Posts filed under 'Childrens'
Now we know which book won Newbery Gold for 2010, and a very deserving title it is. Still, in past years some of my favorite books have been the Newbery Honor books. This year is no exception for me. Grace Lin’s realistic/fantasy/folktale, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is an incredibly strong work of writing.
A young Chinese girl, Minli, from a very poor family meets a talking goldfish who helps her begin a journey to find The Old Man of the Moon. The Old Man keeps the book of fortune, and can tell her how to change her family’s fortune. There are so many stories and characters tightly interwoven in this book, and Lin pulls all of the threads together seamlessly. Should you decide to take this fabulous journey along with Lin’s heroine, Minli, you will meet an earthbound dragon, a cruel and greedy magistrate, some talking goldfish, some very selfish and greedy monkeys, a village which holds the key to perfect happiness, and many other wonderful, worthy friends.
I highly recommend this children’s book, but I’m not sure how it might function as a read-aloud for those parents looking for bedtime sharing material for their 7 - 11 year-olds. The story is not as straightforward as most books that I think of for reading aloud. But, give it a try and let me know how it goes. Either way, this book has the feel of classic children’s literature to me. I also felt that the illustrations, few though they are, definitely add to the story and to the high quality of the book as a whole.
January 26th, 2010
Karen - Sequoya
The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, audiobooks and video for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Boston on Monday. Place holds on copies of the award-winning books available at the library:
For a complete list of winners and honors, visit the American Library Association press center.
*reviewed on MADreads.
January 20th, 2010
Molly - Central
As the new year begins, and we settle in for the rest of the winter with “can’t-miss” books from the year before, there’s often a group of readers that goes overlooked. The cooks have their books, and the listeners have their audiobooks, but what about the children? Despair not, little library lovers! We’ve gathered the 2009 Best of Illustrated Children’s Book Lists into one place for you! Booklists from The New York Times, Nick Jr., Amazon.com, Publisher’s Weekly and more have selected their favorite picks; many titles appear on multiple lists.
Best of the best (number in parenthesis indicates number of lists on which the book appeared):
Looking for more great children’s books from 2009? Check out our picks for Caldecott Award contenders. See also the Charlotte Zolotow Award, given by the UW-Madison Cooperative Children’s Book Center.
January 13th, 2010
Tana
The Caldecott Medal is awarded by the American Library Association to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the preceding year. For those children’s book lovers who are curious about which books from 2009 librarians are discussing as possible Caldecott-medal or honor winners, here’s a list of those books which are frequently popping up on Mock Caldecott discussion lists, as well as a few that I think are worthy of a closer look.
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
This nearly-wordless retelling of Aesop’s fable is quite extraordinary. Mouse narrowly escapes being captured by an owl, when she realizes she has run right up onto a lion’s back. The irritated lion decides to spare the mouse, who, later, upon hearing lion’s frantic growls, rescues him from a trapper’s nets. From the jacket cover with illustrations of the lion and the mouse eyeing each other across the book’s spine, to the endpapers depicting a variety of animal families on the Serengeti, this book is worthy of attention. The pencil and watercolor illustrations are lush and richly detailed.
Chicken Little by Rebecca and Ed Emberly
The bold, zany colors and shapes fit the silliness of this traditional tale to a “t” And when the warm dark cave of the Emberly’s retelling is actually the fox’s mouth, it couldn’t be funnier. The fox’s enormous, projectile sneeze at the end, saves the birdbrained protagonists and keeps the tone light.
All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, Illustrated by Marla Frazee
Garton’s text creates a wonderful feeling of connection between a little girl and her world, and between the little girl and all the people in her world. The illustrations follow suit. Frazee’s illustrations are both airy and condensed - a feat which amazes me.
Tsunami by Kimiko Kajikawa, illustrated by Ed Young
Ed Young uses collage art on double-page spreads to illustrate this recounting of a true story of heroism. On the Japanese coast villagers are celebrating the rice harvest. A minor earthquake doesn’t alarm the revelers, but the spectacle of the sea receding from the land fascinates them, and they follow the receding waters beyond the beach. When Ojiisan, a wealthy elder who lives above the village on the mountainside, sees the receding tide he knows what it means. He immediately sets fire to his own rice crop so that the villagers will run up the mountain to help put out the fire. In so doing, Ojiisan manages to save all the villagers from the tsunami that follows.
