Review of Friend of Numbers, by Priya Narayanan, illustrated by Satwik Gade

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Mathematical, Starred Review 0

Friend of Numbers

The Life of Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan

written by Priya Narayanan
illustrated by Satwik Gade

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2023. First Published in India in 2019. 36 pages.
Review written November 17, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review
2024 Mathical Book Prize Winner, ages 8-10

I’ve already read a wonderful picture book biography of the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, but this one is special because it was written by an Indian for children of India.

This one is also geared a little younger, making Ramanujan’s ideas understandable to kids by presenting them as patterns only he could see.

It talks about his childhood in India and how he didn’t fit in, and then the changes he had to make to his hair and clothes to move to England to work on mathematics. It tells some stories about Ramanujan that are legendary among mathematicians, like this one:

Another day, Professor Hardy happened to mention that the taxi he had just come in had quite a boring number — 1729.

“No! It is a very interesting number,” Ramanujan shot back. His sharp memory drew out something he’d read about long ago, and on a piece of paper he scribbled:

1729 = (12 x 12 x 12) + (1 x 1 x 1)
1729 = (10 x 10 x 10) + (9 x 9 x 9)

“Look at the pattern!” he exclaimed.

Numbers were his friends. He could remember special things about them, the way that one remembers a friend’s birthday.

There are eight pages of notes at the back, including some ideas for readers to explore further. (Make a magic square using your birth date!)

A delightful introduction for kids to the life of this great man.

priyanarayanan.in

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/friend_of_numbers.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of This Here Flesh, by Cole Arthur Riley

Christian, Musings, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

This Here Flesh

Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us

by Cole Arthur Riley

Convergent Books, 2022. 203 pages.
Review written May 13, 2025, from my own copy, ordered via amazon.com.
Starred Review

I feel at a bit of a loss to describe this book. I read it a chapter at a time as part of my devotional times, and noted lots of passages to post on my Sonderquotes blog, and finished each chapter inspired and uplifted. But I’m not sure I can adequately describe what you’ll find here.

I like to call this kind of book “Musings,” and these are Christian musings mixed with family stories and questions and thoughts about life.

Let me copy sections from her Preface, in hope this will give you the flavor of this contemplative book. I’m just going to show you a few pieces – but I hope it will pull you in to read the entire book.

My spirituality has always been given to contemplation, even before anyone articulated for me exactly what “the contemplative” was. I was not raised in an overtly religious home; my spiritual formation now comes to me in memories – not creeds or doctrine, but the air we breathed, stories, myth, and a kind of attentiveness. From a young age, my siblings and I were allowed to travel deep into our interior worlds to become aware of ourselves, our loves, our beliefs. And still, my father demanded an unflinching awareness of our exterior worlds. Where is home from here? What was the waitress’s name? Where do we look when we’re walking? If a single phrase could be considered the mantra of our family, it would be Pay attention….

I used to think that Christian contemplation was reserved for white men who leave copies of C. S. Lewis’s letters strewn about and know a great deal about coffee and beard oils. If this is you, there is room for you here. But I am interested in reclaiming a contemplation that is not exclusive to whiteness, intellectualism, ableism, or mere hobby. And as a Black woman, I am disinterested in any call to spirituality that divorces my mind from my body, voice, or people. To suggest a form of faith that tells me to sit down alone and be quiet? It does not rest easy on the bones. It is a shadow of true contemplative life, and it would do violence to my Black-woman soul….

And as we pay attention, we make a home out of paradox, not just in what we believe but also in the very act of living itself. Stillness that we would move. Silence that we would speak. I believe this to be a spirituality our world – overtaken with dislocation, noise, and unrest – so desperately needs….

This is a book of contemplative storytelling. The pages you hold are where the stories that have formed me across generations meet our common practice of beholding the divine. Feel now, they are wet with tears. Look how they glisten like my skin in sun, and they bear the grooves of many scars. As you cradle these pages, it is my sincere hope that they might serve as conduits for mystery, liberation, and the very face of God.

