Library & Literary Miscellany

Wild About Books by Judy Sierra; illustrated by Marc Brown (2004)

Even though Wild About Books (published 2004) has been around the zoo a time or two, I wanted to highlight it as a fun picture book about the love of reading.

Plus, who can resist the book’s heroine, librarian Molly McGrew? Not I, said the librarian. Wild About Books opens with McGrew’s accidental appearance at the zoo with her bookmobile. Even though it was not her intended destination, it proves fortuitous as the animals embrace her books with an unprecedented passion, all stampeding to reading:

Forsaking their niches, their nests, and their nooks,
They went simply wild, about wonderful books

There’s a little reminder that librarians are here to serve “Molly filled their requests, always eager to please.” There’s a humorous lesson about treating books right “for the boa constrictor squeezed Crictor too tight.” There’s even a plug for authors as tasmanian devils found books so exciting that they soon “had given up fighting for writing.” What’s more, there’s the excitement of a new branch library opening up–the Zoobrary.

Wild About Books is dedicated to Dr. Seuss, and Sierra’s vivid, lively, improbable rhymes have traces of Seuss’s originality. Regardless of how outlandish Seuss’s premises were (a cat in a hat, green eggs and ham, a grinch who stole Christmas), he revolutionized beginning readers in attempts to make reading more palatable and engaging for children. Sierra’s premise (animals wild about reading) is equally outlandish but also wildly engaging and frequently laugh-out-loud funny. Marc Brown’s bold paintings lend credence to the unprecedented happenings. On each full page spread, Brown masterfully mixes up colors, texture, and perspectives to provide a feel of the excitement and fun that goes along with reading.

Together, Judy Sierra and Marc Brown created a fun book for animal, book, poetry, humor, and library lovers alike. There’s something for every animal to enjoy at the Zoobrary, and there’s something for every reader to enjoy in Wild About Books. Scholastic developed a lesson plan with activities around Wild About Books. Random House provides a book synopsis as well as a listing of all of the awards the book has won.

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Summer camp anyone? If you aren’t going yourself, then perhaps you might enjoy reading about another’s experience. If so, try Elvin’s summer camp story on for size…

Slot Machine by Chris Lynch (hardcover 1995, softcover 1997, other editions available)

In Chris Lynch’s Slot Machine, portly, uncoordinated Elvin does not fit into any of the typical athletic slots. He has great difficulty discovering where he best fits—bouncing from one slot to another—from football (knocked out), to sick bay, to baseball (kicked out), to sick bay, to wrestling (thrown out), to sick bay, to golf (drinks out), to sick bay, to the Religion Sector (out, out, out). In the end, all that’s left for him, is to become an artist—a poet, in fact. Elvin discovers that traditional sports slots are not the only places where a young man is able to develop his potential and find a place in this world.

Elvin’s narration, being hilarious, poignant, and real, makes it easy to identify with him. His letters to his mother are laugh-out-loud funny and show Elvin’s indomitable spirit–he is not about to let his lack of a well-fitting slot (or his lack of more sick bay cards) get him down. A few noteworthy letter moments (which will be funnier in context, so just go ahead and just pick up the book) include:

• Elvin explaining that he’s at what has been labeled a retreat not a camp (but he’s not sure which dictionary definition of “retreat” applies): “It’s not a camp, it’s a retreat…They may mean definition 3, ‘a place of seclusion or privacy,’ or definition 4, ‘a period of retirement for mediation,’ But since they’ve left it open, I’m going with definition 7, ‘to slope backward’.”

• Elvin explaining why he wishes his mom were at “retreat” undergoing football scrimmages with him: “I wish you were here with me today, shoulder to shoulder, holding that line. Together, we could have done it. As it was, my success was a little spotty.”

• Elvin explaining why he’s writing with his left hand after a football trouncing: “Because that’s the hand that still has two fingers that can curl…There you go, another hidden skill that camp experience has drawn out of me. I was really dogging it back home, wasn’t I? Tomorrow they’re going to have me snag a salmon out of the river with my teeth.”

• Elvin explaining why his mother must come see him on Parents Weekend: “If your family does not show up, you’re put into a group informally known as “The Unloved,” who legend has it, roam around like a pack of wild dingoes all weekend doing unspeakable things to themselves and others.”

In the end, Elvin concludes, “I’m not an athlete,” and he’s okay with that. Readers who find themselves wanting to hear more about Elvin can follow his further adventures in Extreme Elvin and Me, Dead Dad, and Alcatraz. And may everyone have a wonderful summer, whether you’re able to attend a “retreat” or not. Feel free to leave a comment if you have thoughts on any of the books about Elvin or if you have other summer camp favorites!

