This absolutely darling, fun spirited book will capture the imagination of an elementary audience with it’s bold plaid, colorful pictures and crazy antics of the main character, a young girl. She happens to find a plaid, cursed purse in the park. She realized the magic behind the purse as everything around her turned plaid! The occasional repetition of “Piddly-Diddly-Doo” will have some reading or singing along with the refrain. When she turns the purse inside out, the plaid ends, and something new begins. You will have to wait and see the inside of the purse to get your ending to this colorful tale! Wonderful pictures and truly a fun experience reading this book about this plucky girl with the plaid purse. Recommended!
Nothing in Common, by Kate Hoefler, illustrated by Corinna Luyken
Beautiful pastel chalk pictures, by celebrated illustrator Corinna Luyken, create a beautiful picture storybook. It tells the story of this unlikely friendship between a boy wearing red and a girl wearing blue. Without using verbiage indicating the divide in the United States, it was an inference on the part of this reader as both people felt they had “nothing in common”. That is, until they realized they did both love the same thing and it was missing. An old man who walked his dog every day, is a part of both people’s day and they work together to solve the mystery of finding the dog. On this journey, they discover, in a subtle sense, that their emotions have more in common than they realized before the journey.
As the dog is reunited with his loving master, they all realize that you can love and respect each other even if you have “Nothing in Common”. A great modern day tale that easily fits into our contemporary lives. Recommended for you.
Curious George Votes, by Margaret and H.A. Rey
In keeping with the Curious George spirit created decades ago, this mischievous and curious monkey entertains us and also helps us to learn a bit about the voting process through his experience at an elementary school which happens to be voting on their favorite mascot. As expected, this monkey wishes to “write in” his choice for mascot to be a monkey instead of the “owl” or “tiger” being offered on the ballot. His hijinks throughout the school, includes “stuffing the ballot box” with his many of his votes over and over again. After finding the humor in his antics, the teacher allows the students to write in their favorite choice–which of course, is a monkey!
This may be an effective book for preschool and primary grades to explore the basic rules surrounding the voting process. A nice read and discussion platform for a school which is voting on a mascot. Classic pictures and lovable, innocent, choices made by our favorite monkey, make this Margret & H.A. Rey’s book, another nice addition to a classroom or home library series.
The Suitcase, by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros
This simply-illustrated picture book would be a nice springboard for a discussion of welcoming refugees. Primarily written as a conversation between animals, each character’s dialogue is printed in the same color as their fur, eliminating the need for identifiers in the text. When a strange animal arrives, three local animals are curious about his big suitcase. As the locals ask questions about the suitcase they become suspicious about the answers. Their mistrust leads to a violation of privacy, but also an act of contrition which creates an opening for friendship. The simplicity of the book means it is not a deep dive on the topic of providing a welcome for strangers, but creates the space for an adult to move the conversation in that direction. Younger children would appreciate the simple nature of the book, but it could lead to richer conversations with older elementary students.
Our Subway Baby, by Peter Mercurio
A poignant story, based upon a true event, in the City of New York. This beautifully illustrated books begins with a man in the subway system underground in New York, spotting a bundle on the ground. As he approached, he realized that it was a baby! He reported to the authorities and immediately began caring for this babe until he was taken away to the local hospital. The man, named Danny, kept asking about him, and waiting for the foster system to locate his parents. As this did not happen, he was invited to apply for adoption! His partner at home, a man named Kevin, who had not thought of adopting or having a child, was open and enthusiastic to the idea of allowing love in where it had presented itself.
Both men went through the court system and earned the right to adopt this baby who was found on the subway! Their happiness was contagious and earned much respect and attention nationwide. They are still a family, to this day. Although the baby is now a student in college studying mathematics and computer science!
A contemporary book speaking truth to a contemporary topic: gay couple adoption. With the added twist of finding the baby on the subway! This is a beautifully written and illustrated book which teaches the underlying message of: “Love wins.”A must in your library.
