Book Review #22

Love You Forever

Author: Robert Munsch  
Illustrator: Sheila McGraw  
Publisher: Firefly Books, 1995  
ISBN: 978-0920668368    

Reading Level: 4 and up

Main Characters: A baby boy and his mother. 

Plot: The plot is a simple story of a mother's love for her son. 

Settings: The home of the mother and later in the story the home of the son.

Genre/Theme/Style: Children's Picture Book. A simple story but with a lot of emotions. 

 5 Roars!🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁

Critical Analysis: This book has a lot of mixed reviews. I personally loved it. I do not think it was ever meant to be read as a literal interpretation, but more of an allegory, or a spiritual journey. 

The mother experiences a deep, forever love for her child. The child eventually returns the love his mother has given him and becomes a caring human being because of her unconditional love for him. 

Are there unusual parts in this story? Yes, but again, I never thought it was meant to be taken literally, and I explained that to my children before I read it to them. I think the parts that are meant to be understood come across easily, even for kids.  

"There is a powerful, age-old resonance to the story, centered on that intangible, steadfast bond between mother and child." 

~~ Shelley Fralic, National Post 

"I have yet to read this book through without crying. It says so much about the circle of life, youth, parenting, and our responsibility for our parents as we grow older. The message is so simple yet so profound. Love You Forever is a great gift for anyone with a child, or even for your own parents."

~~ Maria Shriver

Why 5 Roars? When I read this book, I get a little choked up every time.

Acknowledgements: Based on a 2007 online poll, it was listed on the Teacher's Top 100 Books for Children list. 

    

Connections: 

The Story Behind the Book

Book Review #21

 This Book Will Not Be Fun

Author: Cirocco Dunlap
Illustrator: Olivier Tallec
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers, 2017
ISBN: 978-0399550614

Reading Level: 3 - 7 years

Main Characters: Mouse, Flying Word-Eating Whale, Glow-in-the-Dark Fung Fu Worm, & other impossible creatures.

Plot: A mouse wearing reading glasses and reading a book explains that this book will not be fun, unless you think a Flying Word-Eating Whale, a Glow-in-the-dark Fung Fu Worm, & other impossible creatures are fun!

Settings: The characters inside the book appear to come to life outside of the book. 

Genre/Theme/Style: Children’s Picture Book. Children’s Humor.

 5 Roars! 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁

Critical Analysis:

This is a great book to read to children about the joys of opening a book and finding something you did not expect. It has the element of surprise to keep the reader entertained.

"Tallec’s adroit caricatures and talent for building visual drama are a welcome pairing with the monologue voiced by the 

scholarly rodent." 

~~ Kirkus Reviews

Why 5 Roars? I gave this book 5 roars because the students at the library where I work at beg for this book over and over. They never get tired of it! Even our older students get a kick out of hearing it read.

“I don’t know why you’re still here. Even this flying whale is bored, bored, bored.” 

~~ Mouse, This Book Will Not Be Fun.

Illustrations: The illustrations are bright and lively and hold the reader's attention. 

Awards: Children's and Teen Choice Book Award Finalist

Connections: A great way to engage children in the book is to ask them to draw and color what they think an impossible creature would look like. It is a simple way to allow them to participate in the story.

Book Review #20

 Fry Bread: A Native American 

Family Story

Author: Kevin Noble Maillard

Illustrator: Juana Martinez-Neal 

ISBN: 978-1626727465

Reading Level: 4 – 9 years

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Genre/Theme/Style: Children’s Non-fiction. Indigenous people. Simple verse and beautiful art work. 

Topic: Native American Culture

 5 Roars! 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁

Critical Analysis:

The book emphasises the deep connection between culture and food. 

Accuracy:

The author is a member of the Seminole Nation.

 “Fry Bread celebrates the thing itself and much, much more . . . Maillard and Martinez-Neal bring depth, detail, and whimsy to this Native American food story, with text and illustrations depicting the diversity of indigenous peoples, the role of continuity between generations, and the adaptation over time of people, place, and tradition.” ~~Booklist

Organization:

The Author's Note found in the back of the book is a nice addition. The back also includes a Reference section and Notes. 

“This warm and charming book shows and affirms Native lives. The informational text and expressive drawings give it broad appeal.” ~~ School Library Journal 

Design:  The design is simple but allows for easy access to information. The only real regret is that the book does not include a recipe for Fry Bread. That would have been a nice touch for readers to try at home.  

