2015 Children’s Choice Book Awards

| Tasha

In an awards ceremony hosted by two literary giants, Betsy Bird from NYPL and Fuse 8 and Jon Scieszka, the 2015 Children’s Choice Book Awards were announced.  These awards are the only ones where the winners are selected by children and teens. Here are the winners in both children’s and teen categories:

KINDERGARTEN to 2nd GRADE

Eva and Sadie and the Worst Haircut EVER!

Eva and Sadie and the Worst Haircut EVER! by Jeff Cohen, illustrated by Elanna Allen

 

3rd to 4th GRADE

Kali's Story: An Orphaned Polar Bear Rescue

Kali’s Story: An Orphaned Polar Bear Rescue by Jennifer Keats Curtis, illustrated by John Gomes

 

5th to 6th GRADE

The Dumbest Idea Ever!

The Dumbest Idea Ever by Jimmy Gownley

 

TEEN BOOK OF THE YEAR

The One (The Selection, #3)

The One by Kiera Cass

 

CHILDREN’S CHOICE DEBUT AUTHOR

The Thickety: A Path Begins

J. A. White for The Thickety: A Path Begins

 

TEEN CHOICE DEBUT AUTHOR

The Truth About Alice

Jennifer Mathieu for The Truth about Alice

 

CHILDREN’S CHOICE ILLUSTRATOR

Sparky!

Chris Appelhans for Sparky! by Jenny Offill

Review: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

| Tasha

challenger deep

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (InfoSoup)

The Captain is always watching, constantly there, even before the ship. Caden knows the Captain well and knows enough to both respect and fear him. As he spends more time on the ship, he also gets close to the parrot who is working to plot against the Captain and bring Caden onto his side. But at times the ship fades away and reality comes back to Caden. He realizes that he’s pushing friends away and becoming more and more alone in his life. He’s always been popular and had plenty of friends but his new oddness and the strange way his mind is working keeps them at a distance. As the ship approaches the deepest part of the ocean, others join the crew, teens who have their own roles on the ship, those who navigate and those who look into the future. As Caden begins to get the treatment he needs for the voices in his head, these are revealed as the other patients around him. Caden has to journey across the dark sea alone, figure out who is on his side, and hopefully come out the other side alive. It’s a journey through a mind that is fighting an internal chemical battle against itself but it is also a journey of brilliance and beauty.

Shusterman writes from experience about the impact a mentally-ill teen can have on a family. His own son battles mental illness and the illustrations throughout the novel are ones that his son did as he got treatment. The book is raw and stunning in its depiction of the vivid world that schizophrenia can create, the voices making sense in this alternate reality of captains, parrots, ships and crewmen. There are moments of breathtaking clarity, where the deception is swept clear and the reader sees what had been clouded before. It is in these moments that the power of mental illness is striking and blazing bright. And then the clouds descend again and the fiction takes over the brain.

Shusterman writes a brave story here, one that doesn’t try to explain the fictions of the mind, but instead allows readers to ride the waves of paranoia and delusion along with Caden. Caden himself is a character that is so caught up in the throes of mental illness that one realizes that the battle all along has been for himself and his own survival. Shusterman plays with perspective, changing the narration from first person to second person and back again. It’s disarming and wild, something that readers may not notice at first, except as a strange jarring that slowly builds. It’s a very smart use of perspective, creating its own jittery feel for the reader.

A journey through mental illness, this book for teens speaks to the hope that treatment brings but also the hard work that it takes to leave the world of the mind behind and enter reality again. Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Edelweiss and HarperCollins.

2015 Edgar Award Winners

| Tasha

theedgars

The winners of the 2015 Edgar Award Winners have been announced by the Mystery Writers of America. Here are the winners in the youth categories:

BEST JUVENILE

Greenglass House

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

 

BEST YOUNG ADULT

The Art of Secrets

The Art of Secrets by James Klise

Review: It’s Only Stanley by Jon Agee

| Tasha

Its Only Stanley by Jon Agee

It’s Only Stanley by Jon Agee (InfoSoup)

Something odd is happening tonight in the Wimbledon house. There are mysterious noises. The first noise is Stanley the dog howling at the moon. But then new noises start. The clanking noise is Stanley fixing the oil tank in the basement. A little later, the funky smell that makes the cat ill turns out to be Stanley cooking catfish stew in the kitchen. The buzzing noise is Stanley fixing the family’s old TV in the living room. Splashing noises are Stanley fixing the plumbing. Each noise wakes up the human family and the father has to head out to see what is happening. But just as everyone is starting to get very cranky from loss of sleep, something happens that shows exactly what Stanley has actually been up to all night.

