Month: September 2018

Review: All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold

| Tasha

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold, illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman (9780525579649)

A diverse group of students start a new school year in their bright and busy classroom. The urban school has students from around the world, all of them safe in school and welcome to be there. All of the students wear different kinds of clothes to school and bring different food in their lunches. They play together, learn from one another, and celebrate their various cultures. When the children head home, they all make their way to bed thinking of the new friends they have made that day.

Told in rhymes, the text uses “All are welcome here” as its chorus. The focus here is on how different the children are from one another and also how inclusive their school is, making children of all backgrounds, faiths, cultures, and abilities welcome in the same room. The bright illustrations add to the celebration of diversity with children in dark glasses or in wheelchairs and wearing different sorts of headwear that reflect their faith. Throughout, there are big smiles and a lively energy that feel like an active class on the page.

A great book to start the school year and promote acceptance and diversity. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

| Tasha

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales (9780823440559)

This book garnered high praise long before its release, all of which is well deserved. It is the story of immigration to the United States, based on Morales’ own experience as she came to the U.S. with her child. This is a story of immigration, of carrying your personal gifts with you to a new country and allowing them to blossom. It’s the story of learning a new language in order to communicate and along the way discovering the power of public libraries to inspire. It is about the importance of books, of shared stories and of finding your own abilities to tell unique tales personal to you and make those into books. It is a book that sings the vitality and importance of immigrants to our country.

Morales has written a book that I hope sweeps some major awards this year. I knew that it was the powerful story of immigrants, but I was delighted and surprised to see the role of the public library highlighted so clearly on the pages. The text on the page is just right, poetic and brief, inviting young readers and listening children deep into the storyline. Morales has created a timely book for today’s America and all of its children, but it is also a book that will be read again and again.

The art by Morales is amazing. Alight with the moon and searingly brilliant when the gifts they carry escape the pack they have been stored in for so long. There are beautiful symbols throughout the illustrations like this, connection and creativity alive on the page. She also pays homage to so many books in her library scenes, each one a testament to the voices that have been part of children’s literature for so long and some newer ones too.

A dazzling and incredible picture book that is sure to win awards this year. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

 

Review: Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina

| Tasha

Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina

Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina (9780763690496)

Merci’s life starts to really change during sixth grade. She doesn’t fit in at her private school with the other kids, mostly because she is a scholarship student. Her brother Roli seems to be able to fit in naturally thanks to his love of science. As part of her community service for the school, Merci is a Sunshine Buddy. When she is paired with a boy to guide around school, Merci is shocked but opinionated Edna is bothered by how much time and contact Merci now has with the new cute and popular boy. Meanwhile, Merci’s grandfather is struggling. He has started to forget things, calls people by the wrong name, can’t ride a bike anymore and get angry over small things. Other times, he is just as he has always been, immensely patient and loving. Middle school is always a confusing time, but Merci has a lot more to deal with than other kids. Can she navigate family and school without losing who she is?

Medina has created an engaging middle-grade novel that grapples with several big topics. There is a theme of bullying at school, particularly because of differences in social status and culture. At the same time, readers will notice long before Merci does that she is deeply liked by many of her classmates and forms connections with ease as long as she is herself. There is her grandfather’s Alzheimer symptoms, something that Merci tries to figure out but is not told directly about until late in the novel. Her confusion and concerns turn to anger when she discovers that she is being treated like a child and not included in knowing about the diagnosis.

Throughout the novel, Merci is a strong character who has a lot more going for her than she realizes. Bringing people into her life and allowing her family and school life to become one is a skillful way to show that being ashamed of one’s family is actually not the solution. Merci takes the novel to figure things out, a steady and organic evolution for her character, a character that young readers will relate to easily.

A winning middle-grade novel that is part of #ownvoices, this is a must-read. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Candlewick Press.

