Review of 100 Bears, by Magali Bardos

Contemporary, Mathematical, Picture Book Review 0

100_bears_large100 Bears

by Magali Bardos

Flying Eye Books, 2013. 100 pages.

Counting books that go all the way up to 100 are something special. This one is a little bizarre and a little random, but I found it charming and would want it for my kids if they were still learning to count. It’s too long for a storytime, but I can imagine kids poring over it at home the way my son spent hours with the Where’s Waldo books when he was a child.

As you will guess by the 100 pages, there’s basically a number on each page of this book. But it tells a general story as it counts, helped along by the pictures. The story is not a terribly coherent one, but it generally makes sense, and you see the same six bears and the same eight hunters throughout the book.

The book begins:

1 forest
2 mountains
3 bears on each mountain
4 paws in the air
Eating honey, 5 times a day
6 bears in the forest
7 mushrooms
8 hunters
9 gunshots
10 butterflies flutter by … the bears seize the chance to sneak away

The rest of the book follows their strange journey with the hunters sometimes being chased and sometimes chasing them and sometimes just, apparently, partying.

Sometimes the objects counted aren’t particularly relevant to the story, like “13 cats meow… 14 smoking chimneys.” Most of the time there are objects to count, even when it gets to high numbers like “62 windows on the way home… 63 travellers.” Sometimes the author just gives the number as a numeral with nothing to count, such as “Flying over route 25” (with a road in the shape of the numeral 25), “To go and celebrate the 31st” (just a page-a-day calendar shown), or “off they go to number 41” (a house number). The 37 and 38 page fudges by saying “37 or 38 bits of confetti… give or take.” (This is actually rather brilliant or totally unfair, depending on your perspective.)

There are a few ways you can tell the book was originally published in Europe, and not a lot of effort was made to Americanize it. On the picture of the 15th floor, there’s a light on in what American’s would call the 16th floor (since Americans call the ground floor the first floor). The bears get sick with “fevers of 39 degrees C,” and weights are given in kilos, and heights in centimeters.

But while the story doesn’t exactly hold together, it does circle back to “100 trees… The forest.” And I find it the delightful sort of book you can look at again and again, examining details and, of course, counting.

flyingeyebooks.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.

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.

Review of The Promise, by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Laura Carlin

Contemporary, Picture Book Review 0

promise_largeThe Promise

by Nicola Davies
illustrated by Laura Carlin

Candlewick Press, 2014. 48 pages.

The Promise is a simple picture book about planting trees — and thus transforming a “sad and sorry city.”

The pictures show the change from sad and gray and brown to happy and bright and colorful.

It’s the story of a girl who stole a purse from a woman who wouldn’t let go until she promised to “plant them.”

The purse was full of acorns.

The girl understood her promise.

I forgot the food and money.
And for the first time in my life, I felt lucky,
rich beyond my wildest dreams.

I slept with the acorns as my pillow,
my head full of leafy visions.

Neither the text nor the pictures are long on details. People might quibble over how it would work.

But this is a picture book for children, and I believe children will get it.

Green spread through the city like a song,
breathing to the sky, drawing down the rain like a blessing.

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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.

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.

Review of How I Discovered Poetry, by Marilyn Nelson

Children's Nonfiction Review, Poetry 0

how_i_discovered_poetry_largeHow I Discovered Poetry

by Marilyn Nelson
illustrated by Hadley Hooper

Dial Books, 2014. 103 pages.

How I Discovered Poetry is a series of fourteen poems Marilyn Nelson wrote about growing up black in the 1950s in a military family, her father one of the first Negro officers. She writes about moving around, making friends and saying good-by to them, leaving pets behind, and packing up possessions.

She touches on racism and Communism and feminism – but mostly she evokes childhood.

Here are two of my favorite poems. The first reminds me of games my friends and I played on the playground.

