Review: Some Bugs by Angela DiTerlizzi, illustrated by Brendan Wenzel

Some Bugs by Angela Diterlizzi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
(see below for detailed rating)


We begin this review with the consideration of why Brendan Wenzel's illustrations are so damn cute. Cuteness researcher (really an ethologist) Konrad Lorenz identified a set of traits that cause human beings to think something is cute. We're apparently hardwired for it. Large head, large eyes, rounded shape all contribute to the cuteness factor, and Brendan Wenzel's animals have it in spades.

I'm not just talking about the bugs in this book, either. Wenzel has done illustrations of bazillions of animals for conservation organizations and companies promoting the welfare of animals.

The text itself is readable and provides plenty of fodder for thoughtful K-2 teachers (verbs! -ing suffix! pattern text to write!), but Wenzel's art is what really distinguishes this selection. I have not yet met one child who doesn't adore it, no matter if they love bugs or not. It's just that good -- and considering it was blurbed by Eric Carle, I think that says something. I will not hesitate to say every library serving children of any age needs this book.

Watch the book trailer.

Ratings start at 5 out of 10 (perfectly acceptable) and go up or down from there.

Awesomeness: 9. It doesn't get much better than this.
Wordsmithing: 7. Simple is hard. This is done very well.
Personages: 8. Considering there is no dialogue, the ladybug and her compatriots have a whole lot of personality.
Mesmerizitude: 9. We've read it at least a dozen times since I brought it home from the library.
Illustrations: 10. Bright, beautiful, detailed and kid-friendly.
Factfulness: 6. The only information here is the kind that comes from observation - but there is plenty of that to be had.

Other reviews: Jean Little Library | Sagging Bookshelves | Kate's Bookery | Teach Preschool

Check out this interview with Diterlizzi at Mr Schu's.

More about Brendan Wenzel: The Plucky Ones | Ninunina

View all my reviews

Booking Through Thursday: Grammar

Booking Through Thursday is a question-of-the-week meme.  This week's question:

In honor of National Grammar Day … it IS “March Fourth” after all … do you have any grammar books? Punctuation? Writing guidelines? Style books?
More importantly, have you read them?
How do you feel about grammar in general? Important? Vital? Unnecessary? Fussy?

I am a stickler for grammar and punctuation in my professional life.  I've never been able to fall into the conventions of online chatting or writing quick emails with no punctuation; even my notes to my husband are meticulously grammatical.  Not that I don't ever make a mistake.  And sometimes I even start sentences with "and."  =)

I do a mini-unit each year with my fourth grade students.  This is usually in cooperation with teaching them the conventions of typing: one space after each punctuation mark, two after each period, etc.  We read some funny books on punctuation, correct a few paragraphs with errors and learn to use a checklist for editing our own work.  Student's work improves dramatically in this experience.

I like to start with Punctuation Takes A Vacation by Robin Pulver.  This humorous story, illustrated with childlike paintings, shows what would happen if punctuation left the classroom.  Students One two page spread has punctuation marks writing postcards back to the students.  Later the punctuation from the classroom next door comes over and messes up their work.  It's funny and useful and the kids love it.

The second book I use is Greedy Apostrophe, which goes more in detail about the mistakes one makes using the apostrophe to create possessives where there are not supposed to be any.  This mistake pervades student work, even those hung in the halls, and I tell them in no uncertain terms that it makes them look bad when they use apostrophes in the wrong place.  We do a short worksheet so they get practice putting the punctuation in the right place.

Another excellent and very funny series of books are the picture books by Lynne Truss, starting with Eats Shoots and Leaves, followed by The Girl's Like Spaghetti and Twenty-Odd Ducks.  These books present a sentence twice, with two different ways to punctuate it, resulting in different meanings.  The funny part is the illustration going with each sentence.  Every fourth grader I know thinks these books are hilarious.

Incidentally, when I read the adult version of her book Eats Shoots and Leaves, I was eating alone in a diner at 7 in the morning, falling all over myself laughing.  If you're a grammar and punctuation fanatic like me, treat yourself to her book sometime.

