Book Reviews

Bunches of Board Books

| Tasha

Some great additions to series! 

dinnertime for chickies

Dinnertime for Chickies by Janee Trasler is the third in the Chickies series.  Here the very picky chicks are reluctant to try new foods, asking for sweets instead.  But Sheep, Cow and Pig cajole them into trying the foods and the chicks discover that they like them!  By the end of the meal, they might just be too full for dessert.  This is a funny addition to the series that will encourage small children to try new things.

i am so brave

I Am So Brave by Stephen Krensky, illustrated by Sara Gillingham is the fourth book in their empowerment series.  This book focuses on overcoming fears like dogs, swimming, the dark and even saying goodbye to a parent.  Told very simply, the book is about the joy of overcoming rather than the process of doing so.  Still, it will encourage children to face their fears.

planes go

Planes Go by Steve Light is the fourth book in its series which has previously covered trucks, trains and diggers.  This plane book is very successful, focusing on different types of planes and then the sounds that they make.  It’s the kind of book that small children will love to read to themselves aloud after they learn the names of the planes.  A lovely addition to a great series.

Review: Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn

| Tasha

complicit

Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn

Jamie and his sister Cate were adopted by a wealthy couple whose own children died.  But money can’t fix everything.  Two years ago Cate was sentenced to juvenile detention for burning down their neighbors horse barn and injuring a girl.  Now Cate is free and she’s returning to Jamie’s life though he wants nothing to do with her.  When Jamie had first heard of the barn burning down, his arms went completely numb and non-functional.  He’s gotten better in the last two years, but hearing that his sister is returning and looking for him specifically has his arms going numb again.  Cate bears a truth that Jamie might finally be ready to hear, and Jamie knows that there is something about the fire at the barn that just isn’t right.  This tense and twisting thriller will keep readers enthralled right to the incredible ending.

Kuehn won the William C. Morris Award for her first book, Charm & Strange.  Her skills is on display here too as this second book is a completely engrossing read that is one wild ride.  Told entirely from the point of view of Jamie, readers can only guess at what he is hiding from himself.  Tension builds as Jamie starts to piece together clues about Cate and what she was doing the night the barn burned and then why she turned herself in days later.   As Cate starts to call Jamie and provide hints herself, the tension creeps up higher.  The explosive ending will confirm some reader’s guesses but will also stun with its revelations.

Skillfully written and plotted, this novel explores mental illness in a very close and personal way.  Jamie is a wonderfully flawed narrator, filling the pages with his unique point of view that readers know from the beginning is skewed though they are not sure exactly how.  That is part of the brilliance of the book, that there are many ways in which Jamie can be misunderstanding his sister and his past.  That’s what keep readers turning the pages, the need to know what in the world is the truth.

A riveting and breathtaking read, this is a perfect summer read to share between friends.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from digital galley received from NetGalley and Macmillan.

Review: All Different Now by Angela Johnson

| Tasha

all different now

All Different Now: Juneteenth the First Day of Freedom by Angela Johnson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Celebrate the beauty of freedom in this book dedicated to Juneteenth.  Told from the point of view of a young girl, the story is about the first Juneteenth, the day that freedom was first announced for the last of the slaves in the South.  Living in shacks on a plantation in Texas, the day is just another day for the girl and her family and the rest of the slaves.  They worked hard in the hot sun, not knowing that word of their freedom was steadily heading their way.  Then the news arrived and people reacted in different ways, but quickly they pulled their things together and left the plantation behind for freedom.  Now June 19th is celebrated as African American Emancipation Day across the United States.  It’s a joy to have such a beautiful picture book to give to children to explain Juneteenth and why it means so much.

Johnson manages somehow to show slavery in all of its bone-grinding hard work and lack of freedom but also infuse it with moments of beauty, like waking to the scent of honeysuckle.  Her words are poetry on the page, spare and important, speaking volumes in only a few phrases.  The book ends with a timeline of important events and a glossary of relevant terms, making this a very useful book as well as lovely.

Lewis’ illustrations are beautiful.  He plays with light and dark on the page, allowing the light of the hot Texas day to fill the tiny shack but also making sure that the barrenness is evident and the poverty.  The book is filled with light, the sky burned to a pale yellow.  Until darkness which has a richness and endlessness that is sumptuous.  There is such hope on these pages, almost achingly so, particularly as freedom is announced and they turn their faces to a new future.