Moonlily

(Mather AFB, California, 1956)

When we play horses at recess, my name
is Moonlily and I’m a yearling mare.
We gallop circles around the playground,
whinnying, neighing, and shaking our manes.
We scrape the ground with scuffed saddle oxfords,
thunder around the little kids on swings
and seesaws, and around the boys’ ball games.
We’re sorrel, chestnut, buckskin, pinto, gray,
a herd in pastel dresses and white socks.
We’re self-named, untamed, untouched, unridden.
Our plains know no fences. We can smell spring.
The bell produces metamorphosis.
Still hot and flushed, we file back to our desks,
one bay in a room of palominos.

Then an early one that includes her first inspiration to be a poet some day:

Critic

(Kittery Point, Maine, 1959)

Daddy pulled a puppy from the pocket
of his flight jacket, and we imprinted
like a gosling to a goose. Speida’s my dog, though he’s impartially affectionate.
Either he likes poems, or he likes my voice:
I read aloud from the anthology
I found with Daddy’s other college books
and he sits, cocks his head, and wags his tail.
My teacher, Mrs. Gray, told me about
the famous poetess who lived near here.
She says I’ll be a famous poet, too.
Today I read Speida one of my poems.
His face got a look of so much disgust
I laughed and forgot we’re being transferred.

marilyn-nelson.com
penguin.com/teen

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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.

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.

Review of Haiti: My Country, Poems by Haitian Schoolchildren, illustrated by Rogé

Children's Nonfiction Review, Poetry 0

haiti_largeHaiti

My Country

Poems by Haitian Schoolchildren
Illustrated by Rogé

Fifth House, Canada, 2014. 40 pages.

I meant to read this book quickly, but opening it up makes me pause. This book includes fifteen poems by schoolchildren, and one by their teacher. All the poems are about Haiti — and they celebrate its beauty.

Accompanying the poems are large portraits of the children themselves, looking back at the reader.

My favorite poem is by Judes-Raldes Raymond:

The pretty flowers of my country are to me
Like pink butterflies
That smile at the sun.
I especially like pink flowers! The pink ones!
The charming pink flowers in my garden
Of multicoloured flowers:
Yellow, green, pink, red.
They are all lovely
Attached to their roots.
The giant sun shines in the sky
To the delight of the red flowers
in my garden.

This is a joyful, colorful, and irrepressible picture of Haiti.

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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.

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.

Review of Edward Hopper Paints His World, by Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor

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

edward_hopper_paints_his_world_largeEdward Hopper Paints His World

by Robert Burleigh
paintings by Wendell Minor

Christy Ottaviano Books (Henry Holt), New York, 2014. 44 pages.
Starred Review

I’ve got a soft spot for picture book biographies of artists, especially when the illustrator does such a wonderful job of evoking the subject’s artwork.

Both author and illustrator of this book did their homework. The author tells how, from childhood, Edward Hopper planned to be an artist. He doesn’t linger long in childhood, but talks about how Edward pursued his goal singlemindedly, even though it took years before he won recognition. Here’s a typical page:

Because he was fascinated by the look and feel of old houses, Edward began to make paintings of them. Once he remarked: “All I want to do is paint sunlight on the side of a house.”

But maybe Edward liked to paint houses for another reason. Many houses in his paintings seem moody, quiet, and alone. Were Edward’s houses a bit like Edward himself?

Another page explains one of his most famous paintings, and the illustration, with Edward Hopper looking at the scene, isn’t exactly like the painting.

But Edward didn’t just copy what he saw. His paintings often combined things he sketched on his travels: a café on a deserted street corner, customers drinking coffee, lost in thought – or dark shadows on an eerie green pavement.

Starting with scenes and details like these, Edward used his imagination to create some of his best-known pictures. One famous painting shows solitary people sitting at a counter in an all-night diner. The painting is called Nighthawks.

“I was painting the loneliness of a large city,” he later explained.

The paintings illustrating this book are beautiful in their own right. I found the Artist’s Note especially interesting:

. . . In this book, I tried to create the feeling of Hopper’s art while maintaining my own style. Upon careful observation, the reader will notice many differences in my interpretations of the four famous Hopper paintings in this book. My idea was to evoke the familiar through Hopper’s point of view. . . .

