Today's Memory Monday takes me back — way back. I remember each of these picture books from early grade school. These are books that I first heard when my teacher read them to the class. I loved them so much I read them later on my own, but then I forgot all about them. Something reminded me of them, and I searched for both of them for a long time before I finally found them.
The first was the easiest to find — The Mitten by Jan Brett. A little boy loses his mitten in the woods, and various animals in the forest use it for shelter. I believe this book was my first real experience with the suspension of disbelief. I distinctly remember thinking to myself that what was happening simply wasn't possible. There was no way these animals could all fit inside this mitten, especially when they all start cramming in there together. But then I remember making the conscious decision to like the book anyway, and just pretend for a moment that it was possible, and I was then able to enjoy the story. What can I say, I tend to over think things.
The next book took a lot longer to find, because I didn't remember anything about the title, I just knew it was about a Christmas tree that kept getting its top chopped off over and over, because each piece was just a tiny bit to big for its new home. I was beyond thrilled when I finally found the title again. Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry. I used to examine the tops of our Christmas trees every year after I read this book, looking for that bend in the top that meant we would need to clip it off. I never got to though, and I'm pretty sure I was awfully disappointed about it...
Do any of you have a favorite winter or Christmas picture book? Or a favorite winter read now? I'd love to hear about them!
This is my review, and BTW, I'm totally going to spoil the ending... You have been warned.
Liam the Leprechaun by Charles A. Wilkinson is a short book, only 46 pages, with pictures placed throughout. I accepted this book for review because it looked like a fun, cute story that I could sit down and read with my nephews (ages barely 3 and almost 5) who already love books. (Yay! Big smile). When I received the book, I was excited, but quickly realized my nephews probably wouldn't enjoy the story. There are full pages of text with only a few pictures placed in between (7 pictures total). I was a little disappointed it wasn't going to work to read with the boys, but excited to read it nonetheless because I'm not too old to admit that I still like a good picture book.
But, I didn't really like it. I feel bad saying that, because most of the story was fun. It's a little bit wordy and repetitive, but overall, that wasn't too much of a problem. I think the writing is on the level of those I-Can-Read-Books, designed for kids who are just beginning to read on their own. So, the writing wasn't a problem for me, but the story itself, was.
I enjoyed the beginning of the book. Liam was a sweet little guy, who desperately wanted to fit in with the rest of the leprechauns. But his problem? He's short... Even for a leprechaun and no one notices him. Watching Liam attempt to find his place within the leprechaun society was endearing and he finally decides to seek out the wise, almost mystical O'Hoolihan to figure out what he can do to make a place for himself.
He takes 'Hooley's' advice, and begins to see an improvement. He's given a job finding lost things that are too small for normal sized leprechauns to see. I thought this was a great solution to his problem and was excited for the resolution, where Liam is so happy to be himself, because no one can contribute what he can and all that great stuff. But, that didn't happen.
Liam helps the department he works for find the missing emerald of Mzzzzzz. GloccaMoora McShaughnessy, daughter of the local judge, and a dumpy, screaming harpy/feminist. I'm not making this up. In two pages, she's described as having a rusty voice, screaming eyes, a voice like a worse than a Banshee, a terror, beady eyes and more. And on and on and on. But wait! Liam finds her missing emerald. Moora's daddy, the judge decides to reward him for ending the horridness that is Moora displeased, and has Moora give him a gold coin. And then, MAGIC!
Liam magically grows 8 inches taller, and Moora drops 20 lbs, and with another coin — 8 more inches and 20 more lbs. Somehow, this also makes her less shrewish and she becomes all sugary sweetness, and she and Liam are able to live happily ever after (or so it implies). So what lesson can we take from this people? No matter how useful you are, who you are isn't good enough if you don't fit the 'norm' and women who believe that men trying to put them in their "place" because we are "only a lass" and try to develop a "sense of themselves" as women are going to be labeled 'banshee' link or something otherwise horribly degrading and will never be able to find a husband, so you'd better get nice fast. (quoted from pg. 27)
I'm sure I'm reading more into their 'transformation' than was meant, but seriously. What else are you supposed to think?! It annoyed me that a book meant to teach you about accepting yourself and trusting in your heart instead teaches that you can't truly be great until you have changed who you are.
There will be people who enjoy this book, who really like and appreciate it, I'm sure, but I'm not one of them. I'll look for my moralistic stories in Stephen Cosgrove's Serendipity books (a favorite from childhood).
*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick won the Caldecott Medal in 2008. As I'm sure most of you are aware, the Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American Picture Book for Children. It's akin to receiving the Newbery Award for children's books, or the Printz Award for young adult.
Hugo Cabret was an especially interesting win for the Caldecott, because although it does contain a lot of beautiful illustrations (284 in a 533 pg. book) it's a 533 page novel. The front jacket describes this as a book "combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film" which "breaks open the novel form to create an entirely new reading experience."
The dust jacket does not lie. Reading this book was unlike anything else I've ever read and it was wonderful. I was hooked from the first page, "A Brief Introduction by Professor H. Alcofrisbas" to the last page as we visually watch the moon as it disappears from the sky. The illustrations are... beyond brilliant. Designed to look like sketches, they are surprisingly complex and deceptively simple. As I mentioned in my review of American Born Chinese I am increasingly shocked by what you can portray and how much story you can tell with just one picture.
