Tag: books

365 PENGUINS
By Jean-Luc Fromental and Joelle Jolivet
Abrams, 2006

Category: Picture Book

This vibrant, oversized Boston Globe-Horn Book Award honoree caught the eye of my nearly-nine-year-old son the moment it came home from the library.

“Penguins!” he shouted, and he grabbed the book from my stack and headed for the couch.

Thirty minutes and four readings later he informed me that 365 PENGUINS should have won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award outright. Hands down. No questions. When I suggested he consider reading the other books in the category before deciding for sure, he told me that wouldn’t be necessary. “I already know this one is the best.” Ah, the blind passion of youth. The boy has written the following brief review … enjoy!

“The best part about 365 PENGUINS is the illustrations. The words are just telling a single story, but the pictures have about five stories. There are some jokes in the words but not as many as in the illustrations. I’ve also never seen such a design for penguins. The illustrations make you want to read 365 PENGUINS a ton of times.”

If you hadn’t guessed, this kid is an artist. 365 PENGUINS inspired pages and pages of penguins in his journal. Here’s a peek …

 

ESCAPE! The Story of the Great Houdini
By Sid Fleischman
Greenwillow, 2006

Category: Middle Grade Nonfiction, Biography

The events of a recent, rainy Monday, have inspired me to read and re-read these books … all honor books and winners of the 2007 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature.
I started at the beginning, of course, by revisiting the books on the list that I have already read. Sara Pennypacker’s CLEMENTINE, for example. And Sid Fleischman’s ESCAPE!

Hold it. What is this? There is no entry in my blog archive for ESCAPE! How is that possible? It was one of my favorite nominees in the Middle Grade Nonfiction category of the 2006 Cybil Awards. I know I talked it up to my kids and my friends; I remember mentioning over and over again how struck I was with the role language played in creating atmosphere in the book. I complimented the author on pulling in a reluctant reader by attending so beautifully to story. How could I have neglected to talk about ESCPAE! here on my blog?

Hmmm. Let’s fix that.

First of all, let me reiterate that I was, in the case of ESCAPE!, a reluctant reader. I’m just not all that interested in magic … or in Harry Houdini. And yet I was drawn into this book. Houdini’s intrepid personality leaped from its pages and Fleischman’s language choices painted Harry Houdini—rapscallion that he was—so vividly that even I was entranced.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Sid Fleischman at a recent New England SCBWI Conference. He was a keynote speaker and charmed audiences with both words of wisdom and sleight of hand. He personalized my copy of ESCAPE! during the weekend, doodling a rabbit peeking out of a top hat and inscribing the title page:

“Cheers and Congratulations for Loree on the publication of her first book! ABRACADABRA! Sid Fleischman”

I can’t wait to meet him again at the award banquet …

 

GOONEY BIRD GREENE
By Lois Lowry
Illustrated by Middy Thomas
Houghton Mifflin, 200

Category: Elementary grade fiction

From my almost-six year old: “A kid named Gooney Bird Greene? Is it a boy or a girl kid? Will you read it to me, please, please, please?”

Turns out Gooney Bird Greene is a girl … and she tells spectacular stories. So spectacular, in fact, that everyone assumes she makes them up. For example, “How Gooney Bird Came from China on a Flying Carpet” sounds like a made-up story, doesn’t it? But Gooney Bird insists her stories are “all absolutely true.” Her second grade teacher, Mrs. Pidgeon, presses the issue, because, after all, she cannot have her second graders believing in trips from China on a flying carpet! But readers soon discover that the remarkable Gooney Bird did come from China on a flying carpet. And she did direct a symphony orchestra. And her beloved cat was actually consumed by a cow.

Gooney Bird is flashy and over-the-top, she is the most self-assured second grader I have ever met, and she has a way with people. It took me a few chapters to be sure, but I like Gooney Bird Greene. I like what she has to say about storytelling and patience and language. And assumptions. I especially like what Gooney Bird had to say about those.

My daughter has added the sequels, GOONEY BIRD AND THE ROOM MOTHER and GOONEY THE FABULOUS to our summer reading list. I’m game; I love good stories!

 

THE PINBALLS
By Betsy Byars
HarperCollins, 1977

Category: Middle grade fiction

Like Judy Blume’s BLUBBER, THE PINBALLS left an impression on my childhood. I have been certain for a good many years now (twenty-five? more?) that this book was Important. Somewhere along the way, however, I forgot why. Was it the characters? The plot? The message? I wasn’t sure. Yesterday I decided to remember.

