Picture Book - Pencils, Pens & Brushes: A Great Girls' Guide to Disney Animation by Mindy Johnson

Illustrated by Lorelay Rove

2019 Disney Enterprises

HC $18.99

78 pgs.
J 791.4334 Johnson

Goodreads rating:  4.150 - 106 ratings

My rating:  5
Endpapers: solid pink

My comments:  I totally enjoyed reading through this book, and learned so much!  I'm not a huge Disney fan, but all the information about the women associated through the years of Disney history is just wonderful. 
     I particularly enjoyed learning about Kae Sumner, who was 6' 3" tall, and because she drew for the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was written up in Life magazine.  She became popular, with many people of height contacting her, and she began a club for tall people called the Tip Toppers.  So cool!
     I was looking at this book because I wanted more information about Mary Blair, who I was researching.  So glad I found this book, since Bosler doesn't have it and I had to borrow it from Coy/Shippensburg.

Included:
Lillian & Edna, the two Mrs. Disneys (Walt and his brother Roy
Dorothy Ann Blank - founder of the Story Development Department, starting with Snow White
Nelbert Chouinard - Chouinard Institute teachers taught original animators at Disney
Marge Champion -

Goodreads:  Based on the critically acclaimed Disney Editions title, Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney's Animation, this nonfiction picture book is a fun and inspiring look at a few of the amazing women who have worked at Disney Animation over the years—from sculptors to inkers to painters to story artists, all with unique personalities and accomplishments, such as becoming a world record-holding pilot or creating an international club for tall people!

Picture Book - Hey Grandude! by Paul McCartney

Illustrated by Kathryn Durst

2019, Random House

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.71 - 486 ratings

My rating:  4
Endpapers: Light blue with white 1/2-inch grid lines

1^st line/s:  "Lucy and Tom and Em and Bob were spending a weedend with the grandad."

My comments:  Magic can really happen, especially when it comes to traveling from one place to another!  I love the premise of this book...a magic compass that whisks the family from one interesting place in the world  to another as well as spending quality time with a grandparent.  Shame on you, all you naysayers, for giving negative reviews just because a celebrity wrote it.  Spoilsports!

Goodreads:  From Paul McCartney—an action-packed picture-book adventure celebrating the fun that grandparents and grandkids can get up to.
          See the compass needle spin, let the magic fun begin!
          Meet Grandude—a super-cool grandfather who is an intrepid explorer with some amazing tricks up his sleeve. Grandude is a one-of-a-kind adventurer! With his magic compass, he whisks his four grandkids off on whirlwind adventures, taking them all around the globe. Join them as they ride flying fish, dodge stampedes, and escape avalanches! Brought to life with gloriously colorful illustrations from talented artist Kathryn Durst, it’s the perfect bedtime story for little explorers

Picture Book - Encyclopedia of Grannies by Eric Veille

Translated by Daniel Hahn (translated from French?)

2019, Gecko Press, New Zealand

HC. $17.99

28 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.46 - 24 ratings

My rating:  3
Thick cardboard covers, thick pages with rounded corners.

1^st line/s:  "The world's first encyclopedia devoted entirely to grannies."

My comments:  2/3 of the book seemed intended for the entertainment of grandmothers, if they're not easily offended.  Not actually sure who the intended audience of this book actually is....but I enjoyed most of it with a wry smile throughout....

Goodreads:  Why do grannies always tell us to speak up? Why do they have creases on their faces? Are grannies flexible? How do you cheer up a sad granny? How old are grannies, actually?
          Eric Veill� explains it all in this offbeat book for the extended family to chuckle over--no matter what kind of grandma you have, are, or would like to be. From the author of My Pictures after the Storm, which received three starred reviews and which School Library Journal proclaimed "may be the funniest book of the year."

Picture Book - Blooming Beneath the Sun

Poems by Christina Rossetti
Cut Paper Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

2019 Atheneum Books for Young Readers

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.67

My rating:  4
Endpapers: orange with cut paper daisies (like the daisies that accompany "Where Innocent Bright-Eyed Daisies Are."

Fourteen poems by Christina Rossetti, three follow

My comments: Anything that has anything to do with Ashley Bryan makes my heart pound.  The illustrations are bold and beautiful!  And I've ALWAYS loved the simplicity of Christina Rossetti's beautiful words, although there are a few poems in this collection that I'm not overly fond of....

Goodreads: Newbery Award honoree Ashley Bryan has hand-selected a collection of celebrated English poet Christina Rossetti’s poems to illustrate with his inimitable flourish.  
          The world changes so quickly, but the joy and fun of being a child always remains. Christina Rossetti’s classic nursery rhymes have embodied the simple essence of childhood for centuries, and now award-winning illustrator Ashley Bryan brings new life to them with this wonderfully illustrated selection of Rossetti’s poetry.
          Bryan’s bright and intricate collage art perfectly complement Rossetti’s simple text, and together they create a vibrant book for both kids—and kids at heart.

Who Has Seen the Wind?

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you;
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by.

Hurt No Living Thing

Hurt No living Thing
Ladybird, not butterfly
Nor moth with dusty wing,
nor cricket chirping cheerily
Nor grasshopper so light of leap,
Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,
Nor harmless worms that creep.