Beautiful and timely, this book will be welcome in library collections across the country as one of the only picture books about this holiday.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Review: Saving Lucas Biggs by Marisa de los Santos

| Tasha

saving lucas biggs

Saving Lucas Biggs by Marisa de los Santos and David Teague

When Margaret’s father is sentenced to death, she can’t believe it since she is certain he is innocent.  But this is what happens when someone tries to stand up to the company that owns the entire town.  It’s also the company that owns Judge Biggs.  The only way that Margaret can see to save her father is to change Judge Biggs’ mind.  According to Grandpa Josh, her best friend’s grandfather, Judge Biggs used to be a good person until his father was accused of murder and hung himself.  The only person who can change the course of time is Margaret who has to use her family’s forbidden power of time travel.  But history resists change and Margaret only has a few days before history rejects her to make the necessary changes to save her father.

De los Santos and Teague have written a book that takes on time travel in a very refreshing way.  The idea that history actively resists change and that there is a physical toll on the time travelers makes for frustrating time travel.  Yet it feels right and also creates tension in the story at just the right moment.  The authors also explore company towns and how workers tried to stand up to unfair business practices.  Here there is plenty of action in that fight, including murder and gunfire as well as quiet desperation. 

Margaret is a winning character, one who travels in time very reluctantly but is given little choice when she is the sole person who has a chance of saving her father.  The story dives into complexity, never making things easy or simple.  One aspect of this is the way that redemption is viewed.  Characters are seen as changeable, able to be rescued from what happened to them even in their elder years.  This book is about getting chances to make the right choice in the end, forgiveness for poor choices earlier, and friendships that stand through time and betrayal. 

A rich and vibrant look at time travel, this fantasy will also appeal to history buffs.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from HarperCollins.

Review: Swim, Duck, Swim! by Susan Lurie

| Tasha

swim duck swim

Swim, Duck, Swim! by Susan Lurie, illustrated by Murray Head

Told in rhyme, this picture book illustrated with large photographs explores one day in the life of a duckling who just won’t get into the water.  His parents are with him, encouraging him to try and so are all of the other fuzzy ducklings that are already swimming around.  But he is not sure that swimming is for him.  He might sink!  He hates to be wet!  And this might just be the perfect time for a nap. But with his parents encouraging him to keep on trying, there is suddenly a splash and he is swimming around merry and proud. 

Lurie’s rhymes have just the right amount of bounce and energy.  She captures the obstinate toddler who just won’t do what his parents are pushing him to try.  Children and parents alike will relate to this battle of wills where patient and positive parenting wins out in the end.  The text is simple and jaunty, keeping the duckling clearly an animal but giving words and emotions to his actions.

I’m a huge fan of photographs in children’s picture books.  Particularly when they are done as beautifully as Head’s.  The large format of all of the illustrations works beautifully, and I appreciate that they run all the way to the edge of the page rather than being framed in white.  The effect is an expansive one, these are pictures that pull you in until you too are pond-side and cheering on the duckling.

A great pick for kids heading to their first swimming lessons, this book would also make a nice addition to story times on ducks or trying something new.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Migrant by Jose Manuel Mateo

| Tasha

migrant

Migrant: The Journey of a Mexican Worker by Jose Manuel Mateo, illustrated by Javier Martinez Pedro

In this bilingual book, a boy from Mexico talks about the changes in his family and his village as people leave Mexico to find work in the United States.  The story begins with the boy speaking about his village and how it used to be as a farming community with small farms where he would play.  But then things changed and soon the village was just women and children with all of the men gone to find work elsewhere.  When his mother was unable to find work in the village and his father’s money stopped arriving, the had no choice but to leave too.  The story changes to one of escape, hiding and running, one that mirrors that boy’s games as a small child, but they are no longer fun here.  The family makes it safely to Los Angeles, but there are new barriers in the way with the new country.

migrant inside

Told in a unique vertical format that echoes the ancient codex, this book uses its format to great effect.  First, it mirrors the sense of a journey across distances, across cultures.  Just opening this book feel different and special and then the length of the single page captures that sense of travel and quest.  The voice of the book is also exquisitely done.  The boy looking back on his childhood, seeing the changes and then the contrast of his childhood with the frightening present is filled with a taut tension that never goes away.

migrant pages

Even as I gush about the writing, I can’t say enough about the art.  Done in a single pane that continues through the entire vertical book, it shows the village, the train that allows their escape, and finally LA.  The art has an ancient feel to it, filled with tiny details, many people, plants, houses, and more.  It’s a tribute to the history of Mexico, the thousands of people who cross the border, and the beauty of their courage.

