Booklist Online: Book Reviews from the American Library Association

Cindy: I came home a few weeks ago to find a wild turkey strutting through my front yard. I frequently have to slow down and wait for a flock to saunter across the road on my way to work, but that was the first one to walk my garden path. Jim Arnosky’s new picture book, I’m a Turkey (Scholastic, 2009) pays tribute to this bird that Ben Franklin wanted for our national symbol instead of the bald eagle. It’s a fun turkey option for fall storyhours, and one that doesn’t include the plight of the scheduled-to-be-eaten bird with all trimmings, although natural predators are mentioned. Among other facts, children will learn that the fifteen pound bird can fly fifty miles per hour once it gets off the ground. The bright acrylic paintings are perfect for large group sharing, and for added fun, play the spoken-word jaunty song by Arnosky available online from Scholastic while you share the pictures. Gobble, gobble.

Lynn: Hmmm. The flock of turkeys that usually strolls nonchalantly through my wooded backyard has disappeared lately - but wait! Maybe they have heard us reading Wendi Silvano’s Turkey Trouble (Marshall Cavendish 2009) and donned cunning disguises. The turkey in the book realizes he’s in trouble - “the kind of trouble where it’s almost Thanksgiving and you’re the main course.” Turkey decides to disguise himself as something not eaten for Thanksgiving. The trouble is that Turkey’s disguises aren’t very good and not even the other animals are fooled. Turkey looks around the garden in desperation and has an inspiration. Next day a strange looking delivery man arrives at the farmer’s door with a delicious Thanksgiving pizza. Turkey lives to gobble another day and everyone is happy.

Lee Harper’s comic illustrations are hilarious. Our focus group especially enjoyed Turkey’s disguises as he works his way around the barnyard. Adults will love the cow disguise in particular and my grandsons delighted in figuring out that the rooster disguise was no protection from the oven. The bouncy text is perfect for reading aloud and the big bright illustrations make this a great story hour book. As the cook for the large group gathering at our house next week I’m inspired too. A Thanksgiving Pizza sounds pretty good to me!

Cindy: We haven’t gotten over our fall fascination with the National Parks and so this week for Nonfiction Monday we are headed to California to explore the mighty redwoods. According to Redwoods (Roaring Brook/Flashpoint, 2009) since 1850 and the advent of large-scale logging “more than 95% of the original redwood forests have been destroyed. Only 18 percent of the remaining forests are protected.”

A young boy finds a book called Redwoods sitting on a subway bench and opens it on his ride. As he begins to read, strange things accompany his learning. He discovers that Redwoods are among the oldest trees and from the Jurassic period while dinosaurs appear outside the subway window. Learning that the trees are sometimes more than 2000 years old, some alive during the Roman Empire, he finds himself seated between a Roman Legionnaire and a toga-clad citizen. When he finally emerges from the subway stairs, he is far from the city and instead is in the redwood forest he’s been reading about. His adventures continue, even up into the canopy, as he learns about the trees he explores. If young readers are skeptical about trees that are big enough to drive through, head to this website for photos and directions to the three privately owned trees you can still drive through. Finally, the book gets left on another city bench for its next reader, a girl, to find and children will be ready to flip back to the beginning and start the journey again to look at the details in the illustrations.

Many facts, some of them amazing, are shared in this slim book (a mass of ferns weighing 1600 lbs. was once found growing up in a redwood tree). The message that we need to protect and enjoy these incredible trees that provide for many other plant and animal species is delivered by showing more than telling. No one shows better than a National Geographic photographer. Watch this video to see the planning and work and technology that went into photographing one of these amazing trees! I’m headed off to look for the Oct. 2009 issue of National Geographic with the 8 page fold out final product!

from The Official Travel Site of Humbolt County, Calif.

Lynn: As Cindy says, this wonderful book does a lot of showing and reinforcing textual concepts with the illustrations. This greatly expands the age range for this fascinating book. Independent readers can linger over the illustrations after reading the text, taking their time with all the book has to offer. Redwoods is also wonderful as a lap book or with small groups of pre-readers who can appreciate the detailed pictures while being read to. Our focus group was fascinated by this book and loved finding the little squirrel in all the forest scenes. There is a surprise about the squirrel too, making readers eager to turn the book over and start again, watching for the clues. Chin’s illustrations beautifully capture the sweeping grandeur of these magnificent trees, conveying a real sense of their size. This is Chin’s first book and it is superb: engaging, informative and entirely original in concept. Let’s hope there will be many more.

Thank you to Tales from the Rushmore Kid for hosting Nonfiction Monday.

