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Kat Aragon, illustrated by Mary Jo Madrid,
The Oldest House in the USA/La casa mas antigua de los Estados Unidos
Lectura Books, 2012.

Ages: 6-8

Perhaps the best thing about The Oldest House in the USA, in my admittedly biased opinion, is that the author got it right: the oldest house in the USA is in Santa Fe, New Mexico (not far from where I grew up), and nowhere in New England.

There is a tendency in the United States to propagate the myth of European “discovery” which would suggest that this land was all but uninhabited before the Mayflower arrived in Massachusetts in 1620.  This couldn’t be farther from the truth.  In fact, the oldest house in the USA was already 400 years old by then and had already endured its first serious remodeling project!

It was built, as the angels Teresa and Annie who protect it in Kat Aragon’s charming bilingual picture book, tell us, in 1200 by the original inhabitants of what is now Santa Fe: the ancestral Puebloans.  They lived in the house for more than 200 years before something mysteriously drove them away.  It remained vacant until the Spaniards came in 1598 and has been continuously inhabited ever since.

The angels provide the narrative, and Mary Jo Madrid’s lovely watercolor illustrations help us realize that the house has been many things to many people over its 800 year history.  The Pueblo people were living in the house again, for instance, in 1680 during the Pueblo Revolt when they managed to drive out the Spanish for a brief time.  When the Spaniards came back, however, in 1692 under the leadership of General DeVargas, they recaptured the house and installed the Spanish governor there.  DeVargas gave his name to the street the house sits on, and so it remains to this day.

The Oldest House in the USA offers readers a glimpse of a part of US history that is very different from the one that is usually packaged up for school children, one that is no less rich or interesting.  Most children will see architecture and customs completely unfamiliar to them depicted in the illustrations, which will open their eyes to the many possibilities contained in the history of the Americas when we take the time to look a little more deeply.

Abigail Sawyer
December 2012

Maya Soetoro-Ng, illustrated by Yuyi Morales
Ladder to the Moon
Candlewick Press, 2011

Ages 4 and up

“What was Grandma Annie like?” young Suhaila asks her mother about the grandmother she never met.  “Full, soft, and curious,” her mother replies.  “Your grandma would wrap her arms around the whole world if she could.”

For children who never had the opportunity to meet a cherished grandparent, the absence of that influential figure becomes a presence in their lives, intensifying the feelings their own parents have about their loss.  “Becoming a parent made me think of my own mother with both intense grief and profound gratitude,” writes Maya Soetoro-Ng in a note following the text of Ladder to the Moon. “I wished that my mother and my daughter could have known and loved each other. I hoped that I could teach Suhaila some of the many things I learned as I grew up witnessing my mother’s extraordinary compassion and empathy.”  In the case of Soetoro-Ng and her daughters, the grandmother in question has intrigued many people around the world as she is also the mother of U.S. President Barack Obama, Soetero-Ng’s older half-brother.

Since the beginning of the Obama campaign, journalists and politicians have wondered and written about this mysterious and unconventional woman, Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995.  There is no question that she, a noted anthropologist and often single mother, had an enormous influence on the lives of her children and thus on history itself.  Her daughter’s dream story about the young Suhaila meeting her grandmother comes from a personal, family perspective that will resonate with any child in such a situation, as well as giving adult readers a new insight into this enigmatic figure.

Grandma Annie encourages Suhaila to use each of her five senses to reach out to the rest of the world. Together they find people in trouble: trembling in earthquakes, trying to outswim Tsunamis, and praying for peace.  Annie and Suhaila reach down from the moon to offer their solace and comfort as they bring these people up, making the moon brighter for all to see.

Yuyi Morales’ stunning illustrations bring diverse people together to share and connect on the moon.  In one scene, they tell stories around a campfire, each with a glowing circle of words around her head.  These lines, pulled from traditional narratives and the personal stories of Morales’ friends, represent six languages and four different alphabets.

Above all, Soetoro-Ng says of her mother, she was a storyteller.  Those stories have been the inspiration for much of the author’s own life; and with a story, she and Morales honor this posthumously famous woman in a deeply personal yet universal way.

