The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S. Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis
Elizabeth Letts
ISBN: 9780345544803
Read September 2016
So the title is a bit misleading, because honestly the US didn't know (or didn't care) about European stallions during the course of the war, and even through the course of this book. They don't even appear in the narrative until half-way in, and that's just to track the beginnings and development of the characters for when they DO become important, which is at the last minute (insert "typical American" joke here).
So this is the real sub-title: How Devoted People from LOTS of Countries Saved Really Expensive Horses During the Last Days of the War.
So: Why is this important? Did you know that Hitler wanted to apply eugenics to horses, so he got the civilian manager of the German-hosted Olympics to start a horse-breeding program, which he did mostly by stealing the Arabian and Lipizzaner horses from neighbors as they were conquered. Horse-loving people in several places all worked furiously behind the scenes to keep the welfare of the horses in mind as the horrible war took place and people's minds were generally on more important global issues, until one week, right at the end of the war, when everything fell into place for the US to basically steal the stolen horses, and try to get any of them back to their proper owners and countries of origin (which we didn't do very well, but it was only partly because we were selfish and wanted them for ourselves).
Very well written, interesting cast of characters, and a really interesting read - right up until the end, when all the narrative drive just dies a slow whimpering death as people lost track of the horses which had been so important up until then, and leaves the story to end with only two of the now-American horses' fates actually known. How sad that was.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Baby Animals
The only difficulty I have with this type of theme is that it makes it more difficult to have a coloring sheet that goes along with the theme - in those cases I have a collection of general "storytime" or "book" themed coloring sheets that I use instead.
Baby Bear Counts One
Ashley Wolff
ISBN: 9781442441583
Very detailed woodcut-style art, very dark and vibrant and detailed.
Baby bear and Mama bear are walking through the autumn woods and Baby counts various animals as they prepare for winter by stocking up or migrating away. A good mesh of naturalistic (the artwork and the matter-of-fact descriptions of the animals' various activities) and fanciful (the conceit of Baby and Mama talking). Very nice, but a smidge on the long side. I actually read Bunnies!!! first, and I regret it, because this one was longer in reading than it ran when I previewed it, and we had VERY squirmy audience today. It would have flowed much better in the top billing, which is why I'm listing it here as such.
Bunnies!!!
Kevan Atteberry
ISBN: 9780062307835
A sweet-faced monster is quite excited by a family of pastel bunnies, but they keep running away!
The art here is notable specifically for the quality of the emotional content conveyed with very little text and minimalistic art style. It's really delightful to watch the kids respond as the little sweet monster gets more and more discouraged by the bunnies who keep running from his over-excited advances. The twist ending manages to be sweet and to draw a chuckle from both parents and the older (or genre savvy) kids who realize what's about to happen again.
Hush, Little Horsie
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Ruth Sanderson
ISBN: 9780375858536
Beautiful restful spreads and vignettes of pairs of dams and foals in various environments.
I love this book. It's sweet and calming and restful, and the catch at the ending is very well done - a parent reading to her horse-mad small child, putting them to bed. The rhymes are VERY repetitive, but I don't even care - they're pretty and calming, and just different enough to flow beautifully from one horse family to another. I do wish there was at least one horse father or grandparent present, but that could be easily altered by a quick-thinking reader. Beautiful and quite short on the read, which made it a delightful positive finish for our overactive audience today.
Baby Bear Counts One
Ashley Wolff
ISBN: 9781442441583
Very detailed woodcut-style art, very dark and vibrant and detailed.
Baby bear and Mama bear are walking through the autumn woods and Baby counts various animals as they prepare for winter by stocking up or migrating away. A good mesh of naturalistic (the artwork and the matter-of-fact descriptions of the animals' various activities) and fanciful (the conceit of Baby and Mama talking). Very nice, but a smidge on the long side. I actually read Bunnies!!! first, and I regret it, because this one was longer in reading than it ran when I previewed it, and we had VERY squirmy audience today. It would have flowed much better in the top billing, which is why I'm listing it here as such.
Bunnies!!!
Kevan Atteberry
ISBN: 9780062307835
A sweet-faced monster is quite excited by a family of pastel bunnies, but they keep running away!
The art here is notable specifically for the quality of the emotional content conveyed with very little text and minimalistic art style. It's really delightful to watch the kids respond as the little sweet monster gets more and more discouraged by the bunnies who keep running from his over-excited advances. The twist ending manages to be sweet and to draw a chuckle from both parents and the older (or genre savvy) kids who realize what's about to happen again.
