childrenslitbookreviews

[childrenslitbookreviews]

Books Reviewed

March: Book 1

The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza

Creepy Crayon!

The Day the Crayons Quit 

Shake the Tree!

Trombone Shorty!

The Hate U Give

The Crossover

The Last Cuentista

Who Was Kobe Bryant?

Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match

Check Please! Book 1: Hockey

The Girl in the Lake

The Family Book

A Court of Mist and Fury

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A Court of Mist and Fury

Title 15: A Court of Mist and Fury

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Banned Book

Target Age Group: 14 - 18

Summary: *Spoilers from here on out*

In book one of the series, Feyre had been trapped under a mountain by an evil fae and killed. But thanks to the seven lords of the high courts, she was reborn into an immortal fae body. She returned to become Tamlin’s queen of the Summer Court. But Tamlin was too controlling, so Feyre let herself be taken away by Rhysand, the lord of the Night Court, who encouraged her to learn how to read and fight, giving her choices of her destiny. Feyre decides to join the Night Court and fight alongside them to thwart the King of Hybern’s plans to take over the mortal world. 

Justification: This young adult book has been banned in some public school libraries. It has been deemed too sexually explicit for young adult readers. I wanted to see for myself and expand my horizons of what genres I typically read.

Evaluation:

First, in regards to why this book is often challenged, I did not find the sex scenes to be gratuitous. They were portrayed similar to many other popular romance novels by using metaphors and focusing on how Tamlin’s actions made Feyre feel. I can see an argument for why this shouldn’t be available in Middle School libraries, but it should certainly be allowed into high school libraries. Fiction novels let readers try out identities, see the repercussions of their actions, and see how power dynamics shift after intercourse. These are extremely important lessons for young adults to learn without the consequences of trying them first in real life. The format of the novel itself is meant for readers to be able to learn from others’ experiences and ideas without physical harm and teenagers learning about the adult world should be able to access these life lessons. 

Furthermore, the romance of the book is very empowering for the female protagonist. She leaves an unhealthy, controlling environment that she had with Tamlin to go choose her own destiny and it is this core value of consent and choosing your partners that I think is very valuable to have in a young adult novel. If a young woman can learn from this novel the courage and the knowhow to leave an unhealthy controlling partner, then it has earned its spot on the library shelf.

Second, I found the magic to be underexplained for my tastes. I come from a background of loving very hard science fiction so take this critique with a grain of salt, but I wish that there was some attempt at explaining the source of the magic, how it interacts with the physics of the world, some systematization of the magic, and how power levels compare. Instead, we get brief descriptions of what Feyre and Rhysand’s powers are. Rhysand can winnow or teleport into and out of certain areas. They both have superhuman strength and heightened senses. They also both have telepathy, which does involve some play of buffeting each others’ mental walls that I enjoyed. I would definitely not classify this as high fantasy, perhaps more of a soft fantasy. Sarah J. Maas focuses on how Feyre feels in response to winnowing, telepathy, and strength instead of how it affects the world. 

Third, this is a slow book! Very little happens in the first half of the book other than sex, Tamlin getting mad, Ianthe plans their wedding, and Rhysand takes Feyre to his castle. Maybe Maas is trying to make a slow burning book and give the characters time to process how they are feeling and fully explain why Feyre wants to leave Tamlin, but to me it felt like nothing was happening except brooding! However, once Feyre does decide to join Rhysand and the Dark Court, things start to get exciting. Feyre meets interesting characters like the bone carver, the weaver, Rhysand’s court of advisors, Amren, Cassian, Mor, and Azriel. 

Regardless of my personal criticisms, this book should be available for young adults to read and enjoy to their heart’s desires. It contains some very empowering messages that I believe would benefit any teenager to read. 

Note: I read this on my kindle and found the format rather pleasing. It was nice to not have to carry around a 600 page heavy book that takes up half my backpack or change hands to turn the page when I was reading it on the couch. The only downside was that the progress bar at the bottom felt like it was taunting me with how slow it took me to make progress in the book. 5/5 Would recommend reading on kindle.

References:

Mass, J. (2016). A Court of Mist and Fury. Bloomsbury Publishing

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The Family Book

Title 14: The Family Book

Genre: Children’s Picture Book, Banned Book

Target Age Group: 2-4 years

Summary:

The Family book says how some families are alike - they love hugs and celebrating each other. It also says how some families are alike - some have one parent and others have two mothers. But all families are valid in this book.