Why 5 Roars? It is a lovely book that gives the reader a feeling of family and shared culture. 

Awards: Winner of ALA's Sibert Award for Nonfiction 2020

Connections:

This recipe and photo for a traditional Native-American fry bread is provided by Chef Freddie Bitsoie from PBS Food's Lidia Celebrates America. https://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/fry-bread

Native-American Fry Bread

Recipe provided by Navajo Chef, Freddie Bitsoie 

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

2-4 cups warm to very warm water

4 cups canola oil

Directions:

Combine all dry ingredients in medium mixing bowl and mix well.

Add about 3 cups of water and knead very well using hands or stand mixer. (The amount of water depends on local humidity, so if the dough needs more water, add accordingly.)

Make sure the dough is smooth and soft. Cover, set aside, and allow the dough to rest.

Heat the oil to about 375° F in wide heavy-bottom pan.

Roll the dough out into four balls, and pat out flat (can use a rolling pin).

Carefully place one piece of dough into the hot oil. Once the edges of the dough are golden, turn the bread over and let it finish cooking.

Remove the bread to drain on paper towels.

Repeat with the remaining dough.

*Tips/Techniques - All “fry bread” recipes vary in Native America, and no single recipe is the right one. Enjoy this very simple recipe!

Book Review #19

The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak
Audible Audiobook: Unabridged (13 hours and 56 minutes)
ASIN: B000J20TZA
Publisher: Listening Library
Release Date: Audible.com, 2006

Narrator: Allan Corduner -  He is an English actor that grew up in London, in a secular Jewish home. His mother escaped from Nazi Germany in 1938. He has narrated many novels and voices for video games. 
 
Quality of the Audiobook:
The sound quality was quite good.  Corduner has a very distinctive British accent that lends itself well to the character of Death in the story. The narrator of the book is Death and Corduner offers Death, the character, an embodiment that is very believable, yet endearing.
 
Listening Experience:
The listening experience was enjoyable. However, having read the book previous to listing to the audio version, I already had separate voices for the characters in my head. The rhythm and pace were nice and comfortable, and I had no problems following along with the story. The audio book was easy to access, and I like the simplicity of being able to hear a story at times when I am busy doing other things.
 

“The kind of book that can be life-changing.” ~~The New York Times

 
Reading Level: 12 & up
 
Main Characters: Death, Liesel Meminger, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, Rudy, & Max.

Setting: Most of the story occurs during 1939-1942 in the  fictional town of Molching, Germany.
 
Plot: Death is observing and extracting souls during a horrible time in history. Liesel’s brother dies and they burry him. Liesel steals a book from the gravedigger, hence the name book thief. Liesel’s Mother sends her to be cared for by foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. She becomes friends with Rudy, and boy in her neighborhood. Hans teaches Liesel to read.
 
The town holds a book-burning and Liesel steals another book. The mayor’s wife, Ilsa Hermann allows her to read from her library. Hans has made a promise to take care of a Jewish boy, Max. Liesel become friends with Max, while he is hidden in the basement. Liesel continues to steal books and Ilsa gives her a book to write her own story.
 
Her neighborhood is bombed, and Hans, Rosa, and Rudy are killed. Liesel leaves her completed book, called “The Book Thief” behind in the rubble and Death salvages the book.
 
 5 Roars!🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁
 
Critical Analysis: As death is talking to the reader, he gives you the feeling that nothing good is coming if it is Death that is narrating the story. Death is drawn to colors, mainly as a survival technique.  Death mentions at the beginning of the book that “leftover humans” those he calls the survivors with the “punctured hearts” are disturbing for him to see. 

 

“They were French, they were Jews, and they were you.''

~~ Death, The Book Thief

 
The reader feels as sorry for Death, as the loss of the character that is leaving the story when he comes for them.  For me, Death became the character I felt the most sorrow for, because his job continues, while the souls exit the sadness of the world and move on to something other than this world. Death is clearly both poetic and damaged by the job, but cannot leave this suffering world behind.  

There is a lot of figurative language in the book.

 

"In The Book Thief, where battling to survive is sometimes an act of weakness, we see fighting in all its complexity. Max dreams, for instance, that he is boxing with the Führer. 'There was only one round, and it lasted hours, and for the most part, nothing changed. The Führer pounded away at the punching-bag Jew.' But then Max recovers and knocks Hitler down. Hitler takes off his gloves, seemingly defeated — until he whips the crowd into a fury. The 'fists of an entire nation' attack Max, and he cannot fight them all off. This is fighting as The Book Thief understands it: winners often lose."

