Book Reviews

Review: Wild Baby by Cori Doerrfeld

| Tasha

Wild Baby by Cori Doerrfeld

Wild Baby by Cori Doerrfeld (9780062698940)

Just as an orangutan mother and baby wake up and stretch in the treetops, the wild baby rushes off to explore. Sliding and swinging through the jungle, the baby wants to touch and dance and hop, no matter who gets bothered along the way. As they chase through the jungle, the baby ends up being hunted by not just mother but a jaguar while chasing butterflies. Just as the baby is in the utmost danger, everything works out. Now he has to contend with a rather irate mother who carries him back to their nest. Happily, he has a lovely surprise for her when they get there.

For anyone who has cared for a toddler who loves to dash away, this will be a familiar feeling. Doerrfeld creates a madcap race through the jungle done with very simple language sprinkled liberally with the word “wild.” The pacing is exciting and fast and the book is filled with just enough danger and plenty of love. The illustrations are filled with orange fur, playfulness and glee.

A terrific toddler pick. Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from library copy.

 

Review: When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie L. B. Deenihan

| Tasha

When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie L. B. Deenihan

When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie L. B. Deenihan, illustrated by Lorraine Rocha (9781454923817)

A little girl had made a list of what she was hoping to get for birthday gifts. On the list were items like a phone, a computer and a drone. But her grandmother got her a lemon tree. In this twist on the adage that when given lemons you should make lemonade, the narrator of the book offers the girl some advice on how to handle her gift. The advice includes what face to make when given the gift and details on how to care for her lemon tree including cautioning her not to hurt it. As the girl follows the advice, she discovers a connection to her lemon tree even before it bears its first crop of lemons for her. As she literally makes and sells lemonade from her lemons, the girl now has to decide how to spend her cash. She returns to the original list, but adds a new number, one that the lemon tree has taught her all about.

The clever twist on the adage is well done, creating a scaffold for the entire story. While the narrative of the book focuses entirely on advice, the illustrations show how the girl chooses to follow it. The narrative is humorous and offers choices for the main character in how she can react to options in her life. Throughout, as is appropriate for a book based on making lemonade, the spin is to be more positive and never sour.

The illustrations are fresh and funny. The family is depicted as African-American and the story is set in an urban area. This gives the lemon tree a great canvas to offer change and the main character a great place to offer lemonade. The illustrations are funny and bright.

A great spin on an old saying, this book is a breath of positivity. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Sterling Children’s Books.

Review: Bloom Boom! by April Pulley Sayre

| Tasha

Bloom Boom! by April Pulley Sayre

Bloom Boom! by April Pulley Sayre (9781481494724)

An ideal book to read as spring arrives, this picture book focuses on flowers emerging as the seasons change. Close-up photographs are paired with more distant landscapes to show both the details of the plants and flowers and also the impact of a large group of flowers blooming in different habitats. Stalks, flowers, leaves and more are shown. The photographs also capture the growth of the emerging plants. The book then moves on to the flowers specifically, celebrating their colors and shapes. It also shows the insects that visit the flowers and other wildlife around.

Sayre specializes in simple nonfiction books about nature with great photography. Here, she has created a book that must be shared aloud. It has a strong rhythm and structure to the text with a refrain of “bloom boom!” with which children will love to join in. The photographs are filled with color and details. They invite readers to look closely and are large enough to share with a group.

Another winning nature picture book from a master book creator. Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Beach Lane Books.

 

Review: Sweet Dreamers by Isabelle Simler

| Tasha

Sweet Dreamers by Isabelle Simler

Sweet Dreamers by Isabelle Simler (9780802855176)

Enter the dreams of creatures around the world in this picture book. The dreams of the animals can be surprising like the sloth dreaming of racing and moving fast without moving at all. They can also be more logical, like the ant who dreams of dots marching in single file. Other animals are shown in their habitat and their unique way of sleeping like the swallow who sleeps while flying, the flamingo who has pink dreams, or the frog who sleeps in the mud. Each animal is given a short poem about their slumber, creating a book that is ideal for bedtime but fascinating enough to return to again and again.

