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Like Water on Stone
Dana Walrath
YA

I had the great pleasure of knowing Dana while I was a student at Vermont College. She is a woman of many talents and a thought-provoking speaker. Her novel, Like Water on Stone, was a labor of love that started, I think, while she was at Vermont College and continued on after she'd completed the program. I cheered when I heard it had been acquired, not simply because a fellow VCFA'er had placed a story but because this book brings a rich form of diversity to not only kidlit but literature overall.

Basic Premise: It's 1914. Shahen dreams of moving to New York where part of his family has already immigrated. His father, initially, stands in his son's way. He loves their life in Armenia. And then the Ottoman empire, in decline, goes to war. Religion suddenly matters, and not in a good way. Much of Shahen's family, Christians, including his parents and older brothers, are murdered by troops. Shahen and two of his sisters flee across the mountains to safety and, eventually, a new life in America.

The story was inspired by Walrath's own family story of immigration. 

There are a variety of interesting elements to take away from this piece. The most hard-hitting is that this is a story of genocide. How does a kidlit writer tackle such hard stuff and not overwhelm her reader? Walrath chose to write her story in verse, her reasoning being, the material is so graphic, so emotionally full, by painting with thinner strokes, it is possible to share and yet not overwhelm a younger audience. Not once did I ever feel words were missing, nor did I feel as if I couldn't keep reading. It's a masterful use of a writer's tool. In so doing, Walrath exposes her audience to the concept that genocide is, very unfortunately, a recurring theme in human history, and opens the story of for debate by leaving the reader wondering: why? Why do we as humans tend toward annihilation of others? It's a contemporary topic.

Further, the novel is told from alternating POVs. It was truly fascinating to both read and see POV change by changing poetic structure. It's yet another tool to add to the toolbox.

For other great reads, you don't even need to get out your galoshes, just spring over to Barrie Summy's website. Happy reading!

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A couple of weeks ago, we posted our review of The Greedy Sparrow, retold by Lucine Kasbarian, illustrated by Maria Zaikina (Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books, 2011). On her website, Lucine has a great study guide (also available as a pdf) to accompany the book, with activities for all ages, and a map showing Armenia and its bordering countries.

Also, read this insightful interview with Lucine over at Imagination Soup. It begins with the question “Can you talk about the importance for parents and teachers to read multicultural children’s books with their children?”… Yes, I knew you’d be interested – go and read it right now! (And thank you for the shout out for PaperTigers, Lucine.)

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Retold by Lucine Kasbarian, illustrated by Maria Zaikina
The Greedy Sparrow
Marshall Cavendish Children, 2010

Ages 4-8

Too rarely do we see a book where text and illustration prance along in perfectly matching high step as well as they do in this Armenian folk tale. Imbued with an impish humor and attention to authentic detail in both illustrations and storytelling, The Greedy Sparrow is an Armenian folktale, passed down in author Lucine Kasbarian’s family from generation to generation, continuing ancient traditions of Armenian oral storytelling. A wandering sparrow with a devious bent flies through the Armenian countryside, tempting people he meets in order to benefit himself. In a surprising twist, he discovers that deceptive behavior and greed may leave one empty-handed in the end.

From first glance, The Greedy Sparrow bursts with life, its minimal narration placed above oversized, overly round figures, objects, and text bubbles that fill the page from corner to corner with color. “Once there was and was not a sparrow who caught a thorn in his foot.” Armenian folk tales, we read in the author’s note, always begin, “Once there was and was not”, a questioning of the reality of the fantastical story that will follow. The motifs of animals, magic and morals will make elements of this otherwise little-known Armenian folktale familiar to readers across the world, just as Maria Zaikina’s layered oil and wax illustrations echo centuries old woodblock images, which pull readers into the world of the familiar unfamiliar. This is the land of folk tales, where sparrows can carry sheep in the sky, and brides will interrupt their weddings to care for the sheep when it lands (until their new husbands decide to make shish kebabs, of course, which leads to the forfeit of one new bride to the sneaky sparrow.)

The only jarring note in the richness of color, of both story and illustration, is the text bubbles of the trickster sparrow, which use the decidedly out-of-place – and immediately recognizable – Comic Sans font. With such a beautiful design and aesthetic palette, which extends to all the other typography, this jarring detail stands oddly out of place. However, the strength of the storytelling and the rough beauty of the illustrations leave us forgiving this one misstep, and hoping to see more work from both author and illustrator.

Sara Hudson
July 2011

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Title: We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Author: Michael Rosen

Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury

Hardcover: 32 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing ( January 1989)

Reading Level: Preschool

Theme: Read-aloud, Interactive, Humor

 

I'm a children literature tutor and when I read this book to children, they love it! A great story about using your imagination and being able to do something as a family; whether going on a trip to hunt a bear. What I love about, We're going on a bear hunt, is the fact that it seems more like a rhyme/song that many could interact with, by using hand gestures and making sounds. This book is repetitive as the family goes through grass, snow, and even a forest to come to the cave where the bear is in.

