One day off, but I'm squeezing it in there anyway, because I had good beautiful books to showcase.
My Family Plays Music
Judy Cox, illustrated by Elbrite Brown
ISBN: 0823415910
A lovely variety of brown and black faces and bodies playing beautiful music in varied venues.
The ONLY downside to this book is that there are a LOT of family members to get through. The music styles and venues and instruments are interesting and varied, from great-grandmother on the church pipe organ to niece Sadie playing the pots and pans in the kitchen, and our narrator is a gifted percussionist, playing scads of different instruments to accompany each different relative. It's rhythmic, cadenced, lovely descriptive language (all the instruments and music styles are named), and each family member has their own distinct style and appearance. It's perfect - other than getting a smidge tired of a large family: father, mother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, great grandma, cousin, and niece.
Uptown
Bryan Collier
ISBN: 0805057218
Rich, multi-layered collages of highly-textured photographs show off Harlem through a boy's eyes.
Our narrator tells us about various slices of life and environment Uptown - the brownstones, the barbershops, the Apollo Theatre, playing at Rutgers in summer, and listening to the Boy's Choir sing in the evenings, sharing his joy and pride in his homeplace of Uptown Harlem. I love it specifically for my rural/suburban southern kids because it shows off a joyful and positive impression of city life.
Max and the Tag-Along Moon
Floyd Cooper
ISBN: 9780399233425
Truly lovely grainy-textured sepia-washed spreads of color and shadow.
It's early evening, and the moon rises as Max says goodbye to his beloved Granpa, who reassures the sad boy that the moon will "always shine for you" through the night. During the long drive, beautifully illustrated and lyrically narrated, Max keeps a delighted eye on the tag-along moon that follows him around curves, through forests, and waits for him at the end of tunnels. By the end of the trip, clouds have rolled in, and the stars - and moon - vanish from sight. Max feels the loss of the moon keenly, and rolls it up with how he feels missing his Granpa, and is sad and lonely as he arrives home and prepares for bed. But just before he falls asleep, the clouds roll back, and that loyal moon shines bright in his window, just like Granpa said it would. Beautiful, sweet, and expressionistic.
Showing posts with label African American. Show all posts
Showing posts with label African American. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Black History Month, Children
I don't like to make a big deal out of Black History Month for my storytimes, but I do feel like I ought to at least reference major national observances just like I do holidays. My usual approach is to simply select my usual storytime themes, but to limit my titles to those with obviously Black illustrated characters. This means that I don't often do biographies of famous people, or "issues" stories very often, and I wonder sometimes if most people even recognize that I'm doing it, since I don't mention the Month during storytime at all. On the one hand, that feels a little stealthy, but on the other, I like that I can actually DO a storytime about bedtime or families or city life without it having to be explicitly a "Black" story.
Little Monster
Barrie Wade, illustrated by Katinka Kew
ISBN: 0688095976
Mandy overhears her mom praising her for being good, but when everyone laughs about "little monster" Jimmy, she reconsiders.
I really like this story because it perfectly illustrates how kids overhear and interpret adult interactions, molding their behavior to gain a specific reaction or to empirically prove their ideas true or not. Mandy is up late one night and overhears her mom praising her for being good, but when her brother Jimmy gets multiple laughs for being a "little monster," Mandy isn't so sure that being good is all it's cracked up to be. The next day she's a holy terror in the most innocent of ways - sticking out tongues, minor direct disobedience, general acting-out, and by the end of the night, mom snaps and calls Mandy a "little monster," but mom being the bright sort, figures out immediately what's up, and reassures Mandy that love and affection and laughter are unconditional, whether a kid is a "little monster" or "good as gold." Very sweet, but some families might be a bit uncomfortable that Mandy isn't punished for any of her "bad" behavior.
Ten, Nine, Eight
Molly Bang
ISBN: 0688009069
One of my favorite bedtime books. A sweet father and daughter go through a countdown rhyme as she prepares for bed.
Previously reviewed here. Always delightful, and even though I did it quite recently, it's a perfect middle book because of the very short narrative.
Please, Baby, Please
Spike Lee & Tonya Lewis Lee, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
ISBN: 0689832338
Adorable toddler is front and center in oversize, child's-eye-view illustrations.
This one isn't my favorite to read, and I hate that. I LOVE the illustrations, and the "baby" is delightfully expressive and perfectly a toddler, getting into things and being entranced by things - just absolutely beautiful work by Nelson, and I really adore the loving attention he paid to details. But, the narrative is 60% comprised of the words "please" and "baby" arranged in different orders as thus: "please, baby baby, please" or "baby baby baby please" "baby please, baby baby" etc. Which is not only repetitive, but difficult for the reader. It's not enough to keep me from doing it every once in a while, but it's absolutely enough to keep this book off my favorites list, which is a crying shame.
Little Monster
Barrie Wade, illustrated by Katinka Kew
ISBN: 0688095976
Mandy overhears her mom praising her for being good, but when everyone laughs about "little monster" Jimmy, she reconsiders.
