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Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson - review

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
I've never read this book, or its sequels, before now. "Whaaat?" you gasp. "Fantasy adventure based on familiar characters in children's literature, and YOOOU haven't READ them?!"

Ah shut up. I know what these books are without reading them. So do you. And I know the kid who reads these books - or who will at least give them a try with very little need for wheedling or booktalking. That kid is not, as we say, a discriminating reader. That kid will read very long books regardless of whether they're terrific or not, because that kid likes to read. When that kid asks me for book recommendations, it's not because he or she has trouble finding books that appeal to his or her taste, it's because that kid has READ EVERYTHING ELSE.

So when the response to everything I suggest is “Already read it,” I start suggesting books I haven't read but have heard are good, and the Dave Barry Peter books are in that category.

I always meant to though, and when I saw that the audio version was narrated by the great Jim Dale, I snapped it right up for our Spring Break road trip. Let me tell you, this book made the long hours bombing up and down Virginia interstates go by quickly for my young boys. Even my husband was hanging on every word, although there was a dreadful chapter somewhere at the end of the first third of the book that was SOLID EXPOSITION. Even Jim Dale was rushing through that one.

Now that we've finished the book, I have to say that my opinion of it has not changed. It's a galloping adventure that follows a familiar arc, populated with half a Magic Kingdom's worth of good guys and bad guys. But it's almost as if the lead character could be any of the eleven-year-old orphans that litter children's literature. Peter Pan is nowhere in sight. Now, I recognize that Peter and the Starcatchers is a prequel to Peter Pan, and so Peter is not yet Pan, thoughtless and amoral, uncivilized, illiterate, pure id – but the Peter in this story? His behavior is beyond reproach. He is loyal, brave, caring, and smart. He's a hero almost from the first page. He is fabulously dull.

No wonder the authors felt compelled to feature not one but two villainous sea dogs, each with a comic-relief henchman (Smee, of course, assists the proto-Hook), and not one but two tempting and resourceful female sidekicks (I do wish to thank the authors for a neat explanation of mermaids). And by the end of the book, it felt as if we were going down a checklist of story elements that had to be in place. Hook loses a hand? Check. Tinkerbell? Check. Peter can fly? Check. Crocodile? Check.

And I missed Pan - surly, solipsistic, charismatic, somewhat dicky Pan.

Labels: adventure, age: Grade3 and up, audiobooks, boy books, fantasy, fiction, funny

Peak by Roland Smith - review

Peak by Roland Smith
I really enjoyed Smith's Cryptid Hunters, a page-turning, funny adventure story of two siblings and their globe-trotting uncle (father). Featuring nefarious villains and their henchmen, resourceful young people who confront their fears, and guest appearances by mokele-mbembe and Sasquatch, Cryptid Hunters pretty much hit all my buttons.

Reading the jacket copy for Peak, I expected much of the same. Peak is a teenager in New York City who is a born mountain climber. The city is not his natural habitat, and he gets into big trouble. In swoops his estranged father, Josh, a world-famous climber, who trundles Peak off to Asia, buys him a bunch of climbing gear, and leaves him in the care of a Sherpa monk in Kathmandu. From there, we're off to Mount Everest at a breakneck pace. So far, so good: globe-trotting parent, exotic locale, physical challenges, extremely rapid pace.

And there's no doubt, Peak is another page-turner. There's an interesting supporting cast, and the climb itself is described so vividly that I felt compelled to pull out our DVD of Everest: The Death Zone for accompanying visuals. Loyalties are called into question as Peak confronts his limitations, and eventually, after Learning Something About Himself, he resolves his moral dilemma and gains perspective on his life.

Given this book's strengths, do I have to quibble with it? Well, apparently so. In the first place, I think the story suffers somewhat for the lack of a female contemporary for Peak. Also, Smith misses an opportunity to give even a brief overview of China's history with Tibet, especially since the bad guy in this show is a Chinese military man, and the border between Tibet and Nepal drives much of the plot. But it's a fine book.

Labels: adventure, age: Grade5 and up, boy books, YA

The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch - review

The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
Two kids, not popular at school, become unlikely allies in their quest to solve a mystery, foil creepy villains, face peril, etc etc yes we know.

More than anything else, this book reminded me of Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. The main characters are more prickly than appealing at first, and maintain their less-pleasant quirks throughout the book, which is nice to see, for a change. Often, authors will drop that stuff once they've established the character as an “individual” and the plot takes off. There are lots of riddles and lots of abstruse knowledge, in this case about people with sensory differences, especially synesthesia. A pretty unusual topic to find in a kids' book, and hey! I'm all for interesting information tidbits tucked into the plot.

My kids thought it was just as funny as could be, and the plot was straightforward enough for them to follow. I wouldn't say that it was one for my all-time favorite list, but eh, it'll appeal to the funny mystery lovers.

Labels: adventure, age: Grade3 and up, audiobooks, fiction, funny, mystery

My friend, the starfinder by George Ella Lyon and Stephen Gammell - review

I once knew an old man who told strange stories.

Really, is there any premise more luscious than that? My friend, the starfinder is fanciful, and strange, and I'm not sure what to make of it, and it's apparently a true story, which is why it doesn't make a lot of sense I'm sure, and I'm going to love reading it aloud. Stephen Gammell's light touch gives this book dreamy stormscapes with little pops of color - perfect.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, picture books

Jake Stays Awake by Michael Wright - review

Jake Stays Awake. It's a cutie problem solver, and we love to see those. Problem: Kid sleeps in parents' bed every night.
Solution: Family tries all kinds of different places to sleep together, all of them uncomfortable, until kid realizes his own bed might be much better.

Practical solution? No. But that's not what you look for in these books. You're trying to start a dialog with the kid in an nonconfrontational, hopefully silly way.

Is good.

Labels: picture books, problem solving

The Race of the Century, retold and illustrated by Barry Downard - review

Do we need it? Do we want it? Are we a little disturbed by the humanoid bunny covered with grey fur flexing on the cover?