Cindy: Lonnie Collins Motion (Lo-Co-Motion) is back in this sequel to the Coretta Scott King author honor winning Locomotion. In Peace, Locomotion (Penguin/Putnam, 2009) Lonnie continues his story of life in a foster home with Miss Edna, separated from his sister Lili, in another foster home. I like the letter format of this installment even better than the verse of the first one. Lonnie chronicles his days in letters to his sister that he hopes will eventually be a record of the “Before Time” once they are able to live together. A subplot of Miss Edna’s son, Jenkins, and his experience in Iraq adds another layer of worry to Lonnie’s life. Jenkins is reported missing and then is found badly wounded. Miss Edna’s pet phrase, “Sometimes the heart breaks so hard, Lonnie,” is appropriate more than once in this slim novel, but hope shines on in a young man who will win every reader’s heart. Many families are touched by soldiers at war and we don’t have too many novels for elementary students dealing with our current world conflicts, so this is a welcome addition.

Lynn: Woodson packs so much into such a spare book.  She says volumes but there is never a sense of a big red flashing sign saying, “Pay attention to this - it is important!”  Rather, the words slip off the page right into our minds and hearts.  I too found the sections about Jenkins especially poignant.  The image of Miss Edna praying for her missing son hit the mark.  I also loved the very subtle message about the impact of a teacher’s words.  Lonnie’s new teacher tells him he isn’t a poet - he’s an aspiring poet because he hasn’t published anything yet.  Those words carry a world of meaning and hurt to Lonnie who stops writing his poems and begins to let his school work slide.  It takes another teacher to assure Lonnie that poetry happens whether it is published or not and it is clear that Lonnie is a poet to his very soul.  All of us who work with children will  treasure this reminder of the power of our words.

Lynn: We are having a stretch of unusually warm sunny days. Our gray Michigan winter will be here soon though. To help get ready we have two charming books that celebrate wintry fun.

One of our new favorites is Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Meschenmoser (Kane Miller, 2009). Deer tells Squirrel that snow is coming soon. Squirrel doesn’t remember snow. “Snow,” answered Deer, “White and wet and cold and soft.” Squirrel resolves to stay awake to see this amazing stuff. Eventually he is joined by curious Hedgehog. They enthusiastically sing sea shanties to stay awake and the noise rouses Bear who decides to stay up too. Alarmed at the thought that the first snowflake has already fallen, the three animals decide to go look for snow and turn up hilarious examples that don’t quite fit the definition. Meschenmoser’s pencil sketches in muted winter tones have an endearing comic charm. Squirrel’s rumpled fur looks like my grandsons’ hair, full of exuberant cowlicks. Leaves and seeds stick to Hedgehog’s spines and there is a striking resemblance between Bear and the way I look in the morning before coffee - the essence of grumpy sleepiness. Fortunately the real thing makes a beautiful appearance and our three tousled friends decide that snow was worth waiting for.

This is one of those wonderful books that offers fun at multiple levels. Children will giggle at the silly mistakes the animals make as they look for snow and adults will love the energetic detail and humor in the drawings. The accompanying text in a bold black font is perfect for reading aloud. This would work well for a winter story time but is perfect for sharing and snuggling under a cozy blanket. Bring on the hot chocolate!

Cindy: I’m cleaning out the library AV room today and look like bear too! And, like bear, I’ve HAD it. Piles of cables and cords and broken projectors and dust. It’s enough to make me wish we had piles of snow…I’m waiting for winter because that gives rise to hope…in the form of SNOW DAYS! There’s nothing like seeing that notice go up on the local news website to warm your soul. In The Snow Day by Komako Sakai (Scholastic/Levine, 2009) there’s no joyous screeching like in my house. Rabbit wakes up and is told he can sleep late, “Kindergarten’s closed.” Rabbit and mother stay inside all day and forfeit other outings to play cards and be “all alone in the world.” When the snow stops they venture out to make snow dumplings and leave footprints in the snow and rabbit goes to bed happy that father’s plane will be able to bring him home now that the snow has ceased. The muted paintings capture the quiet and solitude of a really snowy day. Sakai’s work is one of ten books honored in the New York Times Best Illustrated Books of 2009 list announced this week. My only complaint? That mother rabbit won’t let her son play outside while it is snowing for fear he will catch cold! He missed a great day of play, but she made up for it by taking him out in the magical night of fresh fallen snow. I can’t wait to make my own snow dumplings…

Lynn: Ok - it is long past time for a rant. I’m sad and irritable this week but I’ve been grumbling for months about this issue and it is time to RANT! A listserv that I have long subscribed to is being ravaged by a dreadful disease. No I don’t mean H1N1, I mean Librarianship by Listserv. Who needs library school, cataloging classes or an online catalog? Just jump on the listerv and ask the world. No one else has anything to do and we all love having our mailboxes fill up. Hey - I think being able to ask questions of the “collective brain” is a great thing but it seems as if a scary number of people post questions without doing ANY work of their own first! These are actual questions recently posted:

Question: Can anyone suggest a good book for an 8th grade boy?

