More Picture Books

 

Building our House by Jonathan Bean

The story of how a young family moves to the country and builds their own house. I couldn’t stop thinking of our cousins in Sweden who built their house just a few short years ago. The author states at the end that he based the story on memories and pictures of when his parents built the family home. Who will tell the story of Gunnar and Ann-Helene’s house in Nykvarn? We’ll have to wait and see.

 

The Bear in the Book by Kate Banks, pictures by Georg Hallensleben

Can you say postmodern? While the pictures are inviting and the story is sweetly told, I found this just a little bit weird. A young boy and his mother sit down for a good night story. The mother picks his favorite book, one about a bear, and as she opens the pages, the reader sees the story along with the boy and his mother. On each page, the story progresses and the boy and his mother talk. Some pages show the illustrations from the story book and some show the boy and his mother looking at the book. The bear hibernates and the boy sleeps. The end.

 

Leave Your Sleep, a Collection of Classic Children’s Poetry with music by Natalie Merchant and pictures by Barbara McClintock

(Click on the picture of Merchant to visit her website and see the poems and listen to some of her songs. You'll love them!)

These poems are delightful and the music is enticing. Some poems are familiar, like The Land of Nod by Robert Louis Stevenson, and some are less so like The Sleepy Giant by Charles Edward Carryl, about an old giant who used to eat little boys and now regrets it. The poets are all white and almost all male, so perhaps Merchant can be encouraged to find more poems by women or people of color as she certainly will want to do a sequel to this delightful collection!

Picture books for the young and not so young

 

Who has this tail? By Laura Hulbert, illustrated by Erik Brooks

Repetitive language asks “who has this tail?” followed by the animal and what the tail is used for. For example, “A shark uses its tail to push itself through the water.” Throughout the book, no gender pronouns are used, so all the animals could be male or female. The illustrations portray the animals within their natural habitat; from desert to ocean, beauty abounds. Perfect for 2 to 5 year olds who are interested in animals or the kindergarten set who are memorizing books.

 

Frog Song by Brenda Z. Guiberson, illustrated by Gennady Spirin

A short story of 11 frogs around the world, the songs they sing and how they protect their eggs. My favorite was the Darwin’s frong in Chile; the male holds tadpoles in his vocal sacs for seven weeks. “Then he gives a big yawn, and little froglets pop out.” The frogs are drawn realistically and their surroundings are illustrated with flora and fauna from the country being described. This beautiful concept book is finished off with a bibliography as well as several websites where we can find more information about frogs. Excellent for upper elementary children who love to learn about animals.

 

Snowboy 1, 2, 3 by Joe Wahman, illustrated by Wendy Wahman

A counting book for winter, with a slightly off-kilter rhyme. While the pictures and words tell a story, it is hard to follow would take a lot of direction to make sure children are following the story line. Reading it just for the joy of counting and rhyming would be the best option.

 

Trixie Ten by Sarah Massini

Another counting book, with ten brothers and sisters, all drawn with thumbprints. Trixie Ten is tired of her brood of brothers and sisters, all with their disturbing and distinguishing noises: burps, hiccups, sneezes and giggles among them. So she runs away only to discover the world itself is noisy and she is lonely without her siblings.

When they come to find her, she is ready to go home. The story line is more conventional, easy to follow and perfect for family or play groups who might be getting annoyed with one another over silly things.

Why I didn’t like J. K. Rowling’s new book for adults, even though I wanted to love it!

 

Casual Vacancy is set in a small town in the U. K., not too far from London, but far enough to be somewhat isolated. Next to the town of Pagford is a low-rent district called Fields, originally established by the neighboring town, but now somehow the responsibility of the good people of Pagford. And that’s where the first problem comes in: there are no good people of Pagford. Virtually every person portrayed by Rowling in this book has major character flaws, they are mewling and back-biting and drunk and drug addicted; they are mentally ill and physically unappealing and abusive and mean-spirited and vindictive. They are just plain hard to like. Some, very few, might have a few redeeming qualities, but their faults are so loudly portrayed, it was hard to see. And the man who dies in the first chapter was apparently very likeable, but he’s dead. So, just over 500 pages of unlikeable characters and I had to ask myself why did I read the whole thing?

