Friday, December 6, 2013

The Smallest Gift of Christmas by Peter H. Reynolds

The Smallest Gift of Christmas by Peter H. Reynolds

Rating: 4 stars

Last fall I went through a Peter H. Reynolds-is-the-bomb-diggity phase.  I read The Dot and Ish and Plant A Kiss and appreciated his artwork in Tess's Tree and Someday and the Judy Moody series (that Lorelei is reading and loving now).  His stuff is pleasing to look at, but the underlying feel-good wonderful messages about creativity and inspiration and being YOU are what really impress me.  His hands and mind create gifts for children; they come in the shape of books.

So, when I saw The Smallest Gift of Christmas, I bought it immediately.  Didn't even read it.  It was by Peter H. Reynolds so it must be amazing and earth-shattering!

And it really is a sweet message, but one for grown-ups more than kids.

"Roland was eager for Christmas Day," writes Reynolds.  On the corresponding page he draws four stockings hung up with care, and we get a glimpse of what Roland cares about.  There are three appropriately-sized stockings and one stocking the size of a twin bed.  It rolls on the ground because it is too long to hang from the fireplace.  Funny!  And telling.
"When I say big, I mean BIG!" he yelled.

When he comes down on Christmas morning to a small gift with his name on the tag, he's disappointed.  So he wishes for a bigger gift. And right there and then, it doubles in size (and is still wrapped).  Wow!  He uses this magic again and again and again to make his gift bigger; yet instead of wonder and appreciation, he is angry and annoyed and grumpy.

Sounds like "I want a bigger gift!" and "That is not big enough!"pollute the air.

He gets into his rocketship and goes to outer space to try and find his now too-large-to-be-found gift.  It's from that rocketship that he peers out and sees Earth, now just a speck in the distance.

Oh.  He suddenly gets sad.  Earth.  So small, but it's what he wants.

So he wishes to be home. With his family.  Because they are the biggest gift.

Of course, I could wax poetic about how right Reynolds is, about how out-of-whack our Christmases have become.  I could reminisce about my Christmases abroad, away from my family, when I missed the laughing and eating together much more than the stuff.

But hopefully you already know these things.  And you've probably heard enough of my stories.  But being reminded about the importance of people over gifts by a sweet book with great illustrations never hurts.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

The Dinosaurs Night Before Christmas by Anne Muecke

The Dinosaurs Night Before Christmas by Anne Muecke, illustrated by Nathan Hale

Rating: 5 stars

On the night before Christmas, "[t]he fossils were standing where they always stood / Looking out o'er a now fast asleep neighborhood." Across the street, a small boy looked over at the museum and wished the dinosaurs good night as he turns off his night light.

Then a band of young duckbills, all dressed up in holly,
Invited the boy, with a gesture quite jolly,
To stand upon their heads and reach out way far
And top their tall tree with a bright Christmas star!
Then, to his surprise, the fossils start to sway.  And move.  And come to life!  He is surprised to see that "the dinosaurs' bodies were growing anew-- / Sprouting rainbows of colorful feathers and scales / From the tops of their heads to the tips of their tails!" He jumps out of bed and runs across the street, happy to find the museum unlocked (!!).  He wonders if the dinosaurs will be hungry after being asleep and without food for so long...and find a meaty boy like himself delicious...when a dinosaur comes up behind him and...kisses him!  Because he's standing under mistletoe, of course.

"With a pat on the back and a cup of eggnog, / The boy helped the kind dinosaurs light their yule long. / And together they joyfully danced 'round the fire / Singing holiday songs in melodious choir."  The icing on this magical cake of a night is the appearance of Santa-sauras, pulled by eight dino-deer.

The next morning, the dinosaurs have turned back to fossils, though a sprig of mistletoe in the T-Rex's dinky hand hints at the mischief that was had.

Landing safe in his bed on soft pillows of down,
The boy waved as Santasaur flew over the town.
This is a must-buy for any dino-lover, for sure.  The story and the rhyme alone are fantastic and cute and magical, but the illustrations!  Man, the illustrations are top-notch.  Nathan Hale does a fantastic job of creating dinosaurs that are simultaneously real and sweet--no easy feat.  The book was published five years ago, but...as great as ever.  I doubt any copies have turned into fossils yet!


Santa! by Rufus Butler Seder

Santa! by Rufus Butler Seder


Rating: 4.5 stars

I might be one of the few people who does not own one of Rufus Butler Seder's scanimation books, but I really do think they are neat.  My kids and I have checked them out from the library, examined friends' copies, and sat with them in many bookstores.  He has produced six books with clever illustrations that seem to magically move while the page bends.  Gallop! and Swing! and WaddleI were followed by Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz.  In each of these books, Seder manages to capture decades of his passion and experience in photography and moving art.  

I was curious about this guy Rufus Butler Seder so, as love the bigger picture of a story, I found out a little more about him and how he evolved into creating children's books.  Turns out he's fairly fascinating--as most artists are.  Rufus' father was a journalist/photographer as well as an inventor--Gus Seder liked to tinker with things to figure out how they worked, and then manipulate these same tools and get them do things slightly differently.  Exposed to his father's creativity, Rufus was also encouraged to invent and create and tinker as well.  Photography was a known subject, one that was both familiar and widely open with possibilities, so Rufus experimented with photography.  One of his first little creations was a book involving trick photography: He photographed his sister jumping outside on the trampoline and manipulated the individual pictures such that, when he rearranged the photographs, it looked as if she was flying around the backyard.  

What a delightful trick for a big brother to have!  

Rufus made several small movies, but returned to the idea of moving art when most two dimensional artwork was still.  He had seen several antique and contemporary photographs where part of the image moved--think of the slightly creepy face from the past that winks or smiles as you look away from the image.  This idea is called the "picket fence"--a bar obscuring one phase of movement while reversing another.  With a whole lot of inspiration and experimentation Rufus came up with a flat image that appeared to move in a really cool way.  It's the old idea of flip-art book (didn't you have one of these books as a kid?), but much, much better.  While much of his art is directed at grown ups, a children's book editor pointed out that a collection of his already-existing scanimation images of animals, when collected together into a small book, would be a fun children's book.  He was right: his five scanimation books are wildly popular. 