Me to my computer: Hundreds! What have you come up with so far? What resources have you used? Did you ask any readers advisory questions?

Question: Can anyone suggest a book set in another country?

Me to computer: Have you heard of doing a subject search? What books have you already found? What resources have you used? ACK!

Question: Can anyone recommend YA books set in schools?

Me shouting at computer: Every YA book published that isn’t a fantasy - and even some of THOSE are set in school. ARGH! (tearing of hair)

And then there are the people writing articles or teaching classes who seem to want the listserv to do their work…Cindy take over my blood pressure is rising.

Cindy: My blood pressure monitor just maxed out reading your post, but I’ll try:

Question: I’m looking for an article from SLJ by “this author” about “insert topic here.” Does anyone remember that article?

Me shouting in an email to Lynn: This person is from a state with free access to InfoTrac. This person is a librarian. Can she perform a periodical search on her own?

She didn’t have to. She posted to the list, someone did the search for her and posted back to the list within minutes with the answer she needed. But it’s embarrassing? Isn’t it? I’m embarrassed for our profession.

Everywhere we turn librarians’ jobs are being cut. We’ve got Google, who needs librarians? Perhaps some of these inane questions are not coming from librarians, but from clerks who are being asked to serve in librarian roles in places where the cuts have taken place, but I do worry that librarians are becoming lazy. The Internet has opened up a whole world of information but our searching skills are diminishing as we rely on the memory of others rather than our own abilities. For me, answering a reference question is like solving a mystery. The process is part of the fun. Half of the reader’s advisory questions that are asked (some by college literature professors) could easily be answered by consulting Booklist Online, Novelist, or, gasp, one’s own online catalog.

Question: Can you recommend a read-alike for Diary of a Wimpy Kid? I have some ideas of my own, but I’d like to hear what others think.

Me: Really, you have ideas? You’ve done some work on this? How about throwing us a bone and giving us the titles you HAVE thought of so that we are not wasting our time typing answers that include what you already have on your list. PLUS, you might contribute something to the reader’s advisory cause by SHARING one of your ideas.

Accuracy seems to have taken a back seat in Librarianship by Listserv too.

Question: I have a 6th grader interested in Ancient Civilization. He’s already read the Dragon Keeper trilogy by Wilkinson set in Ancient China. Does the collective brain have any suggestions for him?

Answer #1: How about the Dragon Keeper trilogy?

Answer #2: I loved Caligula’s Adventures by Hedon Istic. It might be a little mature, for him, but it fits the subject and it’s sooo good.

Me, banging my head against my framed diploma: If these librarians pay attention to their own reference and readers’ advisory requests as closely as they pay attention to the listserv generated ones, there is no hope for our profession.

You have to wonder if the time spent at the computer on the reference desk responding to listserv questions could be better spent in helping your own patrons who are in front of you…or in taking some reference refresher classes.

Cindy and Lynn: To our dear readers who made it this far, thank you for indulging our Friday rant. Feel free to add your own rant to the comment section. You’ll feel better. We do.

Cindy: I don’t know if I am up to the challenge of describing this delightful book. The Bog Baby (Random/Schwartz & Wade, 2009) has curled itself around my heart like the fiddle head ferns that line the squelchy edge of the magic pond in these pages. When two sisters lie to their mother and sneak away to the pond to try to catch a newt they get something much better, a Bog Baby! He is small and blue with boggly eyes and he floats on the water and sucks his toes. He is too cute not to take home. It’s fun at first, but Bog Babies are not meant to eat cake and be hauled to school for show and tell in margarine tubs. You know the drill, if you love something set it free…but the very subtle lesson I loved most in this book comes from the mother’s reaction to the girls’ deceit. Instead of screaming and punishing, she fondly remembers her own time of finding a Bog Baby, and the lesson learned is that maybe children can be honest with their parents when they find themselves in over their heads. At least that’s what I take from it, but then again, I never lied to MY mother.

Gwen Millward’s illustrations perfectly complement the story…the Bog Baby is adorable and the tiny details in the illustrations give plenty to pour over again and again. I live on a bayou and I’m hoping to find my own Bog Baby next Spring!