Camino A Las Estrellas
This is the Spanish edition of Sylvia Acevedo’s Path To The Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist. Acevdo’s story is that of a young Latino girl growing up in Las Cruces, New Mexico who has ambitions to study math and science, but is constrained by cultural and societal norms. She also faces racial prejudice as a Latino student who transfers to an Anglo school. It is not until she wears her Brownie uniform to the Anglo school that Sylvia is accepted by the other students and joins the sisterhood of the Girl Scouts.
The Girl Scouts changed Sylvia’s life: she began to earn badges and learned to do many things that interested her. Selling Girl Scout cookies led her to start saving her own money and plan for college, knowing that her parents would be unable to assist her in this dream.
She tells of her experience growing up bilingual and poor, how she achieves her goal of graduating from college and graduate school and becomes a rocket scientist. Ultimately she serves as the CEO of the Girl Scouts of America.
This is a very inspiring story and libraries would be well served to carry both the Spanish and English editions.
In a Jar, by Deborah Marcero
The book, In a Jar is a sweet metaphor for protecting and sharing special memories. Llewellyn is a bit of a loner, collecting items in jars so he can peer inside and remember the wonderful things he had seen and done. One evening he meets Evelyn and shares one of his jars with her. This led to seasons of collecting together. When Evelyn moves away, she and Llewellyn share jars back and forth, maintaining their friendship by sharing their present.
The story will encourage children to collect, protect, save, share and reexamine what makes the everyday things around them special. Recommended.
The Ugly Five
By Julia Donaldson
Illustrated by Axel Sheffler
Julia Donaldson introduces us to five uniquely bizarre animals of the African Savanna. The five animals: Wildebeest, Warthog, Spotted Hyena, Lappet-Faced Vulture and Marabou Stork all believe that they are the ugliest of all the creatures that roam the Savanna. They chant a rhyming song as they move along meeting each other. At the end their off-springs prove that even though the might not be the most beautiful animal, they are loved and needed, A lesson everyone can heed.
At the end of the book the author and illustrator include two pages of drawings of other animals you might see on a safari. The illustrations are beautiful but don’t deter from the message.
A good read aloud to illustrate order of events.
Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History (Young Readers’ Edition) by Keith O’Brien
This young reader edition is adapted by the author, Keith O’Brien, from his adult book of the same title. In Fly Girls, O’Brien tells the widely unknown story of American female aviators in the 1920’s and 30′. Amelia Earhart’s amazing accomplishments and the mystery of her disappearance appears prominently in history books but how many know Ruth Nichols, Louise Thaden, Ruth Elder, and Florence Klingensmith? These young female aviators were held back by deep gender inequities during golden age of flying, and as O’Brien explains of their forgotten histories, “each of the women went missing in her own way.”
The stories of these five “fly girls” show how they came from very different backgrounds and experiences. Nichols was a New York debutante, Thaden sold coal in Wichita, Elder was hiding her divorce, Klingensmith was working on airplane engines, and Earhart was in Boston making life changing decisions.
Airplane racing was a very hot sport between WWI and WWII but was completely dominated by men. The five “fly girls” struggled to find opportunities to fly, begged sponsors, borrowed planes, took risks such as daredevil stunts on the wings of planes. O’Brien tells all of these stories, including numerous fiery crashes and the tragedies that occured in the cockpit and also on the ground.
Fly Girls is in the vein of Hidden Figures and The Girls of Atomic City, telling the story of how a group of women banded together to break the glass ceilings, struggling against entrenched prejudice, to fight for the right to do the job which had been seen as exclusively for men.
This Young Reader edition includes a glossary, source notes by chapter, an index, and primary source black and white photos.
Leif and the Fall
By Allison Sweet Grant and Adam Grant
Illustrated by Merrilee Liddiard
Leif and his friend, Laurel attempt many different ways to make his fall to the ground softer and easier. During his trials, all the other leaves taunt him but he perseveres. At last comes the time when an anxious Leif can not hold on anymore. Will his fall be disastrous?
The illustrations are simple but effective, giving each leaf a personality, This persistent tale lends to great discussion about never giving up, order of events, why and why not Leif’s inventions worked and the progression of the seasons. Great autumn read!