Picture Books

Review: Flight 1-2-3 by Maria van Lieshout

| Tasha

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Flight 1-2-3 by Maria van Lieshout

Take a ride on a plane in this follow-up to Backseat A-B-See!  The trip begins with a cab ride to the airport and asks readers what they see.  There is 1 airport, 2 luggage carts, 3 check-in desks, and the book progresses to very large numbers, like 100 passengers and 33,000 feet.  Van Lieshout uses all of the official signage you see around the airport to inspire her art.  Those signs are on each page, right next to the numbers to help with counting.  The characters too have a graphic, sign-like quality to them, though the main family has its own quirks like yellow tennis shoes and hair in a black ponytail. 

With minimal text and art that is a playful look at official signage, this counting book will appeal to kids who love planes and also to those heading out on their first plane trip.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

Review: The Museum by Susan Verde

| Tasha

museum

The Museum by Susan Verde, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Verde captures the energizing nature of a visit to an art museum.  Told in first-person verse, the young female protagonist dances and spins through the gallery, drawing inspiration and emotion from the art around her.  As she moves to a new piece of art, it evokes a new reaction that is entirely in keeping with the art in front of her.  Finally, faced with a blank white canvas, she discovers that her own mind starts to fill in the art on its own.  As she leaves the museum at the end of the day, her world is transformed by the art she has seen that she now carries along with her.  This is an engaging story of a museum visit that is sure to inspire young readers to want to try it for themselves.

Verde’s verse is filled with motion and zing.  While some may see visiting a museum as a more sedentary and intellectual activity, Verde fills it with motion and emotion alike.  She conveys through the young girl’s physical reaction what is happening to her mentally.  It is a very successful take on the transformational quality of art and how it can speak on many levels to viewers.

Reynolds’ art adds to the feel of motion and engagement in the book.  His young figure is constantly in motion, even when she takes a short break, she is inspired by art.  Reynolds’ illustrations are done in his signature fluid style, yet he is able to capture different art periods very effectively.

Ideal to use with a class before a museum exhibit or with children before a family visit to a museum, this is also a book that will inspire reflection about art during a regular day.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams.

Review: The Yuckiest, Stinkiest, Best Valentine Ever by Brenda A. Ferber

| Tasha

yuckiest stinkiest best valentine ever

The Yuckiest, Stinkiest, Best Valentine Ever by Brenda A. Ferber, illustrated by Tedd Arnold

Leon has a crush on a girl, so he makes her a construction paper heart for Valentine’s Day.  But when he tries to put the valentine into an envelope, the valentine runs away insisting that Leon can’t tell Zoey Maloney that he loves her!  In fact, the valentine thinks love is “mushy and gross and just plain YUCKY!”  He says that Valentine’s Day is not about love, but about candy.  Soon Leon is chasing after the valentine, trying to get him to stop.  They pass a group of boys, a group of girls and a group of teens before finally coming to Zoey Maloney herself, and a valentine that she has made for Leon.  Maybe Valentine’s Day is about more than candy after all?

Ferber marries Valentine’s Day and the pacing and style of the Gingerbread Man together very successfully in this book.  This is a book about crushes and valentines that is far from being too sappy.  It is full of humor, action and lots of silliness, mocking the entire idea of love and then in the end turning around and seeing that life (and Valentine’s Day) is sweeter than candy. 

Arnold’s style plays perfectly with this story.  His swirling lines add to the motion and action.  His characters are always clearly showing emotion and the large-headed child characters have an endearing quality to them.

This is one Valentine’s Day book that will appeal to boys and girls alike, those with crushes and those who are just looking for candy.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books.

Review: Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson

| Tasha

nelson mandela

Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson

In a way that only Kadir Nelson could capture, this book tells the story of Nelson Mandela’s life, imprisonment and how he became the inspiration he is.  This is a very humanizing tale of Mendela, showing his childhood before his father’s death and then his move across South Africa to study under a powerful chief.   Mandela attended school and then got involved in fighting apartheid.  The book follows him as he is jailed the first time and as he rises to be a threat to those in power and goes into hiding.  Mandela returned to South Africa to continue the fight and is then jailed again, doing heavy labor.  After being in prison for over 27 years, Mandela was freed.  His passion for righting the wrongs of apartheid and speaking for equality of all people shines from every page.

