Book Reviews

Review: Jasper’s Story by Jill Robinson

| Tasha

jaspers story

Jasper’s Story: Saving Moon Bears by Jill Robinson and Marc Bekoff, illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen

Held captive for years by bear “farmers” who kept him in a too-small cage and harvested bile from his body, Jasper’s story is representative of many captive moon bears.   Now Jasper has been rescued by Animals Asia, an animal welfare organization.  He is taken to their Moon Bear Rescue Center where his medical needs are attended to and he is put into the sanctuary.  There, Jasper walks on grass for the first time in his life.  Caregivers work to teach Jasper how to find food on his own, hiding food in toys and places to dig.  In time, Jasper’s life starts to change.  He begins to play more, get stronger, and make friends.  Jasper is one success story among many, a testament to what rescue can do to save animals that might have been considered too damaged to rescue.

Robinson and Bekoff write in a very engaging way in this nonfiction picture book.  They invest time in telling the story of the abuse as well as painting a beautiful picture of moon bears in the wild: “Far away in the mist-covered mountains of China, the moon sends yellow arcs of light across the hills, softly painting the forests with a luminous glow.”  They describe the way that wild animals sleep with a sense of freedom.  The prose is beautiful, clearly painting the value of these animals and the importance of their rescue and rehabilitation.

The illustrations are equally evocative.  The paintings have a wonderful sense of place, showing the workers at the sanctuary and the horror of the small cages with equal attention.  I particularly like the way that the opening image relates to that at the end, showing that Jasper is once again more like the wild moon bears than the abused ones. 

A great book on the importance of animal rehabilitation and rescue, this book will speak volumes to every child who picks it up and meets Jasper.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: My Neighbor Is a Dog by Isabel Minhos Martins

| Tasha

my neighbor is a dog

My Neighbor Is a Dog by Isabel Minhos Martins, illustrated by Madalena Matoso

Originally published in Portugal, this book is a charming import.  It is the story of a young girl who gets a new neighbor who just happens to be a dog.  The dog is very friendly and kind, but the girl’s parents are not impressed, thinking that he would quickly start acting like the dog he was.  Soon after that, more new neighbors arrived, this time a pair of elephants.  The girl’s parents complained about them too, but the girl thought they were very nice.  Finally, a crocodile moved in.  That proved to be too much for her parents and they moved away.  But before they did, the little girl finds out that her parents are considered the odd ones in the neighborhood.  The final clever twist at the end shows exactly why.

Martins writing is just as vibrant as the bold illustrations.  She tells the story with wonderful little touches like the elephants helping with washing cars and the crocodile giving purses and shoes as Christmas gifts.  All of these details add to the world that she cleverly building and that wonderful surprise twist at the end.  Done in vibrant colors, the illustrations are created in hot pinks, deep blues and bright reds.  It is a modern world, with the pop colors adding to that feel. 

A look at acceptance and diversity through the eyes of a child, this book will speak to all children about preconceptions and tolerance.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Journey by Aaron Becker

| Tasha

journey

Journey by Aaron Becker

This stunning wordless picture book tells the story of a young girl who is very lonely.  Her parents are busy doing things and she has no one to play with.  Then she discovers a red crayon on her bedroom floor and draws a door on her wall that she can open.  She finds herself in a forest light with strings of lights, a river running by.  Her red crayon is in her hand, so she draws a boat that she can use to travel down the river.  Her incredible journey is just beginning and you will want to be along.

Done first in sepia tones with bursts of red, the book quickly changes to full color once the girl opens the magic door into another world.  Happily, this is not a world that readers will have visited before.  It is a dynamic mix of steampunk, fancy castles, and wondrous creatures.

Becker’s art is incredible intricate, inviting closer inspection.  Just the castle alone had me gazing for some time to see it all.  HIs art is also very beautiful.  The depth of color is lovely, particularly the colors of the sky and the landscape.