Abigail Sawyer
December 2011

James Rumford,
Tiger and Turtle
Roaring Brook Press, 2010.

Ages 4+

Tiger and Turtle live in the same forest and stay out of each other’s way.  They may not always agree, but they have learned there is no use arguing or fighting.  After all, “a tiger’s claws could not harm a turtle’s shell any more than a turtle’s feet could outrun a tiger’s.”  Then one day, the tiniest of flowers drifts down from the sky and changes their relationship forever.

Turtle wants to eat the flower, but Tiger has other ideas, and, while they may not be able to hurt each other (at least not very easily) they can sure fight over a flower!  For instance, Tiger can swipe at the flower and send it soaring out of Turtle’s reach.  And Turtle, once she is angry enough, learns that biting Tiger’s leg is actually pretty effective.  The two go back and forth escalating their efforts to control each other and gain the flower.  It seems as though disaster will surely befall them both, but at the last minute, we learn there was never anything to fight about as Tiger and Turtle narrowly escape a gruesome fate—together!  It is no surprise at all that after this, Tiger and Turtle move beyond mere tolerance to become the best of friends.

This gorgeous book, with a strong message about resolving conflict and the futility of fighting is, perhaps fittingly, dedicated to the author’s brother.  It is likely that the sibling relationship is the first place many children learn such lessons, and they will doubtless relate to the silliness and extremes Tiger and Turtle go to, to get their own way.  The art, inspired by Indian and Pakistan designs for shawls, rugs, and jali windows and rendered on handmade Chinese paper, is simply beautiful.  Indeed, gazing at Rumford’s warm colors, transcendent designs and the boldly drawn yet slightly dreamy Tiger and Turtle is likely to make anyone feel peaceful and at ease.  A book that can bring children to laugh, dream, calm down and think about important lessons is certainly a treasure.  Parents and children, perhaps for different reasons, will both want to reread Tiger and Turtle many times.

Abigail Sawyer
November 2011

Abigail Sawyer regularly reviews books for us here at PaperTigers, and she’s also, in her own words, “a lifelong library lover and an advocate for access to books for all”, so who better to write an article for us about “unconventional libraries” and the children’s books they have inspired. Abigail lives in San Francisco, California, USA, where her two children attend a language-immersion elementary school and are becoming bilingual in English and Mandarin: an experience that has informed her work on the blog for the film Speaking in Tongues. I know you’ll enjoy reading this as much as I have.

On Traveling Libraries and Heroic ‘Book People’: Inspiring children’s books about getting books to people in remote places and difficult circumstances

My sons and I paid our first-ever visit to a bookmobile over the summer.  For us it was a novelty.  We have shelves of books at home and live just 3 blocks from our local branch library, but the brightly colored bus had pulled up right near the playground we were visiting in another San Francisco neighborhood (whose branch library was under renovation), and it was simply too irresistible.  Inside, this library on wheels was cozy, comfortable, and loaded with more books than I would have thought possible.  I urged my boys to practice restraint and choose only one book each rather than compete to reach the limit of how many books one can take out of the San Francisco Public Library system (the answer is 50; we’ve done it at least once).

The bookmobiles provide a great service even in our densely populated city where branch libraries abound.  There are other mobile libraries, however, that take books to children who may live miles from even the nearest modern road; to children who live on remote islands, in the sparsely populated and frigid north, in temporary settlements in vast deserts, and in refugee camps.  The heroic individuals who manage these libraries on boats, burros, vans, and camels provide children and the others they serve with a window on the world and a path into their own imaginations that would otherwise be impossible.

Shortly after my own bookmobile experience, Jeanette Winter‘s Biblioburro (Beach Lane Books, 2010), a tribute to Colombian schoolteacher Luis Soriano, who delivers books to remote hillside villages across rural Colombia, arrived in my mailbox to be reviewed for Paper Tigers.  I loved this book, as I do most of Winter’s work, for its bright pictures and simple, straightforward storytelling. Another picture book, Waiting for the Bibiloburro by Monica Brown (Tricycle Press, 2011), tells the story of Soriano’s famous project from the perspective of one of the children it

PaperTigers is pleased to announce that Biblioburro: A True Story from Columbia by Jeanette Winter is one of the three books included in the Spirit of PaperTigers book set. For more information about the Spirit of PaperTigers Project, please click here.