Where Innocent Bright-Eyed Daisies Are

Where innocent bright-eyed daisies are,
With blades of grass between,
Each daisy stands up like a star

Out of a sky of green.

Hanukkah Picture Book Quickies

It's Hanukkah!
Jeanne Modesitt
Ill. Robin Spowart
1999
GR: 3.50- 12 ratings
My rating:  2
Mouse family, some is irrelevant just to rhyme:"We all dance the horah, even Great-Grandma Laura."  Don't really like the story or the illustrations, but the addendums about the holiday, menorah, and dreidels are useful.

It's Hanukkah Time!
Latita Berry Kropf
Photographs by Tod Cohen
2004
GR:  3.22 - 9 ratings
My rating:  4 - Perfect for Toddlers
I plan to use this for a toddler storytime (18 - 35 months)  It's simple, and photographs accentuate each idea that's presented.  (Note: Instead of latkes, they fry sufganiyot, and include a recipe in the back).

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah
Susan L. Roth
2004
GR: 3.63 - 43 ratings
Mice again.  Super simple: the words to a song.  Cut paper collage. Not a great read-aloud, IMO, but might accompany a recording of the song.
"Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah, come light the menorah.
Let's have a party, we'll all dance the hora.
And while we are playing,
The candles are all burning low.
One for each night, they shed a sweet light.
To remind us of day long ago.
    (Repeat twice)

Hanukkah Lights, Hanukkah Nights
Leslie Kimmelman
Ill. John Himmelman
1992
GR:  3.52 - 21 ratings
My rating:  3
Very simple story of how a family celebrates Hanukkah.  A bit misleading in that it might be interpreted that specific things are done on specific nights.  If it's made clear that there's no particular order of when to celebrate in each way, it works just fine.

One Night, One Hanukkah Night
Aidel Backman
1990
GR:  2.00 - 1 rating
My rating:  3
Great premise, one page contemporary, the next historical - but didn't quite pull it off.  As a read-aloud with explanation it would probably be fine.  Each page has a different traditions, a menorah with the correct amount of candles, and simple explanations if needed.

Hooray for Hanukkah!
Fran Manushkin
Ill. Carolyn Croll
2001
GR:  2.94 - 18 ratings
my rating:  2/5
Another simple way to show the eight nights of Hanukkah and share the different holiday traditions.  It's from the P-o-v of the menorah.  Old-fashioned clothing, though it's set in contemporary times - this bothered me.  And the repetition of "I am bright, but I could be brighter" became very tiring very quickly.

It's a Miracle! A Hanukkah Storybook
Stephanie Spinner
ill. Jill McElmurry
2003
3.92 - 36 ratings
A grandmother tells a different story on every one of the eight nights of Hanukkah.  All end up being a true story about family members she not only knows, but who will attend the family meal. Within the stories she tells are Hanukkah traditions.  Although the story is longish, it's delightful.  The book ends with "The Hanukkah Legend," a glossary, and the three Hanukkah blessings.

Picture Book - Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

Caldecott Award Winner
Illustrated by the author

1941, Viking Press

HC & price

68 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.22 - 77,467 ratings

My rating:  5
Illustrations:  brown illustrations and text on cream colored pages

1^st line/s:  "Mr. and Mrs. Mallard were looking for a place to live."

My comments: This 1941 Caldecott Award winner is still one of the very best picture books in children's literature.  It's truly distinguished, as well as clever, lovely, comical and heartwarming.  I grew up on this story; AND my grandmother used to take my sister and me into Boston to ride on the Swan boats every spring.  Now there's a beautiful bronze sculpture of Mrs. Mallard with Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack and Quack following her across the Public Gardens.  Oh my goodness, do I love it!

Goodreads:  This classic tale of the famous Mallard ducks of Boston is available for the first time in a full-sized paperback edition. Awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1942, Make Way for Ducklings has been described as "one of the merriest picture books ever" (The New York Times). Ideal for reading aloud, this book deserves a place of honor on every child's bookshelf.

Picture Books THEMED: Ducklings

Ducks Away by Mem Fox Ill. By Judy Horacek, 2016

      Told in rhyme, a mother and her five ducklings take turns falling into the water as they try to cross a bridge.  Great for counting and reinforcing the 5 fact family.  

Pete the Cat Five Little Ducks by James Dean, 2017

     Told in lilting rhyme, Pete keeps losing ducks, from five to one (subtraction!) and then they all return.  Cute and simple.

Double the Ducks by Stuart J. Murphy, ill. by Valeria Petrone, 2003

     “I” has five little ducks to care for with his two hands, three sacks of feed, and four bundles of hay.  When they return from a walk one day, they each bring a friend, so since the ducks are doubled, so must the provisions be doubled. Great for teaching the concept of “doubling.”

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, 1941

     Probably the best book about ducks and ducklings ever written, the story follows Mrs. and Mrs. Mallard as they find a place in Boston to birth and raise their eights children.  68 pages, but not a 68-pages worth of text….