Harvey.

Thomas J.

Carlie.

How could I have forgotten them? The awful car accident that landed Harvey in a wheelchair and a foster home; the well-meaning and ancient Aunts Benson who cared for Thomas J. as best they were able; tough-as-a-nut Carlie and her bad attitude. How could I have forgotten? When these three misfits end up in the same foster home, Carlie likens them to pinballs being flung hither and yon without any say in the matter. But they find a way to be a family. And they realize they are not careening, out-of-control objects after all. They are human beings who make decisions every day about their own lives … mostly how to face it.

“…as long as we are trying, Thomas J, we are not pinballs.”

Oh, Carlie. I’ve missed you.

 

MISTY OF CHINCOTEAGUE
By Marguerite Henry
Illustrated by Wesley Dennis
Aladdin, 1991 (original copyright 1947)

Category: Middle grade fiction (for horse lovers!)

I was a horse girl. I never had a horse of my own, or had much opportunity even to ride a horse, but every cell of my young body longed to sit bareback on a racer, knot my hands in its mane, and fly. Sigh. Everett wasn’t exactly horse country, and we weren’t exactly horse folk. Luckily, there were books.

I read and re-read NATIONAL VELVET, THE BLACK STALLION, and absolutely anything by Marguerite Henry. One of my all time favorite horse stories was Henry’s 1948 Newbery Honor book MISTY OF CHINCOTEAGUE. As this is turning into a summer for revisting childhood classics (Thank you, Bruce Coville), I have just finished re-acquainting myself with Paul, Maureen, the Phantom and Misty.

Paul and Maureen are brother and sister. They live on a pony farm where they help their grandfather break colts for buyers and dream of raising a horse of their own. Phantom is the most elusive horse in the wild Assateague Island herd … and Misty is her colt. When Paul is allowed to participate in Pony Penning Day, the annual roundup of wild horses from Assateague, he sets out to catch his dream. But will he? And if he does, will he be able to keep it? This is a beautifully-told adventure story and I will love it forever.

I can’t wait to read MISTY OF CHINCOTEAGUE to my own kids. (It is top of the post-Harry Potter craziness list.) In the meanwhile, I am planning our trip to Virginia. That’s right … I am taking the family to Assateague Island to see the wild horses of my childhood dreams. I can hardly sit still with the thought.

 

WRINGER
By Jerry Spinelli
Joanna Cotler Books, 1997

Category: Middle-grade fiction

A couple years ago I forced myself to attend a Costume Ball at the New England SCBWI Conference. (I typically attend this conference alone, and schmoozing has never been my thing, so an event like this is pure torture for me!) Among the celebrities I met were Olivia (the feisty pig), Lilly (of purple plastic purse fame) and Minerva McGonagall (perhaps my favorite of Harry’s teacher). And there was this kid I didn’t recognize … he was dressed in what looked like a baseball uniform with the name Magee (or was it Maniac?) printed on the back.

I know, I know, you are all shocked. I can hear you through my computer screen: “You didn’t recognize MANIAC MAGEE? And you call yourself a fan of children’s literature?”

Trust me, I have been trying to make amends ever since. But it is hard to get a copy of MANIAC MAGEE at the library! It was out the first time I tried, so I read STARGIRL instead. (If you are an elementary or middle school student and a fan of STARGIRL, check this out.) And then I got distracted for a while (um, two years). I remembered MANIAC MAGEE this week and tried again to get it at the library. Still out! So I picked up WRINGER.

WRINGER is the story of Palmer, on the cusp of turning ten and dreading it. You see, where Palmer lives kids who turn ten become wringers. And wringers chase injured pigeons at the annual Family Fest pigeon shoot—a fundraiser that pits sharpshooting townspeople against thousands of captive pigeons—to put them out of their misery. By wringing their necks. Palmer knows he could never be a wringer. But how can he tell his Dad (a former pigeon shoot champion) or his so-called friends (wringer wannabes) or Nipper (his secret pet pigeon)? Spinelli weaves a complicated story of fitting in, standing out, giving up, and standing up. And he does it oh-so-very-well.

So, the good news is that I have now read a couple Jerry Spinelli titles (and liked them). The other good news is that if I ever see a kid with a pigeon on his head and a bruised left arm at a costume party, I will know who he is. The bad news? I still haven’t read MANIAC MAGEE!