2018 CCBC Book Awards

| Tasha

They have announced the finalists for the 2018 CCBC Book Awards! Here are the English-language finalists:

CANADIAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AWARD

Dragonfly Song Picture the Sky

Dragonfly Song by Wendy Orr

Picture the Sky by Barbara Reid

Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation 31213527

Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith

Town Is By the Sea by Joanne Schwartz, illustrated by Sydney Smith

When the Moon Comes

When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge, illustrated by Matt James

 

MARILYN BAILLIE PICTURE BOOK AWARD

30161660 My Beautiful Birds

Little Blue Chair by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Madeline Kloepper

My Beautiful Birds by Suzanne Del Rizzo

34228365 Stolen Words

Sam & Eva by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Stolen Words by Melanie Florence, illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

When the Moon Comes You Hold Me Up

When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge, illustrated by Matt James

You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Danielle Daniel

 

NORMA FLECK AWARD FOR CANADIAN CHILDREN’S NONFICTION

#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women Meatless?: A Fresh Look At What You Eat

#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale

Meatless? A Fresh Look at What You Eat by Sarah Elton, illustrated by Julie McLaughlin

The Sockeye Mother Rewilding: Giving Nature a Second Chance

The Sockeye Mother by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw, illustrated by Natasha Donovan

Rewilding: Giving Nature a Second Chance by Jane Drake and Ann Love

When Planet Earth Was New

When Planet Earth Was New by James Gladstone, illustrated by Katherine Diemert

 

GEOFFREY BILSON AWARD FOR HISTORICAL FICTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The Agony of Bun O'Keefe The Assassin's Curse (The Blackthorn Key, #3)

The Agony of Bun O’Keefe by Heather Smith

The Assassin’s Curse by Kevin Sands

A Blinding Light Clutch

A Blinding Light by Julie Lawson

Clutch by Heather Camlot

Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh

Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh by Uma Krishnaswami

 

JOHN SPRAY MYSTERY AWARD

The Assassin's Curse (The Blackthorn Key, #3) Blood on the Beach

The Assassin’s Curse by Kevin Sands

Blood on the Beach by Sarah N. Harvey and Robin Stevenson

Tank & Fizz: The Case of the Missing Mage The Hanging Girl

The Case of the Missing Mage by Liam O’Donnell, illustrated by Mike Deas

The Hanging Girl by Eileen Cook

Recipe for Hate (The X Gang, #1)

Recipe for Hate by Warren Kinsella

 

AMY MATHERS TEEN BOOK AWARD

The Agony of Bun O'Keefe Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined

The Agony of Bun O’Keefe by Heather Smith

Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined by Danielle Younge-Ullman

The Marrow Thieves Munro vs. the Coyote

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

Munro vs. the Coyote by Darren Groth

The Way Back Home

The Way Back Home by Allan Stratton

This Week’s Tweets

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on Twitter this week:

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CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Children’s books about climate change – https://t.co/iNQh1bIYIs

Children’s Books Authors Are Selling More Than Books. They’re Taking a Stand.

The key to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s successful journey? It’s books, she says |

Post-it Note reviews of can’t-miss elementary and middle grade titles Teen Librarian Toolbox

Viola Davis Brings A New ‘Corduroy’ Book To Bear

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LIBRARIES

St. Paul Mayor Suggests Ending Overdue Library Book Fees

Review: Super Manny Cleans Up! by Kelly DiPucchio

| Tasha

Super Manny Cleans Up by Kelly DiPucchio

Super Manny Cleans Up! by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin (9781481459624)

Manny and Gertie love to pretend to be superheroes in this second Manny picture book. Every weekend they save the planet from danger. It might be stampeding dinosaurs at the museum, lions in the library, or veggie monsters at the farmer’s market. But when they are battling giant turtles from outer space in the park, Manny notices something. The entire park is covered in garbage and litter and it’s hurting the turtles in the pond. The park is swarming with litterbugs! The two decide to do something about it. All afternoon they tidy up the park, joined by their imaginary foes and then by real people who are using the park. Soon everyone realized that they could be heroes too, just like Manny and Gertie.

As with the first in the series, there is a strong example shown here that children can make a difference in their worlds, that they can be heroes too. In this book, the focus is on being a superhero and then that element is brought into the real world through hard work. Manny and Gertie make a daunting task seem doable through their enthusiasm and example. Even better, the book avoids being didactic by continuing to be playful and light in its approach.

