Holiday Giving – Part 8 November 29, 2010

I promise this will be a much shorter post than yesterday’s list of teenage reads.  I kind of got carried away with that one!  Today, I have three new books to tell you about, and the imaginary gift recipient is a 10-15 year old who enjoys non-fiction.  I will certainly order them for school, but I keep thinking that any one of them would be a great gift for a young person who is curious about the world.   All three are terrific browsing books – and I can’t wait to spend a little time with them myself.

Frozen Secrets: Antarctica Revealed by Sally M. Walker (Full color pictures of one of the most fascinating places on earth and one that most of us will never visit.)

Built to Last by David Macaulay (A “reimagining” of Castle, Cathedral and Mosque. Check out the video of Macaulay talking about this new book on Amazon.com)

Journey Into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures by Rebecca Johnson (This is the perfect gift for a budding marine scientist.)

Holiday Giving – Part 7 November 28, 2010

Today’s holiday giving post is in response to several friends with the same question: “I want to buy a book for my teenage son/daughter/niece/nephew, but they say they don’t like to read. I know there are books they would love, but what are they?”   I thought about it a little, consulted a teenage boy (who lives with me) and a teenage girl (a friend) and have a few ideas.  Here are eleven books that if they give them a chance (“just try one chapter”) may open that window a little bit.

One other thing  – a friend told me that her teenage daughter likes to listen to a book before she goes to sleep, and many of these books are available on Audio CD.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – Read it before the movie comes out!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie – My son says this is the best book he’s ever read – and a few adults I know would put it in their list of all-time favorites!

Monster by Walter Dean Myers – A good choice for reluctant readers because it’s written like a screenplay and can be read in short chunks. The story is about sixteeen-year-old Steve Harmon who is in prison on murder charges, but there are multiple questions about his role in a convenience store robbery that resulted in the murder of the store’s owner.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher – A difficult subject (teen suicide) but a compelling read that delivers the message you would want your child to read.

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier – The classic novel about “disturbing the universe.”

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson (“Seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox awakens after more than a year in a coma to find herself in a life—and a body—that she doesn’t quite recognize. Her parents tell her that she’s been in an accident, but much of her past identity and current situation remain a mystery to her: Why has her family abruptly moved from Boston to California, leaving all of her personal belongings behind? As she watches family videos of her childhood, strange memories begin to surface, and she slowly realizes that a terrible secret is being kept from her.” – excerpt from School Library Journal)

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson (“After Amy’s father dies in a car crash, everything that this California girl took for granted changes overnight. Her twin brother Charlie is shipped off to rehab in North Carolina. Her mother accepts a teaching position in Connecticut, leaving Amy home alone to finish her junior year of high school. Then her mom arranges to get Amy to Connecticut via a cross-country drive with a family friend, 19-year-old Roger. The pair quickly ditches the pre-planned itinerary in favor of more spontaneous detours to Yosemite, Colorado, and Graceland. The theme of her emotional journey meshes well with the realistically rendered physical journey across the U.S. Playlists, pages from a travel scrapbook, well-drawn supporting characters, and unique regional details enhance the narrative. Flashback chapters shed light on Amy’s life before her father’s death, without breaking the steady pacing. One sexual situation is discreetly described. Overall, this is an emotionally rewarding road novel with a satisfying, if not totally surprising, conclusion.”  excerpt from School Library Journal)

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (The beach, friends, first love – you get the idea! There’s a sequel now too…)

Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff  (“ ”This word COLLEGE is in my house,/ and you have to walk around it in the rooms/ like furniture.” So LaVaughn, an urban 14-year-old, tries to earn the money she needs to make college a reality. She and her mother are a solid two-person family. When LaVaughn takes a job babysitting for Jolly, an abused, 17-year-old single parent who lives with her two children in squalor, her mother is not sure it’s a good idea. How the girl’s steady support helps Jolly to bootstrap herself into better times and how Jolly, in turn, helps her young friend to clarify her own values are the subjects of this complex, powerful narrative…The poetic form emphasizes the flow of the teenager’s language and thought. The form invites readers to drop some preconceptions about novels, and they will find the plot and characters riveting. Make Lemonade is a triumphant, outstanding story.” excerpt from School Library Journal)

Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (“Over the course of one summer, Frankie Landau-Banks, a somewhat geeky girl with an unassuming nature, has developed into a 15-year-old with an attention-grabbing figure, a new attitude, and sights set on making changes at her elite boarding school in this novel. The teenager also has a new boyfriend, a gorgeous senior who belongs to a long-standing secret society on campus—The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, known mostly for silly pranks and a history of male-only membership. With a witty, sharp, and intelligently scheming mind, Frankie manipulates the Loyal Order to do her bidding with pranks meant to make a political statement about the male-dominated and classist nature of the school.” excerpt from School Library Journal)