That's the back story of his sixth book, Santa!  I hope that's moderately interesting to you, but what is certainly interesting to you is the answer to the question: Will my child like this?

The simple answer: yes!  People of all ages really like this stuff, and they're fascinated by how the scanimation pictures work--probably because it seems pretty magical, even in the era of the entertaining and ubiquitous app.  "This is Santa unlike you've seen him before!" it says in the promotional flyer that accompanied this book.  That made me laugh but it is so true!  This is a really great version of behind-the-scenes Santa.  Unlike the normal images of him checking his list, overseeing the craftsmanship of toys, and guiding his sleigh across the night, this is playful Santa: he hula-hoops, unicycles, juggles candy canes, ice skates, and does a back flip.  It is light and fun and sweet; seeing Santa taking the time to be silly and playful is a wonderful reminder to anyone who picks up the book to be a little silly and a little playful themselves.  I think it's just great, and a fantastic book for any age.  Or maybe for a grandparent whose shelves need to include a few children's books that appeal to children of all ages for an extended amount of time. 

I suspect that after a while SantaI will get put on a shelf, but the moment it is pulled off again--whether that's months or years later, the child (or grown up!) will be entertained and fascinated all over again.  And maybe a little bit inspired to create and tinker and make something of their own.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Santa is Coming to Washington, D.C. by Steve Smallman

Santa is Coming to Washington, D.C. by Steve Smallman, illustrated by Robert Dunn

Rating: 3.5 stars

I just told Ben about the whole naughty and nice list.  I'm hoping he kicks it up a notch out of fear of coal.  I'm doubtful...he's in the throes of lack of impulse control and when he gets going...man, he's just a blur of giggles and dimples and glee.

But...  'Tis the season for reminding kids to be good for more than goodness' sake!  And this book does start with a funny line.  Santa asks one elf if children in Washington, D.C., have been good this year.  The elf replies: "Mostly."  Santa: "Mostly?"  Elf: "Yes...but they've all been especially good in the last few days!"

This is a cute book in which Santa goes out to deliver tons of presents to the Washington, D.C., area but, because of a crazy blizzard, he gets hopelessly lost.  Santa's GPS doesn't help him (it's 2013, folks, all these books have Santa holding a GPS), that "old reindeer with the red nose" is helpless (my heart goes out to old Rudolph), but a young reindeer hears a church bell (turns out to be the Washington National Cathedral) and tugs the sleigh thattaway.  The blizzard magically disappears in a nanosecond, and the reindeer and Santa realize they are flying straight into the Capitol building.  They pull with all their might to (successfully) avoid hitting it.

Lots of local places are listed in the book: Capitol Hill, the Mall, Dupont Circle, the National Zoo, Rock Creek Park, Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase, Georgetown. In all these places Santa either zooms over or stops to visit, often taking a bite of a cookie and grabbing a carrot left out for his reindeer.  At the last house, as the sun starts to rise, he gives each reindeer a carrot and they fly home.

It's a cute book if you live here--the illustration of Santa flying over the Capitol building and the White House are fun images for kids to see.  But the story is unoriginal and barely there; it's not some magical tale that you'll get wrapped up in every holiday season.  Instead of that, the author just found a series that would sell well...he's written books about Santa coming to many cities, including: Maryland, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Georgia, Texas, California, Austin, Albuquerque...


P.S.  When my Dad read this review, he commented: "In this post 9/11 world, it's a good thing Santa didn't get shot down."  Good point, Dad.  Good point.  If the author had included that, it'd be a hard one to talk through with kids...

Monday, December 2, 2013

Henri's Scissors by Jeanette Winter

Henri's Scissors by Jeanette Winter

Rating: 4.5 stars

Lorelei has this new thing; she says she first saw it on a show called "Dino Dan."  She puts all of her fingers to her forehead then explodes them outward, with the proper sound as well.  She uses the motion (and corresponding exploding sound) to tell us that her mind is blown.

This book blew her mind a little--in how Matisse helped expand her definition of art, and in his life itself.

Underneath neatly illustrated pictures that correspond right along, Winter writes about Matisse's life.  As a small boy, he watched his mother paint children.  He wanted to paint, too.  He drew pictures in the sand, in his schoolbooks, and when he grew older, alongside his law books.  One winter, sick in bed, his "mother gave him a box of paints, and he painted until he was well."

After that, Henri never stopped painting.  Winter includes a few of his most famous paintings; he looks up at them, happy.
As he fell asleep, his grandchildren looked down on him
and saw his dreams.

When he was an old man, he fell ill.  "So ill he couldn't paint, so ill he couldn't sit up, so ill he could only lie in bed and sleep."  Finally, at long last, he had the energy to sit and paint.  Then one day, he picked up a pair of scissors, and decided that when he cut paper, he was "drawing with scissors!" He cuts himself into a new era as an artist, and he happily covers his walls (and, I imagine, others' walls) with cut-outs.

He is, once again, happy.

The book makes your kids want to
DO ART in a great, new-ish way!
When your child's mind is blown just a little...now that is a good children's book.  I love how cutting out shapes is included in art (Matisse might have done it in slightly more interesting ways than Kiefer currently does...) AND that Matisse tries something new at an old age.  How wonderful that he re-imagines what drawing is when his beard has long been gray!  This is a nicely done art book that teaches and inspires.

One last thing: I love that Matisse took a long pole, tied a piece of chalk to it, and drew the faces of his grandchildren up on the ceiling so that they smiled down on him and saw his dreams.  What a lovely way to fall asleep each night!


Cowboy Christmas by Rob Sanders

Cowboy Christmas by Rob Sanders, illustrated by John Manders

Rating: 4 stars

This book came out last year, got noticed by the international NYTimes as well as the local Washington Family Magazine.  It's pretty cute in a perfectly goofy, nicely focussed-on-the-right-things sort of way: 


It’s the day after Thanksgiving, therefore it is time to start getting in the mood for Christmas.  Cowboy Christmas will definitely help get your children to think about all things Christmas, with a cowboy twist.  They will be decoratin’, singin’, hopin’ they get some gifts…all the traditional stuff, without the “G” at the end.

