Book Reviews

Book Review: If I Never Forever Endeavor by Holly Meade

| Tasha

ifineverforever

If I Never Forever Endeavor by Holly Meade

Capturing the tension of a fledgling about to leave the nest, this picture book celebrates taking chances and testing your wings.  A small yellow bird muses on what would happen if they just stay in the safety of their nest, because though there would be new things to see, there is also plenty to fear.  Of course, if they stay, then there is no flying, no soaring, and no making a new friend to share the air with.  This book will speak to anyone looking to make a change, try something new, or just test the wind a bit.

Meade’s writing her is a poem that is spare yet gentle, a poem that stirs, lifts and soars.  She does not shy away from words like “endeavor” or “scallop” which I really appreciate.  This is a book that will have children and their vocabulary reaching forward too. 

Her art is done in collage, combining watercolor painting with linoleum block printing.  The result is a book that has strong patterns and lines yet also the softness of a watercolor sky to play against.  The play of the graphic against the soft adds a very dynamic feel to the book.

Ideal for the end of the school year as teachers send their students on to the next grade, it would also make a lovely graduation gift.  I’m keeping it in mind for any children’s librarian heading to a new job.  What a treat to have it tucked under one wing.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Candlewick.

Also reviewed by Classroom Connections and Kiss the Book.

Book Review: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

| Tasha

akatawitch

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Sunny is a 12-year-old who lives in Nigeria.  She was born in the United States, but that isn’t what makes her so different from her classmates.  Her albino skin and hair does that.  Sunny is also a great athlete, but she can’t play because her sun reacts so strongly to the sun.  She only gets to play when her brothers agree to play with her in the evening.  Sunny isn’t sure she will ever fit in, but after meeting Orlu and ChiChi, the three of them figure out why Sunny is so special.  She’s a free agent, a member of the Leopard People, allowing her to do juju or magic.  Happily, Orlu and ChiChi are also Leopard People, though not free agents.  Suddenly Sunny is immersed in a new dual life.  Her old life of school and family and her new life learning about juju.  But there is also darkness in her life, as a serial killer preys upon children in Nigeria: a killer who has a special connection to Sunny.

This book is incredible.  Okorafor has created a completely unique and entirely formed world within a world.  She brings modern Nigeria to life and then within it creates an entire society that makes sense, wields magic, and continually surprises and delights.  The construct of the magical society doesn’t linger on the how, rather it is presented as a fully-formed world complete with its own laws, own priorities, and a matter-of-fact relationship to death.

The characters of the four young people in the book are well written and play nicely off of one another.  I particularly enjoyed when they would depart from roles that could have been stereotypical and instead revealed themselves to be very well-rounded characters.  Sunny serves as an ideal person for the readers to learn about the magical world alongside.  She is interested, questioning and frank.  She is a very strong female protagonist who can play soccer better than the boys. 

If you have teens or tweens looking for magical reads that break into a whole new territory, this book is for them.   It celebrates Nigeria, magic and learning.  Appropriate for ages 11-14.

Reviewed from copy received from Viking Publishing.

Also reviewed by:

Book Review: Fox and Hen Together by Beatrice Rodriguez

| Tasha

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Fox and Hen Together by Beatrice Rodriguez

The story begun in The Chicken Thief continues in this second wordless book.  Here Hen has laid an egg but the refrigerator is empty, so she heads out to catch some fish.  This leaves Fox to watch the egg.  Hen fishes with her friend Crab, but when she catches a large fish, an eagle swoops out of the sky and grabs it.  Hen holds on and so does Crab as the eagle carries them all to its nest filled with hungry babies.  Just when you think they have escaped, a sea monster comes out of the deeps to grab the fish.  Hen manages to escape that danger too, but then enters the house to find that Fox has been having adventures too.

Rodriguez has created a full-color immersive wordless picture book that has great appeal.  The book has a great pacing that shifts from one page to the next, making for a very exciting and fun rollercoaster of a book.  It is all told through bright colors, plenty of action and a storyline that twists and turns. 

I am looking forward to the third in the series, Rooster’s Revenge, coming later this year.  The stories make most sense if you read both of them, learning the tale of the Fox and Hen and how they came to live together.

A bright, action-filled wordless book, it is appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Enchanted Lion.

