The Horn Book » HBMJul12 http://www.hbook.com Publications about books for children and young adults Mon, 13 May 2013 16:01:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 Review of Mom, It’s My First Day 
of Kindergarten! http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-mom-its-my-first-day-%e2%80%a8of-kindergarten/ http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-mom-its-my-first-day-%e2%80%a8of-kindergarten/#comments Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:26:54 +0000 Jennifer M. Brabander http://www.hbook.com/?p=17066  Mom, It’s My First Day 
of Kindergarten! by Hyewon Yum; illus. by the author Preschool, Primary    Foster/Farrar    40 pp. 7/12    978-0-374-35004-8    $16.99    g “Mom, wake up!” In the art, a young boy looms large, while his mom appears small and kind of blue (as in “sad,” though she’s also pale blue from head to toe). [...]

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of Kindergarten! appeared first on The Horn Book.

]]> yum firstdaykindergarten 300x299 Review of Mom, It’s My First Day 
of Kindergarten!star2 Review of Mom, It’s My First Day 
of Kindergarten! Mom, It’s My First Day 
of Kindergarten!
by Hyewon Yum; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Foster/Farrar    40 pp.
7/12    978-0-374-35004-8    $16.99    g
“Mom, wake up!” In the art, a young boy looms large, while his mom appears small and kind of blue (as in “sad,” though she’s also pale blue from head to toe). Turns out she’s worried. Did she forget to pack his school supplies? “I have my crayons and markers…I’m all set!” Will he be late for school? “We can run!” Youngsters will giggle when she asks, “Will you be okay…you’re still so little” — the illustration shows a big, robust boy and his tiny mom, feet dangling as he pulls her behind him. Kids will get right away that the roles are reversed and that this is mightily amusing. The boy sounds exactly like a parent, telling his mom, “I like to make new friends…and you’ll make new friends, too.” Sure enough, he greets a little girl, and their moms make friends, too. Blue no more, Mom now sports a cheery yellow shirt and pink cheeks. Yum’s (Last Night, rev. 1/09; The Twins’ Blanket, rev. 9/11) breezy illustrations are spot on, the mom’s baby-boy-blue tint aptly reflecting the story’s small-child anxiety. Readers will love the last page, boy and mom normal-size at day’s end — until, that is, he inquires about taking the school bus.

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of Kindergarten! appeared first on The Horn Book.

]]> http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-mom-its-my-first-day-%e2%80%a8of-kindergarten/feed/ 0 Review of A Home for Bird http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-a-home-for-bird/ http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-a-home-for-bird/#comments Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:47:18 +0000 Robin Smith http://www.hbook.com/?p=16933 A Home for Bird by Philip C. Stead; illus. by the author Primary    Porter/Roaring Brook    32 pp. 6/12    978-1-59643-711-1    $16.99    g Stead (author of A Sick Day for Amos McGee, rev. 5/10) returns with another terrific tale of devoted friendship. Starting on the copyright page, we see a little bird thrown from the back of [...]

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]]> stead homeforbird 262x300 Review of A Home for Birdstar2 Review of A Home for BirdA Home for Bird
by Philip C. Stead; illus. by the author
Primary    Porter/Roaring Brook    32 pp.
6/12    978-1-59643-711-1    $16.99    g
Stead (author of A Sick Day for Amos McGee, rev. 5/10) returns with another terrific tale of devoted friendship. Starting on the copyright page, we see a little bird thrown from the back of a stuffed-to-the-gills moving truck. This little wooden blue bird with button eyes soon meets a toad named Vernon, who seems to know that the mute and inanimate Bird is lost and in search of a home, and who sets off to help Bird find that home. Stead’s loose-edged watercolor, ink, and crayon illustrations are delightfully casual, with an emotional quality that draws the reader to identify with these two friends, especially the dedicated Vernon. And he is dedicated, even hijacking a red balloon to help them float on the wind in their search. There is so much visual humor here that the reader naturally slows down to enjoy all of it, especially the friends’ encounter with a kind stranger (a weathervane) who points the way home. Follow the weathervane’s arrow to the familiar truck parked in front of a house, a house that careful observers will recognize from earlier in the story. And in that house is a clock, just waiting for its cuckoo. Readers will sigh happily with recognition (not just of the truck, cuckoo clock, and house but also of the gray dog and brown teddy bear, Bird’s old friends) as the story comes full circle. While Vernon sleeps comforted by the tick-tock of the clock, Bird is happy to be tucked up in its top, especially when he pops out at six o’clock with a joyful song after his long silence. “And Vernon was happy.” Stead has crafted an old-fashioned story that speaks directly to the heart but without manipulation, providing comfort and surprise at the same time.