Beautifully done, this book is a gorgeous testament to the power of creativity and the amazing places that great art can take us.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

You can see some of this incredible journey on the book trailer:

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Oliver and His Alligator by Paul Schmid

| Tasha

oliver and his alligator

Oliver and His Alligator by Paul Schmid

Oliver sometimes isn’t as brave as he’d like to be, and that is especially true on the first day of school.  So he headed to the swamp and picked up an alligator, “just in case things got rough.”  When Oliver got to school a woman who was not his mother greeted him and asked his name.  In his panic, Oliver couldn’t remember his name, but he could say “munch, munch!” and the alligator ate the lady.  A similar thing happened when a little girl in the class asked Oliver what he loved.  Oliver wanted to answer and even had a great reply, but he found that he could only say “munch, munch!” and the alligator ate the girl.  As Oliver steadily had his alligator munch his classmates, the classroom got much quieter and lonelier.  But what is a boy to do when everyone has been eaten?

Schmid tells this story with a wonderful matter-of-fact tone that leaves readers shocked at first but then delighting in this clever answer to the worries of the first day of school.  I guarantee a wonderful stunned moment if you share this book aloud, and then a rush of nervous but genuine glee at it all. 

The book is cleanly designed with very simple lines that allow the humor of the situation to really shine.  The simplicity is beautiful and entirely modern thanks to Oliver’s oversized sweater and mop of hair. 

Beautiful, clever and a joy to share aloud, this book is riotously funny and oh so true.  A great addition to starting-school shelves.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Review: Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff

| Tasha

delilah dirk

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff

Released August 27, 2013.

Enter a new heroine who is funny, adept and can kick your butt.  Delilah Dirk comes crashing into the life of Selim, the Turkish Lieutenant and merrily takes over his world.  Delilah has adventured all around the world and is now looking to steal some valuable ancient scrolls from a Sultan in Constantinople.  With her flying boat, she saves Selim from certain death.  Then it is on to more adventures, including evading pirates, jumping off a disintegrating aqueduct, and fighting everyone who is after her, and everyone is.  Delilah loves the freedom and action of her life on the road, but Selim craves quiet times with friends.  Readers on the other hand will love Delilah and Selim both as well as the humor and adventure that make this one rollicking read.

Cliff has created a wonderful heroine.  She manages to be feminine and dashing at the same time.  Her outfit is skirted and flowing but not confining.  It reveals her beauty, but not her endowments.  She is great fun and the role reversal of the man who is the reluctant adventurer and the woman who adores it turns stereotypes on their heads.  The story both honors tradition with its setting in Turkey, but also adds a lot of new flavors like the flying boat.  It makes for a book that is filled with surprises.

A great pick for graphic novel fans and those just discovering the genre.  Delilah is a heroine who will take you on an amazing adventure.  Let’s hope there are many more to come!  Appropriate for ages 10-14.

Reviewed from copy received from First Second.

Review: No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart

| Tasha

no monkeys no chocolate

No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young, illustrated by Nicole Wong

A close-up look at the favorite sweet treat of chocolate, this nonfiction picture book explains exactly what it takes to get chocolate.  The book quickly moves to the tropical rain forests of Central and South America and the cocoa beans that grow there and how they are treated to get cocoa powder from them.  The book then moves to explaining cocoa pods, cocoa flowers, and cocoa leaves, but animals quickly come into the process from the midges that pollinate the cocoa flowers as they lay their eggs to the maggots of the coffin flies that take over the brains of the leaf-cutter ants.  Lizards and monkeys play a role too, but the monkeys are tantalizingly left to the end of the book.  Told in factual information, the book also offers asides by two funny bookworms who wonder along with the reader what in the world monkeys have to do with chocolate!

This is a fascinating look at the complexities of something that many of us take for granted.  Stewart, author of over 150 nonfiction books for children, worked with Allen Young, the world specialist on cocoa tree pollination and growth.  The result is a book that is enticing both in its premise and its execution.  Turning pages lets you learn more and the entire process is both odd and amazing.

The art by Wong has a wonderful lightness to it that fits the subject particularly well.  The clever little bookworms add a whimsical note to the entire book with their ballooned speech bubbles, ballcap, flower and skirt. 