Jeanette Winter,
Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia
Beach Lane Books, 2010.

Ages 4-8

We have all met children with a never-ending hunger for books.  Some of them have shelves full of them, but it seems there can never be too many: the prospect of a new story always whets their appetite for more.

There are other children whose hunger for books goes much deeper.  These are the children who may read a single book over and over because it is the only book they have, children who dream about that book when they are not reading it and wish they had others.  Deep in the jungles of Colombia, some of these children’s dreams have come true thanks to the ingenuity and determination of Luis Soriano, a schoolteacher and avid reader who has devised a way to bring books to these isolated communities: The Biblioburro, a mobile lending library carried on the backs of two donkeys.

Each week Luis loads up books from his private collection and carries them from his remote village of La Gloria to even more remote villages in the Colombian jungle.  Luis and his burros, Alfa and Beto, endure heat, tiredness, and even bandits as they carry their precious cargo to people hungry for books.  When Luis arrives, he reads to the children before allowing each of them to select a new book and return their books from the previous week.  Then Luis returns home and reads his own book late into the night.

With characteristic simplicity and her signature bold, bright colors, Jeanette Winter tells the beautiful story of this man who has enriched the lives of hundreds through his efforts.  Children with an insatiable appetite for reading despite full shelves and access to local libraries will appreciate the tale of the Biblioburro that brings books to children who would not have them otherwise. The fact that Luis himself lives a simple life and is willing to endure inconvenience and even danger to bring books where there are none underscores the value and power of reading to those of us who have come to take it for granted.  Biblioburro is a heartwarming profile of one man who is making the world better in a simple yet profound way.

Abigail Sawyer
September 2011

Anitha Balachandran,
The Dog Who Loved Red
Kane Miller, 2011.

Ages 4-8

When Raja’s chewing habit puts him out of favor with her parents, Tanvi decides to take her frisky, red-loving dog to the park. There the pair meets Raja’s Dalmatian buddy, Champ, but the canines’ favorite (red) ball is nowhere to be found.

This second book by talented young illustrator and animator Anitha Balachandran (Mr. Jeejeebhoy and the Birds) tells of Raja the dog’s colorful adventure to rescue his favorite ball from the back yard of mean Mr. Mehta, the neighbor with yellow shorts, a violet gate, a silver car, brown flowerpots, a white sheet hanging on the line, and a blue garden hose he turns on dogs to chase them out of his yard.

Balachandran’s bright illustrations live up to her previous work in this book about color in which each color-word is printed in ink of that color and made to stand out so that children soon recognize not only the colors but the words for those colors as well.  Though it is a simple story that could take place anywhere, Raja and Tanvi’s world is distinctly Indian: Raja’s first chewing casualty is Mrs. Lal’s red sari shawl, for instance.

The Dog Who Loved Red is an inviting book for young children who will relate to the plight of naughty, messy, playful dogs and the kids who love them.  The characters and setting reflect diversity, though diversity itself is not a theme of the book, making it a fun story for learning about color and a wonderful addition to library shelves.

Abigail Sawyer
July 2011

David W.F. Wong,
The Jade Bangle
The Koi Pond
The Missing Chopstick
Armour Publishing, 2004.

Ages 9-13

In this unusual coming-of-age series, David W.F. Wong tells the distinct stories of three different young Asians who stumble upon mysteries that change the way they view their own lives and give them a new perspective on the future.  Each of the titles stands alone as a solitary novella.  In fact, it is not the characters that tie the books together, but rather the structure and form of the stories themselves.

