Caldecott Winner 1970

The pictures are adorable and the story is cute too.

This book is gorgeous. Judge does an amazing job of capturing that scary, atmospheric feeling that Frankenstein gives us. The poetic narrative explains Shelley's life, why she stayed with such a hard life, and how she felt about her family. It's really, really good.

This is a better book for explaining same-sex parents than Heather Has Two Mommies, because it has more of a plot.

I did enjoy this book about accepting your kids the way they are, but when the flap said struggle, I thought there might be a bit about the parents' or brother's struggle to accept their kid. Instead, it's more about their reactions to society. In a way, I liked the faceless art because it made it feel more universal.

I liked this one. It took me a little while to figure out what the Warcross world was actually like. Emika's perspective is fun to read from, even if there are moments when you want to shake her. I did like seeing a lady hacker, as well as Hammie, the female strategist. I can see it being popular with teens.

Also I want her hair.

I wish I had read these all at once so I could better remember all the characters. I could remember enough to make this work and enjoy it, but it would have been so much richer with the previous events fresh in my mind. Still a very very good series.

I liked it, but I didn't love it. I think it works better in a school setting, where you can really dive into each vignette and talk about it with historical context and such.

Armstrong is a black kid who is being bussed as part of an Opportunity Bussing program. Charlie goes to the school, Wonderland, but most of his friends have left due to integration. Charlie's brother died a few months ago, and his family is still grieving. Armstrong is the youngest in his family and only has sisters. Life throws them together again and again, and they slowly learn to become friendly. I laughed out loud at this story numerous times. They are such middle school boys.

I know a lot of people like this book and it isn't bad! For me, the structure was not my favorite, and that took away from my enjoyment of the book. I am not always a fan of cliffhanger endings in every chapter, and I hate it more when it is multiple perspectives. That is the structure of this book. If I could have read all of Josef, then Isabel, then Mahmoud, it would have worked a lot better for me.

I did enjoy reading three different immigration experiences. I think it gently exposes kids to the isolationist policies that the United States and European countries have had both past and present. Each story was engaging. I just really wish the structure had been different.

Cute. I wish it had sources for the facts, but it is has a nice variety of animals and adorable illustrations.