No worries back-to-school
Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten! by Hyewon Yum, Foster/Farrar, 4–6 years.
A Gold Star for Zog by Julia Donaldson; illus. by Axel Scheffler, Levine/Scholastic, 4–6 years.
Oh No! Not Again!: (Or How I Built a Time Machine to Save History) (Or at Least My History Grade) by Mac Barnett; illus. by Dan Santat, Disney-Hyperion, 5–8 years.
Pearl and Wagner: Five Days Till Summer [Penguin Young Readers] by Kate McMullan; illus. by R. W. Alley, Penguin, 5–8 years.

Appropriate apps
Freight Train by Donald Crews, HarperCollins/Curious Puppy, 2–4 years.
Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kundhart, Random House/Smashing Ideas, Inc., 2–4 years.
Planes and Boats  by Byron Barton, HarperCollins/Oceanhouse Media, 2–4 years.
The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton, Boynton Moo Media/Loud Crow Interactive, 2–4 years.

American heroes
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship by Russell Freedman, Clarion, 9–12 years.
Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller by Joseph Lambert, Disney-Hyperion, 9–12 years.
We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Levinson, Peachtree, 11–14 years.
Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca by Deborah Kogan Ray, Foster/Farrar, 9–12 years.

Not your father’s comic books
Cardboard by Doug TenNapel; illus. by the author, Middle School, Graphix/Scholastic, 11–14 years.
Take What You Can Carry by Kevin C. Pyle, Holt, 11–14 years.
Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks, First Second/Roaring Brook, 13–16 years.
Baby’s in Black: Astrid Kirchherr, Stuart Sutcliffe, and The Beatles by Arne Bellstorf; trans. from the German by Michael Waaler, First Second/Roaring Brook, 13–16 years.

These titles were featured in the August 2012 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.

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Nonfiction Notes from the Horn Book (I may have to run a contest to give it a better name!) will provide brief reviews of recent and good informational books. In choosing what books to include in each quarterly issue, we will be guided by the Common Core Standards, which are asking educators to employ more nonfiction in the language arts classroom, and more reading in those classes devoted to science, history, and social studies.  These Standards, which have been adopted by forty-five U.S. states, supply no set reading lists, instead asking teachers to use books that will help students develop the cognitive skills that will help them succeed in college and work. In other words, the standards ask for the kind of books we’ve always liked: books that make you think.

Nonfiction Notes is a free digital publication, and it will be sent to subscribers of Notes from the Horn Book automatically. Look for it in your email in October. I hope it will prove useful in getting the right books into students’ hands.

Roger Sutton
Editor in Chief

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For more than thirty years, Roz Chast has captured the tiny frights and foibles of modern life in her New Yorker cartoons. In Marco Goes to School (a companion to Too Busy Marco, both published by Atheneum, 4–7 years) she demonstrates, through the first school day of bird Marco, the same empathy for the concerns of younger souls, “small birds with big dreams.”

1. What was your own biggest misapprehension about the first day of school?

Roz Chast: I really had no idea what to expect. I was an only child, and not terribly well-socialized. One of my earliest memories was being told by a teacher not to talk to myself. I guess I thought everyone talked to themselves!

2. a) What’s your position on the issue of year-round school?

RC: I’m not really in favor of that. Kids need unstructured time so they can find their own interests. Even boredom can be instructive, because it forces you to figure out a way to become un-bored.

b) Kindergarten graduation ceremonies?

RC: Why not? I can remember wearing a little mortarboard, and having serious music playing in the background, and trying to walk in the slow, serious way we had to learn to walk for the ceremony.

3. How smart are birds?

RC: Incredibly smart! I have two: a blue-streaked lory (whom Marco is based on) and an African Grey who knows about a hundred words. If you shake a bottle of water near her cage and ask her, “What’s that?” she says, “That’s water.” When she’s anxious, she paces around on the floor and says to herself, quietly but quite clearly, “It’s ok… it’s ok…” That’s just a couple of examples. The lory says some things too, but Greys… they’re really verbal. Marco plays with toys more, though. He has four laundry baskets of old Ninja Turtles, Tinker Toys, jar lids, poker chips, miscellaneous Happy Meal toys, etc.

4. What’s the greatest difference between creating a picture book for children and a cartoon for adults?

RC: I try to not “infect” the children with too many of my phobias: appendicitis, ceiling fans, balloons, etc. Whereas with adults, I figure they already have their own, so they’re kind of immune.

