Review: Rifka Takes a Bow by Rebecca Rosenberg Perlov

| Tasha

rifka takes a bow

Rifka Takes a Bow by Betty Rosenberg Perlov, illustrated by Cosei Kawa

Rifka’s parents are actors in the Yiddish theater community, they work at The Grand and perform regularly.  So Rifka has grown up behind the stage, seeing them transform into different characters.  Sometimes they are so different, she isn’t really sure they are the same person.  When she goes to work with them, she gets to ride the subway and have a snack at the Automat.  She gets to look behind the stage and discover all of the illusions that go into doing theater.  Then one day, Rifka is climbing a set of stairs behind the stage and accidentally steps out during a performance!  What is a girl with acting in her blood going to do?

Written by a woman who herself grew up in the Yiddish Theater where her parents worked, this book captures the wonder of that lifestyle for a small child.  Perlov also shows us the intimate details of that world with the tricks of the stage, the joy of viewing a performance from the wings, and the obvious charm of having parents who are theater people.  This is a beautiful look at a world that has disappeared with the times.

Kawa’s artwork is very unique.  It has a wonderful modern feel thanks to the interesting proportions of the heads and bodies of the characters.  Perhaps the best touch are the little objects that dance in the air.  Whenever people are performing or communicating, they are there and flowing between them.  They offer a sense of the flow of this family and the flow that happens with the audience as well.

A joy to read, this book truly is a look at a lost world from the perspective of someone who actually lived it.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

This Week’s Tweets and Pins

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter and Pinterest accounts this week that you might find interesting:

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

The 15 Greatest Kid Detectives | Jordan B. Nielsen http://buff.ly/14q17hS #kidlit

Best Old fashioned Children’s Books Set on a Farm : PragmaticMom http://buff.ly/13APYIj #kidlit

bookshelves of doom: Readalikes: Percy Jackson. http://buff.ly/13AOGx1 #kidlit

#CallingCaldecott: How to read a picture book in 9 easy steps. Awesome and hilarious. http://ow.ly/oMjm0

‘Dear Dumb Diary’ author announces new movie | Observer and Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies http://buff.ly/13AOVYO

Edward Carey’s top 10 writer/illustrators | Children’s books http://buff.ly/15Qgeeq #kidlit

Five questions for David Wiesner – The Horn Book http://buff.ly/13H5L8u #kidlit

My Favorite Children’s Books | Cynthia Voigt http://buff.ly/17sQSHF #kidlit

EBOOKS

E-readers: the best way to get the world’s children reading | Technology | The Observer http://buff.ly/1fQIbZm #ebooks #reading

Expanding Privacy Legislation to Include Ebooks | American Libraries Magazine http://buff.ly/1dWn7nF #privacy #ebooks

New Birmingham Library Atrium, 2013. At 31,000 sqm it is the largest public library in Europe. The ten-level library will share with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre a spacious entrance and foyer as well as a flexible studio theatre seating 300 people. The library houses world-class collections of archives, photography and rare books. WoW!

LIBRARIES

BiblioTech Digital Library Opens this Week http://buff.ly/181CSkW #libraries

The Cost of Censorship in Libraries: 10 Years Under the Children’s Internet Protection Act | EFF https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/09/cost-censorship-libraries-10-years-under-childrens-internet-protection-act … #libraries

MAKE | A Librarian’s Guide to Boosting the Maker Movement http://buff.ly/1fQIEL2 #libraries

Morrison’s ‘Bluest Eye’ Joins Wide Range of Books Challenged in Alabama Schools | School Library Journal http://buff.ly/1dZ9mFF

RT @meghandrrns Guys Netflix for books is already a real thing, it is called a library, and you would not believe the low low monthly price, okay, bye.

RT @theREALwikiman – I want to hold up a sign that says LIBRARIANS: Google is absolutely fine for 99% of things. Find other ways to be useful.

Talking about Tablets: Lawrence Public Library (KS) http://buff.ly/15JTkFA #libraries

Teen Read Week – Seek the Unknown @ your library! Teen Read Week, Oct. 13-19 http://buff.ly/1dWncrz #yalit #libraries

Yup. One after another.