The story itself was wonderful. Hugo Cabret is a wonderful character just trying to find his place in life. He is a young boy living alone in the middle of Paris in the 1930s, trying desperately to survive. He has no money, but he feels bad every time he is forced to steal something to survive. He is such a good character. He is so confused and desperately searching for something tangible to bring him hope. I loved the secondary characters as well. Questioning and spunky Isabelle, hurting and bitter old Georges, and loving and protective Jeanne. Each of the characters are incredibly well developed. Even the minor characters are given more depth than we normally see.
This book was marvelous. It's definitely one that I am going to want on my own shelf sometime soon. It's beautifully illustrated and wonderfully written. This is a book that can be enjoyed by people of any age, at any stage of their life. I'm enjoyed reading this one so much, that I am definitely looking forward to seeing what else Mr. Selznick has to offer the literary world.
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang won the Printz Award in 2007. Before picking up this book, I had never before read a graphic novel, so I didn't quite know what to expect. I was hopeful though, because I had been hearing a lot of really great things about it. So, what did I think?
I was pleasantly surprised that I really enjoyed reading this as a graphic novel. The illustrations really added a lot to the reading. I don't know why, but I expected the illustrations to be a nice addition to the story, but not necessary to the story itself. I started reading it that way to, giving the illustrations only a cursory glance. It didn't take me long to realize that I was missing a lot of the story that way, so I slowed down and gave each page of illustrations as much attention as I gave the words. And all I can say is, Wow! It amazed me how much emotion and action you can get across to the reader in one small frame. That one illustration is able to convey an emotion or message, thought or feeling in just seconds, while it would have taken several sentences or a paragraph to give that same feeling using only words.
I really liked the graphic novel aspect and will definitely be searching out more in the future. However, I had also heard a lot of positive comments from people who simply gushed about this book. This was harder for me, because I didn't love this book the way so many others seemed to. The book uses three seemingly unrelated storylines to tell us our story. It begins with my favorite of the three, the tale of the Monkey King. He becomes a master of all sorts of Kung Fu, but is unhappy because the other gods will not accept him as an equal, no matter what he does, because he is a monkey, not a man. Next, we meet our main character, Jin Wang. He struggles to find his place, just wanting to fit in and be accepted for who he is. The final storyline (and my least favorite) is young Danny and his cousin Chin-Kee. Danny is the all-american high schooler; good looking, basketball player (bla bla bla) while Chin-Kee is the epitome of the negative Chinese stereotype.
The three stories are told individually, and at first there doesn't seem to be any connection between the three. As we approach the end of the book, the three story lines do pull together to create one larger story. I really liked the idea of pulling all three story lines together, but didn't love the way it happened. Almost all my disappointment in this novel revolves around the Danny and Chin-Kee storyline. I just feel that I missed a little bit of what they were actually trying to say. I understood the message and the importance of that segment, but there are a few details left over that weren't really clear to me. I don't want to ruin the ending, so I won't specify but a little more clarity would have been nice. A few things at the end just seemed to happen. Almost like they popped out of nowhere. (I'm looking at you Wei-Chen) Some of it was just a little too much for me to comfortably grasp, and I wasn't really able to give it the necessary suspension of disbelief in its entirety.
Overall, I must say that I did really enjoy American Born Chinese. It was a very interesting glimpse of what it must be like to grow up different from everyone around you, especially when it's very likely they already have a preconceived (negative) notion about you. There are a lot of life lessons hinted at in this book that many people would do well to learn.
Anyone else read this one? Tell me what you think!
Calamity Jack by Shannon and Deal Hale is the sequel to their first graphic novel, Rapunzel's Revenge, which Misty reviewed yesterday. I picked up Rapunzel's Revenge a while ago, because I had just finished reading some of Shannon's other books, and I loved them. When I went to the library to grab the copy on reserve, I was shocked to see that it was a graphic novel. I hadn't read any previously and wasn't interested in starting. But, I was in a hurry and my indecisiveness made me hesitate long enough that I decided I would just take the copy for now, and bring it back later. But, I was bored, still had the book and started to read it. And, I read it in one sitting because I found it to be positively delightful.
So, when I heard that they were writing a sequel told from Jack's perspective, I knew I had to read it. And it was just as delightfully fun as the first novel! Jack and Rapunzel have a great relationship. Their banter and the way they play off of each other never fails to make me laugh. This is Jack's story of climbing up the beanstalk and taking on the giants. Where Rapunzel's story was mostly in the wild's of the west, Jack's story puts us right in the middle of the industrial city.
Jack is a crazy character. He's mischievous, tricksy, and a lot less devious than he thinks he is. He fancies himself a bit of a criminal genius, but he's rather a bit more of a bumbler, who sometimes gets lucky. But, when Rapunzel is with him, with her crazy awesome hair and hard-core butt kicking abilities, things usually go much smoother.
I will admit that I didn't like this book as much as I liked Rapunzel's Revenge. I truly enjoyed it, I laughed just as much as before, but there was just a little something missing for me. It just wan't quite... there, the way that Rapunzel's story was for me. But it's definitely worth the read, especially if you read and enjoyed Rapunzel's story.
I will say that both of these books are awesome for reluctant readers. They are both fast paced, the dialogue is perfect and the drawings are fabulous. I am much more open to reading graphic novels after reading these books because when done right, the pictures add a whole new layer of depth and you catch nuances that weren't there before.
