Some won’t like it, but I do, though I’m having trouble articulating why. It’s a poetical/philosophical sort of book, using both color and words in an unusual way. The skin may be blue and the leaves pink, yet the flowy, swirly illustrations somehow draw you in and pair nicely with the way the poem discusses big, intangible words in unusual ways: peace is my favorite song, and happiness is my favorite flavor??? Yet I think it invites students into poetry by opening them up to using words in new ways, giving them permission to play with words and still find meaning.
Category Archives: Recommendation
Just Because
It’s not a story to be read straight through from start to finish. It’s a poem to be read and pondered in bits and pieces — would be a really good conversation starter. It’s a series of rhyming couplets, each making a statement that seems on the surface to be self-contradictory, yet the accompanying illustrations sets forth a scenario in which it makes sense after all. “Just because I’m finished, doesn’t mean that I’m done” is matched with illustrations that show a girl all tucked up in bed, saying goodnight to the parent at the door, followed by the same girl reading with a flashlight under the covers once she’s alone; “Just because I’m sitting still, doesn’t mean that I’m not busy,” is illustrated with a girl sitting in a yoga pose. Some of them work better than others, and some could be argued, but that’s what gives it such potential to start meaningful discussions.
Hippos Remain Calm
I love Boynton’s artwork, with it’s clean lines and bright colors and familiar characters, and I know small children are drawn to them also. The rhyming text is in large print, with only a sentence or two per page, but I think this book really needs to be paired with Hippos Go Berserk, it’s obvious companion, in order for the story to make much of an impact. So if you have that one, and your readers are familiar with it, then this one would make a nice contrasting story. As a stand alone, it’s a bit flat, just describing two hippos having a rather calm day, and then inviting a couple friends over in the evening, and when more friends show up, the calm disappears as a party ensues. It’s fine, but is better when paired with the other to provide context.
Brave Little Bear
The illustrations are absolutely charming! The big eyes on the bear cub, Arlo, capture the reader’s heart from the start. The message may be a familiar one, that “Being brave when you feel afraid is the very bravest brave of all,” but because the cute little bear sucks us in at the beginning, we feel for him every step of the adventure that teaches him this lesson. He doesn’t want to leave his cozy cave all snug with his mom and sister, but mom tells him to be brave as they set out. He sees his sister as the brave one, until she gets lost in a snowstorm and he rushes out on his own to save her without even thinking about it. In the end, once they’ve all reached their destination safely, he once again finds himself snuggly curled up with mom and sister. It’s a feel-good story that leaves the reader comforted by the reassuring ending of everything turning out alright in the end, and the confidence that we all have the capacity to be braver than we believe when need arises.
Little Vampire
by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg
Tony loves scary stories and horror films. So, he’s quick to recognize his new friend, Rudolph, is a vampire. He showed up at Tony’s window one night after Tony’s parents went out (which they seem to do nightly, leaving Tony alone). Rudolph visits Tony most nights, borrows his books and loans him his uncle’s cape so Tony can fly to the cemetery with him to visit his crypt. Soon, Rudolph’s sister, Anna, joins in the fun. Eventually, Tony’s parents become suspicious and as, for Tony to invite his new friends over for tea. He tries to fool his parents with a substitute and it didn’t go well. Anna, who has a crush on Tony, and Rudolph come to tea and try hard to appear human with mixed results. Tony’s parents shake their heads at his new friends and decide they don’t need to visit again any time soon.
This story is translated from the original German and is part of a six book series. While the premise is interesting, the story lags a bit and its macabre theme isn’t terribly humorous. Kids who enjoy horror fiction might find this book interesting, although it’s not really horror. And, readers that enjoy humorous stories might not like it either.
A Day in the Sun
by Diana Ejaita
As the world travels around the sun and daylight shines in all the different places , we see how it affects us in the most positive ways. Each two-page spread highlights children in a noted country and what happens on a sunny day, whether it is covering their heads from the very hot sun to taking a swim to cool off. The bright, vibrant colors add to the story and the smiling children throughout remind us that we are all living on the same world under the same sun. This is a lovely book to share.
Babajoon’s Treasure
This is a good addition for libraries wishing to expand their multicultural offerings. The main characters are immigrants from Iran, but the story line is one that could fit any young child on a day out with her grandfather: As the narrator describes her visit to her grandfather, she starts noticing details that set her imagination going: he’s got a gold coin, and he sings to a parrot, and he speaks an unknown language with a friend who gives him magic crystals (a.k.a. rock candy), so she decides he must be a pirate. Even after he sets her straight, she still recognizes his many great traits and decides she wants to be just like him someday.
In Every Life
I love this book! The text is simple and poetical. A single sentence per two-page spread uses a repeated structure to express some big, complex, sometimes intangible ideas. The real star of this book are the illustrations: for every big idea there are many individual illustrations, offering different ways those words could be interpreted. They invite the reader into really pondering those big ideas. The use of color is very deliberate and effective. I listed this book as intended for elementary, but I certainly think it would have uses and appeal for all ages.
Our Day of the Dead Celebration
The illustrations are bright and cheerful, suiting the intended tone of the day it is describing. The text is straightforward and enthusiastic. Because it is written in the first person plural, it avoids trying to cover all the ways different people/families/communities celebrate; it simply shares one small girl’s descriptions of how her family celebrates. Though I do think most of the common themes of the day are included. Students who celebrate the day withing their own families are likely to find much to relate to, and those who don’t will still likely find much to relate to, while also gaining a clear understand of what may be an unfamiliar holiday.
Palace of Books
The only thing I’m not sure I like about this book is the title. Though the title edifice does play a significant role in the story, it’s really a much more expansive story than just that piece of it. Drawing on personal memories, as so many of Polacco’s books do, this one tells of year of her life when she was in transition. It’s about going through changes, and saying goodbye to familiar places and venturing into to ones. it’s about meeting new people and finding your niche, discovering what you have to offer. It’s about people who help us discover our passions and talents. It’s about using our passions and talents to make an impact on the world around us, even if we’re not in one place very long. Great book. My one reservation about giving it a highly recommended rating, is that the lengths of Ms. Polacco’s books often make them hard sells to the picture book crowd. Are they really targeting children? Or adult readers who love children’s books?