Author: Tasha

Poetrees

| Tasha

Poetrees by Douglas Florian

Florian has turned his poetic talents to trees in this newest collection.  His poems move from the parts of a tree like bark and roots to specific types of trees.  He includes oaks, baobab, Japanese cedar, yews and many more.  In each, he celebrates what makes them unique and special.  He merges puns with poetry, offering a funny twist or humorous phrase.  Florian evokes the essence of trees with ease here.  His forest is one that is definitely worth wandering in.

Florian has also done the art work in this book.  Done with a variety of media on paper bags, they evoke a roughness, a bark and a natural feel that perfect mesh with the poems.  I particularly appreciate that you can see the folds and creases in the bags.  They make you want to run your fingers across the page, only to find them glossy smooth. 

Ideal for Earth Day or Arbor Day, this is a beautiful way to spend time with the trees around us.  Appropriate for ages 5-10.

Reviewed from copy received from Beach Lane Publishers.

Also reviewed by Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup.

What Will You Be, Sara Mee?

| Tasha

What Will You Be, Sara Mee? by Kate Aver Avraham, illustrated by Anne Sibley O’Brien

Sara Mee is about to celebrate her first birthday.  For Korean Americans, that means that she will participate in a special game called toljabee which will predict what she will be when she grows up.  Her older brother Chong can’t wait to see what items she will pick from the table.  But first there is plenty of preparation for the big day, including special clothes for Sara Mee, great food, and music.  When the time for the game comes, Chong is allowed to help set the items before Sara Mee.  What will she pick?

Part of the specialness of this book is the depiction of the extended Korean family, some who still live in Korea and others who live in the United States.  There are grandparents, aunts, uncles, and more who bring the event and the book to life, filling it with faces and noise.  Avraham’s text is sprinkled with Korean words and written in a light tone that invites the reader into this family get-together.  O’Brien’s art is done in ink and watercolor.  The smiles on all of the faces as well as the use of bright colors really create a book filled with joy.

A welcome book about Korean Americans and traditions, this book should find a place on library shelves across the country.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Possum and Wattle

| Tasha

Possum and Wattle: A Big Book of Australian Words by Bronwyn Bancroft

This alphabet book takes readers on a journey through Australia.  Mixed in with words that are familiar, like ants and apple, are fascinating words like adze, bandicoot, and dingo.  The book is illustrated with the Aboriginal art of Bronwyn Bancroft, a Bundjalung artist who demonstrates her skill and knowledge of Australian through her art.  The art is filled with dots, amazing color combinations, and energy.  It is through Bancroft’s art in particular that readers really get to see frogs, fish and other mundane words with a new eye.  In the art, they become fantastical, strange and uniquely beautiful.

I appreciated the mix of the normal words with Aboriginal ones.  The combination makes the book inviting and intriguing at the same time.  I am also in awe of the art here.  It is accessible to children, beautifully rendered and so very evocative of the region.  The result is a book that truly is Australia between two covers.

Highly recommended, this book opens the world of Australia to young readers who will probably want to learn far more.  Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Stolen

| Tasha

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

In a Bangkok airport on her way to Vietnam with her parents, sixteen-year-old Gemma stops for a cup of coffee to take a break from arguing with them.  It was then that her life changed.  She was drugged and taken to the outback of Australia where Ty, the man who took her, had created a self-sufficient home for both of them.  Gemma fought back as best she could when the drugs wore off, tried to escape multiple times, but the outback itself kept her bound at home with Ty.  Ty is handsome, well-built, and deeply in love with Gemma, whom he has been watching for years.  Readers get to experience their strange, disturbing, but captivating relationship grow and change through the form of a letter from Gemma to Ty. 

