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By: Sara O'Leary,
on 10/20/2016
By: Sara O'Leary,
on 9/30/2016
By: Betsy Bird,
on 8/24/2016
Who Broke the Teapot?!
By Bill Slavin
Tundra Books
$16.99
ISBN: 978-1-77049-833-4
Ages 3-5
On shelves now
In the average life of a child, whodunits are the stuff of life itself. Who took the last cookie? Who used up all the milk and then didn’t put it on the shopping list? Who removed ALL the rolls of toilet paper that I SPECIFICALLY remember buying at the store on Sunday and now seem to have vanished into some toilet paper eating inter-dimension? The larger the family, the great the number of suspects. But picture books that could be called whodunits run a risk of actually going out and teaching something. A lesson about honesty or owning up to your own mistakes. Blech. I’ll have none of it. Hand me that copy of Bill Slavin’s Who Broke the Teapot?! instead, please. Instead of morals and sanctity I’ll take madcap romps, flashbacks, and the occasional livid cat. Loads of fun to read aloud, surprisingly beautiful to the eye, and with a twist that no one will see coming, Who Broke the Teapot?! has it all, baby. Intact teapot not included.
The scene of the crime: The kitchen. The family? Oblivious. As the mother enters the room it’s just your average morning. There’s a baby in a high chair, a brother attached to a ceiling fan by his suspenders, a dad still in his underwear reading the paper, a daughter eating pastries, a dog aiding her in this endeavor, and a cat so tangled up in wool that it’s a wonder you can still make out its paws. And yet in the doorway, far from the madding crowd, sits a lone, broken, teapot. Everyone proclaims innocence. Everyone seems trustworthy in that respect. Indeed, the only person to claim responsibility is the baby (to whom the mother tosses a dismissive, “I doubt it”). Now take a trip back in time just five minutes and all is revealed. The true culprit? You’ll have to read the book yourself. You final parting shot is the mother accepting a teapot stuck together with scotch tape and love from her affectionate offspring.
Generally when I write a picture book review I have a pretty standard format that I adhere to. I start with an opening paragraph (done), move on to a description of the plot in the next paragraph (so far, so good), and in the third paragraph I talk about some aspect of the writing. It could be the overall theme or the writing or the plotting. After that I talk about the art. This pattern is almost never mucked with . . . until today!! Because ladies and gents, you have just GOT to take a gander at what Mr. Slavin’s doing here with his acrylics. Glancing at the art isn’t going to do it. You have to pick this book up and really inspect the art. For the bulk of it the human characters are your usual cartoony folks. Very smooth paints. But even the most cursory glance at the backgrounds yields rewards. The walls are textured with thick, luscious paints adhering to different patterns. There’s even a touch of mixed media to the old affair, what with cat’s yarn being real thread and all (note too how Slavin seamlessly makes it look as if the yarn is wrapped around the legs of the high chair). Then the typography starts to get involved. The second time the mom says “Who broke the teapot?!” the words look like the disparate letters of a rushed ransom note. As emotions heat up (really just the emotions of the mom, to be honest) the thick paints crunch when she says “CRUNCHED”, acquire zigzags as her temper unfurls, and eventually belie the smoothness of the characters’ skin when the texture invades the inside of the two-page spread of the now screaming mother’s mouth.
So, good textures. But let us not forget in all this just how important the colors of those thick paints are as well. Watching them shift from one mood to another is akin to standing beneath the Northern Lights. You could be forgiven for not noticing the first, second, third, or even fourth time you read the book. Yet these color changes are imperative to the storytelling. As emotions heat up or the action on the page ramps up, the cool blues and greens ignite into hot reds, yellows, and oranges. Taken as a whole the book is a rainbow of different backgrounds, until at long last everything subsides a little and becomes a chipper cool blue.
