By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: February 7, 2012

Over and Under the Snow

By Kate Messner; illustrated by Christpher Silas Neal

As a child skis down a mountain with her dad and spots a red squirrel disappearing down a crack, she asks the question: “Where did he go?” To which her dad responds: “Under the snow.” The little girl’s world suddenly expands as her mind is opened to a whole new natural world. Messner’s text appeals to the senses and her author’s note is educational and encourages children to take in their surrounding on their next snowy adventure. Neal’s mixed media illustrations have retro appeal and capture the wintery scenery well with the combination of cool colors and earthy tones. Animal, nature and science entusiasts will love this book—especially the facts provided in the back of the book about all of the animals featured in the story. (Ages 5-8. Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC)

Razzle-Dazzle Ruby

By Masha D’yans

Masha D’yans’ fantastical debut book Razzle-Dazzle Ruby is charmingly artistic. The illustrations are moving—literally. Every page of this novelty picture book offers a playful and enticing wintery wonderland for young readers to lose themselves in. Visit: www.razzledazzleruby.com (Ages 4-8. Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.)

I Am Small

By Emma Dodd

With an icy cold backdrop and splashes of shimmery silver on every second page, a little penguin manages to cope with the big obstacles in life—deep ocean and steep mountains—because of his mother’s warm love. Sweet with its repetitive text, I Am Small is a delightful little tale for mothers to share with their young ones. (Ages 0-3. Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.)

The Tree House

By Marije Tolman and Ronald Tolman

The Tree House is a wordless and imaginative wonder that enchants readers with its wide array of characters (Bears, pandas, rhinos, and birds of many feathers) that visit a tree house located in what seems to be the middle of nowhere.  Each character is so different, yet they all manage to co-exist in the marvelous tree house. Pastel and mid-hue colors splash across beautiful double-page spreads of mixed media that emphasize the differences between the various animals and highlight the bonds of friendship that form. A delicate but powerful message awaits those who choose to ponder the elegance of this treasure. (Ages 3-5. Publisher: Lemniscaat USA)

Little Bea and the Snowy Day

By Daniel Roode

Daniel Roode has created a pitch-perfect, playful day in the snow. The full-color art created with Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop splashes brightly and lightly (the snowflakes gently flurry down) across every page. Large text and descriptive words evoke the senses so much that readers can easily imagine themselves playing along with Little Bea and her friends. When the day is over, Little Bea makes plans to see her friends tomorrow; my guess is that your little reader (or listener) will also be making plans for tomorrow: plans to read this book over-and-over-and-over again! (Ages 2-5. Publisher: HarperCollins)

Brave Irene

By William Steig

Those who are fans of award-winning William Steig will be excited to know that Brave Irene (the 1986 New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year) has been rereleased in paperback. When Irene’s mother falls ill, Irene braves the harsh winter storm and its yodelling wind to deliver a dress to the duchess who lives over the mountain. Steig’s story showcases perseverance and the wonderful bond between a mother and her daughter. As the pages turn, the illustrations become progressively darker in tone adding dramatics to the entertaining text, before they lighten and brighten for the happy ending. A *cool* choice for winter reading. (Ages 4-8. Publisher: Square Fish)

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

By Nina Schuyler, The Children’s Book Review
Published: January 27, 2012

Coral Reefs

By Jason Chin

Reading level: Ages 5 and up

Hardcover: 40 pages

Publisher: Flash Point (October 25, 2011)

Source: Publisher

What to expect: Science, Nature, Biology, Marine life, Water

Jason Chin does something pretty wonderful in his nonfiction book, Coral Reefs: He hasn’t forgotten the wild imagination of a kid.

What makes Coral Reefs unique is that along with loads of interesting information, he’s included colorful watercolor illustrations that tell their own story. In a sense he is blurring the boundary between fiction and nonfiction. The result is something completely engaging. And this hybrid form dishes out just enough facts without overwhelming. So you learn that though coral reefs may look like plants, they’re actually animals; and at the same time, the pictures, which often take up more than half the page, tell the story of a girl who goes to the library and picks up a book about coral reefs.