Nelson tells the story of Mandela in verse that is factual but also compelling.  He captures the long time spent in prison in a way that children will be able to understand.  Cold meals, thin blankets and beating rocks into dust.  It shows the futility and the harshness with such clarity.  Nelson’s verse also has a great sense of awe for this man and what he has accomplished, that too makes it a very special, honest book.

As always, Nelson’s images are simply wondrous.  Here they seem to shine from within whenever Mandela is part of the image.  As you can see from the cover illustration, there is all of the human inside his art; it radiates from his work.  Shown with detail, interesting perspectives, and ending with a sense of celebration, Nelson’s art is a standout.

This is the story of Nelson Mandela captured fully in a picture book that celebrates all of his accomplishments and what he stands for as a human being.  Beautiful.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Katherine Tegen Books.

Review: Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel

| Tasha

brave girl

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Clara Lemlich and her family came to America planning to find jobs, but no one will hire her father.  The factories did want girls like Clara though, and so she started working in the garment industry.  She worked from dusk to dawn in rows with other young girls, sewing as fast as she could.  If they were late at all, they lost half a day’s wages.  If they pricked their fingers and bled on the cloth they were fined, if it happened again they were fired.  The doors were locked, there was no fresh air, and the girls were inspected when they left to make sure they weren’t stealing anything.  But Clara would not be held down, she went to the library and learned English, teaching the other factory girls on their lunch break.  Then Clara learned about unions and strikes, though some thought the girls were not tough enough to strike.  So began her transformation into a union leader, through beatings and hunger, these girls and Clara are the people we have to thank for fair hours and pay. 

Markel tells the story with a strong heart and a certain thrill.  Readers get to see a quiet girl get off of the boat and steadily transform through self-education and pure tenacity into an amazing person who had strength and energy enough for several people.  Markel manages to tell the story of the times without dedicating much of her brief story to background.  Instead she uses the situation at the mill to speak on their own.  She ends the book with more information about the garment industry, giving facts and figures about how many girls were working there and the abuses they suffered.

Sweet’s illustrations are a treat.  Her paintings are turned into collage with the addition of various textiles and trims.  On one page the buildings of New York are painted and then enriched by trimmings, stitches and swatches of material.  On another the painting is smaller and then framed by material.  Clara herself is often wearing a look of determination on her face, usually with a fist clenched as if ready to do battle at any time. 

This is a wonderful picture book biography about a heroine that children can related directly to, since she is so young.  It is also a very timely read with labor under such pressure right now.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: One Frozen Lake by Deborah Jo Larson

| Tasha

one frozen lake

One Frozen Lake by Deborah Jo Larson, illustrated by Steven Johnson and Lou Fancher

A boy and his grandfather head out on the frozen lake to go fishing.  They drill through four inches of ice and set up their canvas ice shack.  Inside they open their tackle box and have four watery holes to fish through.  Other join them out on the ice and cocoa is shared, but after seven hours they haven’t seen a single fish.  They play cards together and wait until night falls then, a fish!  A ten incher and a keeper!  But the boy has different ideas than a fish dinner.  This picture book captures the quiet times spent fishing out on the ice with a loved one.  It’s sure to appeal to children who have headed out themselves and waiting those long hours for just one bite.

Larson nicely weaves numbers and counting into her words in this book.  One frozen lake, two friends, three bundles of gear, four inches of ice, five hours to wait.  Then she starts again from one, building her poetic story upon the foundation of counting.  But this is not a counting book, instead it is a celebration of Minnesota winters and family.

The art here is exceptional.  The story above the ice is shown in realistic paintings that show with accuracy the relationship between grandfather and grandson.  The tones are bright, sun-filled but also cold as a northern winter should be.  Below the ice is a completely different world.  There the images are done as collages with whimsical old-fashioned touches taken from signs and flyers.  The result is a pairing that shows the stark difference between surface and depths.

