Elementary School

The Secret River: Luminous Loveliness

| Tasha

secretriver

The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon

Luminously illustrated by the Dillons, this new version of a classic children’s book truly shines.  The only children’s book written by the author of The Yearling, this story is about Calpurnia, a young girl who is a poet.  She woke up one gorgeous morning and found that she had a journey ahead of her.  Her father told the family that he had no fish to sell in his fish market.  So Calpurnia decided to catch some fish herself.  She made roses out of crepe paper for bait and then headed to get advice from Mother Albirtha, the wisest person in the forest.  When Calpurnia asked Mother Albirtha where she could catch big fish, Mother Albirtha told her of the secret river that was full of fish and advised Calpurnia to follow her nose.  So off Calpurnia went with her dog at her side to find the river.  Eventually, Calpurnia found the river and caught some large fish to help her father.  But that was just the start of her adventures in the forest, because she had to get back home.

Rawlings’ writing is filled with such depth here.  While the story is written for children, it will ask them to stretch, to imagine and to dream.  The writing is filled with small touches, turns of phrase that add such beauty to the text.  Rawlings also had a poet for a main character, so Calpurnia’s poems are throughout the book.  One of my favorite passages happens early in the book where Calpurnia creates a poem and after her mother criticizes one of the phrases turns right around and creates a new poem that focuses on that phrase.  Just that one piece is a testament to writing and creativity, as is the entire book.

Dillons’ illustrations take the book to an even higher level.  They are illustrations that are celebrate the beauty of light on skin, the depth of dark in a forest, the shine of wisdom on a face, and the blackness of animal fur.  The illustrations vary in size, ranging from full page images to smaller illustrations in the margins of the text.  There are illustrations so lovely here that one lingers on the page long after the words have been read, just absorbing the image.  It is simply beautiful.

This is a treat of a new version of a classic.  It is a perfect marriage of illustration and writing that celebrates both.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Family Pack: Poetic Nature

| Tasha

familypack

Family Pack by Sandra Markle, illustrated by Alan Marks

This book captures the real-life story of wolves being reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park.  The focus of the story is one young female wolf who finds herself suddenly separated from her pack and alone in a new place.  Her tracks are the only wolf tracks she sees, she is the only wolf she smells.  Without a pack, she cannot hunt the way she is used to, so she survives mostly on mice.  As she becomes an adult, she discovers another wolf, a male.  The two of them become a mated pair and eventually have a family in Yellowstone.  One lone wolf has created her own pack.

Markle’s verse in the book really shines, illuminating the loneliness of this young wolf’s new life, her troubles with hunting larger game, and her growth into an adult wolf.  The poetry is filled with imagery that enlivens the book, making the cold and loneliness tangible to readers. 

Marks’ illustrations are equally successful.  He captures the setting beautifully from the towering trees to the wide open spaces.  In his illustrations, Yellowstone becomes just as real as the wolf herself, almost another character in the story.  The vistas and close-ups he has created here give readers a very unique perspective on the life of this wolf.

Highly recommended, this book will work well for slightly older children because of the depth of the verse.  It will work well in units about preservation and ecology.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Charlesbridge.

Zita the Spacegirl: A Girl-Powered Graphic Novel

| Tasha

zita_frontcover

Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

This is a great graphic novel for elementary readers who will enjoy the action and the science fiction setting.  Zita and her friend Joseph see a meteoroid fall to earth.  When Zita looks closely, she sees that there is something embedded in the meteoroid.  It looks like a red button and despite her friend’s protests, she presses it.  Immediately, a rift opens and sucks Joseph through it.  After some moments of panic, Zita presses the button again and heads through the rift to rescue her friend.  On the other side of the rift, Joseph is being dragged away by a strange multi-armed alien who flies off with him in a space ship.  Now Zita is left alone in a strange world filled with amazing creatures.  Unfortunately, it’s a world about to be destroyed by a giant asteroid.   How is Zita going to be able to save her friend before the planet is demolished?

Hatke is a great storyteller.  Zita is a friendly, determined and strong girl character, who remains solidly the heroine of her story.  Through his friendly illustrations Hatke has created a world that makes one feel at home despite its strangeness.  The adventure here is thrilling, dangerous and great fun.  As Zita adventures through the world, readers will enjoy the humor of different characters.  Hatke embraces nuanced characters as well, which is a treat in a graphic novel for children.

The illustrations here have an anime appeal to them.  Young fans of Pokemon will feel right at home with the variety of creatures that Zita meets. 

This is one of those great graphic novels that belongs in every library collection.  Sure to check out and be very popular, just face this one out and watch it check out of the library.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

To get a sense of the illustrations, you can view the video below:

Zita the Spacegirl Trailer

Reviewed from copy received from First Second.

