Book Reviews

Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes

| Tasha

Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes by Margie Palatini, illustrated by Barry Moser

The pair who collaborated on The Three Silly Billies is back with a twist on Aesop’s fable this time.  When fox can’t reach the grapes on his own, he asks bear to help.  Fox stands on bear’s head, but that doesn’t work either.  Beaver is added to the quest for the grapes, but his tail flip doesn’t help.  Porcupine arrives and joins the stack of animals to no avail.  All of the animals try to offer advice, but fox will have none of it.  Possum is finally added to the tip of fox’s nose, but that doesn’t work either.  In the end, the other animals are full of ideas of they alone could have gotten the grapes.  But fox is such a snit by that point that he marches off, leaving the others to enjoy the “lousy, rotten, stinkin’ grapes” without him.

Palatini’s tone is spot on.  The lumbering bear is written in a way that makes him a delight to read aloud, the voice bumbling along slowly.  Fox is frenzied, the other animals befuddled.  The juxtaposition of all of the voices is great fun to read aloud.  The writing is perfectly paced as well with each idea building on the next and the anticipation of success a great tension builder.  Moser’s illustrations are large and funny.  Fox being launched into the air again and again is a real hoot, as are the doubtful looks on the other animals’ faces. He uses white space with great effect to emphasize the distance between fox and grapes.

A read aloud with action, humor and animals!  What more could anyone want?  Appropriate for ages 4-8.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Travel Game

| Tasha

The Travel Game by John Grandits, illustrated by R. W. Alley

A little boy lives in Buffalo, New York over the tailor shop his family owns.  He is still expected to take a nap in the afternoon, which angers him.  Seeing his frustration, his Aunt Hattie offers to play the Travel Game with him.  It’s a wonderful game, but the problem is that every time they play, he falls fast asleep right at the end.  This time he is determined it will be different.  To play the travel game you need two things:  a globe and a copy of 1001 Pictures from Around the World by George P. Smithers.  Aunt Hattie spins the globe and he puts his finger down.  First, they land in the Atlantic Ocean, but he gets to try again.  This time it lands on Hong Kong.  The book has four pictures and the two of them pretend that they are right there experiencing what it shows in the pictures.  But on the way to the pagoda in a boat taxi, Aunt Hattie falls asleep!  Now he can head back to the shop and help out instead of napping himself.

This book depicts a warm extended family who work and live together.  Small details make the book especially enticing, from the minutiae of their lunch meal to the functioning of the shop.  Grandits has created a world that is friendly, safe and filled with imagination.  I especially appreciate a story that brings the power of books to transport you to another part of the world so vividly to life.  Alley’s art is equally delightful.  His art is all about the small details, from a crowded street outside the shop to the small touches in the boy’s bedroom.  These are illustrations you will want to linger over.

This book may inspire a travel game of your own, perhaps with photographs from the Internet to fuel your imagination.  A great concept, well executed and delightfully done.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Princess Hyacinth

| Tasha

Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) by Florence Parry Heide, illustrated by Lane Smith.

Released September 22, 2009.

Princess Hyacinth had a very distinct problem:  she floated.  Unless she was tethered to something, she would float up and up.  So she wore a heavy crown with a strap to hold in on and had weights in her hems and socks.  She was allowed to float indoors because they could get her back down, but she was never allowed to float outdoors.  As she watched the children play outside, a boy who could fly his kite higher than anyone else came and said hello. Princess Hyacinth ventured outside with all of her heavy weights on and noticed a man selling balloons.  Because she was the princess, her wish to be tethered in the bunch of balloons was granted.  But when the string breaks, where does that leave the princess as she floats up and up into the sky?

The tone that this book is written in will have you smiling.  It has a certain confidence and silliness that makes it irresistible.  And it has obviously been written to read aloud to children.  The book design itself is clever, as words float very high on the page when the Princess is floating.  The size of text is played with as is the color, making reading it aloud that much more pleasurable.  Heide’s writing is paired perfectly with Smith’s art.  The illustrations match what is happening on the page with a heaviness to the art when the princess is tied down and a lightness when she is in the air.  As with all of Smith’s art, there is a tongue-in-cheek aspect to many of the pictures which will be appreciated by adults and children alike.

Highly recommended, this is a wonderful read-aloud for classrooms or story times.  This is a princess story that all children will enjoy, which you can’t say often!  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Do Not Build a Frankenstein!

| Tasha

Do Not Build a Frankenstein! by Neil Numberman

A little boy dashes up and tells a group of children that they must never build a Frankenstein!  It takes an immense amount of time and effort.  At first, it might seem like fun to have your own monster to play with, but then it just becomes annoying.  They will break your toys and scare your pets.  They want constant attention and are very needy.  Because they won’t take a hint and leave you alone, you are then forced to move to a new town.  And just when you think that that might work, they show up with very unexpected results!

Numberman has created a Frankenstein that is so far from frightening and so very funny.  The big green body atop spindly legs are ridiculous in the best sense.  Then you add in the googly eyes and patchwork and he becomes a lovable monster.  The illustrations are vibrantly colored, and have a great sense of movement.  The pacing of the story itself is fast and almost breathless.  When reading it aloud, make sure to save enough breath for the shouts of warning about building a Frankenstein!

A very loud, fresh picture book that is all about friendship and fun.  Perfect for sharing at storytimes as that final special book.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.

| Tasha

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner

Gee would much rather be out running than sitting and hearing about the leaf project that is due next week.  Her place in sectionals is in jeopardy though, if she doesn’t get this project in on time.  But her life is more complicated than that and she has always had problems with deadlines.  Now with her grandmother’s health in decline, Gee has very serious things on her mind.  Plus her relationship with one of her best friends could be turning into something other than friendship.  And another girl is out to steal her place on the team.  Sometimes a girl just can’t catch a break! 

