Month: February 2017

XO, OX: A Love Story by Adam Rex

| Tasha

xo-ox-a-love-story-by-adam-rex

XO, OX: A Love Story by Adam Rex, illustrated by Scott Campbell

A romantic ox writes a letter to a gorgeous gazelle professing his love for her. At first, he only receives form letters back, but Ox is determined. He commends her for how smart she must be to send two identical letters to him. Gazelle finally does reply in person, still aloof. The two begin a letter correspondence filled with Gazelle’s not-very-subtle insults to Ox and Ox returning only compliments. Gazelle insists that the letters have to stop, but Ox continues writing. He sees only humor in her replies. Finally Gazelle has had enough. Or has she?

Rex’s writing is a joy. Using only the letters they write as text in the book, he captures both animals’ personalities. Each is far more complex than they seem at first and just as they learn about each other in their letters, the readers learn about them as well. It would have been easy to set the Ox up as hero and the Gazelle as villain, but Rex is more subtle and skilled than that.

Campbell’s illustrations are done in watercolors and colored pencil. Just as with the letters, there is a wonderful difference between the illustrations of either animal. Ox is rather rougher and wears the same outfit in all of the illustrations. Gazelle changes outfits in almost every scene and is surrounded by opulence rather than the simplicity that surrounds Ox.

The joy of letter writing and receiving letters is captured in this picture book romance. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

Heart to Heart by Lois Ehlert

| Tasha

heart-to-heart-by-lois-ehlert

Heart to Heart by Lois Ehlert

Ehlert makes a picture book entirely from rebuses and puns that is completely endearing. Filled with the same bright graphics as the cover, this picture book is a small square size perfect for a gift or for little hands. Various fruits and vegetables make appearances in the puns, adding a yummy twist.

The simple premise of the book gets challenging unless you read the riddles out loud. Suddenly turnips and beans make sense in the sentences and everyone is sure to smile when the sentence is decoded. The playfulness here is as bright as the colors used in the illustrations.

This book is just right to share one-on-one with someone you love. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Harry and Clare’s Amazing Staycation by Ted Staunton

| Tasha

harry-and-clares-amazing-staycation-by-ted-staunton

Harry and Clare’s Amazing Staycation by Ted Staunton, illustrated by Mika Song

Released February 7, 2017.

Brother and sister, Harry and Clare, aren’t going anywhere for their spring break plus it’s raining. But they manage to visit exotic locales anyway, using their imaginations. Their living room turns into the volcanic surface of Mars. The next day they raced cars in the grocery store. The third day, they went to the local pool and Harry was forced to walk the plank. In fact, every day Clare decided on the game and then managed to eat Harry’s snack along with her own. As the week went by though, Harry started to plan a way to keep the snacks for himself and decide on the game.

The dynamics between these two siblings are wonderfully honest and accurate. The older sister who knows all and manages to be tricky too. The younger brother who loves the games that he plays with his sister at first and then slowly realizes that he wants some decision-making power too. The two children are the only real characters in the book with parents along the periphery but nothing more. Harry himself figures out the way to get his sister’s attention through food and then how to insert his own point of view into their play. It’s done gently and intelligently without drama.

Song’s illustrations embrace the imaginative play of the children, showing how a playground transforms into a jungle and a couch becomes the way to the volcano. The pictures have a playful lightness. The hair of the children is wonderfully wild, exactly the way that children’s hair really looks, particularly while on school break.

Perfect for your next staycation or any time that children are spending time at home, this picture book is exactly the snack kids will want. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley received from Netgalley and Tundra Books.

 

 

Brandon Sanderson’s Double Film Deal

| Tasha

Steelheart (Reckoners, #1) Firefight (Reckoners, #2)

Deadline Hollywood has the news that YA author, Brandon Sanderson has two film deals in the works. His series The Reckoners has been purchased by 20th Century Fox. The deal includes the first two books in the trilogy, Steelheart and Firefight.

The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey

| Tasha

the-bad-guys-by-aaron-blabey

The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey

This Australian import is the first in a fresh new illustrated chapter book series. Wolf has decided that he’s tired of being a bad guy so he recruits three fellow baddies to his new gang where they do good deeds. But it’s not so easy for Shark, Piranha and Snake to give up their own ways, like eating meat and people. Their first mission for good is to rescue a kitten stuck in a tree, but what kitten wants to climb down if they see those big teeth smiling at them? Their next job is to rescue 200 dogs from the dog pound. It involves Shark dressing up as a little girl, Wolf making a great shot, and Piranha and Snake showing the dogs the way out. But the plan doesn’t quite work out they way they want it too either.

This book has the pep and feel of a comic book, filled with large fonts that add attitude to the pages and lots of illustrations. In fact, because of its many illustrations it will be a welcome early book for new chapter book readers who will love the humor as well as the pictures that nicely break up the text. There is a great zany energy to the entire book with one joke leading nicely to the next. The pacing is cleverly done with just enough time to catch your breath from laughing before the action starts again.

Blabey’s illustrations are a large part of that manic charm. They are hugely funny. Emotions are shown broadly and wildly on characters’ faces. The shark barely fits into the car and not without a bump out for the dome of his head. There are incidents of eating one another and being bashed against walls. Each one is hilarious and children will love the slapstick comedy of it all.

A funny delight, this illustrated chapter book will have young readers begging for the next in the series. I know I can’t wait! Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report

| Tasha

This is the sixth biannual Kids & Family Reading Report that Scholastic has created. The 2016 survey was done in conjunction with YouGov. The surveys focus on family attitudes and behaviors around recreational reading.

Here are some of the findings that struck me. You can read the entire report here.

  • Children who are frequent readers have 141 children’s books in their homes vs. 65 books for kids among infrequent readers’ homes.
  • Households with income less than $35K only have an average of 69 children’s books vs. 127 books for kids in households with income more than $100K.
  • When looking for children’s books to read for fun, both kids (37%) and parents (42%) “just want a good story,” and a similar percentage want books that make kids laugh.
  • Parents of Hispanic children are more likely than parents of non-Hispanic children to look for books with characters who are culturally or ethnically diverse
  • The majority of kids ages 6–17 agree “it is very important for their future to be a good reader”
  • Parents underestimate the degree to which children have trouble finding books they like.
  • Despite conventional wisdom, six in 10 children ages 6–17 agree “I really enjoy reading books over the summer”
  • One in five 12–17 year-olds and one in five kids in lower-income families do not read any books at all over the summer.