It’s Quacking Time!  By Martin Waddell ill. By Jill Barton, 2005

     A duckling discovers that his parents have an egg ready to be hatched, and Auntie Duck, Grandpa Duck, and Cousin Small Duck all share in his excitement waiting for the big moment.

(Great for counting and adding…there’s one great illustration where all four ducks and the two duckling are staring down at the egg…having some whiteboard ducks and ducklings to manipulate would work beautifully here during a storytime. 

Goodnight, My Duckling by Nancy Tafuri, who also illustrated, 2005

     Short and sweet, one little duckling floats far behind his mother and seven siblings, being greeted by many of his neighbor creatures, as they float home for bedtime. 

Have You Seen My Duckling?  Written and illustrated by Nancy Tafuri, 1984

     Almost wordless, we watch a mother duck and seven of her eight ducklings looking everywhere for her stray eighth duckling, which you can always see somewhere on the page. Bosler has

          *Goodnight, My Duckling is a companion book to the first, Have You Seen My Duckling?  I’m only going to have time for one of them during my Duckling Storytime, so I’m going to use the second, Goodnight, My Duckling, which has a few more words and is very cute.

I’m a Duck by Eve Bunting ill. By Will Hillenbrand, 2018

     Told in rhyme and the point-of-view of a duckling that is afraid to swim, we share his friend’s and family’s excitement when he finally dares to try.  

Puddle’s New School by Amber Stewart Ill by Layn Marlow, 2010

     Although Puddle and his two friends have been a bit envious watching other ducklings headed for school, they’re a little nervous when their own time come.  But Mama Dick has done many things to ensure that Puddle has a great transition.  

The Other Ducks by Ellen Yeomans ill. By Chris Sheban  , 2018

     This Duck and That Duck are truly clueless, thinking their shadows are friends, not knowing how to swim or fly or even about the babies they eventually have…it was cute and funny, but somehow not enough true information for young kids.   

Come Along, Daisy! Written and illustrated by Jane Simmons, 1997

     Super simple story about a duckling that straggles behind its mother while swimming down a stream, and for one short moment feels alone but discovers her turning around and coming back for him.

Sitting Duck by Jackie Urbanovic, 2010
     Max, the duck and Brody, the dog babysit for Anabel, Brody's niece.  When Brady falls asleep and Anabel and Max go outside, the antics really begin.  Apparently this is the fourth story about Max the Duck.  Delightful. 

10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle, 2005
    A box of ten little rubber ducks fall from a boat as they're being shipped across the ocean, and all  have different things that happen to them.  A great introduction to ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.).

Explain:

Ducks are birds, and lay eggs

Males are called drakes

Females are called ducks.

Babies are called ducklings

They lay eggs in spring - up to ten or more.

Eggs hatch after four weeks. 

Poems/Songs

Five little Ducks
Five little ducks, went out to play (hold up five fingers)
over the hills, and far away, (hold hand to eyebrows)
When the mother duck went “quack, quack, quack” (motion “quack” with your hand)
Four little Ducks came waddling back. (make wings with arms and move elbows up and down)

Quack, quack, quack….quack, quack, quack….four little ducks came waddling back.

Continue to count down until there are no little ducks then sing:

Ask:

One nest, one egg, how many feet walked away?

One nest two eggs, how many feet walked away?

One nest, three eggs, how many feet walked away?

Activities:

Kids cut ducklings from outlined figures on yellow construction paper.  Glue onto 9 / 12 white construction paper that they've sponged with blue "water."

Have a bucket of plastic eggs and some baskets with numbers between 1 and 10 (depending on ages of kids).  They count out the correct number of eggs to put in each basket.

Programming Ideas

A major part of my job as a Youth Services Library Assistant is to develop and present programming for kids from BABY to TEENS.  My expertise is with kids from about 8 and up.... I'll leave the ideas for little guys for the little-guys-experts/

There are a zillion ideas bumping around in my head, each one pretty much ignited by reading a  picture book, and I'm going to start with MATH.

MATH

The Fibonacci Sequence
Book:  The Rabbit Problem by Emily GRavett

Graphing
Book:  Lines, Bars and Circles: How William Playfair Invented Graphs by Helaine Becker
Activity Ideas:  Make a Bar Graph using M & Ms, Skittles, Froot Loops, or something similar.  If it's nice outside, kids could take their completed graphs and, using chalk, draw them on the sidewalk.

Infinity

Book:      Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford

Activity Ideas:  Create Infinity Tiles based on this Babble Dabble Do activity.

     Also "Endless Tiles" based on the work of Sebastian Truchet.  Information can be found on Math Munch  and  with an "instructable"  called Amazing Math with Truchet Tiles.

Money
Book:  Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money by Emily Jenkins
Activity Ideas:  Coin Riddles: What's in Your Wallet? (Can you make exactly one dollar - cards with challenges like can you use five coins to make 62-cent?) Using real coins would be a plus.  Then, make a piggy bank to take home.

