Multicultural Children’s Book Day Today! (Book Review)

Kiely was born a star!  Her many talents include dancing, singing, and dramatics. Her parents (aka paparazzi) capture every cute moment whether Kiely wants them to or not. I can definitely relate to that aspect of having my first little ones (twins) and wanting to capture everything (and then posting it for family and friends to enjoy).

Many parents will see their child in Kiely, the protagonist in I Am Famous by Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie. Having two littles myself and even thinking back to when my sister was little, I recognize the spirit of Kiely in them. Even my mom while reading the book, kept saying “this is you!”

Kiely’s big break comes when she performs at her grandpa’s birthday party. She finds the perfect outfit to “hit the red carpet”. In front of her live audience she performs her grandpa’s favorite song, but OH! “What were the words again?” Well, the show must go on, so now to dancing. Oops! Kiely has another embarrassing moment. Will it stop her from performing ever again? You have to read the book to find out.

This is a super cute book with the message that no matter what, family--I mean fans, will love you. Make sure to check out the sequel, I Used to Be Famous! especially if you have a child who feels like a "has been" with a new sibling.

Book Review: I Love the Earth by Todd Parr

I enjoy Todd Parr books.  Sometimes I forget just how much in the big world of children's literature.  I believe Todd Parr conveys an important message in all his books through text and pictures. His text is simple and yet he conveys important messages for children to hear.  To me, his illustrations convey all the brightness of the world.

I have read many of his books, but recently I've checked out two for E and N -- The Brother Book and I Love the Earth (new title and cover for The Earth Book).  I am providing the review for I Love the Earth instead of E and N because even though they might not understand the concept yet, I want to instill within my children the meaning of "tikkun olam" (repair of the world).  

Parr sets up examples of what he loves about the Earth and reasons why so that young children can understand.  He makes connections with stars and keeping the sky clear and animals and wanting them to be safe all over the world.  The book could end up leading to an important discussion on one of many aspects of ways we could help make a difference--oceans, food for everyone, even shopping at the local farmer's market.

My hope is that you take some time to check out more of Todd Parr's books. His newest, Love the World, just came out a couple of weeks ago.

Author Study: Angela Dominguez

It's National Hispanic Heritage Month!

Even though I am not in a school anymore, I still love recommending/finding books for people!  My mom is a 1st grade teacher and she came to me over the summer to ask what are some good multicultural/diverse authors her students could do book/author studies on. She wants her students to see themselves in the books.  One of the first authors to pop into my mind was Angela Dominguez. 

She is a newer Latina author on the scene, but she has been making waves already. Her book, Maria Had a Little Llama/Maria Tenia Una Llamita, which I reviewed in the post linked, is a Pura Belpre Honor book and was featured on KidLit TV.

There are several other books written by Angela Dominguez I would like to share with you so that you may have the chance to share this author with your students. One of her other picture book titles is Sing, Don't Cry. The story is inspired by the refrain in the Mexican song, "Cieleto lindo" [roughly translated as "lovely sweet one"], to which she combines with her abuelo's positive outlook on life.

"When you are misunderstood, and when people are unkind, remember--sing, don't cry, even if it is only in your soul."

It is a very sweet portrait of a grandfather's relationship with his grandkids and not overwhelming in text, so young students can enjoy the story, too.

Other titles from Dominguez that are excellent for this author study:

How Do You Say? / Cómo Se Dice? - Two giraffes meander through the forest looking for food. They come to the same tree where they begin to eat and while one exclaims about the food in English, the other exclaims about the food in Spanish. The two form a bond while finding ways to communicate with each other even though there is a language barrier. I feel this is a pretty timely book for right now.

Knit Together - A mother and daughter combine their talents of drawing and knitting to create a special memory of their time on the beach together.





Dominguez could also be used as a study in illustration/reading the pictures in a book with the above titles and the following: Mango, Abuela, and Me by May Medina and Marta! Big and Small by Jen Medina.

Book Review: Maria Had a Little Llama

I have been working on enlarging the selection of culturally relevant books that my school's library carries.  I have focused on Hispanic titles this year.  Which is why when I saw that KidLitTV was having a book raffle and one of the titles was a Pura Belprè Honor Book, I signed up (and later won).  I'm excited to review the title, Maria Had a Little Llama by Angela Dominguez.

