Month: October 2013

Review: How to Train a Train by Jason Carter Eaton

| Tasha

how to train a train

How to Train a Train by Jason Carter Eaton, illustrated by John Rocco

Did you know that trains make great pets?  Well this is the book all about how to best keep a train as a pet and have it well trained too.  First, you have to decide what sort of train you want: freight, monorail or steam.  Then you need to catch one.  There are lots of ways to do this, but the best way is to catch their attention with smoke signals and then bribe them with coal.  You then have to name your train and try to set it at ease.  Spend time together and get to know one another.  Eventually if you have built enough trust, your train will let you ride him.  But it takes time to ride off into the sunset together.

Eaton sets the perfect tone in his writing.  The framework of a how-to book adds a level of structure that Eaton plays with throughout.  Reading along the way, Eaton invites you into his world of sentient trains where each reader is offered the opportunity to consider what type of train they would want as a pet and how they would care for it.  It’s a delightful world and one that lingers after shutting the cover.

Rocco’s illustrations are a large part of building that delight.  He has created trains that read as purely machine and yet have faces that smile directly at you.  He also maintains the scale of the trains, allowing them to be huge puppy-like beasts that have a great wildness as well.

This cheery book will delight train fans but also reaches far beyond them with its humor and world building.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Eat Like a Bear by April Pulley Sayre

| Tasha

eat like a bear

Eat Like a Bear by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins

Released October 22, 2013.

Can you eat like a bear?  It means you will wake up very hungry in early spring and have to dine on sandy plants and frozen dead bison meat.  In May, you will have dandelions and cow parsnips to munch but you will still be hungry, so you eat some ants.  You will also eat clover and fish in icy streams for a meal of trout.  In July you will catch a squirrel you dig out of the dirt and in August you will have moths to munch.  September brings berries and October pinecones.  Then it is time to sleep for the winter, full with all of the various meals you have eaten for the rest of the year.

Sayre makes this book such fun to read.  She takes scientific information about what bears eat and makes it very accessible for a preschool audience.  She uses repetitive structures throughout the book, having the bear dig and pull to find food again and again.  This doesn’t just create a friendly structure for small children, it also underlines the fact that animals are in constant search for food.  Sayre also makes the book inviting by using the second person format, asking children if they can really eat like a bear.  I suspect many will stop saying yes when the ants, squirrels and dead bison appear in the diet.

The art of Jenkins is always beautiful, but he outdoes himself with the depiction of the bear.  I shared this book aloud with my son and we both spent time lingering over the first image of the bear.  Jenkins has managed to use the torn paper as fur, not only along the edges of the bear’s body but on its body too.  The result is fur so plush that you feel like your hand should sink into the page.

A glorious look at bears, this book is a fantastic introduction to a creature, its habitat and its diet.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt & Co.

Review: The Children Who Loved Books by Peter Carnavas

| Tasha

children who loved books

The Children Who Loved Books by Peter Carnavas

This celebration of reading and books features a family that depends on their books for all sorts of things.  Lucy and Angus’ family is poor without a TV or a car, but they find everything they really need in books.  But there can be too much of a good thing as they find out when their little trailer home just won’t hold any more.  So they get rid of all of the books and clear out their tiny home.  But things aren’t the same.  The books that had taken up so much space also made the space between the family members smaller.  Then one day, a book falls out of Lucy’s backpack and the magic of reading happens all over again.

There is no move to hide that this book is purely about the joy of books in one’s life and the positive impact that reading together can have on a family.  Carnavas lets his message stand strong, which has positive and negative results.  A more subtle approach would have been more satisfying, yet the bold message lets you use the book with younger children.

Carnavas’ illustrations are filled with stacks and piles of bright colored books.  The family is clearly poor, but also clearly functional.  The morning after they return to reading, the family is stacked on top of one another in a tiny couch.  The quintessential image of a family coming closer together from reading.

Warm and cheerful, this Australian import will have book lovers smiling.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Kane Miller Publishing.

Review: My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula J. Freedman

| Tasha

my basmati bat mitzvah

My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula J. Freedman

Tara’s father is Jewish and her mother is East Indian, so Tara has mixed feelings about her upcoming bat mitzvah.  Some of the kids in her Hebrew class even wonder if she is actually Jewish at all.  Tara though is more concerned with whether she actually believes in God and if she doesn’t, does that mean that she can’t have a bat mitzvah?  She also worries about what celebrating this side of her family says to the other side.  So Tara decides to make sure that both sides of her family are represented by wearing a family sari that had been passed down for generations.  Unfortunately though, the sari is accidentally burned and Tara has to figure out how to tell her mother about it.  But that’s not the only complexity in Tara’s life.  Her best friend Rebecca seems to be spending more time with another girl, someone that Tara doesn’t get along with.  Her other best friend Ben-o seems interested in being more than friends sometimes but other times spends a lot of time with another girl.  It’s up to Tara to navigate all of the confusion and make her bat mitzvah her own.

