Review of Pizza Face, by Rex Ogle & Dave Valeza

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, Starred Review 0

Pizza Face

by Rex Ogle & Dave Valeza

Graphix, 2024. 222 pages.
Review written October 3, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

I continue to maintain that graphic novels are the absolutely perfect format for middle school memoirs – the perfect way to express the angst we all went through.

In this follow up to Four Eyes, the morning Rex starts seventh grade, a giant pimple erupts in the center of his forehead – the first of many. So yeah, this is a graphic novel about a boy beginning to go through puberty, and feeling behind everyone else – he was only twelve in seventh grade, but his friends were all thirteen or turning thirteen. So he was the smallest, had the least hair, and had the highest voice.

And then come the bullies, the misunderstandings with friends, the saying something to try to be cool that hurts a friend’s feelings – and we’ve got a classic story of middle school angst.

There’s plenty of nuance going on here, such as becoming friends with the biggest kid in seventh grade, who starts out pushing Rex around, but ends up confessing he feels out of place, too. And gaining some insight about another bully when they’re both on in-school suspension.

This story captures the despair and hope of middle school, and does it with humor and compassion.

rexogle.com

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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.

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Review of The History of the Computer, by Rachel Ignotofsky

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Science, Starred Review 0

The History of the Computer

People, Inventions, and Technology That Changed Our World

by Rachel Ignotofsky

Ten Speed Press, 2022. 128 pages.
Review written September 24, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is the second one of Rachel Ignotofsky’s books I’ve read, and I’m a fan. Both are compilations of a large amount of information in a visual way that doesn’t overwhelm you.

The spreads in this book are packed, but the information is compacted into panel-like segments. The book is not a graphic novel, but it borrows some graphic elements, sometimes sidebars, sometimmes diagrams, plenty of pictures, and even some speech bubbles. Even large paragraphs are given segments with headings, so you can read one section at a time.

The only problem with the graphic-novel-like format was that my first impression was that I could read it quickly. No, this book is packed with information, and it takes lots of time to absorb it. The advantage to the format, though, is that you can read a section or a spread at a time and easily pick it up later. I ended up picking this book up for multiple short stretches – and that was the perfect way to read it, with my interest captured every time.

And the information was so interesting. I worked as a computer programmer for my university as a college student in the 1980s, and my family was one of the first I knew of to have a home computer, a TRS-80. Oh, and my Dad brought home an old-fashioned modem in the 1970s. So – I’ve lived through a lot of the history of the computer, and it was very interesting to read about the bigger picture and many of the people behind different innovations – going far beyond Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.

Besides a straightforward history, the book also describes what’s inside a computer and goes back and looks at ancient counting systems and inventions like the abacus. The more modern chapters went from “Computers as Creative Tool, 1980-1989” to “The World Wide Web, 1990-2005” to “The All-in-One Device, 2006-Now.”

My only hope for this book is that it will get many updates. Although the part on “the future” only takes up a few pages, already in 2024 it feels like the prevalence of virtual meetings should be mentioned, as well as Chat GPT. But everything historical is very thorough, and presented in a fascinating way.

rachelignotofskydesign.com
tenspeed.com

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Review of Hello, Neighbor! by Matthew Cordell

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

Hello, Neighbor!

The Kind and Caring World of Mister Rogers

by Matthew Cordell

Neal Porter Books (Holiday House), 2020. 40 pages.
Review written July 7, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

Hello Neighbor is a picture book biography telling about the life and career of Fred Rogers.

It begins with the Neighborhood – showing a hand placing a car in the model neighborhood and explaining about the television show. Then it goes back and tells about Fred Rogers’ childhood and what brought him into doing television.

I like the way the book captures special things about the show, including the beginning and ending songs, the cast of characters, the special guests, the visits that showed how things were made, and of course the Neighborhood of Make Believe.

Fred played many roles in the making of more than 900 episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. He wrote the scripts. He was songwriter and singer, performer and puppeteer. He oversaw and approved what went on in every episode. Beyond his own contributions, he truly loved working with others. He respected and appreciated the talents and artistry of all who were involved in the creation of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. And because of this, everyone felt connected in a very sincere and personal way.

