Roger Sutton
Editor in Chief

From the January 2013 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.

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In Rae Carson’s The Crown of Embers, new queen Elisa (The Girl of Fire and Thorns) must learn to rule while dealing with internal and external threats to her authority. Initially hesitant, Elisa grows savvy and ruthless as she makes some hard, unpopular choices. Her Godstone prompts her to embark — with romantic interest Hector, Lord-Commander of the Royal Guard — on a quest to find a legendary magical-spiritual power source. Assassination attempts and perilous journeys ensure nonstop action, and a bracing conclusion opens the door for further exploration of this pseudo-Spanish/Mediterranean fantasy world. (13 years and up, Greenwillow)

In Scrivener’s Moon, the third book in Philip Reeve’s post-apocalyptic, post-technological Fever Crumb series, Fever (a nano-machinery-enhanced hybrid-human) and her engineer mother undertake a perilous search for much-needed Ancient technology. The novel culminates in the brutal and spectacular birth of a mobile London, followed by an epic battle, setting the scene for Reeve’s Mortal Engines and its sequels. Characterization is deep and revelatory; themes are rich and seamlessly interwoven; and the complex plot will keep readers riveted. (12 years and up, Scholastic)

Beth Revis’s Shades of Earth, the third book in her Across the Universe trilogy, picks up with Earth-born Amy and ship-born leader Elder leaving the ship Godspeed. Once they make planetfall on Centauri-Earth, tensions quickly rise between Elder and the recently awakened colony of “frozens” — which includes Amy’s parents. A calculating military-industrial corporation, a shadowy alien menace tracking the colony, and a new mystery Amy and Elder must solve make for plenty of plot twists by book’s end. (14 years and up, Penguin/Razorbill)

The renewed war between chimaera and seraphim takes center stage in Laini Taylor’s Days of Blood & Starlight. Karou (Daughter of Smoke & Bone), as the new resurrectionist, repopulates the chimaera, while her star-crossed lover Akiva reluctantly takes a lead role in the seraphim army. Surprises ratchet up the suspense, as do acts of personal sacrifice, and Karou’s eventual emergence as a leader helps forge an uneasy alliance between the chimaera and Akiva’s band of rebel angels as a battle against the seraphim looms. (15 years and up, Little, Brown)

From the January 2013 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.

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Disney American Presidents invites users to peruse “The Unofficial Oval Office Scrapbook.” A spread devoted to each president is packed with biographical information: portrait, birth and death dates, presidential number, term(s) served, party, vice president(s), birth state, and more. Interactive icons trigger additional pop-up fact bubbles, and three- to five-minute video profiles (from the Disney Educational Production series The American Presidents) cover the men and their eras. Presidents’ accomplishments, pitfalls, strengths, and weaknesses are also explored in a balanced manner. (8 years and up, Disney Learning)

March of the Dinosaurs, based on National Geographic’s documentary Escape of the Dinosaurs, follows young Edmontosaurus Scar as his herd migrates south from the Arctic Circle. A subplot features Patch, an adolescent Troodon, who stays in the Arctic and experiences his first mating season. Animation from the film is gracefully integrated into the story, and info bubbles offer context about Cretaceous climate, seasons in the Arctic Circle, vegetation, and dinosaur behavior and diet. Profiles of ten Cretaceous creatures offer a zoomable 3-D view of each animal, a brief clip of it in action, and a wealth of facts and stats. (8 years and up, Touch Press LLP)

In Bobo Explores Light, cute robot Bobo takes users on a roughly chronological review of humanity’s history with light, from dependence on natural sources (sunlight, moonlight, lightning) and the discovery of fire-making to the invention of the light bulb and the laser. Once caught up to contemporary technology, Bobo covers various principles related to light, including vision, color, reflection, refraction, chemical-based luminescence, bioluminescence, photosynthesis, and the aurora borealis. The app moves naturally from topic to topic, introducing each on its own screen with a short, conversational paragraph and humorous interactive moments. (8 years and up, Game Collage LLC)

In the digital companion to the Barefoot Books World Atlas written by Nick Crane and illustrated by David Dean, users zoom in from a global view to read and hear an introduction to a specific country. Information on population, currency exchange rate, climate and weather, natural resources, wildlife, and more are kept up-to-date by search engine WolframAlpha; current local time in each country and its distance from the user’s location are included. Photographs, animation, and sound effects enhance these facts. Explore alphabetically by region or country, by keyword search, or by “spinning” the globe. (8 years and up, Touch Press LLP)

From the January 2013 issue of Notes from the Horn Book. See more kids’ app reviews here.