The spin on the familiar favorite, "Mary Had a Little Lamb," is enlivened with bilingual text and illustrations displaying a beautiful Peruvian setting.  *I keep picturing one of my 2nd graders being excited to check this book out because she is fluent in Spanish.*  The illustrations are very warm and sweet, inviting the reader to follow Maria just like her little llama.  

I'm quite happy to add this book to my school library's bilingual collection.  Even better!  Here is a link to a read loud by the author.

It’s a Picturebook, Not a Choice

This week, the New York Times published an article about the decline of the picturebook….REALLY, people?! This news was also shared through several other literary e-newsletters. Basically, what should be the staple in every young child’s literary development is seeing a downhill slide. What does this say for our culture? Parents push kids to read more text heavy books because they feel pressured to get their child up to par for state tests. Yikes! This shouldn’t be happening! Parents should feel free to let their child be a child and read what s/he wants. This is the point where any of my readers can feel free to say, “Opinionated, much?”

I don’t want to completely believe this article (I'm in denial)—I mean, maybe libraries have seen an increase in picturebooks being loaned out. I can’t even blame e-books for this one yet ;). Yes, the article still points out that perennial favorites, like Sendak, Carle, and Seuss still sell well, but there are so many great picturebooks that have come out within the past ten years alone.

The picturebook is in a class of its own—it is a great challenge to write and illustrate—time needs to be taken to pick just the right words (words can even be more difficult than a chapter book at times) because there is typically a limit to the words per page depending on the age the book is geared towards. Illustrations become part of the story and many times readers need to pick up on context clues provided in the illustrations to fill in what is not said with the text (higher order thinking).

Even publishers within the past several years increased the amount of picturebooks they produced for older readers because it helps kids that are reluctant, striving, or visual. Many picturebooks offer a greater challenge than a chapter book; in fact, many are on the same reading level as their chapter book counterparts. I will admit cost was another issue factoring into this decline as well. Maybe it’s time to encourage publishers to have certain picturebooks go straight to paperback—first time authors get published in paperback and if their first title sells like “gangbusters,” then the publisher has justification to bring out his/her next book in hardcover (just an idea).

Many studies have been conducted as to the benefits of picturebooks for young children. Children are visual learners first, than they pick up on text. That’s why there are the transitional stages of books. I’m not saying that a parent shouldn’t read aloud Junie B. (LOVE Junie B.!) or Stuart Little (Classic!) to his/her five year old, but there needs to be a balance—throw in Bats at the Library by Brian Lies, The Friend by Sarah Stewart, or John Philip Duck by Patricia Polacco.

I will now step down from my soap box. Thank you for reading ;)

Bosman, J. (2010, October 7). Picture Books Languish As Parents Push 'Big-Kid Books'. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/us/08picture.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&emc=eta1

Lies, B. (2008). Bats at the library. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Polacco, P. (2004). John philip duck. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Stewart, S. (2004). The Friend. New York, NY: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux.

“If You’re Hap—“ No, no… “If You’re A Monster And You Know It”

Grades Pre-K to 1

The other day at work I was browsing the shelves of new books and came upon Rebecca and Ed Emberley’s If You’re A Monster And You Know It. As soon as I saw it, I grabbed it off the shelf—I knew I held gold. One of my first posts was for Emberley’s Go Away, Big Green Monster, which preschoolers I read to love—as in love SO much, I use it as their “treat” book at the end of a good storytelling session. I was excited to see this new monster book based off the song “If you’re happy and you know it.” The book has verses where one can “snort and growl” or “stomp your paws.”

The illustrations are true to Ed Emberley’s style—bold colors that play against a black background. These monsters are not as uniform in design as his previous book—they resemble paper cut collages, which actually makes them look cool and yet a little out there.

If you go to the Scholastic website, you can even download the song performed by Adrian Emberley. Ooooo--I can’t wait to share this with the preschoolers I read to on Tuesdays! This is a perfect book for Halloween.

Emberley, R. A. (2010). If You're A Monster And You Know It. New York City, NY: Orchard Books.

Emberley, R. (2010). If You're A Monster And You Know It. Retrieved September 26, 2010, from Scholastic: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/book.jsp?id=1312582