Meribeth's Musings

THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS (Monday Poem)

2012-02-20T12:08:00.001-05:00

by David Elliott

Her shell spins round,
a top
a dancer
a staircase with no end
a question with no answer.

from In the Sea by David Elliott, 2012, Candlewick Press

CORAL (Monday Poem)

2012-02-13T19:19:00.001-05:00

by David Elliott

As solid as a rock,
as colorful as heather,
coral's living proof:
it pays to stick together.

from In the Sea by David Elliott, 2012, Candlewick Press

Women Change History (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2012-02-07T22:42:00.000-05:00

Revisiting the past can give us courage and hope for what lies ahead. These books about women who made choices that changed the world can prompt us to discover new directions for our own futures. Read on!!

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
by Phillip Hoose
Square Fish, $9.99, Ages 10+

Growing up in central Alabama during the 1950’s, if you were black, meant you lived a segregated existence and you couldn’t even touch a white person without some kind of repercussion. Buses were central to the separation of the races, and a daily humiliation for blacks who often had no other form of transportation to get to their employment.
Claudette Colvin, who was fifteen years old in March 1955 when she refused to leave her seat at the bus driver’s demand to “Get up, gal!” actually predates Rosa Parks’ seated activism by nine months, and re-invigorated conversations about a bus boycott that had been quietly under discussion for many years. Colvin was arrested, later convicted, and appealed without success.
Later, in October, another teen, eighteen-year-old Mary Louise Smith, determined to keep her seat, was booked, jailed and released after her father paid the fine. In December, Rosa Parks was arrested for her now-famous resolve. This last was the provocation that actually produced the bus boycott.
Then during the boycott, the decision was made to file a lawsuit in Alabama federal court as a “constitutional challenge to state law.” Of the four women who finally appeared to testify in court, two were the teens, Smith and Colvin. This resulted in the judgment by a federal court to abolish “segregated seating on … Alabama’s buses,” bringing success and an end to the boycott.
Using sometimes-graphic archival photos and well-placed sidebars with related information, this slim, well-written, intriguing book reads almost like a novel, and includes an Epilogue, Author’s Note, Afterword, Bibliography, Notes, and an Index.

Cleopatra Rules! The Amazing Life of the Original Teen Queen
by Vicky Alvear Schecter
Boyds Mills, $17.95, Ages 11-14

Using a chatty writing style, refreshing brief sidebars to accompany often-diverting archival photos, and slightly longer sidebars to enhance the occasionally funny text, author Schecter immediately engages her readers in the Introduction by asking questions and predicting surprise. The layout of the book makes it a quick read, in large part because the headings – chapters, sections, even sidebars – are captivating, and the sections are brief but dynamic, using a staccato conversational reporter voice that is nearly irresistible.
Beginning with a warning that everything the reader may have previously read or heard about this fascinating, intelligent ruler is likely manipulated by her detractors, Schecter follows with the observation that the famous (or perhaps infamous) last pharaoh of Egypt grew up nerdy – that is to say, she spent a lot of time in the renowned Library of Alexandria (Egypt) becoming a scholar, especially of languages, but also of mathematics, science, philosophy and politics. All of which prepared her for her role as princess, queen, ruler, pharaoh, and beloved goddess of the Egyptian people.
The text manages to mix palace intrigue, sibling marriage, independence, strategic alliances, assassination, feuding, wars, negotiations, sumptuous barges and power parties, wealth and jewelry, cosmetics and wigs, even calendars, and of course suicide, to successfully display a brilliant and visionary intelligence wedded to a formidable magnetic presence, to characterize this ruler whose female force was used to create a world of power sharing. Back matter includes: Chapter End-notes, Timeline, Glossary, Bibliography, Picture Sources, and Index.

Rosa’s Bus: The Ride to Civil Rights
by Jo S. Kittinger
illustrated by Steven Walker
Calkins Creek, $17.95, Ages 7-9

This nonfiction book is the biography of a bus, telling the story of the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott that lasted for 382 days, after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. This particular bus, #2857, was manufactured by General Motors in Pontiac, Michigan in 1948, and served first in Terre Haute, Indiana for six years, before arriving in Montgomery.
The story of this bus is also the story of the different ways white people and black people were treated on public buses in Alabama, and other southern states of the United States in 1955. “That’s just the way things were” is a repeating line, insistently reminding readers of both the unfairness of the Jim Crow laws, and the fact that people accepted this injustice as part of daily life.
Other important elements in this picture book are the commitment of black people to walk instead of ride, and the financial losses the bus company experienced when black people, and their money, disappeared from daily bus trips for over a year. Oil illustrations strengthen the power of the story with dark and light in opposition, adding intensity, and with perspectives from inside the bus, alternating with outdoor views. One vigorous double page spread shows pairs of feet, at street level, striding across the sidewalk, spreading the energy behind the boycott and alternating with other pages of faces during an indoor church gathering, and both within and outside the bus.
The book concludes with the rescue of the old bus from a junkyard and later, from a field where it stood for many years, rusting, before being sold at auction, restored, and placed on display back in Michigan where it was “born” -- this time at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. An Author’s Note, another note About the Bus, Sources, Further Reading and Web Sites of Interest are all part of the end material.

THE DOLPHIN (Monday Poem)

2012-02-06T19:26:00.001-05:00

by David Elliott

He jumps.
He leaps.
He twirls.
He spins.
He's the jester
of the briny deep.,
an acrobat with fins.

from In the Sea by David Elliott, 2012, Candlewick Press

STARFISH (Monday Poem)

2012-01-30T21:37:00.001-05:00

by David Elliott

Five fingers,
like a hand,
the starfish shines
in a sky of sand.

from In the Sea by David Elliott, 2012, Candlewick Press

HOW TO TELL THE TOP OF THE HILL (Monday Poem)

2012-01-25T08:55:00.002-05:00

by John Ciardi

The top of a hill
Is not until
The bottom is below.
And you have to stop
When you reach the top
For there's no more UP to go.

To make it plain
Let me explain:
The one most reason why
You have to stop
When you reach the top -- is:
The next step up is sky.

from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic

UNTIL I SAW THE SEA (Monday Poem)

2012-01-17T06:44:00.002-05:00

by Lilian Moore

Until I saw the sea
I did not know
that wind
could wrinkle water so.

I never knew
that sun
could splinter a whole sea of blue.

Nor
did I know before,
a sea breathes in and out
upon a shore.

from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic

Men of the American Revolution (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2012-01-16T14:41:00.002-05:00

Completing one war, still engaged in another, and especially during the year ahead as we contemplate the upcoming presidential election, our country is on the cusp of major changes. We can experience the urgency of a similar period in our country’s history through the pages of these amazing books. Choose from this list to share the adventures of these brave and talented individuals whose persuasive skills and daring helped to shape a nation whose freedoms we cherish.

The Crossing: How George Washington Saved the American Revolution
by Jim Murphy
Scholastic, $21.99, Ages 9-12

An early indecisive leader, readers can observe the amateur George Washington grow into a strong confident commander as he organizes unruly rebellious men into a disciplined army and in the process is shaped by the responsibilities he assumes and strategies he crafts. Attentively researched, written with vigorous language, and supported by carefully chosen paintings, maps and engravings, author Murphy, recognized for his award-winning nonfiction, shares his passion for his subject in the nimble text and play-by-play of the fighting, as if readers were participants. Quoting from letters and journals, Murphy energizes this book with the voices of those who were there, as they recount what happened, and the secrecy surrounding many of Washington’s orders.
Constantly coping with deserters and inexperienced troops, Washington kept up a “hit-and-run style of fighting, avoiding head-to-head” combat and with the remaining committed, trained fighters, who grew to trust and follow him, he transformed the army and himself, helping to birth a new nation. While not a thorough account of the many long years of war, this book shows Washington’s emerging leadership, his skill as a strategist, and his ability to inspire loyalty and maintain a following.
With an Introduction, Timeline, Notes and Sources, Index and a list of Revolutionary War Sites to visit in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, the backmatter also includes a reproduction of the famous painting of Washington crossing the Delaware, and a brief commentary on the painting itself.

Lafayette and the American Revolution
by Russell Freedman
Holiday, $24.95, Ages 10-13

While still a teen, young Gilbert de Lafayette, who was born into a wealthy French family, joined his fortune and reputation to that of the American patriots, viewing the war between England and its colonies as a chance to demonstrate his abilities and commitment. Such an opening was unavailable in France, where there was no war in which to prove oneself, and where appointments were given according to position and wealth, not ability. Serving under General Washington, provided him with the opportunity to learn, and ignited a friendship between the two – “the forty-five-year-old commander who had never fathered a son, and the nineteen-year-old French nobleman who had never seen his father.
Author Freedman, whose biographies for children regularly win awards, writes with absorbing detail and infuses his storytelling with anecdotes of Lafayette’s early life giving shape to his eagerness to show what he can do. Paintings, portraits, engravings, and pages from documents accompany the text on nearly every double page spread, adding interest and setting Lafayette’s eventful life in the context of the era in which he lived.
As Lafayette’s tour of duty with the American army extended and his rank was no longer “honorary,” he was granted command, shared hardships with his men, negotiated treaties with Indian tribes, and grew in admiration and respect for Washington. These experiences supplied him with an insider’s view and, uniquely positioned, Lafayette returned to France to persuade his king and country to support the colonies.
Following the conclusion of the war and Lafayette’s arrival in France amid great acclaim, he continued to work, during his long life, for the same ideals in France, he had fought for in America. Includes a Time Line, Source Notes, a Selected Bibliography, and Index.

The Many Rides of Paul Revere
by James Cross Giblin
Scholastic, $17.99, Ages 9-12

Award-winning author, editor, lecturer and avid history buff Giblin once again makes a revolutionary war hero accessible to young readers with his formidable storytelling talents. Engravings, paintings, drawings, portraits, and photos in sepia tones illustrate the engrossing text on almost every page, inviting readers into the life of a first-generation immigrant American whose work for the revolution took many different forms.
Revere was a master craftsman silversmith, learning the craft as a youngster, apprenticed to his skilled father. When British rule pressed hard on colonists’ incomes, Revere acquired new skills, becoming a dentist and a copper engraver. As the owner of a horse, Revere added “messenger for the revolution” to his many tasks, making numerous rides across the countryside on missions that not only involved carrying messages, but put him in a position to win support for his city of Boston in its times of need.
Revere later built a powder mill and made gunpowder for the colonists’ army! After the war Revere continued to support the newly independent United States by setting up a foundry in Boston’s shipyards and producing a wide variety of objects in daily use, such as iron hammers and stoves. As needs in the new country grew, Revere developed his capacities further, repairing and casting bells for church towers, even making metal fittings for ships. He also built the first rolling mill in America; to produce sheet copper for the bottoms of ships, to cover the dome of the Boston Statehouse, and to protect boilers, on the then-new steamships, from exploding.
After his death at the age of 83, newspapers paid him tribute, calling him an early and tireless Patriot. Additional featured material at the end; the famous poem “Paul Revere’s Ride,” its author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and a brief Comparison, a Time Line, Historic Sites to Visit, with a map of Boston and surrounds, Source Notes and Bibliography, and Index.

PAPER II (Monday Poem)

2012-01-09T23:43:00.002-05:00

by Carl Sandburg

I write what I know on one side of the paper
and what I don't know on the other.
Fire likes dry paper and wet paper laughs at
fire.
Empty paper sacks say, "Put something in me,
what are we waiting for?"
Paper sacks packed to the limit say, "We hope
we don't bust."
Paper people like to meet other paper people.

from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic

PAPER I (Monday Poem)

2012-01-02T16:58:00.002-05:00

by Carl Sandburg

Paper is two kinds, to write on, to wrap with.
If you like to write, you write.
If you like to wrap, you wrap.
Some papers like writers, some like wrappers.
Are you a writer or a wrapper?

from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic

FRUGAL FRIGATE (Monday Poem)

2011-12-26T12:36:00.004-05:00

by Emily Dickinson

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears the human soul!

from Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson Edited by Frances Schoonmaker Bolin, 2000, Scholastic

THE STARFISH (Monday Poem)

2011-12-22T11:38:00.003-05:00

by Douglas Florian

Although it seems
That I'm all arms,
Some other organs
Give me charm.
I have a mouth
With which to feed.
A tiny stomach
Is all I need.
And though it's true
I have no brain,
I'm still a star--
I can't complain.

from in the swim poems and paintings by Douglas Florian, 1997, Harcourt

DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS (Monday Poem)

2011-12-06T19:29:00.002-05:00

by Marchette Chute

We have been helping with the cake
And licking out the pan,
And wrapping up our packages
As neatly as we can.
And we have hung our stockings up
Beside the open grate.
And now there's nothing more to do
Except
to
wait!

from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic

In Anticipation of the Holidays (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-12-01T16:14:00.003-05:00

When hard times come, we often turn to traditions that have served us well in the past. Gatherings of family and friends, food to share, and tales to tell, are among the treasures of memory making we can use to moderate trying periods. Make use of any or all of these fascinating books to enhance the season!

Franklin and Winston: A Christmas That Changed the World
by Douglas Wood
illustrated by Barry Moser
Candlewick Press, $16.99, Ages 7-10

Not a good student in school, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, was nonetheless a tenacious bulldog, inspiring defense of Great Britain through grim years of war against Nazi forces. His trip to the United States in December 1941was to plan, with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, how to confront the Nazi threat felt around the world.
The US President, who despite polio, had continued to guide and encourage the people of the US through the Great Depression, had met previously and begun a working friendship with PM Churchill and the two were pleased to meet again for this important work. The task of creating the largest alliance in history, coupled with fighting a World War, required much discussion, negotiation, and decision-making.
However, the most charming elements of this nonfiction picture book are the humorous anecdotes author Wood peppers throughout. One example is the time Franklin enters Winston’s room as he is getting out of the bathtub, and celebrated illustrator Moser captures the PM bent over and wrapped in a towel. The watercolor illustrations are, in large part, based on cropped and modified photographs and have the life-like qualities of realism characteristic of Moser’s work.
Capturing the celebration of Christmas at the White House, press conferences, and even Churchill’s address to the US Congress, this is a masterful tale, told of two powerful and dedicated men in a charged and difficult period of history. An Afterword lists the accomplishments of these two leaders during the weeks they spent together in December 1941 and January 1942. An Author’s Note, Bibliography, and a note about the illustrations are appended.

Lighthouse Christmas
by Toni Buzzeo
illustrated by Nancy Carpenter
Dial, $16.99, Ages 5-8

Inspired by a New England tradition, this holiday story begins with Peter and Frances as they plan and hope for Christmas. The lighthouse, where they live with Papa, is located on an island, and the supply boat is late. When Aunt Martha radios that she will send a dory for the children, they must decide if Papa will stay alone for the holiday, since someone must keep the light burning.
When a storm blows up, a fishing boat with an injured man overturns in the water, and the wind blows out the light. Frances must re-light the lamp, while her Papa rescues the fisherman. In addition, there will be no trip to the mainland in the storm.
Using pen and digital media, acclaimed illustrator Carpenter matches her palette to the text, in this 1930’s era picture book. She creates a light-filled house and deftly contrasts the darkness of the storm and its choppy wind and high waters, with the brightness of the Light.
Younger brother Peter is very upset about the lost trip to the mainland, until he and Frances determine how they will celebrate Christmas in the lighthouse. Heightened by the unexpected arrival of an airplane circling overhead, to drop a package from the “Flying Santa,” this cozy, intimate story concludes with a warm, happy gathering of the “Ledge Light family” as Peter has named them, including the one-eared cat that Papa doesn’t like and the rescued fisherman. An Author’s Note at the end explains the Flying Santa Service, launched in 1929 and continuously active ever since (except for the war years, 1941-1944).

