Now You Know What You Eat - a review

Now You Know What You Eat

by Valorie Fisher
Scholastic, 2019

Below is my review as it appeared in the November, 2019 issue of School Library Journal.

FISHER, Valorie. Now You Know What You Eat. illus. by Valerie Fisher. 40p. glossary, photos. Scholastic/Orchard. Oct. 2019. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781338215465. K-Gr 3--This vibrant book explains the provenance of many beloved foods (though meats are conspicuously absent). In addition to noting where ingredients such as maple syrup or chocolate can be found, the book delves into the science behind their extraction and creation into edible items. Fisher breaks down familiar foods like peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, and oatmeal raisin cookies into their most basic elements using photos, simple diagrams, and recipe-like instructions ("yogurt = milk + bacteria"). She also details the sources of milk and methods for procuring and processing it. VERDICT Browsers and those who enjoy almanacs and other nonfiction compendiums of miscellany will appreciate this work.

Reprinted with permission. COPYRIGHT 2019 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/

Nature's Ninja - a review

Nature's Ninja: Animals with Spectacular Skills
By Rebecca L. Johnson
Millbrook, 2019

Below is my review as it appeared in the October, 2019, edition of School Library Journal.

Gr 4-9–Animals are compared to Japan's medieval ninja warriors in this picture book for older readers. Nine chapters follow an introduction offering background information on the practiced arts of the ninja. Each chapter features an animal with natural abilities closely aligned to a particular ninja skill and begins with the skill highlighted in a stylized text box—"CHOHO: Spying—infiltrating an enemy's camp or society without being discovered." Rove beetles have the natural ability of a choho master. Amazingly, they look, smell, and even behave like army ants, living among the wellknown predators. They've even been seen eating army ant larvae! Geckos and sailfish are among the other featured creatures. In addition to a description of the animal's ninja- like skill, there is a section on each creature titled "The Science Behind the Story." Photographs and scientific graphics illustrate each comparison. Back matter is comprehensive and includes a glossary, index, and "Meet the Scientists." VERDICT Both the premise and execution of this title are intriguing. Steer older students toward this book; they will not be disappointed.

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. 

 

Reprinted with permission.

Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra - a review

It's baseball season—my favorite season of the year! What better way to kick off the season than with a review of a new baseball book? I'm no Yankee fan—anyone who knows me in person or online will attest to my affinity for the Phils, but it's hard not to admire Yogi Berra.

Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra
By Barb Rosenstock
Illustrated by Terry Widener
Calkins Creek, 2019

In this picture book for older readers, Barb Rosenstock offers a well-rounded look at baseball legend, Yogi Berra. Yogi is well-known for his many unintentionally humorous quotes, or "Yogi-isms," but no one would know of these if it were not for his phenomenally successful baseball career.  From childhood to retirement, Rosenstock shows that there was more to Yogi than skill and humor. Yogi was short, unattractive, and the son of Italian immigrants during a time when that was often a cause for ridicule or discrimination—but that did not hamper his good nature, determination, or enthusiasm for baseball.  When fans or players taunted him for being ugly,

"So?" Yogi said. "I don't hit with my face."  He ignored the name-calling and let his bat do the talking.

Yogi loved his family, his friends, his country, and baseball. Terri Widener's acrylic illustrations eschew details in favor of creating illustrations that convey the mood or action of the the text on each page. The text is unobtrusive in a small black font, however, "Yogi-isms" appear in larger blue font with quotation marks. In most illustrations, Yogi is closely outlined in white, presumably so that kids will easily be able to pick him out of each illustration. Widener captures Yogi's endearing personality and his baseball prowess and acumen.

Author's Note, photographs, statistics, quotes, Bibliography, and Source Notes round out this picture book biography for older readers.  Sure to be a hit for baseball season—especially for Yankee fans.

Some Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra extras are below.






Peek inside Yogi here.





According to USA Today Sports, Yogi once said, "I’m lucky. Usually you’re dead to get your own museum, but I’m still alive to see mine."  If you're ever in the neighborhood of Little Falls, NJ, you can check out the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center, too.
 My copy of Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra was provided by the publisher.

Carlos Santana Sound of the Heart, Song of the World - a review

Carlos Santana: Sound of the Heart, Song of the World
By Gary Golio
Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez
Christy Ottaviano, 2018

"Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico

     It's 1947, in a town with only dirt roads and mud houses.

     There are no electric lights, but electricity crackles in the air as a child is born—a little boy whose aunt calls him cristalino, someone clear and bright, destined to make a mark in this world. 

     The boy's name is Carlos Santana, and his mark will be made with lightning, 

on the ears of the wind!"

