Month: October 2020

See the Cat by David LaRochelle

| Tasha
See the Cat cover image

See the Cat: Three Stories about a Dog by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka (9781536204278)

In this hilarious easy reader, the main character is a dog. But the narrator of the story has other ideas. The first story is simply called “See the Cat” and the dog must insist he certainly is not a cat, definitely not a blue cat in a green dress, and most definitively not riding a unicorn. Still, there’s a nice twist in the end that ends with an embarrassed “red dog.” In the second story, the dog is happily snoozing when the narrator announces that you can “see the snake.” The snake is under the dog, and then gets quite angry. But before the snake can bite the dog, the way the narrator says, the dog comes up with his own solution involving a pencil. In the last story, the reader is told to “see the dog” but then the dog is ordered to spin, jump and even fly or else he will get sat on by a hippo! In the end though, the dog does some bargaining and can go back to napping with no snakes or hippos in sight.

LaRochelle’s easy reader is very funny, just the right sort of humor for young children. The pacing is great with the page turns adding to the moments of reveal and drama. The text is very simple, with the humor playing up the format of an easy reader and it’s straight-forward language. The result is a book that is silly and a delight, something that could be read again and again by new readers who will giggle every time.

The art suits that of an easy reader too, done in simple lines and nice large formats. The dog’s expressions are classic cartoon and add to the humor of the book. When things like the snake and hippo appear, it increases the merriment.

A great addition to easy readers, this one is a hoot! Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Candlewick.

Swift Fox All Along by Rebecca Lea Thomas

| Tasha

Swift Fox All Along by Rebecca Lea Thomas, illustrated by Maya McKibbin (9781773214481)

Swift Fox is nervous. Her father is taking her on a long drive to meet her aunties, uncles and cousins. She will learn more about being Mi’kmaq. Her father assures her on the drive that she has all she needs already inside her; she is already Mi’kmaq. It’s how she walks, talks and thinks. Swift Fox just gets even more nervous. Swift Fox is greeted warmly by her family. They unwrap a red bundle, preparing to smudge, but she doesn’t know how to. They assure her that she does know, since it’s part of who she is. But it’s all overwhelming for Swift Fox, who bursts into tears and runs outside to hide. She keeps hidden until she starts to smell the familiar smell of the bread her father makes. Then another cousin arrives, he is just as scared as Swift Fox is. Suddenly Swift Fox can help someone else, and it gets her to go back inside with her cousin and show him things as she learns too.

Thomas has written a very personal book that reflects her own upbringing off of the reservation. In her Author’s Note, she explains the impact of the residential schools on Native cultures and languages. Still, their identity survived. Just like Swift Fox, Thomas continues to learn about her Mi’kmaq identity. Readers of all backgrounds will be inspired by Swift Fox and her transformation of her fear into an energy to help someone else.

McKibbin’s illustrations center on the warmth of Swift Fox’s two families, both her mother and sister and then her large extended family through her father. She captures the characters’ complex emotions on the page, allowing readers to really feel Swift Fox’s butterflies, her fear, and then her inspiration to move ahead.

A powerful book about identity and family. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Annick Press.

The Sisters of Straygarden Place by Hayley Chewins

| Tasha
The Sisters of Straygarden Place cover image

The Sisters of Straygarden Place by Hayley Chewins (9781536212273)

Mayhap lives with her two sisters in Straygarden Place, a magical mansion that caters to all of their needs. The house feeds them, tucks them into bed at night, and gives them anything they wish for. But the house can’t bring back their parents, who disappeared into the tall silver grass that surrounds the house seven years ago. Now Winnow, the oldest of the sisters, has entered the grass herself. When she returns, she is different: her eyes are turning silver and she is unable to speak. Mayhap in particular seems to upset Winnow, so Pavonine, the youngest cares for her. Meanwhile, Mayhap is determined to figure out how to save her sister. She encounters a mysterious other girl in the house, one who claims to have been there a long time and who is connected with the house. As Mayhap begins to unravel the mystery of the house, she must face the truth about herself and her sisters and what has been stolen from them all.

Chewins has created a delicious mystery here. It’s a marvelously constricted mystery, set in a house that no one dares leave, surrounded by sentient grass, and filled with strange contraptions, rules and delights. It’s the ideal book for a pandemic lockdown, sharing much of the qualities of our lives over the past few months. Chewins has created a truly eerie setting, the grass whispering at the windows and the house revealing spaces that the girls never knew existed. The clues are glimpses into their own past as well as that of the house itself.

The entire book is filled with marvelous details. There are the dogs who climb into the girls’ heads so that they can sleep. There are the carpets that thicken to provide padding or move to carry Mayhap to a new part of the house. There are delightful meals provided by the house, that can be clues as well. And a coffee-scented library that makes one want to linger with the living card catalog. Mayhap herself is a grand heroine, willing to sacrifice herself for her sisters and determined to understand what is actually happening to them all.

A genre-breaking book that is a fantasy-mystery with Victorian delights and horrors that will enter your dreams. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Candlewick.

On Account of the Gum by Adam Rex

| Tasha
Cover image for On Account of the Gum

On Account of the Gum by Adam Rex (9781452181547)

After falling asleep chewing gum, it ends up in your hair. When your father tries to cut out the gum, the scissors end up stuck there too. They look online and discover that all the website advise to use two sticks of butter. But the websites were wrong, and the butter is also now in your hair. Your aunt adds the grass. Your grandpa adds the bacon and noodles. Your rabbit eats grass, but ends up stuck too. Perhaps the cat will help? Or scaring the cat away from your head with the vacuum cleaner? Nope, those are stuck too. But don’t worry, the firemen are on their way!

