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I'm sorry I missed Christmas at bookstogether this year. I seem to have missed December almost entirely--oops! But I did read many middle grade science fiction and (mostly) fantasy books, over half of the 98 nominees for a Cybil in that category. (I may have cheated a little and read some other books, too. It couldn't be helped! More about those later.)
The shortlists will be posted on the Cybils blog on New Year's Day, at 6 am US Mountain Time. Til then, happy new year!
Publisher's Weekly recently reviewed Around the World with Mouk by Marc Boutavant (Chronicle), describing Mouk's world as a "Richard Scarry/manga mashup" (Children's Book Reviews, 11/23/09) There's more, including international travel to Finland and reusable stickers, but really, what else does one need to know? It's on the list. I also like the Boutavant-illustrated All Kinds of Families! by Mary Ann Hoberman (Little, Brown).
Speaking of Finland, PW also reviewed (same date) the reissue of Tove Jansson's The Book About Moomin, Mymble, and Little My (Drawn and Quarterly). A Moomin picture book? Oh...my.
Warning: Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is for the grownups. It is emphatically not a book for kids (it's not even a book for me). I mention it here because today is Swedish children's writer Astrid Lindgren's birthday, and Lindgren really informs Larsson's book. His two main characters, financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and punk hacker Lisbeth Salander, have fictional counterparts in Lindgren's boy detective Kalle Blomkvist (Bill Bergson in the English translation, sadly OOP), and none other than her redheaded heroine Pippi Longstocking, all grown up.
While I hate to imagine Pippi growing up to be Lisbeth, I wonder what other characters from children's books might be like as adults. Ramona Quimby, for example, or Harriet the Spy. Have you ever thought about them this way? I would love to know whom you would like to know (or not know!) as an adult.
[N.b. Astrid Lindgren would have been 102 today, which means that it's bookstogether's blog birthday, too (two). Thank you for reading!]
I met Justine Rowden, author of Paint Me a Poem: Poems Inspired by Masterpieces of Art (Boyds Mills, 2005) at KidlitCon '09 (we had exchanged email before then, and she had kindly sent me a review copy of her book). In Paint Me a Poem, Justine pairs each of thirteen paintings from the National Gallery of Art's collection with an original poem that offers just one new and unexpected way to look at it.
My favorite of Rowden's poems was inspired by Andre Derain's Flowers in a Vase, a still life I probably wouldn't have stopped to look at if I passed it in the Gallery. Justine imagines two of the flowers (pink roses, also shown in a detail image) jostling one another for space in the vase.
The quality of the reproductions in Paint Me a Poem is excellent. Unfortunately, as Justine informed me, the cover image of Cat and Kittens by an anonymous 19th century American artists was reversed! The interior image is correct, and the book is being reprinted. [Breaking news! Laura at Author Amok reports that Paint Me a Poem has just been reprinted.]
What one detail of Cat and Kittens captures your imagination? Poems welcomed but not required!
[Poetry Friday is at GottaBook today. Thanks, Greg!]
An article in today's KidsPost about children making their own toys ("Creating Toys with Their Own Two Hands," 11/11/09) reminded me of two otherwise very different books about girls making their own dolls. I'm very fond of Elizabeti's Doll by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen (illustrated by Christy Hale; Lee and Low, 1998) -- of all the Elizabeti books, really. In this one, Elizabeti has a new baby brother and wants to take care of her own baby, so she picks up a rock that's just the right size, kisses it, and names it Eva. Stuve-Bodeen's text and Hale's illustrations evoke the Tanzanian setting beautifully, but the focus of the book is squarely on Elizabeti's relationship with Eva.
Holly Hobbie's Fanny (Little, Brown 2009) is a very different book, and despite its more familiar setting and concerns--Fanny's mother doesn't want her to have the Bratz-like Connie doll Fanny has her heart set on, so Fanny makes her own doll--I haven't warmed up to it (we own it). I wonder if it has something to do with why Elizabeti and Fanny are motivated to make their own dolls? Or could it be the mere presence of the Connies? If you've read Fanny, I would love to know what you make of it. And if you haven't read Elizabeti, I highly recommend it! The two make an interesting comparison.