Illustration copyright © 2011 by Jason Chin

You learn coral reefs are the largest structures built by an animal on earth! The Belize barrier reef is over 180 miles long!; and at the same time, the illustrations show the girl’s world transforming, with the library slipping away and turning into coral, along with sea plants and fish. “There are so many species living in reefs that they are often called the cities of the sea,” writes Chin. And the water whooshes into the library, and the girl is swept up on a wave that carries with it octopus, sea turtles, fish and more coral. Very quickly, the girl is floating underwater, exploring and learning about the city of the sea. It’s a city, Chin tells us, with “a complex web of relationships, and each has its own place in the system.”

“There are so many species living in reefs that they are often called the cities of the sea,”

After you’ve fallen in love with coral reefs and the teeming life that calls it home—“More than four thousand kinds of fish and thousands of other species have been discovered in coral reefs—more than in any other part of the ocean”—after he’s completely hooked you, Chin has bad news. The reefs, just like so many other living things, are threatened by pollution and over-fishing. Thankfully, he gives a list of things you can do to help. You can—and you’ll want to—form a relationship with the reefs.

Add this book to your collection: Coral Reefs

Nina Schuyler‘s first novel, The Painting, (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill/2004), was a finalist for the Northern California Book Awards. It was also selected by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the Best Books for 2004 and a “Great Debut from 2004″ by the Rocky Mountain News. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco and is working on a third novel.

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

Reading level: Ages 7-10

Add this book to your collection: Bad Kitty for President

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Video courtesy of MacmillanChildrens: “It’s election season! The cats on Main Street are split along party lines. Will Bad Kitty really be elected to run the Neighborhood Cat Coalition? Is she up for the task? With more than 3.2 million books in print, Nick Bruel’s Bad Kitty is taking the chapter book world by storm… and now its time to get out the vote! Visit badkittybooks.com to play games, collect books, and watch hilarious video of Bad Kitty running amuck!”

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

By Nina Schuyler, The Children’s Book Review
Published: December 29, 2011

The Woods

By Paul Hoppe

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Hardcover: 44 pages

Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 4, 2011)

Source: Publisher

What to expect: Bedtime, Boys, Animals, Fear, Emotions

A good story finds some way to surprise. In Paul Hoppe’s The Woods, the narrator, a small boy, has lost his bunny and can’t go to sleep without it. In the first pleasing surprise, the boy doesn’t look in the obvious places. No, he must gather his supplies and look for his bunny in the woods.

There, he immediately encounters “a BIG, SCARY, BROWN BEAR!” Of course there are echoes here of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, but this is tamer, gentler, milder. The bear turns out not to be scary at all.  The bear is “just afraid of the dark.” So the boy shares his night-light with him. (You’ve got this nice sharing element threading through the story line). The logic is set—stereotypes will be turned on their heads. The bear and the boy next encounter two scary giants, who turn out to be bored. So the boy shares his bedtime story with them. And so the journey goes.

Illustration copyright © 2011 by Paul Hoppe

In the same way the story turns on itself, so do the pictures. On one page, a picture of a big scary bear with huge teeth and claws; on the next, the bear is small, subdued, sitting on a log, looking frightened. The fire-breathing triple-headed dragon takes up more than half the page when you first encounter it. But on the next page, when we learn the dragon just suffers from a stomachache, it is drawn small, with droopy necks. The picture of the big, hairy, scary monster at the end is quite beautiful, done in watercolor blues with huge white teeth and big eyes and claws. By the end, the bunny is found, the monsters subdued and transformed (one more great surprise here!) and the boy can finally go to sleep.

Add this book to your collection: The Woods

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Nina Schuyler‘s first novel, The Painting, (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill/2004), was a finalist for the Northern California Book Awards. It was also selected by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the Best Books for 2004 and a “Great Debut from 2004″ by the Rocky Mountain News. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco and is working on a third novel.

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: November 8, 2011

Whether you prefer animals as loveable yet zany characters who talk or as a species that live in the natural world, these entertaining books teach children about both fantasy and science. You’ll have a beastly good time reading with these funny, furry creatures that might inspire a life-long interest in nature. Let the wild rumpus commence.