Cowboy Christmas is a fine first book written by teacher-author Rob Sanders.  At first glance it does not look like a best seller, or one that your kid would be excited about unwrapping.  But there’s more to this book than a simple tale of three cowboys out on the range rather than home for the holidays.  

These cowboys are not happy about being stuck with cows rather than their families, and kick around their disappointment in the dirt.  To cheer themselves up, they do what all kids ought to be able to do by kindergarten: they improvise.  They lasso themselves a cactus tree and use what they have to decorate it.  It looks as you might imagine it to look: pretty silly. 


To read the rest of the review, click here.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

An Otis Christmas by Loren Long

An Otis Christmas by Loren Long

Rating: 5 stars

We are fans of Otis.  We first met him in 2010 in Otis, then continued to fall in love with him in Otis and the Tornado and Otis and the Puppy.  There is even a board book and a stuffed animal available now!  He is a fantastic character; in fact, he's a character with character: a hard worker on his beloved farm, an enthusiastic player of all types of games, and the type of friend who looks out for the little guy, tries to include everyone, and genuinely cares.

So I was pretty psyched to see An Otis Christmas!

I'll warn you, I'm a little biased because Loren Long is one of my favorite illustrators AND...well...see that little foal on the cover?  I'm a sucker for all things horses.  When I was a horse-obsessed, riding-hours-every-afternoon girl, my cure for the uncurable giggles (in Church or in class) was to think of my horse, sick.  It would sober me up immediately.

Loren Long's beautiful illustrations swept me in immediately.  Otis is excited about his favorite time of year: Christmas!  This year, the excitement is bigger than ever because the mare is going to have a baby foal soon.  And this year, he gets something he's not ever received before...a gift!  It's a brand new horn.

"A special tractor needs a special horn," says his beloved farmer.

On Christmas Eve, a painful cry and troubled voices wake up Otis' putt puff puttedy chuff.  The mare is giving birth, but she's in trouble.  (As I saw the mare lying on her side painfully with the farmer and his son looking concerned over her, tears came to my eyes.  At a book!  Geez.  Yes, I cry at Hallmark commercials, too.)

Something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
"We need Doc Baker out here tonight or we'll lose them both!" whispers the farmer.

But there's a blizzard outside.  One of the farmer's helpers already failed to make it down the hill from the farm because of the snow.  Yet, Otis does what he needs to do.  He goes out in the cold, chugs through the snowdrifts, calms himself when he gets lost, and finds the vet's house.  He uses his new horn to wake up the vet, who knows immediately that something is wrong.  They zoom back through the drifts and the night.

"The farmer prayed for a miracle.  All was quiet, until..."

Otis' horn cracks through the stillness and the sadness, and he brings Doc Baker to the horse and her unborn baby.  As that baby is born, with a star on its forehead, the whole farm stands around in wonder and appreciation.  Of a miracle.

This is a great Christmas book--one of the best from 2013 I think.

I love how Otis doesn't just stand by.  He does something.  This resonates clearly with me, an action-based person.  And he does something courageous, dangerous, and necessary--not because someone tells him to, but because he knows in his heart that it's the right thing to do.

See?  I told you he was a good character.

Bravo, Loren Long!  This is another great one.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Little Santa by Jon Agee

Little Santa by Jon Agee

Rating: 3.5 stars

How did Santa become who he is today?

It's a great, fun question for authors to ponder and write about.  My favorite book that answers this question remains Santa From Cincinnati by Judi Barrett--maybe that book is too front-and-center in my mind to fully appreciate the humor in Little Santa...?

Little Santa is the youngest of seven kids whose family lives in the North Pole.  Everyone grumbles about their cold- and snow-filled days, except Santa: his red little suit and smile stand out amidst his family's gray outfits and mopey demeanors.  Little Santa has Big Santa habits: he likes to crawl up the chimney so he can slide down it, for example.

They dislike the North Pole so much that they decide to move.  To Florida.  Santa is the only one who is sad about the upcoming move.

But then a blizzard strikes, and their house is completely buried in snow--all you can see is the chimney. They can't go anywhere, including Florida.  Little Santa heads up the chimney and goes looking for help.

He finds a reindeer (no ordinary reindeer as it can fly) buried in snow, and a whole colony of elves who build him a sleigh and travel back to his house with him to rescue his family.  The family stays a little longer in the North Pole and finds it a nicer place to live with industrious friends like the elves, but...eventually they move to Florida.

But Little Santa stays behind.  And, well, you know the rest of the story.

Oliver by Birgitta Sif

Oliver by Birgitta Sif

Rating: 4 stars

Oliver is a funny little boy.  And by funny, I don't mean funny ha-ha; I mean funny strange.  Just a little, and strange in that way that if you're a grown-up you appreciate how he's cool and different, but when you realize he's a kid you take a quick breath in and hope that his classmates surround him with kindness, not the usual kid cruelness towards anyone and anything a little different.

But, in this book, fears aside, Oliver is different.  And content with that.  "He lived in his own world, happily, with his friends."  Those friends are puppets and stuffed animals that do everything together--go to the library, climb all over the house, attend family parties.  Usually, those animals satisfy him.  But sometimes...they just don't.

And this bums him out (my words, not the author's--hers are more eloquent).
And sometimes, wherever he was, he wanted to fly away.

Rather than mope, he goes outside the next day and plays tennis on his own.  His ball bounces off his funny-strange-looking house and rolled...and bounced...and rolled..and bounced...and rolled away.

He finds it at the feet of a clearly funny (in a good-strange sort of way) girl.

As I look at each other on the two-page spread, I can feel some relief in them both.  Some joy.  Something passes between these two kids' eyes that make you, the reader, realize that the uncomfortableness you've felt the first 10-odd pages of watching Oliver trip awkwardly through childhood alone are wonderfully over.  Now he has a partner.  Who is equally different.  Who gets him and his puppets, whose imagination is also amazing, who goes on all his adventures beside him.

Sif wise writes at the end:

The End
The Beginning

The next day, as he was playing tennis on his own...
Birgitta has not written a best seller here.  This is not going to win a "most popular" award.  But she has written a wholesome gift-of-a-book honoring the quirky child who has difficulty fitting in to the usual "child" mold.  And because of that, I think there will be a lot of kids who find solace in her words, joy in her warm, sweet illustrations, and hope in her story of finding someone who gets them.