Here's one that, I have to admit, is not for me but which other people might really really enjoy. It's Aesop's fable of the tortoise and the hare, of course, and it proceeds as expected, but it is framed as a modern-day sporting event complete with televised commentary.

It's the illustrations that are the big deal with this book. Done in nearly hallucinogenic Photoshop-augmented photo-collages, The Race of the Century is Animal Planet gone berserk. Meerkats in sunglasses. Squirrels eating soft-serve. And that rabbit. That rabbit truly creeps me out. On one page we see the rabbit posing for pictures. Shot from behind, he is flexing his biceps, hips cocked to show off his taut buttocks to best advantage, and he's wearing a sleeveless t-shirt that says "Bunnies Dig Me" in gold script.

I will take a pass on this book and instead bring home Henny-Penny by Jane Wattenberg again. "Shake, rattle and roll!"

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, animals, picture books

Medusa Jones by Ross Collins - review

This jaunty little first chapter book came my way courtesy Betsy Bird at Fuse #8. Every now and then she jettisons some excess ARCs, and I was lucky enough to snag one this time around.

Here's the old underdog-saves-the-day story with a new angle: Medusa, a gorgon, with the requisite snaky hair and reputation for petrification, and her pals Chiron the centaur and Mino the minotaur are picked on at school by The Champions, shiny shiny hero kids named Perseus, Theseus, and, oddly, Cassandra (presumedly pre-curse).

Teasing, name-calling, etc. A hat is snatched off and thrown in the gutter. Then the three freak kids have to go on an unsupervised camping trip with the hero kids, and, what do you know, by using their skills together, the monster kids save the jerky trio of champions and return to Athens big heroes.

Then Medusa turns The Champions to stone anyway, which actually sounds more satisfying here than it does in the book. In the book, her parents are very big on self-control, and you're led to feel proud of Medusa for exercising hers, so it comes as something of a surprise that she blows it at the end. I'm guessing that the author is setting up a conflict for future books.

My sixth-grade friend Alice, admittedly a little old for this book, read it and said, "Meh." I'm inclined to agree. However, the kids that lap up anything to do with Greek gods and heros will accept this book. And I won't hold it against Ross Collins. I adore his illustration style: it's like Marla Frazee with attitude. And Alvie Eats Soupand Supposing are marvelous books, and I'm hoping to get my hands on Germs sometime soon. Wait, no. Oh, you know what I mean.

Labels: adventure, age: Grade1 and up, First Chapter

The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon: The Story of Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins, by Bea Uusma Schyffert

I was a whole 5 pages into this book before my eyes misted over. It's about Michael Collins, the guy who stayed in the spacecraft Columbia while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went down and walked around on the moon.

Michael Collins was surely one of the most appealing characters in Opie's documentary about the astronauts, In the Shadow of the Moon. He had a great sense of humor and a staggering sense of perspective. Possibly the kind of perspective you only get from having been to the dark side of the moon FOURTEEN TIMES.

This book really nails it. It is a satisfying combination of minutiae (Buzz Aldrin's mother's maiden name was Moon), personal revelation (a note Collins scribbled to himself from the dark side, describing the immensity of his aloneness, reveals a facility with language and a self-awareness I would not have expected from a clean-cut astronaut), and quantitative information (700 switches, 20 pounds of checklists, 11 minutes 42 seconds from launch pad to space, Collins's salary was $17,147). Every other page is a full-page, full-bleed illustration, diagram, or photograph.

The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon was originally published in Sweden, in 1999. The English translation showed up in 2003, but I still don't know how it snuck into my library without me seeing it until a few weeks ago.

It is a marvelous piece of work, simple enough for my little boys to understand, engrossing enough for a 42-year-old librarian to enjoy. It is full of tidbits such as the following snatch of conversation between the astronauts who are sitting in quarantine after their return to earth:

As they watch a taped recording of the moon landing, Buzz suddenly turns to Neil and says: "Neil, we missed the whole thing!"

Don't miss this book.

And don't miss the rest of the books reviewed for Nonfiction Monday. Anastasia Suen rounds them all up on Picture Book of the Day.

Labels: age: Grade1 and up, nonfiction, science, superstar books

Tap dancing on the roof by Linda Sue Park, pictures by Istvan Banyai - review

Tap dancing on the roof by Linda Sue Park, pictures by Istvan Banyai
Linda Sue Park here does for the Korean poetic style sijo what Andrew Clements recently did for haiku with his book Dogku - her clear, funny examples of this short poetic form in effect show kids how it's done. After reading poems like:

Pockets
What's in your pockets right now? I hope they're not empty:
Empty pockets, unread books, lunches left on the bus - all a waste
In mine: One horse chestnut. One gum wrapper. One dime. One hamster.

...it's almost impossible to not want to try it yourself. And Istvan Banyai? Do I really have to say it? The Goran Visnjic of illustrators. You just want to sit and stare.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, diverse cultures, diversity, poetry, superstar books

The Police Cloud by Christoph Niemann - review

The Police Cloud by Christoph Niemann
Christoph Niemann does a lot of work for The New Yorker. Maybe that's why my sons and I just kind of didn't get this book. The four year old didn't understand that the cloud by his very nature cannot be an effective police officer. Because he's a puff of vapor, right? And I didn't understand why you would write a book in which the premise and the plot are so completely at odds.

Plus I'm getting kind of tired of illustration that looks like Colorforms (except for Bob Staake - I'll buy that guy a new box if he's run out). I don't care if it's trendy or retro - it looks lazy to me.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, picture books

Phooey! by Marc Rosenthal - review

Phooey! by Marc Rosenthal
Where Once Upon a Banana does cause-and-effect with road signs, Phooey! does it with onomatopoeia. A bored kid kicks a can ("Phooey!"), which hits a cat ("BONK"), who falls out of the tree ("flump"), etc.

All the while the kid, complaining that nothing every happens around here, walks right past all the exciting action. Rosenthal, who calls Celesteville "my utopia" in his dedication, displays a love of clean line and clear color totally worthy of Babar. We went through it twice to catch all the action.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, funny, picture books

Bean Thirteen by Matthew McElligott - review

Bean Thirteen by Matthew McElligott
The faux-woodcut illustrations in this buggy book about division are just fantastic. Chunky, hip, and expressive, with a sophisticated, punchy palette. The story? My young audience and I said "Meh."

