Coincidence?

The book I am blogging about today is not the book I planned to blog about.  My intent was to read one of the shorter Newbery winners during work and then blog later this evening but as you will soon see today's post is centered around a Caldecott winner.

With all of the Christmas festivities I have not read as many Caldecott books to the girls because we have been caught up in Christmas crafts.  Since I am officially out of ideas of things a 5 year old can make out of construction paper that are Christmasy, I loaded the girls into the minivan and headed to Barnes and Noble for their Thursday morning story time.  That sounds easy enough but if you have ever tried going anywhere with a 5 year old and a 2 year old you know nothing is that easy.  Add to that a tumble in the parking lot and a wait in the cafe for chocolate milk, complete with tears, by the time we got to the kids section we were all desperate for a story.

I sensed a similar desperation from the parents/grandparents of the 6-8 other toddlers who were there.  Imagine our despair when a Barnes and Noble worker announced there is no story time today.  Amidst the groans and sighs one mother said, "if only someone could just read a story" (I am not exaggerating she actually said that).  Well that's when I grabbed the two closest books and said, "gather round boys and girls I am going to read us some stories."

The parents could all relax the kids settled into their seats and I picked up the first book. It was then that I noticed the Caldecott medal on the cover.  The book I had randomly chosen was Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express.  Not only does this book have a delightful Christmas message about believing, but it is filled with beautiful pictures.  What is really fascinating about these pictures is that they do not necessarily convey the most pertinent details of the corresponding text, but they do clearly convey the tone and feeling of that text.  Speaking of text there were quite a few words per page, typically hard for younger children to focus on, but this story kept every single child captivated.

I highly recommend adding this book to your holiday collection. The simple story of a boy who gets caught up in all of the wonder of Christmas and manages to hold on to that belief throughout his entire life was exactly the kind of story those children wanted to hear...and it was exactly the story all of the desperate adults needed to hear.

Continuing to believe...that's kids stuff.

Good Hearted

Robert Lawson's Rabbit Hill has a rather misleading title.  When I say the title Rabbit Hill you will probably guess that the book is all about rabbits who live on a hill.  Or, if your brain takes you a different direction, you may think the book is all about things that happen at a place called Rabbit Hill.  There are in fact rabbits who live on the Hill but to say this story is solely about these two things would be quite the understatement. 

I guessed that this book would be all about rabbits who live on a hill so I was plesantly surprised to find that the story goes much deeper than that.  This is a story of change and understanding, of predictions and surprises and of family and healing.  The rabbit family as well as the surrounding woodland creatures have lived on the Hill for generations.  There is a house with a garden on the premises but no human has lived there for years.  That all changes one day when a new family comes in.

What follows is a story of ingenuity and trust as the animals try to learn just what kind of people these new humans are and the humans try to win the trust of the animals.  You see these are not your average humans, they are unfailingly generous, overwhelmingly kind, and full of love for every animal who crosses their path. Yet another heartwarming read for the holidays.

This book carries a, "be kind to animals," message without being preachy.  The animals become real and relatable in a way that does not make humans feel unapproachable.  This book is a delightful weaving of fantasy and reality done in so nice a way that you really wish it could be true.

Kindness and caring-even to animals...that's kids stuff

Surprising

Eric Rohmann's My Friend Rabbit is the tale of a rabbit who means well but "everywhere he goes trouble follows."  This books gentle humor makes it really fun to read to kids.  Eva and Leya loved seeing all of the shennanagins that rabbit gets into.  Rohmann has beautifully illustrated each page with vibrant pictures that are almost cartoon-like which helps add to the fun of the book. 

When I asked Eva what she thought of the book and she said that it was "surprising." Confused I asked why.  She replied, "becuase some pages have words and some don't-that's surprising."   I realized she was right.  This story is told equally through text and picture, so much so that I didn't even realize some pages did not have text.  The two worked so perfectly together that when the text resumed it fit perfectly with the narrative I had created in my head.

The jacket describes these illustrations as, "robust, wonderfully expressive hand-colored relief prints-the perfect vehicle for a simple, heartfelt tale about childhood."  I recently wrote a paper on teaching children to create illustrations that fit the stories they write.  This book is a perfect example of how a style of illustration and the materials used to create that illutration can actually enhance the meaning of the book.

Getting into shennanigans...that's kids stuff.

I Love Christmas

Let me just come out and say it.  I love Christmas more than any other holiday, I love Christmas more than any other person I have ever met.  If you could see my tiny studio apartment you would think there had been some sort of Christmas explosion and I love it that way.  One of the things I love about Christmas is all of the heartwarming stories, and songs, and pictures and all of those wonderful things.  I know some people may find it sappy or trite but I love the comfort of a good Christmas story.