Review: From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books - Kathleen T. Horning

From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books

by Kathleen T. Horning

Adult

230 pages

HarperCollins, February 1997



As a librarian, I've had myriad opportunities to review children's literature on the fly, in the form of booktalks and newsletter reviews, but it wasn't until I started writing this blog last year that I've looked critically at my skill as a writer and reviewer.  Reading From Cover to Cover was a gift to myself to help me write better and more informative reviews, and I highly recommend all bloggers do the same.

From Cover to Cover is written in a friendly, readable style, using a format designed for easy reference. It uses all the best features of nonfiction to guide the reader to the information she is looking for.  Horning begins with an explanation of how children's books are published, the parts of a book and various categories of children's books.  Then she methodically covers each type of children's literature:  nonfiction, traditional literature, poetry, picture books, easy readers and transitional books, and fiction. She concludes with a short chapter on writing a review.

One of the nicest elements of From Cover to Cover is the use of mentor texts to exemplify each aspect of children's literature.  Horning has a long, juicy list of recommended titles in each chapter.  I can see I'll have to devote a chunk of my summer to reading all those books!

I was thrilled to see that From Cover to Cover will be released this April in a revised edition!  You can bet I'll be picking up a copy to have on my reference shelf.

Horning has received multiple awards and commendations, including the 2009 Scholastic Library Publishing Award.  She is a former president of ALSC and a Newbery Award chair.  She is currently director of the CCBC and will be delivering the May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture this year.

Ratings

• Awesomeness: 8 - an excellent resource for all reviewers.
  
• Wordsmithing: 7 - written simply and clearly.
• Mesmerizitude: 8 - I breezed through these 200+ pages in a day, but came away full of ideas.
• Factfulness: 9 - superior content, both presentation of elements of literature and recommendations of exemplary texts.
  

Other Reviews'n'Stuff

• at A Garden of Books
• Read an excellent interview with Horning in SLJ (July 2009)

Review: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice - Philip Hoose

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Philip Hoose Ages 10 and up 133 pages Melanie Kroupa Books, January 2009

This is my first Nonfiction Monday post in a long while, and my first time participating in the actual event.  You can find today's roundup at Playing By The Book.

Many young readers easily sort themselves into two categories: those who prefer fiction and those who prefer nonfiction.  I can really only say I've met a handful who bridge these categories without any effort.  If I'm trying to get a fiction reader to try some nonfiction, or vice versa, I often go the biography route.  Even non-narrative biographies can be compelling reading.

As a young reader, I definitely fit into the former category, though I did love me some joke books and folklore ephemera.  Even now, I have a hard time picking up a nonfiction picture book when I could choose a fiction one.  Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice sat on my shelf for mmmrrph weeks before I finally looked at my calendar, sighed, and scheduled it for review this week.

Can I just say?  Compelling doesn't begin to cut it. Really.  As in, I'm putting all Hoose's books on my to-read pile NOW.

For those of you who, like me, have been lured away from the nonfiction side of the library by your When You Reach Mes and Homer P. Figgs, this book is an account of a little-known hero of the civil rights struggle.  Claudette Colvin was a teenager who was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for not relinquishing her seat on the bus -- eight months before Rosa Parks.  Colvin played a pivotal role in the little-known case of Browder v. Gayle, in which she and four other African-Americans successfully sued the city of Montgomery, claiming bus segregation laws were unconstitutional.

Colvin has largely been quiet about her role in the civil rights movement until recently; although she does appear in books, there are no other sources for young readers which quote her directly or provide this level of detail into her involvement.  Young people who read about the history of civil rights for African-Americans may never have known that a teenager could, and did, do so much for the movement.  Reading this book may very well provide a huge breakthrough for students who may be interested in participating on a personal level in social justice.

Hoose has compiled a winning collection of artifacts, quotes and historical data and interspersed it seamlessly with Colvin's own account of her experiences in the Montgomery bus boycott and court proceedings.  I wish student textbooks were written this way.  I mean, really, can't we just toss our dead white guy books in favor of a collection of award-winning, compelling nonfiction like this??

