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librarybonanza
Age: K-2nd grade
Travel: California
A pleasant story about traveling to California in 1948 with memorable artwork that captures the character of each part of the poem. Although it is historical, the images and beauty of California remain the same, allowing this to be read before a vacation to The Golden State.
One negative is that the font is offsetting with bold, sharp edges that, on one page, take over the picture. I've never been irked by a font choice before, but now I see the importance.
Travel: California
A pleasant story about traveling to California in 1948 with memorable artwork that captures the character of each part of the poem. Although it is historical, the images and beauty of California remain the same, allowing this to be read before a vacation to The Golden State.
One negative is that the font is offsetting with bold, sharp edges that, on one page, take over the picture. I've never been irked by a font choice before, but now I see the importance.
Age: Preschool-1st grade
I truly love Marla Frazee--she is one of my favorite artists--so automatic three stars. The fourth star is for the devout friendship Boot and Shoe have for each other--and the squirrel chase scene.
As Boot and Shoe chase the squirrel around the house, the illustrations show duplicate images of dog chasing squirrel over every inch of the exterior. That is until squirrel got bored and walked away. With all the commotion of the scene, Frazee places the ending line "And walked away" exactly where the squirrel is walking away unnoticed off the page, drawing the reader's eye down to show the listener where the squirrel is going. A simple accomplishment, yet genius in its execution--a true sign of a children's illustrator/author that knows her audience's needs.
I truly love Marla Frazee--she is one of my favorite artists--so automatic three stars. The fourth star is for the devout friendship Boot and Shoe have for each other--and the squirrel chase scene.
As Boot and Shoe chase the squirrel around the house, the illustrations show duplicate images of dog chasing squirrel over every inch of the exterior. That is until squirrel got bored and walked away. With all the commotion of the scene, Frazee places the ending line "And walked away" exactly where the squirrel is walking away unnoticed off the page, drawing the reader's eye down to show the listener where the squirrel is going. A simple accomplishment, yet genius in its execution--a true sign of a children's illustrator/author that knows her audience's needs.
Age: K-2nd grade
A perfect example of an oblivious narrator that can't possibly predict the ending, although the readers/listeners certainly can. This type of narration is perfect for building a delightful experience around reading because children can develop pride in predicting the ending when the narrator certainly cannot.
Simple illustrations put extreme focus on the details like the tiny hat, the building suspense, and the Big Fish's pursuant, slitted eyes.
Better than I Want My Hat Back? Surprisingly, yes!
A perfect example of an oblivious narrator that can't possibly predict the ending, although the readers/listeners certainly can. This type of narration is perfect for building a delightful experience around reading because children can develop pride in predicting the ending when the narrator certainly cannot.
Simple illustrations put extreme focus on the details like the tiny hat, the building suspense, and the Big Fish's pursuant, slitted eyes.
Better than I Want My Hat Back? Surprisingly, yes!
Age: Toddler-Kindergarten
Great combination of musical instrument sounds and everyday noises.
Great combination of musical instrument sounds and everyday noises.
Age: 1st-3rd grade
An alluring look at the power of material objects and how easily someone can become obsessed, removed, and unhappy. Unlike other reviews, I appreciated the simple, non-didactic ending, allowing discussion to follow.
Mentions outcasts of society so may bring controversy. Bring it.
An alluring look at the power of material objects and how easily someone can become obsessed, removed, and unhappy. Unlike other reviews, I appreciated the simple, non-didactic ending, allowing discussion to follow.
Mentions outcasts of society so may bring controversy. Bring it.
Age: K-2nd grade
Fairytale: Fractured, 3 Little Pigs
Sports: Martial Arts, Aikido, Jujitsu, Karate
Schwartz knows how to write rhyming poetry and hold a suspenseful plot line against the Big Bad Wolf. Kiya!
Fairytale: Fractured, 3 Little Pigs
Sports: Martial Arts, Aikido, Jujitsu, Karate
Schwartz knows how to write rhyming poetry and hold a suspenseful plot line against the Big Bad Wolf. Kiya!
Age: Middle - High School
Heading to the Miss Teen Dream Pageant, 50 contestants encounter something unimaginable: island humidity without product. After their plane crashes on a seemingly deserted island, 13 survivors must figure out how to survive on their own faced up against a hostile environment and an ominous presence.