The illustrations are beautiful and they tend to follow a pattern, going from black and white (pencil drawing) on some pages and color on others. The expression that happen as they go on their adventure are noticeable, From dad's thoughts on some pages to the frighten look they have as the bear comes after them. It's priceless! And worth reading.

Good for read-aloud, and also for times when you want the child to interact with you.

Excerpt: As they head for their adventure

                       

                        

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Barbara Coloroso continues to receive support for her book Extraordinary Evil: A Brief History of Genocide which was pulled from a Grade 11 course by the Toronto District School Board. Members of the Turkish community had challenged the book and its portrayal of the Armenian genocide. Quill and Quire's Blog published an open letter from Penguin Canada, Coloroso's publisher.

Dear Mr. Connelly,

As the publisher of Barbara Coloroso’s Extraordinary Evil: A Brief History of Genocide, we regret the Toronto District School Board’s decision to drop the book from its list of resources for a Grade 11 course called Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Board documents describe Ms. Coloroso as a “renowned educator” and the book’s inclusion in the reading list in the first place attests to its value as a legitimate contribution to the study of genocide. Dropping the book from the list is apparently based on vociferous objections by segments of the Turkish Canadian population who reject the “genocide” designation to describe the atrocities committed against Armenians in 1915, and who dispute Ms Coloroso’s credentials as an historian. In fact, Ms Coloroso has never claimed to be an historian and in the Introduction to her book, she emphasizes that she is writing “as an educator, a parent, and a former nun. All three of these influence and colour this text.”

We suggest that the Board follow the philosophy outlined in the April 29th Review Committee Report, which states “Grade 11 students can appreciate – and, more importantly, should appreciate – that history is a contested area without suggesting that everything is relative. … Genuine historical controversies do belong in a high school curriculum and can be beneficial in giving students an in-depth understanding of complex events and in teaching students critical thinking.” While we laud the Board’s decision to implement such a course, and to continue to include the Armenian genocide as part of that course, we urge you to reinstate Ms. Coloroso’s book onto the course reading list. Many voices have been recorded on the tragedies of various genocides, the voices of historians, eyewitnesses, novelists, human rights groups, social scientists, journalists and even Canadian generals. Ms Coloroso’s voice should be among them.

Sincerely,

David Davidar
President and Publisher
Penguin Group Canada

The Writer's Union also weighed in with a letter to the Toronto District School Board.

Dear Trustees and staff of the TDSB,

The Writers' Union of Canada strongly endorses Barbara Coloroso’s appeal of your decision to remove her work, Extraordinary Evil, a Brief History of Genocide from your reading list. We are surprised that, as educators, you are somewhat slow at learning lessons. Have you already forgotten the outrage created amongst parents, educators, librarians and writers when Three Wishes was removed from the Silver Birch award list, following a complaint from the Canadian Jewish Congress? You even ignored a committee recommendation to retain Three Wishes on a limited basis.

You claim your reason for banning the book is that Ms. Coloroso is not a professional historian. This feels like a thinly disguised attempt to hide the truth that you have been pressured into banning her book by a politically motivated interest group. Ms. Coloroso is a highly respected and well-established professional writer and public speaker on social justice and child raising; her books are published around the world. Her book on genocide is meticulously researched and extremely appropriate for a course such as yours on the Holocaust.

It is completely unacceptable for those responsible for educating the citizens of tomorrow to remove valuable titles every time an interest group brings forth a complaint. If so, your library shelves would be bare indeed. As several Letters to the Editor emphasized in May 19th’s Globe and Mail, books should be judged on their contribution to the discussion of issues such as genocide.

We encourage you to restore Extraordinary Evil, a Brief History of Genocide to your reading list, and make a more concerted effort in the future to put the interests of your students ahead of the political agendas of narrow interest groups.

As Chair of the Writers' Union of Canada, I will be contacting board executive Gerry Connely this week to further discuss this issue, as we remain distressed and unsatisfied by the board's reasons for excluding a book that is a valuable contribution to the discussion of man's inhumanity to man.

Sincerely,

Susan Swan
Chair, The Writers’ Union of Canada

Read an interview with Barbara Coloroso.

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This is a painting I did in an old Chester drawer I found on the streets of Brooklyn years ago. Just painted it for a show coming up in Santa Monica at The Robert Berman Gallery in April. It's a group show called "Sideshow" and has other artists like Gary Panter in it. I'll try to post more paintings as I get them shot to see what you all think. The next one is about a Morlock and an Eloi. 2 characters from H.G. Wells' The Time Machine
Roccoblog!

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