I really like this story because it perfectly illustrates how kids overhear and interpret adult interactions, molding their behavior to gain a specific reaction or to empirically prove their ideas true or not. Mandy is up late one night and overhears her mom praising her for being good, but when her brother Jimmy gets multiple laughs for being a "little monster," Mandy isn't so sure that being good is all it's cracked up to be. The next day she's a holy terror in the most innocent of ways - sticking out tongues, minor direct disobedience, general acting-out, and by the end of the night, mom snaps and calls Mandy a "little monster," but mom being the bright sort, figures out immediately what's up, and reassures Mandy that love and affection and laughter are unconditional, whether a kid is a "little monster" or "good as gold." Very sweet, but some families might be a bit uncomfortable that Mandy isn't punished for any of her "bad" behavior.
Ten, Nine, Eight
Molly Bang
ISBN: 0688009069
One of my favorite bedtime books. A sweet father and daughter go through a countdown rhyme as she prepares for bed.
Previously reviewed here. Always delightful, and even though I did it quite recently, it's a perfect middle book because of the very short narrative.
Please, Baby, Please
Spike Lee & Tonya Lewis Lee, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
ISBN: 0689832338
Adorable toddler is front and center in oversize, child's-eye-view illustrations.
This one isn't my favorite to read, and I hate that. I LOVE the illustrations, and the "baby" is delightfully expressive and perfectly a toddler, getting into things and being entranced by things - just absolutely beautiful work by Nelson, and I really adore the loving attention he paid to details. But, the narrative is 60% comprised of the words "please" and "baby" arranged in different orders as thus: "please, baby baby, please" or "baby baby baby please" "baby please, baby baby" etc. Which is not only repetitive, but difficult for the reader. It's not enough to keep me from doing it every once in a while, but it's absolutely enough to keep this book off my favorites list, which is a crying shame.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
New Arrival: Picture Book: The Adventures of Beekle the Unimaginary Friend, Dan Santat
The Adventures of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend
Dan Santat
ISBN: 9780316199988
Lovely imaginative mixed-media panels, but a strange and meandering storyline.
I'm sadly really unappy about this one. Spoilers ahoy, so I can ramble.
PLOT: An adipose-looking (ref. Doctor Who) blob person lives on the island of imaginary friends, where they hang about waiting for kids to imagine them, whereupon they are teleported off the island into the real world with their new best friend. But no one imagines the blob, so he decides to take matters into his own hands and find his friend. He travels to the real world (done in grey and taupe) where he's stunned by the boring and sad nature of all the grownups, until he finds a park with children, happily accompanied by their imaginary friends (the park is a lovely, but confusing, illustration - it's difficult to tell which constructs are imaginary friends and which are park play equipment) but still no friend. He climbs a tree to see further, but still no dice, until a little girl comes by, and they sort of awkwardly ease into friendship, she names him Beekle, and they play happily together forever, the end.
Hokay.
First issue - a jungly "exotic" island of creatures who have their own lives and presumably interests and dreams, but live there just waiting for someone they don't know to essentially capture them and spirit them away to a different "civilized" world where they get assigned a name, and are stuck there as best friends forever with no escape is a little Curious George gets kidnapped by the Man in the Big Yellow Hat, yes? Colonialism is not a cool concept to reference, and while kids are innocent and won't get it, lots of parents (especially parents of color) WILL, and that isn't a great way to start off. It just - between the "rapture beam" illustration of the imaginary friend who was chosen, and the idea that they don't even have names until a kid names them, but they do have lives and imaginations and willpower and enough determination to take a difficult journey - but no name? Just... really offputting.
Second issue - I am the first person to sing the praises of picture books with no drama. Nothing happens, no conflict, everything is peaceful or fun, life is good - I love those books. But, they have to have a structure that supports the lack of drama or conflict. This book isn't like that. It's a journey - an ADVENTURE! It's in the bloody title already! But our little blob friend just meanders through everywhere, looking vaguely nonplussed, but not afraid or menaced, or really even very sad, even though the text assures us he is. If you're going to have an adventure, perhaps it should be adventurous? I just can't see this holding the attention of a room full of little ones.
Third issue - it's pretty obvious that the intended "moral" of the story is that finding and making friends is sometimes a slow process, and can be awkward. I got that, and it's a great moral, especially for shy or socially-anxious kids. However, I think that the framework of the imaginary friend isn't so hot for this message, and in fact, I think that it's sending entirely different messages through the choices of text and illustrations. Here's why.
First off, since the imaginary friend is our "hero character" for most of the book, that's who the readers will most likely identify with. He wants a friend, so he looks for one, and then he does a favor for someone, they stand around awkwardly, sort of toe-into the idea of hanging out, then what do they do? She NAMES him, and they proceed to do everything that she wants to do, in her world, by her rules. Now our moral message is "find someone that you like, and make them like you by doing everything they ask" which is a great way to keep that book about co-dependency on the re-print list for decades to come.
Secondly, an imaginary friend by nature only has ONE human person that sees them, knows them, and is friends with them. So not only is our protagonist blob-person stuck with the herculean task of finding the ONE SINGLE RIGHT person, then once found, that's the only friend there is. And that isn't how it works with kids, nor is that a healthy concept. Again, the implied message there is that "there's only one bestfriend/soulmate for you, and once you find them, everything will be perfect forever" which is wrong on so many levels that I really don't know where to start.
So - sadly, because it's awfully cute, and I'm especially vulnerable to adorable little almost adiposes - I have to vote to give this one a miss because it just twigs too many weird uncomfortable issues for me to be able to recommend.