In this book, Robert Burleigh and I have attempted to give the young reader an introduction to the artist’s process of discovery. We see Hopper observing subjects, and we try to imagine what it might have been like to be there with him. Hopper sometimes sketched and painted his subjects on-site, but other times, he would return to his studio and sketch his observations from memory. His work is a combination of the real and the imagined. The best example of this is perhaps his most famous painting, Nighthawks. My research has shown that the all-night café in his painting never really existed. Hopper created this imaginary place from the many different scenes he encountered on his walks through New York City’s streets – and he did it in such a way that the viewer is convinced they know this café to be real. Such is the power of creativity! Robert Burleigh and I hope that we will inspire young artists everywhere to observe and then create wonderful pictures of their world.

I feel confident the author and artist are succeeding in that goal.

robertburleigh.com
minorart.com
mackids.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.

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.

Review of Oops Paint, by Kathryn Horn Coneway

Art, Children's Nonfiction Review, Picture Book Review 0

oops_paint_largeOops Paint

by Kathryn Horn Coneway

Mascot Books, Herndon, Virginia, 2013.

The “note for parents, teachers, and other creative companions” at the end of this book tells us that the author wanted to create a book about printing simple enough for toddlers to understand.

She has achieved that objective, and besides creating a book about stamping with everyday objects, “always a favorite activity and a great way to explore shape, texture, and color with young children,” she has also created a simple matching activity with the examples in this book.

Here’s how the book begins:

One day I decided to make a painting. My mom put out my colors – red, blue, and yellow – on a paper plate on the table.

There’s a picture of a paper plate with three little pools of paint on that page. On the facing page, we’ve got painted cat prints on the page.

I went to get my smock. While I was gone, someone curious jumped up on the table.

Oops! When I came back I found this painting made by my…

[page turn]

Cat.

And so it continues. Next, his brother runs a toy truck through the paint and we see that result. Then he moves to the floor and his sister runs through the paint.

After the story part is finished, there are three sets of pages which have objects on one side and the prints they make on the other side. Then finally, many objects are stamped together into a picture at the end.

This story has a few rough edges. It would have been nice if the cat prints, for example, look like they were actually made by a cat, or if the cat were shown with painted paws. (Though I realize that may be asking a bit much!) The language is not particularly catchy, and the explanations maybe a little long for toddlers.

However, overall, she has created a wonderful book for introducing printing to toddlers and preschoolers. It will start all sorts of conversations about shapes and colors. And any book for toddlers with “Oops!” on every page has got to be a good one!

Fair warning: You probably shouldn’t read this book to your child unless you’re willing to get messy and try it out yourself!

ArtAtTheCenter.org

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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.

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.

Review of Ring for Jeeves, by P. G. Wodehouse

Audiobooks, Fiction Review, Humorous 0

ring_for_jeeves_largeRing for Jeeves

by P. G. Wodehouse
narrated by Nigel Lambert

AudioGO, 2011. First published in the United Kingdom in 1953. 6 hours, 50 minutes on 6 compact discs.

A Jeeves book without Wooster! I have stooped to checking out any P. G. Wodehouse book our library has in audio form, without trying to read them in order. This one was written in the 1950s when the British aristocracy was in trouble. Sir Rochester, Rory, works at “Harridge’s” to make ends meet, and Bill, the ninth Earl of Rowcester (pronounced “Roaster”) has been working as a bookie, with Jeeves as his clerk.

Jeeves? Why is Jeeves there without Bertie Wooster? Well, Bertie is going to a school where he’s learning to get along without servants, doing things like darning his own socks. And gentlemen’s personal gentlemen are not allowed.

Meanwhile, Bill’s bookmaking activities get him into a grand mesh of trouble after an unlikely bet pays off – or should pay off. He was operating his business in disguise and trying to keep it secret from his fiancée, Jill Wyvern, a veterinarian.

Meanwhile, Bill’s sister, Rory’s wife, has met a rich American widow who would love to buy Rowcester Abbey, especially if she can find evidence of any ghosts. But her friend happens to be the man who won the bet that Bill didn’t pay. Can Bill keep his secret? Can he sell the old house? And can Rory keep from telling the American everything that’s wrong with it?