And, of course, this book is one that lots of grown-ups would like and appreciate, too. Because we know even more than Oliver and his new funny-strange friend Olivia that finding someone who gets us is the biggest hope inside us all.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Night Santa Got Lost: How NORAD Saved Christmas by Michael Keane

The Night Santa Got Lost: How NORAD Saved Christmas by Michael Keane, illustrated by Michael Garland

Rating: 5 stars


This is a fun holiday book I reviewed last year for Washington Family magazine.  I just saw it last week at Barnes and Noble and was reminded how much I liked it.  It's definitely not for everyone--Santa rapelling and all!--but for those who think that's a fun image, this book is for YOU.  And your family.  Or...maybe just for you!

Here ya go:

Just as every military group has their own color of ribbon to wear or sticker on their members' cars, every group has their own version of the classic The Night Before Christmas.  As a member of the large and varied defense industry--I'm an Army brat, sister of a soldier, a former defense analyst--I am thrilled that this treasure of a book fell into my lap!

The plot is, like most stories, one that has been told before: It's Christmas Eve, and Santa is on his mission to deliver toys when a massive blizzard knocks him and his reindeer off course.  He is stuck for a while; by the time he gets unstuck he's in a time crunch.  With help from his friends, the toys find the right good boys and girls and everyone wakes up to many gifts and many smiles.

The story, like all recycled stories, has its own twist: Our North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is responsible for tracking airplanes, bombers, Air Force One, and oh! Santa and his reindeer, too.  They see the little "blob" that represents Santa on their screens suddenly disappear.  A small, elite military team fast-ropes out of a helicopter and finds a cold Santa and his equally chilly reindeer buried in heaps of snow.

To read the rest, click here.


P.S.  This is the author's first children's book.  On the back flap is a list of other stuff he's written, including The Dictionary of Modern Strategy and Tactics.  Just sort of a funny thing when you compare it with Santa.  I love it!




Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon

Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon

Rating: 5 stars

This book manages to tie together a whole lot of what I love about life (learning about and appreciating another culture) within the basic story line of what Ben loves about life (baseball).

This is a children's book done really, really well.  A boy loves baseball: in America, and in Japan.  As we turn the pages, on the left we see an American baseball scene and on the right we see a Japanese baseball scene.  His American pop pop takes him to watch baseball; his Japanese ji ji takes him to watch yakyu.  In America, Pop-Pop gets him a giant foam hand; in Japan Ji Ji gets him a giant plastic horn.

In America, the pitcher throws a 95-mile-per-hour fastball.
In Japan, the toushu throws a 153-kilometer-per-hour sokkyu.
The book has a wonderful rhythm to it, and the examples are simple and straightforward, all things that most kindergarten-ish-age kids can understand and relate to.  The simple comparing and contrasting that is happening about a game that we kids all know about and most love is fantastic.  This book has been written and/or edited well, and boils down the huge cultural differences between two countries' love of the same sport in such a manageable, impressive way.  And with cute illustrations to boot!

(Speaking of illustrations, chances are that you've seen Aaron Meshon's work before.  He's designed a whole lot of stuff for Crocodile Creek and Mudpuppy, brands we know and love in our house.  Click here to see his stuff.  We have several neat-o puzzles and placemats by Meshon, so the illustrations in this book were familiar to us in a great way.)
Here I am, pointing out...something interesting!

Ben's fifth birthday was yesterday, and this is the book I read to his junior kindergarten class.  They seemed to like it a whole lot, even though it was the item on the schedule that stood between them and cookies.  One of Ben's classmate is Japanese and has been to Japan.  Alas, he's not yet been to a baseball game there--only his big brother has!  Anyway, it was a great book for a group of kids to read and talk about a little...they even broke out in song ("Take Me Out to the Ball Game")!

If I had them on my hands, I'd shake my foam #1 finger around and blow my giant plastic horn to get everyone's attention, then holler out: "You did great, Aaron Meshon!  What a fantastic first children's book!  More, please!"

Monday, November 18, 2013

Elizabeth Leads the Way by Tanya Lee Stone

Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon

Rating: 4 stars

Tanya Lee Stone grabs her young audience immediately:
What would you do
if someone told you
you can't be what you want to be
because you are a girl?
You better believe that it's surprising for a first grader to hear that your voice doesn't matter just because she's a girl!  Wonderfully, Elizabeth was also surprised to hear that when she was young; even more wonderfully, she had the moxie inside her to do something about it.  When she was thirteen, her father died, and everything was taken away from her mother--because without a husband, nothing belonged to her.

This fired up Elizabeth and she decided "right then and there that she could do anything any boy could do."

Her personal life began to look unlike any other woman's: she jumped hurdles while horseback, she rafted across rivers, she studied in college.  She met Henry Stanton, who believed in her strong will and encouraged her to continue to be her after they married.  She raised seven (!) kids.  One day, she and her girlfriends had lunch and got to chatting about all the things that women should be able to do, and all of these things could be available to women if only one thing: women could vote.

Her husband wondered if she had gone too far.

When she was finished,
she looked into the faces of the crowd and waited.
But Elizabeth continued anyway, and stirred up a whole lot of trouble as she attempted to break the (unfair) norm.  And she continued to talk and to work and to stir up trouble (aka affect change) until she did it: she helped women achieve the right to vote.

Altogether, Stone has given us an inspiring book that is done very well for a young audience.

I've been wondering lately if I'm checking out too many nonfiction books.  Am I pushing facts on to Lorelei?  Should I step back a little and let her choose more of her own books?  She's studious enough, maybe I should encourage her humorous side a bit for a change?

And then, last week, I chaperoned a field trip with her class.  It was a long trip into Washington, D.C.--I got to ride the school bus and everything.  The stops planned were: the Old Post Office, Capitol, Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial.

Someone knew someone, and we not only walked around the Capitol but the kids also got a tour of the rotunda.  To be honest, most of the facts that our very young guide shared with our group flew over the kids' heads.  He was hard to hear and it was loud and his speciality was not in captivating a young audience.  But after he spoke he encouraged us to walk around and look at all the statues in the room.  I turned to look at the one nearest us; it was of three women who fought for women's suffrage.