School for Bandits

by Hannah Shaw

School for Bandits by Hannah Shaw is a fun romp with a little raccoon who wants to be a fine scholar yet enrolls in a school plagued by ruffians where “no niceness is allowed.” Check out the trailer for a sneak peek at the high jinx that ensues. (Ages 5-8)

A Cat Like That

by Wendy Wahman

A Cat Like That by Wendy Wahman details all the many benefits of having a furry feline friend. Pay close attention to the traits a cat looks for in a devoted companion in this lovely trailer. (Ages 4-7)

The Incredible Life of Balto

By Meghan McCarthy

The Incredible Life of Balto by Meghan McCarthy is the true story of the heroic dog who braved the freezing journey from Nenana to Nome to deliver a serum for the diphtheria epidemic of 1925. See a video about his great Alaskan adventure and for everything you ever wanted to know about Balto, check out McCarthy’s tribute page to the famous pooch. (Ages 5-8)

A Zeal of Zebras: An Alphabet of Collective Nouns

By WOOP Studios

WOOP Studios has famously brought us all manner of Harry Potter graphic design, but they have something new in store: A Zeal of Zebras: An Alphabet of Collective Nouns. A winning combination of cool design and fun animal facts will make you shout a wild woop for this A-Z safari! (Ages 6-9)

The Pet Shop Revolution

By Ana Juan

Ana Juan’s Mina boldly leads The Pet Shop Revolution with a charge to aid the miserable animals caged by their cruel owner. Her illustrations are curiously inventive, just as in her earlier works Frida and The Night Eater. This picture book makes you feels as if you’ve entered another dimension, one where life imitates art. (Ages 5-8)

Around the World on Eighty Legs

By Amy Gibson; illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

The good-natured animals in Around the World on Eighty Legs (illustrated with great panache by Daniel Salmieri) shake their tail feathers with glee at Amy Gibson’s funny verses. With clever poems and lively pictures, this one comes highly recommended. (Ages 4-8)

The Pig Scramble

By Jessica Kinney; illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen

Sweetly inspired by her husband’s experience growing up on a dairy farm in Maine, Jessica Kinney wrote The Pig Scramble for him. Uncle Leon offers encouragement to his nephew Clarence, the youngest of three who often feels left behind by his older and more capable brothers. Sarah S. Brannen’s illustrations perfectly capture life on a New England farm. (Ages 5-8)

Curious Critters

By David FitzSimmons

David FitzSimmons’s truly impressive photographs of Curious Critters seem so real it’s as if you’re holding the animals in your hands. The white background and magnified dimensions will show children in stunning detail what these animals really look like- up close and personal. (Ages 4-8)

Who Has These Feet?

By Laura Hulbert; illustrated by Erik Brooks

Who Has These Feet? by Laura Hulbert and illustrated by Erik Brooks will fascinate little ones just learning about polar bears, tree frogs, parrots, geckos, and kangaroos. A wonderfully interactive selection especially recommended for squirmy, reluctant readers. (Ages 3-7)

Nicki Richesin is the editor of four anthologies,What I Would Tell Her: 28 Devoted Dads on Bringing Up, Holding On To, and Letting Go of Their Daughters; Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers Reflect on the Mother-Daughter Bond; Crush: 26 Real-Life Tales of First Love; and The May Queen: Women on Life, Work, and Pulling it all Together in your Thirties. Her anthologies have been excerpted and praised in The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, Redbook, Parenting, Cosmopolitan, Bust, Salon, Daily Candy, and Babble.

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

Add this book to your collection: I Want My Hat Back

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Add this book to your collection: Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman

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©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

Author Showcase

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: September 22, 2011

F. Isabel Campoy and  Alma Flor Ada recently published Ten Little Puppies/Diez perritos, a bilingual bonanza!

F. Isabel Campoy

F. Isabel Campoy is a scholar devoted to the study of language acquisition. She is a well-known author of numerous children’s books in the areas of poetry, theatre, folktales, biographies, and art. She is the recipient of many notable awards, including the Reading the World Award 2004, for “Cuentos que contaban nuestras abuelitas;” and the Junior Library Guild Premier Selection Award, 2006.

