In a tale told in rhyme, two scarecrows, Betty O’Barley and Harry O’Hay, decide to marry. After making a list of everything they will need for the wedding, they set off to gather them. The geese give feathers for a dress, the cows have bells, a crab brings a necklace of shells, and mice find rings from a curtain. The only thing left are pink flowers. While Betty rests, Harry goes off to find them. Meanwhile, the farmer notices Harry is gone and replaces him with Reginald Rake. Reginald quickly begins to woo Betty by showing her how clever he is. He foolishly lights a cigar and tries to blow smoke rings. A small fire starts when he drops the cigar. (Everyone knows smoking is harmful.) Betty is in danger yet Reginald runs off in a panic. Just in time, Harry returns with pink flowers in a pail of water. Disaster is diverted and the wedding takes place as planned. The artwork is bright and colorful, filled with additional details of the insects and small animals found in fields.
The Mysterious Woods of Whistle Root
The debut novel by Christopher Pennell, The Mysterious Woods of Whistle Root, is a perfect read-aloud or a read alone for the intended audience. It is a tale of magic and friendship that captivates from the very first sentence:
“In a small town called Whistle Root, rats play music in the moonlight.” From that beginning, nothing that comes later can be too strange to be believed and really makes for a fun, refreshing fantasy.
The rats play music from the rooftops so the owls can dance. There are vegetables appearing on rooftops, of which one character comments: “ I notice that you have a squash on your roof, dear. How lovely. I only have broccoli”. Rats talk and fly on breezes, mysterious messages appear inside a hat that is in a wooden crib in the middle of the woods, strange whispers can place people in a deep sleep and an unique beast appears who likes to adorn himself with owl feathers. It may have been difficult to pull off the sorts of unusual happenings found in this book, but Pennell does it with entertaining ease. He presents the activities and events so casually and deftly that it becomes very easy for the reader to accept them as a natural part of this odd, wonderful world.
The main character is Carly Bean Bitters, a young girl who can only sleep during the day and no one knows why. She is lonely as all children are awake when Carly is asleep. One magical night that all changes when Carly becomes friends with Lewis, a violin-playing rat. Lewis has lost two members of his musical trio. When a member is missing from the band a vegetable stands in “for you must always have exactly three members.” Lewis already has a squash on Carly’s rooftop but Lewis proclaims that “ it would be too embarrassing to have two vegetables in the band and (the squash is a lousy drummer)”. So he asks Carly to join his group.
Soon after, Carly and Lewis become friends with Green. He is a boy who lives with his grandmother underneath the school. Green has a hidden door to his house in a little used, dark area of the school library – the reference section. The three friends set out to uncover the reason for the strange change in behavior among the owls in Whistle Woods. They had always danced to the rats’ music, but now they hunt them instead. Also, Green’s grandma has fallen into a sleep from which she cannot be awakened. Carly and Green are willing to do what is needed to get Grandma back and restore the once peaceful owl and rat relationship. Unraveling the mysteries will help restore everything to “normal”.
The illustrations by Rebecca Bond are charming pen and ink doodlings that complement the text. My first response at seeing the illustrations was disappointment. In our flashy, colorful world I expected the same for the illustrations. However, I realized as I became acquainted with the book that the media choice really was perfect. Pennell provides a wonderful description and Bond provides a nice framework for readers to use their own creative imagination to fill in the color and detail. In the end I thought it was a wise choice.
Others have compared this novel to The Dreamstealer by Sid Fleischman with its storyteller’s voice and the extravagance of its imagination, and Kenneth Grahme, C.S. Lewis, E.B. White and Kate DiCamillo for its well-imagined talking animals… just to name a few.
It has just the right blend of mystery and scary with a fairy tale ending.
I’m a truly hoping that this will be a series, as I would love to get lost in the world of Whistle Root again and again.
Fleabrain Loves Franny
Fleabrain Loves Franny, by Joanne Rocklin, portrays the unlikely friendship between a young girl and a flea.
Set in Pittsburgh, 1952, Franny Katzenback is recovering from polio and wondering if she’ll ever walk again. Franny reads and falls in love with the brand-new book Charlotte’s Web. At a critical point during her illness she imagines she is being cared for by angels, which just turn out to be nurses in white uniforms. So when she starts to receive letters from a flea, who lives on the tip of her dog’s tail, it seems like just another delusion.
But Fleabrain proves his existence and a strong friendship forms. Fleabrain is a strange and marvelous fluke of nature. He is a self-taught genius and just happens to be a voracious reader. He helpsFranny gain courage, self-confidence and strength to fight her battles with prejudice, discrimination and the struggle of recovery. He is determined to stand by and motivate Franny during this difficult time in her life because he finds he truly loves her. Fleabrain becomes Franny’s Charlotte.
