Brush of the Gods by Lenore Look

Brush of the Gods by Lenore Look, illustrated by Meilo So

Rating: 5 stars

Ben chose this book as his bedtime book a few nights ago, when we were on a quick weekend trip to the beach. He and Kiefer were sharing a room in our rental place. On twin beds, lying side by side, my boys lay side by side, listening to Lenore Look's absorbing story and looking at Meilo So's amazing artwork. Kiefer was asleep by the end of it, but Ben was spellbound throughout and even let out a quiet "woah" at the ending.

The book tells the legend of Wu Daozi, an Chinese artist that lived in the eighth century. The story begins in his calligraphy class when he was a young boy.  He tries to get the strokes right, but his brush seems to have a mind of its own.  The monk-teacher chides him for not paying attention, not trying hard enough, not making his brush do his brain's bidding. Yet Wu Daozi learned in that classroom that he possessed a gift: the gift of art.

Leaving calligraphy behind, he painted on walls everywhere--at temples, teahouses, and the silk bazaar.  (I guess graffiti laws were different back then?) The scenes were extraordinary, and people stopped to appreciate his artwork and skill. One day, he paints a butterfly that is so life-like that it flutters off the wall, into the air. Daozi is shocked, and is certain that he imagined what just happened.  He paints another butterfly, and it, too, flies away.  Suddenly, all around the city, his incredibly realistic paintings start to disappear.  The horses gallop off, the birds fly away, the men march down the road...

Yet the Emperor commissions Daozi to do the biggest mural of his career (hoping that it won't fly away).  Daozi toils on it for years and years, growing older and older as he paints and paints.  At the unveiling, the painting doesn't disappear.  It remains.  But Daozi...old Daozi walks right into the painting and is never seen again!

Magical for sure.  In just the right way.

Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim

Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim, illustrated by Grace Zong

Rating: 4 stars

At the rate we're going, we're going to have to keep renewing this book until the Chinese New Year! (It is late September as I type this...)  Kiefer will not let me return it--he's pulled it out of the library bag twice already.

It's definitely worth telling you about, and since it's been sitting around our house, I've been reading it almost once a day for the past few weeks.

Natasha Yim wrote a great Chinese twist of Goldylocks and the Three Bears. On Chinese New Year, Goldy Luck's mom asks her to bring a plate of turnip cakes to her next door neighbors. Once there, she tastes the family's congee rice porridge, determines the one in the plastic bowl is just right and gobbles it all up. She feels sleepy so tests the three chairs available, favoring the fun rocking chair--she ends up rocking it to pieces. Oops! She still feels sleepy and wanders to the bedrooms, selecting the third bed, a little futon, and falling fast asleep.

The (panda) bear family come home to this mess and finds the messy intruder fast asleep...until she is startled awake by their presence and runs back home immediately, embarrassed by her behavior. She thinks of her neighbors all day, and returns--with a fresh bowl of congee--to help clean up and celebrate the new year together.

There are lots of lessons to draw from this book, or you can simply enjoy the nice version of a classic story with wonderful illustrations by Grace Zong. Better yet, make the turnip cakes from the recipe in the back of the book and bring one by my house, please!

Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus

Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus

Rating: 5 stars

Arun and his family arrive at Sevagram, his grandfather Gandhi's service village, and go straight to Gandhi's hut. They touch his feet to show respect; he hugs them tightly in return. Gandhi is impressed that the boy had walked the entire way from the train station. "That walk is a test of character. I am impressed." The boy's heart swells.

And so begins Arun's time at Sevagram, a time of simple beds and early mornings, guided meditations and chores, and of wondering if he could live up to the Gandhi name. Wherever the boy came from, it was quite different from where he is now, and the new places frustrates him to no end.  Here, in this place where he is supposed to be still and peaceful, Arun feels fidgety and annoyed all day long. Finally, he gets into a shouting match during a soccer game, and feels singled out for his quickness to anger.

He goes to seek counsel from his grandfather.  Gandhi is busy doing more important things, but he wonderfully shoos away his colleagues and puts away his papers in order to make time and space for his grandson.

"We all feel anger."
"Even you?" I asked.
"Even me," said Grandfather.

