The Last Kids on Earth is coming in cartoon format to Netflix on September 17th. Here is the first trailer for the show, based on the bestselling series by Max Brallier, illustrated by Douglas Holgate.
Author: Tasha
Review: Snack Attack by Terry Border
Snack Attack by Terry Border (9781524740115)
The creator of Peanut Butter and Cupcake returns with a new cast of characters in this look at snack food. One afternoon, a cheese doodle, a cookie, and a pretzel stick all escape from their packaging. They had been warned about the monsters who would gobble them up in two bites. But the kitchen seemed like a lot of fun, filled with games to play, bright sprinkles, and even a boat ride in the sudsy sink. But then they found the note on the counter from “Mom” who tells her kid to eat the snacks she left out. That’s them! The three come up with a cunning plan to trick the kid into not eating a snack at all. When the plan works, celebrations begin, but perhaps a bit too soon…
A strong story really makes this book shine along with its winning illustrations. The tale of humans as monsters will be a lot of fun for children. The various concepts of ways that the snacks could be consumed or protected from being eaten are very funny and clever. There is a merriment here that offsets the darkness of being devoured. The illustrations are done in photographs with the eyeglasses and limbs of each character done in wire. The result is entirely captivating, one wants to head home and put wire glasses on all sorts of things.
A delicious snack of a book. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Philomel Books.
2020 Scottish Teenage Book Prize Shortlist
The very short shortlist for the 2020 Scottish Teenage Book Prize has been announced by the Scottish Book Trust. Three books appear on the shortlist, including one graphic novel. This is the first year that comics and graphic novels could be considered for the prize. Teens will vote on the winner and the winner will be named on February 27th, 2020.
Here are the three books on the shortlist:
One Shot by Tanya Landman
Rok of the Reds by John Wagner, Alan Grant and Dan Cornwell
Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Review: Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai
Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai (9780062229236)
Hang has lived with the fact that she was responsible for her little brother being taken away to American in the last days of the Vietnam War. She had hoped for them both to be taken together, but instead he was ripped screaming from her. Now, six years later, Hang has come to the United States herself and is determined to find her little brother by following the only clue she has, an address on a card. Not finding anyone at the address, Hang is helped by an urban cowboy, LeeRoy, who longs to ride in rodeos and follow his dreams. LeeRoy is quickly caught up in Hang’s quest and the two of them discover her brother with some lucky help along the way. But that is just the beginning of a summer spent laboring on a farm together, learning about the work of being a cowboy, and finding ways to connect their pasts and their present.
The first chapters of the this book and many of them throughout are so laced with pain and ache that readers will feel it in their own bones. Lai tells the story of Hang in bursts of memory, escaping from the tight hold Hang has over them. The reader and Hang are powerless as the searing memories escape, glimpses of the truth and eventually the full story of a girl strong enough to survive pirates, parasites, icy water, and war. Lai takes two very unlikely protagonists and creates a love story for them, one that captivates with its honesty and originality.
Hang is one of the most remarkable protagonists I have read in years. Far from being broken by her wartime trauma, she continues to fight back, literally at times. She is raw, sarcastic and not defined by her past, but still continuing to be haunted by what happened. She is complicated and so profoundly human. Lai made a brave and smart choice to write Hang’s accented English with Vietnamese typography, echoing Hang’s own notebook that tells her own English is pronounced. Readers will struggle along with Hang at first, but join LeeRoy in understanding her quickly.
Painful and traumatic, this book is filled with sweat, work and more than a little love. Appropriate for ages 14-18.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by HarperCollins.
Review: A Stone Sat Still by Brendan Wenzel
A Stone Sat Still by Brendan Wenzel (9781452173184)
Described as a companion to his award-winning They All Saw a Cat, this picture book builds upon the success of the first book to explore one stone. That stone is so much to different creatures. It can be a home, a kitchen, a hill. It can be smooth or rough, loud or quiet. It can be smelled or felt. It can be dark or light. It can be an island, or disappear under the water. Yet it is still there, a world in itself.