Freedman very successfully tells the story of a young woman dealing with two distinct family heritages.  Happily, she doesn’t feel the need to build heightened angst about it, allowing Tara’s personal doubts to really drive this part of the story.  Her family around her does not have the same feelings, sharing holidays with one another and enjoying the same foods, most of the time. 

The book has a lightness of tone that makes the book very enjoyable.  Freedman explores bullying with a perfect touch, but less successfully explores the underlying issues.  Tara is a strong heroine who is far from perfect.  She has a temper, responds physically at times, and can be too self-absorbed to really see what is happening with her friends.

Hurrah for a book with a brown-skinned girl right on the cover that explores her multicultural heritage in such a straight-forward way!  Appropriate for ages 11-13.

Reviewed from ARC received from Amulet Books.

Review: Musk Ox Counts by Erin Cabatingan

| Tasha

musk ox counts

Musk Ox Counts by Erin Cabatingan, illustrated by Matthew Myers

The characters from A is for Musk Ox return for a counting book this time.  A counting book should be fairly straight forward, it’s counting after all.  But Musk Ox has different ideas.  Must to Zebra’s dismay, he doesn’t even make it to number one at the beginning of the book to be counted as one Musk Ox.  Instead he is on the page with 2 yaks.  Musk Ox offers to fix the problem on the page for number one, but still messes up the 2 yaks page.  Zebra is beside himself and a sulky Musk Ox heads back to page one on his own.  But he doesn’t stay there for long!  Expect plenty of counting chaos throughout the book though there is also some easy addition thrown in too. 

I enjoyed this book almost as much as the first one.  This one has the joy of returning to two engaging characters.  As with the first, you never know what is going to happen on the next page, making it very engaging reading.  Cabatingan writes the two characters with zingy dialogue and the book is a must for reading aloud. 

Myers’ illustrations add to the zany book.  He manages to keep crowded pages from being confusing as the number mount.  He also uses the effect of Musk Ox and Zebra peeking through from other pages very nicely. 

The result is a counting book worth sharing aloud to a group of preschoolers, and there aren’t many counting books that you can say that about!  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

This Week’s Tweets and Pins

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter and Pinterest accounts this week that I hope you find interesting:

ELC. Places that encourage exploration, thinking, reflection about the wide, wide, world.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

8-Year-Old Gets Sexist ‘How To Survive Almost Anything’ Books Pulled Off The Shelf http://buff.ly/GCKuEa #kidlit

"As a child is born, it’s important that child learns about books" http://buff.ly/GHJSxI #reading

Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman: ‘Children should be encouraged to read electronic books’ – Telegraph http://buff.ly/192W06H #kidlit

Free Technology for Teachers: Download The Chronicles of Narnia as Free Audiobooks http://buff.ly/GCybZH #kidlit

Great Beginnings | Books for Emergent Readers | School Library Journal http://buff.ly/19gRu2I #kidlit

Horn BOO! – The Horn Book http://buff.ly/19aejF3 #kidlit

Lucy Christopher’s top 10 literary woods | Children’s books http://buff.ly/GPr1Bh #kidlit

PW KidsCast: A Conversation with Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall http://buff.ly/18KoUrt #kidlit"

Reading aloud is the single most important thing that anybody can do with a child." http://buff.ly/1a1Zt2g #kidlit #reading

EBOOKS

Bloomsbury Children’s Sets December Launch for E-book Imprint http://buff.ly/192X5LN #ebooks

E-book sales are leveling off. Here’s why. http://buff.ly/GHEx9Q #ebooks

More gadgets, more reading: Survey suggests e-reader and tablet owners read more books – http://buff.ly/15RTgtY #ebooks

Community Living Room, Whistler Public Library

LIBRARIES

10 Reasons To Become A Library Addict | Laura Grace Weldon http://buff.ly/1acojNg #libraries

After Floods, Colorado Libraries Assess the Damage, Step in With Services http://buff.ly/1csIbS8 #libraries

Full STEAM Ahead: Injecting Art and Creativity into STEM | School Library Journal http://buff.ly/1cryiEm #libraries #stem

Libraries and Librarians in Horror Movies http://buff.ly/1acodoB #libraries

Melding Minds to Make a Library | American Libraries Magazine http://buff.ly/19hxjSm #libraries

Next Time, Libraries Could Be Our Shelters From the Storm http://buff.ly/GCOpSt #libraries

10 Interesting Ways to Use Instagram for Your Library http://buff.ly/GCDOXQ #libraries

TECHNOLOGY

Brilliant Maps Reveal Age of the World’s Buildings – Wired Science http://buff.ly/GJcrdI

Mountain View Is Installing Wi-Fi Because Google’s Free Service Stinks http://buff.ly/19odxqf

Most of the teen book collection occupies the wave wall, which has seating built in to encourage teens to stay and get lost in a book. An adjacent lounge with vending machines allows teens to socialize without bothering other patrons.