Agee is a master at creating understated books that have a distinctive feel about them. Here he takes a strong matter-of-fact tone and uses it to add to the silliness of the entire book. Told in natural-feeling rhyme, the book has a buoyant tone that makes it great fun to share aloud. Throughout the book the father heads out each time without much emotion and returns to report that it is just Stanley and what the dog is up to. The oblivious family heads back to bed only to be awoken again and again. This builds wonderful tension until it’s released with a literal bang.

Agee’s art is done in his unique style with flat color and thick black lines. Throughout, readers will be able to watch for clues as to what Stanley is actually up to and readers who are paying close attention will figure it out before the family does. Even those children who don’t piece together the clues will want to re-read the story to notice them. Also keep an eye on the cat who seems to always get into the worst of it as the story progresses.

Not a bedtime story despite being set at night, this picture book is strikingly funny and has a grand warped feeling throughout. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books.

Review: My Pen by Christopher Myers

| Tasha

my pen

My Pen by Christopher Myers (InfoSoup)

A new picture book from an award-winning illustrator which shows the power of art in a child’s life. Using powerful sketches, the book talks about the freedom and self-esteem that comes from creating art. Myers also speaks to the importance of imagination and creativity, showing an elephant in a teacup and the protagonist riding a dinosaur. He plays with different perspectives and plays the simplicity of ink and pen art against the complexity of world problems that art also speaks to. Even mistakes and errors are embraced along the way, showing children that the goal is not perfection but the experience of creation.

Beautifully written and illustrated, this picture book is a compelling look at creativity and art. The words in the book demonstrate the various aspects of art, showing a playfulness throughout but also allowing moments of gravity and seriousness as well. The book ends with an encouragement to the reader to pick up a pen and see what worlds they discover inside it.

The real focus of this picture book is the art, which is incredibly beautiful. Done in pen, of course, the art is detailed and distinctive. The boy’s face is expressive throughout, as he takes imaginary travels and as he responds to making mistakes on the page. Thanks to the creative subject, one is never sure what is going to be revealed on the next page. With art of this quality, it’s a delight to turn the pages and discover each new image.

Share this with art teachers or in units that encourage creativity. Then have pens ready for children to create their own art on the page, blots and all. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

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:

Books turn muggles into wizards

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

9 Trees In Literature That We Wish We Could Read A Book Under For Arbor Day http://buff.ly/1OP5JiE #kidlit

Christian Children’s Literature in the Library: A Quick Accounting — @fuseeight A Fuse #8 Production http://buff.ly/1OYKVFI #kidlit

Daniel Hahn’s top 10 forgotten children’s classics http://buff.ly/1zg3cfz #kidlit

Quebec girl told to stop reading book by school bus driver http://buff.ly/1DQqsfS #reading – I survived school bus rides with books!

Where the Wild Things Really Are: Maurice Sendak Illustrates the Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm http://buff.ly/1P6uaZ3 #kidlit

Which are the best picture books about farms? http://buff.ly/1PNg9lk #kidlit

To read is to voyage through time

LIBRARIES

8 Awesome Ways Libraries Are Making Learning Fun http://buff.ly/1zgbiFc #libraries

Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Public Libraries Remain Open | LJ INFOdocket http://buff.ly/1bANErV #libraries

Obama Pushes Reading Through eBook, Library Initiatives http://buff.ly/1birw5f #libraries

image

TEEN READS

Getting Graphic: Popular YA Books Adapted as Graphic Novels http://buff.ly/1Inqnqi #yalit

Quiet Books: They Deserve More Love http://buff.ly/1HNqJWR #yalit

YA Characters in Love With Poetry http://buff.ly/1OYJE17 #yalit

Green Eggs & Ham – The TV Show

| Tasha

Green Eggs and Ham

Netflix has announced that it will be turning Dr. Seuss’ beloved book Green Eggs and Ham into a 13-episode TV series. The adaptation will be written by Jared Stern who also wrote Wreck-It-Ralph and is working on the upcoming Lego Movie sequel.