Justification: 

I was looking for a banned children’s book and this surprised me because I have it on my bookmobile and hadn’t even considered that someone could take umbrage with it. I decided to check it out for myself to perform and impromptu book challenge review. 

Evaluation:

First, this book seems like it was banned because of one page that says that some families have two moms or two dads. This innocuous statement may be something that a person may find objectionable, but nothing so crazy as to merit banning from public libraries or school libraries. There is nothing false or untrue about the statement, nor is there any illustration one could reasonably deem inappropriate.

Second, the illustrations are very cute and simple. With bold outlines, the drawings look like they could have been drawn in Microsoft Paint. I believe that the strong contrast between primary colors that are used has been found to be helpful for young readers to distinguish between characters. Similar to Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie series, there are no backgrounds, shadows, or textures drawn. This is also helpful for young readers to focus on the characters and distinguish them from the single color background colors on each page.

Third, the message behind the book is very inclusive and wholesome. All families are valid. What defines a family in the book, what all families have in common, according to the book, is that they love hugs, mourn lost loved ones, celebrate special days together, and they can help each other be strong. I love the message that everything else besides love is extraneous to being a family - color, proximity, looks, diet, noise, cleanliness, and more.

References:

Parr, T. (2003). The Family Book. (T. Parr, Illus.). Hachette Book Group. 

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The Girl in the Lake

Title 13: The Girl in the Lake

Genre: Young Adult Mystery

Target Age Group: 10-14 years

Summary:

Celeste, a young black girl, is afraid of swimming, but her family prides itself on learning to swim. When Celeste is sent to spend a summer week with her grandparents and cousins at their lakeside home, she has no idea what’s in store. She starts seeing flickering lights, hearing voices, and her cousins start suspecting her as the prankster. Little do they know that there lurks a girl in the lake…

Justification: 

I was looking for new mystery novels that I could recommend to the kids that we see on the bookmobile and this one caught my eye because it has a black protagonist, a bit of a rarity for mystery novels aimed at young adults but a welcome one.

Evaluation:

First, the book was, in fact, a spooky age-appropriate mystery. I did get goosebumps when Celeste started hearing her name when no one was around, when no one else the light flashing in the attic, and when the ghost smashed a mirror and cut Celeste bloody with it. The fears of insanity, of not being believed, and of drowning were all very visceral so kudos to the author for playing out these very real fears that kids have especially. 

Second, there is a lot of repetition, spoonfeeding, and reminding the reader of the plot. This may be due to the fact that this is aimed at a younger audience than myself, but I found this to be annoying. If I am trying to be charitable, I would say that this is helpful for younger readers to be reminded in case they have to put down and pick up the book again. It could also be indicative of the annoyance that kids feel when adults remind them of something that they are trying to avoid, especially out of fear. I also found it annoying that the adults winked at Celeste so often when they intimated about her fear of swimming. 

Third, the book does have excellent, uplifting messages that there is strength in your family, racism can be defeated by teaching the next generation better, and that knowledge and practice can usually help defeat our deepest fears. Celeste, her brother, and her cousins are all able to face their fears at the behest of the ghost and their grandparents' encouragement. Her grandfather was able to use similar techniques to exposure therapy to slowly ease Celeste into being comfortable swimming in the deep lake. As an added bonus, she was able to piss off some racists at the pool. And while the ghost may have been clumsy in her attempts to push the kids to face their fears, it did end up having a positive effect on them and they came out stronger and closer as family in the end. 

References: Brown, I.H. (2022) The Girl in the Lake. Scholastic Inc. Publishers.

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Check Please! Book 1: Hockey

Title 12: Check Please! Book 1: Hockey

Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, LGBT+

Target Age Group: 14-18 years

Summary:

Bittle is a freshman hockey player, who loves baking and vlogging, recruited to an elite private school. Jack, his team captain, is the son of a famous professional hockey player. This is a comic of how Jack helps Bittle conquer his fears of being checked and Bittle helps Jack become the player he’s capable of, with a slow burn romance playing out in the background.

Justification: 

This graphic novel has been popular on my bookmobile with teens and I wanted to be able to speak to its quality if it were ever to be challenged for being based around an LGBT+ character.

Evaluation:

First, this is a very wholesome book. The characters are extremely supportive of each other, even when they disagree. They reiterate often that they’ve got their teammates' backs no matter what the situation is. One character, nicknamed Shitty, is so supportive that he says he had five people come out of the closet to him in one week! Shitty also says that he’ll be there any time the team manager needs help making art late at night for class. These are excellent role models for how athletes, typically portrayed as emotionally toxic, should comport themselves especially towards younger players.

