Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra By: Andrea and Brian Pinkney

This picture book by husband and wife team Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney won a Caldecott Honor and the Coretta Scott King Award in 1998. It is the story of Duke Ellington. The text is written with the slang and dialect of the time and place where this great jazz musician grew up. Words like "homebodies" and "kickin'" as well as phrases like "hot - buttered bop and lots of sassy - cool tones" and "when the joint started to jump" give the reader a front row seat. It is also a good way to get kids of all ages interested in an era other than their own. A great conversation could be started about slang and how the youth of every generation has it's own language so to speak. The illustrations are done on scratch board with luma dyes, gouache and oil paint. Almost all of the illustrations are full bleeds, none are confined to a frame. All of the illustrations compliment the text beautifully. When the text compares the playing of the sax to the tail of a kite in the wind the painting shows the sax player in the park with a kite flying by. When the author says that "Duke painted colors with his band's sound", the painting shows beautiful colors streaming out of the instruments with Duke as the artist. These illustrations are the perfect compliment to the language used by the author. Together the text and illustrations of this book are a great way to introduce children to many topics. From biographies and history, to jazz and slang.

Rapunzel By: Paul O. Zelinsky

This classic fairytale retold and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky won the Caldecott Medal in 1997. It is easy to see why. The illustrations are oil paintings. The style is Italian Renaissance. Each illustration is framed so that they look as if they could all be hanging in a museum. The story is also well written. It is truly an important piece to have in any collection of fairy tales. However, what I found even more intriguing than the actual story were the three pages of research at the end. Paul O. Zelinsky was able to uncover a broad history of this tale that spans the countries of France, Italy and Germany and dates back as far as 1634. The story has taken on many forms and names. He shares with us many interesting facts. For instance, the original story had the pregnant mother craving parsley (petrosine) and the daughter's name was then Petrosinella. The antagonist also ranges from a sorceress to a witch to a fairy. She is sometimes motherly to the girl and sometimes treats her as a prisoner. Zelinsky states that he has tried to bring together the most appealing aspects of all of the forms of the tale. I think he has done a marvelous job.

Inch By Inch By: Leo Lionni

As you all know by now I am a huge fan of Eric Carle. I have also always enjoyed Leo Lionni's work. So I was not surprised to find out that Eric Carle was inspired by the work of Lionni and actually credits him with inspiring him to create children's books and for using graphic design to speak to children. The two were friends. Both artists worked for the graphics department of major publications (Carle for New York Times, Lionni for Fortune Magazine)and in the field of advertising. The similarities in their work are obvious. Both used their love of nature to inspire their stories. Both used collage as a main technique. And both used a lot of white space in their illustrations to draw attention to the important aspects of the piece. The major difference between these authors are the color palate of choice. Carle uses bright, vivid colors that are not necessarily true to nature. Where as, Lionni sticks to the more natural, muted tones that one would most likely see in nature. Inch By Inch is Lionni's second book. The story is about an inch worm that finds himself in a precarious situation. He is about to be eaten by a robin (every worm's worst nightmare I am sure). He is no ordinary worm however and he is able to convince the bird not to eat him by explaining to the robin that he is useful. "I measure things" he tells the bird and then proceeds to prove his worth by measuring the robin's tail. He is not eaten. Instead he is taken to a place where "other birds need to be measured". In this way Lionni is able to introduce children to the distinguishing characteristics of many different species of birds from the extraordinary beak of the toucan to the flamingos tremendously long legs. At the end of the book the inch worm is able to escape by playing to the vanity of a nightingale. This book reminds me of many of the traditional fables we all read as we were growing up. In fact Lionni has been called Aesop for the 20Th century. Leo Lionni is an author who deserves our attention. And Inch By Inch is a book that is worth reading.

