Tag Archives: fiction

Bilingüe, superhéroe: Bilingual, Superhero

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written by Jorge Argument and illustrated by Elizabeth Gómez

Gerónimo Pérez, aka “Bilingual”, embraces his effortless ability to switch back and forth between English and Spanish. He says “…I can change from English to Spanish, easy as pie, so smooth, so cool, so beautiful, suuuuper sweet.” This is his superpower and he uses it for good, as a superhero should. When his grandma or mother need help with translation of a doctor’s instructions or the bus driver’s announcement of a route, Bilingual is there to help. At school, this superhero acts as the intermediary between his English speaking teacher and Spanish speaking classmates, which helps everyone immensely. He is happy with his ability to speak, sing and dream in both languages. What a wonderful superpower to have!

Gerónimo, like many children of non-English speakers, is often called upon to translate for the adults around him. This is such a valuable ability and one that should be celebrated. Students like Gerónimo are often summoned and are willing to translate for their classmates and teachers, which is so appreciated (I speak from experience). This book celebrates this gift and superpower in a way that shows Gerónimo’s intuitive use of both languages at times when it is most needed. His pride in his “bilingual-ness” is well-deserved and all students with this ability should see this book and recognize those unique gifts.

Text is written in both English and Spanish with accompanying illustrations, vibrantly painted and filling the pages with exhilaration, while conveying the impact of the words. The parrots in each illustration appear to denote the English and Spanish parts of Gerónimo in a playful way and seem to remind us that they are part of his daily life. The text is accessible and lyrical. Younger readers will enjoy the story, which would be a great read-aloud or partner read for those students that don’t read both languages.

This book is a wonderful ode to bilingual speakers, especially children, and should be shared with kids whether they can speak two languages or not. To see this superpower exhibited in a story will empower bilingual speakers and give monolingual readers a peek into their lives. It’s a lovely book.

All by Himself?

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written by Elana K. Arnold and illustrated by Giselle Potter

A child builds a masterpiece with some beautiful colored painted blocks and he does it all by himself. Or does he? This cumulative tale tells the story of the this boy’s masterpiece starting with the tree farmer, who plants a seedling many years before. An arborist cares for it and a woodcutter falls the mature tree. A woodworker carves blocks which are then painted by an artist. This artist packs them up and a driver delivers them to a toy store. The shopkeeper displays the blocks and they are purchased by a grandma, who brings them home to the child and he builds a masterpiece! Then it goes back to the beginning.

This story builds upon itself and is accompanied by watercolor and ink illustrations. Text is simple and repetitive. Students will jump in and “read along” as the story unfolds. While the story is cumulative, it also circles back to the beginning, which will be fun for the reader to follow.

Guest : a changeling tale by Mary Downing Hahn

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Thomas is a beautiful baby and his sister, Mollie, makes a mistake one day and tells him that. People are never supposed to tell the children how wonderful they are, because the Kinde Folk (a group of evil fairies) will carry off the child and replace it with a horribly ugly and ill-behaved one of their offspring.

This is exactly what happens to baby Thomas and the family is left with a biting, screaming changeling that Mollie calls “Guest”. This being throws the family into an upheaval as it wears Mollie’s mother down and drives her father away. Granny Hedgepath advises to keep the child safe and happy, so that the Kinde Folke will possibly (although highly unlikely) return Thomas. Mollie and her mother are near the breaking point, when Mollie decides to travel with Guest to the Darklands and hopes for a trade to bring her brother home.

Her journey is dangerous and may end in death. But, Mollie is determined to reclaim her brother, return Guest and make things right again for her family. Along the way, she meets some that may help and others that will try to kill her and keep her brother. The ending is a twisting and turning series of events that will surprise the reader almost as much as Mollie herself.