~~ Review by John Green, 

The New York Times

I think the average 12-year-old might be overwhelmed by the sadness and the loss of life in this book. I think this book is better suited for readers 15 and up, or adults.
 
Why 5 Roars? It is a sad time in history, but the book is worth trudging through the sorrow and hardships of the characters to read it. It leaves you with the understanding of how valuable the words we read are and that the freedom to read should not be taken for granted.
 
Awards:
Kirkus Reviews Editor Choice Award,
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year,
Daniel Elliott Peace Award,
Publishers Weekly Best Children Book of the Year,
Booklist Children Editors' Choice,
Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book,
Boeke Prize,
ALA Best Books for Young Adults,

Connections:

 The Book Thief Official Movie Trailer 

Book Review #18

 Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute: Lunch Lady #1

Author: Jarrett J. Krosoczka

ISBN: 978-0375846830

Publisher: Knopf Books for 

Young Readers, 2009

Grade Level  7-10 years

Genre/Theme/Style: Graphic Novel.

Good vs. evil, superheroes, and secrete crimefighters.  

The style of this graphic novel series is based on undercover, superheroes that fight crime with lots of humor.    

 

Main Characters: The Lunch Lady and Betty, her assistant. The Breakfast Bunch - Hector, Dee, and Terrence.

Setting: The school where the Lunch Lady works.

Plot: The school lunch lady is a secret crime fighter. Along with Betty her gadget crafting side kick, the lunch lady uncovers an evil plot by the suspicious, substitute teacher to replace all the teachers with robots. 

While the lunch lady is spying on the substitute teacher, Hector, Dee, and Terrence are spying on her. The lunch lady discovers that the substitute teacher is really a cyborg and they must stop his evil plan.  

 4 Roars! 🦁🦁🦁🦁

Critical Analysis: This is a humorous, slapstick Graphic novel that centers on a lunch lady and her sidekick Betty that solve crime and injustice along with serving up, “whaaamburgers and cries.” 

The humor comes in the form of finding ways of making the ordinary cafeteria and the ordinary lunch lady into something anything but ordinary. Fun examples of this are the secret lunch tray laptop, and chicken nugget bombs. It is part of a series, so kids that enjoy this type of humor can enjoy more Lunch Lady adventures.  

“This tongue-in-cheek superheroine graphic novel will hit the spot for chapter-book readers. Lunch Lady and Betty, her assistant in both the cafeteria and her role of wrong-­righting supersleuth, investigate the strange case of an absent teacher, his creepy substitute, and a plan to grab the Teacher of the Year Award by truly foul means. Three little kids join in the action as Lunch Lady, equipped with a variety of high-tech kitchen gadgets like a spatu-copter and a lunch-tray laptop, tracks a cleverly disguised robot to his maker’s lab, where a whole army of cyborgs require kicking, stomping, and the wielding of fish-stick nunchucks. Yellow-highlighted pen-and-ink cartoons are as energetic and smile-provoking as Lunch Lady’s epithets of “Cauliflower!” and Betty’s ultimate weapon, the hairnet. There is a nice twist in the surprise ending, and the kids’ ability to stand up to the school bully shows off their newfound confidence in a credible manner. Little details invite and reward repeat readings with visual as well as verbal punning.” ~~Francisca Goldsmith, Booklist

Why 4 Roars? The humor was cute, but the plot left something to be desired. I think it might hold a younger reader’s attention longer than an older reader. It is a charming idea, but the actual storyline was lacking for me. It was a short read, but with a lot of action and adventure.   

Illustrations: I liked the simple yellow, gray, and black, illustrations by Krosoczka. They would be great for younger readers, and they have a light playful side to them.

Awards: Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices & IRA Children’s Choices

Connections:  

Meet-the-AuthorRecording 

Book Review #17

 The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Illustrator: Dave McKean

ISBN:978-0060530945

Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition, 2010 

Genre/Theme/Style: Children's Fantasy. Good vs. evil, community, life & death, the supernatural. 

The style of the book changes narration at times and uses episodic layout to break the work into manageable pieces. This works well for emerging readers, in my opinion. It borrows heavily from Gothic literature with flashes of darkness, dark humor, prophesies, and Supernatural events. 