Let me begin with what I liked. First and foremost, it had some beautiful moments by presenting feminist ideas including this insightful passage:
Additionally, Bray presents a wide array of female identities: deviant, transgendered, lesbian, caught between two cultures, sexually restrained, deaf, ambitious, and sincere. Teen readers can find parts of themselves and relate to at least one character. For the length of the novel, I feel like all characters were explored sufficiently. The plot was intriguing and it was well-paced. The humor existed solely on beautiful babes trying to survive on an island. Satire was most prevalent in Taylor, Miss Texas, and her insistence on practicing for the pageant instead of finding food and building shelter.
At the end of the book, I felt half-full. What a great premise to really look at teenage girl's identities, as the quote discusses above! But Girl Power was reached without the beauty queens questioning the concept, without reluctance, giving it a superficial quality--one that won't stick when they leave. The only person truly distraught by having to confront her identity is Taylor, soon followed by a poisoned dart that makes her crazy. Son of a bitch! So close to addressing the issue! Also, what the fuck were those pirates doing in this book? It's like the publisher got nervous that there were no love interests in a teen novel and forced this severely disruptive side-plot.
Overall, I'm glad I read it and it's a great book for addressing issues of teen girl identity, especially identities created by culture and not individual interest. But I wish it went further.
Heading to the Miss Teen Dream Pageant, 50 contestants encounter something unimaginable: island humidity without product. After their plane crashes on a seemingly deserted island, 13 survivors must figure out how to survive on their own faced up against a hostile environment and an ominous presence.
Let me begin with what I liked. First and foremost, it had some beautiful moments by presenting feminist ideas including this insightful passage:
“I’ve been thinking about that book about the boys who crash on an island,” Mary Lou said to Adina one afternoon as they rested on their elbows taking bites from the same papaya.
“Lord of the Flies. What about it?”
You know how you said it wasn’t a true measure of humanity because there were no girls and you wondered how it would be different if there had been girls?”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe girls need an island to find themselves. Maybe they need a place where no one’s watching them so they can be who they really are.”
There was something about the island that made the girls forget who they had been. All those rules and shalt nots. They were no longer waiting for some arbitrary grade. They were no longer performing. Waiting. Hoping.
They were becoming.
They were.
Additionally, Bray presents a wide array of female identities: deviant, transgendered, lesbian, caught between two cultures, sexually restrained, deaf, ambitious, and sincere. Teen readers can find parts of themselves and relate to at least one character. For the length of the novel, I feel like all characters were explored sufficiently. The plot was intriguing and it was well-paced. The humor existed solely on beautiful babes trying to survive on an island. Satire was most prevalent in Taylor, Miss Texas, and her insistence on practicing for the pageant instead of finding food and building shelter.
At the end of the book, I felt half-full. What a great premise to really look at teenage girl's identities, as the quote discusses above! But Girl Power was reached without the beauty queens questioning the concept, without reluctance, giving it a superficial quality--one that won't stick when they leave. The only person truly distraught by having to confront her identity is Taylor, soon followed by a poisoned dart that makes her crazy. Son of a bitch! So close to addressing the issue! Also, what the fuck were those pirates doing in this book? It's like the publisher got nervous that there were no love interests in a teen novel and forced this severely disruptive side-plot.
Overall, I'm glad I read it and it's a great book for addressing issues of teen girl identity, especially identities created by culture and not individual interest. But I wish it went further.
Ages: 4-10 years
An introduction to extinct & endangered species including the tiger, sloth bear, partula snails, bison, kakapos, and several more. Jenkins provides explanations regarding the dwindling numbers including beauty, ferocity, need for big stretches of land, introduction of nonnative predators, and disease. Jenkins doesn't ruthlessly blame humans for inhumanity but reveals the reasoning behind past actions--reasons that can be overcome. Jenkins explains success stories and the potential for much more. His last quote has a beautiful simplicity:
"When it comes to looking after all the species that are already endangered, there's such a lot to do that sometimes it might all seem to be too much, especially when there are so many other important things to worry about. But if we stop trying, the chances are that pretty soon we'll end up with a world where there are no tigers or elephants, or sawfishes or whooping cranes, or albatrosses or ground iguanas. And I think that would be a shame, don't you?"