Palindromes and Accurate Addition
Book/s:  Mom and Dad are Palindromes by Mark Shulman (for introduction)
If You Were a Palindrome by Michael Dahl (read at the end to "debrief"
Too Hot to Hoot by Marvin Terban (riddles to ask throughout the session)
Activity Idea:  Each child should have a blank paged lab book for their calculations.A 100-chard should be included in the lab book.  Explain how number palindromes result (inverting each number and adding together until a palindrome happens).Have them look three and four step palindromes.  What happens when you try to make a palindrome out of 3 or 4-digit numbers?

Prime Numbers, Factors, and Multiples
Book:  The Boy Who Loved Math, The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos by Deborah Heiligman
Activity Idea:  Go through a 100-number Sieve of ERathsothenes to find all the prime numbers (Use a 200-number chart for older kids or kids who are ready for higher numbers).
Extension:  Card game for recognition and memorization.

Probability
Book:  A Very Improbable Story by Edward Einhorn
Activity Idea:  Begin by teaching about the different colors, suits, and cards in a deck of cards.  Then teach about Likely, Unlikely, Possible, Impossible, Even chances, Certain, etc.  Teach about tally marks and draw sets of 10 cards from a bag, discussing the probability of pulling out a certain card, or suit, or face card.....
          Throwing a pair of dice 100 times and recording the results also makes the beginning place of what are the chances....especially if you make bar graph showing your results.  It's actually quite impressive and easy to see the "odds."

Symmetry
Book:  Seeing Symmetry by Loreen Leedy (perhaps not the greatest read aloud, but a good one to point out symmetry as you read.)
Activities:  First, make "freaky creatures" by making each student's name symmetrical by using cursive handwriting...color and add features.  Second, cut out a somewhat-symmetrical image from a magazine, cut it in half on the line of symmetry, glue to a piece of paper, and attempt to draw the other half.  Third, Cut paper symmetry (positive-negative images) as well as snowflakes.

Tangrams
Book:  Grandfather Tang's Story: A Tale Told with Tangrams by Ann Tompert
Activity Ideas:  As you read the story aloud, have kids see if they can make the animals using a set of tangrams provided to each of them.  It would be nice to have a felt board to show, as well.  Then, using the set of tangrams they are given, can the make a square?  A rectangle?  A parrallelogram?  A trapezoid?  A triangle?  Endless possibilities....

Mobius Strip
Book:  Math at the Art Museum
Activity Ideas:  The book Math at the Art Museum includes many different pieces of art with mathematical concepts, but I think I'd do two fun activites relating to the Mobius strip, and what it really means to have one continuous side.  I'd have kids make a Mobius strip, then draw a line (showing how it connects at beginning and end points), then cut out the line to see what happens.  Activity two would be to have kids draw a line (sort of like scribbling, going back and forth over itself a few times, then connecting at the end to have made one continuous line.  It can then be colored in using just two colors where the colors never touch each other.  I'd have them make this into a small art print to take home.

Programming Ideas with a Single Book

Robert's Snow by Grace Lin (ideas included in blog write-up)

PICTURE BOOK - Billy's Booger by William Joyce and his younger self

A Memoir (sorta) Illustrated by the author

2015, Atheneum

40 pgs. plus 12-page insert

Goodreads rating:

My rating: 5 Stars, Glorious!

1^st line/s: "Once upon a time, when TV was in black and white, and there were only three channels, and when kids didn't have play dates --- they just roamed free in the out of doors - there lived a kid named Billy."

My comments:  I'm always on the lookout for picture books for older kids.  Fourth and fifth grade boys will love this one...it's funny, and imaginative, and a teeny tiny bit gross...

Goodreads: A young lad who would rather draw than do math, spell, or gargle finds the perfect outlet for his always-on imagination in this manifesto to creative joie de vivre, featuring a book within a book, from the brilliant minds that brought you The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
          Billy loves to draw. He draws on books and on his homework and even on his math tests—he might not get the answer right, but doesn’t it look swell sitting in a boat at sea? His teacher doesn’t think so, and neither does the principal. But the librarian has an idea that just might help Billy better direct his illustrative energies: a book-making contest!
          Billy gets right to work, reading everything he can about meteors, mythology, space travel, and…mucus? Yep, his book is going to be about the world’s smartest booger, who stays tucked away until needed—say, to solve multiplication problems, or answer questions from the President. Billy’s sure his story is a winner. But being a winner doesn’t mean you always win.
          Full of nostalgic references to a time when TV was black-and-white and Sunday newspapers had things called the funnies, this wildly fun story-within-a-story is based loosely on children’s book legend William Joyce’s third grade year, and includes a sewn-in mini-book of that tale of the world’s smartest booger.

PICTURE BOOK - A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston

2016, Candlewick Press

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.11 - 921 ratings

My rating: 3.5

Endpapers: Scrolling books titles and authors

Illustrations:  "Hand-lettered, and the typographical landscapes were typeset in Adobe Garamond Pro.  The illustrations were done in watercolor, pencil, and digital collage."  Very little color

1^st line/s:
"I am a child of books.  
I come from a world of stories
and upon my imagination
I float.
I have sailed across a sea of words
to ask if you will come away with me.
Some people have forgotten where I live
but along these words I can show you the way. ..."

