Picture Poetry Book: Dictionary for a Better World by Irene Latham & Charles Waters

Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z

Illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini

2020, Carolrhoda Books

120 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.68 - 213 ratings

Goodreads blurb:  How can we make the world a better place? This resource for middle-grade readers is organized as a dictionary; each entry presents a word related to creating a better world, such as ally, empathy, or respect. For each word, there is a poem, a quote, a personal anecdote from the authors, and a "try it" prompt for an activity.

EMPATHY

Ears open

Mouth closed

Paying

Attention

To the other person

Helping them know

Yes, they matter.

                Charles Waters

                 an acrostic poem

COURAGE

Sometimes

courage can be

getting up to face life's

stormy world when you'd rather hide

in bed.

                  Charles Waters

                   a cinquain

KINDNESS

Kindness boards a bus.

Kindness stands

so you can sit.

Kindness unwraps

a sandwich

and gives you the bigger half.

                    Irene Latham

                    a cherita (a three-stanza poem that tells a story.  The first stanza has one line and sets the scene, the second stanza has two lines, and the third stanza has three lines.)

VOICE

a poem for two voices

I like to shout                I like to whisper

loud, proud,                   tender,

strong words                  remember-me words.

                 words have power

words can split a city     words can rain down,

with the speed                 bringing spring bouquets

of an earthquake              to a barren desert

Picture Book - Around the Passover Table by Tracy Newman

Illustrated by Adriana Santos

2019 Albert Whitman & Co.

HC $16.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.67 - 21 ratings

My rating:  4
Endpapers:  Dark baby blue

1^st line/s:  "Here is our table for this seder night."

My comments: Modern-day illustrations, multi-ethnic representations, simplicity and not too much text highlight this book as a great read aloud for preschoolers, just what I was looking for!  I love that the family's cat and dog are in every illustrations, no matter what's going on, just part of the family!

Goodreads:  The candles are lit, the seder plate filled, and the matzo stacked high. Join in to read, sing, eat, and observe the holiday. The many steps of a Passover seder are portrayed in this rhyming story.

Picture Book: The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson

Illustrated by Rafael Lopez

2018 Nancy Paulsen, Penguin Random House

HC $18.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.52 - 3920 ratings 

My rating:  5
Endpapers: Lovely, simple growing things on a delicate light jade jade green background.

1^st line/s:  "There will be times when  you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you."

My comments:SO BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED! And with a great message, to boot.  Not a "story" persay, but a collection of thoughts about being different, understanding that difference, and in a way, being the same.  Lovely.

Goodreads: National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson and two-time Pura Belpre Illustrator Award winner Rafael Lopez have teamed up to create a poignant, yet heartening book about finding courage to connect, even when you feel scared and alone.
          There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it's how you look or talk, or where you're from; maybe it's what you eat, or something just as random. It's not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it.
          Jacqueline Woodson's lyrical text and Rafael Lopez's dazzling art reminds us that we all feel like outsiders sometimes-and how brave it is that we go forth anyway. And that sometimes, when we reach out and begin to share our stories, others will be happy to meet us halfway.
          Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature

Picture Book - Cyril and Pat by Emily Gravett

Illustrated by the author

2018, Great Britain Simon & Schuster

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  

My rating:  5
Endpapers: solid bright yellow

1^st line/s:  "Lake Park only had one squirrel,
all alone and sad (poor Cyril).
Until the morning he met Pat,
his new best friend, a big gray ..."

My comments:Great story and great illustrations!!  Written mostly in sets of couplets and full of humor with lots to look at in each illustration.  And what a great message - you can be friends with ANYONE!!!

Goodreads:  Cyril is the only squirrel in Lake Park, and he's very lonely. Until one day he meets Pat – Pat the big, grey . . . other squirrel. Cyril and Pat have lots of adventures and fun together and Cyril is so pleased he's made a friend. But everyone is adamant that Cyril and Pat simply cannot be friends, and they soon reveal why: Pat, as the reader has known all along, is actually a RAT!
          But Cyril's life turns out to be a lot duller and quite a bit scarier without Pat by his side, and in the end the two friends learn that some things are more important than being the same, or listening to others.          Cyril and Pat is a richly colourful, rhyming romp through the park from the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal-winning Emily Gravett. 

PICTURE BOOK - We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands by Rafael Lopez

The words are from a traditional spiritual, pronouns changed

Illustrated by Rafeal Lopez

2018, Orchard Books, NY

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.05  - 274 ratings

My rating:  5, the illustrations!!!
Endpapers: front:  white, daytime, rolling yarn
back:  black, nightime, rolling yarn continues on to the stars....

1^st line/s:  "We've go the whole world in our hands"

My comments:  "Nay-sayers" don't even make me roll my eyes anymore, they just make me laugh.  How can you not love this book?  It's joyful, its message is beautiful - we're all connected and in many ways - no matter our ethnicity, our humanity, or our place in the world.  Its roots in the original spiritual are still there, so changing the pronouns includes everyone, doesn't omit a soul.  You can believe in god, any god; or you don't have to.  Rolled-out multi-colored yarn connects everyone and everything.   Just believe in the simple idea that we're all connected and depend upon each other.  The illustrations are just gorgeous.  What a wonderful book to look at, to share, and to SING!