Second, the characters are fairly well rounded. Bittle isn’t just a gay character or just a gay hockey player. He loves baking, vlogging, has a good relationship with his mother, is concerned with his teammate’s troubles, and is the best welcome party leader for incoming freshmen. Jack is fairly guarded, but we learn about him mostly through rumors about his supposed history with prescription anti-anxiety medications. However, his actions seem not to indicate anything of the sort happened, but rather that he rejected the NHL draft earlier because of relationship issues. We also see Jack grow from being cold to Bittle, when Bittle falls into the spotlight from a last minute goal, to being much more of a team player and ensuring that the team is cohesive and supportive. My only quibble with the book is that Bittle’s fears of getting checked seem to disappear into the background without explanation so his growth seems unearned and feels like the one thing that’s not wrapped up cleanly in the book.

Third, the romance is extremely PG. There is one kissing scene in the entire book and it’s at the very end of the book when one character is leaving. It is very much a tease. There’s also a question of whether one character even likes boys at all until his ex-boyfriend returns to pressure him into joining his professional hockey team. However, this does give the audience plenty of time to get to know the characters separately and get excited during their limited interactions. 

References:

Ukazu, N. (2018). Check Please. (N. Uzaku, Illust.). First Second Publishers.

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Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match

Title 11: Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match

Genre: Picture Book, Pura Belpre Winner

Target Age Group: 3-6 years

Summary:

Marisol McDonald likes peanut butter and jelly burritos, wears pants and skirts together, and wants to play pirates and soccer at the same time. Her mother is Peruvian and her father is Scottish and some people say she doesn’t match. But one day when Marisol tries to “match”, she just gets bored and unhappy. This is the story of how she learns to accept herself as a child of a mixed family.

Justification: 

I was looking for a Pura Belpre prize winner, and this Wonderbook stood out to me as I had never seen or listened to a bilingual Wonderbook before. I was also intrigued by the confrontational nature of the title. 

Evaluation:

First, I read and listened to this book as a Wonderbook. I thoroughly enjoyed the narrator’s ability to bring the story to life. She acted out Marisol’s voice well with very clear enunciation in English and then in Spanish for each page. While I found myself being impatient and ready to turn to the next page while she was reading the translation, I believe a child could find it interesting to hear the translation and have plenty of things to search around the page for and look at if they are not paying attention to the translation. One thing I wish the Wonderbook offered is the ability to slow down or speed up the pace of the reader. While it does have an option to skip to the next page or go back a page in the audio recording, I wish I could adjust its speed. This could also help listeners understand pronunciations better as well for bilingual books.

Second,

The story has a very positive message of not only acceptance of one’s differences, but also of appreciation of them as well. The day that Marisol tries to “match” by being just a pirate rather than a soccer player as well, she wears all just one color rather than mismatching prints and polka dots, and eat peanut butter and jelly on bread instead of tortillas, her teacher writes her a lovely letter telling Marisol just how much she likes her the way she is as a “unique, bilingual, Peruvian-Scottish-American, soccer-playing, artist and simply marvelous!” 

Third,

The illustrations are beautiful, up to date in style, and embrace the message of the story as well. Not only is it made with what looks like pencil and watercolors, the pages are also filled with strips of newspapers written in Spanish and English. For instance, on her soccer ball, we can see an article written in English that’s drawn over with a soccer print of dark pentagons and light hexagons. I appreciated this extra little touch from the illustrator.

References: 

Brown, M. (2011). Marisol McDonald doesn’t match (S. Palacios, Illus.) (A. Dominguez, Trans.). Children’s Book Press. (Original work published 2011

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Who Was Kobe Bryant?

Title 10: Who Was Kobe Bryant?

Genre: Children’s Biography

Target Age Group: 7-11 years

Summary:

This is a beginning chapter book in the “Who Was” series of biographies aimed at kids that are also colloquially known in some libraries as “The Big Head Books” because of their caricatures of the namesake of the biography on the covers. It covers the life and impact of Kobe Bryant.

Justification: 

I wanted to read a popular children’s biography series and this is the most popular title that I have seen picked up on my bookmobile so I was very intrigued to see what the quality of writing and storytelling that the children were imbibing. 

Evaluation:

First, the design of the book is very approachable for young readers. The text is quite large with only 20 lines of text maximum per page. The reader will only have 2-4 pages of straight text before the next illustration so it is never overwhelming for a reader who is new to beginning chapter books. It is also quite short for a biography at just under 50 pages, just right for this target age group. 

