Ivy's Pick: That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell & Neal Layton

This book reminded me strongly of a whole bunch of other books.  Photographic background images and floppy bunny: Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems.  Wit and style: Wolves by Emily Gravett.  Spunky heroine with strange capabilities to get around town without any adults present: A Beautiful Girl by Amy Schwartz.  And yet, it has a style all its own.  Army, Navy AND Air Force, PLUS a queen!  Boys and girls alike will swoon.   

Ivy made me read it three times in one day.  She covered her ears when I yelled the Air Force words too loudly, and solemnly pronounced Stanley "dead" as he lay in state at the royal palace after being stolen, restuffed and accidentally dyed pink.  

Awesomeness: 7/10

Wordsmithing: 6/10

Personages: 6/10

Illustrations: 6/10

The Pig's Picnic by Keiko Kasza

Is it just me, or does Keiko Kasza have a real mean streak?  She's very hard on her poor little animal characters.  They're always yelling at each other or calling one another names.  Maybe I'm just sensitive to such talk, but it seems a little excessive.  

This book is a perfect example.  Mr. Pig goes on his predictable, repetitive journey on his way to see his ladylove, and his friends all give them their best attributes (mane, stripes and tail) in which to dress up.  When he gets there, does she snort with delicate piggy laughter and encourage him to "just be himself?"  No!  She screams, attempts to shut the door in his face and calls him a monster.  I don't know about you, but if someone criticized my fashion sense like that, poor though it may be, I wouldn't be going on any picnics with them.

Well, it's Keiko Kasza, and it's still going to circulate effortlessly in my K-1 crowd.  I just wonder if it's exactly the message I want to send?  I'll guide them toward Grandfather Toad's Secrets instead.

Awesomeness: 4/10

Wordsmithing: 4/10

Personages: 3/10

Illustrations: 6/10

Ivy's Pick: How to Heal A Broken Wing by Bob Graham

Ah, Bob Graham.  How can you express such profound sentiment on a face drawn from a single line?  The characters do look awfully familiar... I think these are the same actors he drew in Max, just playing different roles.  

With great economy of speech, dramatic perspective and muted colors highlighted with patches of light, Graham has created another moving picture book which is truly for all ages.  

Ivy asked lots of questions about the bird's "scrape" and was greatly relieved to see her fly away at the end.

Awesomeness: 7/10

Wordsmithing: 6/10

Personages: 7/10

Illustrations: 6/10

Earthquake in the Third Grade by Laurie Myers

Here's another of the Byars family's beginning chapter books. 

I guess I could say it has all the qualities one would want from a chapter book, were one a typical third grader: it's short (around 60 pages), familiar territory (school/home), pleasantly multicultural (the main character is portrayed in the pictures as Asian-American, though this is never mentioned in the text), boy-heavy (2 boys : 1 girl and she's obnoxious -- can we say Hermione syndrome?) and all the metaphor is completely transparent and spelled out (the class is experiencing an "earthquake" in the form of their teacher moving, paralleled by a similar earthquake experienced by David's ant farm).  

Of course, there's the argument put forth by Richard Peck that children don't want to read about kids their age -- "they want to read about the people they wish to be."  My limited experience has taught me that this may be true for kids -- once they can read full sentences without struggling to decode words longer than two syllables.  Most 3rd graders are still becoming familiar with comprehension and basic plot elements.  They don't want to wrestle with big issues.  They are happy to see themselves in books, even if it's not the most flattering picture.

My only regret is the pictures are hopelessly 80s and thus would probably not sell with my kids.  I just started reading The SOS Files to one third grade and they already love it... I can't help but feel the love would not flow as freely were the illustrations not hip and cartoony.  Ditto with Surviving Brick Johnson.  Publishers, if you're reading this (ha!), take note: would you please reprint all of the Byars/Duffey/Myers clan books with trendy 21st century illustrations?  Thanks so much!

Awesomeness: 4/10

Personages: 4/10

Wordsmithing: 3/10

Mesmerizitude: 5/10

Illustrations: 3/10

I read this as part of the Spring Reading Thing.

Ivy's Pick: Who Needs Donuts? by Mark Alan Stamaty

This is a weird book.  

Now that I have that judgmental statement over with... it's a nice little story about materialism and greed. A boy wants all the donuts in the world, so he leaves his family, goes to the city and finds a kindred spirit donut seeker.  Boy eventually loses his friend to love and decides having all the donuts is not as important as having people who love you.  I'd never heard of it, but I decided I needed to read it when it turned up as #81 on Fuse #8's 100 Best Picture Books thingie.  

The illustrations are crammed full of black-and-white detail from one edge to another, with a preponderance of wide-mouthed caricatures and little signs with lots of words.  A little scary, a little bizzare, a little intriguing.  In the end, not really my cup of tea.

Ivy likes the elephant birds, of course -- she likes anything with elephants.  She also likes hunting for the little talk bubbles ("What does that say?").  