Also reviewed by:

The Literate Mother

Little Lamb Books

Perpetual Learner

I Feel Better with a Frog in My Throat: Gross, Gruesome and Great Fun

| Tasha

tumblr_lb070qPLi51qcx2yno1_500

I Feel Better with a Frog in My Throat: History’s Strangest Cures by Carlyn Beccia

Have a symptom?  Look it up in this book, but beware!  Some of the cures listed just may not work.  It’s up to you to try to guess which ones would actually help and which might really hurt.   What would help a cough?  Caterpillar fungus used in ancient China?  Frog soup used in 16th century England?  Cherry bark used by ancient Native Americans?  Readers turn the page to discover which of the three would help.  The reasons behind the use of the cure and then the real results are offered, giving a readers a fascinating tour through medical history.  Happily, some of the cures are gross.  That and the way the information is presented as a guessing game make this book appealing to children, including reluctant readers.

Beccia has taken a cheerful approach to what could have been a very dark book.  Instead the tone stays rather merry, talking about the nutritional boost of frog soup, the healing power of spider webs, and much more.  Her illustrations add to the fun with images like maggots with smiling faces and stinky socks tied around the neck.  They have an interesting blend of macabre and silly.

There are some misses in the book.  At one point, a woman of the 19th century is shown in a short skirt, looking very modern except for her cap.  The book maintains a great pace and tone, but falls short at the end where the healing power of mother’s kisses takes on an overly sweet tone.  I also have concerns about the imagery of the mothers and children, because the only one with darker skin is prehistoric.  The only Asian faces are ancient.  It is a frustrating misstep in a book that is good overall.

Get this into the hands of reluctant readers who enjoy gross things and you too will get to talk about maggots at the dinner table!  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Me, Frida: Intensely Beautiful

| Tasha

Me, Frida by Amy Novesky, illustrated by David Diaz

2011 Pura Belpre Honor Book for Illustration

Opening this book is like opening a treasure box filled with images that are deep, fiery, passionate and intensely beautiful.  This is the story of Frida Kahlo and her travel to San Francisco alongside her husband, artist Diego Rivera.  Rivera was hired to paint a mural for the city, but Frida was restless as he started work on it.  As Rivera spent longer and longer hours working, Frida was left alone in a a foreign country and big city.  She didn’t speak much English and knew almost no one.  So Frida began to explore the city on her own, allowing the things she loved to be the focus.  And in the process, she found her own voice and her own artistic vision.  She was no longer silent, but instead a vivacious beauty who would show the world what she was capable of.

Told in simple words by Novesky, this book captures the situation Frida found herself in with clarity.  The author also revels in Frida finding herself and her art, her explorations and her self awareness.  It is a celebration of more than Frida Kahlo.  It is a celebration of women artists of all sorts.  Diaz’s illustrations are done in acrylic, charcoal and varnish on linen.  The combination of media give the illustrations an amazing depth of color that is beautifully saturated at times and light and airy at others.  Just the use of drips in the illustrations is beautifully done.  The drips become age, emotions and trees.  They add a wild beauty to the images that suits the subject well.

A beautiful picture book about an amazing artist, this was surely worthy of the Pura Belpre Honor Award.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Also reviewed by TheHappyNappyBookseller.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys

| Tasha

guyku

Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

A brilliant combination of haiku poems, clever humor, and engaging illustrations, this book is sure to appeal to its target audience of guys and also to girls.  Celebrating the small things in life, each haiku takes a moment in time and then offers a grin to the reader.  The poems are arranged in seasons, fitting because so many of them are about nature and a boy’s relationship with it.  Whether it is flying a kite, skipping rocks, leaf piles or snowball fights, children will relate easily to these vignettes about the things that make life fun. 

Raczka’s haiku are light-hearted and enjoyable.  Thanks to the brief nature of the format, the poems are easily shared aloud.  Nicely, the poems stand on their own or work together as a larger piece of writing.  Reynolds’ art is equally engaging.  It too has a great humor about it but also a sense that a moment is being captured. 

A celebration of seasons, play and boyhood, this book is a treat.  If librarians are looking for something to take with them for summer reading program visits, the summer haiku here would make a great thing to share with boys of many ages.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Season of Secrets: Poignant, Magical and Lovely

| Tasha

054521825X.01.LZZZZZZZ

Season of Secrets by Sally Nicholls

Originally published in the UK in 2009, this is the second book from the award-winning author of Ways to Live Forever.

