Written by Jess Keating, Illustrated by Pete Oswald
Burt the Beetle Doesn’t Bite
By Ashley Spires
Lori the Librarian |
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Eat Your Rocks, Croc! Written by Jess Keating, Illustrated by Pete Oswald Burt the Beetle Doesn’t Bite By Ashley Spires Meet Dr. Glider. She is available to help any animal with any problem. Within this picture book, each double page spread combines stories, jokes, cute illustrations and interesting facts about real animals. Did you know that, “ants will kidnap aphids to keep as pets.” Or that frigate birds, “nap in midair while they fly?” This book will be enjoyed by all budding animal lovers. Meet Burt the June Beetle, an insect that does not bite and looks like a watermelon. He’s quite cute with his feathery antennae and smallish size but he soon learns that he doesn’t have any superpower-like abilities that other insects have. He’s not particularly strong like the ants or able to release powerfully smelly smells to scare aware predators. This is a cute graphic novel that shares scientific information about insects through the guise of a June Beetle who is trying to figure out his talents. As he figures out where he fits in with these backyard insects we also have a story about friendship. Again, this is an enjoyable scientific book that will be enjoyed by preschoolers through early elementary aged children.
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Findus Plants Meatballs Findus and the Fox When Findus Was Little and Disappeared By Sven Nordqvist After posting about The Findus books last month, I requested more titles in the Findus and Pettson series from my public library. I wrote in that post how fun and creative the tales and illustrations were. If you didn’t interlibrary loan your own copies yet, I must repeat, after reading these three picture books that Sven Norqvist has indeed invented delightful tales for families to share. I do think you will all enjoy yourselves. PS if you can borrow the editions published by Hawthorn Press I recommend them over the North-South editions. I feel that the Hawthorn translation has a richer language.
Lucky Broken Girl Ruth Bear It’s funny how we sometimes pick out books to read. This one was chosen because my best friend, from high school, was dating a boy whose last name was Behar. So I chose this book all because of a familiar last name. I’m very glad that I did read it. This chapter book is good for upper elementary and middle school children and it also was really good for me to read as I imagine it might be for other adults. I think teachers will find a lot of substance to share with their students as well.
Ruth Behar tells a fictionalized story of an incident in her life, where as a new immigrant to America, she is a victim of a car accident that leaves her in a body cast and bedridden for an entire year. Through rich, emotional and poignant vignettes we observe life, through her eyes as a ten year old child, just as Ruthie is successfully learning all the rules and language of being a kid in Queens, NY. Behar successfully unfolds Ruthie’s existence through funny, warm, touching and traumatic little chapters that touch on her immigrant experience, her family’s past life in Cuba, their longing for it, healthcare, apartment life, her education and her most innermost feelings. As my many sticky notes attest to it, there’s a lot that is shared in this easy to read book. Through Ruthie’s very long year of recuperation Behar writes about the freedoms of belief, expression and creation and weaves in words of Emma Lazarus and paintings of Frida Kahlo. She delves into Ruthie’s days of happiness and days of cloudy sadness. She deals with the difficult act of forgiveness towards the young, irresponsible driver and passengers of the car that caused her and her family so much pain. Through the inclusion of friendly, helpful characters in the story Ruthie’s mind and heart is opened up to other ways that help her towards mending her body and soul. She writes prayerful letters to God, Shiva, Nancy Drew and Frida. She questions if and how she will, “become whole after you’ve been broken?” She agonizes over her pain but keeps silent to not upset her family, but mostly her beautiful mother who mourns the loss of her old Cuban life. She reads books over and over again and becomes a lifelong reader. There is so much to absorb from and learn from Ruthie’s character and Behar’s poetic and sincere words. Now I look forward to reading Behar’s next book, Letters from Cuba. Pancakes for Findus (Another title for this same book is The Birthday Cake) Findus Moves Out By Sven Nordqvist What fun! I walked into a pop up store in my neighborhood and there were two books which I had originally borrowed from the public library and then bought for the school library collection and now immediately bought for my home collection. Lucky me to find them again! Findus the cat and Pettson the farmer live together as the odd couple. Swedish author and illustrator, Sven Nordqvist has created characters and situations that are delightful and fun and original and resourceful. When I reread the first title, which includes a recipes for the pancakes, I realized that it was a yummy birthday book to share with my granddaughter on her sixth birthday. Any child, or adult, for that matter will enjoy the silly chain reaction that takes place when Pettson needs to find the key that has dropped into the well to fix the flat tire on his bicycle to go fetch the flour for the pancake. The illustrations in both picture books are filled with colorful details that add to these rollicking stories. The second story finds Findus the cat awakening way too early in the morning for grumpy Farmer Pettson. At 4 am, Findus loves to actively bounce and somersault on his bed. This is too much for Pettson so they agree that Findus needs a new home where he can jump to his heart’s delight. After they create a lovely home for Findus out of an old outhouse, both cat and man hope to enjoy their active and quiet spaces. When the separate sleeping spaces make them feel scared and lonely they realize that they need to reach a compromise about the jumping. I hope you can find copies of these Findus and Pettson books and that you spend lots of giggly time with your loved little ones (ages 3 1/2 and up through 8 years). Or you can always ask to borrow them from me as long as you promise to return them!
