To view this email as a web page, click here.
Hbook.com | Review of the Week | Interviews | Read Roger | Out of the Box | Calling Caldecott | Books in this issue | Subscribe
November 9, 2011 Five questions for Melissa Sweet Picture book biographies Listen up, middle-graders Page-turners for older readers Holiday High Notes From the Editor
Five Questions for Melissa Sweet By Christine M. Heppermann The first helium-filled creatures to bob through Manhattan on Thanksgiving morning were brought to being by master puppeteer Tony Sarg in the 1920s. Now master illustrator Melissa Sweet, a prolific artist and winner of a Caldecott Honor for A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant, has created an effervescent picture book biography about the man who believed work and play should mix. In Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade, Sweet shows young readers how Sarg’s early penchant for inventiveness — as a boy he figured out a way to feed the chickens without leaving his bed — carried through to his eventual career as a marionette artist, designing window displays for Macy’s. Sweet also channels Sarg in the book’s whimsical collage artwork, which includes puppets and toys she made herself from household scraps. Is being an illustrator really as much fun as it looks? 1. The Macy’s parade and the giant balloons are so firmly tied to our image of Thanksgiving, it’s like they’ve always existed. How did you become interested in their origins? Melissa Sweet: Growing up, my family always watched the parade on TV and it was a big part of our holiday. Tony Sarg’s life is intimately entwined with the balloons, so the parade was the perfect vehicle to tell his story. Though all the details of the balloons — from their construction to how they’re selected for the parade — are fascinating, it was Sarg who led me down parade path. Read More…
Picture book biographies By Kitty Flynn Three more new picture book biographies feature another visionary puppeteer, a world-renowned clown, and a young lighthouse keeper who would later be dubbed the “Bravest Woman in America.” Jim Henson‘s imaginative early life served as the foundation for his later creative efforts, a connection author Kathleen Krull and illustrators Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher bring to light in Jim Henson: The Guy Who Played with Puppets. Krull’s straightforward text highlights key events and includes anecdotes to round out Henson’s inspirational life story. Colorful full-page and vignette paintings capture the vitality in Henson’s work. This celebration of Henson is a timely way to mark the late artist’s seventy-fifth birthday. (5–8 years) Read More…
Listen up, middle-gradersBy Martha V. ParravanoFour topnotch audiobooks provide hours of entertainment for middle-grade listeners.In Geraldine McCaughrean’s Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen, when a diphtheria epidemic hits 1890s Olive Town, Oklahoma, twelve-year-old Cissy and her friends are sent away to stay with their former, beloved teacher, now an actress in a traveling theater troupe housed in a dilapidated steamboat. As the company travels down the flooded Missouri River, adventures ensue — and keep on ensuing — in a book that’s both a paean to Mark Twain and entirely original. Narrator Lorna Raver is a fluid and accomplished reader, more than a match for the story’s tall-tale tone, fast pace, and large cast of colorful characters. (9–12 years) Read More…
Page-turners for older readersBy Katie BircherFrom comedy to ghost story, from a modern-day historical reenactment village to a future New York, these new middle-grade and YA novels range wildly in genre and setting. What do these books have in common? Readers won’t be able to put them down before the last gripping page.The first book in Maureen Johnson’s Shades of London series, The Name of the Star is an eerie, absorbing mystery. Louisiana high-school senior Rory arrives in London amidst a series of gruesome murders precisely following Jack the Ripper’s modus operandi. After a near-death experience and sightings of people her boarding school classmates can’t see, Rory falls in with an underground group investigating a possible paranormal explanation for the murders. (12 years and up) Read More…
Holiday High Notes By Horn Book staffMay your days be merry and bright…and may you enjoy our selection of new holiday books, with reviews written by the Horn Book staff. The Story of Hanukkah by David A. Adler; illus. by Jill Weber Primary Holiday 32 pp. 8/11 978-0-8234-2295-1 $14.95 Adler’s straightforward, accessible retelling of the Hanukkah story begins in Judea at the temple “on top of a mountain and called the House of God…inside was a ner tamid, a light that always burned.” The violence against and oppression of Jews following King Antiochus IV’s coronation is detailed, along with triumphant revolt by the Maccabees. The narrative concludes with rebuilding of the temple — and the great miracle that happened there — along with modern-day observances of events; a recipe for latkes and instructions for the dreidel game are appended. Acrylic illustrations richly accented with deep blues and luminous golds recall ancient friezes and ceramics. ELISSA GERSHOWITZ Read More…
FROM THE EDITOR
In the November/December 2011 issue of The Horn Book Magazine five writers — Marc Aronson, Carmen Agra Deedy, Malinda Lo, Susan Patron, and Rita Williams-Garcia — honor the spirit of the Thanksgiving season by sharing with us the books for which each one is grateful. Susan Patron warmed my children’s librarian heart when, remembering an incident in her childhood, she wrote “everything on the fiction shelves looked too hard, but then the librarian offered me My Father’s Dragon.” Such recommendations are a gift to both giver and receiver (and when done in the context of a library loan, amazingly economical). The receiver gets a new world to explore; the giver gains a fellow explorer. Everybody’s richer.Roger Sutton Editor in Chief Send questions or comments to newsletter@hbook.com.
LINKS TeachingBooks.net curriculum resources Hbook.com Review of the Week Interviews Blogs Books in this issue SubscribeCONTACT INFO Editorial: Newsletter@hbook.com Advertising: aberman4@optonline.net The Horn Book, Inc. 56 Roland Street, Suite 200 Boston MA 02129 800-325-1170 e-mail: info@hbook.com Unsubscribe