The Flying Canoe: A Christmas Story
by Eric A. Kimmel
illustrated by Daniel San Souci and Justin San Souci
Holiday House, $16.95, Ages 6-9

On a Christmas Eve long ago six French fur traders squeeze around a tiny fire in Ontario, far from families, wishing they were home in Quebec. A magical figure is suddenly among them, offering to transport them to Montreal in one night. His only condition is that they may not speak until they are home. They agree, knowing they are able to use Indian sign language to communicate.
Celebrated author Kimmel, known for his award-winning folktales, has based this retelling on a French Canadian legend, with roots in Norse mythology. This story chronicles the trip as the trappers pass over places they recognize; “paddling” their canoe through the air, they “fly” through a blizzard, hear Niagara falls below them, and as they drop lower over Montreal, recognize some of their loved ones.
The San Souci’s, father and son artists, combine their talents to create enchanted illustrations, peopled with fur traders whose dress, head coverings and facial hair are reminiscent of Snow White’s dwarfs. Using both traditional and digital media, the illustrators companion the text with gleaming snow, ice-coated mountains, and cloud cover to conjure this crisp winter tale, in a skillful play of light and dark, for a story whose main action occurs during nighttime hours.
Casting the canoe’s shadow in the shape of the full moon’s brilliance, the illustrations show a happier conclusion than many versions. Since the agreement is, of course, broken, Kimmel’s text is a salute to “miracles” that often lay claim to the entrancing wonder of Christmas Eve.

BOOKS (Monday Poem)

2011-11-22T22:53:00.003-05:00

by Mordicai Gerstein

Books!
All sizes, all colors,
whispering,
"Come inside!"
"Come inside!"
Printed words
are a mystery.
How can they be
full of sounds?
How can you
look at this page
and hear my voice?
Read this and see
a green parrot
with a
bright red head
and long
purple
tail
feathers.
Words can frighten.
Words can sing.
Words can tickle.
Words can sting.
Words show us
worlds
never seen before.
Read this
and see
golden waves
crash
on a crimson shore.
And don't forget . . .
books smell good
too.

from Dear Hot Dog by Mordicai Gerstein, 2011, Abrams

HAUNTED HOUSE (Monday Poem)

2011-11-17T11:52:00.002-05:00

by Karma Wilson

We go peeking, peeking, peeking
in the broken-down, old window.

We go sneaking, sneaking, sneaking
up the stairrway, throught the door.

Old boards start cracking, creaking
as we walk on tippy-toe.

A mouse starts squeaking, squeaking
in his hole there by the floor.

Wait, a voice is speaking!
Deep and dark, it says so clear,

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?
WHY ARE YOU HERE!?
WHY ARE YOU HERE!?!?"

We go shrieking, shrieking, shrieking
down the stairs, back out the door!

And I promise, we aren't going to
that haunted house no more!

from What's the Weather Inside? by Karma Wilson, illustrations by Barry Blitt, 2009, Simon & Schuster

THE LITTLE TURTLE (Monday Poem)

2011-11-09T21:00:00.004-05:00

by Vachel Lindsay

There was a little turtle.
He lived in a box.
He swam in a puddle.
He climbed on the rocks.

He snapped at a mosquito.
He snapped at a flea.
He snapped at a minnow.
He snapped at me.

He caught the mosquito.
He caught the flea.
He caught the minnow.
But he didn't catch me.

from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic

WHEN YOU TALK TO A MONKEY (Monday Poem)

2011-11-01T19:21:00.001-04:00

by Rowena Bennett

When you talk to a monkey
He seems very wise.
He scratches his head,
And he blinks both his eyes;
But he won't say a word.
He just swings on a rail
And makes a big question mark
Out of his tail.

Monkey Tales (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-10-26T21:46:00.002-04:00

Especially during November, we often turn our thoughts toward spending time with family and giving thanks. Among many things for which we are thankful are family experiences of storytelling and reading together. This month we show off several books for reading together – specifically about monkeys, these are folk tales, stories to spark imagination, and one in particular, about a family of monkeys from the rainforest. During this season of thanksgiving, remember to take time to read and laugh together.

Cloud Tea Monkeys
by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham
illustrated by Juan Wijngaard
Candlewick Press, $15.99, Ages 5-8

More than a picture book, co-authors Peet and Graham have based this intriguing story on an ancient legend of tea-picking monkeys. Beginning with Tashi, a small girl, whose mother becomes too ill to harvest tea from the plantation near the mountain village where they live, this book takes readers to the long-ago and far-away in its opening sentence and initial painting.
The overseer, an unpleasant man with sharp eyes and a temper, intimidates the tea pickers -- women all -- and chases away the monkeys who usually arrive mid-morning, coming down from the mountains. Hidden under a large tree at the edge of the tea bushes, Tashi often shares her lunch with the monkeys she begins to recognize and name.
Deft ink and gouache illustrations capture contrasts in the expressive text; mist-cold morning (“light the color of lemons, soaking into the sky”), hazy burning midday sun, and especially the dappling light cast by tree-shade. Illustrator Wijngaard’s subtle use of color conveys the vast sweep of fields, sky, clouds and mountains; while perceptively highlighting the colors of clothing, headgear and even the textures of leaves, hair, rocks and baskets. From the overseer’s mean smirk, to the cautious expressions of the women workers, accenting Tashi’s smiling pleasure, the monkeys’ fearful grins -- and indeed the faces made as the Royal Tea Taster tests the flavor of the tea leaves from Tashi’s basket filled by the monkeys -- the artist makes astute use of brush and palette to reveal movement, emotion, and even pain on the sick mother’s features.
An Author’s Note at the end explains briefly, the difference from today’s easily accessible items, how dangerous the paths often were, to acquire goods for trade, making them costly because they were so precious – as are the origins of this rare tale.

Meet the Howlers
by April Pulley Sayre
illustrated by Woody Miller
Charlesbridge, $16.95, $7.95, Ages 4-7

Award-winning author Sayre introduces her readers to howler monkeys from the rainforests of Central and South America in this playful picture book poem. These noisy animals live together in family groups and travel through the trees, climbing and leaping, even in the rain.
Rhyming verses are printed in a larger font while prose, in smaller print on the same double page spread, supplies additional information about howler monkeys’ habitat, diet and behavior. Miller’s soft-focus illustrations are done in an almost tactile fuzzy/furry-looking acrylic with watercolor crayon and colored pencil in rainforest shades of green and brown.
The repeating lines of a rhythmic rhyming chorus furnish readers with the howlers’ call and an opportunity to howl along: “Woo-hoo-hoo! AH-UH-OH!” This is especially appealing to youngsters and is a careful matching with the active creatures whose energy moves across the pages to the accompanying text (except, of course, the pages where they’re sleeping!).
A map and “More about Howler Monkeys” pages are included at the back of this fascinating nonfiction book about a little known mammal.

Monkey: A Trickster Tale from India
by Gerald McDermott
Harcourt, $16.99, Ages 3-7

The sixth and final book in author/illustrator McDermott’s series of trickster tales, this story comes from the Buddhist tradition, and written originally in Sanskrit, is one of a well-known collection of legends and fables called the Jataka Tales. Fast moving Monkey, who lives in a tree along a river, is a mango-lover. Hoping to eat Monkey for dinner, Crocodile offers Monkey a ride to an island in the middle of the river where there are ripe mangos. Eager Monkey hops on Crocodile’s back.
As Crocodile swims, he drops lower and lower in the water until Monkey, frightened, warns Crocodile that he cannot swim. Right, agrees Crocodile, explaining that he wants to eat Monkey’s heart. Clever Monkey answers that his heart is back in his tree, convincing Crocodile to return, where Monkey scampers to safety, taunting his former captor.
Using fabric paint and ink to hand-color textured paper, and choosing vigorous colors, characteristic of India, to accent the action, McDermott’s double page collage spreads are alive with vivid movement, a seamless match of text and illustration. Monkey’s clever solution to eating luscious mangos and escaping hungry Crocodile is three-fold: Downriver, Monkey discovers rocks in the river between the trees on the bank and the mango tree on the island, and is able to reach the fruit he desires without Crocodile’s assistance; when Crocodile decides to imitate a rock, hoping to catch unwary Monkey, he teases Crocodile into speaking, proving that Crocodile is not a rock after all; and finally, agreeing that Crocodile’s suggestion to hop on him like a rock is a good idea, Monkey instead tosses a mango into Crocodile’s open mouth, leaping on Crocodile’s nose, after he snaps closed his mouth, and arriving safely on the riverbank. This lively tale will mesmerize the youngest children and, keep adults captivated even as they read it aloud.

Maggie’s Monkeys
by Linda Sanders-Wells
illustrated by Abby Carter
Candlewick Press, $16.99, Ages 3-5

A “family of pink monkeys” has moved into the refrigerator, reports Maggie’s big brother. Although he is never named, his frustration is palpable as he describes first how his dad, then his mom, and finally his older sister Kate, buy into younger sister Maggie’s imagined monkeys, playing along. He unsuccessfully approaches each one, offering his opinion that pretending has gone “too far.”
Author Sanders-Wells uses imaginative language to show each family member’s creative response to Maggie’s monkeys: when he takes out the mayonnaise, Dad carefully closes the door to avoid the monkeys’ tails; Mom fills a bowl with banana pudding just for the monkeys; Kate helps dress the monkeys in imaginary clothes. When the older brother attempts to adapt, he sits in one monkey’s lap and is scolded by Maggie; he tries talking in monkey, and Maggie explains that they speak English; and when he chooses a book about the zoo to read to the monkeys, Maggie is appalled and says so.
Artist Carter varies her illustrations with borders to define the black colored pencil and gouache paintings, or to confine text, and sometimes both or neither. This use or not, of borders, supplies a framework for the story, and when bright double page spreads anchor the story at pivotal stages, this strategic arrangement increases both energy and movement. This is especially true when Calvin and Grady, the brother’s friends come over and begin to laugh about the monkeys in the refrigerator.
Cartoon-like illustrations keep the humor high in this imaginative tale of a reality obsessed sibling and his reality challenged younger sister, Maggie.

WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND? (Monday Poem)

2011-10-24T17:36:00.003-04:00

by Christina G. Rossetti

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you.
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I.
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.

from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic

WIND SONG (Monday Poem)

2011-10-15T18:52:00.000-04:00

by Lilian Moore

When the wind blows
the quiet things speak.
Some whisper, some clang,
Some creak.

Grasses swish.
Treetops sigh.
Flags slap
and snap at the sky.
Wires on poles
whistle and hum.
Ashcans roll.
Windows drum.

When the wind goes --
suddenly
then,
the quiet things
are quiet again.

from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic

BEETLE

2011-10-12T22:15:00.002-04:00

B Black beetle
E Easily
E Enters and
T Turns
L Left to
E Escape

School Stories (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-10-04T21:35:00.002-04:00

School is the work kids do. And relationships are an important foundation. For children and the adults who love them, these stories offer opportunities to explore the establishment and strengthening of long-lasting friendships. From bullies to gender identity, to exclusion and welcome, we all need determination and gumption to make our way in the world. These books will make you laugh in recognition and appreciation. Have fun and take heart!

The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School
by Laura Murray
illustrated by Mike Lowery
Putnam, $16.99, Ages 4-7

Especially if you are a fan of the famous Gingerbread Man tale, this version by author and former teacher Murray is perfect for introducing students to school staff members. Beginning the story, children mix and roll and bake; then after he’s done, they pull out the pan, and it’s time for recess. When they leave to go outside, he races after shouting, “I’m the Gingerbread Man, and I’m trying to find the children who made me and left me behind.”
This attempt to find the children takes him on a series of adventures, introducing him to the coach, the school nurse, the art teacher, and even the principal, who helps him relocate his class. Lowery’s cartoon-like illustrations use pencil, traditional screen-printing and digital color to grab attention and sustain a high level of energy. Additionally, a couple maps give readers an idea of the school’s geography, and enhance the rollicking rhythm and rhymes of Murray’s text.
A poster, similar to ones the children make in the story as an attempt to locate the missing Gingerbread Man, is included inside the back cover, with activities and a gingerbread recipe.

Pirates and Princesses
by Jill Kargman & Sadie Kargman
illustrated by Christine Davenier
Dutton, $16.99, Ages 4-7

Based on an actual kindergarten incident, author Kargman and her eight-year-old daughter Sadie, team up to share a spirited playground story. Ivy and Fletch have grown up together since they were infants, born a day apart. Pregnant at the same time, the moms spent time together, and the two babies played with each other, from babbling to crawling, to preschool.
But when they get to kindergarten, things change. During recess the girls play with the girls, and the boys with boys. Initially Ivy and Fletch play together, as always, on the swings. But, the boys invite Fletch to play pirates, while the girls persuade Ivy to join them in the princess palace.
Veteran illustrator Davenier uses colored pencils, watercolors and oil pastels, especially pinks and blues, to establish typical gender identities. The lines and designs give shape and form to support the text, establishing personality with facial expressions and movement in this energetic picture book.
Fletch and Ivy almost forget each other, they are having so much fun. Until the pirates decide to RAID! Pirates and princesses chase each other and Ivy is captured! At first this is fun, and Ivy doesn’t mind. But when the princesses can’t rescue her, Fletch realizes it’s not fun anymore. Together he and Ivy change playground expectations.
This cheery tale of gender differences, trumped by imagination, friendship, and shared history, supplies kids and parents with samples of the importance of sharing swings and cupcakes for overcoming obstacles to getting along.

You’re Mean, Lily Jean!
by Frieda Wishinsky
illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
Albert Whitman, $16.99, Ages 5-8

Carly and Sandy always play together, using their imaginations as only sisters can. And then ---- Lily Jean moves in next door, and wants to play only with Sandy. At Sandy’s insistence Lily Jean agrees that Carly can play if she’s the baby. Then, if she’s the cow. And again, if she’s the dog.
With watercolors, acrylic ink, oil crayons, gouache and salt, award-winning illustrator Denton deepens the text with her characteristic blend of colors, expressive faces, and motion to show Carly’s inventive solution to transforming a bully into a friend. (With her sister, Sandy’s help, of course!)
While its characters are three girls, this brief, bouncy tale is accessible to both genders, since the games are not specific to girls only, and open-minded boys will not be put off by girly games.

Back to School Tortoise
by Lucy M. George
illustrated by Merel Eyckerman
Albert Whitman, $15.99, Ages 5-8

Tortoise is nervous about school. Maybe he will trip and fall, or hate his lunch, or the kids will be mean to him. He gets to school, but sits down by the door and doesn’t go in.
Sunny illustrations show Tortoise’s preparations for school and his anxious imaginings about potential problems. As his imagination changes, his uneasiness abates. He begins to think about the possible fun and new friendships. He takes a deep breath, opens the door, and bravely greets everybody with a “good morning!”
The ending will surprise you and make you laugh! And remind us all that courage is something required of adults and children alike.

PAPA SAYS (Monday Poem)

2011-09-28T02:53:00.004-04:00

by Libby Stopple

Papa
Says rain
Makes things grow.