(P.S. I believe there are 12 other books in this series. I hope to read more of them.) The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney; illustrated by Shane W. Evans When twelve year old Amira receives a birthday gift of a twig from her beloved father, she does not know what the purpose of the twig is or where the twig will lead her. When the twig does take over, Amira draws a “happy surprise” and the sand under her feet is turned into something new. She dreams of going to school and learning to read and write but this is not the way in her Sudanese family.
When the Janjaweed, the armed, militia bandits, attack her village, her father is killed and Amira begins a dreaded, parched journey to a refugee camp. Now her prayer is to, “Make this end soon.” Based on true accounts, Amira’s story is told in verse and line drawings. They are both simple yet poignant, sparse yet very descriptive. While waiting on line for the water giver to given them their ration of water and hoping for more, she thinks, “It’s hard Waiting for what is not enough. It’s like wishing on a thimble.” When “spitting bullets” come from the sky to destroy their camp, Pinkney’s use of the word “Dot!” to describe the bullet and the placement of the word on the page is viscerally powerful. When a visiting relief worker gives Amira a red pencil, her withered emotional state begins to open up. Her creative spirit, her “sparrow,” begins to flutter and Amira again dreams of learning and drawing. She must decide what she must do in order to keep herself and her spirit alive. Amira’s journey is filled with dreams of terror and of hope for herself and for her family. After reading and sharing this powerful book, educators and parents will find that it will provoke questions and open up discussions for all middle grade readers. Sam Is My Sister Ashley Rhodes-Courter; Illustrated by MacKenzie Haley Jacob’s School Play : Starring He, She, and They By Ian Hoffman and Sarah Hoffman; Illustrated by Chris Case I am pleased to share with you two new picture books that normalize gender identity for the younger child. Both books have added to my education and I hope they will add to yours and our young readers and listeners as well. We have met Jacob before in two important books that challenged gender variance, “Jacob’s New Dress,” and “Jacob’s Room to Choose.” Now we can add Sam, Evan and Finn to the list of characters who help increase our understanding of transgender children, dispel our stereotypes, and promote our acceptance of and compassion for all individuals.
Sam, Evan and Finn are three brothers who do everything together so it comes as a surprise to Evan why Sam wants to have longer hair, bows, and bright, sparkly skirts. He just doesn’t get this change in Sam and asks about it. Sam’s response comes to us in the form of a question that offers all readers a chance to pause and think: “So how do you know which hand to use when you color?” Sam asked. Evan stopped drawing for a moment. “I don’t know. Drawing with my other hand doesn’t feel right.” “Well, being a boy doesn’t feel right to me.” Sam explained. “It’s just who I am.” All of this change is expressed and talked about lovingly at home, but on the school playground both Sam and Evan are confronted by other children and their mean expressions of gender stereotypes. Evan holds his own and calls outloud that Sam is his sister. Sam is overjoyed to hear that her sibling sees her as his sister but also as, “the same Sam.” In the other book, Jacob and his classmates, who have explored gender diversity in the previous stories, find that they are confused by pronouns used to identify people. While getting ready for a class play, Jacob doesn’t understand when Ari, a classmate, uses the pronoun “they”. Jacob assumes that Ari has three parts in the play as opposed to everyone else having just one part. The teacher tries to help Jacob understand that “inside” some kids feel like boys, girls, or both or neither. She explains that the words, he, she, or they are used in their classroom. Her words help Jacob, his classmates and ultimately us understand: “From the outside, we can’t see who anybody is on the inside.” Said Mrs. Reeves. “So we have to trust them when they tell us.” All of it comes together for Jacob during the class play where Jacob expresses that we all need to respect and support one another as they are. Kudos to these authors and illustrators. These are two important books to be in the hands of families, educators and children. Why Didn’t the Chicken Cross the Road? Written and Illustrated by Paul Schwartz I received a surprise this last July when we took our yearly vacation at a family camp, Timberlock, in the Adirondacks. We had known the Schwartz family from previous summers but never realized that the father, Paul, was a children’s book author and illustrator. He kindly gifted me his new book and I was delighted upon receiving it. The children’s riddle joke, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” has spawned many answers such as, “to get to the other side,” as well as books and videos. Paul Schwartz has created an original, very satisfying answer to this traditional joke riddle focusing on Chicken, his parents and his community. Chicken’s friends dearly want him to come over to the other side of the road where they are playing games, eating popsicles and clearly having a great time. Chicken wants to go but his parents are Nervous Nellies and counter his desire to cross the road with disastrous and funny responses; for example, this one which has a nod towards The Wizard of Oz, “Daddy chicken said, “ I heard that flying monkeys pick them up and carry them away.” Each page, painted with warm colors in an inviting folk style, clearly shows the Chicken’s expressions of yearning and the parent’s expressions of dismay. With each request, the parents up the disaster ante, until mid story sadly Chicken almost gives up. But thank you Paul Schwartz for putting in a plug for STEAM education, our Chicken shows he has grit and finds and then creates a great solution to how he can safely cross the road!! With the addition of his one page epilogue, Schwartz shows a kitten afraid to cross the road and now opens up this traditional joke riddle to even more versions. I could imagine helping Kitty cross the road being a classroom or home project. Teachers and parents can use this book in many ways with preschoolers and early elementary children. They can use it as an enjoyable read aloud or combine it with a joke unit or with a STEAM unit or in fact with a SEL unit on the feelings of being afraid or disappointed. Paul Schwartz opens up possibilities with this engaging picture book. It can also be shared with helicopter parents and used as a cautionary tale to stop hovering and actually support their children to creatively solve their own problems. Who knew that this very popular joke riddle could be used in so many ways! This is a very satisfying picture book to share!