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Thursday Next: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (2007)

Being as this book marks the fifth book into the Thursday Next series, one would imagine that Jasper Fforde might be running out of new ideas for his BookWorld and his characters. But that would be wrong thinking indeed as Thursday Next: First Among Sequels is every bit as inventive and delightful as the first four books in the series: The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, and Something Rotten. First Among Sequels is set 14 years after the last novel, Something Rotten, and, as usual, all is not right in the BookWorld and Thursday Next is needed to save the day.

To briefly, insomuch as possible, elucidate the world on which the series is based Fforde has basically created an alternate England where the BookWorld is more than just words on a page. Thursday works as a Jurisfiction literary detective for the Special Operations Network (or SpecOps); in this position, her raison d’etre is to investigate and correct anomalies in the literary world.

In First Among Sequels, Thursday, as usual, has quite a full plate what with her family problems, her issues with her proteges/replicas/clones, and the BookWorld dilemmas. To briefly elaborate:

• Family problems: Since SpecOps has been largely disbanded, Thursday has been working undercover as an Acme Carpets carpet layer. She has been omitting the truth about her daily activities to her struggling writer husband Landon. Her son Friday remains mired in the apathy of adolescence and shows no signs of embracing his predestined role as leader of the Chronoguard (the time travel force) anytime soon. One of her three children may not, in fact, exist. Her pet dodo Pickwick has lost its feathers and requires a knit sweater for warmth. Enough said.
• Protege/replica/clone issues: Thursday has had her adventures written up in a series of Thursday Next books which means that other versions of her exist in the BookWorld. Thursday has been charged with training both Thursday 5 (wimpy with a good heart) and Thursday 1-4 (nasty with plans of BookWorld domination) to become competent, productive agents of Jurisfiction.
• Bookworld dilemmas: There are many, but to name a few, the read rates are plummeting as the public gravitates to reality TV-watching, the Goliath corporation is mucking about trying to enter the BookWorld again with its probes, and a serial killer is on the loose who takes out series’ main characters, effectively killing the character and the series (Sherlock Holmes being just one of the characters to take a hit). The Council of Genres (COG) has been coming up with inane solutions in attempts to stem the plummeting read rates (e.g., Pride and Prejudice as a reality TV-like book (horrors!)).

Whew, and all that above really only touches the surface of what Fforde has going on in the book. Be warned that this book does spend more time outside the BookWorld than many of the previous books, but (for the most part) even these parts are amusing and inventive. Still, it’s the BookWorld activity that really makes the pages worth turning. First Among Sequels is zany, clever, and replete with unresolved plot lines that leaves room for additional forthcoming adventures with Thursday and her clan in the BookWorld.

Quotes I’d be Remiss to Miss:

“One of the odd things about the BookWorld was that when characters weren’t being read, they generally relaxed and talked, rehearsed, drank coffee, watched cricket or played mah-jongg. But as soon as a reading loomed, they all leaped into place and did their thing.”

“There was a distant hum and a rumble as the reading approached. Then came a light buzz in the air like staic and an increased heightening of the sense as the reader took up the descriptive power of the book and translated it into his or her own unique interpretation of the events–channeled from here through the massive imaginotransference Storycode Engines back at Text Grand Central and into the reader’s imagination. It was a technology of almost incalculable complexity, which I had yet to fully understand. But the beauty of the whole process was that the reader in the Outland never suspected there was a process at all–the act of reading was to most people, myself included, as natural as breathing.”

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Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravet (2007)

Great book, take a look!

OR

Sparse text, read it next.

OR

Clever story, I adore thee.

I debated attempting to let my five word reviews stand on their own just as Emily Gravett uses just five words to create her entertaining picture book Orange Pear Apple Bear. In the end I decided that she’s a bit more successful at brevity than I am, so I am employing an uncounted number of more words to praise this story.

Only four nouns are used to comprise the sum total of words and illustrations of this book. Text and illustrations match up perfectly. If the text says orange, then the page displays an orange. If the text says orange, pear, apple, bear, then all four are pictured on the page. The charm of this simplicity is in the way that the objects are arranged on the page in order to tell a complete, completely quirky, and completely humorous story.