I stood out in the rain
All morning
With my toes in the mud,
But Grandma says I really
Didn't get any Bigger.
It's just that my pants
Shrunk

TAKING TURNS (Monday Poem)

2011-09-19T22:22:00.002-04:00

by Norma Farber

When sun goes home
behind the trees,
and locks her shutters tight--

then stars come out
with silver keys
to open up the night.

from The Bill Martin Jr Big Book of Poetry edited by Bill Martin Jr with Michael Sampson, 2008, Simon & Schuster

Let's Celebrate Hispanic Heritage (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-09-14T22:06:00.002-04:00

For the month between September 15 and October 15, Latinos, especially those whose family roots are in Central and South American countries, take time to honor their ancestry by paying tribute to those whose passion and commitment secured liberty, equality and self-government as a legacy for future generations. Here are a few titles whose stories salute this inheritance. Enjoy! Disfruta!

A Mango in the Hand: A Story Told Through Proverbs
by Antonio Sacre
illustrated by Sebastia Serra
Abrams, $16.95, Ages 5-8

When Francisco wakes on the morning of his saint day, his father approves him as old enough to go alone for the first time to pick his favorite fruit, mangos, for Francisco’s contribution to the family feast. Excited, the young boy discovers this initially delightful task is not as easy as he expected.
The pencil and ink illustrations use a digital infusion of color to support the folkloric sensibilities of this story. Artist Serra, who lives in Spain, makes use of important details, such as a soccer ball, guitar, dominoes, chilies and hats to create a Latino setting. He also includes common elements of daily life like a swing set, cats, flowers and bicycles, making important use of background features to amplify the text.
Author Sacre’s storytelling skills sparkle in his use of Spanish language proverbs that glow with humor and universal appeal as Francisco is distracted by bees and family members in his attempts to bring the mangos home. Making adept use of English to carry the proverbs, this delightful tale infuses family relationships, problem solving, and independent thinking into an absorbing story of love and acceptance. A glossary of Spanish words and phrases is included at the back.

The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred
by Samantha R. Vamos
illustrated by Rafael López
Charlesbridge, $17.95, Ages 5-8

A bilingual adaptation of the familiar “House That Jack Built,” author Vamos “cooked” up this yummy version in her kitchen. Using ingredients for rice pudding (Arroz con Leche), this scrumptious communal concoction is a favorite for many, whether or not it’s part of a family’s history. In this cumulative tale, the repetition is highlighted in Spanish as a sweet repetition of the English translation, announcing the ingredient as it’s added to the pot (cazuela).
Rose and golden acrylics characterize the double page spreads in this vivid picture book, emphasizing the sunlit radiance of a Central American daytime. Each animal makes an important contribution, and is given prominence as they prepare ingredients, and add to the music while the pudding is cooking. This is in distinctive contrast to the animals in another familiar folktale –The Little Red Hen – where the main character invites several others to participate, and each time is rejected. Award winning artist López once again furnishes an experience of fiesta, harmonizing text and illustration, in a tale well suited to community celebration. Back matter includes recipe and glossary of Spanish words.

No More, Por Favor
by Susan Middleton Elya
illustrated by David Walker
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, $16.99, Ages 3-5

The rain forest – selva -- is filled with wonderful, tasty things to eat. It’s also full of baby animals deciding they are fed up with the usual. Author Elya’s rhymes tell an amusing story of picky eaters and parents who fix a fiesta to change things up.
With glossary and pronunciation guide at the beginning, adults who read aloud to the youngest children will introduce their listeners to a lilting combination of English and Spanish language. Large double page spreads with bright and pastel acrylics illustrate some of the Spanish words, making it easy for non-Spanish speakers to infer meaning.
Elya makes wise use of rhymes; matching only English words together, and only Spanish words together (with a single exception, finito, an Italian word, matched with the Spanish, Quetzalito). This humorous take on a frequent family problem will tickle grownups and entertain even the most finicky of youngsters.

Welcome to my Neighborhood! A Barrio A-B-C
by Quiara Alegría Hudes
illustrated by Shino Arihara
Scholastic, $16.99, Ages 4-7

Without glamorizing inner city problems, this engaging alphabet book, opens cultural doors for readers with descriptive rhyming language (“G is for graffiti right beside the subway grate. H is for the hoop. It used to be a crate.”). Creating a panorama of authentic urban neighborhood life – “M is for los muralistas” – the dynamic language mix of English and occasional Spanish words, pairs seamlessly with active realistic gouache paintings. Pastel highlights add energy and build interest from start to finish.

Good-bye, Havana! Hola, New York!
by Edie Cólon
illustrated by Raúl Colón
Simon & Schuster, $16.99, Ages 4-8

Just published, this thoughtful, tender reminiscence is based on the author’s childhood in Cuba, and enhanced by her acclaimed, Puerto Rico-born, illustrator husband’s “memorable” paintings. With watercolor, colored pencils and lithograph pencils, artist Cólon evokes an earlier era, using sepia tones in backlit paintings, and featuring clothing, house and school furnishings, hairstyles, and even eyeglasses, notable for the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.
Author and elementary teacher Cólon writes with an easy mix of English and Spanish, sharing her carefully crafted story of growing up in two cultures. This beautiful picture book blends text and illustration in a seemingly effortless partnership, to bring this sensitive story to young readers and listeners. An Author’s Note and a brief dictionary of Spanish words are located at the end.

METAPHOR (Monday Poem)

2011-09-13T19:22:00.002-04:00

by Eve Merriam

Morning is
a new sheet of paper
for you to write on.

Whatever you want to say,
all day,
until night
folds it up
and files it away.

The bright words and the dark words
are gone
until dawn
and a new day
to write on.

from The Bill Martin Jr Big Book of Poetry edited by Bill Martin Jr with Michael Sampson, 2008, Simon & Schuster

Brown Anole

2011-09-08T11:58:00.004-04:00

Anole races on sticky feet,
stopping only to breathe and eat.

Watch the red throat fan under its chin,
as the dewlap peeks out, then in.

Hungry Anole moves tongue and eyes
to capture and eat ants and flies,

Catch Anole, the tail detaches!
It re-grows, no need for patches.

It looks like a gecko, don't you think?
When you see it, don't wink or blink,
'cause it moves swiftly and can escape,
hiding from you in the landscape.

SHOES (Monday Poem)

2011-09-06T22:44:00.002-04:00

by Mordicai Gerstein

You sleep under my bed,
yawning at dawn
when I wake you.
You swallow my feet
for breakfast.
You love to run
and though I'm fast
you always
want to run faster
and faster.
Do you wish I were
a horse?
Do you want to be
horseshoes
when you grow up?

from Dear Hot Dog by Mordicai Gerstein, 2011, Abrams

VOCABULARY LESSON (Monday Poem)

2011-08-29T21:21:00.002-04:00

by Ann Wagner

We don't have wars.

We have

conflicts
campaigns
operations
escalations
missions
offensives
preemptive strikes.

We don't have soldiers.

We have

peace keepers
troops
servicemen
servicewomen
forces
coalitions
units.

We don't have mistakes in combat.

We have

incidents
accidents
friendly fire
flawed intelligence

And we don't have death.

We have

casualties
loss of life
collateral damage.

What we do have is

a careful vocabulary.

from America At War selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, 2008, Simon & Schuster

Grasshopper

2011-08-28T09:24:00.004-04:00

When it's first born as a tiny black grasshopper, less than half an inch long, with a single red stripe across its back, it's one of about fifty babies. It loves to eat the leaves and bulbs of amaryllis flowers. As it grows, its colors change to green, yellow, and orange just like the one in this photo. I took this picture of the grasshopper on the stem of a large white-flowered lily. It munches on the lily leaves turning them into tattered green lace. Come visit in March to watch the black babies after they hatch!

THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS (Monday Poem)

2011-08-22T20:15:00.002-04:00

by Sara Teasdale

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;

And spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.

from America At War selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, 2008, Simon & Schuster

Black Lizard

2011-08-21T21:57:00.002-04:00

This lizard was on the porch outside our room on Casey Key, Florida's west coast, where we were last weekend. So far unsuccessful locating what kind of lizard.

To grandboy Layton, who is nearing his three-year birthday, and interested others, let's name it!

DREAMS (Monday Poem)

2011-08-16T22:41:00.002-04:00

by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

from America At War selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, 2008, Simon & Schuster

Chicago Zen Garden

2011-08-09T18:31:00.001-04:00

Bark crackles --
a sharp ironic contrast --
on an arch
curved by disaster.

What do you see? Please share.

MISSING (Monday Poem)

2011-08-08T21:05:00.003-04:00

by Cynthia Cotten

My brother is a soldier
in a hot, dry,
sandy place.
He's missing--
missing things like
baseball, barbecues,
fishing, French fries,
chocolate sodas,
flame-red maple trees,
blue jays,
and snow.

I'm missing, too--
missing
his read-out-loud voice,
his super-special
banana pancakes,
his scuffed up shoes
by the back door,
his big-bear
good night
hug.

There are people
with guns
in that land of sand
who want to shoot
my brother.

I hope
they miss him,
too.

from America At War selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, 2008, Simon & Schuster

Numbers Can Tell Stories (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-08-05T15:18:00.000-04:00

If you’re looking for summer ways to engage your brain, these books are both absorbing and entertaining.

Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature
by Sarah C. Campbell
photos by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell
Boyds Mills Press, $17.95, Ages 5-11

First written about in India, the pattern of numbers found in nature and featured in this book is actually named after an Italian mathematician, Fibonacci. Starting with a small photo of a seed, the text gradually leads readers into a beginning understanding of patterns formed in the natural world. As this nonfiction book unfolds, the author and her husband make intriguing and careful use of photos of plant and animal life to expand the text, featuring the famous chain of numbers as spiraling shapes of building blocks.
Using blocks of boxes to demonstrate the pattern of increasing numbers, this compelling book shows spiraling shapes in pinecones, pineapples, sunflowers and more. Campbell’s text shows the different number effects created as parts of plants spiral first in one direction and then in a different direction.
Demonstrating the pattern using the outside sections of a pineapple, the author shows how these sections actually grow in three different directions and can be counted as 5,8, and 13 in the familiar sequence. The author/photographer invites the reader/listener into her exploration and discovery of the literal building blocks in creation.

How Many Donkeys? An Arabic Counting Tale
retold by Margaret Read MacDonald and Nadia Jameel Taibah
illustrated by Carol Liddiment
Albert Whitman, $16.99, Ages 5-7

Jouha, the famous wise fool or trickster beloved in many Middle Eastern cultures (called Goha in Egypt, Hodja in Turkey, and the Mullah in Iran), is the main character in this retelling from Saudi folklore. Taibah, and well-loved master storyteller MacDonald, collaborate to shape this tale from Taibah’s family. Although variants of this folktale can be found in cultures as widely spread as Syria, Romania, Spain, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, India, and Indonesia, this Saudi version is especially amusing.
Before leaving for a market trip, Jouha asks his young son to help him count his donkeys loaded with dates to sell. The Arabic words for the numbers from one to ten are included along the bottom of several double page spreads, reading from right to left, perfect for children in a storytelling circle to count along with the storyteller/reader. (A pronunciation guide is included on an early page.)
Enroute, Jouha forgets to count the donkey he is seated on, especially when he stops for water, for lunch, at the market itself, and sleeping on the way home. Someone is always there to remind him to “Count again, Jouha!” Especially his son when he gets home and thinks he’s lost a donkey on the return trip.
Artist Liddiment uses bright colors in her sunny paintings, capturing the light and shadows as Jouha crosses the desert and arrives at the shady oasis and later, the tree covered marketplace. It’s a silly tale, but one which young children love because, unlike Jouha, they can see the dilemma in the illustrations, as Jouha gets on and off his donkey.

Mary’s Penny by Tanya Landman
illustrated by Richard Holland
Candlewick Press, $15.99, Ages 7-10

In this feminist retelling of a traditional tale, award-winning author Landman sets her story in the “long, long ago, golden, olden days.” A farmer father devises a clever plan for determining which of his two sons will inherit the farm. He does not intend to include his daughter, Mary, in this competition, since “everyone thought girls couldn’t run farms.”
In this long past era, the value of purchases is quite different from today and each of the sons uses a penny gift from their father to purchase something to fill the entire house. The eldest, Franz, buys a load of straw, but it’s not enough. Neither is the load of feathers, bought by the second son, Hans. The family sleeps in the barn each night. And the farmer becomes sad and anxious about what to do and what will happen to the farm when he is gone.
Holland’s mixed media illustrations supply important information; worried, relieved, happy facial expressions, bright red and yellow accents to contrast with greys and tans, background details especially at the market, and a comedic sense of timing. Adding to the book’s folkloric quality is the simplicity and lack of clutter in the double page spreads and the use of multiple font stylings, including a strategic use of capitalizations, lower case letters and cursives.
Finally when Mary asks, her father reluctantly gives her his “very last penny.” After her trip to market and when dark falls that night, she lights a candle and plays a melody on her knife-shaped river reed. The farmer takes her hand, speaking quietly, “You have filled the house many times over . . . . You shall run the farm . . . .”
While this book makes use of simple math and money ideas, it also communicates that intelligence and wisdom require a different measure. Text and art together craft a satisfying ending in this beautifully cadenced storybook with a “nugget of old wisdom” at its heart.

TO YOU (Monday Poem)

2011-08-02T21:25:00.002-04:00

by Karla Kuskin

I think I could walk
through the simmering sand
if I held your hand.
I think I could swim
the skin-shivering sea
if you would accompany me.
And run on ragged, windy heights,
climb rugged rocks
and walk on air:

I think I could do anything at all,
if you were there.

from America At War selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, 2008, Simon & Schuster

Oregon Coast, Netarts Bay

2011-07-27T16:07:00.003-04:00

Earlier this month, I spent a writing week along the Oregon coast. It was nearly thirty degrees cooler there than most of the rest of the continental U.S. Although the photo does not do justice to its rocky beauty, I found it a magical place.

Space and time breathe, compressing and expanding. Fog alters reality. Stones reflect weather. Tides change visibility. Shells create memories.

Want to write a title for this photo? Please share it.

ODE TO THE LIZARD (Monday Poem)

2011-07-25T21:23:00.002-04:00

by Pablo Neruda

On the sand
a
lizard
with a sandy tail.
Beneath
a leaf,
a leaflike
head.

From what planet,
from what
cold green ember
did you fall?
From the moon?
From frozen space?
Or from
the emerald
did your color
climb the vine?

On a rotting
tree trunk
you are
a living
shoot,
arrow
of its foliage.
On a stone
you are a stone
with two small, ancient
eyes--
eyes of the stone.
By the
water
you are
silent, slippery
slime.
To
a fly
you are the dart
of an annihilating dragon.

from The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan, 2010, Scholastic

Preparing for Hurricane Season (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-07-20T22:41:00.002-04:00

With the close of school for the summer comes the arrival of the storm season in South Florida. This selection of books for young people includes a variety of stories to appeal across a range of ages for the time that spans vacation. Whatever you need, choose from these books to make use of easily accessible information or to get lost in the grasp of a sweeping story.

Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck
by Margarita Engle
Henry Holt, $16.99, Ages 10+

Cuban-American author Engle seamlessly blends her talents as journalist, poet and novelist to bring historic figures and settings to life. With her distinctive writing style, she again treats her readers to poetry in each characters’ voice, allowing them to tell their own story, while simultaneously showing how the Spanish-Indian slave boy who, used by his pirate captain master as a translator, escapes during a hurricane shipwreck to safety. And further, learning to live again on land, helping a pair of young lovers, and ultimately deciding the fate of his former pirate/owner Talavera, and Talavera’s conquistador hostage, Ojeda, this former slave creates a new life and a new name for himself.
A fictionalized account divided into six parts, it is by turns suspenseful, captivating, ill fated, and stirring as readers are led into the age of Spanish exploration and conquest, which also includes islands in the Caribbean, and the Cuban/Taíno love story of Caucubú and Naridó. Award-winning writer Engle has woven family ancestry, hurricanes, slavery, pirates, shipwrecks, forbidden love, caves, and island spirits into a poetic feast of historic fiction. An Author’s Note, Historic Note, and References are added at the end.