Awesomeness: 3/10

Wordsmithing: 5/10

Personages: 4/10

Illustrations: 6/10

Ivy's Pick: How Many Ways Can You Catch A Fly? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

My first encounter with Steve Jenkins was reading What Can You Do With A Tail Like This? to a kindergarten class.  They were mesmerized.  Then I had the fun of discovering all of his other nifty-animal books, like Actual Size.  This new one is just as cool.  

First of all, pictures.  Layout.  Fantastic.  The Eyewitness white background inset picture with caption thing is here to stay, and it really works to focus kids' attention.  The book alternates one page of introductory material about a facet of animal behavior, such as how do they get into those tough clam shells?  At the bottom of each page,  you get a glimpse of what animals they'll be talking about on the next page, which provides a perfect guessing-game format for read-alouds.  It was great for reading with Ivy, too, as she chose a few bits to read on each page until her attention to the topic waned and we moved on to another.

Second of all, how many cool animal factoids can one (okay, two) people cram into one book!? Example: the Surinam toad lays its fertilized eggs into cavities on its own back, where they incubate, hatch and grow for several months before erupting.  Can't you just hear the delighted squeals of Ewwww!?  I really can't wait to share this book with my fourth graders, currently working on swamp animal research projects about predator-prey relationships.  

Jenkins does a great job of making the book accessible to all levels of interest.  Very young children can enjoy the cutouts with very little attention to the text.  Slightly older kids can jump around from factoid to factoid with no need for any organizing schema.  Older still, and they will appreciate the summaries at the beginning of each section, as well as the additional (and still interesting) material at the end.  

Ivy really liked the dolphin bubble net, although she still insists the Polynesian megapode is really a ptarmigan.

Thanks, Jenkins & Page!  I feel rather giddy... I sense a wave of nifty coming on.

Awesomeness: 9/10

Wordsmithing: 5/10

Factfulness: 8/10

Illustrations: 9/10

My Dog, My Hero by Betsy Byars et al

I didn't realize that Laurie Myers, one of the other co-authors of this book, was Betsy Byars' daughter until I read Surviving Brick Johnson, which Myers wrote on her own.  

I can't imagine why I missed this title.  It fills that all-important middle reader category, children who are beyond Junie B. and Magic Tree House series books, but aren't quite ready to jump into the ambitious middle grade pool of books.  Most kids hit this point somewhere in the third grade.  This one is cool enough to appeal to fourth graders, too, which is great.  

The illustrations are lovely, but totally not necessary to paint a picture of the characters, neither dog nor human -- the words are descriptive enough, quite a feat in less than six pages per chapter.  

I suspect this book will fly off my shelves... and I'm looking forward to testing my theory!

Booklist said: "Drama, humor, excitement, and love fuel these short, well-written stories that are certain to be relished by dog lovers. The selections can also provide students in English classes with excellent examples of point of view, characterization, and plot construction."

Awesomeness: 5/10

Wordsmithing: 3/10

Personages: 6/10

Mesmerizitude: 6/10

I read this for the Spring Reading Thing.

Ivy's Pick: Rapunzel by Grimm, illustrated by Dorothee Duntze

Ivy knows the Rapunzel story from a coloring book, but she'd not read the fairy tale, so I decided to pick up a copy to share with her.  I knew she would find the copy of Rapunzel's Revenge I got from the library, too, so I figured this would give her some background story.  

Duntz's version is less scary than Zelinsky's; there's no poking-out-of-the-eyes or anything.  The style is soft, mostly pastel, and has a strange undersea quality: the table in her tower looks like a snail, and is that a sea urchin hanging from the ceiling?  The translation was solid and appropriate for elementary kids.

Ivy liked the part where Rapunzel had two children, but wondered why they were so old.  They did seem to spring out of nowhere.

Pub Weekly said: "The arresting art abounds with sensuality and charm, making this version a welcome reimagining of a classic tale."

Awesomeness: 5/10

Wordsmithing: 6/10

Personages: 3/10 

Illustrations: 6/10

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson

Okay, so, my relationship with James Patterson is as a serial killer novel writer (Kiss the Girls, Along Came A Spider).  So I was really surprised when I heard he'd been writing novels for teens.  I'm a little out of touch, being at the elementary school, but I like to read teen novels because, gosh, they're good!  

This one... well, I wouldn't say it's good.  The blurb says "Spider-Man meets Men in Black," which is a very accurate description.  It's scary. It's gory.  It's fast.  It's even funny, at times. It's also very simply written.  The chapters are each three pages long.  The language is easy.  I would guess the lexile level is around 800, or less... (running to Titlewave to check -- ha!  680; that's third grade!).  There's no discernible character development, and all the supporting characters are flat as construction paper.  

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's clearly written for low level readers, but in such a way that most teen readers would still really enjoy it. Heck, I enjoyed it.  So, I guess that makes it good!

It's hard to find hi-lo books in such a convincing, appealing package.  This one works.  But, unfortunately, I think it's too scary and gory for most elementary school students (this coming from a girl who read Steven King at eleven), so don't reach for this as a hook for your third or fourth grade reluctant readers.  

Awesomeness: 5/10

Wordsmithing: 2/10

Personages: 2/10

Mesmerizitude: 7/10

Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold

This is the UK cover, which I like way more than the US cover.  I always imagined Miles being played by Robert Sean Leonard (Dr. James Wilson from House, MD), which is wonderfully supported by this illustration. Hee!