Dan Santat
ISBN: 9780316199988
Lovely imaginative mixed-media panels, but a strange and meandering storyline.
I'm sadly really unappy about this one. Spoilers ahoy, so I can ramble.
PLOT: An adipose-looking (ref. Doctor Who) blob person lives on the island of imaginary friends, where they hang about waiting for kids to imagine them, whereupon they are teleported off the island into the real world with their new best friend. But no one imagines the blob, so he decides to take matters into his own hands and find his friend. He travels to the real world (done in grey and taupe) where he's stunned by the boring and sad nature of all the grownups, until he finds a park with children, happily accompanied by their imaginary friends (the park is a lovely, but confusing, illustration - it's difficult to tell which constructs are imaginary friends and which are park play equipment) but still no friend. He climbs a tree to see further, but still no dice, until a little girl comes by, and they sort of awkwardly ease into friendship, she names him Beekle, and they play happily together forever, the end.
Hokay.
First issue - a jungly "exotic" island of creatures who have their own lives and presumably interests and dreams, but live there just waiting for someone they don't know to essentially capture them and spirit them away to a different "civilized" world where they get assigned a name, and are stuck there as best friends forever with no escape is a little Curious George gets kidnapped by the Man in the Big Yellow Hat, yes? Colonialism is not a cool concept to reference, and while kids are innocent and won't get it, lots of parents (especially parents of color) WILL, and that isn't a great way to start off. It just - between the "rapture beam" illustration of the imaginary friend who was chosen, and the idea that they don't even have names until a kid names them, but they do have lives and imaginations and willpower and enough determination to take a difficult journey - but no name? Just... really offputting.
Second issue - I am the first person to sing the praises of picture books with no drama. Nothing happens, no conflict, everything is peaceful or fun, life is good - I love those books. But, they have to have a structure that supports the lack of drama or conflict. This book isn't like that. It's a journey - an ADVENTURE! It's in the bloody title already! But our little blob friend just meanders through everywhere, looking vaguely nonplussed, but not afraid or menaced, or really even very sad, even though the text assures us he is. If you're going to have an adventure, perhaps it should be adventurous? I just can't see this holding the attention of a room full of little ones.
Third issue - it's pretty obvious that the intended "moral" of the story is that finding and making friends is sometimes a slow process, and can be awkward. I got that, and it's a great moral, especially for shy or socially-anxious kids. However, I think that the framework of the imaginary friend isn't so hot for this message, and in fact, I think that it's sending entirely different messages through the choices of text and illustrations. Here's why.
First off, since the imaginary friend is our "hero character" for most of the book, that's who the readers will most likely identify with. He wants a friend, so he looks for one, and then he does a favor for someone, they stand around awkwardly, sort of toe-into the idea of hanging out, then what do they do? She NAMES him, and they proceed to do everything that she wants to do, in her world, by her rules. Now our moral message is "find someone that you like, and make them like you by doing everything they ask" which is a great way to keep that book about co-dependency on the re-print list for decades to come.
Secondly, an imaginary friend by nature only has ONE human person that sees them, knows them, and is friends with them. So not only is our protagonist blob-person stuck with the herculean task of finding the ONE SINGLE RIGHT person, then once found, that's the only friend there is. And that isn't how it works with kids, nor is that a healthy concept. Again, the implied message there is that "there's only one bestfriend/soulmate for you, and once you find them, everything will be perfect forever" which is wrong on so many levels that I really don't know where to start.
So - sadly, because it's awfully cute, and I'm especially vulnerable to adorable little almost adiposes - I have to vote to give this one a miss because it just twigs too many weird uncomfortable issues for me to be able to recommend.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
New Picture Book: A Dance Like Starlight, Kristy Dempsey & Floyd Cooper
A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina's Dream
Kristy Dempsey, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (A Beach Tail)
ISBN: 9780399252846
Lyrical text and dreamlike sepia-textured scenes show the inspiration of Janet Collins in 1951.
This is a perfect pairing for Firebird, and I foresee an influx of beautiful black ballerinas in years to come, inspired by these two lovely books. (I'm already doing a storytime with these two and Amazing Grace - it's just too perfect not to.)
A young girl stands in the wings and imagines dancing along with the ballet corps, while her seamstress mother creates the fantastic ballet costumes for the dancers. A sympathetic dancing master, and a mother determined to inspire her child bring them to the Met for the debut of Janet Collins dancing - four years before Marian Anderson's debut.
Again, the storyline is beautiful, and the racial issues, while apparent and clear, aren't judgmental or vindictive. The entire work is hopeful and joyful, and I hope that it inspires others to reach for their dreams and to take courage from those who have gone before.
Kristy Dempsey, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (A Beach Tail)
ISBN: 9780399252846
Lyrical text and dreamlike sepia-textured scenes show the inspiration of Janet Collins in 1951.
This is a perfect pairing for Firebird, and I foresee an influx of beautiful black ballerinas in years to come, inspired by these two lovely books. (I'm already doing a storytime with these two and Amazing Grace - it's just too perfect not to.)
A young girl stands in the wings and imagines dancing along with the ballet corps, while her seamstress mother creates the fantastic ballet costumes for the dancers. A sympathetic dancing master, and a mother determined to inspire her child bring them to the Met for the debut of Janet Collins dancing - four years before Marian Anderson's debut.