Second, the illustrations are very life-like. They were clearly based off of specific popular photos of Kobe Bryant and paid special attention to detail. The style is very simple with just pencil on paper, showing the pencil strokes, but this seems intentional to show that even the readers can draw their favorite basketball stars without the publishers needing to pay for full color glossy photos. 

Third, and most importantly, the writing was surprisingly true to life. I had expected for the writer to skim over Kobe’s egotistical nature and especially his sexual assault court case, but that was not the case. Ellen Labreqcue was quite factual in her storytelling. There was only once where I was skeptical that it may be more hero worshiping than was true to life, when his daughter was born, Labrecque wrote that Kobr loved being a husband and perhaps loved being a father more. That felt a bit more hero worship than true to life, but once in 50 pages is pretty forgivable. Overall, I would recommend this title to young basketball fans knowing that it is not all glitz and glamor. 

References:

Labrecque, E. (2020). Who Was Kobe Bryant? (G. Copeland, Illus.). Penguin Random House.

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The Last Cuentista

Title 9: The Last Cuentista

Genre: Newberry Medal Winner, Science Fiction, Dystopia

Target Age Group: 10-14

Summary:

Petra’s family is selected to be saved from the looming comet set to destroy earth. She awakes 400 years into the future to find her parents and brother missing and a new totalitarian regime, named the Collective, in charge of every aspect of people’s lives aboard their spaceship. As the ship lands on a new Earth-like planet, Petra struggles to maintain her autonomy, her name, and her memory of her beloved stories.

Justification: 

I chose to review this book because it won the Newbery Medal, the Pura Belpre Medal, and I was intrigued by the futuristic, scifi, dystopian world that it painted. 

Evaluation:

First, I think the word choice, verbiage used, and tone were all well chosen for their target audience of 10-13. This felt like a tween’s first dystopia with a Latino perspective. The author does an excellent job of reminding the audience what Petra’s motivations are, what she needs to be on the lookout for, and what her sources of comfort are. She often reminds herself of her caretaker, Lita’s, stories as a form of self-soothing, and this models excellent coping skills for young readers. 

Second, as science fiction dystopias go, this was very refreshing. In the wake up The Hunger Games, The Fifth Wind, Mazerunner, and more copycats, the focus on escaping the totalitarian leader with a value of family was much needed for readers of this genre. However, despite taking a left turn where all the other teen dystopias have been going right, this novel nailed what makes dystopias so intriguing to readers. It takes away the very things that we value most, like beauty, self-determination, autonomy, stories, books, and diversity, and shows us just what happens when someone leading out of fear of those things has complete control and obeisance.

Third, everything felt believable. In a story set 400 years into the future on a new planet and a spaceship, this is no small feat. But by focusing on the main character’s feelings, her reactions, her self-reflection, and her memories, we see that the setting doesn’t really matter so much as lay as an interesting background for the characters to shine through. Where other dystopias paint a picture too bleak to feel surpassable, this book constantly hints at ways of escape and bits of hope to cling to amidst the waves of fear. 

References: 

Higuera, D.B. (2021). The Last Cuentista. Chronicle Books Publishers.

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The Crossover

Title 8: The Crossover

Genre: Children’s Novel in Verse

Target Age Group: 10-13 years

Summary:

Josh Bell, aka Filthy McNasty, is the son of a famous professional basketball player. This novel in verse is written from the seventh grade twin’s viewpoint on playing basketball, losing his brother to girls, losing his dreadlocks, worrying about his dad’s health, and living in his father’s shadow.

Justification: I had seen this book get chosen by many of the kids at our outreaches who like basketball and I was curious why it had won both the Newbery and Coretta Scott King awards. 

Evaluation:

First, the visuals of the poetry help convey movement of the content. For example, the letters move diagonally across the page for the word “slipping” Alexander capitalizes all of the letters in the word “ELEVATING”, and the letters skip a line and go vertical for “down” in “down -right”.

Second, the approach to the novel as poetry is genius for the target audience. There are fewer words per page to intimidate a potential reluctant reader. The poems often feel like hip hop song lyrics. The content deals with basketball, a strong African American value of competition and camaraderie. The book introduces vocabulary like pulchritudinous effortlessly to make learning new words approachable and interesting. The beat and rhythm of the words in the poems often make the poems feel like a song or a basketball game with dribbles hitting the ground in time of the lines.