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]]> http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-a-home-for-bird/feed/ 1 Phillip Hoose on Moonbird http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/blogs/out-of-the-box/phillip-hoose-on-moonbird/ http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/blogs/out-of-the-box/phillip-hoose-on-moonbird/#comments Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:32:12 +0000 Joanna Rudge Long http://www.hbook.com/?p=16609 From the July/August 2012 issue of The Horn Book Magazine: Reviewer Joanna Rudge Long asks Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 author Phillip Hoose about the rufa red knot’s current whereabouts. Read the full starred review of Moonbird here. Joanna Rudge Long: Has there been another sighting of B95 since [...]

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]]> phillip hoose Phillip Hoose on MoonbirdFrom the July/August 2012 issue of The Horn Book Magazine:
Reviewer Joanna Rudge Long asks Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 author Phillip Hoose about the rufa red knot’s current whereabouts. Read the full starred review of Moonbird here.

Joanna Rudge Long: Has there been another sighting of B95 since 11/25/11?

Phillip Hoose: No, we have not seen him since November 25. However, we have high hopes that we will see him again this May. Nearly all rufa red knots converge upon the beaches of Delaware Bay during the last two weeks of May to dine upon a banquet of horseshoe crab eggs. B95 was reported at one particular harbor on the Delaware side of the Bay six times last spring during a four-day period late in May. We’ll have our fingers crossed and our spotting scopes out!

UPDATE: Moonbird was recently spotted in New Jersey; see Hoose’s blog for details.

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]]> http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/blogs/out-of-the-box/phillip-hoose-on-moonbird/feed/ 2 Review of Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-moonbird-a-year-on-the-wind-with-the-great-survivor-b95/ http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-moonbird-a-year-on-the-wind-with-the-great-survivor-b95/#comments Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:14:25 +0000 Joanna Rudge Long http://www.hbook.com/?p=16605 Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with 
the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose Intermediate, Middle School, High School Farrar    
148 pp.    7/12    978-0-374-30468-3    $21.99 He’s called “Moonbird” because, over a lifespan of twenty years, he’s flown some 325,000 miles, the distance to the moon and almost halfway back. This robin-sized red knot (subspecies rufa), [...]

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]]> hoose moonbird 272x300 Review of Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95star2 Review of Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with 
the Great Survivor B95
by Phillip Hoose
Intermediate, Middle School, High School
Farrar    
148 pp.    7/12    978-0-374-30468-3    $21.99
He’s called “Moonbird” because, over a lifespan of twenty years, he’s flown some 325,000 miles, the distance to the moon and almost halfway back. This robin-sized red knot (subspecies rufa), a shorebird, is in southern Argentina from October to February and in the Arctic, breeding, for a few summer weeks; between times, his great migrating flock is like a “constantly shifting organism—now a ball, now a rippling blanket” as the birds fly nearly from pole to pole twice a year. Stops are few but strategic; after thousands of miles it’s essential to bulk up with what’s available at the same few sites each year: mosquito larvae, mussels, horseshoe crab eggs. Thanks to banding and photography by scientists, who call him B95, sightings are documented since 1995 (when adult plumage indicated B95’s age to be at least three years). Even for his species, B95 is extraordinary — “one of the world’s premier athletes” — but Hoose’s fascinating account concerns much more than this one bird. In lucid, graceful prose, Hoose details the red knots’ characteristics and strategies, sampling far-flung challenges to their survival (e.g., fishermen harvesting horseshoe crabs in crucial stopover Delaware Bay). He describes research methods (cannon nets, banding), profiles scientists in international cooperation as well as activist kids, and takes a sobering look at longterm prospects for survival not just of the rufa but of most species on earth. Glorious full-page color photographs alternate with excellent smaller photos (including one of B95 taken on November 25, 2011) and many good, helpful maps in a highly informative progression of images. Exemplary source notes, including many interviews, plus acknowledgments and picture credits; a bibliography; and an index.

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]]> http://www.hbook.com/2012/08/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-moonbird-a-year-on-the-wind-with-the-great-survivor-b95/feed/ 2 Review of The Letter Q: Queer Writers’ Notes to 
Their Younger Selves http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-the-letter-q/ http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-the-letter-q/#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:54:54 +0000 Anita L. Burkam http://www.hbook.com/?p=15383 The Letter Q: Queer Writers’ Notes to 
Their Younger Selves edited by Sarah Moon, with 
contributing editor James Lecesne Middle School, High School    Levine/Scholastic    
282 pp. 5/12    978-0-545-39932-6    $17.99 Inspired by mentors in her own childhood, editor Sarah Moon asked sixty-four gay, lesbian, and bisexual writers, illustrators, and publishing professionals to write letters to themselves [...]