The statue in the rotunda
We had had this book lying around for a while, so I asked Lorelei: "That statue is of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.  Do you know who she is?"

Lorelei: "No.  Oh wait!  Is she the woman from Elizabeth Leads the Way?"

Yup.  And yup, we'll be continuing to have great nonfiction books like these to introduce her to important figures and broaden her general knowledge.

Here are a few of the lessons I hope Lorelei gains from this book, and those like it:

  1. Individuals matter--one person's actions can affect a whole lot of change.
  2. Times were different "back then"--you've got to know what happened before, so you can better appreciate what's happening today.
  3. Women can raise kids and be important outside the home--wait, is that a lesson I am telling myself, or Lorelei...?







Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise by Jan Pinborough

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children by Jan Pinborough, illustrated by Debby Atwell

Rating: 5 stars

In my last post, I wrote about how the new trend in children's books is to write nonfiction, educational tales for kids.  And about how, a lot of times, this produces books that are...well, heavy and "teachy" and not exactly books that inspire your kids to grab and settle into your lap for just one more read.

That is all true.

But the bigger truth (of course) is that there's a time and place--and space--for both types of books.

Yesterday Ben had an appointment in D.C. and, rather than return him to school for a few hours, we spent the rest of the morning together. Ben was pleased as can be: he's the most vocal about loving NOT having to share me.  A typical middle child in this way, he relishes one-on-one time more than Lorelei and Kiefer.  We had fun shopping, sipping chocolate milk (him) and coffee (me), and then spent an hour at the library.

It, along with dozens of new chapter books and a few other picture books, was on the New Books shelf for older kids.  We sat, squished together in our library's comfortable bean bag chairs, reading book after book until it was time for us to get home.

I can't think of a more fitting backdrop for this story.  It is the true tale of Anne Carroll Moore, a woman born with "ideas of her own."  She was born at a time when "children weren't allowed to go inside libraries.  People didn't think reading was very important for children--especially not for girls."  Ben gasped at all of this.  (And I loved that he gasped at all of this.)

While most girls stayed inside and did quiet things, Annie thought otherwise.  She rode on toboggans and bumped in buggies and dreamed of what she'd be one day (she had 7 older brothers who probably helped her see how fun these things were).

While most girls married or became teachers, Annie thought otherwise.  She first studied to be a lawyer, but then heard women could be librarians.  So she packed her bags and moved to Brooklyn to become one.

While most libraries shunned children, Annie thought otherwise. She created space for children's books, took down intimidating SILENCE signs, and let them borrow books they pledged to care for and return.  She worked with publishers and authors and illustrators to produce more books for kids so that the love of reading could start at an early age.

When a new library was being planned, it was none other than Annie who was summoned to create its new Central Children's Room.  She planned everything based on what children would like: small tables and chairs, inviting illustrations on the walls, warm tiles on the floors, and as many volumes as she could purchase. Once open, Annie continued to make the space welcoming--she invited authors to speak, storytellers to come, musicians to perform--and then inspired other libraries in the nation and around the world to create spaces for children to come and blossom among and within and through books.

It ends like this:
Today libraries across America have thousands of books for children.  And thanks to the help of a little girl from Limerick, Maine, who had ideas of her own, any child can choose a book from a library shelf, curl up in a comfortable seat to look through it--and then take it home to read.
For library loving me, with wonderful Ben cuddled up next to me, it was a pretty sweet moment.  Hopefully he'll remember a bit from the book, especially the bit about how one person can make such a big impact.  By starting small, thinking big (and, sometimes, "otherwise" or against the grain), and taking one step at a time.

Jan Pinborough has given us parents and educators SUCH a fantastic book!  Her research is fantastic; the additional author's note in the back gives more information about the norms of the late 19th century and how other librarians were also paramount in creating children's spaces in libraries.


On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole

On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole

Rating: 4 stars

There's this huge trend in children's book: to create lots of nonfiction books that parents and educators can use to teach while kids are turning pages themselves, or on their parents' laps.  I think it's a great trend; there are tons of incredible nonfiction books out there that do this well.

But.

You knew there'd be a but, right?

The books I'm talking about are often too wordy and too "teachy;" they are the type of book parents buy and give their kids or, like me, check them out from the library and just have them lying around in the hopes that facts will be learned through osmosis at the very least.  Books about the environment and living green definitely fall into this trap of trying a little TOO hard.

Sometimes, a simple tale of creating a simple garden can go a lot farther than a book about a woman who helped restore all the redwoods in California (or something like that).

Henry Cole does just that in On Meadowview Street.  Young Caroline moves in, and immediately starts looking for a meadow. Because shouldn't there be one on Meadowview Street?  There is not.  So she makes one.  She starts small, with just a little area of her yard, which she ropes off so her father doesn't mow that area.

The more Caroline and her family worked on their yard,
the more it changed.  It was now a home to many things.
But as flowers start to grow, the area gets larger.  And as more flowers bloom, she gets a tree for shade.  Then a bird comes, and she builds bird houses to put in the tree.  They need something to drink, so she and her family build a little pond.  And pretty soon, one step at a time, she creates a small wildlife preserve in her suburban neighborhood.  Of course, it wonderfully inspires others, and Caroline ends up inspiring many people to start small, in their own yard, to do their part.

It's a really great little go-green book for kids.


Small side note: I met Henry Cole last week.  He's the illustrator of over 100 books, and he's authored a fair number of them, too.  He was a neat, neat guy.  He grew up on a farm not far from where we live--in Purceville--so many of his books are inspired from these simple, rural roots.

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Holly Hobbie

Rating: 5 stars

I love all the versions of The Night Before Christmas.  I keep an eye out for them this time of year; I think it's such a fun example of how you can take a classic text and spin it to make it your own.  (The Three Little Pigs story is another of my favorites to show my kids...) Literature is one big conversation between authors, right?

But first, you've got to have the original, the classic, the one and only poem by Clement C. Moore. The Night Before Christmas.  If your family celebrates Christmas, it's a book you've got to have in the house.

