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!"

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...?

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!

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...

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.

Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges

Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges

Rating: 5 stars

I'm not a volunteer-for-everything sort of mom.  I have three kids in two different schools and one still home with me.  So, like all of you, my time is limited.  I must choose wisely.  Usually my choices involve Ben's preschool.  It is close, familiar, laid-back, and very known.

But last year at my first volunteer gig in Lorelei's class, I was still trying to figure out the names of her classmates.  I volunteered at the End-of-the-Year party.  Holy mommy demerits, Batman.  I was embarrassed.  I thought: Next year.  Next year, I'll be better.  And I have been!  I actually know, like, SIX of her classmates.  Or a few more.

After hearing that I have a children's book blog, Lorelei's bright, young teacher suggested I be in charge of the Scholastic book orders.  I said yes.  Every month I select a few books to highlight to parent as especially worth purchasing.  Perfect: I have yet another excuse to find a bunch of children's books!

Ruby's Wish was one of my selections for November.  The story is based in once-upon-a-time China in a magnificent home of a wealthy family.  An old man went to California for the Gold Rush, and returns to China very rich.  He promptly marries many wives and, slightly less promptly, has many children.  Some years later, those children have children, so his house is filled with many grandchildren.

Ruby is one of them.

So at one time, the house was filled with the shrieks
and laughter of over one hundred children.

Because he has so many grandchildren, the man hires a teacher and sets up a school in his own house.  Unlike outside his house gates, girls can study in his home school.  And Ruby does.  She is the brightest student: the most diligent, the most earnest, the most enthusiastic.  She has to do twice as much as the boys--while they only have schooling, the granddaughters in the house must also learn to cook and keep the house and sew.

One by one, the girls stop going to the classes.  All except Ruby.  She finally admits to her grandfather that she wants to go to university like the boys more than get married, like the girls.

On New Year's Day, all the grandchildren receive a thick red packet full of money.  But Ruby's red envelope is filled with something else: a letter from a university, saying that they would be proud to accept Ruby as one of their first female students.

It's a true story--Ruby is the author's grandmother.

This is children's nonfiction done really, really well.  The history and cultural differences are mind-stretching for a young American in a really, really good way.  There are many conversations that will easily spark from this story from a distinctly different place.

The past few weeks I've been struck by gratitude in a huge way.  And this book definitely provides an opportunity for kids like Lorelei to be oh-so-freaking grateful for the primo education they are receiving. And a reminder to appreciate that schooling by working hard and being enthusiastic and savoring it as much as a sweet six year old can.


P.S.  I just can't find a way to work into my text the beautiful illustrations by Sophie Blackall...a lame postscript will have to suffice.  We've not come across her work before but I'm about to order a few more books illustrated by her from the library.  She does this book, this story such justice with her soft but strong illustrations!  I am very impressed.

The Boy Who Wouldn't Share by Mike Reiss

The Boy Who Wouldn't Share by Mike Reiss, illustrated by David Catrow

Rating: 4 stars

Last night my dear Ben lost his bedtime show.  Again.  In our house, if a child gets three strikes during the day, they lose a show.  It happens quite a bit with young Ben, who has a difficult time controlling his eruption-like reaction when something doesn't go his way.  He's working on it, he's working on it... And, in the meantime, we sit and read books while the other kids watch a show.

So, his loss is definitely my gain.  I mean, I should have been cleaning up, but...who is going to pass up a boy in a lap with a big pile of books?  Not me.

We read four books last night together.  The Boy Who Wouldn't Share was one of them.  The rhyme itself is great: "Edward was a frightful boy / who wouldn't share a single toy. / Even with his sister, Claire, / Edward simply would not share."

The illustrations themselves are even better.  The wickedly funny, exaggerated stuff that comes from David Catrow's Crayolas are so great.  (Here are all the books I've reviewed with his illustrations.)  They fit well here; he's given Douglas a permanently sourpuss face with pouty eyes that magically seem to know when Claire is getting close to any of his toys.

But the story itself is really good, too.  Claire tries again and again to borrow something. She wants so desperately to play with her big brother!  Finally she sits on the outskirts looking in at Edward, who has somehow managed to bury himself--happily--with his toys.

