Review of Elatsoe, by Darcie Little Badger

Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Elatsoe

by Darcie Little Badger
illustrated by Rovina Cai

Levine Querido, 2020. 360 pages.
Review written November 9, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review
2020 Cybils Finalist: Young Adult Speculative Fiction
2020 Sonderbooks Stand-out:
#5 Teen Speculative Fiction

This lovely paranormal fantasy is written by a member of the Lipan Apache tribe and features a Lipan Apache teen girl. At first, I thought it was just Native Americans in the world of the story who were aware of paranormal magic, as the title character has her own ghost dog. But it quickly became apparent that this is a world where magic is taken for granted. Ellie’s best friend is a descendant of Oberon who can conjure will-o’-the-wisps, and his sister is in love with a vampire, or as they call it, one of the Cursed. The magic that causes vampirism is European magic, but Ellie’s family is aware of magic rooted in their ancestral lands. They tell stories of Ellie’s Six-Great Grandmother who healed the land from monsters.

As the book begins, Ellie’s cousin dies in what appears to be a car accident. But that night, he appears to her in a dream and tells her he was murdered. As it happens, the murderer he names is white, rich, and powerful. It won’t be easy to make the charge stick.

One thing I love about this book is that this is not one about children-do-dangerous-things-without-telling-their-parents. Ellie tells her whole family about her dream and they believe her and agree to work together to bring the murderer to justice and make sure that her cousin’s ghost rests. Ellie’s family has a lot to do with this struggle against evil and it’s super refreshing.

This was a wonderful book, engagingly written, and I loved the way it wove in Native American culture. But Ellie’s simply a lovable character, so this isn’t at all a niche book.

Here’s how the book begins:

Ellie bought the life-sized plastic skull at a garage sale (the goth neighbors were moving to Salem, and they could not fit an entire Halloween warehouse into their black van). After bringing the purchase home, she dug through her box of craft supplies and glued a pair of googly eyes in its shallow eye sockets.

“I got you a new friend, Kirby!” Ellie said. “Here, boy! C’mon!” Kirby already fetched tennis balls and puppy toys. Sure, anything looked astonishing when it zipped across the room in the mouth of an invisible dog, but a floating googly skull would be extra special.

Unfortunately, the skull terrified Kirby. He wouldn’t get near it, much less touch it. Maybe it was possessed by a demonic vacuum cleaner. More likely, the skull just smelled weird. Judging by the soy candles and incense sticks at the garage sale, the neighbors enjoyed burning fragrant stuff….

Kirby had progressed a lot since his death. Ellie still wasn’t allowed to bring him on school property, but since the sixth-grade howl incident, Kirby hadn’t caused any trouble, and his cache of tricks had doubled. There were mundane ones: sit, stay, heel, play dead (literally! wink, wink!), and track scents. Moreover, the door had been opened to a bunch of marvelous supernatural powers. He just had to learn them without causing too much incidental chaos.

The illustrations at the front of each chapter add to the beauty of this book.

I’m super impressed that this is a debut novel and looking forward to more by this author.

levinequerido.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/elatsoe.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?

2020 Sonderbooks Stand-outs!

Stand-outs 0

It’s time to announce my 2020 Sonderbooks Stand-outs!

These are simply my favorite books of those I read this year, the books that stand out in my mind after a year of reading, the ones that moved me most.

These are not necessarily the best books of the year. They’re not necessarily the highest quality. And I’m a white straight lady. I can see and recognize outstanding books coming from many different perspectives and even put them forward for awards, but they won’t necessarily win as high a place in my heart. These are books I especially loved reading this year.

It’s late on New Year’s Day, so I’m just writing a blog post to make the announcement, but a webpage for these will come soon. I haven’t posted reviews of all the books yet — especially not the ones I read for the Cybils — so I will work on getting all these reviews posted.

I also have to add a disclaimer. Although I’m ranking the books, I’m trying not to think too hard about it and go with my gut. If I were to rank them tomorrow, they might end up in a little bit different order. These are all good books, and I highly recommend them!

Here are my numbers of books read this year:

Books reread: 7 (Mostly L. M. Montgomery books, since I’m still slowly trying to reread all of her books.)
Fiction for Adults: 14
Nonfiction for Adults: 49
Fiction for Teens: 60
Fiction for Children: 38
Nonfiction for Children and Teens: 152 (many picture books in that set)
Picture Books: 329

For a grand total of 649 books read in 2020!

