Book Reviews

Poetry Friday: Pumpkin Butterfly

| Tasha

Pumpkin Butterfly: Poems from the Other Side of Nature by Heidi Mordhorst, illustrated by Jenny Reynish

Celebrate the seasons with this collection of poems that capture the small moments of each time of year.  Applaud squirrels, feed a maple tree from your old lunchbox, create snow angels, sleep in a bed heaped with snowy blankets, listen for the whisper of falling petals, and groove to the jazz of a flower. 

Mordhorst captures the essence of each season and within each season she finds small details to linger over and enjoy.  Her poetry is clean and crisp, simple and friendly.  Reynish’s illustrations serve as a frame around the verses, setting them off to great effect.  They enhance and support the poems nicely with their simple lines.

A wonderful collection to read straight or to select poems to use in classrooms or with story times.  Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

How to Say Goodbye in Robot

| Tasha

How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford

Beatrice is new in town, but that’s nothing new for her.  She and her parents have lived in city after city, following her father’s career as a professor.   Bea tells herself that she doesn’t care what the other kids in school think of her.  She’s a senior and only has to make it through one final year until she heads to college.  In assembly, she finds herself between Anne who is very perky even early in the morning, and Jonah who everyone calls Ghost Boy because he is so pale and reserved.  It would make sense for her to become friends with Anne, especially because that’s what Anne wants.  But she finds herself drawn to Jonah.  They have one vital thing in common: they are both insomniacs and listen to late-night radio to fall asleep.  And so they become unusual friends, true friends who would do anything for each other. 

Standiford does the near impossible here.  She has a male/female friendship with no kissing, no groping, no sexual tension.  It is a real friendship: taut with tension at times, deep with emotion, glassy with superficiality too.  The relationship between these two teens is so genuine.  It is fragile at times, breakable, but iron strong and vital too.  It is shifting, changing, and true.

Standiford excels at several things in this novel.  Her characterizations are wonderful.  Not only the two main characters are real, but Bea’s parents, the radio callers, and other teens are fully realized and interesting.  Standiford’s pacing is also very well done.  It is so well done that it is unobtrusive and unnoticed while reading, which is just what pacing should be. It makes the book hard to put down and a pleasure to read. 

I should mention the cover, which I really don’t like.  It should not be a pink book, especially not a hot-pink book.  And the phone really doesn’t work for me.  With as special as this book is, it deserved a much better cover.  Let’s hope that it gets released in paperback with a better cover that really shows what it’s about.

This is an unusual book. The characters are unique, interesting and fun to spend time with.  Their friendship is so real that it is almost painful at times to read because it is so accurately and unflinchingly portrayed.  Sadly, the cover will have to be worked against to get it into the hands of teens who will relate to it.  Anyone with a real friend will find themselves on these pages.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from publisher.

Also reviewed by Jen Robinson and The Hiding Spot.

All the World

| Tasha

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee

Scanlon’s evocative but simple poetry draws the world together, creating a universal place for us all to celebrate, live and enjoy.  The poem takes us to the beach, up into the branches of a tree, to dinner, to the silence of evening, and then to the bosom of our families.  Frazee’s illustrations are large spanning views of the ocean, expanses of silent evening, and the grandeur of a large tree on a hill.  But they are also small, detailed, glimpses of real life.  They show drooping swimsuits, spilled buckets, sandcastles, and red tomatoes. 

This play between the minutiae of life and the larger connections of us all makes this book work so well.  Both author and illustrator gracefully create a web of the world this book.  The text reads aloud, dancing on the tongue, with subtle rhymes and gentle rhythm.  The tone is gentle, simple and expansive.  It is nicely echoed in the illustrations which work so well with the words that one cannot imagine it being done with different art.

A wonderful collaboration between author and illustrator, this book is a triumph.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by GregLSBlog, Jama Rattigan, Through the Looking Glass, The Picnic Basket, Reading Rumpus, and Jumping the Candle.

