Review: Imaginary Fred by Eoin Colfer

| Tasha

Imaginary Fred by Eoin Colfer

Imaginary Fred by Eoin Colfer, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (InfoSoup)

If you are lonely, you can’t just wish a friend to life. Or can you? Perhaps with a zing of electricity, some luck or even magic, you can! And it will be an imaginary friend like Fred. Fred worked hard to be the best imaginary friend a kid could have. But each time it ended the same way. The child made a real friend and Fred faded away. When Fred arrived in Sam’s life, Fred had never been happier. The two of them loved the same things like reading, figuring out how the toilet worked and listening to music. But then Sam made a new friend. Fred sat Sam down and explained that in a few days, Fred would disappear and move on and that it was not Sam’s fault. But Sam would not accept that and after making a scene showed Fred a solution that he’d never even considered possible.

Colfer’s text is pure bliss to read. While the book is wordier than many picture books, it maintains a balance that works very well. The text streams along, telling the story in a way that is robust and satisfying. It doesn’t slow the book, instead offering more detail and understanding of Fred and Sam, their dynamic together and how special it is.

As always, Jeffers’ art is very special. Fred is blue and made up of dots while the “real world” is drawn in lines. That makes Fred more colorful than the other characters and it also allows him to really fade away. The result is a shimmering combination of delicacy and graphic strength.

A winning collaboration between two masters, this book embraces imaginary friends for life. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from HarperCollins.

Review: Little Red Gliding Hood by Tara Lazar

| Tasha

Little Red Gliding Hood by Tara Lazar

Little Red Gliding Hood by Tara Lazar, illustrated by Tory Cummings

Released October 27, 2015

A new take on Little Red Riding Hood, this picture book fills the storybook forest with snow and takes readers on a twirling ride through several fairy tales. Little Red Gliding Hood loves to ice skate down the winding river to her grandmother’s house. She does it so often that her skates are wearing out. Then she discovers that the prize for the upcoming pairs skating competition is a new pair of skates. Now she just has to find the perfect partner. But many of the good skaters have already been taken. She asks her grandmother for ideas and her grandmother suggests her new neighbors who live in a brick house. When Little Red approaches the house, the Wolf shows up and chases her on the ice where they discover that they are both great skaters!

Lazar twists and turns the traditional Little Red Riding Hood tale into a wintry wonder. She pays clear homage to the original, also making many nods to other fairy tales along the way like the Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks, The Three Bears, and Humpty Dumpty. The entire book has a freshness to it, that makes for a lively read that is perfect both for children new to the story and for those familiar with the original.

The art by Cummings is filled with brisk winter colors of blues and whites. It is made cozy when Little Red visits her grandmother where they sit by the fire and the colors turn to oranges and reds. The art is playful and funny with lots of small touches, particularly when there are characters from lots of fairy tales in one place.

A terrific new take on a traditional tale, this picture book is a great pick for winter story times. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Random House.

Review: We Forgot Brock! by Carter Goodrich

| Tasha

We Forgot Brock by Carter Goodrich

We Forgot Brock! by Carter Goodrich (InfoSoup)

Phillip’s best friend is Brock, the problem is that no one else can see Brock except Phillip. The two of them spend all of their time together and Phillip’s parents are supportive, waiting for Brock to move his motorcycle out of the way, giving him imaginary seconds at dinner. One day, the family heads to the Big Fair where Brock wants to ride the Brain Shaker. Phillip and Brock ride a lot of rides together and eventually Phillips falls asleep. Brock though still wants to ride the Brain Shaker, so he is left behind at the fair. When Phillips wakes up in the car, he discovers that they have left Brock behind! Brock is discovered by a little girl who has her own friend, Princess Sparkle Dust. She invites Brock to come home with them. But Brock misses Phillip and Phillip continues to search for Brock. Good friends are hard to find!

Goodrich is the author of the Zorro series of picture books and brings the same humor and charm to this new book. The subject of imaginary friends has been a popular one recently. This picture book shows a child not ready to leave their imaginary friend behind yet, which makes it much less of an issue book and much more cheerful in general.