My comments:  This book is not a story.  It's a collection of ideas about imagination, reading, and being swept away by words.  It's a poem for readers, an ode to book lovers.  The illustrations are held together and created by words themselves, parts of pages and texts and paragraphs from children's books - mainly classics.  I don't consider it a children's book (I can only think of a few kids I've read aloud to in the past that would sit still all the way through this), but a wonderful adult picture book.

Goodreads:  New York Times best-selling author-illustrator Oliver Jeffers and fine artist Sam Winston deliver a lyrical picture book inspiring readers of all ages to create, to question, to explore, and to imagine.
     A little girl sails her raft across a sea of words, arriving at the house of a small boy and calling him away on an adventure. Through forests of fairy tales and across mountains of make-believe, the two travel together on a fantastical journey that unlocks the boy’s imagination. Now a lifetime of magic and adventure lies ahead of him . . . but who will be next? 
     Combining elegant images by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston’s typographical landscapes shaped from excerpts of children’s classics and lullabies, A Child of Books is a stunning prose poem on the rewards of reading and sharing stories—an immersive and unforgettable reading experience that readers will want to pass on to others.

POETRY BOOK - What are you Glad about? What are you Mad about? by Judith Viorst

Poems for When a Person Needs a Poem
Illustrated by Lee White

2016, Atheneum Books for Young REaders

HC $17.99

102 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.83 (43 ratings)

My rating: 2

EndpapersL Solid Rust 

My comments:  I feel so badly not really liking a book of Judith Viorst's poetry!  I loved If I Were in Charge of the World, have read it over and over and shared poems with lots and lots of kids.  But after reading through these poems once I felt pretty "blah" about them, so I read them through again today.  I still feel blah about them....some seemed forced, some I found really hard to find any rhythm, words were put in odd sequences in order to fit some sort of rhyming pattern, and some of the thoughts and thinking don't seem to gel with the thoughts and thinking of the kids I've worked with for the last ten years or just made me roll my eyes.  I didn't give it a 1...I'll give Ms. Viorst the benefit of the doubt because she's always been high on my list...but I'm not keen on these poems at all.  And I feel really, really bad about that!

Goodreads:

I liked this poem a bit, the last one in the book, but even some of it (cadence, wording, rhythm) didn't do it for me::

In Between

Too old to need a night-light and
Too young to drive a car.
Too young for War and Peace, too old
For Where the Wild Things Are.
Too young to drink a latte and
Too old for sippy cups.
I'm in between and sometimes
I can't tell the downs from ups.

Too old to cry at flu shots and
Too young for a tattoo.
Too young for movies rated R.
Too old for Scooby-Doo.
Too old for booster seats, too young
For my own credit card.
I'm in between and often
In between is very hard.

Too young to give up whining and
Too old to run amok.
Too young for Don Giovanni and
Too old for Donald Duck.
Too old to keep my teddy bear,
Too young to let him go.
I'm in between and waiting
For the rest of me to grow.

PICTURE BOOK - National Wildlife Federation's World of Birds: A Beginner's Guide - Kim Kurki

2014 Black Dog - Leventhal Publishing

HC $15.95

80 pgs.
Nonfiction picture book - dense with information

Goodreads rating: 4.53

My rating: 5 Stars - This is a grand book!

Endpapers:  green with simple, faint bird's footprints

This book is divided into four sections:
     Woodlands & Forests
     Wetlands, Shores, & Bodies of Water
     Fields, Thickets, & Backyards
     Deserts, Scrublands, & Rocky Slopes

My comments:  I can't say enough glowing things about this top-notch book.  As an adult who has only recently enjoyed watching birds, its useful information and fun, interesting facts are MUCH more  accessible than guidebooks or handbooks geared toward adults.  The illustrations are lovely and colorful, the occasional photo just enough, the quatrains written for each major bird are unforced and cleverly rhymed.  Usually I'm a little put off by a large mixture of fonts, but the many used inthis text are melded well and therefore avoid overwhelming jumble.  A really fine book!

Goodreads:  From the National Wildlife Federation, publishers of Ranger Rick, the popular nature magazine for kids, comes this exciting, dynamic, and wonderfully illustrated guide for young naturalists.
          National Wildlife Federation's World of Birds is arranged by habitat and identifies more than 100 birds. Kim Kurki¹s engaging and highly accurate illustrations give kids a true and close-up appreciation of each bird species, such as its size, shape, color, and markings, as well as its habitat, call, and behavior. Kids will learn to recognize the birds by their individual characteristics, such as the male cardinal¹s distinctive crest, the kestrel¹s helicopter hover, and the goldfinch¹s enchanting song. You¹ll also discover what makes each bird amazing, including which is the fastest flier, which lays the biggest egg, and which spends years of its life in the water, never touching land.
          The excellent illustrations, nontechnical language, and fascinating facts throughout make this an ideal guide for beginner bird-watchers—of any age!

