Blog Posts - READING STYLE GUIDE

Wonders and Delights

12/16/2020

Counting Creatures by Julia Donaldson ill by Sharon King-Chai

Looking for a picture book for gift-giving? Consider Counting Creatures. This more-than-a-picture book is an explosion of tactile wonders and visual delights. Presented as a counting book featuring various animal species and their young, it begins with one baby bat and sequentially progresses to ten piglets before leapfrogging to multitudes of caterpillars, tadpoles, and spiders.
This interactive volume invites young readers to predict what will be underneath the next flap. How many babies? What word is used to describe them?
Many terms are familiar, but the young of some species are not well-known. A baby arctic hare is known as a leveret while baby turkeys are called poults.

Rhyming couplets and the repetitive line of text "Who has more babies than that? " make this an excellent book for sharing and reading aloud.

Counting Creatures by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Sharon King-Chai has a wow factor to the max.
The generous size (approximately 8x10.5 inches) features a die cut cover with foil accents. Cut outs continue throughout the book, giving readers a hint as to the animals to be revealed. Art is stunning. Deep rich colors, gorgeously textured shapes, ingeniously designed flaps and tiny details sprinkled throughout the pages will send readers back the beginning to discover the answer to one final question.

Copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: November 24, 2020 Publisher: Dial Books ISBN: 978-0593324530

Will You Ever Fly Again?

12/11/2020

The Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar

Not every story has a happily-ever-after. Some stories are drawn from the well of sorrows and painted with tears of anguish. Aida Salazar gives young audiences a searing portrait of the life of girl trapped in the nightmare of an immigrant from Mexico seeking asylum in the United States.

Betita lives in East Los Angeles with her parents who are undocumented workers, hoping to find a permanent home in the United States. Her father works as a construction laborer and dishwasher. Her pregnant mother earns money as a nanny. Though life is challenging, these parents dream of building a new life for their family in the United States.

One day the unthinkable happens. Papi is apprehended by ICE agents for failure to appear in court and is taken into custody. Betita is left with an aching heart and a small square of fabric from her father's pillow.

Hoping to connect with Papi at a park in San Diego, mother and daughter travel south with relatives. Tragically, they are stopped by border patrol and sent to a detention center. Conditions in the facility are despicable. Detainees live inside a chain link fence cage and sleep on a concrete floor with only a foil blanket. Unsanitary conditions and poor food threaten the life of Mami and the child developing within her womb. They endure daily acts of senseless hostility and cruelty.

Betita recalls her father's stories of their proud heritage. They are travelers from the land of the cranes. Now Betita is longer able to soar. Confined to a wire cage, hope seems lost. This resourceful girl discovers a way to cope. Her fourth-grade teacher showed her how to create picture poems, recording her life with words and images. She keeps a daily journal using her poetry and art to express her feelings.

There are no simple solutions. With little hope for asylum, there seems to be no influential individual that can rescue this suffering family. Mami eventually decides to sacrifice her dream of freedom and security to save herself and her two children. The plight of these individuals is painful to witness.

The Land of Lost Cranes, a fictionalization depiction of undocumented individuals, is gut wrenching. This novel in verse, exquisitely expressing a young girl’s longing, will find a place in the hearts of readers everywhere.

Border Stories

These picture books introduce youngster to tales of immigrants coming to American from Mexico and the Caribbean.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: September 15, 2020 Publisher: Scholastic Press ISBN: 978-1338343809

Quiet Protest

12/10/2020

Lubaya’s Quiet Roar by Marilyn Nelson ill by Philemona Williamson

Lubaya is a quiet child, a solemn thoughtful child. While people around her instinctively interact with others, she prefers to silently listen and observe. She often finds herself tucked away with paper and colors. Art is her favorite means of self expression.

(she) "liked to be alone, happily watching the theater of her thoughts." Lubaya's Quiet Roar

Lubaya’s parents are activists. Their home is filled with posters used during a recent protest march. This quiet girl discovers that the plain backs of posters are an excellent surface for her drawings: friends dressed in pretty party clothes, children on ladders painting a rainbow, even a hip-hop frog! Her art often includes phrases that her family members say when discussing social issues.

When a another cause for protest arises, the family proudly displays the poster backs featuring Lubaya's art. Her drawings beautifully illustrate the movement’s issues, adding an additional way to look at important concerns.

Nelson's poetic language precisely captures Lubaya's personality. Her verses speak in general terms of the need for socially-conscious activism. Illustrations flesh out a few specific social issues at stake. The words "Freedom Now" and "Clean Water" can be seen on two of Lubaya's posters. Williamson's signature style featuring vivid shapes on solid color backgrounds is distinctly different from Lubaya's drawings rendered on white rectangles.

