Book Reviews

Lucy and the Green Man: Gentle Green Magic

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Lucy and the Green Man by Linda Newbery (first published as Lob in the UK)

Lucy loves spending time with her grandfather in his garden where he tells her stories of a mysterious helper who lives in his garden named Lob.  Lob is a Green Man who is rarely seen but his presence is felt in the energy in the air, the thriving garden, and the little jobs that are mysteriously finished.  Her grandfather tells her that only special people can see Lob, and Lucy works hard to try to see him.  Eventually she catches moving leaves, then bright green eyes, but little more because Lob is so shy.  Lob has been working in that garden for years, but when a sad event happens to her grandfather and to the garden and his home, Lob must find a new place to live.  Lucy, mourning her grandfather, hopes that Lob will come to her home in London and live in the park nearby.  After months of waiting, she wonders if Lob was really real after all.  Meanwhile, Lob has been struggling to find a place to live and work where he is understood.

Newbery has written a novel for young people that has a lovely old-fashioned feel to it.  After the changes at the garden and cottage, the story has alternating chapters of Lob and Lucy.  Readers will never question that in this book, Lob is most definitely real.  The adventures that Lob has in getting to a garden where he can work and be appreciated really carry the book forward.  Additionally, the wonder of gardens and growing things is a special element here that weaves throughout the book.  It is a joy to read a modern book for children that has its roots so firmly in the soil.

In the Lob chapters, Newbery has created verse that speaks in Lob’s voice directly.  They are wonderful poems, with an ancient quality and a firm tie to nature.  Set aside in a larger font, they are moments of stillness in the book that one looks forward to as a reader.  Newbery’s prose is equally evocative.  Take for example this passage when Lucy heads out into the dark evening on Page 41:

The gap between indoors and out, tameness and wildness, lightness and dark, stretched wide and wider in the flittery dusk.  Lucy didn’t want to go in, not yet.  Stars were pricking the sky, tree branches stretching out to muffle them.

In this book, one visits the wonder of nature again and again.  A beautiful book to share in the spring of the year with a class that will stretch imaginations and will have everyone looking for friendly green eyes in the bushes.  Appropriate for ages 8-11.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.

April and Esme Tooth Fairies

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April and Esme Tooth Fairies by Bob Graham

April is a seven-year-old tooth fairy about to head out on her first tooth collection.  But first she has to convince her parents that she is old enough to go out with just her little sister for company.  Soon the two of them are headed out into the starry night with a coin in their sack that will be exchanged for the tooth.  Their mother cautioned that that the boy must never see them, that’s the most important thing.  After diving for the tooth in a glass of water, April and Esme are stunned to see the boy wake up and look right at them.  But all is not lost, as with quick thinking the two of them save the day.  They then return home again tired but very proud of their success. 

Graham has such a great touch with stories.  He marries modern touches with classic tropes.  Here the father of the tooth fairy family has a pony tail along with his wings.  His wife sports a tattoo on her arm that is visible when she’s reading in the bath.  At the same time, the family lives in a tiny home near a hollow trunk of a tree, surrounded by thistle and mushrooms.  But turn your head and you will see the trucks on the M42.  Graham also weaves humor into the story, both through the juxtaposition of modern and classic, but also in small moments in the book.  One of my favorites is when Esme pauses to consider taking a grandmother’s false teeth too. 

A story sure to resonate with modern children that is gentle, sweet and toothsome.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

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Anna and the French Kiss: Romance in Paris

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Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna is not happy that she’s been sent to boarding school in Paris just because her bestselling author father decided it.  She doesn’t speak any French at all, is missing out on her senior year in Atlanta, and just connected with a cute boy who works with her.  Anna quickly meets a group of kids at the school who have been attending it for years.  Most of them are American seniors, but one boy is part French, part English, part American and entirely perfect.  Unfortunately, he is in a serious long-term relationship and Anna does have that boy back in Atlanta.  So Anna and Etienne become good friends, watch movies together, and struggle to make sure that their relationship stays just friendly.  Filled with lots of romance and plenty of romantic tension, this book is hot, never heavy, and pure bliss.

