KIDSREAD

I was just about to send off a pile of books for one of my favorite children's book illustrators to autograph & decided I'd talk about some of her work this time. 

Jane Dyer lives in a restored home in Northampton, MA where I visited her & her adorable puppy (even though I'm not a dog person, this is an adorable pupply)almost 2 years ago.  She took us to her country home about an hour away which is a very rustic ancient home on a vast amount of land that you can see in her book LITTLE BROWN BEAR WON'T TAKE A NAP (a book about hibernation but works for children & naps too).  It's a 2 page spread just before the story starts & you see her little yellow VW bug parked in front of the house.  The part that juts out the back of the main (yellow) house is her studio.  Up the hill from the yellow house that is Little Brown Bear's house is really a play house for Jane's grandchildren.  There you have THE most magnificant view of the countryside & millions of trees & is so green it hurts your eyes.  So she has lots of inspiration right in front of her.

Little Brown bear is a character in a 3 book series. He is going through the normal growing pains of young children & is surrounded by a loving family.  I use LITTLE BROWN BEAR WON'T GO TO SCHOOL at the beginning of the school year to let younger students know that a bit of anxiety about going to school is perfectly normal.  The importance of school & learning  subtly comes through.

Then there's LITTLE BROWN BEAR AND THE BUNDLE OF JOY about, you guessed it, a new baby in the family.  The very real situation is dealt with in human terms & with humor--a good read for those families about to experience this event.

Some of Jane Dyer's other recent work includes illustrating MOVE OVER, ROVER! written by Karen Beaumont.  The book received the 2007 T. Seuss Geisel Award for beginning readers.  It's the classic story of THE MITTEN--too many animals crowded into the doghouse during a rain storm.  Jane's yellow country house appears on page one in this book as well & I'm thinking Rover is that adorable puppy of hers.  Illustrators often say they use animal characters because they are easier to draw than humans & this delightful story in rhyme is "chuck full" of forest animals.

An older favorite book Jane illustrated that I love is OH MY BABY, LITTLE ONE, written by Kathi Appelt.  A very tender story of Mother leaving her child for the day.  Mother's love is repeated in rhyme throughout her little one's activities  till they meet again at the end of the day.  A very sweet story and the illustrations are Jane's beautiful animals.

Along that same vein is WHEN MAMA COMES HOME TONIGHT by Eileen Spinelli but with human characters illustrated by Jane Dyer.  Again written in rhyme, I get an old fashioned feel from the soft pastel colors but purple pops out too.  It's no wonder Jane is in such high demand to illustrate, every book is beautiful.

 And lastly ANIMAL CRACKERS is one of my favorite baby gifts:  a delectable collection of pictures, poems and lullabies for the very young.  If this is the only book a child had been exposed to before going to school, they would be ready to learn.  Nursery rhymes, ABC's, colors, shapes, and animals--it's all here.  Jane has illustrated many many more books & a Christmas book coming out soon.

I often find some very useful books at Bookmans at 19th Ave & Northern & at very good prices--NW corner, behind Walgreens.  Also at the Half Price Book Store next to Target west of PV mall.  Good children's sections.

Have fun reading to your someone special.

Cathy

This week's New York Times best seller list for children's books lists 5 picture books & 5 chapter books.  I can recommend only one of the 10!

It's FLOTSUM by David Wiesner which won the 2007 Caldecott Medal for most distinguished children's book illustration.  It's a wordless book!!  But it's the most intriguing book out in a long time.  Pour over it & consider each & every bit of it beginning with the embossed cover under the dust jacket.  Those of us in libraries don't often get to see the actual trade book editions as the jobbers from whom we order library bind books & seal the colorful dust jacket to the cover so that sometimes exquisite art is lost to the library reader.

Don't look up the word flotsum with your readers but turn to the title page & see if they can guess the meaning from all the items pictured there.  Don't forget the endpapers!!  Doesn't it set the mood for the setting of the story?  Ask for predictions--why did the boy bring all those things to the beach with him?  What is that thing that washed up on the shore.  Be sure to look carefully at the art style--panels over a background.  AND, be sure to look carefully at the film shop sequence--one small box in the panels is a very important aspect to make the rest of the book make sense.  Just enjoy this very outstanding book, then go look for more of David Wiesner & his wonderful imagination.

Have fun!  Cathy

I love the start of a new school year!! Bet you can guess why--as a librarian I get a shipment of new books to unpack & savor.  This was a week of meetings & work to get ready for the 07-08 school year & I unpacked about 500 new books for the school library where I work.  It takes a long time as I am sidetracked to look them over, read a few on the spot, smell them & bring home to read--I think I restrained myself & only brought home about 30.

Some of the new books I brought home to read are the nominees for the Grand Canyon Reader Award, a children's choice award sponsored by the AZ Library Association.  As a previous chair of this program for 10 years, this is a program I believe in.  Kids of all ages read or have read to them the nominees & then vote for their favorite by March 1st each year & when the votes are all tabulated the winning author is invited to AZ to receive the award.  The goal is to get kids to read or be exposed to good quality new literature & be able to pick their favorite.   If your child's school doesn't participate in the program, go in & ask the librarian about it.  So those are the novels I'm reading now.