Christopher’s book explores what freedom really is, what love means, and how relationships can morph and change despite ourselves.  In Gemma, Christopher has created a strong modern female that readers will instantly relate to.  She has domineering but distant parents, close friends, and much to miss.  But the most remarkable character Christopher created is Ty.  Ty the monster, the angel, the wronged, the wrong-doer.   He is so complex yet so simple to understand.  And readers will come to understand him, and perhaps like Gemma love him in the end.  The writing masterfully takes readers on the same course as Gemma, loving Ty despite themselves.

The third character in the novel is the setting itself.  The Australian Outback is vividly rendered from its incredible heat to the redness of the sand to the plants and animals that make their home there.  It forms the walls of Gemma’s prison, beautiful and horrible at the same time.  Christopher weaves imagery from the setting into much of her writing, further tying the book closely to the setting.  She does it with skill and subtlety.

Highly recommended, this book is one that twists underneath you, bringing you to a place you never expected to reach.  Beautifully written, this book is appropriate for ages 14-18.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

Also reviewed by Melody’s Reading Corner.

Alchemy and Meggy Swann

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Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman

The Newbery Medal winner for The Midwife’s Apprentice returns with a book set in Elizabethan London.  Meggy has been summoned for by a father she has never met.  When she arrives at his doorstep with only clothes and her lone friend, a goose, she is met with disdain and dismissal.  It could be that she is a girl, but it probably also that Meggy can’t walk without using two crutches.  She calls her gait “wabbling” and has spent her life hidden from sight at her mother’s inn.  Now Meggy doesn’t have any choice but to head out into the streets of London to find food since her father has more important things to do than feed her.  He is an alchemist searching for the secrets of transformation and perfection.  When Meggy heads out into the streets, she makes more friends than she ever has had before, finds a young man who could be more than a friend, and allows readers to experience the colors, smells, and noises of life in England at this time.

Cushman has created a marvel here.  It is a short novel filled with entrancing details about Meggy and her surroundings that never bogs down and moves along without any “wabbling.”  Meggy is a great character.  She is far from perfect which makes her very interesting.  She is sharp-tongued and says her mind.  She is brave but often frightened.  She is scorned but also makes lasting friends.  She is a wonderful, realistic enigma whose wide eyes make a great lens to see Elizabethan England through.  Her growth throughout this book is truthful and lovely to experience.  It is especially noteworthy in such a short book.

Beautifully written with a strong female heroine, Cushman is at the top of her game with this title.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC received from Clarion Books.

Also reviewed by Book Aunt, BooksforKidsBlog, Children’s Books Too Cool for School, Rebecca’s Book Blog, and Reading It All.

A Beach Tail

| Tasha

A Beach Tail by Karen Lynn Williams, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

When Gregory drew a Sandy Lion in the sand on the beach, his father suggested that Sandy needs a tail.  He also told Gregory not to go in the water and not to leave Sandy.  Gregory drew a tail with his drawing stick.  When he came to a jellyfish on shore, he draw a loop around it.  He went up and over an old sandcastle.  He zigzagged around a horseshoe crab.  He swirled around the hole of a ghost crab.  He wrote his name.  Then he turned around and realized how far he was from his father!  How could be find him on the huge beach?  Gregory followed Sandy’s tail back to the beginning all on his own.

This is a story of a beautiful day at the beach combined with a boy’s imagination.  The words use some repetition of the father’s instructions not to go into the water or leave Sandy.  I also appreciate a book where a child moves some distance away from a parent with no fear and uses his own ingenuity to return safely. 

It is the pastel illustrations by Cooper that really bring this book to life and raise it to another level.  The entire book is done with the detail you see on the cover image above.  Gregory’s face reflects his moods, his intentness, his creativity so clearly.  The use of a fairly limited tan and brown palette really works here, uniting the boy and the beach without losing either one of them.  The soft grainy illustrations capture the gritty feel of a sandy beach.

You will almost be able to smell the salt air with these illustrations.  A vacation in a book, it is appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Check out Karen Lynn Williams’ blog and Floyd Cooper’s website.