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, math

Meet the meerkat by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia Wynne - review

Meet the meerkat by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia Wynne
Patricia Wynne is a contract illustrator for the American Museum of Natural History, and while her somewhat clumsy mice and hominids in books such as Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle's Bones, Brains and DNA: The Human Genome and Human Evolution make you feel like maybe she's overworked, the keenly observed drawings of meerkats in this book by mammalogist Darrin Lunde show you what she can do given a single subject. This is an appealing little book about a popular little beast, a rare item in the Easy nonfiction area.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, animals, nonfiction, science

Water Boy by David McPhail - review

Water Boy by David McPhail
A nice, weird book about a boy's relationship with water - the water in his body, the water in his bath, the water in the environment. Like a caring teacher, David McPhail's characteristically quiet, rich watercolors get right down in front of the boy to observe his reactions to the ordinary and extraordinary manifestations of water in his world. My four year old really liked it.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, picture books

A closer look by Mary McCarthy - review

A Closer Look, by Mary McCarthy
A neato book about observation and scale for the youngest pairs of eyes. VERRY reminiscent of Steve Jenkins, with strong colors and paper collage art.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, animals, picture books, science

Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner - review

Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner
Last year, Big Man's kindergarten teacher said of the Skippyjon Jones books, "I feel like I'm sort of being manipulated to like these books, and I really just don't." She couldn't put her finger on what she didn't care for, and I'm with her. After all, I LOVE the chalky, colorful, detailed illustrations that are both quirky and technically accomplished; I like the title character, who is both independent and imaginative, and his tattletale little sisters and no-nonsense mom, with their fun names; and I adore Schachner's use of Spanglish ("Hola, dudes!") throughout. Heck, there's even a song or two.

I think what always bugs me about these books is the plot, weirdly enough. Accompanied by his crowd of Chihuahua friends, Skippyjon Jones assumes his alter ego, Skippito Friskito the great sword fighter, and goes on an imaginary adventure in his closet. And I swear, it's the adventure story that always falls apart. Even my kids get confused looks on their faces during the part where Skippito battles the giant bee / dances with the dinosaurs / whatever. I keep reading these books though, because Skippyjon and his family are great characters and I love saying their names. You guys want to start calling me Mama Junebug Jones, you go right ahead.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, animals, funny, picture books

The Chocolate Cat by Sue Stainton and Anne Mortimer - review

It's a cliche to say that all librarians are fanatic cat people. For example, I can't stand our cats. But... I have cats. I think I'd have to turn in my MLS if I didn't.

Our cats, St. John Bosco and Buzz Aldrin, are inside cats. Sisters, scavenged by Bob and me from a shelter in Brooklyn 10 years ago as Valentine's Day presents to each other. Predictably, they hate each other. When they're not binging and purging on Hill's Science Diet, they're laying around making mats of cat hair on any item of clothing that contains even a hint of cashmere. They wake up in the middle of the night to fight and hiss at each other. Not a whiff of magic realism about them, unless that's that smell coming from the mattress in the guest room.

But then, we don't live in a picturesque village "nestled between the mountains and the sea". We don't have Anne Mortimer to illustrate our home life. And I am about as good a chocolate maker as I am a welder.

Sue Stainton and Anne Mortimer have a habit of making these lovely cat books - Santa's Snow Cat, The Lighthouse Cat, and now The Chocolate Cat. And for Sue Stainton and Anne Mortimer - and especially for The Chocolate Cat - I am more than willing to suspend my distaste. You pretty much have to see this book to believe how luscious the illustrations are.

Cat lives with a grouchy chocolatier in a humdrum little town. One day, the chocolatier makes chocolate mice "with crunchy pink tails". Cat eats one, and is inspired. He delivers a mouse to the greengrocer across the street. As the grocer bites into a delectable chocolate mouse, he in turn is inspired. He visits the chocolatier, bringing his best fruits to experiment with. Together, they create delicious (and visually spectacular) new confections. The same thing happens with the baker, the florist, and the other business owners in the village. Each brings new ideas and ingredients to the creative process. Eventually, even the chocolatier becomes inspired, and the village thrives.

This is, in some ways, a "Stone Soup" story - except the result of all the pitching-in-together-ness isn't, like, SOUP (hard to get super-jazzed about soup, especially if it has turnips in it), but instead, truffles with candied violets, Turkish Delight, and "honeycomb fireworks that would sparkle in your mouth". That's what I call inspiring.

This book is pretty much the G-rated version of the movie Chocolat). Also, with its emphasis on creativity, beauty and quality, this is no gluttony book. The degree of craftmanship that goes into these creations implies that they are meant to be appreciated and savored. This message is delivered explicitly at the end:

Every now and then Cat is still given a chocolate mouse. But not very often because, as you know, you should never eat too much of scrumptious things. Because they lose their magic.

In Baltimore, visit Kirchmayr, Wockenfuss, or Rheb's. Buy half a pound of dark almond bark, or chocolate caramels, or mixed truffles with the cocoa powder dust on them. Rent Waitressor Brokeback Mountain or Shoot 'Em Up, as is your wont. Settle in for a romantic evening, and don't let the cat eat your chocolate!

Labels: age: adult children, age: PreK - Grade3, animals, fantasy

If you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid - update

Due to the overwhelming popularity and subsequent unavailability of Jeff Kinney's tales of the self-sabotaging Greg Heffley, I updated my Diary of a Wimpy Kid review with a list of "read-alike" (or appealing to a similar type of kid, anyway) books.

Labels: age: Grade3 and up, boy books, fiction, funny, graphic novels

This is the day! Adapted by Phillis Gershator, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman - review

This is the day! Adapted by Phillis Gershator, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman.
I don't always go for Marjorie Priceman's sort of Chagall-y work: I know it's meant to be gestural, but it often falls over the edge into slapdash for me.