The Longest Night

| Tasha

The Longest Night by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Ted Lewin

The longest night of the year is very cold, very still.  One of the creatures must bring back the sun.  The wind knows which creature that is.  Crow offers to fly up and bring back the sun.  Moose offers his strength to bring it back. Fox offers to sniff and search it out.  Chickadee though is the one who must bring back the sun.  But what in the world can Chickadee do?  She cannot fly high enough.  She is not strong.  She is not cunning.  But she can do what she does best.

A poem woven into a picture book, this book is exquisite.  Bauer’s poetry has a rhythm that is almost primal.  She plays with sounds, repeats refrains, and celebrates imagery.  Her poem is deep, thrumming with the energy of the forest.  It is quiet and powerful.  But most of all it is for children but without any pretense.

Lewin’s illustrations match Bauer’s poem so well.  His illustrations explore the dark, the deep, the mysterious.  They linger in blues, blacks and moonlight.  Somehow he has captured that majestic blue of a moonlit night that is so deep and so unlike day.  When the sun returns at the end of the book, one almost shields their eyes from the brightness.  His illustrations are just as evocative as the poem, just as shining, just as powerful.

Highly recommended, this book belongs in every library.  It will work for many units from poetry to winter to moon or sun.  Share this.  It is a pleasure to read aloud such wonderful writing.  Appropriate for ages 4-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

Binky the Space Cat

| Tasha

Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires

A new graphic novel series launches off with this first title.  Binky is a house cat who has never left the family “space station.”  But he is a cat with a purpose!  He is a space cat and will one day blast into outer space.  He can’t leave the space station without a helmet and other gear because he wouldn’t be able to breathe.  But even in the space station, he is surrounded by aliens.  He knows they are aliens because they can fly.  Readers will know they fly because they ARE flies.  Binky has to keep his special identity a secret from his humans.  So they don’t know of his ongoing research or the fact that he is building a space craft in his litter box. Will Binky blast off?  Or will his dreams fizzle out?

Spires has created a graphic novel with broad appeal.  Binky is a winning main character with his dreams, fears and bravery shown clearly.  This is a fresh-feeling book that has its own unique artistic style.  The illustrations are done in near sepia tones with bright bursts of red throughout.  They are filled with funny action.  Binky is portrayed as a cat with a round belly but lots of energy and drive. 

Young readers who enjoy more pictures with their books will be right at home here.  It is an easy graphic novel that does not speak down to young readers. 

Recommended for all library collections, this series deserves a spot on graphic novel shelves for elementary-aged readers.  I happily await the next Binky adventure.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Also reviewed at Three Silly Chicks, A Year of Reading, 100 Scope Notes, and Young Readers.

The Silver Blade

| Tasha

The Silver Blade by Sally Gardner

This sequel to The Red Necklace is just as winning a book as the first.  Readers are once again taken into the French Revolution with Yann and Sido.  Yann is still rescuing people from the bloody edge of the guillotine, spiriting them out of the country using his innate magic of the threads of light.  His nemesis Count Kalliovski is now living deep under Paris in the catacombs and is once again seeking Sido for his demonic uses.  This is a magical romance set against the horror of the French Revolution.  It is a dark but shining novel which could be described as the Scarlet Pimpernel for teens.

Gardner creates books with a unique mix of historical fiction and fantasy.  Her historical fiction is so vivid that one might just think that the fantasy interwoven into the story is part of that actual history.  Gardner’s language is just as powerful and deep as the novel itself.  Here is a passage on page 76 of the novel where she describes the darkness in the catacombs:

Yet here, where no sunlight had ever been, the darkness had an altogether unfamiliar texture.  No dawn would break through these shadowy corridors.  This darkness would never remember the light of a lantern’; it would be nothing more than a pinprick in the liquid heart of eternal night.  So powerful was this absence of light that for the first time, Yann experienced the sensation of being blind.