Knuffle Bunny By: Mo Willems

Now that I am a blogaholic I find myself wanting to know more about my favorite authors. I don't know why it never occurred to me before. My daughter Sarah and I have truly enjoyed the books Mo Willems has written. Mo has his own blog and responds to emails and questions posted there. What a great way for Sarah to begin connecting her favorite stories to the real people who wrote them. Anyway, on with my response. Knuffle Bunny is an adorable book for preschoolers and their parents. It is a story about a daddy, his daughter and his daughter's favorite toy. The three of them take a trip to the laundry mat and the toy is lost. Anyone who has children knows how traumatic the loss of a favorite toy can be for a young child. Of course, in "typical" fashion. The daddy doesn't even know why Trixie is upset (she can't speak yet). As soon as the Mommy sees them she asks "Where's Knuffle Bunny?". The whole family races back to the laundromat and Daddy, in heroic fashion, finds Knuffle Bunny. The illustrations are wonderful. The characters are done in a cartoon fashion as is the style of this author. The rest of the illustrations are photographs of Mo's actual neighborhood in Brooklyn New York. The combination of drawings and photos make a very unique visual experience. The fact that the Main character is based on his daughter and the story takes place in his neighborhood gives it another neat dimension. Mo Willems won a Caldecott for his Pigeon book (which I also love), I think he should have won one for this one as well.

Let's Go Home: The Wonderful Things About a House By: Cynthia Rylant Illustrated By: Wendy Anderson Halperin

This is a wonderful picture book to share with your students or your own children. The theme is one of Mrs. Rylant's favorite; appreciate where you are and who you are with. This book screams the sentiment, "Home Is Where The Heart Is". The text in this book walks us through the rooms of a house starting with the front porch and ending in the attic. Each room has two or more pages devoted to it. The main focus of the text is not the room itself however,but the goings on in each room. That is what makes the room special. That is what makes a house a home. The illustrations in this book are remarkable as well. Every single page is a full bleed. Many of the pages are done in a style that is similar to a scrap book with lots of little snap shots of life in that room. The colors are warm and inviting and there are so many things to see on each page that you could read the book several times and see something different each time. The style is folkish and the medium is water color. I loved sharing this book with my daughter. We were able to have a wonderful discussion about our home and our family as well as her grandparents house and the houses of other friends and relatives. We decided that although all the houses were different the thing that they had in common, the most important thing was that the people we love and who love us are there. I would like to share this book with students as well. I would like to use the book to spring board discussion about their homes. I recently came across a cool art activity in a highlight magazine that would go along well with this story. Essentially the student uses magazines and newspapers to find pictures of different rooms in a house or the things that go in a house. They are to draw the outline of a house including the rooms and then "decorate" the rooms with the pictures they found. I think this would provide some insight into what the child views as important in their homes. It would also mirror the style of illustration used by Wendy Anderson Halperin uses in this book. Here is yet another book that I MUST now purchase.

Yeh Shen: A Cinderella Story from China Retold By: Ai-Ling Louie Illustrated by: Ed Young

This story is a retelling of the oldest known version of the Cinderella story. The author has included research about the history of the story in the front of the book. According to this research it dates to the T'ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). The book is very well done and has received several awards: AlA Notable Book, IRA-CBC Children's Choice Book, and A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Award. Like Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters Yeh-Shen uses text and illustrations to portray an accurate and respectful retelling of this ancient folk tale. This story has many similarities to the story of Cinderella that I as an American girl grew up hearing. There is a mean step mother,an ugly step sister, never ending chores, a magical helper, a ball, and a missing shoe. Differences between this story and the version Disney gave us include a fish granting wishes instead of a Fairy Godmother, one stepsister instead of two, and a King who is presented with the shoe as a gift instead of a prince who finds the shoe after chasing his true love from the ball. Although the text is written in English the pages are presented in blocks which give the book a similiar look to the book as it was written in Chinese. The illustrations are cone in colors and style that give them a very authentic feeling. There are almost no full bleeds in the book. The pictures are important to the story but, do not overwhelm the text. I found this to be an enjoyable and worthwhile read.

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters Written and Illustrated by: John Steptoe

This is an African Cinderella Tale. It is a Reading Rainbow book and it won a Caldecott Honor in 1987. John Steptoe does a wonderful job of relating this traditional African Folktale. The text of the story comes from a Kaffir Folktale written down in 1895 by G.M. Theal. The names of the characters come from the Shona language, Mufaro means happy man, Nyasha means mercy, Manyara means ashamed and Nyoka means snake. The illustrations were inspired by the people and places in and near Zimbabwe. The combination of text and illustrations results in a beautiful and respectful look at one aspect of African culture. The author thanks the people who helped with the research and dedicates the book to the children of South Africa. This is one of many, many variations on the tale of Cinderella. There are similarities: the good sister and the mean one, the seeking out of a wife by the prince, and the structure of the story ie: Once upon a time....... and they lived happily ever after. There are also differences: the prince magically changes shape to discover which girl is the most worthy, there is no evil step mother, and the Cinderella character does not need saving by a fairy godmother. The illustrations in this book add much to the story. Almost every page is a full bleed. The medium is pencil and watercolor. The illustrator chose deep rich colors and based each illustration on the customs, people and landscape of Zimbabwe. I enjoyed this story for both its look into the African culture and one of its fairy tales and as a welcome addition to stories where good triumphs over evil.