 

BLUBBER
By Judy Blume
Bradbury Press, 1974

Category: Middle grade fiction

Remember that exercise I did last week, when I spent a couple hours remembering my elementary school days? BLUBBER popped up in third grade and I have not been able to shake the image of that red cover in library cellophane since. So when I was at the library this week, I took a peek on the shelf … and there it was: the red cover, the blue daisy, the stamps, the paper clip on white lined paper, the cellophane. I took it home and read it for the first time in twenty-seven years.

Nothing was how I remembered it. I had forgotten how mean Jill and the other kids were to Linda, the girl they dubbed ‘Blubber’ after her oral report on whales. How could I forget that? Did they not seem as mean when I was younger? Was that sort of behavior so normal that I wasn’t outraged? Am I just old, old, old? (Don’t answer that…)

I had also forgotten that the tables turned, in the end, and that Jill was made to suffer in much the same way as Linda. Or had I? The themes of “what comes around goes around” and “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you” are such a part of my adult psyche. I believe them in my core. Did Judy Blume plant them in my subconscious when I was in the third grade?

PS. Author Tanya Lee Stone actually met Judy Blume. For breakfast. To talk about books and life. Can you imagine? Read this to learn more.

 

THE LIBRARIAN OF BASRA, A TRUE STORY FROM IRAQ
Written and Illustrated by Jeanette Winter
Harcourt, 2005

Category: Picture Book; Biography

My daughter and I read this book earlier in the week. It seemed fitting, at the end of the long Memorial Day weekend, to read a book about bravery in the face of chaos and conflict.

In 2003, Alia Muhammad Baker was chief librarian of the Central Library in the Iraqi city of Basra. When war threatened her beloved library and its collection, Alia tried to convince public officials to allow her to move the books to a safer place. She was refused. As it became clear that the war would not spare Basra, Alia took matters into her own hands … and with the help of friends and neighbors managed to save tens of thousands of precious texts from the library’s collection. Shortly after her covert removal of books, the Central Library was burned to the ground.

Jeanette Winters’ vibrant, stylized illustrations perfectly complement her simple text. The book sparked a conversation about freedom and courage and difficult decisions and, to my great joy, about how we can help Alia rebuild her library. I’ve been looking into this last idea, and can share this website from the American Library Association. If anyone knows of other concrete ways for contributing to this cause, I would love to know about them.

 

WHO PUT THE B IN THE BALLYHOO?
Written and Illustrated by Carlyn Beccia
Houghton Mifflin, 2007

Category: Picture book, Abecedarium

Among the spectacularly talented people I met this weekend in Nashua was Carlyn Beccia, author and illustrator of WHO PUT THE B IN THE BALLYHOO. I have a special interest in this book, because it’s art graced the cover of the Houghton Mifflin Books for Children Spring 2007 Catalog. Since my very first book for children appeared in this catalog, it seemed to me I should have a signed copy of the book. (Honestly, do I not come up with the best excuses to buy books?)

So, I bought a copy of WHO PUT THE B IN THE BALLYHOO?, read it, and immediately bought two more copies. (Christmas gifts. I am already kicking myself for not buying more.) It is a special book, full of intriguing circus trivia (like the origins of the phrase “Hold your horses!”, the definition of ballyhoo, the skinny on fleas, and the inspiration for Uncle Sam) and art celebrating the classic performers (Uno—The Serpent Queen, Captain Costentenus—The Human Art Gallery, Ravishing Ruth—The Fat Lady). Text that educates, art that enchants … what more can one ask from an ABC book?

I met Carlyn at the Saturday signing, and she is as charming as her debut picture book. She inscribed my copy (“To the Amazing and Spectacular Loree!”) and we had a lovely chat about the joys of being Houghton authors. Just one of many moments that made this New England SCBWI Conference one to remember.

 

CHICKY CHICKY CHOOK CHOOK
By Cathy MacLennan
Boxer Books, 2007

Category: Picture book

Remember the pile of birthday books for my soon-to-be-two niece? I needed a fifth and you all gave me some great suggestions. Thank you, thank you. All of them are on my list and several will surely be in her book piles in years to come. But I came across CHICKY CHICKY CHOOK CHOOK this week and I simply couldn’t resist.

“Chicky, chicky, chook chook.
Chick, chick chick.

Chicky, chicky, chook chook,
Peck … peck … pick.”

Oh, yes. I can imagine our Little Miss rollicking to this one. Yes. Yes. Yes. The illustrations, like the onomatopoeic text, are jaunty and fun. Rhythm, art, a simple and relevant plot … this is pure read-aloud fun for the toddler set, and just what I needed to round out the 2007 Birthday Booklist.