Authors Who Grow With Their Readers

There is nothing like seeing a familiar name on a bookshelf, whether it is the name of a character (ooh, look, a new (the last) Clementine book is out!) or that of an author (hey, a new book by Rebecca Stead!).  But often as a child grows and leaves pictures books behind (mostly!  please, not entirely!), she leaves certain authors in her wake.  Some very talented authors, however, write for a range of ages, from picture books to early readers to early middle grade chapter books to harder chapter books.  It is such a delight to not have to say good-bye to these authors on our reading journey.

School Library Bulletin Board

If you are reading this blog you probably, like me, always read the name of the author and illustrator when you read aloud to your children.  As toddlers and preschoolers, mine got into the habit of imitating this.  When one of my daughters "read" (that is, pretended to read), she would make up a title for the book and then announce "by Kevin Henkes."  She attributed all her pretend books to him, as we read so many by him that she had heard his name again and again.

Well, lucky for her,   Now at age 7, her first-grade teacher is reading Henkes's early chapter book The Year of Billy Miller to her class, which she is loving.  And personally, I preferred his Junonia, a slightly harder chapter book about a girl who has to get used to the fact that life means that things change.

One of my favorite and most versatile authors is Grace Lin.  From picture books (e.g., Fortune Cookie Fortunes) to early readers (the Ling and Ting series), to early grade books (the Pacy Lin books)  to more complex novels like Starry River of the Sky and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, she hits it out of the park every time.

And there's Cynthia Rylant.  While I think that her early readers have taken on a formulaic quality, her picture books (e.g., The Relatives Came, In November), chapter books (e.g. The Van Gogh Cafe) and poetry (e.g., God Got A Dog - for middle schoolers and up) stand out.

Who is your favorite writer for all ages?

What Is Wrong With This Picture?

I'm running a mock Caldecott this year!!

I haven't been posting much because I'm now basically running my daughters' school library.  As a volunteer.  And I have wanted  to tell you about all the interesting things I've been doing there, such as our "guess the theme" competition and the 4th Grade Library Club, but I've been too busy actually doing them to write about them.

But I couldn't resist posting this.  In preparation for our mock Caldecott (or our Mockdecott, as my husband christened it), I did some research about the award.

And then, when wrapping various Chanukah and birthday gifts, I came across this:

Let's go in for a close-up, shall we?

Do you see what I see?  Tell me in the comments!

I let Amazon, where I purchased the book, know, and I emailed Grace Lin as well.  Let's see if I hear back.

Birthday Books and Inscriptions for a Six-Year-Old

Six years ago today, it was close to 60 degrees.  I know this because it was the day I brought home my younger daughter from the hospital.  Despite the weather, I insisted on dressing her in the same pink, fleecy bunting, I'd come home from the hospital in nearly 33 years before.


Regular readers know that I always write inscriptions on the books I give my daughters for their birthdays.  Today my younger daughter turned 6.  I only gave her two books, with two more to follow which align thematically with a gift that my parents will give her this weekend.  I chose these two because they inspired repeated requests for reading, but I realized they dovetailed nicely with each other as they are both about sibling relationships.  So without further ado, here are the two books I gave her and what I wrote in them.

The Seven Chinese Sisters.  May you and your sister always find your own strengths and use them to help each other. 

Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare.  As you and your sibling grow up, fight, and compete with each other, may you always respect each other's passions and accomplishments and remember that, in spite of it all, you love each other.  After all, just see whom the author dedicated this book to! [It's her brother, of course, the "rotten Richie" of the title.]

What books have you given as gifts?  Do you inscribe them?

Library Round-up #13

Mini-reviews of our latest finds.

 

Herman and Rosie by Gus Gordon.  A jazzy paean to New York City, true love, and not forgetting to look at what is right under your nose.  From the cover, which is made to look like a record in its slipcover, to its end-paper maps of NYC, to the faux-postcards and all the other illustrations in between, this book is a not-to-be-missed original.  It is hard to believe that an author who wrote "Herman and Rosie liked living in the city.  There were days when all the buzzing and honking and humming made them feel like anything was possible" doesn't live in New York!












Please Bring Balloons by Lindsay Ward.  When a carousel polar bear carousel leaves a note requesting balloons, a young girl is off on an adventure to the North Pole.  Beautiful illustrations will carry you away (pun intended!).  How will the polar bear get to his next destination?  Take a look and see!

The Red Thread: An Adoption Fairy Tale by Grace Lin.  The story of a king and queen who feel a terrible "pain in their hearts" caused by a red string tugging on it, which they follow, only to find a baby who makes their lives complete.  This story is based on the Chinese belief that all those meant to cross paths in life are linked by an invisible red thread.  A beautiful story about how parents and their babies, however they find each other, are meant to be together.  

