This one was so beautiful I had to share it.
Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad
James Rumford
ISBN: 9781596432765
A fictional calligraphy-loving boy reflects on his country and the history of Yakut, the master calligrapher.
Ali is from modern Baghdad, and he loves lots of standard boy activities: soccer, loud music. But the love of Ali's life is calligraphy, and he practices the beautiful Arabic script to get the letters and the forms absolutely perfect.
The story is short and beautiful, with collage and imprinted and patterned figures and shapes and calligraphic letters across the backgrounds and hiding in the shadows. It's a sweet tale, surrounded by a beautifully created book.
Showing posts with label James Rumford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Rumford. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Tuesday Storytime, Summer Reading: Nursery School Heroes
Another one I didn't get to give, but some really classic books.
Sam and the Tigers
Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
ISBN: 0803720289
A delightful and joyful all-are-welcome rendition of the fraught Little Black Sambo by two of America's best.
I can't believe I have not reviewed this book here before. Little Black Sambo has a great story, but also has some - issues. Lots of issues. There is really no reason to show little kids that sort of racist representation (and please note I'm talking about as a storybook, for entertainment, for very young children). I had resigned myself to just never sharing that particular story, until I came across this joyful retaking of the heart of the story.
Sam lives in Sam-sam-sa-mara, and everyone human is named Sam, and all the animals (of which there are many, and they are a full part of the ecosystem and society) are all named Mr or Mrs Animal-Name (so, Mr Tiger and Mrs Ostrich). Sam is off to buy his new school wardrobe, and his dad Sam and his mother Sam are in agony over his - let's go with unconventional - choices of clothing. But Sam (the child - try and keep it straight!) is delighted, and heads off to school the next morning with stars in his eyes and a skip in his step. Until the tigers show up, of course. The rest of the tale is totally familiar, but seamlessly stripped of nastyness and stereotype, until all that is left is a beautiful trickster tale of the triumph of the weak but witty over the strong and bullying. I use it as often as I can.
The Little Engine that Could
Originally by Watty Piper, illustrated by Cristina Ong, and heavily abridged for board-book format.
ISBN: 0448401010
Short and sweet, this abridged version is shaped like a train, and keeps the flavor of the original well.
Nine times out of ten, I'd tell parents and teachers and storytimers to avoid abridged versions. I don't think it's fair to the original, I think often the ideas are better suited to the longer original format (and therefore to an older age that can sit through the length) and personally, it feels like cheating.
However, I love the story of the Little Engine that Could, and the original is hellacious long, and in my normal set-up of three books, I could never present it. This tiny little board book is a perfect little summary of the story, and serves as a lovely short introduction to kids who may not be familiar with the original. The board book is 5 spreads long, with 2 full spreads and the others as page-panels, and the story is condensed greatly: train is full of toys and dolls, train breaks down, little blue engine is the only other train in the book, and no failures occur on the way up the mountain. Still, the idea of the story holds up, and the inclusion of the original illustrations do much to paper over the missing narrative.
Don't Touch My Hat
James Rumford
ISBN: 9780375837821
Originally reviewed here.
I had the hardest time finding a final "nursery tale" style hero story, but I was pretty happy with this one. The pay-off at the end with the hat reveal is great fun, and little kids always like cowboys.
Sam and the Tigers
Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
ISBN: 0803720289
A delightful and joyful all-are-welcome rendition of the fraught Little Black Sambo by two of America's best.
I can't believe I have not reviewed this book here before. Little Black Sambo has a great story, but also has some - issues. Lots of issues. There is really no reason to show little kids that sort of racist representation (and please note I'm talking about as a storybook, for entertainment, for very young children). I had resigned myself to just never sharing that particular story, until I came across this joyful retaking of the heart of the story.
Sam lives in Sam-sam-sa-mara, and everyone human is named Sam, and all the animals (of which there are many, and they are a full part of the ecosystem and society) are all named Mr or Mrs Animal-Name (so, Mr Tiger and Mrs Ostrich). Sam is off to buy his new school wardrobe, and his dad Sam and his mother Sam are in agony over his - let's go with unconventional - choices of clothing. But Sam (the child - try and keep it straight!) is delighted, and heads off to school the next morning with stars in his eyes and a skip in his step. Until the tigers show up, of course. The rest of the tale is totally familiar, but seamlessly stripped of nastyness and stereotype, until all that is left is a beautiful trickster tale of the triumph of the weak but witty over the strong and bullying. I use it as often as I can.
The Little Engine that Could
Originally by Watty Piper, illustrated by Cristina Ong, and heavily abridged for board-book format.
ISBN: 0448401010
Short and sweet, this abridged version is shaped like a train, and keeps the flavor of the original well.