Readers learn that in Swahili Lubaya means “young lionesses.” Using her unique skills, a young girl is able to make her voice heard. Not every contribution to a cause can be uttered. However, each individual can find a way to contribute and be heard.

"a quiet voice can make history"

Copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: October 6, 2020 Publisher: Dial Books ISBN: 978-0525555551

Shape Search

12/7/2020

Bronxshapes by Alex Rivera

Using photographs of common objects, Rivera celebrates his urban community with shapes found at a bodega, park, and vendor's cart. In addition to introducing geometric shapes, the book also introduces readers to city scenes that may be unfamiliar to those living in rural areas.

Bronx Baby board books are chunky little packages of bilingual delights. Found objects are named and identified, expanding youngsters' English and Spanish vocabulary. A simple line of large text, with the noun boldly accentuated serves as a vehicle for infant and toddler language acquisition.

These books make excellent gifts for welcoming a newborn or celebrating a toddler’s birthday. Package the books with shape blocks and a box of crayons for a great holiday gift.

A companion title is the Bronx Baby Book series is Bronxtones, a book about colors.

My Shapes

This concept can be expanded and adapted to many different locations, cultures, and languages.
Here's an idea for youngsters confined to home during the winter months. Read Bronxshapes and then create a shape scavenger hunt. Document with drawings or photographs the many shapes discovered within the walls of your house.
Weather permitting, expand the shape search to your neighborhood. Let the fun begin!

Copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: September 8, 2020 Publisher: Kolika ISBN: 978-0593110812

It Begins with Matter

11/27/2020

All Because You Matter by Tami Charles ill by Bryan Collier

The young man featured on the cover emerges from the past and solemnly contemplates his future. All Because You Matter unfolds his developing of a sense of self-worth.

It all begins with matter. Charles explores multiple meanings for this concept. Matter is the basic substance from which all elements of our universe are made. Matter is also something of particular importance.
A mother teaches her child that he matters. He is composed of the same innate substance that forms the universe. He is also of significance. He carries within a profound heritage. Essential. Important. He is matter. He matters.

From conception to birth, from early development to childhood, a mother and son navigate the complexities and wonder of life. With soaring poetic language, this young man is taught about his noble birthright.

Page design combines with Collier's art to create a visual stunner. Initial images depict the vastness and wonder of the cosmos. This contrasts with a subdued blossoming pattern. The concept of matter is simultaneously expansive and intimate. Realistic portraits stand out from a stylized background. The Illustrator's Note explains the significance of the flower motif repeated throughout the pages.

An extraordinary psalm dedicated to the majesty of "sun-kissed skin and dreamy brown eyes," to young lives filled with promise. The author and illustrator clearly convey the message that life is meant to be nurtured, encouraged, and celebrated.
A book for parents, caregivers, and those who hope for a better future for children. Inspiring.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: October 6, 2020 Publisher: Orchard Books ISBN: 978-1338574852

Fair Trade

11/20/2020

A Long Road on a Short Day
by Gary D. Schmidt & Elizabeth Stickney ill by Eugene Yelchin

On a winter day when snowfall is imminent and daylight is scarce, Samuel and his father set out on a journey. The two are in search of a milk cow.

They hope with a series of trades to parlay Father's Barlow knife (a high-quality pocket knife) into a source of milk for the family’s baby girl. Using his insight into the circumstances and interests of his neighbors, Samuel’s father puts his plan into action. Both father and son are determined to make each trade a satisfactory arrangement for all parties. From a desired timepiece to the fleecy softness of Merino wool for the weaver's loom, neighbors benefit from these exchanges.

In addition to learning the value that an item may have for a specific individual; Samuel learns to approach each person with respect and kindness.

As sunset approaches a neighbor has light glowing in his barn, a lonely window has a volume to poetry to keep her company, and a little girl has a pony cart to take her to school. The family has a milk cow and Samuel receives the secret wish of his heart. All because of a wish, a pocketknife, and an astute father who knows the value of friendship and fairness.

Schmidt is a master storyteller, delivering a tale with succinct narration. Each phrase contains a rhythmic quality and sensory imagery that precisely capture the relationship between father and son, young boy and animals, and a members of a closely-knit community.

Yelchin's illustrations are sublime. Like peering into a snow globe, each image is a magical moment encapsulated amid the swirling flakes.

A Long Road on a Short Day is a short book that is long on wishes and the wonders of a winter's day. A perfect read aloud that will warm hearts.

Electronic copy accessed via NetGalley.

Pub date: November 10, 2020 Publisher: Clarion Books ISBN: 978-0544888364

Finding Your Heart

11/17/2020

Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly read by Rosie Jones

Where's my heart?