What I Saw And How I Lied by Judy Blundell  (“In this sophisticated thriller, 15-year-old Evie grows up quickly when she discovers her adored parents are not the people she thought they were. While on vacation in Palm Beach in 1947, Evie’s parents, Joe and Bev, get involved in a shady business deal with the Graysons, another couple on holiday. Meanwhile, Evie begins a flirtation with Peter, a handsome ex-GI who served with Joe and just happens to be staying at their hotel. Evie soon learns that Peter’s presence is no coincidence and that he threatens to uncover a terrible secret that Joe has kept since the war. Then Bev, Joe, and Peter go boating, but only two of them return. Evie must sort through secrets, lies, and her own grief to find the truth. Using pitch-perfect dialogue and short sentences filled with meaning, Blundell has crafted a suspenseful, historical mystery that not only subtly explores issues of post–WWII racism, sexism, and socioeconomic class, but also realistically captures the headiness of first love and the crushing realization that adults are not all-powerful.” Booklist)

Note: I compiled this list for teenage readers. There are mature subject matters in many of these novels, but they are addressed in an age appropriate way for teenagers - not for a 6th grade student.

Holiday Giving – Part 6 November 25, 2010

Even if you decide to sit out the Black Friday shopping frenzy, you may still be writing your list and weighing the pros and cons of online shopping vs. joining the crowds. However you decide to shop, I assume you’ll be purchasing a few books.  Today’s spotlight is on gift books.  It may be a  fun conversation starter or a picture book or a book to place on the coffee table, but what’s great is that normally these are not the kinds of books people purchase for themselves, and they often appeal to a wide age range.  I always judge a gift book by its “pick up” quotient. In other words, if it was laying on the table, would you pick it up?  All of these pass the test…

The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonell (Minimal text, but this is a sweet story about what gift giving should really be about.)

Star Wars: A Scanimation Book by Rufus Butler Seder (Seder is the creator of the enormously popular moving picture book Gallop!  I have a couple of Seder’s books in the school library, and it is not just kids who are tempted by his wonderfully low-tech creative books.)

Shadow by Suzy Lee (Another inventive magical book by Suzy Lee. In this one, the picture on one page casts a shadow onto the facing page.)

Dogs by Tim Flach (This is the book I’d like to put in a waiting room, set up a hidden camera, send people in and see how long it takes them to pick it up. Talk about pick-upability! )

Great Migrations by K.M. Koystal (I just saw a little of this National Geographic series on TV, but oh my gosh! I sat there with my mouth open in awe of what animals have to endure to move from one place to another. Get this one for the nature lover on your list.)

Race to the End: Amundsen, Scott and the Attainment of the South Pole by Ross MacPhee (This is the companion book to the exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. When the temperature begins to get into the single digits this winter, pull this book out and remind yourself what “cold” really is.  Although the story of Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott is told in many books, it is the incredible photographs that make this book amazing.)

Annexed by Sharon Dogar November 23, 2010

I could not bring myself to title this post “Holiday Giving,” but I will continue that theme over the Thanksgiving Weekend.  Because Sharon Dogar’s novel, Annexed, is about the Holocaust, it’s definitely not a light holiday read.  That being said, I can think of no better book to be reading during Thanksgiving.  I’m haunted by it, but among other things, it is forcing me to slow down and think about what we are capable of doing to one another in the name of race and religion.

Annexed is told from the viewpoint of Peter van Pels, the boy whose family was with the Franks in the famous Amsterdam annex. Because I’m listening to this in my car, I feel like Peter is talking to me and while it’s incredibly heartbreaking, it’s also feels very intimate – like this voice is coming to me from another place. At one point, I had the experience of feeling like I couldn’t listen anymore, and then (this really happened), the next line was Peter saying: “are you going to turn away from me? ” I felt my eyes welling up in the car as I promised not only to keep listening, but to make myself think more deeply about the enormity of those events.  It hurt, but in a way that felt right – if that makes any sense.

Annexed is a book for mature teens and adults. Peter is a teenage boy and he wonders and dreams about all kinds of things. He feels real, as of course, he was.

Holiday Giving – Part 5 November 21, 2010

 

It seems that the idea of being a “foodie” has trickled down to the younger set.  I know lots of six, seven and eight-year-olds who talk knowledgeably about reality cooking shows and the local restaurant scene.  It’s great, of course, that kids are more conscious about what’s in their lunch box, but it does make me laugh when I catch myself in a conversation with a second grader about Rachel Ray and The Barefoot Contessa.  I don’t know much about celebrity chefs, but I do have a list of favorite picture books about food which would make any budding Michael Pollan happy. 