5. What’s the number-one thing a parent can do to help with (everybody’s) first-day jitters?

RC: Let your kid know that it’s ok to be nervous — that everyone is — and that you will be there 100% for them as soon as it’s over. I guess that’s two things.

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Russell Freedman examines two of the greatest figures of the nineteenth century in Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship. Although the men met just three times, they formed a lasting bond based on mutual admiration and respect. Freedman effectively surveys the time period by including biographical information about the men’s early years before describing their encounters during the Civil War. Primary and secondary sources allow Lincoln and Douglass’s own words to speak for themselves, and period illustrations further enhance the presentation. (Clarion, 9–12 years)

In Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca, Deborah Kogan Ray recounts key events in the life of nineteenth-century Native rights advocate Winnemucca. Self-named “Princess Sarah” struggled to get people to pay attention to the plight of the Northern Paiute and to the dishonesty of the Bureau of Indian Affairs agents entrusted with their welfare. She used her formal education and her fluency in English (both unusual for Native women of her time) to make speeches, write letters, circulate petitions, and travel to Washington, DC, to appeal to government officials. Dramatic full-color illustrations, quotations from Winnemucca’s autobiography and letters, and extensive back matter round out this worthy picture-book biography. (Farrar/Foster, 9–12 years)

Cartoonist Joseph Lambert turns his pen to the inspirational story of Helen Keller. Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller shifts back and forth in history to depict episodes from Sullivan’s hardscrabble early life and her time working with Keller. Annie’s own words convey her determination to teach Helen despite the many obstacles. Lambert uses silhouettes against a black background to give a sense of how Helen’s world might have felt from the inside — dim, bewildering, rageful, and eventually, enlightened by language. (Disney-Hyperion, 9–12 years)

Cynthia Levinson’s We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March looks at the civil rights movement in “dismally segregated” Birmingham, Alabama, focusing on the struggles of four young African Americans. Levinson also does a superb job of taking readers inside the movement, led by Fred Shuttlesworth, Ralph Abernathy, and Martin Luther King Jr., demonstrating just how difficult it was for the leaders to create and maintain its non-violent ethic. Clear and lively writing, well-chosen photographs, and thorough documentation make this a fine chronicle of the era and an example of how young people can change the world. (Peachtree, 11–14 years)

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In Doug TenNapel’s Cardboard, Cam Howerton’s out-of-work father is so broke, the best he can do for Cam’s birthday is an empty cardboard box purchased from a toy seller with two mysterious rules: return every unused scrap of cardboard and don’t ask for any more. From the box, father and son construct “Boxer Bill” — who comes to life. When the neighborhood bully gets wind of the cardboard man, he steals the scrap materials and begins turning out an evil empire of cardboard monsters. The graphic novel format, with its dynamic panels and fast pacing, is a perfect vehicle for this imaginative, action-packed tale. (Graphix/Scholastic, 11–14 years)

Two stories unfold in alternating threads throughout Kevin C. Pyle’s Take What You Can Carry. One is the wordless story, rendered in sepia tones, of a Japanese American boy’s experiences in an internment camp. The other, washed in two shades of blue, is the more contemporary tale of a wayward teen caught stealing from a store owned by a Japanese American man. The boy’s punishment involves working weekends at the store, where he slowly comes to respect the owner — who is gradually revealed to be the youth of the first narrative strand. The store owner, too, grows to empathize with the thief, creating a rewarding arc of forgiveness and redemption. (Holt, 11–14 years)

Faith Erin Hicks’s Friends with Boys finds Maggie starting her first day of high school after having been homeschooled her entire life, her mother (her only teacher and the only other female in the house) having left the family suddenly the year before. Maggie has to tackle making friends, figuring out cliques, and finding her place among long-established groups on her own. Hicks excels at showing everyday adventures and contemplative moments in expressive, sharp black-and-white ink work and careful pacing. Evocative mysteries involving a broken friendship and a restless ghost add layers to Maggie’s world. Strong characters and excellent art give teens a girl’s slice of life. (First Second/Roaring Brook, 13–16 years)