Which Ones Have You Read?

| Tasha

Big thanks to TeacherNinja for this idea!  I have bolded the ones I have read:

 

100. The Egypt Game – Snyder (1967)

99. The Indian in the Cupboard – Banks (1980)

98. Children of Green Knowe – Boston (1954)

97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – DiCamillo (2006)

96. The Witches – Dahl (1983)

95. Pippi Longstocking – Lindgren (1950

94. Swallows and Amazons – Ransome (1930)

93. Caddie Woodlawn – Brink (1935)

92. Ella Enchanted – Levine (1997)

91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School – Sachar (1978)

90. Sarah, Plain and Tall – MacLachlan (1985)

89. Ramona and Her Father – Cleary (1977)

88. The High King – Alexander (1968)

87. The View from Saturday – Konigsburg (1996)

86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Rowling (1999)

85. On the Banks of Plum Creek – Wilder (1937)

84. The Little White Horse – Goudge (1946)

83. The Thief – Turner (1997)

82. The Book of Three – Alexander (1964)

81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Lin (2009)

80. The Graveyard Book – Gaiman (2008)

79. All-of-a-Kind-Family – Taylor (1951)

78. Johnny Tremain – Forbes (1943)

77. The City of Ember – DuPrau (2003)

76. Out of the Dust – Hesse (1997)

75. Love That Dog – Creech (2001)

74. The Borrowers – Norton (1953)

73. My Side of the Mountain – George (1959)

72. My Father’s Dragon – Gannett (1948)

71. The Bad Beginning – Snicket (1999)

70. Betsy-Tacy – Lovelae (1940)

69. The Mysterious Benedict Society – Stewart ( 2007)

68. Walk Two Moons – Creech (1994)

67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher – Coville (1991)

66. Henry Huggins – Cleary (1950)

65. Ballet Shoes – Stratfeild (1936)

64. A Long Way from Chicago – Peck (1998)

63. Gone-Away Lake – Enright (1957)

62. The Secret of the Old Clock – Keene (1959)

61. Stargirl – Spinelli (2000)

60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi (1990)

59. Inkheart – Funke (2003)

58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Aiken (1962)

57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 – Cleary (1981)

56. Number the Stars – Lowry (1989)

55. The Great Gilly Hopkins – Paterson (1978)

54. The BFG – Dahl (1982)

53. Wind in the Willows – Grahame (1908)

52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)

51. The Saturdays – Enright (1941)

50. Island of the Blue Dolphins – O’Dell (1960)

49. Frindle – Clements (1996)

48. The Penderwicks – Birdsall (2005)

47. Bud, Not Buddy – Curtis (1999)

46. Where the Red Fern Grows – Rawls (1961)

45. The Golden Compass – Pullman (1995)

44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – Blume (1972)

43. Ramona the Pest – Cleary (1968)

42. Little House on the Prairie – Wilder (1935)

41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond – Speare (1958)

40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Baum (1900)

39. When You Reach Me – Stead (2009)

38. HP and the Order of the Phoenix – Rowling (2003)

37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Taylor (1976)

36. Are You there, God? It’s Me, Margaret – Blume (1970)

35. HP and the Goblet of Fire – Rowling (2000)

34. The Watson’s Go to Birmingham – Curtis (1995)

33. James and the Giant Peach – Dahl (1961)

32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – O’Brian (1971)

31. Half Magic – Eager (1954)

30. Winnie-the-Pooh – Milne (1926)

29. The Dark Is Rising – Cooper (1973)

28. A Little Princess – Burnett (1905)

27. Alice I and II – Carroll (1865/72)

26. Hatchet – Paulsen (1989)

25. Little Women – Alcott (1868/9)

24. HP and the Deathly Hallows – Rowling (2007)

23. Little House in the Big Woods – Wilder (1932)

22. The Tale of Despereaux – DiCamillo (2003)

21. The Lightening Thief – Riordan (2005)

20. Tuck Everlasting – Babbitt (1975)

19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Dahl (1964)