Historical Fiction I've Read

Picture Books
Aston, Dianna Hutts - The Moon Over Star (1969 Moon Landing)
Atkins, Jeannine - Anne Hutchinson's Way (1634 Massachusetts Bay Colony)
Barker, Michelle - A Year of Borrowed Men (WWII Germany - French POWs)
Barron, T. A. - The Day the Stones Walked (Ancient Easter Island)
Bartone, Elisa - Peppe the Lamplighter (Immigration NYC - Little Italy)
Bildner, Phil - The Hallalujah Flight (1932 Transcontinental Flight)
Bunting, Eve - Pop's Bridge  (building, Golden Gate Bridge 1933-1937)
Burleigh, Robert - Abraham Lincoln Comes Home (Civil War/Post-CivilWar)
Fleming, Candace - Boxes for Katje (1945 Netherlands)
Fredericks, Anthony D. - The Tsunami Quilt (1946 Hawaiin Tsunami)
Hopkinson, Deborah - Knit Your Bit: A World War I Story (WWI US)
Huget, Jennifer LaRue - Thanks a Lot, Emily Post! (1922 America)
Kerby, Mona - Owny, The Mail -Pouch Pooch (1888 Across America)
Koehler-Pentacoff - Jackson and Bud's Bumpy Ride (1903 Across America)
Levine, Ellen - Henry's Freedom Box (Underground RR)
Lowry, Lois - Crow Call (1945 America, after-the-war)
Malaspina, Ann - Finding Lincoln (Civil Rights Era in the south)
Newman, Leslea - Gittel's Journey (Immigration to Ellis Island around 1900 from Russia)
Owens, Delia - Where the Crawdads Sing (1952 - 1970 No. Carolina)
Peacock, Louise - At Ellis Island (Immigration from Armenia to Ellis Island) 48 pgs.
Polacco, Patricia - Fiona's Lace (Immigration)
Polacco, Patricia - January's Sparrow (Underground Railroad)
Polacco, Patricia - An Orange for Frankie (turn-of-the-century America)
Polacco, Patricia - Tucky Jo and Little Heart (WWII in the Pacific)
Snyder, Elaine - Anna & Solomon (1897 Immigration to the US from Russia)
Stroud, Betty - The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom (Underground Railroad)
Wheeler, Eliza - Home in the Woods (The Depression)
Wiviott, Meg - Benno and the Night of Broken Glass (1938 Berlin)
Wood, Douglas - Aunt Mary's Rose (1950s America)

Middle Grade Books
Anderson, Laurie Halse - Chains (American Revolution) or YA?
Blackford, Cheryl - Lizzie and the Lost Baby  (WWII England)
Giff, Patricia Reilly - Gingersnap (1944 Brooklyn)
Hesse, Karen - Brooklyn Bridge (1903 Brooklyn, NY)
Lai, Thanhha, Inside Out and Back Again (1970s Vietnam)
Latham, Irene - Leaving Gee's Bend (1932 Depression Alabama)
Partridge, Elizabeth - Dogtag Summer (Flashbacks to 1975 Vietnam)
Patt, Beverly - Best Friends Forever (1942 Japanese Interment Camp)
Pinkney, Andrea Davis - Dear America: With the Might of Angels, The Diary of Dawnie Rae Johnson, Hadley Virginia, 1954 (desegration, 1954 Virginia) (5)
Rose, Caroline Starr - May B. a Novel (late 18th century Kansas)
Selznik, Brian - Wonderstruck (1927 NJ and 1977 Minnesota)
Stolz, Joelle - The Shadows of Ghadames (19th century Libya)
Timberlake, Amy - One Came Home (1871 Wisconsin prairie)

Wendell, Mindy Nichols - Light and Air (1935 Tuberculos/upstate NY) (4)
Whelan, Gloria - Listening for Lions (1919 Kenya & England)
Whelan, Gloria- Small Acts of Amazing Courage (1919 India)
Williams-Garcia - One Crazy Summer (1968 California)
Wolk, Lauren - Wolf Hollow  (1940s rural PA)

YA Books
Cushman, Karen - The Loud Silence of Francine Green (McCarthy era)
Schlitz, Laura Amy - The Hired Girl (1911 Baltimore)
Taylor, Janet B. - Into the Dim (Eleanor of Aquataine Taylor time travel)

Adult Books
Barnes, Kim - In the Kingdom of Men (1967 Saudi Arabia)
Bartels, Erin - We Hope for Better Things (1861/1963/contemporary Detroit)

Benedict, Marie - Agent 355 (based on true story of female spy during American Revolution)
Blackwell, Elizabeth - In the Shadow of Lakecrest (1928 Lake Michigan)
Brooks, Geraldine - Caleb's Crossing (1660s New England)
Brown, Amy Belding - Flight of the Sparrow (1676 Mass. Bay Colony)
Bryce, Megan - To Catch a Spinster (Regency Romance, England)
Chamberlain, Diane - Big Lies in a Small Town (contemp & 1940 NC)
Cornick, Nicola - The Phantom Tree (1557 England/ Time Travel)
Dallas, Sandra - Prayers for Sale (1930s/Depression, Colorado)
Fortier, Anne - The Lost Sisterhood (ancient Odyssey times)
Gerritsen, Tess - The Bone Garden (1830 Boston)
Goolrick, Robert - A Reliable Wife, (1907 rural Wisconsin)
Harkness, Deborah - Shadow of Night (1591 England, France, Prague)