READING

15 Fabulous Bookish Pinterest Boards http://buff.ly/1fQIK5s #books #reading

40 Hidden Artworks Painted on the Edges of Books «TwistedSifter http://buff.ly/1fWJWEk #books

Broader, Better Literary Conversations | The Nation http://buff.ly/1dXTRNt #diversity #books #authors

Old English Demonstrated By British College Students Using Famous Movie Scenes http://buff.ly/1eHrX6W

The U.S. Illiteracy Rate Hasn’t Changed In 10 Years http://buff.ly/15dvGWu #literacy

TECHNOLOGY

Google is preparing for screenless computers – Quartz http://buff.ly/19BN6f8

N.S.A. Able to Foil Basic Safeguards of Privacy on Web http://buff.ly/1dZqnPX #privacy

TEEN LIT

Beautiful Creatures Authors to Write Spinoff Series http://buff.ly/17ZOULN #yalit

Book Trade Announcements – David Almond – One In A Million For Hodder Children’s Books http://buff.ly/181CG5h #kidlit #yalit

Ellen Hopkins talks ‘Smoke’, the much-anticipated sequel to ‘Burned’ | Shelf Life http://buff.ly/1edWVpG #yalit

I can’t think of a better read to start your day or to take a break than the chat between @CBethM and @JoKnowles http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/crying-mentors-read-alouds-and-revision-a-nerdybookclub-interview-with-jo-knowles-and-cindy-minnich/ …

Interview: Gene Yang Talks Boxers & Saints | GeekDad http://buff.ly/1eewxMv #yalit

Librarians Love: Books with Girls Passing as Boys | The Hub http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2013/09/05/librarians-love-books-with-girls-passing-as-boys/ … #yalit

Real girls – The Horn Book http://buff.ly/14y0nBU #yalit

Unpacking why adults read young adult fiction – Malinda Lo http://buff.ly/1eeteoi #yalit

YA Authors Who Have Also Been Behind Your TV Screens http://buff.ly/15JcWtp #yalit

Chaos Walking – The Movie

| Tasha

ChaosWalkingTrilogy_zps9f8951ee

Patrick Ness fans have even more to celebrate than his new book (which is amazing).  The Wrap says that Robert Zemeckis is in negotiations to direct a film version of Chaos Walking for Lionsgate studios. 

Ness wrote the Chaos Walking trilogy in such a cinematic way that it should come as no surprise that it has been optioned for a movie.  His writing is stellar and makes the entire world appear before your eyes.  Getting a director like Zemeckis would make this even more of a contender to be a success following Hunger Games.

Thanks to Book Riot for the heads up.

Review: Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

| Tasha

rooftoppers

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

Sophie was found floating in a cello case after a shipwreck, scooped out of the water by a fellow passenger, Charles, who became her guardian.  He was a single man and a scholar, and unlikely to be a suitable parent, but the two of them got along perfectly well.  The Welfare Agency did pursue the two of them and it finally got so bad that the two fled to Paris before Sophie could be sent to an orphanage.  Sophie knew that her mother was still alive although everyone else thought she was dead.  And her guardian always taught her to never ignore a possible.  So they searched Paris for her mother, following the clue she found in the cello case.  There she met Matteo, a boy who appeared in her skylight and led her to a world of the rooftops.  Together they search the roofs of Paris for the sound of her mother’s cello.  But how long can Sophie search before she is caught by the authorities?

Rundell writes so beautifully, it is impossible not to stop and linger over her phrases.  She uses unusual metaphors like “…he held her in his large hands – at arm’s length, as he would a leaky flowerpot…”  She also paints gorgeous images of her characters, “Think of nighttime with a speaking voice.  Or think how moonlight might talk, or think of ink, if ink had vocal chords.”  And she also vividly shows how characters think, “Mothers are a thing you need, like air, she thought, and water.  Even paper mothers were better than nothing – even imaginary ones.  Mothers were a place to put down your heart.  They were a resting stop to recover your breath.”  I could go on and on with quotes, since her entire novel is filled with moments like this.

Sophie and Charles are great characters, entirely unique and quirky.  At first they are living in a normal society where they don’t fit at all and the tension between them and normalcy is finely conveyed.  It is when she reaches the rooftops of Paris though that the book becomes pure quicksilver magic.  Impossible to put down, one wishes that they too could climb to the rooftops of Paris in the confident hands of Matteo, who is also a vivid and amazing character.

Profoundly original and filled with shining prose, this novel is a wondrous read.  Appropriate for ages 11-13.  Reviewed from digital galley received from Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster.