Cooking with Henry and Elliebelly by Carolyn Parkhurst (A delightful new book about a five-year-old boy pretending to be a TV chef)

Yoko by Rosemary Wells (Yoko brings sushi for lunch about which the other kids have a few things to say: “Ick!…It’s seafood!” is one of them. The teacher comes up with an ingenious plan.  A funny story with an important message.)

Arnie the Donut by Laurie Keller (Our dog, Arnie, is named for this book’s main character – a donut who becomes, you guessed it – a dog!)

The Donut Chef by Bob Staake (Competition heats up between donut makers in this rhyming story.)

Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig (We used to make our own son into a pizza after reading this book – it’s lots of fun!)

Pizza at Sally’s by Monica Wellington

Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle

Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola

If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff  (Or you could opt to Give a Mouse a Cookie…)

And, last but not least, a story about one of the original foodies – The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

I’m hungry now, and for some reason I’m craving pancakes and pizza!

Holiday Giving – Part 4 November 19, 2010

One of my favorite things about the winter is looking at picture books about snow.  To be clear, I don’t enjoy being in the snow, but I like looking at pictures of others enjoying it.  I always tell my family that I should live in Florida because snowy days – although beautiful – only make me think of icy roads and trying to clear a path for our 10-pound-dog to do his business.  Snow, however, is one of the most beautiful subjects for picture books, and because kids love it so much, snow stories make wonderful holiday gifts. I have a collection of favorite picture books about winter which I pull out every January to share with our students.  I went through all of them today and chose my favorites. It was no easy task, but these six books emerged as the ones I would not want to live without:

Snow by Uri Shulevitz

Snow by Roy McKie and P.D. Eastman

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

The Snow Day by Komako Sakai

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (The winner of the 1999 Caldecott Medal, Snowflake Bentley is the true story of the Vermont native who made the science of snowflakes his life’s work.)

Geraldine’s Big Snow by Holly Keller (This book is out of print, but there are many inexpensive copies available from Amazon. I have such fond memories of sharing this book with my son when we were anticipating a possible snow day!)

Holiday Giving – Part 3 November 17, 2010

Today’s gift recipient is a child.  He or she is eleven or twelve-years-old and they love sports. They think about box scores and recent trades and sometimes miss what their teacher just said because they are mentally calculating the number of days before spring training begins.  Fortunately, there are authors who write really good books for them.  Fred Bowen, John Feinstein, Tim Green and Mike Lupica all write sports-based novels that combine sports and adventure and sometimes mystery.

Each author has written lots of books, but I chose two recent titles by each author. Any young sports fan would be happy to find one of these in shiny gift wrap:

The Big Time: A Football Genius Novel by Tim Green

Rivals: A Baseball Great Novel by Tim Green

The Rivalry: Mystery at the Army-Navy Game by John Feinstein

Change-Up: Mystery at the World Series by John Feinstein

The Batboy by Mike Lupica

The Big Field by Mike Lupica

Winners Take All by Fred Bowen

No Easy Way: The Story of Ted Williams and the Last .400 Season by Fred Bowen

No list of sports novels would be complete without the classic book by Bette Bao Lord, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson – a wonderful story about a young girl who moves from China to New York where she learns many new things, including the story of Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In case you’re counting – there are 104 days before spring training!

Holiday Giving – Part 2 November 14, 2010

We are beginning a poetry unit with our 4th, 5th and 6th grade students so poetry has been top of mind this weekend.  Children’s poetry is rich with gift ideas. Some of the most beautiful collaborations between writer and artist happen in poetry, and poetry books are a wonderful way to introduce children to the interplay between text and illustration.  I know kids who will tell you they “don’t like” poetry, but when I show them some poetic song lyrics or a cool concrete poem, they usually express a bit more interest.  Poems are about emotions and we all have those. 

Any of these books would be lovely gifts:

Switching on the Moon: A Very First Book of Bedtime Poems collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters and illustrated by G. Brian Karas  (This book won me over with its cover. The blue is beautiful, isn’t it? All of the poems are about end-of-day rituals and would be perfect to read under the covers.)

In the Wild by David Elliott and illustrated by Holly Meade (A book of short poems and amazing woodcuts for the animal lover)

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Josee Massee (Here is an excerpt from the School Library Journal review of this incredible book: “This appealing collection based on fairy tales is a marvel to read. It is particularly noteworthy because the poems are read in two ways: up and down. They are reverse images of themselves and work equally well in both directions.  The vibrant artwork is painterly yet unfussy and offers hints to the characters who are narrating the poems. An endnote shows children how to create a “reverse” poem. This is a remarkably clever and versatile book.”  This one is for older kids – you need to be somewhat familiar with fairy tales for the poems to make sense.