Now kids love a good mystery, and I’m not talking just the 9 and 10-year-olds. Virtually every single age of childhood has a weakness for books that set up mysterious circumstances and then reveal all with a flourish. Heck, why do you think babies like the game of peekaboo? Think of it as the ultimate example of mystery and payoff. Picture book mysteries are, however, far more difficult to write than, say, an episode of Nate the Great. You have to center the book squarely in the child’s universe, give them all the clues, and then make clear to the reader what actually happened. To do this you can show the perpetrator of the crime committing the foul deed at the start of the book or you can spot clues throughout the story pointing clearly to the miscreant. In the case of Who Broke the Teapot, Slavin teaches (in his own way) that old Sherlock Holmes phrase, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
I love it when a book turns everything around at the end and asks the reader to think long and hard about what they’ve just seen. Remember the end of The Cat in the Hat when everything’s been cleaned up just in time and the mother comes in asking the kids what they got up to while she was gone? The book ends with a canny, “Well, what would YOU do if your mother asked YOU?” Who Broke the Teapot?! does something similar at its end as well. The facts have been laid before the readers. The baby has claimed responsibility and maybe he is to blame after all. But wasn’t the mother just as responsible? It would be very interesting indeed to poll a classroom of Kindergartners to see where they ascribe the bulk of the blame. It may even say something about a kid if they side with the baby more or the mommy more.
I also love that the flashback does far more than explain who broke the teapot. It explains why exactly most of the members of this family are dwelling in a kind of generally accepted chaotic stew. You take it for granted when you first start reading. A kid’s hanging from a ceiling fan? Sure. Yeah. That happens. But the explanation, when it comes, belies that initial response. The parents don’t question his position so you don’t question it. That is your first mistake. Never take your lead from parents. And speaking of the flashback, let’s just stand aside for a moment and remember just how sophisticated it is to portray this concept in a picture book at all. You’re asking a child audience to accept that there is a “before” to every book they read. Few titles go back in time to explain how we got to where we are now. Slavin’s does so easily, and it will be the rare reader that can’t follow him on this trip back into the past.
I think the only real mystery here is why this book isn’t better known. And its only crime is that it’s Canadian, and therefore can’t win any of the big American awards here in the States. It’s also too amusing for awards. Until we get ourselves an official humor award for children’s books, titles like Who Broke the Teapot?! are doomed to fly under the radar. That’s okay. This is going to be the kind of book that children remember for decades. They’re going to be the ones walking into their public libraries asking the children’s librarians on the desks to bring to them an obscure picture book from their youth. “There was a thing that was broken . . . like a china plate or something . . . and there was this cat tied up in string?” You have my sympathies, children’s librarians of the future. In the meantime, better enjoy the book now. Whether it’s read to a large group or one-on-one, this puppy packs a powerful punch.
On shelves now
Source: Publisher sent final copy for review.
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This month, our best selling picture book from our affiliate store is the entertaining If You Happen to have a Dinosaur, written by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Colin Jack.
Add a CommentMayday, Mayday, Mayday! The Children's Book Review (call sign TCBR) is declaring a reading emergency. The weather is clear and suitable for reading outside.
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 2/25/2015
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| Illustration by Richard Rudnicki. Used with permission. |
By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 11/28/2014
Title: Spic-And-Span! Lillian Gilbreth’s Wonder Kitchen Written by: Monica Kulling Illustrated by: David Parkins Published by: Tundra Books, 2014 Themes/Topics: women industrial engineers, inventor, psychologist, Lilian Moller Gilbreth Suitable for ages: 7-11 Biography, 32 pages Series: Great Idea Series Opening: The first page is a beautiful … Continue reading
Add a CommentHere is a list of 11 books that address a wide range and variety of emotions that young readers may experience when faced with serious illness, loss, grief or trauma.
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By: Tatjana Mai-Wyss,
on 10/20/2014
The inspiration, passion, and illustrations make The Bambino and Me a wonderful, well rounded, addition to any reader’s roster.
Add a CommentSeventeen-year-old Luke has always relied on listening to Pat, his elder sister, to help him tackle difficult decisions in life, but when Pat goes missing from a tiny island off the coast of Honduras, Luke doesn’t expect to still have to listen to her words.
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Baseball Animals 
(Major League Baseball: First Base Books)
by Christopher Jordan
Fenn/Tundra of Tundra Books of Northern New York 2/11/2014 Age 3 to 7 26 pages each
978-1-77049-474-9 / 978-1-77049-518-0
“Baseball Animals celebrates the magical world of professional baseball and introduces young fans to each MLB team named after an animal. In this official MLB publication, children will enjoy following clues and guessing which animal is associated with each team, as well as learning why the various teams decided to name themselves after a tiger, a blue jay, or a diamondback snack. With detailed information and brilliant wildlife photography celebrating each animal, Baseball Animals will teach children about nature through the exciting world of baseball while they cheer for their favorite teams and players.