Hush, Little Horsie
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Ruth Sanderson
ISBN: 9780375858536
Beautiful restful spreads and vignettes of pairs of dams and foals in various environments.
I love this book. It's sweet and calming and restful, and the catch at the ending is very well done - a parent reading to her horse-mad small child, putting them to bed. The rhymes are VERY repetitive, but I don't even care - they're pretty and calming, and just different enough to flow beautifully from one horse family to another. I do wish there was at least one horse father or grandparent present, but that could be easily altered by a quick-thinking reader. Beautiful and quite short on the read, which made it a delightful positive finish for our overactive audience today.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Graphic Novel: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 3, Ryan North & Erica Henderson
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol 3
collecting issues 1-6 of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and a crossover issue of Howard the Duck #6 (Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is re-numbered after Marvel "event" of 2016, following the previous set of 1-8 & specials reviewed here.)
Writer: Ryan North
Howard the Duck Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Erica Henderson
Color Art: Rico Renzi
Trading Card Art: Joe Morris, Matt Digges, David Robins, Chip Zdarsky, & Doc Shaner
Van Art (I swear this is a thing that actually exists in this collection, and the van is awesome): Joe Quinones
Letters: VC's Clayton Cowles & Travis Lanham
ISBN: 9780785196266
Read August/September 2016
The continuing adventures of Squirrel Girl continue! Everything I loved about it before, I still love, and the sweet and fun tone is delightful and refreshing in a lot of grimdark surroundings. Excellent stories, even more excellent characters (although I thought that Chipmunk Hunk and Koi Boy (Boi?) were sadly neglected this time through) and just so much joyous fun from time-traveling start to "the great hunt" of the finish. Even beyond the stories themselves, the collection includes the little aside notes on the bottoms of the pages, the in-jokes between authors and artists, and the lovely letters from fans (real or imagined, but I think mostly real - judging by the cosplay pictures). All of that just adds a lovely layer of fun metafrosting to the nutty cake.
collecting issues 1-6 of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and a crossover issue of Howard the Duck #6 (Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is re-numbered after Marvel "event" of 2016, following the previous set of 1-8 & specials reviewed here.)
Writer: Ryan North
Howard the Duck Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Erica Henderson
Color Art: Rico Renzi
Trading Card Art: Joe Morris, Matt Digges, David Robins, Chip Zdarsky, & Doc Shaner
Van Art (I swear this is a thing that actually exists in this collection, and the van is awesome): Joe Quinones
Letters: VC's Clayton Cowles & Travis Lanham
ISBN: 9780785196266
Read August/September 2016
The continuing adventures of Squirrel Girl continue! Everything I loved about it before, I still love, and the sweet and fun tone is delightful and refreshing in a lot of grimdark surroundings. Excellent stories, even more excellent characters (although I thought that Chipmunk Hunk and Koi Boy (Boi?) were sadly neglected this time through) and just so much joyous fun from time-traveling start to "the great hunt" of the finish. Even beyond the stories themselves, the collection includes the little aside notes on the bottoms of the pages, the in-jokes between authors and artists, and the lovely letters from fans (real or imagined, but I think mostly real - judging by the cosplay pictures). All of that just adds a lovely layer of fun metafrosting to the nutty cake.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Dancing
Three really lovely dancing books today.
Flora and the Flamingo
Molly Idle
ISBN: 9781452110066
Wordless lift-the-flap book with a double-page unfolding spread. Beautiful illustrations.
This one really had to have been amazing to make it past the usual storytime hurdles. It's a wordless picture book, AND it has lift-the-flaps on quite a few of the pages (AND a big double-spread fold-out section at the end) so you know it has to be really cute or really amazing to get past all that. And it is! Both. Cute. And amazing. Flora is a dancer, and as far as I can tell, she's at the zoo. Maybe she's dreaming, or she has a pet flamingo, because there's really nothing in the way of backgrounds to let us know one way or the other, and I find that it doesn't really matter. Either way, Flora is a dancer, and she's wearing black swim flippers (to look like the flamingo's feet? Because she likes wearing swim flippers? Again, not important.) and a swimming cap, and she and the flamingo are DANCING. TOGETHER. It's beautiful, and the proportions are delightful and the matching movements with the very different bodies are just so sweet and the little bits of story that unfold through mirrored movements and poses and facial expressions are just delightful. It really is just lovely. I love Molly Idle's books so much.