The post Notes from the Horn Book – November 2011 appeared first on The Horn Book.

Roger Sutton
Editor in Chief

From Notes from the Horn Book, November 2011

The post From the Editor – November 2011 appeared first on The Horn Book.

Picture book biographies
   • Jim Henson: The Guy Who Played with Puppets by Kathleen Krull, illus. by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, Random, 5–8 years.
   • Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime by Gloria Spielman, illus. by Manon Gauthier, Kar-Ben, 5–8 years.
   • The Bravest Woman in America by Marissa Moss, illus. by Andrea U’Ren, Tricycle, 4–8 years.

Listen up, middle-graders
   • The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen by Geraldine McCaughrean, read by Lorna Raver, Listening Library, 9–12 years.
   • Lucky for Good [Hard Pan Trilogy] by Susan Patron, read by Cassandra Campbell, Listening Library, 9–12 years.
   • Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool, read by Jenna Lamia with Cassandra Campbell and Kirby Heyborne, Listening Library, 9–12 years.
   • The Emerald Atlas [Books of Beginning] by John Stephens, read by Jim Dale, Listening Library, 10–14 years.

Page-turners for older readers
   • The Name of the Star [Shades of London] by Maureen Johnson, Putnam, 12 years and up.
   • Past Perfect by Leila Sales, Simon Pulse, 14 years and up.
   • Legend by Marie Lu, Putnam, 12 years and up.
   • All These Things I’ve Done [Birthright] by Gabrielle Zevin, Farrar, 12 years and up.

Holly-daze
Please visit Holiday High Notes for publication information on these recommended holiday books.

From Notes from the Horn Book, November 2011

The post Books mentioned in November 2011 Notes from the Horn Book appeared first on The Horn Book.

The first book in Maureen Johnson’s Shades of London series, The Name of the Star is an eerie, absorbing mystery. Louisiana high-school senior Rory arrives in London amidst a series of gruesome murders precisely following Jack the Ripper’s modus operandi. After a near-death experience and sightings of people her boarding school classmates can’t see, Rory falls in with an underground group investigating a possible paranormal explanation for the murders. (12 years and up)

Chelsea, protagonist of Leila Sales’s Past Perfect, works as a living history interpreter at Colonial Essex Village. This summer, the boy who broke Chelsea’s heart is also working at Essex Village, and a bitter rivalry rages with Civil War Reenactmentland across the street. Complicating matters further, Chelsea traitorously falls for a cute Civil War interpreter. Her acerbically funny narration balances thoughtful meditations on the nature of history, memory, and love. (14 years and up)

Day is one of the totalitarian Republic’s most wanted criminals; June has a personal vendetta against him. When their paths cross by chance, June — unaware of Day’s true identity — is attracted to his good looks, charm, and courage. In trilogy opener Legend, Marie Lu crafts a dystopian world rife with inequality and rebellion, with personal dynamics complicated by romance and betrayal. Fans of The Hunger Games will be hooked. (12 years and up)

Gabrielle Zevin’s All These Things I’ve Done is another dystopian tale of star-crossed lovers: Anya Balanchine is the daughter of a slain crime boss; Win Delacroix is the son of the ambitious assistant district attorney. Their New York — a city of crime, coffee speakeasies (caffeine and chocolate, the Balanchine family business, are illegal), and government ineptitude — could be set in the Prohibition era, but it’s 2083. This first volume of the Birthright series offers a romance as rich as chocolate. (12 years and up)

From Notes from the Horn Book, November 2011

The post Page-turners for older readers appeared first on The Horn Book.

