Book Reviews

Laurie: A Picture Book About Hearing Loss

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Laurie by Elfi Nijssen & Eline van Lindenhuizen

Originally published in Belgium and Holland, this tremendously sweet book takes a straight-forward approach to the story of Laurie, a girl with hearing loss.  Laurie has trouble hearing other children, so she usually plays alone.  The others tease her about being deaf and refuse to play with a girl who can’t understand them.  Laurie’s dog doesn’t mind that she’s different from the others.  Finally one day, Laurie and her mother go to the ear doctor.  He discovers she needs hearing aids, or “hearing computers” as Laurie calls them.  Now Laurie can hear cars coming, plays happily with others, and pays better attention in class.  Sometimes though, she still likes the quiet and turns her hearing aids off just to return to the silence. 

Nijssen’s writes as an author who has experienced hearing loss herself.  This makes the emotions and struggle of Laurie very real.  The book doesn’t shy away from conflicted feelings and one of the nicest parts is when Laurie decides to turn her hearing aids off or down once in a while.  It makes for a lovely moment that shows that being different was not the problem, being misunderstood was.

Lindenhuizen’s art is simple and friendly, depicting Laurie separated from the other children at first and later connected with others.  She uses space on the pages very successfully, emphasizing the spirit of the text visually.

A great pick for units on differences and diversity, this book is friendly and straight forward.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Zita the Spacegirl: A Girl-Powered Graphic Novel

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Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

This is a great graphic novel for elementary readers who will enjoy the action and the science fiction setting.  Zita and her friend Joseph see a meteoroid fall to earth.  When Zita looks closely, she sees that there is something embedded in the meteoroid.  It looks like a red button and despite her friend’s protests, she presses it.  Immediately, a rift opens and sucks Joseph through it.  After some moments of panic, Zita presses the button again and heads through the rift to rescue her friend.  On the other side of the rift, Joseph is being dragged away by a strange multi-armed alien who flies off with him in a space ship.  Now Zita is left alone in a strange world filled with amazing creatures.  Unfortunately, it’s a world about to be destroyed by a giant asteroid.   How is Zita going to be able to save her friend before the planet is demolished?

Hatke is a great storyteller.  Zita is a friendly, determined and strong girl character, who remains solidly the heroine of her story.  Through his friendly illustrations Hatke has created a world that makes one feel at home despite its strangeness.  The adventure here is thrilling, dangerous and great fun.  As Zita adventures through the world, readers will enjoy the humor of different characters.  Hatke embraces nuanced characters as well, which is a treat in a graphic novel for children.

The illustrations here have an anime appeal to them.  Young fans of Pokemon will feel right at home with the variety of creatures that Zita meets. 

This is one of those great graphic novels that belongs in every library collection.  Sure to check out and be very popular, just face this one out and watch it check out of the library.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

To get a sense of the illustrations, you can view the video below:

Zita the Spacegirl Trailer

Reviewed from copy received from First Second.

Also reviewed by:

The Literate Mother

Little Lamb Books

Perpetual Learner

Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku

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Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

This picture book is told in a series of haiku poems.  The poems form the only text in the book, charmingly telling the tale of Won Ton, a cat saved from the animal shelter by a boy and his family.  Once rescued, Won Ton demonstrates that he is pure cat.  His aloof yet cozy manner is captured to perfection here in the poems.  The book is in turns touching, beautiful, wistful and very funny.

Wardlaw’s haiku read as if they were effortlessly written.  In a few words and syllables, he captures the life of a cat and the humor of life.  It is a book that celebrates poetry, making it approachable and understandable for children.  At the same time, he speaks to the power and connection in animal adoption. 

Yelchin has illustrated the book with a playful flair.  The graphite and gouache illustrations are bright and large, making them well suited to sharing with a group.  Anyone with a cat in their lives will recognize the poses, the reactions and the attitude that Won Ton displays.

A perfect book to share in a poetry unit, this book is appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt and Company.

Also reviewed by Fuse #8 and Wild Geese Guides.

Five Flavors of Dumb: It Rocks

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Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Winner of the 2011 Schneider Family Teen Book Award

High-school senior, Piper has been invisible in her school for years.  Until one day, she gets herself a lot of attention for cheering for a band.  Not that unusual?  Well it is for Piper, because she’s deaf.  And now her mouth has gotten her involved with the band as its manager.  Now the girl who can’t hear the music has to figure out how to get the band ironically named Dumb paying gigs.  And she has to do it in a month.  Piper is tired of being invisible to her classmates and her family, so being a band manager comes at exactly the right time for her.  It will take her getting to know the members of the band, understanding a lot more about herself, and learning to feel the music before she can discover her inner rock and roll. 

