Monday - Special Reading Shared

       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! 

       

            Sometimes we may believe our actions are limited during the constant "staying at home" during this pandemic, but reading this new book by Naomi Shihab Nye shows actions that can happen every time we do go out, and sometimes when we're in. Writing poems is an added experience if you wish to write about your experiences and at the end, Naomi offers lots of ideas and advice for doing that, too!

            In five different sections termed "routes", Naomi reflects on, yes, trash, that seen or picked up during her sojourns outside, and those trips take her, and us readers, all over the world.  A poem by Kamilah Aisha Moon prefaces Nye's introduction writing about taking out the trash and a 'thank you "to those doing this grueling, necessary work." Nye offers memories and advice, sadness when she spies bags thrown into rose bushes, tiny words with admonitions hurled at us. In "Trash Talk" from Route 1: Sweepings, "Let's just throw it away./We can get a new one." And in Route 3: Odds & Ends, a poem titled "Mysteries of Humankind" begins with "One rotten white sock/at Alma's front gate–/we need to talk to Alma."  There are poems and poems and poems, for laughing and crying, but especially for considering one's life and what is being "Cast Away'! I loved every bit and won't forget to take care of what is in my own trash!

Two memoirs, both lovely in very different ways.

       In simple illustrated panels that become more sophisticated as Sylvie Kantorovitz shows her own growing up years, readers see one thread, the early, then later challenges of pleasing her mother who is not often happy with anything. The mother wants Sylvie only to be the best at everything, to make choices that would gain a rich husband, to stop wanting to do art, which will never earn much of anything. Sylvie was born in Morocco in the sixties and as a young child moved to France and lived on the property of an all-boys' school where her father was principal. Her mother seemed angry and sad all the time, perhaps because her husband was really "only" a principal, not a rich man at all. With three siblings, Sylvie shows the love she has for them and as she grows up, her thoughts about art, friendships, a bit of romance, and the hard time at school in math and physics she was made to take. 

        I imagine readers will connect with Sylvie's continuing mixed-up thoughts as she tries hard to figure out what to do with her life. I loved that she shows herself in art slightly more detailed and sophisticated as she grows up! I read only an advanced copy of this story so did not see the color added in the final book. 

        Thanks to Walker Books US, a division of Candlewick Press for the copy!

        From Poland, his native land, all the way to New York City, Uri Shulevitz shares his early life, often unimaginable, small parts sweet. Having hardships in life is never easy for anyone, yet when reading this, or imagining children reading this, I am amazed that Uri managed to survive. 

        Nazis bombed Warsaw, Uri's home, in 1939. He was four and says he didn't understand what was happening, only that they stayed shut up in their apartment trying to keep out the terrifying noise. Eventually, his mother decided they had to go out to buy bread. Nothing was left to eat. As they went to the stairs, a gaping hole went all the way through the stairs. They had to carefully walk a board placed across it. He remembers thinking that the hole reminded him of a hippo he had seen at the zoo who had opened his mouth to yawn. "I was blessed with, or perhaps cursed by, a vivid imagination."

        Thus begins the journey, to escape the Nazis and Poland, through to terrible times in the Soviet lands where they were only sometimes welcomed, but fought hunger constantly and cold, no running water, rarely any toilet but a hole in the ground. There are moments where Uri had to fight street gangs, then others in the few schools he was allowed in. Yet through all the hunger, he clung to small joys, like drawing on walls and the margins of newspapers his father read. When nothing was available, he drew in the dirt with sticks. Uri's words told of the horror, how hungry he was always, standing in a train for hours, sometimes days, to journey on, but always he kept that joy of art. There is so much to his story that will interest children who wonder about survival in such times, but reading might give them an idea how it did happen and Uri's thinking about it. Within this memoir, while also clearly depicting his child self in the thinking, Uri shows the perspective of a grown man when he asks questions at the end of some passages. It creates a unique experience that will captivate all ages.

         Vivid memories bolstered by his father's words written toward the end of his life (as Uri writes in his Afterword) and enlivened by illustrations throughout tell both a grim tale and a celebration of life. 

         Amy Ludwig VanDerwater writes a story for many children whose lives have been split apart through their parents' divorce. Dear Mia has many feelings about her new life, at two different places. Even her cat and dog now live apart! When at her dad's, she misses the way her mom's jokes and throwing the yarn ball at her cat, Luna. At her mom's, she misses her dad's laugh and his cooking. She misses that former "together time", too. One day, at her grandfather's, he gives her a blue notebook and shares how it helps him remember her grandmother. Mia immediately begins to write, first drawing is one of her parents spraying each other with the hose. Morena Forza's drawings in bright colors show Mia's feelings in her journey of this time in her life, those "feel good" and "feel bad" moments that I think readers will love.

         Amy's gift of a story that shows how writing in a notebook to capture treasured memories and feelings about them can help many, adults, too! She adds two pages with lots of ideas for keeping a notebook, a bonus for everyone.

        A young Chinese American girl first speaks of others' eyes, beautiful, but not like hers. Finding beauty in her own eyes, she describes them as the title says: "eyes that kiss in the corners" and then "glow like warm tea". She connects to her mother as well, noting how those eyes are similar to hers and tell her she's "a miracle". Mama's eyes are like Amah's. She knows that Amah's eyes don't work "like they used to", but they are able to see "all the way into my heart". The theme continues, including the younger sister, Mei-Mei, creating the happiest pages that show loving interactions among all the family. I love that there are a few Chinese stories and garden love included. On one page, Dung Ho illustrates with a picture of Guanyin, a deity known for compassion and mercy, sitting on a lotus blossom. Nearby by is the Monkey King. On the opposite page is Amah and the girl, picking lychees. It's hard to describe the beauty of the art as happiness continues in all the permutations as this young girl celebrates all the "eyes that kiss" and the love in her family. I imagine everyone knows of this book but if you haven't seen it, it's a must.

      I suspect when there is something bothering, something sad, reading this book or even taking this idea as one's own, with thanks to Molly Beth Griffin, will be a big help. With Maribel Lechuga's gorgeous illustrations of scene after scene, seeing Lily's and Gram's expressions, the story becomes extra special. For an unexplained reason, it's clear that Lily needs to live with Gram, not a happy thing at all. Lily's hollow chest and other hollow places call for something to fill them up and Gram has just the idea. On this long, sad drive, she calls for a search for ten beautiful things. "Lily gasped. 'There's number one!' she cried." as the sun rises and fills the world with color. Along the way, other hollow spaces don't fill so quickly, but Lily is interested in this game and it helps! Gram spots a wind farm; Lily chooses the smell of mud at a rest stop. It's one special book that's needed for THOSE times 

What's Next: I had the good fortune to receive Oppel's Thrive from NetGalley and have started! Next up is Gary Schmidt's new book, Just Like That. I need to read it because there are no renewals on it! Then on to some of the award winners, of which I have a few! Were you happy with those who were awarded?