The Annotated Brothers Grimm Edited by: Maria Tatar Introduction by: A.S. Byatt

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves fairy tales and especially to anyone who grew up on the Disney version of these tales. I have discovered and learned so much from this book that it is as if I am experiencing all of these stories for the first time. The book was based on the 7th edition of the Grimms Tales published in 1857. It includes many of the ones I was familiar with as a child (Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel and more) as well as ones that are not familiar to me (The Three Little Men in the Woods,Mother Holle and The Brave Little Tailor). In addition to these wonderful stories there are many, many annotations included with each tale. The author gives the history and back ground of the story, the cultural significance of the story and the psychological effects of the stories among other interesting notes. The illustrations in the book are reproduced from numerous artists and illustrators and are in color. Other things that make this collection such a must have are the original 1857 preface and two essays by Maria Tatar. One of the essays is about the life of the Brothers Grimm. The other is about the effects of these stories on culture. I am so pleased to own this collection. Of course the Grimms Fairy Tales speak for themselves. They are timeless and unforgettable. The way Maria Tatar has presented these stories is the amazing thing. She treats these stories as they should be treated, as valuable pieces of the human culture and psyche. She respects these works and shares her vast knowledge with us.

Sidewalk Circus By: Paul Fleishman

This is not my favorite picturebook. I am not quite sure why. Maybe because I have always had mixed feelings about the circus. It was also a little confusing to me why a wordless picturebook needed an author and an illustrator. No offense to either artist but it just struck me as odd. There are qualities about the book I did enjoy. First of all, my 4 year old has had two experiences with a "big city". One was a family trip to Manhattan and the other was a trip to Washington D.C. with her grandparents. Immediately that is where our conversation went. She pointed out all the things in the book that reminded her of those trips. Urban life is quite different from life in Gloucester County Virginia and I think that it is good that my daughter has been exposed to both at an early age. Another thing that was intriguing about this wordless book were the artist's use of the shadow to show what was going on in the imaginations of the children watching the spectacle of everyday life as they waited on the bus. The colors in this book are vivid and intense. The have an almost "circus" feel to them. The primary colors that you would expect to see in a circus are the most prominent colors in the paintings. My daughter has only one experience with the circus and not all of the stereo typical circus acts were present. So I found myself having to explain the ideas behind many of the illustrations. I think that many children will be lacking in the appropriate background knowledge necessary to fully appreciate this book. In my opinion this is one of those "children's" books that is more suited to adults.

The Scarecrow By: Cynthia Rylant

We can learn so much from this scarecrow. He is happy and content where he is. He enjoys and appreciates his life and the life around him. He does not long for greener pastures or think that he would be happy if only.... He knows that life is not perfect and somehow that is fine with him. I took a sense of satisfaction away from this book. It is ok to be who you are, where you are. You do not have to be the richest, the thinnest, the most famous, the smartest, or the most beautiful to be happy. You simply have to accept yourself for who you are and appreciate all that you have. I believe that if more people had this philosophy we would not need so many antidepressants and we would all feel more secure and peaceful in our lives. As my daughters grow into young women this is a philosphy I would like to share with them. Be the best you, you can be. That is as close to perfect as it gets in this life.