Jennifer Donnelly has done it again. As with Stepsister, she begins at the conclusion of a well-known fairytale and proceeds to spin a tale that answers the question: What happens next? Her inventive fantasy is not simply rearranging narrative details. She uses several story elements and weaves them together to create an entirely new shimmering cloth.

Poisoned opens deep in a forest. By command of the queen, a huntsman escorts eighteen-year-old Sophie into a secluded spot, proceeds to cut out her heart and place it in a special box that will keep the heart alive. Then he leaves the dying girl and hurries back the castle, delivering the precious heart to Sophie’s evil stepmother. What an opening!

As fate would have it, a family of brothers rush to the dying girl’s aid and fill the gaping hole in her chest with a mechanical heart built by the clockmaking brother. This heart sputters and stutters, but it works. Sophie has a new functioning heart. She also has a home. The brothers are enchanted with this charming, albeit naive princess. They are determined to protect her from the machinations of the queen. Sophie, on the other hand wants to get back to the kingdom, certain that her betrothed prince will rescue her and help her vanquish the queen.

What's to become of a young heir to the throne who has been constantly told that she is too week, too soft-hearted to be a monarch? How can a girl who has only a loud clunking mechanical heart attempt a journey to find her real heart and reclaim her rightful place as ruler of the kingdom?

Donnelly is a master storyteller. Sweeping in its scope, at turns violent then becoming tender, the pace keeps readers’ hearts racing. Sophie’s life is fraught with peril. She is battling foes both visible and unseen. Danger awaits at every page turn. Tension builds with a constant stream of crescendos, leading Sophie to a precipice from which there appears to be no escape.

A word about the setting. The tale is filled with references to the land of the Grimm brothers. Food is described in mouthwatering detail: schnitzel, mushroom strudel, spaetzle, plum cake. There are sly references to things Germanic. Who knew that polka music serves as a poison antidote?

Jones brings her considerable performance gifts to the narration. Each character's voice is distinctive. For a family of German brothers, that is quite a feat. Of note is the voice of Sophie, who begins the story as a girl with a soft and gentle heart, tentative and unsure. As the tale progresses, our heroine becomes more confident. The final scenes depict a woman who has overcome obstacles and is now stronger and more resilient.

There are many dark forces at work here and the evil queen in not Sophie's greatest enemy. There is a villain more fearful than the queen. There is deception. There is betrayal. There are vicious vipers, a giant scorpion, and of course, a poisoned apple. But far more deadly, there is self-doubt. Donnelly does not let up. The tension escalates as Sophie races against time to defeat her foes and reclaim her heart. A fairy tale retelling not to be missed.

Tempting. Very Tempting

Try this selection of tantalizing bonus treats. If you enjoyed Poisoned, try reading Stepsister. Meet Jennifer Donnelly and discover her inspiration for Poisoned.

Audiobook accessed via Hoopla.

Release date: October 5, 2020 Publisher: Scholastic Audio

The Cat is the Clue

11/12/2020

Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Myrtle Hardcastle. I am ever-so-fond of this highly opinionated girl. The twelve-year-old daughter of a British barrister is an observant young woman with a keen interest in solving mysteries. Some may call her nosy. She considers herself a serious sleuth. Myrtle maintains a collection of crime-detecting tools and has authored her own guidebook for investigators.

Written in first person, all evidence is presented from her point of view. Myrtle directly addresses her audience as Dear Reader, breaking the fourth wall.

Set in the Victorian Era, when Young Ladies of Quality spent their days hosting tea parties and posing in floral tableaus, our heroine most emphatically does not fit in.

Under the care of her doting yet slightly distracted father and her governess Miss Ada Judson of French Guiana, a woman of intelligence and decorum, Myrtle relentlessly pursues her interest in mysteries. Miss Judson is sometimes a co-conspirator with her young charge.

There is a not-too-subtle undercurrent of mutual attraction between the two adults. Myrtle hopes to bring these two together and desperately fends off attention toward her father from any other woman.

But enough of that. On to the mystery. From the moment the tale commences, Myrtle suspects that something nefarious is going on at the home of her neighbor Miss Wodehouse. She is missing. So is Myrtle's cat Peony. Could the two disappearances be connected? Myrtle is determined to find out. Soon she is convinced that Miss Wodehouse was murdered and sets out to discover the method and motive for this woman's demise.
There are enough clues to hint at the mystery's outcome. Warning: Read carefully. Following a red herring may result in arriving at a false conclusion. The trail of clues places Myrtle in some unusual situations: finding evidence in a locked police surgeon's lab, searching the neighbor's bathroom, and causing a greenhouse explosion.