Ready, Set . . . Wait! What Animals Do Before a Hurricane
by Patti R. Zelch
illustrations by Connie McLennan
Sylvan Dell, $8.95, Ages 4-9

Humans are not the only ones who prepare for a hurricane – animals, in South Florida author Zelch’s first picture book, sense and prepare for oncoming storms too. Zelch’s use of poetic language and simple repetitive phrases, brings her readers into the moments before a howling storm arrives: “Sharks explode from the shallows” of a bay, birds “huddle among the twisted roots” of mangrove islands, “rabbits race across the land,” instinctively (“They know!”) moving into their own safety range.
Award-winning illustrator McLennan’s paintings spread across double pages, ushering readers from human land preparations, into shallow ocean reef waters, then to the open sea and safety in deeper water. She uses her varied color palette to show animals on their island homes, in inland rivers and grasslands, and both offshore and along sea shorelines.
Informative back matter includes answers to questions, What is a Hurricane?, maps, the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, Preparations for the Storm, and Animal Behavior. Perfect for a home or classroom setting, this nonfiction book is an excellent choice both for before a storm or following a hurricane to assist families as they respond to these powerful tempests.

Hurricane Song: A Novel of New Orleans
by Paul Volponi
Viking, $15.99, Ages 11-14

Hurricane Katrina arrives in New Orleans about two months after Miles moves from Chicago, where he’s been living with his remarried mother’s new family, to live with his jazz musician father. Miles believes his father’s first love is his trumpet and playing jazz, and he becomes both angry and disappointed when his father’s birthday gift to him is an African drum, instead of new cleats and a football.
In bumper-to-bumper traffic on the highway out of the city, Miles’ uncle’s car dies, and the three end up hiking to the Superdome in the rain. At this super shelter they, and another jazz musician friend they meet up with later inside, decide not to become involved in other people’s dramas. But along with a woman, her father, and her two young daughters, plus a preacher and his family, they begin to form a small community of safety and comfort, drawing together in the sharing of music as an antidote to loss and grief.
This becomes even more necessary when Miles meets up with a couple of boys from his new high school football team. Initially he’s pleased because they are both seniors, and he thinks he’ll be part of the social chain in school if he hangs out with these guys – until they bully themselves into the food line and later, want protection money from the people in Miles’ section.
Headlined by verses, both known and new, of the jazz spiritual often characteristically used as a funeral march in New Orleans, each of the twelve chapters (plus a prologue and an epilogue) is also captioned by a date and time, and chronicles the painful experiences of three days in the before and after of Hurricane Katrina. In this short but gripping story of nightmarish tragedies and profound hope, Volponi’s passionate writing is a careful crafting of contrasts -- gritty language and sensitive interactions -- in this tale of a desperate time, as a son and his father discover each other in new ways and begin to feel like a family.

Additional titles to consider:

Hurricanes!
by Gail Gibbons
Holiday House, $17.95, Ages 7-9

Discover how hurricanes form, how to prepare when you learn a hurricane is coming, what kinds of damage results, and how information is gathered to forecast and track hurricanes. Brief descriptions of several famous historic hurricanes, including Hurricane Andrew (1992), and Hurricane Katrina (2005) are included. (Nonfiction)

Hurricane Wolf
by Diane Paterson
Albert Whitman, $16.99, Ages 5-8

Noah learns about and helps prepare for approaching Hurricane Anna, which he calls a hurricane wolf, because it’s scary like a big bad wolf trying to blow down houses. The family plots the hurricane’s course on a map, while it batters the house, and Noah asks questions: “Can it see us?” he whispers when it gets suddenly quiet; his mom explains the silence as the eye, the center of the storm. Information about hurricanes is included at the end as a “book” Noah makes with help from his mom: the Saffir-Simpson Scale, a sample Hurricane Plan, Hurricane Kit, and what to do After the Storm. (Fiction)

Ellie Ever
by Nancy Ruth Patterson
illustrations by Patty Weise
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $15.99, Ages 7-10

After a hurricane in which nine-year-old Ellie and her mother lose her father, her beloved Saint Bernard, Pandy, their house and all their possessions, they move to Virginia for her mother to complete a farrier’s apprenticeship at a mansion, which also houses stables for retired horses. Ellie is accepted into Twin Creeks Preparatory School and discovers the other girls in her fourth grade class think she’s a princess because she lives at the mansion. This tender, restrained story shows a family’s steady recovery from the huge losses of a big storm. (Fiction)

BOMBS AWAY (Monday Poem)

2011-07-18T10:04:00.002-04:00

by Sara Holbrook

It happens when
the weather warms.
The sky explodes
in thunderstorms.

Cloud puffs change
from white to gray.
The sun retreats,
then
BOMBS AWAY!

Forget those ten umbrellas,
the hat,
or the place to hide.
When storm clouds start to grumble,
I want
a good friend
by my side.

from Weird? (Me, Too!) Let's Be Friends by Sara Holbrook, 2010, Wordsong

WHAT'S IN A WORD? (Monday Poem)

2011-07-12T00:02:00.004-04:00

by Siv Cedering

Say "bird,"
and a sparrow appears
inside you and ruffles
its feathers.

Say "cardinal,"
and the bird turns red.
Suddenly it is winter.
With a lot of snow. And look!
There are sunflower seeds
in the feeder.

from How to Write Poetry by Paul B. Janeczko,1999, Scholastic

THIS BOOK (Monday Poem)

2011-07-05T16:44:00.003-04:00

by Avis Harley

This book is the best--
I woke up to read it
Before getting dressed.

This book is so cool--
It's the first thing I grabbed
When I rushed in from school.

This book is a winner--
I forgot I was hungry.
I almost missed dinner.

This book is just right--
I'm reading by flashlight deep into the night
Deliciously thirsty to see how it ends.

Books are such mind-thrilling
Spine-tingling friends.

from I Am the Book selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, 2011, Holiday House

RAIN (Monday Poem)

2011-06-27T12:14:00.002-04:00

The rain is raining all around,
It falls on field and tree,

It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.

from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1978, Random House

Welcome to the World, Ella Elizabeth!

2011-06-24T15:28:00.002-04:00

We have a new dear to love!

THE SWING (Monday Poem)

2011-06-20T10:41:00.003-04:00

by Robert Louis Stevenson

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees, cattle and all
Over the countryside. --

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1978, Random House

WHAT WAS THAT? (Monday Poem)

2011-06-13T22:51:00.002-04:00

by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

What was that
that made me blink?
Made me wonder,
made me think?

Turned me inside
upside down;
under, over
all around?

What was that
that I just heard?
A treasured tale,
a magic word?

A breathless thought
inside my head--
what was that
that I just read?

from I Am the Book Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, 2011, Holiday House

First Rate Father Figures (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-06-07T21:25:00.004-04:00

Fathers can help us fashion who we are from our dreams. Choose from these great storybooks to celebrate the father you adore.

My Side of the Car

by Kate Feiffer

illustrated by Jules Feiffer

Candlewick Press, $16.99, Ages 4-7

Readers of this funny, quirky picture book see the difficulty Sadie has had trying to get to the zoo – her mom trips and they must go to the hospital, Pasha the dog gets lost and the family looks for him all day, the grandparents make a surprise visit and prefer the museum. But finally Sadie and her dad are on the way, having a great time, until her father notices it’s raining. “No, it’s not raining on my side of the car,” says Sadie, again and again, in answer to her father’s concern.

Modeled on a trip the author, Kate Feiffer, and her father, Jules Feiffer, the illustrator, once took to a nature preserve, the watercolor and pencil paintings explicitly capture images of a rain-soaked landscape in contrast to a bright sunny day, with the red car serving as the dividing line between. From Sadie’s comments, one is never entirely certain whether her observations are based in reality or hope. But the text and images complement each other fully; as it becomes clear that Sadie is determined, nothing will keep them from the zoo today.

When they finally arrive however, and Sadie gets out, she declares she doesn’t want her father to get wet from the rain on his side of the car. They make a big turn, and after passing some boring roads, her dad observes that it’s not raining on his side of the car now. The satisfying final scene is complete with them “going to the zoo. At last!”

(Appended is a comical discussion between daughter and father about the real-life event – it’s clear there is, to this day, no agreement about whether it was raining!)

Passing the Music Down

by Sarah Sullivan

illustrated by Barry Root

Candlewick Press, $16.99, Ages 5-8

When a young boy travels from Indiana to Appalachia mountain country, it’s to meet the old fiddler whose playing he admires. The two become fast friends, working in the old man’s garden, sharing meals, and playing fiddle tunes together. To strengthen the relationship, rooted in the music they both love, the boy’s family moves to a neighboring county.

Accenting the title by recurrent use of the phrase, author Sullivan, a West Virginian, like the musicians and the traditional folk music she admires, keeps readers connected to the characters by favoring a ballad-like storytelling style with poetic images – “Like a katydid in the spring, the boy’s heart dances.” Illustrator/musician Root’s sunlit watercolor and gouache images emphasize the mountain setting by liberal, yet delicate choices of yellows, oranges and greens, merging with the text for a timeless composition.

Inspired by the true story of Melvin Wine and Jake Krack, the combined talents of author and illustrator smoothly convey the power of a passion for great fiddling and long-lasting fiddle tunes to shape a bond between generations – the tradition of “passing the music down” in this lovely lyrical story.

Helpful back matter features an Author’s Note, explaining the remarkable story behind the book; A Note on the Tunes; and Resources, which include: Books and Articles, a Discography, Videos, and Websites.

These Hands

by Margaret H. Mason

illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Houghton Mifflin, $16.99, Ages 6-9

Using the “yes, I can” phrase, famous from Barak Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, as a refrain, the loving African American grandfather in this story tells about his life, subtly encouraging his grandson to develop his own skills. With a repetitive “Did you know . . . .?, author Mason’s lyrical language shifts the grandfather’s remembering from the simple art of tying shoes, and joyful singing at the piano, to card games and baseball, and the inequity of being prevented from making bread at the Wonder Bread factory because, “white people would not want to eat bread touched by these hands.”

In just a few brief phrases, the storyteller moves the reader from hands that “were only allowed to sweep the floors and work the line and load the trucks,” to hands that joined with other hands to write petitions, carry signs and raise voices together, fashioning changes that make it possible for any hands now, to “mix the bread dough, no matter their color.”

With his characteristic “erased” oil wash, an artistic styling which gives both depth and texture, illustrator Cooper also effectively suggests another era, by his choice of sepia tones and a soft focus. Hands are prominent without being dominant, and the expressive faces add dimension, structure and drive to the story.

This latter is especially true as the rhythmic language transfers to the grandson who, discovering what his hands can do now, brings the grandfather along to share the conclusion that “those hands can do anything. Anything at all in this whole wide world.”

An Author’s Note at the end shares some of the oral history of bakery factories, where workers, who joined together to fight for fair treatment in their jobs, established labor unions.

WONDER THROUGH THE PAGES (Monday Poem)

2011-06-07T09:20:00.001-04:00

by Karla Kuskin

So I picked out a book
on my own
from the shelf
and I started to read
on my own
to myself.
And nonsense and knowledge
came tumbling out,
whispering mysteries,
history's shout,
the wisdom of wizards,
the songs of the ages,
all wonders of wandering
wonderful pages.

from I Am the Book Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, 2011, Holiday House

WHO'S RICH (Monday Poem)

2011-05-30T10:07:00.002-04:00

by Naomi Shihab Nye

Who's rich?
The boy with a book he hasn't read yet.
The girl with a tower of books by her bed.
She opens and opens and opens.
Her life starts everywhere.

Who's rich?
Anyone befriended again & again
by a well-loved book.

This is a wealth
we never lose.

from I Am the Book Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, 2011, Holiday House

WALKING ON THE BOUNDARIES OF CHANGE (Monday Poem)

2011-05-23T14:38:00.002-04:00

by Sara Holbrook

Day by day
a tightrope,
walking on the boundaries
of change.
One step--
firm, familiar.
The next step--
shaky, strange.

Some friends will dare danger,
mock or push each step.
Some friends
knock your confidence.

Real friends
form a net.

from Weird? (Me, Too!) Let's Be Friends by Sara Holbrook, 2010, Wordsong

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN (Monday Poem)

2011-05-16T17:24:00.003-04:00

by Karma Wilson

Oh, the rain is such a pain
when it's falling from the sky
and we want to be out playin'
and we'd like a little dry.

Oh, the rain is such a pain.
And it wouldn't come, I bet,
if our garden were a-wiltin'
and we'd like a little wet!

from What's the Weather Inside? by Karma Wilson, 2009, McElderry Books

Soccer Counts (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-05-10T22:43:00.004-04:00

Written by three moms, these books demonstrate the strength of a game and the power of a good story to make connections, sustain friendships, and engage kids of all ages in the unifying experience of play.

My Name is Sangoel

by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed

illustrated by Catherine Stock

Eerdmans, $17.00, Ages 6-8

Sudanese refugee Sangoel, whose father was killed in the war, leaves the refugee camp and arrives by “sky boat” in the United States with his Mama and younger sister, Lili. They learn to cross the street safely, eat with forks, and use the phone. But the doctor, the teacher and even the soccer coach cannot pronounce his name correctly.

Veteran author/illustrator Stock chooses both vivid and muted colors to convey the contrast between the refugee camp and the busy, noisy US city with its cold weather, and crowds. The sunlit illustrations, showing Sangoel acting on his “bright” idea follow immediately after the dark despair of the shadowed bedroom, where dreams disturb his sleep. This juxtaposition increases the power of the text and escalates the impact of the story’s climax.

With a deft combination of dialog and narrative, the authors show readers the enormous changes Sangoel and his family experience. Although he feels the freedom and openness in the US, Sangoel also suffers what feels like the loss of his name. Coming as a refugee without a country or even a home, pride in his Dinka name is nearly the only inheritance that survives of Sangoel’s knowledge about himself.

Sparked by Lili, Sangoel takes an idea from his soccer team shirt, and using an almost-white shirt from the bag of donated clothing, fashions a message about his name. Under the words, My name is, he draws a sun above a soccer ball in the goal net. When his classmates solve the rebus-like sentence on his shirt, correctly pronouncing Sun-goal, they each begin to create a name rebus. The teacher’s approving comment supplies the quiet Sangoel with a chance, finally, to explain the value of his name. (Using simple language, a brief Author’s Note at the end explains what can cause people to become refugees and why the ancestral name can be important.)

Goal!

by Mina Javaherbin

illustrated by A. G. Ford

Candlewick Press, $16.99, Ages 7-9

In a South African township alley, six boys play soccer with a ball won by the one who is its owner, as a “prize for being the best reader in class.” They kick, they dribble, they run, they shoot for their goal, between two dented water buckets. They are champions, even in streets that are not safe.

They take turns guarding against ruffians by drawing sticks. But when Badu, the rooftop guard, jumps down to help solve a disagreement about a corner kick, bullies on bikes arrive to steal the ball.

Iranian immigrant and debut picture book writer Javaherbin, uses short, staccato sentences to energize a story with universal appeal. While repetitive language reinforces safety issues, oil paintings show brilliant blue skies, and varied textures -- of the dusty street, the proud new black and white patches on a federation-size football, and even the beat-up shanties.