And if you're going to have it in your house, and read it over and over with your kids, year after year, spend the extra dollars to get a beautiful one.  The illustrations by Holly Hobbie are fantastic.  The time she takes to paint each illustration is evident on each page. If you've ever picked up a Toot and Puddle book you will have an idea of what I'm talking about.

There is no artist who can produce warmer illustrations than Holly Hobbie--looking at these pictures is like having a warm cup of tea, toes near a glowing fireplace, all my loved ones nearby.

In the Artist's Note in the back, Hobbie writes that she was at times intimidated by the idea of creating illustrations for such a masterpiece.  She had to "honor the timelessness of the piece while still making it [her] own." It is a slightly more modern version, and one seen through the eyes of an innocent, everything-is-amazing toddler.

I really, really love it.  This is a fantastic book to give--to expecting parents, to your children's grandparents, to your own toddler, to yourself.


P.S.  Here are the versions I've found.  Those with links are, obviously, ones I've reviewed

A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates
The Solider's Night Before Christmas by Trish Holland and Christine Ford
Dinosaurs Night Before Christmas by Anne Muecke
The Night Santa Got Lost: How NORAD Saved Christmas by Michael Keane
The Legend of Papa Noel: A Cajun Christmas Story by Terri Hoover Dunham

Please leave a comment if you know of any others!


Monday, November 11, 2013

Winter is for Snow by Robert Neubecker

Winter is for Snow by Robert Neubecker

Rating: 4 stars

Since it might snow tonight here in the Northern Virginia area (!!), I thought I'd let you know about a cute book by Robert Neubecker about two siblings who have very different views on the wonderful-ness of snow.  I am a huge fan of Neubecker's huge, simple, great WOW! books, and I like this new one a lot.

Brother loves winter, Sister hates it.  They argue in color--no words are wasted on "he says" and "she says," which works well.  Together, the siblings' words form a rhyme:

Winter is for fat snowflakes,
swirling as they blow,
glittering like diamond dust!
Winter is for snow.

Winter! I say No.

The illustrations make me pause.  They are fitting, but I cringe at the thought of my kids choosing Sister's act rather than Brother's attitude.  In one picture she's on her i-something.  In another, she is glued to the television.

Kiefer is up too early (5:29 AM!) so he gets to blog with me.
But finally, Brother gets her outside--he is somehow resistant to her poopy pants behavior.  Then Brother really gets on his winter soapbox and starts waxing poetic about all the neat things about Winter in the Arctic, and Sister starts paying attention to the good and forgetting the bad.

And wouldn't you know it?

Winter is for all these things?
Is it really so?
Winter might not be so bad.
Winter is for SNOW!

It's a cute book, a nice reminder to get outside and enjoy Winter rather than complain about it (my husband can assure you that I need a cattle prod every now and then to do this as I was made for flip-flops more than snow boots).

BUT.  There's a small but to this book.

When I first read it, I had Neubecker's Wow! books in mind, where the two characters are a father and his daughter.  So I thought that the two characters in this book were the same: a father and daughter.  It made sense to me (though when I read through it again I realize it's a pretty short father!) because a big brother would probably NOT put up with all that pouting about winter.  Plus I really loved that the father was pulling his daughter out of the house and playing WITH her--I love any book that has that in it.  Maybe in Neubecker's next book...







Sunday, November 10, 2013

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Rating: 5 stars

Earlier this afternoon was the second official meeting of the Mother-Daughter Book Club, which Lorelei now calls "MDBC."  It's her military roots wanting to make everything an acronym, I think.  Happily, we had another mother and daughter join us!  Her pal and birthday twin Jessica and Jessica's mom Eily joined us to discuss Lorelei's chosen book, Pippi Longstocking.  Eily read the book aloud with Jessica and her older daughter.  I think that was a great choice--it would be a fantastic book to read out loud, together.  Lorelei and I read the book separately, mostly because Lorelei had read the book three times before.  It would be a fine book to read with Ben, who turns 5 in 8 days, and we might read one of the sequels together soon.

Anyway.  On to the book!

In case you've not read it, Pippi is a character in every sense of the word.  Her mother dies when she's little and her father...well, we're not really sure but Pippi thinks he's now the king of the cannibals.  The point is: he's not around.  So Pippi parents herself quite happily, making up rules as she goes (just as we parents do, uses the gold coins she grabbed from her father's boat to buy anything she needs, stays un-lonely with her pets and friends.

After galavanting across the globe for a decade or so, she moves to a new town and befriends her neighbors, Annika and Tommy. The three of them have unbelievable Pippi-led adventures.  For example, they go to the circus, where Pippi jumps atop a horse, gets kicked out, then defeats the strongest man in the world (all to the delight of the crowd).  In most of the chapters, though, it's just Pippi--amusing herself, being fearless towards things that usually scare grown ups.  (This book is really just an excuse to enter the word "moxie" into Lorelei's vocabulary!)

This is a very interesting girl!  A page-turner of a book for sure in the eyes of almost any little reader (or listener).

Eily came up with most of the questions that we talked about today, and there was a good little discussion around the treats and drinks we bought before talking (sugar helps discussion, you know).  I took these eight questions, wrote them on slips of paper, then put them in a glass mason jar, aka The Question Jar:

  1. What are 3 words that describe Pippi?
  2. Do you like Pippi?  Why or why not?
  3. Why do you think Tommy and Annika like to play with Pippi?  Would you like to play with her?
  4. Do you think that Pippi knows she's behaving appropriately at the circus and coffee party?
  5. Would you want to be Pippi for the day, or for forever?  Why or why not?
  6. What would be the best thing about living without parents?  What would be the worst thing?
  7. What was the most realistic thing about the book?  The least realistic?
  8. What would Mrs S (the girls' teacher) think if Pippi showed up to class with you tomorrow?
Question 4 was definitely my favorite.  

Jessica wisely brought up that there are a few boys in her class that don't "make good choices" and they behave inappropriately at times.  This bugs her (as it should!).  Unlike those boys, we agreed that Pippi does NOT understand the rules.  She's oblivious to them, and this frees her to do more and be a little wild, though she doesn't mean to do anything wrong.  I think the whole notion of unsaid rules within cultures--that remain silent but you KNOW they are there and you KNOW when you break them--is so very, very interesting.  If the girls were a little older, I would have happily launched into that, questioning them about how one learns rules in a culture...