In Geraldine McCaughrean’s Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen, when a diphtheria epidemic hits 1890s Olive Town, Oklahoma, twelve-year-old Cissy and her friends are sent away to stay with their former, beloved teacher, now an actress in a traveling theater troupe housed in a dilapidated steamboat. As the company travels down the flooded Missouri River, adventures ensue — and keep on ensuing — in a book that’s both a paean to Mark Twain and entirely original. Narrator Lorna Raver is a fluid and accomplished reader, more than a match for the story’s tall-tale tone, fast pace, and large cast of colorful characters. (9–12 years)

Lucky for Good, the last installment in Susan Patron’s Hard Pan trilogy, takes Lucky to the brink of junior high. As ever, she is both a highly particularized character (how many eleven-year-olds live in welded-together trailers in the California desert with French chef mothers who adopted them at the request of ex-husbands?) and a universal Everygirl (she loses her temper when a show-off older boy tries to bully her; she struggles with large questions of life and death, religion and science). Narrator Cassandra Campbell brings us inside Lucky’s heart and head, letting all the novel’s humor, depth of feeling, and thoughtfulness shine through. (9–12 years)

Next up is an excellent audiobook production of Clare Vanderpool’s multi-layered 2011 Newbery Medal winner, Moon over Manifest. Parked for the summer of 1936 in the small town of Manifest, Kansas, twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker goes looking for clues to her father’s past and ends up finding her own future. In contrast to the many secrets and mysteries Abilene discovers — some revolving around letters she finds from 1918, others centered on present-day Manifest — she herself is an endearingly transparent character, and narrator Jenna Lamia channels her to perfection. (9–12 years)

The narrator of the Harry Potter audiobooks reads another novel full of wizardry, brave orphans, evil villains, and hair-raising adventure. John Stephens’s The Emerald Atlas is set in America, though, and once the listener gets over the shock of hearing the distinctively British Jim Dale say “Baltimore” or “Albany,” they will be entranced by his animated presentation and amazing ability to inhabit and differentiate a huge cast of characters. Listeners will cheer Kate, Michael, and Emma on as they discover a magical book, travel through time to try to rescue the children of Cambridge Falls from a witch, and investigate the secrets surrounding their parentage. (10–14 years)

From Notes from the Horn Book, November 2011

The post Listen up, middle-graders appeared first on The Horn Book.

1. The Macy’s parade and the giant balloons are so firmly tied to our image of Thanksgiving, it’s like they’ve always existed. How did you become interested in their origins?

Melissa Sweet: Growing up, my family always watched the parade on TV and it was a big part of our holiday. Tony Sarg’s life is intimately entwined with the balloons, so the parade was the perfect vehicle to tell his story. Though all the details of the balloons — from their construction to how they’re selected for the parade — are fascinating, it was Sarg who led me down parade path.

2. You and Tony Sarg seem like kindred spirits in that you both exude playfulness in your artwork. You say in your afterword that Sarg’s story reminds you of the importance of having fun while you work. Does that attitude come easily to you or is it, um, work?

MS: I certainly feel like a kindred spirit in many ways. Sarg and I share an attitude toward making art: let’s just try this and see what happens. There were times when I was stumped as to how to go forward and I asked myself, what would Tony do? Am I having fun?  It can feel like work to keep at it, to keep going when nothing seems to be happening. But persistence may be more important than talent, and in hindsight everything I did led to the end result. After a time, all the miniscule decisions add up to a body of work.

3. I love how Balloons over Broadway shows readers that problem-solving is part of an artist’s job, as when Sarg had to figure out a way to manipulate the aloft balloons from the ground. What kind of problems did you have to solve in putting together this book?

MS: One of the biggest challenges was whittling away all the amusing stories about Sarg that I wanted to include but that didn’t contribute to the story at hand. What drew me to him in the first place was his process. But how could I make that interesting to children? I had to break down the process into a simple concept.

With the art, I was emphatic that some of it be three-dimensional in order for the book to feel like Sarg’s studio with toys and paraphernalia everywhere. I tip my hat to everyone involved at Houghton. To meld photography with paintings in the same book is a feat and they did with aplomb. Once the book went to press, I think we all inhaled for the first time in months.