Again, the storyline is beautiful, and the racial issues, while apparent and clear, aren't judgmental or vindictive. The entire work is hopeful and joyful, and I hope that it inspires others to reach for their dreams and to take courage from those who have gone before.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Tuesday Storytime: African American Dancing Dreams
Chalk another one down for my absurdly specific storytime themes!
It's not my fault, really. I ordered Firebird, and then A Dance Like Starlight came through as a new addition the same week, and I've loved Amazing Grace since forever (blame Reading Rainbow).
We started with Amazing Grace, because that one really is at the length-limit for my age-group, then I put Firebird in the middle, and A Dance Like Starlight at the end. The entire storytime was a little on the long side, but they all went together so well that I felt it was worth it. I did end up "abridging" Amazing Grace and Dance Like Starlight a little bit on the fly.
Amazing Grace
Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Caroline Binch
ISBN: 0803710402
Classic Reading Rainbow book about sexism, racism, and the power of acceptance.
Grace is an imaginative, dramatic girl who loves to act out stories. When her teachers decides to do a class performance of Peter Pan, Grace wants to be Peter - but her classmates disagree - she can't be Peter because she's a girl, and she can't be Peter because she's black. Her mother and grandmother disagree, and take her out to see a beautiful black ballerina performing in Romeo and Juliet. Grace learns her lines, auditions with her whole soul, and the whole class ends up agreeing that she will be a perfect Peter Pan. The final image of her in her costume is one of my favorite illustrations in a picture book.
Firebird
Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers
ISBN: 9780399166150
Reviewed here,
I liked how it was so conceptually different from Amazing Grace, and the way the art and colors are so vivid and wild and surreal, but at the same time, very clear and understandable.
A Dance Like Starlight
Kristy Dempsey, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (A Beach Tail)
ISBN: 9780399252846
Reviewed here.
The sepia tones in this story felt much more drab compared to Firebird and Amazing Grace, but I don't think it detracted from the story. The text doesn't seem very long on the page, but when reading, it goes a lot more slowly, and it isn't very intuitive and flowing (at least it wasn't for me). I ended up eliding or abridging sections, especially because it was the last book and the wiggle-worms were out in full force.
It's not my fault, really. I ordered Firebird, and then A Dance Like Starlight came through as a new addition the same week, and I've loved Amazing Grace since forever (blame Reading Rainbow).
We started with Amazing Grace, because that one really is at the length-limit for my age-group, then I put Firebird in the middle, and A Dance Like Starlight at the end. The entire storytime was a little on the long side, but they all went together so well that I felt it was worth it. I did end up "abridging" Amazing Grace and Dance Like Starlight a little bit on the fly.
Amazing Grace
Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Caroline Binch
ISBN: 0803710402
Classic Reading Rainbow book about sexism, racism, and the power of acceptance.
Grace is an imaginative, dramatic girl who loves to act out stories. When her teachers decides to do a class performance of Peter Pan, Grace wants to be Peter - but her classmates disagree - she can't be Peter because she's a girl, and she can't be Peter because she's black. Her mother and grandmother disagree, and take her out to see a beautiful black ballerina performing in Romeo and Juliet. Grace learns her lines, auditions with her whole soul, and the whole class ends up agreeing that she will be a perfect Peter Pan. The final image of her in her costume is one of my favorite illustrations in a picture book.
Firebird
Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers
ISBN: 9780399166150
Reviewed here,
I liked how it was so conceptually different from Amazing Grace, and the way the art and colors are so vivid and wild and surreal, but at the same time, very clear and understandable.
A Dance Like Starlight
Kristy Dempsey, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (A Beach Tail)
ISBN: 9780399252846
Reviewed here.
The sepia tones in this story felt much more drab compared to Firebird and Amazing Grace, but I don't think it detracted from the story. The text doesn't seem very long on the page, but when reading, it goes a lot more slowly, and it isn't very intuitive and flowing (at least it wasn't for me). I ended up eliding or abridging sections, especially because it was the last book and the wiggle-worms were out in full force.
Monday, December 29, 2014
New Picture Book: Firebird, Misty Copeland & Christopher Myers
Firebird
Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers
ISBN: 9780399166150
Chunky, vivid, textural collage highlights an aspirational story of dance and dreams.
Misty Copeland is a ballerina, an African-American ballerina, a GREAT ballerina. She came late to dance, and had many moments of doubt and hardship along the way (A Life in Motion). In this picture book, she contrasts the vulnerability and fear of a young dancer with the pride and accomplishment of a career ballerina. Misty dances through the pages as a professional, most notably in her role as the Firebird, but the focus is on a younger dancer, who is discouraged by the lack of role-models who look like her, who know her background, who feel her isolation. By focusing on the student, Misty can offer herself as an example, a role-model, and a potential mentor without coming across as preachy or holier-than-thou.
Lots of celebrities and activists try to create picture books, but they often go horribly wrong. While this isn't a masterpiece, it's a solid and inspiring read, and I'm glad to add it to our collection. I look forward to using it in a storytime about mentors, dancing, or inspiration.
Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers
ISBN: 9780399166150
Chunky, vivid, textural collage highlights an aspirational story of dance and dreams.