What begins with an orange, a pear, and an apple ends with a big satisfied bear lumbering away from two cores and a rind. On the journey from beginning to end, Gravett treats readers to some unusual (borderline fantastic) watercolor compilations. The ursine star displays his skills as he juggles the fruit and balances the fruit on his nose. The illustrations’ color schemes are equally playful, and they are set off to their best advantage against white backgrounds. For instance, when the text reads “Orange pear, apple bear” the pear becomes bright orange and the bear takes on a greenish tint. As mentioned, it all ends quite badly for the fruit and quite well for the bear as the bear consumes each piece and then trots off.

Orange Pear Apple Bear is so simple that even pre-readers will be able memorize the text and find themselves “reading” before they know it. Since the words and pictures align so well, it’s a perfect text to engage pre-readers and to teach them how the letters/words on the page fit together to create meaning. Orange Pear Apple Bear is an ideal book for showing kids that reading can be delightful and not a chore.

For more fun from Emily Gravett read Wolves, Meerkat Mail, or Monkey & Me, or you can visit her Official Site and sneak a peek at her forthcoming works The Odd Egg and Spells.

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A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban (2007)

“Nobody wears socks anymore,” I tell her.
“Not even in Michigan? In March? When there’s still snow on the ground?”
“Nobody.”
“You wear socks,” Mom says.
“Exactly,” I say.

Zoe Elias wears socks, but she’s also unique in other ways. She’s possesses big dreams, but she lacks a best friend. She wants a piano, but she owns an organ. Her mother is a workaholic controller, and her father is a full-time student of Living Room University (he has earned twenty-six framed diplomas from courses such as Golden Gloves: Make a Mint Coaching Boxing and Rolling in Dough: Earn a Dolla’ Baking Challah). In attempts at normalcy and in hopes of developing her latent prodigy skills so that she can one day fulfill her destiny of playing at Carnegie Hall, she requests that her parents purchase her a piano.

Zoe’s father, being a tad on the socially inept side, gets sucked in by the rhythms and beats of the organ, and he winds up buying Zoe a Perfectone D-60 instead of a baby grand. Zoe soon discovers that she may not quite be a prodigy, but, as her instructor Miss Person puts it, “You have some talent and you work hard. I’ll take that over prodigy any day.” Miss Person (that’s Per-saaahn) is full of such tidbits of wisdom as well as delightful exclamations such as Mozart’s postman, Chopin’s toaster, and Beethoven’s barbershop.

In her infinite wisdom, Miss Person recommends that Zoe go to the Perfectone Perform-O-Rama, and Zoe sets out to select her piece. Zoe aptly chooses “Forever in Blue Jeans” to be her Perform-O-Rama piece, and she spends a few weeks practicing while her father and a schoolmate cook away in the kitchen working through the Rolling in the Dough class.

As the Perform-O-Rama competition draws near, Zoe’s mother’s work interferes so that Zoe is left without a ride to the competition. Her father, however, decides to move outside his comfort zone (i.e., outside the house) and take Zoe to the Perform-O-Rama.

Her father is forced into motion, but so too is Zoe. Learning to play the Perfectone D-60 and entering the Perform-O-Rama take Zoe on a journey through which she discovers more about herself and about what is important to her. She makes a new friend in Wheeler Diggs, realizes that everybody makes mistakes, and uncovers courage she did not know she had.

Zoe comes to understand that there is more to music than merely getting the notes right–it takes heart. “Getting the heart right is something only a person can do. And the ways to do it are as many and as different as there are people in the world.” Zoe and her family may have their quirks, but they also have their talents and a profound love for each other.

In this quick and delightful read, Urban slips in some commentary on shallow friends, consumerism and brand name ludicrousness (e.g., Brat clothing: “Why would you wear something that says you are spoiled and mean?”), and the importance of family support. Each page offers a fresh insight or a humorous vignette. Urban’s work is a winner for music lovers, dreamers, perfectionists, and humor lovers alike as well as for anyone who agrees that life is richer when you mix a little bit of off-center into a perfectly proportioned recipe.

Favorite lines:

Never trust an exclamation point.

You must have more respect for your instrument. Or your instrument will have no respect for you.

Perfection itself is imperfection

Related Links:

Author Interview: Linda Urban at Becky’s Book Reviews

Linda Urban’s Website and Linda Urban’s Live Journal: Crooked Perfect

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Kimchi & Calamari by Rose Kent (2007)

Joseph Calderero, eighth-grade optimist, has a life that’s running along as satisfyingly as a fully carbonated beverage. His family loves him, his friends support him, and he’s got a rapier wit that girls go for (or so he hopes since the Farewell Formal is imminent). As a Korean boy who has been raised by an Italian-American family he soon finds that he will need his optimism, his family, his friends, and his wit to keep his identity from fizzling into flatness when his multiple cultures inescapably clash.

