Four Excellent (but very different) Picture Books

Rosenthal, Amy Krouse  (2011)  This Plus That:  Life's Little Equations  New York:  HarperCollins.

 

Cartoony illustrations + clever words = This Plus That. 

Examples (yes + no = maybe) + (laughter + keeping secrets + sharing = best friend) = (tall + coffee = grownup)

Lower elementary + middle grades + high school + (really any math or language arts class) + all teachers ever = audience.

Buying this book + sharing it with your class = your reputation as awesome and funky teacher.

Previous equations +  strong recommendation = my review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wardlaw, Lee; Yelchin, Eugene  (2011)   Won Ton:  A Cat Told in Haiku  New York:  Henry Holt. 

 

 

This is the story of a cat adoption and the forging of a relationship between the cat and his boy.  The whole thing is told through a combination of beautifully simple illustrations and brilliant haiku poetry.  The story would be great fun to read to kindergarten and first graders, but the haiku makes it a natural choice for middle school or high school teachers looking to introduce poetry that follows restrictive forms.  It is a good one. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Van Allsburg, Chris  (2010) Queen of the Falls  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin.

 

 

So there was this widow named Annie Edison Taylor who owned a Charm School in Bay City, Michigan.  Her Charm School was not doing well and she was having trouble paying the bills and so she decided that she could go over Niagara Falls in a barrel and then tour the country giving lectures about her experience.  This book goes over her struggle to convince people she was serious, of ordering a barrel that met her specifications, of the actual ride over the falls, and her subsequent (remarkably unsuccessful) lecture tour.  And yes, it is an interesting story in a lot of ways -- but as good as the story is, you really need to see this book because of Chris Van Allsburg's amazingly detailed illustrations.  Somehow he manages to draw in a way that captures the excitement and action of a barrel going over the falls, but at the same time, stops time so you can picture that particular moment in remarkable detail. 

 

Lower grades (first and second maybe) will love this book, but older grades in art classes would really get a lot out of looking at what Van Allsburg does when he draws. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long, Loren  (2013) Otis and the Puppy.  New York:  Philomel.

 

 

For really little kids, sometimes you just need a book that has a simple story without much danger, that comforts more than it unsettles. This book is the story of a little tractor who goes out into the dark forest in the dark night to rescue a little puppy.  He rescues the puppy.  Everyone is happy.  That is the whole plot.

 

The illustrations owe a great deal to recent Pixar movies, it seems to me, But they are cute and the book is fun and reassuring without being insipid or cloying.  If your pre-K or kindergarten book is dues for a new book or two, you should really make this one of them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent Science Fiction Screwball Humor Novel Thing.

Rex, Adam  (2007) The True Meaning of Smekday  New York: Hyperion

 

I am not going to compare this book to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

 

I mean, sure it made me laugh.  More than once.  Out loud.  And sure, like Doug Adam's books it doesn't so much make fun of the science fiction genre as run with it.  In it own wacky way, this book is as probable as classic Asimov, Niven, and Heinlein.  I mean, who is to say that if aliens invaded they would be hyper-intelligent.  In this book, the invaders, the Boov, might not look anything like humans, but they have technical problems like we do, they attempt simplistic solutions to complicated problems like we do, and they refigure their morality to suit their own ends (like when they take over the US and tell all the humans they get to live in Florida.  Then, when the Boov find out they like the climate of Florida, they ship everyone to Arizona.   Sounds familiar? 

 

And like Hitchhiker's Guide, it catches you by surprise with its cleverness.  The storyline concerns a 12 year old African-American-Italian girl named Gratuity who ends up joining forces with a disenfranchised Boov who has given himself the earth name J.Lo.  When they first meet, they ransack an abandoned convenience store.  Gratuity loads up on candy and junk food, and J.Lo eats shaving cream and urinal freshener cakes. 

 

Adam Rex takes you on quite a ride in the novel in a way that reminds me how, when you are reading the Hitchhiker's Guide books, you will be happiest if you don't waste time trying to fit them into a traditional Freytag Pyramid of rising action-climax-falling action-denouement.  

 

Anyway, I am not going to compare the two books, because if I did, you would be expecting Smekday  to be just like Hitchhiker's Guide and it isn't./  It is completely different kind of chaotic hilarious insanity.  But if you like Doug Adam's work and you know that Adam Rex will be different, you may find yourself liking it a great deal.  (Just don't ask me to compare the two).

 

I think this one would be ideal for strong readers from fifth grade and up. 

 

Oh, one other note, I actually heard this one in a wonderful audio version voiced by Bahni Turpin.  She really helped the novel to come alive. 

Pretty good book from that guy who says "We'll leave the light on for you" -- Tom Bodett

Bodett, Tom (1999) Williwaw!  New York:  Alfred A. Knopf.

 

Ken, a former student of mine (who took Children's Lit but thinks he is going to be a preacher rather than a teacher -- he is sadly confused), every now and then gives me a book that I have never heard of that he wants me to read.  I put it on the bottom of my book pile and eventually it rises to the top.  The most recent book Ken gave me was Williwaw! by  Tom Bodett.

 

My first thought upon seeing the book was something like "Really?  Tom Bodett, the guy who shills for Motel 6, who is a moderately funny panelist on Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me (The NPR News Quiz) wrote a book for adolescents?  My second thought was, "What the heck is a Williwaw?"

 

Then two things happened.  First, I heard Bodett on an NPR show telling a story about his young years of estrangement with his parents, running away to Alaska, almost getting electrocuted to death, and making peace with his father.  It was a moving story that made me reevaluate Bodett (who always seemed a bit too folksy for me).  The fact is, he is an excellent storyteller who has some real thoughtfulness to him.  The second thing that happened was I read the book.

 

It is the story of a brother and sister (Ivan is 12 and his sister September is 13) who live with their father on an island in Alaska, across a bay from a little town.  Their father is a fisherman who keeps in touch with them via short-wave radio.  When Ivan accidentally fries the radio, they take the boat into town to get it fixed (which is against the rules they had agreed on with their dad).  One thing leads to another and soon they are lying to their dad, using a dummy to convince their cranky distant neighbor that their dad is home, and, finally, they find themselves caught in a williwaw (an Alaskan storm -- kind of like a mini-hurricane. 

 

To be frank, I am not a big fan of stories where people make mistakes, then lie to cover up those mistakes and fall deeper and deeper into a bad situation.  I think I am too much of a first child to really relax in such awkward situations.  Having said that, the brother and sister are likable (as are most of the people in this story) and the story is gripping and has a satisfying ending.  It is worth reading.  I really liked it.

 

Boys who like Gary Paulsen books and girls who like realistic stories with strong female heroines will like this book.  I would guess we are talking fourth grade through middle school with this one.