A Gift for Abuelita - Nancy Luenn

Celebrating the Day of the Dead
(Un regalo para Abuelita En celebracion del Dia de los Muertos)
Illustrated by Robert Chapman
Rising Moon, 1998
32 Pages
Rating: 4/5 Illustrations
Endpapers: The cemetery, close up

Oh, the illustrations in this book! So different! I tried to guess how they were made before finding out. Thoughtfully - and thankfully - Mr. Chapman gave an excellent description of his process: CAST PAPER. He creates a mold using a wooden frame where he forms the picture in many layers using wood, cardboards, and heavy papers. He then creates the page by applying a thin layer of wet paper pulp. When dry and uncast, he paints and adds thread, twine, beads, etc. I would LOVE to see (and touch...) the actual work!

The story, told in English and Spanish, is the personal story of a young girl whose beloved abuelita (grandmother) has recently died. We hear of the offerings (ofrenda) that her family is making for previously deceased loved ones for the Day of the Dead. We're with them when they clean the graves and picnic at the cemetery. And we share Rosita's joy when she finally feels her abuelita's presence.

When I Wore My Sailor Suit - Uri Shulevitz

Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2009
$16.95
32 pgs.
Rating: 4
Luscious vocabulary: provisions, destination, arduous, departure, valiantly, luxurious, disrupted, pelting, barrage, resume, sternly
Illustrations: 7/8 of page, boxed by white
Endpapers: Azure

A young boy dresses as a sailor and goes to visit his upstairs neighbor. They have a model ship - and his imaginative journey begins. He makes it through a storm and arrives on a jungle island. He escapes pirates and finds a treasure map. but when he feels like someone is watching him he "returns" to the room and sees a painting of an ominous-looking man, whose eyes seem to follow him wherever he goes. It unsettles him. After fleeing for home, the boy realizes something. Returning to the painting he says, "you can't leave this wall, you can't leave this room, but I can go far away on an exciting journey."

Bravo for great fanciful works, a great message, and lovely illustrations.

Come Back Soon - Daniel Schallau

Houghton Mifflin, 2009
$17.00
48 pgs.
Rating: 4
Illustrations: colored pencils, pen & ink
Endpapers: Bright yellow

If you go through this story just reading the words it would seem disjointed and uneven. But if you examine each illustrations as you read, the story flows beautifully. I wonder if this is intentional, or happened because the writer and illustrator are the same person? I'd guess it wouldn't make a good readaloud to a group - much better alone or one to one.

Elephant the architect returns to Ice Island to be the special guest at the" PENGUIN DEDICATION". His friends, the penguins, meet him, wine him and dine him, and help him through several mishaps. The story is cute and the illustrations are marvelous - I wish the book were bigger so the pictures could be! There's SO much of the story in the pictures!

Give this as a gift to an inquisitve 4-year-old builder and include a scarf....

Dewey, There's a Cat in the Library - Vicki Myron & Breat Witter

Illustrated by Steve James
Little Brown & Co., 2009
$16.99
32 pgs.
Rating: 4
Endpapers: paw prints in pale yellow

These have to be the cutest kitten illustrations I've ever seen - you just want to pick him up and let him purr.

Dewey is left in the book drop at a small-town library. This is the story of how he made this library his home - and how much all the patrons appreciated him. I believe it was a novel - perhaps for adults? first.

A really cute story for any cat lover.

My Uncle Emily - Jane Yolen

Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter
Philomel Books, 2009
$17.99
32 pgs.
For: Lovers and discoverers of Emily Dickinson's poetry (including those who don't "get" her poems!)
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Rosy cranberry
Illustrations: "Pen and ink and digital media." They look old-fashioned and really work beautifully with the story and subject.

Based on facts that Jane Yolen has researched, we are treated to a little bit of the life of Emily Dickinson and of the people who loved her, the lives she touched. It explains what a "recluse" is, and gives us a wonderful glimpse into the possibilities of her quiet personality.

When she givers her six-year old nephew (and next-door neighbor), Gib, a dead bee and a poem to take to school to share, he feels obligated to do so - even though he doesn't understand the poems and knows that his classmates probably won't either. When one of the boys makes fun of his aunt (she refers to herself as Uncle Emily), he socks him in the nose. Not wanting to tell the truth at a family gathering that night, he omits the fighting part of the story, buy Uncle Emily is the one that figures out there's something missing. And she gets it out of him in with a poems and gentle kindness.

There's a note at the end entitled "What is True About this Story."

A for-sure addition to reading aloud the poems of Emily Dickinson to kids! Many love her poems, some have glimmers of understanding, but many screw up their faces and say, "I don't get it." This story should be included! For sure.

What a lovely cover illustration!

Peacock and Other Poems - Valerie Worth

Poetry
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2002
40 pgs.
For: Kids

I'm so glad that although Valerie Worth died in 1994 her poems are still being published. Known most by her collection of "short poems", this slim volume includes yet more. What she is able to say and show in these short poems is a real joy. I wish I could write like this!

(Natalie Babbitt, writer of Tuck Everlasting, was the illustrator - the gentle black and white pencilly sketches that she adds are just perfect.)