“Baseball Opposites introduces children to important early concepts through the exciting world of professional baseball. From such entries as safe/out to on/off and day/night, children will learn all about the much-loved game, while appreciating the many opposites that appear in the sport and in the word around us. With simple yet informative text and incredible action photographs of the players, this book is the perfect choice for young baseball fans to enjoy on their own, or for parents and caregivers to read to the next generation of MLB stars.”
Opening
Baseball Animals: “Which MLB team was named after a black bird with a bright orange underbelly? This bird likes to perch high in the treetops and prefers to eat dark-colored fruit such as cherries or purple grapes.”
Baseball Opposites: “small – A baseball is small. big – A baseball stadium is big.”
Reviews
Baseball Animals hits a homerun. The clue pages contain two clues: a rather easy clue, marked with a question mark, and a harder clue below that, marked with a hand-held magnifying glass. Not every easy clue is as easy as it might seem, at least for young kids. The other, harder clue, is great for older kids beyond the age intended for Baseball Animals and for adults. If you are a die-hard fan of Major League Baseball, both clues might be a breeze. Being a fan myself, but not one who thinks much of teams other than the ones she likes, I could not answer all of the questions. Of course, you also need knowledge of animals.
The answers, always on the next spread*, left side, includes a baseball player from the team in question. I believe the players are stars from their respective teams, but without an in-depth knowledge of MLB, I am not sure. The Baltimore Orioles, named after Maryland’s state bird, has at times used a cartoonish oriole while at other times it looked authentic. Personally, I love the cartoonish oriole logo but not because the team is cartoonish. Say that, and you can cease reading this review immediately. In addition to the beloved Baltimore Orioles, kids will learn about a couple of sea creatures, a few from Africa and Asia, the dessert, a great American symbol, and every young child’s favorite. Young children will love the close-up, full detailed photographs of the team-named animals and most will enjoy the same detailed photographs of the MLB players. An appendix lists—by division—each team’s location, date it joined MLB, and a color photograph of its logo. Young kids, especially boys, will enjoy Baseball Animals.
Baseball Opposites contains basic concepts young children need to understand. An understanding of baseball, or even simple enjoyment of the game, will give kids greater enjoyment of Baseball Opposites. Each spread*, contains one pair of baseball related opposites, in the upper-outer corners of each page. Next, is a baseball-related sentence using each term, located somewhere on each page, and finally, an illustration of the term—always an MLB photograph filling most of each corresponding page. MLB visually explains each opposite pair with baseball players or baseball objects. These photographic illustrations have sharp detail and some even help explain a baseball concept. Young, and old, boys will love the action portrayed on most pages. If lucky, their favorite team or player will be among those helping young children learn opposites.
Though all the terms are baseball related, most of the terms children should be learning at this stage, (age 3+). These include such opposites as on/off, up/down, open/close, hot/cold, sit/stand, and left/right. The opposites are not strictly baseball terms, such as infield/outfield or homerun/strike out, but do use baseball as the point of reference. Should this disappoint anyone, turn the pages until you come to the opposite safe/out. The umpire struts his stuff calling the player sliding into home plate, “SAFE!” The ump is calmer while declaring a Chicago Cubby out—on a three pitch swing and miss. Baseball Opposites also contains additional MLB information for the young and old baseball fan. Rather than a team-related appendix, a glossary of baseball terms fills the page: bunt, steal a base, switch-hitter, dugout, and GRAND SLAM!
Oh, wait. “GRAND SLAM” is not in Baseball Opposites. I meant to say Baseball Animals and Baseball Opposites are GRAND SLAM books for young baseball fans. Dad, it is your turn to read these books to your children, getting them ready for the baseball season. Though the 2014 season in nearly half-over, there is never anytime better than the present to begin something, unless, of course, when waiting for an inside pitch to drill down the third base line. That is something completely different to teach your child.
*Spread – A spread is the left and right pages when a book is opened flat. Eg. pages 2 & 3 may be a spread and the end page image is a spread.
BASEBALL ANIMALS and BASEBALL OPPOSITES: (MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: FIRST BASE BOOKS). Texts copyright © 2014 by Christopher Jordan. Photograph copyrights © held by various individuals. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Fenn/Tundra of Tundra Books of Northern New York, Plattsburgh, NY.
