A librarian friend of mine mentioned that it's been awhile since I've reviewed a picture book. Oops! I raided the Orono Public Library juvenile new books and came up with enough to do a nice little round up.
Adventure loving kids will find the real life story To Walk The Sky: How Iroquois Steelworkers Helped Build Towering Cities (by Patricia Morris Buckley) fascinating. Can you imagine working hundreds of feet in the air balanced on a narrow steel where one slip could be fatal? I think you'll agree that's not for the faint of heart.
Buckley shares the history of the skywalkers from over a century ago when those were the few jobs through which a Mohawk man could support a family to the present when native men and women practice this profession in cities in America and Canada. It's a very personal narrative for her. Her great grandfather died in a bridge collapse that took the lives 78 of the 86 men who were working on it. Her family was involved in commemorating the tragedy a hundred years later.
Dynamic illustrations by the great E. B. Lewis combine with text to celebrate the bravery of these skilled workers.
Do your children enjoy helping out in the kitchen and take pride in seeing other people enjoy their creations? By all means add Jose Feeds The World to their reading 📚 menu.
Jose was born in Spain. At a very early age he began to help his parents prepare food for family and friends. Not surprisingly, given his passion, he went to culinary school and became a chef. Moving to America, became a restaurant owner famous for his innovations.
He was also volunteering at a soup kitchen. When Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in 2010 he went over to help and embarked on a highly innovative second career.
Moth is a perfect book for science loving kids. It introduces the complex concepts of evolution, natural selection, and adaptation through the story of the peppered moth which comes in two varieties: light and dark. It shows how events like the industrial revolution affect each variety's ability to camouflage and live long enough to reproduce and pass on genes.
Daniel Egneus's are vibrant and dynamic. The ones of lots of moths are absolutely breathtaking.
This book was suggested to me by a mother who had just enjoyed it with her own kids.
Kelly Crull's The Black Mambas is most definitely a book for older kids who read 📚 independently. The story of the world's first all-woman anti-poaching units, it's a good fit for budding feminists and kids who care about endangered species.
Crull was an advocate for animals since before he started school. With his mother's help he painted a mural of animals in danger of extinction. You can tell how excited he must have been to meet some of these animals in real life (he did the photos as well as the narrative) and interview their protectors. The book radiates enthusiasm, determination, and hope.
Readers get a real sense of the Black Mambas' day to day patrolling the West Nature Reserve and protecting and sometimes healing its inhabitants. They also learn the history of this unit and the stereotypes the women had to overcome.
"Our families weren't as excited as we were. "They wondered if women could do a job that has always been done by men. They wondered what other people would think. They wondered if we would be safe."
Crull hopes that The Black Mambas will motivate children to commit to the protection of endangered in their own neighborhoods as well as in more exotic locations. He gives some really great advice:
"The first and most important step to protect wildlife is to get to know our wild neighbors. Look for them. Learn their names. Find out where they live, what they eat, when their bedtime is, how they have fun, and who their friends and family are. The more you know about your neighbors, the more you will care about them. Ask grown-ups what you can do to help your neighbors grow and stay safe. Keep asking until someone answers your questions."
And remember towns and cities play host to a rich variety of urban wildlife.
How Sweet The Sound is another one for the older kids. And it's one of those books it would be a sin to read only silently in your head. I read it out loud to my wing cat precious Tobago.
"Listen to the fireside chorus
of the motherland
to the talking drums
dancing beneath the golden sun
that beat a bold tapestry of yesterday's sorrows
and tomorrow's dreams."
The incomparable Kwame Alexander's narrative in verse and the vivid, vibrant illustrations of talented newcomer Charly Palmer combine to tell the rich story of Black music in this country from the days when rich whites were building their wealth on the unpaid labor of kidnapped slaves (while paying lip service to the notion of all men being created equal) to today.
"Listen to the Quiet Storm
to the fast-paced rhythm of the Street Life
to the corner cries and croons
of freedom and love
of Happy Feelin's
that keep lifting you higher
because Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
In the Musical Notes at the back of the book readers get background on each stage in this history. The names of many musicians are included, making it possible to make the eras come more vividly to life by listening to the music.
Sounds to me like a good family project.
Colleen Paeff's Firefly Song (illustrated beautifully by Ji-Hyuk Kim) is another parent recommended book. It's a beautiful testimony to the idea that experts don't always know all there is to know and that sometimes persistent questions are right.
As a child Lynn spent her summers in the Great Smoky Mountains. She spent idyllic days swimming, hunting for treasures, and, after dusk, watching fireflies. After she grew up, married, and had children of her own her family spent summer weeks every year in the family cabin...
...where firefly watching continued to be one of the main attractions. Lynn began to notice a different kind of firefly that flashed and went dark in sync. When she tried to find information on them the authorities she relied on--the library, the park rangers, and the University of Tennessee entomologists--were no help...
...but Lynn knows what she sees. And she doesn't give up.
Firefly Song is not just a read and put down book. It gives young firefly fans instructions on how to spot, catch, and release fireflies and how to create a firefly friendly habitat.
Picture books often do an excellent job of addressing social justice issues. Lita Judge's Old Blue Is My Home is ideal for teaching young readers and listeners about the housing insecurity that is affecting way too many children and families in the richest nation in the world.
The narrator, her sister, her parents, and their cat and dog all live in a blue van. They all sleep in the back which also doubles as a living room in inclement weather. Cooking is done outside.
Sometimes, especially when school is in session, she feels that she's "from everywhere and belong nowhere." Someday she hopes that she and her family will have a forever home.
Judge based the book on her childhood experiences. Her family led a nomadic lifestyle in remote parts of states like Alaska. Although there were temporary houses, the only dependable home she knew was an old blue van.
This is an excellent book for a family to read together. An excellent follow-up activity would be to brainstorm which of your daily activities would be difficult or impossible if you had to live in a motor vehicle.
Where The Deer Slip Through is a perfect bedtime story to help young children make the transition from busy day to restful slumber. Katie Howes has set the stage as a farm set among rolling hills. One by one she introduces nocturnal visitors: the deer who slip through from the woods, the rabbits who squeeze through, the lizards who creep through...I'm really glad bats are included because too many people are needlessly afraid of them.
Beth Krommes' intricate illillustrations provide the perfect ambiance for the narrative. And especially attentive kids will be able to find creatures not mentioned.
I hope that parents of younger children enjoyed this roundup. I'll do my best to not neglect the picture book set in the future.
On a purrrsonal note, I normally post on odd numbered day. But since I'll be in deep woods at camp tomorrow I'm posting early tonight.
A great big shout out goes out to all the authors and illustrators who are creating gorgeous and memorable picture books for today's children and the loving parents who read to their beloved sons and daughters.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