The illustrations along with the story help make this book special, as they capture so many scenes and people from the show. The spread at the beginning is especially wonderful with a quotation from Fred Rogers on top and a picture of him sitting at the piano composing, with all kinds of characters and things flowing out of the piano in a big creative cloud along with musical notes.

A lovely tribute to a man who was indeed kind and caring, put together in a way that respects and appreciates children. I am confident that Mister Rogers would have been delighted with this book.

matthewcordell.com
HolidayHouse.com

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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.

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Review of Crossing on Time, by David Macaulay

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Crossing on Time

Steam Engines, Fast Ships, and a Journey to the New World

by David Macaulay

Roaring Brook Press, 2019. 128 pages.
Review written May 6, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

This new large-format David Macaulay book is amazing. Full of his detailed illustrations, it tells the story of steam travel, combined with his own story of crossing the Atlantic and moving to America aboard what was then the fastest ocean liner in the world.

This story of his own family making the trip when he was ten years old gives a deeply personal touch to a book packed with historical facts.

After the short introduction of his family setting out to move to America, where he planned to see the Empire State Building, then the tallest building in the world, the book tells us the history of steam power. And since this is a David Macauley book, along every step of the way we get diagrams explaining precisely how the various steam engines worked. We can appreciate each new innovation and how it expanded on earlier ideas.

Then we get into steamships, and the race to build faster and faster ships to cross the Atlantic. We see all the ships that won the Blue Riband – an award for the ship with the fastest time crossing the Atlantic in the westward direction. We also hear about a shipbuilder who dreamed of winning that award.

And then we shift to that shipbuilder finally getting a chance to build an enormous ocean liner, the em> United States that would indeed win the Blue Riband. There is an incredible fold-out cross-section of United States that spreads out to six pages long and has 100 items detailed in the diagram.

The United States was the very ship that took young David Macauley and his family from England to America, so the book finishes bringing us back to his story. I especially like the paintings from their voyage and the photographs in the notes in the back.

This wonderful book is packed with information and leaves you with warm feelings about the curious kid who grew up to create amazing books.

mackids.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 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 A Million Dots, by Sven Völker

Children's Nonfiction Review, Mathematical, Starred Review 0

A Million Dots

by Sven Völker

Cicada Books Limited, 2019. 44 pages.
Review written March 24, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

Now you and your kids can both explore exponential growth!

The first spread of this book shows the numeral 1, the word one, and one dot – in this case, the graphic artist has made it the top of a tree.

The next spread: 1 + 1 = 2, two, and two green treetop-dots.

The next spread: 2 + 2 = 4, four, and now the dots are smaller, four red apples.

Each time you turn the page, the number of dots you can see doubles and the dots get smaller. And the artist makes pictures out of them. The picture on the front cover with dots as freckles is the picture for 256.

When it gets to 524, 288, it takes a long fold-out page to show all the dots, even though they’re very small, and they’re even smaller on the other side with 1,048,576 dots.

I love the idea of this, because I’m a firm believer that people simply don’t understand how big a million is. In fact, I’ve got a little problem with using the 256 picture on the cover, because children might think that’s a million dots. And once it does show a million, the dots are so small my old eyes aren’t even sure which parts of the picture are dots and which aren’t. You couldn’t really explain it from the front of a room in storytime.

So for storytimes, I still prefer How Many Jelly Beans?, by Andrea Menotti, which also has a fun story to go along with the big numbers. But for kids to explore and wonder over the numbers by themselves or in small groups? This book is marvelous.

And this is a good time to try to understand that when you’re talking exponential growth, numbers get big very, very quickly.

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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 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 Gross as a Snot Otter, by Jess Keating

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

Gross as a Snot Otter

Discovering the World’s Most Disgusting Animals

by Jess Keating
with illustrations by David DeGrand

Alfred A. Knopf, 2019. 44 pages.
Review written April 10, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

Jess Keating’s books from The World of Weird Animals series are the easiest books in the world to book talk! I used Pink Is for Blobfish back in 2016. I’d ordered Gross as a Snot Otter to booktalk this year, but didn’t actually get around to reading it until the library closed for the coronavirus. I was right! It will be perfect for booktalking. I hope I get the chance to do so at least next year! (Spoiler alert: this didn’t happen.)