But boy do her willowy women and 1950's wirework furniture work in this book, an adaptation of an old song that goes "Monday's the day we give babies away with half a pound of tea. Here comes a lady who wants a baby. 'I'll take this one,' says she..." It's an irresistible song, light-hearted and with an adoption theme, and the illustrations are sunny and swingy and the whole book just really works.

Besides the fact that a different song with the same title is one of my favorite songs of all time. ALL TIME. THE THE ROCKS, PEOPLE. (And oh my, wasn't Matt Johnson cute back when he had hair!)

Labels: adoption, age: baby, age: PreK - Grade3, music, picture books

Romeo and Lou Blast Off by Derek Anderson - review

Romeo and Lou Blast Off by Derek Anderson.
Well, it's cute. Romeo and Lou are a penguin and a polar bear (do you get as cheesed-off as my sons do when people put penguins and polar bears in the same environment? Even when it's a silly book, it's still just Not Right.), anyway, an Arctic mammal and an Antarctic bird build a snow rocket that magically takes off and crash-lands them in a city. As they try to figure out how to get home, they interpret the city sights through the lens of their native vernacular: they think two guys with mustaches are walruses, kids in bright-colored swimsuits are fish, etc. Kind of a dud.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, animals, funny, picture books

Chester by Ayano Imai - review

Chesterby Ayano Imai.
What do you call this kind of book? Underappreciated family member runs away from home but does not find comfort anywhere else and then comes back home and now they love him. Do you call that Dorothy's Disease? Goldilocks? The Spinky Syndrome? Whatever you call it, it is Oh My God So Very Done. I'll forgive Ayano Imai because she has spent most of her life in Japan and maybe it's not such a tired trope there, and besides, her pictures are just excellent.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, animals, picture books

Punk Farm on Tour, by Jarrett J. Krosoczka - review

Punk Farm on Tour by Jarrett J. Krosoczka.
You know I just want to love everything JJK does: Bubble Bath Pirates was such a fave at our house a couple years ago, partly because the mom is a pirate too, and besides, the man is just so damn funny. But when I took Punk Farm (this book's predecessor) home, it got a totally ho-hum response. Aaaand... I'm not sure this one's gonna rock the house either. The band covers "Wheels on the bus"... that's kind of never a good sign.

Labels: age: adult children, age: PreK - Grade3, animals, funny, picture books

Ziba came on a boat, written by Liz Lofthouse, illustrated by Robert Ingpen - review

Ziba came on a boat, written by Liz Lofthouse, illustrated by Robert Ingpen.
Afghan(?) refugee child. What it was like in her village before everything went to crap and what it was like when it went to crap, plus Ziba's dreams of freedom. So many questions, starting with: what's she doing on a boat? What part of which cold, mountainous, headscarf-wearing, goat-eating country - it certainly appears to be Afghanistan, an impression that is backed up by the author's short biography - do you flee in a boat? Too distracted by that one question even to enjoy the lovely illustrations by the always-classy Robert Ingpen.

Labels: age: Grade1 and up, diverse cultures, diversity, picture books

In Jesse's Shoes: Appreciating Kids with Special Needs, by Beverly Lewis - review

In Jesse's Shoes: Appreciating Kids with Special Needs, by Beverly Lewis, illustrated by Laura Nikiel.
Yes, that Beverly Lewis, the one who writes the "dirty Amish books", as one of my Monday-night patrons calls them. That explains the heavy God content of this otherwise perfectly ordinary, maudlin book about Allie and her developmentally disabled older brother Jesse, who she feels guilty about being embarrassed by. Sort of like Al Capone Does My Shirts for a younger crowd. And with divinely-inspired guilt in addition to ordinary empathy-deficit guilt.

Labels: age: Grade1 and up, picture books, problem solving

Keep love in your heart, little one, by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Clara Vulliamy - review

Keep love in your heart, little one, by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Clara Vulliamy.
No, no. Shut up. How am I going to know that I can't stand books like this unless I read one every now and then? Well, I have to say, if you're going to take home this kind of book, Keep love in your heart is a good option. The illustrations are quite beautiful, with lovely little details. And it's not pure schmaltz... it's more like... lemon curd. Probably because it's British.

Labels: age: baby, age: PreK - Grade3, animals, picture books

When dinosaurs came with everything, written by Elise Broach, illustrated by David Small - review

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, written by Elise Broach, illustrated by David Small.
Now, why aren't all picture books written like this? The mom is very mom-like, and the kid sounds just like my 6-year-old, who, when asked the other day if he bugs the kid who sits next to him with too much talking, said, "No. Sometimes I ask him, 'Dude, how's it going?' but that's all."

The kid in this book, upon learning that he gets a dinosaur instead of a sticker after his checkup, crumples slightly, knees together, throws back his head with his arms up, and cries, "YESSS!" And I LOVE the scratchy pen and ink and watercolor illustrations - David Small also illustrated The Gardener, one of my all-time favorite happy weepie picture books. I even love the typeface, the same one used in 17 Things I'm Not Allowed to Do Anymore.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, boy books, funny, picture books, superstar books

Magic Night by Isobelle Carmody - review

Magic Night, by Isobelle Carmody, illustrated by Declan Lee.
Don't let your adult fantasy readers get their hands on this - it'll never get back to the children's section. A pixie-like thing gets into the house and things start transforming weirdly, with only the cat to see. BEAUTIFUL illustrations, the kind that make you look at a coffee mug full of pens and wonder what it would look like if it came to life. My six year old is going to love it, and any other Spiderwick fan is too.

Labels: age: adult children, age: PreK - Grade3, animals, fantasy, picture books

Br'er Rabbit Captured! A Dr. David Harleyson Adventure by Jean Cassels - review

Br'er Rabbit Captured!: A Dr. David Harleyson Adventure, by Jean Cassels. Cute, cute, and more cute! It's fractured Br'er Rabbit! The narrator's uncle is trying to catch up to Br'er Rabbit to paint his portrait, and he is aided by the other characters in the folktales. Told in epistolary multiple first person narrative, a favorite for fractured stories (think Hoodwinked), we get to hear many of the tales retold in the course of trying to find the rabbit. Really fine art.