This is a great book to read with kids or to kids.  Or maybe these kids can read to us big kids!

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Toys Galore by Peter Stein

Toys Galore by Peter Stein, illustrated by Bob Staake

Rating: 5 stars

This author-illustrator pair is at it again!  First they created Cars Galore, which we own and love and have read approximately 52,486,002 times.  Next, there was Bugs Galore, which I liked even more, mostly because Jonathan and I chose a home for ourselves in the woods so we want to encourage bug-loving rather than bug-fearing.

Now, there's Toys Galore!

Hmm.  I'm not sure how I actually feel about it, because the whole reason Jonathan and I chose this home in the woods was to reduce the number of toys (and, I guess, increase the number of bugs) in our lives.  So I wasn't sure how I would feel about the message behind the book.

But Stein and Staake produce some good stuff, so of course we checked it out.  Literally.
Toys are silly.  Toys are fun.
Who loves toys?  Everyone!
THIS toy has a lot of flair.
What other kinds of toys are there?
It's good to know! And nice to share.
Hmm.  Okay.  So far, so good...  And the illustrations by Bob Staake are, as usual, fun and interesting and very quirky.  I mean, when you've got kids with green and blue faces, smiles beaming as they do silly things...  There is a lot for Kiefer and Ben to look at as I read the words to them.

And the words are good!  It's a long list of all the different kinds of toys: girly, musical, water-related, jump-on, ride-on, slide-down toys...you think of it, Stein's named it.  And then there's a lead up to the best toy of all, and as I'm turning the pages I, of course, am getting curious:
But which toy is the best toy ever?
The one most fun? Most cool and clever?
It can't be found inside a store
Or in a box or in a drawer
Or in your room or on your shelf.
No, this toy's found inside yourself.
It's there--right now a toy SENSATION!
Your very own imagination.
Ah!  I love it!  Yes, this is a book for us: one that includes toys but focuses on the most important one.

Such a good thing to remember as we roll towards the most toy-filled month of them all: December.


Yoo-Hoo, Lady Bug! by Mem Fox

Yoo-Hoo, Lady Bug! by Mem Fox, illustrated by Laura Ljungkvist

Rating: 4 stars

When Lorelei was about 2 1/2, I read a book aimed at parents by Mem Fox called Reading Magic.  In this book, she talks about the huge emotional and intellectual impact reading aloud to children has on their own ability to read and their own intellectual development.  I read that and was completely inspired to share my own love of books with our kids, and to record some of those little adventures with books here on this blog.

It was with Mem Fox's books that I started.  While we vacationed as a family to the beach three and a half years ago, when Lorelei was nearly three, Ben was some months over one, and Kiefer was a conversation yet to be held, I wrote my first blog post about Koala Lou.  It is a delightful book about the love a mother has for her baby, regardless of whether she wins or loses.

Here's my 500th post, and I'm returning to Mem Fox as a way to thank her.  Life always come full circle anyway...

And while I'm paying tribute to Mem Fox, it really is illustrator Laura Ljungkvist who shines in this book.  The text is a simple little rhyme inviting us, the readers--and you'll be hunting right alongside your child--for the lady bug in each picture.  And those pictures are gorgeous invitations to forget everything else going on around you and dive right in to hunt for the silly little ladybug hiding from view.


The pictures are like our playroom at the end of the day: full!  Full of toys, slightly messy, proof that fun has been had.  And Ladybug stays silly til the end, when your kiddo will spot her zooming away in a yellow toy car.



P.S.  Fun fact: Yoo-Hoo, Ladybug was actually written and published as Yoo-Hoo, Ladybird in Fox's native Australia.   Clearly, we Yanks a) get it all wrong and b) demand the book be written for us!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving by Kimberly and James Dean

Rating: 5 stars

Just look at the cover.  Pete's a pilgrim. A tall black hat sits atop his usual cool face, and a stiff white collar is tucked under his chin.  The image makes me crack a smile, even right now at 5:36, early in the morning before my children wake up.

Pete is nervous about being in his class's Thanksgiving play.  He shows and tells, with the help of his classmates, why we celebrate Thanksgiving.  It's actually a really good explanation for small kids!  The lift-the-flaps addition is a nice touch to keep kids more interested in finding out the story behind the holiday.

First, Pete and his feline friends sit in a boat and wait a looooong time to arrive at the New World; after sixty-five days, they spot land.  They build houses, but the first winter is long and hard.  "In the Spring, they had to decide whether to give up and go back to England or keep trying."

Enter the Native Americans, who help them "keep trying."  They show the Pilgrims how to plant food native to the area.  By fall, the Pilgrims have plenty of food, and they want to have a feast to share with their Native American friends to celebrate that friendship.

The last two pages of the book show Pete and his family at their Thanksgiving table, with thought bubbles leading up to what they each are thankful for.  His mom is thankful for her family, Bob is thankful for his skateboard, Pete is thankful for the Pilgrims who came to the New World.

The book ends with a question prompting your child to dip into that important place of gratitude: "What are you thankful for?"

Thanksgiving With Me by Margaret Willey

Thanksgiving With Me by Margaret Willey, illustrated by Lloyd Bloom

Rating: 3.5 stars

Stockings, tree skirts, lights and holiday wrapping paper already overwhelm me.  We are a few steps into November, but stores are already throwing Christmas at me.  What about Thanksgiving? I want to yell in some effort to fight back.

Thanksgiving is a much simpler holiday; no one is making millions on it.  Everyone defines it a little differently; my definition involves family.  Years ago when my parents were first divorced and I was thousands of miles away at Seattle University, I found new ways to avoid returning home for Thanksgiving.  The "in between" holidays, as my sister and I called the years in between our childhood family that was now gone and the families we'd one day make on our own, were going to be tough.  They were but, thankfully, they are over.

Author Margaret Willey's definition of Thanksgiving must be similar to mine.

