Previously by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Bruce Ingman

This clever picture book starts with Goldilocks arriving back home “all bothered and hot.”  Then the reader gets to discover what happened previously.  As you read backwards through her time with the three bears, she meets Jack.  The story then changes to Jack and the Beanstalk, done backwards by seeing what happened previously.  The book continues moving into the past and through many different fairy tales, including the Frog Prince, Gingerbread Boy, and Cinderella.  And finally moves back through time until all there is left is Previously.

This is a joy to share with children.  The book starts innocently with Goldilocks and then starts to travel quickly, a tape unrolling through history.  Children will enjoy the premise immensely as they see their favorite fairy tale characters, know what is coming much of the time and anticipate the joy of it.  I particularly enjoyed the ending where we move backwards through infancy and then through rain, wind and nature.  A lovely way to end a book that never really ends.

The text is rhythmic and the use of the word previously helps with that effect.  Ingman’s art is a nice mix of paint and ink which manages to effectively capture the rush of time without clutter or loss of illustrative integrity.  Nicely done.

Because the premise of previously is contagious, you may want to have drawing paper at the ready for children to express their own lives or days this way.  My two children went to bed and then awoke talking about what they had done previously.  But as you know, that was previously, and now they are back to normal.  At least for the moment.

The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock.

Continuing the story started in Dairy Queen, readers join DJ as she is playing high school football.  Everything is going wonderfully in her life.  Brian Nelson is still in her life and has started kissing her, she has repaired her friendship with her best friend Amber, and her two older brothers are regularly appearing on TV playing college football.  But then things change.  Brian starts acting strangely when they are in public, her mother throws her back out, the family farm is struggling, and an accident throws the entire family into turmoil.  But the one thing we can all count on is that DJ knows how to face calamity head on and deal with it using humor and strength.

Second books can often be disappointing, especially following such an incredible debut novel.  But this one stands entirely on its own, perhaps even outdoing the first.  DJ’s voice continues to be authentic, witty and sharp as she faces disasters in her life.  As in the first book, she is an intriguing mix of power, tongue-tied shyness, and self-effacing humor.  In this second book, there are paragraphs of such powerful writing that they are gut-punchingly real:

“Mom started to cry.  Only it wasn’t crying like when you cry at a sad movie.  It was– it was the sound I imagine an animal making when her babies are dead.  Without words or breath or anything until the whole room vibrated…”

Searing writing like that mixed with humor creates an amazing rollercoaster of a book.  The secondary characters continue to be surprising, well-written and complex.  They all ring very true as does the complicated family dynamic. 

Highly recommended for those who enjoyed the first book with both books highly recommended if you haven’t read either of them.  Appropriate for teens, ages 14-18.

Let It Shine by Ashley Bryan.

Winner of the 2008 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, this book truly has artwork that shines, lifting it to an entirely different level.  The book offers the words of three hymns:  This Little Light of Mine, Oh When the Saints Go Marching In, and He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.  There is a joy in all three of the hymns that is captured by the cut-paper artwork that fairly sings along with the reader.  The book and the art have rhythms and patterns carried from page to page.  Each page is filled with an exuberance, bright colors, sweeping lines, and always light.  It is a real treat to find such a book, a thrill to share it with children, and a joy to know that it fully deserved the award.

Highly recommended for sharing and singing aloud.  I don’t see how you can even start to page through the book without humming and tapping your toes.

Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller by Sarah Miller.

This is the story of Annie Sullivan, the woman who was Helen Keller’s teacher.  It is the story of her early life and the two months that she spent trying to reach Helen and bring her the gift of language.  The book is written in first person, so the reader can experience Annie’s frustrations, personal tragedies, and loneliness.   There is no mincing of words or shirking from the beast that Helen Keller had grown to be when Annie came to teach her.  Likewise her unorthodox methods are not sugar-coated either.  This leads to a gutsy novel full of great details that explain the young woman who was Annie Sullivan.

I could not put this book down.  It is as different from the film versions of Helen Keller’s life as can be.  Annie comes to life in the prose, her haunting childhood, her own disabilities, her own desperate need to connect with someone.  There are several devices used to show and not tell her loneliness, including her showering attention and love on a doll.  These are powerful and private moments that serve to illuminate Annie, allowing the reader to feel for this teacher who must resort to strong discipline to reach Helen in her deaf and blind world.  There are historical photos and information at the end of the book which further explain their relationship as teacher and student through the rest of their lives.

Highly recommended for 10-13 year olds who enjoy true stories and who may have seen the films.

Lily Brown’s Paintings by Angela Johnson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis.

This is one of my favorite picture books of 2007.  It is the story of Lily Brown, a young girl, and her vivid imagination which she expresses through her paintings.  As you read the book, you will see nods to Van Gogh and Gauguin in the illustrations.  There is a child-like quality evident in most of them that is combined with a lack of constraint that is charming.  Lily creates many paintings that she moves into, walks through, and exists in (rather like some of us with great books).  Readers will find themselves drawn into the illustrations too, understanding innately what is being described in the text.

The text of the book is equal to the art.  It expresses the freedom and joy of art, embraces Lily’s self-made worlds, and draws readers into a full understanding of being absorbed by art. 

Highly recommended for elementary art classes or story times about art.