Picture books for everyone

Princesses Versus Dinosaurs by Linda Bailey and Joy Ang

Could this book be more universally appealing? We have the sweet, bright appeal of princesses and the wild fun of dinosaurs. But it's more than just that simply dichotomy. Some of the princesses engage in flower-picking and tea parties. Others have sword fights and climb trees. Some dinosaurs stomp in the mud and break things. Others are engaged in more peaceful pursuits. The two groups are in conflict and share the blame for that conflict equally. Just as the blame is shared, so too is the resolution. Each becomes interested in the activities of the other group until they naturally tear down the barrier between them. It's silly fun with a message about conflict resolution, all tied together with cartoony illustrations. A little something for everyone.  

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Non-fiction book review - Who Gives a Poop?

Who Gives a Poop? by Heather L Montgomery

 Montgomery has not created the typical nonfiction book here. It reads like a series of essays, with a conversational tone. While each chapter has the same overall focus - something we can learn from or about feces - the topics jump around. They don't build on one another at all. This makes it easier to read in fits and starts rather than all in one sitting. There's a general tone of good humor and fascination, just as much about Montgomery's own reactions as about the things we can learn. It's quite well written and looks at a lot of topics that might otherwise be overlooked. Just not a book for the especially squeamish, given some fairly enthusiastic physical descriptions of assorted scat. 

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Book review - Don't Stand So Close to Me

Title: Don't Stand So Close to Me

Author: Eric Walters

Genre: realistic fiction

Rating:

 

 certainly of the moment

Summary (provided by publisher): Thirteen-year-old Quinn and her friends can't believe their luck when spring break is extended an extra two weeks—even if it's because of some virus. But when the impact of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic becomes apparent, everyone, not just the students, has to learn to adjust to their new reality. Quinn’s father is an ER doctor and has to self-isolate to protect his family from the virus. Isaac’s mother is the chief of police and now has to enforce new physical-distancing bylaws. Reese can’t visit her grandmother in her care home anymore. And their entire school has moved to online classes. Sacrifices have to be made to keep everyone safe, but there’s more to life than rules and scary news reports. In an effort to find some good in all this uncertainty, Quinn comes up with an idea that she hopes will bring the entire community together.

My opinion: Obviously, this is a book that is going to speak to young readers right now. It reflects what we've all been living through, the way that the world changed in the spring. It is that snapshot nature that is likely to be the book's downfall in the long term. Even in the past six weeks, the world has changed again and the adjustments Walters shows are out of date. And let's be honest: do kids who are living through COVID restrictions really want to relive it right now?

More information: Don't Stand So Close to Me releases September 22 

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Book review - Displaced

Title: Displaced

Author: Dean Hughes

Genre: realistic fiction:

Similar books: The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney

                      Everlasting Nora by Marie MIranda Cruz

Rating:

 

a little bit heartbreaking

Summary (provided by publisher): Thirteen-year-old Hadi Toma and his family are displaced. At least that’s what the Lebanese government calls them and the thousands of other Syrian refugees that have flooded into Beirut. But as Hadi tries to earn money to feed his family by selling gum on the street corner, he learns that many people who travel the city don’t think they’re displaced—they think that they don’t belong in this country either. Each day he hears insults, but each day he convinces himself they don’t matter, approaching the cars again and again. He hardly dares to dream anymore that this might change.
But then Hadi meets Malek, who has been instructed to work on the same corner. Malek, who talks about going to school and becoming an engineer. But Malek is new to the streets, and Kamal, the man who oversees many of the local street vendors, tells Malek he must work the corner…alone. And people who don’t follow Kamal’s orders don’t last long.
Now Hadi is forced to make a choice between engaging in illegal activities or letting his family starve. Can the boys find a way out of their impossible situation, or will the dream of something greater than their harsh realities remain stubbornly out of reach?

My opinion: It isn't often that we get a refugee story that doesn't end with the main character in a new home in the west, opportunity wide open in front of them. Hughes presents us instead with a family trapped by poverty, in a country already stretched thin for resources. This is a scenario where they were once helped by NGOs but that funding has dried up. The best Hadi can hope for is a slight improvement in circumstances, a situation where he may be able to go to school, where his family may have enough to eat without begging. The greatest value to a book like this one is putting a human face to a crisis.

 Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with Me

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

This is more than just a story of guilt or innocence. It raises that question of course - Has Amal done a thing worthy of imprisonment? He was in a fight, but was it criminal? The central question of the plot is bigger than a single teenager's guilt, though. It's a question about the entire system. About presumptions based on race. About the school system and the boxes it puts kids into. About cultural failures and violence. We expect kids to be tough but punish them when they fight. And then treat them as if they're dangerous forever after. We expect only a single time of behavior from them from early childhood and punish them for things they don't understand. Zaboi and Salaam suggest that the school system prepares boys for prison, even small infractions taking power from them It's noteworthy that the end of the book does not have Amal in a clear place. He doesn't have answers about his future,He's just thinking, educating himself, an looking for options to make better choices going forward. With such big societal questions being raised, this is an excellent book for discussion. 

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Non-fiction book review - Kids Fight Plastic

Kids Fight Plastic by Martin Dorey

 It's no secret that single use plastic is bad. We hear all the time how damaging it is to the environment. What isn't always clear is why. That's one of the advantages of this book. It lays out in a clear and concise way the short and long term damage done by plastic. We also get clear steps that individuals can take to help. Some of these things can be difficult to achieve, but Dorey breaks it all down into small and achievable steps.It also doesn't ask the individual to fix the plastic problem. It just asks us to weigh our decisions and help to ease the plastic burden.

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Book review - Beauty Mark

Title: Beauty Mark

Author: Carole Boston Weatherford

Genre: verse novel

Similar books: Voices by David Elliott

                      Anastasia by Magadlena Lankosz

Rating:

 

far more compelling than I expected

Summary (provided by publisher): From the day she was born into a troubled home to her reigning days as a Hollywood icon, Marilyn Monroe (née Norma Jeane Mortenson) lived a life that was often defined by others. Here, in a luminous poetic narrative, acclaimed author Carole Boston Weatherford tells Marilyn’s story in a way that restores her voice to its rightful place: center stage. Revisiting Marilyn’s often traumatic early life—foster homes, loneliness, sexual abuse, teen marriage—through a hard-won, meteoric rise to stardom that brought with it exploitation, pill dependency, and depression, the lyrical narrative continues through Marilyn’s famous performance at JFK’s birthday party, three months before her death. In a story at once riveting, moving, and unflinching, Carole Boston Weatherford tells a tale of extraordinary pain and moments of unexpected grace, gumption, and perseverance, as well as the inexorable power of pursuing one’s dreams. A beautifully designed volume.

My opinion: I've never really found Marilyn Monroe to be an especially interesting figure. At least, not before I read this book. I had no idea how fascinating I was going to find her story. Poverty, mental illness, abuse, desperation for recognition and affection, and eventually fame. That fame is actually a very small part of this narrative. The larger focus is on obstacles and people wanting her to conform to societal expectations. Expectations that matched nothing that she saw growing up, that must have felt no more realistic than the ideals of fame to young Norma. While the story is told in Marilyn's voice, it is surprisingly dispassionate, relaying events without speculating much about her deeper feelings towards them. A bit of a niche read but well worth a look.

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