4. What have you done with the toys you made for the illustrations, and are you still making toys now that the book is finished?

MS: They’re keeping good company with all the old toys I’ve bought and others I’ve made. That’s another thing Sarg and I have in common — we’re both happiest when art is kinetic. (I was over the moon the first time I saw Calder’s “Circus”). When I first figured out how to make an axle turn a wheel and in turn make something else move, it was ecstasy.

5. Jerry the Pig, Andy the Alligator, The Colicky Kid: all Sarg-designed balloons that are no longer in the parade. Did you find out what happens to a Macy’s balloon when it retires? Is there a pasture where they’re all floating around together?

MS: I love that image!  In Sarg’s day, at the end of the parade the balloons were released into the sky. (The balloons had tags sewn onto them for reward if found and returned to Macy’s). But today, they retire to the Macy’s Parade Studios in New Jersey. Sometimes they’re used to teach new balloon handlers the ropes, so to speak.

From Notes from the Horn Book, November 2011

The post Five Questions for Melissa Sweet appeared first on The Horn Book.

Jim Henson’s imaginative early life served as the foundation for his later creative efforts, a connection author Kathleen Krull and illustrators Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher bring to light in Jim Henson: The Guy Who Played with Puppets. Krull’s straightforward text highlights key events and includes anecdotes to round out Henson’s inspirational life story. Colorful full-page and vignette paintings capture the vitality in Henson’s work. This celebration of Henson is a timely way to mark the late artist’s seventy-fifth birthday. (5–8 years)

Pantomime artist Marcel Marceau’s silent, white-faced character Bip is widely known throughout the world. Less known is Marceau’s life story, which is just as fascinating — including brave work for the French Resistance during WWII. In her understated picture-book biography, Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime, Gloria Spielman focuses particularly on the actor’s early years, showing how he first used his natural talents as a survival mechanism and later crafted them into an art form. Manon Gauthier’s softly colored line drawing perfectly capture the gentle spirit of Marcel Marceau, both off and on stage. (5–8 years)

The Bravest Woman in America by Marissa Moss introduces a bygone but ever-intriguing profession through the determination and courage of one girl. In 1857 Ida Lewis and her family moved to the lighthouse that guards Rhode Island’s Newport Harbor. Soon after, illness disabled her father; Ida took over his lighthouse duties and, at sixteen, heroically rescued four boys whose boat had capsized. It was the first of many rescues during a lifelong career for which she received a Congressional Lifesaving Medal, among other honors, becoming known as the “Bravest Woman in America.” The stirring events are beautifully visualized in Andrea U’Ren’s painterly watercolor, ink, and acrylic art. (4–8 years)

From Notes from the Horn Book, November 2011

The post Picture book biographies appeared first on The Horn Book.

The Story of Hanukkah
by David A. Adler; illus. by Jill Weber
Primary    Holiday    32 pp.
8/11    978-0-8234-2295-1    $14.95
Adler’s straightforward, accessible retelling of the Hanukkah story begins in Judea at the temple “on top of a mountain and called the House of God…inside was a ner tamid, a light that always burned.” The violence against and oppression of Jews following King Antiochus IV’s coronation is detailed, along with triumphant revolt by the Maccabees. The narrative concludes with rebuilding of the temple — and the great miracle that happened there — along with modern-day observances of events; a recipe for latkes and instructions for the dreidel game are appended. Acrylic illustrations richly accented with deep blues and luminous golds recall ancient friezes and ceramics. ELISSA GERSHOWITZ

When I Love You at Christmas
by David Bedford; illus. by Tamsin Ainslie
Preschool    Kane Miller    24 pp.
9/11    978-1-61067-039-5    $9.99
A little girl and her toy lamb prepare for Christmas — making cookies, decorating the tree, wrapping presents, singing in a pageant — while an unknown narrator showers her with love: “When you wrap your gifts / When you tie the bows / That’s when I love you.” The book’s small, square trim size; generous white space on well-composed double-page spreads; and cheerful illustrations full of eye-pleasing colors and patterns combine to make an attractive package for the youngest reader — and the final reveal of the narrator’s identity adds a fresh and funny spin, setting this one apart from the all-too-typical unconditional-love picture book. MARTHA V. PARRAVANO