In my list of stand-outs, I left out the books I reread, and I left out the new translation of the New Testament, by David Bentley Hart. It doesn’t seem fair to compare books I read for the first time with old favorites, and especially not with a new translation of the Bible.

Among the rest, I chose these favorites:

Fiction for Adults:

1. A Dance with Fate, by Juliet Marillier
2. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
3. The Little Paris Bookshop, by Nina George
4. The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nahesi Coates
5. The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett
6. The Queen of Sorrow, by Sarah Beth Durst
7. The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood

General Nonfiction for Adults:

1. Know My Name, by Chanel Miller
2. My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me, by Jason B. Rosenthal
3. Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad
4. Keep Moving, by Maggie Smith
5. The Earth in Her Hands, by Jennifer Jewell
6. The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben
7. So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo
8. The Orphaned Adult, by Alexander Levy
9. Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds, by Ian Wright
10. Beneath the Tamarind Tree, by Isha Sesay

Christian Nonfiction for Adults:

1. Jesus Undefeated, by Keith Giles
2. Shameless, by Nadia Bolz-Weber
3. Grace Saves All, by David Artman
4. A More Christlike Way, by Bradley Jersak
5. Try Softer, by Aundi Kolber

General Fiction for Teens:

1. The Bridge, by Bill Konigsberg
2. We Used to Be Friends, by Amy Spalding
3. Clap When You Land, by Elizabeth Acevedo
4. The Hand on the Wall, by Maureen Johnson
5. Even If We Break, by Marieke Nijkamp
6. The Vanishing Stair, by Maureen Johnson
7. The Edge of Anything, by Nora Shalaway Carpenter
8. Dangerous Alliance, by Jennieke Cohen
9. This Is My Brain in Love, by I. W. Gregorio
10. The Light in Hidden Places, by Sharon Cameron

Speculative Fiction for Teens:
1. Return of the Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner
2. Igniting Darkness, by Robin LaFevers
3. The Queen of Nothing, by Holly Black
4. Red Hood, by Elana K. Arnold
5. Elatsoe, by Darcie Little Badger
6. The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, by Garth Nix
7. The Guinevere Deception, by Kiersten White
8. Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas
9. A Phoenix First Must Burn, edited by Patrice Caldwell
10. Burn, by Patrick Ness

Fiction for Children:

1. Fighting Words, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
2. Prairie Lotus, by Linda Sue Park
3. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, by Dan Gemeinhart
4. Wink, by Rob Harrell
5. Monster and Boy, by Hannah Barnaby
6. A Long Road on a Short Day, by Gary D. Schmidt & Elizabeth Stickney
7. Catherine’s War, by Julia Billet
8. Before the Ever After, by Jacqueline Woodson
9. A Home for Goddesses and Dogs, by Leslie Connor
10. Stepping Stones, by Lucy Knisley
11. Mañanaland, by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Longer Nonfiction for Children and Teens:

1. Stamped, by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
2. An Indigenous People’s History of the United States, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese
3. Infinite Hope, by Ashley Bryan
4. Almost American Girl, by Robin Ha
5. Playlist, by James Rhodes
6. The Magnificent Migration, by Sy Montgomery

Nonfiction for Children:

1. When Stars Are Scattered, by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
2. Create Your Own Secret Language, by David J. Peterson and Ryan Goldsberry
3. Sounds All Around, by James Chapman
4. The Superpower Field Guide: Moles, by Rachel Poliquin and Nicholas John Frith
5. Overview, by Benjamin Grant with Sandra Markle
6. Can You Crack the Code?, by Ella Schwartz and Lily Williams

Nonfiction Picture Books

1. Honeybee, by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann
2. The Fabled Life of Aesop, by Ian Lendler and Pamela Zagarenski
3. The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, by Amy Alznauer and Daniel Miyares
4. The Imaginaries, by Emily Winfield Martin
5. Girl on a Motorcycle, by Amy Novesky and Julie Morstad
6. Child of St. Kilda, by Beth Waters

Fiction Picture Books:

1. Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away, by Meg Medina and Sonia Sánchez
2. Lift, by Minh Le and Dan Santat
3. Rita and Ralph’s Rotten Day, by Carmen Agra Deedy and Pete Oswald
4. In My Garden, by Charlotte Zolotow and Philip Stead
5. Madame Badobedah, by Sophie Dahl and Lauren O’Hara
6. Every Color of Light, by Hiroshi Osada and Ryoji Arai
7. I Can Be Anything, by Shinsuke Yoshitake
8. The Blue House, by Phoebe Wahl
9. Swashby and the Sea, by Beth Ferry and Juana Martinez

I know — I’m not good at narrowing down my lists! But all the more reading joy!