Lynn: I have two sons and two grandsons and so far nobody has caught a Bog Baby, but all sorts of other critters have been brought home. We have a 24 hour keep-and-release rule in our house. After one day, the captive has to go back to where it was caught. My grandsons loved this book and I think it helped them to understand why that rule is important. The last page of the book is labeled Notes About your Bog Baby - When You Find Your Very Own Bog Baby You Can Write About It Here. A list of fun questions asks about his favorite food and how many toes he has. Our focus group reached this last page and were suddenly not sure that Bog Babies were a fantasy. If they bring one home, we’ll post it here!

Lynn: Unfortunately the flu is spreading fast. Children are worried too and it is important to provide them with accurate information. This new book in the Gross Body Science series is about the body’s defenses and reactions to minute invaders. Crust and Spray (Lerner/Millbrook 2009) addresses this timely subject with humor and a high grossness factor appealing to kids while also providing solid information. The first chapter is titled Boogers, Snot and Sneezing and provides this icky but fascinating fact: our noses and sinuses produce about a quart of mucus every day. Yuck! Highly magnified pictures of ear wax, dust mites, and phlegm make this a book you don’t want to read over breakfast. Kids will find all this wonderfully disgusting but they will learn a lot too. (If even one child learns how and why to cough hygienically, it’s definitely worth the price) Cartoon sketches and close up photographs of noses, ears and eyes round out a book kids, especially boys, won’t be able to resist.

Gross Fact #2. Did you know that when you sneeze, the air (and snot) in your nose can come out at 100 miles per hour? Ew! Please sneeze into your elbow!

Cindy: Wish I’d read Lynn’s post before reading this book over coffee this morning. I nearly sent my coffee flying from my mouth at 100 miles per hour when I came across the picture of an infected ear oozing green stuff. Yuck! She always claims she reads like a 12-year-old boy, and when she recommends books like this one, I am sure she is right. This series is great, though, and kids will learn a lot about their bodies and how they function. Besides teaching vocubulary, the author encourages kids to use it in class. “Sputum alert! Sputum alert!” or “I’m going to sternutate!” That ought to turn some heads! The earwax section grossed me out the most, though, and reminded me of the Halloween my sisters-in-law dressed in light blue leotards and put cotton batten wigs on with peanut butter smeared on them, attending the costume party as dirty Q-tips! Double yuck.

Upper elementary and younger middle school kids will love this book with it’s interesting and funny writing and the zany drawings, photos, and computer generated art. Those who like this volume have more fun in store with the other books in the Gross Body Science series:

• Clot & Scab: Gross Stuff about Your Scrapes, Bumps, and Bruises
• Hawk & Drool: Gross Stuff in Your Mouth
• Itch & Ooze: Gross Stuff on Your Skin
• Rumble & Spew: Gross Stuff in Your Stomach and Intestines

Thank you to Bookstogether for hosting this week’s Nonfiction Monday blog roundup!

Lynn: Marcus Jordan, star quarterback of his previous team, is the new guy in town. To make things worse, the local football team was undefeated last year and no one sees any reason to change the starting line-up. Marcus makes the team but resigns himself to working hard and riding the bench for the year. The one bright spot is a curious connection with a middle-aged man, an amazing athlete Marcus meets in the park. Charlie turns out to be a legendary pro football player and he helps Marcus improve his game and learn to love the “pop.” But there is something extremely odd about Charlie.

Korman takes what could have been a formulaic story and turns it upside down with Pop (Harper/Balzer + Bray 2009.) The beautiful cheerleader is a master football strategist, the rival quarterback is hiding a horrifying worry and the game Marcus loves so much carries a huge price. The eye-catching cover and terrific sports scenes will draw in lots of male sports fans but this is a book that has something for everyone. The nuanced relationships are what drive the story and the characters are heart-wrenchingly real. Even the secondary characters have depth and interest and the central issue of the book will make every reader pause. This football story drives straight to the heart.

Cindy: I’m not much of a football follower, but I am a fan of Korman’s writing. He’s one of the best humorists writing for teens today, but this novel is a departure into more serious issues. Without giving away any plot spoilers, it is heartening to see a football story that deals with a health issue that is not related to performance enhancing drugs. Besides the football action, teen boys are going to enjoy the pranks that the odd couple play on the crabby business man near the park where they practice. Still, one of my favorite elements in YA lit is when the teens are faced with choices of right and wrong presented in a very gray situation. Is it okay to do something illegal if the act is one that is extremely important? Marcus is faced with that choice several times in this novel as he struggles to befriend a man who no one really understands anymore. The background noise of televised college football games accompanied my reading of this novel today and I was left wishing that Indiana University had a defensive line as good as the one Marcus played on. “Pop” could teach my Hoosiers a thing or two.