Yes, that’s what you’ll find here – contemplative storytelling. Cole Arthur Riley tells stories of her family and weaves them through with contemplation – and it all shines with light.

colearthurriley.com
convergentbooks.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/this_here_flesh.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of The Brilliant Calculator, by Jan Lower, illustrated by Susan Reagan

Award Winners, Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

The Brilliant Calculator

How Mathematician Edith Clarke Helped Electrify America

by Jan Lower
illustrated by Susan Reagan

Calkins Creek, 2023. 40 pages.
Review written November 14, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review
2024 Mathical Book Prize Honor Book, Ages 8-10.

There’s no way I won’t love it: A picture book biography that has “Mathematician” in the title!

This picture book tells the story of Edith Clarke, America’s first female electrical engineer, whose long and varied career helped produce the technology that keeps power lines from losing power over distance.

That’s the most easily understandable of her achievements. This author does a good job of explaining that she was brilliant, that she used mathematics, that she proved herself when men didn’t want to hire her, and that she created inventions that made calculations easier and ultimately make our lives better today.

I like that even though her accomplishments were technical, the author and illustrator presented them in a way kids can understand. I also liked the quotes from Edith sprinkled throughout the book, with this one at the end of the main text, before the six pages of back matter:

There is a future for women in engineering, and some day the only limitation will be their own lack of ability, as we are fast approaching an age in which men and women will be measured by their worth as individuals.

May it be so.

janlower.com
susanreaganart.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/brilliant_calculator.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of All Better Now, by Neal Shusterman

Audiobooks, Science Fiction, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

All Better Now

by Neal Shusterman
read by Greg Tremblay and Neal Shusterman

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2025. 14 hours, 10 minutes.
Review written May 9, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Neal Shusterman knows how to write epic dystopian series. I still think the Arc of a Scythe series is unmatched, but All Better Now is a promising beginning.

The scenario: In the near future, there’s another pandemic. This one is deadlier than COVID-19, but for those who recover – all their problems are over, as far as they’re concerned. They’re happy and content and they care about others.

This gets people in power concerned. The Recoverees aren’t motivated by fear or greed. They get things secondhand, give things away, open their homes to strangers. Economies across the world will collapse if this happens to too many people. Another downside: If a Recoveree sees someone in trouble, they rush to help – forgetting to check if they are actually capable of helping. This results in multiple deaths if the situation is dangerous enough.

The main characters of the book are three teens. Mariel has been living in her car with her mother. When her mother catches the virus, nowhere will take her except a community of Recoverees at the Pier, and Mariel becomes a part of that community. Rón is the son of a billionaire with a pretentious accent in his name. He’s always been prone to depression and has survived suicide attempts, so when his father wants to cloister their family to protect them from the virus, he decides getting the virus is the right choice for his mental health, whether his father likes it or not. And Morgan has always been ruthless, doing what it takes to get ahead. So she’s recruited by the head of a charitable foundation who has gotten the virus. The woman is afraid she’ll give all the money away – so she gives Morgan charge of the money and a commission to work on a vaccine and change the world. Sure enough, when the woman recovers, she wants to thwart those plans. But Morgan’s in control now. Or is she?

The greater forces at work in the world of the novel are certainly going to change humanity. Recoverees have found peace and happiness – and they want to pass those things on. But powerful folks have too much to lose, and they’ll take drastic steps to stop the virus, ethical or not. Meanwhile there’s plenty of tension and danger as our three main characters interact in this scenario. And I won’t say how the book ends – but let’s just say the story isn’t finished.

I read Book 2 of The Arc of a Scythe, Thunderhead, the year I was reading for the Newbery Medal Committee – and I still maintain that book had the best plotting of any book I read that year. (It’s not really a book for children in my opinion, which is another discussion. But the plotting is incredible!) This book also had a set up of many different threads in a grand tapestry.