Purchase Baseball Animals and/or Baseball Opposites at Amazon
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Learn more about the Sports (MLB — Hockey — NASCAR) series by Mr. Jordan HERE.
Meet the author, Christopher Jordan, at his short bio: http://www.tundrabooks.com/authors/author.pperl?authorid=152647
Find more books at the Tundra Books website: http://www.tundrabooks.com/
a division of Random House of Canada Limited: http://www.randomhouse.ca/
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Also by Jordan Christopher
Hockey 123 (My First NHL Book)
The Little Beaver
NASCAR ABC (My First NASCAR Racing Series)
Hockey & NASCAR
123 Colors
ABC Opposites
Animals Shapes
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by Zachary Hyman & Zachary Pullen, illustrator
Tundra Books 4/1/2014
978-1-77049-627-9
Age 6 to 9 50 pages
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“It’s 1927, and ten-year-old George Henry Alexander is full of the joys of summer: long days, warm nights, and baseball, especially the greatest player in the game: Babe Ruth—the Bambino. When George’s parents surprise him with tickets to a game between his beloved Yankees and their rivals, the Boston Red Sox, he couldn’t be more excited. A real baseball game, and his first chance to see his hero in the flesh. But when the big day arrives, things don’t quite go according to plan. On what is supposed to be the best afternoon of his young life, George finds himself doing the one thing no true Yankees fan should ever do. He’s so low he’d rather kiss a girl! How can he face his hero when he feels like the biggest traitor in the world?”
Opening
“I’ll always remember the summer of 1927. I was ten, and we lived in a tiny apartment above Berman’s Bakery in the Bronx.”
The Story
Ten-year-old George Henry loved baseball. He doesn’t play the game very well and is often the last picked for a team, but George loves baseball just the same. To George, the best team in the world is the New York Yankees and the best player is Babe Ruth—the Bambino. For George’s birthday, his parents give him tickets to a Yankee home game against the Boston Red Sox, the big rival. George also gets a gift from his Uncle Alvin, who lives in Boston. He sends George a baseball cap and a jersey—for the Red Sox! George cannot wear a Boston Red Sox jersey, he’ll be a traitor, but mom insists George will wear them—else he will insult his Uncle. On game day, with his proud pop wearing a Yankee blue tie, poor George goes to the game of his life wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey. George stands out at the game, being the only one in red sitting in a sea of blue in the home-side stands. How can he enjoy the game when he is being a traitor to the Yankees and his hero?
Review
Obviously, neither mom nor Uncle Alvin understand iota about the game of baseball, the New York Yankees, or rivalries. George stands up to mom the best he can. I was hoping maybe pop would have a change of clothing for his son, or get him a jersey at the game, but nope, poor George sits through the entire game looking like a Red Sox fan. It’s criminal.
Baseball stories are terrific and ones about Babe Ruth even better—if they are well written. The Bambino and Me is a home run! I like the story from a young fan’s point of view that explains how rabid fans can become. Little George doesn’t mouth off to his mom, but the day she insists he will wear the Red Sox jersey, he fought the best he could and goes farther against his Mom than he probably ever thought he would. So far, in fact, that the soap bar punishment falls upon George. Mom just does not get it, which is why little girls are not in baseball stories from the 1920’s.
The illustrations are great. You are pulled back to that earlier time in New York City when men wore suits and ties to baseball games. When kids played outside without a phone and read real books. People’s faces look gummy due to the intricate detail of the face. When Mom yells, her second chin tries to come forth and every muscle around her mouth is visible through the cheek. Understanding the expression on any character’s face is an easy read. Once in the Red Sox uniform, George looks like a tiny man rather than a boy, which is humorous, and I hope this is the intent. The illustrations can tell the story, making this a good choice for story hour or reading to a group of different aged kids. I wish I could have shown you the standard three spreads. Tundra has a policy of one spread, but it is a terrific spread. You can see the mushy faces that bring out the nostalgia of the era.
