Review: The Best Bike Ride Ever by James Proimos

| Tasha

best bike ride ever

The Best Bike Ride Ever by James Proimos and Johanna Wright

All Bonnie has said for seven days is “I want a bike” so when she finally gets a bike on the eighth day, she just can’t wait to try it out.  She can’t even wait to be shown how to use a bike, instead she just hops aboard and pedals off.  There’s only one problem – she doesn’t know how to stop.  She rode her bike over bridges and on top of elephants, between giraffe legs, to the top of the Statue of Liberty and the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  Unfortunately though, she did stop in the end, by falling over.  Happily, her parents were there not to scold her but to show her how to use her bike.  In fact, Bonnie had the adventure of a lifetime right in her own backyard as sharp eyed children will figure out.

This book is entirely playful from the over-the-top begging for a bike to the wild ride through the entire world to the final twist at the end.  Readers will experience their own adventurous ride as they read this book, never knowing quite where Bonnie and the book are heading next.  It’s a lot of fun to read! 

The illustrations are quirky and bright.  Filled with details but never fussy, they have a life to them that adds to the spunk of the book.  They are also filled with motion and movement, which makes them all the more enjoyable.

Great fun, this wild ride of a book will have children wishing for their own bike.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books for Young Readers.

Review: Drama by Raina Telgemeier

| Tasha

drama

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

The author of the award-winning Smile returns with another graphic novel that captures the turmoil and thrill of being a teen.  Here the focus is on high school theater.  Callie loves theater, but not being an actress, instead her passion is set design and working behind the scenes.  This year she gets her big chance with the production of Moon over Mississippi as the main set designer.  She has a big vision, the question is whether she can pull it all off.  In particular, the cannon scene proves very challenging, but Callie knows she just has to have the cannon really fire on stage.  In the meantime, Callie is getting to know two handsome twins who are also interested in theater, enjoying her friendship with the other stage crew members, and dealing with lots of drama onstage and off. 

Telgemeier has created a graphic novel that both actors and those behind the scenes will love.  It is great to see a book focus on the efforts that it takes to really get a show running, rather than just who gets to be in the spotlight.  The story is welcoming and inclusive, just like any great theater crew.  There are gay characters, crushes on both the right and wrong people, mistakes on stage, and much more to love.  She has captured high school without being fanciful at all.

As with her previous book, Telgemeier’s art has a combination of empathy and humor.  She laughs along with her characters and never at them.  It’s a crucial difference that makes her books all the more laudable and readable. 

Highly recommended, this is one for the Glee fans and also for all of those teens who work behind the scenes rather than dreaming of time on stage.  Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

Review: Squid and Octopus Friends for Always by Tao Nyeu

| Tasha

squid and octopus

Squid and Octopus Friends for Always by Tao Nyeu

In a series of short stories, the friendship of Squid and Octopus is revealed.  Together at the bottom of the sea, they have a several cheery adventures.  In the first story, the two get into a fight over whether mittens or socks should be worn when the weather gets cold.  It turns out that both do a great job of keeping you warm and an even better one when shared.  The second story focuses on a dream that Squid had that gave him super powers!  The only bad thing is that he’s sad now that he’s awake and normal again.  It’s up to Octopus to show him just how super he really is.  The third story has a boot sink to the bottom of the ocean.  Octopus tries to figure out what to do with it.  In the final story, the friends have a fortune cookie but worry about what sort of fortune it might contain.  All of the stories have an innate and natural sweetness to them that is striking.

Nyeu’s storytelling strength is on display in this picture book.  Though the text is nice and brief to appeal to younger audiences, Nyeu doesn’t keep it too simple.  Instead he builds in warmth and depth with words.  Just a few extra touches make this book even more memorable.

The book is illustrated with Nyeu’s trademark simplicity and limited palette.  Using greens, oranges, yellows and blues, the colors are sherbet and deep sea.  Nyeu is also a master of white space, using the background almost as another color in his work. 

A delightfully sunny picture book set in the ocean depths, young readers are sure to find two new friends here.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books for Young Readers.

