Deadline has the news that A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz will be made into a live-action film. It will be directed by Henry Selick, who also directed several popular stop-action films: A Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and Coraline.
I look forward to seeing this dark but very funny take on the Brothers Grimm tales brought to life. I’m hoping that they keep the ages as young as in the book because that’s what adds to the delight and horror.
Tea Cakes for Tosh by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
Tosh loved spending time with his grandma Honey, who baked him tea cakes. She told him stories of the cakes, dating all the way back to his great-great-great-great-grandma Ida who made the best tea cakes around. But those tea cakes were not for her children, they were for her owners since she was a slave. Sometimes though, she would make some extra cakes for her children to promise that things would change. Honey started to forget things, like where she parked her car and phone numbers. Then one day, she forgot how to make tea cakes. Luckily, Tosh knew just how to help.
Lyons has created a relationship between grandmother and grandchild here that is warm and loving and filled with sweet baked good too. She shows the importance of generation in a family by tying in the history of the tea cakes. I appreciate seeing a boy’s relationship with his grandmother where the boy is also interested in his heritage and being in the kitchen.
Lewis has illustrated the book with realistic watercolors that capture the relationship of the two main characters. He switches to black and white images when family history is discussed and shows the tea cakes on recipe cards too. The entire book is filled with warm colors that speak to the sunny relationship being depicted.
A beauty of a book, this picture book celebrates family heritage, grandparents and the power of food to bring people closer together. Appropriate for ages 5-7.
Reviewed from library copy.
The Big Wet Balloon by Liniers
Inspired by his daughters aged 3 and 5, this book celebrates a rainy day. When Matilda wakes up on a Saturday morning, she is delighted by everything she can do that day. Clemmie, her little sister, gets excited too. But then their day turns out to be filled with rain. Matilda is undaunted and sets out to persuade Clemmie to join her out in the rain. Clemmie is very hesitant, insisting that it is wet, until Matilda shows her the umbrella and how to use it. Clemmie then enjoys the rain until her red balloon floats off when she gets too excited. But Matilda finds a way to make that right as well.
Liniers shows his adoration for his daughters in this book. Clemmie is clearly a toddler and expresses herself in early sentences and short words. Matilda is an enthusiastic older sibling who wants to spend time out in the weather. It is a pleasure to see a sibling relationship depicted with such warmth and evident love for one another. Matilda is never frustrated by the situation, always coming up with another way to approach it. The words and art dance together here. Both help tell this story of a rainy and wet Saturday.
My children always loved rain more than sun, so this is a book that they would have loved. Time to get out rain slickers and umbrellas and play in the rain! Appropriate for ages 3-6.
Reviewed from library copy.
The 2014 shortlist for the UK’s Red House Children’s Book Award has been announced. It is the only national award in the UK that is voted on entirely by children. The finalists are broken into three age groups and children are able to vote on the books through mid-January 2014. Here is the shortlist:
Books for Younger Children
Superworm by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Walter and The No Need To Worry Suit by Rachel Bright
How To Hide A Lion by Helen Stephens
Hippospotamus by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
Books for Younger Readers
The Land of Neverbelieve by Norman Messenger
Atticus Claw Breaks The Law by Jennifer Gray
Claude In The Country by Alex T Smith
Books for Older Readers
Killing Rachel by Anne Cassidy
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer
Moo! by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka
Told in just a couple of words, this picture book is one wild ride. When the farmer puts a sign up that says that his car is for sale, it catches the attention of a cow nearby. She jumps right in and starts off driving up hill and down: Moooooooooooooooo. But then disaster strikes: Moo! And she lands in trouble with the police. She tries to explain herself, but the officer just sends her back home, walking. When the farmer finds out, what is a cow to do? You will just have to see how this romp of a picture book ends.