Clouds

Never believe
That clouds
Are mere
Airy vapor:

They are
High terraces
Of marble
And alabaster,

Pillars of
Quartz, alleys
Of pearl
And silver,

To those
Who weigh
Nothing and
Walk there.

Hummingbird

In a whir
Of wings he
Floats at the
Flower's door,

Wearing his white
Silk vest,
His glistening
Ruby collar:

And who could
Refuse a sip
Of nectar to
Such a caller?

City I Love - Lee Bennett Hopkins

Poetry
Illustrated by Marcellus Hall
Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2009
$16.95
32 pgs.
For: K-4- lots of examining and things to figure out
Rating: 4
Endpapers: map of the world with 18 cities labeled

Eighteen poems that are using eighteen cities around the world as their showpiece. All of the poems could really be for any city, but if you examine the illustration and check out the world map on the endpapers, you can figure out which one is being denoted. Works for me!

I like Lee Bennett Hopkins poems. I don't usually love them. And I like these. At first I wasn't sure if I liked the illustrations, but then I looked at the detail and liked them more and more. There's a very cool backpacking, traveling dog (check him out on the cover) that appears somewhere on every page, and I found I was looking for him first. Then I was looking for clues as to which city was being depicted. This ended up being a really delightful book. First impressions aren't always the right ones!

Mother’s Plea

Silence sirens.
Hush all horns.
Quiet rumbling
traffic roars.
Please
city
have
some
pity.
Promise me
not
one
more
beep?
My newborn
pigeons
need
their
sleep.

67. The Corn Grows Ripe - Dorothy Rhoads

Newbery Honor Book
Illustrated by Jean Charlot
1956
90 pgs.
For: Middle Grades
Rating: Much better than I ever expected

Dionisio, called Tigre (meaning Jaguar) lives in a primitive village in current-day Yucatan. At 12 he is lazy and somewhat spoiled, but takes over his family's milpa (cornfield) when his father is badly injured. This corn is the family's sustenance. Yes, they have a few chickens, but it is the corn that feeds them. We get to observe the full cycle, from cutting and preparing the milpa, to the wait for rain, the sowing, the wait for rain again, and the harvest. During that time we get a glimpse into the life of modern-day Maya that is still tied to those of the ancient Maya.

Full of description, Maya and Spanish words (and a wonderful glossary), stories of gods and ceremonies and a way of life, this book was appreciated by almost all of my 27 fourth-graders. They are creating a map of the setting that has them VERY excited. A codex of 27 of the Maya words and terms will follow. This was a great novel for our Maya unit.

Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow - Joyce Sidman

Poetry
Illustrated by Beth Krommes
Houghton Mifflin, 2006
$16.00
40 pgs.
For: Middle Grades
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: INCREDIBLE scratchboard meadow closeup

Wow wow wow wow wow, this eye-popping art blows me away. It's scratchboard, and it's really something. The cover just doesn't do it justice.

Two page spreads with two poems are followed by two pages that describe what's going on in the previous pages. Dew and grasshopper, Rabbit and fox, Spittlebug and Xylem & Phloem (I've seen all the bubbles on a weed-type plant, this tells you about it!), Milkweed and butterflies, Snake and toad, Goldfinch and hawk, Deer and trees......coordinated pairings with beautiful poetry, lovely descriptions, and artwork that is spectacular.

In the Almost Light

In the dark,
in the night,
in the almost-light,
in the leaf-crisp air just before sunlight,
sprouts a secret, silent, sparkling sight:
berries grown on the vines of night.

On the grass,
on the buds,
on the bark of trees,
on the small clear wings of the bumblebees,
on the spiderwebs (and the spiders’ knees),
come the jewels of the dawn
in the cool night’s breeze

And the sun
when it comes
through the purple haze
touches each clear gem with its sidelong gaze,
fingers each clear drop with its lazy rays,
gathers each one back for the summer days.

What is it?

66. Escape Under the Forever Sky - Eve Yohalem

for: Middle grades (one of my fourth graders lent this to me after loving it...)
Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2009
Hardcover, $16.99
220 pgs.
Rating: 4.5

Lucy Hoffman is the thirteen-year-old daughter of the American Ambassador to Ethiopia. She leaves the safe confines of "the compound" every day to be driven to school, but other than that her life is pretty restricted. She yearns to get out and explore Addis Ababa and the surrounding game area. She has researched mammals of Africa extensevely and hopes to follow in the footsteps of Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall, and Birute Galdikas. She feels that her parents are being overly protective and much too strict, so she sneaks out a few times, always getting caught.

(Spoiler Alert:) One day, she and her friend Tana sneak out and Lucy is kidnapped. She is taken to a remote hut in the middle of she-knows-not-where, given very little food, unsafe water, and held for some sort of ransom. She figures out a way to escape and takes off, with the knowledge she has gleaned from many books about Africa, into the great unknown. Full of wildlife sightings, good thinking, and lots of pluck and luck, Lucy figures out how to save herself.