Simler’s writing is exquisite. By using different approaches to the various animals, she creates a book that explores the wide variety of creatures in our world while focusing specifically on how they sleep. There are the animals who are prey that sleep looking for security and safety while the predators like the lion with a full belly don’t need to worry about that. The illustrations in the picture book are equally successful with their touches of neon orange illuminating the night. Done in fine lines, the pages use their mostly black backgrounds very successfully as the creatures shine against it.

A delightful mix bedtime and beasts. Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy provided by Eerdmans.

Review: Love You Head to Toe by Ashley Barron

| Tasha

Love You Head to Toe by Ashley Barron

Love You Head to Toe by Ashley Barron (9781771473040)

On each page of this book, human babies are compared with animal babies in their activities throughout the day. Baby wakes up like a sea star in the sun. They play like a kitten batting at a butterfly. Baby toddles like a bear cub. They bundle up like a penguin. They eat like a chipmunk, filling their cheeks with food. The book contains many similes and metaphors and even the smallest child will enjoy looking at the animals and the ways that they are just the same.

The text is simple and straight-forward, showing the direct comparisons between baby and animal in a charming way. Activities like crawling, diaper changes, hopping, and toddling make this book accessible to all children. The illustrations show a diverse group of babies, ranging in age from around six months to one year. Done in collage, they are simple enough for little ones and delightful as well.

A winning book for infants and toddlers. Here’s hoping it comes out as a board book soon. Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Owlkids.

 

Review: Mike by Andrew Norriss

| Tasha

Mike by Andrew Norriss

Mike by Andrew Norriss (9781338285369)

Floyd is a tennis star, destined to become one of the great British tennis players. At age thirteen though, something changes. He starts to see “Mike” a person whom only he can see. Mike first appears at tennis matches and gets steadily more involved, even stopping Floyd from playing physically at one point. Floyd’s parents, who are both very much supportive of his tennis, take him to a sports injury clinic where he is placed in therapy. Floyd learns that Mike is a projection of something that Floyd is repressing. To Floyd’s horror though, it seems that Mike won’t let him keep playing tennis and Floyd will need to admit his own deep desire to do something else. But what?

Norriss has created a short and focused novel that is entirely marvelous. He writes with a playful nature that allows readers to really cheer for Floyd as he navigates his own desires and figures out what will actually make him happy. Nicely, Norriss allows the entire story to be told and readers stay with Floyd and Mike for some time, experiencing all of the times that Mike appears in Floyd’s life. By the end, Mike is the hero of the story, or is it Floyd all along!

A great main character gives this teen novel real heart. Floyd is a tennis prodigy, but completely at the mercy of his destiny when we meet him. He isn’t questioning what he really wants to do, whether tennis is still fun, or why he works so very hard to be the best. The pace of his training is beautifully offset by the slow pace of Floyd’s therapy and navigating life afterwards. Still, that rich sense of humor keeps the book moving and the unique perspective of who Mike really is offers a refreshing take on life.

A fresh sports novel filled with fish, invisible friends, and frankness. Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from ARC provided by David Fickling Books.

Review: Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable and Ellen T. Crenshaw

| Tasha

Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable and Ellen T. Crenshaw

Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable and Ellen T. Crenshaw (9781250196934)

Mads has two best friends, Cat who drags her to hear bands that she’s never heard of, and her father. Every Sunday, Mads joins her father for minor league baseball games and other evenings they watch their favorite TV shows together. Mads’ mother is often left out of their father-daughter time together and as the book progresses, it looks like Mads may be headed for her parents divorcing. But it’s all about a secret that her father is keeping from her, something to do with a large check sent to Mads and a grandfather she never met. As the secrets start to be revealed, Mads begins to learn more about herself as well and just who she really wants to kiss.

