Rodent Rascals by Roxie Munro

Rodent Rascals instantly captures attention with a cover showcasing a trio of adorable little critters. The subtext reveals that this picture book contains a selection of astonishing facts about some relatively small mammals, all of them rodents. I could reasonably  identify the hamster and the gerbil featured on the cover. However, I wondered about the creature with humongous protruding eyes, strangely long tail, and folded legs which appear longer that its entire body? I puzzled: What is that animal?  I wanted to find out more. ​ I was also captivated by the "actual size" concept. How would Roxie Munro illustrate a book of animals showing true-to-life dimensions within a book approximately 10 1/4 inches wide? I imagined all kinds of possibilities. ​I couldn't wait to discover how she accomplishes this feat.

Readers will want to spend time poring over these pages. Munro manages to give each animal a distinct charm and character without sacrificing anatomical accuracy. For readers like me who have lived a life filled with hamsters and guinea pigs, this book will bring fond memories. The guinea pig has an uncanny resemblance to a class pet named Daphne. I could almost hear her sweet little squeak. For those who have are fascinated by flying squirrels and naked mole rats, this is the book for you. Rodent Rascals is a novel and engaging way to approach nonfiction.

Shaka Rising: A Legend of the Warrior Prince
by Luke W. Molver & Mason O'Conner
Forward by Mbongeni Malaba, Ph.D. 

Shaka Rising: A Legend of the Warrior Prince by Luke W. Molver and Mason O'Connor introduces readers to the early life and ascent to power of the founder of the Zulu Kingdom.  Shaka was born in the 18th century, during the American Revolution and French Revolution. At that time small clans dotted the continent, vying for supremacy. Some chiefs sold conquered individuals to slave traders. With this practice, the southeast coast became "a wound” on Africa’s coastline.   Shaka temporarily left the Zulu clan to serve as an army commander under the tutelage of King Dingiswayo. Through victorious battles and strategic planning, he defeated his competition and united the warring factions to create the Kingdom of the Zulu. African society and Shaka receive even-handed treatment. Throughout the narrative, heroic feats contrast with glaring character flaws. This balance adds credibility to the account. Note:  I'm still hurting over Shaka's insistence, despite her objections, that his sister must marry for political gain.

Several interesting visual devices bring the story to life. Setting the story within the context of a storyteller relating the legend to a group gathered around a fire is an excellent way to reinforce the importance of the African oral tradition.  Hand and facial close-ups inset within the context of sweeping visual backgrounds highlight both the overall result, as well as the personal impact of key events. During intense battle scenes panels depart from the rectangular shape with diagonal frames. Mbongeni Malaba's Forward places the story in context and provides the legend's academic foundation.  An illustrated "cast of characters" is helpful in identifying key individuals.

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi

As she did in The Secret Sky, Atia Abawi creates a compelling portrait of a young Arab living in the complex world of Western Asia.  A Land of Permanent Goodbyes paints in vivid detail the story of Tareq. When a bomb strikes his Syrian city, he is forced to flee with his surviving father and four-year-old sister. They travel through Syria to Turkey, then across the treacherous Aegean Sea to Greece. Members of this shattered family are separated only to be reunited several times, suffer deprivation, and struggle with unrelenting fear.  Destiny is an omniscient narrator, sometimes recalling the past or foretelling events in the future.  This voice occasionally breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience, usually to comment or editorialize. The introductory pages of the story include interesting time shifts, featuring Tareq's jarring flashbacks as he recalls gruesome details from his young life.

Details Details 

​The bigger the issue, the smaller you write. Remember that. You don’t write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid’s burnt socks lying on the road. You pick the smallest manageable part of the big thing, and you work off the resonance.  Richard Price

Reading about Tragic Events

Companion Books

Refugee by Alan Gratz

Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees by Mary Beth Leatherdale

Escape from Aleppo by N. H. Senzai

Wild Swans by Xanthe Gresham Knight ill by Charlotte Gastaut

​Some tales get lost over time. They fall through the cracks of pavements or are washed out into the ocean. But some child, playing on the street or digging in the sand, will catch sight of a story gleaming like a chip of old china or lost silver. They will pick it up, hold it to the light and never rest until they have experienced every moment. Perhaps you are one such child.

