Day: February 4, 2015

Review: Red by Michael Hall

| Tasha

red

Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall

A blue crayon labeled as red is not very good at being red at all. His fire trucks were all wrong. He thought more practice might help, but his strawberries didn’t look anything like Scarlet’s. When he tried to mix with other colors, like Yellow to make orange, it turned very green on him. His parents tried to warm him up with a scarf, but it didn’t work either. Everyone had advice for him, like just trying harder or sharpening himself to a new point. Nothing made any difference. Then he made a new friend who asked him to make an ocean for her boat to sail on. Red protested at first because oceans aren’t red, but then agreed to try. And suddenly he realized that he had been blue all along!

Told in symbolism that children will immediately understand, this book works on a variety of levels.  It can inspire children to be who they really are on the inside and to be true to that and not the labels that society puts on you. Others will read it as a metaphor for being gay or transgendered and I think it works beautifully for that as well.  Perhaps the best praise that can be given this book is that it can mean so many different things to people.

Hall’s artwork is simple and lovely. His various crayons are different heights and have wonderful color names that range from more normal colors to “Cocoa Bean” and “Hazelnut” and “Grape.”  They all have something to say too, helpful and not-so-helpful alike.  But they are Red’s community and children will see in them things that are said to people who are different in some way.

A celebration of inner diversity, this picture book is all about accepting and celebrating our differences.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from HarperCollins.

Review: In by Nikki McClure

| Tasha

in

In by Nikki McClure

It’s the perfect day to stay in, in your pajamas, inside the house, even hiding inside a basket with your toy giraffe.  A child plays that he is a rocket ship in space.  He puts milk in his tea and marmalade in popovers.  It’s all about being in for him.  But then he looks out the window and decides to play in the rain and in the puddles.  He wants to be out, outside, peeking out of branches.  He will even stay out at night with the owls.  In the end though, he is happy to head back in and get in bed in the warm house. 

Simply told and beautifully illustrated, this picture book explores the opposites of in and out in a poetic and vivid way.  Woven into the narrative, the words of in and out play against one another and even together to build the experience of a young child at play.  Every child will enjoy seeing how they too like the differences between in and out.

McClure’s illustrations are just as wonderful as always.  Done in paper cuts, they are detailed enough that one could mistake them for pen and ink at times.  The play of white and black against the sunny yellow is beautifully done with the yellow being sunshine, moonlight, and marmalade at times.

A day of play combined with the concepts of in and out will have toddlers and little ones inspired to spend their own days both in and out of the house.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams Appleseed.

Sold – The Movie Trailer

| Tasha

Based on the amazing novel by Patricia McCormick, this film has already won the audience award at both the London Indian Film Festival, River to River Film Festival in Florence, Italy and Best Narrative Feature at AFME.  Directed by Oscar-winner Jeffrey Brown and also with executive producer Emma Thompson, this film and book wrestle with sex trafficking and young innocent girls.

Review: Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper

| Tasha

stella by starlight

Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper

The author of Out of My Mind returns with a book that takes a hard look at racism in the United States.  Stella lives in Bumblebee, North Carolina during the Great Depression.  When her little brother wakes her up one dark night, they witness the KKK burning a cross in their town.  Their community is segregated, so Stella and her family go to a different school than the white kids in town.  It’s smaller and less fancy with one room but also one great teacher.  They also can’t use certain stores and many of the white people in town are rude and even violent towards them.  Stella’s father is one of the men in town who decide that they will push for their right to vote, even though they know the system is rigged, requiring tests for black people but not for white.  Stella gets to witness first hand the ignorance of people in power and their disregard for others, but at the same time there is reason to have hope too.

Draper writes a dynamic story here.  She evokes the time period beautifully, allowing readers to really experience the lifestyle, the poverty, and the deep racism of the times.  This is not a book that is just darkness though, Draper creates a strong African-American community in Bumblebee.  The neighbors look out for one another, help whenever possible, and face the worst of society together as a group.  The racism and segregation is presented with an appropriate level of violence for children this age, allowing readers to see that it runs far more deeply than is depicted on the page.

Stella is an extraordinary protagonist.  Her struggles with writing are presented cleverly on the page.  One immediately sees that this is a girl who struggles with the mechanics of writing like spelling and getting the words out, but once they are on the page she has a unique voice and a poet’s eye.  It is a subtle but strong message that if you struggle with something it certainly does not mean you are not gifted in it as well.  These passages of writing lighten the book as do the various stories inserted throughout the book, paying homage to the oral traditions but also to the community and its strength.

Powerful and wise, this novel for young readers will expose them to racism after the Civil War and the basis for many of the problems we continue to see today.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum Books for Young Readers.