Kids will love the adventure and the wildlife in this book. The description of life and celebrations in a remote tribal village only add to the feeling of Africa. Yes, it really feels like you're in Ethiopia. Fascinating. Interesting. Based loosely on a story about a girl who made it through a similar escape. Well researched, and thoughtful. There aren't a lot of stories for American kids with a setting like this - keep 'em comin'!

A Book - Mordicai Gerstein

Roaring Brook Press
April 2009
$16.95
40 pgs.
for: Kids
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: The same blue as the cover

Clever and different. I do appreciated clever and different.

The reader has a birds-eye view of all the activity in the book. We're looking DOWN at the action - as if we were the sun - and Gerstein has even drawn the shadows that are being made. The characters know you're there - and they know they're only a family that exists in the book. Everyone knows their own story - the father's a clown, the mother's a fire fighter, the brother wants to be an astronaut - but the young girl goes looking for her own, unknown story. She travels through different genres - fairy tale, mystery, adventure, historical fiction, science fiction - until she goes home to decide to become an author and write her own story!

At the beginning and end of the book are double-pages spreads of black pages - you can see the imprints of the beds - because "when the book was closed it was night in the book, and the family slept."

Brother Juniper - Diane Gibfried

Illustrated by Meilo So
Clarion Books, 2006
32 pgs.
Endpapers: Bright orange

Based on the true story of a friar and friend of St. Francis of Assisi, Brother Juniper joined St. Francis in 1210 and died in 1258. He was extremely generous, anf from the knowledge of that generosity comes this story.

Brother Juniper would give someone in need the clothes off his back. Literally. The other brothers would find him naked. One day, when he was left in charge of the chapel, many people came to the door asking for help. He gave away eveything - and when the other friars returned, naked Brother Juniper was standing in an empty hole in the ground! All is redeemed on Sunday when a huge happy crowd all come to say thank you.

A neat story of generosity and giving. Illustrations are fun and compliment the story beuatifully.

65. Wild Things - Clay Carmichael

For: Middle grades and YA
Front Street/Boyds Mills Press
May, 2009
Hardcover $18.95
241 pgs.
Rating: 5

First-rate first-person storytelling by the protagonist, 11-year-old Zoe Royster, made me want to read without stopping. Wonderful characters, clever plot, subtle twists and turns, and lots of love create a one-of-a-kind tale. Every so often we watch the evolving story through the eyes of a feral cat that Zoe is slowly teaching to trust her. This story is loaded and lovely.

Zoe has practically raised herself. Her unwed mother, in and out of mental hospitals, has dragged her from one boyfriend's digs to another. Her life has been raw and pretty empty of love. She knows how to survive. She is really, really bright and loves to write. She is writing her memoir. When her mother commits suicide, Zoe is sent to live with the heart-surgeon-now-famous-sculptor uncle. She is instantly accepted by his collection of odd friends, and together they create a family. She slowly learns to trust, as does the cat in our parallel story.

This is one beautifully put-together story. I highly recommend it to all, and can't wait for one of my students to try it. Wonderful.

64. Jane Austen Ruined My Life - Beth Pattillo

Guideposts, 2009
274 pgs.
For: adults
Rating: 2

I knew right from the beginnng that this book was going to disappoint, and unfortunately it did. I couldn't stand the protagonist/heroine. I didn't agree with anything she did, felt, or said. The plot was totally unbelievable. The setting was wonderful....the descriptions of London and the surrounding area was detailed and interesting. The facts about Jane Austen were great. It's my own fault. When you know right from the first page that the heroine is a dolt, you should read something else.

Emma had caught her stuffy, boring professor husband cheating on her with his TA. He had helped the TA discredit his wife, and Emma was fired as a professor and left with her tail between her legs. A mysterious woman had written to her from London and tempted her with the possibilites of long-lost Jane Austen letters. This interesting Mrs. Parrot sent her on a series of six tasks, places to from Jane Austen's life, where she was given a photocopy of one of the forbidden/lost letters to peruse. Two handsome professors enter her life, one brand new, one from her past. It's silly, it's not romantic at all. At first I thought that Jane Austen would be peeved, but then I realized that Emma is amazingly like the Emma of Miss Austen's own hand.... I think it's the total and complete ability to be self-centered that makes this book a real two-thumbs down.

(I sure hope that Adam gets on with his life, sans Emma. Please! He's been such a schmuck.)

Testing the Ice - Sharon Robinson

A True Story About Jackie Robinson
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Scholastic Press, 2009
$16.00
40 pgs.
Rating: 5
Endpapers: Dark aqua
Author's Note

This heartwarming true story about the personal life of Jaackie Robinson is written by his daughter, Sharon. It tells of their home and home life in the mid-to-late 1950's. It includes tidbits about Jackie Robinson's entry into the entirely segregated world of Major League Baseball. In the main storyline, Ms. Robinson weaves her dad's courage in and around and through a story of his fear of water and his inability to swim. It's done quite beautifully and makes for really interesting storytelling.

And the illustrations! Oh my goodness, can this man draw! Completely covering the oversized pages, each and every illustrtation is a masterpiece to behold - most especially his depiction of Jackie Robinson.

Super book!