Book Reviews

But Who Will Bell the Cats?

| Tasha

But Who Will Bell the Cats? by Cynthia Von Buhler

Beginning with the fable from Aesop, Buhler creates an answer to the question of who will bell the cats.  The story is one of two very different but very nearby worlds.  One is the world of privilege and pampering of the princess and her eight cats.  The other is the world below the floor of Mouse and his friend Bat who live on the crumbs and waste of the world above them.  Mouse yearns to sleep on perfumed pillows, and eat gorgeous meals, so he makes plans to bell the cats so they will be warned of any approach by the cats.  He creates a suit of armor and a sword, but the cats just play ping-pong with him.  He dresses up as a dog to scare the cats, but they play floor hockey with him.  They put on a fashion show for the cats, but end up in mouse and bat pies, and are rescued by the kind princess.  Finally, Mouse has a great idea that answers the question of the entire book.

I must first comment on the illustrations of the book which caught my attention immediately.  They are done as miniature sets that Von Buhler built by hand.  The characters are flat paper against the 3-D sets, making for a very theatrical feel.  Her sets are done in deep colors that make them atmospheric and dramatic.  Each room has small touches that demonstrate the care she has taken with the entire book.

Against the elaborate illustrations, her writing is simple and will read aloud well.  The book is paced nicely, aided by quite a bit of humor that helps carry the story along. There is tension with each new plan from Mouse and a real sense of danger.  The drama of the storyline works well with the theatrical sets.

Great drama in a lovely theater of a book, this book will reach out to anyone who spots the cover.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Make sure to take a look at Cynthia von Buhler’s blog and get a glimpse of how she built the illustrations.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by Fuse #8 and Elizabeth Dulemba.

My Parents Are Divorced, My Elbows Have Nicknames, and Other Facts about Me

| Tasha

My Parents are Divorced, My Elbows Have Nicknames, and Other Facts about Me by Bill Cochran, illustrated by Steve Bjorkman.

Ted’s parents are divorced, but that is just one aspect of this kid.  His parents may live separately, may not watch his games together, and he may still be sad whenever he thinks about the divorce, but that definitely doesn’t mean that Ted is weird.  What makes Ted weird are the other parts of his life:  eating cold spaghetti sauce out of the jar, naming his elbows, and wearing soap Mohawks.  When taken all together, Ted is the sum of many things and being the son of divorced parents is a big part but only a part of him.

This book takes divorce and makes it normal.  It talks about the feelings, the confusion, the pain of divorce but offsets it with the humor and silliness of Ted’s other interests.  In this way, Cochran makes it into more than a simple book on divorce.  It becomes a book that any child, from a divorced family or not, can see themselves in, and see themselves celebrated.  Yes, it is a book about divorce, but just like Ted, that is only a part of what it is.

Bjorkman’s illustrations gleefully add to the silliness of the story.  Nicely, the pages about the divorce are not darker or different.  They are just as bright and colorful as the rest.  In the most poignant illustration, Ted sits between his parents as they tell him about the divorce.  He is snug up against his mother with his hand and arm reaching toward his father on the other side of the couch.  A lovely illustration that encompasses the feel of divorce in a single image.

Highly recommended as a book on divorce that will not depress children but will encourage moving through it and beyond.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from publicist.

Also reviewed on Book Dads, Young Readers, and A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy.

Front and Center

| Tasha

Front and Center by Catherine Murdock

Released October 19, 2009.

In this third and final book in the Dairy Queen series, DJ has returned home after caring for her injured brother Will.  Now she is back in the high school mix of homework, basketball and plenty of pressure.  Pressure from her coach to turn into a better leader and start to speak out more on court.  Pressure from the bag of offers her father has kept, filled with coaches that she is going to have to call.  Pressure from a new boyfriend and lingering thoughts of Brian.  Pressure from her brother Will to do it all perfectly and to do it now.  Luckily DJ has basketball and workouts to keep her mind from spiraling completely out of control.  But she has some big decisions to make and soon.