Labels: age: Grade3 and up, animals, picture books

The Nutcracker Doll, written and illustrated by Mary Newell DePalma

The Nutcracker Doll, written and illustrated by Mary Newell DePalma.
Just to prove I don't hate all ballet books... This is a nice little book for all the ballet-mad girls and boys out there. Kepley gets to be onstage in a production of The Nutcracker. Pretty straightforward, and as it turns out, that's because it's a true story about the author's daughter. If it were me, I'd have included that tidbit on a page at the beginning or end. Maybe it was on the dust jacket, which had been thoughtfully removed by our processing department before the book hit the library shelf.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, girl books, picture books

Llama llama mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney - review

Llama llama mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney.
I may be the only mama, and certainly the only librarian I know, who ever didn't fall in love with Llama llama red pajama. As for this one: aw, no. Llama llama pitches a fit at the supermarket and throws all the groceries out of the cart and instead of indicating her displeasure at Llama llama's behavior, Mama suggests that they work together as a team to get the shopping done. Go on, pull the other one. Still, the rhymes and pictures are excellent, and I could see reading this to a three year old and saying, "Oh my gosh! Isn't that a terrible way to behave?"

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, animals, picture books

The only boy in ballet class, written by Denise Gruska with illustrations by Amy Wummer - review

The only boy in ballet class, written by Denise Gruska with illustrations by Amy Wummer.
Hey! Billy Elliot, his own story! No. Good lord. It's a wonderful and heartwarming story about a boy who loves ballet and who gets picked on and teased until one day when he... wins The Big Game. The other kids see that the jetés and chassés that they derided as poncy and fey are effective strategies for avoiding defensive linemen. Kind of stretching it a little here.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, picture books

The One and Only Shrek by William Steig, narrated by Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep - review

The One and Only Shrek by William Steig, narrated by Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep
Oh my god.

I have enjoyed the work of William Steig since I was a child. Sure. Who hasn't? And I enjoy a good film performance as much as the next person - didn't everyone cheer when Meryl Streep whacked Kevin Bacon with an oar in The River Wild? And Stanley Tucci's arched brow has added a certain something to all kinds of movies, plus he may be the only Italian-American actor living today alive or dead to have never been on The Sopranos.

But I will put it to you that these three powerful, creative humans have only now, in concert with one another, attained the pinnacle of their potential.

Tucci snarls arrogantly as Shrek and simpers decadently as Shrek's princess. Streep howls like the wind, whistles, imitates a trumpet, sobs, and does some kind of lapping thing with her mouth to sound just like falling rain. It's VERRRY impressive.

William Steig's books aren't big message or theme books, but listening to these stories read by such masterful narrators, you can hear clearly what was important to the author. Love, responsibility, fidelity, courage, justice. Not little themes, you know. Screw 'sharing' and 'teamwork': in Steig's world, if you get turned into a dog, you go home to your wife and suffer and try to make her feel better, until you get turned back into a person. In William Steig's world, you walk over the mountain through a blizzard with a twisted ankle to deliver an empty box to a duchess to keep your mother's reputation intact.

But when you get home late with a crazy story about a magical talking bone and your mom thinks you're just making it up? The magical talking bone corroborates your story for you. That's William Steig's world, and we've been listening to it in the car over and over and it hasn't gotten old yet.

Labels: age: adult children, age: PreK - Grade3, audiobooks, funny

The Clouds Above by Jordan Crane - review

I've been heading up a Graphic Novels Appreciation Club at the elementary school. Lots of Sardine in Outer Space, lots of Tomo. Today while they tried out aaron renier's Spiral-Bound (well received) and John Lechner's Sticky Burr (less so), I read The Clouds Above. I think Jordan Crane used to do a mini-comic that I read: miserable blobby people walking around, occasionally with knives. Well, Jordan Crane has come a long way.

The Clouds Above by Jordan Crane
It's square. It's fat. There's one panel per page. There's a gigantic fat cat named Jack and a scrawny kid in a striped t-shirt with a big mop of white hair named Simon. They go up into the clouds, make friends, and deliver to the teacher her just deserts.

It's beautiful. Without being, you know, a "beautiful" book. It's "Little Nemo" - esque, without being self-conscious or claustrophobic. I'd say it's the opposite of claustrophobic, in fact. There's a great love for space here, making it a calming book to read even though it's exciting.

It's dedicated to Andalucia and Skeezix - if those are Jordan Crane's kids then I married the wrong person. I assume they're Jordan Crane's cats.

I really wish I could con more kids into reading it.

Labels: age: adult children, age: Grade1 and up, fantasy, fiction, graphic novels

Bagel's Lucky Hat, a book by Hector Mumbly - review

Bagel's Lucky Hat, a book by Hector Mumbly
Big-eye characters. A Stimpy-eque dog. Gloopy shapes that somehow remind me of early early Disney animation and/or cartoons drawn by the very, very high (or Jim Woodring, and it's up to you to decide if those two characterizations are mutually exclusive or not). All in tones underlaid with the sepia of aged newsprint.

I think Bagel's Lucky Hat qualifies as a Weird-Ass Picture Book (^TM and ® MotherReader, all hail!) on the illustrations alone... but let us not forget the story: Bagel (a dog) has lost his hat, and his sister Becky (a cat) very sensibly suggests that he mentally retrace his day's activity so that he can figure out where he lost it.

Happily for us (and to the irritation of the feet-on-the-ground Becky), Bagel's day has included: a hat ride downstream, laughing with the fishes, a trip up into the sky, borne aloft by birds, and a trip to outer space. The splash pages are worlds unto themselves. And don't think that "sepia" = "drab"... the pastel blues and pinks, and even the midnight blues in this book are a little extra-appealing because of that brownish tint.

As much as I lapped up the velvety illustrations, my four year old audience enjoyed the text, and was especially tickled by the increasing inventiveness of Bagel's story. He was also very pleased at Becky's irritated expressions and eventual comeuppance.