Then their mom brings up fudge.  And he can't reach it.  So delighted Claire receives the whole plate.

With the whiff of dessert in the air, Douglas knows he's been "made bad choices."  The deep, crabby scowl lifts off of Douglas's face as he encourages her to take, hold, hug his toys.  He apologizes, sincerely. "And Claire who did not hold a grudge, / helped him out and gave him fudge."

In wonderful child-fashion, she forgives Douglas quickly and completely.  Claire knows she needs to forgive him.  She knows she should share.  She knows he deserves another chance to make better choices.

And so she does.

Bully by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Bully by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Rating: 5 stars

This book hit home for me on the first page.  But I'll get back to that.

This is a simple book with a strong message--one that should be read to preschool and elementary schools a whole heck of a lot.  Three animals innocently ask one young bull, "Wanna play?"

He answers with a mean, "NO!"  So mean that the rabbit hops backwards, the chicken's eyes widen, and the turtle hides.  On each of the next few pages, he insults each of them.  "CHICKEN!" he yells at Chicken.  "SLOW POKE!" he yells at Turtle. "PIG!" he yells at Pig.

In each consecutive picture, Bully gets bigger and bigger and BIGGER.  The other animals get smaller, smaller, and smaller.  Finally, a fearless goat stands up to the enormous bully.  "BUTT OUT!" the goat yells up to him.  "BULLY!"

The words hit him hard, and he is immediately sorry.  He is transformed back into a normal-sized bull, back to where the three animals had asked him to play.  He squeaks out, with more than a bit of humility, "Wanna play?"

As there's not much of a delay with forgiveness in childhood, they say, "Okay!" and walk off together.

It's a good book; I don't need to point out the reason why.

Oh?  The first page?  It shows the root of the problem, where this little bull gets his training:

Parenting.  For better or for worse, it all starts with parenting.  So let us be good to our kids.  Let's set a good example.  We don't need to be perfect; let's let kind words be the majority of what comes out of our mouths.

Dog Loves Counting by Louise Yates

Dog Loves Counting by Louise Yates

Rating: 4 stars

Another review from Washington Family Magazine:

Here is Louise Yates' third book with the sweet character Dog showing us what he loves.  We fell in love with him in Dog Loves Books a short while ago.  Once again in Dog Loves Counting, Dogs problem lies with books: He loves them so much that he cannot stop reading them.  While he should be sleeping, Dog keeps turning pages.  Finally, he puts his last book on the closest stack next to him and tries to fall asleep.  No luck.  "He tried counting sheep, but they weren't helping at all."

So, he reaches for a book.  What else would a book lover do in this or any situation?  In A Big Book of Curious Creatures and Their Habitats, he finds other creatures he can count.

Dog begins, of course, with One.  He first finds an egg that magically and wonderfully begins to hatch. It is a little baby dodo, which looks odd and loveble all at the same time as it looks up to dog as if asking, "What's next?"  Dog carefully takes him by the hand -- or wing -- and together, Number One and Number Two walk into Dog's counting adventure.

To read the rest of the review, please click here.

The House that George Built by Suzanne Slade

The House that George Built by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Rebecca Bond

Rating: 5 stars

Here's what you get when you take me to an adult dinner party: I find a little corner and a fellow bibliophile and discuss children's books for half the night.  Thank you, husband, for putting up with such behavior!  (And, in my defense, it was the parent social for Ben's junior kindergarten class, held right around the time of the annual book fair, and I was talking with the woman who ordered most of the books...)

One of the books the school administer and I talked about was The House that George Built by Suzanne Slade.  I liked the book a lot, but when the kids and I read it we weren't sure if the house of the title was Mount Vernon or the White House.  We visited both this summer, so I was happy they had a frame of reference for each house, but they knew Washington was the only President NOT to live in the White House.  The book kept us guessing--the plans that Washington is looking at in an early illustration resemble the White House more, but on the next page the plot of land he surveys sure looks like the area surrounding Mount Vernon.  Hmm.  But, a few pages later, we knew: the White House.

This is the story of how the White House was built.  We started liking the book a whole lot.