DJ is such a wonderful character that I am sad to see this will be her final book.  She is genuine, funny and reminds me vividly of all of the Wisconsin farm girls I knew growing up.  Murdock has created a character who is above all real, filled with doubts, and exceptional.  Even reading this as an adult, it brought up all of the tough decisions I have had to make about school and work, along with their accompanying not-good-enough feelings.  Murdock has written a book about struggling with self-doubt and the future without becoming whiny in any way. 

Murdock also excels at the characters of DJ’s family, giving them each their own motivations, logical growth of their characters, and sudden understanding.  It is a pleasure to see a series where an entire family changes together, growing stronger and more important to one another.

Highly recommended for anyone who has read the first two.  This final book is just as good as the others in the series, if not better.  I’d recommend seeking this series out and enjoying all three books right in a row if you haven’t read them yet.  A great end to a marvelous series!  Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

Also reviewed at Librarilly Blonde, Abby (the) Librarian, Feed Your Imagination, and Jen Robinson’s Book Page.

Yellowstone Moran

| Tasha

Yellowstone Moran: Painting the American West by Lita Judge

Thomas Moran was a painter who lived in the city.  When he met Dr. Hayden, a geologist, who was heading into Yellowstone, he didn’t want to admit that he had never been on a horse, never shot a gun, and never slept outside.  Moran joined the expedition in the summer of 1871 and learned on the trail to ride a horse.  Tom befriended the team photographer on the difficult journey.  After weeks of travel, they entered Yellowstone: a place of sulfur smells, white rock, gorges, waterfalls, and wonder.  Tom painted everything he saw, recording in small paintings and sketches with notes.  When he returned home after a harrowing exit from Yellowstone, he painted large canvases capturing the grandeur of this new landscape.

A delightful mixture of adventure and art, this book will intrigue children interested in both subjects.  Judge uses humor, drama and a great sense of pacing to tell a story that will keep young reader riveted.  Just the idea that the United States had not been fully explored in 1817 will astound some children.  Judge’s paintings that accompany the story offer a sense of the place itself, without attempting to mimic Moran’s style.  The illustrations help create the sense of journey, danger and amazement.

Recommended for art classes, but also as a fascinating biography in picture book form.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy provided by publisher.

You can check out Lita Judge’s blog to see some of her illustrations in sketch form.

Shades of People

| Tasha

Shades of People by Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly

The beauty of different shades of skin is celebrated in this picture book.  One evocative word after another is used: coffee, cocoa, copper, ivory, bronze.  And more common words too like brown, pale, dark and light.  The book talks about different colors within families, and the problems with color choice when trying to paint skin.  It is a joyous celebration of diversity, ourselves, and humanity. 

Rotner’s photographs here are such a joy.  They have interesting composition, clarity, bright color, and of course a diverse group of subjects.  Each child is celebrated for their own unique beauty and the photographs capture that well.  The text is simple, but important, as it muses about the different colors we all come in.  Nicely done without rhyme, instead it allows readers to think, exploring the photographs and finding themselves on the page.

Highly recommended, this book belongs in every public library.  Every child you serve will see themselves on the pages, a very powerful message for children of all races and colors.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Little Dump Truck

| Tasha

The Little Dump Truck by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Bob Kolar

This is a bouncy, cozy book about one small dump truck and the work he does every day.  Told in the voice of the truck, readers will get to see the truck drive along roads, dump its load, and get filled once more to do it all again.  Along the way, readers get to meet other hardworking machines and vehicles.  All of the vehicles and people have happy smiles that match the jolly rhymes.

Cuyler has written a rhyming book that has a great rhythm and wonderful sense of play.  Young readers will find themselves right at home in the bouncy world of big trucks.  Kolar’s art filled with big grins brings the rhyme to life.  The bright colored illustrations were done on computer but have none of the over-textured feel of some computer-generated art.  Instead Kolar has managed to create a rather vintage feel that mimics the style of children’s toys.

A great addition to the large collection of truck-themed picture books, this book will work best with toddlers.  It is printed on thicker paper, so it will stand up to small hands that may not be so gentle.  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Also reviewed by Becky at Young Readers.

Can You Make a Scary Face?

| Tasha

Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas

Got a room full of wiggly toddlers?  Have I got a book for you!