The three books listed above are new, but here are some of my all-time favorites:

A World of Wonders: Geographic Travels in Verse and Rhyme by J. Patrick Lewis

A Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing and Shout selected by Paul Janeczko and illustrated by Chris Raschka

Poetrees by Douglas Florian

Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman

Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry by Bill Martin and illustrated by Eric Carle

There are others, but it’s late and I need to “switch on the moon” myself.

Recommendations for Holiday Giving November 11, 2010

One of my favorite parts of the holidays is selecting books for my family and friends.  There is no greater gift than when one of them tells me that they loved a book I had chosen. Over the years, many friends have begun asking me to recommend books for their own holiday giving ,and I’ve had great fun writing lists for them.  I’m a list maker by nature (kind of like Santa without the supernatural powers) and, for years, I have written book lists for friends to take along on their own holiday shopping missions.  So, I have an idea that could be mutually beneficial.  Between now and the end of December, this blog will be devoted to holiday gift ideas.  I’m going to make up imaginary relatives and friends and provide a few reading suggestions for the cold months ahead.  Kind of like a reading doctor!  This will serve you (I hope) by giving you a few places to start and give me an outlet for my list-making obsession.

Today’s imaginary recipient is expensive to buy for. They love big art books. I understand these people because I’m one of them. This list includes a few of my own favorites and a couple I’m hoping my husband will read about here and get the hint! 

Stickwork by Patrick Dougherty (We were in Phoenix a few years ago, and during a walk around the Desert Botanical Garden, we came across sculptures made from tree saplings.  This was my first encounter with Patrick Dougherty, and I’ve been a fan ever since.  The North Carolina-based artist constructs whimsical sculptures that can now be found all over the world.) 

Yin Yu Tang: The Architecture of Daily Life of a Chinese House by the Peabody Essex Museum (I love this book. It’s about a house that a Chinese merchant built for his family in the Chinese countryside. After seven generations of his family lived in the house, it was taken down, piece by piece, and painstakingly moved to Salem, Massachusetts where it was put back together again. Now, visitors to the Peabody Essex Museum can stand in the house’s courtyard and almost hear the voices of the families who lived there.  This is a grown up version of Virginia Lee Burton’s classic, The Little House.)

Holland Frozen in Time: The Dutch Winter Landscape in the Golden Age (I’m not a big fan of snow and ice, but this book almost makes winter look fun! )

Luis Melendez: Master of the Spanish Still Life  (This is the catalog from an exhibit that was in Boston last winter. Melendez painted everyday objects like food and pottery, but his paintings make them feel otherworldly in the way they use color and light.  Melendez’s paintings glow.)

Henri Matisse: Rooms with a View by Shirley Blum  (My favorite Matisse paintings all feature interiors with windows and this is a whole book of them!  If the view outside your window is getting too grey, Matisse’s vivid colors could be the cure.)

Oh Happy Day! November 7, 2010

Two Sundays of the year are worthy of the title of today’s post, and they are both made possible by the good people at the New York Times Book Review.  Two times each year, the Book Review has a special section completely devoted to children’s books – once in November obviously timed for holiday shopping and the other focused on summer reading.  When I see the section in the paper, I pull it aside and lay it on the kitchen table like a shiny package waiting to be opened. I don’t go near it until the laundry is done, the papers are graded and everything is in order.  Today’s bright red Lucy Cousins illustration jumped out at me all day, and it was fun to walk by and challenge myself not to peek!

So…I just read it cover to cover, and what I was thinking was this: the speculation about the death of the picture book may be overstated. The supplement is full of articles about creative and innovative picture books that would delight any 21st century child.  Mirror, the new book by Jeannie Baker, tells two stories and the pages open in different directions.  Hard to do that with an app.

I was in happy agreement with their selection of the ten Best Illustrated Books of the year, and so if you are ready to start shopping for the children on your list, you can’t go wrong with any of these books:

 

 

Here Comes the Garbage Barge! by Jonah Winter

Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown

Seasons by Blexbolex

Shadow by Suzy Lee

Busing Brewster by Richard Michelson

Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Kahn

Henry in Love by Peter McCarty

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Erin E. Stead

Subway by Christoph Niemann

Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

 

My own Top 3 from this list are: Bink & Gollie, A Sick Day for Amos McGee and Children Make Terrible Pets.  Happy Shopping!