Cindy: This time of year makes me really miss my public library days. Halloween storytimes were so much fun. Sally Walker’s new Halloween pour-quoi tale, Druscilla’s Halloween (Carolrhoda, 2009) offers an explanation for how witches came to ride brooms. Aging Druscilla can no longer quietly sneak up on children by tiptoe to scare them–her knees make too much noise: “Snap! Crack! Creak! Pop!” One bad plan follows another as she tries to join her fellow witches, until finally a failure leads to an idea that just might work. Comedic illustrations and puns add to the fun in a story that will make a great read aloud with plenty of chances for young ghouls and boys to join in: “Snap! Crack! Creak! Pop!”

Lynn: A fun new book that will be wonderful for fall and Halloween story hours is Boo to You by Lois Ehlert (S&S/Beach Lane 2009). Two little mice, resplendent in blue handmade paper with seed pod tails, are planning a harvest party. All the guests are “edgy” about the meat eating cat who peeks out behind a vine just as the garden party is about to dine. A plan sprouts and in a wonderful fold out surprise, the cat is chased away. Ehlert adds a cornucopia of cut-out photographs of fall vegetables to her trademark collage. Bright colored gourds, squash and corn make each page a treat. Our focus group loved this book and had fun identifying the vegetables in the pictures. The large bold creations are nice for story hour but this is also nice for small groups where Ehlert’s inventive collages can be examined close-up. Boo to all of you!

Cindy: We’re getting lots of compliments on our Halloween bulletin board in one of my middle school libraries so I thought I’d share a photo. Tuck away the idea for next year…it’s quick and easy to make, doesn’t have to be perfect, and is visually striking–my favorite kind!

Lynn: When PBS aired The National Parks: America’s Best Idea in September I was glued to the television. I had my popcorn and I sat for six glorious nights marveling at what I was seeing and hearing. In true librarian fashion, I had checked out a copy of the accompanying book ahead of time. I know this could qualify as more than a little geeky but I was so glad I had the book at hand. I knew the show would provide glorious photography and fascinating history but I didn’t realize how eloquent those far-sighted park pioneers were. I turned again and again to the book to read the inspiring words. Here’s a sample from Theodore Roosevelt during a stop at the Grand Canyon before it was a park, “Leave it as it is. You can not improve it. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.”

John Muir called the Grand Canyon, “a grand geological library, a collection of stone books covering…tier on tier conveniently arranged for the student.”

There have been some wonderful recent books for our young readers that are outstanding connections to Ken Burns’ sweeping series. Camping with the President by Ginger Wadsworth (Boyds Mills/Calkins Creek 2009) relates a fascinating story also told in the film. In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt decided to visit the western states and view some of the wilderness areas. An avid reader and outdoorsman, Roosevelt hatched a scheme to have John Muir guide him through the Yosemite area. Ditching the attending crowds of aides, press and secret service agents, Roosevelt and Muir spent four days camping, hiking and riding through Yosemite. The two men sat up late each night talking with Muir sharing his vision of preserving and protecting wilderness areas. The text nicely reflects Roosevelt’s exuberance and the humorous illustrations will attract and engage young readers. Plenty of “Bullys” pepper the text and Wadsworth provides background information, notes and a bibliography. This picture book would be terrific to use with middle school science and history classes.

Cindy: Lynn started getting excited about this series early in the summer and it certainly lived up to our expectations. If you missed it, watch it soon on dvd. Years ago I listened to a great recording from storyteller Donald Davis called “The Grand Canyon.” Check your local library for that audio production. After hearing Davis’ humorous story about the mule trip into the canyon, I now like to imagine, just like Davis, that all of my federal income tax is going straight into the line item for the National Parks Service.

Before we had video footage of the scenic park vistas, the images were brought to the people via artists and photographers. Thomas Moran was one such artist that joined an 1871 scientist exploration so he could record the scenes at Yellowstone. Never mind that he hadn’t ridden a horse before; he was willing to brave all sorts of adventures to paint the incredible views. Lita Judge captures the excitement and the artistry in Yellowstone Moran: Painting the American West (Penguin/Viking, 2009) in pencil and watercolors that pay tribute to Moran’s artistic style. Young readers will be able to see one of Moran’s paintings, included at the end of the text. Moran’s sketches and small paintings were used to seek support from Congress for Yellowstone, and it worked. “On March 1, 1872, President Grant signed a bill making Yellowstone America’s first National Park.” The rest, as they say, is history.

Today’s Nonfiction Monday roundup is hosted by Wrapped in Foil.