Author: Tasha

Book Festival

| Tasha

After two years of planning, the Fox Cities Book Festival was held this weekend.  Almost every event had more people than we expected.  It was a wonderful testament to the power of poetry and books in people’s lives. 

For me, every event I attended was magical, imbued with wonder and joy.  One event that I helped most with was a children’s area at the Book Fair where School Specialty donated children’s books for us to simply give away to children who came in.  The books were lovely, shiny, new and so were the children who came in.

What joy to be able to tell people that they could have a book to keep.  Just because of someone’s generosity, because they cared, and because we care.  It was a powerful message and I just couldn’t get tired of delivering it over and over again.

But what I loved most was seeing the people.  As a library director, I don’t get to interact with people as much as I used to.  And I miss it.  This weekend taught me that.  Demonstrated the power of small connections over books, and immersed me in a joyous day of giving and thanks.

What a treat to be a part of the Festival.  What a treat to know that I helped make it possible.  Helped create conversation, wonder.  And what a treat to be gifted with that day.

How Big Is the World?

| Tasha

How Big Is the World? by Britta Teckentrup.

From the author of Big Smelly Bear comes this book about a young mole who wants to know how big the world is.  As he travels, he asks different animals who all reveal the limitations of their own view of the world.  That is until he reaches the ocean and finds a whale who says that he has never yet reached the end of the world and carries mole and the readers to different lands.  When mole finally returns home to his father, he reports that the world is “as big as you want it to be.”

This is a breathtaking book, with illustrations that are large, bold and inviting all at the same time.  Teckentrup’s paintings will shout to an audience of preschoolers, draw them in, show them the world, and return them home with the same sense of adventure that little mole has.  Paired with the text that is purely child-friendly, this becomes a picture book worth adding to your collection and using in story times.

Simply lovely and highly recommended for reading to groups, appropriate for ages 3-6.

My Plastic Mommy

| Tasha

At first I thought this was a joke, then I only wished it was.  My Beautiful Mommy is a book that tells the story of a little girl seeing her mommy get plastic surgery.  Yes, sweetie, see mommy get bigger boobs, a tighter tummy and a smaller nose and then feel great about yourself.  Almost like a double dog dare, isn’t it?

The Chicken of the Family

| Tasha

The Chicken of the Family by Mary Amato, illustrated by Delphine Durand.

Henrietta’s two older sisters tease her mercilessly.  Even though she knows they often tease, Henrietta starts to believe them when they tell her she is really a chicken not a girl.  The feathers they leave in her room are especially convincing.  So Henrietta heads down the road to a nearby farm to find her real family and there on the farm in the chicken yard, she finds creatures who like her and enjoy being with her.  Maybe this is her real family after all?

What could have simply been a silly story becomes much more deep and thoughtful even with its brisk pace and wonderfully bug-eyed illustrations.  This is a great look at teasing in a family and at how children can see things in their own special way.  The entire family dynamic is believable and not overdone.  The pacing is quick, but allows for some reflection about what family is and what truth is. 

Lovely stuff, this is a great book for families to read together.  Recommended for ages 5-7.

The Cow That Laid an Egg

| Tasha

 

The Cow That Laid an Egg by Andy Cutbill, illustrated by Russell Ayto.

Marjorie doesn’t feel special.  Unlike the other cows on the farm, she can’t ride a bike or do handstands.  So the chicken concoct a cunning plan to get Marjorie feeling better.  They give her one of their eggs, decorated with black spots.  Crowds and the press come to marvel at this cow who laid an egg.  But when the egg starts to hatch is the plot revealed?  You will just have to read it to find out.

Great fun from the first page, this book combines a silly story and zany illustrations into a package that will delight young readers.  The illustrations make this book with their marching chickens, jealous cows, and a befuddled main character.  They are done as collages with the use of photographs as well as drawings.  Great fun.

Highly recommended to share with a group of preschoolers.  This would make a great final book for story times about either cows or chickens.  For ages 4-6.

Looks

| Tasha

Looks by Madeleine George.

Released June 2008.

Meghan is an enormous girl who spends her lonely days in high school virtually invisible, except when she is mercilessly tormented by a group of the popular jocks.  Because she is often overlooked, she knows things about almost everyone at school.  That’s why she is intrigued when Aimee starts school.  Aimee is stick thin and struggling with an eating disorder and has no interest in being friends with Meghan who can’t manage to talk coherently when she approaches her.  When both girls are betrayed by the same person, they haltingly start a friendship for revenge.