Perkins has captured the streets of Paris, creating the vibe and feel of a European city seen through the eyes of an American teen.  Readers will enjoy discovering the city with Anna and will love living vicariously through her adventures.  Perkins has also created teens who talk like teenagers, tease like bright teens, get drunk, get angry, lose control, but don’t destroy their lives.  She has written authentic teens who react to real life as real people.  Add to this mix of breathtaking setting and authentic voice, a beautiful love story and you have a winning read.  Perkins has managed to avoid the cliché of the love triangle, instead focusing on two people who are drawn to one another but aren’t available. 

Anna is a protagonist who grows throughout the book in many ways.  She becomes more confident as she leaves her dorm room and walks the streets of Paris.  She also becomes a lot more honest with herself, about the boy back in the states, her best friend in Atlanta, and her true feelings for Etienne.  She is a wonderfully drawn protagonist who is filled with emotions but also plenty of self control.  It makes for a dynamic and fascinating character.  Etienne is equally well drawn with his great hair and handsomeness.  He is not perfect though, he tends to be overly cautious, is desperately scared of heights, and is a tad short. 

Highly recommended, this romance is much more than fluff but has plenty of heady romantic moments too.  Appropriate for ages 15-18. 

Reviewed from ARC received from Penguin.

Holiday Picks with Lots of Kid Appeal

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Two Christmas books and one Hanukkah title are my first picks for holiday titles this year.

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Duck & Goose: It’s Time for Christmas by Tad Hills

Another winner from Duck & Goose, this board book takes a quietly funny approach to the holidays.  Duck is in a hurry to get somewhere, but Goose wants to linger a bit.  Goose wants to catch snowflakes, slide down hills, build a snow fort, and much more.  It isn’t until the very end of the book that readers learn where Duck was headed in such a hurry.  The illustrations are clever and very inviting, especially to fans of other Duck and Goose books.  The gentle humor and great friendship is exactly what we have come to expect from Hills.  With its short text and board pages, this book will appeal most to children aged 1-3.

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It’s Christmas David! by David Shannon

Around Christmas time, everyone always said, “No David!” whenever he tried to do anything!  No peeking at presents, no stealing cookies, no playing with ornaments, no opening presents early.  And then he also had to be patient in lines, be polite at the dinner table, and go to sleep on time.  Of course, David does get into some funny trouble in the book with a reprise of one of the most popular scenes from an earlier David book that is sure to delight young readers.  A grand and very funny look at the holidays that children are sure to relate to.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

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Hanukkah: a Counting Book by Emily Sper

This was a favorite picture book of mine a few years ago, and it is a real joy to see it released as a board book.  The thick board pages work beautifully with the cut outs of the candles.  Turning each page leads to another candle being added to the menorah.  Each page features text in English, Yiddish and Hebrew.  Children can count the candles and also another object related to the holiday.  Young listeners will enjoy the bright colors and simplicity of the book.  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

All books are reviewed from books received from the publishers.

The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux

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The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux by Emily Arnold McCully

Jacques Marsal was intrigued with the prehistoric bones and tools that his teacher showed him.  When he got to see the cave paintings at Font de Gaume, he was amazed.  So when he and three other boys discover a cave, they want to explore it.  Following a tunnel into the earth on their hands and knees, they found an enormous cave.  On the cave walls were paintings that looked like they had just been painted.  They explored the cave for several days, finding paintings even down a deep shaft.  Jacques insisted that they show the paintings to his teacher who at first thought they were playing a trick on him.  But when he saw the paintings and an expert confirmed them, they all knew that they had found a treasure on the walls of the cave. 

McCully tells the tale with plenty of details, allowing readers to understand the time period and the length of time the boys explored the cave.  These details make the history come alive.  The boys are depicted as real boys who play war, explore caves without any equipment and are tempted to keep the cave a secret.  They are human rather than heroes.  McCully’s afterword offers some more of the history of Lascaux, explaining what happened after the book ended. 

McCully’s illustrations done in ink and watercolor have a great contrast between daylight and the caves.  In daylight, the colors are light and vibrant.  The underground illustrations have an effective darkness around them, conveying the thickness of the earth around the caves.  McCully moves successfully between her finely detailed illustrations and the more primitive paintings on the cave itself.  The contrast between the two styles makes sure that readers know that these are depictions of the cave paintings.

A book that should delight readers who enjoy history and adventures.  Use this as a great introduction to the caves themselves and expect to have lots of requests for images from the caves themselves.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Also reviewed by 100 Scope Notes.