I Will Dance Written by Nancy Bo Flood; Illustrated by Julianna Swaney Oh, I do like this book a lot! Meet Eva who has just one birthday wish, “I want to dance.” Eva tells us that this probably won’t ever happen because at birth she could barely breathe and now she must sit in a wheelchair and she can barely move about. The lyrical watercolor illustrations run counterpoint to Eva’s short questions and wondering words. But Eva wants more than to dream she wants to really move and dance, “ to feel the music, sway, swing, fly, over and under.” And she wants to do this with others, definitely not alone. When her mother reads about a dance studio offering an audition for dancers of all ages and abilities Eva goes forth into this welcoming community and joins them as they make one circle and pass a touch of connectedness around.
Eva becomes part of this dancers world and her dream comes true. The author’s note at the back of this lovely picture book tells us that this is based on a real girl who participates in the “Young Dance: transforming lives through movement” program. I immediately went on the internet to youngdance.org and found more inspiring words and videos. Take a look at how they push boundaries and change lives. If you are interested in another story that engages children with disabilities to dance, please look for Ballerina Dreams: A True Story by Joann Ferrara. This picture book uses photographs of five precious girls and follows them as they eventually perform on stage Halfway to Harmony By Barbara O’Connor A Boy Called Bat Written by Elana K. Arnold; With Pictures by Charles Santoso A very tender story of a ten year old boy, Walter, grieving the loss of his beloved older brother. Part of his adjusting to his life without him comes a new friendship to bold and outgoing Posey, a girl, who has moved next door and with Banjo, an eccentric outspoken man, who actively involves both Posey and Walter in a “bodacious adventure.” During the summer, Posey models, “Caesar Romanoff’s rules for making friends.” Walter works at this and begins to take chances, make brave moves and look people in the eye and acknowledge them. This chapter book is moving, funny,and adventurous, ( think ride in hot air balloon), and would make a very good third to fifth grade class read aloud or on their own. I like this story a lot, almost as much as Bat, aka Bixby Alexander Tam, loves the newborn skunk that has come into his life. Arnold, the author, has created a warm and fun story about a highly functioning boy on the Autism spectrum, his family and their frustrations, and his daily life with its ups and downs. It is a difficult thing to portray all of this with sensitivity and to involve the reader in the emotions of all the characters but Arnold has done this and crafted a very good story for a shorter third-fifth grade read aloud or by oneself.
Bat surprises himself, his family and teacher, when his mother, a veterinarian, brings home a stray baby skunk that needs to be cared for before he is sent to a wild animal shelter. Bat falls head over heels with this skunk and wants so very much to keep him forever, that he figures out ways to prove to his mother and family that he is capable and responsible. There is never a doubt that Bat has a huge heart and this is one of the endearing things portrayed in this chapter book. Through this period of time that he has to convince his mother that he should keep the skunk, Bat finds himself growing through his dislikes and sensitivities and allowing himself to interact with others outside his immediate circle. He allows himself to suffer uncomfortable moments, to interact with others, to think before he acts and basically to grow, all in order to care for this precious skunk named Thor. Bat emerges as a happy boy at the end of this book acknowledging that he doesn’t know how things will turn out with the skunk and his new friend but that this is enough for the moment. Luckily we have two sequels: Bat and the Waiting Game and Bat and the End of Everything. Share this one! Fox theTiger By Corey R. Tabor Here’s an enjoyable “I Can Read!” book that preschoolers through Kindergartners should ask for often. Fox wishes he was a big, sneaky, fast tiger and he paints stripes on himself to make this wish come true. Turtle likes fox’s idea and becomes a race car, while Rabbit becomes a robot. All good until the rain comes and brings disappointment. Then a new friend appears who exclaims that Fox is the bestest animal of all. An imaginative day reveals a simple, satisfying, self esteem story that kids will soon be retelling or reading by theirselves.
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Author For 29 years I had the best job as School Librarian in the Aaron Kushner Library for grades Pre K-3 at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston. Although I am retired, I remain Lori the Librarian. Archives
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