Seed Folks By: Paul Fleishman

WOW!! I truly enjoyed this novel. I have never read a book written in this way. When I first opened the book and discovered how the text was organized I thought it would be too choppy feeling for me. I was afraid that since each chapter was written by a different character I would have a hard time feeling connected to the story. Granted The Van Gogh Cafe was about a different event in each chapter but the main characters were constant throughout. After I finished reading the book I came to an important conclusion. The community garden was the main character in this story. The garden was the common ground and the people who came to the garden were connected to each other in new and wonderful ways because of this garden. I liked seeing how new people coming into the garden affected and were affected by the others in the garden. I loved the sense of community that was created in a city that hadn't had that feeling in a long time. This book would be an excellent vehicle for talking to kids about the things that make a community strong. The thing I liked most about the book however, was the last section. I don't believe it is included in all editions of the book but it was in mine. The last section was Paul Fleishman talking about the process he went through in writing the book. He gives us insight into how he, a Newberry Award Winning author, comes up with ideas for stories and how they "grow" from an idea into a book. It was wonderful to get that glimpse.

The Shadow of the Red Moon By: Walter Dean Myers

This is a High Point fantasy book from Scholastic. The story line involves a futuristic world that exists in the aftermath of a meteor strike. The world has been devastated by this event and the survivors have endured great hardships. Heavy layers of dust have settled over everything and because the sun was blocked by all the dust, it is dark and cold. There are two main tribes, the Fins and the Okalians. The Fins are all under the age of 18 due to a plague that has wiped out the adults. The Okalians live in a city surrounded by a crystal wall. The wall focuses what little warmth there is from the sun so that growing food is possible. It also keeps out the dust as well as the Fins. The Okalians believe that if they allow the Fins into Crystal City the plague would come with them and wipe out all of the Okalians adults. As the story begins the Fins are preparing to attack Crystal City. The Okalians are certain that if the Fins are successful in breaking through the wall it will mean the end of their civilization. Because of this fear the adults have decided to send children (because they are immune to the plague) in search of the ancient land. In this way they hope to reestablish their civilization away from the Fins. The adventure involves the trials and adventures faced by three of the children. As a fan of fantasy I was intrigued and interested to read this novel. As a teacher I was excited because the high point series is a high interest, low reading level series. I was hoping to find a fantasy that would appeal to kids who are several levels below their grade level in reading. This is a difficult task. There are few options for that population of students that do not patronize them or simply bore them to tears. I am also completely opposed to adapted works. I feel that changing great literature in that way is wrong. So as I began the book I was hopeful. Unfortunately my hopes were once again dashed. The book while not patronizing or necessarily boring was, in my opinion, poorly written. There was an obvious lack of attention to details in the story. For instance, the children were evidently sent out into this for boding wilderness with no supplies; no food, water, change of clothes, tents, matches or anything else that would be necessary to survive. The children were evidently sent out as individuals not in groups. The three main characters met by coincidence. The children do not even have a map. their only guidance is a book they all memorized that was supposed to tell them the way to the ancient land. The lack of detail extended to the society of both the Fins and the Okalians. There is no mention of friendships or school. We get only tiny glimpses into the make up of the each society. This lack of detail made the book flat for me. It was hard to connect the story to personal beliefs or experiences because as the reader we simply were not given enough to work with. I believe the author had good intentions. The themes in the story are important ones. The traditional themes of man against nature, man against man and man against self are all present. However, I think this is the root of the problem. The author tries to attack to main story lines all at once and therefore gives none of them the appropriate attention. The struggle of the children in the wilderness could have been good with more attention. The idea of racism and its effects on society as a whole might have been a valuable lesson. The main characters inner struggles of doubt and fear would also have been fine if there was more emphasis placed on those ideas. Sadly, all we get is a taste of each one. As a whole some students may enjoy this futuristic look at the world. However, as an example of quality literature it does not pass this reader's test.

Missing May By: Cynthia Rylant

I have never read such a sad book that made me laugh so much. I read this one with my 10 year old daughter and we both laughed outloud on several occasions. Once again Rylant manages to use simple yet poetic language to convey the heart of her characters. The themes of appreciation and acceptance run through this novel just as they did in previous works be this painter of words. The strength within the main character is amazing. She has survived heart wrenching tragedies and still has the capacity for love. She is a child in need of someone to take care of her and yet she cares for others. Bravo!!! I have to wonder. Has Cynthia Rylant ever done an advertising campaign for the state of West Virginia. If not she should. People would be moving there in droves.

