Book Reviews

That’s Papa’s Way

| Tasha

That’s Papa’s Way by Kate Banks, illustrated by Lauren Castillo

A little girl and her father head out fishing together.  They dig worms together, Papa dangling them from his fingers and her touching them only with her shovel.  That’s her way.  Together the two of them launch the boat onto the lake and put their lines in the water.  They wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Each reacting to the waiting in their own way.  The relationship of the two characters allows them each to be individual, each loving the time together and showing it in their own way.  The refrain of “That’s his way” and “That’s my way” are used just often enough for them to impart a rhythm to the book, never becoming overbearing or jarring.

Banks writing is just as gentle and patient as sitting in a boat with waves lapping.  She doesn’t hurry the story and feels no need to create excitement or danger in this gentle tale.  It is lovely in its sense of family, honor of individuality, and overall peacefulness.  Castillo’s illustrations reflect that same gentle style with their rich colors and thick lines.  She captures the feel of a day on the lake in her images.

Highly recommended, this gentle book will be enjoyed by youngster who enjoy fishing and is perfect for a Father’s Day story time or any time that a gentle read is needed.  Let’s hope that this peace and grace floods into the parents who come to our libraries too.

All of Baby Nose to Toes

| Tasha

All of Baby, Nose to Toes by Victoria Adler, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata

This delightful little picture book combines charming art work with an engaging rhyme.  From eyes to toes, this book moves from one body part to the next, stopping for giggles at the tummy.  Each body part is given its own little rhyme that moves to a chorus of “Who loves baby’s ears?  Me! I do.” 

Adler has a knack for simple rhymes, a bouncy rhythm and sweetness that is not saccharine.  Nakata’s watercolor and gouache artwork is also sweet.  It features a rosy-cheeked baby with just the right amount of plumpness who goes through life with great glee. 

Perfect for babies and toddlers, this book’s rhyme and art will have everyone enjoying it.  Expect to read it time and again once the bouncy rhythm is in your ears and toes.

The Chosen One

| Tasha

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has been raised in a sheltered polygamist society.  Her father has three wives, and she has twenty siblings.  Though she questions things, she tries to live within the rules of the society.  But she does break two very important rules.  First, she reads books from the local Library on Wheels that stops on a neighboring road, far enough away for her not to be seen.  Second, she has fallen in love with Joshua, a boy about her age.  But at a very important meeting of her family, the leader of the society declares that God has said she must marry her uncle instead of Joshua.  Kyra is repulsed and frightened by the very thought of marrying her sixty-year-old uncle.  But there is no easy solution to her predicament, even if she is courageous enough to stand up to the community.

Grippingly written, this book races along with the reader breathlessly hanging on.  Kyra is a compelling character who has chosen books over obedience.  Williams does an admirable job of creating a loving home life and family for Kyra, balancing the violence of the leaders of the community.  It creates a great tension in the book and allows readers to better relate to Kyra and her impossible decision.

Though the book is written for quick devouring, Williams’ writing is lovely.  She uses images and other senses to really create a world for her readers.  One of my favorite lines comes early in the novel:

I wait until all the lights have switched off.  I hide near the chicken coop, the smells so thick I could have hurled them at someone.

Delightfully crisp yet wonderfully evocative writing.

This book comes directly from the headlines.  It is also very well crafted, so expect demand and lots of word of mouth praise for it.  This belongs in every teen library collection.  Appropriate for 12-15 year olds.

Before You Were Here, Mi Amor

| Tasha

Before You Were Here, Mi Amor by Samantha R. Vamos, illustrated by Santiago Cohen.

A familia is expecting a baby and there is lots of excitement and preparation.  Mami is eating healthy foods.  Papi is building a rocking chair. Everyone helps pick out a name.  A tree is planted.  The walls of the nursery are painted.  A mobile is built.  And the older siblings offer their books and stuffed animals.  The book shines with love and anticipation, from the words on the page that offer a wonderful mixture of Spanish and English to the illustrations bright with color.  This book truly captures the wonder of a new baby for an entire extended family.

Vamos’ text effortlessly blends Spanish words with English, creating a mix that reads naturally.  Unlike some books where the Spanish can feel extraneous to the story, here it is an innate part of the book.  Cohen’s illustrations are bold and bright.  They exude a warmth and joy that is a perfect match for the subject and the text.

Highly recommended for all families, this book is appropriate for ages 3-6.

My Uncle Emily

| Tasha

My Uncle Emily by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Emily Dickinson has a special connection with her young nephew Gilbert.  They spend a lot of time together laughing.  One day Uncle Emily gives him a dead bee and a poem to share with his class.  Gilbert is hesitant to take it to his class, afraid the other boys will laugh and mock him.  But his mother insists so he takes it and shares it with his teacher and class.  One boy mocks his Uncle Emily on the playground, so Gilbert stands up to him and bops him on the nose.  The two boys have to spend the rest of class in the corner wearing dunce caps.  Back at home, Gilbert doesn’t quite tell the truth about the incident and Uncle Emily notices.  After sharing a poem about truth, Gilbert finds a way to tell the truth but do it gently too.