All you have to do to intrigue kids with this book is open to a random page and read off the facts about the disgusting animal featured there. In some cases, the animals themselves aren’t as gross as a snot otter, but in those cases, they have some kind of disgusting habit.

Take herring, for example, who communicate with each other by farting. Or Siberian chipmunks, which gnaw on the flesh of dead snakes and rub it onto their bodies so they smell like the predator. Or Surinam toads, whose mothers incubate their eggs on their backs – growing skin over them. Later, up to 100 toadlets at a time come popping out of her back.

Each spread has a photograph of the gross animal on one side, then facts about the animal with a silly cartoon on the other, with more of an explanation of what’s gross about them. This book is a sure kid-pleaser and will arm them with a plethora of weird scientific facts about a wide variety of animals.

JessKeating.com
DeGrandLand.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 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 Look for the Math Around You, by Alice Aspinall

Children's Nonfiction Review, Mathematical, Starred Review 0

Look for the Math Around You

Arrays
Estimation
Fractions
Geometry
Math Chats
Patterns

by Alice Aspinall

Code Breaker, 2020. Each volume 56 pages.
Review written December 13, 2022, from library books.
Starred Review

I’m reviewing a series of six books with this post. I’m super proud that I found these for the library and just got a chance to read them myself. They’re even better than I’d hoped!

What these books present is a wonderful opportunity for mathematical conversations for adults to have with kids as young as Kindergarten through 4th or 5th grades. They’ve got questions that made me think, and they model mathematical thinking.

Every book begins with a page that says this:

This book features photos taken from everyday, real-life moments. Use the photos as prompts to start a math conversation with children. Each photo is accompanied by optional question prompts. In some cases, there are many correct answers. The thinking process and mathematical discussion are more important than the correct answers. Have fun!

I read that in the first book, and right away my heart responded with a “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

I’ll include some example questions from the different books:

From Arrays, next to a photo of a garage door:

How many rectangles are in this photo? Look closely.
Explain how you counted them.

From Estimation, next to a photo of popcorn in a bowl:

There are two kinds of popcorn in the bowl. How would you describe how much of each kind is in the bowl? Think about using:
–Numbers
–Fractions
–Percentages
–Words

From Fractions, next to a photo of an uncut pan of brownies:

The brownie needs to be shared with 8 people.
Show the different ways you can cut the brownie so that all 8 people get the same amount of brownie to eat.

From Geometry, next to a photo of an orange slice, first in a circle and then pulled into a line:

The orange slice shows the parts of a circle. The circumference is the peel, wrapping all the way around the outside of the circle. The area is the flesh of the orange. Point to each part of the circle.

When we pull apart the orange slice, we can see the parts of the circle in a different way. How many segments can you count?

What do you think is the length of the circumference of this orange slice? How do you know?

From Math Chats, next to a photo of a fire pit with marshmallows toasting:

How far away should the marshmallow be from the fire for the best roast?
In what direction do you rotate your skewer to toast the marshmallow?
How much of the marshmallow do you like covered in char?
What ratio of cracker to chocolate to marshmallow makes the best s’more?
How many pieces of chocolate do you like in a s’more?
What pattern do you use to assemble a s’more?

From Patterns, next to a photo of a pie with a lattice top:

How is the pie crust arranged? Use words to explain how all the pieces are weaved together.
What other patterns can you find on the pie? Look for shapes.

That should give you the idea. The books are loaded with interesting photographs accompanied by open-ended questions that encourage mathematical thinking. And because the questions are open-ended, your child may surprise you!

You can find all these books in the Fairfax County Public Library catalog if you search for “Look for the Math Around You.”

everyonecanlearnmath.com
codebreakeredu.com

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Arrays
Estimation
Fractions
Geometry
Math Chats
Patterns

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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.

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Review of Kapaemahu, by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson, illustrated by Daniel Sousa

Children's Nonfiction Review, Folk Tales, Starred Review 0

Kapaemahu

by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson
illustrated by Daniel Sousa

Kokila (Penguin Random House), 2022. 40 pages.
Review written October 24, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This hauntingly beautiful picture book tells an indigenous story from Hawaii, with text in both Olelo Niihau, the language it may have originally been told in, and English.