Little Owl's Orange Scarf by Tatyana Feeney.  Little Owl hates his orange scarf.  He tries his best to lose it, until he actually does lose it at the zoo.  A return trip to the zoo reveals which animal has found it and made use of it.  Adorable.  My 5-year-old loves this one!

Matilda and Hans by Yokococo.  Matilda is well-behaved.  Hans is not.  Or is there more to Matilda and Hans than really meets the eye?  Is anyone ever purely good or purely bad?  A great book for those who have been pigeonholed as "the good one" or "the mischievous one."

Elephant's Story by Tracey Campbell Pearson.  This tale of an elephant who is taught by a young friend how to make the letters he accidentally jumbled when he inhaled them into words is sweet, but I was hoping for more.

What are you reading right now?

Library (and Bookstore) Round-up #11, Part 1: Picture Books and Early Readers

Reviews of the latest picture books we have out from the library... or couldn't resist buying!


The Twins' Blanket by Hyewon Yum.  A sweet story about twin sisters who have shared everything since - and including - the womb - as well as a bed and a blanket.  When their mother decides it is time for them to each have her own bed and blanket, she settles sibling rivalry over who should keep the original blanket with a satisfying Solomonic decision that provides each girl with a memento of their shared nights together.  The first time the girls retire to their new beds and blankets, they discover that they can't fall asleep without each other.  They hold hands across the divide between their beds and fall asleep, alone yet together, for the first time.  The illustrations here, with the endpapers done in the pattern each girl chooses for her own blanket, are beautiful, with bright bold colors.  It is amazing how many themes Yum addresses in this short, seemingly simple picture book: about siblings, twins, sharing, rivalry, parenting, bedtime, loveys and more.  The author description states that Yum is herself a twin, and her understanding of the special relationship twins have is very much in evidence here.  A perfect baby gift for new twin girls.

Ling and Ting Share a Birthday.  Another book about twin girls, this time an early reader! The sequel to Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same!, this book contains six stories about the girls' birthday and how they, too, like to share everything.  My five-year-old loves the first one so I actually purchased this one.  A great addition.

A Funny Little Bird by Jennifer Yerkes.  This book's stunning artwork, with its amazing use of negative space, is the real draw (tee-hee) here.  The plot, with its lesson about being humble and using your talents to help others, and the seemingly sudden ability of the invisible bird to make other animals invisible, is much weaker.  But the illustrations more than make up for it. 



ABC is for Circus by Patrick Hruby.  What a shame that this alphabet book, with its vibrant, unique illustrations, wasn't published when my daughters were toddlers!  Unfortunately, my daughter have long outgrown alphabet books, but I highly recommend it to anyone with children in their life who are the right age for it.


 
Rifka Takes a Bow by Betty Rosenberg Perlov.  The debut book by a 96-year-old author.  Isn't that reason enough to check this book out?  This book is set in the heyday of the Yiddish theatre in the 1920s, for which the author's parents actually performed, wrote, and produced.  However, I found the exaggerated, cartoony illustrations, combined with the varying fonts which wander across the page, to be too busy for my taste.

What picture books do you have out from the library now?

Novel(la)-Length Fairy and Folk Tales

Recently, we have read several books which I would consider novel- or novella-length fairy tales.  One was Happily Ever After, which I gave to my daughter for her birthday.  Two others were Grace Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Starry River of the Sky, both of which fall into this category doubly, as not only are they fairy tales themselves (the protagonists go on a (physical) journey only to find that what they are seeking is really back where they started) but within each book are modern retellings of traditional Chinese folktales.

And then I read The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech.  Of course I had heard of the author, had read her award-winning Walk Two Moons (which underwhelmed me) and her picture book A Fine, Fine School, but I had never heard of this book.  Is it just because it was published in between when I was the target audience and when I started reading children's books again (2007)? Have you heard of it?  Read it?

If not, you should.  Written by Ms. Creech and "illuminated" by David Diaz, this novel takes us into a kingdom with spoiled royals and good, honest peasants, who are all seeking something.  The illustrations, the typeface, the illuminated letters that begin each chapter help transport us to this magical, timeless place, an alternate-universe Italy (all the characters have Italian names) without cellphones or chamber pots, with a castle that creaks and groans and is trying to tell its inhabitants something (reminiscent of the castle in Tuesdays at the Castle and Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George).  During the course of the novel, both we and the characters learn about the power of words and stories (just as we do in Grace Lin's works) and that material possessions cannot bring happiness (although without a full belly it is hard to be completely happy). In a somewhat comedic, modern touch, the king's (and later, queen's) personal "hermits" act as the royals' therapists.