Rise of the Darklings: Victorian Faerie Delight

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Rise of the Darklings (The Invisible Order Book #1) by Paul Crilley

At twelve years old, Emily Snow has been looking after her younger brother since her parents disappeared.  She tries to earn enough money to feed them both by selling watercress on the streets of Victorian London.  One cold morning on her way to the watercress vendor, Emily encounters several strange small people having a battle.  After the battle, two men approach her to ask her what she witnessed.  Emily refuses to tell them, but that is not the last she will hear from them or from the piskies she saw battling.  In fact, Emily has just entered the confusing and amazing world of the sidhe where both sides want her to help them and no one is telling the truth.  Joined by Jack, a thief from the streets, Emily tries to figure out who she can trust and what her role is in the future of both humans and fey.

This book is a pleasure to read.  Crilley has nicely balanced the world of the fey with the real world of London.  Filled with details about the city, this book’s setting is well drawn and delightfully mixed with the magic and wonder of the sidhe world.  Crilley also offers a feisty heroine who will delight young readers not only with her intelligence but her own guile as she deals with the faeries and The Invisible Order of humans too.  The book reads effortlessly, beginning quickly with the pages whipping by as the adventure heats up.   Children looking for a good read should look no further.  Teachers as well should look to this as a great classroom read with enough action to keep even the most doubtful listener rapt. 

A delight of a novel, this is one of the top faery books I have read for younger readers.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Egmont.

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Little Black Crow

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Little Black Crow by Chris Raschka

A little boy sits on a fence and wonders about the life of a little crow.  Where does the crow go in the snow?  Where does it go in a storm?  Who does it meet?  Does it ever complain about the cold and wet?  How does it sleep?  And most vital of all, is it really a boy, like him with similar feelings and wonders?  Raschka takes his spare verse and asks deep questions about animals and their relationship to humans.  Through it all, his watercolor images move, transitioning as the book continues from a black and brown palette to a glory of pinks, blues, oranges and yellows.  Even the illustrations have a minimalist feel to them, just like the verse they leave plenty of room for readers to insert themselves into the book.

Raschka has created a book that really works here.  It is a book that will lead to conversations and questions naturally.  It is a book that is beautifully designed, a book that invites exploration.  Raschka’s illustrations have a freedom, an exquisite carefree feel that works as a foil to the wondering tone of the boy as he tries to understand more clearly the world of the bird. 

A marvelous book, this picture book offers lots of wonder and depth.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum.

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Balancing Act: Simple Fun and Math

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Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Two mice put together a stick and rock to make a teeter-totter.  With one mouse on each end, they balance.  But when a salamander wants to join in, the teeter-totter tips, until another salamander comes along.  When one frog jumps in, the teeter-totter really tips, but balance is restored with another jumping frog coming on.  Trouble comes along though when a bird wants to join in too.  For a little while there is balance with all of the animals on one side and the bird on the other.  But then the weight is too much for the stick.  All of the animals except the mice head off to do something else.  The mice?  Well, they still have a stick and a rock…

Stoll Walsh has a way with simple stories that really allows them to shine.  Her use of very basic text allows her books to be used with very young children.  Her art is also simplicity itself with its paper collage on a white background.  She uses great color as the animals join in with a bright red salamander, teal frog and blue bird.  At the same time as she is giving an engaging story, she is also introducing the concept of balancing and how to add objects together to make two sides equal.  A book that offers basic math concepts in such a gentle and enjoyable way is very special.

A jolly picture book that offers equal story and concept for preschoolers.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

ZooBorns

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ZooBorns! Zoo Babies from around the World by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland

Even without the tie-in to a popular animal blog, this book will fly off your shelves.  Pair gorgeous close-ups of baby animals with clear, concise text and you get lots of appeal.  The book offers a glimpse of animals in a way that is very approachable.  Each pair of pages has five lines of text in a large font and one full-page image of the animals.  Adding to the appeal is the fact that each of the animals is named and offered as an individual.  The fennec fox image alone is worth picking up the book for:

The animals range from the cuddly like foxes and tigers to the strange like aardvarks, hippos and anteaters.  In the rear of the book is more information on each of the animals, though even that will most likely not satisfy a child whose interest is peaked by the book.  I see lots of fennec fox research in my future.

A charming and approachable book that is sure to be enjoyed by many children, this book is appropriate for children aged 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.