I love the illustrations of the stands where poor George has a horrible time in the Red Sox uniform surrounded by blue on all sides. Some of the other fans, including adults, give George looks that run from nasty to shock to humor. The text will keep you reading, wanting to know how this horrible outing will turn around for George. Of course, Babe Ruth spots him. “Two palookas” escort George and his father under the stadium where a scene unfolds that every baseball fan, young and old, would give most anything to have happen. As wonderful as the illustrations are, without the text you miss the “two palookas” and the message Babe Ruth writes on George’s baseball card
After the story, the author, a young* Zachary Hyman, gives the reader insight into why he wrote the book. There are also actual pictures from Babe Ruth’s playing days peppered in with the illustrations. If you do not feel like reading, but want to know how things turn out for little George, (big George is George Herman Ruth—Babe Ruth, the Bambino), you can listen. Jason Alexander, who played another “George” in Seinfeld, will read you the story, just pop in the included CD.If that isn’t enough, take off the book jack and turn it inside out. You will have a nice poster of Babe Ruth and one of his iconic quotes.
Young boys and girls will like this story about a young boy named George forced to be a traitor to his hero, and the hero’s response. The story is about doing you best; being your best; giving it—whatever “it” means to you—your all every time and, according to Babe Ruth, success will follow. While the story is fiction, it is not far-fetched, considering Babe Ruth’s love of children. One wonders, if George had not worn Boston red, and therefore never having stood out to Babe Ruth, would he have met his idol. Maybe Uncle Alvin did know a little about baseball after all.
*Zachary Hyman is a University of Michigan student. This year, as a Junior, Zach (ice hockey, #11), won the Bates/Deskins Award—Awarded annually by UofM to a junior student-athlete who excels both academically and athletically. I am an Ohio State Buckeye, but given the prestige of the award, I heartily say, “Congratulations, Zach!”
THE BAMBINO AND ME. Text copyright © 2014 by Zachary Hyman. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Zachary Pullen. Reproduced by permission of Tundra Books, Toronto, ON.
Learn more about The Bambino and Me HERE.
Buy The Bambino and Me at Amazon—B&N—Tundra Books—your local bookstore.
.twitter site
Meet the author, Zachary Hyman at his twitter site: https://twitter.com/ZachHyman
Meet the Illustrator, Zachary Pullen at his website: http://www.zacharypullen.com/
Find more books at the Tundra Books website: http://www.tundrabooks.com/
Thank you to Mr. Dan Sharpe of Random House for the illustration.
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Also by Zachary Hyman
Hockey Hero.
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Also by Zachary Pullen
Francis and Eddie, the True Story of America’s Underdogs
Lipman Pike: America’s First Home Run King
Friday My Radio Flyer Flew
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By: Aline Pereira,
on 5/4/2012
Winterberries and Apple Blossoms: Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year by Nan Forler illustrated with paintings by Peter Etril Snyder (Tundra Books, 2011) takes the reader month by month through a calendar year in an Old Order Mennonite girl’s life. Old Order Mennonites are a religious community that live in and around the Waterloo region in southern Ontario. Similar to the Amish, they live simple lives with very few modern conveniences. They do not own cars nor computers or televisions. They work on farms, making their living on what they grow and sell.
Naomi is the young girl from whose perspective the reader views her world. Each month is written about in poems. For example, January opens with a poem called “The Quilting Bee.”
Matilda Martin and Edna Bauman
Mam and Lucinda and me –
my first time quilting with the women.
Noisy greetings as we settle in around the quilt frame,
then silence as each begins.
A lovely painting of Naomi stitching amongst the women is depicted on the facing page. And so the months go, poem by poem, Naomi’s life unfolding before the reader. A Mennonite girl’s life is clearly different from a boy’s — in May’s poem “The Bicycle” for example, we see Naomi covertly attempting to ride her brother’s bike and suffering for it (she crashes, her skirt getting caught in the greasy chains) but two months later in “The Ball Game” we see Naomi whack the baseball well past the older boy’s reach even though they had moved in field expecting her to be a weak hitter.
I liked the pacing in this book. The poems are slow and thoughtful like the kind of lives these children live in their pastoral farm communities. And the paintings that depict the life are easily as bucolic and delightful as the poems. And as an added bonus, there are recipes at the back of the book, one for each month celebrating the seasonal culinary delights of the community.
Poetry Friday this week is hosted by Elaine at Wild Rose Reader.
