Nonfiction

Review: Jasper’s Story by Jill Robinson

| Tasha

jaspers story

Jasper’s Story: Saving Moon Bears by Jill Robinson and Marc Bekoff, illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen

Held captive for years by bear “farmers” who kept him in a too-small cage and harvested bile from his body, Jasper’s story is representative of many captive moon bears.   Now Jasper has been rescued by Animals Asia, an animal welfare organization.  He is taken to their Moon Bear Rescue Center where his medical needs are attended to and he is put into the sanctuary.  There, Jasper walks on grass for the first time in his life.  Caregivers work to teach Jasper how to find food on his own, hiding food in toys and places to dig.  In time, Jasper’s life starts to change.  He begins to play more, get stronger, and make friends.  Jasper is one success story among many, a testament to what rescue can do to save animals that might have been considered too damaged to rescue.

Robinson and Bekoff write in a very engaging way in this nonfiction picture book.  They invest time in telling the story of the abuse as well as painting a beautiful picture of moon bears in the wild: “Far away in the mist-covered mountains of China, the moon sends yellow arcs of light across the hills, softly painting the forests with a luminous glow.”  They describe the way that wild animals sleep with a sense of freedom.  The prose is beautiful, clearly painting the value of these animals and the importance of their rescue and rehabilitation.

The illustrations are equally evocative.  The paintings have a wonderful sense of place, showing the workers at the sanctuary and the horror of the small cages with equal attention.  I particularly like the way that the opening image relates to that at the end, showing that Jasper is once again more like the wild moon bears than the abused ones. 

A great book on the importance of animal rehabilitation and rescue, this book will speak volumes to every child who picks it up and meets Jasper.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart

| Tasha

no monkeys no chocolate

No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young, illustrated by Nicole Wong

A close-up look at the favorite sweet treat of chocolate, this nonfiction picture book explains exactly what it takes to get chocolate.  The book quickly moves to the tropical rain forests of Central and South America and the cocoa beans that grow there and how they are treated to get cocoa powder from them.  The book then moves to explaining cocoa pods, cocoa flowers, and cocoa leaves, but animals quickly come into the process from the midges that pollinate the cocoa flowers as they lay their eggs to the maggots of the coffin flies that take over the brains of the leaf-cutter ants.  Lizards and monkeys play a role too, but the monkeys are tantalizingly left to the end of the book.  Told in factual information, the book also offers asides by two funny bookworms who wonder along with the reader what in the world monkeys have to do with chocolate!

This is a fascinating look at the complexities of something that many of us take for granted.  Stewart, author of over 150 nonfiction books for children, worked with Allen Young, the world specialist on cocoa tree pollination and growth.  The result is a book that is enticing both in its premise and its execution.  Turning pages lets you learn more and the entire process is both odd and amazing.

The art by Wong has a wonderful lightness to it that fits the subject particularly well.  The clever little bookworms add a whimsical note to the entire book with their ballooned speech bubbles, ballcap, flower and skirt. 

A winner of a nonfiction picture book, this is one sweet addition to any library.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Charlesbridge.

Review: I Am the World by Charles R. Smith, Jr.

| Tasha

i am the world

I Am the World by Charles R. Smith, Jr.

In this book that combines verse and photography, children from around the world are celebrated.  The images and verse both speak to the wide diversity of people and cultures that make up our world.  At the same time, the universal aspects of children from all cultures are celebrated too, including their strength and spirit.  The combination of a simple and powerful poem and dynamic photographs make for a book that is just as vibrant as its subjects.

Smith is a Coretta Scott King Award winner and his photographs here speak to his skill.  He captures children mid-motion and often in full smile.  His photos are combined with a poem that is simple but also strong, offering subtle rhyme and incorporating enough culture-specific words that a glossary is offered at the end. 