This book is so impressive. It is a quiet picture book, exploring one specific stone and the many ways it can be experienced. The book has a refrain which lifts it beyond a list of different ways to view the stone:
and it sat where it sat
with the water, grass, and dirt
and it was as it was
where it was in the world.
This is a book willing to be slow and thoughtful. It takes its own time and asks the reader or listener to do the same. It is grounded in the most wonderful of ways.
The illustrations are simply amazing. They move forward with a feeling of time passing. Some are hazy while others are crisp. Some are done in scribbles of crayon while other have layers of collage. The variety of the media used adds so much dimension to the book, the stone seen in different ways in an organic way.
Brilliant. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from library copy.
Review: Back to School by Maya Ajmera
Back to School by Maya Ajmera and John D. Ivanko (9781580898379)
Filled with incredible photographs, this nonfiction picture book explores the different ways that children attend school throughout the world. Some children are homeschooled, others are taught at night, still others study in crowded classrooms. Children take different transportation to school from buses to camels to boats. Some children wear uniforms to school while others wear regular clothes. In all schools though, you learn math and reading. You understand the world better; you make friends.
The text of this book is simple and straight-forward, making it just right for even the youngest children heading to school. Each photograph adds to the larger story of going to school by explaining what is happening in each vivid image and what country the children are from. The photographs are stunning, filled with children from across the globe and offering real glimpses into their lives at school.
Just right for starting a new school year, this is a smile-filled joyous look at learning. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Charlesbridge.
2019 Burr/Worzalla Award
The Wisconsin Library Association has announced the winner and honor books for the 2019 Burr/Worzalla Award given to the most distinguished work in literature written and/or illustrated by a Wisconsin book creator.
WINNER
The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell
HONOR BOOKS
The Button War by Avi
Capsized!: The Forgotten Story of the SS Eastland Disaster by Patricia Sutton
Hooper by Geoff Herbach
Lowriders Blast from the Past by Cathy Camper
Margot and Mateo Save the World by Darcy Miller
A Twitter Break
I’ll be taking a hiatus from Twitter, which is the last social media platform I actively use since I stopped using Facebook for personal things over six months ago. The Man Blueprint has a great article that nicely summarizes why I’m taking a break. A few months ago I really pruned back on the people I followed on Twitter, trying to get out of the political cesspool I had been swimming in there. It didn’t help, I still get news that made me livid over and over again as if playing on repeat.
So it’s time for a break. Next week I’ll do a new version of what used to be “what I shared on Twitter this week” and I’ll hopefully have found new ways to keep up with children’s lit news. Let me know if you have any tips for me!
Also, are you changing your usage of social media? I’d love to hear your experiences too.
P.S. – I’m also no longer having Waking Brain Cells post directly to Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn when I post something, so feel free to subscribe via email or check in personally to find out what I’m up to in my little blogging world.
Review: Ghost Cat by Kevan Atteberry
Ghost Cat by Kevan Atteberry (9780823442836)
A little boy thinks that he sees a ghost cat out of the corner of his eye. It reminds him of the cat he used to have but the boy can never get a good look at this ghost cat. The ghost cat seems to sleep on his bed at night, curled up and purring. It plays with cat toys on the stairs. It meows outside of the boy’s door and knocks things off of shelves. But the boy is always too late to see anything more than a blur moving quickly. Then one day, the boy really sees the ghost cat clearly. He chases after it and the cat leads him to something new and very special right outside.
Atteberry tells a wonderfully gentle story here about the loss of a pet and the gap that it leaves. It is also a great ghost story with no scariness at all, just a playful cat ghost doing cat-like things all over the house. The tone is delightfully breathless and wondering, just right for a ghost story. The dashing nature of the bulk of the book slows at the end to allow readers to bask in the new discovery.
The illustrations, done digitally, are filled with warm tones that allow the ghostly form of the cat to really pop. Readers will enjoy seeing the cat fleetingly on the page, moving just away from the boy and the reader.
Comforting and understanding, this book takes ghosts and grief and turns them into something very special. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Reviewed from copy provided by Neal Porter Books.
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