Once again I'm all bummed because by the time books get to me in the librarian's office, they have been processed and their dust jackets removed. I think that this "Hector Mumbly" might have something to say for himself - in fact, I suspect that he is a masquerade for a comic book artist whose adult work I might be familiar with. (Oh fer cryin' out loud, it's Dave Cooper!)

Labels: age: adult children, age: PreK - Grade3, animals, funny, picture books

and to name but just a few: Red Yellow Green Blue, written and illustrated by Laurie Rosenwald - review

and to name but just a few: Red Yellow Green Blue, written and illustrated by Laurie Rosenwald
Packed with Easter Eggs and in-jokes, this shouty color book is a delight. Laurie Rosenwald is a professional illustrator for fine New York publications, but she obviously enjoys a spell of messy, unprofessional behavior from time to time. The illustrations - expressive collages and swipes of crayon, scraps of photo, puddles of paint - are bold and chunky enough for babies... while the text, laid out, colored and sized in such a way that you know exactly how to read it and where to place the emphasis, is clever enough for first or even second graders.

mary had a little lamb
its fleece was white as snow
she painted it with poster paint
and now it isn't

When I read it to my kids, my four-year-old said that the pink page was his favorite. "You know why? I love this page because it's pink, and your hair is pink, and I love you!" Q.E.D.

Give it to your niece who's going to art-school; give it to those hipster parent friends of yours with the expensive stroller.

Labels: age: adult children, age: baby, age: Grade1 and up, art, colors, picture books

Under your skin: Your amazing body by Mick Manning and Brita Granström - review

Under your skin: Your amazing body by Mick Manning and Brita Granström
I love Mick & Brita. I've loved them for a while and never even knew it until I read this book and noticed that it was dedicated "To Max, Björn and Frej with love, Mum and Dad." I am a sucker for couples writing books together. On their website, mickandbrita.com, how cute is that, I saw that they've done plenty of books I've liked, like Wash, Scrub, Brush, Dino-dinners, and When the Sun Goes Down (Wonderwise Readers).

The cartoony pencil-and-watercolor illustrations and happy colors in these books are not particularly unusual, and that may be why I've never put them all together in my head, but the perspectives tend to be fresh and the presentation interesting. Under your skin uses flaps to contrast the external and internal view of various anatomical systems and features. There are a lot of exclamation points, and a lot of conversational interjections. Also, it's pretty thorough, although it does skip the reproductive/urinary system. You pretty much have to buy Italian kids' books if you want that, though.

Labels: age: Grade1 and up, nonfiction

Look! Seeing the light in art, by Gillian Wolfe - review

Look! Seeing the light in art, by Gillian Wolfe
When I selected the books for the brand-new library at my son's school, the 700's (art) gave me fits. Apparently, if you are a young person, the only artists you need to know about are Andy Warhol, Georgia O'Keeffe, Monet, Picasso, Leonardo, and, weirdly, Frederic Remington. Maybe Matisse, maybe Faith Ringgold. Diego Rivera. The biographies by Mike Venezia, which are pretty much the only game in town, have the UGLIEST covers in juvenile non-fiction - not his fault, but awfully hard to make yourself buy, especially since the books are about ART.

Nowadays, the fact is, I will pretty much buy any kid book that is loaded up with reproductions of art. People keep trying to come up with different didactic presentations - Lucy Micklethwait's books exhort kids to find numbers, shapes, and colors in art; and Phil Yenawine's books for MoMA organize works of art around varieties of color, lines, people, and story (among others).

The kids at MoMA hate those Yenawine books, for reasons I don't
understand. Me, I think they're ok. The fact is, I don't really care. Most of the exercises in these books are useful and can even be fun, but what's important to me is that the works selected as examples are, in the first place, good examples, of course, but also, that they are reproduced at a high quality, and large. Bonus points if the selections represent a stylistic spectrum and aren't the same 10 pictures every other book uses: a cubist Picasso, a Matisse Jazz piece, a Van Gogh, a Renoir, and an Egyptian fayoum painting.

Look! Seeing the light in art gets mixed marks here - the reproductions are not particularly large or high quality, but there are some unexpected choices - a Henry Moore drawing, a Diego Rivera painting (instead of the expected de Chirico), a Frank Hampson instead of the Lichtenstein that is de riguer in such books. I'll buy this book for the school library, and dream of the day someone lets me write this book.

Labels: age: Grade1 and up, art, nonfiction, picture books

Ham the Astrochimp, written and illustrated by Richard Hilliard

I read James Vining's graphic novel about Ham, First In Space, earlier this year, and just ate it up. It showed wonderful sensitivity to the feelings of the chimp and to the humans around him.

This book, written for a much younger kid, is a more straightforward account of Ham's life, but it's not lacking in feeling or suspense. Richard Hilliard's paintings of Ham really catch the chimp's gaze, something that was missing from the black and white graphic novel.

Interesting sidebars expand the audience for this book upward into the middle grades. We don't have all that many great non-fiction books about space exploration for younger readers (besides the fabulous If You Decide To Go To The Moon) - this one is a welcome addition.

Labels: age: Grade1 and up, animals, boy books, nonfiction

When Randolph Turned Rotten by Charise Mericle Harper - review

When Randolph Turned Rotten, a story by Charise Mericle Harper

Love Charise Mericle Harper. Love Flush: The Scoop on Poop Throughout the Ages, love Fashion Kitty, love love love The Monster Show: Everything You Never Knew About Monsters.

Her sense of humor and faux-naive maximalist illustration style are to love. And When Randolph Turned Rotten is the best yet! Every panel, every page will make my kids helpless with laughter. The moment when Randolph turns, he goes from Best Friend Randolph, with 'rainbow-filled-with-love-insides' (there's an arrow pointing to where his insides are), to Nasty Randolph, with 'stinky rotten insides' (and also, 'mad hands'). Spoiler: he turns back.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, funny, picture books, superstar books

One Million Men and Me by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Peter Ambush - review

One Million Men and Me by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Peter Ambush
The author attended the Million Man March as a journalist in October of 1995. Recently she spoke to a group of young people who had never heard of that important event. If for no other reason than that, it is good that we have this book. However, it's also well written, with that journalistic eye for detail and texture, and very nicely illustrated in realistic watercolors.