John has written a book with protagonist who has a disability but does not let it dictate her life.  Piper is a great character who is filled with self-doubt but does not allow it to stop her from moving ahead.  She is at times jealous, manipulative, pushy and self centered, and it all makes her that much more human and relatable.  Throughout the book she is one amazing, powerful female character.  Nicely, the book also has other great girl characters of different types. 

This book just feels real.  John uses music and humor in the book to create a beat that moves the story forward.   Small touches make sure readers know they are in Seattle.  Piper’s entire family is vividly dysfunctional but equally believable and filled with love for one another, though they have problems showing it.  The growth of the characters, including Piper’s parents, has a natural feeling. 

Highly recommended, this is a great teen book that is certainly not dumb.  It just rocks.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books.

The Ride: The Legend of Betsy Dowdy

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The Ride: The Legend of Betsy Dowdy by Kitty Griffin, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

The story of Betsy Dowdy has been part of an oral tradition for over 200 years.  While she may not have existed, this is a wonderful American story of bravery and determination.  Betsy was 16 years old in 1775 when the news came of the redcoats marching to Great Bridge to take ponies and supplies.  There was no hope that anyone could make it to General Skinner’s militia fifty miles away in time to bring aid.  But Betsy could not help in other ways.  She couldn’t fight.  But she could ride.  So despite the danger and the dark, she set off riding her trusty pony, Bess.  The ride was not easy.  They had to swim across a channel in December, and that was the start of the ride.  Betsy had to endure packs of dogs, ice cold temperature, and falling from Bess several times.  But in the end, she got to the general in time.  The day was saved thanks to one brave girl and her tireless pony.

Betsy Dowdy is a girl version of Paul Revere.  Griffin writes with great historical details, that bring the time period to life.  But it is Betsy herself who is the focus of this book.  Wonderfully, Betsy’s fear is allowed to show and her desperation and fatigue.  She is a very human heroine and because of that she is all the more impressive. 

Priceman’s illustrations are filled with deep colors from the purple of the frightening forest to the deep blue of the river.  Done in gouache and ink, the illustrations are wonderfully dramatic, conveying motion forward in a variety of ways.  One of my favorite images is Betsy riding into the dawn of the new day, the colors changing as she moves through the setting.  One feels the sudden surge of hope that light brought.

A powerful story of girl power that should be used in American Revolution units with elementary children.  Girls will enjoy a story that includes more action than sewing or rolling bandages.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum.

Also reviewed by The Fourth Musketeer and Kiss the Book.

Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes

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Pocketful of Posies: A Treasure of Nursery Rhymes by Salley Mavor

This book contains classic nursery rhymes like “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”  The text is unchanged from the classic style, making this book a reassuring one to share with children.   The surprise and wonder of the book is its illustrations.  Done in fabrics and threads, the illustrations have a great dimensionality to them, lifting off of the page.  There is also an almost irresistible urge to try to feel the fabric’s softness on some pages.  If you look closely, you will find other objects in the illustrations as well:  small shells, acorn caps, pine cones. 

The bright colors make the book immediately appealing.  The softness of the illustrations, created by the fabric, continue to add to the appeal.  This becomes more than a book of nursery rhymes and turns into a book that can be pored over time and again.  It is a refreshing and interesting style that is timeless and lovely.

Highly recommended, this would make a gorgeous baby gift.  Stand it up in the library facing out, and it won’t take long for someone to whisk it away to check out.  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by: Young Readers.

Harry & Hopper

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Harry & Hopper by Margaret Wild and Freya Blackwood

Harry got Hopper when he was a jumpy puppy.  He taught him to sit, stay and play ball.  The two of them were inseparable.  Hopper even slept with Harry, moving from the bottom of the bed to the top over the course of the night.   But then Harry came home from school and Hopper wasn’t there.  His father broke the news of the accident gently to Harry, explaining that Hopper had died.  Harry couldn’t sleep in the bed he shared with Hopper, so he started sleeping on the couch instead.  At school, Harry couldn’t tell anyone about what had happened.  That night, Harry was awoken from sleeping on the couch by a dog leaping by the window.  It was Hopper!  The two of them spent the night together playing.  The same thing happened night after night, but Hopper was getting less solid and less warm.  Eventually, Harry had to say goodbye to Hopper.