Bunce skillfully contrasts rigid Victorian mores with a girl and her governess who refuse to be confined to society's strictures. The governess is adroit at retaining the appearance of propriety while circumventing prevailing conventions. Initially the plot progresses slowly, clue by clue. Soon the pace picks up with increasing intensity and builds to a tension-filled climax.

Adventure awaits! Put on your deerstalker cap, grab a notebook, and some laboratory testing equipment. Premeditated Myrtle is a delightful middle grade murder mystery worth tracking down at your local bookstore or library .

Joyful news! Myrtle's detective work continues. Look for How to Get Away with Myrtle.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: October 6, 2020 Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers ISBN: 978-1561459353

Mayan Mythology

11/9/2020

Rise of the Halfling King (Tales of the Feathered Serpent)
by David Bowles ill by Charlene Bowles

What a terrific concept: A series of graphic novels featuring Mayan mythology. Bowles brings his extensive Mesoamerican expertise to younger audiences. Stories from an often-overlooked culture are brought to life with colorful panels, intriguing plot and characters who jump off the pages and into the reader's imagination.

Rise of the Halfling King is the first title in Tales of the Feathered Serpent series. Readers are introduced to Sayam, a boy hatched from an egg. Almah, a witch and a healer, has cared for this strong-willed halfling since he emerged from the egg. As he grows older, the inevitable is apparent. It is time for Sayam to fulfill prophecy and dethrone the king.

It won't be easy. The malevolent despot employs the Guardian of the Underworld, a gigantic snake, to assist him with his diabolical schemes. Illustrator Charlene Bowles gives the serpent a frightful menacing quality that dominates each panel into which it slithers, fangs ready to strike.

A generous trim size of 7 by 10.5 inches, oversized panels, and an easy to follow narrative make this an excellent choice for young readers.

Background information is placed at the beginning of the book. The map of Mexico clearly identifies cities and surrounding regions. The cast of characters features a small portrait with accompanying short bio. This facilitates reading from the story's onset, helping readers to place unusual locations and individuals in context.

It's a rich mythology, replete with magical powers, witches, and sorcery. The struggle between good and evil, featuring a diminutive hero fighting against powerful forces will captivate readers. Make room on your shelves for this graphic novel series.

Dig Deeper

Interested in an in-depth exploration of Mexican mythology? Bowles has you covered.

Feathered Serpent: Dark Heart of Sky is compilation short mythological tales from Mexico. The introduction offers valuable background information. A Guide to Pronunciation and Glossary are particularly helpful.
An excellent resource for those interested in exploring epic tales, world mythologies, history and culture of Mexico. Highly recommended for students, teachers, historians, and storytellers,

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: November 3, 2020 Publisher: Cinco Punto Press ISBN: 978-1947627376

Freedom Stories

11/2/2020

William Still and His Freedom Stories:
The Father of the Underground Railroad
by Don Tate

Free was not always fair

Fascinating story of American hero William Still.

Born in New Jersey in1821, Still was the youngest child of his formerly enslaved parents. A pivotal moment for young William came when he helped a freedom-seeking neighbor escape a brutal assault. At age twenty-three he left home and moved to Philadelphia. Still found work with the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. His skills were recognized by his employer and he eventually became the society’s manager.
During this time, William’s Philapelphia home became an Underground Railroad “station, ” where he assisted numerous individuals seeking freedom. He was astonished to learn that one of those he helped was his older brother.

Still began keeping a detailed record of each freedom-seeking person he encountered. His meticulous records helped unite families that had been torn apart. When it became apparent that his journals could jeopardize the lives of those migrating north, he hid his records in a cemetery’s vault. After fourteen years with the Anti-Slavery Society, William left the organization and started a coal business. He became a successful businessman and in 1870 was deemed one of the richest Black men. In 1872, he published The Underground Rail Road, a collection of life stories of those who escaped slavery.

A word about the art: Close-up faces place the audience directly and personally into the story. Textual phrases are incorporated into the illustrations and become part of the visual experience. Tate's use of color is intriguing. Purple, often associated with royalty, is featured predominantly throughout the pages as well as on the cover. A sepia-toned background reinforces the historical nature of the subject.

Back matter includes a Timeline, Author’s Note (which includes fascinating person background), Bibliography, and Quotation Sources. End papers are stunning: a page taken from Still’s meticulous documentation of individuals who passed through his home on the way to freedom.

William Still and His Freedom Stories is a significant addition to the cannon of picture books about Underground Railroad heroes. It speaks to the value of education, fighting injustice, and keeping an accurate record of significant events. Inspiring.

Underground Railroad Heroes

Meet individuals who made important contributions to early struggles for freedom.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: November 1, 2020 Publisher: Peachtree Publishing Company, Illustrated Edition ISBN: 978-1561459353