The illustrations clearly keep the imaginary from reality, with Brock and Princess Sparkle Dust done in child-like crayon drawings that have a single color and a white background. Meanwhile the other art is more sophisticated and colorful. This lets the imaginary characters pop against reality, somehow giving them even more presence rather than less.

A strong and warm book about imaginary friends and friendship in general. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: A Nearer Moon by Melanie Crowder

| Tasha

Nearer Moon by Melanie Crowder

A Nearer Moon by Melanie Crowder (InfoSoup)

Luna lives in a swamp that was formed when a dam formed in the river by fallen trees. She lives with her mother, grandmother and little sister Willow in a village on stilts above the swamp water. Everyone in the village knows not to drink the swamp water, particularly the water near the slick. But when Luna has Willow out on her boat with her, water accidentally gets into her mouth. The water was helped by a creature who lives deep in the muck of the swamp. Now Willow only has a few weeks to live, since everyone exposed to the water dies at the exact same time after drinking it. Luna is desperate to find a way to save her sister, even going so far as to offer herself to the creature under the water. But that creature too has her own story that is wrapped around Luna and Willow’s. It too is a story of sisters and also a loss so deep that it poisons. In her desperation can Luna find a way to save her sister?

Crowder writes so beautifully. The setting of the swamp comes alive with her words, the creatures of the swamp, the trees, the colors, the smells and the subtle beauty. She takes what could have been a desolate poison swamp and instead wraps it in beauty and wonder. The magic that permeates the story is deep and dark, and keeps the humans trapped in the swamp with it. It’s lovely to see a fantasy book use magic in a way that is twisted and corrupted and yet entirely organic and realistic too.

The parallel stories of the two sets of sisters is delicately balanced. There is the main story of Luna and Willow, two human sisters who adore one another and the place they live. Then there are the water sprite sisters, Perdy and Gia. The sprites are trying to leave this world and build a door to another place that doesn’t have humans in it. Gia spends her time near the door, waiting for it to be complete while Perdy explores far and wide. But disaster happens once the door is completed and Gia is unable to call Perdy home fast enough.

Lushly written and filled with details that bring the swamp to life, this novel is a magnificent fantasy read. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from library copy.

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Longlist

| Tasha

4948 Tuesday

The longlist for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award has been released. It is the world’s largest prize in children’s literature with a purse worth more than $600,000.

215 authors and illustrators have been nominated from 59 countries around the world for the 2016 award.

Looking at Lincoln Coraline The Giver (The Giver, #1) 

American nominees include Eric Carle, Neil Gaiman, Maira Kalman, Ursula Le Guin, Lois Lowry, Naomi Shihab Nye, Peter Sis and David Wiesner.

Dying to Know You Skellig (Skellig, #1) Once Upon an Alphabet: Short Stories for All the Letters

United Kingdom nominees include Allan Ahlberg, David Almond, Quentin Blake, Raymond Briggs, Aidan Chambers, Michael Foreman, Morris Gleitzman, Shirley Hughes, Oliver Jeffers, Michael Morpurgo, Patrick Ness, and Marcus Sedgwick.

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:

I Am A Reader!:

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

25 years of Amazing Grace – http://buff.ly/1LsUiiW #kidlit

Better Book Title for I Want My Hat Back – http://buff.ly/1GIJojB #kidlit

Dark Horse Comics to Publish ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Graphic Novel Series http://buff.ly/1joGCLA #kidlit

Five questions for Duncan Tonatiuh – The Horn Book http://buff.ly/1ZE9PlY #kidlit

Hervé Tullet announces next children’s book, ‘Let’s Play’ – http://buff.ly/1LsU9fe #kidlit

The Hidden Depths of Sandra Boynton’s Board Books – The New Yorker http://buff.ly/1LsZQoY #kidlit

Michael Ian Black on his surprising turn as a noted children’s book author – http://buff.ly/1X0L9lq #kidlit

We Need Diverse Books’ Author Visit: Rita Williams-Garcia – http://buff.ly/1ZkYKpO #kidlit #diversity

LIBRARIES

Bus service targets young riders with storytimes, songs – http://buff.ly/1joCxad #libraries

Library builder’s monument of books – BBC News – http://buff.ly/1Nd9MXv #libraries