Third, the story itself is impactful. We slowly learn about the father’s failing health with little hints here and there of getting out of breath, needing to sit down, and needing to follow a special diet. We also see how important he is to keeping the family together by coaching his boys, helping them work out their differences and understand each other, and how much of a pillar in the community he is. Then Josh finds a letter to his father from the doctor explaining why his career is over and that he can fix it if he just has one surgery, but that fear of doctors from his father passing still clouds his vision. Even with the mother’s concerns reiterated for his health and Josh’s growing concerns, the father still ignores them and doesn’t go to the doctor. This is how we learn the double meaning of the book’s title - to cross over to the other side of life. 

References:

Alexander, K. (2014). The Crossover. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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The Hate U Give

Title 7: The Hate U Give

Genre: Young Adult

Target Age Group: 15+

Summary:

Starr lives in a rough black neighborhood but goes to a nice school with white kids. One night, she flees a party with an old friend, Khalil, when gunshots go off. They are pulled over by a cop who mistakes her friend’s hairbrush for a gun and shoots him to death. This is the second friend she has seen shot to death and she is only sixteen. Riots start when word gets out that Khalil was unarmed. Starr just wants to hide and for everything to go back to normal. However, over the next few weeks, she sees how Khalil is portrayed in the news as a thug drug dealer who deserved to die. Starr decides to speak up for Khalil and make sure he is not just another statistic. She testifies for the District Attorney, but it ultimately changes nothing and the riots start all over again. 

Justification: I have seen this book featured in many Young Adult recommended lists and we have carried it on our bookmobile out to poor neighborhoods in Houston for several years now. When I realized that it had won the Printz Award, I knew that I had to see what impact this book could have on me. 

Evaluation:

First, the characters have complex motivations. Her father is a former gangbanger and son of a notorious gang leader, however he goes straight when he is able to make a deal with his father in prison to get out of the gange. He also believes in the tenets of unity and helping out fellow black people in need from the tenets of the Black Panthers. Davante used to sell drugs for King, but stole from him to get his mom and sister out of the bad neighborhood when his brother was shot and killed. Garden Heights is not a “bad neighborhood”. It has extremely lovable characters who make amazing cakes and help each other out when they are going through tough times. No one in this book is just a gang member, just a scared teenager, or just a cop protecting other cops. However, this doesn’t always come off as believable. It feels a little too convenient that there is a cop with a heart of gold willing to protect kids from a gang leader, a former gang member with a heart of gold looking to protect kids from going back to that way of life, and a whole neighborhood willing and courageous enough to snitch on the most powerful gang leader there. 

Second, Starr has a complex inner world. At first, she is shocked that an old friend is just suddenly dead. She feels guilty that she wasn’t able to stop it, didn’t spend more time with him, and didn't admit her feelings for him sooner. She feels ashamed that she is dating a white boy because it feels like she is betraying her race and turning her back on her culture. She feels afraid to speak up because she has seen how cops mistreat her father for her testifying in front of the DA, her friends will treat her differently, her boyfriend will treat her differently, and the gangs will see her as a snitch. But with encouragement and talking with her family, she is emboldened to speak up for Khalil and be his voice when he can’t defend himself. She is emboldened to call out microaggressions and racist comments from former friends. She is no longer scared into submission to keep the status quo intact. 

Third, the author, Angie Thomas, doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to violence. Thomas portrays Starr as crying and throwing up every time that she has to relay the death of Khalil. She is traumatized by seeing her other friend, Natasha, killed when she was just ten years old. The bad sides of living in Garden Heights are not glossed over. There is a deep sadness and awkwardness around the drug addict mother. The desperation of poverty seeps into everything that the neighborhood touches. But somehow the people keep going about their daily lives showing strength through perseverance and unity. They support the neighborhood even while acknowledging its inherent danger that’s bad for young kids to be around. 

References:

Thomas, A. (2017). The Hate U Give. HarperCollins Publishers. 

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Trombone Shorty

Title 6: Trombone Shorty

Genre: Corretta Scott King winner, Memoir

Target Age Group: 3-8

Summary:

Trombone Shorty grows up in a poor neighborhood of New Orleans. He learns a love of brass music from his older brother, finds an old trombone, and the rest is history.

Justification: 

I had seen that this title won the Coretta Scott King award, been featured in several African American history library displays, and I had heard the name before so I decided to give it a read.