Misty Copeland is a ballerina, an African-American ballerina, a GREAT ballerina. She came late to dance, and had many moments of doubt and hardship along the way (A Life in Motion). In this picture book, she contrasts the vulnerability and fear of a young dancer with the pride and accomplishment of a career ballerina. Misty dances through the pages as a professional, most notably in her role as the Firebird, but the focus is on a younger dancer, who is discouraged by the lack of role-models who look like her, who know her background, who feel her isolation. By focusing on the student, Misty can offer herself as an example, a role-model, and a potential mentor without coming across as preachy or holier-than-thou.
Lots of celebrities and activists try to create picture books, but they often go horribly wrong. While this isn't a masterpiece, it's a solid and inspiring read, and I'm glad to add it to our collection. I look forward to using it in a storytime about mentors, dancing, or inspiration.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Juvenile Nonfiction: Josephine, Patricia Hruby Powell, Christian Robinson
Got some new books into the library, and this one was a Junior Library Guild "premier selection" book, and it's about Josephine Baker (who was awesome, and horribly treated in America) so I thought I'd take a look.
Josephine
Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Christian Robinson
ISBN: 9781452103143
Biography of Josephine in free verse and odd naive illustrations
Bad stuff first - the art style is not my favorite. The wobble-armed figures and strange round-headed audience and kindergarten-style landscapes just didn't do it for me. I'm sure lots of people will really love the spunk and liveliness of the pictures, and the freedom from representative human form, but it wasn't for me. Sorry, Mr Robinson.
The text was really interesting - a spare progression of free verse, no rhymes, but a lot of powerful word-choices, and lots of SHOUTING with capital letters. It really made me feel like someone was Tumblrizing a biography for fun. It's an interesting approach, and I think that it works overall, although there were times where I thought that clarity of narration slipped in favor of keeping the text relatively sparse. I especially was struck by the handling of her various marriages; first at fifteen to a Pullman porter, whereupon she met and married him in the space of three lines, left him by the start of the next page, ignored him completely for 36 pages, then divorced him in one stanza:
"The very first thing,"
She divorced Willie Baker -
ended that long-ago marriage."
Then the millionaire fly-boy who she met, married, and divorced in four lines (he doesn't even get a name).
Then finally she marries her orchestra leader, who does get a name, but only two lines before he's dropped completely in favor of learning about the children she adopts as her Rainbow Tribe.
Wait - what? Did she love any of them? Were they jealous? Why marry someone in the first place if she's going to immediately leave town or if he's not in favor of her performing? Did she have biological kids with anyone?
There were several instances like this (none quite so glaring) where I thought that just a little more background (the war effort) or a few extra lines (her final American tour) might have aided understanding.
Overall, really interesting, although I feel for the poor kid who tries to use block quotes from this strange creature to back up their biography assignment in class.
Josephine
Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Christian Robinson
ISBN: 9781452103143
Biography of Josephine in free verse and odd naive illustrations
Bad stuff first - the art style is not my favorite. The wobble-armed figures and strange round-headed audience and kindergarten-style landscapes just didn't do it for me. I'm sure lots of people will really love the spunk and liveliness of the pictures, and the freedom from representative human form, but it wasn't for me. Sorry, Mr Robinson.
The text was really interesting - a spare progression of free verse, no rhymes, but a lot of powerful word-choices, and lots of SHOUTING with capital letters. It really made me feel like someone was Tumblrizing a biography for fun. It's an interesting approach, and I think that it works overall, although there were times where I thought that clarity of narration slipped in favor of keeping the text relatively sparse. I especially was struck by the handling of her various marriages; first at fifteen to a Pullman porter, whereupon she met and married him in the space of three lines, left him by the start of the next page, ignored him completely for 36 pages, then divorced him in one stanza:
"The very first thing,"
She divorced Willie Baker -
ended that long-ago marriage."
Then the millionaire fly-boy who she met, married, and divorced in four lines (he doesn't even get a name).
Then finally she marries her orchestra leader, who does get a name, but only two lines before he's dropped completely in favor of learning about the children she adopts as her Rainbow Tribe.
Wait - what? Did she love any of them? Were they jealous? Why marry someone in the first place if she's going to immediately leave town or if he's not in favor of her performing? Did she have biological kids with anyone?
There were several instances like this (none quite so glaring) where I thought that just a little more background (the war effort) or a few extra lines (her final American tour) might have aided understanding.
Overall, really interesting, although I feel for the poor kid who tries to use block quotes from this strange creature to back up their biography assignment in class.
Friday, August 22, 2014
The Mirk and Midnight Hour, Jane Nickerson
The Mirk and Midnight Hour
Jane Nickerson
ISBN: 9780385752862
YA: Civil-War gently creepy fantastical novel of manners.
This is a companion-book of sorts to the author's first book, Strands of Bronze and Gold, and where that one gently tweaked the Bluebeard tale, this one has Tam Lin at heart.
