Disgusting Critters series

Head Lice, The Toad, and The Cockroach are cute books in Elise Gravel's "Disgusting Critters" series.  The illustrations are funny and should interest children(especially some reluctant readers), while the text (especially the comments by the critters) has some humor for the adults that might be reading the book aloud, yet is simple enough for many early readers to comprehend.  Plus they include some interesting facts about each creature.

The last page of Head Lice, rather than advising running away if one sees a louse (they ARE hard to see), could instead reminded children not to share hats, combs, and other items that come in contact with their hair and heads, and possibly add information about treatments for head lice.

These would be good additions to a school or classroom library...or a university library used by future teachers.  

Even as someone who spent 25 years with the cockroach in her life, living in the humid Texas Gulf Coast region, I learned a lot about that bug!

© Amanda Pape - 2015, 2016, and 2020

[Head Lice and The Toad are available on the lower level of the Dick Smith Library in the Curriculum Collection, call numbers EDUC QL570 .G7313 2015 and EDUC QL668 .E227 G72 2016 respectively.  The Cockroach will be added in the future.]

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler

This is the true story of the book's subtitle, Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club.  Pedersen founded the group, consisting of himself and seven other teenage boys, to perform acts of sabotage against the Germans occupying Denmark in World War II.

The story is told primarily through Pedersen's words.  National Book Award winner Phillip Hoose worked with Pedersen in 2012 to create an English version of his story, little-known outside Denmark.  Hoose conducted 25 hours of face-to-face interviews and exchanged nearly 1,000 e-mails with Pedersen.

The narrative is exciting and should hold the interest of the target teen audience, especially boys.  The book can definitely be used in history classes on World War II (there's a teacher's guide from the publisher on the author's web site), and could also spark some interesting discussions on courage, on the morality of sabotage in wartime, and on taking risks and keeping secrets.

The book includes photographs, maps, and other illustrations, as well as a bibliography, end notes, and index (useless in the e-book as there are no page numbers or links).  An audio version (narrated by the author as well as actor and voice artist Michael Braun) is also available, and  would enhance understanding for any struggling readers in the targeted high school age group.


© Amanda Pape - 2015

[The Boys Who Challenged Hitler is available on the lower level of the Dick Smith Library in the Curriculum Collection, call number EDUC D802 .D4 H645 2015.]

Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard

The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Awards are given by the American Library Association to the most distinguished informational books for children.  A 2014 Honor Book (runner-up) was Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard, written and illustrated by Annette LeBlanc Cate.   Her ink and watercolor illustrations are done in a cartoon style, with the birds making humorous wisecracks in speech bubbles.  The 51-page book is packed with information, though, on where to look for birds and what to look for on them.  Cate also provides advice on drawing birds, as well as a bibliography and an index for each bird type mentioned in the book.  The comic-book-like style and the book's complexity makes it more appropriate for third grade and up, and less appropriate as a read-aloud.


© Amanda Pape - 2014

[Look Up!  Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard is available on the lower level of the Dick Smith Library in the Curriculum Collection, call number EDUC QL677.5 .C38 2013.]

2014 Sibert Award Winner

The 2014 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award winner, for the most distinguished informational books for children was Parrots over Puerto Rico, written by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, and illustrated by Roth.  This book is also an Orbis Pictus Honor Book for 2014.  The NCTE Orbis Pictus Award  was established in 1989 by the National Council for the Teachers of English for promoting and recognizing excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children.  The book tells the story of the beautiful Puerto Rican parrot and its near extinction.

Susan Roth’s incredibly detailed paper and fabric collages are gorgeous! Once you open the book, you need to rotate it 90 degrees, as this orientation (portrait rather than landscape) best takes advantage of the view towards the treetops and sky from the ground, and makes the reader feel like s/he is right there in the story.  The book includes pronunciation guides for some unfamiliar words, a four-page afterword with photographs and more facts, a timeline (the last two written at a higher reading level), and a list of the authors' sources.


© Amanda Pape - 2014

[The call number for Parrots over Puerto Rico is QL696 .P7 R68 2013 .]

2014 Caldecott Medal Winner

If you have a train lover in your family - adult or child - this is the book for you.

Locomotive, written and illustrated by Temple, Texas native Brian Floca, uses an imaginary train trip by a family in 1869 as the framework for an homage to steam engines and the Transcontinental Railroad.

This book won the 2014 Randolph Caldecott Medal, which "honors the illustrator of the year's most distinguished American picture book for children." The 53-page narrative is set in a very readable Scotch Roman typeface, and Floca used watercolor, ink, acrylic, and gouache in his illustrations. He uses different typefaces for the onomatopoeia and other emphasized works sprinkled throughout the book.  I learned a lot about trains from this book!