I loved traveling to the kingdom of Corona and I think your middle-grader (and you!) will love it too.

Library Round-up #10

Mini-reviews of some of the books we recently checked out of the library.

Picture books:

Lissy's Friends.  One of Grace Lin's early works, it employs her trademark folk-art style.  The main character, an Asian girl, is at a new school and is having trouble making friends.  She makes her own friends - origami animals - which, in the end, bring real friends to her.  Charming and sweet but not a must-read.

The Quarreling Book.  Charlotte Zolotow's understanding of childhood and family dynamics is pitch-perfect as always in this story of how one person's bad mood is contagious... until a change of heart has the opposite ripple effect.

My First Day: What Animals Do on Day One.  Steve Jenkins has done it again! This lovely non-fiction book about newborn animals is utterly fascinating as well as beautiful.  From the ways mothers recognize their new babies (zebra mommies memorize the pattern of their babies' stripes, while others know them by their voices or scents) to the way they are born (the Darwin frog is held in a pouch in its father's throat) to what they can and can't do on their first day (some can't even see while others walk within hours of birth), this book is perfect for the young animal lover and for a big-brother-or-sister-to-be.  The language is simple but the text is supplemented at the end with additional information about each animal which is especially helpful as some are rather obscure - and interesting.

Middle-Grade Fiction

Rickshaw Girl.  This illustrated chapter book for those on the younger end of the middle-grade spectrum is tells the story of Naima, who lives in Bangladesh, seeks to help her poor family earn money, but feels constrained by the fact that she's a girl.  In the end, another woman acts as a role model and Naima uses her artistic skills to help her family financially.  Each chapter heading is decorated with an alpana, the traditional Bengali designs painted on homes for special occasions.  A wonderful portrait of how things are changing in many Southeast Asian and other traditional societies, as well as an introduction to the ideas of micro-loans and women's investment banks.  This book is great for second and third graders, an audience for which I can't think of any other chapter books set in this part of the world (can you?).  The glossary at the end is a helpful addition.

The Center of Everything.  Linda Urban's most recent novel has won rave reviews and talk of a Newbery already, but I was not as enamored.  While it was certainly enjoyable, and its references to A Wrinkle in Time and When You Reach Me and its incorporation of a donut motif were clever, it does not live up to either of those predecessors and the main plot of a girl regretting something she did or didn't do before the death of a grandparent was not treated in a particularly fresh way.  However, the ending was satisfying by virtue of the very fact that it was unsatisfying, just like life.

Young Adult Fiction

Eleanor and Park.  Rainbow Rowell's story of love between two misfits is appealing and realistic.  Eleanor, the oldest of 5 children with an emotionally abusive stepfather (who is also physically abusive to their mother), reminded me of Cynthia Voigt's Dicey Tillerman, a reference to which Eleanor herself makes toward the end of the book.   I particularly liked that both Eleanor and Park wanted to take the physical part of their romance rather slowly and that the descriptions of "mere" handholding conveyed that such simple physical acts can have a romance and eroticism all their own.

Young Adult Poetry

Think Again.  The perfect gift for the angst-filled teenager in your life.  Poems like: "Sit still said her father - / Quiet said her mom:/ So she sat still and quiet/ As an unexploded bomb." capture the essence of adolescence.  The illustrations by Julie Morstad, the reason I picked up this book in the first place, complement the poems perfectly.

Have you read any of these?  What did you think?

More Books for a Seven-Year-Old

My daughter has been happily devouring books, sometimes even turning down activities like playing with her sister and baking with me in order to read!  She's been zigzagging back and forth between the series I mentioned here, as well as adding some new favorites to her list.  Here they are:

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty McDonald.  My daughter loved this one and we're going to look for the others in the series.  I haven't read it and now it's on MY reading list now, since in each chapter Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle provides a "cure" for a different childhood misbehavior: picky eating, messy rooms, "answering back."  I could use the help!

The American Girl books.  These books are several series, actually, each about a different girl and each set during a different time (and place) in American history.  They are related to the extravagantly expensive American Girl dolls, with the girl on the cover of each book made to look like the corresponding doll, but the books make no explicit reference to the dolls, not even at the end of the books or on the back cover!  There are no product tie-ins at all!  So if your child doesn't already know of the existence of the dolls, these books won't clue her in.  The books are short but the vocabulary is not easy, and some of the concepts introduced are difficult or may be new to your child.  Mine exclaimed in confusion and frustration when reading about the selling of slaves, "But how could people be sold?  What does that even mean?!?"  At the end of each book is a short (5 pages or so) non-fiction description of the historical era in which each book is set.  A nice introduction to historical fiction.