This book is the usual good fun of a P. G. Wodehouse tale. I didn’t enjoy this narrator as much as the ones I’ve heard narrating the other books. Although he has a lovely English accent, his voice of Rory – or anyone getting very excited – was quite annoying to listen to. But that was minor enough to not diminish my overall enjoyment of the yarn. I always say there’s nothing like a good laugh on my way to work.

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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.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook 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.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Jeeves: Joy in the Morning, by P. G. Wodehouse

Audiobooks, Fiction Review, Humorous 0

jeeves_joy_in_the_morning_largeJeeves: Joy in the Morning

by P. G. Wodehouse

starring Michael Hordern and Richard Briers

A BBC Radio Full Cast Production, 3 hours on 3 compact discs.

I’m trying to listen to all the P. G. Wodehouse audiobooks the library owns, since they are simply so much fun. There’s nothing quite like laughing while you drive.

This one is a full cast radio production, with Bertie embroiled in more romantic entanglements and trying to straighten out friends’ romantic entanglements, while all the while trying to stay on the good side of the husband of his fearful Aunt Agatha, while visiting her home in Steeple Bumpleigh.

Unfortunately, I was a bit spoiled by the BBC video production of Jeeves and Wooster, and I prefer the voices of the actors they used for that production, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, over the voices of the actors in this one. However, it’s still Jeeves and Wooster and still British accents and still tremendous fun. This one, besides fearsome engagements, includes a meddlesome boy scout, whose attempts to do people a good turn every day never fail to go disastrously wrong.

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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.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook 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.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Code of the Woosters, by P. G. Wodehouse

Audiobooks, Fiction Review, Humorous, Starred Review 0

code_of_the_woosters_largeThe Code of the Woosters

by P. G. Wodehouse
performed by Alexander Spencer

Recorded Books, 1989. First published in 1938. 8 hours on 7 compact discs.
Starred Review

I’m trying to listen to all the P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves and Wooster books, since there is nothing better for putting me in a good mood while riding in the car.

The Code of the Woosters is one that was used for the marvelous BBC series Jeeves and Wooster, starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, so I was very familiar with the plot – but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment in the slightest. It perhaps helped me follow the convoluted plot all the better. It did have a slightly different resolution than is dramatized in the series, but mostly the series follows the book closely.

If you’ve seen the series, all I have to say is that this is the one with the imbroglio involving the Cow Creamer.

The book itself uses the word “imbroglio” to describe the situation we find here, and the description is apt. You couldn’t hope to come up with a more convoluted set of people hoping to marry other people and threatening to marry others and needing approval and blackmailing innocents into nefarious deeds and being in danger of disaster of all different kinds. And it’s all done with a proper British accent and Bertie’s jovial way of talking.

Entirely too much fun.

recordedbooks.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.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook 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.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Ukridge, by P. G. Wodehouse

Audiobooks, Fiction Review, Humorous 0

ukridge_largeUkridge

by P. G. Wodehouse
read by Jonathan Cecil

BBC Audiobooks America, 2006. 6 CDs, 7 hours, 29 minutes. Originally written in 1960.

I’m running out of Jeeves and Wooster CDs to listen to, so I’ve turned to some of P. G. Wodehouse’s other characters, and I’m not sorry.

Ukridge is a series of short stories narrated by a writer, Reggie Corcoran, about his old friend Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge.

Jonathan Cecil, as usual, does a magnificent job of reading the books, though the character of Ukridge is one I start to get tired of. When I found myself almost calling someone “Old Horse,” I thought I should give these CDs a rest for a bit!

But I’ve always said that laughing while driving is one of the very best ways to stay awake, so P. G. Wodehouse CDs are some of the best possible listening material. Ukridge is the sort of person who never pays for anything and always has a scheme going to make his fortune for all time. Something invariably goes wrong – and hilarity ensues.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/ukridge.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 audiobook 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.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!