By: Aline Pereira,
on 3/14/2012
I was introduced to the writing of Canadian storyteller, Joan Bodger, through this post on a blog called Pickle Me This by Kerry Clare. Intrigued by the post, I decided to look up some of Bodger’s titles in our library for our bedtime read, and selected her Tales of Court and Castle, illustrated by Mark Lang (Tundra Books, 2003). Here was a book that was instantly attractive to me — I’m fond of folk and fairy tales of all kinds — but I wasn’t so sure about how my daughter would take to them. The tales are very old — medieval, in fact — but told in a storyteller’s voice that is compelling and fresh. Mark Lang’s illustrations are marvelous. Appearing before each tale, they illustrate the tale’s most compelling aspect quite vividly. There’s quite a lovely image of the King and Queen in the tale, “The Warrior Queen,” lying side by side in bed arguing who is the greater of the two, and a very haunting image of Iron John standing in the forest in “Iron John.” For me, there were a lot of quiet aha moments of “So, that’s where this story came from!” especially in the cases of “Iron John,” the Tristan tales, and “To the Dark Tower” on which a famous Robert Browning poem is based. For my daughter, these tales were introductions to the magical world of the English tale with their mythical fairy worlds, inhabited by elves and forest spirits, and the like.
Joan Bodger was an interesting woman in and of herself, and her biography is a rich tale of its own. Canadian writer, Kathryn Kuitenbrower has written a compelling blog post on Bodger and her books here. Check it out for an in-depth account of a remarkable storyteller.
By: Anastasia Goodstein,
on 2/27/2012
Today we bring you another installment of Youth Media Movers and Shakers. We’ve culled through industry publications looking for the recent executive placements we think you should know about. If you have executive news that you want us to... Read the rest of this post
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By: Betsy Bird,
on 11/15/2011
I have nothing but respect for contemporary historians. A few of them, let us be honest, are rock stars. They have to take something as strange and ephemeral as knowledge (such as it stands) about the past and make it into something relevant and interesting and coherent. These days historians also need to make sure they don’t follow in the footsteps of their forefathers and just focus everything on white people. I grant that it was easier to write history when it came down to just a single ethnicity, but talk about restrictive! Then there are the historians for children. They have to not only do all the aforementioned steps, but make history as accurate and simple, without being simplistic, as possible. It would be difficult enough to do all of this if your book was about a person or a country. Now imagine the challenge that comes from writing about the entire history of humankind in a scant 188 pages. With pictures, no less. Leave it up to the Canadians to get it right. Toronto historian Christopher Moore does his best to render an entire world in a single book without putting the whippersnapper young readers to sleep. That he manages it has got to be some kind of miracle right there.
As Moore says in his Preface, “When does a history of the world – even a short history of the world – start? This history starts with people.” So it is that we are plunged into the past. From rice farmers in China to The Great Pyramid of Giza. From Cleopatra to Martin Luther. Though he can only provide the barest of overviews, Moore takes care to give history a kind of structure, allowing student readers the chance to find the aspects that interest them the most for future study on their own. The book includes an explanation of BCE and CE vs. BC and AD in an Author’s Note, as well as an Index and a map on the endpapers of places named in the text. Very oddly, no Bibliography appears here. Strange indeed.
The endpapers of this book, displaying a map with highlighted locations, pretty much give you a blunt encapsulation of where Moore’s attention is going to focus in this text. You can sort of tell that the author is a Canadian right off the bat since L’Anse aux Meadows and Ramah Bay make the cut. The map identifies places that will come up in the text. Folks will undoubtedly object to the areas of the world that seemingly do not warrant a mention, but don’t be fooled. Just because a major metropolitan area in Australia doesn’t appear on the map that doesn’t mean that it has been excised from Moore’s history. A cursory examination of the Index yields at least 18 pages where the lands, and the Aborigines, are mentioned.
As for the text itself, Moore has been exceedingly careful. He starts off with the hominids of Africa, gives an overview of how they spread, launches into the Ice Age, goes into the whole hunter/gatherer society thing, and next thing you know you’re in the next chapter, “Learning to Farm”. He doesn’t mince words, this guy. As you read, you realize that Moore’s focus
By: Aline Pereira,
on 4/3/2011
Joanne Schwartz, illustrated by Laura Beingessner,
Our Corner Grocery Store
Tundra Books, 2009.
Ages 5-8
In Our Corner Grocery Store, Joanne Schwartz’s tribute to neighborhood and family, a little girl spends Saturdays with her Italian-American grandparents, who run the store referred to in the book’s title. We spend the day at the store with Anna Maria, as her Nonno and Nonna manage to fit looking after their grandchild into the many chores and relationships that their business brings. Anna Maria helps out, too, making the rows of vegetables neat and displaying the breads in their bins.