The Year of the ... books by Grace Lin.  This well-known semi-autobiographical series by Grace Lin, with the first two books named for a year in the Chinese zodiac, follow Pacy Lin as she struggles with the normal difficulties of growing up and being different.  The third (and so far, last) book in the series doesn't follow the naming convention and is Dumpling Days.  All three are wonderful.

The Dessert books by Hallie Durand. 

The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case: A Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Book for Young Readers by Alexander McCall Smith.  The author of the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency books has gone back in time and written about his protagonist as a child.  This is a gentle, non-scary mystery with an exotic (to us) setting in Africa.  So far this is the only book for children but I suspect this prolific author will not stop here!

Stand-alone books that she's read include:

The Pepins and their Problems by Polly Horvath.

A Necklace of Raindrops by Joan Aiken.

What has your child been reading?

Library Round-Up #4

This week's library haul in brief (some briefer than others):

Amelia and Eleanor Go For A Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan, pictures by Brian Selznick.  I found this book via Annie and Aunt (who currently have a great series of posts about books for the very earliest of emerging readers) and I can't say enough good things about it.  From the amazing black-and-white illustrations by yes, that Brian Selznick, to the wonderful writing, this book is a winner and perfect for Women's History Month.  It is not quite non-fiction, but is based on a true event and the author smartly includes a note at the end detailing what parts are true and where she took liberties.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that the story, about the friendship and adventures of two of the most admired women of the mid-twentieth century, provides great material.  This one's going on my to-buy list.  And now I'm interested in the author's book about Marian Anderson, too.

Posy by Linda Newbery and illustrated by Catherine Rayner.  This simple story about a cat's activities is elevated by the clever rhymes ("whiskers wiper/crayon swiper") and expressive illustrations.  I do wish, however, that the color palette had been enlivened a little.  The brown, black and light orange of the calico cat don't make for the brightest color scheme so less muted colors for the other items in the illustrations would have been nice.


Maudie and Bear by Jan Ormerod, illustrated by Freya Blackwood.  I can't decide what I think of this collection of five stories, well-regarded in its native Australia.  As the book jacket says, "Bear's world revolves around Maudie.  Maudie's world also revolves around Maudie."  The bear is clearly a stand-in for a parental figure and somewhat of a martyred one at that.  The sacrificial aspect and the second story, a take-off on the Three Bears which I think explores the guilt Goldilocks must have felt, don't sit right with me, but the quiet prose and illustrations are lovely.  I especially like how the illustrations, not the words, provide the punchlines in both The Bike Ride and Telling Stories.

Prudence Wants a Pet written by Cathleen Daly and illustrated by Stephen Michael King.  Another (I think Australian) book I'm ambivalent about.  Prudence wants a pet so desperately she adopts all kinds of inanimate objects until her parents finally succumb.  On a first reading, my girls thought the story was hysterical, but it didn't hold up as well upon rereading.  Truly clever moments (adopting a shoe and calling it Formal Footwear, since that is what it says inside) seem to highlight that the rest of the book falls short.  The part of the story about "sea buddies" was confusing to us (what are they exactly?  some type of plant?) and neither my girls or I were sure whether the pet at the end was a cat or a dog!  On the plus side, I love how the adults in the story are only depicted from the waist-down, a true child's eye view of the world (and reminiscent of the grown-ups in Charlie Brown).  Strangely, it is the third book I've read recently with inanimate objects as pets - the tween novel, When Life Gives You O.J. by Erica S. Perl and Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great by Judy Blume were the others.


Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray.  I have a soft spot both for retro-looking illustrations and unique alphabet books and this book scores high  on both counts.  I can't think of another alphabet book that actually tells us a story like this one, although there must be one, right?  Also going on my to-buy list.




 
A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka.  Justly deserving of its Caldecott for the illustrations (I love the colors) but I found the plot of this wordless book a little thin.

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco.  A great semi-autobiographical book about sibling relationships with photos of the author and her real rotten redheaded older brother on the endpapers.

Listen to My Trumpet! by Mo Willems.  The latest in the Elephant and Piggie series, this one was definitely not my favorite.

Dumpling Days by Grace Lin.  The third book in Grace Lin's semi-autobiographical middle-grade series about Pacy Lin, a Taiwanese-American girl, which, like the first two (The Year of the Dog and The Year of the Rat), successfully explores immigrant identity and the difficulties of just growing up.  The kind and wise parents remind me of the Quimbys.  My only complaint is that the books are not very subtle, but that may be all for the best considering the target age group.

Have you or your kids read any of the above?  What did you think?