In this quiet, atmospheric biographical graphic novel, Arne Bellstorf depicts the brief, intense, real-life love affair between Astrid Kirchherr and Stuart Sutcliffe — the man known as “The Fifth Beatle.” Set in Hamburg, Germany, Baby’s in Black: Astrid Kirchherr, Stuart Sutcliffe, and The Beatles (translated from the German by Michael Waaler) tells of talented young photographer Astrid—drawn as a cool, calm beatnik in a black turtleneck—growing close to the band in its early years. Beatles lyrics and lore are incorporated within the narrative, and the panel compositions re-create the spirit of Kirchherr’s own iconographic Beatles photography. Subtle facial expressions, thick black lines, and swirling ribbons of white cigarette smoke create a mood befitting the time. (First Second/Roaring Brook, 13–16 years)

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The Pat the Bunny app updates Dorothy Kunhardt’s lift-the-flap classic with new opportunities to play with Paul, Judy, and Bunny, presented in retro pastel illustrations. Clear directions offered by a cheery narrator and a map of the vignettes help pre-readers navigate the app. A simple coloring activity is included; some devices also support a function for users to record their own narration. (Random House/Smashing Ideas, Inc., 2–4 years)

Freight Train introduces components of a train from red caboose to black engine. Users explore the many-hued cars (each latches on with a satisfying clunk) to discover staff, stock, and freight to unload and reload. Once ready to go, the train whizzes past cityscapes and countryside, then out of sight, to the strains of a train-themed song. Donald Crews’s simple presentation of concepts works brilliantly in digital format. Also available in a Spanish-language version. (HarperCollins/Curious Puppy, 2–4 years)

The apps based on two of Byron Barton’s vehicle books, Planes and Boats, match the engaging simplicity of the print versions without distracting users with over-the-top interactivity. An enthusiastic narrator reads each text, and the sound effects — such as motor noises and workers’ banter — may be turned on or off. Tap a word or object in the illustrations to hear that word (e.g., cloud, people, plane) read; drag and drop the planes and boats to move them across the screen. (HarperCollins/Oceanhouse Media, 2–4 years)

In The Going to Bed Book, Sandra Boynton’s verse and cuddly characters are enhanced by soothing narration and gentle background music. The smart interactive elements, though, say “playtime” more than “bedtime”: users are able to scatter pajamas around the room, pop bubbles in the bathroom and fog up the device’s screen, and make the sleepy animal characters do their exercises before going off to dreamland. (Boynton Moo Media/Loud Crow Interactive, 2–4 years)

See more kids’ app reviews here.

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Hyewon Yum’s Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten! turns the usual first-day-of-school anxiety story on its head. Breezy illustrations depict a confident young boy and his worried-looking mother. He’s eager to go to school (“I have my crayons and markers…I’m all set!”), but Mom is less sure. 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. (Foster/Farrar, 4–6 years)

Zog, star of Julia Donaldson’s A Gold Star for Zog, may be in dragon school, but it feels more like the School of Hard Knocks when he crashes into a tree during flying practice. Fortunately, a girl in the field where he lands offers him a Band-Aid. As the years go by, she faithfully helps out — and finally gives him the most useful gift of all: she reveals that she’s royalty just as Zog fears he’s about to fail his capture-a-princess test. Illustrated by Axel Scheffler, a multicolored, endearingly homely cast of cartoon dragons attends class in the woodland setting, where none of the other critters seem remotely afraid of the fire-breathers in their midst. (Levine/Scholastic, 4–6 years)

In Oh No! Not Again!: (Or How I Built a Time Machine to Save History) (Or at Least My History Grade), author Mac Barnett and illustrator Dan Santat reunite with a companion to Oh No! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World). After missing a question on her history test, our bespectacled heroine builds a time machine that brings her back to 33,000 BCE. While she is changing history by painting caves in Belgium, two cave dudes steal the machine and do a little history-changing of their own. Bright digital illustrations with lots of graphic elements play up the considerable humor, and many light touches will allow young readers in on the joke. (Disney-Hyperion, 5–8 years)

What will the next school year be like? Who will be in my class? Will I like my new teacher? In Pearl and Wagner: Five Days Till Summer author Kate McMullan perfectly captures such common insecurities when Pearl gets a glimpse of her future teacher, Ms. Bean, and imagines the worst. (Fortunately, her fears turn out to be unfounded.) R. W. Alley’s engaging illustrations capture the myriad expressions on all the characters’ faces, and McMullan’s text begins to bridge that territory between easy readers and chapter books. (Penguin, 5–8 years)

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