In The Jade Bangle, originally self-published in 2000 and the recipient of Singapore’s National Self-Published Book Award, sponsored by the US-based Writer’s Digest, twelve-year-old Annie hears the story of a family heirloom, in which she learns about the horrors of war and discovers some remarkable truths about her family. In The Koi Pond, thirteen-year-old Alvin finds an old key while helping his father realize his life-long dream of digging a koi pond in the family garden.  Unraveling the mystery of the key leads him to a lonely old woman with a story that changes young Alvin’s outlook on his future and the aging woman’s own perspective on her past.  In the longest of the three books, The Missing Chopstick, Kim returns home to Singapore after her first year of university in Chicago and unearths documents and newspaper clippings that lead her to uncover secrets about her life and the cruelty of the world, while solving the mystery of the single chopstick her mother had given her as a child.

All of the books are plot-driven and make for a quick and compelling read.  The intricate mysteries each young character pursues are filled with heartbreak, endurance, and the power of love to conquer all. Indeed Wong, himself a Presbyterian minister and the author of several spiritual works for adults, infuses each book with a subtle Christian message and references to the Bible without being heavy-handed or preachy.

Beyond the religious subtext, the books all celebrate the value of family love and loyalty, the importance of kindness, and the transformative power of forgiveness.  The books also reference important historic events such as World War II (The Jade Bangle), the plight of the Vietnamese “Boat People” who fled the war in their country during the 1970s (The Missing Chopstick), and the more locally relevant Bukit Ho Swee Fire of 1961 in Singapore, in which 16,000 people lost their homes in a single day (The Koi Pond).

This series is notable for featuring Asian youth on the cusp of personal transition who explore stories from a larger context that have an impact on their lives and the way they see themselves.  Wong has made history personal for his characters while giving readers engaging stories that will encourage them to think about their own lives and their ability to influence the lives of others for the better.

Abigail Sawyer
May 2011

Norman Hinsdale Pitman,
The Chinese Wonder Book
Tuttle Publishing, 2011.

Ages 9-12

Though little is known about Norman Hinsdale Pitman (1876-1925) today, his effort to bring Chinese folklore to Western readers continues to be influential.  Indeed Pitman, who taught at Chinese colleges and authored several novels and short story collections, brought these ancient tales to a new audience much as the Brothers Grimm preserved the fairytales of central Europe for generations to enjoy.  These tales, not unlike those gathered by the Grimms in Europe, are full of magic, mysticism, and a certain amount of gore.

Tuttle’s latest edition of The Chinese Wonder Book, originally published in 1919, includes the beautiful and highly detailed full-color illustrations by Li Chu Tang originally published in the book’s first edition and printed here on high-quality glossy paper.  There is also an engaging foreword by Sylvia Li-Chun Lin, associate professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Notre Dame.

The tales include some of the best known fairytales of China, among them  ‘The Golden Beetle or Why the Dog Hates the Cat’, ‘The Strange Tale of Doctor Dog’ and ‘The Talking Fish’. Many of the themes and even the plots and characters resemble those found in Western fairytales: but these are not your cleaned-up, Disneyfied stories.  Happy endings are in short supply, and the brutality is every bit as intense as that of the original tales of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen.  At the same time, there is lighter fare to be found in stories such as ‘Bamboo and the Turtle’ and ‘The Mad Goose and the Tiger Forest’, stories which will be enjoyed by even very young listeners.

In these rich and exciting tales, virtue, including hard work and filial piety, is rewarded, and wickedness is punished, though the version of justice reflected in the stories is clearly of a particular time and place and may not resonate with children of today.  For instance, it may seem of little consolation to be immortalized in a famous monument after an unjust death (‘The Great Bell’).  On the other hand, when a lazy thief and would-be liar turns his life around rather than be turned into a duck (‘The Man Who Would Not Scold’), children and their parents will delight in the tale’s humor and theme of redemption.

The Chinese Wonder Book has served as an introduction to the folk tales of classical China for generations and remains Pitman’s best-known work.  This lovely new edition wi

Marcia Vaughan, illustrated by Derek Blanks,
Up The Learning Tree
Lee & Low Books, 2003.