In Thanksgiving With Me, she writes of a mother and daughter waiting, not so patiently, for the girl's beloved uncles to arrive and take over the house with joyful chaos.  Willey provides a nice rhyme that lets the mother introduce each of her brothers to the reader, and tells of Thanksgivings past where they ate like wolves and lions and bears.  A feast is required for these hungry men!

Best of all, after dinner, the mother promises her daughter that the "kitchen will quake / the oven will roar / the music will flow / from the window to door!"  Her father will play his banjo and they will dance all evening. Their Thanksgiving promises to be delicious, heart-warming, and downright fun.

Finally, the girl looks out her window and her wait is over.  Her uncles--the life of the party--are here!

This is a sweet book about childhood impatience to see loved ones.  It and a few others are helping us get in the mood for the next holiday--we like to take it one holiday at a time around here and at least attempt to live in the moment while Target unpacks their tinsel!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson

A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by John Hendrix

Rating: 4 stars

This is a quirky book I reviewed for Washington Family Magazine, and probably one for the classroom more than personal library, but I like how it illustrates where Charles Dickens came up with some of his most famous characters.


Through nonfiction children’s books, my kids (the older two are 5 ½ and 4) are introduced to important characters from history at a young age.  Their foundation of cultural literacy is slowly but steadily building with the help of books like Deborah Hopkinson’s A Boy Called Dickens.  They will have the ability to converse fluently in idioms, allusions, and content at an earlier age because of early exposure to books, and as many nonfiction books as possible.

Or, like this book, historical fiction.

I never knew until reading Hopkinson’s note at the end of this book that Dickens did not talk about his childhood.   He wanted to forget about it because it was such a horrible time in his life.  While other boys his age attended school, Dickens was forced—by his parents—to work in a blacking factory, which makes polish for gentlemen’s boots.  (I like to keep this in mind when I am at a parenting low during my day with my trio.  Heck, at least I’m not enslaving them to work in a dimly lit factory for eight hours a day!)


To read the rest of the review, please click here

The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

 The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish: Based on a True Story by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Beth Krommes

Rating: 5 stars

If I had an extra few hours this morning, I would research why it is exactly that boys need adventure stories.  I remember in my semesters as an English major discussing the pull towards adventure and self-testing dramas while discussing Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces.  (Click here if you're curious.) But suffice it to say that boys like and need these types of stories.  Girls, too, sure, but boys even more.

Therefore, when my sister-in-law said that her son/my nephew is into explorers and exploration, I took it as my auntish duty to find some good books for him for the holidays.  He's 7.  This is one of those books that I found, purchased, and then read (because that's what I do) with Ben over the course of a few days.  It is fantastic.

When they arrived home,
they told their grandmother their story
of the boat that sank, the long walk over the ice,
the hungry summer.
It is, as the subtitle suggests, based on the true story of the Karluk and its passengers.  After the Karluk lost its job as a whaling boat, Canadian anthropologist Steffenson chartered it to the coast of Alaska, where he  planned to study the people and the plants of the region.  Before he even got to start on that mission, the boat became trapped in the ice 80 miles from land; then, it sank.  Two parties of eight men were sent out towards the island, but never returned.  Finally, a group from the Karluk did reach land, and found two different vessels that both attempted rescue, and the survivors of the Karluk were saved.  (Here is Wikipedia's version of the story.)

How did Martin make this into a children's book, you might wonder?  Steffenson arranged for an Inupiak family to go with him on his expedition.  Wisely, he knew that they would know the area better than he; they would know how to survive...how to hunt and fish, sew clothes and cook.  Within this family were two small girls: Pagnasuk, 8, and Makpii, 2.

You can imagine Ben's surprise at having a Kiefer-aged explorer!

A picture of the survivors, including the two young girls.
Martin does a commendable job of focusing on the exploration but adding in details of the girls, what they might have been doing, or how they probably helped, or what she thinks they would have seen.  It is guesswork...no, I would call it educated conjecture.  And it falls right alongside the true parts of the story very nicely.

This book definitely has all the parts of a really good adventure story: preparations and packing, danger and death, courage and risk, a total crisis and resolution in the form of sympathetic walrus hunters-turned-rescuers.

In addition to the fantastic, well-written story, the illustrations are amazing.  Beth Krommes won the Caldecott for The House in the Night, and she's illustrated a few other children's books.  Her latest book is Swirl by Swirl, written by Joyce Sidman.

It is a very good book, especially for the tricky transition age between picture books and chapter books.


P.S.  The other book I got for my nephew is So You Want to be a World Explorer.


Saturday, November 2, 2013

Land of the Pilgrim's Pride by Callista Gingrich

Land of the Pilgrim's Pride by Callista Gingrich, illustrated by Susan Arciero

Rating: 3 stars

Halloween is barely over--you're probably still sick from eating too much candy--but I thought I'd throw out a book referencing our next holiday...Thanksgiving.  I'm a bit dumbfounded at the crazy-high rating this book gets on Amazon; I found it to be way too deep for the age range (5-8) it supposedly targets.  But...you decide!

Here's my review from Washington Family Magazine:

My children are all too young for serious history lessons.  Especially the youngest, at 19 months.  Like all of you, I still try to inject the older two (5 ½ and 4) with appropriately-sized bits of information whenever possible.  Through walks around the monuments, trips to historical place and dozens of books in between, they’ve picked up an impressive amount of information.  (Does knowing that Abraham Lincoln wore a top hat count?  Sure!)  

I expected Land of the Pilgrims’ Pride to fit alongside these trips of ours—to be nonfiction and educational, but geared to a young crowd.  I was right about nonfiction and educational, but should have paid more attention to the target age group for the book: ages 5 to 8.  There is a lot of information in the book.  My daughter, Lorelei, has an impressive attention span and is an advanced reader, and she soaked it up.  I was able to quiz her comprehension in a not-so-annoying way when today at the Air and Space Museum she overheard a girl tell a guide that she’d spent part of her winter break in Williamsburg.  

“Mom!  Williamsburg!  Like in the book!”  

I gave myself an imaginary gold star and patted her on the back.  (Maybe I should have patted her on the back first, but…that gives you a glimpse into my self-inflated psyche.)


To read the rest of the review--I actually do talk about the book--click here.