"Tell me what has you so upset," he says.  The boy's story spills out, and the fear of never being at peace or living up to the great Gandhi name hangs in the air. Gandhi assures the child that everyone feels anger--even the great Gandhi himself.

Anger is like electricity, Gandhi explains. It can strike like lightening and split a living tree in two. Or it can be channeled and transformative, and it can shed light like a lamp. In this way, anger can illuminate. It can turn darkness into light. We can work to use our anger, instead of letting it use us. The choice lies in each of us: lightning or lamp.

--

There is so much goodness in this book.  The ability to talk about anger, and how it is a natural feeling, present in all of us, is the best part of the book, but there are others. Namely, how he wonders if he'll ever live up to his family's name, how Gandhi makes time for him, and the introduction of a great man like Gandhi.

I did my best to live my life as light.

But the anger part is so important.  Back when I was obsessed with Gandhi in college, I was attracted to his stoicism.  I wished I had what I thought to be his ability to push down all his feelings and feel at peace.  I think because I was young and still very naive and hadn't yet felt a full range of emotions that I thought this was possible. Now, at an older and, yes, wiser period of my life, I realize that pushing emotions down deep and putting on a certain, expected face is a skill to be cast away, not idolized.  Transforming those very human and very deep emotions is trickier and healthier and what I now aim to do. Living with feelings and using my emotions are things I'm actively figuring out how to do, and how to teach my kids.

I could go on and on. But I won't. The book is wonderful, a great read though not an incredibly fun one. How great to read this with your child (or class), then be able to remind yourself (and for your child to remind you) of the choice we all have when we feel anger: lightening or lamp. The book's simple message has the potential to live in my children and your children for decades. And that is a hallmark of a truly wonderful book. A small critique: I wish it were slightly more accessible for kids.  The illustrations, while beautiful and artsy and Caldecott-worthy, are like poetry--gorgeous but difficult to understand, and they could be a turn off for some kids.

Do read the book for yourself--this might be a picture book your child never reads, or doesn't love.  But you should read it. So check it out for you this time around.

Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss

Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu

Rating: 4 stars

There's just so much you can learn through baseball.  I'm talking about sobering American history: what happened to Japanese-Americans during World War II after Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Kenichi Zenimura was born in Japan then immigrated to America when he was eight.  He was small and slight--barely five feet tall and only one hundred pounds!--but fell in love with baseball the first time he saw a ball game.  His parents wanted him to become something more serious and important--a lawyer or doctor, perhaps--but "Zeni" coached and managed and played baseball. He was selected to play with star members of the New York Yankees, and even arranged for Babe Ruth to play in Japan.

But that world collapsed for him when the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.

But in 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, his world changed.

As you probably know, but as your children probably yet do not, Japanese-Americans were sent to camps in the west because the government considered them possible spies.  Zeni was heartbroken not to continue his work in baseball, but since that was what gave him joy and made him feel happy, he brought it to the camp.  Zeni mobilized his friends and family and, with many hours of hard labor, built a true baseball field in the dry Arizona camp.

Most of the book is about the building of the field--Moss writes how Zeni was focused on creating a real ballpark, not just a thrown-together one.  "We have to do this right," he explained.  I love the focus on doing a job well and right, with a focus on excellence.  All of this gets you, and got Zeni and his helpers, a huge sense of pride when the job is done.

Zeni is between Lou Gehrig (second from left)
and Babe Ruth at an exhibition game in Fresno, CA

The mood around camp shifted as the first game approached, as people had something to look forward to and enjoy.  People filled the bleachers and spilled over onto the ground, excited to watch as Zeni, his sons, and their friends simply played ball.  And felt free.

This is a really good book, though definitely for an older reader and best read while in your lap--it is sure to raise a few very good, very serious questions, and hopefully a patient parent or grandparent or teacher can answer those questions.

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!"

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.

Whoever You Are by Mem Fox

Whoever You Are by Mem Fox, illustrated by Leslie Staub

Rating: 5 stars

This book should be given to any former Peace Corps Volunteer when they have a child.  If you are a former Peace Corps Volunteer, just go ahead and buy it.  You'll love it.  My good friend and fellow booklover Beth gave me the board book version when Ben was a baby--and I've read it at least a few times a week since then.

