Month: February 2021

Too Small Tola by Atinuke, illustrated by Onyinye Iwu (Released March 2)

~ Janet Dawson ~ 4 Comments

Published by Candlewick

Image result for too small tola
Image result for too small tola

Summary:  Tola is the youngest of three children living with their grandmother in Lagos, Nigeria.  Because of her size and place in the family, Tola is often told she is too small and works hard to prove otherwise.  In the first story, she and Grandmommy go to the market and struggle to carry home all their purchases.  Next, Tola helps her siblings get water when the water in the apartment isn’t working.  She is almost thwarted by some older boys until some kind neighbors turn the tables on the bullies.  Finally, Tola saves her friend the tailor when he breaks his leg.  Tola has a talent with numbers, and she and her older brother bike all over Lagos to measure people for their new Easter and Eid outfits.  Tola is rewarded by the tailor with the beautiful ruffled dress that she has dreamed about.  96 pages; grades 2-4.

Pros:  These tales are completely charming, both the stories and the illustrations.  Tola and her family live in pretty impoverished circumstances, in a two-room apartment with unreliable water and electricity that is paid for by a father working in England.  But her circumstances are described in a very matter-of-fact way, with a much greater emphasis on the love and caring of Tola’s family and community.

Cons:  I was really hoping for a bit of backmatter on Lagos and Nigeria–at least a map.

I happened to listen to a TED talk recently that is the perfect complement to this book. If you have fifteen minutes, listen to The Danger of a Single Story by author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who grew up in Lagos.

Katie the Catsitter by Colleen A. F. Venable, illustrated by Stephanie Yue

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Random House Books for Young Readers

Image result for katie the catsitter amazon
Image result for katie the catsitter amazon

Summary:  Katie’s facing a boring summer when her best friend Bethany leaves for camp.  Hoping to join her for a one-week session, Katie advertises her pet-sitting services in her apartment building.  She’s hired by the mysterious Madeleine Lang to look after her 217 cats.  Every evening, Ms. Lang goes off to work until midnight, and Katie deals with the cats.  As she begins to learn the cats’ various amazing talents, Katie starts to suspect Ms. Lang’s true identity.  By the end of the summer, Katie’s interest in going to camp has been replaced with more heroic pursuits at home.  224 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  Hand this graphic novel to fans of Raina Telgemeier and company; they will be delighted by the magic realism of Katie’s world and the amazing cats whose individual personalities and superpowers are lovingly delineated.

Cons:  So many cats made me sneeze.

Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Dung Ho

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Published by HarperCollins

Image result for eyes that kiss in the corners amazon

Summary:  “Some people have eyes like sapphire lagoons with lashes like lace trim on ballgowns,” a Chinese-American girl reflects.  “Not me.”  Her eyes “kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea.”  Her eyes are like her mother’s, her grandmother’s, and her little sister’s.  She reflects on how their eyes show their love and admiration as readers see the warm connections among all the girls and women in the family, and she concludes that all of their eyes are beautiful.  40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  Both the text and illustrations are affirming of self-acceptance and family love, with the pictures showing beautiful spreads from Chinese folklore.

Cons:  I would have liked to have learned more about the images in an illustrator’s note.

Ground Zero: A Novel of 9/11 by Alan Gratz

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Scholastic

Image result for ground zero gratz

Summary:  Brandon has been suspended from school and is spending the day of September 11, 2001 with his dad, who works at the Windows of the World restaurant in the World Trade Center.  When his father isn’t looking, Brandon sneaks out to buy a toy in the mall.  The World Trade Center is hit by a jet while Brandon is in the elevator, and he must find his way down 89 floors to escape–after trying to go back up to rescue his father.  In alternating chapters, readers spend the day of September 11, 2019 with Reshmina, a girl in Afghanistan who rescues an American soldier and pays a price when the Taliban finds out.  The two protagonists’ stories intersect at the end of the book, and each one gains a new perspective from meeting the other.  336 pages; grades 5-8.

Pros:  Alan Gratz has produced another historical fiction novel filled with compelling characters and heart-pounding action.  In his characteristic style, he ends each chapter with a cliff-hanger, then picks up the narrative of the other character.  In his author’s note he mentions that it has taken him 20 years to feel ready to write about 9/11, and I think he was wise to wait.  The takeaway message questioning the ongoing American presence in Afghanistan might have been quite different a decade ago.

Cons:  I found Brandon’s story much more compelling and suspenseful than Reshmina’s, which had to provide a lot of context about Afghanistan that took away from the action.

Stella’s Stellar Hair by Yesenia Moises

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Published by Imprint

Image result for stella's stellar hair amazon
Image result for stella's stellar hair amazon

Summary:  It’s the day of the Big Star Little Gala, and Stella wants her hair to look just right.  But it’s twisting and turning, zigging and zagging, making loopity-loops and lots of curly Q’a.  Stella’s Momma sends her off to visit her aunt on Mercury.  Aunt Ofelia’s stay-smooth style isn’t quite right, so Stella goes to see Auntie Alma on Venus.  Each planetary aunt has different ideas about her hair, but none satisfies Stella.  Finally, Auntie Solana, the aunt over by the sun, has the best advice of all: just be yourself.  So Stella does her own hair, enjoying its twists, turns, and curls, and that turns out to be the best hair-do for the big event.  Includes two pages of information about the planets and why each one has its particular hairstyle.  40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  The eye-popping art and be-yourself message are sure to resonate with anyone who’s ever had a bad hair day, and particularly celebrates Black hair.

