Rose and the Wish Thing by

| Tasha

Rose and the WIsh Thing by Caroline Magerl

Rose and the Wish Thing: A Journey of Friendship by Caroline Magerl (InfoSoup)

This gentle picture book tells the story of a girl who has moved to a new home. When she looked out her window one night, she made wish. But the wish thing did not come. Rose could not be comforted when the wish thing did not respond. Nothing worked to calm her. Her entire family searched for the wish until they came to the sea. That is when they saw the box floating on the water. In that box, was the wish thing: a thing of tiny stitches and a red glass heart. And that is what let Rose head outside of her new house and make friends.

This Australian import has a gorgeous softness to it in both images and text. The story is warm and nurturing with a large family trying to comfort Rose, a rambling house with a garden, and a big furry dog. It is also a lovely strange tale that is not straight forward, but meanders a bit, travels a lot, and finds something special along the way. Magerl’s language is noteworthy too:

The evening tide came with gentle fingers to roll over the crabs and rock the stones.

The illustrations are soft and detailed. The fine ink lines are colored with watercolors which makes them both detailed and gorgeously nuanced in color. Pages of Rose and her family are alternated with illustrations of the wish thing’s journey to Rose. There is plenty of drama along the way.

A warm and gentle look at loneliness and how it can be transformed. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley received from Penguin Random House and Edelweiss.

Irish Children’s Book Shortlist Announced

| Tasha

The shortlist for the CBI Book of the Year Awards 2016 has been announced. The awards are given to the best in children’s literature and illustration written or illustrated by people born or resident in Ireland. Winners will be announced on May 23. Here is the shortlist:

Asking For It The Boy at the Top of the Mountain

Asking for It by Louise O’Neill

The Boy at the Top of the Mountain by John Boyne

The Day the Crayons Came Home Gulliver

The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

Gulliver by Jonathan Swift, retold by Mary Webb, illustrated by Lauren O’Neill

Imaginary Fred Irelandopedia: A Compendium of Maps, Facts and Knowledge

Imaginary Fred by Eoin Colfer, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

Irelandopedia by John Burke, illustrated by Fatti Burke

Ná Gabh ar Scoil by Máire Zepf, illustrated by Tarsila Krüse

One The Wordsmith

One by Sarah Crossan

The Wordsmith by Patricia Forde

Abracadabra, It’s Spring by Anne Sibley O’Brien

| Tasha

Abracadabra Its Spring by Anne Sibley OBrien

Abracadabra, It’s Spring by Anne Sibley O’Brien, illustrated by Susan Gal (InfoSoup)

Through a series of large flaps, this picture book demonstrates the transformation from late winter into spring. From the very first page, snow melts away to show bare ground as rabbits watch in wonder. Green shoots become crocuses. Bare branches burst into soft pussy willows. Birds fly, nests are built, eggs hatch. Even children change their clothes and head outside into the warm day. This is a magical way to introduce small children to the wonder of seasonal change.

The gatefold flaps in this book are sturdily built and are the size of the full page, thus less likely to rip and tear. The entire book focuses on magical words, each one leading to opening the flap and revealing an amazing transformation as spring arrives. The effect works really well with the poetic wording of the book also adding to the wonder on the page. The rhyming is done well and the vocabulary while child friendly will also allow some growth for small children.

The illustrations by Gal have a gorgeous natural feel to them. They were done with charcoal and digital collage which keeps the roughness of the paper and charcoal and adds the feeling of watercolor or other paints. It’s very effective and captures the ethereal nature of spring as it passes.

Bright and engaging, this picture book will be a great pick for springtime story times. Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from library copy.

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life – The Movie

| Tasha

In theaters in October 2016:

The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly

| Tasha

The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly

The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly (InfoSoup)

When Sol and her little sister Ming moved from the Philippines to the United States, they knew their lives were going to change. But they didn’t realize that they would be abandoned by their father and stuck living with Vea, their mean stepmother in a tiny apartment in Louisiana. Now five years later, Sol manages to escape her stepmother’s cruelty by escaping into stories, particularly when she is sent to the closet when she has done something wrong. She shares the stories with her little sister and Ming has now started to believe in their mythical Aunt Jove and expects her to arrive to rescue them. As Ming’s hope grows, Sol despairs of their lives ever improving at all, but friendship comes from unexpected places and may be the answer to their hopes and dreams.

Kelly, author of Blackbird Fly, has created another great novel for children. In this book, she beautifully captures the complexity of the lives of some children where their families have been turned upside down through death and abandonment and they are left with those who don’t love them at all. It is a book about hope as well, about the power of stories to create new realities and the radiance of hope even in the bleakest of times.

Particularly notable in this novel is Kelly’s willingness to tell a very sad story, one filled with loss and betrayal and still one that is very appropriate for children. Sol herself reflects on the sadness of her story and her new friend:

What gloomy tales we had, I thought. I wondered what we’d look like to someone passing by. Two twelve-year-old girls – one so white she looked like a ghost and the other so dark she looked like the fields – sitting on milk crates and telling sad, sad stories in the hot, hot sun.