Congratulations to Sara Lewis Holmes, whose middle grade novel Operation Yes (Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine) is one of Booklist's Top Ten Arts Books for Youth. For local folk, Sara will be talking about and signing copies of Operation Yes at Hooray For Books! in Old Town Alexandria from 1-3 tomorrow (that's Sunday, November 8).
And from Booklist's list (November 1, 2009): Miss Loupe, a new teacher at a school on a North Carolina military base, wins over her sixth-grade class with improv theater techniques in this heartfelt story about the power of theatrical collaboration and creativity to inspire and heal.
So should you read this book? Yes!
Why aren't there more of them? These picture books feature three or four related stories, but the ratio of picture to text is still high. Perfect for preschool-aged kids (and their smaller siblings) who are ready to listen to more or longer stories but still inclined to wiggle off the couch. Here are some of our favorites:
What James Likes Best by Amy Schwartz (Atheneum, 2003). A classic in the bookstogether household. James lives in the city and goes on four outings, to visit family, friends, and the fair. At the end of each story, Schwartz asks "And what do you think James liked best?" I still ask my kids this question after every outing, too.
Don't Let the Peas Touch by Deborah Blumenthal; illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering (Arthur A. Levine, 2004). Gets sibling (and parent) dynamics just right.
Welcome to Zanzibar Road by Niki Daly (Clarion, 2006). Mama Jumbo reminds me of No. 1 Lady Detective Mma Ramotswe. This one gets bonus points for its South African setting. We love it.
These are more recent examples, but not necessarily our favorites. You might like them, though. At least as long as they keep your little ones on the couch.
Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo and Harry Bliss (HarperCollins, 2008). Adventures feature pirates and the circus, neither of which we like.
The One and Only Marigold by Florence Parry Heide; illustrated by Jill McElmurry (Schwartz and Wade, 2009). How does Maxine stand her?
Can you think of any picture books with chapters to add to the list?
Hooray! You've found it. Please leave me a comment with a link to your Nonfiction Monday post, and I'll update this post to include your links as the day goes on. Or just click through to read other people's posts about nonfiction for kids. Either way, thanks for visiting bookstogether! I hope you'll come back soon.
Welcome to first-time Nonfiction Monday participants!
Zoe at Playing by the book is all about flags today, with a post titled Vexillology (that is, the study of flags). Playing by the book features all sorts of great books for kids and the projects they inspire Zoe and her kids to create--today, it's a regatta!
Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning reviews Z is for Zookeeper, which is about the changing role of zoos (not just the animals in them). Her daughter is meeting author Roland Smith at school today.
Paula at Pink Me reviews some Really, Really BIG Questions about Life, the Universe, and Everything, Dr. Stephen Law's attempt to reach the youngest philosphers. 42?
Mid-morning edition (or, We're glad you're back, too!)
100 Scope Notes recommends DK's Children's Book of Art, which is beautifully laid out (see the post for a look at the inside).
Sarah at In Need of Chocolate reviews Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution by Steve Jenkins. She mentions a timeline of the development of life on earth as if it were taking place during a 24-hour day. When do humans show up? Read her post (and the book) to find out.
Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect is in today with Nic Bishop Marsupials. I'm glad to see that Bishop is training his lens on some furry animals and wonder what Tricia's favorite, the bilby, looks like.
Roberta at Wrapped in Foil enjoyed reading Nic Bishop Butterflies and Moths, which is a Cybils nonfiction picture book nominee this year.
Lynn and Cindy's post at Bookends comes with a warning: do not read while eating! It's about Crust and Spray: Gross Stuff in Your Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat by CS. Larsen.
The Wild About Nature blog reviewed two titles this week, Marsh Music and Marsh Morning, both written by Marianne Berkes. The marsh is the place to go for music, it seems.
Abby (the) Librarian has a review of Sacred Mountain Everest by Christine Butler-Taylor, all about our relationship with Everest and about the mountain itself.
The NEW Lori Calabrese Writes! reviews How We Are Smart by W. Nikola-Lisa and Sean Qualls. Learn all about multiple intelligences and the different ways people are smart.