Growing up on a Wisconsin lake, this picture book brought back many memories of walking the frozen lake and seeing the shanties.  It’s sure to do the same for many grandparents and grandchildren.  This is definitely a keeper!  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle

| Tasha

flora and the flamingo

Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle

There are oh so many ballet books out there for little ballerinas who look for tulle and pointe shoes.  So it was with that bias and perhaps a cringe or two that I opened this book.  Inside it’s very pink cover is a very pink world that is pure pink fabulousness!  In this wordless book, Flora meets the flamingo and immediately imitates its stance and attitude.  Then the flamingo launches into a dance that Flora struggles to match in her swimcap and flippers.  It all goes well until Flora loses her footing and flops into the water.  What happens next speaks to what friends should do when they see someone take a flop.  Start again with plenty of support.  All this with no words!

Idle has a stunning simplicity in this book.  It has the draw of flaps to open, but that is all about the dance and the movement.  There is a pleasure in lengthening the dance by having the two of them dance movements again and again by opening and closing the flaps.  It turns readers into storytellers in a way that is engaging and free, just as this entire book is throughout. 

I love Flora and her lack of tulle and ballet outfit.  Instead wearing her swim gear, she is able to mimic the flamingo all the better.  It takes the emphasis off of the clothes of ballet and back to the dance itself.  Now all children need is a friendly flamingo.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

Review: Peace by Wendy Anderson Halperin

| Tasha

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Peace by Wendy Anderson Halperin

A simple poem is at the heart of this picture book about peace.  Each line of the poem forms the basis of a page of the book and is also accompanied by other quotes about peace that bring a wonderful depth to the entire read.  As one reads, it almost becomes a chant about peace, a reverberation of the power of peace, and when one finishes that peace lingers for a long time.  When I finished the book, I immediately wanted to do two things:  start all over again and also research some of the quotes and people I had never heard of before.  There are quotes from all of the big names like the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King, Jr.  but wonderfully, there are also quotes from others whose messages are just as powerful.

Halperin’s illustrations are detailed and wonderful.  The images are bright and speak directly to the sorts of peace being discussed.  In those images and in the surrounding quotes, children will see ways that they can personally work for peace on small and large levels.  There is a delicacy to the illustrations that works so well with the subject matter.  They are inclusive, warm and joyful.

As I was reading, I noticed a quote from Peace Pilgrim, a woman I was lucky enough to meet when she was alive.  My family hosted her for a night and she spoke at a small park in rural Wisconsin on the shore of a lake.  It was that sort of person being included in this book that meant so very much to me.  I also think about others searching for the new people they have found in this book and discovering her. 

A lovely and powerful book about peace, this belongs in every library.  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Review: Chu’s Day by Neil Gaiman

| Tasha

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Chu’s Day by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Adam Rex

This was not what I had been expecting from Gaiman and Rex, but sometimes surprises can be a delight.   Chu is a small panda who has a very big way of sneezing.  His parents are always concerned about him being about to sneeze.  So when they head to the library and encounter book dust, his mother asks if he’s going to sneeze.  Chu starts to “aah-aaah-Aaaah” but then “No.”  When his father takes him to a restaurant with pepper in the air, he asks too.  Chu goes “aah-aaah-Aaaah” but then “No” once again.  When they head to the circus everyone is too busy watching the show to hear Chu say that he thinks he’s going to sneeze and what a sneeze it is!

This is the first book that Gaiman has written for such a young audience.  It will be toddlers and preschoolers who adore this book and love the humor that is intrinsic in the writing and its rhythms.  The better you can fake the build-up to a sneeze, the funnier the little “no” at the end is.  In other words, this is a great one to read aloud.

Rex adds so much with the tight details of the world he builds here.  Chu is plush and fuzzy.  Whenever he starts to sneeze, his aviator glasses fall down over his eyes, adding an additional comic effect.  The detail of the scenes will have children lingering over them, identifying the various animals in the pictures.  Personally, the mice using the library card catalog drawers for computer use was the perfect mix of modern and retro.

A rather surprising straight-forward book from Gaiman that is a strong read aloud and filled with laughs.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.