It's Monday - New Books & Old

 

         

    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!

    I have quite a lot to share but the snowstorm in Denver, south and north and east, kept me busy. We had about a foot, and it'll be around fifty degrees all week, the melting time! It was very wet and heavy, did a lot of damage to trees, thus some lost electricity. My area was fine. Our lines are underground!

        I finally found time to finish the new Richard Osman mystery, We Solve Murders. What a delightful group of the good and the bad, a complicated plot that takes readers all over the world. The many-layered characters, even the ones Osman indicates we'll meet again, are not always perfect, yet bring new ways to look at lives being lived, whether honest or dishonest. If you've enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club books, you'll enjoy this fresh group who do "solve murders"! In the acknowledgment, there is a promise for a return to the older group, too, AND more from this new one! 

        I am laughing at myself because I grabbed this book from my library's shelf, loving Blue-Footed Boobies, and wanted to see what Nancy Vo had to say! No, I didn't know until I read it that it isn't about them at all but about mammary glands and other related things. It's an enticing picture book for younger readers that will entertain, educate, and delight. Nancy Vo keeps the information clear and the child-friendly illustrations close to reality. She starts with the fun fact that Blue-Footed Boobies don't have boobies at all. They're avian, not mammalian, thus begins the explanations of where and why, and how many, all about "boobies" or none. Children wondering about their bodies and changes that will happen with growing older will have an excellent first look at them, in addition to learning about various other animals and plants, with or without boobies! I enjoyed it, but I will have to discover another book about those Blue-Footed Boobies I love!

          Cary Fagan, the author, grew up in Belgium, but his journey of escape during the Nazi invasion kept him out of school, fleeing with his family to Paris, through Spain to Portugal, then, fortunately, across the ocean to a refugee camp in Jamaica. He's created HIS story by telling of a boy named Maurice who has a goal to become a lawyer, but he is not getting to be in school and is very worried about his learning. He finds a professor to teach him and eventually becomes a fine student who is accepted to a college in Canada. His English dictionary that you see him holding on the cover illustration becomes a tool for his life.

         It's a powerful graphic novel illustrated by Enzo Lord Mariano, who uses lights and darks with subtle changes of emotion and scenery to show times spent both happily and in danger. Maurice is courageous and does not quit learning and pushing for better. 

          There is a poignant author's note at the back about Cary Fagan's family, with pictures of them and that fabulous, special dictionary! 

        

           Janna Matthies writes a cumulative, rhyming tale of a young girl telling of her own "towering tree". The girl's voice speaks of the birds, the bees, the squirrels and more, with a few surprises surrounding it. "In my yard's a towering tree./It reaches high to cover me." Ashley Wolff's fabulous illustrations bring us right inside with all the celebration of this tree. 

          I had a tree called "my tree" when I grew up, planted by my grandfather, thus connecting especially to this loving story. We placed a small seat up in the tree where I spent many an hour watching from above, or reading, or "being", just as this young girl tells about in her own tree in this poetic story.  

        Yes, this is a re-read. It was a donation at the bookstore and I brought it home to read again. In these recent political attacks, it feels right to read one lovely story of a family, and their young girl when she arrives in the US. There is much to learn and eventually, much to love. My full review is here!

            It's a treasure of a book celebrating a special time between a Daddy and his daughter. They rise early and get to their horses, the beautiful Power, Daddy's horse, and Clover, the daughter's pony. Stephanie Seales shows the love of these animals and the excitement of the young girl getting to have this ride through town with her Daddy. We learn how they get ready and what they see as the sky changes from midnight black to deep ocean blue and the "layered cake" of blue as the sun comes up. It's a "just us" story many kids would be fortunate to have and the joy is seen on every page from C.G. Esperanza's gorgeous illustrations! It's filled with happiness all the way through! 

Next! The Hotel Balzaar - Kate DiCamillo