The front endpapers lay the groundwork for the story, giving the historical background to the Transcontinental Railroad and a map of its route.  It's clear even from this brief introduction how significant this railroad was to travel in the United States.

The second-person narrative and the perspective of many of the illustrations pull you into the story and make you feel as if you are there.  It starts with a little human piece of the railroad's history and then moves right into the cross-country trip.  The sounds the steam engine makes are very realistic (based on my limited experience riding the Durango & Silverton Railroad).

Floca lets the reader experience the train ride from the point of view of both passengers and crew.  As passengers, you see what it was like to eat (at stops) and sleep (in a berth if you were rich enough) and even use the toilet on the train!  I also got a feel for what life must have been like for my great-grandfather as a fireman on the railroad...

...as well as learning about the roles of the engineer, brakemen, and switchmen.  Floca also shows you the scenery both crew and visitors see, with lovely drawings of various landmarks along the way.

There's a detailed note at the end of the book about locomotives, as well as a list of all the author's sources.  The endpapers at the back of the book feature a detailed diagram of the steam locomotive and an explanation of how the engine works - that I (not at all mechanically-minded) could actually understand.

Because of its length and all the detail in this book, I think it is most appropriate for about fourth grade and up.  Younger children would enjoy the free-verse-style narrative being read aloud to them.  Links to various educational resources are available on Floca's website.

Besides the Caldecott, the American Library Association (ALA) also awards the Robert L. Sibert Informational Book Medal each year to "to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year....Information books are defined as those written and illustrated to present, organize, and interpret documentable, factual material for children. There are no limitations as to the character of the book, although poetry and traditional literature are not eligible. Honor books may be named; they shall be books that are truly distinguished."  Locomotive is a 2014 Honor book, as was Floca's Moonshot in 2010 and Lightship in 2007.

Locomotive is also an Orbis Pictus Honor Book for 2014.  The Orbis Pictus Award was established in 1989 by the National Council of Teachers of English for promoting and recognizing excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children.  Floca also illustrated Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, which in 2011 won the Orbis Pictus and was a Sibert Honor book.

Floca spent about four years working on this book, and it shows.  In an interview with Publisher's Weekly just after winning the Caldecott, he said about this book that "his goals were twofold. 'Those engines themselves are such fascinating pieces of machinery. They’re really complicated on one level, but they’re also very understandable machines. I was hoping the book would visually convey how they work so that readers could go through the book and piece it together.' Second, he also aimed to provide a 'sense of moving through a landscape and the landscape changing.'”  I think he achieved both goals.

It was disappointing to find a number of one-star reviews for this book on Amazon.com.  They were all from people who read this as an e-book.  I'm of the opinion that most picture books (especially ones like this one that have many double-page spreads and lots of details) should not even be offered in the e-book format by the publishers.


© Amanda Pape - 2014

[The call number for Locomotive is TJ603.2 .F56 2013.]

2011 Sibert Informational Honor Book

This 88-page biography was named a 2011 Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book.  The Medal "is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year" by the American Library Association.

It's a very readable account of the life of the Marquis de Lafayette, illustrated with mostly-period paintings, drawings, and documents (but unfortunately, no maps).  As the title indicates, author Russell Freedman focuses mainly on Lafayette's involvement with the American Revolution, but also addresses his early life and his later involvement with the French Revolution.  Freedman ends the book with a time line, source notes, selected bibliography (with commentary), picture credits, and index.  The book made me want to learn even more about Lafayette (and especially his wife Adrienne, who sounds particularly intriguing).  It's an outstanding addition to Freedman's fine repertoire of biography and history.

© Amanda Pape - 2012

[Lafayette and the American Revolution can be found downstairs in the Curriculum Collection (call number EDUC E207 .L2 F86 2010) of the Dick Smith Library.  This review was originally published at Bookin' It.]

2012 Sibert Winners

Here are two books that were named by the American Library Association on January 23 as the winner and an honor book respectively of the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal for "the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English during the preceding year."

Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet is about its subtitle:  "The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade," immigrant Tony Sarg (1882-1942).  With her trademark 3D collages, gouache, and mixed media including period photographs, Sweet brings to life the little-known man behind the giant balloon puppets at the New York City Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade beginning in 1927 (as well as Macy's famous "Wondertown" display windows).