Although conversation drives the story, the illustrations supply skin tones to reflect the sun’s glow, as body postures and faces reflect laughter, fear, intimidation, and especially triumph. Together, painting and text create a strong picture book whose resilience lies not only in the friendship among the boys, but also in the magic of the world’s most popular team sport. An Author’s Note is appended.

Pelé King of Soccer

by Monica Brown

Illustrated by Rudy Gutiérrez

HarperCollins, $17,99, Ages 5-9

Beginning in the middle of a game, just as the featured soccer player is about to score, this book about the life of Brazil’s superstar shifts easily between commentary about specific games, and following him from his early days as a shoe-shine boy on the streets of Três Corações, helping his family earn money. His relationship with his father, the times he and his friends played soccer – sometimes with a grapefruit or an old sock, stuffed with newspapers, sometimes barefoot – and including his invitation to try out for a professional team at the age of fifteen, are all highlighted.

Combining the award-winning talents of author Brown and artist Gutiérrez, this fast moving biography features Pelé’s famous bicycle kick. Also, playing with his team and winning the first World Cup for Brazil at the age of seventeen, traveling all over the world to play and teach soccer, and scoring his one thousandth goal are emphasized.

Gutiérrez uses bold, sunlit colors and curved lines to frame the words of this bilingual picture book in English and Spanish. He energizes Brown’s already lively text by pulling and stretching images of city streets, balls, Pelé himself, stadiums, and even the word, GOAL. Primitive designs, plus smaller images of people’s faces – some famous -- add action to this book about a remarkable player and a beloved game.

CALLING ALL GRANDMOTHERS (Monday Poem)

2011-05-03T19:38:00.003-04:00

by Alice Walker

We have to live
differently

or we
will die
in the same

old ways.

Therefore
I call on all Grand Mothers
everywhere
on the planet
to rise
and take you place
in the leadership
of the world

Come out
of the kitchen
out of the
fields
out of the
beauty parlors
out of the
television

Step forward
& assume
the role
for which
you were
created:
To lead humanity
to health, happiness
& sanity.

I call on
all the
Grand Mothers
of Earth
& every person
who possesses
the Grand Mother
spirit
of respect for
life
&
protection of
the young
to rise
& lead.

The life of
our species
depends
on it.

& I call on all men
of Earth
to gracefully
and
gratefully

stand aside
& let them
(let us)
do so.

from Hard Times Require Furious Dancing, by Alice Walker, 2010, New World Library. Printed in MS. MAGAZINE, Fall 2010, p.50

RECALCULATING (Monday Poem)

2011-04-25T11:33:00.003-04:00

by Sara Holbrook

My pencil broke.
See my point?
I didn't set out to
disappoint.

Please!
Give me a break
and lose that look.
It's library day;
I forgot my book.
My alarm slept in.
No time to brush.
My mom was in a mood.
I whacked my shin
trying to rush.
The bus driver was rude.
Okay, a little late,
but just my luck,
my zipper stuck.
I only could find one glove!
How 'bout a little love?

Today
turned the wrong way
down a one-way street with
bird poop on its shoulder.
If you don't mind,
can we make a deal
and start this whole day over?

from Wierd? (Me, Too!) Let's Be Friends, by Sara Holbrook, 2010, Wordsong

WHAT'S JUST (Monday Poem)

2011-04-19T10:09:00.003-04:00

by Sara Holbrook

Just deny.
Just postpone.
Just press forward, just delete.
Didn't see it.
Not my mix.
Couldn't care.
Cannot fix.
So whatever.
I'm just so not into this.

Except . . .
just some sweat on my forehead,
just this bite on my lip.
Except . . .
just this clench in my eyebrows,
just this scream in my throat.
I should just walk away.
This is just not my fight.

Except . . .
my voice just escaped,
and I just have to say
that
that
just isn't right.

from Wierd? (Me, Too!) Let's Be Friends by Sara Holbrook, 2010, Wordsong.

Earth Day Books for Poetry Month (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-04-14T22:26:00.003-04:00

These poetic books are perfect for the month of April when poetry is particularly celebrated, and when we honor our planet for Earth Day and beyond. With the youngest among us hopping, growling, or flapping we can tune along -- while older children might prefer to follow the path of a plastic bag, or join the youngster who’s saving salamander lives.

Big Night for Salamanders

by Sarah Marwil Lamstein

illustrated by Carol Benioff

Boyds Mills Press, $17.95, Ages 7-9

On the first warm rainy night of spring – Big Night – spotted salamanders emerge from the forest tunnels where they’ve spent the winter, to return to the pools where they were born. Many must cross a road, and volunteers with flashlights, like Evan in this story, keep watch to help these small amphibians to safety.

Similar to volunteers who help egg laying turtles on east coast Florida beaches, by putting protective fences around the nests, and turning off street lights so newly hatched turtle babies can find their way to the ocean by moonlight. The salamander volunteers near forests in North America stand watch to warn motorists of the migration.

Using two different fonts to follow the two tracks of this book helps readers understand the path of the migrating salamanders, while simultaneously showing young Evan’s excitement at helping the small creatures to safety. Benioff’s colorful gouache brightens paintings of the rainy night. Flashlights and automobile lights contrast with darker colors showing the forest path, as the rain falls. Evan’s solution to protect the salamanders even after he goes to bed suits the rainy night elements of the story, and demonstrates the passion many feel as they work to protect creatures in our world.

This engaging picture book includes two pages explaining the Life Cycle of the Spotted Salamander, a few paragraphs about Big Night and Vernal Pools, plus a Glossary, Index and Resources at the back.

If You’re Hoppy

by April Pulley Sayre

illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic

Greenwillow, $16.99, Ages 2-5

The award-winning author of numerous books for children about science and natural history, Sayre brings her rollicking brand of humor and creativity to this rhyming picture book, based on the traditional song “If you’re happy and you know it.” Whether you act like a frog, a bunny or a cricket, hopping happiness abounds, as does flappiness as a bird, butterfly or pterodactyl.

The craziness doesn’t stop with pterodactyls, but moves quickly into being sloppy or growly, and starts to include “slimy and scaly and mean,” as illustrator Urbanovic’s watercolors, outlined in ink, leap and growl across the double pages in bright colors. The light green frog with red legs and tongue from the early pages is especially captivating, as are the unexpected bird choices of a large white pelican with widespread wings, and the almost laughing pterodactyl.

The slightly scary purple pages with slimy, scaly and mean descriptors turn out to be the frog making shadows in front of a flashlight, immediately reducing any potential anxiety for young children. The final pages shower readers with movement using both words and pictures, circling back to the dancing frog that wants to be with YOU!

Bag in the Wind

by Ted Kooser

illustrated by Barry Root.

Candlewick Press, $17.99, Ages 5-8

Set during a cold early spring, this windy story begins in a landfill with a yellow onion-colored, two-handled plastic grocery bag, escaping as air fills it, to get caught on a chain link fence with other trash. Showing the bag as it bounces over the fence to catch on a tree branch, where a redwing blackbird finally pecks it free, the story follows the bag, as it rolls along the ground, and snags on a barbed wire, where a girl grabs it for carrying cans to recycle, at a nearby gas station.

After the bag is emptied, it gets wedged under the door to keep out the wind, until a small truck with bags full of leaves for the landfill arrives. Freed once again, the bag tosses in the wind, and when it’s captured this time, it’s by a homeless man’s crutch. Later, it blows away on the nearby stream, and floats into a river, then alongside a dock, where another homeless person grabs it, and loses it again.

The recycling is complete when a man picks up the bag, and with other bags, sells it to a second-hand store for the owner to use. When the first little girl buys a baseball and glove there, her purchases go with her in the same ordinary two-handled bag.

The watercolor and gouache paintings use subdued yellows and oranges, to cast the late winter in colors that supply the requisite overcast chills of the changing season. Accompanying the tonal qualities of re-use, the illustrator captures the essence of earth-care as each aspect of the bag’s journey reflects another phase of the recycling processes that show care for our planet.

A Note About Recycling Plastic Bags is included at the end.

Terns Galore

2011-04-11T20:16:00.003-04:00

by Jane Yolen

At the seaside, terns galore,
One tern, one tern, one tern more.
I tern. You tern.
My turn to fly, tern,
Overhead and high, tern,
Underneath and 'bye, tern.
Why, tern, why turn?
Turning terns are all returning,
There upon the shore.

Wood/Peck

2011-04-05T23:11:00.002-04:00

by Jane Yolen

Wood
Peck
Peck
Peck
Up the
Bark
Bark
Bark
In the
Day
Day
Day
Not the
Dark
Dark
Dark
Time to
Work
Work
Work
Flick and
Fleck
Fleck
Fleck
Look for
Bugs
Bugs
Bugs
As I
Peck
Peck
Peck.

Candle Flame

2011-03-28T15:22:00.002-04:00

by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Watch carefully
the candle
flame;
its yellow dance,
its curvy wave . . .
an oven on
one leg of wick.
High above we shape
our lips into an O, then blow
its fire dance away,
then say good night
to butter-bright
and candlelight.

Waterfalls

2011-03-22T09:03:00.002-04:00

by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

come spilling
bluer
than blue;
splashing
cool buckets
of giant's tears
over tops of mountains
into the gurgling laps
of rivers.

snowflakes

2011-03-14T15:41:00.001-04:00

by Bob Raczka

a
few
flakes
fall

a
new
season
awakes

(another poem using the letters from the one word title)

constellation

2011-03-07T14:35:00.003-05:00

by Bob Raczka

a
silent
lion
tells
an
ancient
tale

(Using letters in the title word, the author has crafted a poem -- part anagram, part rebus, part riddle. Try it.)

Women Create Her-Story (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-03-07T09:16:00.005-05:00

The women whose lives inspire these picture books have worked hard and with intention to achieve. Their histories, or her-stories, challenge readers to set and seek goals, making the journey as significant as the destination.

Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald

by Roxane Orgill

illustrations by Sean Qualls

Candlewick Press, $17.99, Ages 8-11

Biographer Orgill uses her award-winning talents as a writer about music to capture the rhythm and beat that characterizes Fitzgerald’s musical and dancing abilities, beginning as a young child. Ella and her friend Charlie practice on the Yonkers streets, take a trolley to Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom to watch, learn and dance some more, and later get a few dancing jobs in neighborhood clubs.

But after her mother dies and she must live with her aunt, Ella’s raggedy toughness gets her in trouble and sent to a school for orphans up the Hudson River, where she is mistreated before she runs away. Back in Harlem by 1934, Ella’s experience of being homeless and out of work is not uncommon, and she gets by on soup at the Baptist church, used clothing and more toughness. What is uncommon however, is Ella’s courage, persistence and determination to audition for Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater and later at the Harlem Opera House, where she wins first prize both times.

Her big break comes when, despite being dressed in big second-hand boots and raggedy clothes, Ella holds her beloved mother’s memory in her heart and, using her voice with a dancing beat, convinces the reluctant Chick Webb to offer her a chance to swing with his band at the Savoy. It’s a few successful years later that her idea to record a swing version of the children’s game tune, “A Tisket, A Tasket,” brings the band its first number one hit song on the radio.

Illustrator Qualls brings his much honored skills with acrylic, pencil and collage to set the pages for the dancing text, with words from Ella’s music interspersed. Flat paintings with bubbles and ribbons of color provide a rhythmic backdrop for action throughout this story, contrasting the poverty of Ella’s early life with the sparkly gowns, jewelry, shoes and stage lighting of her later success. A Bibliography for Further Reading, Listening, Viewing, and Web searching is included at the end.

Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring

by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

illustrated by Brian Floca

Roaring Brook Press, $17.99, Ages 7-11

While this is initially the story of Martha Graham’s dance about America, it is ultimately a collaboration of three artists whose collective work produces a masterpiece. However, “before it was a dance it was a story.” And although Graham begins by writing her story as a script, fundamentally the story is told through movement and music.

Graham asks composer Aaron Copeland to create music for her ballet. And as he begins, a lilting old Shaker melody, “’Tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free . . . seems to draw out the story, winding its way through his musical score, which also includes a Virginia reel and rodeo themes. As Martha constructs steps and patterns for her ballet, she and her dancers allow Copeland’s music to suggest movement. They listen to their bodies, imagining and trying many different kinds of motion, searching for what works, by discovering what doesn’t.

Graham contacts her friend, sculptor Isamu Noguchi, who is skilled at transforming materials like wood, and stone into art. She hopes he will be able to transform an empty stage into a space where dancers can perform.

With its angular shapes, slanted steps, and thin skeleton-like edges, Noguchi’s invented stage set is something of an obstacle course for the dancers as they practice and perfect their movements. Graham’s title for the ballet comes from a poem, and it is ready for the premier performance, at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC on October 30, 1944.

Award winning artist Floca, with authors Greenberg and Jordan, in a cooperative effort reminiscent of the story itself, adroitly uses his signature watercolors to bring both the crafting of the ballet and its performance to life. Motion and power are contrasted with quieter moments of rocking a baby as the painter uses line and color to generate a sense of energy, celebration and hope that characterize this artistic love letter.

As a frontier story, Appalachian Spring is a “legend of American living,” showing how pioneer families put down roots in a new home, and create a new family and a new life. As a favored masterpiece, it is performed year after year, a continuing synergy of teamwork. At the end are biographies of the three featured collaborators and a list of source notes.

Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx

by Jonah Winter,

illustrated by Edel Rodriguez.

Atheneum, $16.99, Ages 5-9

Effectively written in both English and Spanish, (including front and back covers and flaps) this picture book biography of the first Latin American to be seated as Supreme Court justice follows the life of a little girl from New York City whose parents were born in Puerto Rico. Comparing her to a moonflower growing next to an abandoned building, best-selling author Winter shows readers how Sonia’s mother worked hard, despite only a third grade education herself, to make it possible for her children to go to school. She set high standards for herself, and Sonia and her brother stretched to reach their own high goals, following their mother’s loving example.

Although the children’s father died when Sotomayor was only nine years old, the extended family surrounded the three with much love, good food, wonderful parties and game nights. Sonia also read books, lots of them, all the time, or at least as much as she could.

She began to think about the power held by a judge in her favorite TV show, Perry Mason, a courtroom drama. As her interest bloomed, she continued to study harder, winning a highest achievement award in high school, and being accepted as a student at Princeton University, where later, after continuing to study rigorously, Sotomayor again graduated with highest honors.

Rodriguez’s bright illustrations, with their sunny orange cast, use pastels, acrylics, oil-based inks and spray paint to fill many of the double page spreads. The latter gives, especially the partial page paintings, a soft focus, with contrasting shadings and texture, even on the night pages.

Her work as a judge brought her recognition, and later attention from President Barack Obama who nominated Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, where she works as a justice, proud to be Latina. (An Author’s Note, also in both English and Spanish is included at the back.)

Love After Love

2011-02-28T22:28:00.002-05:00

by Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
fr another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Loving Humans For Aung San Suu Kyi

2011-02-14T10:46:00.002-05:00

by Alice Walker

Loving humans
is tricky
sometimes
a slap
in the face
is all you get
for doing it
just right.

Loving humans is a job
like any other
only
more
bumps
on the way
to work
which is full on
all the time.

Loving humans
makes us
want
to invite
ourselves to tea
with rancid
dictators
we think we
can convince
of our
story's side
while all
they think
about
while
we sit & dream
is how
they can
get away
with
poisoning
our tea
and how
if only they
had
enough tea
already
brewed
they could
waterboard us
to death
with it.