A fitting beginning to a book about one the world's most unique and innovative guitar players.  As with all of the text in the book, the above is printed in a small font, nestled artfully against the dreamy, surrealist, mixed-media illustrations by the renowned, Rudy Gutierrez.  All of the images are double-spreads. Though the book chronicles Santana's life only through his boyhood in Mexico, the artwork is a mix of Mexican influences and those of the psychedelic era in which Carlos Santana came to great fame in the U.S. This perfectly complements  the narrative, which highlights Carlos' greatest influences—his family and the music of Mexico, and his stirring connection with American blues. Carlos Santana Sound of the Heart, Song of the World is an inspiring and uplifting picture book biography for older reader.

Cue up some Santana on your Spotify account and enjoy! Peace.

You know it's a cool book when it's covered on WMMR out of Philadelphia.  Listen to an interview with author Gary Golio that aired on WMMR in October.

View four interior spreads from Carlos Santana: Sound of the Heart, Song of the World at the publisher's website.


My copy of Carlos Santana: Sound of the Heart, Song of the World was provided by the publisher.

The Bat Can Bat - a review

The Bat Can Bat: A True Book of Homonyms
By Gene Barretta
Christy Ottaviano, 2018

Below is my review of The Bat Can Bat as is appeared in School Library Journal.

BARRETTA, Gene. illus. by Gene Barretta. 40p. Holt/Christy Ottaviano Bks. Feb. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780805099461.

Gr 2-4–Sports and animals are perennially popular, and Baretta uses them as the common denominator in this collection of illustrated homonyms. It begins with the easily understood “The bat can bat!” featuring a bat playing baseball, then progresses to more difficult examples. The font is simple, in black or white, depending on the background color of the full-bleed illustrations. The homonyms are printed in capital letters. The use of horizontal and vertical spreads is helpful in explaining the finer points of homonyms. One of the vertical illustrations features a two-tiered, high diving board—the top deck hosts an angry, red-faced rhino who is throwing a fit over the fit of his ridiculously tiny swimsuit. For comic relief, on the lower diving deck, a young girl casts a nervous glance upwards. A “Note to the Reader” includes useful definitions of homonyms, homophones, and homographs. VERDICT More concept book than storybook, this is a fundamental purchase for school libraries and public libraries with heavy educator usage.

See a preview of The Bat Can Bat at the Macmillan Publishers site.

School Library Journal. Feb2018, Vol. 64 Issue 2, p54-56. 2p.
Copyright © 2018 School Library Journal, the property of Media Source, Inc.  Reprinted here with permission.


My copy of The Bat Can Bat was provided by School Library Journal.

The Rabbit and the Shadow - a review

The Rabbit and the Shadow 

by Mélanie Rutten

Eerdmans, 2018

(originally published in France)

It’s a good idea to step out of our cultural bubbles from time to time. One way to do that is experiencing books from other countries. These books often have an instant feel of “otherness,” when compared to our own American canon of children’s literature. Some examples are the dark humour of the British, Jim: Who Ran Away from his Nurse and Was Eaten by a Lion (yes, he does get eaten!) , the family realism of Spain’s, Manolito Four-Eyes , and the beautiful, cutting and cautionary,  Queen of the Frogs from Portugal. 

When I entered my name to win a copy of The Rabbit and the Shadow by Mélanie Rutten, I did so because even on my laptop screen, I could tell that the illustrations are exquisite. When I won a copy from LibraryThing Early Reviewers, I was also pleased to see that it was originally published in France.

The pen and watercolor illustrations are in gentle hues that fit the story’s outdoor setting. Most are small vignettes that expertly accompany the nearby text.  Rabbit is the story’s main character, but his life becomes entwined with those of the Soldier, the Cat, the Book, a Shadow, and the Stag, Rabbit’s caregiver. When the Soldier forcibly takes Rabbit from his hiding hole, a small vignette manages to encapsulate the vastness of the unknown world, the fierceness of the Soldier and the apprehension of the Rabbit.

The familiar valley lies behind them, and a red sky ahead hints at a dangerous future as the Soldier points his sword toward the future with the Rabbit in his grasp,

“And he dragged the Rabbit off, shouting: ‘On our own! On our own!’ “

The Rabbit and the Shadow is a lengthy, thoughtful book that is best suited for older children.  Although the Soldier has abducted the Rabbit, the Soldier bears him no ill will. The Soldier is merely angry, and the reader will find that the Soldier harbors a secret. The Cat suffers from a recurring dream that will not resolve; the Book searches for knowledge. The Stag searches for his Rabbit. The Shadow searches for nothing, and is ironically enlightening, as Rutten explores the weighty issues of anger, responsibility, separation, and growing up.

Artfully placed in the center of a beautiful yellow-hued palette, are the following words, surrounded by a dreamlike border illustrating the characters’ thoughts

“‘What do you think about

 to feel less afraid?’

asked the Rabbit.