Across Five Aprils By: Irene Hunt

This novel won a Newberry Honor in 1998. I listened to this on tape as opposed to reading it and it is a good thing. I would have never made it through otherwise. It was all I could do not to fast forward through a large part of the story. I will grant you that I am not a fan of historical fiction. History is something I have learned that I must accept, sort of like eating brussel sprouts, because it is important. However, I feel like reading historical fiction is a bit like putting chocolate sauce on those brussel sprouts in order to make them taste better, it just doesn't work. If I am going to learn about history I would rather focus on the real thing. There is quite enough real drama in the human existence without making up more of it. That is not to say that I hate all historical fiction. I enjoyed The Little House Series and the American Girl novels are well written. But this novel was almost unbearable. In my defense, because I am aware of my own bias, I have two other opinions in this matter to back me up. My husband has an undergraduate degree in history. He loves all things historic, especially the Civil War. When I told him I was reading Across Five Aprils and was not enjoying it he said, " well, that is a rather dry book". In class last Monday I mentioned my dislike of historic fiction and the novel in question. A classmate said, Oh, well that is a dry story. I rest my case. The story starts out fair enough. Irene Hunt focuses on an Illinois farming family. As you get to know them and their lives you are interested in them and their fate. However, about half way through the book Ms. Hunt decides to desert this family and begin a painfully precise account of many of the battles and leaders of the War between the states. It happened so suddenly that I thought for sure the tape I was listening to was missing a huge part of the book. I rewound the tape, tried both sides of the next tape and then went to the library to check the text. To my dismay the tape was not flawed. At the end of Chapter 9 the main character receives a response to a letter he had written to Abraham Lincoln without the knowledge of his family. The reader has been led to this point with great anticipation. The letter is received, read to the family and then never mentioned again accept in passing. We get no reaction from the family, no resolution to the problem that caused Jeth to write the letter in the first place, nothing. Cripes!!!! After that awful let down the reader, me, is left to struggle through to the end of the story. Even an expert on the Civil War would have had trouble keeping up with all of the facts that are thrown at us in lightning speed. It is almost as if, in the middle of the story Irene Hunt was body snatched and some extremely boring history professor replaced her. Now there is a story I would like to read. My apologies to Irene Hunt, Civil War fans and History Professors everywhere. I did not like this book.

The Van Gogh Cafe By: Cynthia Rylant

I am really falling in love with Cynthia Rylant. I can't believe I never knew about her wonderful talent before now. This book is another in the quickly lengthening list of her books that speak to me on more than one level. I am amazed at how much she is able to pack into this book of only 53 short pages. Magical things happen in this cafe operated by a father and daughter team. Unusual animals show up and have a marvelous effect on visitors, the owner takes to writing poetry which predicts the future, magic muffins heal injured children, and a movie star comes to wait for his angel to come and take him to heaven (Did anyone else catch the fact that the movie star is homosexual? I found this interesting). I am a fan of fantasy. It is definitely my favorite genre. This book is a fantasy, yes, but it is so much more than that. As I mentioned in class a theme I see in a lot of Rylant's work is having an appreciation of who and where you are, no matter where that may be. This book is the most wonderful example yet of that ideology. The Van Gogh Cafe is a place where magic happens but, it is also a place where people come to heal, rest and be taken care of. The cafe is magical even without its' magic. Marc and Clara have a deep love and appreciation for their little cafe. They put their all into it. You can feel that love in the way Clara describes it. She starts with the fact that it used to be a theatre and then "shows us around the place". The Hydrangeas painted on the walls in the bathroom, the porcelain hen, the Bless All Dogs sign (I love that I get that now)and the phonograph playing the song about being nice to come home to all make us, the reader, feel as welcome as the customers do when Clara pours them their coffee. The people who come to the cafe are sometimes changed in dramatic ways by the magic. But, everyone who comes to the cafe, magic happenings or no, has a sense of belonging and friendship that brings them back again and again. I was wishing that Solomon Slinger and his Angel could join Marc and Clara at the Van Gogh Cafe. What a wonderful family they would make. My favorite chapter was the last one. The writer who had given up on his dream receives the most magical gift of all, inspiration. The love that flows through the cafe gives him the courage and the will to write the book he always wanted to write. Here's the thing. I think that the writer in the last chapter is actually the narrator of this story. I think that the cafe's only magic was Clara and Marc and the love and friendship between them, the cafe and their customers. I think that this writer came to the cafe, received his inspiration and then wrote about this "MAGICAL" place. What do you think? This question is one of the reasons I love fantasy. Maybe you have a different interpretation.