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Their Younger Selves appeared first on The Horn Book.

]]> moon letterq 197x300 Review of The Letter Q: Queer Writers’ Notes to 
Their Younger SelvesThe Letter Q: Queer Writers’ Notes to 
Their Younger Selves
edited by Sarah Moon, with 
contributing editor James Lecesne
Middle School, High School    Levine/Scholastic    
282 pp.
5/12    978-0-545-39932-6    $17.99
Inspired by mentors in her own childhood, editor Sarah Moon asked sixty-four gay, lesbian, and bisexual writers, illustrators, and publishing professionals to write letters to themselves at a younger age — names such as Marion Dane Bauer, Jacqueline Woodson, Gregory Maguire, Brian Selznick, and a host of others. The resulting letters combine advice, reminiscence, funny stories, and encouragement for readers struggling with their sexuality. As with any collection with such a narrow focus, repetition is a problem, but panels from graphic novel creators help to break up the text and vary the pace, and a few of the writers arouse interest with truly surprising revelations (David Levithan, for instance, writes about bullying, but from the perspective of being the bully; Martin Moran writes about the sexual abuse that led to his award-winning book The Tricky Part). A mostly secular exploration of growing up gay, the book has regrettably little advice for gay and questioning teens grappling with religious dilemmas. Still, with its repeated exhortations to relax more and worry less, this book might be a life-saver for some — and could function as an author list, as well, for teens wanting to read more about People Like Us.

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Their Younger Selves appeared first on The Horn Book.

]]> http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-the-letter-q/feed/ 1 Review of Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-traction-man-and-the-beach-odyssey/ http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-traction-man-and-the-beach-odyssey/#comments Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:00:38 +0000 Christine M. Heppermann http://www.hbook.com/?p=15010 Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey by Mini Grey; illus. by the author Preschool, Primary     Knopf     32 pp. 5/12     978-0-375-86952-5     $16.99 Library ed. 978-0-375-96952-2     $19.99 The adventuresome duo from Traction Man Is Here! (rev. 3/05) and Traction Man Meets Turbodog (rev. 9/08) hits the beach for a manly day of scuba diving, picnic security duty, [...]

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]]> grey traction man beach odyssey 263x300 Review of Traction Man and the Beach OdysseyTraction Man and the Beach Odyssey
by Mini Grey; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary     Knopf     32 pp.
5/12     978-0-375-86952-5     $16.99
Library ed. 978-0-375-96952-2     $19.99
The adventuresome duo from Traction Man Is Here! (rev. 3/05) and Traction Man Meets Turbodog (rev. 9/08) hits the beach for a manly day of scuba diving, picnic security duty, and…makeovers? Once again Grey’s action-figure hero and his sidekick Scrubbing Brush inhabit the fanciful world-within-a-world of creative play. Though the boy who totes the pair along in his beach bag is nominally in control of their actions, once they’re underwater exploring a tide pool, or left alone together on the picnic blanket, they take on lives of their own. Traction Man’s valiant campaign to keep Grandma’s dog Truffles away from lunch while the family swims comes to naught when Truffles carries him off and buries him in the sand. Scrubbing Brush digs Traction Man out, but then a wave whisks them both away, landing them in the clutches of another young beachgoer, who has her own ideas of how to play. Grey takes obvious delight in poking fun at Traction Man’s machismo by dressing him in a pink sarong and plunking him into an ice-cream party with some Beach-Time Brenda dolls. As usual, the wry cartoon art is teeming with animate characters—even the picnic quiche has a face. In the end, there’s a refreshingly gender-neutral pooling of resources as Beach-Time Brenda and her pal help the boys dig an “exploration hole to the Center of the Earth,” after which the whole crew floats happily on a “pinkly paisley inflatable dinghy.” Relaxation accomplished!

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]]> http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-traction-man-and-the-beach-odyssey/feed/ 0 2012 Mind the Gap Awards http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/opinion/2012-mind-the-gap-awards/ http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/opinion/2012-mind-the-gap-awards/#comments Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:13:47 +0000 Horn Book http://www.hbook.com/?p=13997 Most likely to haunt award committees Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol   Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann Better luck next time Good Luck, Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke, illustrated by Lauren Tobia Tragic and tragically overlooked America Is Under Attack: September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell by Don Brown   Amelia Lost: The Life [...]