TEEN READS

An Adult YA Addict Comes Clean — Vulture http://buff.ly/1crgxFp #yalit

Divergent Author Veronica Roth Builds Her Empire — Vulture http://buff.ly/1e62VgF #yalit

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS Movie Set for June Release » EarlyWord – http://buff.ly/1e6c8Wo #yalit

Five questions for Holly Black – The Horn Book http://buff.ly/19aedNR #yalit

From the Guide: Slightly Spooky Middle-Grade Tales – The Horn Book http://buff.ly/1gkPtYv #yalit

Gary Wasdin: Teens need books, and bans don’t change that http://buff.ly/192VWnl #yalit

Lois Duncan on reaching a new generation of teen readers http://buff.ly/15ThDaH #yalit

Maggie Stiefvater: ‘I navigate readers’ emotions like a small ship through a rocky strait’ | Books http://buff.ly/1cr4mIv #yalit

New Trends in YA: The Agents’ Perspective http://buff.ly/19odDhx #yalit

Watch the First Official ENDER’S GAME Movie Clip http://buff.ly/18PVsAq #yalit Mixed feelings on this one because of the author.

Young adult books that changed our lives http://buff.ly/15ThzYt #yalit

Review: March by John Lewis

| Tasha

march

March: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell

This is the first book in a planned series of graphic novels that follow the life of Congressman John Lewis and his work in the civil rights struggle.  This first book opens with President Obama’s inauguration day and then flashes back to critical points throughout Lewis’ life.  It tells the story of his connection to animals on the farm, particularly chickens.  It also shows him as a young minister and his determination to stay in school and then to attend college.  Readers get to witness the violence of the opposition to the Civil Rights Movement including many pivotal moments in history like the sit-ins at Nashville lunch counters. 

This is one powerful graphic novel.  The writing is sterling and strong.  It shines with an honest portrayal of historical events from someone who did not just witness them, but fought the battles personally.  The book clearly explains the world of the 1950s and 1960s, making sure that modern readers understand the dangers of the times and the differences.  It is both a historical book but also one that is important for modern teens to understand how far we have come and how far we have to go.

Powell’s art is stellar.  It is stirring art that evokes history with a fresh eye.  He creatively uses light and dark, playing with words across it at times, other times allowing the darkness to take control.  There is a sense of witnessing history throughout the book in both the words and the art. 

An impressive graphic novel for teens, this book shines light on the Civil Rights Movement.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig

| Tasha

invisible boy

The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig, illustrated by Patrice Barton

Brian is invisible.  His teacher never notices him in the classroom.  He doesn’t take up much space.  He never gets picked when kids choose kickball teams.  He isn’t invited to any parties.  Brian spends his time drawing dragons, pirates, aliens and superheroes.  Then Justin joins Brian’s class.  Justin uses chopsticks at lunch and eats different food than everyone else.  The other kids laugh at him and Brian feels happy being invisible.  Brian leaves Justin a drawing that says that Justin’s food looked yummy.  Justin talks with Brian about his art, but is quickly called away to play games with the others.  When a chance comes for them to work together on a class project, Brian starts to feel a lot more visible.

Ludwig paints a vivid picture of an isolated child here.  The true success on these pages is the capturing of very subtle forms of bullying rather than the overt type seen in so many picture books.  This is the type that involves exclusion from the group rather than physical violence.  Ludwig not only captures it, she also shows just how damaging being alone can be for a child.  At the same time, Brian is bright and creative and willing to connect.  Ludwig also shows how a single child can make a difference and bring someone who is invisible into the group.

Barton’s illustrations have a beautiful softness to them.  She incorporates paper art in her digitally painted work adding another dimension.  Brian starts out almost transparent and only done in pencil with no color at all.  As he starts to reach out to others, color comes to him and eventually he is just as fully colored as everyone else.  This visual transformation nicely captures what is happening emotionally.

A superb book about bullying and exclusion, this can be used to start discussions in a classroom or with a single child.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

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

Review: Line 135 by Germano Zullo

| Tasha

line 135

Line 135 by Germano Zullo, illustrated by Albertine

The duo that created Little Bird have returned with another lovely and fanciful story.  A little girl travels by train to her grandmother’s house.  The train starts out in the towering city and we are told at the beginning that her grandmother lives in the country.  The train travels from crowded cityscapes into more residential areas.  The little girl talks about all of the traveling she wants to do when she gets older.  As the pages turn, the landscape changes and eventually becomes very odd.  Flowers grow as tall as the train, strange creatures stand near a pond, then the pond itself looks very much like a beast of some sort and readers will know that they are on a surprising trip too.

Imported from Switzerland, this book starts out as a quiet thoughtful book about being comfortable living in both the city and the country and a love of travel.  Zullo’s text never changes from that musing tone, but it does speak to the right of a child to have opinions about how they want to live their lives. 

The girl’s dreams and imagination come to life in the illustrations.  The train is the sole zip of color on each page, while the surroundings are entirely in black and white fine-lined drawings.  They are detailed and lovely and the change from reality to dream world is done slowly and with deft pacing. 

This is a book that makes you want to start back at the beginning the minute you finish it so that you can see even more in the drawings.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.