and survives the selection process.  Now she is forced into a polygamous marriage to a very wealthy man.  She is trapped with her sister wives in a mansion; her cage is beautiful and sumptuous but it is still a cage.  Rhine tries to think only of her escape, but it is made difficult as she begins to form relationships with her fellow prisoners, a handsome servant, and her husband.  This book explores uncertainty, love, desperation and strength.

DeStefano’s writing is what elevates this book above other dystopian fantasies.  Her phrasing is subtle and natural, occasionally turning poetic to make a stronger point or present an important event.  Her plotting is masterful.  In a book where much of the time is spent waiting for action, the story never lags or disappoints.  It is a book of quiet desperation not only for Rhine but for the entire society. 

The world building here is particularly exquisite.  There is just enough of the science background given to make the story work.  The real beauty is in the exploration of the effects of the situation, the revealing of a society in decay, the division of wealth and poverty, the allure of a life at ease in a world like this.  It all adds up to a very powerful statement about our current society.

The characterizations are also beautifully done.  From Rhine, the brave heroine who tells the story in first person present tense, allowing readers to figure out what is happening right along with her.  The sister wives are as different from one another as can be, each of them unique and human, each a character worthy of her own book.  Then there is the complexity of the husband, Linden, a man who could have been portrayed as a monster.  Instead he is a man with a background that formed him, a love for others, and who is haunted by loss. 

Ideal for fans of dystopian science fiction, this unique book will have readers unable to put it down and begging to know when the next book in the series is coming out.  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

 

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Also reviewed by:

The Secret Box: A Wordless Treasure

| Tasha

secretbox

The Secret Box by Barbara Lehman

Lehman continues her wordless books with this treasure of a title.  Years ago, during the times of steam trains and horse-drawn carriages, a boy hides a box under the floorboards of a house.  Other buildings are built around that house, as the city grows.  Cars and a modern train show that time has passed.  Three children head to the high floor and discover the hidden box.  In the box are directions to the Seahorse Pier.  The children have to find the old landmarks that are almost hidden in the modern city.  They follow the map to the Seahorse Pier and to a surprise waiting for them at the end of their adventure.

Lehman’s books are delightful adventures, allowing readers to take travels along with the characters in the books.  Readers also get to puzzle out what is happening, as the book takes turns and twists like any great adventure should.  Told entirely through illustrations, the story is delicate yet strong.  Lehman uses a deft hand in this book, balancing the book exquisitely.

Although this is a wordless story, it will work best for slightly older preschoolers because the stories are not as straight forward as most wordless books.  Because of that, I see them as ideal picks for children having difficulty with reading.

Highly recommended, this book will be enjoyed by fans of Lehman’s previous work and will find new fans as well.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by

Diana Wynne Jones

| Tasha

How sad to read the news that Diana Wynne Jones passed away. The British author of Howl’s Moving Castle and other amazing works of fantasy died after a long battle with cancer at age 76. 

Neil Gaiman tweeted about the loss:

"Rest in Peace, Diana Wynne Jones. You shone like a star. The funniest, wisest, writer and the finest friend" and adding simply, "I miss you."

Fans can look forward to one final book from her coming this fall.

Sendak Returns with a New Book

| Tasha

bumbleardy

The Wall Street Journal has the news that Maurice Sendak will be releasing a new book, Bumble-Ardy.  HarperCollins has announced that it will be released this fall with a print run of 500,000.  Sendak first created the character for an animated short on Sesame Street in 1971.  Since that time, he has been unable to forget the character:

"He was funny. He was robust. He was sly. He was a sneak. He was all the things I like," Mr. Sendak said.

As we all wait for the new book, you can take a look at the Sesame Street video.  It is one that I vividly remember from my childhood (which certainly dates me).