siblings

My Wild Sister and Me

| Tasha

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My Wild Sister and Me by Iris Wewer

Told from the point of view of a younger brother, this book is about the thrill of having a big sister who not only plays with you, but pretends to be different animals!  She is sometimes a giraffe, aloof and ignoring him.  So he is forced to be a skunk and sulk about it.  Other times, she is a bear and he can be a bear along with her.  Still other times, they are the happiest animals of all, bunnies!  They play Catch-the-Bunny, much to their mutual delight.  But when his sister’s friend comes and asks her to play with her, she leaves without a second thought.  Leaving one very sad bunny behind.  But this bunny is also clever and knows just how to tease his sister into another round of Catch-the-Bunny when she returns.

Wewer captures the sibling dynamic so well here.  From the pull of other friends for the older sibling, to the sense of abandonment for the younger, and finally the joy of playing together.  She has also nicely captured the naughtiness of children, their energy and their vivid imaginations.  It is a book that really feels just as wild and loose as its title implies.

Wewer’s art adds to the dynamic feel of the title.  My particular favorite page features the children dashing around the entire margin of the page dressed as bunnies.  The illustrations of the children plainly show their emotions, from the anger when his sister returns to the blank innocence in case he gets caught taking her toothbrush.  Priceless!

If you have children who are wild, silly and occasionally turn into animals on you, this is the book for them!  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from NorthSouth.

No Passengers Beyond This Point: A Wild Ride

| Tasha

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No Passengers Beyond This Point by Gennifer Choldenko

When three siblings discover that their mother has lost their house to foreclosure, they have only a few days to pack up and get ready to move to live with an Uncle they barely know.  To get to his home, they have to take a plane to Colorado.  But that is where everything starts to get odd.  India, Finn and Mouse find themselves getting off the plane and entering a world that makes little sense.  No one has heard of Uncle Red, they are met by a pink taxi with feathers, and each of them seems to have their very own house to live in that was designed just for them.  As they struggle to figure out where they are, the clock starts ticking and the book becomes a race against time in a world that none of them understands.

Choldenko has switched genres here, away from the historical world of Al Capone Does My Shirts and into a magical alternate reality.  However, she continues to write compelling characters living ordinary yet extraordinary lives.  Though the book often has readers trying to figure out the rules of the alternate world, Choldenko’s characters never leave one in doubt.  They are well drawn, their reactions make sense, and their motivations are consistent.

The crispness of her writing continues as well.  I found myself immediately drawn into the relationship of these three siblings, which is beautifully complex.  Each of them has their own point of view and the chapters rotate between them.  The deeper disputes and issues between them are explained throughout the book, often becoming pivotal in the book’s resolution.

Choldenko’s pacing is also well done.  She gives readers a chance to get to know the three main characters at their home first, before they are drawn into the alternate world.  There the pace slows and then races, driven deftly by the writing.  At moments where the children are lingering, the book slows too.  Then when the story begins to fly, the pace matches that as well.

I can see this book being one that readers will either love or hate.  One has to be willing to follow a beloved author down a new path and take a wild ride of a journey with her.   I was happy to take this trip.  Get this in the hands of fans of The Kneebone Boy.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC received from Dial Books.

Also reviewed by

Bermudaonion’s Weblog

Book Sake

Charlotte’s Library

Killin’ Time Reading

Ms. Yingling Reads

My Brain on Books

 

Cooking with Henry and Elliebelly: Serving Up Imagination

| Tasha

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Cooking with Henry and Elliebelly by Carolyn Parkhurst, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

Henry is doing a pretend cooking show with his 2-year-old little sister Eleanor, whom he calls Elliebelly.  They have plans to demonstrate the incredible-sounding “raspberry-marshmallow-peanut butter waffles with barbecued banana bacon.”  But first they have to do their theme song.  And then they need to put on their chef hats.  That’s where things start to go awry, because Elliebelly insists that they must wear pirate hats instead.  In the argument that follows, Henry doesn’t get any help from his off-page mother, so he copes as best he can.  Now wearing pirate hats, next incorporating dolls into the hosting and then the recipes, and finally trying to explain that all of their effort was for pretend waffles.  Luckily, their mother has some real waffles waiting for them, but probably not any barbecued banana bacon on the side.

Parkhurst has captured the interplay between siblings perfectly here.  There are the moments where everything is going fine, and then those bumpy patches, and finally when it all falls apart.  The interjections from the off-page mother are funny, well-timed and not very helpful, as mother interjections tend to be.  The characters of the two children are well drawn.  Henry is a great big brother but is not above complete exasperation as his plans fall to bits around him. 

The emphasis on pretending and the flexibility of ideas is a pleasure to read.  I love that there is no frantic notion of cleanliness here, the children are allowed to play, allowed to work their way through disagreements, and yet there is an adult right there if needed.  And yes, they make a splendid mess as most children do. 

Yaccarino’s art lends a great modern vibe to a book that could have skewed differently.  His visual interplay of the two children adds to the appeal.  He also supports the humor of the text, as with the first picture of Henry after putting on the pirate hat.  Pure misery, but oh so funny!

Funny, clever and imaginative, this book reads aloud like a dream.  If you are doing a unit or story time on cooking, this will make a great addition, especially for slightly older children who will relate best to the humor of a younger sibling.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Feiwel & Friends.