It is two stories in one.  Similar to the G is for Gold Medal alphabet book series, this book has both a cumulative poem and a longer, more informative, nonfiction-y story.  It is, not to point out the obvious, a good spin of The House that Jack Built. A sample of the cumulative rhyme:

This is the brick,
that was baked strong and thick,
that was laid on the foundation,
that was dug for our nation,
that held the design,
that would stand for all time,
that was drawn for the lot,
that great, scenic spot,
for the President's House that George built.

It is fine stuff.  It works really, really well--while the illustrations show the building of a grand house, Suzanne Slade builds her poem.

But the background stuff--the history in the book--makes it even more valuable for teachers and parents alike.  Each page is filled with interesting facts; here are some things I learned from the book:

• The site on which the White House now resides was originally part of Maryland.
• Instead of dragging thousands of bricks to the site, two kilns were built on site and used to bake bricks from the clay and sand on the building site.
• Stone was limited; instead of importing some from England (unthinkable!) he changed the design from three stories to two to keep the stone American-made.
• (In the notes in the back) Obama and his wife planted a vegetable garden with a whole lot of vegetables, but no beets--Obama doesn't like beets.  (What?! Kiefer and I are big fans of them!)

Please feel free to stop here if you're just wondering whether or not you should buy the book (you should!).  I have to add a few more historical notes because I found them way too fascinating to NOT share with those interested, including my pal Paula.

Paula, an irreplaceable force at Ben's school, told me that she heard the book was inaccurate.  She said, clearly, that L'Enfant designed the White House and James Hoban oversaw the building of it.  This was not the story in the book!  Also, most of the interior was done under John Adams--this much in the book is true to Paula's story, as the picture of a much dismayed Abigail as she moves into a shell of a mansion shows.

In the Author's Note, Slade writes that Washington invited French-born architect Pierre-Charles L'Enfant to draw up plans for the presidential palace.  But his design was too elaborate and too expensive, so he opened a design contest to the public.  He received nine entries.  One was from a man with the fake name "AZ."  Over 100 years later, people finally uncovered facts that solved the mystery of AZ's true identity: Thomas Jefferson.  Washington selected the design by James Hoban, an Irish immigrant.  The two men worked together to improve Hoban's original design.

This book inspires me to learn even more about this fantastic, important historic building.  I definitely think we'll have to take the kids down to the White House soon, though I'll have to explain once again why it is that we can't stroll up to the door to meet President Obama.

I Like Old Clothes! by Mary Ann Hoberman

I Like Old Clothes! by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Patrice Barton

Rating: 4 stars

I reviewed this book for Washington Family Magazine earlier this year.  I love the story--these kids find joy in finding clothes that have had a life before them. Here's my review:

Confession: When I met my husband in 2003, I was still sporting items from the “free box” from Peace Corps Thailand, a box that held clothes cast away from volunteers heading back home.  They probably realized that, after hand washing the said item for two years and three months, it was probably better left in a third world country.  Me?  I took them back to the States and continued to wear them.

So this book, I Like Old Clothes, is right up my alley!  

The story has a great rhythm to it, a soft dance of simple words to share a good message:

When somebody grows / And gives me her clothes.I don’t say, “What those?” / And turn up my noseThe way some people do / When their clothes aren’t new.I like old clothes. / I really do.Clothes with a history, / Clothes with a mystery,Sweaters and shirts / That are brother and sisterly

To read the rest of the review, please click here.

The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

Rating: 5 stars

This book is getting a whole lotta hype.

And for good reason.  It is super clever, makes you (yes, you--even grown ups) giggle, and has applaud-worthy illustrations.  Seriously, every time I page through it I just want to put the book down and clap. Bravo, Drew Daywalt!  Bravo, Oliver Jeffers!  After Rosie Revere, Engineer, this is my second favorite book of 2013.

Here's the fun story: A boy named Duncan reaches for his dependable box of crayons, but instead of the box he finds a stack of letters.  Each letter is written by a different color.  Each one tells his or her own story, told in that crayon's unique "voice."

"Dear Duncan, Green Crayon here. I like my work..."