Ages 6-10

In this moving story of simple heroism, a young slave and a brave teacher both take enormous risks in order to participate in something most readers take for granted: education.

It is hard for my children, who, like most of their peers, grumble about doing homework, to imagine a life so filled with injustice that a child risks losing his fingers if he is caught with a book. This is what makes the clever and determined young slave Henry Bell so admirable. “Before Pap got sold away,” Henry remembers, “he told me book learning would help us escape slavery…There must be something powerful in books, and I want to know what it is.”

The opportunistic Henry gets his chance when he is assigned to walk “Little Master Simon” to school. A leafy sycamore outside the classroom window affords Henry cover as he spies on the forbidden lessons and carves new words into the branches of his “learning tree.” When illness spreads through the area the following spring, Mistress keeps Simon home to avoid infection but sends Henry to collect and return her child’s completed lessons each day. This is when Henry gets to know Miss Hattie, a northern school teacher who “doesn’t believe in slavery or in keeping people ignorant.” Henry thrives, and Miss Hattie tells him “I’ve never had a student as determined to learn as you.” But the illicit act of a teacher educating a child on her own time is eventually discovered, and the pair must part.

Marcia Vaughan (Snap!, The Secret to Freedom) became inspired to write Up the Learning Tree while reading oral histories of former slaves, several of which are quoted at the back of the book. Successful photographer and first-time illustrator Derek Blanks’ rich oil paintings demonstrate a lush retreat from the stark, sun-baked cotton plantation in the green and leafy school grounds where Henry begins his education. Recognizing that Henry’s story could very well have happened and that real people took extraordinary risks in order to become literate will help children understand the true vileness of slavery and the freedom inherent in learning.

Abigail Sawyer
April 2011

Ashley Wolff,
I Call My Grandma Nana
I Call My Grandpa Papa
Tricycle Books, 2009.

Ages 4 and up

The grandparent/grandchild relationship is universally special. While grandparents play specific roles in many cultures and tradition often dictates certain rituals for the elder generation, this unique bond that skips across a generation is felt by grandparents and grandchildren everywhere.

Ashley Wolff, the versatile author and/or illustrator of more than 50 picture books including Stella and Roy Go Camping, Only the Cat Saw, and the well known Miss Bindergarten series (illustrator), celebrates this relationship with rhyme and warm, colorful collages in the books I Call My Grandma Nana and I Call My Grandpa Papa.

A Chinese elementary school teacher, Miss Alexandra May, brings her grandmother and grandfather to meet her students on separate occasions and explains that she calls them “Nai nai” and “Ye ye” respectively. The class has prepared for the event by drawing and writing about their own grandparents called Abuelo, Babu, Nonna, Yia-yia, and other titles–including Grandmasaurus and Grandpasaurus–by their beloved grandchildren.

A single poem is threaded throughout each book with each student taking a turn at telling how her Abuela is teaching her to sew a doll, how his Lola plays trains, how Dedushka does magic, how Ojii-San puts his grandson on his shoulders to watch a parade, and even how “Next-Door Nana” and “Papa-T” fill in as surrogates for children whose grandparents have died or live far away.

The book offers children a spot to place photographs of their own grandmothers and grandfathers with a space below to write about what they call them. At the end Wolff lists more than 30 names for the respective grandparents from cultures and languages all over the world as well as a paragraph-length list of favorite ‘pet’ names for grandparents including my personal favorites Grammy (with which I christened my maternal grandmother) and Bapa (the title my niece has bestowed upon my father—“Bop” for short).

These inspired books are sure to please grandparents, grandchildren and the generation in between with their depictions of lively, joyful grandparents and grandchildren celebrating life and the fact that they get to share it with each other.

Abigail Sawyer
February 2011

Oliver Chin,
The Year of the Rabbit
Immedium, 2011.

Ages 4-8

Year 4071 of the Chinese lunar calendar was ushered in with the full moon on February 19 this year, and with it came the sixth in Immedium’s series of Tales from the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Rabbit.

