I Lost My Tooth in Africa by Penda Diakite, illustrated by Baba Wague Diakite.

With vivid illustrations and a rhythm to the storytelling, this book is a perfect read aloud for preschoolers through elementary aged children.  It is the story of a girl who travels to Mali to see her extended family and loses her tooth while she is there.  She is told that if she loses her tooth in Africa, the African tooth fairy will give her a chicken in return.  So she places her tooth on the ground under a calabash gourd and waits.  Eventually she gets her chickens.  The illustrations are a perfect complement to the text and children will find themselves savoring the differences between the United States and Africa, from the dance of the names on your tongue to the bright red ground, it is all different but delightful. 

Share this book with children losing their first tooth, those learning about Africa, and any child who would enjoy experiencing travel to Africa.  This one is a winner. 

The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. Birney is a book with an old-fashioned, folk-tale feel.  Eben is fascinated by the seven wonders of the world, and his father challenges him to find seven wonders right in his small, rural home town of Sassafras Springs.  Eben doubts that it is possible, but his father says that he can travel to Colorado if he manages to find all seven wonders in seven days.  The reader is carried along with Eben and his faithful dog as they search the entire town for wonders, meeting all sorts of characters along the way.  

The writing and subject are perfectly matched.  The writing is as unadorned as Sassafras Springs but leads to the same sort of joy as the wonders. Unfortunately, the brown cover of the book will not draw children to reading it. This one will take some hand selling or direct sharing to find its audience.  

This is a perfect book to read aloud to third or fourth graders, especially those living in small towns.  It will inspire children to see their own communities in a different way, celebrating the small things that make us all unique and learning about the tale tales and ghost stories that may be right under their own noses.  

The Dirty Little Boy by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Steven Salerno is a wonderful book.  It is the story of a little boy who is so dirty that he actually asks his mother for a bath.  She is busy doing white laundry in her washtub, so she tells him to go learn from the animals how to take a bath.  So he tries to bathe the way that birds, pigs, cats and horses do.  But he just gets dirtier and dirtier.  Finally, he returns to his mother, who promptly puts him in the washtub and gets him shiny clean.

The book takes traditional storytelling techniques and combines them with modern illustrations that retain a retro feel.  It is a perfect readaloud with its rhythmic language and repetition.  The writing is witty and fun, with a real child-friendly topic.  Just a joy to have discovered and to have read. 

Published in 2001, it was just released in paperback in October.

Here are a pair of easy reader books from the I Am Reading series.  Both will appeal to kids who like monsters, witches, and other semi-scary beasties.

Creepy Customers by Samantha Hay, illustrated by Sarah Warburton is the story of Steve who is forced to help out his dad in the pharmacy during the first day of his school vacation.  He expects it to be dull, but then a parade of strange customers arrive.  Kids will enjoy seeing who is coming into the shop next.  This is a book that will get even kids who don’t enjoy reading started.

The Perfect Monster by Sally Grindley, illustrated by Erica-Jane Waters features Mungus Bigfoot, a monster who is the loudest, rudest, smelliest, and worst monster in his class.  Because he is so good at being a monster, he is asked to help Emily Twinkletoes become more monsterlike.  But Emily is more like a human child.  She tries to be nice, worries about how others feel, and sings instead of growling.  As Mungus starts to teach Emily, he realizes that it is nice to have a kind friend.  But how are they going to have her become the perfect monster then?  This is a light, sweet story where the monster theme will draw kids in. 

The Stars Will Still Shine by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke is a picture book set to a poem.  It reassures readers that nothing will change in the new year: “The sky will still be there, the stars will still shine.”  While the verse by Rylant is lovely, the illustrations really make this book special.  They capture the warmth, joy and vibrant color of life, showing us that there is a beauty in what will never change.

Share this one with a child in the new year.  It is a quiet story, perfect for bedtime snuggles and lap reading. 

A Gift of Gracias: The Legend of Altagracia by Julia Alvarez and illustrated by Beatriz Vidal is a picture book based on the Dominican legend of Altagracia.  Our Lady of Altagracia, Our Lady of Thanks, is known for the wonders she worked.  In this book, she gives dreams to a young girl named Maria instructing her to plant oranges on their failing farm.  She burns her image into a blanket that gives light when the family needs it most. 

The illustrations fully capture the magic and traditional feel of the tale.  The entire book has a wonder and faith about it that pays homage to the original legend.  This is all done with a minimal amount of text, allowing even small preschool children to enjoy the story.  Simply wonderful.

Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart by Pat Mora, illustrated by Raul Colon is a magical Southwestern tall tale.  Flor is an enormous woman as tall as the mountains.  She uses her size and strength to help the people who live near her. She grows  huge flowers that she lets the children play with.  She makes enormous tortillas that can be used as roofs and rafts.  She searches out a fearsome animal whose growls have been terrorizing the villagers.  And throughout it all, she demonstrates kindness and a very big heart.

The marriage of text and illustration is wonderfully done, with neither leaning on the other but both contributing to the story and making it better than it could have been.  This exquisitely done story is one that is perfect to share when studying tall tales at school.  We finally have a woman large enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Paul Bunyan. 

Wright 3 is the new book by Blue Balliett that follows Chasing Vermeer. It continues the story of Petra and Calder as they get caught up in a new mystery filled with coincidences and findings. But this time, Calder’s old friend Tommy has returned, and the threesome just doesn’t click. Both Petra and Tommy are jealous of the other’s time with Calder, and Calder feels trapped in the middle. The mystery in this book centers on Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece, the Robie House filled with strange angles, changing lights, and perhaps a ghost?
Balliett’s writing once again soars and carries the story effortlessly along. Readers will be captivated not just by the mystery but by the three main characters. The author has managed to create three characters each with individual quirks that make them even more real and perspectives that make the mystery itself work. As much as I loved Chasing Vermeer, I liked this sequel even more. Balliett has created a work of art once again.
Wright 3 will be released in April.

The Sacrifice by Kathleen Benner Duble is set in seventeenth century Andover, Massachusetts during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Faulkner lives with her two sisters, baby brother, father and mother, surrounded by extended family. The book starts with her in the stocks for having raised her skirts to run. She has to go to church the next day, and expects her grandfather, the preacher, to spend the entire time lecturing her from the pulpit. But instead he speaks about bearing false witness and lying. This is the first that 10-year-old Abigail learns about the Salem Witch hysteria. When it is announced that the girls involved in the Salem Trials will come to Andover to seek for witches, Abigail is immediately worried about her father who suffers from mental illness. But no one in Abigail’s family is accused at first, until her grandfather continues to speak out against the accusations of others in the community. Then her beloved aunt is accused and jailed in Salem. And finally both Abigail and her older sister are accused by their former servant. Then the book becomes one of horror as readers are brought face-to-face with the conditions of the people held after being accused. The filth, lack of light, hunger, rats, and much more work to break spirits and ruin health.
The title of The Sacrifice has many meanings in the story. It is a gripping tale that is impossible to put down. Those looking for a book that truly portrays the way it was in Puritan Massachusetts will fiind a great book here. Recommend to children who like historical fiction and teachers who are covering this historical period.