And thus it begins. In the hands of a skilled storyteller, Wild Swans weaves its magic with lustrous words and images. The King of the North was blessed with eleven sons and one daughter Eliza. A plague swept through the land, taking the lives of many, including his wife. The king remarries a woman who possess powerful skills of healing and magic. She sends the brothers away to teach them about the world, as well as protect them from the plague. Casting a spell upon the boys, they become swans by day, human at night. Eliza grows up, far from the plague-riddled kingdom, learning to spin and knit. When she receives word that her father and stepmother have succumbed to the plague, she goes in search of her brothers. Eliza learns that she can reverse the stepmother’s enchantment by gathering nettles, spinning the prickly fibers into yarn and knitting a tunic for each boy. Time runs out. She completes all but the sleeve of the eleventh tunic. Tossing a tunic upon each swan, the boys permanently become human. One brother retains a white wing, due to the missing sleeve. The princes return to rule the eleven kingdoms of the north. Eliza is crowned Queen  and rules over all.

Meet Xanthe Gresham Knight

Introducing Charlotte Gastaut

Charlotte Gastaut is a talented French artist. Her work includes an extensive variety of projects. In addition to book illustration she has been commissioned by companies such as Godiva to create product packaging.   Her work has also been embraced by the fashion world.  Some of her illustrations were reproduced on dresses of Maison Fendi, for a fashion show at Rome's Trevi Fountain. The collection was designed by Karl Lagerfeld. Gorgeous design. Sumptuous art.

Voices from the Underground Railroad
​by Kay Winters ill by Larry Day

Young Jeb knows that the time has come. He and his sister Mattie must keep the promise that they made to their mother and depart from Maryland, leaving the only life they know and traveling north in search of freedom. Jeb, hired as a blacksmith, and Mattie, a house slave, vow to remain together as they plot their escape from an impending slave auction. Under cover of night the pair find sanctuary in safe houses and eventually board a steamship headed for New Bedford, where their older brother Ben resides. Voices from the Underground Railroad is told through alternating voices of: Jeb, Mattie, conductors who offer protection, slave catchers, and an irate master and his wife. Each unique narrative is a personal perspective. The compelling points of view would make an excellent Readers Theater. ​Kay Winters includes a wealth of additional information: end papers featuring a map of the children's route from Maryland to Massachusetts, Historical Notes, Author's Note, and References.

Art created by Larry Day brings emotions to the forefront with expressive faces. Uncertainty, fear, smoldering hostility, rage, and ultimately joy illuminate the text. I was particularly drawn to images of the two siblings. Mattie reaches out to Jeb and he takes her hands, guiding her into a boat and later assisting her in boarding a train. I love these reminders of mutual trust. The charming little string of ducks, waddling across the acknowledgement page echo the theme of a family journey. Nice touch Mr. Day!

Blacksmith's Song
Elizabeth Van Steenwyk ill by Anna Rich

Elizabeth Van Steenwyk imagines a skillful blacksmith, using his hammer to tap out coded messages for enslaved people waiting and hoping for the opportunity to escape a life of servitude. Those attempting to flee from the evils of slavery are determined to head for freedom. Their flight is aided by brave people of conscience known as conductors. Because assisting escaped slaves is illegal, communicating and helping slaves with travel and shelter was of necessity a carefully guarded secret. Hence the need for coded messages. Blacksmith's Song rings with a fierce determination.