People born in the year of the rabbit are said to be amiable and gentle, nimble and resourceful. They are known for having fine taste, good luck, and a forgiving nature. Such are the qualities embodied in Rosie, a long-eared (perhaps a little too long-eared) rabbit who befriends a human boy, Jai, when she is captured while sampling from his grandmother’s garden. Western traditions regarding rabbits (the Easter Bunny, lucky rabbit’s feet and being pulled from a hat) are addressed when the other animals from the farm (and from the Chinese zodiac) come by to meet Rosie. When Rosie’s parents come at night to break her out of the cage and bring her back to the burrow an anxious Jai follows with his dog and unwittingly alerts a sleeping tiger. Rosie hears his cry and comes to his rescue. All are ultimately saved when the tiger mistakes the horns of a sleeping dragon for Rosie’s ears and grasps them. In a moment of cultural confusion (Chinese dragons don’t breathe fire) the angered dragon chases the tiger away, shooting flames at his backside.

This bright and playful story makes the ancient tradition of the Chinese zodiac accessible to children everywhere. Justin Roth’s illustrations are in keeping with earlier titles in the series and reflect his background as an animator: the cartoon-like characters have exaggeratedly expressive faces that children will respond to. Kids will also have fun spotting all of the animals from the Chinese zodiac hiding in the pages of the book.

Comics expert and award-winning author Oliver Chin, who also wrote the first five Tales from the Chinese Zodiac books (illustrated by Jeremiah Alcorn and Justin Roth) as well as Timmy and Tammy’s Train of Thought, Baltazar and the Flying Pirates, and the graphic novel 9 of 1: A Window to the World, is, again, clearly in his element. The Year of the Rabbit is a timely way for the youngest readers to get acquainted with this aspect of Chinese tradition.

Abigail Sawyer
March 2011

When PaperTigers’ book reviewer Abigail Sawyer mentioned to me that she is going to be hosting a Blog Carnival about bilingualism over at Speaking in Tongues today, she got me thinking. Again. I first started mulling over bilingual children’s books here in relation to Tulika Books, a publisher in India that produces bilingual books in many different Indian languages alongside English, and to former IBBY Preisdent and founder of Groundwood Books Patsy Aldana’s comments in an interview with PaperTigers, and I will quote them again here:

I have always been opposed to the use of bilingual books, however given that Spanish-only books hardly sell at all, I have had to accept that books in Spanish can only reach Latinos if they are bilingual. This goes against everything I believe and know to be true about language instruction, the joy of reading in your mother tongue…

I was surprised by Aldana’s dislike of bilingual books because I love them and my children love them, and I have found that they can be a joy for inquisitive children seeking to learn independently – but I do realise that our contexts are different. Aldana’s dislike of them seems to stem from their being a substitute for monolingual Spanish books in an English-biased market, and she has found a pragmatic way of providing books in their mother-tongue to the Latino community in North America.

We love reading bilingual books because, although our main vehicle is the English, having another language running alongside, often enhances the reading experience for us, especially where the setting of the story is culturally appropriate to the language. This is true even when we can’t read the script, because even without being able to understand it, we can sometimes pull out certain consistencies. Seeing the writing always provides a glimpse of that different culture.

One of my favorite books of the last few year’s is Jorge Luján’s Tarde de invierno/ Winter Afternoon, published by Groundwood Books – and without the original Spanish and the English lying alongside eachother, we would not have been able to appreciate so fully the simply gorgeous animation Jorge and his family produced of the book (watch it here). Some authors like Yuyi Morales effortlessly slide between English and Spanish (we love her delightful Señor Calavera and Grandma Beetle books, Just a Minute and Just in Case). Some books provide a parallel experience of language, like Demi’s Bamboo Hats and a Rice Cake or Ed Young’s Beyond the Great Mountains. None of these books is truly bilingual, in that they do not provide a similar reading experience regardless of which of the two languages you approach the story from – but they all offer a bridge between languages and cultures that is not to be understimated.

It would be very interesting to hear about the experiences and needs of truly bilingual parents and children. If you are bringing up bilingual children or have bilingual children in your class, do you or they seek out bilingual books? Are you frustrated by what’s out there –