Month: May 2015

Everybody Sleeps (But Not Fred) by Josh Schneider

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Clarion Books

Summary:  “Every kind of bird and beast/in the West and in the East/way up high and way down deep/everybody has to sleep.  But not Fred.  Fred has a to-do list you wouldn’t believe.”  On every page, animals are sleepily flossing, brushing, and getting ready to hit the sack.  Only Fred, blue-striped pj’s notwithstanding, is raring to go.  He breaks the world shouting record and tests his horn collection.  He practices karate chops and hunts the legendary Sasquatch.  He is, in other words, every parent’s worst bedtime nightmare.  Finally, however, Fred goes missing, and is found snuggled against a sheep, thumb in his mouth, asleep at last.  The last page warns the reader to close the book softly lest Fred wake up again.

Pros:  This is a great anti-bedtime story.  Kids will love the pictures of the animals as they get ready for bed and shake their heads at Fred’s antics.

Cons:  I experienced horrific flashbacks from earlier parenting days.

 

Families by Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly

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Published by Holiday House

Summary:  A photographic celebration of every kind of family imaginable: big, small, multi-racial, two moms, two dads, single parents, extended family.  Each page has a single sentence with several photos illustrating the kind of family described.  The last few pages tell what families do (e.g., help each other, love one another), and finishes with a question, “There are many different kinds of families.  What about yours?”  Recommended for ages 3 and up.

Pros:  This is truly a celebration of family.  Even the dogs in the pictures are smiling.  The first page says that the creators hope the book will lead children and their parents to engage in conversation about their families, and this would indeed be the perfect vehicle for that.

Cons:  People objecting to certain family configurations will probably not want to share this book with their kids.

Trapped! A Whale’s Rescue by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Wendell Minor

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Published by Charlesbridge

Summary:  A humpback whale is traveling from the Arctic along the California coast, doing all the beautiful and majestic things humpback whales do, when she gets entangled in the ropes attached to crab traps.  Divers work to rescue her, mindful of potentially deadly dangers.  Slowly and carefully, they free her tail and fins, until she is ready to swim away.  She seems to thank them before she makes one last dive and is on her way.  Recommended for preschool to grade 2, although older kids could enjoy this.

Pros:  The spare, poetic text is beautifully illuminated by Wendell Minor’s amazing paintings.  There is plenty of information about whales as well as an exciting rescue story.  The end notes tell a more complete story of the rescue, provide more information about humpback whales, and have a wealth of resources if the reader wants to learn more.

Cons:  The books in the resources section are all several years old.

Sprout Street Neighbors: Five Stories by Anna Alter

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Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Summary:  Henry, Violet, Emma, Wilbur, and Fernando (a mouse, chicken, squirrel, cat, and rabbit) are neighbors in their apartment building.  Each one stars in one of the stories.  Henry’s nap is disturbed by Emma’s acorn storage; Emma is determined to have the best birthday party ever; Fernando learns to express himself by dancing; Violet survives a flood; and Wilbur wants to save a community garden.  Together they learn to solve their problems and be good neighbors to one another.  Recommended for ages 6-9.

Pros:  This is a cozy book, just right for readers who are moving into chapter books.  Each chapter stands alone and has plenty of illustrations.

Cons:  The chapters are a bit long for beginners.

The Tapper Twins Go to War (With Each Other) by Geoff Rodkey

~ Janet Dawson ~ 2 Comments

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Summary:  It starts, not surprisingly, with a fart.  Reese accuses his twin sister Claudia in front of a bunch of sixth graders, and Claudia decides she wants revenge.  So she puts a dead fish in his backpack.  War between the siblings is declared, and the battles escalate.  The oral history of this conflict has been compiled by Claudia, and is told mostly as short snippets alternating between Reese and Claudia, with occasional additions from other characters.  Texts between the parents appear in almost every chapter, as do sketches and photographs.  In the end, the twins learn a thing or two about revenge, cyberbullying, and each other.  Recommended for grades 3-6.

Pros:  Written by the screenwriter of Daddy Day Care and RV, this book has its finger squarely on the pulse of contemporary eleven-year-olds.  My expectations were low, but I was pleasantly surprised by both the story and the characters.  The most reluctant reader may be enticed by this book, and fans will be happy to see that the first chapter of the sequel is included at the end.

Cons:  Great literature?  Let’s just say this book won’t be on the short list for the Newbery Medal.

Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King by Bonnie Christensen

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Henry Holt

Summary:  This picture book biography focuses on Elvis Presley’s early years, growing up in extreme poverty in the south.  From a very young age, Elvis was drawn to music, and he was surrounded by a wide range of influences.  Even though his town was segregated by race and class, the music of jazz, blues, and gospel was everywhere.  When Elvis was 13, his family moved from Mississippi to Memphis, and he learned to play guitar.  A few years later, he managed to get a recording session with Sun Records.  It was turning into a disaster, when Elvis started singing “That’s All Right”, a Delta blues song he infused with country and gospel.  That song became a hit, and Elvis Presley was on his way.

Pros:  Kids today may see Elvis Presley as something of a joke, and this story really humanizes him, portraying him sympathetically as a nervous kid who loved music.

Cons:  Elvis looks a lot better in these illustrations than he did when I saw him in the candy aisle at Walmart last week.

The Question of Miracles by Elana K. Arnold

~ Janet Dawson ~ 2 Comments

Published by HMH Books for Young Readers

Summary:  Sixth-grader Iris is miserable about her family’s move from sunny California to rainy Corvallis, Oregon.  Her father has decided to turn their new house into a self-sustaining “homestead”, her mother is wrapped up in her new job, and Iris is having trouble making friends.  Worst of all, she is still grieving for her best friend Sarah, whose death was the impetus for the move.  Then Iris meets Boris, a Magic-playing, self-centered classmate with no table manners, who unexpectedly turns out to be a friend.  Even more unexpectedly, she finds out that his death-defying birth was a miracle, in the process of being documented by the Vatican.  If miracles are possible for Boris, might there be a miracle that can help her connect with Sarah again?  Recommended for grades 4-6.

Pros:  This book delves right into the big questions about God, life after death, and who gets a miracle in life.  It is a quiet, reflective book that could engender a lot of discussion.

Cons: I kept waiting for something big to happen.  It never did.

How to Draw a Dragon by Doug Florian

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Published by Beach Lane Books

Summary:  “Drawing a dragon isn’t hard/Drag a dragon to your yard.”  So begins this rhyming treatise on how to draw every part of a dragon, from its bumpy head to its claws that also like to draw.  Each rhyming couplet is illustrated with what looks like a child’s drawing of a kid sketching a dragon, often with the dragon’s assistance.  Recommended for ages 4-8.

Pros:  The rhyme is catch and funny, but the pictures are what make this book such a winner.  Kids will want to try their hands at sketching a dragon after reading this.

Cons:  Upon reaching the last page, you may be unable to resist the urge to draw a dragon.

Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin solved a Mystery That Baffled All of France by Mara Rockliff illustrated by Iacopo Bruno

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Candlewick

Summary:  When Benjamin Franklin was in France to get support for the American Revolution, he became intrigued by the new process of mesmerization.  An Austrian doctor named Franz Mesmer was wowing Europeans with his new technique, which he claimed could people into a suggestive trance.  He would then tell them what to do, which was usually healing themselves of diseases.  Franklin arranged to have a demonstration with Mesmer’s assistant.  Using the scientific method, Ben blindfolded patients and was able to prove that their reactions to “mesmerization” were actually caused by their own minds.  Franklin reported his findings to the King of France, and soon after, Mesmer left the country.  Recommended for grades 2-5.

Pros:  Not only is this book packed with information about Benjamin Franklin, 18th-century science, and the scientific method, but it is presented in a way that is both interesting and aesthetically pleasing.  The text is in different fonts, with words of varying sizes, and occasional sidebars to explain related concepts.  The illustrations are both beautiful and amusing.

Cons:  The author’s note, while fascinating, was a bit overlong for the average 21st-century attention span.

Meet the Dullards by Sara Pennypacker and Daniel Salmieri

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Published by Balzer and Bray

Summary:  The Dullards enjoy such activities as staring at their unplugged TV and watching the paint dry (a mix of beige and gray).  When they catch their children reading books about the circus, they decide it’s time to move to a duller neighborhood.  But the new place has all kinds of pitfalls, like a neighbor who brings an applesauce cake made with chunky applesauce and uses sentences that end in exclamation marks.  When they discover their children playing circus outside, it’s time to pack up and move back again.  That night, the parents rest easy in their old boring house while the children run away to the circus that’s in town.

Pros:  The humor starts on the cover (“Extra boring edition!”) and continues on every page.  The cartoon-like illustrations perfectly render what the dullest family in the world would look like.

Cons:  Somehow, I was expecting more of a twist at the end.  It was, honestly, a bit dull.