Nine times out of ten, I'd tell parents and teachers and storytimers to avoid abridged versions. I don't think it's fair to the original, I think often the ideas are better suited to the longer original format (and therefore to an older age that can sit through the length) and personally, it feels like cheating.
However, I love the story of the Little Engine that Could, and the original is hellacious long, and in my normal set-up of three books, I could never present it. This tiny little board book is a perfect little summary of the story, and serves as a lovely short introduction to kids who may not be familiar with the original. The board book is 5 spreads long, with 2 full spreads and the others as page-panels, and the story is condensed greatly: train is full of toys and dolls, train breaks down, little blue engine is the only other train in the book, and no failures occur on the way up the mountain. Still, the idea of the story holds up, and the inclusion of the original illustrations do much to paper over the missing narrative.
Don't Touch My Hat
James Rumford
ISBN: 9780375837821
Originally reviewed here.
I had the hardest time finding a final "nursery tale" style hero story, but I was pretty happy with this one. The pay-off at the end with the hat reveal is great fun, and little kids always like cowboys.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Tuesday Storytime: Hats
It's been a rough week so far - but storytime was great fun, with an attentive and lively small group. Always perks me up to be around the kids.
Our theme this week was hats!
Don't Touch My Hat!
James Rumford
ISBN: 9780375837821
I dearly love this book. I've used it for storytime more times than I can count. Sheriff John keeps the peace in the town of Sunshine through the "magic" power of his ten-gallon-hat (think lucky jersey or requisite bedtime lovey) - at least, so he thinks. One moonless night, trouble erupts, and he grabs a hat from the bedside table on his way out. The text never lets on until the end, but the illustrations are super-funny - all of the grizzled outlaws and wild mountain men are just staring with their jaws dropped. Fun western twang to read in, rollicking short story, great fun moral. Love love love this book.
Zoe's Hats
Sharon Lane Holm
ISBN: 9781590780428
Really short and snappy. Zoe is a French-cartoon-ish girl who obviously loves hats. She has all kinds, and the illustrations are always Zoe's face showing different expressions, under a different sort of hat, with just the identifier below: "Red Hat" "Blue Hat" or in the case of the colander "Gray, spotted, dotted hat." Super short, super simple.
Hat
Paul Hoppe
ISBN: 9781599902470
This one is actually a bit sad on a meta level, but it's fun and the illustrations are nifty. Very similar to Mercer Meyer's "Alligator" or "Monster" titles, or to Maurice Sendak. Henry finds a lovely bright red hat on a bench, and promptly covets it, imagining all the amazing things he can do with this hat. Until his mother reminds him that someone else might need that hat, and he begins to imagine other people in the situations he imagined, but sans hat, to astoundingly poignant cumulative impact, despite the humor of each scenario (a magician using a bucket instead of a hat pulls out a rotten fish skeleton, an explorer has been eaten by a crocodile - as evidenced by the person-shaped lump in the midsection of the croc.) Really strangely sweet.
Next week, we're traveling!
Our theme this week was hats!
Don't Touch My Hat!
James Rumford
ISBN: 9780375837821
I dearly love this book. I've used it for storytime more times than I can count. Sheriff John keeps the peace in the town of Sunshine through the "magic" power of his ten-gallon-hat (think lucky jersey or requisite bedtime lovey) - at least, so he thinks. One moonless night, trouble erupts, and he grabs a hat from the bedside table on his way out. The text never lets on until the end, but the illustrations are super-funny - all of the grizzled outlaws and wild mountain men are just staring with their jaws dropped. Fun western twang to read in, rollicking short story, great fun moral. Love love love this book.
Zoe's Hats
Sharon Lane Holm
ISBN: 9781590780428
Really short and snappy. Zoe is a French-cartoon-ish girl who obviously loves hats. She has all kinds, and the illustrations are always Zoe's face showing different expressions, under a different sort of hat, with just the identifier below: "Red Hat" "Blue Hat" or in the case of the colander "Gray, spotted, dotted hat." Super short, super simple.
Hat
Paul Hoppe
ISBN: 9781599902470
This one is actually a bit sad on a meta level, but it's fun and the illustrations are nifty. Very similar to Mercer Meyer's "Alligator" or "Monster" titles, or to Maurice Sendak. Henry finds a lovely bright red hat on a bench, and promptly covets it, imagining all the amazing things he can do with this hat. Until his mother reminds him that someone else might need that hat, and he begins to imagine other people in the situations he imagined, but sans hat, to astoundingly poignant cumulative impact, despite the humor of each scenario (a magician using a bucket instead of a hat pulls out a rotten fish skeleton, an explorer has been eaten by a crocodile - as evidenced by the person-shaped lump in the midsection of the croc.) Really strangely sweet.
Next week, we're traveling!
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