Main Characters: Nobody "Bod" Owens, Silas, Mr. & Mrs. Owens, Jack Frost, Liza Hempstock, Scarlet Perkins, & the community of the Graveyard. 

Setting: A graveyard in an English village, & beyond the gates of the graveyard. 

Plot: Jack murders an entire family, except the toddler that climbs out of his crib and goes up the hill to the graveyard. Mr. and Mrs. Owens, departed ghosts, adopt him and Silas, a vampire, becomes his guardian. They name him Nobody Owens and call him Bod. The community of the graveyard accepts him, and he is given Freedom of the Graveyard. This includes the privileges of Haunting and Fading. Bod becomes friends with a human girl, a witch, and a werewolf. 

As Bod grows up, Scarlett, the human girl, realizes that the police never solved the case of Bod’s family’s murders. Jack, who is a member of the Jack of All Trades, an ancient society that wants to murder Bod because of a prophesy about a boy destroying all of them, becomes friends with Scarlett's mother. Bod goes to Mr. Frost’s house with Scarlett, with the hope of finding out his real name. Bod is shocked to find that Mr. Frost is actually Jack. Bod and Scarlet manage to escape to the graveyard. Bod has a few tricks up his sleeve, but you will have to read the ending for yourself.   

 5 Roars! 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁

Critical Analysis: Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. I have a small collection of his books that sit on my home library shelves along side much loved authors like Terry Pratchett, and Douglas Adams. 

Gaiman skillfully weaves mythology into many of his stories, plays with and redefines personifications of old deities such as Jack Frost, and yet still feels contemporary and timeless. He uses dark humor effortlessly to make these characters seem fresh and modern. 

However, for me it is all about how he interlaces bits of wisdom into his overall work. I think Gaiman, Pratchett, and Adams all do this with ease. Gaiman leans on small bits of wisdom, and sprinkles of insight into the human spirit to make you want to read more of his stories.  

"People want to forge the impossible.  It makes their world safer."

~~ Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

  

"Fear is contagious. You can catch it. Sometimes all it take is for someone to say that they're scared for the fear 

to be come real."

~~ Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

  "We are deep in Neil Gaiman territory here, and it's hard to think of a more delightful and scary place to spend 300 pages. Mrs Owens names the boy Nobody, "Bod" for short, and in each successive chapter Bod is another two years older, growing from infant to young teenager through a series of not always connected adventures." ~~ The Guardian

"Childhood fears take solid shape in the nursery-rhyme–inspired villains, while heroism is its own, often bitter, reward." ~~Kirkus Reviews 

Why 5 Roars? With quotes like, “Nearly' only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades.” The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is hard to ignore. The characters are well defined, the atmosphere is pleasantly spooky in a suspenseful but tasteful way, and the humor gets better each time you read the book.  

Awards: Hugo Award for Best Novel,  Newberry Medal, Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel, & Carnegie Medal 

Connections: Gothic Novel Study 

Book Review #16

 Turkey Trouble

 

Author: Wendi Silvano
Illustrator: Lee Harper
Publisher: Two Lions, 2009
ISBN: 978-0761455295
Reading Level: 3 - 7 years

Main Characters: Turkey, Farmer Jake, and all his farmyard friends.

Plot: Thanksgiving is at hand and Turkey🦃 is wondering what to do, fortunately he comes up with a clever solution. He disguises himself as other farmyard animals that he thinks Farmer Jake will not eat for Thanksgiving. Will his costumes work? Turkey's last costume is his best idea ever, and everyone loves the Thanksgiving meal!

Settings: Farmer Jake's house and farmyard.

Genre/Theme/Style: Children’s Humor
The style is comical and leaves you with a smile and possibly a craving for pizza! 🍕

 

"Kids will eat this up this clever 

and comical tale."

 ~~Booklist

5 Roars! 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁

Critical Analysis: A great addition to your Thanksgiving traditions. The artwork is cute, the story is witty, and the ending is happy. 

 

"Stuffed with clever wordplay, groanable puns, and easy-to-ham-it-up animal sounds, the chuckle-inducing narrative makes a crowd-pleasing read-aloud. Turkey's getups are exuberantly silly, and the animals' sardonic facial expressions are sublime." 

~~School Library Journal

Why 5 Roars? Who doesn't love a terrific turkey tale at Thanksgiving? I know I do! It is great fun for young and old readers alike. It can easily be read at a family gathering and enjoyed by all. Gobble, Gobble!  

Connections:

Turkey Facts