The story tells how long ago four spiritual healers came from Tahiti to Hawaii

The visitors were tall and deep in voice yet gentle and soft-spoken.

They were not male;
they were not female.

They were mahu —
a mixture of both in mind, heart, and spirit.

The four visitors each had a separate special healing gift, and they bequeathed their healing wisdom to the people of Hawaii.

The people moved four large boulders to the beach as a monument to the healers, and the healers transferred their healing power to the stones to keep it safe for Hawaii before they left.

As the story finishes up, we learn that the stones were considered sacred for centuries, but as Waikiki got built up, for a time they were buried under a bowling alley.

The stones have since been recovered. But their history is still being suppressed, and the fact that the healers were mahu has been erased.

But now readers know the story, and we can honor it.

penguin.com/kids

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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.

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Review of Jack Knight’s Brave Flight, by Jill Esbaum, illustrated by Stacy Innerst

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Jack Knight’s Brave Flight

How One Gutsy Pilot Saved the U.S. Air Mail Service

by Jill Esbaum
illustrated by Stacy Innerst

Calkins Creek (Astra Books for Young Readers), 2022. 44 pages.
Review written August 15, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Thanks to Betsy Bird and her blog for pointing out this book of true adventure hidden behind a brown cover.

This picture book tells the story of Jack Knight, who flew in an open cockpit through a blizzard on little sleep to single-handedly win the approval of Congress to give the post office the funds to continue air mail service.

Here’s the set-up. It’s February 22, 1921. First we’re told that Jack recently survived a crash into a snowy mountainside and has a broken nose to show for it.

Those crashes are why America’s lawmakers want to end air mail. Flying is too dangerous, they say, and replacing planes costs too much. Moving mail by train is safer and cheaper.

But air mail officials — and pilots — know planes can move mail faster than trains. Today and tonight will prove it. Pilots are taking turns short-hopping four planes across the country, two flying east, two flying west. At least one must get through, or air mail is doomed.

Well, it was supposed to be four planes, two east and two west — but it ends up being all up to Jack. With blizzard conditions and little sleep and needing to do an additional leg of the trip — one he’d never flown before.

It’s all made dramatic and exciting for the reader, with pictures filling every inch of the pages.

An Author’s Note at the back includes a photograph of Jack Knight and a timeline of the history of the U. S. Mail. Who knew that history was so interesting?

picturebookbuilders.com
stacyinnerst.com
calkinscreekbooks.com

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*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.

Review of Manhattan: Mapping the Story of an Island, by Jennifer Thermes

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Manhattan

Mapping the Story of an Island

by Jennifer Thermes

Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019. 64 pages.
Review written January 28, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This book is fascinating! I’m sorry that I didn’t discover it until I was pulling it from the library shelves to take off the New sticker. Usually I do that task rather mindlessly, but this book called out to me to open it, and then I couldn’t put it away until I’d pored over the fascinating details.

It’s a large-format book that uses maps to tell the history of the island of Manhattan. It talks about how it was formed and then about the Lenape living on Mannahatta for thousands of years.

Then it tells about the history of the island (with maps) through time periods. The Dutch put a town on the island, followed by the British, who occupied the city during the American Revolution. The commissioners planned the grid of streets in 1811. Further events resulted in changes, including the Great Fire of 1835, which led to the development of Central Park, and the Great Blizzard of 1888, which led to the development of the subway. It also mentions the importance of the slave trade to the city and slave labor to build the city. Free African Americans eventually moved outside the city to Seneca Village — and that land was taken from them for a low price to build Central Park.

We read about the importance of immigration to the island and the Gilded Age of 1870 to 1900, where millionaires lived on Fifth Avenue, while immigrants lived in poverty in tenements downtown. We learn about the building of subways and bridges and skyscrapers, which all changed the look of the city. And of course, it finishes up with Manhattan today — though I was surprised by a page before that mentioning Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and how the subways were flooded. The new threat to Manhattan is rising sea levels. As the author states, “Protecting it from water will be this century’s greatest challenge.”

And after all these big, fascinating pages of details, there’s a complete timeline in the back, next to a page of select sources.

I’ve been to New York City a few times, which helped give me context. If I ever get the chance to go again, rereading this book would be a wonderful way to prepare.

jenniferthermes.com
abramsyoungreaders.com

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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.

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