The partnership between author and illustrator is so seamless that I not sure who came up with the concepts. The text in the book is entirely animal noises and is so simple that any small child will be able to read it on their own after just one shared reading. Who knew that “moo” could say so much! The illustrations are simple as well, and play up the jolly humor of the book.
A simple book perfect for storytime, expect lots of giggles on this joy ride. Appropriate for ages 1-4.
Reviewed from library copy.
Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
Released November 5, 2013.
This is the second book in Carriger’s young adult Finishing School series. Sophronia is still getting into all sorts of trouble aboard the floating finishing school she attends. It’s an unusual finishing school that prepares its students to be spies and agents as well as ladies of quality. The girls are tested on their skills and Sophronia when is announced as getting record high scores, the other girls shun her. Sophronia tries to fill the loss of her friendships by spending more time down in the boiler rooms, but soon she has other distractions. Boys from Bunsen’s school are on board to travel with the female students to see the testing of a vehicle that will be able to travel the aether. But there is more to it than that, and Sophronia is determined to figure out why and how the vampires and werewolves are involved.
I loved the first book in the series and was pleased to see the second one lived up to the promise of the first. Second books in series often suffer from a sophomore slump, but that is not the case here. In fact, this book builds on the premise of the first and adds much more to the information that the readers have of this steampunk world and its rules. It also has just as much action, subterfuge and adventure as the first, all done in petticoats and ruffles.
The best part of these books is the humor that laces everything. Sophronia is a girl who sees past the beauty of society and into the ridiculousness beyond it. She is a strong protagonist whose wry takes on her own world make for sparkling humor.
For teens looking for steampunk novels, this series is a great one to recommend. Appropriate for ages 13-16.
Reviewed from digital review copy received from Edelweiss and Little, Brown.
Night Light by Nicholas Blechman
Count from one to ten in this picture book all about lights at night. The book begins with a black page and just one light shining through from a die cut to the page beyond. Turn the page and you see that one light is a train. Keep turning and you start counting more and more lights, each attached to a different vehicle. Some of the pages have clues so that you can guess what sort of vehicle it is. This is a book perfect for small children to start to count and ideal for children who love trucks, planes and trains.
Blechman keeps his writing very simple. The real draw of the book is the clever use of die cuts to show just the lights before you turn the page. The blackness of the page also adds to the drama and suspense very nicely. The book is printed on heavier pages, making it very friendly for toddler hands.
A simple and engaging book for young truck lovers that is a mix of counting and guessing game. Appropriate for ages 1-3.
Ann Jonas, creator of some amazing picture books, has died at age 81 according to Publisher’s Weekly. She is the creator of the very innovating Round Trip, a black and white picture book that flipped over and you read it backwards to finish the story.
Jonas was married to Donald Crews, also an author and illustrator of children’s picture books. She is also the mother of Nina Crews who too creates children’s books. That’s one talented family!
Battling Boy by Paul Pope
This is the first book in a new graphic novel series. Monsters are attacking Acropolis but they are protected by the hero Haggard West, until he is killed. Now their fate is in the hands of a young twelve-year-old sent from outer space. He has powers of different animals that he accesses by wearing different t-shirts. He can fight, but the monsters are cunning and strong. Teens from his planet go rambling, but few return. Battling Boy must not just save Acropolis, he has to prove his worth, make a cunning plan, fight epic battles, and survive.
The reader is quickly thrown into the story in this graphic novel which lays very little background at all. That approach is perfect for this fast-paced storyline where everything is explained on the fly and the reader has to pick up on clues to put it all together. Even as the reader is wondering about some things, the action has picked them up and moved them onward. The result is a brawling book that is a surprisingly engaging read.
Pope’s art has a wonderful vintage comic feel. The storyline also has its vintage moments but also bursts of surprises. The melding of steampunk, deities, outer space and monsters makes for a fresh read.
Young fans of graphic novels will find a lot to love here: big battles, a young hero and a mashup of genres. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
Reviewed from library copy.
Waking Brain Cells 