Perfectly set during the glory of changing autumn, Messner captures the season’s sounds, smells and feeling.  As Gee faces difficult situations that have her world changing, nature too is in mid-change.  Messner manages to capture this with a delicate hand, allowing readers to connect the two themselves. 

Gee is a wonderful heroine.  The combination of athlete and artist is an unusual one that works very well.  The characterization is very strong for not only Gee, but all of the people around her.  Nonna, the grandmother, is captured with a warm and heart that is exceptional.  The passages about her becoming more foggy and forgetful are written with a beauty and grace that is breathtaking. 

This is a pre-teen book that is not about kissing, not boy-crazy, and not pink!  It is a book that will work for many kids who are looking for something real and beautiful.  And who isn’t?!  Appropriate for ages 11-13.

Reviewed from ARC received from publisher.

Also reviewed on A Patchwork of Books, Writing and Ruminating, Jen Robinson’s Book Page, and Welcome to My Tweendom.

Check out Kate Messner’s blog.

Nonfiction Monday: Building on Nature

| Tasha

 

Building on Nature: the Life of Antoni Gaudi by Rachel Rodriguez, illustrated by Julie Paschkis

This picture book biography of the renowned Spanish architect and artist is a true celebration of his art and gift.  Readers follow Gaudi from his sickly boyhood to his dreams of rebuilding cathedrals and his study of architecture.  Then, of course, Gaudi goes his own way, covering a house in colorful tiles, creating ramps for horses to reach a stable in the basement, and making balconies from what looks like huge bones.  All of his buildings are unique and unlike anyone else’s.  They turn the rules on their head and are filled with imaginative touches, both small and big.  The book ends with a fascinating author’s note, links to see photos of the buildings online, and a bibliography.

Rodriguez takes a complicated subject and lengthy life and distills them down to just the right level for young readers.  She excels as using only a few words, not over-explaining things, and letting Gaudi’s work speak for itself.  As she describes Gaudi’s buildings, her prose is almost poetry.  Paschkis’ gouache illustrations are vivid, colorful and dynamic.  Her work embraces the swirling lines of Gaudi’s celebrating him in ever whorl. 

Recommended for art classes in elementary schools, this picture book captures the essence of Gaudi with style and color.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Check out the interview with illustrator Julie Paschkis on Jacket Knack.

Strega Nona’s Harvest

| Tasha

Strega Nona’s Harvest by Tomie dePaola

Rejoice!  A new Strega Nona book is here!

Every spring, Strega Nona plants her garden with seeds saved from the year before.  She carefully keeps records of where things were planted previous years and never plants them in the same place.  The garden is planted during a full moon, and is done perfectly with straight rows.  Big Anthony chafes under these rules and Bambolona’s bossiness, but he does his best.  Watching Strega Nona, he learns what her little bit of magic is to make the plants grow strong.  Then he finds some forgotten seeds and decides to prove to everyone that he can do just as well himself.  Needless to say, things grow out of hand and Big Anthony has to find a way to get himself out of the situation with funny results.

DePaola’s format is classic Strega Nona with his great lines, bright colors,and signature style.  The book has both large illustrations and smaller ones with white space between them, lending them a comic strip style that  is recognizably dePaola.  His writing is clever, simple and great fun.  The Italian that is thrown in makes it a joy to read aloud as do the various character voices. 

An feast of autumnal fun featuring Strega Nona can only be delicious.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Swamps of Sleethe

| Tasha

The Swamps of Sleethe by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Jimmy Pickering.

Climb into your spaceship and travel from one strange world to another, each with some strange twist and surprise.  It’s a trip that only Prelutsky could take you on with his signature mix of poetic humor and chills.  Each world is captured with a single poem that is paired with illustrations by Pickering which are equally funny and dark.  Part of the fun of the book is unscrambling the planets names into words that describe them.  Pure word fun from beginning to end!

Prelutsky takes readers from icy planets to dangerous forests.  You will visit planets with water you should not drink and planets with air you should not breathe.  Danger lurks around every corner, usually in surprising places with even more astonishing results.  This book is dark, showing one way after another to die on distant planets.  Middle-school and early elementary children will embrace it.  It’s not for preschoolers.

If you are asked to read for a 4th or 5th grade class, this book would be a perfect read aloud.  You will get gasps and giggles often at the same time.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Also reviewed by A Patchwork of Books.

Haunted Party

| Tasha

Haunted Party by Iza Trapani

I read a lot of counting books, but they rarely make it to my review pile.  It’s even more rare for a rhyming, counting book to make it!  But this book beat those odds.

This book is about a ghost who is having a Halloween party.  To the party come a whole series of monsters: skeletons, goblins, werewolves, vampires, witches, mummies, and more.  Each monster is counted and joins the chaos of the party where they merrily cavort until 10 children knock on the door to trick-or-treat.  Frightened, the monsters flee the house in reverse order, until just the ghost is left.  The book ends with a little jump, perfect for goosebumps on Halloween.

Trapani has done a counting book right.  The counting is part of the book, but not the only reason for it.  There is a strong storyline here that keeps the book on track and interesting.  The rhyming is done well, creating a book that is easy to read aloud and has a bouncy, friendly quality.  There is a refrain that groups of children will love to chant along with: “at the haunted house of the ghost.”  Trapani’s illustrations are filled with deep colors that evoke the autumn.  There are also many small touches that bring the haunted feeling to life: spiders, eyes peeking from under the floorboard, worms and rats. 

Halloween fun for those who enjoy the thrill of monsters and the chill of a bit of creepiness.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.