Loving humans
means
writing poems & songs
novels & plays, slogans, chants
& protest signs
our critics
want
to stone
us for
while
we think of
them
as people
under different
circumstances
we might
be able
to help.

There is
indeed
a Buddha
in
every one
of us.
Loving humans
with all
our clear &
unmistakable
reluctance
to evolve
makes this hard
for most humans
to see.

But not you.

Gripping Historic Books for Black History Month (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-02-09T18:34:00.004-05:00

During this month when we recognize the historic struggles for Civil Rights through the decades of the 1950’s and 1960’s in the United States, the titles featured here are worthy accounts of how many lives have been affected by the impact of African slaves on the national identity. Deepen your understanding by introducing yourself and your children to one or all of these mesmerizing books.

Birmingham Sunday

by Larry Dane Brimner

Calkins Creek, $17.95, Ages 10-14

Beginning in the late 1940’s, the city of Birmingham, Alabama received “so many racially motivated bombings—more than 40—that” it was “nicknamed ‘Bombingham.’” But until the Sunday referred to in the title, none had been fatal. At 10:22 am on that Sunday morning, a dynamite blast so intense it “blew a passing motorist out of his car” rocked the church, thundering “thirty-inch-thick stone and brick walls” until they tumbled in on five young girls, killing four, and blinding the other in one eye.

This stirring photo essay by award-winning author Brimner features his accessible writing augmented with detailed sidebars and accompanied by well-researched captions under quality black and white photos. His documentary writing provides context for the tragedy by giving his readers facts about Jim Crow laws, the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. The Board of Education, which outlawed racial segregation in schools and other public places, the beginning of the NAACP, the resistance of Rosa Parks and subsequent Montgomery (AL) bus boycott, leadership from the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and another black preacher--Fred Shuttlesworth, sit-ins at lunch counters, and more.

The writer’s skill at blending information, from his thorough exploration of primary-source material surrounding the deadly Sunday bombing, with personal reflections by members of the victims’ families, strengthens readers’ understanding of the emotional impact and human consequences from this important segment of the Civil Rights era. Profiles, with photos, of the four who were killed in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, on September 15, 1963 are included in the final pages, which also register the profiles of two additional children, who were victims that day. A bibliography, Author’s Note, Acknowledgments, Source Notes, and Picture Credits are featured at the back.

Ben and the Emancipation Proclamation

by Pat Sherman

illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Eerdmans, $16.99, Ages 8-12

Ben is a slave boy, apprenticed to a tailor in 1850’s Charleston, South Carolina. He has learned the alphabet from his father, who had a bit of education, but was sold. Ben teaches himself to read and write by learning from street signs, shop windows, and discarded newspapers. Although he kept these skills secret from whites in the pre-Civil War south when slaves were often punished for literacy skills, other slaves knew and were eager for him to teach them.

Later, in the slave prison, waiting to be sold after his tailor master flees town, Ben reads the Emancipation Proclamation aloud, urged by other slave inmates who have bribed a guard for a newspaper. The cheers that break out following this remarkable reading are a celebration for the good news of freedom, and for Ben himself--likely the first time other slaves had ever heard a black person read out loud.

Award winner Cooper uses his signature sepia-toned style once again, shedding light throughout this dynamically written episode of a dark period in US history. An especially poignant painting shows the young Ben, wearing a newspaper hat, reading cross-legged under the dense branches of a large beech tree, suffused in a golden glow. This adept weaving of story with illustration simultaneously salutes the power of freedom and the power of the written word in a tapestry of truth.

The subject of this nonfiction picture book, Benjamin Holmes; about whom author Sherman explains in an Author’s Note, was passionate about education. He attended Fisk University and taught in a Tennessee rural school. (Additional sources and websites are also included at the end.)

Finding Lincoln

by Ann Malaspina

illustrations by Colin Bootman

Albert Whitman, $16.99, Ages 6-10

By 1951 there were no black slaves in Alabama, but black children and their families were prevented from using libraries throughout the American south by segregation laws. Louis, who can “play all his piano scales and roller-skate backwards”, is, nonetheless, prevented from borrowing books from the library.

Following a class discussion about the Civil War and President Lincoln who wanted slaves to be free, Louis’s teacher suggests he write an essay, to answer a question she cannot answer, about Lincoln as a boy.

When the book she gives him says nothing about Abe’s childhood, and neither his father’s stack of books nor the books in the small basement library at his church include any books about Lincoln, Louis takes courageous steps into the public library with its WHITES ONLY signs. One brave librarian finds a way to help him, whispering, “Come back tomorrow after five.”

Finding the information he needs is only part of Louis’ success: his parents applaud him, reminding him to be careful; and he is able to complete his report on Lincoln who, even as a boy, “shook people up….Just like you, Louis,” says his mother.

Artist Bootman’s watercolor paintings feature his award-winning realistic expertise, and enhance this passionate story, based on real-life experiences of black people in the days before the Civil Rights movement. Back matter includes a Note from the author with historical information about library segregation in the south, information about President Lincoln, and bibliographical references.

Penguin

2011-02-07T22:47:00.001-05:00

by Amy Gibson

On land, he cannot fly,
'tis true--
an awkward waddle
has to do.

But slip into the blue
below--
a tuxedoed
torpedo--

Watch him go!

Chinchilla

2011-01-31T08:37:00.002-05:00

by Amy Gibson

Way up high atop the Andes
(land that's mountainous
and hilly)

lives a silky silver rodent
hurrying, scurrying
willy-nilly

When the mercury starts dropping,
does he worry?
Don't be silly!

Though it's winter,
he's so furry,
the chinchilla's not
chinchilly.

Snowy Night

2011-01-24T23:00:00.003-05:00

by Mary Oliver

Last night, an owl
in the blue dark
tossed

an indeterminate number

of carefully shaped sounds into
the world, in which,
a quarter of a mile away, I happened
to be standing.

I couldn't tell
which one it was--
the barred or the great-horned
ship of the air--

it was that distant. But, anyway,
aren't there moments
that are better than knowing something,
and sweeter? Snow was falling,

so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more

than prettiness. I suppose
if this were someone else's story
they would have insisted on knowing
whatever is knowable--would have hurried

over the fields
to name it--the owl, I mean.
But it's mine, this poem of the night,
and I just stood there, listening and holding out

my hands to the soft glitter
falling through the air. I love this world,
but not for its answers.
And I wish good luck to the owl,

whatever is name--
and I wish good luck t o the owl,

whatever its name
and I wish great welcome to the snow,
whatever its severe and comfortless
and beautiful meaning.

Moonlight

2011-01-17T21:37:00.002-05:00

by Mary Oliver

Now comes the white-striped, sharp-nosed digger of dampness
in her black and oily coat.
All night in the moonlight she has been wandering
the stony beach; now she steps
into the gardens and under the street lights
like a flat cat.

Her eyes are gleaming and her tail aloft, she is afraid
of nothing--not dogs, not policemen who see her
and do not remove themselves from their cruisers, but sail on
down the dark roads.

Everything is famous for something: the eagle for power,
the fox for cunning.
This one we know for her temper and also her smell,
which comes from the wicks of fire.
Yet once I watched and heard her, deep in the woods,
humming to herself as she carried
leaves into her humble house, that was nothing
but a scratched-out hole.

Take care you don't know anything in this world
too quickly or easily. Everything
is also a mystery, and has its own secret aura in the moonlight,
its private song.

If you meet her
don't be afraid, just stand still.
And, while you let her stare you down,

notice how she stamps her pretty, little feet.
Notice how she shines.

Early Snow

2011-01-10T14:24:00.002-05:00

by Mary Oliver

Amazed I looked
out of the window and saw
the early snow coming down casually,
almost drifting, over

the gardens, then the gardens began
to vanish as each white, six-pointed
snowflake lay down without a sound with all
the others. I thought, how incredible

were their numbers. I thought of dried
leaves drifting spate after spate
out of the forests,
the fallen sparrows, the hairs of all out heads,

as, still, the snowflakes went on pouring softly through
what had become dusk or anyway flung
a veil over the sun. And I thought
how not one looks like another

though each is exquisite, fanciful, and
falls without argument. It was now nearly
evening. Some crows landed and tried
to walk around then flew off. They were perhaps

laughing in crow talk or anyway so it seemed
and i might have joined in, there was something
that wonderful and refreshing
about what was by then a confident, white blanket

carrying out its
cheerful work, covering ruts, softening
the earth's trials, but at the same time
there was some kind of almost sorrow that fell

over me. It was
the loneliness again. After all
what is Nature, it isn't
kindness, it isn't unkindness. And I turned

and opened the door, and still the snow poured down
smelling of iron and the pale, vast eternal, and
there it was, whether I was ready or not:
the silence; the blank, white, glittering sublime.

Uncommon Biographies of Exceptional Men (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2011-01-09T18:56:00.003-05:00

Examining this small selection of now-famous personalities supplies readers with a window into several unconventional lives. Remembering that each of us is unique as well, we can consider how our own contributions make this world a better place.

The Brothers Kennedy: John, Robert, Edward

by Kathleen Krull

illustrated by Amy June Bates

Simon & Schuster, $16.99, Ages 6-9

This remarkable shared biography is also a story of three brothers whose intertwined lives made it possible for them to help shape the world we know today. While the book begins with Joe, the eldest of the nine Kennedy children (all of whom are mentioned by name on the first page of the story), the focus is on the three brothers who held public office.

Before he ever “had a chance to run for office,” Joe died, a World War II fighter pilot. His loss shadowed the entire family and contributed to the strength of the values they shared -– hope, compassion, and loyalty. These values become a theme not only in the book, but characterize the life of public service each brother chose.

John, often sick, was also the biggest reader. As the youngest elected president of the U.S., he spoke about equal rights for African Americans, started the Peace Corps and, sadly, was assassinated only 1000 days after taking the oath of office.

Robert, the quiet one, noted injustices he saw, and began to ask questions. As both Senator and presidential candidate he marched with migrant workers, saw appalling living conditions of Native American Indians, and lost his life to an assassins bullet as well.

Edward, the youngest, who often made the others laugh, was passionate in his family loyalty. As one of the longest serving U.S. Senators in history (more than 46 years), he worked to pass laws protecting the most needy, and in fact helped nearly every man, woman and child in America.

With additional pages of Further Information, a Time Line, and Sources at the end, this beautifully illustrated book uses subdued watercolor, gouache, and pencil to interactively support the strength of the well-written text. The portraits of the brothers as children, as adults, and whether thoughtful, grieving, at work or play, demonstrate the active contributions characteristic of the brothers Kennedy, whose lives continue to inspire.

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Suzy)

by Barbara Kerley

illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

Scholastic, $17.99, Ages 8-11

What makes this book’s title accurate is not only that it’s subject (Mark Twain, also known as Samuel Clemens) is extraordinary, but its author and co-author are also extraordinary – all three, outstanding writers, capable of capturing their subjects with characteristic authenticity and charm. Author Kerley quotes liberally and with humor, from Clemens’ daughter Suzy’s little brown notebook, kept also as a diary during her thirteenth year (spring 1885 through summer 1886). She also employs Clemens’ comments, inserted into Suzy’s original manuscript, to inform her text.

Suzy studied Papa by day, noticing his habits, what he did, and said, and writing it down at night, before hiding it under her pillow. She wrote about his early years, his public and private life, distractions from his own writing, the complications of his fame, and anecdotes to summarize her observations. She mentions his work on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; followed by nightly readings to the family of the pages he had written that day. Especially she notes the work Mamma did, at Papa’s request, to “expurgate” “questionable passages.”

Book designer, Marijka Kostiw’s skill is also evident as smaller pages of a journal in imitation of Suzy’s handwriting are included multiple times throughout the book, accenting Kerley’s storytelling in the book’s larger pages. Additionally, artist Fotheringham’s over-sized illustrations lure readers’ attention, reinforcing the energy of the story.

This humorously told biography is engrossing for its engaging language, informative sidebars, changing text type to denote quotes, digitally produced illustrations with active movement, absorbing page arrangements and fascinating back matter.

The latter includes an Author’s Note, which incorporates a section on Papa, another on Suzy, and a third describing, in easy-to-use details and tips, how to gather information and write a biography. Additional end material comprises A Selected Time Line of Mark Twain’s Life, a family photo, and Sources.

Racing Against the Odds: The Story of Wendell Scott, Stock Car Racing’s African American Champion

by Carole Boston Weatherford

illustrated by Eric A. Velasquez

Marshall Cavendish, $17.99, Ages 7-10

A former cab driver, World War II veteran, and self-taught mechanic, Scott bought his first car (a Ford Model T) for $15 when he was fourteen years old. He used his many car related skills to put his sister, and all of his children through college.

Award-winning author and college literature professor Weatherford draws readers into this action-packed biography of NASCAR racing’s first and only African American winner. Cars were his passion, whether he was driving taxi, running moonshine, making repairs in his garage, building or racing stock cars. “And when Hollywood made a movie about his life” (Greased Lightening, 1977), “he built three cars for the film and even drove in action scenes.”

Using pastels, artist and award-winner Velasquez makes careful choices of both bright and dark colors, to shape his illustrations toward high-powered movement. Sometimes tilting the paintings, other times framing several on a double page spread, his canny work invests the visuals with brisk vitality. The successful marriage of text and image forms a dynamic biography of a dreamer who worked full-time, competing on the side, making his love of cars and racing the center of his life and work. (A Note from the Author supplies additional information at the end.)

Where the Map Begins

2011-01-03T17:20:00.002-05:00

by Jan Richardson

This is not
any map you know.
Forget longitude.
Forget latitude.
Do not think
of distances
or of plotting
the most direct route.
Astrolabe, sextant, compass:
these will not help you here.

This is the map
that begins with a star.
This is the chart
that starts with fire,
with blazing,
with an ancient light
that has outlasted
generations, empires,
cultures, wars.

Look starward once,
then look away.
Close your eyes
and see how the map
begins to blossom
behind your lids,
how it constellates,
its lines stretching out
from where you stand.

You cannot see it all,
cannot divine the way
it will turn and spiral,
cannot perceive how
the road you walk
will lead you finally inside,
through the labyrinth
of your own heart
and belly
and lungs.

But step out,
and you will know
what the wise who traveled
this path before you
knew:
the treasure in this map
is buried not at journey’s end
but at its beginning.

Oranges

2010-12-20T12:08:00.002-05:00

by Mary Oliver

Cut one, the lace of acid
rushes out, spills over your hands.
You lick them, manners don't come into it.
Orange -- the first word you have heard that day --

enters your mind. Everybody then
does what he or she wants -- breakfast is casual.
Slices, quarters, halves, or the whole hand
holding an orange ball like the morning sun

on a day of soft wind and no clouds
which it so often is. "Oh, I always
want to live like this,
flying up out of the furrows of sleep,

fresh from water and its sheer excitement,
felled as though by a miracle
at this first sharp taste of the day!"
You're shouting, but no one is surprised.

Here, there, everywhere on the earth
thousands are rising and shouting with you --
even those who are utterly silent, absorbed --
their mouths filled with such sweetness.

The Annunciation

2010-12-13T15:29:00.002-05:00

by Denise Levertov

She had been a child who played, ate, slept
like any other child -- but unlike others,
wept only for pity, laughed
in joy not triumph.
Compassion and intelligence
fused in her, indivisible.
Called to a destiny more momentous
than any in all of Time,
she did not quail, only asked
a simple, "How can this be?"
and gravely, courteously,
took to heart the angel's reply,
perceiving instantly
the astounding ministry she was offered:
to bear in her womb
Infinite weight and lightness; to carry
in hidden, finite inwardness,
nine months of Eternity; to contain
in slender vase of being,
the sum of power --
in narrow flesh, the sum of light.
Then bring to birth,
push out into air, a Man-child
needing, like any other,
milk and love --

Tales of Holiday Happiness (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2010-12-08T19:25:00.003-05:00

Family, friends and food are among the ingredients we choose to help us honor and celebrate holidays in ways we value. Choose any and all of these wonderful tales to remember the past and establish unforgettable traditions to share.