This is not a typical ghost story by Mary Downing Hahn. It is based on Irish myths and appears to be set in a village in the middle ages. Therefore, there is magic, both evil and good. An afterward explains the background of the story and might lead to further exploration. The fantasy elements work well and the story moves along. The scary parts are just scary enough and the reader’s imagination will paint some wonderfully dark pictures as the story progresses.

Recommended for libraries looking for more scary stories that have a bit of fairy dust (not the good kind!). Students will become invested in the journey and eventual, somewhat surprising, ending.

Helga Makes a Name for Herself by Meghan Maynor and illustrated by Eda Kaban

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Helga yearns to be a Viking, just like Ingrid the Axe. She begged for stories all the time – at bedtime, during her monthly bath and even fish-pickling time. Her parents tried to calm her ambition, telling her that she was a ‘farmersdotter’ and wouldn’t become a Viking. But, Helga didn’t let that squash her dreams – she and her pet wolverine spent their days doing all kinds of Viking stuff (at least she thought it was Viking stuff). One day, she heard that Ingrid the Axe was coming to town to recruit new members for her Viking crew. Ingrid and her wolverine headed down to town to pursue her dreams. She competed against other would-be Viking recruits and almost made it several times. She finally won a competition and just as Ingrid was about to speak, Helga’s parents ran up to apologize for their daughter’s silliness. Ingrid announced that Helga the Howler was invited to join her crew! The rest, as they say, is history. Helga the Howler and her trusty wolverine plied the oceans of the flat world, gaining fame and fortune as a might Viking Warrior!

This is a wonderful story of perseverance and following your dream, no matter how unlikely. Illustrations are cartoon-like and bright. The story moves along at a face pace with several chuckle-inducing asides along the way. There is also an author’s note and bibliography in the back that includes titles for further consideration and websites for exploration. Highly Recommended.

Gone Camping

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In a follow up to the popular Gone Fishing, a camping trip with grandpa is told through a variety of poetry forms. Siblings Lucy and Sam head off to the woods with grandpa when their dad comes down with a cold. Lucy is skeptical about the ‘fun’ of a trip, but Sam is all in. Their adventures, from setting up the tent to early morning fishing, are all part of a trip that goes from bad idea to wonderfully exciting for Lucy.

Each poem tells part of the story and is labeled with the poetry form, which is described in the back of the book. Poetry rhythm, rhyme and techniques are also explained, making this book multi-faceted. It is a series of short poems that expand into a full story for the reader. In addition to reading this for fun (highly recommended), this book can be used very successfully for a poetry unit.

Illustrations are done in black ink and are scattered liberally throughout the story. They add to the fun and exuberance of the words.

This book is a wonderful tribute to time spent with a grandparent. Adventures range from worries about possible critters in the tent to yummy s’mores and cannonballs into the lake. Who wouldn’t love to spend time with a grandpa (or any loving adult) doing just that?

Athena & the Magic Land

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Modern day, normal Athena is on her way home from school and playing a video game along the way. She is engrossed in the game, which includes a cute digital dog named Oliver when she has a run-in with mean girl, Medusa. These people sound familiar. Not surprisingly, Athena gets swept up in a magical storm that sends her close to Mt. Olympus wearing clothes that look suspiciously Greek . A tiny goddess, Hestia, advises her to walk along the ‘Hello Brick Road’ (also familiar…) to meet Zeus, who can help her return home. Along the way, she meets up with a Medusa who looks a lot like the nasty one from home, but has snakes for hair and wants her magical sandals so badly she’ll turn Oliver to stone. Athena also helps a new friend, Persephone, who tags along hoping to ask for some magic help from Zeus, too.

We don’t find out in this book whether they make it to Mt. Olympus yet. That sets us up for future books and adventures. Black and white illustrations move the story along and unfamiliar words and characters are explained on the “Cast of characters” page and “Word List” page. There are also questions at the back for reflection. This is a simple read that will be perfect for those readers that want to move away from picture books, but aren’t quite ready for chapter books. The story line is a bit saccharine, but does introduce some mythological characters and might pique interest in further exploration.