Alma Flor Ada

Alma Flor Ada is an internationally published children’s book author. She is the recipient of several prestigious honors, including the Pura BelprÉ Award, the Christopher Award, the JosÉ MartÍ World Award, and the Museum of Tolerance Award.

TCBR: Hispanic culture and bilingual education are both topics that are important to you. Can you share a little on your background and how you became a children’s book writer?

Alma Flor Ada: Culture prepares us to understand the world around us. All cultures evolve, and no culture is perfect, but knowing our roots gives us a sense of community and belonging. The Hispanic culture, a product of multiple heritages, is very rich and has contributed much to the world and to the US society. Latino children have much to learn about their culture. We hope that as they do they will feel enriched by it. When non-Hispanic children learn about our culture they can develop a better understanding of their Latino peers.

Being bilingual has been one of the greatest assets I have enjoyed in life. I wish the same benefit for all children.

I have a strong belief on the importance of family. When children do not acquire, or lose, the ability to speak the language their parents know best, the language they can share feelings, experiences, dreams and beliefs, the parents’ role as educators is eroded and children miss out what should be a valuable part of their heritage.

Ten Little Puppies/Diez perritos is a vibrant rendition of the classic Spanish nursery rhyme, co-authored by F. Isabel Campoy and yourself. Can you tell us about your writing partnership and what connected you both to Diez perritos?

Both of us sang and enjoyed this nursery rhyme as children, Isabel in Spain, and I in Cuba. Later I sang it with my children who enjoyed singing along. At some point my son Miguel made me aware that sad things happened in many nursery rhymes.

Both Isabel and I believe that young children have a right to joy and happiness so, when we decided to adapt Ten Little Puppies for publication we made sure to find better, and not tragic reasons, for the puppies to disappear. And certainly we refused to end the book leaving the protagonist with no puppies and in stead made one of the puppies remain with her.

What age group is it intended for?

There is really no set age for children’s books. We see adults enjoying them as much as children. While, as a reverse counting book, one could imagine it geared to very young children, older children with a love for dogs can delight in Ulises Wensell’s illustrations and the non-fiction information about dog breeds in the back matter.

Illustration by Ulises Wensell

The musicality of the rhyme and the use of counting seem as though they would lend themselves to a positive learning experience for those crossing over from Spanish to English and vice versa. Would you agree?

Definitely. We already know of children who have learned to recognize numbers in both languages thanks to this rhyme.

Poetry, rhymes, and songs are powerful tools in the acquisition of a second language. This is why we have created Música amiga, a set of 10 CDs with a total of 120 songs, in the voice of Suni Paz; and the reason for our books Mamá Goose, Pío Peep, MuuMoo and Merry Navidad.

Are there any special considerations that must be made when creating a bilingual book?

One of the greatest mistakes made when producing bilingual books is to try to have both languages look as similar as possible. The truth is that a good translation is a new version in another language. Similarities frequently end up in false cognates, words that look similar in two languages but do not have quite the same meaning or are not used in the same situations.

Each language version of a bilingual book should be an excellent version in its own right that could be published as a monolingual book.

You have many published books. Which book from your own esteemed list of published titles would you consider to be the most personally rewarding?

Books can be rewarding for many different reasons.

The Gold Coin gave me the reward of the first national award I received, the Christopler award medal, but furthermore I have received, and continue to receive, extraordinary letters for children who have been moved by this book.

My Name is Maria Isabel touches on a problem of great significance for many immigrants, whether to retain or not their original name or change or Anglicize it. People of all ages continue to tell me that this book reflects their personal story, or the story of someone they know well. And according to teachers is one of the books children enjoy most discussing in class. Since it appears in several reading series many children have had access to it.

Under the Royal Palms and Where the Flame Trees Bloom are books of childhood memories and have given me the opportunity to honor my family. Having children and teachers get to know the story of my extraordinary grandparents has been most meaningful.

How much influence would you say your families have on the books that you create?

A great influence. My grandmother awoke in me the love for poetry, folktales, Greek myths and legends; my father the love for everyday stories as well as stories to explain civilization achievements. My mother provided me with as many books as she could, beginning with her own beloved copy of Heidi.

My children became the great inspiration for stories. Many of the books of the collection Stories the Year ’round were inspired by things they said or did. They have been, and continue to be, my best supporters.

