Beka Cooper: Terrier by Tamora Pierce.

If you are looking for a balanced and impartial review of a Tamora Pierce book, you are reading the wrong blog!  I consider myself one of her biggest fans and breathlessly await her next novel months before it is released.  It feels good to breathe deeply now that I have finished it.  🙂

Beka Cooper: Terrier is the first in a new series that leaves mages behind and follows the adventures of a member of the police (Dogs).  Beka is a girl who as a young child was saved from living in the squalor of the worst part of town by one of the police officials.  Now that she is a teen, she is a Puppy, a trainee.  Her adventures begin as she leaves school and starts to work the streets with her pair of Dogs, two of the best in the city.  She is assigned to work where she asked to, in the worst section of town where she will encounter the worst of the society.  Soon she finds herself caught up in one of the largest plots in the city, which she will have to solve if anyone will believe her.

This is one of the Pierce’s best novels yet.  Magic is an intrinsic part of every society that Pierce creates, so this is no exception.  From being able to hear dead spirits on pigeons, listening to whirlwinds, and understanding her purple-eyed cat, Beka has a lot of tricks up her magical sleeves, but they only give her the clues to follow.  Pierce manages to use magic to a certain extent, but leaves the solving of the crime up to Beka.

The best thing that Pierce has done is to give us another example of a strong, strong female protagonist.  The writing is clear and easy, allowing the reader to whiz through this long novel in no time at all.  This is a must for most public libraries as are the rest of Pierce’s novels.  Give them to boys and girls alike who enjoy fantasy and action.

What the Moon Saw by Laura Resau.

Clara is a fourteen-year-old who has never met her father’s parents.  They live in a tiny village in Mexico that her father left almost twenty years ago.  Clara feels restless in her life, not sure if she fits in with her friends and wonders why she feels so different from the others.  Then a letter arrives from her grandparents inviting her to spend the summer with them in Yucuyoo, their village.  When Clara arrives, she is amazed at how at home she feels there.  Over the months she will discover both herself and the story of her grandmother as a girl.

I can’t express how much I adored this novel.  It is a magical story written with expression and vivid details that bring Yucuyoo to life.  I just have to share some of this writing with you:

“With my eyes closed, the sound of the waterfall became clearer.  And other sounds stood out.  It was like listening to a song on the radio, and picking out the guitar, then the piano, and the violin, and all the other instruments, one by one.  In this song there were insects’ wings drumming in waves, and about seven different bird tunes, calling back and forth.”

See how evocative it is, taking you through different senses into an immediate relationship with nature and this special place.  What I enjoyed most about Clara’s character was the ease with which she immersed herself in her grandparents’ world.  I didn’t miss the drawn out anguish of a girl separated from her hairdryer and DVDs at all.  Instead this was the story of a teen discovering herself and answering her own questions about who she really is. 

Share this novel with teens who also wouldn’t mind losing their iPods for awhile.  It is for people who are searchers in life, looking beyond the surface into the depths below.  You know these kids, and they will love this novel.

The Wild Girl by Chris Wormell.

Wormell has once again created a story that will immediately capture children’s imaginations.  It is the story of a little girl who lives alone except for a small brown dog.  Her hair is ratty and she is dressed only in a fur slung over one shoulder.  But she is a feisty one.  She makes her own spear, catches fish, makes fire, and gathers other food.  They live high in a cave in the mountains.  In the winter, they sleep in a nest they built so they are warm and cozy.  But then something invades their cave.  A huge bear.  They manage to chase it out of their cave, but then they discover a small bear the other has left behind.  The girl must figure out what to do.

This is a great adventure story filled with self-sufficiency and danger, but also a continual sense of wonder at the skill and grace of this small girl.  Readers will feel the cold as she walks through snow in her bare feet to survive.  Wormell’s art truly capture the way a huge bear would look to a small child and their panoramic view is always reminding readers how very alone this child is.  It is an understated, masterfully done work.

I would share this book with preschoolers through first graders.  It could be used in a winter storytime but also could easily be one of those special books that is read just because there is time.  It is sure to capture the attention of an impatient class who are looking for a new adventure.

The Best Beekeeper of Lalibela: a tale from Africa by Cristina Kessler, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins.

Almaz, a young girl who lives in Ethiopia, vows that she will one day be a beekeeper and have the best honey.  When she goes to the other beekeepers (all adult males) for help, she is laughed at and told that she should focus on women’s work instead.  But a kindly priest tells her that she can do it.  So Almaz finds a way to raise bees that is different than the way the men do it.  She faces some setbacks, but figures out solutions that allow her to offer the best honey even though she doesn’t have the size and strength of the men.