Shirley at SimplyScience has DK's Open Me Up (and an activity to go along with it).
Mid-afternoon edition
Jennie at Biblio File is in with Show and Tell by Dilys Evans: not really for kids, but for adults who like picture books. One of the picture book artists profiled in this book (and highlighted by Jennie) is Denise Fleming, whose medium is...paper.
Anastasia at Picture Book of the Day is reading The Obama Family in Pictures by Jane Katirgis, just in time for Election Day tomorrow.
Amanda at a Patchwork of Books has a review of A Really Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, which emphasizes science and natural history.
And for their very first Nonfiction Monday post, the Z-Kids and their dad Aaron Zenz of Bookie Woogie have interviewed author Patricia Newman about "Nugget on the Flightdeck," an exciting book about life aboard an aircraft carrier (illustrated by Zenz himself). Bookie Woogie features the kids' commentary and fan art for every book they review.
Late evening news
Jone is in with a review of Bubble Homes and Fish Farts by Fiona Baycock, another Cybils nonfiction picture book nominee with a great title and unusual focus on the uses of bubbles in the natural world.
And Bookmoot is back in the saddle with Texas Bluebonnet List Picture Book Biographies. There are two biographies on the list this year: Surfer of the Century and The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau.
One more: Doret at The Happy Nappy Bookseller has Sweethearts of Rhythm by Marilyn Nelson and Jerry Pinckney. It's the story of the greatest all-girl swing band in the world, and you'll never guess who tells it.
Thanks for participating in Nonfiction Monday this week, everyone!
[The Tuesday Edition: 3T News and Reviews looks at books from Lerner's history and Visual Geography series.]
No, I will not be participating in National Novel Writing Month this year. I'm a two-time NaNoWriMo loser, in fact, but I'm grateful for what the experience taught me about myself as a writer. It was this passage from a speech by Jane Yolen (quoted in an interview with Yolen at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, 8/20/08) that reconciled me to it, though:
Now, there are two kinds of writers in the world [writes Jane], and they were described for me by my friend Susan Schwartz. "I," she said, "am a mad monk, going up a rock face with a rather large chisel and carving out great swaths of story. But you are a gem polisher. You take a small, wonderful gem of a tale and polish it till it shines."
I'm the first to admit that I'm no Jane Yolen (ni mucho menos), and I'm not entirely sure whether this passage is speaking to process or product, but if gem-polishing works for her (and she's incredibly prolific, too) then maybe I can make it work for me.
Even though I'm not participating, I want to cheer on the "mad monks" among us who are. Who are you? And what's your novel about?
I had to return some books before the library opened on Sunday morning and (I swear I didn't plan this) got there just in time for the big Friends of the Library book sale. I managed to limit myself to a handful of middle grade paperbacks and a hardcover copy of Anno's Journey by Mitsumasa Anno, but I really shouldn't have: apparently everything is half price on the last day of the book sale. Do you think that was good news (I only spent half as much as I thought I would) or bad (I could have bought twice as much as I did)? Me, too.
I did pick up a copy of Edward Eager's Half Magic to read with the kids, although sadly not the glorious 50th anniversary edition (Harcourt, 2004) shown here. I'm beginning to think I picked up the magic charm in the book (it grants you half of whatever you wish for) somewhere along the way, too.
I'm currently reading Toby Alone by Timothee de Fombelle (translated by Sarah Ardizzone; illustrated by Francois Place; Candlewick, 2009). There's Toby on the cover of the book, larger than life: he's really only one-and-half millimeters tall, and his whole world is a great oak Tree, just like the ones in my backyard. I'm reading the library's copy, so I can't see the map of the Tree on the other side of the cover, but spot illustrations in pen-and-ink appear frequently throughout. Maybe it's better that I can't see the whole Tree, actually; neither can the tiny people who live in it, and that's part of their problem.
Part of my problem is that I've lost my mind--or rather, the key to it. The metaphor is scientist Sim Lolness's:
"Every brain has its key," [Toby's] father always used to say. "Mine is my bed. Yours is your plate. Eat before you think, or you'll think badly." (48)
My key is solitude. Companionable quiet will also work. Both have been in short supply lately; in the last week or so alone I've attended everything from my 20-year high school reunion to KidlitCon (guess which was better?!). Right now I'm making room for more quiet in which to read and write and think.