And, of course, my nine grandchildren have been a motivation to continue writing, if nothing else to have enough books to dedicate to each and every one of them.

Which books from your own childhoods would you say have most influenced your life?

So many it would be hard to mention. As an only child, among many adults, Heidi was a constant companion. We share a passionate love for nature and trees, she cherished Peter’s blind grandmother, and I my blind great-grandmother. It made me feel we were soul mates. Then I read, and re-read, and memorized Little Women, convinced Jo was my alter ego. Corazon [Heart] by Edmundo D’Amicis made me cry and dream of heroic deeds, as it did for a large number of Latin Americans my age. I was inspired to not give up ever by Story of a Little Princess and was ready to discover my own Secret Garden and make it beautiful beyond what anyone could dream. Nicholas Nickle taught me compassion, while The Three Musketeers, Treasure Island, Ivanhoe, and Salgari’s series on Sandokan, Prince of Malaysia, encouraged me to live life audaciously always striving to bring about justice. At twelve, held in bed by chicken pox and with no new books available, I read an unabridged version of Don Quixote. Unaware of the mystic and the scholarly analysis around the book, I read it for the mere pleasure of it. Laughed a great deal but also cried in earnest and probably discovered, even if not totally aware then, a new alter ego.

Can you give us any hints as to what you’re working on next?

Isabel and I have a forthcoming book Yes! We Are Latinos, which combines free verse portrait of Latino and Latina children of very different backgrounds living in different parts of the country. The non-fiction essays that accompany the portraits tell the history of Latinos.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Books are wonderful friends and their friendship lasts a lifetime. One may lose many things in life, but as long as our memory is intact, nothing will make us lose the friendship we have developed with books.

Books enrich us and give us the opportunity of understanding ourselves, and others, better. From them we can also gain the strength to be more courageous, more generous, kinder, more caring, more authentic… they are tools to learn to live life to its fullness and to be the better person we want to be.

All my best wishes to all who read these words.

Happy readings… Happy trails.

For more information, visit: http://www.isabelcampoy.com/ and  http://almaflorada.com/

Add this book to your collection: Ten Little Puppies/Diez perritos

The Author Showcase is a place for authors and illustrators to gain visibility for their works. Learn more …

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

Add this book to your collection: Tumford the Terrible

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By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: September 7, 2011

Sleeping Bootsie

by Maribeth Boelts (Author), Patricia Cantor (Illustrator)

Reading level: Ages 5 and up

Paperback: 48 pages

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (June 28, 2011)

Source: Publisher

Sleeping Bootsie by Maribeth Boelts with illustrations by Patricia Cantor is a delightful spin-off of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. Meg the castle maid wishes for a friend and soon discovers a sweet stray kitten stowed away in her laundry basket. Christened “Bootsie” by Meg, she is granted three wishes by the good fairies at the royal ball: playfulness, a beautiful meow, and a kind heart. When the silver fairy casts her wicked spell, Bootsie must never touch water with her paw or she will fall into a deep sleep. Baths are banned at the castle, but the silver fairy disguised as a servant sneaks in a goldfish bowl. Poor innocent Bootsie tries to catch the fish and falls fast asleep. What will save Bootsie from her endless slumber? You’ll have to read Sleeping Bootsie to discover what happens to the beloved but cursed kitty. This is a Step Into Reading book, perfectly suited for children reading on their own in grades 1-3. Cantor’s lovely soft pastel illustrations lend this book an enchanting wonder. Spoiler alert: this heartwarming tale ends happily ever after.

Add this book to your collection: Sleeping Bootsie (Step into Reading)

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Nicki Richesin is the editor of four anthologies,What I Would Tell Her: 28 Devoted Dads on Bringing Up, Holding On To, and Letting Go of Their Daughters; Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers Reflect on the Mother-Daughter Bond; Crush: 26 Real-Life Tales of First Love; and The May Queen: Women on Life, Work, and Pulling it all Together in your Thirties. Her anthologies have been excerpted and praised in The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle,The Boston Globe, Redbook, Parenting, Cosmopolitan, Bust,Salon, Daily Candy, and Babble.

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.