The art by Graegin is cleverly done, clearly making the imaginary foes that Manny and Gertie battle different from reality. Done in different bright single colors, the foes are playfully drawn complete with appropriate costumes for their roles. Finely detailed, the illustrations are bright and friendly.

A great second win for Manny and Gertie! Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Atheneum.

 

Review: Otherwood by Pete Hautman

| Tasha

Otherwood by Pete Hautman

Otherwood by Pete Hautman (9780763690717)

After Grandpa Zach died in the storm, pages of his book strewn around him, Stuey and his mother packed his writing up and put it all away. Grandpa Zach had told Stuey that ghosts walk on the golf course that has now become an overgrown wood. It was where Stuey’s great grandfather disappeared along with the district attorney who was prosecuting him. The two were never seen again. Now when Stuey and his best friend Elly Rose go into the deadfall of trees that seems to form a sort of castle or ship in the woods, they hear voices and music. Stuey has even seen a figure like his grandfather appear. When Elly Rose disappears one day right before Stuey’s eyes, no one believes him. But Elly Rose is gone though Stuey can occasionally still make contact with her. It seems she has entered a different reality where Stuey is the one who vanished. In this splintered new world, how can the two of them restore their own reality?

Hautman beautifully combines a mystery with a ghost story with quantum physics in this ode to a woods. The woods itself, the overgrown golf course, is as much a character here as the two children. It is a woods from all of our childhoods, one that seems far larger than it actually is, one that invites you in, scares you a bit, and releases you back into reality. Hautman cleverly uses the woods as the way that people vanish, that hatred is fought and that people take a stand.

Stuey and Elly Rose are unlikely friends which makes the book all the better. Stuey has suffered great loss in his life with only his mother left. He is surrounded by his grandfather’s home and his grandfather’s secrets. Elly Rose is imaginative, playful and a bit bossy, deciding what games they will play together. Still, they are fast friends even as their reality splits apart around them.

Smart and sophisticated, this middle grade novel is a dynamic mix of fantasy and science. Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Candlewick Press.

 

Cybils Judges Application Open

| Tasha

You have until September 9th to apply to be a Cybils judge. I’ve served on several of the Cybils committees over the years and have immensely enjoyed my time reading and then debating the books. If that’s your jam and you are a book blogger, apply!

Here are the categories for judges:

  • Early Chapter Books & Easy Readers
  • Fiction Picture Books & Board Books
  • Graphic Novels
  • Middle-Grade Fiction
  • Nonfiction
    • Elementary/Middle Grade
    • Junior High/Senior High
  • Poetry
  • Speculative Fiction
    • Elementary/Middle-Grade
    • Young Adult
  • Young Adult Fiction

Head over to https://goo.gl/HtNB7p to apply!

Review: 3 x 4 by Ivan Brunetti

| Tasha

3 x 4 by Ivan Brunetti

3 x 4 by Ivan Brunetti (9781943145348)

This clever picture book mixes art and math. A teacher assigns the class to draw twelve things but in sets. The class asks what the sets could be and the book quickly reviews the different ways of multiplying to get to twelve. It is done in a way that is friendly and part of the story. The children all go home and look for sets to draw. Annemarie struggles to figure out what to draw. It could be different cars, but there are too many types. Other children quickly figure theirs out: sports items, shapes, fruit, dogs, houses, monsters, trees and more. Annemarie is inspired by her own house full of musical instruments. When the pictures are revealed at school, each child has done a unique interpretation of the assignment and readers have learned far more about sets and multiplication than they will realize.

Brunetti is an art teacher who assigns this type of challenge to his college students but in a much more complicated way. This simple version makes for an interesting read, offering all sorts of ways to meet the challenge. Each child takes inspiration from their own family and home, making it very personal. Brunetti includes diverse children throughout the story with his round-headed toy-like people filling the page.

Add this one to your collection for a math win. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy provided by Toon Books.