‘Nice things from the past,’

 replied the Soldier,

 ‘like eating rice pudding cake

 when I was little.’

‘You’re still little!’ said the Cat. ‘Me, I think

 about nice things to come.’

‘Like when you’ll have a mustache?’

 teased the Soldier.

The Cat thought about his dream.

They all though for a moment,

about their dreams. “

I don’t know if The Rabbit and the Shadow is typical or exemplary in French children’s literature. Here in the United States, it is strikingly attractive, thoughtful, and distinctive.

Note:

If you're interested in reading the best in books from other countries, ALSC recognizes excellence in the category every year. The Mildred L. Batchelder Award is awarded yearly to “the most outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States.”

This year’s winner of the Mildred L. Batchelder Award is TheMurderer’s Ape by Swedish author, Jakob Wegelius. 

Sticks 'n' Stones 'n' Dinosaur Bones - a blog tour and book giveaway

Sticks 'n' Stones 'n' Dinosaur Bones: Being a Whimsical "Take" on a (pre)Historical Event

 (An Unhinged History Book)

By Ted Enik

Illustrated by G.F. Newland

Schiffer, 2017

Welcome to Day #5 of the Sticks ‘n’ Stones Blog Tour

To celebrate the release of Sticks ‘n’ Stones ‘n’ Dinosaur Bones, written by Ted Enik and illustrated by G.F. Newland, blogs across the web are featuring exclusive content about this humorous tall tale and giving away chances to win a copy of Sticks ‘n’ Stones ‘n’ Dinosaur Bones.  Below, you can find today's Rafflecopter giveaway and the location of other blog tour sites.

From the publisher:

This first book in Ted Enik and G.F Newland's "Unhinged History" series is a ripping yarn - full of adventure and deceit - that brings to life the best-known public spat in all of paleontology: the bitter rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh that became known as "The Bone Wars." Lively and witty rhymes plus beautifully demented illustrations by Newland reveal how the paleontologists' infamous rivalry began and how their mutual obsession with outdoing and ruining one another spun out of control.

 

Here's my takeaway on the book:

Stick 'n' Stones 'n' Dinosaur Bones is what I usually characterize as a picture book for older readers.  This one is unique in that it can appeal on several levels.  It's Seussian, sing-song nature and humorous illustrations will entertain even children too young to understand the book's overall concept.  It will attract kids interested in paleontology—and aren't all kids interested in paleontology at some point? And finally, it's useful in introducing the subject of information literacy.

Here's how:

The crazy one-upmanship and outright lies of Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh may be fodder for laughs and entertainment, but it's useful to point out that belief in outlandish claims is nothing new in American history.  One need only look to today's internet, television, and newspaper articles to see rampant and competing claims of "fake news!"  What's an educated news consumer to believe?

Sticks 'n' Stones 'n' Dinosaur Bones can be an educational or cautionary tale about the need to investigate news sources and shun sensationalism.  Remember, the "Bone Wars" was not the only time that a gullible populace has fallen for exaggerated, overblown, or downright false claims. Jim Murphy's book, The Giant and how he Humbugged America (Scholastic, 2012) and Candace Fleming's The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum (Schwartz & Wade, 2009), are two stellar books for older readers that spotlight the gullibility of the general public and the great lengths that people will take to exploit it.

I can't wait to see what topic will be tackled next in the "Unhinged History" series.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Schedule of Blog Tour

November 6: Can You Read Me a Story?

November 7: A Fuse #8 Production

November 8: Books My Kids Read

November 9: Rockin' Book Reviews

November 10: Kid Lit 411

November 11: Shelf Employed

November 12: Frog on a Blog

From the publisher:

About the Author

Ted Enik has worked as an illustrator for most of the well-known New York publishing houses, applying his versatility to both original art as well as classic and current children’s book characters, including the Magic School Bus, the Eloise books, and the popular “Fancy Nancy I Can Read” series. This is the first picture book Ted has authored. It was first published in 2013 by Pixel Mouse House, New York, and honored as a Finalist in the American Book Fest’s 2014 Best Children’s Nonfiction and a Finalist in American Book Fest’s 2014 International Book Award for Best Children’s Nonfiction. Learn more about his books at unhingedhistory.com and his illustration at tedenik.com.

About the Illustrator

G.F. Newland is a part-time illustrator and the systems administrator at the School of Visual Arts, New York, NY. His doodles have found their way onto buttons, bags, posters, and T-shirts, and have been published by Scholastic, Hachette, and Pixel Mouse House. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and a pet fish named Enki. Visit his website at gfnewland.com.

My copy of Sticks 'n' Stones 'n' Dinosaur Bones was provided by the publisher.

Note: This book trailer was created by a previous publisher.