The illustrations by Jenkins are amazing with combinations of stunning colors.  They bring the text by Kessler to life.  Kessler’s words make the book easy to read aloud and will capture the imaginations of children in Kindergarten through second grade.  I especially enjoyed the fact that Almaz solves her own problems.  She is shown support by the priest, but stands alone as she solves her problems and invents her own solutions. 

This book is recommended for units on insects or Africa.  It vividly portrays a society and culture that most American children do not know. 

Black? White! Day? Night!: a book of opposites by Laura Vaccaro Seeger.

This is a wonderful lift-the-flap book that should not have librarians groaning in horror.  The premise is that each page has a small window that shows part of the image under the flap.  When the flap is lifted, the opposite of the first image is shown.  So in the first image, a black bat is show for “black?” and the the flap is lifted to show that it is actually the mouth of a “white!” ghost.  The flaps are all full-page size, so there is little chance for them to rip like smaller flaps.  Additionally, the illustrations are child-friendly but also intriguing.  This was a book that would be of interest to small children learning of opposites, but also for much older elementary children who enjoy a good guessing game.  It is pure fun, but also educational.  Libraries looking to get some quality interactive titles that will not fall to pieces immediately should purchase this one.

    

These two books from the publisher Barefoot Books include music CDs where the story is sung. 

The first, Dragon on the Doorstep by Stella Blackstone, illustrated by Debbie Harter, sung by Fred Penner, is a very cute story of two children who keep on finding wild animals throughout their house.  The animals follow them from place to place and children can spot their tails or ears in the illustrations.  Finally it is revealed that it is all a big game of hide and seek.  The illustrations are light and colorful.  The song that accompanies the book is lilting and fun.

The second, The Journey Home from Grandpa’s by Jemima Lumley, illustrated by Sophie Fatus, is a repeating story with a chorus.  This works very very well with the accompanying CD.  The song is a simple one that children will enjoy listening to.  The illustrations in this book are loose and charming.  It is certainly a story that will have transportation loving preschoolers coming back again and again.

In both cases, the CDs include instrumental versions of the music, allowing talented children’s librarians, parents and teachers to sing along on their own.

The Moon by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tracey Campbell Pearson. 

The poetry here can’t be beat of course, and the illustrations offer an accessible, warm and lovely way to enjoy the words.  Stevenson evokes the wonder of a moonlit night with his poem and Pearson takes those words and makes them come alive as a father and child go on a night-time boat ride.  The paintings are evocative, often pairing just a line of words with a double-spread of page in a way that really allows children to internalize the words and bask in the beauty of the night. 

Share this with any child at all.  As a bedtime story, on your own moonlit evening, or as a great way to introduce poetry and a love of language.

Chowder by Peter Brown.

Chowder is a bulldog who leads a rather unique life.  He doesn’t fit in with other dog, doesn’t like to take walks and is happy left at home alone to play with people toys like computers.  But he is lonely and wants to make friends.  The other dogs have told him he belongs in a zoo, so when he sees a billboard for a new petting zoo at a supermarket, he finds a way to get there.  But it is still complicated getting the petting zoo animals to be his friend, especially when he kicks their ball high into a tree.  In the end, he manages to make a whole group of new friends.

Peter Brown’s art is a wonderful mix of quirky modern and vintage.  It is eye-catching and a lot of fun.  Children will immediately be caught up in a book that opens with Chowder sitting on a toilet and the words, “Chowder had always been different.”  The book has the perfect amount of words for the story to be well told and complete, but not for small children to be overwhelmed. 

Add this to your dog storytime or share it with children in a discussion of being different and unique.  Chowder certainly is…in a wonderful way. 
You can also visit his website where you too can be tempted by wallpaper for your computer that shows Chowder sitting at his.

Find Anthony Ant by Lorna and Graham Philpot.

Warning!  This is not a book recommended for reading to a group, rather it should be shared with just one or two children while cuddled happily.  A clever book for kids who are just a little too young for Where’s Waldo, children follow Anthony Ant through a maze trying to spot his red backpack, red cap and yellow shirt in one of three spots in the maze.  It is going to be a leisurely read with small fingers tracing the mazes and laughter as ants on toilets are found, and debates about where Anthony is. 

The sense of humor adds a lot of fun to this book, and the maze feature makes it much less frustrating than the Waldo series.  Share this with your Kindergartener or first grader for a good cozy time.