Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears

Author: Emily Gravett
Rating:
Reading Level: K to 4

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

This is a fantastic offer from a truly creative mind, and I believe also, from a team of designers and editors who put in so much in carrying out all the ideas: from the nibbled cover and pages, to the flip-the-flap effects, to the completely black page (yes, I was fooled in thinking, 'huh? this is the end of the book? No way...' and found out, to my great delight, that there is still half of the book to go and plenty more of information to come!) And of course, Gravett's talent in illustration is unparalleled! I just love that pencil, getting gnawed to a stub bit by bit.

It will appeal to those children who love words and love to collect the names of so many phobias. It will appeal to those children who love poring over pages with extra words and details quite a few times over. It will appeal to those who enjoy visual jokes ("I worry about having accidents." page has Little Mouse ... um... accidentally leaves something on the bottom of the page... -- opposing the picture of a toilet.)

I love the page where all the feathers "have eyes" and "sharp teeth." I love the page with the newspaper clipping about the farmer's wife and the three mouse tails. I love the page with the fold-out map of the Isle of Fright. Actually.. I think I simply love all the pages, each for a different reason.

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That Book Woman

Author: Heather Henson, illus. by David Small
Rating:
Reading Level: K - 2

Publisher: Atheneum
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

Even though I knew from page 2 that this is a little story on the power of books and libraries, and that this young boy narrator will become a reader in the end, I did not feel disappointed when all the prediction came true. This is due to the artistry of both the author and the illustrator. Henson's text is folksy and true, with a wonderful lilting pace, while Small's illustrations are gentle but at the same time with a quiet but majestic integrity. Of course, being a librarian, I am completely won over. (Just so you know, I am usually very suspicious of books glorifying Library Services and Librarians -- oftentimes, I find those "books and reading are GREAT stories" corny and cringe-inducing.) I hope that others who are not in our profession will also find this fact-based story completely winning.

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Swords: An Artist's Devotion

Author: Ben Boos
Rating:
Reading Level: for all readers

Pages: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Edition: Hardcover, 2008


I couldn't believe my eyes, flipping through page after page of beautifully rendered swords from many time periods and many cultures, how visually perfect this book is! No matter whom I showed this book to (HS students, MS kids, other adults) - the reaction was the same: an astounded delight at this Feast of the Artistry of Beautiful and Elegant Swords. I'm glad the inclusion of Asian and African swords and their histories (although would have like a more balanced proportion in treatment...)

This makes a great holiday gift for any child who enjoys this topic. The general and specific notes on various types, their usages, their histories, and those who used such and such swords are easy to read and absorb. But one definitely doesn't need to read all the text to enjoy the book.

I am so happy of this book's existence!

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A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams

Author: Jen Bryant; illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Rating:
Reading Level: pre-k to 5th grade (depending on how the book is to be used)

Publisher: Eerdmans
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

Oh, how I absolutely
love this book
adore it
for its simple
informative text
admire it
for the collage and
water color illustrations

showing the time
the world and
the spirit of the poet
who was a doctor,
healed wounds,
delivered babies,
and soothed
our souls

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How to Heal a Broken Wing

Author: Bob Graham (illus.)
Rating:
Reading Level: toddler to 3rd grade

Publisher: Candlewick
Edition:Hardcover, 2008


Since I am not one who usually loves books with strong and obvious messages, I surprised myself for really liking this one. Why? First and foremost, I think it is because that there is a real plot and emotional arc in the telling of this gentle and simple story of hope. Hope in healing the wounds of the world (a page with the TV screen showing the current War in contrast with the family's loving care of the bird); hope in having our next generations to have compassion for the world around them; and hope for the inter-generational "collaboration" in finding ways to heal.

Graham's cartoon illustrations do not reduce the emotional impact of the story -- the varied composition, perspectives, page layouts, all contribute beautifully to accentuate the events and the interior motions of the characters. That one spread where you only see Will and the bird with broken wing (as an extreme close-up from the spot on the cover) is superb! The more and more closely I examine this work, the more I appreciate it. (So, just changed from 4 to 5 stars!)


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Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw

Author: Deboarh Kogan Ray (illus.)
Rating:
Reading Level: K to 3rd Grade

Publisher: Viking
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

I am profoundly moved by this picture book biography of an amazing artist. It's partially because of my own belief in the power and importance of art in our world, but mostly, it's because Deborah Kogan Ray's candid text, capturing Wanda Gag's spirit, and her oil paintings capturing Gag's world and time. My eyes and heart were drawn to those little lighter/brighter outlines around some of the objects and figures in each painting. I don't really know why, but they seem to be metaphorically significant: flashes of light (hope? human spirit?) peeking through even the darkest times. This is an outstanding biography, even for slightly older readers.