Labels: age: Grade1 and up, black kids, historical fiction, picture books

Knock, Knock! Jokes by fourteen wacky and talented artists inside! - review

Knock, Knock
Heck yeah. My boys love knock-knock jokes, so much that I might cheerfully detach my head and hold it outside of the car sometimes, if I didn't think it would seriously impair my driving. Here are old ones, repeaters, sight gags, and a tribute to Maurice Sendak:

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Verdi!
Verdi who?
Verdi vild tings are!

That might also be a Simms Taback tribute, I don't know. Brought to you by the same lovable gang of idiots (actually, mostly a whole lovable new gang of idiots) who gave us last year's Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Labels: age: Grade1 and up, boy books, funny, nonfiction, picture books

The art book for children, book two - review

The art book for children Book Two, text by Amanda Renshaw
Oh to have the assignment from Phaidon to make this book. Take a beautiful repro of a work of art, and ask some questions about it. Use as many detail photos as you want. "How fast do you think these boys are running?" "What kind of school could this be?". Discuss.

Labels: age: adult children, age: Grade1 and up, art, nonfiction, picture books

The Crocodile Blues by Coleman Polhemus - review

The Crocodile Blues by Coleman Polhemus
What is WITH all the crocodile books this year? Daffodil, Crocodile. Guji Guji. Alligator Boy. I'd Really Like to Eat a Child. I, Crocodile. Love 'em! This one, nearly wordless and done in 3 colors, is a graphic illustration dream - its nocturnal shenanigans are rendered in a style that is minimalist yet expressive, surreal and yet perfectly understandable. Plus there's a cockatoo!

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, funny, picture books, superstar books

Josephine wants to dance by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley - review

Josephine wants to dance by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley
Ah. Fish out of water story. Kangaroo on the ballet stage. Not unlike the dancing hippo story, the dancing polar bear story, or the dancing javelina story. But I love Bruce Whatley's style - cartoony but not flat, with lovely, expressive faces and gestures. And the text is lovely too. Josephine bounces with the brolgas and leaps with the lyrebirds.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, girl books, picture books

Smash! Crash! by Jon Scieszka - review

Smash! Crash! written by Jon Scieszka, characters and environments developed by David Shannon, Loren Long, David Gordon
Not sure what all that "characters and environments" stuff is all about, but Jon Scieszka is the new Library of Congress Ambassador for Children's Literature or something, and he can pretty much do no wrong in my eyes. Having David (No, David!) Shannon along for the ride is also a plus.

What strikes me about this truck book is that it's totally a Beginning Reader. Word count, number of words per line, etc... if it can hold a first grader's attention, that first grader can read this book. Hmm. Large-format Beginning Readers - why don't we see more of those?

One quibble, though... Smash! Mash! Crash! There Goes the Trash! is only a couple of years old, and still fairly popular. You'd think these guys would notice that when they were titling this book.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, Beginning Reader, boy books, picture books

Delicious! a pumpkin soup story by Helen Cooper - review

Delicious! a pumpkin soup story by Helen Cooper
Picky eater Duck won't even try the fish soup, mushroom soup, and beet soup concocted by his friends Squirrel and Cat - he will only eat pumpkin soup, which is orange. So his friends make squash-and-carrot soup, which is orange, and basically trick him into eating it, which he does, and loves it.

The fine and fanciful illustrations in this book nearly conquer my uneasiness about the age-old ploy of disguising food as something palatable to a child so that he or she will try it. I tried that once with my older boy, telling him an orange piece of canteloupe was cheese, and it totally backfired. He didn't like the canteloupe, and for a while he was suspicious of all actual cheese. I felt pretty bad about eroding my child's trust in me that way. He still doesn't like canteloupe. Plus my friend Sarah, who has (professional) experience with eating disorders, told me that it's common to find that habitual overeaters were conned like this as children.

Still! Cute illustrations!

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, picture books

There come a soldier by Peggy Mercer, illustrated by Ron Mazellan - review

There come a soldier by Peggy Mercer, illustrated by Ron Mazellan
Not a book glorifying war, not a book excoriating war, but a book paying tribute to the author's father, a soldier who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Told from his point of view, it enumerates the ways that his rural childhood taught him bravery, compassion, fortitude, and other qualities he draws upon during hardship. And beautiful. With lovely vernacular language.

Labels: age: Grade1 and up, historical fiction, picture books

Henry's Freedom Box, by Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson - not a review

Now, I all but worship the ground my fellow Pratt Institute alum Kadir Nelson walks on - everything the man puts out there, from Please, Puppy, Please to Ellington Was Not a Street, feels strong and real, three-dimensional, direct, and friendly. Plus his colors are lovely. He deserves all the awards and fame and accolades that have been heaped upon him.

But every time I pass by Henry's Freedom Box face-out on the shelf, I think those little birdies are flying in one ear and out the other.

Labels: age: Grade3 and up, black kids, picture books, superstar books

Righty and Lefty: A tale of two feet by Rachel Vail - review

During that portion of my life known as The Diaper Years, I used to talk to feet. It was a good way to keep a child distracted while on his back on the changing table. As I recall, the left foot was Happy Foot and the right was Grumpy Foot. (The rest, I have blocked out.)

Happy Foot would say to me, "Ooo! Hi there! I am so happy to see you!" and Grumpy Foot would say, "Take your hands off me, whaddaya doin down there? Back off, lady!" Kid would dissolve into fits of giggles.

I would say, "I'm happy to see you too, Happy Foot! What's the deal with your brother over there? He seems kind of crabby," and Happy Foot would say, "Ooo! All he needs is a big kiss! Come here, you!"

Grumpy Foot would flee as far as his fat leg would take him (that would be me, yanking the child's foot around), and Happy Foot would pursue. Grumpy Foot would make "Bleagh!" sounds and Happy Foot would make kissy sounds.

Foot puppets. That's my milieu. I kill with foot puppets. There is NO VIDEO of me doing Happy Foot and Grumpy Foot. My performance masterpiece, and it is lost to the mists of memory. No justice.