Cons:  I still miss Pluto.

Hello, Earth! Poems to Our Planet by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Miren Asiain Lora

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Published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Image result for hello earth joyce sidman
Image result for hello earth joyce sidman

Summary:  Newbery Honor poet Joyce Sidman explores different aspects of Earth in these poems addressed to the planet itself.  There’s a sense of wonder, “How can we be here, climbing trees, walking paths, staring up at constellations…and also out in deepest space?”  There are poems about volcanoes, earthquakes, jungles, and mountains.  Taken together, the poems are a love letter to Earth, and a promise to take care of the planet.  Includes six pages of additional information about each topic addressed; resources about climate change, ways kids can help, and citizen science projects; and a list of books for further reading.  68 pages; grades 1-5.

Pros:  This beautifully illustrated book of poems celebrates Earth and many aspects of earth science.  The poems and illustrations are accessible to kids in primary grades, and the extensive back matter makes it useful for older kids to explore further.

Cons:  Earth doesn’t seem to have any answers for all the questions.

The Beak Book by Robin Page

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Published by Beach Lane Books

Image result for beak book page
Image result for beak book page

Summary:  Each page shows a large, colorful picture of a bird, a small picture of the bird using its beak, a sentence about how the bird uses its beak and a label identifying the bird.  Beaks are used for straining, tossing, crushing, and a host of other activities.  The final bird is a baby ruddy duckling who uses its beak, as do many birds, to break out of its egg.  Includes a two-page spread showing silhouettes of each bird relative to a human, where it lives in the world, and what its diet is; also a bibliography.  40 pages; ages 3-8.

Pros:  Over 20 birds are profiled, and the illustrations are striking.  Readers will be amazed at how many different uses there are for a beak.

Cons:  The information is pretty minimal; this is probably more of a read-aloud or a book to browse than something that will help much with research.

Time for Kenny by Brian Pinkney

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Published by Greenwillow

Image result for time for kenny pinkney

Summary:  Kenny’s day is described in four stories: getting dressed for school; overcoming his fear of the vacuum cleaner; practicing soccer with his sister; and getting ready for bed.  Each story is marked with a colored page, the color often showing up again through that story.  The final page has Kenny sleepily climbing into bed, making this a perfect bedtime story.  40 pages; ages 3-6.

Pros:  Even the youngest readers will relate to Kenny’s stories which include a loving family who enjoy Kenny’s humor and reassure him about his fears.  The illustrations are deceptively simple, with the same colors and objects appearing throughout the stories.

Cons:  Bedtime also appears deceptively simple.

Runaway: The Daring Escape of Ona Judge by Ray Anthony Shepard, illustrated by Keith Mallet

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Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Image result for runaway the daring escape of ona judge
Image result for runaway the daring escape of ona judge

Summary:  The narrator addresses Ona Judge, asking her why she ran away from slavery in the home of George and Martha Washington.  As Martha’s personal slave, Ona had fine clothes, good food, and the chance to visit some of the best homes in New York and Philadelphia.  She also never had the chance to learn to read and write and was given as a gift to Martha’s “mean and sassy” granddaughter.  Ona left Philadelphia one night and escaped to New Hampshire, where she lived the rest of her life as a fugitive, despite George Washington’s efforts to bring her back to his family.  Includes an author’s note, timeline, bibliography, and a note on the text explaining the author’s poetic use of rhetorical questions.  40 pages; grades 1-5.

Pros:  This haunting text explores the question of why someone who had a relatively luxurious life, but was enslaved, would leave that life behind.  The excellent back matter provides additional context.  Older students may want to move from this book to Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar and Kathleen Van Cleve.

Cons:  Reviews I’ve seen recommend this book for ages 3-6 or 4-8, but I think older elementary and even middle school students would find Ona’s story thought-provoking.

Dakota Crumb: Tiny Treasure Hunter by Jamie Michalak, illustrated by Kelly Murphy (released July 6)

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Published by Candlewick

Image result for dakota crumb tiny treasure hunter
Image result for dakota crumb tiny treasure hunter

Summary:  It’s after hours at the big museum when a tiny creature darts out of the shadows.  It’s Dakota Crumb, mouse treasure hunter, following his map to find the treasure marked by an X.  As he travels toward his destination, he finds a few other valuable items (a postage stamp and an action figure) that he pops into his knapsack.  At last, in the Ancient Egypt exhibit, after staring down the cat statue, he finds what he came for: the valuable purple gumdrop.  His mission accomplished, Dakota hurries back to his mouse house, which turns out to be a museum in its own right.  Dakota’s treasures are on display for the crowd of animals that comes to visit in the morning.  Includes pictures of small items in the museum that Dakota did and did not find; kids can go back to the story to see if they can spot them.  32 pages; ages 3-7.

Pros:  I would have loved this book so much as a kid, when I was kind of obsessed with miniature animals and creating imaginary worlds for them (okay, I still may have some of those tendencies).  The language almost rhymes, with lots of bounce and energy to match Dakota’s, and the illustrations give an excellent introduction to what’s in an art museum.  The puzzle pages at the end add to the fun.

Cons:  I didn’t quite understand where the gumdrop had been hidden.