The Spider’s Gift: A Ukrainian Christmas Story

retold by Eric Kimmel

illustrated by Katya Krenina

Holiday House, $16.95, Ages 6-9

Celebrated author Eric Kimmel collaborates once again with Ukrainian artist Katya Krenina for this version of a lovely folktale from her native land where Christmas customs are ancient. Not only the story itself, with roots in central and eastern Europe, but the contrasting bright and dark acrylic illustrations, showing clothing, landscapes, and iconic images, transmit both cultural and family traditions in an almost primitive flat style that accents the descriptive language and importance of the foods and symbols, which were significant aspects of the religious experience for people from that time.

Young Katrusya is upset to learn her peasant family will not be celebrating Christmas because the harvest has been so poor there is no money for the extras that define the celebration. But the family ultimately decides that although there is no money to spend, they can still celebrate with a tree, -- which costs nothing to cut down in the forest – by making their own presents, tree ornaments from old brass buttons and paper, hand embroidered cloth, whittled nativity figures, bandura music, and even a braided Christmas bread whose three rings symbolize the Christian trinity.

Bringing the tree into the warm house hatches hundreds of spider eggs hidden in the branches, drawing the attention of Katrusya’s mother who wants the spiders out of the house, immediately. The family convinces her to keep the tree and its spiders in the house until after Christmas, a kind gesture that causes Katrusya to rejoice. When they all return from the evening worship celebration, she discovers the webs have, miraculously, become real silver. Graciously, the family shares the wealth of silver with those from their village.

La Noche Buena: A Christmas Story

by Antonio Sacre

illustrated by Angela Dominguez

Abrams, $16.95, Ages 5-8

For those unfamiliar with a Miami Christmas, here is a grand introduction to many special Cuban traditions that characterize this holiday. Even for local South Floridians, acquainted with warm winter festivities instead of the typical northern icy winter fare, this lively picture book is a rare treat.

Storyteller and author Sacre uses strong sensory language to show the differences Nina experiences from her customary ice skating and building snowmen at Christmas with her mother’s family up north. This year, since it’s her dad’s turn, Nina arrives in Miami’s Little Havana to stay with her Abuela (Grandmother) Mimi for La Noche Buena, (Christmas Eve) the best night of the year for many Cuban families.

Not only does Nina have a chance to meet many extended family members, pick fresh avocados and prepare ingredients for the fiesta, she also meets other neighbor children, gets to see everyone (including herself) dressed in their best, shares the huge traveling party through many nearby backyards, walks to the Rooster’s Mass at midnight, dances, and listens to stories and jokes. Readers can almost feel onion- and spice-generated tears in their eyes, see and hear loud bright colorful parrots, listen to Cuban-accented Spanish words -- part of the lilting language of the story -- taste the garlic flavored marinade, smell the roasting pig and feel the warm hugs from family and congregation members.

Nina is charmed, as are readers and listeners, by both the bright pastel background colors of buildings, clothing, and food reproduced with joyful acrylics by artist Dominguez in this accessible and entertaining story, and by this intriguing glimpse into a distinctive cultural celebration of La Buena Noche. A helpful small glossary of Spanish words and phrases is included at the back.

Great Joy

by Kate DeCamillo

illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

Candlewick Press, $8.99, Ages 4-8

When an organ grinder man with his monkey appears, in the week before Christmas, on the street where Frances lives with her mother, Frances wonders where the two newcomers go at night. The music sounds sad and, while her mother finishes Frances’ costume for the pageant, Frances watches from the window as the monkey holds out his tin cup to the people walking past.

Luminous, lightly focused paintings in sepia tones suggest a city setting from the 1940’s with clothing, streetlights and cars to strengthen this perception along with a photo of a navy officer on a shelf in the living room. Illustrator Ibatoulline carefully contrasts bright holiday lights with dark snowy night, using tenderly textured acrylic gouache to focus attention on important details like the monkey, the falling snow and faces, especially Frances’ face in her pageant role.

On her way with her mother to the nearby church for the Christmas play, Frances stops long enough to drop a nickel in the monkey’s cup and invite the man with the monkey to come to the play. Although he smiles at her, it’s the sadness in his eyes that stays with her later as she prepares to speak her line. But the words simply won’t come out . . . . until the sanctuary door opens to show her guests, releasing Frances to smile. “Behold!” she shouts. “I bring you tidings of Great Joy!” The use of repetition emphasizes the importance of the simple, direct language; particularly as the final double page spread wordlessly shows the entire congregation, including the organ grinder and the monkey, joyfully celebrating with refreshments afterward.

Untitled poem from "The Dinner Party"

2010-12-06T21:20:00.002-05:00

by Judy Chicago

And then all that has divided us will merge
And then compassion will be wedded to power
And then softness will come to a world that is harsh and unkind
And then both men and women will be gentle
And then both women and men will be strong
And then no person will be subject to another's will
And then all will be rich and free and varied
And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of many
And then all will share equally in the Earth's abundance
And then all will care for the sick and the weak and the old
And then all will nourish the young
And then all will cherish life's creatures
And then all will live in harmony with each other and the Earth
And then everywhere will be called Eden once again

LAST NIGHT THE RAIN SPOKE TO ME (Monday Poem)

2010-11-22T22:12:00.002-05:00

by Mary Oliver

Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,

what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again

in a new way
on the earth!
That's what it said
as it dropped,

smelling of iron,
and vanished
like a dream of the ocean
into the branches

and the grass below.
Then it was over.
The sky cleared.
I was standing

under a tree.
The tree was a tree
with happy leaves,
and I was myself,

and there were stars in the sky
that were also themselves
at the moment,
at which moment

my right hand
was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars

and the soft rain --
imagine! imagine!
the long and wondrous journeys
still to be ours.

DEAD END (Monday Poem)

2010-11-15T07:38:00.001-05:00

by Karma Wilson

If you ever come to a dead-end road,
you'll take it, if you're smart.
For just past every end that's dead
is a fresh, alive new start.

SOY WHAT? (Monday Poem)

2010-11-08T18:13:00.001-05:00

by Karma Wilson

My aunt is a strict vegetarian.
She refuses to eat any meat.
No burgers, baloney, or bratwurst.
No barbecue ribs for a treat.
She hopes I grow up to be like her.
But I fear that her wish won't come true.
I'm telling you now that I'd rather eat cow
than that goo that my aunt calls tofu.
Ew . . .

Autumn Stories for a Season of Abundant Thanks (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2010-11-01T14:38:00.005-04:00

Harvest tales can offer new opportunities to consider the abundance in our lives, and ways we can share our gratitude. Not only at this season, but especially now, allow these delightful books to lure you into appreciation.

Thank You For Me

by Marion Dane Bauer

illustrated by Kristina Stephenson

Simon & Schuster, $14.99, Ages 2-5

Rhythmic text matches with light-infused, energetic watercolors in a curling, bouncing, twirling book for the youngest of children. Award winning author Bauer begins with a lilting examination of body parts and what they can do, using the language of movement and sound to engage the senses. We feel the splash of rain puddles, see the love on mama’s face, hear a rush of wind followed by thunder, “boom-a-room, room-a-boom.” Even the smells of Grandpa’s bread and roses, and the singing, smiling, and especially tasting of “long licks of chocolate ice cream” are there, bringing the body together into one skin.

Bauer uses her characteristic nimble phrasing to advance from awareness to thanks, launching readers into an authentic appreciation for the same body parts. All the while, Stephenson’s images in bright, vigorous colors stretch and leap across double pages of white to dance beside the lyrical lines, in this engaging picture book.

Too Many Turkeys

by Linda White

illustrated by Megan Lloyd

Holiday House, $16.95, Ages 4-8

Farmers Fred and Belle adopt a lost young turkey named Buford, who contributes significantly to the fertility of Belle’s vigorous vegetables, bountiful berries, and flourishing flowers. Other gardeners ask for Belle’s secret, but she simply smiles and talks about “smidges of this and that.” It’s after Belle leaves for her “annual birdhouse convention” that the trouble begins.

White’s detailed watercolor artwork in luxuriant colors uses framed and unframed paintings to shape the story’s lively action. As an assortment of turkeys arrive to sample Belle’s gardens, one can observe how White’s design provides a strong undercurrent to the captivating alliterative language of the story. A harassed Fred tries multiple solutions to rid the farm of the winged invaders, but each time he thinks Belle’s gardens are safe, the gobblers return in greater numbers.

Exhausted, Fred makes a deal with the “gawking neighbors” to help him clean up the turkey mess. When Belle returns, she’s concerned about whether her secret has been discovered, noting the neighbors’ new turkeys. Fred, who is relieved to hear her compliments for the care he gave in her absence, doesn’t explain. But an observant reader will note a hidden complication that surfaces only at the end.

The Brothers’ Promise

by Frances Harber

illustrated by Thor Wickstrom

Albert Whitman, $6.99, Ages 5-9

Based on a biblical era legend from the Talmud, a book of Jewish teachings, this retelling is set in early twentieth century Eastern Europe and reads like a folk tale. Two brothers, Josef and Yankel, promise their dying father, Chayim, “to divide the land in half, to work together, and to always take care of each other. Because when a brother helps a brother, the angels in heaven weep tears of joy.”

Using the rich, heavy colors and textures of oils on board, Wickstrom’s paintings undergird this tantalizing tale with contrasting dark and light, mixing curving lines with angles to demonstrate the differences between the two brothers. The short more rotund, light-hearted Yankel, is married, plays the fiddle, and delights in his dancing children.

The taller more angular Josef lives in a simple home, alone, and studies the holy books of wisdom. The brothers continue to be friends, and because of their work together the farm flourishes.

When a drought changes their fortunes, each thinks of his own abundance and is concerned his brother may be in need. In the dark of night they each take a full wheelbarrow of food to the other’s barn or cellar. However, in the morning each discovers that his food supply has not diminished. This trip is repeated two more times, until the brothers discover each other. Remembering their father’s final words, the last page shows the brothers in loving embrace as the now overcast sky erupts in a joyful downpour to heal the parched earth.

RAIN SONG (Monday Poem)

2010-11-01T14:27:00.002-04:00

by Andrew Fusek Peters

Rockabye raindrops
Fall from the sky;
They tapdance on tiles
A wild lullaby.

They gush through the gutters.
On smooth windowpanes,
They scribble and scrabble,
Then gargle down drains

To spatter and scatter
In silvery streams
With a cradle of wind
And rockabye dreams.

THE FIRST RUB OF DAWN (Monday Poem)

2010-10-18T07:41:00.001-04:00

by Roger McGough

Glimpsed through the night
Is the glimmer of day
Light is but darkness
Worn away.

STARS WITH WINGS (Monday Poem)

2010-10-11T19:58:00.001-04:00

by Betsy Franco

Sometimes it seems
like all the stars
have fallen
from the skies,
but when I see
the stars have wings
I know they're fireflies.

Tales of the Unexpected: Halloween Surprises (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2010-10-08T22:19:00.003-04:00

An unusual treat, these uncommon story books appeal to the curious and unconventional aspects of the Halloween season, disturbing readers expectations. Reading these intriguing tales will capture your imagination, a trick of skill and mastery. Enjoy!

Zen Ghosts

by Jon J. Muth

Scholastic, $17.99, Ages 4-9

Muth has based his third book about Stillwater, the giant panda, and his friends Karl, Addy, and Michael, on a Zen Buddhist question he treats as a ghost story. Using brilliant autumn watercolors, the book opens with Stillwater dressed as a ghost, and the children preparing their own costumes for a trick or treat outing. Instructing the children to meet him at the stone wall, Stillwater promises them a full moon Halloween tale.

Retelling a Chinese story about a girl and her friend who are together so much as they are growing up, that even the parents expect them to marry, Muth describes a change in the family fortunes, which causes the parents to promise to wed their beloved daughter, Senjo, to a nice wealthy man who can take care of the family. Both the girl and her friend, Ochu, now in love, are saddened by this alteration in the plan.

Muth’s flaming autumn watercolors shift to mostly grays and blacks to separate the ancient tale from the bright elements of the children’s Halloween adventures. And he uses blue and purple in Senjo’s white garment to give readers a sense of the split in Senjo’s heart.

The similarities between Senjo’s robe and Addy’s Moon Princess costume add to the spookiness, as does Karl’s comment that Michael must be one thing, either an owl or a pirate, “He can’t be an Owl-Pirate! There’s no such thing!” Yet, as the children travel their trick or treat route, readers see that Michael is, in fact, dressed as a pirate with wonderful, amazing owl wings.

Ochu, from the Chinese tale Stillwater tells, who cannot bear to live in the same village with Senjo married to someone else, packs up and leaves at midnight on the day he learns of the betrothal. The conclusion of both stories, the story and the story within the story, requires one to reflect on identity and self, and simultaneously shiver at this haunting tale, which despite its age is a fresh as today.

The Goblin and the Empty Chair

by Mem Fox

illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon

Beach Lane, $17.99, Ages 6-8

An original folk tale, this story begins “In a time long past, in a country far away,” with a hairy green goblin, who is so frightened when he sees himself reflected in a pond, that he hides from the world, covering his face, and living a lonely life. His compassion is evident however, when he notices the farmer’s pain and, taking care not to be seen, digs, chops, and paints. Yet, the farmer, who is unable to sleep, sees. As does the farmer’s wife, the next night, when the goblin, again taking care not to be seen, responds to her pain by watering, planting, and pruning.

Even the daughter’s pain is noted by the goblin, who still thinking he’s not being seen in his efforts to soothe, is watched once again. When the fourth day brings the silent family to the breakfast table, a chair that has “been empty all winter” is filled at last by the goblin, whose face, although uncovered by the child, the reader never sees. What the reader does see are formerly grieving faces, wreathed in smiles, a transformation achieved by the same visage that so terrified its owner.

The softened watercolors in these stylized paintings demonstrate both the medieval period and the goblin’s wealth, while borders in colored pencil contribute narrative actions, preceding the text at the bottom of each page. Gargoyles, peeking around the borders of the illustrations, echo the changes in the characters experiences.

The unexpected concluding illustration, on the back cover, shows the goblin inviting the family to his home. Internationally recognized author Mem Fox, and award-winning team illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon combine their trademark styles and talents in this beautiful, mysterious, elegant picture book, that begs for multiple readings.

Ant and Honey Bee: A Pair of Friends at Halloween

by Megan McDonald

illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Candlewick Press, $14.99, Ages 7-10

Author McDonald has once again successfully crafted a new series, this time for early readers, inhabiting it with a pair of individuals as memorable, imaginative, and funny as her popular chapter books, whose title character, Judy Moody, names that series. Best friends, Honey Bee and Ant, view themselves as belonging together. It is their efforts to create Halloween costumes, reflecting this lasting friendship, that make for the comedy in this engaging holiday tale.

Tired of the boring Pilgrim outfits from past years, the insect friends spend the first chapter, trying to decide what to be as a pair (not pear, as they finally agree!). No salt and pepper shakers, no moth and bee costumes, not even pencil and eraser will work this year.