............................... - Time's Convert  (American & French Revolution embedded in fantasy)
Harmon, Amy - Where the Lost Wander (1853 Overland Trail)
Hashimi, Nadia - The Pearl That Broke Its Shell (Early 20th Century Kabul, Afghanistan)

Hawker Olivia - One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow (1876 Wyoming)

.........................-The Fire and the Ore (1856 Mormon Trail/Utah)
Hoffman, Alice - Everything My Mother Taught Me (1908 coastal Mass.)
Howe, Katherine - Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (Salem Witch Trials)

Jenner, Natalie - The Jane Austen Society (post WWII Hampshire, England)

Kline, Christina Baker - The Exiles (1840s Britain & Australia, plus ship voyage)
.................................... - Orphan Train (1929 Minnesota)
Krueger, William Kent - Ordinary Grace (1961 Minnesota)
Lovett, Charlie - The Bookman's Tale
Morton, Kate - The Forgotten Garden (multiple/early 20th century: Australia & England)

Moyes, Jojo - The Giver of Stars (1937 eastern KY)

Nesbit, TaraShea - Beheld (1630 Plymouth colony)
Otsuka, Julia - Buddha in the Attic (1920-1940 California)
Pulley, D. M. - The Buried Book (1952 rural farmland Michigan)
Raybourn, Deanna - A Curious Beginning, (1897 England) Mystery
Richardson, Michele - The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (1936 eastern KY/Appalachi)
Romer, Anna - Lyrebird Hill (1898 and 2013 in alternating chapters, New South Wales, Australia)
Shaffer, Mary Ann & Annie Barrows - Guernsy Literary and Potato Peel Society (German Occupation of Guernsey Island)
Spera, Deb - Call Your Daughter Home (1924 SC/ 3 female POV)
Taylor, Janet B. - Into the Dim Time Travel that takes us to 1200 Eleanor of Aquitaine & Becket's London
Wallace, Michael - Crow Hollow (1676 Puritan Boston)
Wingate, Lisa - The Book of Lost Friends (1875 & 1987 Louisiana)

Zugg, Victor - A Ripple in Time (TT to early 1700s Charleston)

Movies
The Butler (Civil Rights era)
Invictus (end-of-apartheid South Africa)
The King's Speech (1930s England)

PICTURE BOOK - Fiona's Lace - Patricia Polacco

Illustrated by the author

2014 Paula Wiseman; Simon & Schuster

HC $17.99

40  pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.03

My rating: 4

Endpapers: solid bold green background with intricate last recctangle almost covering the entire page

Illustrations: ah, Patricia Polacco......

1^st line/s:  "Many years ago my father's family lived in a small, poor village a few miles from Limerick in Ireland.  Everyone in the village depended on the textile mill that was soon to close.  Most of the vilagers were unsure of their futures.  But Glen Kerry was their home and all that any of them had ever known."

My comments:  Another lovely family story from Patricia Polacco with many themes and at least one strong moral.  Most of Polacco's stories come from family stories, and within the book itself there is usually some sort of oral story-telling.  This is very strongly of that sort - a piece of the lace that is the second protagonist in the story is framed on the wall in Polacco's home.  This is also a very vibrant immigration story.

Goodreads:  An Irish family stays together with the help of Fiona's talent for making one-of-a-kind lace in this heartwarming immigration story from the New York Times bestselling creator of The Keeping Quilt.

          Many years ago, times were hard in all of Ireland, so when passage to America becomes available, Fiona and her family travel to Chicago. They find work in domestic service to pay back their passage, and at night Fiona turns tangles of thread into a fine, glorious lace. Then when the family is separated, it is the lace that Fiona's parents follow to find her and her sister and bring the family back together. And it is the lace that will always provide Fiona with memories of Ireland and of her mother's words; "In your heart your true home resides, and it will always be with you as long as you remember those you love."
          This generational story from the family of Patricia Polacco's Irish father brims with the same warmth and heart as the classic The Keeping Quilt and The Blessing Cup, which Kirkus Reviews called "deeply affecting" in a starred review, and embraces the comfort of family commitment and togetherness that Patricia Polacco's books are known for.

Illustrator Spree - Jeanette Winter

Birthday: October 6
Lives:
Family

I love her illustrations, the way her books "look," and always, always enjoy her subject matter.   I love the folky feel to Jeanette Winter's illustrations. I love all the clever touches she includes. Yup, one of my top five artists of all time.

She wrote AND illustrated these books:

Angelina's Island (2007)
Beatrix (2003)
Biblioburro:  A True Story from Colombia (2010)

Calavera Abecedario, A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book (2004)
Jeanette Winters's art, her illustrations, the way she depicts this happy Mexican celebration, evoke really good feelings for me. Lots of blacks and fiesta colors. Black-backed illustrations framed to the edge of the page with yellows, pinks, purples, aquas, greens.....
          The first nine pages tell of a family in Mexico City that have made calaveras (paper mache skeletons) for generations. Then the alphabet begins. Angels, witches, doctors, farmers, musicians, bride and groom, shoemaker, unicorn, chemist, queen.... all are depicted as calaveras using the SPANISH name. The translation for each is in the back as well as a bit of information about the day.

