Author: Tasha

Digital Future for Picture Books

| Tasha

4070018782_a9f76393b0

Photo credit to goXunuReviews.

The Shatzkin Files is one of my go-to blogs for information on e-books.  I appreciate that his point of view is not one of librarians, but instead looks with from the point of view of someone in the publishing industry. 

A recent article on his blog talks about the challenges of bringing highly illustrated and children’s books to e-books.  This is something I have also been wondering about.  I see business books, adult fiction, and even teen fiction working well on e-books, but it seems that picture books are being transformed into apps rather than e-books. 

The layout itself is a challenge because with e-books the size of the text changes to match the settings on the device.  Add illustrations that that becomes immensely more complicated to manage.

Here is one of Shatzkin’s paragraphs that speaks to children’s books, but the entire article is definitely worth reading, especially if you are a librarian trying to figure out how e-books are changing things:

I have been asking publishers about sales of their children’s and illustrated trade material. I haven’t found anybody yet that says they’re going well. On the children’s side, where there have been pockets of success, the one Big Six digital executive who expressed an opinion to me felt that price was killing sales for the ebook versions of successful franchises. Children’s apps from such distributors as Touchy Books are priced quite low, generally $2.99 and less. But many branded titles like Eloise are $9.99 and $12.99 and up! This executive points out that paying that price for a novel you will spend many hours with is much less painful than paying it for a children’s book your kid will work through in 15 minutes or less.

Review: Samantha on a Roll by Linda Ashman

| Tasha

samantha on a roll

Samantha on a Roll by Linda Ashman, illustrations by Christine Davenier

Samantha wants to try out her new roller skates so badly!  But her mother is too busy to help her right now.  So what does a determined little girl do?  First, she quietly puts on the skates and skates up and down the hall for awhile.  Her mother doesn’t notice.  Then, she heads outside and skates on the sidewalk a bit.  Her mother doesn’t notice.  She’s doing fine on the skates, so she heads up Hawthorn Hill.  The view is great, but she doesn’t notice how close she is getting to the steep edge until she is already out of control.  Chaos and humor ensues as Samantha runs past all sorts of characters in her wild, zipping rush.

Ashman’s rhymes have a jaunty rhythm that set the pace nicely, from the wandering earlier part of the book to the grand ride at the end.  I also appreciated the Samantha’s mother is not negligent or ignoring her, just busy with other parts of the family and household.  This is a caring family with a girl who just can’t stop playing with her skates. 

Davenier’s art is fine lined and filled with pastels.  Her work has a pleasing roughness to it.  She captures motion convincingly in just a few lines; something that is very important in this book. 

This dynamic rollercoaster ride of a book will add some speed to your next story time or bedtime reading.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

| Tasha

cinder

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder is the best mechanic in New Beijing, so it is natural that the prince would bring his broken android to her for repair.  What he doesn’t know is that Cinder herself is also an android.  She is owned by her cruel stepmother, who uses Cinder to bring in the income for the entire household.  As a plague ravages Earth, the world is also under threat from above as the Lunar queen arrives to pressure the prince into marriage.  As the plague reaches her own family, Cinder is given away to become a test subject.  This brings her into direct contact again with the prince and also gives her new information about her unknown past.  It’s a past that may just be the key to the entire planet’s safety.

This is a glorious melding of science fiction and fairy tale where androids and Cinderella mash up.  It is the strength of the story itself that works well here.  The blend makes the book compulsively readable with the science fiction giving a grittiness to the expected fairy tale story.  At the same time, one looks for the fairy tale components and how they are reinterpreted.  The entire concept works brilliantly.

The middle of the novel does have some pacing issues.  While the reader knows Cinder’s secret past before Cinder does, that knowledge contributes to the slowing of the novel.  There is also a pivotal plot point that is set aside what seems to be a very long time, further slowing the pace. 

Cinder is a dynamic heroine who is notably human and caring.  She is strong, but beyond that is also reassuringly sometimes clumsy and confused.  The reworking of some of the characters of the fairy tale, including one of the step sisters works well.  While the book follows the arc of the Cinderella story, Meyer also inserts new facets that fill the tale with surprises for the reader.

A riveting book that features a strong heroine and a brilliant storyline, this book will be enjoyed by dystopian and romance fans alike.  Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from copy received from Feiwel & Friends.

Also reviewed by:

2011 Costa Book Award

| Tasha

The Guardian has announced the winners of the 2011 Costa Book Award.  The winner of the Children’s Book Award will go on to compete for the top award which will be announced in three weeks.  The winner of the Children’s book award is Blood Red Road by Moira Young. 

I haven’t read this one yet, but it is on my to-read list and moving higher all the time.

Review: Marshall Armstrong Is New to Our School by David Mackintosh

| Tasha

marshall armstrong

Marshall Armstrong Is New to Our School by David Mackintosh

Marshall Armstrong is the new kid at school and he is very different from everyone else.  His things are different.  He looks different with his birdseed freckles and ears like shells.  His arms are white with red bumps that he says are mosquito bites.  He even eats “space food” for lunch!  He can’t play during recess.  He stays out of the sun.  He doesn’t watch any TV.  So when Marshall Armstrong has a birthday party, everyone is sure that it is going to be awful.  But guess what, Marshall Armstrong’s house is different too!  Different in some great ways!