These are stories of poverty, of spending time on the streets to get out of the misery of your home. The novel dazzles with its truth and honesty of children who shine despite the darkness in their lives.

A powerful novel of stories and hope and how they can be used to overcome the darkness that life contains. Appropriate for ages 10-12.

Reviewed from copy received from HarperCollins.

13 Reasons Why – Netflix Series

| Tasha

Thirteen Reasons Why

In a project executive produced by Selena Gomez, the teen novel 13 Reasons Why is going to receive the Netflix treatment and be turned into a series. Deadline has the news that Tom McCarthy, director of Spotlight, will direct the first two episodes of the series.

 

Before I Leave by Jessixa Bagley

| Tasha

Before I Leave by Jessixa Bagley

Before I Leave by Jessixa Bagley (InfoSoup)

The author of Boats for Papa returns with another poignant picture book. Hedgehog’s family is moving away. They are packing boxes and getting ready to leave. Hedgehog and her best friend Anteater decide to spend one last time playing together. They act as if nothing is changing at all, playing on the swings, heading out in the boat, sharing ice cream and enjoying their forts. Hedgehog is scared to leave and saying goodbye is very sad. But once she reaches her new home, Anteater is still right there in her memories.

Bagley has an incredible way with telling touching stories. Her deftness with these tender moments is all about the balance of emotion with not overplaying it into sentimentality. In this picture book, she balances the angst of moving with the idea that best friends can survive moving apart. While there is real emotion in leaving there is also a light of hope at the end that is so beautifully timed that it shines.

Bagley’s animal characters are pure bundles of personality, demonstrating emotions clearly, sometimes sulking and sad and other times bouncing in happiness. Her world is filled with color and her illustrations range from pages filled with details to smaller discreet moments. The interplay between the two work very well as the characters form memories with one another.

A lovely book about moving away from a best friend, this book handles the subject with gentleness and pure heart. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

This Week’s Tweets, Pins & Tumbls

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts this week that I think are cool:

Professional Library Literature : simplebooklet.com:

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

5 Big Reasons to Continue to Read to Your ‘Big’ Kids

Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit gets his own 50p coin – and he didn’t have to steal it

Best Princess Books for All Ages

Celebrating a legendary kids’ book illustrator – The Boston Globe

Children’s books for Muslims are great idea, author says

It Took Dr. Seuss a Year to Write ‘The Cat in the Hat’—and It Changed Kids’ Lit Forever

A name speaks volumes for these children’s books:

Scholastic and We Need Diverse Books announce an expanded partnership! | On Our Minds  

Simon & Schuster Launching an Imprint for Muslim Children’s Books – World Religion News

Why are so many children’s fantasy books adapted as films?

LIBRARIES

16 Hilarious Signs That Prove Libraries Are the Greatest

Dennis Walcott, Former Schools Chancellor, Is Named C.E.O. of Queens Library

MIT’s Future of the Library: Encouraging Social Knowledge-Building

San Francisco Public Library hosts drag queen story hour for children

Snark, Sarcasm, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians » Public Libraries Online

girl with books:

TEEN LIT

Angus, Thongs author Louise Rennison dies – BBC News

This Book Gives Native Girls The Tools To Seek Help After Getting Raped

The Secret Subway by Shana Corey

| Tasha

The Secret Subway by Shana Corey

The Secret Subway by Shana Corey, illustrated by Red Nose Studio (InfoSoup)

Released March 8, 2016.

This amazing nonfiction picture book takes a look at New York in the 1860s and the lack of options for transportation on the crowded and dirty streets. Everyone knew that something needed to be done, but no one could agree on exactly what that was. Then Alfred Ely Beach had an idea to build a railroad powered by forced air. Beach knew though that he couldn’t propose to create a railroad under the streets, so instead he proposed that he’d build a tube to carry mail. Even Boss Tweed agreed with the plan. So Beach set to work creating a railroad to carry people and not mail. But it was not going to be as easy as just building the machine. He still had Boss Tweed and above ground politics to deal with!

Corey writes with great energy in this picture book. While nonfiction and historical, the book is fascinating and one immediately roots for Beach as he begins to plan and then dig under New York City. The slow digging under the earth is tantalizingly told. Then the rush of opening and the speed of the train are offered with a breathless tone and fast pace. The ending is sad but also hopeful, since everyone knows that air-driven trains are not the way subways were designed. There is a feeling of remembrance at the end, of one man’s amazing dream that led to other opportunities to tunnel under New York City.

It is always a joy to see work by Red Nose Studios. The book opens with a look at how the illustrations are done with figures made from wire and foam and then polymer clay for the faces. There is such attention to detail throughout with the gorgeous tube-shaped subway car appearing like magic. Done with serious flair for the dramatic and a great sense of style, this picture book’s illustrations are noteworthy and wonderful.

A great pick for fans of machines and inventions, this is also a book just right for dreamers of all sorts. Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from e-galley received from Penguin Random House and Edelweiss.