It’s not all work, though; the child also finds time to make chalk drawings on the sidewalk with her friend Charlie. After the lunch rush, Nonno makes her a special sandwich. “I bite into it and crumbs scatter over my shirt. The creamy cheese and salty meat taste fresh and delicious.” When Nonna puts together stuffed mushroom caps for dinner, young readers learn how to make the dish along with Anna Maria.
Laura Beingessner’s delicate illustrations document the waves of customers who come and go, the charming little store itself, even the steps in Nonna’s recipe. The tone of the text and pictures provides mesmerizing, relaxing encouragement to slow down and appreciate each simple task. There are no crises or plot complications in this sweet picture book. The pace is slow, the relationships are warm, and life is simple—not necessarily easy, but still, simpler than the lives of most families these days.
For parents reading to very young children, the book offers many opportunities to identify grocery items pictured individually, as well as to talk about the scenes and the people in the full page illustrations. The text is also a good challenge for precocious young readers to try out on their own.
Our Corner Grocery Store may read like a report from another world, or at least another era, for overscheduled, urban, twenty-first century parents and children. Perhaps spending a little time in such a tranquil world will bring some of its almost forgotten pleasures to precisely the harried kids and adults who need them most.
Charlotte Richardson
March 2011
By: Aline Pereira,
on 3/22/2011
A few days ago, in the wake of the earthquake disaster in Japan, I heard about a family acquaintance in Canada whose elderly grandmother in Yamagata had a very bad stroke. Yamagata is in northern Japan and some of the services to that area were disrupted, exacerbating the situation for anyone needing medical care. What did this family acquaintance do? Well, she and her mother packed up their bags immediately and booked a flight to Japan to be with their loved one even amidst all the furor and panic around the nuclear power plant situation in Fukushima. Hearing this story, I had an epiphany. Love does not flee, it goes to whom it must attend, at all cost and without fear.
World Vision is one of those organizations that understands this notion and acts on it with conviction. This week I was heartened by reading the blog posts of one of its workers in earthquake and tsunami ravaged northern Japan. So, today I am focusing my post on one of its initiatives — books for children. The World Vision Early Readers series are photo-illustrated picture books published by Tundra Books in conjunction with World Vision Canada. The books are authored by Marla Stewart Konrad, a former World Vision communications professional. PaperTigers recently did an interview with Marla and reviewed one of the books in the series: I Like to Play. As mentioned in the interview, all royalties proceeding from the sales of the World Vision Early Reader books go to World Vision to help support their initiatives for children. Marla’s own long career with the organization has helped cement her beliefs in the efficacy of its work in assisting children all over the world.
Right now, it is families in northern Japan that need the most assistance. As you can see from its website and blog, World Vision is speedily making its way there as did my family acquaintance to her ailing grandmother in Yamagata. Isn’t love truly the greatest thing?
By: Aline Pereira,
on 12/7/2010
This past spring, I participated as a mentor in our local writers guild’s Sheldon Oberman Emerging Writers Mentor Program. The program was named after Sheldon Oberman, a Winnipeg writer who is well known for his childrens’ books. Oberman died in 2004 but his legacy lives on in the mentorship program and his wonderful childrens’ books, a few of which I’ll feature in this post. Although my encounter with Sheldon Oberman was primarily through the legacy of the mentorship program, my children were familiar with his books, having encountered them at their school.
The White Stone in the Castle Wall illustrated by Les Tait (Tundra Books, 1995) is the story of a poor little boy named John Tommy Fiddich, who with his white stone, considers himself “sometimes lucky, sometimes unlucky.” Set at turn-of-the-century Toronto, the book is also about the building of one of the city’s most famous landmarks — Casa Loma — and its eccentric owner, Sir Henry Pellat.
The Always Prayer Shawl illustrated by Ted Lewin (Boyds Mills Press, 1994) is about a Jewish boy named Adam. When Adam is a boy (and it is a time when eggs were got from chickens, heat from chopped wood, and rides in wagons pulled by horses), he receives a special gift from his grandfather — a prayer shawl. His grandfather, a rabbi, tells him that although “some things change, some don’t.” He tells him that one of the things that will not change is his name, Adam, and he gives Adam a prayer shawl. Adam carries that prayer shawl with him all through his long life until many decades later he is able to give it to his grandson, Adam, when he is an old man.