Evaluation:

First, the illustrations are beautiful and unique. They are not the typical simple ink outlines with simple saturated colors like in many other children’s picture books. These illustrations are made with collage and watercolor. The illustrator makes music influence the world around it - spiraling out of the trombone, shining through the air like rays of sunshine, wafting through crowds, and exploding out of Shorty’s lips. The unique imagery gives this book a feel all its own as it should. This depiction of New Orleans as bright and beautiful, full of music and culture, is exactly the positive story that should be told by one of its very own success stories. 

Second, the writing is fairly straightforward and on grade level for elementary school children. There are approximately five to twenty words per page so that the young listener won’t be bored or distracted while listening. I especially enjoyed the repetition of “Where y’at? Where y’at?” throughout the book, giving us a glimpse into the local vernacular and the fun catch phrases that give the book an air of levity. 

Third, I enjoyed the depictions of culture throughout the book. Trombone Shorty shows us all of the beautiful simple pleasures that New Orleans has to offer whether it is parades at Mardis Gras, brass music wafting through crowds, or big pots of delicious gumbo. The book doesn’t shy away from humble beginnings; Shorty finds a beat up old trombone, and no one in his neighborhood is well off, but they create this rich culture despite that, and craft beautiful music that inspires and uplifts us all. 

References:

Andrews, T., & Collier, B. (2015). Trombone Shorty. Abrams Books for Young Readers.

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Shake the Tree!

Title 5: Shake the Tree!

Genre: Texas 2x2

Target Age Group: 3-7

Summary:

A mouse wants to get a nut down from a tree so it shakes the tree, but out falls a fox. This continues on until eventually a bear falls out and all of the animals are scared, but the shaking causes the nut to fall out of the tree and the bear eats it happily.

Justification:

I had seen this book on my library’s shelves and seen it performed in storytime before, but hadn’t read it myself so I let my curiosity get the best of me and I checked out a copy.

Evaluation:

First, the illustrations are very cute. The animals and tree are all single toned without shadows, giving it a very simple aesthetic. The expressions on the animals’ faces are all easily distinguishable despite being quite small on their rather large heads. I especially enjoyed that the book is meant to be turned sideways so that it is in a long portrait disposition for the audience. While this may be a tiny hangup for a storytime presenter, it is all the more fun for the audience to see a unique book.

Second, the writing is simple and succinct. There are no extraneous words here for the listener to get bored with. I enjoyed the symmetry between the different animals falling out of the tree, threatening to gobble the previous animal up, and repeating the same process for the next animal to come down the tree. Lastly, I especially enjoyed the repetition of saying “Shake, shake, shake” for each animal trying to get its meal out of the tree. In previous presentations I have seen, the audience of kids has loved shaking along with the characters in the book. 

Third, the motivation of each animal is very clear up until the bear, which is the humorous curveball at the end. Having this clear motivation helps the audience empathize, build expectations for where the story might go next, and makes the payoff of the surprise at the end, bear wanting the nut, all the more worthwhile. However, this may be a sore subject for some young kids and their parents to discuss how we get the meat that we eat. Some children are not emotionally mature enough to process this information and the presenter may want to mention or discuss this before reading the book aloud for the audience. This will likely not be a major issues, but it bears mentioning.

References: 

Vignocchi, C. (2013). Shake the Tree! Walker Books.

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The Day the Crayons Quit

Title 4: The Day the Crayons Quit

Genre: Bluebonnet Winner 2015, Humor

Target Age Group: 3-6

Summary: 

One day Duncan finds letters from his crayons saying how tired they are of being used in particular ways and not used in others. Duncan listens to his crayons’ complaints and creates a beautiful picture using the colors unconventionally. 

Justification: I have enjoyed reading the other books in this series for storytime and wanted to see where it all started with The Day the Crayons Quit. They have all been humorous and very enjoyable to try out different voices for each of the crayons and their quibbles with Duncan’s usage of them. 

Evaluation:

First, the illustrations are whimsical, but they are quite simple and may be a little boring for young readers. While books like Elephant and Piggie can get away with very simple illustrations, usually only having the two characters with an occasional prop, this book has long letters on one page accompanied by few drawings on the opposite page. 

Second, the writing is humorous and enjoyable. Each color has very understandable and reasonable complaints like Purple wanting to stay inside the lines or white wanting to be used more often. I especially enjoy telling the audience Peach’s complaint of losing its wrapper and feeling naked! Along with each color’s unique complaints, they each present them in a unique voice as well which lends itself to the storyteller’s ambition of becoming a voice actor. 