Home for Christmas
by Jan Brett; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Putnam    32 pp.
11/11    978-0-399-25653-0    $17.99    g
Rollo, a “wild” young troll, has not lost his tail yet because he refuses to behave or help out at home. Fed up with his family’s demands, he runs away and spends months living with owls, bears, otters, a lynx, and moose. Slowly he realizes he fits in best with his own family. Just in time for Christmas, Rollo returns from the tundra a changed troll, minus his tail and ready to lend a hand with his Mama, Papa, and Little Sister. Brett’s signature borders surrounding her detailed illustrations of Rollo’s journey enhance the story with images of his family back home doing their chores and missing him, while others highlight upcoming spreads. A visually appealing Scandinavian holiday folk story designed for repeat visits. CYNTHIA K. RITTER

A Bad Kitty Christmas
by Nick Bruel; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Porter/Roaring Brook    40 pp.
10/11    978-1-59643-668-8    $15.99    g
In this parody of “The Night Before Christmas,” Bad Kitty escapes from her owners after ruining an entire alphabet’s worth of Christmas presents and decorations (“The eggnog was ended / The fruitcake was flung / The gifts were all gutted / The holly un-hung”). A kindly old lady takes in the lost and frightened feline. Her rescuer doesn’t have much, but she’s willing to share her home — and her holiday spirit — with Kitty. Once reunited with her family, Kitty returns the favor in a satisfying conclusion. Bruel slyly adapts the familiar poetic structure; Kitty’s over-the-top expressions make her bad behavior even funnier. KATIE BIRCHER

A Christmas Goodnight
by Nola Buck; illus. by Sarah Jane Wright
Preschool    Tegen/HarperCollins    24 pp.
10/11    978-0-06-166491-5    $12.99
Saying goodnight to all the participants in the Christmas story (“Goodnight to the baby in the hay. / Goodnight to the doves, coo coo. / Goodnight to the sleepy mother. / Goodnight to Joseph, too”) turns out to be the Christmas Eve practice of a little boy with his manger scene before he goes to bed. As the narrative migrates from the nativity to the boy’s snowy rural home, the creative twist in the plot naturally reveals itself. The soothing rhyming text and soft palette of the illustrations is ideal for bedtime read-alouds while also serving as a straightforward introduction to the important characters in the story of that first Christmas. CYNTHIA K. RITTER

Lighthouse Christmas
by Toni Buzzeo; illus. by Nancy Carpenter
Primary    Dial    32 pp.
10/11    978-0-8037-3053-3    $16.99    g
Frances and her little brother worry that Santa won’t be able to find them on their isolated Maine island (their father is the new lighthouse keeper). Storms have even prevented the supply boat from coming, so they’ll have no presents and nothing but beans for Christmas dinner. But when their father must venture out into a nor’easter and needs Frances’s help to keep the lighthouse lamp lit, she begins to accept her situation. The sudden arrival of a small plane dropping gifts and supplies, though based on historical fact, adds one too many elements to an overcrowded plot; but readers looking for a feel-good holiday story will find one here. Carpenter’s homey, old-fashioned illustrations, in the cool colors of a wintry island, are appropriately weathered and windblown. MARTHA V. PARRAVANO

 The Money We’ll Save
by Brock Cole; illus. by the author
Primary    Ferguson/Farrar    32 pp.
10/11    978-0-374-35011-6    $16.99    g
Cole’s blithe illustrations, comfortably crowded with his amusing, expressive characters, set this entertaining holiday story in nineteenth-century New York City. A tiny flat is no place for a live turkey, but when Pa brings one home to fatten up for Christmas (“Think of the money we’ll save!”), the family makes the best of it. Alfred, as they name the bird, proves to be a noisy, scowling glutton, the small tenement apartment now overflowing with “messed on” newspapers in Cole’s cheerfully disheveled-looking pictures. Just as everyone has had enough, Pa announces it’s time to visit the butcher. “We can’t eat Alfred!” shout the children, yet they’re eager to get rid of him. A brilliant solution satisfies everyone, including Alfred, and while the family has only oatmeal for Christmas dinner, Ma gives Pa a kiss, saying, “Ah, but think of the money we saved.” JENNIFER M. BRABANDER