Unique and incredibly lovely, this book is one that won’t work in public libraries due to the format.  But it’s one that is worth celebrating despite that limitation.  Get this in special collections!  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams Books.

Review: Pom and Pim by Lena Landstrom

| Tasha

pom pim

Pom and Pim by Lena and Olaf Landstrom

When Pom heads outside, the sun is shining and the day is beautiful.  Pim, a stuffed toy, goes out too.  But the day isn’t completely full of good luck, in fact Pom and Pim experience a lot of bad luck along the way.  Somehow though, these bad moments turn into good ones.  So when Pom falls down, there is money on the sidewalk and they get to have ice cream!  The ice cream gives Pom a tummy ache, but then there is a balloon in the room.  The balloon pops when Pom takes it outside, but it’s just in time to make a raincoat for Pim before the rain comes.  Then it’s a lovely rainy day.

Landstrom plays with optimism in this book.  Pom goes from merry to dejected in moments, just like any toddler, bouncing right back again with the next new distraction or change.  The story is very simply told with the illustrations telling much of Pom’s reaction to the described situations.  Pom is never given a gender, making this a book that will speak to all genders equally and children will see themselves reflected on the page. 

The illustrations clearly reflect Pom’s emotions, as Pom changes moods from one page to the next.  They are also wonderfully simple which fits into this story very nicely.   The result is a book for toddlers that they will understand and relate to.

Grab this one when looking at emotions with toddlers, its everyday events will be something that any child has probably experienced.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: It’s an Orange Aardvark! by Michael Hall

| Tasha

its an orange aardvark

It’s an Orange Aardvark! by Michael Hall

Five little ants are woken up by the sound of rain outside their tree stump.  In order to figure out what is making the noise, they drill holes in the stump to look outside.  One ant explains that aardvarks are gray and sneaky, and of course hungry for ants!  But when they drill the first hole, they see orange not gray.  Perhaps it’s an orange aardvark come to eat them!  They drill another hole and that one shows blue, so they think it’s an orange aardvark wearing blue pajamas.  As they drill more holes, more colors are shown and their story about the orange aardvark gets more and more elaborate.  Savvy young readers will know what all of these colors mean, but the pleasure of this book is seeing just how silly the little ants become.

Hall is the author of My Heart Is Like a Zoo and continues to display his skill with bright colors, large formats and die cuts in this new title.  The mix of surprise, guessing and silliness makes this book great fun to read.  Add in identifying different colors and the book becomes almost a game to read aloud.  Even better, there is wonderful suspense with each page turn as the ants come up with their next spectacular speculation.

Done in large format and pops of bright colors, the illustrations have the same appeal as Lois Ehlert and Eric Carle with their sharp edges and cut paper format.  The die cuts are used just enough to make the book more suspenseful and fun.  They also all line up, consistent throughout the book.

A jolly picture book that is full of fun, this is a colorful and witty way to learn about colors and aardvarks.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Greenwillow Books.

Review: The Lion and the Bird by Marianne Dubuc

| Tasha

lion and the bird

The Lion and the Bird by Marianne Dubuc

One day a lion discovers a hurt bird in his garden.  He bandages the bird’s damaged wing, but then the rest of the bird’s flock flies away, migrating for the winter.  So the lion takes the bird into his home.  Throughout the winter, the bird and the lion spend each day together doing all sorts of things.  And the lion notices that the winter doesn’t seem as cold with a friend along with him.  Then spring arrives and the bird’s wing has mended, so the bird heads off to join its flock as they return for the warm weather.  Lion is once again alone and now he misses his friend.  Lion spends all summer alone, tending his garden.  Then autumn comes again and Lion hopes to see his friend return, but will he?

Dubuc is a Canadian author who is internationally known.  She has a decidedly European vibe to her work with its quietness and the message of larger things written in the small world she creates on the page.  She cleverly shows the passing of the seasons using pages of white that allow space for the time to pass for the reader.  The book is also a lovely riff on The Lion and the Mouse, except in this book the lion is the one doing the kindness for another creature and the payback of the kindness is more delicate in the form of friendship.

Dubuc’s art is exceptional.  Her fine lines show both close-ups of the friends together and also vistas of the world they live in.  There is a feeling of smallness, closeness and a limited world that Lion lives in.  That contrasts with the bird leaving on migration and exiting this close world.

A noteworthy picture book, this new title by Dubuc is charming and warm.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Enchanted Lion Books.