Beautiful, warm and inclusive, this title is a celebration of children across the globe.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Review: The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman

| Tasha

boy who loved math

The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Paul Erdos grew up loving math from a very young age.  Growing up in Budapest, Hungary, Paul loved to think about numbers.  Unfortunately, he didn’t love school with all of its rules, so he was homeschooled by Fraulein, his nanny, until he went to high school.  Paul grew famous for his math but he still could not take care of himself and do his own laundry, cook his meals or even butter his own bread.  So when at age 21 he was invited to go to England to work on his math, he was worried about whether he could do it.  It turned out that buttering bread was not that difficult and that he would follow his own sort of lifestyle that ignored the rules.  So he traveled and did math around the world, staying with fellow mathematicians and relying on them to take care of him and his laundry and his meals.  He was the furthest thing from a stereotypical solitary mathematician to the point that people now have an “Erdos number” that shows how closely they worked with the amazing mathematician Paul Erdos.

This is such a wonderful biography.  It is a breath of fresh air in so many ways.  First, it plays against the stereotype of introverted and shy mathematicians working in solitude on formulas and instead shows Erdos as a vivacious man who didn’t just work with others, but depended on them.  Second, it shows mathematics as ever changing and new, something that is enticing and exciting.  Heiligman uses a light tone throughout as well as an obvious respect for Erdos’ brilliance and accomplishments. 

The illustrations share the same playful feel of the text.  Done in bold colors and dynamic motion, they have a humor that is welcome as well.  The look on Erdos’ face as he tries to butter his own bread for the first time is priceless and wonderful.  Children will be amazed that such a bright man would struggle with basic tasks.

A pleasure to read, this is an unusual biography that will make a welcome addition to nonfiction shelves.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: When Stravinsky Met Nijinski by Lauren Stringer

| Tasha

when stravinsky met nijinsky

When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky: Two Artists, Their Ballet and One Extraordinary Riot by Lauren Stringer

This is the story of how two Russian artists collaborated to create a revolutionary new ballet, The Rite of Spring.  When the two artists met one another, each of them started to change.  Stravinsky’s music changed and Nijinsky’s dance changed.  They inspired one another to try something entirely new and created a ballet based on Russian folk dances and folk songs.  Even at rehearsal, some of the musicians walked out, but enough stayed so that the show could go on.  When the ballet was first performed, the crowd was split.  Some people loved the new music and dancing, others were shocked and hated it.  The crowd took to the streets to continue to express their anger and appreciation.  This is a great picture book biography that captures the magic of creativity that results when two masters collaborate on something brave and new.

Stringer’s writing takes a complicated story and distills it to the most important points.  Young readers will quickly understand that the two men brought new ideas out of one another, finding each other inspiring.  Her art also speaks to the collaboration of these two men, using flowing lines and deep yet soft colors.  She inserts elements from the art of the time, referencing movements like cubism in both her text and art.  The end of the book has photographs of the two artists and dancers in the ballet.  It also has a longer look at their collaboration. 

A great choice for art and music classes, I’d recommend listening to The Rite of Spring with the group too.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Becoming Babe Ruth by Matt Tavares

| Tasha

becoming babe ruth

Becoming Babe Ruth by Matt Tavares

This biographical picture book takes a look at Babe Ruth’s formative years.  It is the story of a small boy named George Herman Ruth who gets into lots of trouble, so much that his father puts him into Saint Mary’s Industrial School for Boys.  There he has to follow the rules and work hard.  Happily, there is also baseball and George gets to play it almost every day.  Best of all, there is Brother Matthias who serves as an inspiration and mentor for George’s baseball game and life.  As George gets better and better, he is finally whisked into the world of major league baseball, but he never forgot the school and the man who got him there. 

Tavares writes in such an engaging way that the pages fly by.  The sudden sternness of the school is told in short, abrupt sentences that enforce the martial feel of the establishment.  That contrasts directly with the long sentences that talk about the beauty of baseball.  Readers can almost feel themselves taking a big gulp of freedom on those pages. 

The joy Tavares feels about his subject is also palpable.  From eating ice cream with the boys from the school, to tipping his hat to them as he walks on the field, to the pleasure of hitting a ball, all are captured with a fondness and pleasure in the paintings that are the illustrations in the book. 

