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A bit behind in my reading this year, only four books so far. Reading a fifth (called “Ash,” a take on the Cinderella story) now. Going Bovine, by Libba Bray — My first book finished for the year. A very interesting read. It’s been compared to a mondern-day Don Quixote, and that’s as good a [...]
All the World, by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee. 2010 Caldecott Honor book. This book’s rhyming story is matched with classic-feeling illustrations. The action goes from a beach to a farm, to a market and home. There’s nice repetition with the phrases, and I can picture reading this as a bedtime story. Thought the [...]
The Lion and the Mouse, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. 2010 Caldecott Award. This is a beautifully illustrated, nearly wordless retelling of the classic fable about the lion and the mouse. A lion takes pity on a small mouse, which in turn saves his life later. The illustrations are lovely, very realistic, but the two main [...]
Gracias Thanks, by Pat Mora, with illustrations by John Parra. 2010 Pura Belpre Illustrator Honor book. I loved this book! Told in Spanish and English. From the start of the day to bedtime and dreamland, the little boy in the story finds many things to be thankful for. From ladybugs to ocean waves to family, [...]
Red Sings from Treetops: a Year in Color, by Joyce Sidman, with illustrations by Pamela Zagarenski. 2010 Caldecott Honor Book. A really neat, very different book on colors. Great for children who have mastered the basics of color, and may want to be shown a different way of thinking about them. The whimsical illustrations go [...]
Federico Garcia Lorca, by Georgina Lazaro, with illustrations by Enrique S. Moreiro. 2010 Pura Belpre honor book. This was a challenge because the copy I received from the library was entirely in Spanish; I don’t know if there are any with both Spanish and English, or just English. I know Spanish tolerably well, but I’m [...]
My Abuelita, by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Yuyi Morales. 2010 Pura Belpre Illustrator award. A very charming book about a young boy who watches — and helps — his grandmother (his abuelita) get ready for her job. But what is her job? The reader doesn’t find out until the very end. But the ritual she [...]
The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty-Six, by Jonathon Keats. 2010 Sophie Brody award. The title is slightly misleading, for this collection only contains 12 tales, with an allusion to the 36. I wonder if there will be follow-ups. At any rate, this has twelve fables concerning individuals regarded as saints. It’s an [...]
Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness, by Nahoko Uehashi. 2010 Batchelder Honor Book. OK, this book wasn’t so depressing, although it is serious. Balsa is back, and she heads to her native Kanbal hoping to lay rest her personal demons of guilt regarding her foster father Jiguro and her past. What she finds is a [...]
Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. 2010 Georgia Peach Book Awards for Teen Readers. Incredibly layered and nuanced. Clay one day finds a box of cassette tapes. He discovers they are a recorded message from Hannah, a girl from his class who committed suicide. She left 13 stories for 13 people, each who were tied [...]