The shortlist for the 2013 PEN/Steven Kroll Award for Picture Book Writing has been announced:
The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Amanda Hall
I Lay My Stitches Down by Cynthia Grady, illustrated by Michele Wood
Oh, No! by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Snakes by Nic Bishop
Those Rebels, John & Tom by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edwin
I Am Blop! by Herve Tullet
The author of Press Here returns with another simple and charming book. Here the entire book is based around the shape of a “blop” which is something like a four-leafed clover, or a flower, or a butterfly. With just a few words on each page, the youngest readers will discover a world of blops between these covers. There are blops of different sizes, different colors, and they do a variety of things too. Concepts are taught cleverly, such as mixing colors, what appears in a mirror, and opposites.
While there are punch-out pages at the end of the book, this would still make a great pick for libraries to circulate. I was particularly pleased with the mirror page and color mixing pages that add a special twist and fun to the book.
Another great pick from Tullet, this book belongs in library collections and would make a great toddler read. Expect to be drawing and seeing blops afterwards! Appropriate for ages 1-3.
Reviewed from library copy.
Illustrator Marc Simont has died at age 97.
Simont won the Caldecott Medal in 1957 for A Tree Is Nice written by Janice May Udry. Over his career, he illustrated nearly 100 books, according to an article in the New York Times covering his death.
Perhaps his best known title is The Philharmonic Gets Dressed written by Karla Kuskin, one of my all-time favorite picture books.
The release date for the film version of The Book Thief has been moved up. Originally set for January 2014, it will now have a limited run in November of this year. It’s all about positioning for the Oscars. I look forward to seeing Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson in it.
Thanks to EarlyWord for the news.
Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff
Boy Nobody enters schools, follows his orders, identifies his target, and completes his mission. He is a soldier, working for The Program. He is invisible, just another teen, but he is so much more. His life changed when he was taken into The Program at age 11. The Program fixed him, turning him into someone who can notice the smallest things, who can kill silently, and who has no emotions. But when Boy Nobody is asked to do the fastest and most dangerous mission of his life, he discovers that he does have emotions. And that is perhaps the most dangerous thing of all.
I have deliberately given a vague summary above, since a large part of the pleasure of this read is piecing things together. Written in the first person, the reader gets to see the world from Boy Nobody’s skewed point of view. This adds to the immediacy of the read, making it all personal, particularly the violence. And there is violence, fights and murder, done with a coldness that makes it all the more sinister. Throughout, you have Boy Nobody’s voice explaining just why it is all alright and how his life works. Then as he begins to feel again, that voice changes and expands. It is subtle but also powerful.
This book is written with pacing in mind, the entire book reading like a movie script that plays before your eyes. There is no hesitation here, little lengthy prose, just vibrant details that are necessary to hurtle the novel forward. It makes for a read that is riveting and a joy to read.
The ideal beach read for teens, this book has a thrilling combination of contract killing, subterfuge, and intelligence. Appropriate for ages 14-17.
Reviewed from ARC received from Little, Brown.
Flood by Alvaro F. Vila
This wordless picture book shows the impact of a flood on a family. The book starts with a sunny day at a house along the river. The children are playing outside, the house is wrapped by a picket fence, and the windows are being replaced. It is idyllic, beautiful and peaceful. The storm front arrives along with the rain. Sandbags are brought to the house and the family builds a wall of them to protect their home. The new windows are boarded up and the family leaves their house behind. Water quickly surrounds the house and soon it breaches the sandbags, rushing violently into the house. The waters recede and the house is left, broken and damaged, filled with mud and muck. But all is not lost, as the family rebuilds.
Though wordless, this book tells a powerful story of family, floods, loss and rebuilding. The illustrations range from those colorful images of the perfect family home to images of destruction. Vila captures the violence of these storms and the water itself. There are several images that are very powerful including the first glimpse of the large storm front coming across the landscape to the close up of the water entering the home. These natural images have a beauty to them but also a sense of foreboding.
This is a wordless book that will work well with a range of ages. It is a timely read as well as weather systems grow more powerful and more families are facing natural disasters. Appropriate for ages 4-7.
Reviewed from library copy.
Publisher’s Weekly gives us a glimpse into the children’s titles coming next spring. Hot picks will include:
The fifth book in the Origami Yoda series
The Pigeon Needs a Bath by Mo Willems
W.A.R.P. Book Two: The Hangman’s Revolution by Eoin Colfer
Fancy Nancy and the Wedding of the Century by Jane O’Connor
Chu’s First Day of School by Neil Gaiman and Adam Rex
Pete the Cat: Big Easter Adventure by James Dean
Panic by Lauren Oliver
The final book in the Hero’s Guide Series: The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw
Rupert Can Dance by Jules Feiffer
What can you spot on the list that would make your must-read pile for next year?
Wait! Wait! by Hatsue Nakawaki, illustrated by Komako Sakai
Translated from the Japanese, this little book is perfect for busy toddlers. It follows some time in a toddler’s day when they move from one distraction to the next. First, there is the butterfly fluttering past that won’t wait. Then the lizard on the sidewalk slithers off without waiting. Then come pigeons and next cats. Finally, the little child is scooped up by a grown up and carried off on their shoulders with obvious delight.
This simple little book captures so nicely the speed of a toddler’s thoughts and the way that they can keep so busy with new discoveries in their day. There is a wonderful gentleness to the book, where the animals and then the adult are just as much fun and intriguing as one another. At the same time, there is a sense of discovery and awe as each new creature is found.
The text is very simple with the title repeated throughout and then one additional sentence added for each creature. The illustrations shine. They are wonderfully organic with textures while the colors remain subtle and natural.
This book begs to be shared with one little child at a time, so that the animals can be identified and new discoveries of their own can be shared. Appropriate for ages 1-3.
Reviewed from copy received from Enchanted Lion.
The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail by Richard Peck
I thoroughly enjoyed Peck’s first mouse characters in Secrets at Sea, so I looked forward to meeting more whiskered characters in this new book. The two books are unrelated except for Peck’s elaborate mouse society which has the same charm as The Borrowers or The Littles. In this book, we meet a little mouse who really doesn’t even have a name. He has no idea where he came from, but he is now cared for by his Aunt Marigold who is the Head Needlemouse in the Royal Mews in London. He is sent to school at the Royal Mews Mouse Academy, where he is quickly bullied by bigger mice. Finally, he ruins all of his prospects by appearing in front of a human wearing clothing. Now he has to find his own way, his destiny and his past.
Peck weaves a fine adventure in this book. The romp of mishaps and close scrapes make for fun reading as does the mystery of this little mouse’s past. Add to that the appeal of being near royalty, even speaking directly with Queen Victoria herself, and you have a book where you never know what is going to happen next.
The writing is skilled and detailed. Peck offers action enough for any book but also builds a wonderful second, shadow society with the mice too. There is just enough detail to tantalize and clearly visualize the world, but not so much that the story slows. In fact, the pacing here is superb.
Fans of Stuart Little and The Borrowers will enjoy discovering life in the Royal Mews and a little nameless mouse with a big destiny. Appropriate for ages 7-10.
Reviewed from ARC received from Dial.
Waking Brain Cells 