Wiggle
Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Scott Menchin
ISBN: 1599610930
American-cartoon style dog leads an interactive-inviting story through a day of wiggles.
"Do you wiggle out of bed? If you wiggle with your breakfast, it might wind up on your head." These are the important questions in life, and ones that invite the audience to wiggle right along with the irrepressible dog star in this book. There's not much substance, and it's awfully quick, but for a short middle book and short toddler attention-spans? The wiggly content and the fast pace make it perfect. This one also got the rare award of actual toddler laughter. Adults tend to chuckle quite a lot in my storytimes, but I don't often feature stories that hit the little ones' funny bones. This one was a rare exception, and it was a smash hit. Prepare to follow this with a song or an activity that lets those wiggles free!
How Do You Wokka-Wokka?
Elizabeth Bluemle, illustrated by Randy Cecil
ISBN: 9780763632281
A diverse inner-city sidewalk is home to a variety of dance styles told with wokka rhymes.
Wokka-wokka is how the first kid dances, and they go along the sidewalk and ask a lot of others how they dance too - and the answers are as varied as the kids encountered. We get flamingo dances (how appropriate!) and mariachi dances, and breakdancing (dancing like a clock), and the worm (fish-flop dancing), and by the end of the book, the whole neighborhood is dancing all together in their different ways, all having a great time with the repeated rhyme chorus.
Flora and the Flamingo
Molly Idle
ISBN: 9781452110066
Wordless lift-the-flap book with a double-page unfolding spread. Beautiful illustrations.
This one really had to have been amazing to make it past the usual storytime hurdles. It's a wordless picture book, AND it has lift-the-flaps on quite a few of the pages (AND a big double-spread fold-out section at the end) so you know it has to be really cute or really amazing to get past all that. And it is! Both. Cute. And amazing. Flora is a dancer, and as far as I can tell, she's at the zoo. Maybe she's dreaming, or she has a pet flamingo, because there's really nothing in the way of backgrounds to let us know one way or the other, and I find that it doesn't really matter. Either way, Flora is a dancer, and she's wearing black swim flippers (to look like the flamingo's feet? Because she likes wearing swim flippers? Again, not important.) and a swimming cap, and she and the flamingo are DANCING. TOGETHER. It's beautiful, and the proportions are delightful and the matching movements with the very different bodies are just so sweet and the little bits of story that unfold through mirrored movements and poses and facial expressions are just delightful. It really is just lovely. I love Molly Idle's books so much.
Wiggle
Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Scott Menchin
ISBN: 1599610930
American-cartoon style dog leads an interactive-inviting story through a day of wiggles.
"Do you wiggle out of bed? If you wiggle with your breakfast, it might wind up on your head." These are the important questions in life, and ones that invite the audience to wiggle right along with the irrepressible dog star in this book. There's not much substance, and it's awfully quick, but for a short middle book and short toddler attention-spans? The wiggly content and the fast pace make it perfect. This one also got the rare award of actual toddler laughter. Adults tend to chuckle quite a lot in my storytimes, but I don't often feature stories that hit the little ones' funny bones. This one was a rare exception, and it was a smash hit. Prepare to follow this with a song or an activity that lets those wiggles free!
How Do You Wokka-Wokka?
Elizabeth Bluemle, illustrated by Randy Cecil
ISBN: 9780763632281
A diverse inner-city sidewalk is home to a variety of dance styles told with wokka rhymes.
Wokka-wokka is how the first kid dances, and they go along the sidewalk and ask a lot of others how they dance too - and the answers are as varied as the kids encountered. We get flamingo dances (how appropriate!) and mariachi dances, and breakdancing (dancing like a clock), and the worm (fish-flop dancing), and by the end of the book, the whole neighborhood is dancing all together in their different ways, all having a great time with the repeated rhyme chorus.
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Cars and Trucks
I was on vacation this week, so I left a nice simple bouncy storytime program for my replacement to run. I always feel so bad when I miss, partly because I really enjoy storytime and seeing the kids every week, but also because I feel honor-bound to leave a good program behind, so it often has really good stories that I wish I were reading myself!
Big Truck and Little Truck
Jan Carr, illustrated by Ivan Bates
ISBN: 0439071771
Dreamy pastel-bright watercolors of a little truck stretching to meet the requirements of a big-truck job.