I hate to over exaggerate and call something a masterpiece, but this is pretty darn close. The artwork is engrossing, astonishing, and accurate (the artist has traveled across the world to draw and paint animals in the wild). Large pages and the charcoal medium capture movement, grace, and natural beauty from the tiger to the vulture. Jenkins' expertise on endangered animals derives from his consultant undertaking for the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, which checks on the status of endangered species around the world. Jenkins doesn't sugar coat the situation, but states that giving up protection efforts is not really an option. A conversational tone, this book is best read out loud and is a great introduction to programs on endangered species.
An introduction to extinct & endangered species including the tiger, sloth bear, partula snails, bison, kakapos, and several more. Jenkins provides explanations regarding the dwindling numbers including beauty, ferocity, need for big stretches of land, introduction of nonnative predators, and disease. Jenkins doesn't ruthlessly blame humans for inhumanity but reveals the reasoning behind past actions--reasons that can be overcome. Jenkins explains success stories and the potential for much more. His last quote has a beautiful simplicity:
"When it comes to looking after all the species that are already endangered, there's such a lot to do that sometimes it might all seem to be too much, especially when there are so many other important things to worry about. But if we stop trying, the chances are that pretty soon we'll end up with a world where there are no tigers or elephants, or sawfishes or whooping cranes, or albatrosses or ground iguanas. And I think that would be a shame, don't you?"
I hate to over exaggerate and call something a masterpiece, but this is pretty darn close. The artwork is engrossing, astonishing, and accurate (the artist has traveled across the world to draw and paint animals in the wild). Large pages and the charcoal medium capture movement, grace, and natural beauty from the tiger to the vulture. Jenkins' expertise on endangered animals derives from his consultant undertaking for the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, which checks on the status of endangered species around the world. Jenkins doesn't sugar coat the situation, but states that giving up protection efforts is not really an option. A conversational tone, this book is best read out loud and is a great introduction to programs on endangered species.
Age: 3rd-5th grade
Plot: As an upper class child, Harriet has a relatively comfortable existence. She has two friends: Sport, a writer's son trying to hold down the house; and Janie, the incipient chemist. But her favorite person is her honest and wise nurse, Ole Golly. It is Ole Golly that gives Harriet the advice and understanding nature that she needs. When Ole Golly leaves to get married, Harriet tries to understand her world with little success. She expresses all her observations of the world in her treasured notebooks. Oftentimes, these are harsh and belittling observations of which Harriet feels no shame. When her classmates and two best friends find the notebook, they form a club to stop and embarrass Harriet. Without her notebook to vent her thoughts, she turns to evil and cruel actions.
I didn't like this book because Harriet carries on as if her cruel and judgmental outlook on the world is perfectly fine. She has no regrets for constantly thinking mean thoughts and, in the end, she receives a glorious prize when she becomes the newspaper editor. The book is written well and the theme of 'writing to avoid devious action' is interesting; but I felt like the book encourages readers to think spite-filled things about other people without a hint of remorse or sympathy.
Plot: As an upper class child, Harriet has a relatively comfortable existence. She has two friends: Sport, a writer's son trying to hold down the house; and Janie, the incipient chemist. But her favorite person is her honest and wise nurse, Ole Golly. It is Ole Golly that gives Harriet the advice and understanding nature that she needs. When Ole Golly leaves to get married, Harriet tries to understand her world with little success. She expresses all her observations of the world in her treasured notebooks. Oftentimes, these are harsh and belittling observations of which Harriet feels no shame. When her classmates and two best friends find the notebook, they form a club to stop and embarrass Harriet. Without her notebook to vent her thoughts, she turns to evil and cruel actions.
I didn't like this book because Harriet carries on as if her cruel and judgmental outlook on the world is perfectly fine. She has no regrets for constantly thinking mean thoughts and, in the end, she receives a glorious prize when she becomes the newspaper editor. The book is written well and the theme of 'writing to avoid devious action' is interesting; but I felt like the book encourages readers to think spite-filled things about other people without a hint of remorse or sympathy.