Happy Reading!

Review of A Long Road on a Short Day, by Gary D. Schmidt & Elizabeth Stickney

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

A Long Road on a Short Day

by Gary D. Schmidt & Elizabeth Stickney
with illustrations by Eugene Yelchin

Clarion Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), 2020. 60 pages.
Review written December 10, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

A Long Road on a Short Day is a gentle but engaging story for kids ready to start chapter books. There are twelve short chapters with large print. The pictures show us that the story is set in a time before cars, in a farming community that gets cold in the winter.

This is one of those stories about trading up, about making a series of trades and ending up with something much better than what you started with. But I love that everyone who makes a trade in this book is convinced they made a good trade. It’s a story about a community helping each other out and everyone ending up happier.

Here’s how the book begins:

Early on a white January morning, Samuel’s mother said, “I do wish we had a brown-eyed cow to give us milk for the baby.”

Samuel’s father set down his mug.

“And for your tea,” she said.

Samuel’s father smiled and got up from the table. He took his best Barlow knife from the mantel and said to Samuel, “Dress warm if you’re coming with me.”

Samuel ran to get his coat off the hook. “Where are we going, Papa?”

“To find that brown-eyed cow for your mother,” Papa said.

There’s a strong sense of time constraint, as each chapter ends with a reminder that it’s “a long road on a short day.” First they look up at gray clouds, then a dark sky, then a few snowflakes, then a dusting of snow, then thick and dark clouds, then a storm, then steady snow and a low sun with gusts of wind.

Finally, after a series of stops and a series of trades that each neighbor confirms is a good one:

The snow was falling fast and the light was almost gone when Samuel and his father turned toward home. They walked down Hurd Hill, past the tall white pines, past the Everetts’ farm, toward the Wire Bridge and town. “Come, Bossy,” said Papa.

Along the way, Samuel wishes several times that a brown-eyed cow wasn’t what Mama had wanted. So it’s all the more delightful when the final farmer throws in something special for Samuel.

The authors don’t have to tell us that Papa is clever and observant and knows his neighbors well. He manages the trades beautifully, and he and Samuel have an adventure of a day, even if it is a short one with a long road.

hmhbooks.com

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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 The Beast Player, by Nahoko Uehashi

Fantasy, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Beast Player

by Nahoko Uehashi
translated by Cathy Hirano

Godwin Books (Henry Holt and Company), 2019. 344 pages. First published in Japanese in 2009.
Review written July 8, 2020, from a library book
2020 Printz Honor Book

The Beast Player is set in a detailed fantasy world. Elin’s mother is a steward of the Toda, fearsome beasts that are used for war. But when the Toda under her care get fatally ill, Elin’s mother is executed. Before they can carry it out, she sends Elin on the back of a Toda to a faraway land.

In that land, Elin encounters a friendly old beekeeper who was once a teacher. He finds an eager pupil in Elin. When she grows to be a teenager, he gets her a place learning to care for the Royal Beasts of that country, which are even more fearsome than the Toda.

Elin doesn’t think it’s right to force the beasts to do the will of humans with the Silent Whistle that paralyzes them. She takes on the care of an injured cub and by listening and care, learns to communicate with that beast.

But meanwhile, there are political intrigues at work in the two parts of the country. Elin being able to communicate with a Royal Beast is going to become political if anyone with power finds out. And when the leader of the country is threatened in sight of Elin and her beast, they do find out.

I love the character of Elin in this book, determined to let beasts and people make their own choices, but caught up in large events she’d rather avoid. The world is rich and detailed. I understand there are going to be more books coming out, and I’m looking forward to finding out what happens next.

fiercereads.com

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

Source: This review is based on a 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.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Martin Rising, by Andrea Davis Pinkney, paintings by Brian Pinkney

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Poetry, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

Martin Rising

Requiem for a King

by Andrea Davis Pinkney
paintings by Brian Pinkney

Scholastic Press, January 2018. 128 pages.
Starred Review
2018 Sonderbooks Stand-out:
#9 Longer Children’s Nonfiction

I’m writing this review on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday in 2018. It’s a shame I can’t post it today, but I have to remain silent online about any 2018 children’s books until after we announce our Newbery winners.

This book is poetry combined with art, telling about the events that happened 50 years ago in 1968, the last months of Martin’s life.

I have to confess I’m not the best audience for unrhymed poetry. I haven’t spoken with anyone else yet about this book, and I have a feeling that when I do, others will be able to point out details of the craft that went right by me.