Rex writes this book in the second person, inviting the reader to feel what it’s like not just to have gum in your hair, but all of these other things. It makes the book feel personal and also adds to the wild hilarity as the story builds. The focus of the illustrations is just like the cover, with the desperation building. Rex continues to add to the humor all the way to the end, creating a real catastrophe that will have children entirely engaged.

The illustrations are marvelous with the various family members coming in with their own solutions. The desperation in the main character’s eyes adds to the hilarity, even as they look right at the reader. There’s a wonderful blankness there too, a sense of despair.

Hilarious, this is one you are bound to stick with until the end. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Chronicle Books.

News to Wake Your Brain Cells – Oct. 9

| Tasha

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

52 Canadian picture books coming out in fall 2020 – CBC

Adorable ‘Frog and Toad’ kitting pattern inspired by beloved children’s books – My Modern Met

Alvin Irby: How can we inspire children to be lifelong readers? – NPR

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret is 50 (and still fabulous) – EW

Barack & Michelle Obama bringing ‘Ada Twist, Scientist’ series to Netflix – The Grio

Diversity in children’s literature – CAI

Too many pictures hinder young kids’ reading – Futurity

LIBRARIES

Libraries are helping communities cope in big and small ways during pandemic – Detroit Free Press

Rural libraries in America: an infographic overview – IMLS

YA LIT

16 YA books guaranteed to make you ugly cry – Epic Reads

David and Nicola Yoon launch YA imprint for people of color – AP

‘Melanin in YA’ database promotes black voices – Publishers Weekly

New fall 2020 YA books to add to your TBR – Book Riot

Race in America: Jason Reynolds & Jacqueline Woodson – Library of Congress

Shortlist for Children’s Book Prize for Social Justice

| Tasha

The Children’s Book Prize for Social Justice is the juvenile version of the Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice. In its inaugural year, the award is given by The Children’s Book Council and Goddard Riverside in New York. The prize is given to nonfiction books for young readers that “represent urban life and themes of community, compassion, and equality.” The winner will be announced on October 29th. Here is the shortlist:

All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimental, illus. by Nabi H. Ali

For Beautiful Black Boys Who Believe in a Better World by Michael W. Waters, illus. by Keisha Morris

Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood by Tony Hillery, illus. by Jessie Hartland

Lizzie Demands a Seat!: Elizabeth Jennings Fights for Streetcar Rights by Beth Anderson, illus. by E.B. Lewis

Hans Christian Andersen by Heinz Janisch

| Tasha

Hans Christian Andersen: The Journey of His Life by Heinz Janisch, illustrated by Maja Kastelic (9780735843882)

A little girl takes a coach ride with Hans Christian Andersen. As they head to Copenhagen, the author answers her questions and then tells her a fairy tale. It’s the story of a boy who learned to fly, the story of his own life. Born on a Danish island, Hans’ father was a cobbler who mended shoes. In the evening though, he would read to Hans from a big book of fairy tales. He also built Hans a puppet theater and performed shows for his son. Then Hans’ father was sent to war and returned tired and sick. He died when Hans was eleven. As Hans grew up, he was inspired to try to join the theater as an actor but his voice broke at age fifteen and he had to find a different way. Hans truly loved writing and was sent to school tuition free. Now Hans was on his way, a boy who grew up to be famous by sharing parts of himself in his fairy tales.

First published in Switzerland, this translated version is a rich look at a famous author who has captivated children for generations. Framing his life with questions from a small child is a clever device to allow the character to answer questions about his life and his stories. Allowing Andersen to tell his own life story as a fairy tale is also a believable format that invites readers to really get immersed in the life of this amazing figure in literature.

The illustrations by Kastelic are dreamy watercolors that move from realistic colors on the carriage ride to sepia tones as Andersen tells his personal story. They really burst from the page though when Andersen talks of his fairy tales, becoming rich and vibrant, the colors fantastical and wild. These changes beautifully show just as the story does, the power of story.

A superb picture book biography. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by NorthSouth.

2020 National Book Award Finalists

| Tasha

The finalists for the National Book Award have been announced. The awards go to the best of the year’s adult fiction, adult nonfiction, poetry, translated literature and young people’s literature. The winners in each category will be announced on November 18th. Here are the finalists for the Young People’s Literature category:

Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh

King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender

The Way Back by Gavriel Savit

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

If You Were Night by Muon Thi Van

| Tasha

If You Were Night by Muon Thi Van, illustrated by Kelly Pousette (9781525300141)

How would you feel and act if you were night? Would you hide under covers or head outside? When you heard a moth drinking nectar would you hush it or lean in? If something touched your ankle would you freeze or skitter? Would you search for treasures in the garbage with the raccoons? Would you join in the chorus of the frogs at the pond? Would you dive alongside the otters or stitch with the spiders? Would you hunt with the owl? Would you stand still and listen to all the night noises? When dawn arrived would you linger and taste the first morning dew or cuddle back in bed carried by the light? There is so much to love about the night, what would you choose?

Through asking a series of inspired questions, the author shows readers the many delights of the night. Focused on animals and their nighttime activities primarily, the book invites readers to make choices about joining in or witnessing. The options to join in are particularly captivating, allowing the reader to see themselves exploring and living in the night.

The illustrations are done in photographed dioramas that are light with a moon-bright bulb, creating nighttime shadows. The images are a delicate mix of greens and flowerbeds and also greys that truly evoke the moon at night. The dioramas are done in cut paper, creating a detailed nighttime world.

A marvel of a nighttime book that is perfect for bedtime or camping outside. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Kids Can Press.