New Harry Potter Film Series

| Tasha

JK Rowling will be partnering again with Warner Bros to bring a new film series to the big screen.  The new series will be based on her Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book and will focus on the fictitious author of the book, Newt Scamander. The film will be set in New York, 70 years before the Harry Potter series. Rowling will be doing the screenwriting for the first time.

Fans can also expect a video game based on the book.

Advantages of Being a Reader–You Can Count on It!

| Tasha

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As reported by the BBC, a new study by the Institute of Education at London University looked at the reading habits of 6000 children.  The results show that reading for pleasure is more important to a child’s development than the education level of their parents. 

The conclusion was that because of their wider vocabulary due to reading, children did better across the curriculum.  Children who read more than once a week for pleasure had a 14.4% advantage in vocabulary, a 9.9% advantage in mathematics, and an 8.6% advantage in spelling. 

Perhaps most surprising is the correlation with mathematics where one might expect the vocabulary impact to be less.  Here is the explanation from the study’s author:

"It absolutely makes sense that you would expect reading for pleasure to improve children’s vocabularies.

"But I think that that also does improve children’s ability to take on new information and new concepts across the curriculum.

"A child who has a narrow vocabulary may constantly be coming across things they don’t understand."

Review: Foxy! by Jessica Souhami

| Tasha

foxy

Foxy! by Jessica Souhami

This North American version of a universal trickster tale is given a fresh but still classic take in this new picture book.  Foxy caught a bee and put it in a sack.  He met a woman with a rooster and asked her to look after his sack while he went to visit a friend, but insisted that she not look in the sack.  Of course, the woman did look in and the bee flew off.  So the Fox demanded her rooster in exchange.  This pattern continues with Foxy leaving the sack with another person and exchanging one animal for an even more large and tasty one.  Until he finally gets a little boy in his sack and meets up with a woman who understands how to trick a trickster.

Souhami incorporates rhythm and repetition into her story in a way that makes it a pleasure to read aloud.  Each new animal is gained in the much the same way with the structure carrying through from one to the next.  The result is a story that dances along with the wily fox, the readers able to settle into the traditional feel of the tale.

This would make a great choice for turning into storytelling, though it would be a shame to lose the bright and vibrant cut-paper illustrations seen here.  They have a great crispness to them that translates well to a group.

Perfection for reading aloud, this story is designed to be shared.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Thumpy Feet by Betsy Lewin

| Tasha

thumpy feet

Thumpy Feet by Betsy Lewin

Cat owners will immediately see their own cats in Thumpy Feet.  He spends his day playing, sleeping, cleaning himself, and hunting.  The book takes a very simple but also very playful look at this active cat.  Small children will see their own days of naps and play reflected in this book and will also be drawn in by the jaunty rhymes and bright illustrations. 

Lewin keeps the book very simple with her language.  Using phrases like “flippy flip” and “yawny yawn” makes this a story that is great fun to share aloud.  The simplicity of the subject also lends this to be used very successfully with small children.  Additionally, the illustrations are large, bright and simple. 

This book is perfect for toddlers and librarians will be happy to add this jolly book to their cat storytimes.  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Here I Am by Patti Kim

| Tasha

here i am

Here I Am by Patti Kim

This wordless picture book is the story of a boy and his family coming to an American city.  The signs don’t make any sense, the crowds are huge.  It’s noisy and big and confusing.  In the boy’s pocket is a red object from home.  It reminds him of what he left behind whenever he holds it in his hand.  He spends a lot of time at home, not interacting with anyone until one day, he drops his keepsake out of the window where a girl picks it up.  The girl heads off and the boy follows her and along the way discovers the greener parts of the city, food he recognizes, and people who are friendly.  In the end, he’s planted himself firmly into this new place.

Told entirely in pictures, this wordless book is written by a person who lived through this experience when they came to America from Korea forty years ago.  The book has an honesty that runs through it and nicely shows the time that it takes for someone to even see the positive in a new place.  It addresses the overwhelming feeling of homesickness and the jarring loss of language that isolates.  Beautifully illustrated, this book is one that has intricate images that come together to form a cohesive and powerful whole.

A remarkable capturing of the immigrant story, this book will speak to those who are immigrants and will also help others understand what children from other countries are going through.  The choice to make it wordless makes it all the more useful with immigrant populations in our communities.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from digital galley received from NetGalley and Capstone Young Readers.