Anyway, Righty and Lefty: A tale of two feet is pretty much Happy Foot and Grumpy Foot - illustrated. It is funny funny funny.

They help each other out of their sneakers.
"Ew," says Lefty. "You stink."
"You stink, too," says Righty.
"I know," says Lefty. "We are quite a pair."
They chase each other around.

(Righty and Lefty would appear to be boys)

A boo-boo bunny comes to help.
It has no legs and is freezing cold.
Lefty does not trust this bunny.

Dude, Lefty, follow your instincts.

This book also works really well as a bedtime book. At the end, Lefty wants to go to sleep but Righty wants to keep playing. After a while, Righty realizes that it's no fun to stay up by himself, and he slides in under the covers with Lefty. Very peaceful end to a very fun and unpredictable book about brothers.

Labels: age: PreK - Grade3, bedtime, boy books, funny, picture books

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney - review

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is big. Movie contract, 4 sequels in the works, 40-some weeks on the Best Seller list, including a stint at NUMBAH ONE. It's on our list of Great Books for Kids at the library where I work. In addition, there's a rockin' website, and most importantly, it circulates like crazy - the middle grade boys (mostly) take one look at the goofy cartoons that augment the text, and they do not let go. Not bad for a book that started as a webcomic.

I read and reviewed it a while ago. It was an extremely ambivalent review.

O NOES MAH LIFE SUX
Here's the premise: the titular Wimpy Kid, Greg Heffley, is a middle-school lightweight. By his own reckoning, he's the 52nd or 53rd most popular kid this year. His life is full of the usual middle school misery - an older brother who plays tricks on him, a baby brother he sometimes has to tend, and a dorky best friend, Rowley, who has yet to get his middle-school groove on. The kind of guy a lot of kids can probably identify with.

And like a lot of kids, Greg always tries to find the easy way around the obstacles that face him. Unfortunately, the solutions he come up with frequently involve trying to copy the success of others, exploiting younger or less-popular kids, and crapping all over poor Rowley.

I CAN HAZ DECENCY?
When I initially reviewed this book, my main reaction was: Ick. As the mother of boys, I imagined my own children exhibiting the unremitting lack of consideration that mars Greg's every action, and it broke my heart to think of a child so devoid of empathy.

Doesn't mean I haven't recommended the book. There are some middle grade boys - boys who think fantasy is a ridiculous waste of time, boys who read Calvin & Hobbes and maybe Captain Underpants - and when I see those guys, I press Diary of a Wimpy Kid into their hands. There's nothing wrong with Calvin and Hobbes (I think it was Mo Willems who stated that for the record, and I thank him), but it can't hurt to give a kid another author to read.

However, if it's a parent who has heard about the book, I explain my reservations about the character, hand him or her a copy, suggest that the parent and kid have a conversation about the character once the kid has finished the book, and usually hand the parent a copy of Frindle in addition.

IM IN UR PAPER CHANJIN UR MINDZ
So - just today, Jeff Kinney was in the local paper, and I sat and re-evaluated my opinion of the book.

On the one hand - I can't be too hard on a book that is so popular with those non-fantasy-reading boys. They're a tough, underserved crowd, and props to Jeff Kinney for throwing them a bone.

Besides, children's literature is chock-full of ingenious boys and girls who invent ingenious plans for avoiding work or getting out of trouble. We think Tom Sawyer is smart and charming for exploiting his more-gullible friends and neighbors so that he doesn't have to paint the fence, and we want him to get away with it.

But on the other hand - well, let's let the author, put it in a nutshell. "Oftentimes, Greg does something or says something that needs correction," Kinney says, "and as a reader, you're waiting for an adult to step in and correct him. But none ever does, and I think that's part of the fun of the book." Oh. Is it, indeed, part of the fun? Did I just age an additional 15 years writing that last sentence? That's not music, that's just noise!

UR DOIN IT WRONG
Really, though, Greg's life kind of sucks, mainly as a result of his selfish deeds, and while adult readers recognize that right away, I think that Greg's young audience needs to have that spelled out for them a little. That's where correction comes in - as a consequence, as an opportunity for Greg to learn from his thoughtlessness - or not, that can be funny too. The only character that ever gets wise to Greg's jerkiness is the mom - her eyes are blank behind her glasses, but her body language more than expresses her disgust for her son's actions.

In the end, though... I frequently defend books that parents turn up their noses... at. Junie B. Jones uses bad grammar and she's kind of a brat. Clementine cut all her hair off and colored her head with a purple Sharpie. The kids in Nurse Matilda do terrible things with farm animals, toilets, and treacle pudding. When I defend these books, and in some cases talk them up enthusiastically, the gist of my argument is that any child not raised by wolves can tell the difference between real life behavior and behavior that's exaggerated just to be funny. A kid can watch Speed Racer every morning before school for six years and never once stow away in the trunk of the family car. Believe it. Although that child may be tempted to name her children Trixie and Speed when she grows up - that is a risk.

Any child who has been raised by wolves - ok, that kid will not be given Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Not by me, anyway.

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COMICSES IS FULL OF WIN!
And then there's the weird resemblance to Peter Bagge's seminal slacker comic Hate. The curved posture of the characters, the loopy jaws and rubbery limbs, the gaping mouths and oversize hands - these are all stylistic elements shared by Peter Bagge, but then again, a lot of indie comic book artists draw like that. However, when it comes to amoral, opportunistic, and lazy protagonists in the comic book/graphic novel world? Hate's hero, Buddy Bradley, immediately springs to mind. Greg could easily be a pre-teen Buddy. The fact that Greg's baby brother calls him "Bubby" just cements the deal, in my mind.

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IF YOU LIKESES DIARY OF A WIMPY KID
Read-alikes:

Lawn Boyby Gary Paulsen

Schooled by Gordon Korman

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko

The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff

Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff by Jennifer Holm

The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman

Toby Wheeler: Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer by Thatcher Heldring

The True Meaning of Smekdayby Adam Rex

The Stink books by Megan McDonald

The Underwhere Series by Bruce Hale.

books by Jack Gantos

books by Gina Gershon

the work of Andrew Clements