Take Gray, for example. He is tired of being used for the BIGGEST animals on the planet, or, in this case, on the paper.  Rhinos, elephants, hippos, humpback whales...they really use him up.  He asks Duncan: Why not color baby penguins or small pebbles?  These would give Gray a break, while still including him in the picture.

Or take Lorelei's favorite color and Duncan's least favorite color, pink.  Pink is tired of being looked over.  She challenges Duncan to use her to color the occasional dinosaur or monster or cowboy PINK.  That would be fun and different!  (She also compliments Duncan's sister on her superb coloring between the lines when Duncan's sister borrowed her to color in an princess.)

"When Duncan shows his teacher his new picture,
he gave him an A for coloring..."

The story is fantastic--creative and cool and fun.  But the illustrations are so spot-on.  Oliver Jeffers manages to create doodles that look sort of kid-drawn but a little too neat and clever to be kid-drawn.  But he uses those crayons in the most inspiring ways--it's hard not to grab a new box of crayons and start scribbling.  (Since reading this, we often grab a crayon and ask it, "What do you want to draw today?" and pretend the crayon itself is drawing the picture.)

The book ends with Duncan incorporating ALL the colors into one fantastic illustration-coloring. All of the colors are included, their requests have been granted, even Black's desire for a black rainbow once in a while.  Wonderfully silly, right?

I've got to say it again: Bravo, Drew Daywalt!  Bravo, Oliver Jeffers!  Wonderful job.

The Ghost's Dinner by Jacques Duquennoy

The Ghost's Dinner by Jacques Duquennoy

Rating: 5 stars

This is my favorite Halloween book.  Hands-down!  Hmm...did I just say that about Room on the Broom?  Feel free to forget about that...

This book is just the right amount of spooky and funny.  The best part is that the ghosts are scared--how fun is that?  Scared ghosts?  See, you're probably cracking up already.  That's the sign of a good book.

Okay, so here's the story: Henry the ghost invites his ghost buddies over for a dinner party.  They start with juices of all different flavors--and colors.  Because they are transparent, they turn the color of the juice they drink.  My trio thought that was pretty funny--even Kiefer was chuckling at the idea of drinking spinach juice and turning green.  Pumpkin soup makes them turn orange, salmon makes them turn pink, cheese makes them turn all swiss cheesy.

"Look at us!  We're so colorful!"

The special dessert makes them disappear, and the clean-up of dinner is a silly montage of dishes seemingly carrying, washing, and drying themselves.  Hot chocolate makes them all reappear again, and they drink another glass of milk to turn a normal white.

Then Henry plays a trick on his guests--he spooks those ghosts by dressing up and shouting, "BOO!"

A perfect ending to a perfectly silly Halloween book.  Better buy this one--or you'll be on the waiting list at your library until mid-November.

Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird by Stephanie Spinner

Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird by Stephanie Spinner, illustrated by Meilo So

Rating: 5 stars

This is a great, great, GREAT nonfiction book about Irene Pepperberg, a female scientist who a leading thinker on animal intelligence.  Here's the review I wrote up for Washington Family Magazine:

Without a doubt, this is one of the best nonfiction children's books I've ever read--and, with two big readers and one children's book blog, I read heaps of children's books.  So that's sayin' somethin'.

Let me tell you about the book, and then I'll tell you why you should buy it for your child or classroom, and make it your gift of choice for any 5- or 6-year old's birthday.

Here's the real Alex, working his magic

Stephanie Spinner simply tells the story of the unique friendship of Irene Pepperberg, a graduate student of biology at Purdue University, and Alex (short for Avian Learning Experiment), the African grey parrot she purchased and studied.  Their relationship began in 1977 when most people thought animals weren't very smart--especially animals with small brains, like birds.  Irene soon taught Alex the names and shapes and how to count; Alex picked up how to say his favorite words on his own.

Over the years, Irene wrote about Alex and all of the things that he could do, but it wasn't until Alex was on TV that he started to get noticed.  His personality helped--he would bob his head and sway to the music, he would stick his head in a mug and make silly noises and he'd stretch out his neck and say, "You tickle!" when he wanted to be tickled.  "Alex liked being tickled so much that his face would turn pink with pleasure."  (How cute is that?!)

To read the rest of the review, please click here.