What is Inside This Box?

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Monkey has a box and tells his friend, Cake, that there is a cat inside. This cat is magic, though. If the box is opened, he disappears! Cake questions this logic and he and Monkey have a spirited discussion about it. Cake is sure that there is no cat in the box, because there is a magic dinosaur in the box. And, this dinosaur disappears when the box is opened. The two friends eventually determine that they will never really know and walk away toward some pie. After they leave, a cat peeks out of the box and rides away on a dinosaur’s back.

This cute nod to Schrodeinger’s cat has simple illustrations on uncluttered pages, reminiscent of Mo Willem’s Elephant & Piggie. The text is dialogue and each character has a different color of speech bubble, making it easy for the reader to determine who is speaking at any given time. The friendship is real and they can agree to disagree in an amicable fashion, which is a lesson in itself. Early readers will enjoy the story and the characters and wonder themselves about the contents of the box!

Surfboard to Peril

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Miss Mallard, well-known “ducktective” has a big case to solve. She is vacationing in Hawaii and surfing with her instructors, Kai and Kawai when she hits a mysterious rock with her surfboard. It turns out that it is an ancient stone that proves the land is owned by both villages nearby. As the villagers are celebrating the stone and the answers it provides, it disappears! Miss Mallard is on the case. She dusts the area for featherprints and finds a suspicious keychain. She has three suspects, an archaeologist (Horace Shoveller), an old sailor (Joe Scaup) and a builder (Clyde Pochard) who is interested in developing the land. Through her quick wits and deductive reasoning, Miss Mallard captures the thief and restores the stone to its rightful place.

This story is a nice introduction to early chapter books, with a list of characters/descriptions in the front of the book and a glossary of potentially unfamiliar words in the back. Illustrations are black and white and the words are in larger font. Readers will enjoy this quick read and will enjoy the mystery that Miss Mallard solves for them.

Edison Beaker, Creature Seeker: the lost city

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Edison Beaker believes that he will never be a Creature Seeker (after book #1). But, Gigi (his great grandma) has other ideas. She tells Edison that he is ready to be a Creature Seeker and must find the Spark to light the city of Pharos. Otherwise, it will be forever sunk into gloom and the evil Baron Umbra and the Underlings will rule. Edison and his sister, Tesla, go to Gigi’s house to locate her book, which will explain everything. Thankfully, Gigi gave Tesla a monster detecting bracelet before they left, because Underlings come after them as they are looking for Gigi’s book. Their friend, Knox, from the Underwhere helps them escape the Underlings and they go through the Night Door to save Pharos.

Baron Umbra won’t let that happen easily and it takes the three intrepid heroes and a new friend, an Underling named Smudge, to return the light to Pharos and save the city. Along the way, they discover that true friendship, family and loyalty can go far in making the world better.

Colorful illustrations and a little bit of scariness make this a nice elementary level graphic novel. The classic good versus evil is woven nicely into the story. The main characters are loyal, brave and accepting of others (although Tesla was much quicker than Edison in that respect). In case you might want more – the last page has a huge hint that the story will continue…

Snail & Worm: All Day

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Snail and Worm star in three lovely stories in this sweet picture book for early readers. In Best Day Ever, Snail defines a “good day” very differently. His day didn’t go too well, but others had wonderful experiences and he was happy for them; hence, the best day ever! The Spooky Cave is a story about a dragon…er, turtle, that scares Snail enough to cause him to ‘run’ away even though Worm tries to tell Snail that the animal is really a turtle. And, the third story is A Bedtime Story that highlights the sweet relationship of these two friends. The pen and watercolor illustrations lend themselves to the simple story line quite well. Characters’ emotions are displayed and add to the humor of the book.

Give this book to readers who enjoy friendship stories like Elephant and Piggie or Frog and Toad. Snail & Worm have the same sweet, loyal friendship and will be a welcome addition to your collection.