This is a fun book with an author's note providing more information about Sarg at the end, as well as a bibliography and source list.  This book was also honored in 2012 with the Orbis Pictus Award "for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children" from the National Council of Teachers of English, and as a 2012 Zolotow Award Highly Commended Book, an award "given annually to the author of the best picture book text published in the United States in the preceding year" by the Cooperative Children's Book Center.  This book has a fifth-grade reading level, so it is probably most appropriate as a read-aloud for younger children, but older kids will get a kick out of it as well.

I'm not too crazy about the cover of Caldecott Medalist (in 1994, with an Honor book in 1988) Allen's Say's partial autobiography in graphic novel form, Drawing from Memory.  It doesn't really invite one to explore the fabulous pictures and story inside. Say used watercolors, pen and ink, pencils, and photographs to tell the story of his unusual childhood, particularly his teen years in post-World War II Japan.  At the age of 12, Say was living independently and apprenticed himself to master cartoonist Noro Shinpei.  The book ends four years later, in the summer of 1953, when Say decides to take up his estranged father's offer and join his new family in the United States.

Say's life story after that point is also intriguing, and one would have to know it to appreciate the irony of a statement he makes on page 50, "I hated photography."  Say also disliked his father, made clear in the book with only one drawing that includes him - back turned, hands on hips.  In contrast, the book is a tribute to Shinpei, who also served as a father figure to Say, and there is an extensive author's note at the end with many photographs of Shinpei and his family.

Say wrote an autobiographical novel in 1979, The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice, that covered much of  the same material, but this book is probably more accessible.  Its 63 pages and numerous illustrations, many in comic book format, combined with a reading level of about fourth grade, makes it appealing to reluctant readers, as the book would interest students up through high school. 

© Amanda Pape - 2012

[These books have been purchased for the Dick Smith Library.]

2012 Caldecott Winners

Here are the four books that were honored by the American Library Association on January 23 as the Caldecott Medalist and Honor Books, awards given to the illustrators of the most distinguished American picture books for children:
A Ball for Daisy, written and illustrated by Chris Raschka, took the Medal. A wordless book, the story is conveyed through Raschka's simple, almost child-like paintings in watercolor, gouache and ink.  A dog loses her favorite red ball when a poodle steals it and it bursts.  She's down and depressed until a later visit to the park when the poodle's owner gives her a new blue ball.

In an interview, Raschka said the book was inspired by his son at age 4, who was devastated when his yellow ball broke during a quarrel with a neighbor. The author said he began thinking of "those first feelings of losing something beloved" and knowing you can't get it back. For the story, he changed the main character from a boy to a dog.  "When you're a picture book illustrator, your readers are often three or four years old, and you don't want the drawing to be upsetting in itself.  By having an animal, there's some distance, and yet there is still a connection."

I think ages 3-5 is about the right target for this book.  It could also be used with older children to encourage them to tell or write a story to go along with the illustrations.

This is Raschka's second Caldecott Medal; he won in 2006 for illustrating Norton Juster's The Hello, Goodbye Window, and his Yo! Yes? was a Caldecott Honor book in 1994.  Raschka is the 2012 USA nominee for illustration for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Three Honor books were also named. Blackout was written and illustrated by John Rocco, who is also the illustrator of the dust jackets of Rick Riordan's fantasy novel series such as Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and the Kane Chronicles.  Rocco has an interesting background as an art director on the movie Shrek and a designer of Disney theme park rides.

Blackout tells of a busy family's experiences during a power outage one evening. His colorful cartoon-like illustrations bring out the fun and magic in the situation.  He makes especially good use of silhouettes and the lights and shadows created by candles, flashlights, and stars.  It's a story I think a lot of us can relate to, being forced to "unplug" from our wired, always-connected lives for an evening.

Rocco set his story in his home of Brooklyn and interviewed people in New York City about their experiences in the big August 2003 blackout there.

This book has a Lexile measure of 0, due to the fact it has very few words. It is designated as a beginning reader, so it's probably best for ages 4-7.  It's also appropriate as a read-aloud, with its page-filling illustrations.

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith also took a Caldecott Honor. A little boy wanders through a fanciful garden of topiaries created by his great-grandfather that evoke memories of the latter's life.

The whimsical illustrations were created using watercolor, oil paint, and digital paint for the foliage, and brush with waterproof drawing ink for the characters.  This is a very different style from Smith's other books, but it works perfectly with this story.

I loved the subtle message about valuing our seniors for what they remember rather than what they forget, as the little boy collects the tools and accessories his great-grandpa gardener has left behind.  Young children may not get that message, but the parents (and grandparents, and great-grandparents) reading the book to them will, and all will enjoy the little details in the illustrations.  The book's reading level is about second grade.

