Freedom Soup - a review

Freedom Soup

by Tami Charles
Jacqueline Alcántara
Candlewick, 2019

A young girl and her Haitian grandmother joyfully cook Freedom Soup in this story of Haiti's successful struggle to end slavery.

"Know why they call it Freedom Soup?" Ti Gran asks.
"Because it's free?"
It is the same answer that I always give. Ti Grans laughs her loud, belly-deep laugh.
"Oh, Belle. Nothing in this world is free, not even freedom."
She begins to tell a story, the same one she tells every year. A story of the place she was born: Haiti.

The illustrations, created with gouache, pencil, and marker, are alive with color, joy, music, and dance. Ti Gran wears a brightly colored yellow dress and matching headwrap, and Belle wears long cornrows and an apron to match her grandmother's dress. Both Belle and Ti Gran move expressively and dance while cooking and storytelling. The extended family that gathers to enjoy their traditional Freedom Soup on New Year's Day is large, happy, and celebratory.

The triumph of the historical revolution is not depicted with blood and misery, but rather with proud Haitians boldly marching to war with bare feet and makeshift weapons.

A Freedom Soup recipe and Author's Note round out this wonderful picture book suggested for Grades K-4.


My copy of Freedom Soup was provided by LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Thoughts on Last Stop on Market Street

In 2008, librarians surprised everyone by choosing the 533-page, The Invention of Hugo Cabret as the winner of the Caldecott Medal honoring the "most distinguished American picture book for children."  This year, the award committees surprised us again with the choice of a picture book, Last Stop on Market Street, as the winner of the Newbery Medal, given to "to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." 

The short video below featuring author, Matt de la Peña, reading from his book will convince you that this is a wonderful book. 
My concern as a public librarian, however, is how best to share this book with kids.  The book is a little lengthy for my usual storytime crowd, and school-aged kids can seldom be convinced to check out a picture book.  It's in instances like these, that I envy school teachers and media specialists, who have such a wonderful opportunity to share great books with large numbers of kids.  This is perfect book for reading aloud in school.

But, how to share it in a public library setting?

Last week, I had a last-minute inspiration and it was a rewarding experience.  I have a small book club that meets every month. This month, I asked each of the kids to read Last Stop on Market Street - right then. In addition to positive comments about the book, I loved two of the observations that they reported:

1. I never would have chosen this book if you didn't hand it to me.
2. The people at the soup kitchen look like regular people.

We then discussed public transportation (none of the kids had ever been on a bus) and soup kitchens (none had ever been to one).  Working in a suburban library with poor public transportation, I can understand this. However, as a suburban parent, I can tell you that I made sure that my own children volunteered at the local food pantry and experienced public transportation (I made all of them ride the public bus with me to the mall even though it was more expensive than driving my minivan and took twice as long).  As a suburban librarian, I can't take kids on the public bus or to the soup kitchen, but at minimum, I've ensured that a few more children are now aware of the lives that others lead.This is one of the many things that makes my job worthwhile.

One of the missions of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks (TM) campaign is to make sure that "all children can see themselves in the pages of a book."  This is important, but also important is recognizing that all people are just "regular people."  We always have more in common than we think.


Last Stop on Market Street
by Matt de la Peña, Illustrated by Christian Robinson

Read it. Share it.

**Winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal

**A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book

**A 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

A New York Times Bestseller

Four Starred Reviews

Finalist for the 2014 E.B. White Read-aloud Book Award

A Junior Library Guild Selection

The Witches - an audiobook review

 I recently reviewed a new audiobook copy of Roald Dahl's, The Witches. The main characters are the grandson, Grandmamma and the Grand High Witch.  Imagine trying to narrate The Witches while adhering to Roald Dahl's detailed description of the witch's voice,

"You may rrree-moof your gloves!" she shouted. Her voice, I noticed, had that same hard metallic quality as the voice of the witch I had met under the conker tree, only it was far louder and much much harsher. It rasped. It grated. It snarled. It scraped. It shrieked. And it growled.  ...

"You may rrree-moof your vigs!" snarled The Grand
High Witch. She had a peculiar way of speaking. There
was some sort of a foreign accent there, something
harsh and guttural, and she seemed to have trouble
pronouncing the letter w. As well as that, she did
something funny with the letter r. She would roll it round
and round her mouth like a piece of hot pork-crackling
before spitting it out. "

Such is the task for reader, Miranda Richardson, who does a superb job.  Below is my review (reprinted with permission) as it appeared on the AudioFile Magazine website:

THE WITCHES 
Roald Dahl

Read by Miranda Richardson

Actress Miranda Richardson narrates the story of an orphan boy who learns about witches from his grandmamma, then accidentally stumbles upon their annual meeting--with disastrous consequences involving a "Formula 86 Delayed Action Mouse-Maker." Richardson is tremendous as the Norwegian grandmother, her young English grandson, and the terrifying Grand High Witch. She switches seamlessly between accents and the voice of the witch, whose peculiar manner of speech is described by Dahl in great detail. The story is punctuated judiciously with sound effects. The rattling of chains fastening doors, the tinkling of a dropped bottle, the skittering of mice, and the screaming of frightened hotel guests are just a few examples of sounds that add energy and excitement to this classic tale of scary fun. L.T.

© AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2013]

Children Ages 8+ • 4.5 hrs. • Unabridged • ©1983
Trade Ed. • Penguin Audio • 2013CD ISBN 9781611761863  $25.95 • Four CDs  DD ISBN   multiple sources

(review copy provided by AudioFile Magazine)

This and that - 3 reviews

A little of this and a little of that, as I'm ahead in reading and behind in writing!

(short stories, novel, audiobook)

Kibuishi, Kazu. 2012.  Explorer: The Mystery Boxes. New York: Amulet.

This book is an unexpected little gem, something of a mystery itself. From the cover, I was expecting a graphic novel mystery, a la The Box Car Children infused with a bit of magic.  What I found instead, was a themed, graphic, short story collection.  Mystery Boxes contains seven stories by noted graphic artists including Raina Telgemeier (Smile).  What ties these disparate illustrators and authors together is that each story features a mysterious box, contents unknown.  The stories range from amusing ("Spring Cleaning by Dave Roman and Telgemeier) to profound (Jason Caffoe's, "The Keeper's Treasure") to social commentary on war (Stuart Livingston and Stephanie Ramirez', "The Soldier's Daughter").

Judging from the way  my Advance Reader Copy was scooped up by a child in my book club, I'd guess this will be popular if it can find the right audience.  I'm also assuming that we can look forward to more collections in the Explorer series. I, for one, would like to see more interest in short stories.  They don't seem to be required reading for middle schoolers - a pity.  (Another good short story series, though not in graphic novel format, is Jon Scieszka's Guys Read Library)

Doyle, Roddy. 2012. A Greyhound of a Girl. New York: Amulet.

Advance Reader Copy

I chose to read this one because it features a multi-generational Irish family.  It's hard not to like Ireland - a beautiful country full of "lovely" people.  In fact, you will hear people in Ireland describe nearly anything as "lovely" --friendly people they are in general, but I digress.

This is the first Roddy Doyle book that I've read and I wasn't sure what to expect. I thoroughly enjoyed it once I stopped looking for some artificial contrivance or tricky plot twist and settled in to enjoy a simple yet touching story of 12-year-old Mary O'Hara, and three of her female relatives, one of whom happens to be dead.  A Greyhound of a Girl covers a short span of time in a short book (208 small pages)  about life and death and family. Being of Ireland, of course it is not without humor.

Riordan, Rick. 2011. The Son of Neptune, The Heroes of Olympus Series, Book 2. Read by Joshua Swanson. Listening Library.
12 hours, 27 minutes.

As much as I enjoyed The Lost Hero, I'd be lying if I didn't say that it's good to have Percy back in the story.  Lost no more, but without his memories, Percy finds himself in the midst of the Roman demigod stronghold, Camp Jupiter.  In this installment, the listener learns little of Camp Half-Blood's activities, but is thrust into the militaristic world of the Roman demigods.  Before the story ends on a culture-colliding cliffhanger, a clear picture of the identities of "the seven" is unfolding,

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. 

 The narration by Joshua Swanson is beginning to grow on me (but perhaps that's because Leo doesn't appear much in The Son of Neptune).  My favorite new character in the series?  Hands down, it's Bella the Harpy, voiced perfectly by Mr. Swanson.

Sadly, we've got to wait until the fall for The Mark of Athena (book 3).

Enjoy an audio excerpt.

A Season of Gifts

Peck, Richard. 2009. A Season of Gifts. New York: Dial.

In A Season of Gifts, Richard Peck returns to rural Illinois and the small town that  larger-than-life Mrs. Dowdel calls home.  This time, the year is 1958 and Elvis, television and Civil Defense are the buzz words of the day when the Barnhardts move into town.  A poor Methodist preacher in a town of "foot-washers," Mr. Barnhardt and his wife have their work cut out for them, as do their children - narrator, 12-year-old Bob, younger sister Ruth Ann, and Phyllis, a high-schooler on the road to trouble.  Local kids don't  feel any brotherly love for PK's (preacher's kids).

Although each of the books in this companion set A Season of Gifts (A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way from Chicago) has its own narrator, it is the over-sized, outrageous Mrs. Dowdel who dominates the story. And  though she "doesn't neighbor," and is often trigger-happy,

I'm about a squat jump away from a loaded Winchester 21, ...and I'm as tetchy as a bull in fly time,

underneath her flap hat, apron, boots, and afghans, she's got a heart of gold.

Like a master comedian, storyteller, or practical joker, Peck takes his time in setting up the dry humor that characterizes Mrs. Dowdel. The reader, so engaged in the story, never sees the setups that span a chapter, two chapters, even the entire book. Mrs. Dowdel is always one step ahead.

A Year Down Yonder is still my favorite, but A Season of Gifts runs a close second.  Highly recommended.

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