The Littlest Evergreen
by Henry Cole; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Tegen/HarperCollins    32 pp.
10/11    978-0-06-114619-0    $16.99
Raised on a hillside amongst its fellow pines, the littlest evergreen, Cole’s narrator, is dug out of the earth late one autumn by men searching for Christmas trees. They forgo using their chainsaw on it, believing it “too small to make much of tree,” but a young family purchases it and, after Christmas, replants the pine, which thrives. The tree’s small stature, once thought to be its greatest weakness, is what allows it to escape the fate of curbside pickup and to have a “long and beautiful life.” Through a clear, engaging text and lush yet lively illustrations, Cole celebrates embracing that which makes us unique in a narrative that also focuses on respecting nature. LAURA MARENGHI

Christmas Eve Good Night
by Doug Cushman; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Holt    32 pp.
8/11    978-0-8050-6603-6    $12.99    g
As a girl holds a snow globe containing a miniature Santa’s workshop, the rhyming text asks how critters at the North Pole would say good night on Christmas Eve. A reindeer says “Jingle! Jingle!”; a toy robot says “Bzz! Clank!”; the elves say something that looks runic and vaguely Viking (have fun with that, readers-aloud); Santa calls out “Merry Christmas to all! / And to all a Good Night!” The book closes with the girl again, now sound asleep; when readers spot her pointy elf ears, they’ll turn right back to the beginning to see how Cushman’s clever, colorful illustrations disguised her as a human girl. JENNIFER M. BRABANDER

Strega Nona’s Gift
by Tomie dePaola; illus. by the author
Primary    Paulsen/Penguin    32 pp.
10/11    978-0-399-25649-3    $16.99
In a new picture book by Wilder Award winner dePaola marking the feast days of Italy, Strega Nona is busy cooking, as usual — and sorting out Big Anthony’s troubles, also as usual. (When he can’t resist the delectable treats Strega Nona prepared for the animals on the Eve of Epiphany, he misses out on her gift of a dream about wonderful food, but eventually he makes amends and even gets to be king of the feast.) From the Feast of San Nicola on December 6 to the Feast of Epiphany on January 6, Strega Nona’s Calabrian village celebrates the season. Glowing watercolors in warm Mediterranean colors capture both the details of each feast day and the humor of Big Anthony’s (very human) foibles. Community, piety, ritual, and food: Strega Nona and Tomie dePaola know exactly what Christmas is all about. MARTHA V. PARRAVANO

A Christmas Tree for Pyn
by Olivier Dunrea; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Philomel    32 pp.
10/11    978-0-399-24506-0    $16.99
Little Pyn lives in a desolate cottage with her father, Oother, a gruff, unsentimental mountain man. Pyn wants a Christmas tree this year — the small family’s first — but Oother, with an “umphf,” replies, “No Christmas tree.” Determined Pyn sets out in a snowstorm to find the perfect tree and gets some surprising help from Oother. Eventually, Oother allows his daughter’s love to warm his tough exterior, and his holiday spirit is revealed. Dunrea’s simple pencil and gouache pictures depict the pair’s differences (both in size and demeanor) and, gradually, their quiet mutual affection. This heartfelt tale is as much about father-daughter bonding as it is about the power of Christmas to melt a cold heart. KATRINA HEDEEN

Jingle Bells: How the Holiday Classic Came to Be
by John Harris; illus. by Adam Gustavson
Primary    Peachtree    32 pp.
10/11    978-1-56145-590-4    $16.95
Based on a true story, Harris’s brisk text uses a liberal amount of invented conversation to embellish the tale of a northern-born songsmith living in 1850s Savannah, Georgia, and longing for a snowy winter. It’s a hot November, and John Lorn Pierpont, Unitarian choir director, is struggling to come up with a new Thanksgiving song for the annual concert when he suddenly thinks of the sound of jingling bells. Gustavson’s accomplished paintings, realistic yet folksy, reveal small dramas not in the text, and each face in the choir and congregation seems to hide an entire character study. An author’s note with photos at the end provides more information. LOLLY ROBINSON

A Very Babymouse Christmas
by Jennifer L. Holm; illus. by Matthew Holm
Primary, Intermediate    Random    93 pp.
9/11    Paper ed.  978-0-375-86779-8    $6.99
Library ed.  978-0-375-96779-5    $12.99
The must-have gift this Christmas? It’s a Whiz Bangtm, and Babymouse feels she simply cannot live without the latest electronic marvel: “It plays video games and movies, it texts, sees into the future, folds laundry, and does homework!” This graphic novel’s single-minded focus reflects Babymouse’s all-consuming obsession, a condition with which readers are likely to be familiar. Her holiday-classic-inspired, pink-hued daydreams allow Babymouse to switch off the mania for a while (though “the Sugarplum Whiz Bangstm” do make an appearance). The sentimental lesson delivered in the end — “Sometimes the best gift is one you didn’t even know you wanted, huh, Babymouse?” — is obvious, but one that fits the season and bears repeating. KITTY FLYNN