The story begins with our focus character Violet reeling from the loss of her twin brother, dead in a Civil War battlefield. Her father is preparing to head to war himself, leaving her behind with the family slaves, Laney and Michael, and baby Cubby. Violet's household is soon filled to the brim with a stepmother (more pathetic than wicked), a stepsister (excellent character development there, shattering expectations), and a set of cousins - one, the fae and sensitive child heir to a luxe plantation, and the other, a swaggering blockade-running showboat of a young man, from the cadet branch of the family, raised on the plantation, and expected to be the heir himself until the unexpected birth of his young cousin. The variety of relationships (and neighbors) made the story really flow like a novel of manners, gently showing relationships building and changing over time. The discovery of an injured Union soldier in an abandoned lodge nearby, cared for by the enigmatic and creepy VanZeldt "family" of a white doctor and a set of haughty Africans changes everything, and the ripples of her discovery will impact every corner of Violet's life.
As in the other story, I was very happy to see that abusive characters are shown clearly, with no excuses made for their behaviors, even when other characters don't see (or remain willfully blind) to those faults.
I also liked the way that the author presented the question of slavery - slowly showing Violet becoming aware of how her way of life was impacting people that she loved or respected. It could have been corny or harsh, but it was almost natural.
I especially enjoyed the tension set up by the VanZeldts. They exist somewhere on a range from casually evil to amoral to totally alien, which is an interesting path to take with your main "villains" and I think only works as well as it does for me because of the association with the unknowable fae of the traditional Tam Lin tale. Relatedly, I thought that the integration of houdoun and voodoo and grisgris and rootworking was done nicely (even the shoutout to traditional zombies!) I especially enjoyed reading all the various interpretations and justifications that the different characters used to make their non-Christian practices fit into the dominant culture and belief system.
The storyline didn't grip me quite as hard as the first one did - I think partly because of familiarity. I've encountered lots of variants on Tam Lin, some good (as this one was) and most really wretched, where I don't recall ever reading a novelization of Bluebeard other than Fitcher's Brides (which I liked, but felt like the fairy-tale association was a bit forced into the cult setting).
I'm happy to see Nickerson writing another novel so soon, and I hope that she continues - her take on the Civil War south is a nice change of pace and setting from usual fantasy works.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Why 'classics' aren't always classy. Robert Lawson's They Were Strong and Good
They Were Strong and Good
Robert Lawson
ISBN: 0670699497
1941 Caldecott Award Winner
Read February 4, 3013
Fair warning, I don't always agree with the Caldecotts, and sometimes I violently disagree. I think a great value of children's materials is that they are accessible to, and interesting to, children. Not interesting to adults, not necessarily artistically or stylistically fascinating or innovative. Soapbox, I know. Sorry.
Anyway, with that background, I don't actively look up all the past Caldecotts and Newberys to check out. If they are attractive to me, I'll see them on the shelf and pull them out (Hugo Cabret, Creepy Carrots, I'm looking at you). If they aren't attractive to me, then I have a neverending pile of books, a legal pad full of lists of books, and a limited lifespan.
So here is this early winner, showing up on my desk to be checked for condition. I figure, oh hell, professional development, right? So I start reading it. It's a little weird, a set of short-bit dry family stories, and then we get to the first twinge: lazy, thieving, disreputable Indians in Minnesota. Also, judging by the engraving, black 'Mammys' were in Minnesotta. Ok, that's a little twitchy, but it was the forties. Moving on. Grandparents again, nothing much here... Oh. Oh dear. 'When my father was very young he had a Negro slave.' Oh? That's... lovely. The kicker? His father also had two dogs, which have full Roman names. The slave? Just Dick. Not even Richard. No last name, of course. Ai yi yi.
Now we're off to fight in the war, and lose the war, and the comment at the end is 'and (dog's full name) and (dog's full name) and Dick were all gone too.' Nice to see the order of importance there.
So I'm pretty solidly cringing at this now, and I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I'm being a little too touchy. So up pop Google to see what I can see.
Reader, it was worse. This is the 'revised' version. The first edition, that won the Caldecott? 'Tame' Indians in Minnesota. And the bit with the slave? 'When my father was very young he had two dogs and a colored boy' oh and it gets even better: 'The colored boy was just my father's age. He was a slave, but they didn't call him that. They just called him Dick.'
I have no words, gentle reader. No words.
Robert Lawson
ISBN: 0670699497
1941 Caldecott Award Winner
Read February 4, 3013
Fair warning, I don't always agree with the Caldecotts, and sometimes I violently disagree. I think a great value of children's materials is that they are accessible to, and interesting to, children. Not interesting to adults, not necessarily artistically or stylistically fascinating or innovative. Soapbox, I know. Sorry.
Anyway, with that background, I don't actively look up all the past Caldecotts and Newberys to check out. If they are attractive to me, I'll see them on the shelf and pull them out (Hugo Cabret, Creepy Carrots, I'm looking at you). If they aren't attractive to me, then I have a neverending pile of books, a legal pad full of lists of books, and a limited lifespan.
So here is this early winner, showing up on my desk to be checked for condition. I figure, oh hell, professional development, right? So I start reading it. It's a little weird, a set of short-bit dry family stories, and then we get to the first twinge: lazy, thieving, disreputable Indians in Minnesota. Also, judging by the engraving, black 'Mammys' were in Minnesotta. Ok, that's a little twitchy, but it was the forties. Moving on. Grandparents again, nothing much here... Oh. Oh dear. 'When my father was very young he had a Negro slave.' Oh? That's... lovely. The kicker? His father also had two dogs, which have full Roman names. The slave? Just Dick. Not even Richard. No last name, of course. Ai yi yi.