Smith also received a Caldecott Honor in 1993 for illustrating (his frequent cohort) Jon Scieszka's The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.

The final Caldecott Honor went to Patrick McDonnell's Me...Jane.  This is a picture book biography about primatologist Jane Goodall's childhood.  McDonnell is on the board of directors of the Humane Society of the United States and active in animal welfare work, so this homage to Goodall is fitting.

McDonnell does the comic strip Mutts, and his India ink and watercolor illustrations in this book reflect that style.  Except for double-page-spread illustrations (of young Jane and her ever-present stuffed toy chimpanzee named Jubilee), these drawings fall on the right-hand page, with the text on the left.  The text is overlaid on beautiful, muted ornamental engravings from the 1800s and early 1900s, "evoking Jane's lifelong passion for detailed, scientific observation of nature," according to the art notes at the end of the book.

McDonnell has also included photographs of Jane, as well as some of Jane's own sketches, including a double-page spread "of drawings and puzzles that Jane herself created" as a young girl leading a nature club called the Aligator (sic) Society.  End notes also include an "About Jane" section and "A Message from Jane."  The book's clever title is inspired by Jane's love of the Tarzan books as a child.

This book also won the 2012 Charlotte Zolotow Award "for outstanding writing in a picture book," and was named a 2012 Orbis Pictus Recommended Nonfiction Book for Children by the National Council of Teachers of English. With a third grade reading level, this book would be a good starting point for students even up to third- and fourth-grade to learn more about this famous researcher and her work.

© Amanda Pape - 2012

[These books have been purchased for the Dick Smith Library.]

2012 Coretta Scott King Author Award and Illustrator Honor

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans
by Kadir Nelson

This illustrated book of a little over 100 pages is an informational overview of American history told from the viewpoint of a fictional African American grandmother, whose own grandfather was a slave.

In a note at the end, author/illustrator Kadir Nelson said, "I knew I could not convey the whole story in a hundred pages, so I felt the most natural and concise way to tell the tale would be through the recollections of a narrator whose family history was very closely tied to the American story."  Nelson built real ancestors into the story, such as his Seminole great-great-grandmother.

The illustrations in this book are full-page or double-page paintings, and they are gorgeous.  Nelson served as the model for many of the people in his illustrations.

Its length and amount of text, combined with its reading level (6th to 8th grade on various systems), make this book more suitable for upper elementary and middle school children.  It's not a picture book; it's divided into short chapters.  A timeline, bibliography, and index round out the book.

This book was honored with two 2012 Coretta Scott King Book Awards, the Author Award and an Illustrator Honor.  Nelson won these same two awards in 2009 for We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. He won another Illustrator Honor in 2004, and was the Illustrator Award winner in 2007 and 2005.

© Amanda Pape - 2012

[This book has been purchased for the Dick Smith Library.]

Three Kid/Teen Books About The Salem Witch Trials

After reading the fictional The Heretic's Daughter for my local book club, I felt I needed some more background information on the Salem witch trials before our discussion. I forgot to check my university library for books before leaving for the weekend, so I checked my local public library instead. I found three books on the topic, one in the juvenile section, and the other two in the young adult section.

The Devil in Salem Village, by Laurel Van Der Linde, is a short (72 pages) overview of the trials aimed at grades 4 to 6.  Early chapters on witchcraft and life in Salem provide background for the trials. The straightforward narrative makes few interpretations and conclusions, and is enhanced by quotations from transcripts of the trials as well as interesting illustrations.  A chronology, suggested further reading, bibliography, and index wind up the book.

Figures of the Salem Witch Trials, by Stuart A. Kallen, is a collective biography of key figures from this event, aimed at middle school and high school students.  After a foreword and introduction, there are five chapters, each 14 to 17 pages long, about accused witches Tituba and Rebecca Nurse, accusing pastors Samuel Parris and Cotton Mather, and Judge Samuel Sewell.  Many illustrations, including maps and photographs, highlight the text.  Endnotes, a chronology, two annotated bibliographies, and an index complete the 112-page book.

Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials, by Sibert Award winner Marc Aronson, is definitely aimed at teens. Aronson presents many different interpretations of the events, drawing on a variety of sources, which he details in extensive endnotes with comments. There's also an epilogue comparing many of these sources, along with an appendix focusing on Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. A timeline, bibliography, and index round out this well researched 272-page book, and Aronson provides a 44-page study guide on his website.

© Amanda Pape - 2011