She weaves her story together out of the different strands of light and dark.  She takes the vilest of characters and brings them unflinchingly to life while also creating a hero for the ages.  The story is as riveting and fascinating as the first book thanks to her strong characterization and great action sequences.

Get this pair of books in the hands of teens who like either historical fiction or fantasy.  Both sets will enjoy it immensely.  Appropriate for ages 13-16. 

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

A Birthday for Bear

| Tasha

A Birthday for Bear by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton

The creators of A Visitor for Bear return with an easy reader featuring Mouse and Bear!  It is Bear’s birthday, but Bear is much to busy to celebrate.  Bear does not like birthdays.  He doesn’t like parties, balloons, cakes or presents.  But Mouse has different ideas about how Bear should spend his birthday, and they don’t include scrubbing the house from top to bottom.  Mouse tries again and again to get Bear into a birthday mood and in the end you know he will win!

This easy reader retains the feel of the original with great humor and charm.  Becker’s writing does not feel constrained by the new format at all.  She embraces the limitations of an easy reader and turns out a delightful tale.  The illustrations are still soft-hued and domestic, a great foil for the silliness of Mouse.  This is a great odd couple for the younger set.

Highly recommended, this is an easy reader that should be in every library collection.  It is a great easy reader, but an equally good read aloud.  Appropriate for ages 4-7. 

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by BooksTogether.

Big Wolf & Little Wolf: The Little Leaf that Wouldn’t Fall

| Tasha

Big Wolf & Little Wolf: The Little Leaf that Wouldn’t Fall by Nadine Brun-Cosme, illustrated by Olivier Tallec

Released December 2009.

This sequel to the lovely Big Wolf & Little Wolf continues the story of their friendship.  Little Wolf spots a special leaf in the spring and wants Big Wolf to climb up their tree and bring it down.  Big Wolf tells him to wait, that it will fall.  Little Wolf asks again in the summer and autumn, as the leaf turns into a deep green and then a soft brown.  When winter arrives, the leaf is still up in the tree, now a black color.  Then one day, Big Wolf decides to climb the tree and bring down the leaf for Little Wolf.  After a harrowing climb, Big Wolf reaches the leaf and it crumbles to pieces.  Beautiful pieces.

Brun-Cosme’s prose is lovely, spare and yet manages to be dynamic too.  She evokes the seasons, colors and wonder of each time of year without becoming maudlin at all.  There is the drama of Big Wolf’s climb and the unexpected resolution of the story that is surprising but fitting.  The first book was about the awkwardness of new friendship.  This second book is about a deepening connection and the beauty of togetherness. 

Tallec’s illustrations are less colorful this time, sticking to a more natural palette of colors.  But they still have an expansive feel, a clear sense of space, and they play with perspective.  They are simple but dynamic, just like the text.  A lovely combination.

Highly recommended, this series has its own unique feel and style.  These are quiet books, filled with natural beauty and deep connections.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Full disclosure:  My review of the first book is blurbed on the jacket of this second.  A great surprise to discover!

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Acorns Everywhere!

| Tasha

 

Acorns Everywhere! by Kevin Sherry

The author of I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean returns with a new character that toddlers are sure to adore. 

Squirrels are running around gathering acorns as quickly as they can and this orange squirrel is doing the same.  Surrounded by so many acorns, he realizes that he has to hide them, gather them, dig and bury them.  He does, taking them right out of the paws of mice and the beaks of birds.  He almost gets in the way of a bear reaching for berries.  Then his stomach starts to growl.  But… where did he put all of the acorns? 

Done in Sherry’s signature wide-lined illustrations and large blocks of color, the pictures have a child-like feeling and cartoony style.   Sherry mixes in photographs of acorns and berries to great effect.  His words are simple and even sparse, allowing the bulk of the story to be told through the pictures. 

Toddlers will be drawn to the illustrations and will find a book that they themselves can “read” after only a few readings with adults.  This orange squirrel is sure to become a beloved fall fixture in story times for toddlers.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.