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Kindergarten Kingdom

6/25/2019

The King of Kindergarten
by Derrick Barnes ill by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Hold your head high and greet everyone with a brilliant, beaming, majestic smile.
For you are the King of Kindergarten

Leaving the security of home and family to attend school can be a daunting event in the life of a five-year-old. That's not the case for this kid.

The King of Kindergarten features a youngster who is capable and confident. He awakes early for his first day of school, washing up and dressing himself. Well, almost. Shirt, overalls, socks. No problem. However tying shoelaces has yet to be mastered. Anyone who has worked with five-somethings will appreciate this visual detail.

With preparation and encouragement from his parents, this guy is ready for the day's challenge! He's got a bright smile, has practiced saying his name, is ready to give a friendly wave, and even brought a chocolate pudding cup to share.

Barnes gives immediacy to the narrative, writing in second person future tense. Parents describe to their son not only what will happen when he goes to school, but offer suggestions on how he can respond in each new situation.

Brantley-Newton's illustrations are bursting with exuberance. Each page is a joyous celebration of color. Sunshine motifs sparkle across the pages. The morning rays are trumpets, heralding the beginning of a new adventure.

Obviously, a crown is the central image. Crowns appear on bathroom linens and home furnishings. This regal symbol is subtly reinforced with a "king of beasts" toy lion and matching slippers. As he approaches the entrance to the school, only the boy sees in his reflection a royal coronet. His crown is again visible on the final page. The art invites close observation and further discussion.

While The King of Kindergarten's target audience is young children, the picture book also serves as an excellent tutorial for parents and care-givers. Want to help your child successfully transition into the world of preschool or school? Follow the lead of these parents. Talk through the day in advance and prepare youngsters for a positive school experience.

A child must learn early to believe that he (she) is somebody worthwhile and that he (she) can do many praiseworthy things. The child must have the love of family and the protection they give in order to LIVE and FLOURISH.
Bejamin Mays

Note: The pronouns "she" and "her" are not a part of the original quotation, but were added by this reviewer.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: July 2, 2019 Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books ISBN: 978-1524740740

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It’s Cake Time

6/18/2019

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Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai

If cakes truly are magic, where did I go wrong?

Jingwen, his younger brother Yanghao, and mother venture into the unknown, immigrating to Australia, Mom works the night shift at a local bakery and Jingwen cares for his outgoing, impulsive younger sibling while she is away.
It's hard. School is strange. He doesn’t understand what people are saying. Kids at school ignore him. It’s like moving to Mars.

Relocation is exponentially difficult because his father is not with the family. Dad was killed in a car accident fourteen days before Jingwen’s birthday. This ten-year-old carries a heavy pocketful of resentment, guilt, and loneliness.

Jingwen decides that he will make all the cakes on his father’s list of dream cakes. He hopes recreation of all his father's desserts will bring ease his pain and "make everything better." This task requires money, numerous trips to the grocery store, purchasing ingredients with labels he cannot read, late nights of secretly baking and then consuming all the cake. To make all these confections without his mother's knowledge means some serious subterfuge as well as outright lies.

Lai ingeniously blends text and images. Both are essential essential story elements. Panels capture heart-wrenching moments as well as comical scenes. Encountering an unfamiliar culture and foreign language is brilliantly illustrated. A boy stands alone while those around him talk in words that resemble bizarre symbols couched inside speech balloons. At times some characters’ faces transform into monsters, revealing interior panic and fear.

Anyone with a sibling will relate to episodes where the brothers fight, appeal to mom to take sides, are jealous of the other. Like most relationships, there are moments when the boys plot and plan together and even forgive. It's easy to relate to these boys.

There is a bonus: a recipe for Rainbow Cake can be found at the back of the book. This dessert is much more than a box cake mix. We're talking 14 eggs, separated and prepared individually before combining in a final step. It gave me added respect for Jingwen's ambitious plan to secretly create all the cakes. That's quite a feat.

And the cakes. O my, such cakes! Huge slices of almond chiffon cake with caramel sauce, chocolate raspberry torte, and pear tarte tatin with absolutely no tummy ache are the stuff dreams are made of. But it’s not all sweetness. Pie in the Sky tackles difficult subjects: immigration, grief, sibling rivalry, and language barriers as seen through the eyes of a ten-year-old. While pastry creation and relocating to Australia may be unfamiliar to readers, the emotions are universal. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll definitely want a slice of cake.

Strange Territory

More books where images forming an integral part of the stories of kids coping with strange new environments

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: May 14, 2019 Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) ISBN: 978-1250314093

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Haunted Summer

6/12/2019

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Just South of Home by Karen Strong

It would be silly for me to let a ghost story trick my nervous system into being afraid.

Just South of Home begins as the story of mismatched cousins who must spend a summer together. Then the narrative takes an unexpected turn.

Sarah and her brother Ellis live in a small Georgia community. Everyone knows everyone and everyone's business. Sarah’s grandmother, always referred to as Mrs. Greene, is a Church Deaconess Board member. She strictly enforces “the rules” and bakes the best red velvet cake.

This summer Ellis and Sarah won’t need to spend their days living under Mrs. Greene’s rigid rules. Mama trusts the two to be on their own while their parents are at work. Then a complication arises. Cousin Jamie comes to stay with them and she's not happy about living in a provincial southern town. Sarah is worried and with good reason. Jamie has "sticky fingers" and a knack for getting into trouble.