But what we have here is history in the form of poetry. There is symbolism – a progression from daylight to darkness to dawn. Some more symbolism that even I could catch was in a poem about forcing forsythia to bloom where that’s compared with forcing garbage collectors in Tennessee to do degrading work in harsh conditions. March is said to come in like a lion – but no progress is made, and it leaves much more quietly.

And the event that sparks the chain of events in this book was the death of two sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, and the protests that sparked. There are lots of facts here – you’ll learn about what happened, along with the dignity and nobility of those who protested.

(I’m now going to pause and reread the book as a fitting way of celebrating Martin Luther King’s birthday.)

Here are some good bits:

In the poem “Come: February 24, 1968”:

But, Lord,
even with your handiwork
hard at work,
it is hard, hard work
not to strike back violently,
especially when you’re striking.

In the poem “Roar! March 11, 1968”:

These strikers have volunteered for
peaceful protest.

When the police handcuff
and shove them,
and choke hold their hope,
and cart them away,
these men and women,
and girls and boys
who have volunteered
for self-dignity,
will not
enter jail
in the same way
March
enters the calendar.

These strong, quiet
strikers,
and all who stand by them
refuse to Roar.

Going out like lambs,
they are ignored.

From the final poem, “Rejoice the Legacy: January 15 – Martin Luther King Day – Forever”:

And so, today, though his candles stopped
at thirty-nine,
we celebrate Martin’s exquisite life.

His sparkling-eyed vision
of tomorrow’s promise.
His destiny.
His dream.

How he led us to the mountaintop
on the path of light, love, and truth.
He didn’t get there with us.
But he showed us the way.

So that’s this book – a poetic tribute to Martin Luther King’s life and the story of his final months. I love the suggestion in the author’s note at the back to perform these as a group reading or as a classroom play. It is all too easy to rush through these poems. I’m pretty sure that the harder I look at them, the more riches I’ll find.

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

Source: This review is based on a book sent by the publisher.

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 Rita and Ralph’s Rotten Day, by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Pete Oswald

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Readalouds, Starred Review 0

Rita & Ralph’s Rotten Day

by Carmen Agra Deedy
illustrated by Pete Oswald

Scholastic Press, 2020. 48 pages.
Review written March 5, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

I want to read this book in a storytime! I recognized some elements from stories I’ve heard before, and sure enough, an Author’s Note at the back explains that the story is adapted from “the classic hand game, ‘Mr. Wiggle & Mr. Waggle,” and explains the hand motions you can use as you read the book. I think I would want to prop the book up and do just that.

But the story goes beyond that. It’s also a story of hurt feelings and reconciliation.

Here’s how the book begins:

In two little houses,
on two little hills,
lived two best friends.

Every morning, Rita and Ralph would
open their doors,
step outside,
close their doors,
and run . . .

. . . down the hill,
and up the hill,
and down the hill,
and up the hill.

They’d meet under the apple tree and high-five,
pinkie-shake,
do a cha-cha-cha,
play zombie tag,
and make daisy chains.

But one day, they try a new game, “Sticks and Stones,” and Rita gets hurt.

They don’t handle it well to start (running away) and feelings get hurt.

What follows is a tale of reconciliation. But that reconciliation involves a whole lot of going down the hill and up the hill and down the hill and up the hill.

And I think it’s going to be tremendous fun to read aloud. The story is enhanced by the long thin format showing all the hills between the two houses.

carmenagradeedy.com
scholastic.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/rita_and_ralphs_rotten_day.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.

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.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Keep Moving, by Maggie Smith

Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth, Starred Review 0

Keep Moving

Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change

by Maggie Smith

One Signal Publishers (Atria), 2020. 214 pages.
Review written November 6, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review
2020 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #4 General Nonfiction

This is a book I wish I’d had when my husband left me and my life was falling apart. But ten years after the divorce was final, these words still encourage me greatly. I expect I will buy copies of this book to give as gifts in case I ever have friends in tough situations where their expectations for what their life was going to be crumble. Even in the present, reading these words keep me moving. I’ll be posting lots of quotes from it on my Sonderquotes blog.

The bulk of this book is inspirational encouragement on each page, finished by the words – on every page – “KEEP MOVING.”

Here’s an example:

Focus on who you are and what you’ve built, not who you’d planned on being and what you’d expected to have. Trust that the present moment – however difficult, however different from what you’d imagined – has something to teach you.

KEEP MOVING.

Here’s another:

You are not betraying your grief by feeling joy. You are not being graded, and you do not receive extra credit for being miserable 100% of the time. Find pockets of relief, even happiness, when and where you can.