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Hate That Cat

Author: Sharon Creech
Rating:
Reading Level: 2nd to 5th grade

Pages: 153
Publisher: HarperCollins
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

I was really delightfully surprised at how I enjoyed reading this one. I remember loving Love That Dog and did not think that I was emotionally manipulated -- although most of the time I feel Creech's books highly "manipulative." And again, I cried over this little story and did not hate the fact that I cried. I have been wondering about Verse Novels and this book does not only present itself as a verse novel, it discusses the notion of poetry -- light ones vs. "serious" ones; children's self-reflective writing vs. classic, grand poetry. It's definitely a very teacher-y book. I can see 4th-6th grade teachers all over thinking to themselves, "I can use this in my poetry unit! It even teaches techniques such as similes, metaphors, and alliteration!" The introduction of a deaf mother is an interesting touch. Maybe a little forced but it does offer the opportunity for the young readers to think and discuss the notion of beat/rhythm as "sounds" and actual physical vibrations. (Oh, my, god, can this book even be used by Science Teachers about sound waves?!!)

Anyway. I am pleased with the book.


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The Black Book of Colors

Author: Menena Cotton, illus. by Rosana Faria
Rating:
Reading Level:pre-k - 2nd (and all ages)

Publisher: Groundwood
Edition: 2008, Hardcover

What a unique and amazing book!!!! I am speechless and wish everyone could read/touch/experience it!


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Someone Save the Authors from Sloppy or Non-existent Copy-editing!!!

Although I am only talking about one book today, by way of an example, I am really ranting about a fairly wide-spread phenomenon in Children's Publishing of late -- that of a lack of careful copy-editing. Copy-editing is defined briefly as: to mark errors of spelling, grammar, punctuation and word usage to prepare the manuscript for final printing so each finished book is as error-free as possible. I am unsure whether there are still full-time copy-editing staff in most children's publishing houses these days (maybe someone can speak to this in a comment?) but from the number of errors one encounters in children's books these days, it seems that human copy-editing has become an obsolete art. If you have read a lot of recent children's books as I have done, you'll know what I'm talking about.

I just finished reading a very well-written and exciting story by Polly M. Robertus, entitled The Richest Doll in the World. It's a Holiday House 2008 publication. Judging from the font size and the length (129 pages,) I have no problem thinking of this book as for fairly beginning readers. Say, 2nd to 4th graders. It is even more inexcusable that the copy-editing is so sloppy! Here are a few page scans to illuminate my concerns. Before you read on and see for yourself whether this is a serious issue, I just want to say how sorry I feel for the author of this book. I can only imagine how much time, effort, hope, and heart went into writing, revising, and perfecting the telling of this entertaining and heartwarming story and yet, as a librarian, I cannot feel comfortable recommending this book to my young readers due to its poor copy-editing. I wonder if I am alone in feeling this way?

p. 18

You lust haven't tried hard enough...LUST?
I can just imagine how a 2nd grader reading this book asks her mom, "Mommy, what is LUST? I don't understand this sentence. What does 'lust haven't tried' mean?" Try explaining that one!

p. 26
Last time I checked (2 seconds ago,) the word "sidesh" has not made its way into the Merriam Webster Dictionary yet. (One would imagine that even a computer spell checking program would have picked up completely non-existing words and corrected the error. Did the production team not even bother with a once-over using a free program?)

These two are both from p. 34 -- and I was simply baffled by the abundance of commas...

Bear's Picture

Author: Daniel Pinkwater; illustrated by D.B. Johnson
Rating:
Reading Level: pre-k, k, 1, 2

Pages: np
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

Absolutely fabulous! The text is matter-of-fact; straightforward; and it conveys a great sentiment -- the artist's own interpretation is enough to make any artwork worthwhile. A bear can be a painter and he can paint whatever he feels like and see whatever there is in the picture without being told by others that he can't paint or what his artwork means.

And the ART in this book is unusual, for sure. The contrast between the gray-scale color scheme of the three characters and the vibrant multi-colored painting keeps the readers' focus on the "real" protagonist of the story: the painting, in progress and in its final state. I love how the bear's scarf gets progressively messier, with more colors until it's completely covered. And of course, the page where you must turn the book around to see the final picture from bear's point of view of a bear that is embedded within the autumn honey tree, cool stream, hollow log, field of flowers, and the two gentlemen's hats is such a beautiful and breathtaking moment! The color scheme reminds of of Kandinsky and Klee in their modern, abstract style. The final image of bear sleeping in the hollow log (his own creation) engulfed by the snow is the perfect and calm end note to a rigorous story.


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Garmann's Summer

Author: Stian Hole
Rating:
Reading Level: K to 3rd

Pages: n.p.
Publisher: Eerdmans
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

What an unusual book. At first glance, the images turned me off -- from the cover to the first pages -- with the weirdly proportioned heads/bodies done with photo-collages. Then.. I got sucked into this style and most importantly, I got mesmerized by the text and by the matter-of-fact tone of everyone's answer to Garmann's queries about death and fears. The illustrations eventually reminded me of Terry Gillian's work for Monty Python's Flying Circus with many pages featuring curving flower stems and vines and the unlikely pairings of objects: the ancient aunt on a skateboard above skyscrapers or the bus load of images of famous jazz and other musicians... So, this is a very strange experience: from "Ugh" to "Brilliant!!!"