Yolen is at the top of her game here.  Her verse is free, flowing and perfectly suited to the subject.  She manages to offer a glimpse of a famous poet through the eyes of a child, making Emily accessible, humorous and caring.  It is a lovely portrait of a poet too often seen only as a recluse. Carpenter’s illustrations evoke the time period with real grace.  Her use of lines is deft and really works to create a sense of period illustrations. 

Highly recommended, this picture book on Dickinson is a real winner.  The poetry of hers in the book are nice choices that will have children of today reacting as the children in the book do.  What a great chance to talk about poetry with children and pull out that volume of Dickinson to read a few.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Cromwell Dixon’s Sky-Cycle

| Tasha

Cromwell Dixon’s Sky Cycle by John Abbott Nez

In the years following the Wright Brothers’ historic flight, the world of flying machines took off.  Literally.  A fourteen-year-old boy named Cromwell Dixon loved to invent things and flying caught his attention. So he built, with the help of his mother, a Sky-cycle using a mix of a bicycle and helium balloon.  By pedaling, he could turn the propellers made of wood and silk.  It wasn’t easy.  When the varnish on the balloon was drying it caught on fire and he had to start again.  But on August 9, 1907, Cromwell took to the skies.  He reached an amazing 2500 feet before returning to earth. 

The picture book has a real period feel with the author throwing in turn-of-the-century terms to evoke the time.  The illustrations too offer a sense of history.  I especially enjoyed that it is not until the afterword that you discover that this is a true story.  The imagination and vision that this feat took is amazing and to do it at such a young age is inspiring.  Children will be drawn to this contraption that looks like a bicycle but flies.  Nez’s illustrations and prose will keep children’s interest easily. 

This one is sure to fly off the shelves especially into the hands of young pilots.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

A Small Surprise

| Tasha

A Small Surprise by Louise Yates.

A very small white rabbit heads to try to get a job with a circus of animals even though the advertisement says that they don’t want small animals.  The rabbit has trouble getting his clown nose on, can’t tie the clown shoes no matter how he tries, and can’t walk the length of the tightrope without stopping.  Even eating proves to be messy but when the rabbit gets into trouble, something incredible happens that just may keep it in the circus after all.

The illustrations here tell the bulk of the story.  The quizzical animals are large but not scary at all.  They help the small rabbit get dressed and root for the little one when walking the tightrope.  When the rabbit displays its talent, the book turns riotously funny complete with spitting.  I especially enjoy the giraffe who spends the entire book with a leafy twig hanging from her loopy tongue, watching everything unfold around her.  A book of few words, this book repeats the few it has for most of the book, saying “I am too small to…” again and again.  With such great illustrations, this is the perfect amount of text, offering up support for the pictures but allowing them to tell the real story.

With one large word in the entire book and lots of repetition, this one would be good for emergent readers but it is also perfect for sharing with groups of children who will love the sudden transformation of the small rabbit into a true clown and the laughter that that brings.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

This Little Bunny Can Bake

| Tasha

This Little Bunny Can Bake by Janet Stein

A group of animals begin their lessons at Chef George’s School of Dessertology.  The chef tries to start with more advanced concepts, but is forced to start with the very basics: pot, egg, stove, spoon.  The antics of the animals will have children in stitches.  Sharp-eyed children will notice that the pink bunny (the only animal in color) is hard at work and really cooking.  This is despite all of the noise, confusion and mess that the others are making.  By the end of the class, all of the animals have some sort of creation but none rival the cake of the pink bunny.

Stein has a flair for wordless humor with animals tossing eggs, weighing themselves instead of ingredients, cooking with shoes and socks as ingredients, and using pate as finger paints.  Her art is wonderfully busy, hectic but also clear and clean.  The ink drawings have a soft charcoal quality to them.  Each character has his or her own personality and approach to baking.  It is great fun to follow them from page to page until their baking is complete.  Each ends up with something that makes perfect sense.  The consistency and good humor of this title make it enjoyable to re-read too.

Great fun whether you enjoy baking or not.  This tasty book is appropriate for hungry 3-5 year olds.

Maggie’s Monkeys

| Tasha

Maggie’s Monkeys by Linda Sanders-Wells, illustrated by Abby Carter.

A family of pink monkeys has moved into the family’s refrigerator according to Maggie.  Everyone except her older brother goes along with her imaginary creatures.  Mom made an extra bowl of banana pudding for the monkeys, Dad watched out for shutting the door on their tails, and the older sister pretended to dress them up.  The brother tries to get the others in the family to stop playing along with Maggie, but all of them give him reasons that there just might be real monkeys in the fridge.  Even when he tries to play along with Maggie eventually, he keeps on messing it up, sitting on the invisible monkeys, reading zoo stories, and making monkey noises.  All wrong in Maggie’s eyes.  When his friends come over one day and discover Maggie’s imaginary monkeys, they start teasing her.  That changes everything!

This book perfectly captures the great imagination of children, the willingness of a family to be supportive and creative, and the sullen concern of a child who just doesn’t understand what the family is doing.  The transformation of the older brother is done believably and openly.  The rest of the family is nicely portrayed, trying to support both children.  The character of the brother is nicely balanced, showing disbelief but never sinking into being unlikeable.  Carter’s illustrations are done in black colored pencil and gouache.  They are friendly, cartoony and bright colored.

The text is nice to read aloud and the pictures will work well for a group.  I’d try it with older preschoolers who may have younger children at home that they are just as mystified by.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.