The other characters in the book include her older sister Min, whom she sarcastically calls “Saint Min”, her best friend from a distance Walter Walter (yes, double named), the mean-spirited Nurse Olivegarten, Franny’s adored grandfather Zadie, and Dr. Gutman a neighbor and scientist working with Jonas Salk to find the cure for polio.
Rocklin’s inclusion of many daily life routines and practices of the 1950’s add to the story’s realism. She introduces young readers to some realities of disability and the harsh and often times unfair reactions of others. She also does a good job of introducing many topics for classroom discussion. Readers may learn not only about paralysis, polio, Jonas Salk, vaccines, infectious diseases and prejudices; but also about literary and cultural references such as E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, James Howell’s Paramoigraphy, the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and Jewish folklore and traditions. These may sound like heavy topics for young readers, but Rocklin provides small spoonfuls of understanding to the reader. As Franny learns of these things in incremental, digestible pieces, so does the reader.
Included is an author’s note reflecting on polio and the issue of disability, and a bibliography of referenced works and songs. Teachers can also go to Rocklin’s website and get a CCSS aligned discussion guide and activities list.
Ludwig van Beethoven
A journey through the music and lives of the most influential classical musicians, these illustrated biographies (First Discovery – Music) include a CD and fragments of the musicians’ most iconic compositions. Ludvig van Beethoven is easy to read with great illustrations and photographs and paintings from this time period. On each page there are also recommendations of creative activities.
This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration
Jacqueline Woodson, Newbery Award winning author, has used a simple rope connecting generations of family history. For three generations that rope is first used as a jump rope, then passed down as a rope to secure suitcases onto a car for a big move from South Carolina to New York City, then as a clothes line, a pull toy and a string to hold up a sign at a family reunion. Even though this is a work of historical fiction, the story is based on the Great Migration that her family, and six million other African Americans, experienced over generations from the early 1900’s until the mid 1070’s. The rope is a symobl of “Hope.” Written with such insight and poetic grace, this thoughtful and moving piece of storytelling will linger in the hearts of the readers for a long time. So will the beautifully done James Ransome illustrations.
Alex the Ant Goes to the Beach
Alex the Ant Goes to the Beach is a delightful adventure story that both entertains and educates the young listener or reader. Facts about ant natural history, such as scent trails, scout ants, and their diet of ‘Yummy mold’ grown on decaying wood, are introduced seamlessly. While the book teaches knowledge and facts about ants, it is also playful and engaging for young readers, including sound play, interesting word choices, and some suspenseful moments. Appealing, fun illustrations make this book a gem!
If Kids Ran the World
In this idealistic vision of our world as run by children, the Dillons envision a world of peace, fairness and kindness, where everyone’s basic needs would be met. No one would be hungry, and everyone would have a place to live. Sick people would have medicine, and good schools would be universal. Unsurprisingly, this world is populated with smiling, happy children of many skin tones, wearing clothing from all corners of the world and representing a variety of religions. The figures on each spread are painted against a bright white background, making the children pop off the page in contrast. Well-meaning but saccharine, it feels like a gesture rather than a call to action. Sentiments such as “No bullying would be allowed” and “Kids would love school” reveal a wistful adult rather than an enthusiastic child.
All the Bright Places
Violet survived the accident that killed her sister, but she doesn’t know how to move forward. One day she finds herself on the top of her school’s bell tower. Before there is another tragedy, Theodore “The Freak” Finch pulls her back from the edge. However, since Finch has put himself in precarious positions before, everyone assumes Violet talked him out of jumping, and he lets them. The two are paired for a class project, “Wander Indiana”, which is difficult since Violet refuses to travel by car. Told through the device of the project, the story, in alternating voices, chronicles Violet’s recovery from the loss of her sister and Finch’s descent into mental illness. The romance builds slowly and is sweet and touching. Violet’s grief is realistic and will ring true to teens. but it is Finch’s story that will break your heart. I have read several young adult books dealing with depression and suicide, but this one resonated with me and I think it will with teens as well. Teens who don’t know what to read after Green’s TFIOS will love this one.
The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest – and Most Surprising – Animals on Earth
Beautiful, large, illustrations accompany fascinating, intriguing, brief information on some 300 of the world’s most remarkable animals. A delight for anyone interested in wild animals, from young children through adults. Truly, a lovely, interesting book! The author and illustrator, Steve Jenkins, has been interested in animals since he “wrote” his first book when in grade school.
Book is about 14″ x 9″.
The Television
Examines and explains the invention of the television from the Nipkow disc through all the major developments to the present TV. Very fascinating history. Includes pictures, timeline, glossary, bibliography and index.