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Grumpy Bird

Author:Jeremy Tankard (illustrator)
Rating:
Reading Level: Pre-k to 2nd

Pages:
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Edition: Hardcover, 2007

I LOVE the grumpiness of Bird and his host of 4-legged friends who totally are so clueless to his mood. The Wahaha-WOW ending is so unexpected and satisfying. There is a great momentum building through this seemingly simplistic picture book. Tankard's thick-black-outlined endearing group of animals and brush-painting trees, accompanied by bleached photo background is dexterously done. There is just so much to look at and such a joy to read aloud and to share!

Duck at the Door

Author: Jackie Urbanovic (also the illustrator)
Rating:
Reading Level: pre-k to 2nd

Publisher: HarperCollins
Edition: Hardcover, 2007

This is an absolute WINNER! The text is sparing and just right to convey the situations from page to page -- I enjoyed the individual thoughts from the animals mixed in with the straightforward text.

Each animal in the house is distinctly designed and incredibly adorable/attractive/expressive. Their body language speaks volumes!

The surprising second-to-last spread made me *GASP* with horrified delight.

This whole package just WORKS!

The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County

Author: Janice Harrington
Illustrator: Shelley Jackson
Rating:
Reading Level: Pre-K - 3rd

Publisher: FSG
Edition: Hardcover, 2007

I would have to say that this is one of the most joyful picture books I've read this year. I adore everything about it. It's incredibly fun to read the text out loud and to hear it read. It is colorful and energetic, full of poetic inventions:

"wash away the dreaming and brush my teeth whiter than a biscuit"
"fast as a mosquito buzzing and quick as a fleabite"
and listen to the cadence and joy of these glorious lines:
"I think of all kinds of chicken thoughts so they won't know I'm up to something.
Corn, I think, bright, shiny knuckles of yellow corn.
Eggs! Eggs! Eggs! Goldy-brown eggs all warm, warm warm.
Corn bread, corn bread! Crumb and crumble bread.
Worms, Slurms, swishy, swishy-mishy, ickly-tickly worms"

Oh... I'm having so much fun just looking at these words and lines.

And then, of course, there are these glorious illustrations -- where the energy, the colorfulness, and sunshiny fun is captured and further expanded. The mixed media with real object collage illustrations convey the carefree high spirit of our heroine. The most effective compositions are the ones that explode outward:

The page with Pah-Quawkkkkk! and Quawkkkkkk exploding in the center of the spread.

And there are pages more subdued but no less pleasing. There is a great pacing of action verses internal thoughtfulness both in the text, and especially in the illustrations. This is just GLORIOUS! I said it a third time now :)

Genies, Meanies, and Magic Rings

Author: Stephen Mitchell
Rating:
Reading Level: 2nd - 4th

Pages:
Publisher: Walker
Edition: Hardcover, 2007 (ARC)

The retelling is skillfully done -- although I do not see how "new" and "fresh" these versions are from the older version. To gain insight, I must see some of other retellings. There are only three stories and two of them are so familiar so I wasn't getting excited about them. The second, unfamiliar story, however, is definitely interesting and worth reading.

Lily Reads: Funny Frank

Author: Dick King Smith
Rating:
Reading Level: 1st and 2nd

fairrosa: So, how would you describe this book?
Lily: I would describe this book as funny, sarcastic, and cute.
fairrosa: Anything else you'd like to share?
Lily: Yep. I liked it because it was full of ideas that were cool.

Lily Reads: Betsy-Tacy

Author: Maud Hart Lovelace
Rating:
Reading Level: 2nd to 4th Grade

fairrosa: So.. you gave this book 5 stars. Is it that great?
Lily: Yes. Because I felt that it made you very emotional and so you had a connection with the book.

Lily Reads: All-of-a-Kind Family and More All-of-a-Kind Family

Author: Sidney Taylor
Rating:
Reading Level: 1st to 3rd

fairrosa: Why do you like All-of-a-Kind Family?
Lily: I liked this book because it's about five girls and they have adventures and it's very exciting.
fairrosa: Do you have something to say about the second book?
Lily: Yes. It has a lot of tension.
fairrosa: How? What happened?
Lily: There was a disease going around and they didn't want to catch it.

Ramona Books

Author: Beverly Clearly
Rating:
Reading Level: K-3rd

Pages:
Publisher: William Morrow / Yearling / Dell
Edition: Mixed, 1955 onward

This has been a favorite bedtime story series for the last 3 months. I read it to Lily when we were in Taiwan and David has been reading it to her every night for the last 2 months. The titles in the series are

Beezus and Ramona (1955)
Ramona the Pest (1968)
Ramona the Brave (1975)
Ramona and Her Mother (1977)
Ramona and Her Father (1979)
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (1981)
Ramona Forver (1984)
Ramona's World (1999)

We have finished all but the last two. I'm constantly amazed and reminded of Cleary's uncanny talent at capturing the inner workings of a small child as I listen to David's affective reading and watch Lily's complete emotional involvement with the story.

Cam Jansen Series

Author: David Adler
Rating:
Reading Level: K-2nd

Pages: around 60
Publisher: Viking / Puffin
Edition: Mixed

This is really Lily's first series. She's finished 24 of them and is now tackling the 25th Cam Jansen and the Valentine Babies Mystery.