KEEP MOVING.

There are three main sections: Revision, Resilience, and Transformation. Within each section, in between these inspirational sayings made to be quoted, we’ve got pages here and there of smaller text, giving us the context of when the author had to deal with loss, in more than one way.

She began this book by writing daily goals for herself as her life was falling apart — and she kept going.

After writing this review, I decided to buy my own copy so I can come back to it again and again. Every day I’m reading a page to encourage me and keep me moving.

SimonandSchuster.com

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

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Review of Knights vs. Monsters, by Matt Phelan

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0

Knights vs. Monsters

by Matt Phelan

Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins), 168 pages.
Review written June 1, 2019, from a library book.

Knights vs. Monsters is a sequel to Knights vs. Dinosaurs, where a band of knights from King Arthur’s Round Table brag a little too much about fighting dragons, and Merlin sends them back in time to try their skills against terrible lizards – dinosaurs.

In this book, the same knights are feeling a little bored in Camelot and aren’t having much luck searching for the Grail – so when a magic boat appears on a river, they board it and end up on an adventure in the Orkney Isles.

There they find a sorceress, Queen Morgause. She’s heard of their exploits, and now conjures up monsters for them to fight every night. All as part of a grand plot that threatens Camelot itself. Can the knights survive against fearsome monsters?

You’ll enjoy this a bit more if you’ve read the first book and met our characters. This will help you appreciate the title of a song a minstrel wrote, “Melancholy the Erstwhile Squire Who Is Now an Accomplished Archer.”

This book is a light-hearted diversion taking off from the legends of Arthur. With lots of battling monsters.

mattphelan.com
harpercollinschildrens.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/knights_vs_monsters.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 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 They Went Left, by Monica Hesse

Audiobooks, Historical, Teen Fiction Review 0

They Went Left

by Monica Hesse
read by Caitlin Davies

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2020. 9 hours.
Review written July 13, 2020, from a library eaudiobook

They Went Left is a novel of the Holocaust – but takes place after World War II has ended. Zofia Lederman spent months in a hospital, and something’s still wrong with her mind. She still gets pulled into dark memories – and she’s not even sure the memories are real.

Zofia wants nothing more than to find her little brother, Abek. She’s obsessed with the promise she made to him to find him after the war. All the rest of her family is dead – they went left to the gas chambers when sorted at the camp.

First Zofia has a helpful Russian soldier take her to their home in Poland. But it’s empty and has been looted, and Abek isn’t there. It becomes clear she isn’t being welcomed back by her former neighbors, either.

Then Zofiya hears of a place for displaced persons in Germany. Others from the camp where she last saw Abek have gone there. She makes the journey there to find her brother. Once there, she’s surrounded by other people trying to figure out how to go on with their lives. It turns out not every displaced person was even in the camps. And all the while, she’s starting to wonder which of her memories she even dares to believe.

This powerful story will linger in your memory. It captures the exquisite pain of figuring out how to start your life over after seeing your whole family die and experiencing horrors.

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

Source: This review is based on an eaudiobook 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 Water Land, by Christy Hale

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

Water, Land

Land and Water Forms Around the World

by Christy Hale

A Neal Porter Book (Roaring Brook Press), 2018. 24 pages.
Starred Review
2018 Sonderbooks Stand-out:
#8 Children’s Nonfiction Picture Books

My coworker and I agree that the library copy of this book may not hold up well. Although they are extra-sturdy light cardboard pages, there are cut-out shapes on each one and a giant fold-out page at the end. But check this one out quickly while it lasts, because it’s wonderful!

I have never looked at water and land forms this way – but now I will never think of them any other way.

This book pairs a water form with a land form. You’ve got a cut-out on each set of pages. Here’s how it works:

The first spread has a big picture of an autumn scene with a brown background. There’s an oval cut-out on the right-hand page showing blue and a kid in a boat. The only word on the page says “lake.”

When you turn the page, the next spread has a blue background. The cut-out is now on the left side and shows brown. The only word on this page is “island.”

And so it goes. We’ve got the shapes of water forms matched up on the next page – using the exact same cut-out shapes – with land forms.

Other pairs are: bay and cape, strait and isthmus, system of lakes and archipelago, gulf and peninsula. In the back, there’s a fold-out page that includes two charts and a big world map, pointing out examples of each of the forms.

The idea is so simple – and it’s beautifully carried out. Those who read this book will have a clear understanding of these water and land forms forever after.

mackids.com

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

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.

What did you think of this book?