Christmas Tree Ship,The (1994)
Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M. Russell (1995)

Elsina's Clouds (2004)  This book is about the "Basotho women of southern Africa." My research shows that Basotho is a part of South Africa, perhaps in and around the area of modern-day Lesotho. I'll have to look into this a little more.
          Jeanette Winter shares the custom of the Basotho women painting their houses as messages to their ancestors to bring the rain. A nameless young girl paints the addition to her family abode that will house her soon-to-be-arriving baby sibling. She goes to bed at night and dreams about the rain coming to moisten her mother's crops.
          This is the third time I've read that it's the WOMEN who plan, plant, care for, and sow the crops in many parts of Africa.

Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World (2002)
Follow the Drinking Gourd (1988)
Henri's Scissors (2013)
Hey Diddle Diddle (1999)
House That Jack Built, The (2003)
Itsy-Bitsy Spider, The (2000)
Josefina (1996)
Kali's Song (2012)
Klara's New World (1992)

Librarian of Basra, The: A True Story from Iraq (2005)
Simply told, beautifully illustrated, here is another version of the bombing of the central library in Basra, Iraq. Ensconced in rich purples and yellows and blues, Winters' recognizable artwork accentuates the story beautifully. A great companion book to Alia's Mission.







Magic Ring, The (1987)
Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan/Iqbal, a Brave Boy from Pakistan: Two Stories of Bravery (2014)
MAMA, A True Story, In Which a Baby Hippo Loses His Mama During a Tsunami, But Finds a New Home and a New Mama (2006)
Mr. Cornell's Dream Boxes (2014)

My Baby (2001)  There are THREE reasons why this book is a "5" for me (the illustrations, the bogolan cloth, the great author). And there are THREE different reasons to read it:
          One: The story. Nakunte learns the art of painting bogolan cloth from her mother. Years later she paints a special cloth for her baby that will come when the rains come. As she paints, she speaks of all the creatures that live in her African village.
          Two: The culture. Mali, Africa. You get a feel for the place.
          Three: The painting of the cloth. I have some of this beautiful black cloth, myself. To see how it starts with white cloth, then specially prepared mud is painted on, leaving the lovely white design, is a treat.

          When, as a young adult, Nakunte begins her painting, the borders of the illustration become strips of the bogolan cloth she's working on. The colors are bright and cheerful, different colored borders on each and every page, with very little white. And, Ms. Winter is a lyrical writer: "Listen, my baby, do you hear mama crocodile creeping across the savanna on her short legs? Will she find the water she is looking for?"

My Name is Georgia: A Portrait (1998)
Nanuk, the Ice Bear (2015)
Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan (2009)
Nino's Mask (2003)
Rock-a-Bye Baby (1999)
Sebastian: A Book about Bach (1999)

September Roses (2004)  This is a lovely book that memorializes this terrible occurrence with a connected story.  I now use it in my classroom each year, but fourth graders now, 13 years later, don't yet know much about this day.  So I have to talk to them about what happened before I share the book  I keep it simple.  After reading the book we talk about gratitude.  Nine year olds have enough time in the future to talk about the nitty gritties of the day as well as the repurcussions, but I've found this gentle, simple book is a really nice way to talk about this day with my kids.




Tale of Pale Male, The: A True Story (2007)
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (2000)

Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa (2008)
When Wangari returns from six years of schooling in America, she realizes that a huge amount of Kenya's trees have been cut down. She starts by planting and nurturing nine seedlings. And then she begins to give them away to the village women to grow, care for, and protect. "The women spread out over their village, planting tiny trees in long rows, like a green belt stretching over the land." She protects old growth threes and is even arrested. But she does not give up. "The umbrella of trees returns."
          Excellent author's note. Wangari won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and is now a member of the Kenyan Parliament! Wonderful storytelling.


Watcher, The: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps (2011)

The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid (2017)
It's no secret that I adore anything and everything that Jeanette Winter writes and/or illustrates,  but what I really appreciate is the diversity of people that she chooses to research and share with kids!  This book highlights another amazing woman in our world and will inspire kids (and architecture buffs!) in many, many ways.  Bravo!





She illustrated thes books but they were written by someone else:

Changling, The (Selma Lagerlof) (1992)
Cotton Mill Town (1993)
Day of the Dead (by Tony Johnston) (1997)
Diego (by Jonah Winter) (1991)
Eight Hands Round (by Ann Whitford Paul) (1991)
Fruit and Vegetable Man, A (by Roni Schotter) (1993)
Once Upon a Time in Chicago (by Jonah Winter) (2000)
Secret Project, The (by Jonah Winter) (2017?)
Secret World of Hiildegard (by Jonah Winter) (2007)
Shaker Boy (Mary Lyn Ray) (1994)
Snow (by Steve Stanfield) (1995)
Tortilla Cat, The (by Nancy Willard) (1998)
Witch Goblin and Ghost in the Haunted Woods (by Sue Alexander) (1981)
World's Birthday, The, A Rosh Hashana Story (by Barbara Diamond Goldin) (1990)