Now we're off to fight in the war, and lose the war, and the comment at the end is 'and (dog's full name) and (dog's full name) and Dick were all gone too.' Nice to see the order of importance there.
So I'm pretty solidly cringing at this now, and I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I'm being a little too touchy. So up pop Google to see what I can see.
Reader, it was worse. This is the 'revised' version. The first edition, that won the Caldecott? 'Tame' Indians in Minnesota. And the bit with the slave? 'When my father was very young he had two dogs and a colored boy' oh and it gets even better: 'The colored boy was just my father's age. He was a slave, but they didn't call him that. They just called him Dick.'
I have no words, gentle reader. No words.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Short Reviews: March 2013: Ashton Place Series, Pretty-Girl 13, Orleans, Freaks
Freaks, Kieran
Larwood. ISBN: 978-0545474245March 2013
Sheba is a wolf-girl raised as a side-show freak, and bought to join a troupe in London, joining a Strongman, a women with a strange connection to her rats, a monkey boy, and a mysterious ninja girl with cat eyes. When a mudlark sneaks into the show, Sheba realizes life could always be worse. Then the mudlark vanishes, and the poor desparate parents turn to the Freaks for help, or vengeance. Set around the Great Exhibition. Creepy villainess.
Orleans, Sherri L. Smith. ISBN: 978-0399252945
March 2013
YA virus/illness dystopia. Fen lives in the quarantined former American states of Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. She, like most other residents, suffers from an unspecified Fever that impacts different blood types differently. Mainly an extended chase-escape narrative as Fen tries desperately to rescue an infant (an amazingly durable infant) from the hell she calls home.
Pretty Girl-13, Liz Coley. ISBN: 978-0062127372
March 2013
YA psychological thriller. Angie is kidnapped at age 13, and blocks the whole multi-year experience. Relies heavily on psychobabble about DID/multiple personality syndrome. Overly simplistic and lighthearted for a very complicated and traumatic real-life subject matter.
The Incorrigible Childern of Ashton Place, Maryrose Wood (series in progress)
The Mysterious Howling (ISBN: 978-0061791055) read 2010
The Hidden Gallery (ISBN: 978-0061791123) read 2011
The Unseen Guest (ISBN: 978-0061791185) read Spring 2013
Juv "manners" fiction, leaning fantastical. Brilliant. For everyone who likes the wordplay of Snicket but needs something a little less depressing. Werewolves and feral children and governesses with copper hair and mysterious pasts. Did I mention it was brilliant?
Sheba is a wolf-girl raised as a side-show freak, and bought to join a troupe in London, joining a Strongman, a women with a strange connection to her rats, a monkey boy, and a mysterious ninja girl with cat eyes. When a mudlark sneaks into the show, Sheba realizes life could always be worse. Then the mudlark vanishes, and the poor desparate parents turn to the Freaks for help, or vengeance. Set around the Great Exhibition. Creepy villainess.
Orleans, Sherri L. Smith. ISBN: 978-0399252945
March 2013
YA virus/illness dystopia. Fen lives in the quarantined former American states of Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. She, like most other residents, suffers from an unspecified Fever that impacts different blood types differently. Mainly an extended chase-escape narrative as Fen tries desperately to rescue an infant (an amazingly durable infant) from the hell she calls home.
Pretty Girl-13, Liz Coley. ISBN: 978-0062127372
March 2013
YA psychological thriller. Angie is kidnapped at age 13, and blocks the whole multi-year experience. Relies heavily on psychobabble about DID/multiple personality syndrome. Overly simplistic and lighthearted for a very complicated and traumatic real-life subject matter.
The Incorrigible Childern of Ashton Place, Maryrose Wood (series in progress)
The Mysterious Howling (ISBN: 978-0061791055) read 2010
The Hidden Gallery (ISBN: 978-0061791123) read 2011
The Unseen Guest (ISBN: 978-0061791185) read Spring 2013
Juv "manners" fiction, leaning fantastical. Brilliant. For everyone who likes the wordplay of Snicket but needs something a little less depressing. Werewolves and feral children and governesses with copper hair and mysterious pasts. Did I mention it was brilliant?
Friday, October 18, 2013
Molly Bannaky, Alice McGill, Chris K. Soentpiet
Molly Bannaky, Alice McGill, illus Chris K. Soentpiet. ISBN: 039572287X
I'd love to see these paintings re-purposed into a
short chapter-book rendition of the story of these Americans, similar to
the classic illustrated Robin Hood or Robinson Crusoe. I think that
the extra time and space to TELL the story in a more full and rich
manner will then make the occasional beautiful artworks pop out even
more. As it is, it's beautiful, but not very interesting, which is
impressive, given the subjects.
Read Oct 4, 2013
Oversized picture book - oil paintings.
The
illustrations in this book deserve a better-told story than what they
are currently paired with. McGill gives us the bare-bones, "just the
facts, ma'am" with no feelings or interpretation or evocation of mood -
leaving all that for the illustrations to carry. And they do a great
job, considering they've got to handle a slave-purchase, illegal
marriage and kids, and then death, all within the space of three or four
page-spreads.
The cover painting is arresting, and the interior
work does not disappoint, but the flat writing really does the story and
the artist a disservice. A short biographical and historical note at
the end does more to liven up the tale than the actual text does!