Mackintosh has created a picture book that speaks to what makes someone different from the rest of the class.  I really enjoyed the fact that while Marshall is different, so are all of the other kids in the class.  This is not a homogenous student body, but even in a diverse group Marshall is certainly unique.  Mackintosh reveals much in his illustrations which are quirky and modern, a striking mix of playful lines and bright colors. 

The story is straight forward but also filled with humor.  There are signals throughout that Marshall is a geeky kid (and I mean that in the best possible way, as mother to two geeks, married to another) and very modern.  He may be in a class of more normal kids, but some of us more geeky parents will also see ourselves in Marshall, our stuff, our obsessions.  It’s a lovely inside joke for those of us who were perpetually different like Marshall.

This picture book about being different takes the discussion beyond diversity and into a place where we are all different, just like Marshall.  A great pick for sharing at the start of a new school year. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Promise the Night by Michaela MacColl

| Tasha

promise the night

Promise the Night by Michaela MacColl

Beryl Markham was the first person to fly solo from England to North America.  She also had a remarkable childhood, growing up in British East Africa.  Here the story of her childhood is interwoven with her perilous journey across the ocean to set the record.  Her younger years reveal the birth of her independent, rebellious spirit.  She could ride the fieriest stallion on her father’s horse farm in Africa, match wits with the boys of the local tribe, unsettle the most stern governess, and even survive attacks by lions.  This is a book about a girl who refused to become a lady and instead became a heroine.

MacColl’s work of historical fiction reads as such an adventure story, that readers will spend the entire book wondering what is true.  Happily after reading the author’s note at the end, all of the best parts of the story are real.  The astounding parts of the story are true!  The book is a result of detailed historical research and reveals much about this celebrated pilot who set her own pace. 

Beryl is a wonderful protagonist.  She could have been portrayed as a very harsh young girl, but instead we see her doubts, her resolve, and finally her ability to overcome any adversity.  It is a story of bravery but also one with lots of heart.  MacColl’s writing never gets in the way of the story she is telling.  Instead she writes evocatively of the African setting and this amazing girl.

If you are looking for an inspiring real-life heroine for children, look no further.  But best of all, it’s a rip-roaring tale too.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

Also reviewed by:

Walter Dean Myers Named Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

| Tasha

  

Walter Dean Myers has been named the third Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, following Katherine Paterson and Jon Scieszka.  When I heard the news, I got goosebumps.  He is such an ideal pick to speak to the power of books in changing the lives of young people.  His books portray urban African-American teens, including those in gangs, soldiers, and the incarcerated.  They are beautifully written, striking and unflinching looks at themes that are often missing in teen literature.

Here is a quote from the NY Times article that shows how Myers himself sees his role as ambassador:

“I think that what we need to do is say reading is going to really affect your life,” he said in an interview at his book-cluttered house here in Jersey City, adding that he hoped to speak directly to low-income minority parents. “You take a black man who doesn’t have a job, but you say to him, ‘Look, you can make a difference in your child’s life, just by reading to him for 30 minutes a day.’ That’s what I would like to do.”

I look forward to the powerful message of reading that our new ambassador will bring.

Review: Irises by Francisco X. Stork

| Tasha

irises

Irises by Francisco X. Stork

Stork explores the complicated relationship of sisters and family in his latest book for teens. Teenage sisters Mary and Kate are very different, though they have been raised in the same sheltered way.  Kate is planning to be a doctor and attend Stanford.  Mary is an artist, a painter, who has already received acclaim for her work.  But their plans are thrown into disarray when their father dies, leaving them only their mother who has been in a vegetative state for years.  While their father was loving, he was also very strict.  The girls are now free of his repressive ways, and they each respond to the new freedom in differently.  The freedom though comes with a cost of new worries, new relationships, and new pressures.  There are many decisions that have to be made, including one that is particularly heart wrenching. 

This is a complicated novel that does not summarize easily.  The characters are well developed and complex themselves, though I summarized each in a sentence, they are much more than that.  These girls are different from one another but far from opposites.  They are linked, closely and forever, together in sisterhood, a tie that strangles, binds and frees. 

Stork also looks closely at family in this book.  The cost of letting a family member go, the ways people deal with loss, and the process of recovery and reinvention are exposed here.  He weaves the lives of the girls with unexpected characters, including a gang-member who is also an artist and a young minister who has no shortage of ambition.  These characters too are complex and intriguing.

The minister is one of the pivotal characters in the book.  His ambition mirrors Kate’s and the two find themselves drawn to one another.  His logic about ambition and watching out for yourself rings true for a long time, until it changes and becomes hollow and crass.  The writing to take a character’s message and transform the way it sounds over the course of a novel without changing the tone or message itself is beautifully done, masterful.

This compelling novel is quiet, desperate, and riveting.  Appropriate for ages 15-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Arthur A. Levine Books.

Also reviewed by:

Simms Taback Dies

| Tasha

 

Simms Taback died on December 25, 2011 at the age of 79 from pancreatic cancer.  He won a 1998 Caldecott Honor for his vibrant version of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.  I also adore his 2000 Caldecott Medal winning Joseph Had a Little Overcoat.

The LA Times has the story of his passing that includes this bit about his Caldecott winning book:

"When the art came in, everybody was so dazzled," recalled Regina Hayes, publisher of Viking Children’s Books, which published his two best-known books and other titles.

"Die cuts had been used many times in novelty books but never had been done with such artistry," said Hayes. "Instead of treating it like a novelty book, we gave it the highest production values because we were so impressed by the quality of the art."