A winner of a nonfiction picture book, this is one sweet addition to any library.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Charlesbridge.

Review: Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds

| Tasha

carnivores

Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Dan Santat

It’s hard to be a carnivore when all of the prey whispers behind your back, nobody understands the way you eat, and you are accused of sneaking around.  So a lion, a great white shark and a wolf get together to form a support group.  Their first plan is to become vegetarians, but that doesn’t go well at all.  In fact, the wolf can’t seem to find a berry bush that doesn’t have a bunny in it.  The next plan is using disguises to blend in, but one smell of the lion’s zebra breath turns the antelope against him.  Finally, the lion asked the great horned owl to speak with them.  The owl talked about accepting themselves as carnivores.  The others realize that he is right and follow his advice perfectly.

Reynolds has written a book that is screamingly funny.  Each page has laughter on it with the perfect timing of his jokes.  It begs to be shared aloud with punch lines that just have to be delivered.  Happily, the humor is edgy and truly funny, not just for small children.  With clever twists throughout the story and situations that make for very funny results, children will be delighted with this look at self-acceptance and meat eating.

Santat’s illustrations are perfection here.  Bright colored and bold, just like the humor, they add just the right touch to the book.  He manages to capture the comedy perfectly, but not allow his art to blow the punch lines prematurely.  The large format will work well with a group, but there are also details that will have to be shared too.

Clever, funny and wonderfully inappropriate, this book asks us all to accept our inner or outer carnivores.  Appropriate for ages 4-6, this would also work well as a read-aloud for older elementary kids who will love the humor and the naughtiness of the jokes.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

Review: The Hole by Oyvind Torseter

| Tasha

hole

The Hole by Oyvind Torseter

Released August 27, 2013.

This Norwegian import is an almost-wordless picture book that will surprise and delight.  It is the story of a rounded-nosed creature/person who discovers a hole in his wall in the apartment he just moved into.  But when he tries to see where the hole is coming from, he discovers that it is only on one side of his wall.  The hole moves to the floor and trips him, so he calls for expert help.  He manages to catch the hole in a box and takes it to a laboratory for scrutiny.  Finally, the hole is gone from his apartment.  Or is it?

With a hole punched right through the book, you know it is a stationary thing.  But the art makes it shift and move around the illustrated space to great effect.  Torseter has a great sense of pacing here with tension building as the reader knows of the hole before the main character sees it.  They are also very aware of the fact that the hole never really went away too.  As the hole is taken to the lab, Torseter shows us the scenes he passes through, each with a hole but a different one. 

Entirely playful and a truly wondrous look at the world, this book will have you reading it again right away.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Enchanted Lion Books.

Review: Lulu and the Cat in the Bag by Hilary McKay

| Tasha

lulu and the cat in the bag

Lulu and the Cat in the Bag by Hilary McKay

This third Lulu book continues the story of Lulu’s love affair with any type of animal.  In this story, a cat is dropped off on Lulu’s doorstep in a bag.  Lulu opens the bag over her aunt’s objections.  Her aunt is watching her while her parents are on vacation and is not fond of animals at all.  When the bag is opened, the cat goes running off and disappears.  Though Lulu searches for it, she is unable to find it.  When she returns to her room later, the cat is there on her bed, having climbed in through her open window.  Steadily, the big orange cat starts to become part of the family, even changing Lulu’s aunts thoughts on cats in general.  It dominates the two dogs, scares the bird and even gathers flowers from the garden to scatter about the house.  Then the cat simply disappears, they search for it with Lulu’s aunt’s help, but no one can find it.  Until Lulu makes a surprising discovery!

I’ve enjoyed all of the Lulu books so far and this just adds to the delight that is this series.  Lulu is a wonderful protagonist.  It is a pleasure to see a child character so into animals who does her chores and takes good care of her animals with no complaining.  Lulu is also quite a scamp, so the book are filled with a natural childhood zest and Lulu’s own special take on things.  This is another great treat of a book from McKay.

A series to rival Clementine, get this into the hands of those readers and they will find a new feisty young heroine to love.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from digital galley received from