This is the 12th of the Vorkosigan Saga, not counting Falling Free or Ethan of Athos, but the first of the Miles In Love trilogy, in which (spoiler, but duh) he meets his future wife.  He stumbles all over himself doing it, though, which is really the fun of reading Miles.  That, and learning along with him all the stuff one learns along the course of a lifetime, with the added bonus of not having to actually be Miles and suffer the hardships therein. 

Komarr is primarily a character portrait of Miles and Ekaterin, with a mystery subplot and some interesting description of Komarr along the way.   It does not stand alone as well as some of the earlier books, mostly because of all the spoilers Bujold throws in to make the plot make sense, but one could begin with the short story "Labyrinth," then just read this trilogy (A Civil Campaign and "Wintergifts") and have a relatively meaningful sequence.  I really resonated with the Ekaterin character description and her difficulty with her husband -- Bujold, as always, totally nails her as an archetype while simultaneously creating a fresh, three-dimensional character.  Miles is mostly pining and moping for his forbidden love.  My biggest complaint is the lack of witty dialogue, as a good portion of the book takes place in the two main character's heads.

I am continuing reading this on my iPhone using Stanza, and loving it.  

Awesomeness: 6/10

Wordsmithing: 5/10

Personages: 7/10

This is part of my reading list for the Spring Reading Thing.

Ivy's Choice: Birds by Kevin Henkes

I'm always surprised when Kevin Henkes writes a book, but doesn't illustrate it.  I wonder why he chooses to do that?  In this case, Laura Dronzek's illustrations are so similar to his newest styles (as in A Good Day) that I am further befuddled.  

I enjoyed the simple clarity of color and line in this introductory book about birds.  I can imagine using it to discuss fiction/nonfiction with my preschoolers or kindergarteners.  They could dissect which statements are fact and which are fiction.  

Ivy said, "Let's read it again."  

Awesomeness: 7/10

Wordsmithing: 7/10

Factfulness: 1/10

Illustrations: 7/10

The Christmas Dolls (Girls of the Good Day Orphanage series) by Carol Beach York

This came off of someone's Top Ten Books list, and as I am also a fan of the young girl orphan genre, I thought I'd give it a look.  These girls are considerably better treated than Sara Crewe of Miss Minchin's was.  The girls are not the focus of the book -- the dolls, and their uncertain fate, are -- but there is still plenty of attention paid to details of interest to little girls, such as the contents of their Christmas stockings.

Now, I thought the book was very sweet, succinctly written with characters as interesting as any doll characters in children's chapter books may be.  But I couldn't stop thinking I'd seen these characters before.  I even recognize the illustration style, though not the illustrations themselves.  Tatty... Little Anne... what book had they appeared in originally?  It's just on the tip of my tongue.  I wish I had an answer.  Perhaps I will dream it tonight.

Awesomeness: 3/10

Wordsmithing: 5/10

Personages: 6/10

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Spoiler Alert!

This one sat on my shelf for a long time between the time I picked it up (summer) and when I finally finished it (this morning).  I read, and fell in love with, The Wednesday Wars, and I thought Trouble was pretty fantastic too, so I anticipated loving this one as much... but it just didn't grab me.  The writing and imagery was beautiful, but I wasn't as attached to Turner in the same way as I'd been to Holling.  In addition, I was shocked at the death of Lizzie.   I guess I didn't anticipate such a move from a children's book author.  Also, the ending came too abruptly -- I needed more closure.

I won't give up on you, Gary D. Schmidt!  I look forward to the next one.  

Awesomeness: 4/10

Wordsmithing: 7/10

Personages: 4/10

I read this book for the Spring Reading Thing.

Spring Reading Thing 2009

Well, I've been wondering what I might use this blog for, so I think I'm going to attempt to join (late) the Spring Reading Thing. My initial list is just going to consist of the pile o' books I picked up at the library the other day, plus my to-read shelf.

Paul Fleischman:
- Seedfolks
- Lost! A Story in String
- Sidewalk Circus
- Saturnalia
- The Borning Room
- Coming and Going Men
- The Animal Hedge
- The Birthday Tree
- I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices
- The Half-A-Moon Inn
- Shadow Play
- Weslandia
- Time Train

Laurie Myers (Betsy Byars' daughter):
- Surviving Brick Johnson
- Dog Diaries
- My Dog, My Hero
- Guinea Pigs Don't Talk
- Earthquake in the Third Grade

A few miscellaneous others, some of which have been sitting on my to-read shelf for months now, and I'd better get to them:
- Life as We Knew It (I read The Dead and the Gone and decided I had to read this one too)
- The Way a Door Closes (again, I read Keeping the Night Watch and had to read the prequel)
- Louisiana's Song (sequel to Gentle's Holler)

Also, I'll sprinkle in some adult SF I've been wanting to get to, including the remainder of the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold (I'm just starting Komarr, which I think is the fourth from the end) and Mark L. Van Name's books.

I usually post my reviews on GoodReads, so I'm not sure how this will go, but I'll try to follow up on at least these books here.