Listen to the Silent Night
by Dandi Daley Mackall; illus. by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
Preschool, Primary    Dutton    32 pp.
10/11    978-0-525-42276-1    $16.99    g
Employing the refrain “It was not such a silent night,” this narrative poem relates the nativity through its sounds: the flip, flap, flap of Joseph’s sandals as he and Mary enter Bethlehem; his rap, tap, tap at the door of the inn; the moo! moo! moo! of the stable’s inhabitants; the flut-flut-flutter of descending angels. Mackall’s carefully constructed verse emphasizes that while the first Christmas may not have been the “silent night” the old hymn would have us believe, it was a “miraculous” one. Johnson and Fancher’s peaceful illustrations eloquently capture the range of emotions from Mary’s weariness to the joy of Jesus’ birth. KATIE BIRCHER

Elmer’s Christmas
by David McKee; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Andersen    32 pp.
9/11    978-0-7613-8088-7    $16.95
e-book ed.  978-0-7613-8090-0    $12.95
After a day of preparing for Christmas, Elmer the patchwork elephant and seven young elephants sneak away to spy on Papa Red. Papa Red arrives (complete with Santa hat and whiskers) and gathers up the gifts from under the tree. The young elephants are delighted to have seen him, and when they note that Papa Red took all the gifts, Elmer explains that “this is the season for giving.” McKee’s story sends a strong but friendly reminder of the importance of generosity and goodwill during the holiday season. The playful, vividly colored illustrations complement the book’s cheery tone. KAZIA BERKLEY-CRAMER

Chanukah Lights
by Michael J. Rosen; illus. by Robert Sabuda
Primary    Candlewick    16 pp.
9/11    978-0-7636-5533-4    $34.99
Starting in the temple two thousand years ago, this satisfying pop-up travels around the globe and through the ages (desert tent, kibbutz, tall ship, tenement) to show all the places where menorahs have been lit. On each spread, the background is brightly painted while the pop-up elements are white — except for a cleverly hidden representation of a lit menorah. Rosen’s brief text takes the reader from the first night of Hanukkah (two flames) to the last (all nine flames), ending with a modern city in which a menorah towers above all like art deco skyscrapers with gold triangles at the top. This is a satisfying and even uplifting experience that demands repeat viewings. LOLLY ROBINSON

The Carpenter’s Gift
by David Rubel; illus. by Jim LaMarche
Primary    Random    48 pp.
9/11    978-0-375-86922-8    $17.99    g
During the Great Depression, down-on-their-luck Henry and his father bring spruces into Manhattan to sell as Christmas trees; through some good fortune and a little Christmas magic, kindly construction workers they meet there build the impoverished family a new house. Henry never forgets the wonder of that day or the kindness of those strangers. As an old man, he’s given the opportunity to pay it forward: an enormous spruce tree that he planted all those decades before becomes the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, and its lumber is later used to build a similarly needy family a new home. Rubel’s story of compassion hits all the right holiday notes; LaMarche’s lush, warm illustrations of glowing Christmas trees and smiling, caring characters drive home the central message of charity. KATRINA HEDEEN

The Hanukkah Hop!
by Erica Silverman; illus. by Steven D’Amico
Preschool    Simon    32 pp.
10/11    978-1-4424-0604-9    $12.99
On the last night of Hanukkah, with all the candles lit, Rachel’s parents host “our first ever Hanukkah Hop!” Extended family and friends gather in the streamer-festooned, latke-perfumed living room. The evening starts sedately, with Hanukkah story-telling and dreidel-spinning. With the arrival of the Mazel-Tones klezmer band, the celebration ramps up: “Biddy-biddy bim-bom bim-bom bop. / Spin! Swing! Sway! / Dive! Jump! Pop! / The party’s going wild at the Hanukkah Hop!” Like the enthusiastic revelers, Silverman’s gleeful text has rhythm. D’Amico’s angular illustrations, with their circa-1950s flair, keep up the pace, as the partygoers overtake all available space in the living room and on the pages. Readers’ toes are sure to be tapping throughout this unabashedly joyful Hanukkah romp. ELISSA GERSHOWITZ