This graphic novel is amazing, particularly when one sees it was written by one person and drawn by another. The entire book is one cohesive whole with art that is both playful but also emotionally rich when the story calls for it. The writing is strong and the story is complex. Venable includes religion throughout the book, allowing space for questioning beliefs, particularly around LGBTQ issues. Those themes enrich the entire graphic novel, creating tension in the family, offering honesty to replace secrets, and giving sources of pride rather than disdain. Venable doesn’t offer easy resolution to these issues and the way that they impact generations of a family.

A stellar graphic novel for teens that is filled with LGBTQ pride. Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from copy provided by First Second.

 

Review: The Girl and the Wolf by Katherena Vermette

| Tasha

The Girl and the Wolf by Katherena Vermette

The Girl and the Wolf by Katherena Vermette, illustrated by Julie Flett (9781926886541)

When a little girl wanders too far from her mother while they are picking berries, she finds herself lost in the woods. Unable to figure out how to return home, she starts to panic. Suddenly, a large gray wolf appears and using his nose, figures how where she comes from. But night is falling, so the wolf asks the girl a series of questions that demonstrate how much she really knows. He encourages her to take a deep breath, close her eyes, and then look. When the girl does this, she realizes that she can see berries that are safe to eat and water that is safe to drink. She eats and drinks, then the wolf encourages her to breathe deeply again. Now she recognizes the stand of trees nearby and finds her way back to her mother who explains that she has heard of wolves that help lost children. The little girl later leaves a gift of thanks for the wolf’s aid.

This book is a complete re-imagining of the Little Red Riding Hood story into one with a First Nation spin. Vermette is a Metis writer from Treaty One territory in Winnipeg. She has entirely turned Little Red Riding Hood into a story of the strength of a little girl who only needs help to figure out that she had the ability all along. The quiet and encouraging wolf is such a shift from European stories, energizing the entire picture book with his presence.

Flett’s illustrations keep the little girl in red, clearly tying this new story to its origins. The wolf is almost as large as the girl, making his threatening presence strong when he first appears but also offering a real sense of strength as he is better understood as the tale unfolds. The art is filled with strong shapes and rich colors.

An entirely new telling of Little Red Riding Hood, this is one to share when learning about independence and mindfulness. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

 

 

Review: Little Doctor and the Fearless Beast by Sophie Gilmore

| Tasha

Little Doctor and the Fearless Beast by Sophie Gilmore

Little Doctor and the Fearless Beast by Sophie Gilmore (9781771473446)

Little Doctor takes care of crocodiles. She offers kindness and gentleness while she marvels at their big jaws and muscular tails. They share their stories with her as she treats their ailments and heals them. Still, when Big Mean, the largest crocodile of all, comes to her clinic, Little Doctor isn’t sure that she will be able to help. Big Mean won’t let her close enough to figure out what is wrong. Little Doctor won’t give up though and manages to get herself in quite a dangerous spot as she falls into Big Mean’s open jaws. But what she finds there teaches her that Big Mean isn’t that mean after all.

Gilmore’s picture book creates a fascinating dynamic between human and beast. The human is the smaller and weaker one here, giving help to the huge green creatures. I also appreciate that the doctor is a girl, bravely working with animals who have sharp teeth and certainly aren’t cuddly in any way. Her bravery and kindness form the heart of the story as does the natural building of trust between her and Big Mean. Readers will think that Little Doctor has made a huge mistake, but in the end, her knowledge and deep trust shines through.

Gilmore’s art is filled with small details, particularly when showing Little Doctor’s clinic. From the eggs in display stands to the series of different sized and shaped windows, this is a special space. Gilmore fills the rooms with crocodiles, huge swaths of green scales that are daunting. The images very successfully support the story.

A grand look at trust, kindness and care filled with crocodiles and one brave young doctor. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.