Virginia Sorensen's Miracles on Maple Hill is not technically a Christmas story but it contains all of the elements I love about Christmas.  Miracles on Maple Hill is the story of young Marly the year her family moved from the city to the country.  Marly's father has just returned from the war and he has returned much changed.  In a last effort to regain their old piece the whole family moves to the small cottage where Marly's mother spent her summers growing up-Maple Hill. 

This isn't just the story of one man's recovery (ok I didn't give that much away, I said I loved it becuase it had all the things I loved about Christmas you should have been able to guess it had a happy ending).  It is the story of a family, of their journey, the friends that they make and the lessons they learn along the way. One of my favorite parts of the story was the relationship between Marly and her brother Joe.  Joe is the all-knowing older brother whom Marly adores and I loved seeing the way the two itneracted.

This story is filled with heart.  So much so that at other times of the year I may write it off as being too sappy, but this close to Christmas it was exactly the kind of story I wanted to hear.  That's one of the most special things about Christmas.  Christmas means that we don't all have to pretend to be tough, we can all admit we're people who love happy endings and sweet sappy stories. 

Loving a sappy story...that's kids stuff.

Freedom

As a Penn State student I am deeply saddened by the events of this past week.  The whole campus is swallowed in an air of defeat and shame and the strong media presence has made it impossible to regain any sense of normalcy.  That being said, Penn State will rise above this and the students are doing all that they can to make things right.  We will keep calm and fight on.  We are still and always Penn State.

There are a lot of places to turn for comfort during times like these and one place I always go is to to books.  In books you can experience other worlds and just escape.  Or, as is the case in Elizabeth Yates Amos Fortune Free Man, you can be reminded that you are not the only one who has struggles and it is possible to rise above.

This book tells the story of Amos Fortune, born At-mun, who was born a tribal king in Africa only to be captured and made a slave in America.  Amos had the good fortune, if being bought can be called good fortune, to be bought by a kind Quaker family.  This family treated him kindly and taught him a trade and also how to read.  Once the father of that family died Amos worked and lived with a tanner and eventually earned his freedom.

"It does a man no good to be free until he learns how to live."  These wise words from Amos are the perfect way to describe his life.  Amos knew how to live, he spent his whole life helping others and his life brought freedom to 4 other people, a huge accomplishment for a man facing bitter racism even as a freeman.  This story is a beautiful example of hope perseverance and triumph.  In times like these we need to be reminded of people like Amos.  People who use their wealth and power to help others and not to deceive and destroy.

Keeping hope in spite of the trial...that's kids stuff. 

That's a True Story???

Mordicai Gerstein's  The Man Who Walked Between the Towers is the thrilling story of Philippe Petit who spent almost an hour walking on a wire between the World Trade Centers.  Somehow Gerstein's illustrations capture both the height and danger that comes with this task as well as the complete joy and freedom felt by Petit.  I was struck by the color.  It's not that the colors were unrealistic or strikingly vibrant, they were just rich and perfectly chosen.  Also two of the pages fold out into gorgeous three page spreads that perfectly mimic the height of the towers.

Eva was completely captivated by this story.  It had all of the glamour of New York City, the suspense of sneaking into buildings, and the thrill of walking on nothing but a thin wire.  Not to mention the fold out pages which are exciting for any age.  About halfway through Eva had a revelation.  "Wait," she said suspiciously, "is this a true story?"  I assured her that this was in fact a true story.  "well that's cheating," Eva declared. Why is this cheating you ask?  Well it's because when someone makes a story they should make up a story they can't just copy what someone else has already done. 

In the end Eva did admit that this was a good story even though it wasn't made up. I would have to agree.   

Finding the joy in true stories...that's kids stuff.

100!!

So Blogger tells me that this is my 100th post.  Wow, who woulda thunk it.  But the books just keep on comin and I thought I would celebrate this momentous occasion with a starteling confession: I was wrong.  I typically consider myself to be a pretty good judge of books, but even beyond that I feel like I am a pretty good judge of what books people will like. Well that was not true for David Wiesner's Flotsam.

This is another wordless book and it is a fascinating look at life in the beach by using pictures within pictures.  It tells the story of an underwater camera through the pictures developed from that camera.  And it's really neat.  Even though I really liked it, I didn't really think that the girls would.  Eva has said that, "it's not really a story unless it has words."

Well man was I wrong.  Both girls absolutely loved it! They were pointing out the details on each page saying, "look a seahorse," "Ooohh mermaids."  Eva said, "wait there's no words, ok." And she immediately put herself in the role of narrator creating a detailed story out of the illustrations (just another proof that illustrations aren't just pretty pictures they are dynamic communicative tools).  Eva and Leya noticed things about the pictures that I hadn't on my first "reading."  In fact everytime I tried to turn the page I was met with cries of "wait, wiat we're not done looking!"

Taking time to really look at the pictures...that's kids stuff

PS. In case you were wondering Flotsam means: something that floats. Here is how the jacket draws you into the book, "If it floats in the ocean, it may wash up on the beach, where someone may find it and be astonished, and share the discovery with someone else."