While Joseph has likely had questions about his past and his heritage all his life, circumstances conspire to bring his questions to the surface around his fourteenth birthday–his sociology teacher decides to turn sociology into soul-searching ancestral roots, his parents give him a corno (a goat horn worn by Italian men for good luck) on a gold chain for his birthday, and a “real” Korean family moves into the neighborhood.

Now, Joseph needs to write a 1500 word sociology paper on his ancestry when he really only needs two words “I’m adopted.” He has a goat horn hidden deep in his drawer. And the mother of the Korean family down the street considers him to be a “cheap Korean imitation.” Joseph’s layers–the Korean ancestry and the Italian upbringing and the uniquely Joseph–are creating inside of him an identity crisis of colossal proportion.

The essay assignment provides a central focus for much of the action of the book. As Joseph delves into his past to unearth 1500 words worth of material, he finds a murky path. The path’s so murky that he says, “I’m starting to think the adoption agency just pulled me out of a deep dark hole. Abacadabra, one Korean kid.”

In lieu of admitting his difficulties in completing the assignment to his teacher, he decides to turn his non-fiction heritage into a fictional account; basically, he adopts a famous ancestor and writes about him. Joseph’s fabrication eventually comes out in a school-wide scandal that Joseph terms Essaygate, but he does get another chance–another chance both to write the essay and to discover who he is. Joseph discovers he’s a sandwich–he’s a straight shooter with a depth that allows him to love kimchi and use chopsticks while also enjoying eating calamari (as a “calamari connoisseur” no less) and wearing a corno.

Rose Kent gives Joseph an authentic (and humorous) voice–he’s a multicultural teen grappling with where he comes from and where he’s going as he draws from all of the many influences in his life to develop his own unique identity. Kimchi & Calamari is a notable new multicultural work of children’s literature that will resonate with those who are adopted and those of diverse ethnicity but also with all those who are struggling to understand their place in this world (which is a pretty wide net). There’s also the food references to rope in food lovers and the first date angst for the budding romantics.

Kimchi & Calamari has been nominated for the 2007 Middle Grade Cybils Award. It’s up against some pretty stiff competition, such as Emma Jean Lazarus fell out of a Tree, so it will be interesting to wait and see…

Take-away quote:

His teacher Mrs. Peroutka: “…sometimes it feels like the here and now is all that matters, but we have legacies that help shape who we are.”

More Reviews: Book Bits, Paper Tigers, Becky’s Book Reviews, Mother Reader

A Couple of Author Interviews: Karen Day at classof2k7, A Year of Reading, Cynsations

More Korean American Children’s Literature: Bibliography of Korean American Children’s Literature (compiled by Cynthia Leitich Smith) or WorldCat.org list for Korean American Juvenile Fiction (includes works by authors Linda Sue Park, An Na, Marie G. Lee, and more)

Reader’s interested in locating and evaluating additional multicultural children’s literature might also enjoy reading the New Horizons for Learning article by Jennifer Johnson Higgins entitled Multicultural Children’s Literature: An Evaluation Tool (with evaluations of sundry multicultural works at the end).

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Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt (hardcover 2006, softcover March 2008)

Here’s my Scaredy Squirrel review, in a nutshell. Everyone fears something; Scaredy Squirrel fears everything. Scaredy Squirrel (aptly named) never leaves his nut tree–the safe, the known, the dependable, the predictable, the routine nut tree; he’s also fully prepared should anything happen in said nut tree. Then, the unexpected occurs, and Scaredy Squirrel must learn how to deal.

As you may have guessed, Scaredy Squirrel realizes that one cannot prepare for everything, and that sometimes, that’s okay. He even comes up with a new-and-improved routine for daily life. This book is SO much fun and the illustrations are charming. Scaredy Squirrel is an easy-to-identify-with character.

Rare is the children’s book where a life lesson is dished out in such a humorous, unobtrusive way. Kids will be able to relate to Scaredy Squirrel and his fears, and, it is hoped, they will draw courage from Scaredy Squirrel’s survival (and arguably thriving) when he comes face-to-face with his fear of the unknown. Nevertheless, he still insists that everyone wash their hands with antibacterial soap before reading his book!

Apparently, Scaredy Squirrel has more to learn in life than facing his fears (don’t we all) for he makes another appearance in Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend (2007) which I plan to read just as soon as I wash my hands again .

Scaredy Squirrel was the 2006 Cybil award winner for children’s fiction picture book, and Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend is a 2007 nominee for the same award.

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