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]]> mindthegap2012 2012 Mind the Gap Awards

Most likely to haunt award committees Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
 
Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann
Better luck next time Good Luck, Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke,
illustrated by Lauren Tobia
Tragic and tragically overlooked America Is Under Attack: September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell by Don Brown
 
Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance
of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming
 
The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic by Allan Wolf
Best Cold War book left out in the cold Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet
Best year-round Christmas book
(think of the money you’ll save!)		 The Money We’ll Save by Brock Cole
Science made simple (youngest) Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes
Science made simple (oldest) Feynman by Jim Ottaviani, illustrated by Leland Myrick
Best animal survival stories Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Vicky White
 
Naamah and the Ark at Night by Susan
Campbell Bartoletti, illustrated by Holly Meade
Best human survival stories Bluefish by Pat Schmatz
 
Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
Best swamp survival stories Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story
by Thomas F. Yezerski
 
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Batteries not required Press Here by Hervé Tullet

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]]> http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/opinion/2012-mind-the-gap-awards/feed/ 1 Russell Freedman’s Favorite Newbery http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/russell-freedmans-favorite-newbery/ http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/russell-freedmans-favorite-newbery/#comments Sun, 01 Jul 2012 18:26:59 +0000 Horn Book http://www.hbook.com/?p=13336 What is Russell Freedman's favorite Newbery Medal book?

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]]> vanloon storymankind Russell Freedmans Favorite NewberyIt should come as no surprise that my favorite Newbery winner is The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik Willem van Loon, winner of the very first Newbery Medal in 1922. I read the book when I was nine, and while it’s dated now, I return to it from time to time to savor the memory of the first reading experience that made me a lifelong history buff.

—Russell Freedman,
winner of the 1988 Newbery Medal for Lincoln: A Photobiography

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]]> http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/russell-freedmans-favorite-newbery/feed/ 0 Sharon Creech’s Favorite Newbery http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/sharon-creechs-favorite-newbery/ http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/sharon-creechs-favorite-newbery/#comments Sun, 01 Jul 2012 18:07:17 +0000 Horn Book http://www.hbook.com/?p=13327 What is Sharon Creech's favorite Newbery Medal book?

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]]> naylor shiloh Sharon Creechs Favorite NewberyIt is difficult to choose one favorite among so many favorites, but on this day at this hour, if my back were against the wall, I’d choose Shiloh (1992) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I admire its purity and poignancy and Naylor’s skill in rendering complexity
with seeming simplicity…and the dog lives. No small feat, that.

—Sharon Creech,
winner of the 1995 Newbery Medal for Walk Two Moons

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]]> http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/sharon-creechs-favorite-newbery/feed/ 0 2012 ALA Round-Up http://www.hbook.com/2012/06/blogs/out-of-the-box/2012-ala-round-up/ http://www.hbook.com/2012/06/blogs/out-of-the-box/2012-ala-round-up/#comments Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:49:42 +0000 Elissa Gershowitz http://www.hbook.com/?p=14703 For those suffering from ALA withdrawal—or envy!—here’s the Horn Book’s take on this year’s events. For even more, check out the July/August 2012 issue of The Horn Book Magazine. Roger Sutton’s Live Five interviews and blog posts about them—videos coming soon! (We’ll let you know when they’re up.) Profile of Newbery Award winner Jack Gantos [...]

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]]> For those suffering from ALA withdrawal—or envy!—here’s the Horn Book’s take on this year’s events. For even more, check out the July/August 2012 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

Gantos Norvelt cake 2012 ALA Round Up

Photo (and cake): Mary Wong

Roger Sutton’s Live Five interviews and blog posts about them—videos coming soon! (We’ll let you know when they’re up.)

Profile of Newbery Award winner Jack Gantos by editor Wesley Adams.

Profile of Caldecott Award winner Chris Raschka by his wife Lydie Raschka.

Ashley Bryan’s 2012 Coretta Scott King—Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement acceptance speech.

Kadir Nelson’s Coretta Scott King Author Award acceptance speech and profile of Kadir by publisher Donna Bray.

Shane W. Evans’s Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award acceptance speech and profile of Shane by his friend, actor Taye Diggs.

My Favorite Newbery/Caldecott Matching Game: Medalists reveal their choices.

The Search for Distinguished: K. T. Horning revives a decades-old Newbery debate.

2012 Mind the Gap Awards: The books that didn‘t win.

Caldecott 2012: “everything…which is yes” by Joanna Rudge Long.

Newbery 2012: “The Year in Words” by Nina Lindsay.

 

 

 

 

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