The language of this book is pure poetry.  I know that is something often said about prose, but in this case it is entirely true.  Here is a paragraph from Page 12 of the novel to demonstrate:

Here in the dark she disappears completely, her body dissolves, but every one of her senses sharpens: vision, scent, memory, hearing.  Meghan tilts her head toward the door and curves her whole self into a listening device.  She wakes up every sleeping cell in her body to listen.  She makes her skin listen, she makes her eyelashes listen.  She stills her breath, lets it in and out of her lungs in faint wisps.  She listens so hard she feels her heartbeat slow.

The book is like that, taking you so deeply into characters, exposing them, looking beyond the surface to the people they are inside with all of their fascinating drives, needs and fears.  In doing this, neither of the main characters can possibly be stereotypical.  Meghan is seen as dainty at times, graceful, lovely.  Aimee as sharp in voice and in spirit.  Both as cautious kindred spirits brought together by far more than betrayal and revenge. 

There are so many layers here to immerse readers.  This is a book that celebrates unique people, lingers in painful moments, displays beauty where none seemed to exist.  It is a book that sings in tribute of these two disparate but similar characters.  It is a wonder of a teen novel. 

Highly recommended, this book will find those who will relate to it by the great cover.  Hand this one to teens who go their own way and they will find two characters to revel in and one amazing novel to call their own.

Playing with Fire

| Tasha

Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire by Derek Landy

This was one book I was thrilled to get my hands on at PLA, and it was even better than my high expectations.

Valkyrie Cain continues to find adventure at the side of the living-dead skeleton Skulduggery Pleasant.  This time Baron Vengeous has escaped prison and is attempting to bring the Grotesquery to life in order to bring back the Faceless Ones.  The Grotesquery is a monster created from different pieces of beasts from legend, brought together into one horrific and powerful being.  As they try to stop Baron Vengeous, Valkyrie and Skulduggery run into a variety of strange beings who have incredible powers and who are always ready for a good fight.  Fans of the first book will also be happy to see many of their favorite characters appear again.

A wild ride of a book, the battles are gory, choreographed and often funny.  The book continues the strong sense of humor, laugh out-loud commentary, and vibrant relationship of the two main characters.  Plenty of banter and wit as well as some deeper questions about life make this a winner of a novel. 

This is not a stand-alone title.  Readers must have read the first in the series to really appreciate this one.  Highly recommended for fans of action films and science fiction ages 10-14.

The Willoughbys

| Tasha

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry.

Leave everything you know about Lowry and her type of book behind.  Now you are ready to enter the world of The Willoughbys.  The four Willoughby children are not adored by their parents.  In fact, their parents are desperate to escape.  Luckily, the children felt exactly the same way.  So when their parents head out on dangerous adventures, leaving them with a capable nanny, the children are overjoyed but worried that their parents may one day return.  Add into the mix an abandoned infant, a desperately depressed millionaire, and long-lost children and you have this novel.

Lowry has captured with great zest, fun and life a vintage feel, tipping her hat to great works of children’s literature throughout.  Her tone is spot-on and at first child readers may wonder if it’s OK to laugh, but it certainly is.  The book is light, quick and a blast to read.  Giggling is to be expected.

I am a huge fan of Lowry ever since The Giver and this is a new type of writing for her.  What a risk to take, but what a winner of a novel resulted!  This would make a great class read aloud for older elementary students or will happily be curled up with by anyone with a sense of humor.  Fans of Lemony Snicket will enjoy it immensely.

The Willoughbys

| Tasha

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry.

Leave everything you know about Lowry and her type of book behind.  Now you are ready to enter the world of The Willoughbys.  The four Willoughby children are not adored by their parents.  In fact, their parents are desperate to escape.  Luckily, the children felt exactly the same way.  So when their parents head out on dangerous adventures, leaving them with a capable nanny, the children are overjoyed but worried that their parents may one day return.  Add into the mix an abandoned infant, a desperately depressed millionaire, and long-lost children and you have this novel.

Lowry has captured with great zest, fun and life a vintage feel, tipping her hat to great works of children’s literature throughout.  Her tone is spot-on and at first child readers may wonder if it’s OK to laugh, but it certainly is.  The book is light, quick and a blast to read.  Giggling is to be expected.

I am a huge fan of Lowry ever since The Giver and this is a new type of writing for her.  What a risk to take, but what a winner of a novel resulted!  This would make a great class read aloud for older elementary students or will happily be curled up with by anyone with a sense of humor.  Fans of Lemony Snicket will enjoy it immensely.