I did have a caveat that held me back from complete enjoyment – I couldn’t bring myself to believe that every single person who recovered from the virus would have the same exact effect. I’m willing to buy the premise that some kind of brain damage could do that to you – maybe – because some stroke victims have reported feeling one with all mankind – so maybe? But after seeing COVID-19 have so many different effects on so many different people – it’s hard to believe that a new coronavirus would affect everyone who recovers from it in the same way. Also, nothing was said about variants, and people were sure they couldn’t get it a second time – and that all was harder for me to believe after coming through our last pandemic.

I also didn’t really believe in the idea of an alpha spreader – someone who could still shed virus after they’ve recovered. And never stopped shedding the virus, in fact. The existence of this possibility makes the book more interesting – but it’s still hard to believe.

But given the premise, the book presents an intriguing situation. What would happen to humanity if we all became happy and altruistic? Would our current governments and economies collapse? But might it not be true that something better would arise to take its place? If it happened, would you want to get the virus, despite the 4% fatality rate? Recoverees say that at least those who die, die happy.

I definitely believed the part about people stirring up propaganda against the Recoverees and starting conspiracy theories against them. And it was funny when ruthless folks trying to stop the virus got thwarted by the kind, altruistic folks. Because after all, what they have is good for humanity! I also felt like the author realistically showed people’s motivations changing – but their keeping their main personality and still being able to make choices, sometimes against their new instincts.

So as usual, besides an entertaining ride, Neal Shusterman gave me plenty of philosophical questions to mull over. Now the only problem is waiting for the next book to come out.

storyman.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/all_better_now.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of The Power of Snow, by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Bryony Clarkson

Children's Nonfiction Review, Mathematical, Starred Review 0

The Power of Snow

by Bob Raczka
illustrated by Bryony Clarkson

Millbrook Press, 2023. 36 pages.
Review written November 9, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book is a very simple picture book that demonstrates exponents with snowflakes — on each page, the number of snowflakes doubles.

The main text is simple rhymes. The first few spreads go like this:

Two flakes play.

Four flakes sashay.

Eight flakes twirl.

Sixteen flakes swirl.

On the opposite page from the main text, we’ve got the number of snowflakes expressed with numerals and equations, like this:

27 = 2 to the seventh power

2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 128

The scenes behind the snowflakes look like suburban backyards, with at least one animal visitor on each page.

The most wonderful thing about this book is that the illustrator worked to get exactly the right number of snowflakes on each page. Here’s what she says in a note at the back:

Creating the art for The Power of Snow presented one tricky problem: how to show the correct number of snowflakes on each page. For this book, it was important to get the math right! Of course, the first few pages were easy. But as the quantity of flakes increased, it became much harder to count them all. So I worked out a plan. The images were created using different layers, kind of like clear sheets with different parts of the art on each one. I created a certain number of flakes on one layer. Then I duplicated this layer, flipping, scaling, and rotating it to give a natural look. Duplicating the layer allowed me to multiply the exact number of flakes as I worked. I could then add the more detailed snowflakes, counting these out individually to get to the total number. As with real snow, once the flakes became tiny and overlaid, some appear to blend together — but they are all there!

The effect is that you won’t be able to count all 16,384 flakes on the page for 214, but you can definitely get the idea.

Okay, my first reaction to this book is that it’s for a young reader — primary grades or even preschoolers who haven’t learned to multiply yet, so why are they illustrating exponents to such young readers? I do wish the word “doubled” was used, instead of relying on the multiplication notation.

But then I think about the things I showed my own kids when they were young, and I’m sure that kids exposed to this book will have an easier time understanding exponents later. In fact, hmmm, this might be a wonderful gift for my four-year-old nephew who has two big sisters. When they read it to him, they will pick up the ideas… and he will think exponents are the most natural thing in the world when it finally comes time to learn about them in school.

Yeah, I think I’m won over. Doubling before your eyes!

bobraczka.com
bryonyclarkson.com
lernerbooks.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/power_of_snow.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of King Alfred and the Ice Coffin, by Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Chris Riddell

Children's Nonfiction Review, Folklore and Literature 0

King Alfred and the Ice Coffin

by Kevin Crossley-Holland
illustrated by Chris Riddell

Candlewick Studio, 2024. 88 pages.
Review written April 9, 2025, from a library book.

King Alfred and the Ice Coffin is a heavily illustrated retelling of a tale from an Old English manuscript. It’s not a graphic novel (no speech bubbles), but with illustrations on every spread (but not words on every spread), it has the feel of a graphic novel. Since the book retells an old story and gives the history of Alfred the Great – who had this tale written down – it’s shelved in juvenile nonfiction, where I’m afraid not as many kids will find it.

The overarching story is about Alfred – who never expected to be king, as the fifth son of the royal family. He loved learning, and had books in Latin translated to English, so his people could read them – and at the same time collected tales from travelers who came to his court.

This is one of those tales about a man who sailed to a far-off kingdom with the unusual custom of preserving their king who died in an ice coffin for a month, before a race that would determine who would inherit his goods.

The story is more pictures than words, and those beautiful pictures give the book a spirit of adventure.

I hope kids will find this tale of kings and seafarers, even though it’s tucked away in the nonfiction section.

candlewickstudio.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/king_alfred_and_the_ice_coffin.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels, by Beth Lincoln, read by Nikki Patel

Adventure, Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Mystery, Starred Review 0

The Swifts

A Dictionary of Scoundrels

by Beth Lincoln
read by Nikki Patel

Listening Library, 2023. 9 hours, 53 minutes.
Review written October 2, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

The Swifts is a story about an adventurous family that sets themselves apart from common folk by taking their names from the family dictionary. Shenanigan Swift is a child in this family, and she’s constantly told “You can’t help your name.” People continually expect shenanigans from her, and they are not disappointed.

She and her sisters Phenomenon and Felicity live in the ancestral Swift estate while their parents are off adventuring. But adventures happen at home when Aunt Schadenfreude calls a grand Reunion of Swifts to look for the treasure hidden long ago somewhere on the estate by Vile Swift.

But this time, the Reunion is plagued by murder and attempted murder. Gumshoe Swift is obviously not up to the task of finding the culprit, so Shenanigan and her siblings — along with their nonbinary cousin Earth — take up the task.

The mystery is full of misdirection, sinister clues, and a bit of silliness, along with Shenanigan pondering whether your name is actually your destiny.

I listened to this audiobook mostly while getting way too absorbed in a jigsaw puzzle, and it provides a fun mystery adventure the whole family will enjoy (with the warning that there are some deaths). The author wasn’t going for realism, and ended up with delightfully quirky.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/swifts.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Watership Down, by Richard Adams, read by Peter Capaldi

Fantasy, Fiction Review, Old Favorites, Sonderbooks25, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

Watership Down

by Richard Adams
read by Peter Capaldi

Blackstone Publishing, 2019. Novel first published in 1972. 17 hours, 31 minutes.
Review written May 3, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Earlier review written in 2001.
Starred Review
2002 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #2 Fiction Rereads

Ah, it was so good to revisit Watership Down! This wasn’t the one book I chose to reread from my 2002 Stand-outs as part of my #Sonderbooks25 celebration of my 25th year of writing Sonderbooks – but that motivated me to notice that my public library had an available copy of an eaudiobook – and then I couldn’t keep myself from again enjoying the epic adventures of Hazel and Fiver and Bigwig and all the rest.

It’s funny – I’ve always thought of it as an adult novel. The library has it in the adult section. But my ex-husband did read it to our kids when they were young, and Overdrive has the audiobook listed as Juvenile. I’m going to fall back on the fact that it’s truly for all ages. There is plenty of life-and-death violence, and the reading level is adult, but I think that for listening to the story, this is a perfect family adventure.

So if you’ve never read Watership Down – it’s an epic adventure of a band of rabbits. Hazel’s runt brother Fiver has a vision of death and destruction, so they leave the old warren with a few others and set off across the dangerous countryside to a sunny place on a hillside. Along the way, they meet dangers from predators, but also from other rabbits, encountering two troublesome rabbit societies. And once they arrive, they have the problem that they need some female rabbits, or the new warren can’t survive.

And especially wonderful about this book are the tales told about El-ahrairah, the mythical rabbit hero and trickster. His exploits inspire their own adventures in life-or-death situations.

And, yes, this book about rabbits is full of tension and heroism, and you come to love the very rabbity characters. They feel like real rabbits with authentic rabbit interests.

And I was so happy to revisit this tale! It was fun to hear it told with a British accent. Yes, there’s some sexism, but since it’s about rabbit does, it feels like something I can overlook. Other than that, it completely stands up to the passage of time and I was simply happy to spend time with Hazel and company again. I decided to write a new review so I’ll have one in the new phone-friendly format. This is a book I will recommend all my life long.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/watership_down.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Enter the Body, by Joy McCullough

Audiobooks, Historical, Teen Fiction Review 0

Enter the Body

by Joy McCullough
read by a full cast,
including Joy McCullough, Valerie Rose Lohman, Annie Q, and Victoria Villarreal

Listening Library, 2023. 4 hours, 23 minutes.
Review written April 23, 2023, from a library eaudiobook

Joy McCullough’s debut novel, the amazing Blood Water Paint was published the year I was on the Newbery committee, so when I hear she’s written another book, I make sure to read it. This one has more of her innovative work, looking at history in a completely new way. Of course, in this case, it’s invented history — invented by Shakespeare.

The book is centered in a trap room beneath a stage. We’ve got Shakespeare’s tragic heroines spending eternity there. All of them died horribly.

Most of them go off into corners, but Juliet, Ophelia, and Cordelia get to talking. They tell their stories from their own perspectives. All of them died tragically, because of men.

But then the part I like is where they decide to make their own choices and rewrite their stories as they want them told.

I listened to this book, and the audio production is very well done, using separate voices for the different girls. But I suspect I would have enjoyed it more reading the print version, because it’s easier to notice the author’s craft — such as when the lines start going in iambic pentameter.

In the Author’s Note she mentions that Shakespeare was known for taking established work and making it his own, so she feels she’s following in his footsteps with this book.

joymccullough.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/enter_the_body.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda, by Bibi Dumon Tak

Animal Characters, Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda

by Bibi Dumon Tak
illustrated by Annemarie Van Haeringen
translated by Nancy Forest-Flier

Levine Querido, 2025. First published in the Netherlands in 2022. 223 pages.
Review written April 29, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book: Packed with information, and ever so much fun! Also the kind of book that I ordered for the library with a note: “Show to Sondy” so I could figure out if it’s nonfiction or fiction. The answer ended up being Fiction, since it’s full of talking animals. But those animals are telling you Facts! I also immediately placed the book on hold so I could read the whole thing.

Here’s how the book begins:

To Start Off…

These are oral presentations given by animals about other animals. That’s because oral presentations can really be fun, especially when they’re not being given by the human species for once. After all, humans can make presentations super boring.

Why?
Because humans only look at things through their own human eyes.
Every single time.

Human after human.
Kid after kid.
Class after class.

YAWN!

So it’s time to take a fresh look:
Animal after animal.
Here we go!

So what follows is a bunch of animals talking about other animals: A cleaner fish talks about the shark. A blackbird talks about the rose-ringed parakeet. A midwife toad talks about the koala. A zebra tells us about all the pure black-and-white animals. A death’s head hawkmoth talks about the squirrel monkey.

Altogether, twenty animals give presentations about other animals. And the reports are quirky, each from the perspective of the particular animal giving it, sometimes telling more about that animal than about the subject of the report.

After most presentations, there’s time for questions from the animals listening, and those are quirky and interesting, too.

Perfect for kids ready for chapter books, this is all very silly, but packed with facts at the same time.

I usually only find out about translated books after they win Batchelder Award Honor. This time, I’ve got an early favorite for this year’s winner. Find out a bunch of facts about animals and do some laughing, too.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/my_presentation_today_is_about_the_anaconda.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?