Here's a little snippet from the well-worn pages:

Little one, whoever you are, there are little ones just like you all over the world.
Their smiles are like yours, and they laugh just like you.
Their hurts are like yours, and they cry like you, too.
Whoever they are, wherever they are,
All over the world.

The illustrations are, on the one hand, great--most pages features bright, happy international faces with different landscapes in the background that'd make a Peace Corps Volunteer's heart ache a little for their days spent abroad.  You might have to pull out the ol' scrapbooks.  On the other hand, there is this really strange rastafarian dude who shows up with a gaggle of kids on each spread of pages.  Check him out on the cover.  He's usually flying, with the kids attached to his blue suit.  I totally don't get it.

The poem is soothing and quiet and calming, making it a great bedtime/naptime book.  It's just the right length--a little long if you've got an impatient tyke on your lap that thinks flipping the pages really fast is really fun--but nice once a bit of patience kicks in.

And the message?  That love is the same, and joy is the same for everyone, whoever we are, wherever we are, all over the world.

Yoko Learns to Read by Rosemary Wells

Yoko Learns to Read by Rosemary Wells

Rating: 4.5 stars

I'm not a pushy type of parent.  I do my best to let my kids do things at their own speed.  Okay, I think I am lying a little.  Maybe I do push them to get dressed and put on their shoes faster...yup, I'm definitely pushy there.  But on the bigger things in their little lives, I'm not pushy.  Ben has told me, through his words and actions, that he is definitely NOT ready to participate in the moms-sit-on-the-sidelines gymnastics class, to get into another mom's car, to go to a friend's house without me, to put his head under the water.  That's okay.  He's just 3 1/2...he's got time.

But reading, I'm pushing.  Having Lorelei reading already is such a joy; that independence makes the house a little quieter, a little more peaceful.  And let me assure you: I like peace and quiet.  A lot!  Ben sees her and pretends to read all by himself all day long, and I know he's interested.  I don't think I'm annoying him with getting him to try to read, but since we read together so much, I am always playing reading-type games with him that I hope to motivate him, and build up his confidence.  Maybe he'll do more on his own or just continue to be interested while sitting in my lap.

Here are some of the games we play together:

• Spelling out a few key words, such as "Y-O-K-O" in the book that one of these days I'll get to.
• Looking for "B" on any page, his favorite letter.  (We talk about how letters build words like in this book; he likes anything that requires building.)
• Talking about the sounds of letters while reading.
• Finding books with onomatopoeias so that the words and sounds are alike.
• Hunting for a word like "the" or "Yoko" or "book."
• Letting him finish the rhyme in a book he's not heard before.
• Using the picture to predict what words are in the text.

For Ben, I think the Pete the Cat books will be instrumental in helping him to learn to read.  He's memorized them already, so all he has to do is put the words in his head together with the words on the pages.  And, like Rosemary Wells explains in this sweet book, Ben needs to realize that words are like the faces of people--each one is different, each one is memorable.

In Yoko Learns to Read, little Yoko and her mom read the three books they have at home together in Japanese, but Yoko's knowledge of English words is limited.  At school her teacher creates a huge tree; students earn a leaf for the page when they can read a book by themselves.  Her friends quickly amass leaves because they can read already, and Yoko wants to get more, too.  With the help of more books from the library and her teacher's help in connecting the words she knows to words in the books, Yoko suddenly has that "a-ha!" moment and gets it.  She earns a new leaf, catches up with her friends, and starts to teach her mother how to read in English.

Sprinkled through this book are drawings that include beautiful Japanese paper that are cut to fit the cats' attire--kimonos for the mother, and more American clothes for Yoko.  A different piece of paper frames each picture on each page.  Unfortunately, it definitely is a more "girl-ish" book, not that I like to divide books into girl-ish ones and boy-ish ones...  But I think a boy is less likely to be drawn into the pictures and story.  (We still read it a few times together, though.)