Executive Producers include Stern, Ellen DeGeneres, Jeff Kleeman, Mike Karz, and David Dobkin. The project will be distributed by Warner Bros. TV.

It is expected to be released in 2018 and is said to be “the highest-end, most expensive animated program ever produced for television.”

Review: I Don’t Like Koala by Sean Ferrell

| Tasha

I Don't Like Koala by Sean Ferrell

I Don’t Like Koala by Sean Ferrell, illustrated by Charles Santoso

When Adam opens his gift and discovers Koala inside, he is not pleased. After all, Koala is “the most terrible terrible.” He has bright yellow eyes that follow Adam around the room. So Adam decides that he must get rid of Koala, but it’s not that easy. Every night Adam puts Koala away in different places all over the house and happily goes to be alone. But when he wakes up, Koala is right there on his pillow, every morning. His parents think that he loves Koala, even though Adam tells them that he hates Koala. Then comes the day that Koala seems to have eaten Adams snack! So Adam hikes up into the forest and leaves Koala there. But Koala is waiting for him at home when he returns. One night though, frightening things loom in the dark and Koala is right there to protect Adam and make him feel safe. But someone else might just be being freaked out by Koala too.

Ferrell captures the creepiness and the appeal of strange stuffed animals. He creates a horror vibe that is just right for young readers with the way that Koala appears in bed in the morning and can’t be left behind anywhere. It’s a funny riff on scary movies, something that some special stuffed animals can evoke with ease. The parents don’t understand or step in to protect their son in the story at all, adding to that eerie feeling throughout that makes the book such fun.

Santoso creates the ultimate creepy stuffed animal in Koala, a strange beast who readers will also grow to love as the book progresses. The expressions on Adam’s face are priceless as he tries to explain why he hates Koala so very much and when he discovers Koala’s return again and again. The use of dark colors for both Koala and Adam unite them as a pair in the book even as Adam struggles to be separate. Santoso’s illustrations continue the dark eerie feel of the story.

An exceptionally dark picture book, this book is great fun and reads aloud well. Share it with children ready for a little fright with their stuffed animals. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Review: Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson

| Tasha

sidewalk flowers

Sidewalk Flowers by JoArno Lawson, illustrated by Sydney Smith

As she heads home with her father who is distracted by his cell phone call, a little girl dressed in vibrant red picks wild flowers. Along the way, she takes a moment to smell each of them, creating a bouquet of bright colored blooms. The flowers grow unnoticed by the others on the street in this urban setting, but the little girl spots them all growing out of sidewalk cracks. When the girl and her father reach the park, she notices a dead bird on the sidewalk and leaves some of the flowers there with the bird. A man sleeping on a park bench is given a sprig too. Then she decorates the collar of a friendly dog with more flowers. As they reach home, the little girl gives each of her family members flowers, leaving a trail of them on their hair and heads. The final flower is used to decorate her own hair at the very end.

This wordless picture book is immensely lovely. The story arc really works well and has moments of sophistication that create a vibrant urban world for this girl to live within. As she gathers the flowers, other beautiful parts of the city that would have been overlooked too light up with color or are captured in small moments. From the display of bright fruits in the market to the pigeons on the street, each small piece adds together so that readers “see” the beauty of the city along with the young protagonist.

The art is expressive and lovely. The city is shown in black and white against which the red girl pops like a bright ruby. Portions of the city are done in color, like flowered dresses and the small flowers that the girl gathers too. Then when the girl starts sharing her flowers, the entire world becomes colorful and bright. It is a dynamic shift in the middle of the book, showing the power of generosity and community.

Subtle and powerful, this picture book celebrates seeing the beauty in everyday life and sharing it with others. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.