Every morning I tear off a page from my Mary Englebreit calendar & often get my inspiration for the day.  My first day back to work on August 6 the calendar had a delightful picture of a child sitting at the foot of her father reading a book & the anoymous quote said "Good children's literature appeals not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child."  We often sell our children short in what we think they can read & understand.  That's why it's so important to let children self-select some of what they read.  They will discover what's too hard or decide they can't understand very quickly. 

One of the books I brought home to read is KING MATT THE FIRST:  A NOVEL by Janusz Korczak, a book I had heard about several years ago & was just now able to get ordered.  This sophisticated book was translated  in 1986 from the Polish by Richard Lourie but originally published in 1923.  It's basically about a child king who introduces reforms to give children the same rights as adults.  The introduction by Esme Codell, an author I told you about last time, says this book is one of the greatest of all time because it has humor, adventure, excitement, friendship (romance is optional, and only in small doses).  The main character must be one that the reader mourns the loss of upon closing the cover.  It must have mischief and naughtiness, but placate adults with a lesson or two so that the child may read in peace.  Any profanity ought to be hidden in the middle, further along than most grown-ups are likely to read  (tee hee).  If it has the effrontery to lack pictures, it must compensate with lots of lively conversation.  the bad must be punished and the good rewarded; enemies are those who misunderstand children.  Wishes should be granted, unless they are too greedy.  There should be animals.  And sweets.  And days off from school.  And some absence of parents.  Think of your favorite children's book & see if these elements aren't present.

You won't hear from me for awhile as I have a lot of reading to do!!

Cathy

Tomorrow I'll start my 27th year as a school librarian in the Washington Elementary School District at Ocotillo School, I look back at my summer of rest, professional development, reading & work.  I'm anxious to get back to the kids, the books, the exhilaration of putting those two things together.

I want to go back & tell you about a conference I attended in June:  Association of Jewish Libraries which was held in Scottsdale at which I volunteered in order to be able to hear the speakers for free.  It was a small conference but packed with notable authors for children.  This association gives the Sydney Taylor Book Award in various categories of the best in Jewish children's literature.  I didn't get to hear all the authors speak but those I did hear were exceptional.

The winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Award winner for younger readers (picture book) were author Stephen Krensky and illustrator Greg Harlin for HANUKKAH AT VALLEY FORGE a very moving story of a young Jewish soldier who meets George Washington during the holidays.

Brenda Ferber, author of the novel JULIA'S KITCHEN, won the Sydney Taylor Book Award for older readers.  This "chapter book" deals not only with being a young girl trying to stay true to her family's Jewish traditions but struggling with the death of her mother & sister in a house fire.  Very few books for older readers deal with a topic this important in such a frank manner.

Esme Raji Codell is one of my favorite authors & a most enjoyable speaker.  Maybe it's because she is also a school librarian & knows what she's talking about.  Her previous titles including EDUCATING ESME:  A DIARY OF A TEACHER'S FIRST YEAR is an inspiring and helpful tool for teachers; SAHARA SPECIAL, a semi-autobiographical story of growing up with unusual parents; & SING A SONG OF TUNA FISH, a very funny school story.  Her book VIVE LA PARIS won the Sydney Taylor honor award for older readers.  Sahara learns much about the world in which she lives as well as the world as it was for her elderly piano teacher who survived the Holocaust.  Go to planetesme.com for much more information from & about this talented author.

Jennifer Roy wrote the compelling story of her aunt in YELLOW STAR who was one of 12 children who survived the ghetto of Lodz Poland where 270,000 Jews were forced to live during World War II.  Winner of the Sydney Taylor honor book for older readers, Jennifer Roy listened to her aunt's story told in narrative through her childhood memories.  A very compelling read for older readers as well as adults.

Another compelling story of a Holocaust survivor was written by Linda Press Wulf, winner of the Sydney Taylor honor award for older readers.  THE NIGHT OF THE BURNING:  DEVORAH'S STORY focuses on the aftermath of World War II when South African philanthropist Isaac Ochberg travels to Poland & chooses 200 orphans to relocate to the safety of South Africa.  The author did not know her main character, her future mother-in-law, but conducted extensive interviews with other orphans & historical accounts of Ochberg's historical trek.  It is a story about the anguish of losing family & home but the importance of remembering.  An excellent adult read.

Brynn Sugarman was the Taylor honor award for younger readers (picture book) for REBECCAH'S JOURNEY HOME the incredible story of her Vietnamese adopted daughter brought to the US & raised Jewish & now living in Israel with her adoptive family.

AND, finally Marcus Zuzack traveled from Australia to receive the new Sydney Taylor award for teen literature for his controversial book titled THE BOOK THIEF.  Many have catagorized this book for adults & as soon as I finish the new Harry Potter, I'm going to dig into it.  I believe what he told us that if you love a book, it ceases to be catagorized.  We need to publish more Young Adult books to raise the level of what kids read without pushing them into actual adult books.

While these speakers were very catagorized writing about the Jewish experience, I don't think we can ever have too many books to help us understand another culture or time in history.  Some of these titles will ensure much discussion in your family!

Cathy