One of the main reasons I like this book for Ben is that it teaches a way to read that is more realistic and the opposite of phonics.  Rather than sound out words and stumble upon a million exceptions like "PH," kids can and should memorize words just as children in Asia memorize characters.  All kids can do it, expectations are just a little different sometimes.  It's a journey, and I'm not sure how far along Ben is on his own path to reading.  Time will tell.

But I sure would love for his "a-ha!" moment to come before our long road trip to the beach in August...

Round Is A Mooncake: A Book of Shapes by Roseanne Thong, illustrated by Grace Lin

Round Is A Mooncake: A Book of Shapes by Roseanne Thong, illustrated by Grace Lin

Rating: 3 stars

I couldn't pass up a book that was not just about shapes but also about China.  As an always-student of Asia--especially Southeast Asia--I'm interested myself and eager to open up that part of the world to my kids.  Thankfully diversity exists where we live, and Lorelei had two Chinese students and one Indian student in her class this past year.  So she likes to read about their cultures and explore it.  We're not ready to jump on a plane and head into Asia, so...books it is.

"Rectangles are inking stones /
Paintbrush racks and mobile phones"

In staying with the shape theme, we picked this book up and I like it.  It's another to add to the mix of getting my kids to look around them and notice the shapes of things.  There are just basic shapes in here--no parallelograms or hexagons.  And the things that take shape on the pages are all interesting, question-provoking things: rice bowl, cups of jasmine tea, name chops, tofu, radish cakes, dim sum, inking stones, money envelopes to name a few.

The rhyme is just okay for me--it's not exactly the selling point of the book.  The caption under the picture is a good example of this.  It's fine, but the inclusion of modern cell phones right alongside traditional inking stones seems odd to me.  Grace Lin's pictures adequately illustrates the words and shapes (we have seen some of Grace Lin's artwork before and I like it elsewhere more than here).  The best part of the book for me is definitely the connection to China and therefore Asia. Now I'm in the mood for some noodles...

The Story of Noodles by Ying Chang Compestine

The Story of Noodles by Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by Yong Sheng Xuan

Rating: 4 stars

Confession: The only reason I checked this book out was to continue my current campaign for Lorelei to love noodles.

Sadly, she still just tolerates them, eating the exact number, and no more, to get past my dinner requirements.  Grrr.  At least she tries them.  This week we've tired yet ANOTHER type of pasta, selected by her at the grocery store yesterday.  That means that in our pantry we've got: spaghetti, shell-like orecchiette, bow-tie farfalle, spinach penne, colorful corkscrew fusilli, and now some colorful tubular variety.  This quest has involved several books including Strega Nona, but hasn't given me the result I want.

Sigh.

At least I found a really interesting book in the process.  This book is about the origin of noodles, which is China, not Lorelei's (and beloved Grammy's) beloved Italy.  A family in Beijing is going to make the same old delicious dumpling dish for a cooking contest until the mother leaves the boys in charge of the kitchen.  (My grandmother, who also had three boys, would have known better.)  Of course, they make a mess of things and end up making long sheets of rice, which they cut into long strips.  They enter the contest and, because the emperor had never tasted anything like that before, they win.

What I love most about the book is related to my quest.  The three boys have three different ways of eating noodles, something that I think is great because I'm always saying that there's rarely only one way to do anything.  (Sometimes Lorelei wants Ben to do something EXACTLY as she wants.)  First, there's "eating a drumstick," which involves rolling some of the noodles around the tip of his chopsticks and stuffing it into your mouth.  second, there's "sucking a worm," which means you put one end of the noodle in your mouth and suck/slurp like crazy until the whole thing is in your mouth.  Third, there's "cutting the grass," which allows you to stuff noodles in your mouth and bite off all the strands hanging out of your mouth with your teeth.  So fun!  As the messiest eaters in the family, Ben and I would definitely be happy to try all of these.

(By the way, if you've not gotten cheater chopsticks for your kid, they are so fun!  We have these.  Lorelei is a pro, though they frustrate Ben a bit.)

So this is a good book for a bunch of different reasons.  There's a whole other culture to explore (and the illustrations are definitely Asian in the best way), the origin of the best carbohydrate known to man, and techniques to eat those wonderful carbs.  We look forward to reading Compestine's other books--after checking out this book, I realized she wrote The Runaway Wok, a recent book that we really like.