February 2009
Book Reviews
I Love Books
Celebrate love of family, self and heritage for Valentine's Day and Black History Month.
By Mary Quattlebaum
babies/toddlers
Who Loves the Little Lamb?
by Lezlie Evans, illustrated by David McPhail. Disney Hyperion, 2010, $15.99
Local author Lezlie Evans serves up soothing verses and a heaping spoonful of unconditional love in this charming picture book. When tots are cranky and naughty, Mama (be she lamb, bear, wildebeest or human) is there to comfort and love "all day long." David McPhail's bright illustrations are delightful, first showing the fussy, pouty, breaking-things side of the anthropomorphized little critters and then revealing how a kind mama smooths the way to a sunnier mood. A nice blend of reassuring and rambunctiousness.
ages 3 - 7
Button Up! Wrinkled Rhymes
by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Petra Mathers. Harcourt, 2009, $16
Any kid with a favorite shirt or princess dress will relate to these 15 lively poems. Each item of clothing adorns its own animal and has its own poem and personality. In "Jennifer's Shoes," a mole dons a pair of blue shoes that are "learning the ways" of "the softness of carpet/the steepness of stair/the curve of the rung/under Jennifer's chair." Word play and onomatopoeia abound as a pig revels in his mud-topped galoshes and an otter his hang-loose laces. And of course, there's underwear! A mouse named Emily takes pride in undies trimmed with lace and ruffles. The whimsical tone of the poems finds a perfect complement in zany watercolors by Petra Mathers.
Looking Like Me
by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Christopher Myers. Egmont, 2009, $18.99
A father and son team up to celebrate all the facets of the self in this exuberant book-length rap. A kid named Jeremy looks in the mirror and sees "a real handsome dude/looking just like me." As he moves through the day, the boy meets others who proclaim him to be a little brother, a son, an artist, a runner and a dreamer. The mixed-media illustrations capture the dynamic energy of both a child and a city, with photos of manhole covers, skyscrapers and ketchup bottles sharing space with human silhouettes in bold colors. Author Walter Dean Myers and artist Christopher Myers get into the spirit of the book with their own brief bios at the end. The photos of their child selves reveal "two handsome dudes," and they succinctly declare themselves to be boy, son, reader, friend, writer, photographer and dreamer.
Testing the Ice
by Sharon Robinson, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Scholastic, 2009, $16.99
In this beautifully designed picture book, Sharon Robinson weaves together two tales: one of her father Jackie Robinson breaking the baseball color barrier in the late 1940s and the other a wintry adventure with him a decade later. Each illuminates the other, showing how the courageous, dignified athlete and the good-humored father were one and the same. Jackie Robinson wanted to prepare the way for other black athletes just as he wanted to test and make sure the lake ice was safe for his children and their friends. Oil-and-watercolor paintings by Kadir Nelson sweep dramatically across double-page spreads, spotlighting great moments in sports history (Robinson stealing home during the 1955 World Series) but also homing in on his warm embrace of family. This is a captivating portrait of an admirable man.
ages 8 - 12
In Her Hands
by Alan Schroeder, illustrated by JaeMe Bereal. Lee & Low, 2009, $19.95
Born in 1892, Augusta Savage loved to make tiny barnyard figures from the clay pit close to her Florida home. With 13 siblings and a stern father, there was no money for art lessons but Savage's mother and school principal found ways to support her talent. This intriguing biography by Alan Schroeder focuses on Savage's childhood up to her entry in a New York City art school and shines light on a little-known artist of the Harlem Renaissance. Period details and a sense of the young sculptor's creative joy are conveyed in shimmering acrylics by JaeMe Bereal.
I and I, Bob Marley
by Tony Medina, illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson. Lee & Low, 2009, $19.95
Seventeen poems and accompanying notes tell the life story of musician and activist Bob Marley. Kudos to author Tony Medina for choosing the perfect form to convey a sense of Marley's spirit and art. The free-verse poems are rich in sounds and images, from Marley's birth in rural Jamaica in 1945 (a "baby chile" singing "like three little birds") to global renown with his "dreads atwirl" and "music in [his] belly." Though dead at 36 from cancer, this remarkable man lives on in his songs of hope and peace, in his influence on other musicians and now through Medina's unique biography, with its vivid acrylic paintings by Jesse Joshua Watson.
adult
Let's Go Outside
by Jennifer Ward. Trumpeter/Shambhala, 2009, $14
Fifty-two activities--one for each week of the year--give kids and adults a chance to connect with the natural world. Too often, we think of nature as something to experience elsewhere, whether hiking mountain trails, camping in national parks or watching exotic wildlife overseas. Author Jennifer Ward reminds us of the wondrous things that exist just beyond our doors, in the thickets of our neighborhoods, in the sky above our schools. And there's no need to wait for spring. Families might take winter photos, float a Frisbee or make a toad castle. Each entry includes a reflection by Ward, instructions and a boxed note on how to extend the idea or "take it further." To set the mood, a short quote by nature lovers, such as John Muir, William Wordsworth and Carly Simon, introduces each activity. My favorite, by Lao Tzu--"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished,"--reminds us to stop and smell the roses--and the daisies and dandelions, too.
Mary Quattlebaum is a mother and the author most recently of Sparks Fly High, a colonial American folktale, and Jackson Jones and the Curse of the Outlaw Rose, a humorous chapter book. You can contact her at maryquattlebaum.com, which has information on her 15 award-winning children's books, school presentations and writing workshops.