Third, my only other critique would be that the characters can have similar complaints to each other. The book could combine a few colors into a group to complain about the same thing like red and gray both feeling tired from overuse. This repetition can get boring for the listener and challenging for the storyteller to assign a different voice for the same complaints. I would recommend for the author to either come up with new complaints or conflicts between the crayons or to combine a few into a group.

References:

Daywalt, D., & Jeffers, O. (2013). The Day the Crayons Quit! Philomel Books.

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Creepy Crayon!

Title 3: Creepy Crayon!

Genre: Horror

Target Age Group: 4-7

Summary: Jasper Rabbit finds a purple crayon to help him with school, but he starts to feel dishonest by using it. He tries multiple ways to discard it and eventually starts getting C’s again in school on his own merit, but the purple crayon goes on to haunt someone else.

Justification:

I thoroughly enjoyed the previous entries into this series by Aaron Reynolds, Creepy Carrots and Creepy Pair of Underwear, and they have been a hit when it comes time for storytime with first and second graders especially. We want something that is scaring the main character but doesn’t actually scare kids like carrots or underwear so this suits the wheelhouse of scary, but not too scary.

Evaluation:

First, the writing is excellent. These stories in this series are never too complicated. Previous books like Creepy Carrots were a little too wordy for storytimes, so we would have to truncate it a bit, but Creepy Crayon has honed in on the right max number of words per page for read alouds. The words are right on grade level for first and second graders. 

Second, the illustrations are clear and convey a sense of creepiness. The pages are all in black and white except for the creepy purple crayon, symbolizing that this thing does not belong and we as the audience should be wary of it. Jasper’s expressions are perfect and easily discernible for the young reader. They serve as a great opening for asking the audience how does Jasper feel in this page and why might he feel that way.

Third, the deeper meaning behind the story may be lost on the younger kids who struggle with metaphors. In previous books, the carrots were creepy because they were popping up in places that Jasper should have been safe and comfortable like the bathroom or under his bed. Here, the crayon is not creepy by virtue of being in an odd place or doing anything threatening. It’s just making Jasper uncomfortable and ashamed. I will admit that I did miss the metaphor of the crayon symbolizing cheating on my first pass, but that may be because I am used to characters cheating off of another character like looking at someone else’s test. Nevertheless, the moral of the story is especially poignant with the advent of ChatGPT and AI taking over potentially every facet of our lives, and honesty will always be a timeless lesson to teach kids. 

References: 

Reynolds, A., & Brown, P. (2022). Creepy Crayon! Simon & Schuster.

[childrenslitbookreviews]

The First Cat In Space Ate Pizza

Title 2: The First Cat In Space Ate Pizza

Genre: Children’s Graphic Novel

Target Age Group: 7-10

Summary:

This silly graphic novel starts with the earth identifying that giant space rats are eating the moon and they must send a cat to stop them. They send the first cat into space, where he meets a toe-nail clipping robot and the moon queen. However, the rocket ship’s computer feels left out and plots his revenge with the help of the space rats. The cat, queen, and robot trio venture into the moon’s caverns to get to the rats faster, but are separated by a cave-in. The cat and robot relax with a surfing caterpillar creature, but are “rescued” by the moon queen. They run into ice giants, who have been at war with the moon queen for years, but the giant gives his fur to the queen to stay warm on the dark side of the moon and the queen allows the giants to come back to the light side of the moon. They venture on a boat into the sea of tranquility, where they are capsized but saved by a whale who loved the toenail clipping robot’s singing. The trio meets the space rats, who reveal that they eat the moon to wear down their teeth. Toenail clipping robot volunteers to go with the space rats to help them clip their teeth, but he then betrays them and clips their navigation wire and sneaks back to be with the cat and moon queen. 

Justification:

I chose this book because it has been popular with children in my bookmobile and it seemed to be in a similar art-style to DogMan and CatKid. This makes it a possible candidate to supplement DogMan if patrons voice their enjoyment for that series. Dav Pilkey has been reigning supreme among kids everywhere that we go so finding other titles that they might enjoy has been high on my priority list.

Evaluation:

First, the graphics convey their meaning well despite being intentionally child-like in their execution. The full color novel seems to primarily utilize colored pencils and crayon textures. Flashbacks and cutaways use a light blue pallet, while most of the novel uses bold, saturated colors. The characters are clearly distinct. The cat has a round space helmet, the toe-nail clipping robot a square outline, and the moon queen a triangular haircut and robe, making them easily distinguishable even at a glance. The humans are drawn in a style similar to Dogman with enlarged heads, squat torsos, and stubby stick legs. 

