Published by Candlewick

Summary:  A boy tells about his Friday evenings with his father, a school custodian.  The two ride Dad’s motorcycle to the school, then begin the weekly cleaning. Even though there’s lots of work to be done, it’s clear they enjoy being together and helping each other out.  They listen to a ballgame on the radio, and take a break to eat sandwiches in the courtyard. Eventually, the boy falls asleep, as his father continues to work until 4:00 a.m. As they head for home, the sun is starting to rise.  They relax in their living room, reading the paper that’s just been delivered, and at the end of the story they have drifted off to sleep together in the big recliner. 32 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  A beautiful example of narrative writing, simple but filled with sensory details, metaphors, and similes that would make this an excellent mentor text for a writing class.  The little boy and his father clearly have a happy and loving relationship, and their evening of hard work seems satisfying.

Cons:  Seems like a pretty late night for such a little kid to put in every week.

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Published by Harry N. Abrams

Summary:  On the first page, a girl is getting fitted for a new dress made by her mother.  “The dress loved the girl, and the girl loved the dress.” They go through many days together, enjoying life by the sea in their Greek village.  One day, they get on board a ship with the girl’s family and begin a long trip across the ocean. When they arrive in New York City, the dress is folded and left in a trunk where it waits for a very long time for the girl to come back. The dress travels in its trunk around the world as time passes and the girl grows up.  Then one day, the dress arrives back in New York, where it is hung in a shop window. A woman stops to look at it and remembers all her adventures with that dress. The last page shows her putting it on her own daughter. 40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  The illustrations steal the show in this book, and, in my world, would be considered for a Caldecott.  The story is sweet and another immigrant story to add to the many different takes on that theme that have been published this year.

Cons:  I didn’t really understand why the dress was left behind and how the trunk ended up in so many different countries around the world.

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Published by Nancy Paulsen Books

Summary:  It’s great to be unique, but what if being different makes you feel like you don’t belong?  Jacqueline Woodson explores these feelings through four children: a boy who has just moved from Venezuela and gets laughed at for the way he talks; a girl who spent her summer watching her little sister and listens to classmates talk about their vacation travels; a girl who is self-conscious about having kimchi for lunch; and a boy who doesn’t feel like a good enough athlete to join in games at recess.  By the end of the book the girl with the little sister and the boy from Venezuela have connected and are beginning a friendship. “This is the day you begin/to find the places inside/your laughter and your lunches,/your books, your travel and your stories,/where every new friend has something/a little like you–and something else/so fabulously not quite like you/at all.” 32 pages; grades 1-4.

Pros:  Award-winning writer Jacqueline Woodson captures uncertainties perfectly with her lyrical text; the illustrations portray the different emotions on the faces of the kids in a diverse classroom as they find their way through their first days of school.

Cons:  This is more of a meditation than a story, and the structure may be a little confusing to younger kids.

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