A ladybug gets children standing then sitting, then pretending to have a bug on their nose.  Then it flies in their mouth!  They have to blow it out.  Then it flies out onto their shirt, and the only way to get it off your shirt is to do the chicken dance!   The children then are told to pretend that there is a giant hungry frog coming to eat but off their shirts.  But what happens where there really is a giant hungry frog coming to eat the ladybug?!

First, kudos to Thomas for creating yet another book perfect for the toddler years.  She has created a ladybug that is silly, bright-colored and in no way glittery or dainty, much to her credit.  She uses her trademark thick black lines and cartoon style to great effect, resulting in a book that could be used with very large crowds because the illustrations project so well. 

The book inspires such movement and action and laughter!  A must-have for libraries, day cares and pre-K classrooms.  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Also reviewed by The Booknosher.

Homegrown House

| Tasha

 

Homegrown House by Janet Wong, illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Her grandmother is 65-years-old but has only lived in two houses!  The little girl on the other hand has lived in three houses already.  Grandma says she is lucky, but the girl doesn’t think so.  While her parents want a house near the water or a home from the glossy magazines, she yearns for a home that feels like her grandmother’s does.  That has walls of different colors, crowded closets, lavender drying in the garage.  With their next house, she has figured out exactly what to do, creating a place that really feels like home.

This book explores moving and what makes a house a home through poetry that is delightfully down-to-earth.  In her stanzas, Wong reveals so much about family, home and expectations in only a few words.  She also has a feel for simple pleasures and small details, that really ground the poetry and make it powerful.  Paired with Lewis’ watercolor illustrations, the poetry is brought further to life.  Lewis depicts the simple country world with a warm and natural feeling. 

Highly recommended for all library collections as families begin to move more and more and children seek their own definitions of home that they can move with them.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

The Indigo Notebook

| Tasha

The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau

Released October 13, 2009.

Fifteen-year-old Zeeta has lived all over the world with her mother who teachers English.  She has been raised to dance in the middle of the night, bathe in mystic pools, and embrace the world and its mysteries.  Her mother spouts the poetry of Rami all the time and doesn’t believe in rules at all.  Zeeta has spent most of her life wishing that she had a normal family.  Now the two are in Ecuador.  Zeeta meets American teen, Wendell, at the market place and is drawn into a quest to find his birth parents with only the clue of a crystal that was placed in his blankets as a baby.  They journey together to a neighboring small village where the answers are hidden in time and everyone seems to have a secret.  As she tries to help Wendell on his quest, Zeeta’s home life starts to change after her mother nearly dies.  Her mother gets a normal boyfriend and starts to watch TV, set rules, and think about returning to the states.  Could it be that everything you really wish for you already have?  The first in a new series.

In this many layered, complex work, Resau has created a fascinating heroine who speaks multiple languages, is at ease approaching strangers, and Can move across the world and in a few weeks feel at home.  Zeeta is an engaging heroine whose life may seem blissful when seen from afar, but living it takes more skill that one would expect.  She is nicely balanced in the story by Wendell, who has left the US for the first time since his adoption.  Their romance is well done, with nothing beyond kissing, and an obvious deep connection to one another. 

The depiction of Ecuador is done without cleaning it up and making it pretty.  There is poverty, begging, alcoholism, deceit, and broken families.  But there are also women who are mothers of the entire village, wise healers, friendly people at the market, generosity, and beauty.  Resau does not make it simple and easy.  She revels in the complexity, creating a real world for readers to immerse themselves in.

Resau’s writing is filled with imagery.  Here is a description of the mountains from Page 98 of the ARC:

Each of the mountains has its own personality. Some beam down at you, gently, like a big-bosomed grandma.  Some are sexy, slinking around in the lacy clouds.  Others shoot up, jagged and fierce, with a passionate energy.  Some guard magical realms, their smiles silent and secret.  No wonder the locals say that the mountains are gods.

With this, her setting is built and strengthened.  Ecuador comes alive in her writing.  One can almost smell the popcorn in the air, the fresh bread baking, and the potato soup. 

Highly recommended for tween and teen readers who are looking to travel.  This book brings a place to life so vividly it is almost like being there.  Add a little romance and it becomes irresistible.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from an ARC.  The quote used should be checked against the final version for accuracy.