Second, the writing and comedy was where this book shined brightest. I particularly enjoyed the humor of cat being the titular character but only ever speaking in meow’s. I also enjoyed the wordplay on things such as the sea of tranquility not being tranquil and the peninsula of thunder being quite peaceful. There were numerous non-sequiturs that caught me off guard like a whale falling in love with toenail clipping robot

Third, the plot of the book was unnecessarily convoluted and lengthy. At over 300 pages, it feels drawn out and there are a few side quests, like mission control’s vacation, that could have easily been edited out. If this is working to be a graphic novel with the staying power of Dogman, then these authors will need to get more comfortable editing out extraneous side stories. While the reader is getting teased with close calls to the first cat in space almost eating pizza, enticing them to keep reading further, it also feels tedious and drawn out.

References:

Barnett, M., & Harris, S. (2022). The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza. HarperCollins Publishers.

[childrenslitbookreviews]

March: Book One

Title: March: Booke One

Genre: Young Adult Graphic Novel 

Target Age Group: 13-16

Summary: The graphic novel starts with a frame story of congressman John Lewis preparing for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African-American president. He tells two young boys the story of how he rose from a poor son of a sharecropper in Alabama to activism. He tells them about sneaking to school when other children were required to stay home and help harvest the crops for the season. Lewis always admired pastors and especially those who involved the bible in teaching about how segregation was unjust. He applied and went to ministry college in Nashville where he met Jim Lawson, a non-violent resistance organizer. Hundreds of students trained to be yelled at, assaulted, and be the victims of hate crimes in order to be allowed to sit at a lunch counter. A comic book created by the resistance organization about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired many to the cause. A series of sit-ins  led to many assaults on the students who were primarily African-American. The jails were filled with the protestors and they were let go. Finally, one protestor’s house was bombed, the resistance group marched to the capitol building and pressured the mayor into finally desegregating lunch counters.

Justification:

This graphic novel piqued my interest because I had seen it won the Coretta Scott King Honor and my library system had interviewed the co-author a few years ago. I work on a bookmobile in impoverished areas of Houston and it gave me great pride to offer this as a giveaway book to the children who see Barack Obama and John Lewis as heroes. I had also wanted to learn more about it in order to provide better reader’s advisory for these young kids.

Evaluation:

First, The graphics are extremely polished. Each scene and frame could easily be a shot of a high budget movie or television show. The black and white illustrations don’t just show the expected dialogue. It conveys the action and terror of assault. It visually shows the opposition of the white and black folks in Nashville by placing them on different sides of the frame. The detailed facial expressions run the gamut of concern, awe, confusion, distrust, hatred, and determination. The reader is never confused as to how characters feel or fit into the battle between segregation and blacks. 

Second, the writing is comfortably paced, never boring with too many details or monologues. It suits the typical pacing of a graphic novel, but doesn’t feel rushed to show action. It starts by showing the character of Lewis by telling a story of his concern for his chickens on the farm he grew up on. He made a make-shift incubator for eggs who didn’t fit under the mother hens and wanted to save for one out of a Sears catalog. However, when it came time to eat the chickens, the felt conflicted and hurt. He would use this point later in the novel when he told of going on a long road trip with his uncle and seeing the emotional removal that many people have from the food that they eat. This metaphor for out of sight out of mind relates well to segregation and feeling like the lesser-thans should stay in their place. The authors clearly did not set out to write a children’s book where they gloss over details or shy away from more advanced writing elements. 

Third, the emotional impact was lasting. From the very beginning, we as the audience are drawn into Lewis as a character because of his desire to protect those that are less powerful than him. We, in the future and valuing education, root for him as he runs to the bus to get to school despite knowing his father will be furious with him. Lewis’s determination shines through, not just as seriousness, but as a willingness to fight and suffer for what he knows to be right and to what he sees as right in the eyes of god. He is not only looking after his flock, so to speak, but fighting to keep his worldview of god creating him in his image as well. I went into this series knowing only a little about John Lewis, namely that he was involved with civil disobedience in the south during Jim Crow, but this story humanized his struggle and made it seem as relevant as the day that it happened. I believe that having a living human that the teens today can look at and see themselves in helps them know that they are not alone, the struggle continues, and it has its roots in their grandparents lives as well. It is not just a struggle on their own. 

References:

Lewis, J. (2013). March: Book One. Top Shelf Productions.