Bonus: Meet Master Ironworker Philip Simmons

Life is an Adventure

​The Royal Rabbits of London
by Santa Montefiore & Simon Sebag Montefiore
ill by Kate Hindley

Meet Shylo Tawny-Tail, a scrawny, shy little country rabbit who resides with his family in a burrow at the edge of the forest. Compelled to wear a patch over one eye to correct his vision, Shylo, also known as bunkin, is the object of his siblings' constant barrage of teasing and taunts. One day he spies a trio of "big, greasy, menacing rats" and listens in on their plot to infiltrate Buckingham Palace and take a compromising photo of the queen. Gathering up all his courage and aided by important information from a wise old rabbit recluse, Shylo sets off on a seemingly impossible task. His journey takes him to The Royal Rabbits of London, a select society of Rabbits of the Round Table, sworn to serve the Royal Family of England. Summoning courage he didn't realize he possessed, he manages to outwit the rats, escape the jaws of a pack of the Queen's beloved corgis, and save the honor of the Queen.

The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters:
​The Uncanny Express
by Kara LaReau  ill by Jen Hill

After a harrowing adventure aboard a pirate ship, one would think that Bland sisters Jaundice and Kale would settle into a quiet life in Dullsville, resuming their daily routine of tying knots, cleaning the bathroom and darning socks. Until...They receive a letter announcing that Aunt Shallot is coming to town and that they are to meet her at the Dullsville depot. They learn that this meeting will involve more than a simple hello. Much more. Our reluctant heroines find themselves passengers on the Uncanny Express, headed for Uncanny Valley. They have been conscripted to serve as magician's assistants to Magique. She is planning a comeback performance which she hopes will return her to her former glory as a great magician. But things take a strange turn when Magique goes missing. ​ ​

The Art and Craft of Bethan Woolvin

Here she is: handmade by the book’s creator and featuring a fringe of bangs peeking out from that bright red hood.

Check this out: Our girl is glancing at a copy of the book with her trademark side-eye.

"but not this little girl" is ready to charm young Texans with her bravado.  She should readily relate to the state motto "Don't Mess with Texas".

Thank you, Bethan for sending this handmade Little Red doll. A group of young readers are about meet one amazing book character.

Meet Bethan Woolvin

"Bethan Woollvin won the Macmillan Prize for Illustration in 2014 for Little Red – her classy, bold interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood. It was a startlingly confident debut which she followed with an equally striking and feminist take on Rapunzel, with not a handsome prince in sight. The eldest in a family of ten children, Bethan understands well what appeals to a variety of age groups, and all her work exudes a natural dry wit and charm. She graduated from Anglia Ruskin University with a First Class Degree in Illustration in 2015 and now lives in Sheffield."   Panmacmillan

That's Funny!

Bonus

If you are a fan of Little Red, her latest picture book Rapunzel is now available. Hurry to your nearest bookstore and order a copy of Rapunzel, then scurry off to your local library and request a copy for the library collection. You won't regret owning the work of this imaginative artist.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Ah, the stuff that fairytales are made of: a handsome young prince, overbearing parents who seek to marry off the heir to the throne, a glittering ballroom filled with all manner of royalty, and a shy young commoner with a heart of gold. ​But wait. Things take an unexpected turn. The prince, it seems, enjoys wearing gorgeous gowns. He covertly employs Frances, a lowly young dressmaker with a flair for the spectacular to create custom creations for him. When she learns the identity of her employer, the dressmaker is nonplussed and continues her work, making stunning works of couture for her client. Eventually his private passion for dazzling attire becomes public and his parents must come to terms with this aspect of their son's identity. Wang injects a humorous conclusion at the story’s reveal that is fanciful and immensely satisfying. Cross-dressing is only one aspect of The Prince and the Dressmaker story line. For me, the development of the relationship between the prince and the dressmaker is at its heart.

Let's talk Coulture

Wait... There is More to Love

I finished reading the fairytale romance with a satisfied sigh and turned what I assumed was the final page. Not so. Wang gives the readers a glimpse into her process. The bonus material is instructive and inspirational. She describes in detail the tools that she uses. A step-by -step guide chronicles her approach as well as offering a glimpse into her decision-making thinking. This peek into the method used to spin the story’s magic is a superlative bonus. Thanks Jen for this most excellent back matter.