Otis by Loren Long
The old-fashioned illustrative style matches this sweet story perfectly. A calf and an old tractor, Otis, are best buds, playing together and sitting together in bucolic bliss. Then an enormous, shiny new tractor appears on the scene and Otis is retired. When you check this one out, notice how the new tractor juts into the page as if to push its way in by sheer force and volume. Meanwhile, Otis becomes one depressed tractor, until at last he is called upon to save his friend.
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
Is it a duck or is it a rabbit? It all depends on your point of view. Two characters we never see are both looking at the same animal and arguing over its identity. Lechtenheld’s simple, yet deft illustrations allow readers to see both the duck and the rabbit in the same bold outline.
On January 19th the winners will be announced so here’s your chance to check out some of the possible contenders ahead of time.
January 6th, 2010
Karen - Sequoya
Denise Doyen’s debut picture book, Once Upon a Twice is a tale of a mouse whose desire for adventure draws him into a sticky situation with a water snake. This simple tale is remarkable in the telling. It is Doyen’s language, which she frequently invents, combining and creating words like “riskarascal” and “scoutaprowl” which deepens the story, its drama and its meaning, as well as making it a fabulous read-aloud experience. It has been compared by many reviewers to Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky. You can listen to children recite the poem on You Tube.
It is a rare picture book which engenders Newbery Medal discussion as the Newbery Award may only be given for distinguished writing and may not take illustrations into account unless they detract from the book. Yet Doyen’s poem is distinguished by both an elegance and sophistication that surpass the usual picture book fare, and it has received at least a bit of discussion on this Mock Newbery blog.
Meanwhile, the illustrations, by award-winning illustrator Barry Moser, enhance the text by setting the mood and tone, and providing their own details. The story takes place at night, under a full moon and Moser’s pallet is appropriately dark. Yet It isn’t the dark of night which is threatening to a mouse, but the light of the moon, which allows predators to see “the furlickt mouse’s sheen,” placing our hero in grave danger.
This is a picture book which can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages. Children as young as four or five can enjoy it for the adventure, and older children can appreciate the twists of language and strong rhyme scheme. Be sure to check out this new book with a classic feel.
December 17th, 2009
Karen - Sequoya
…or perhaps a love letter to Madeline L’Engle. These are two ways to describe When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Like many reviewers have said, this book is hard to talk about with out giving too much away. Part coming of age, part middle school friendship drama, part supernatural time traveling adventure, it has it all and according to Nancy Pearl is destined to be the next Newbery Award winning book.
Do you remember how it felt to be a pre-teen, full of questions and poised on the edge of adulthood? Stead captures these moments perfectly. Maybe I liked this book so much because Miranda the main character reminded me of myself growing up. My best friend growing up was also a boy (hers was Sal mine was Paul). I also adored escaping with my books after a dramatic school day (Miranda LOVES A Wrinkle in Time, I preferred Trixie Belden stories). Miranda’s story begins in 1978 NYC and I was hanging out with Paul in the early 80’s, but that’s where the similarites end. Nothing quite as strange and mysterious happened to me out in SD as it did for Miranda in NYC.
Miranda and Sal are street wise NYC apartment dwelling latch key kids and on their way home from school one fall afternoon when Sal is attacked by a boy that neither of them know. Sal, only bruised by the menacing sucker punches, soon begins to distance himself and Miranda can’t figure out why. She begins to finally make friends with girls in her class and also unexpectedly befriends the very boy who beat up Sal. Miranda’s mother has been chosen to be on a game show and prepping for her appearance is taking up alot of family time. This is when the mysterious notes start popping up referencing events that only Miranda knows about. Who is writing them? What are they predicting and most importantly why? You will want to read fast and figure out the cryptic messages, but try and take your time and let the story unfold, it will be worth it.
The book’s dramatic conclusion makes you want to re-read it immediately so you can see how the messages all make sense at the end. This one would be ideal for the whole family to share; classroom drama for the school age, 1970’s nostalgia for the parents and a mind bending adventure to go along with it. Put this one on your 2010 reading lists now.
December 11th, 2009
Katharine - Sequoya