Big Truck has been teaching Little Truck for a long time, and they do all the jobs together: go to the market, pull things out of ditches, haul veggies and compost, and everything else needed on the farm. But when Big Truck has to go to the shop for a while, can Little Truck manage everything alone for the first time? Sweet, satisfying, and re-assuring, all while being "trucky" enough for the most die-hard enthusiast.
Calling All Cars (boardbook)
Sue Fliess, illustrated by Sarah Beise
ISBN: 9781492638360
Bright poppy "modern" cartoon illustrations of all sorts of cars.
This is like a modern-day short version of a Richard Scarry's "Things that Go" sort of book. It's cute and quick and fun, and very modern (in the "wow this is really going to be dated in a couple dozen years" sort of way) in the artistic sense. The narrative roughly follows the course of a day, but it really is just a rhyme as an excuse to illustrate a whole lot of cars and trucks.
Zoom! Zoom! Sounds of things that go in the city
Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Ted Carpenter
ISBN: 9781442483156
Retro-pop illustrations in quad-tones (blue, red, yellow, black) and a fun swinging rhyme structure.
Catchy rhymes, cute retro cityscapes and cars, and a fun lighthearted set of rhymes, with onomatopoeic highlight words on each spread. Each one has the focus on a different type of cityscape: a morning scene with trash trucks and busses, a highway under construction, a metro train, ambulances, ice-cream trucks... This one does have non-cars: bicycles, joggers, skateboards, etc, but it's still very vehicle-oriented, so I kept it, just because it's so pretty and fun.
Big Truck and Little Truck
Jan Carr, illustrated by Ivan Bates
ISBN: 0439071771
Dreamy pastel-bright watercolors of a little truck stretching to meet the requirements of a big-truck job.
Big Truck has been teaching Little Truck for a long time, and they do all the jobs together: go to the market, pull things out of ditches, haul veggies and compost, and everything else needed on the farm. But when Big Truck has to go to the shop for a while, can Little Truck manage everything alone for the first time? Sweet, satisfying, and re-assuring, all while being "trucky" enough for the most die-hard enthusiast.
Calling All Cars (boardbook)
Sue Fliess, illustrated by Sarah Beise
ISBN: 9781492638360
Bright poppy "modern" cartoon illustrations of all sorts of cars.
This is like a modern-day short version of a Richard Scarry's "Things that Go" sort of book. It's cute and quick and fun, and very modern (in the "wow this is really going to be dated in a couple dozen years" sort of way) in the artistic sense. The narrative roughly follows the course of a day, but it really is just a rhyme as an excuse to illustrate a whole lot of cars and trucks.
Zoom! Zoom! Sounds of things that go in the city
Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Ted Carpenter
ISBN: 9781442483156
Retro-pop illustrations in quad-tones (blue, red, yellow, black) and a fun swinging rhyme structure.
Catchy rhymes, cute retro cityscapes and cars, and a fun lighthearted set of rhymes, with onomatopoeic highlight words on each spread. Each one has the focus on a different type of cityscape: a morning scene with trash trucks and busses, a highway under construction, a metro train, ambulances, ice-cream trucks... This one does have non-cars: bicycles, joggers, skateboards, etc, but it's still very vehicle-oriented, so I kept it, just because it's so pretty and fun.
Monday, September 5, 2016
Tuesday Storytime: Haiku Trio
I had originally hoped to do all three about pets, but I wasn't quite able to manage it. Still, these three worked very well together, and it was a nice chance to incorporate some poetry into the storytime routine.
Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku
Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
ISBN: 9780805089950
Linear, edgy, almost comic-book art, with minimalist backgrounds.
Won-Ton is a shelter cat who's been adopted, and he's ready to tell us all about the process in a series of truly delightful haiku. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but this is my favorite book from this storytime, and probably one of my favorites in general. Wardlaw just does such a perfect job capturing the sly and superior tone of a cat, even in undignified moments, and Yelchin's lanky bony angular artwork is just perfect. I especially love the expressive eyes.
Hi, Koo! a year of seasons
Jon J. Muth
ISBN: 9780545166683
Koo is a panda bear (perhaps related to the panda Stillwater from the Zen books) and this is his year in unmetered haiku.
Unlike Won-Ton and Dogku, the haiku here are more free-form, with the understanding that syllable breaks in the original don't quite match up to what syllables represent in english. So some of these are quite short, and others are much more wordy than expected. Still, it's a beautiful and interesting way to represent time flowing in little snippets of verse. We start in autumn, which is a good fit for this time of year, and flow smoothly through to end at the height of summer. Quick, sweet and touching, but the illustrations don't quite manage to carry as much interest.