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In Patricia Carlin’s Alfie Is Not Afraid, a young dog owner claims his pup isn’t afraid of anything, which is why they’re going camping: “Just the two of us. Alone in the wild.” Readers can clearly see, however, that the little black-and-white Alfie is the opposite of “not afraid.” The loyal friendship between spindly-limbed boy and sturdy, low-to-the-ground dog is apparent in text and pictures on every amusing page. (3–7 years, Disney-Hyperion)

According to young Henry in Amy Hest’s Charley’s First Night, adopting a pup is a simple process: he names him Charley, carries him home, shows him around, agrees to feed and walk him, and also agrees to his sleeping in the kitchen “forever,” though — predictably — both wind up in Henry’s bed by night’s end. Helen Oxenbury’s art subtly transforms this forthright account into an unsentimental yet adorable recasting of an ever-reliable theme. (3–7 years, Candlewick)

The urban cattle dog of Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel’s Find a Cow NOW! spends his day zipping around the apartment trying to round things up. Bird, tired of this, explains Dog’s true calling: “Go! Find a cow NOW!” so Dog heads to the country. Knowing nothing of farm life, confused Dog tries to herd a chicken, a pig, etc., until a large animal with an udder offers to act as his escort. Stevens packs emotion into the canine’s frenetic movements and the cow’s gentle eyes. (3–7 years, Holiday)

The dog protagonists of Boot & Shoe share a lot of things, but Boot prefers the back porch and Shoe the front. When a squirrel gets both dogs riled up enough to give chase, each ends up on the wrong porch — and decides to wait for the other. The sprightly lines of Marla Frazee’s black-pencil and gouache illustrations add to the humor of this nimble tale of misplaced assumptions. (3–7 years, Beach Lane/Simon)

From the January 2013 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.

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More building books for primary readers
Dreaming Up by Christy Hale, Lee & Low, 3–7 years.
Busy Builders by Roxie Munro, Marshall Cavendish, 5–8 years.
Castle: How It Works written by David Macaulay with Sheila Keenan, illus. by David Macaulay, David Macaulay Studio/Square Fish/Roaring Brook, 5–8 years.
Demolition written by Sally Sutton, illus. by Brian Lovelock, Candlewick, 3–7 years.

Picks of the litter
Alfie is Not Afraid by Patricia Carlin, Disney-Hyperion, Disney-Hyperion, 3–7 years.
Charley’s First Night by Amy Hest, illus. by Helen Oxenbury, Candlewick, 3–7 years.
Find a Cow NOW! written by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel, illus. by Janet Stevens, Holiday, 3–7 years.
Boot & Shoe by Marla Frazee, Beach Lane/Simon, 3–7 years.

Nonfiction apps for middle graders
Disney American Presidents, Disney Learning, 8 years and up.
March of the Dinosaurs, Touch Press LLP, 8 years and up.
Bobo Explores Light, Game Collage LLC, 8 years and up.
Barefoot Books Atlas written by Nick Crane, illus. by David Dean, Touch Press LLP, 8 years and up.

Returning YA fantasy and sci-fi series
The Girl of Fire and Thorns and The Crown of Embers, both by Rae Carson, Greenwillow, 13 years and up.
Scrivener’s Moon [Fever Crumb] by Philip Reeve, Scholastic, 12 years and up.
Shades of Earth [Across the Universe] by Beth Revis, Razorbill/Penguin, 14 years and up.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight, both by Laini Taylor, Little, Brown, 15 years and up.

These titles were featured in the January 2013 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.