In the meantime, I would love to know what your keys (or your children's) might be. Sleep, food, quiet, or something else entirely--what do you need to think your best?
Nominations for this year's Cybils close at midnight tomorrow, October 15. If, like me, you've been holding your nominations in reserve, now is the time to check out what's been nominated (or overlooked) so far and make your choices. I'll post mine here as soon as I've made them.
Exciting news: This year I'm a first round panelist in Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy, which means I'll be reading a lot of SFF between now and December 31. Where should I begin? Leave me a comment with the title and author of your favorite book in this category, and I'll move it to the top of my to-read pile. Provided it's been nominated for a Cybil this year, of course. And if it hasn't, what are you waiting for?
Bear and Mouse (small and gray and bright-eyed, of course) are back, just in time to celebrate Bear's birthday--whether Bear wants to or not, in A Birthday for Bear by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton (Candlewick, 2009). We first met Bear and Mouse in last year's picture book A Visitor for Bear, which won the E.B. White Read Aloud Award. Now the unlikely pair returns in an early reader from Candlewick Sparks.
The early reader format makes sense for Bear and Mouse, who are literary descendants of Frog and Toad, and it suits Becker's storytelling here as well. While I miss the spaciousness and surprises of Visitor, Mouse's attempts to deliver balloons, a present, and finally a chocolate cake to Bear in Birthday fall nicely into short chapters. Spoiler alert: The cake succeeds! I'm not sure about the present, though.
Interestingly, the next Bear and Mouse book, A Bedtime for Bear (Spring 2010), will be another picture book. From Becker's website: "Bear has Mouse over for Bear’s first ever sleep over. But in order to sleep, Bear must have quiet, absolute quiet. To Bear’s great frustration and growing annoyance, Mouse is far from quiet as a…well, you know." I sort of wish that everyone involved had chosen one format or the other and stuck with it. My vote would be for the picture book, but A Birthday for Bear is a great choice for newly independent readers...and you can read it aloud, too.
It's Tomie dePaola's 75th birthday today, and I'm celebrating it by ordering a copy of the just-released Strega Nona's Harvest (Putnam Juvenile). I wish I were celebrating it by visiting the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art's retrospective of his career, Drawings from the Heart, but that's in Northampton. Someday! In the meantime, I'll have to host my own in-house retrospective.
Do you have a favorite Tomie dePaola book? Please share!
I adore Laura Amy Schlitz. Each of her four published books--a biography, a retelling, a melodrama, and a Newbery-winning collection of medieval monologues--is exceptional. They also may as well have been written expressly to appeal to my particular set of tastes. I've been wondering about her next book, and was delighted to discover that The Night Fairy, illustrated by Angela Barrett, will be published by Candlewick in February 2010. Fairies! Schlitz obviously knows what I like.
The cover image and text below are from Walker Books Australia, Candlewick's sister company:
"What would happen to a fairy if she lost her wings and could no longer fly? Flory, a young night fairy no taller than an acorn and still becoming accustomed to her wings - wings as beautiful as those of a luna moth - is about to find out. What she discovers is that the world is very big and very, very dangerous. But Flory is fierce and willing to do whatever it takes to survive. If that means telling others what to do like Skuggle, a squirrel ruled by his stomach so be it. Not every creature, however, is as willing to bend to Flory’s demands. Newbery Medal winner Laura Amy Schlitz and world-renowned illustrator and miniaturist Angela Barrett venture into the realm of the illustrated classic a classic entirely and exquisitely of their making, and a magnificent adventure."
Hmmm. Do you believe in fairies?
Awful Ogre and I are forced to admit that summer's over. You can read all about Awful Ogre's summer in Awful Ogre Running Wild by Jack Prelutsky, with gloriously grotesque watercolor and pen and ink illustrations by Paul O. Zelinsky (Greenwillow, 2008). Actually, Awful Ogre and our family did a lot of the same things: painted pictures, went on picnics, attended concerts, visited grandparents. There may have been a little running wild in there, too.