In Chapter Two they agree to be a washer and dryer, combining their talents, to complete the ensembles made from “two boxes . . . just the right size.” After all their work, they discover the difficulties of simply navigating the trip to trick or treat, wearing their new attire. Although neighbors comment about the clever and original costumes, it’s because they think the pair are a couple of ice cubes or dancing computers. Moreover, the few treats they do receive turn out to be both disappointing and undesirable.

And, adding insult to injury, it begins to rain, turning the cardboard into soggy blobs. However, when the pair decide to take shelter with friend Cricket, he greets them at the door holding their favorite treats, and in response to his question, “what are you?” they answer for each other that one is a beehive and the other an anthill, ending the book on a creative note by eliciting the perfect response from Cricket.

The Very Best Pumpkin

by Mark Kimball Moulton

illustrated by Karen Hillard Good

Simon & Schuster, $12.99, Ages 5-7

A sweet, unsentimental tale, this autumn picture book is a story of friendship. It is set in the countryside, where Peter lives on a pumpkin farm with his grandparents, and tends the pumpkin patch all summer long in preparation for fall pumpkin sales. One day he follows a long vine, trailing beyond the far edge of the pumpkin field, into the meadow where a tiny pumpkin is growing among the weeds, alone.

Day after day Peter weeds and waters all the pumpkins, giving special attention to the lonely pumpkin. And, a new family moves in next door, with a daughter, Meg. She watches Peter, caring for the pumpkin patch, and admires the most beautiful of all pumpkins in the meadow, alone. However, the two don’t meet until Meg and her parents come to choose their pumpkins.

Illustrator Good has chosen greens, browns, and golden orange tones to suggest late summer and early autumn, aging her watercolor paintings with instant coffee and bleach, muting the colors to reflect the season. A variety of page layouts support the movement of the story; sometimes a double page spread smoothly weaves words and images. Other pages frame the text, and still others feature the text below or beside the illustration.

The growth of the glowing, deep orange-red pumpkin becomes a luminous language mirror, for the growth of a friendship between Peter and Meg the next year, as they plan, plant and tend the new pumpkins, side by side. The book concludes with an easy guide page for growing your own pumpkins.

WORDLESS WORDS (Monday Poem)

2010-10-04T09:31:00.002-04:00

by Karla Kuskin

Wordless words.
A tuneless tune.
Blow out the sun.
Draw down the shade.
Turn off the dog.
Snap on the stars.
Unwrap the moon.
Wish leafy, sleeping trees good night
And listen
To the day shut tight.

NIGHT SONG (Monday Poem)

2010-09-27T15:33:00.001-04:00

by Leland B. Jacobs

When the sun has set
And night has come,
The insect chorus
Starts to hum.

And nothing else
Is there to hear,
But the insect voices
Soft and clear.

The insects hum
In sweet delight,
Singing their praises
Of the night.

NIGHT NOISES IN THE CITY (Monday Poem)

2010-09-20T13:21:00.002-04:00

by Jane Yolen

In the country
Things are quiet.
In the city
Noise runs riot.

Car horns beep.
Buses boom.
People shout.
Trucks zoom-zoom.

Fire engine
Siren wails,
Someone whistles
Taxi hails.

Garbage truck
Churns crackety-crack.
Subway rails
Go clickety-clack.

Close your eyes
And use your ears.
And hear what
A city sleeper hears.

MY BOOK (Monday Poem)

2010-09-13T08:43:00.001-04:00

by David L. Harrison

I did it!
I did it!
Come and look
At what I've done!
I read a book!
When someone wrote it
Long ago
For me to read,
How did he know
That this was the book
I'd take from the shelf
And lie on the floor
And ready by myself?
I really read it!
Just like that!
Word by word,
From first to last!
I'm sleeping with
This book in bed,
This first FIRST book
I've ever read!

STORIES (Monday Poem)

2010-09-06T21:12:00.002-04:00

by Allan DeFina

Only a city
has more stories
behind each windowed
shelf
than a library
can hold
or a storyteller
tell.

Grandparents - A Global Future (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2010-09-01T21:57:00.004-04:00

The vital connections between grandparents and the children of
their children is a bond, linking the fabric of the future with the potency of the past. These books offer a glimpse into the substantial influence wielded, often gently, by those who love profoundly and understand the dynamic energy of education, the power of story, and the strength of memories.

The Perfect Gift
by Mary Ellen DePalma.
Scholastic, $16.99, Ages 4-8

Blending a loving grandmother with the reading and telling of stories is a
perfect match between story, characters, and readers, as Lori, the lorikeet, finds a strawberry to give her grandmother. When the strawberry “hip, hop, plops!” into the river, Lori is interrupted in her tearful moaning by first, a helpful chipmunk who strains, unsuccessfully, to rescue the berry, then by a lovely, long-necked goose, who also comes up empty-handed.
A “flip-flopping frog” finally brings the berry back to the surface for Lori. But before she can even thank him, disaster strikes in the form of a crocodile. The lorikeet frantically tosses her beautiful berry into the air to distract the crocodile, rescuing everyone, but losing the berry, and injuring herself in the process.
Author-artist DePalma uses a medley of illustrations to convey movement, by choosing to cast some of the action outside the framework of the illustration’s usual boundaries, making expansive use of white space, with just a few elements to cast the story, as a story within a story. This foreshadowing of Lori’s final idea of a gift, gives extended dimension to a busy text, and along with the childlike font, adds zest.

Our Grandparents: A Global Album
by Maya Ajmera, Sheila Kinkade, Cynthia Pon
(with a foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu)
Charlesbridge, $16.95 ($7.95 paperback), Ages 4-7

Featuring vibrant photos of grandparents with grandchildren, often in pairs, from more than 30 countries, with an additional dozen or more profiling varied cultural realities in the USA, this affectionate book demonstrates the joy and respect experienced across generations. Using multiple languages, the words for grandmother and grandfather are highlighted between the title page and Tutu’s Foreword.
Additionally, this book is both supported by and, with its sales, supports the work of the Global Fund for Children, a nonprofit organization “committed to advancing the dignity of children and youth around the world, by teaching the value of diversity.” Also, backmatter includes a world map, identifying the countries represented in the photos, and a couple pages of Things to Do together.
A variety of skin tones, assorted backgrounds in the photos, as well as captivating activities, or simply the involvement in being present to each other, are all further demonstration of active language used in the text to engage readers. As one moves through this charming book, one can be compelled to remember one’s own grandparents and the enchantment of those experiences, or be energized to launch a similar opportunity.

Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan
by Jeanette Winter.
Simon & Schuster, $16.99, Ages 6-9

Nasreen’s grandmother shows her granddaughter’s losses – schools formerly available for girls are no longer permitted by the Taliban; soldiers have taken her father; Nasreen’s mother goes searching for him, although the streets are forbidden to women and girls who are alone – and Nasreen’s resulting months-long, sad fearful silence. When there are whispers of a secret school for girls, the grandmother risks suspicion and discovery to take Nasreen, who sits at the back.
Award-winning nonfiction author/artist Winter is skilled in her use of simple sentences to invoke powerful experiences. She uses window-like borders to confine her strong-toned acrylic illustrations, partnering the vivid text with equally
evocative paintings, supplying readers with another kind of window -- into a different reality. Winter’s blue burqas (required coverings for women away from home), grey-blue soldiers, and smoky-blue shadowed figures contrast with greens, pinks, golds and purples in the girls’ clothing, and in the illustrations representing education and the arts. An author’s note at the beginning explains the context of the story and why the nonprofit, Global Fund for Children, is featured on the cover.
The danger to the students and teacher is constant, and the cold winter recess is long and anxious. But the grandmother’s loving concern drives her to hazard true peril, supporting her granddaughter’s opportunity to learn, to develop friendships, to discover, opening still another window – this one for Nasreen. A window of knowledge, offering both solace in her experience of isolation, and hope for the future.

NIGHT SKY (Monday Poem)

2010-08-30T15:02:00.002-04:00

by Margaret Hillert

The sky is not so far away.
It reaches to the ground.
I'm standing right inside of it.
It doesn't make a sound.
And once I almost held a star,
A small and shining light
That turned into a firefly
And flickered out of sight.

THE LION (Monday Poem)

2010-08-23T21:09:00.002-04:00

by David Elliott

stands alone
on the grassy plain.

He has his pride;
he shakes his mane.

In his eye
the sunset glistens:

when he roars,
the wide world listens.

VACATION RELAXATION? (Monday Poem)

2010-08-16T21:32:00.002-04:00

by Dave Crawley

Soccer games.
Dancing school.
Swimming lessons
at the pool.

Little League.
Summer camp.
Leaf woods.
Trails to tramp.

Hunting shells
at the shore.
Shooting hoops.
Keeping score.

Doing chores.
(Mom's request.)
School begins.
Time to rest.

NEW KID IN SCHOOL (Monday Poem)

2010-08-09T08:13:00.001-04:00

by Dave Crawley

It's not easy being the new kid in school.
Nobody knew me. I felt like a fool.
I missed all my friends, who were so far away.
I wasn't quite sure I cold get through the day.

I couldn't help thinking I shouldn't be here,
wishing I somehow could just disappear.
A tap on my arm. Now who could that be?
Whoever she was, she was talking to me!

"You must be the new kid. We heard about you."
"That's right," said her friend. "What's it like to be new?"
More kids were stopping to ask me my name.
I started enjoying my moment of fame.

That was last Monday. The days have flown by.
I've made some new friends, and I don't feel so shy.
Now there's a new kid. Her name is Marie.
They're asking her questions like they did with me.

They ask, and she answers. They ask her some more.
And she's in the spotlight, as I was before.
I'll make her feel welcome. Yeah, that would be cool.
It's not easy being the new kid in school.

Tales of Cuba: Refuge and Revolution (FAMILY magazine reviews)

2010-08-06T09:01:00.002-04:00

Within the last century, escaping children have become refugees to and from Cuba. And although desperation, confusion and isolation are far more universal than we may be willing to admit, these books are also powerful stories of family, home, and freedom. Are you taking a trip? On vacation? Or simply ready for riveting reading? Try these titles.

90 Miles to Havana
by Enrique Flores-Galbis.
Roaring Brook, $17.99, Ages 9+

Novelist Flores-Galbis offers readers a mesmerizing piece of history in this growing up story of one young boy, evacuated with his older brothers from 1960’s Cuba to Miami as part of Operation Pedro Pan. Among more than fourteen thousand young people who were part of the largest recorded exodus of unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere, the author taps his own experience, capturing the urgent immediacy of both betrayal and kindness, in this first-person narrative.
Beginning with a traditional New Year’s Eve family fishing trip that blends both the comfort of the familiar and introduces the approaching changes associated with the revolution, in the following days Julian watches as neighbors and friends leave the country for Miami and safety. He notes the mix of sadness and determination as parents send their children to a strange country alone.
When later he and his brothers are among those leaving without parents, the danger and brokenness are clearly shown in a multitude of word images, and represented by a broken plate Julian promises to mend. Their arrival at a camp on the outskirts of Miami is accompanied by an immediate dunking in the pool, and a meeting with a bully the brothers recognize. The most helpful encounter is the discovery of their good friends from next door in Cuba.
The brothers are assigned to sleep in the bathroom, and to kitchen duty, where Julian begins slowly to trust the camp cook, who although she must protect her job, is still able to offer some small assistance. Incidents of bullying and retributive justice intensify, as the overworked priest is often unavailable to supervise the understaffed camp.
When Julian and his Cuban neighbor-friend, join the weekly Saturday group who drive to Miami for an outing, Julian makes plans to help his parents escape. This well-paced novel works for both genders, exploring the bravery, resourcefulness, and resolve required by many Cuban refugees to survive and thrive, despite their uprooting and requisite grafting into a new land.

The Red Umbrella
by Christina Diaz Gonzalez.
Knopf, $16.99, Ages 10+

Based on real events, this well-written debut novel is the story of middle class teen Lucia, who watches the crushing consequences of the Cuban revolution in her small town as soldiers arrive, freedoms are dismantled, people disappear, friends act like strangers, and even her family changes. As the name-calling, betrayals, and even lynchings escalate, her parents feel compelled to make the heart-wringing decision to send Lucia, and her younger brother Frankie, to the U.S.
Lucia and Frankie join thousands of Cuban children who, beginning late 1960 until 1962, are separated from their families, their country and their culture, in what came to be called Operation Pedro Pan. This complex, breath-stopping escape plan at least temporarily orphaned many children, who had no family members to meet them and were placed, at best, with host families across the U.S.
Arriving first in Miami at a facility, Frankie and Lucia are separated, which ultimately leads to a decision by the administrators, to send them to a foster home in Nebraska. There they begin adapting to a new language, a new country, a new way of life, with changes as shattering as bullying, missing the important quinceanera (a girl’s all-important fifteenth birthday celebration), rural farm life, periodic long-distance phone calls with the parents still in Cuba, and even the first-time experience of snow.
Gonzalez is adept in employing Spanish language phrases through dialog, augmenting and clarifying the meaning in her use of paraphrasing and furnishing context cues. Additionally, newspaper headlines serve as chapter titles, supplying contemporary commentary. An Author’s Note at the end provides further historical detail.
Basing her story on the experiences of her family members who were among these children, Gonzalez writes with simplicity and understanding of the complex issues in this important part of American history. Many of these concerns are still alive as the 40th anniversary of this remarkable Cuban exodus approaches.

Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba
by Margarita Engle.
Henry Holt, $16.99, Ages 12+

Award-winning poet Engle once again writes in verse, adding this novel to her historic Cuban repertoire. Told in brief but emotionally authentic narrative poems, each of four characters adds a distinctive voice to this immigrant tale.
Thirteen-year-old Daniel, whose musician parents had “only enough money for one ticket to flee Germany,” as the Nazis gain power, arrives in Cuba on a ship that has been turned away from too many harbors. Paloma, also thirteen, whose father, El Gordo, is a corrupt public official who accepts bribes for visas, befriends him. And David, an older Russian Jew, also an immigrant from the previous decade, mentors Daniel, urging him to adapt to Cuba’s warm weather, wonderful fruit, music and dancing.
Ironically, the “J” for Jew, that condemned Daniel in Germany, contributes to saving his life, when German Christians are imprisoned as spies by Cuban authorities. Paloma and Daniel with David’s assistance, help to rescue an elderly mixed religions couple, and begin to trust each other enough to share their secrets.
Daniel’s dream is to be reunited with his parents in Cuba, where they will be able to live once again as a family together. Paloma wants both to become a dancer like the mother who abandoned her, and to confront her father, whose ethical compromises have increased his income.
The Author’s Note at the back explains her family background, which adds vitality to her storytelling and helps to animate her interest in this aspect of Cuban history. As secrets are revealed and trust deepens, the characters expand into hopefulness and young readers are engaged at multiple levels. This superbly written novel strengthens both its characters and its readers, making a hidden part of Cuban history newly accessible.

Reviews published in August 2010 issue of FAMILY magazine

ROYAL RIDDLE (Monday Poem)

2010-08-02T10:32:00.002-04:00

by Dawn Watkins

What inched along like a furry worm?
What thought of flying but could only squirm?
What made a case as clear as glass,
And hung it on a stalk of grass?
What went to sleep a dull, slow thing,
And woke to find himself a king?*

*a monarch butterfly

THE EGRET GOES HOME TO HER ROOST (Monday Poem)

2010-07-26T23:23:00.002-04:00

by Jane Yolen

Bedtime--and like an arrow loosed,
The Great Egret flies back to roost
With others of her company
To decorate a greening tree.

Like great white balls, they seem to light
The soft and mellow southern night.
They sleep the dusky dark away,
To rise again and greet the day.