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Photo: Taeeun Yoo

Jonathan Bean won a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for At Night, a perfect little picture book celebrating night in the city. With Building Our House (5–8 years, Farrar), he moves to the country (and a much larger trim size!) to show us a home and a family growing from the ground up. Based on the author-illustrator’s own childhood, the book combines a practical introduction to house-building with a commemoration of family bonds.

1. Were your parents hippies?

JB: My parents tell me they were not hippies. There were certain facets of that culture they didn’t identify with. For them, getting back to the earth was related to pragmatic issues such as the thriftiness of growing their own vegetables and not wanting to be weighed down by a mortgage. Though, during the seventies, they did subscribe to Mother Earth News, so . . .

2. Would you consider yourself a town mouse or a country mouse?

JB: In either location I need a dose of the other to keep me sane. That wasn’t always the case. Cities were once very frightening to me. I recall returning to the country from my first New York City apartment search and thinking, “I do not belong there!” So, it was thrilling to discover how much I loved the city. Now that I am once again in a quieter locale, I can’t go more than two months without a dose of urban energy.

3. How did you divvy up the storytelling in Building Our House between the words and the pictures?

JB: At some point, looking at one of my textless dummies, I realized that the basic story could be easily followed with images only; they carry much of the process information. However, words were better at providing anecdotal details, like the parents buying land from a farmer, the owls calling, or the bad winter weather arriving early. These things would be prohibitively complicated to express in images.

4. What is the most useful home repair tip you know? 

JB: I know from personal experience that humming a soothing melody helps unclog a drain.

5. On the last spread, the first night in their new house, the family reads a book together. What book do you think it is?

JB: Wow, there were so many books we read together as a family. A few stand out, though, because I recall my mother being so moved by particular passages she had trouble getting through them. One of those was Where the Red Fern Grows, which has a very tragic ending that I remember affected me for days. In this case, since my sister is smiling, I’m going to say it’s Virginia Lee Burton’s The Little House. The ending of that story, when the Little House finds itself peacefully resettled in the country, seems very appropriate for this occasion!

From the January 2013 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.

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Building — whether with blocks or sand or sticks or boxes — is one of childhood’s most entertaining forms of play. In Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale, fifteen such play building projects are deftly rendered in mixed-media collage and paired with simple concrete poems and photos of iconic buildings. A toddler’s upside-down stack of graduated plastic rings resembles Frank Lloyd Wright’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; a pillow fort mimics Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Lots of books show children how to play; this one suggests that “dreaming up” what to do with available materials is vital to creativity. (3–7 years, Lee & Low)

Roxie Munro’s Busy Builders profiles eight insects and one spider that make their own structures. Each is introduced by name with a close-up illustration and the question, “Where does it live?” Turn the page, and the answer is revealed, showing the creature industriously building and maintaining its home. Detailed explanations on the construction techniques and purposes of the structures are interwoven with facts about each species. Bold use of perspective will grab readers’ attentions: on one page zooming in at eye-level next to an ant or wasp; on the next page backing out to feature geometric details of their nests and hives. (5–8 years, Marshall Cavendish)

David Macaulay brings his signature brand of illustrated expository nonfiction to a younger audience in his new series of early readers. In Castle: How It Works, Macaulay (with Sheila Keenan) takes readers on a tour of a fictional castle, inviting them to envision themselves in the action. From drawbridge to outer curtain to battlement to inner ward, Castle abounds with detail and with Macaulay’s mischievous wit, as in the following advice about additional uses for a catapult: “You can also fire smelly, germy dead animals. Fire! Whoosh! Pigs away!” (5–8 years, David Macaulay Studio/Square Fish/Roaring Brook)

“Swing the ball. Swing the ball. / Thump and smash and whack. / Bring the top floors tumbling down. / Bang! CLANG! CRACK!” Demolition follows a demolition crew as it tears down an old building, sorts scraps for recycling, and hauls the debris off to make room for a new construction project: a playground. Sally Sutton’s rhythmic text captures the excitement and energy of big trucks and powerful machinery, and Brian Lovelock’s illustrations put the equipment and vehicles center stage, where young fans will want them. This is as good as it gets for truck-obsessed preschoolers. (3–7 years, Candlewick)

From the January 2013 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.

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