Trouble begins when the girls visit the site of an old fire-ravaged church which some say is haunted. Jamie finds a cameo among the ruins and slips it into her bag. Not a good idea. When anything is taken from the church grounds, a haint will follow the individual and torment the thief until the object is returned. This cameo becomes a link between a ghost and the girls.

Abner, a restless spirit who was wronged during his life, cannot find peace. Years ago a member of the Klan murdered young Abner, hid the body, and set fire to the church. The boy is now a haint, trapped between worlds. To heal past wrongs and bring closure, his bones must be brought to their proper resting place. In the process of assisting Abner, the cousins confront the town's racist past.

Sarah is the daughter of an attorney and a science geek who wants to become an astrobiologist. She dreams of attending a science symposium featuring Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. This sets up an interesting tension when she meets Abner. The girl who believes in hard evidence discovers that the ghosts hiding in the woods are real and that the old church property is indeed haunted.

Science geek meets paranormal is this spine-tingling ghost story of dark deeds and family secrets locked away in an attic. Looking for a middle grade spine-tingling mystery? Want to visit haunted spot in the woods? Interested in an introduction into the history of racism and social injustice? Karen Strong has you covered.

Haunted by the Past

Try these middle grade adventures featuring inquisitive kids who uncover surprising and shameful secrets from the past.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: May 7, 2019 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers ISBN: 978-1534419384

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Notes from the Field

6/4/2019

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A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife or other objects of natural occurrence. It is generally designed to be brought into the 'field' or local area where such objects exist to help distinguish between similar objects. Wikipedia

This may be the summer of the field guide. Three recently-published novels for teens and young readers use this clever approach. Each narrative features a young person venturing into unfamiliar territory and creating a record of personal observations. The settings are markedly different: two college-bound students traveling by train, a high student attending school in a foreign country, a young girl attempting to accurately draw a shark.

Field Notes on Love
by Jennifer E. Smith

Take a chance, follow a dream, travel a different route.

It's the most unlikely of circumstances. Hugo, a biracial British student slated to begin studies at the university shares a cross-country train excursion with Mae, an aspiring filmmaker with her heart set on earning a place in a prestigious training program.
Hugo was dumped by his long-time girlfriend. One of the “Surrey Six” sextuplets, he wants to establish his own identity.
Mae was devastated when her application to film school was declined. Her beloved Nana has serious health issues. She wonders: is this a good time to leave home?

Mae and Hugo create a documentary, interviewing the train’s passengers and recording each individual’s perspectives on love.
A charming romance filled with humor, heartbreak, and transcontinental travel.

Copy accessed from public library.

Pub date: March 5, 2019 Publisher: 978-0399559419 ISBN: 978-0399559419

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
by Ben Philippe

"We all mess things up. It's what you do with the mess that matters."

Norris Kaplan, a black French-Canadian leaves all that is familiar and heads to the weird world of high school in Austin, Texas. The school’s counselor offers him a blank notebook. He decides to create a field guide, documenting high school life. He catalogs cheerleaders, athletes, and loners with biting insight, Kaplan carries the diary with him everywhere, skewering his classmates with his wit. Then he makes the mistake of showing his diary to a student. Mistake. Bad mistake.

Norris realizes that several of his initial assessments are not only inaccurate, but cruel. The cheerleader is more than a “laboratory engineered little bag of evil.”
The tall rich kid who wants to play ice hockey has a pain-filled history.
Norris has misjudged his classmates. It may be too late to repair the damage that his notebook has caused.

Copy accessed from public library.

Pub date: January 8, 2019 Publisher: Balzer + Bray ISBN: 978-0062824110

The Line Tender
by Kate Allen

"I get how the human body is put together, but I don't get what's happening inside a shark."

Lucy Everhart lives in a small town on the Massachusetts Coast. Her father is a member of the Salem Police dive team. Her mother, a marine biologist with a special interest in sharks died five years ago of a brain aneurysm. Lucy and her next-door neighbor Fred are inseparable companions. Recently they undertook a monumental summer project: creating a field guide to document Rockport animals. Fred, the detail-oriented science nerd writes the copy. Lucy illustrates.
A shark is caught off the coast and brought ashore. Lucy is baffled and intrigued. She wants to learn more about sharks in order to precisely enter the fish into the field guide.
Without warning, Fred dies in a tragic drowning accident.
Lucy’s narrative is raw, painful, and honest. Her struggles to make sense of the deaths of her friend and her mother are revealed in simple details. Her voice is one of wonder, hope and small moments of joy.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: April 16, 2019 Publisher: Dutton for Young Readers ISBN: 978-0735231603

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Kindergarten Kingdom

The King of Kindergarten
by Derrick Barnes ill by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

It’s Cake Time

Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai

Strange Territory

Haunted Summer

Just South of Home by Karen Strong

Haunted by the Past

Notes from the Field

Field Notes on Love
by Jennifer E. Smith

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
by Ben Philippe

The Line Tender
by Kate Allen

Category

Archives

Barbara Moon

Kindergarten Kingdom

The King of Kindergartenby Derrick Barnes ill by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

It’s Cake Time

Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai

Strange Territory

Haunted Summer

Just South of Home by Karen Strong

Haunted by the Past

Notes from the Field

Field Notes on Love ​by Jennifer E. Smith

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager​by Ben Philippe

The Line Tender ​by Kate Allen

Category

Archives

Barbara Moon

The King of Kindergarten
by Derrick Barnes ill by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Field Notes on Love
by Jennifer E. Smith

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
by Ben Philippe

The Line Tender
by Kate Allen