Review: The Art of Miss Chew by Patricia Polacco

| Tasha

art of miss chew

The Art of Miss Chew by Patricia Polacco

Polacco continues to explore her childhood in picture book form in this tribute to a teacher.  In school, young Patricia struggled with her grades, specifically when taking tests.  Luckily, she had a teacher, Mr. Donovan, who was willing to give her extra time to finish.  That little change allowed Patricia to get better grades.  Mr. Donovan was also the first teacher to recognize her artistic talent.  He connected her with an art program run by Miss Chew.  Miss Chew talked about learning to see, working with line and pressure, and taking their sketchbooks with them everywhere.  Patricia soaked all of this up like a sponge.  But then Mr. Donovan’s father died, and the substitute teacher would not give her more time to finish her tests.  She even threatened to pull Patricia out of her special art class.  Happily, Miss Chew was there to come to the rescue!

Polacco has continued to write about her challenges with school and about how a single amazing teacher changed her life again and again.  Her books are a testament to the power of teachers to make a difference in a child’s world, but in turn they are also a look at the emergence of a gifted artist who works hard and makes her own special place too.  In my eyes, it is the combination of Polacco and her teachers that is magical.

The art is done in Polacco’s signature style that is artistic, evocative and realistic too.  As she speaks about art, she demonstrates it in her art in the book.  Readers will notice how she captures shadow and light and plays with perspective too.  It is a very engaging way to create a quick art lesson in the middle of a story.

Art teachers will love this as a gift, but they will also enjoy sharing it in their classrooms.  Bravo for Miss Chew and all of the other great teachers out there who do this work every day.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from copy received from G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

Review: The Secret of the Stone Frog by David Nytra

| Tasha

secret of the stone frog

The Secret of the Stone Frog by David Nytra

Released September 11, 2012.

Upon opening this graphic novel, I was surprised.  Fine-lined black and white images that invite readers into an equally surprising story.  Leah and Alan wake up in an enchanted forest, not knowing how they got there or where they are.  Luckily, there is a stone frog to tell them which way to head and not to leave the path.  When they spot a house off of the path though, they just have to see if the people who live there will give them some food.  At the house, they discover huge bees in the garden and a woman with an enormous head who does invite them in for some cookies.  But the bees are not normal bees, and they start to collect the words that Alan is saying, leaving him unable to speak.  Leah manages to save his voice, but they are forced to flee.  Of course, they leave the path again, this time to discover lions who speak and rabbits as mounts.  There are more stone frogs, dark caves, unusual subways, and a strange city to explore.  This graphic novel is a tribute to traditional fairy tales but has its own magic to work too.

I am very taken with this book.  It is a modern version of an Alice in Wonderland story, complete with strange adult characters, an entire society that is warped and unusual, and discoveries around every corner.  Nytra seems to delight in the peculiar in his book, which also delighted me.  There are no explanations to this dreamy tale that sometimes verges closely to nightmare territory.

The art is unusual for a graphic novel, hearkening back more closely with old-fashioned tales than with a modern graphic novel.  While Nytra does use panels throughout, the art itself is fine-lined, detailed and worthy of reader exploration too.  It has a welcome surreal quality as well that suits the book well.

There is nothing better than a book that will surprise and delight you.  That’s guaranteed in this graphic novel.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Toon Books.

Review: Minette’s Feast by Susanna Reich

| Tasha

minettes feast

Minette’s Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat by Susanna Reich, illustrated by Amy Bates

Minette was most likely the luckiest cat in the world, since she was owned by Julia Child.  Adopted by Julia Child and her husband during their time in Paris, she was just as discerning about her food as her owner was.  She spurned canned food, eating only fresh mice and bird.  Julia would bring home marvelous fish heads just for Minette and also give her leftovers from her cooking.  Still, Minette preferred her own hunted food.  Julia began to cook more and more, taking classes as Le Cordon Bleu.  Minette honed her own hunting skills at the same time, practicing on her toys.  It would take something very special to lure Minette away from the mice.  But then again, her owner was Julia Child who was certainly up to that challenge.

Taking on a famous cook and personality through her finicky cat is a wonderful approach.  We get to see a younger Julia Child, figuring out how to cook French food in her own small kitchen.  We are there to see her arrive in Paris, find her footing in the culture, and then through her learning process until her cooking inspires even her cat to turn away from mice.  It’s a genuine way to approach the subject that has a real child-appeal.

Bates’ illustrations are done in pencil and watercolor.  There is a seriousness and also a playfulness in her illustrations that remind me of Julia herself.  The lanky woman is shown at her full height throughout the book as she is celebrated in both image and text.  Minette appears early in the book, long before Julia adopts her.  It’s a nice touch for sharp-eyed children.