TV Sal and The Game Show from Outer Space illustrated by Craig Terlson (Red Deer College Press, 1993) is about a girl sucked into a TV by TV station aliens. This delightful story about TV addiction pokes fun at both parent and child. I especially relate to Sal’s Mom who suggests to her TV watching daughter, “Would you like to do something different, dear? Come out with us to look at the fog.” I’m always nagging my children to get outside more. It is while Sal’s family is out for a walk that Sal finds herself in that alien TV world and can’t get herself out.
Sheldon Oberman’s books are a delight and pleasure to read. Hope you can find copies in your bookstore and library!
By: Aline Pereira,
on 5/16/2010
I vaguely remember the time my Japanese mother became a Canadian citizen. It was 1974. I was ten at the time and in elementary school. I vaguely recall her studying for the citizenship test — learning the provinces of Canada, finding out about the how parliament worked, reading about the history of Canada’s formation. She probably knew more about Canada than I did at the time! I don’t recall ever attending a ceremony, although she tells me she did go to one at a federal government office downtown.
The Day I Became a Canadian Citizen by Jo Bannatyne, illustrated by Song Nan Zhang (Tundra Books, 2008) is the story of how a Chinese girl, Xiao Ling Li, and her family become Canadian citizens. The ceremony is held on Feb. 15, National Flag Day. Xiao receives a gift of red shoes from her Aunt T. Red is an auspicious color for the Chinese as well as being a representative color of Canada, so everyone wears a bit of red to the ceremony. It is held at Xiao’s school gym in Toronto.
The judge, Dr. Williamson, who presides over the ceremony was himself an immigrant from Scotland twenty years ago, and he happily grants citizenship to Xiao’s family. Other recipients include the Nguyen family, and two friends of Xiao’s — Sophia and Maria — whose family were refugees from Ethiopia. At the end of the line of recipients of the citizenship certificate is a woman whom the judge gives an extra big hug to. Xiao wonders who it is. The judge remarks afterwards that it is his wife — a new Canadian originally from Greenland!
Being born a Canadian, I don’t know what it feels like to become one. But reading The Day I Became a Canadian, I got a child’s glimpse of what becoming a citizen must be like — a bit of an adventure in discovering oneself in a new identity yet to be forged. As Judge Williamson says, “Very few Canadians share a common past, but all of us share a common future.”
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By: Cheryl Rainfield,
on 12/10/2008
I’ve been seeing more and more ads, the last few years, for books–and feeling good about it.
The other day when I was on the subway, I saw an ad for Tundra Books–all children’s books–with “Season’s Readings” as a slogan. It delighted me. I loved the play on words, but most especially I loved seeing children’s and teen books prominently advertised. I wanted to cheer. Finally, an ad I could actually enjoy. One that didn’t put down women or use their bodies or sex to sell something, one that didn’t pretend to be anything else–it was just…books. Something I could actually enjoy looking at while riding the subway–if I wasn’t reading a book (which I usually do).
I thought there were a bit too many books in the ad for recognition–a lot were listed, showing their covers and the age group beneath each. It made it hard to see from the other side of the subway car, unlike a few ads I’ve seen for one book or one author. But that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of it. It still made me grin.
Have you seen any ads for books around? How do you feel about them? And do you ever read book ads? Do you think they’d prompt you to buy–or read–a book?
Thanks so much, Elizabeth, for that wonderful review. I’m so very glad that you enjoyed the book!
Warm regards,
Bill
Hi Elizabeth,
A very proud big brother writing here, and delighted that you have discovered this remarkable talent who was just the kid in the highchair when I was 10. Like you, I inhale the detail in every book he produces. Such transcendent stuff!
Alas, we are indeed northern border other-siders… but Bill does have a stellar Canadian publishing track record, worth exploring.
Enough,
~ Jim
I know it well. Actually, I was very pleased to see this book prominently displayed in some bookstore windows when I took a trip to Stratford, ON this summer. Clearly he is beloved up there. Let’s see what we can do about transferring some of that love (or, at the very least, recognition).
Loved this immediately and have read it to every storytime and outreach group, booktalked it to other librarians and gotten a few of them to love it. It’s been a hit with everyone I’ve read it to. One of my favorites of the year!