Life, Library, and the Pursuit of Happiness http://buff.ly/1Zlqyui #libraries

TEEN READS

Beautiful Books That Are Beautifully Made by Donalyn Miller – http://buff.ly/1NbA3Fw #yalit

The Latest and Greatest Middle School Reads – http://buff.ly/1LtFiwI #yalit

Meg Rosoff makes major misstep in her uneducated response to books about diverse children – http://buff.ly/1LMg3w5 #yalit

New Zealand ban on Into the River lifted – http://buff.ly/1ZGiJ2k #yalit

Review: Little Big by Jonathan Bentley

| Tasha

Little Big by Jonathan Bentley

Little Big by Jonathan Bentley

A little boy thinks that it would be much better to be big than so little. After all, his older brother can reach the cookie jar and ride a bicycle. If the little boy had legs as long as a giraffe, he would be able to outrace his brother up the hill. On the other hand, he wouldn’t be able to ride in the wagon behind his brother’s bike anymore. If he had big hands like a gorilla, he would be able to open the cookie jar with no problems. But then, he wouldn’t be able to fit in his playhouse to eat them. If he had a mouth as big as a crocodile’s, he could tell his brother to go to bed early. But then, he would miss him too. Perhaps being little isn’t entirely bad after all.

Originally published in Australia, this picture book has a lot of playful appeal. The universal feeling of younger siblings is that they wish that they were bigger. Here, that yearning for being bigger is combined with some even larger animals. The book tells the story purely in the little boy’s voice, keeping the perspective clearly that of a small child. Yet the logic all works from that point of view too.

The illustrations are a mix of watercolors, pencil and scanned textures. They have a warmth and vibrancy to them which is very appealing. While the thought of a small child wanting to be bigger is not unique to this book, it is the illustrations which make this a book worth seeking out. The animals that the toddler dreams of being like are his toys that he carries around from one page to the next, making for a book that has a completeness and wholeness about it.

A delightful book that shows littler ones that they have advantages too, this picture book is ideal for sharing one-on-one so the details of the illustrations are not missed. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Finalists for National Book Award in Young People’s Literature

| Tasha

Yesterday, the National Book Foundation announced the finalists for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. The winner will be announced on November 18.

Here are the five finalists:

Bone Gap Challenger Deep

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War Nimona

Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

The Thing About Jellyfish

The Thing about Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

Review: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

| Tasha

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (InfoSoup)

Simon has been exchanging emails with Blue for awhile. Simon doesn’t know who Blue is, just that he goes the same school. They have agreed not to try to find one another because they are both not out publicly yet. When Marty discovers Simon’s emails with Blue, he uses them to blackmail Simon by threatening to out not only him but Blue as well. Marty demands that Simon set him up with one of Simon’s best friends. Abby is a new part of Simon’s group of friends and the dynamics are getting more problematic as Leah seems to be more and more jealous of Abby, especially where Nick is concerned. Meanwhile Simon is starting to put together clues about whom Blue might be and keeps on dropping clues of his own accidentally about his own identity. But before Simon can fully figure it all out, Marty makes one final desperate move that outs Simon to the entire school in a very public way, one that might scare off Blue entirely.

I fell hard for this book. Simon is a delight of a character, a brilliant mix of teenage angst, intelligence, great taste in music, and a winning personality. Throughout the book, the writing is bright and sparkling with wit. Albertalli has worked with teens as a clinical psychologist, specifically those who are gender nonconforming and that expertise is reflected throughout this book. She understands teens at a deep psychological level that gives this book a solid foundation from which to build.

One element I have to mention is a spoiler, so look away if you need to. But this book allows two gay teens to actually fall in love, revel in their connection, flirt outrageously with one another, talk about sex, and yes eventually meet and be happy. There are kisses and making out, and both are happy and thrilled to be together. It’s pure bliss to find this in a novel for teens, since it is so affirming. All is not perfect in this world though, there is bullying from other kids at school, the blackmail over sexual identity and a parent who makes gay jokes. It’s complicated and that is the truth of life captured in this novel.

Funny, painful, and pure dynamite, this novel is one of the best teen reads of the year. Appropriate for ages 14-18.

Reviewed from library copy.