18. Matilda – Dahl (1988)
17. Maniac Magee – Spinelli (1990)

16. Harriet the Spy – Fitzhugh (1964)

15. Because of Winn-Dixie – DiCamillo (2000)

14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Rowling (1999)

13. Bridge to Terabithia – Paterson (1977)

12. The Hobbit – Tolkien (1938)

11. The Westing Game – Raskin (1978)

10. The Phantom Tollbooth – Juster (1961)

9. Anne of Green Gables – Montgomery (1908)

8. The Secret Garden – Burnett (1911)

7. The Giver -Lowry (1993)

6. Holes – Sachar (1998)

5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – Koningsburg (1967)

4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – Lewis (1950)

3. Harry Potter #1 – Rowling (1997)

2. A Wrinkle in Time – L’Engle (1962)

1. Charlotte’s Web – White (1952)

Whoa!  I did better than I expected.  Somehow I think I was just the right age to hit most of the classic reads.  We even read some of them like Johnny Tremain in school.

The Night Fairy

| Tasha

The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Angela Barrett

Newbery winner Schlitz returns with a celebration of fairies that will have any child entranced.  Flory, a night fairy, was only the size of an acorn when she was out flying and was crunched on by a bat who mistook her for a luna moth.  After her wings were crushed, she fell down into a cherry tree in a giant’s garden.  There she found a birdhouse just the right size for a fairy’s home.  Because she couldn’t move around easily on her own without wings, Flory befriended a very hungry squirrel who let her ride him in exchange for food.  But Flory wanted a grander animal to ride and when she saw the hummingbirds she knew just what she wanted.  But the hummingbirds were aloof and distant, too busy to talk with her about her needs.  It wasn’t until one bird was trapped in a spider web in the garden that Flory could bargain with her.  That bargain would take her on an even greater adventure that teaches Flory what friendship and being a fairy is really about.

Schlitz’s writing is laced with magic.  This deceptively slim volume holds so much story that it could have been much longer.  Instead, Schlitz has written a tightly woven story gilded with wonderful language.  The language invites readers deeply into the story, lets them know that something special has been written here, and then sails them off on adventure. 

I greatly appreciate that Flory is a fairy with plenty of chutzpah and guts.  She is prickly, brave and wonderfully independent.  At the same time, she dresses in flower petals, is a tiny size, and is undeniably feminine.  Bravo for a heroine who wields a dagger while dressed in petals!

Highly recommended, this book should be handed to any youngster who enjoys a good fairy tale.  This book has plenty of action and adventure married with magic and beauty.  Appropriate for ages 8-11.

Reviewed from Advanced Reader Copy received from Candlewick Press.

Extensively reviewed across the Kidslitosphere.

Mirror

| Tasha

Mirror by Suzy Lee

The author of Wave returns with another wordless book that captures emotion through images alone.  Her use of simple lines, white space and minimal color sets a unique tone in this book.  It is the story of a girl who is sad and alone before she discovers a mirror.  As she interacts with her reflection, she becomes exuberant as do the illustrations.  She begins to dance with her reflection and then something odd happens and her reflection does different things than she does.  This makes her angry so she shoves the reflection, bringing the book to a crashing end.

Lee excels at creating wordless stories that have depth and grace.  Here her thick black lines come together to make a story that is interesting and universal.  Her skill with white space is really at its best here.  She offers an entire two page spread of only blank pages that really create a vital moment in the book.  On other pages, she is unafraid to keep large parts of the page bare and allow readers to really focus on the figures themselves.

The book itself is wonderfully designed with a tall, thin cover than evokes the shape of a mirror.  The endpages feature the colors and inky shapes found inside the book.  Beautifully and caringly done.

A wordless book that offers emotion, surprises and delight, this book will be enjoyed by many different readers.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Seven Footer Press.

Also reviewed by The Well-Read Child and Pink Me.