Flora’s Very Windy Day – Brilliant and Breezy

| Tasha

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Flora’s Very Windy Day by Jeanne Birdsall, illustrated by Matt Phelan

Flora has had enough of her little brother Crispin messing up her stuff.  But now her mother has asked her to take Crispin outside even though the wind is very strong.  Flora will be fine because of her “super-special heavy-duty red boots” but Crispin just might blow away.  If he does, it wouldn’t be Flora’s fault.  Outside Flora laughs at the wind and knows it won’t be able to lift her, but she does tell the wind that her brother is wearing regular boots.  Soon the wind blows harder still  and Crispin is lifted into the air.  Now Flora has to decide whether to just let him go, but she kicks off her super boots and flies off with him.  As they fly through the air, Flora is approached by several creatures to take her brother from her.  A sparrow wants him to sit on her nest, the rainbow wants him to guards its pot of gold, the man in the moon wants the company.  But each is turned down as Flora replies that she is taking her brother home.  But that’s if the wind will let her do that.

Birdsall has created a book that sings.  Her prose is filled with bounce and lovely small details.  Each encounter ends with a similar response from Flora and from the creature making the request, creating a book that has just enough repetition to feel complete and whole.  Her words read aloud with grace, the refrains tying a bow on each situation.

Phelan’s art has a wonderful breezy style that matches the subject perfectly.  The children and their mother are real people with frizzy hair, apple-red cheeks, and quirks of their own.  The illustrations nicely capture the motion of the wind and the blowing leaves with a welcome feeling of freedom.

A perfect autumn read, this book is sure to blow fresh air into any story time.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by A Patchwork of Books.

Big Red Lollipop

| Tasha

Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Rubina has been invited to her very first birthday party and is elated.  Until she tells her mother about it and her mother insists that she takes her little sister, Sana, or else she can’t go.  Rubina tries to explain that here the kids don’t bring their little siblings to a birthday party, but her mother won’t budge.  Sana is the only little sister at the party, but it isn’t so bad.  Each girl gets a bag of party favors to take home and there is a big red lollipop for each of them.  Sana eats hers right away, and Rubina saves hers in the refrigerator until the next morning.  But when she wakes up eager for a taste, she discovers that Sana has helped herself to it!

A story based on Khan’s own childhood, this book perfectly captures the differences between families of various cultures and backgrounds.  Rubina is simply expected to take her younger sister with her.  And then she is expected to forgive her sister and share her lollipop.  The wonderful piece of the book is when Rubina stands up for her younger sister at the end and helps convince her mother that Sana doesn’t have to bring their even younger sister to her first birthday party.

Illustrated with great style, the Arab-American culture is depicted here with real warmth.  The illustrations have a creamy background color against which the characters and their expressive faces really pop.  The relationships between the characters are strong and interesting.  The final result of Rubina’s kindness rings true and is very satisfying.

This is a beauty of a book with multicultural elements and a strong story and style.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Viking.

Sophie Peterman Tells the Truth!

| Tasha

Sophie Peterman Tells the Truth! by Sarah Weeks, illustrated by Robert Neubecker

Sophie Peterman is a veteran big sister, and she is here to tell you the hard truth about babies.  “Babies are not sweet.  Babies are not precious.  Babies are not cute.  Babies are YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!”  Told with a broad sense of humor but lots of real truths of being an older sibling, this book is a great antidote to new baby books that look only at the sweet and cuddly parts of infants.  As Sophie will happily tell you, babies leak, they make strange noises, and they smell bad.  Even Sophie has to admit though that you can get attached to them.

The humor here really carries the book from a swallowed marble to the ransacking of an underwear drawer. This is pure child humor that elementary age kids will really enjoy from poop to farts.  Neubecker’s illustrations are done in thick lines using India ink which is then digitally colored.  The various expressions on Sophie’s face are a large part of the humor as is the constant delight of the baby. 

A very funny book on babies perfect for those older siblings who have seen it all or for that new sibling who will appreciate a humorous cautionary tale.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Maggie’s Monkeys

| Tasha

Maggie’s Monkeys by Linda Sanders-Wells, illustrated by Abby Carter.

A family of pink monkeys has moved into the family’s refrigerator according to Maggie.  Everyone except her older brother goes along with her imaginary creatures.  Mom made an extra bowl of banana pudding for the monkeys, Dad watched out for shutting the door on their tails, and the older sister pretended to dress them up.  The brother tries to get the others in the family to stop playing along with Maggie, but all of them give him reasons that there just might be real monkeys in the fridge.  Even when he tries to play along with Maggie eventually, he keeps on messing it up, sitting on the invisible monkeys, reading zoo stories, and making monkey noises.  All wrong in Maggie’s eyes.  When his friends come over one day and discover Maggie’s imaginary monkeys, they start teasing her.  That changes everything!

This book perfectly captures the great imagination of children, the willingness of a family to be supportive and creative, and the sullen concern of a child who just doesn’t understand what the family is doing.  The transformation of the older brother is done believably and openly.  The rest of the family is nicely portrayed, trying to support both children.  The character of the brother is nicely balanced, showing disbelief but never sinking into being unlikeable.  Carter’s illustrations are done in black colored pencil and gouache.  They are friendly, cartoony and bright colored.

The text is nice to read aloud and the pictures will work well for a group.  I’d try it with older preschoolers who may have younger children at home that they are just as mystified by.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.