Also reviewed by

Book Review: Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld

| Tasha

cloudette

Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld

Cloudette is the smallest of clouds.  Usually it was just fine to be the littlest.  She was called by cute nicknames, she had little friends, she was great at hiding, and she even slept in a special spot on the moon.  But sometimes, she felt left out because she was so small.  She couldn’t do the important work that the big clouds did, like storm fronts and rainbows.  She wanted to do something big herself, but all of her big ideas didn’t work out.  One day, she was blown by a storm to a new area where she had never been before.  There she found a lone frog sitting in a dried up pond.  Cloudette knew she could help, but only if she tried very, very hard.  By helping in one place, she realized that there was  a lot one small cloud could do in the world.

Lichtenheld’s text is a pleasure to read aloud.  He has included all sorts of aside comments from the clouds, Cloudette herself, and animals too.  They give the book more flavor and a stronger tone.  The small making a large impact and doing something big is an idea that is featured in a lot of children’s books. Children relate to being the smallest, being envious of what bigger people can do, and feeling powerless themselves. Cloudette is certain to speak directly to the fact that small contributions can add up to something big.

The artwork here is bright, simple and entertaining.  While some pages have a paneled look, many of them are single or double-page spreads.  Lichtenheld nicely contrasts background colors to create a book that is colorful and that will work well with a group.

Cloudette will have you cheering for her and is sure to easily create small fans.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt & Co.

Also reviewed by:

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Book Review: Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell

| Tasha

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Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell

Jane is a girl who loves to be outside watching the animals.  She takes her toy chimpanzee Jubilee with her on all of her adventures.  They watch the squirrels, birds and spiders.  They figure out where eggs come from.  They go together up into her favorite tree to dream about being Tarzan in Africa.  Jane dreamed about a life where she could study animals, learn about them, and watch them up close.  And that’s exactly what she grew up to do as Jane Goodall, chimpanzee expert and animal activist.

McDonnell writes with a restraint that is beautiful.  He has pared down Goodall’s childhood into a few seminal moments that speak to the adult she became.  Delightfully readable, the book has only a few lines of text per page, making it very accessible for young readers.  Yet it works as a biography because those few lines carry a weight with them.

The art in the book, also by McDonnell, combines old-fashioned stamps of chickens, squirrels, clocks and more with paintings that have a whimsical warmth about them.  This gives the book a feeling that it is about the past without being specific.  The color palette works especially well here with its yellows, greens, blues and browns.

The final pages of the book have information on Goodall’s life as well as a message from Jane herself to the readers.  It’s an ideal way to end a biographical picture book written for an age that is too young for bibliographies.

A playful, winning biographical picture book that celebrates the childhood of the incredible Jane Goodall.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by:

Book Review: Junonia by Kevin Henkes

| Tasha

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Junonia by Kevin Henkes

Alice always celebrates her birthday on Sanibel Island in a beach cottage named Scallop.  This annual vacation from winter in Wisconsin is filled with the familiar.  Her parents accompany her, her aunt stays with them, and their neighbors in Sanibel are people she considers her extended family.  But this year, when Alice is turning 10, nothing is familiar.  First, some of her beloved neighbors do not come to Florida this year.  Then her Aunt Kate joins them along with her new boyfriend and his daughter, Mallory.  The entire vacation is thrown into chaos in Alice’s eyes, as she struggles to accept the changes and the new situation that is so different from her planned perfection of a trip.

This short novel looks deep into Alice as she searches for perfection embodied by the junonia shell that she has not yet found.  This deep look is not always flattering for Alice, as she can be jealous, petty, and prickly at times.  Yet the book speaks to acceptance of the reality of life and not constantly seeking the perfect birthday, the perfect day, the perfect circumstances.  It would never have worked as a novel to have Alice be an ideal protagonist.  Instead, seeing her with her flaws allows readers to see themselves in her.  It is a beautiful, quiet point Henkes is making.

Henkes writes of emotions with great detail, capturing Alice’s many moods.  He manages to put a name on the feeling and then create imagery that builds beyond that label.  In other words, he is carefully creating a book that children can read and understand, but that will lead them on into something deeper as well.

Henkes also captures Sanibel and its beaches and wildlife with beautiful imagery.  The images are ones that children will relate to.  Here is one of my favorites from Page 49:

“From their table on the deck at the restaurant, Alice could see the ocean perfectly.  And the sunset.  The sky and the sea were full of colors – yellow, peach, pink, blue, green, purple.  The water was like liquid color, like melted glass swirling around.”

This book is about big things understood through small.  It is about emotions, acceptance, forgiveness, disappointment and delight.  It is about life.  Appropriate for ages 8-11.

Reviewed on digital galley format from HarperCollins via NetGalley.

Book Review: Clink by Kelly DiPucchio

| Tasha

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Clink by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Matthew Myers

Clink used to be a new robot, but now he is dusty and squeaky.  Even his ability to make toast and play music doesn’t attract the children anymore.  Instead they want newer robots with retractable arms or the ability to bake cookies.  When Clink tried to be like the newer robots, it never worked well.  Finally Clink just gave up and hid himself away.  A long time later, a boy came to the shop and wasn’t interested in any of the new robots.  As the boy left the store, he played a song on a harmonica.  When Clink heard the music, he came to life.  He began to sing and then to dance.  But just as he caught the boy’s attention, a spring popped free and hit the boy right in the face.  Had Clink lost his chance to finally find a home?

DiPucchio has created a world where robots are cool but only if they are new.  Her writing is long enough to really describe a full world.  The book reads aloud easily and has a great built-in appeal with the charm of Clink himself on the cover and the robot theme. 

Myers helps visually build the world that DiPucchio describes so well.  His depictions of the new robots are just as whimsical as Clink himself.  I especially enjoy the hair-cutting robot that moves around on a broom and the cookie-baking robot that wheels around on a rolling pin.  Myers uses bright colors and deep colors together.  He manages to make the robots feel physical and real.

A good pick for any young robot lover, who might enjoy designing their own robot on paper and giving it some interesting capabilities too.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Book Review: All the Way to America by Dan Yaccarino

| Tasha

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All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel by Dan Yaccarino

Yaccarino tells the story of several generations of his Italian family in this picture book.  The book starts with his great-grandfather who grew up in a farm in Sorrento, Italy.  He headed for America in search of new opportunities, leaving his parents behind.  His father gave him a little shovel, reminding him to work hard, but remember to enjoy life.  His mother told him to never forget his family.  As time goes on, Michael and his descendants used the small shovel in a variety of ways.  Michael used it at his first job in America to scoop flour and sugar.  When he opened his own pushcart, he used it to measure dried fruits and nuts.  His son Dan used the little shovel in his market.  His son Mike used it to pour salt on the icy sidewalks in front of his barbershop.  And now Dan, the author of the book, worked hard himself and uses the shovel to on their terrace to grow fruits and vegetables.

I love the use of the symbol of the shovel to tie the different generations together.  Additionally, the ways that the shovel is used by different people add an interesting piece to everyone’s story.  Yaccarino has created a vibrant picture book from his heritage that is warm, friendly and intriguing.  His writing contains just enough detail to be interesting and to evoke a specific time, but not too much for the young audience.

Yaccarino’s illustrations have a wonderful graphic nature to them that is fresh, modern yet evokes the past clearly.  Watching the features of the family change from one generation to the next is a treat.  The illustrations are filled with color to the edges of the page, making for a bright, complete world.

A great pick to use with youngsters learning about their family tree, this book would also make a good place to start off family conversations.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House Children’s Books.

Also reviewed by Jen Robinson’s Book Page.

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Book Review: No Sleep for the Sheep! by Karen Beaumont

| Tasha

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No Sleep for the Sheep! by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic

A very silly read-aloud that follows in the tradition of funny bedtime stories set on farms.  Here, the sheep is very tired and wants nothing more than to go to sleep.  But one by one, he is bothered by animals.  First a duck, then a goat, a pig, a cow, and even a horse.  And no one leaves for their own bed, but instead joins the sheep where he sleeps.  And in the end, just when the sheep finally is able to fall asleep, there is one last noisy animal to wake him up.  This time with a COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!

Beaumont has created a text that reads aloud beautifully.  It has a rollicking rhythm and a pattern that repeats again and again.  This makes it ideal for toddlers and young preschoolers, who will enjoy the repetition.  The humor of the text is delightfully simple, made from the silliness of animal noises and interruptions. 

Urbanovic’s art adds a jolly tone to the book.  The fuzzy and increasingly manic sheep, the rotund pink pig, and the mounds of sleeping animals add to the fun.  The facial expressions of the animals are funny all on their own as well.

Add this to any farm story time or any bedtime story times you do.  It will be enjoyed by small children with big senses of humor looking to avoid going to bed.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.