"Awful Ogre Reflects on the Summer"
Oh, it's been an awful summer,
A delightful awful summer,
Just the sort of awful summer
Awful Ogre does adore.
But at last, alas, it's ending,
Yes my awful summer's ending,
My delightful awful summer
Now is practically no more.
[continued]
Prelutsky and Zelinsky's Awful Ogre's Awful Day (Greenwillow, 2005) is just as awful as his summer was. Which is to say, we loved it.
[Poetry Friday is at Wild Rose Reader today. Thanks, Elaine!]
The Catwings books by Ursula K. Le Guin seem so appealing. Kittens with wings! There they are in S.D. Schindler's pen-and-ink drawings, perched on a branch of tree or curled up beside their mother ("How is the milk this morning, children?" she asks them, which I loved). "A small gem of a book," says PW. "A lovely, gentle fantasy," Horn Book. "Contemporary and timeless," New York Times Book Review.
Be that as it may, bookstogether is here to tell you that if you have a sensitive child, perhaps one who just started kindergarten this very day, you may not make it past the place where Mrs. Tabby says to her kittens, "I think you are ready. I want you to have a good dinner and fly away--far away." Because they're not ready. And neither are you.
[See also Rumer Godden's A Kindle of Kittens (illustrated by Lynne Byrnes; Viking, 1978), which is a sort of cautionary tale for single cat mothers. We didn't read that one, either. But it may interest you to know that the verb to kindle can mean to give birth, and a kindle is the collective noun for--kittens! Probably not what Amazon had in mind.]
Sometimes I wish that girls in books who were interested in science could also happen to like needlework. Calpurnia Tate doesn't, but I've read so many great reviews of Jacqueline Kelly's The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Henry Holt, 2009) that I'm willing to let it go. Maybe a girl living in Texas in 1899 didn't have the luxury of liking both and would have had to commit to one or the other? Also, look at that glorious cover (it's by Beth White, who also did the cover for The Monsters of Templeton). Anyway, Amanda at A Patchwork of Books has three copies of Calpurnia to give away: maybe one of them will be mine. Or yours! Or...mine.
The CCBC-Net discussion topic for the second two weeks of July is Perry Nodelman's newest book, The Hidden Adult: Defining Children's Literature (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008). Coincidentally, I just read Henry Huggins (one of the six children's books under consideration in The Hidden Adult) aloud to the kids, both of whom enjoyed it immensely; in fact, they're clamoring for me to read the next book in the series (Henry and Beezus) as I type. I was reminded of how much I loved Beverly Cleary books, which were easily identifiable in their Yearling editions by the author's name in red bubble letters above the title, and of how well they've held up: Henry Huggins was first published in 1950; I read it in the late 70s, and my kids are reading it another 30 years later. I'm looking for a copy of The Hidden Adult so I can participate in the discussion.
Aside: I actively dislike one of the other five books (The Purple Jar, Alice in Wonderland, Dr. Doolittle, The Snowy Day, and Plain City) Nodelman analyzes in The Hidden Adult. Guess which one?
Leo's dad is reading him The Hobbit; both of them are enjoying it immensely. There is something special about reading a favorite childbood book with your own child. I'm not a Tolkien fan myself (I'll be reading the Narnia books to the kids, thank you), but I'll make an exception for The Hobbit: I would love to live in a hobbit house. This one, built to house someone's collection of Tolkien manuscripts and artifacts, is my favorite. Check out the interior shots of the round door, the "butterfly" window, the fireplace, and the library.
While googling "hobbit house" I turned up a reference to a hobbit house practically in our own background. The kids and I went looking for it at the Winkler Botanical Preserve in Alexandria, VA this morning. I had never even heard of the place, but I'm so glad we stumbled on it. There was a network of wooded trails; a stream, waterfalls, and a lake; a Craftsman-style building called the Catherine Lodge; and a mysterious series of book-boxes at strategic points along the trail, each inscribed with a single letter. Our real-life adventure seems to have criss-crossed with someone else's! What could be going on at the Winkler Botanical Preserve?
Oh, we also found an abandoned hobbit house, just Milly's size (she went in). It was nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.