The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve; illus. by Ellen Beier
Primary    Holiday    32 pp.
8/11    978-0-8234-2134-3    $16.95
It’s a harsh winter in young Virginia’s Sioux village on the South Dakota prairie. Virginia longs for a new coat but knows she’ll have to make do with her too-short, too-thin one, at least until the boxes full of donated used clothing arrive from “Theast”; i.e., New England. As the Episcopal priest’s daughter, Virginia always gets last pick, and she can’t help feeling a pang when a flashy fur coat she covets goes to another girl. With its authentic portrait of a Sioux childhood and Christmas traditions (captured in watercolor and gouache illustrations) and its eventual happy ending (a final box arrives containing the beautiful red coat Virginia had dreamed of, a reward for her unselfishness), this is a quiet but affecting picture book. MARTHA V. PARRAVANO

The Perfect Christmas
by Eileen Spinelli; illus. by JoAnn Adinolfi
Primary    Ottaviano/Holt    32 pp.
10/11    978-0-8050-8702-4    $16.99    g
Abigail Archer (from The Perfect Thanksgiving) and her family do Christmas Martha Stewart-style. Holly bedecks the halls, elegant baked goods are tastefully presented, and the attractive relatives are refined and well mannered. Taking a less-manicured approach, the narrator’s family pulls out the old fake tree and the bargain bin decorations, Grandma over-bakes the cookies, and the loud pickup truck-driving relatives are not refined. The rhyming text isn’t always perfectly polished, either, but the jolly collage art ties it all together, depicting each family’s traditions with finesse. A Christmas snowfall brings both families outside “together / laughing and dancing / through the snow.” That’s the extent of the conflict, which might be a refreshing break from too much family-holiday togetherness. KITTY FLYNN

The Greatest Gift: The Story of the Other Wise Man
retold by Susan Summers; illus. by Jackie Morris
Primary    Barefoot    32 pp.
11/11    978-1-84686-578-7    $16.99    g
In this retelling of a fictional tale, a fourth wise man, Artaban, intends to travel with the three other magi to honor baby Jesus. But when Artaban stops to heal a man in need, he finds himself left behind. After years of helping the distressed during his travels, Artaban arrives in Jerusalem just as Jesus is about to be crucified. Artaban is faced with one final dilemma: try to free Jesus, or release a young girl from captivity. When Artaban frees the helpless girl, the spirit of Jesus thanks Artaban for repeatedly helping His children over the years. The appropriately formal language is accompanied by rich, saturated watercolors that portray Middle Eastern characters and scenery during biblical times. This heartwarming story will remind readers that the holiday season is about giving to those less fortunate. LAUREN KIM

One Starry Night
by Lauren Thompson; illus. by Jonathan Bean
Preschool, Primary    McElderry/Simon    32 pp.
10/11    978-0-689-82851-5    $16.99
“One starry night / a sheep watched over her lamb / I am here.” In Thompson’s poetic, reverent text, two voices tell of the night Jesus was born. Eight animal parents watch over their young; then all gather under the stars with Mary and Joseph to welcome the baby Jesus: “and the world was filled with love / God’s will be done / Amen.” This peaceful ode to parental love is just right for bedtime reading. Bean’s digitally colored pencil illustrations portray the calm nighttime scenes in black, beige, dark gray-blue, and a sprinkling of white. The gentle words are beautifully matched by the strikingly composed art; both are infused with meaning and are powerful in their simplicity. KITTY FLYNN

Franklin and Winston: A Christmas That Changed the World
by Douglas Wood; illus. by Barry Moser
Primary, Intermediate    Candlewick    40 pp.
9/11    978-0-7636-3383-7    $16.99
In December 1941 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill traveled to the United States and spent the holidays with President Franklin Roosevelt at the White House. During his visit, they formed an alliance to fight the Axis Powers and crafted a charter for the United Nations. Wood’s somewhat idealized snapshot of this significant moment in history provides interested readers a glimpse into the lives of these two great men and their Christmas meeting, along with a few humorous anecdotes that add levity to an otherwise solemn text. Moser based his impressive watercolor paintings, a mix of full pages and vignettes, on photographs from the period. His images skillfully capture the likenesses of these iconic figures and the importance of their meeting for the future of the world. CYNTHIA K. RITTER

The post Holiday High Notes appeared first on The Horn Book.