Dogku
Andrew Clements, illustrated by Tim Bowers
ISBN: 9780689858239
A dog sits on a doorstep, hoping for a home. Sweet painterly illustrations. Lots of color.
Like Won-Ton, we have a dog hoping for a forever home in this story. Unlike Won-Ton, this puppy has invited himself in, and it's a gamble as to whether he'll be allowed to stay. (Happy endings are not optional in my storytimes, so no worries there.) Great framing, a good progression through the day, and a nice "cliffhanger" for the little ones. I'm highly tempted to save this one for another storytime and match it up with Taxi Dog.
Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku
Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
ISBN: 9780805089950
Linear, edgy, almost comic-book art, with minimalist backgrounds.
Won-Ton is a shelter cat who's been adopted, and he's ready to tell us all about the process in a series of truly delightful haiku. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but this is my favorite book from this storytime, and probably one of my favorites in general. Wardlaw just does such a perfect job capturing the sly and superior tone of a cat, even in undignified moments, and Yelchin's lanky bony angular artwork is just perfect. I especially love the expressive eyes.
Hi, Koo! a year of seasons
Jon J. Muth
ISBN: 9780545166683
Koo is a panda bear (perhaps related to the panda Stillwater from the Zen books) and this is his year in unmetered haiku.
Unlike Won-Ton and Dogku, the haiku here are more free-form, with the understanding that syllable breaks in the original don't quite match up to what syllables represent in english. So some of these are quite short, and others are much more wordy than expected. Still, it's a beautiful and interesting way to represent time flowing in little snippets of verse. We start in autumn, which is a good fit for this time of year, and flow smoothly through to end at the height of summer. Quick, sweet and touching, but the illustrations don't quite manage to carry as much interest.
Dogku
Andrew Clements, illustrated by Tim Bowers
ISBN: 9780689858239
A dog sits on a doorstep, hoping for a home. Sweet painterly illustrations. Lots of color.
Like Won-Ton, we have a dog hoping for a forever home in this story. Unlike Won-Ton, this puppy has invited himself in, and it's a gamble as to whether he'll be allowed to stay. (Happy endings are not optional in my storytimes, so no worries there.) Great framing, a good progression through the day, and a nice "cliffhanger" for the little ones. I'm highly tempted to save this one for another storytime and match it up with Taxi Dog.
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Juv Nonfiction: A Smart Girl's Guide to Worry (American Girl) Judy Woodburn, Nancy Holyoke & Brenna Vaughan
A Smart Girl's Guide to Worry: how to feel less stressed and have more fun
American Girl nonfiction/advice books
Judy Woodburn and Nancy Holyoke, illustrated by Brenna Vaughan
ISBN: 9781609587451
Very specific and science-based (mostly CBT) techniques for conquering anxiety.
A very clear and straightforward advice book that focuses attention on the reality-warping aspects of worry and anxiety, and provides Cognitive-Behavioral-Therapy-based mental and physical techniques to counteract those negative impulses and move beyond fear-based thinking.
This isn't a match for a good therapist, but for your run-of-the-mill kiddo who is suddenly anxious about a particular subject or activity, or is growing awkward and walled-off as she grows older and feels less confident in herself, this is a great starting point, making it clear that everyone has to deal with worries, and while some people suffer more than others, there are techniques that will work over time to negate or quiet down those fearful or insecure thoughts.
Recommended.
American Girl nonfiction/advice books
Judy Woodburn and Nancy Holyoke, illustrated by Brenna Vaughan
ISBN: 9781609587451
Very specific and science-based (mostly CBT) techniques for conquering anxiety.
A very clear and straightforward advice book that focuses attention on the reality-warping aspects of worry and anxiety, and provides Cognitive-Behavioral-Therapy-based mental and physical techniques to counteract those negative impulses and move beyond fear-based thinking.
This isn't a match for a good therapist, but for your run-of-the-mill kiddo who is suddenly anxious about a particular subject or activity, or is growing awkward and walled-off as she grows older and feels less confident in herself, this is a great starting point, making it clear that everyone has to deal with worries, and while some people suffer more than others, there are techniques that will work over time to negate or quiet down those fearful or insecure thoughts.
Recommended.
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