Goodreads:  Award-winning illustrator Rafael López brings new life with his adaptation of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," saluting the lives of all young people. The rhythmic verse and repetitive emphasis on "we" and "our" encourages inclusive communities and the celebration of unity and diverse friendships all around the world.
i"We've got you and you got me in our hands.
We have the whole world in our hands."/i
Come and read along and sing along as we celebrate the magic of unity. From the rivers to the mountains to the oceans and to the sea -- we've got the whole world in our hands. 
As an added bonus the sheet music is included in the back of the book for piano, guitar, and recorder for classroom, library, and home sing-alongs.

PICTURE BOOK - Islandborn by Junot Diaz

llustrated by Leo Espinosa

2018 Dial Books

HC & price

48 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.52 - 1290 ratings

My rating:  4

Endpapers: lime green palm trees and city buildings

1^st line/s:  "Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else."

My comments:  Huge cudos for this wonderful picture book! My only problem with it (nothing like beginning with the problem, right?) is that it's written for an older kiddo or needs a bit of explanation for younger ones.  And as an adult, the explanations don't come until the whole book is read.  As an adult, I love the mystery of the beginning, trying to figure out what's going on and where the story is headed.  And what a great history!  A short author's note at the end of the book would have been GREATLY appreciated!  Wonderful illustrations.  Wonderful book.

Goodreads:  From New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz comes a debut picture book about the magic of memory and the infinite power of the imagination.
          Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else. Hers was a school of faraway places.
          So when Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can't remember The Island—she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories—joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening—Lola's imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island. As she draws closer to the heart of her family's story, Lola comes to understand the truth of her abuela's words: “Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you.”
          Gloriously illustrated and lyrically written, Islandborn is a celebration of creativity, diversity, and our imagination's boundless ability to connect us—to our families, to our past and to ourselves. 

PICTURE BOOK - The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates & her daughter, Juniper Bates

Illustrated by Amy June Bates

2018 A Paula Wiseman Book

HC $16.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.04 - 442 ratings

My rating:  5

Endpapers:  front:  A rainy sky, Back:  A sunny sky

1^st line/s:   "By the front door . . .there is an umbrella."

My comments:  As I first read this book, I said to myself....."oh......okay......a magic umbrella that grows as it protects .... until it hit me over the head what it's really talking about.   Inclusion!  A great metaphor.  I'd LOVE to read this to a 4th or 5th grade class and see how long it takes them to come to a similar conclusion.  The mother/daughter (7th grader!) who wrote this book together live right here in my little hometown, and it tickles me to think that like-minded people are nearby in this central PA oasis of red....a wonderful book.

Goodreads:   “A subtle, deceptively simple book about inclusion, hospitality, and welcoming the ‘other.’” —Kirkus Reviews
          “A boundlessly inclusive spirit...This open-ended picture book creates a natural springboard for discussion.” —Booklist
          “This sweet extended metaphor uses an umbrella to demonstrate how kindness and inclusion work...A lovely addition to any library collection, for classroom use or for sharing at home.” —School Library Journal
          In the tradition of Alison McGhee’s Someday, beloved illustrator Amy June Bates makes her authorial debut alongside her eleven-year-old daughter with this timely and timeless picture book about acceptance.
          By the door there is an umbrella. It is big. It is so big that when it starts to rain there is room for everyone underneath. It doesn’t matter if you are tall. Or plaid. Or hairy. It doesn’t matter how many legs you have.
          Don’t worry that there won’t be enough room under the umbrella. Because there will always be room.
          Lush illustrations and simple, lyrical text subtly address themes of inclusion and tolerance in this sweet story that accomplished illustrator Amy June Bates cowrote with her daughter, Juniper, while walking to school together in the rain

The Colors of Us - Karen Katz

Henry Holt, 1999
32 pgs.
For kids, even very young ones
Rating: 4
Endpapers: Hands of different browns and sizes around the border

I've been reading book after book to Ella these past few days. I'd been looking at the hardcovers, and when I began hunting in the paperbacks, I was tickled to find a Karen Katz title. Her illustrations are distinctive, her message simple and clear.

Lena wants to paint her friends, so she asks her mother, an artist, how to mix the color brown. Which brown? They take a walk outside to check out the many different browns that people's skin tones can be. They see her friends, the retailers, relatives - all with a different shade of brown skin. Then Lena goes home and mixes the right color brown for each of the people that she wants to paint. Cinnamon, honey, chocolate, coffee, toffee.....yummy and right-on.

Tan to Tamarind - Malathi Michelle Iyengar

Poems about the Color Brown
Illustrated by Jamel Akib
Children's Book Press, SF, 2009
$16.95
32 pgs.
Rating: 4
Enepapers: Abstract brown leaves

A lovely book of poetry celebrating brown that includes family, tradition, food and home. Tan, sienna, topaz...bay, sepia, cocoa...ocher, beige, sandalwood...coffee, adobe, tamarind...spruce, nutmegt, BROWN. All written in the same format. A wonderful model. A beautiful picture book. Lovely poetry.

Sienna
Brown.
Sienna brown.
Rusty, dusty, coppery brown.

Reddish-brown mountains,
our southwest home.

Dad hears coyotes calling
I spot their sandy tracks.

Four o'clock breeze
drifts the smell of sage
across our sienna path.

Strong, unyielding brown.
Warm, abiding brown.

Keep going! You can make it!
We scramble over the rocks,
brush past juniper branches,
to reach the top and look out
across our sunset canyon,
sienna brown.

I can't show the indentations properly. Wish I could.