This book should come with a box of tissues.  Sniffle.  Wild depicts the bond between boy and dog with a clarity that makes it very tangible and real.  The loss comes quickly and without prelude, jarring the reader.  As Harry moves through his grief, the return of Hopper brings that process into a similarly tangible state.  The slow disappearance of Hopper over the nights, depicts the acceptance of loss.  Harry’s grief never comes to full resolution, something that is particularly beautiful about this book and its writing. 

This book won the Kate Greenaway medal for its illustrations, and rightly so!  Blackwood’s illustrations are done in laser print on watercolor paper with watercolor, gouache and charcoal.  They have a charm to them that is emphasized by the use of lines to slow motion.  Additionally, the shadows that appear with the grief add to the darker feeling of that section of the book.  Through it all, there is a warm light in the darkness, often provided by Harry and Hopper themselves. 

A beautiful book of loss and grief, this book deserves a spot in libraries where it is sure to find an audience.  Perhaps offer a Kleenex as a bookmark upon check out.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy provided by Feiwel and Friends.

Check out a gallery of the illustration on the Guardian website.

Words in the Dust

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Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

This is the wrenching tale of Zulaikah, an Afghani girl who lives with a cleft palate that has earned her the nickname of Donkeyface from the bullies in her neighborhood.  It is a modern story, set after the defeat of the Taliban.  Zulaikah lives with a harsh taskmaster of a stepmother, her beloved older sister, and two younger brothers.  Despite her face, she is the one her stepmother sends to the  market for supplies, giving the other children a chance to mock her.  With the Americans in town, Zulaikah is offered the chance to have her face repaired.  She also meets Meena, an old friend of her late mother who offers to teach her to read.  These are immense opportunities for her, but will she be allowed to take advantage of them?

Reedy is a debut author  who served in Afghanistan with the National Guard.  Zulaikah’s story is based on a girl he met in Afghanistan.  Reedy has created a marvelous lens for readers to better understand Afghanistan, its culture and its people.  The day-to-day life shown here is so very different from our own, that one never forgets that this is a different country.  Yet Zulaikah’s hopes and dreams are universal.  So this book manages to offer a view of a foreign country at the same time it is showing our united humanity.

Zulaikah is a heroine who has seen unthinkable things, lives with a very visible disability, and yet remains hopeful about the future.  She is a girl living in a culture that devalues women and girls, and while she searches for someone to teach her to read, she is not straining against the culture she is a part of.  That is a large part of what makes this book so successful.  This is a girl who is a product of her family and culture, yet radiant with inner beauty and always hope.

This is a particularly timely book that offers a perspective of modern Afghanistan.  It also offers a very human character who will have you viewing news of Afghanistan differently, now with a spirited girl to inspire understanding.  Appropriate for ages 11-13.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

Also reviewed by:

Me and You: A Glorious Goldilocks

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Me and You by Anthony Browne

This is a version of Goldilocks that is sure to make readers think.  The story of Goldilocks is told opposite that of the Bear family.  Goldilocks comes from a rough part of town, complete with broken windows and graffiti.  After chasing a balloon that gets away, she finds herself in front of the Bears’ home.  It’s a pretty yellow home, obviously comfortably middle class.  The Bears have headed out for a walk in the neighboring park, chatting about work, the home and the car.  When they return, they find that their house has been disturbed.  From here the story continues in the traditional way.  Goldilocks flees the house, finding her way home to the arms of her mother.  This is a Goldilocks tale that will have readers thinking.

Browne has created a book that emphasizes the differences between Goldilocks and the Bears.  The Goldilocks story is told in wordless format with a very realistic feel and muted colors.  In many of the images the only bright color is Goldilocks’ hair.  Contrasted with that are the images of the Bears.  Shown in pastels done in a much softer line, the images are comfortable and bright.  But readers’ eyes are sure to wander back to the darker side of the page and Goldilocks.

Is Goldilocks the villain that has been portrayed in the past?  Is she a greedy little girl who wants the items of some poor bears?  Not here.  Here Goldilocks may be homeless, is definitely in need of warmth, and is lost.  This book turns the tale on its head, creating a heroine out of a lost girl and questioning the motives of the comfortable bears.

This is an important look at a fairy tale that asks modern questions.  I’d recommend using it with other versions of the same story and saving this one for last.  It is certainly a book that will have young listeners talking.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Farrar Straus & Giroux.