After Molly’s mother died, she was sent to live with her grandparents along with her sister Hannah.  Her father’s job didn’t allow him to take care of them, so they went there while he figured things out.  So she has a new home to get used to, plus a new school filled with new children.  Her sister Hannah is just plain angry about everything, even at school so the others think she is mean.  Molly though is the one having real problems making friends and while she may not be showing it aloud, she is not coping with the loss of her mother.  That’s why she is out on a stormy dark night and sees the man for the first time, being hunted by others on horseback and dogs.  Molly continues to secretly visit her man, who has the ability to make flowers bloom in his hand and to make trees grow.  Could this magical man be the key to bringing back her mother?

Nicholls uses a lovely light touch with her story that very nicely shows the journey of one girl through grief as contrasted with the way her sister is coping.   At the same time, there is a richness to the writing, especially when nature is being described and the seasons changing.  This beautiful lingering on details makes for a very compelling read.

Molly is a character that young readers will relate to easily.  Her broken heart is evident from the beginning as is her tumultuous relationship with her sister and her confusing situation with her father.  Hannah’s angry response to their situation is vivid and loud, making Molly’s pain that much more silent and stirring.  The girls’ grandparents are equally well written with differing responses to their grandchildren moving into their lives.

This is a book that celebrates nature, life and embraces the turning of the seasons and of lives.  It’s a beautiful read about grief for children with a cover that does the book proud.  Appropriate for ages 8-11.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Jake: A Small Present Filled with Christmas Joy

| Tasha

n349294

Jake by Audrey Couloumbis

Only a few days before Christmas, Jake’s mother falls and breaks her leg.  With his mother in the hospital awaiting surgery, Jake has to get to know a grandfather that he has only talked with on the phone.  When Jake’s grandfather arrives, he is nothing like Jack had imagined him.  Though gruff and rather military, his grandfather also has friendly crinkly eyes and a voice that is deep and friendly.  He does have a nightmare dog that Jake is definitely wary of.  Luckily, Jake also has a next door neighbor who takes care of him occasionally and is an adult to ask the important questions of the hospital, handle the car that was left in the parking lot, and also gives Jake a place to feel at home.  As Jake gets to know his grandfather, he realizes that memories he thought were of his father are actually memories of his grandfather.  The holidays arrive, and Jake, his mother and their family of friends create a warm and happy holiday for one another.

This is a small book with a huge heart.  Jake is a protagonist who is bright, funny and optimistic.  The depiction of a single mother is well done, especially with her fascinating group of friends and the neighbor.  This is a child who has been surrounded by loving adults his entire life and it shows.  His bonding with his grandfather is shown clearly and is given plenty of time to mature naturally.  The depiction of the older characters in the book is very well done with plenty of flirting and personality.  These are multi-dimensional people who are a pleasure to spend time with.

A joyful holiday read, the book has plenty of warm moments and great characters.  It is a celebration of family, no matter what that family may look like.  

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.

Lulu and the Brontosaurus

| Tasha

lulu

Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Lane Smith

Lulu was a pain, a real pain.  She demanded that her parents give her everything she wanted.  And if they didn’t?  Then she threw a fit, screaming, throwing herself on the floor and kicking her feet.  Until her parents agreed to give her exactly what she wanted.  But that all changed when Lulu demanded a brontosaurus for a pet for her birthday.  Her parents tried to explain that a brontosaurus was huge and wild and not suitable, but Lulu threw a tantrum.  However, this time it did not work.  So Lulu set off on her own to find herself a brontosaurus.  As she entered the forest, she sang herself a song about getting a brontosaurus for a pet.  Going deeper into the forest, she encountered some wild animals but even they could not scare her from her mission.  Eventually, Lulu does find a brontosaurus deep in the forest, but will he be the ideal pet she has been expecting?

A great beginning chapter book, young readers will enjoy the over-the-top humor that will keep them laughing.  The short chapters will also help keep reluctant readers going as will the large number of black-and-white illustrations from the master Lane Smith.  The illustrations hearken back to Syd Hoff’s Danny and the Dinosaur with the smiling brontosaurus, but are edgier as well with great perspectives.

Viorst has obviously had fun playing with the book format here.  She opens the book saying that of course she knows that humans and dinosaurs have never existed at the same time!  It sets the tone perfectly for the story itself which is filled with humor throughout.  Various fonts are used throughout the book, some for singing, others for effect in reading.  Later in the book, the chapters are numbered by the half chapter just for fun and to laugh about the very short chapters of the book.  And finally, the book ends with different endings for the reader to choose from. 

A winning early chapter book, this has the dinosaur appeal combined with great illustrations and clever writing.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from book received from Atheneum.

Enhanced by Zemanta