My only struggle here is knowing to whom I can recommend this book.  I think many of my fifth graders could and would enjoy it, with some guidance through some of the bits on teen pregnancy, but I doubt they'll pick it up without a lot of prodding.  All my teachers, of course, but who has time to read nonfiction?  I showed it to my principal today with a 20 cent review and she said, "Hmmm, looks kind of long."  Yeah.  True.  But really, those 133 pages (yes, I even read the notes at the end) just flew by.  I'm hoping my booktalks and reading aloud bits will lure in those students for whom nonfiction is an unexplored territory.  Maybe I'll even make some converts.  After all, you got me, Philip Hoose.

A Newbery Honor book, a finalist for the YALSA Award for Nonfiction for Young Adults, a Sibert Honor book and winner of the National Book Award.

Ratings

• Awesomeness: 9 - solid journalism, compelling original material and thoughtful analysis
  
• Wordsmithing: 8 - reads smoothly, especially for a nonfiction title
  
• Mesmerizitude: 8 - some important a-has about the civil rights movement as a whole and the bus boycott, Parks and MLK in particular
  
• Illustrations: 8 - my favorite photo is Rosa Parks on page 42
  
• Factfulness: 10 - and how often does one find a truly NEW addition to civil rights historical literature?
  

Other Reviews

• at A Chair, A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy
• at Reading Rants
• at Becky's Book Reviews
• at nomadreader
• at Rasco from RIF
• Leave a comment if I forgot your review!

Review: Green Grass and White Milk - Aliki

Green Grass and White Milk by Aliki Ages 4-8 32 pages Harper Collins, 1974

My school is planning to buy a cow to support Heifer International during this year's March is Reading Month (MIRM), so I checked out all the books on cows and milk we had in our public library. You'll see several of these reviews come up over the next few weeks.

Aliki is a classic favorite picture book writer. This easy reader style nonfiction offering is simple, but offers some fascinating tidbits of information:

"Good summer grass and good winter hay are healthful food for a cow. The better a cow eats, the better milk she will give."

At the time this book was written, it may be that many cows were still fed on grass and hay. Now it is almost impossible to find a dairy that feeds that way. Most cows are fed grain (bad) and soy (worse) and leftover bits of I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it.

Later readers will encounter a diagram of the cow's 4 stomachs and an explanation of why cows chew their cud -- this is how grass is broken down into nutritious food for the cow. There is also a detailed dairy diagram with pipes & tubes demonstrating the pasteurization process. I can imagine my students who are fond of machines and technology will be riveted to this page. This explanation is given for pasteurization:

"It is quickly heated to a temperature of 161 degrees F (71 degrees C) for 15 seconds. That is not boiling."

Um, no. Most kids now drink "ultra-pasteurized" milk, which is heated to 284 degrees F (140 degrees C). This has the advantage of making the milk last much longer before spoiling, but also turns it into something completely different than it was before it was cooked. Beneficial, even crucial, vitamins, enzymes and nutrients are lost. Many people who are allergic to milk products are not allergic to raw (non-pasteurized) milk.

Raw milk is scary to many people because we grew up in a "sterile is better" culture. Of course, the folks who get the Heifer International cow won't be sterilizing their milk, will they? They'll drink it raw -- just like the way babies get their milk from mamas all over the world. In the United States, raw milk is illegal in most states.

The book then explains how to make butter and yogurt, which of course is fascinating. Incidentally, don't try to make yogurt with ultra-pasteurized milk, because it won't work.

I was even more bemused when I found out that this book was revised, re-illustrated and even renamed by Aliki in 1992. I guess a book about milk that included the word "grass" in the title was just too confusing for kids now.  I will track down the other title and see what the revisions look like.

Excuse me while I pour my illegal raw milk on my cereal.

Ratings

• Awesomeness: 6 - an important topic made simple for young children
  
• Wordsmithing: 5 - although it's hard to make complex subjects easy to understand!
• Mesmerizitude: 6 - I love the bits about pasteurization and homogenization, and the process of how to make butter and yogurt will be great projects
  
• Illustrations: 4 - I can see why she chose to reillustrate - these are somewhat washed out and from earlier in her career
  
• Factfulness: 6 - clear and full of good information

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

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