A warm and energetic glimpse of Julia Child that celebrates her on the year of her 100th birthday.  Simply delicious!  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams.

Review: Barnum’s Bones by Tracey Fern

| Tasha

barnums bones

Barnum’s Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World by Tracey Fern, illustrated by Boris Kulikov

Barnum Brown was fascinated with fossils from the time he was a toddler following behind his father’s plow.  His collection got so large, it outgrew his bedroom and he was forced to move out to the laundry house with his finds.  In college, Barnum got to go on digs in the summers of 1894 and 1895 in South Dakota and Wyoming.  Barnum got a reputation for being a great bone hunter, collecting more than 1400 pounds of bones!  The American Museum of Natural History in New York City didn’t have a dinosaur on display, so they hired Barnum to do fossil digs for the museum.  Barnum continued to prove he could find bones, but he never found a new species, even though others were discovering them.  All that changed when he found a huge bone, discovering the first T. Rex.

This book is science and hard work made fascinating and cool.  I appreciated the fact that this is not just a book about Barnum’s great find, but also all of the determination and time that it took to make that find.  Readers travel along with Barnum through the heat and mosquitoes to find bones.  The amazing hauls that he made before finding T. Rex are mind-boggling.  The persona of Barnum is an interesting one too.  His dandy clothes, wearing a fur coat and nice shoes on digs makes for an even more fascinating scientist. 

Kulikov’s illustrations use glowing outlines of the dinosaurs being discussed to show readers the form of the dinosaur.  What could have been a frustrating part of the book becomes all the more intriguing and inviting.  His illustrations are playful, contrasting dusty old-fashioned colors with the bolder colors of the night sky and burning campfires. 

This is a book that will inspire children to search for their own fossils, whether they are as big as a T. Rex or not.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Oh No! Not Again! by Mac Barnett

| Tasha

oh no not again

Oh No! Not Again! (Or How I Built a Time Machine to Save History) (Or at least my history grade) by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Dan Santat

The sequel to Oh No! (Or How My Science Report Destroyed the World) takes on history class.  The female protagonist messes up her perfect score on a history test by missing the first question: In what modern country do we find the oldest prehistoric cave paintings?  So she figures out a simple answer to getting a perfect score: she builds a time machine to change history so that her answer of Belgium is correct.  When she finally reaches the right point in history, she is faced with two Neanderthals who aren’t really interested in creating art.  They’d much rather stick the paintbrushes up their nose or munch on the paint palette.  Spray paint worked even less well.  When our hero heads into the cave to do it herself though, the Neanderthals highjack her time machine.  What’s that going to do to her history grade?

Fans of the first book will enjoy this one as well.  It has the same zany, wild pacing of the first.  This time the romp is through history.  Happily, the book embraces a very simple sort of history to understand, so young readers will be able to get the humor and understand the juxtapositions that make up much of the story. 

Santat brings in physical humor too, giving the book his signature pizzazz and style.  I’m a fan of the color palette that hearkens back to an old film throughout.  It has a grainy texture and then there are the light-colored lines running vertically through the images.  Very school film on reels from my own childhood. 

A clever, funny and wild ride through history from the folks who brought us the robot rampage through science.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from library copy. 

Review: Hide & Seek by Il Sung Na

| Tasha

hide and seek

Hide & Seek by Il Sung Na

The author of several lovely picture books returns with another beautiful book.  This time readers are part of a game of hide and seek with jungle animals.  Elephant offers to seek while the others hide.  There is a slow count from one to ten as the animals search for places to hide.  Giraffe opts for a tree to hide behind.  Gorilla stands atop Tortoise’s shell like a statue.  Elephant searches for everyone and one-by-one he finds them all, except for Chameleon.  All of the animals finally have to give up and Chameleon reveals himself.  Young readers can search for chameleon throughout the bright illustrations, participating in the game themselves.

The text here is fairly basic, allowing the game to create the pacing and story.  The counting from one to ten creates an effective counting book that is nicely married to a hide and seek game that will challenge young children. 

It is really the art that is special here, glowing with light from within and filled with bright colors.  None of the animals are colored as expected.  The elephant has vibrant ears in red with hearts.  The giraffe is a fiery yellow with red.  Tortoise is a rainbow of pattern and color.  The trees themselves are topped with colorful clouds of leaves.  It all creates a very dynamic and fanciful world.

Colorful counting and a game to play make this a great pick for lap sharing with your favorite toddler or preschooler.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers.