Review of Ada’s Violin, by Susan Hood and Sally Wern Comport

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Creativity, Cross Cultural, Historical, Starred Review 0

adas_violin_largeAda’s Violin

The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay

by Susan Hood
illustrated by Sally Wern Comport

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, New York, 2016. 40 pages.
Starred Review

This picture book tells the story of Ada Rios, who grew up living in the main garbage dump of Asuncion, the capital city of Paraguay. Her family worked in the landfill as a recycler, finding trash they could sell.

One day Favio Chavez came to town, offering music lessons for the children of the town, Cateura. There weren’t enough musical instruments to go around — so they made instruments out of recycled materials they found in the landfill.

They formed an orchestra, and Ada practiced hard. They performed concerts and ended up being able to travel around the world, even performing at a Metallica concert.

The picture book tells the story simply enough for children. Material at the back fills in the details for adults, complete with YouTube links.

Music and creativity combined with time and dedication brought music and new life to the children of Cateura.

The last paragraphs of the Author’s Note at the back is filled with hope:

Money from the orchestra’s concerts goes back to Cateura to help families rebuild their homes, their music school, and their lives. “Not too long ago we purchased a piece of land where we will build houses for fifteen orchestra families,” said Chavez. “Ada has a new house there.” This land is out of the flood zone. These families will never again have to face the evacuations that displace Cateura villagers every year when the river rises.

What started as a music class for ten kids has swelled to orchestral rehearsals for two hundred students, with more than twenty-five instructors. Chavez quit his ecology job to work with the orchestra full-time. Now plans are afoot to use the Recycled Orchestra’s experiences as a model to help other children living on landfills around the world.

recycledorchestracateura.com
susanhoodbooks.com
sallycomport.com
simonandschuster.com/kids

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. 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.

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Review of Two Friends, by Dean Robbins

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Picture Book Review 0

two_friends_largeTwo Friends

Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass

by Dean Robbins
illustrated by Sean Qualls & Selina Alko

Orchard Books (Scholastic), New York, 2016. 32 pages.

Here’s a simple picture book telling a story from history about Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. The two were friends and both lived in Rochester, New York. There’s a statue there showing the two of them having tea. This picture book dramatizes one such occasion, mostly using it as an opportunity to talk about both of their lives and how similar they were.

The language is easy for children to understand:

As a girl, Susan wanted to learn what boys learned.
But teachers wouldn’t let her. . . .

Susan wanted something more.
She read about rights in the United States.
The right to live free.
The right to vote.
Some people had rights, while others had none.
Why shouldn’t she have them, too?

Susan taught herself to give speeches.
Some people liked her ideas about rights for women.
Others didn’t.

The similar language used about Frederick Douglass highlights their similarities.

Frederick grew up as a slave in the South.
Slaves had to do everything the master said, but Frederick wanted something more.
He secretly learned to read and write.
New ideas thrilled him.

Frederick read about rights in the United States.
The right to live free.
The right to vote.
Some people had rights, while others had none.
Why shouldn’t he have them, too?

Frederick escaped from his master and headed north.
He taught himself to give speeches.
Some people liked his ideas about rights for African Americans.
Others didn’t.

Beyond this, there’s basic information about how the two supported each other and were friends. And the pictures are marvelous.

A lovely introduction to the topic of equal rights for young readers.

deanrobbins.net
seanqualls.com
selinaalko.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. 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.

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Review of Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine, by Laurie Wallmark

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

ada_byron_lovelace_largeAda Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine

by Laurie Wallmark
illustrated by April Chu

Creston Books, 2015. 40 pages.
Starred Review

Hooray! A picture book biography of Ada Lovelace, a great female mathematician, the person who wrote the first computer program.

Now, for me, I preferred the graphic novel version of fact mixed with fiction found in The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, but this picture book is perfect for kids, firmly establishing that women can be truly great at math and computer science.

As a picture book biography, the book gives many pages to an incident in Ada’s childhood. Here’s the text that begins a section where Ada was trying to invent a flying machine and ended up playing in a cold pond and catching pneumonia:

And with her mother often traveling, Ada was lonely. Her journals, filled with pages of inventions and equations, kept her company.

The best part was when her sketches flew off the page and became real.

The accompanying picture shows birds flying just out of reach, including a mechanical bird. This may be unfortunately misleading – it looks like the book has turned to a book about a magic, rather than a factual biography. In fact, in the rest of the book, the illustrations simply show what’s described. Okay, there’s one exception where Ada was blind for a time from her illness, and we see what she’s imagining as she sits in the corner of the picture with eyes closed. But this flight of fancy is much more clear as a flight of fancy.

I came up with one other complaint. The book talks about Ada using Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine to calculate 12 times 15. The picture shows Ada looking closely at the machine with a completely different number showing. That’s a little confusing.

But those are admittedly minor complaints. The author nicely explains how Ada Lovelace wrote a computer program before a computer actually existed – based simply on Charles Babbage’s plans for one.

The paintings illustrating the book are gorgeous. Except for that one quibble where it’s not clear yet that the illustration is symbolic, they wonderfully accompany the story and shed light on the events, adding variety and interest.

Because Babbage never finished building the Analytical Engine, Ada never got to see her program run. But the influence of her work lives on. More than one hundred years before the invention of the modern computer, Ada had glimpsed the future and had created a new profession – computer programming.

Ada couldn’t know that one day a computer language would be named after her — Ada. And one of Ada’s uses? To guide modern flying machines.

The girl who needed crutches ended up flying after all!

lauriewallmark.com
aprilchu.com
crestonbooks.co

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. 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.

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Review of W Is for Webster, by Tracey Fern and Boris Kulikov

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review 0

w_is_for_webster_largeW Is for Webster

Noah Webster and His American Dictionary

by Tracey Fern
pictures by Boris Kulikov

Margaret Ferguson Books (Farrar Straus Giroux), New York, 2015. 36 pages.

Here’s a picture book biography of Noah Webster, telling simply about his obsession with words and creation of the first American dictionary.

Creating the dictionary was a patriotic act for Noah.

By now, the Revolutionary War was winding down. It was clear that America would win its independence. Noah was a proud patriot who longed to do something that would help to hold his new, complicated nation together. Being a bit of a know-it-all, Noah thought he knew just what America needed: its own language – one different from the English spoken in Britain.

“A national language is a national tie,” Noah insisted to all who would listen, and to many who wouldn’t.

Webster first wrote a speller, then a small dictionary. He spent decades working on his big dictionary, including origins of words and quotations using them.

This book shows us how deep this desire went as he had to figure out how to support his family while always working on the dictionary. He eventually went to Europe to get the research done that he needed on word origins.

He finally completed his dictionary in 1825, with more than 70,000 entries.

As it happens, years ago I was given a facsimile edition of that first dictionary. This book prompted me to pull it out and look inside. Sure enough! It contains word origin information, and multiple definitions with examples of usage – many of those examples taken from the Bible.

By now, America had changed. Andrew Jackson was president, and he was both a common man and a bad speller. The nation was finally ready for Noah’s dictionary, full of common words simply spelled.

States issued congratulatory proclamations. Newspapers called him “America’s own Dr. Webster.” Congress adopted Noah’s dictionary as its standard reference book. And although Noah’s dictionary has been revised many times, it is still the standard in America today.

traceyfern.com
boriskulikov.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. 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.

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Review of This Bridge Will Not Be Gray, by Dave Eggers and Tucker Nichols

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

this_bridge_will_not_be_gray_largeThis Bridge Will Not Be Gray

story by Dave Eggers
art by Tucker Nichols

McSweeney’s, San Francisco, 2015. 104 pages.
Starred Review

This Bridge Will Not Be Gray is a picture book about the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s a long picture book, but otherwise fits picture book format. Every spread has a cut-paper pictorial background, and no spread has more than a few paragraphs of text, if that.

This isn’t the fancy, realistic-looking cut paper of Steve Jenkins. This is simple, with basic shapes. People are shown as heads of various colors (such as blue and green and red). But the simple style does work. Dave Eggers takes us through the design process of the Golden Gate bridge, beginning with the beautiful bay itself.

It is interesting to me that the reason the Golden Gate Bridge ended up reddish-orange in the first place was that was the color they painted onto steel when it was shipped to make it rust-proof.

They hadn’t actually decided what color to paint the bridge, but plans were to paint it gray.

When Irving Morrow was on the ferry one day, he watched this orange steel being assembled, and he had a thought. He thought that this color was beautiful.

And when Irving was asked what color he thought the bridge should be, he said, Why not leave it this color? And people said, What? And they said, Huh? And they said, Irving, you are nuts. No bridge had ever been orange. Who had ever heard of an orange bridge? No one had, because no bridge had ever been this color. This is true: no bridge in known human history had ever been orange.

And for a good portion of the human race, because something has not already been, that is a good reason to fear it coming to be.

But as the debate continued about the color of the bridge, an interesting thing happened. Other people noticed the same thing Irving had noticed: that this accidental orange somehow looked right.

That gives you an idea of the conversational style of the book. The simple graphics accompany it and add up to a lovely and informative story of how one of the most beautiful bridges in the world was built.

The Golden Gate Bridge, which is orange, is the best-known and best-loved bridge in the world.

It is best-known because it is bold and courageous and unusual and even strange. It is best-loved because it is bold and courageous and unusual and even strange. And it is all these things because Irving Morrow, and thousands of others said:

“This bridge will not be gray!”

It is especially fitting that the author, the illustrator, and the publisher live and work near the Golden Gate Bridge.

mcsweeneys.net

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. 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.

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Review of The Inventor’s Secret, by Suzanne Slade

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Picture Book Review, Science 0

inventors_secret_largeThe Inventor’s Secret

What Thomas Edison Told Henry Ford

by Suzanne Slade
illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt

Charlesbridge, 2015. 48 pages.

This is an introductory picture book about the work of two great inventors, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. The overarching message of the book applies to any aspiring inventor: It’s what Thomas Edison told Henry Ford the night they first met: “Keep at it!”

The Author states in a note at the end (along with plenty of interesting backmatter):

For nonfiction authors a new story often begins with a fascinating, little-known fact that sparks a magical “goose-bump” moment. When I learned Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors of all time, pounded his fist on the table and shouted, “Keep at it!” to Henry Ford, that was one of those moments for me.

She weaves their stories together, with this meeting the central event. She used patent records to establish a timeline, and we get a taste, especially for Henry Ford, how much of his success was based on multiple attempts.

This is an entertaining story with cheery (but informative) and cartoon-like illustrations. But it also presents an encouraging message for future inventions. Follow your dreams. And don’t worry if your first several efforts don’t achieve success.

Keep at it!

suzanneslade.com
jbreinhardt.com
charlesbridge.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Review of Ira’s Shakespeare Dream, by Glenda Armand

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review 0

iras_shakespeare_dream_largeIra’s Shakespeare Dream

by Glenda Armand
illustrations by Floyd Cooper

Lee & Low Books, New York. 40 pages.

I love picture book biographies about interesting people I’d never heard anything about. The subject of this one is Ira Aldridge, an African American born in 1807 who went on to have his name inscribed at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England – the only African American among the thirty-three actors to have received this recognition.

The book tells his story. He was born in 1807 in New York City and attended the African Free School. This was a time when the majority of African Americans were enslaved. He first discovered Shakespeare at the Park Theatre, but there he had to sit in the balcony. Then he discovered the African Grove, and African American theater.

At the African Grove and the Park, people took notice of the stagestruck young man. Actors often sent Ira on errands in exchange for tickets to plays. Some of the stagehands taught him set building and costume making. They all encouraged Ira to become an actor and cheered him on as he auditioned for a small role at the African Grove.

Eventually, Ira traveled to England to study acting rather than go to a ministry college, as his father wanted him to do.

As Ira gained success, he began to use his fame as a platform for preaching the evils of slavery and raised money for abolitionism.

Ira gained more and more fame and recognition and traveled all over Europe.

By the 1840s, Ira was one of the most celebrated Shakespearean actors in Europe. His most famous role was the lead character in Othello. The dark-skinned tragic hero was commonly played by a white actor wearing black makeup.

Ira did not need this makeup. And the emotions he expressed as Othello were as real as the color of his skin. Like Othello, Ira knew despair. He had seen it in the eyes of enslaved people. And like Othello, Ira knew sadness and regret. He had felt both when he received news of Pa’s death.

This book stands out to me because Ira’s is a truly amazing story. Here is someone who followed his dream despite tremendous obstacles and achieved great success. I’m delighted that more children will learn about this amazing person through this wonderful picture book.

glenda-armand.com
floydcooper.com
leeandlow.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. 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.

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Review of Finding Winnie, by Lindsay Mattick and Sophie Blackall

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

finding_winnie_largeFinding Winnie

The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear

by Lindsay Mattick
illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Little, Brown and Company, New York, 2015. 52 pages.
Starred Review
2016 Caldecott Medal

I didn’t think I’d review a second book about the true story of the real bear after whom Winnie-the-Pooh was named. The first one I read was complete and most delightful.

But then I read Finding Winnie and fell in love. In the first place, it’s got Sophie Blackall’s wonderful illustrations, which won me over quickly. But as well, the story is told with the frame of a mother telling the story to her son – and that son happens to be Cole, the great-great-grandson of Harry Colebourn, who bought the bear Winnie in Winnipeg on the way to World War I.

Besides giving all the facts, there’s a lilt to the storytelling and interruptions along the way by Cole, which are reminiscent of Christopher Robin’s words at the start of Winnie-the-Pooh.

Here’s where Harry sees the bear cub at a train station:

Harry thought for a long time. Then he said to himself, “There is something special about that Bear.” He felt inside his pocket and said, “I shouldn’t.” He paced back and forth and said, “I can’t.” Then his heart made up his mind, and he walked up to the trapper and said, “I’ll give you twenty dollars for the bear.”

“Is twenty dollars a lot?” asked Cole.
“Back then?” I said. “Even more than a lot.”

The photograph album at the back is especially charming. I like the picture of Harry’s diary turned to the page for August 24, 1914, where it says, “Bought bear $20.”

Of course, after Harry’s story, we hear about Christopher Robin Milne and his friendship with Winnie. But then Cole brings it back to Harry, and his mother tells him that Harry had a son named Fred, and Fred had a daughter named Laureen, and Laureen had a daughter named Lindsay.

Framing it all as a story of a mother to her child is what sends it over the edge into wonderful.

And then I had a son.

When I saw you, I thought, “There is something special about that Boy.” So I named you after your great-great-grandfather: Captain Harry Colebourn.

I named you Cole.

“That’s me?” said Cole in a whisper.

“That’s you.”

“And that’s Winnie?”

“Yes,” I said. “That’s Winnie.”

“And it’s all true?”

“Sometimes the best stories are,” I said.

Sometimes they are.

lindsaymattick.com
sophieblackall.com
lb-kids.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. 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.

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Review of 8: An Animal Alphabet, by Elisha Cooper

Children's Nonfiction Review, Good for the Very Young, Picture Book Review, Science, Starred Review 0

8_large8

An Animal Alphabet

by Elisha Cooper

Orchard Books, New York, 2015. 36 pages.
Starred Review

Okay, this book is wonderful. For teaching about the alphabet, about counting (to eight!), about identifying multiple animals.

You get the concept of the concepts presented here right on the first page:

Find the one animal on each page that is pictured 8 times – 8 ants, 8 badgers, 8 chickens. Find all the other animals, too. Some may be familiar, such as a cat, and some not, such as a muskrat. (For help, see the “Did you know” section in the back.) But every animal is amazing and beautiful in its own way. Especially the hippopotamus. Let the exploring begin!

*Why the number 8? Because 8 is great. Because 8 is round and adorable. Because 8 is fun to count to (move over, 10). Because 8 is not too big, and not so small, but just right. Because 8 is my favorite number.

This is indeed a book for exploring. You can pretty quickly see on each page which animal is pictured 8 times, but it’s not a rubber stamp. The animal is pictured in 8 different poses, or perhaps even 8 different varieties of the animal. I grant you, the 8 ants aren’t terribly varied, but the 8 chickens include roosters as well as hens, the 8 goats include some kids, and the 8 moths and 8 newts come in many different colors.

As mentioned in the introduction, not all the animals are familiar. Some notable pages include:

Aardvark, abalone, albatross, alligator, alpaca, ant, anteater, antelope, armadillo

Camel, cat, caterpillar, chameleon, cheetah, chicken, chimpanzee, chipmunk, cicada, clam, cockroach, cow, coyote, crab

Panda, parrot, pelican, penguin, pheasant, pig, pigeon, platypus, porcupine, possum, puffin

Salmon, sandpiper, seagull, sea horse, seal, sea turtle, shark, sheep, skunk, sloth, slug, snail, squid, squirrel, starfish, swallow, swan, swordfish

The format of the book is the large and small letter in a corner of the page and the names of the animals at the bottom. The animals are all mixed up on the page, not necessarily to scale. These are paintings, not photos, but they’re lovely paintings, and you definitely get the idea. But the key in the back of the book will be needed.

So this is a good book for kids who like “Where’s Waldo” or any book of detailed pictures. I suspect it will take a few times through the book before parents know which animal matches every single name. And of course, one of the animals on each page shows up 8 times. So of course you will count them!

The key at the back has the heading “Did you know?” and each of the 184 animals in the book has a small picture and some facts about it. Here are some examples:

AARDVARK
Aardvarks are sometimes known as “ant bears.”

ARMADILLO
Armadillos spend almost eighteen hours a day napping.

BUTTERFLY
Butterflies taste with their feet.

DEER
Deer can see blue, yellow, and green, but not orange or red.

DUNG BEETLE
Dung beetles are able to tell which direction they are going from the position of the sun and the stars.

FERRET
A group of ferrets is called a “business.”

GIBBON
Gibbon couples start each day by hooting at each other.

GNAT
An evening swarm of male gnats is called a “ghost.”

LEMUR
Lemurs enjoy sunbathing.

OYSTER
A single oyster filters over forty gallons of water a day, cleaning water for other animal life.

RHINOCEROS
The skin of the rhinoceros is more than an inch thick.

VULTURE
Vultures poop and pee on their legs to keep themselves cool.

XERUS
Xeruses hold their tails over their heads to shade themselves from the sun.

YABBY
A yabby’s shell will match the color of the water it grew up in.

YAPOK
Yapoks have both webbed feet and stomach pouches.

Savvy parents probably won’t get started reading all 184 animal facts the first few times through the book. Pointing and naming and counting will keep you plenty busy.

This looks like a perfect book for my toddler-soon-to-be-preschooler nieces, or for anyone interested in exploring, naming, learning, and counting.

elishacooper.com
scholastic.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. 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.

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Review of How to Swallow a Pig, by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science 0

how_to_swallow_a_pig_largeHow to Swallow a Pig

Step-by-Step Advice from the Animal Kingdom

by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 2015. 32 pages.

Here’s another amazing children’s science book by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. Again it’s illustrated with Steve Jenkins’ incredibly realistic cut-paper illustrations, which look so life-like.

This book encourages curiosity. There’s a lot of information on each page, with clear illustrations that draw the eye.

The gimmick for this book is the How-to format. The authors cover how animals do various unusual things, but told as a How-to book. Some of the steps won’t be easy for a kid to carry out!

For example, in Step 2 of “How to Build a Nest Like a Wasp,” “You’ll need to find a source of wood, such as an old log or unpainted fence. To make paper pulp, bite off a small piece of wood and chew it thoroughly, mixing it with your saliva.” And in Step 5 of the title piece, “How to Swallow a Pig Like a Python,” you’ll need to “unhinge your jaw (this takes practice). Starting with the head, begin to work the pig down your throat.”

Besides these, the other tasks the authors demonstrate and give step-by-step directions for include:
“How to Trap Fish Like a Humpback Whale”
“How to Sew Like a Tailorbird”
“How to Repel Insects Like a Capuchin”
“How to Woo a Ewe Like a Mountain Sheep”
“How to Crack a Nut Like a Crow”
“How to Build a Dam Like a Beaver”
“How to Disguise Yourself Like an Octopus”
“How to Hunt Like a Reddish Egret”
“How to Build a Nest Like a Wasp”
“How to Spin a Web Like a Spider”
“How to Decorate Like a Bowerbird”
“How to Warn of Danger Like a Vervet Monkey”
“How to Farm Like a Leaf-Cutter Ant”
“How to Catch a Meal Like a Crocodile”
“How to Defend Yourself Like an Armadillo”
“How to Catch an Insect Like an Ant Lion”
“How to Dance Like a Grebe”

All of these activities are given with fairly simple (but sometimes impossible for humans) numbered steps and eye-catching illustrations.

There are more details at the back about all the featured animals.

I think my favorite feature is “How to Crack a Nut Like a Crow,” because crows have clearly adapted their methods.

Crows are intelligent birds, and they have learned to crack nuts by carrying them into the air and dropping them on rocks or pavement. But, some nuts are too tough, and even this treatment won’t break them open. In some places, crows have found a solution.

It’s probably best not to try this technique until you learn how to fly.

1) Find a nut.
A walnut or other tough-shelled nut is a good choice.
2) Select your perch.
Find a spot near a traffic signal above a busy road.
3) Drop your nut.
Choose a place where the nut will get run over by a car or truck.
4) Wait for the light to change.
Don’t try to collect the pieces of your smashed snack until the light has changed and traffic has stopped.
5) Enjoy!
Now you can swoop down, eat your nut, and take off before the light changes again.

All the above is contained on one page, with an illustration for each step and a large picture in the middle. So it’s a nice nonthreatening mix of words and pictures.

Curious kids will get a kick out of imagining how it would be if they could carry out these directions.

stevejenkinsbooks.com
hmhco.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. 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.

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