This is a baseball biography that children will find accessible and fascinating.  Play ball!  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Brush of the Gods by Lenore Look

| Tasha

brush of the gods

Brush of the Gods by Lenore Look and Meilo So

This is a picture book biography of Wu Daozi from the T’ang Dynasty, who is considered China’s greatest painter.  As a child, Daozi is taught calligraphy, but his brush does not want to just create Chinese characters.  Instead, he creates the first stroke and then turns it into an animal like a fish or a horse.  Daozi began to paint on walls, painting so fast that his sleeves opened like wings, gaining him the nickname of Flying Sleeves.  He painted every day and people began to leave coins for him that he donated to feed the poor.  As time passed, his skills grew even greater until the creatures he drew and painted became alive and left the flat surface of the walls.  He was then commissioned to paint an entire wall for the emperor, a project that took him many years.  In the end though, he created an entire world on a wall, one that you could almost walk right into.

Beautifully told and illustrated, this picture book biography takes a playful tone right from the beginning.  The sense that Daozi was not in control of his own gift makes for a wonderful insight into the drive and talent of artists and the way their talents can control them.  It is also a tribute to the skills gained by doing what you love and practicing a tremendous amount.  Daozi’s work and its lifelike quality is captured through a magical transformation to life in the story, making this feel much more like folklore than a biography.

Look’s text will work best for elementary-aged children, as she tells the story of hard work and talent combined into something spectacular.  They will also be more likely to understand the juxtaposition of biography and magical realism that is in the book.  Her writing is clear and lingers in all of the right moments and moves quickly when those moments are right too.  So’s illustrations are a tribute to Chinese art.  Done with clear brushstrokes, they also have fine details and small touches that make them shine.

This is a very impressive biography of an incredible artist that few children will be aware of before reading this book, making it perfect to share with children in art classes.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Random House via Edelweiss.

Review: Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid

| Tasha

picture a tree

Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid

How do you picture a tree?  Do you see a drawing on the sky?  A tunnel?  An ocean?  A sun umbrella to stop on your hot walk home?  What do you see?  These are just some of the ideas that Reid puts forward in her picture book that pays homage to trees and their ever-changing beauty.  Starting with the spring and moving through all of the seasons, this book will have you looking into the trees around you and noticing them even more.

Reid’s text here is simple but very effective.  She gets you dreaming of your own answers and also seeing trees from all angles and all seasons.  The true focus here though is her art.  Done entirely in Plasticine clay, they have a wonderful three-dimensional quality to them and are anything but simple.  In fact, the detail is amazing and will keep readers gazing long after they complete the words on the page.

An awesome addition to any Arbor Day, Earth Day, tree-related or seasonal story time or unit, this book should inspire all of us to wonder about trees.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

You can also see the trailer for the book for a glimpse of Reid’s art and words:

Review: Gandhi by Alice B. McGinty

| Tasha

gandhi

Gandhi: A March to the Sea by Alice B. McGinty, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez

This nonfiction picture book focuses on Gandhi’s 24-day March to the Sea in 1930.  Joined by over 70 others, this was a nonviolent protest of British rule of India and the taxes they had levied on salt.  Told in verse, this picture book explores how the march united the different faiths and castes of India into a common cause.  The book and journey ends with Gandhi scooping salt from the sea, inspiring many others to do the same.  Many were imprisoned for their actions, but they proved too numerous for the prison system and had to be released.  This is a profound and impressive look at a nonviolent action that was noticed around the world and still serves as inspiration today.

McGinty’s verse is free and flowing.  She nicely integrates imagery that is moving and speaks volumes about the situation.  Just one line from when Gandhi reaches the sea: “white salt dusting dark sand.”  McGinty also weaves in the way that Gandhi inspired others to spin their own thread rather than relying on British cloth, how he prayed together with all faiths, truly how he created a single community out of so many different ones.

The illustrations by Gonzalez are exquisite.  His paintings capture the stones on the path, the crowds that gathered, and finally Gandhi by the sea, alone and strong.  All of the images show a man of strength of conviction and a spirit that was unfailing.  They are stunningly evocative of the man and his mission.

This is a top-notch picture book that truly conveys the difference one man can make in the world being nonviolent.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from library copy.