A Last Monday of 2020 - Special Books

     Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and 

  

Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they and others have been reading! Your TBR lists will grow! Happy Reading!

          I read a lot of picture books last week to try to meet my goal on Goodreads and I'm close! Clearly, I have not read as much this year, or I could say I've read a lot, but it's also included many magazines, about politics, short fiction, etc. - not books!

            This will be my last post before the new year. I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday. No matter the way you celebrate, may it be joyful! I am grateful for your support this year and your inspiration that made my book lists grow, but with the happiest of reading.

          First - among many, sharing these older and favorite Christmas books. 

        I just ran out of time to read a chapter book this week, but I'm taking time to choose what's next of a stack of special middle grade and young adult ones that are waiting. That's my Christmas gift to me! Here are some picture books I loved this week.

              I cannot really know what a black child feels about his life, but I can try through reading words like the heartfelt/heart-rending ones in this poem by Zetta Elliott. Opening with these words where hiding is "a space deep down inside of me /where all my feelings hide", we are invited to experience the deep emotions of "joy" when skateboarding, but then comes "sorrow" as another police shooting occurs in his community. The seasons arc over his life as well, from the summer fun, the fall into winter including "fear" and "anger", ending with some resolution in "pride" and "peace". The fabulous debut of illustrator Noa Denmon shows all the power, and beauty, of this child's emotions in his life. On some pages, there are people in the background, showing his "pride" of those, his people, who came before. I recognize a few, but not all, and wish there was a page naming them. I enjoyed the mix of hues, the change of designs that Denmon used, to good effect when weaving the poem's lines on each page. Sometimes there are double-page scenes; other times, there are comic-book cells. It's a book to remember, one to help black children understand the emotions that have taken a toll generation after generation.

      One small mystery, the cat that appears on most pages. From a few scenes, I guess it belongs to this boy, but I don't know. It is something I noticed.

 

         It's a darling cat whose antics are shown in alphabetical rhymes by Cylin Busby, filled with bookstore details by Charles Santoso. I work at a used bookstore, but it is volunteer-run only, thus no one person who comes in every day to take care of a cat. It is tempting anyway to have such a multi-personality cat in the store. Cylin Busby writes he's "Intelligent" and "Quick", "Thirsty", "Gorgeous", yet also "Humble". Aside from the many, many books on shelves, Santosa shows a diverse group of adults and children interacting with the cat along with hilarious antics of this sweet "Bookstore Cat". What a fun book!

           You can see it's a sunset with the rising moon, thus bedtime for one young girl, that one in red you see in that window on the cover. She shares her questions as she wanders. What's above and below? She discovers that her ceiling is someone else's floor, her floor is another one's ceiling. And she says it's okay. Page after page fill up with more detailed views of the building's interior, fascinating details by this author/illustrator Kasya Denisevich every time I turn the page. Also, each page has what appears to be her red stuffy.  While the girl is preparing for bed, we realize that many others are doing their evening things. She's wondering and next morning, meets one of those neighbors, another girl. As they walk off to school, she wonders what her classmates are like. A story that might inspire some other child's wondering about their own neighbors will be great to read to a class.

         I love Jon Muth's stories starring Stillwater and wisest of words, but there are others, like Old Turtle and Stone Soup. Now there is a new book about Addy with Stillwater based on the Buddist tale of the mustard seed. Muth wrote and illustrated this book, with clear brief words and those clear illustrated messages. Addy's dear, dear cat, Trumpet, has been hit by a car and died. Addy knows that Stillwater helps solve problems so she runs to him for help. Muth writes in a letter at the end is that this comes from the Buddha, from the 1st century, BCE, and probably older.

          Stillwater sends Addy off to borrow a cup of sugar in order to make a special medicine for her, but it must be from someone in the neighborhood that has not recently suffered from a death. I imagine you will guess what happens next, but it is a book for all of us this year, a story that will be beautiful to read together, whether you are fortunate enough to be with someone, or can do it online. it's a wonderful story to share together.

 

         And if you know and love all of Jon Muth's books, here is a companion 'gift' book you will also love. It is full of sayings from Zen Buddism paired with different paintings from Muth's "Zen" books. There are twelve, a beautiful gift for anyone or one to have in the classroom if you've already introduced the other books to students. This year, this book will fill a part of the happiness needed.  

             From an acclaimed author, Maria Wernicke, in Argentina, and talented illustrator (and translator), Lawrence Schimel, from Spain, comes a book about searching for a way to find someone that has died. This time, mother and daughter hang laundry while the daughter tells of a passage that only sometimes is open. The pages show the girl playing happily with her father, but then he's gone. The mother shares that it may not be easy to find, but they can always look. In the simplest of words and illustrations, time moves through the moments of the child and the mother, the happiness found through that "passage", the loving support. It may be a just-right book for someone you know who has had a loss this year. I found it lovely.

          Long ago, my husband and I saw the Harlem Globetrotters and they were fabulous! Suzanne Slade brief text tells the story nearly in motion like the players, starting with boys in Chicago's South Side, through years of play and recruiting, tours in small U.S. country towns, finally leading to tours all over the world. A few highlights include their win over the all-white Minnesota Lakers. Not long after, teams began to recruit black players. Don Tate's illustrations barely allow these Globetrotters to sit. They're always dribbling that ball, twirling it on one finger, making one-handed dunk shots. Some of the players are named, but most of the story is the long history and the opening page is a timeline! Letters at the back from Slade and Tate give some added interesting information. 

         Children who read this and want more, they can find it on the internet, including some brief clips of the team in action on YouTube. They've canceled a world tour because of the pandemic, but there are dates shown about resuming in 2021. 

Happy Reading!