Well, it was by Rowling and I loved Harry Potter and all his sequels. And there were shades of Rowling’s skill throughout the book. She writes well, she draws you into the story, she portrays characters with aplomb, even if those characters are unlikable.

The second reason I did not like this book is the story. These mean, malicious townspeople spend their days trying to get rid of the responsibility of Fields. They do not want the children of Fields to be educated with their children; they do not want the people of Fields to go to the same clinics they go to; they do not want to have to see the detritus of humanity in their backyards and they are not afraid to own up to their betrayal of this humanity.

Not only were there shades of Rowling in the portrayal of the characters, some of whom resembled the most despicable of those found in the Potter books, but her craft was also evident in the multiple storylines and the careful plotting of the story.

While I did not like this book, I still love Rowling as an author and I would probably read most anything she wrote. I would just encourage her to write more fantasy because her view of reality is too scary for me.

So Many Books, So Little Time

I once had a sweatshirt with that printed on it. I belonged to a book club in Casper, WY and we all got the shirts together and tried to remember to wear them to our meetings. But, lately, I really feel that. Here are just a few of the books I have read over the last few months. Listed in order of my preference:

 

I am now almost caught up with Louise Penny's books about Chief Inspecter Gamache. I try to not read them too quickly or too many at a time because they are so well written. Anyone out there who is a mystery fan and who has not yet discovered these stories, you are in for a treat. The writing melts in your mouth and the underlying themes and ideas in the books are full of insight and small delights. One of my favorite images from these books are of Gamache, a man past his prime, remembering when he would walk with his daughter and recite poetry to her. If all children could have this patient, kind man as a role model, where would the world be now? Issues of alcoholism are explored in this book and as always, Penny approaches this controversial topic with love and care. Start at the beginning and devour these books!

 

Another mystery series, these are set in the 1920s and 1930s in the UK. Maisie Dobbs is a young woman who went to war and came back a changed woman. She is a private detective and a psychologist. In this and other ways, she reminds me a little of the Number One Ladies Detective Agency and Mma Romotswe. As Penny does, Winspear approaches issues as she tells a story of intrigue. She keeps her readers on their toes and gives only a little bit of Maisie's story in each book, keeping us coming back for more. This is only number three in a series that is now up to 10 books, so it will be a while before I can finish all the books.

 

I read The Audacity of Hope  early in Obama's presidency and I enjoyed it, but I have to say that this book touched me so much more! Obama is a good writer and this book is written with humility and with inspiration. So many of our young people do not know their heritage and Obama was lucky enough to try to find his. Although he did not get to know his father, he did get to find his African roots and explore his many connections with numerous siblings. His experience in Chicago as a community organizer is telling about what so many of our poorer families are facing today. What is the underlying problem? Is it systemic and caused by a lack of care throughout society, or is it familial and caused by a lack of cohesive family units? This book helped me to solidify my views of the problems caused by selfish public policies that are put in place to benefit the rich. Let me know your views. 

 

While this reminded me a little of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, especially in the number of twists and turns in the plot, is it this one, no! Is it this one, maybe! While I have not read any other Ellie Hatcher books, this one did interest me in the character and my draw me in to reading others in this series, but, as the heading says: so many books, too little time. I will need to put Burke on the list of those to come back to when I have more time.

And now for something completely different. I am not a huge fan of historical fiction, and the two main characters here are killers who kill for money and sometimes for pleasure. Yet, I did like this book both the way the story was told and the story itself. There was a certain amount of poetic justice doled out throughout the book, and the voice of the brother who was telling the story kept me interested and on my toes. If you like a different voice once in a while, or even all the time, give the sisters a try!