Groundhog Weather School by Joan Holub (Illustrated by: Kristin Sorra)
Reviewed by: Renny Fong
About the author:
Joan Holub illustrated her first published children’s book in 1992 and soon began illustrating full time. She began completing manuscripts and mailing them out to publishers in the early 1990s. In 1996, she sold her first two manuscripts — Boo Who? A Spooky Lift-the-Flap Book (Scholastic) and Pen Pals (Grosset & Dunlap).
Today, she writes full time and has written and/or illustrated over 130 children’s books. Creating books that entertain, inform, and interest children (and herself) is a fabulous job she truly loves.
About the illustrator:
Kristin Sorra and her husband started Atomic Paintbrush, a business designed to cater to the niche market of comic books, where they were one of the first studios to provide digital coloring to all the major comic publishers.
While running Atomic, Kristin focused heavily on children’s book illustration and creating characters and stories for animation. Soon enough, her work was published by companies like Simon & Schuster, Harcourt, Highlights, Houghton Mifflin, McGraw-Hill, Penguin Putnam and Scholastic (see more comprehensive, rather impressive list under ‘clients’ link). She has presented her animation ideas to production companies like Dreamworks, Film Roman and Nickelodeon and was a finalist for Fox Studios’ Pitch-O-Rama, a one-time event in search of the next Simpson’s.
Beyond books and animation, her work has also appeared in magazines, stationery and paper products, off-Broadway shows, websites, clothing hang tags and her mom’s birthday cards.
About the book:
The must-have book for Groundhog Day—and the rest of the year!
With pop-art illustrations, a tongue-in-cheek tone, and a riot of detail, kids learn all the important aspects of Groundhog Day. And where better to learn it than Groundhog Weather School!
Professor Groundhog opens a school so groundhogs can learn to accurately forecast the weather each February. Following along with the amusing cast of students, kids are drawn in by the thoroughly engaging tale while they learn fun facts about different animals (groundhogs in particular), seasons, weather, and predicting the weather. With funny asides and a comic-style approach to the illustrations, this informational story presents a fresh look at Groundhog Day through the eyes of the animals who live it each year.
My take on the book:
Last year, it was Groundhog’s Day, every night, for a couple of weeks, as my 3-year-old son requested Groundhog Weather School for his bedtime story of choice again and again and again. Luckily, I loved it, too! After returning the book to the library, I had to get our very own copy.
The story begins with Rabbit in bed, watching a TV weather fo
The Year of the Rabbit: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac by Oliver Chin
Reviewed by: Renny Fong
About the author:
Oliver Chin has written the Tales from the Chinese Zodiac series, Welcome to Monster Isle, Julie Black Belt, Timmy and Tammy’s Train of Thought, The Adventures of WonderBaby, and other books. His family lives in San Francisco, CA.
About the illustrator:
Justin Roth illustrated The Year of the Tiger and has contributed to animated TV series for Nickelodeon, Disney, and 4Kids Entertainment. Currently animation supervisor at the advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi, he lives in New York, NY.
My take on the book:
Move over Bugs Bunny. 2011 brings on the Year of the Rabbit, and Oliver Chin adds another adventurous Tale from the Chinese Zodiac to his collection, The Year of the Rabbit. This tale introduces Rosie the Rabbit, who is born with super long ears, which brings her both misfortune and fortune. As luck would have it, a boy named Jai, whose grandmother would rather eat Rosie for dinner after getting caught raiding her garden, saves Rosie. Later on, it’s Rosie who returns the favor to Jai in this fast-paced animated story. It definitely has a comic book flavor to it. As with some of his other tales, a younger audience might get scared of the ferocious tiger and dragon, so a pre-read is definitely suggested. Chin continues to creatively reveal the virtues of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac through his series.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Reviewed by: Renny Fong
About the author:
Amy Chua is the John M. Duff Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Her first book, World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, a New York Times bestseller, was selected by both The Economist and the U.K.’s Guardian as one of the Best Books of 2003. Her second book, Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance-and Why They Fall, was a critically acclaimed Foreign Affairs bestseller.
About the book:
A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what Chinese parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it’s like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I’ve done it…Amy Chua’s daughters, Sophia and Louisa (Lulu) were polite, interesting and helpful, they were two years ahead of their classmates in maths and had exceptional musical abilities. But Sophia and Lulu were never allowed to attend a sleepover, be in a school play, choose their own extracurricular activities, get any grade less than an A, and not be the #1 student in every subject (except gym and drama). And they had to practice their instruments for hours every day, as well as in school breaks and on family holidays. The Chinese-parenting model certainly seemed to produce results. But what happens when you do not tolerate disobedience and are confronted by a screaming child who would sooner freeze outside in the cold than be forced to play the piano? In Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua relates her experiences raising her children the ‘Chinese way’, and how dutiful, patient Sophia flourished under the regime and how tenacious, hot-tempered Lulu rebelled. It is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs. It’s also about Mozart and Mendelssohn, the piano and the violin, and how they made it to Carnegie Hall. It was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones. But instead, it’s about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how you can be humbled by a thirteen-year-old.
My take on the book:
On the cover, it reads, “This is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs.” Immediately, I thought, what about the father? After reading this book, I firmly believe that it’s also about the “Unsung Hymn of the Tiger Mother’s Husband.” One might think Jed Rubenfeld (Tiger Dad) sat around and did nothing, while Tiger Mom ruled and dictated her two daughters’ lives.
I admired how he didn’t take sides. He respected and loved his wife and his daughters. No matter how much he disagreed with her teachings or philosophy, he never made her the “fall guy.” He backed her up, but then disagreed with her when the kids weren’t around. He created balance and harmony for his family. When she ruled with an iron fist, he made up for it by a loving hand. That’s one of the big reasons why I think the fa
Groundhog Weather School by Joan Holub (Illustrated by: Kristin Sorra)