Big Jabe, Jerdine Nolen, Kadir Nelson
Big Jabe, Jerdine Nolen, illus by Kadir Nelson. ISBN: 0688136621
Read Oct 2, 2013
Picture
Book: Plantation South slaves are delighted with Big Jabe, a tall-tale
man who does all their work for them, and might have something to do
with mysteriously spiriting them away when they're tormented by the
overseer.
Abby loves to fish, but she never thought she'd fish
a great big boy out of the river! Big Jabe grows fast - from one day
to the next he's a grown man! The pear tree he plants likewise grows
quick - before a full season is gone, it's full-grown and heavy with
fruit. He can pick the entire cotton harvest in one morning, and the
plantation itself seems blessed with enormous yields.
But woe betide them all if someone gets beaten -
tornadoes swirl down, and torrential rain falls; and afterwards,
someone's always gone missing! No scent to follow, no trace of them
anywhere, and Big Jabe's always around, working hard and helping
everyone out.
By the end, Addy herself is suspected of magic, and
both her and Big Jabe vanish like the mist - on to another place to help
out and rescue the unfortunate.
Kadir Nelson
is an amazing illustrator, and this story has all the tone and cadence
of a sermon, without the preachy parts. Nice to pair with John Henry
for another great black folk figure, or with the original story of
Moses.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Wagon Wheels, Barbara Brenner & Don Bolognese
Wagon Wheels, Barbara Brenner, illus Don Bolognese. ISBN: 9780064440523
Read Sept 30, 2013
Read Sept 30, 2013
Juv "I Can Read" book, African-American pioneers, Native Americans
Really excellent summary of the adventures of the Muldie boys, who moved
to Nicodemus, Kansas (a black settlement) as pioneers, and then lived
alone at ages 11, 8, and 3 while their father staked out a claim about
150 miles further west. Then, as the kicker, they're summoned by post
with short directions, and travel the entire way themselves to get to
their new home!!
A sub-plot near the beginning focuses on the
kindness of the Native Americans to the settlement when they were
starving during a harsh winter. Another deals with prairie fires.
Very short and direct (for beginning readers) but interesting plot and
good pacing. Compare with the Little House books or the (expurgated)
Sadie Rose books.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Dancing in the Wings, Debbie Allen, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Sassy is tall. She has long gangly legs, and huge feet. She's also a ballerina, and quite proud of her height - mostly. Her brother teases her about it, but she gives as good as she gets, and keeps on working hard at her dancing.
Still, being tallest is not the greatest thing - her ballet teacher stumbles over Sassy's feet, she can't dance partner work because she's taller than all the boys, and she can't even dance in ensemble with the other girls because she's too tall to fit in.
When a famous Russian instructor offers try-outs for a summer dance festival in DC, she's excited and proudly signs up to audition, but the snickers and cracks from her fellow dancers, and from her brother, finally get to her. Maybe she is too tall and gangly? Maybe her feet are too big? Maybe - maybe it would be safer just not to try out at all...?
A pep talk from a favorite uncle cheers her up and gets her confidence back up to par, and she attends the audition in her brightest yellow leotard, determined to be noticed, and to do her best.
I love this story. I've read it before, and I liked it then, too. I'll never be a ballerina (I'm pigeon-toed with weird hips) but I am pretty tall for a girl - 5'10" in my bare feet. I'm married to a lovely guy who happens to be 6'6". His sisters all break the 6' mark. We were all swimmers, and we all have legs that practically reach our armpits.
I'm gonna have me some tall kids eventually, I just know it. Books like this one are perfect for me to keep in mind when they get a little older, because kids (and adults) can be really cruel about physical differences. It takes a lot of repetition for someone who's always singled out for being different to realize that sometimes different can be really really good! All it takes is one look at that picture of Sassy in her bright yellow, head bowed in disappointment (temporary) with those looooong skinny legs, and I know right where she's coming from. This book is a keeper.
Still, being tallest is not the greatest thing - her ballet teacher stumbles over Sassy's feet, she can't dance partner work because she's taller than all the boys, and she can't even dance in ensemble with the other girls because she's too tall to fit in.
When a famous Russian instructor offers try-outs for a summer dance festival in DC, she's excited and proudly signs up to audition, but the snickers and cracks from her fellow dancers, and from her brother, finally get to her. Maybe she is too tall and gangly? Maybe her feet are too big? Maybe - maybe it would be safer just not to try out at all...?
A pep talk from a favorite uncle cheers her up and gets her confidence back up to par, and she attends the audition in her brightest yellow leotard, determined to be noticed, and to do her best.
I love this story. I've read it before, and I liked it then, too. I'll never be a ballerina (I'm pigeon-toed with weird hips) but I am pretty tall for a girl - 5'10" in my bare feet. I'm married to a lovely guy who happens to be 6'6". His sisters all break the 6' mark. We were all swimmers, and we all have legs that practically reach our armpits.
I'm gonna have me some tall kids eventually, I just know it. Books like this one are perfect for me to keep in mind when they get a little older, because kids (and adults) can be really cruel about physical differences. It takes a lot of repetition for someone who's always singled out for being different to realize that sometimes different can be really really good! All it takes is one look at that picture of Sassy in her bright yellow, head bowed in disappointment (temporary) with those looooong skinny legs, and I know right where she's coming from. This book is a keeper.
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