For young history buffs, here’s a picture-book portrait of a mid-eighteenth-century one-room school. In Hornbooks and Inkwells by Verla Kay, brief staccato quatrains set the scene and tell the story: “Sternly standing, Master greets, / Pairs of children, taking seats.” The school year passes with a sampling of lessons (written on birchbark) and recess (stilts, marbles, ice skating). S. D. Schindler’s lively illustrations evoke the period with such details as dress, the school’s minimal appurtenances, and students helping one another learn. (5–8 years)

Laura Murray transposes a classic folktale to a modern setting in a very funny and fun-to-read-aloud picture book, The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School. When this Gingerbread Man eagerly springs out of the oven, he finds himself in an empty classroom (the children are at recess). The cookie, thinking he’s been abandoned, embarks on a voyage through the school to be reunited with the kids. Mike Lowery’s cartoon-panel mixed-media illustrations imbue the highly sympathetic, wide-eyed confection with an abundance of personality. A pullout classroom poster with games, activities, and a recipe on one side and a full-color image of the protagonist on the other is included. (5–8 years)

In Clementine and the Family Meeting, the latest entry in Sara Pennypacker’s fine series of chapter books, our irrepressible narrator learns that there will be a new baby in the house. Clementine’s reaction is less than enthusiastic. “Our family is four. There are four sides to a puzzle so we can all work on it at once…Four is the perfect number for a family!” Through an unexpected outcome of a science project at school and with her father’s reassurance that it’s OK to be ambivalent about change, Clementine begins to come around. Marla Frazee’s amusing pencil sketches capture Clementine’s inimitable spirit as well as her growing maturity — she’s going to make a great big sister to the baby. (6–9 years)

Third-grader Wilson Williams struggled through his multiplication tables in Claudia Mills’s now-classic chapter book, 7 x 9 = Trouble!; here, well, Fractions = Trouble! Despite his apprehensions, a new tutor manages to make learning fractions painless (combining Wilson’s love of drawing and hamsters), and it turns out that he’s not the only kid in the world who needs help (his best friend Josh has trouble with spelling). Mills seamlessly incorporates helpful math explanations into her highly readable narrative, enhanced by G. Brian Karas’s warmly humorous pencil sketches. (6–9 years)

—Martha V. Parravano

From Notes from the Horn Book, September 2011

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Author-illustrator Leo Landry, a twenty-year bookselling veteran of The Children’s Book Shop in Brookline, Massachusetts, is the creator of picture books (Space Boy; Eat Your Peas, Ivy Louise!), as well as chapter books (Fat Bat and Swoop; Sea Surprise); newly independent readers should line up for Grin and Bear It, his latest offering. In this short (just forty-eight pages) chapter book, joke-writing-genius Bear dreams of making his friends laugh. He’s got some awesome material, but he’s also got a problem: stage fright. Enter hummingbird Emmy, gifted at performing but not at joke writing; together they pool their talents and realize their dreams. Young readers will be a receptive audience for Landry’s gentle illustrations, accessible text, and first-grader-funny jokes (“What do little girl cubs wear in their hair? Bear-ettes!”).

1. Who or what was the inspiration for the character of Bear, and does he bear (get it?) any resemblance to you?

Leo Landry: Years ago, I took a stand-up comedy class to get over my anxiety about public speaking. The final class was a five-minute live performance at a local comedy club! My bit was about the things you find yourself saying or overhearing as an adult working in a children’s bookstore (such as how many times you might say the word bunny in a day or, in one case, being told by a mother, “it’s only little girl pee!”). I got through the five minutes, but I’m not sure I could do it again. “Write what you know,” people have always told me. And so Bear was born. Read more…

What better way to mark the start of the school year than by reading about school? Four new books for elementary-age kids (two picture books and two chapter books) all involve classroom adventures, whether the setting is a one-room schoolhouse, the protagonist is a baked good, or the lessons learned reach beyond report cards.

For young history buffs, here’s a picture-book portrait of a mid-eighteenth-century one-room school. In Hornbooks and Inkwells by Verla Kay, brief staccato quatrains set the scene and tell the story: “Sternly standing, Master greets, / Pairs of children, taking seats.” The school year passes with a sampling of lessons (written on birchbark) and recess (stilts, marbles, ice skating). S. D. Schindler’s lively illustrations evoke the period with such details as dress, the school’s minimal appurtenances, and students helping one another learn. (5–8 years) Read more…

Caterpillar or tadpole, “little bitty man” or “little little girl,” the diminutive characters of these new picture books have big adventures — proving that what they lack in size, they make up in personality.

The pond gets crowded when Ken Kimura’s 999 Tadpoles transform into 999 frogs, but relocation is hazardous: a hungry hawk nabs Father. Mother’s quick thinking saves the day as she and all the young ones grab on. The wiggling, complaining string of frogs becomes too much for the hawk, which drops them right into a commodious new pond. There’s not a word misplaced in the funny text, and Yasunari Murakami’s illustrations are full of lively movement. (3–6 years) Read more…

The continuation of a popular comic novel series, new work from a Caldecott Medal winner, and a novel about the 1950s Soviet Union — three new illustrated novels feature compelling stories not only for proficient middle-grade readers but for reluctant ones, as well. With the art doing as much to advance the plot as the text, these graphic and illustrated novels offer an alternative approach to traditional reading.

Big Nate on a Roll by Lincoln Peirce is the third (mis)adventure of hapless Nate Wright. Here the sixth grader finds himself in fierce, albeit one-sided, competition with Artur, the all-around good guy who always wins everything. Nate is not about to let Artur win a new skateboard (the prize for a scouts fundraising drive), so he cooks up some inventive, mostly self-defeating, schemes to beat him. The interplay between text and drawings remains fresh, and Nate’s own cartoons are almost as funny as Peirce’s. (8–12 years) Read more…

From the Editor

As I write, Kitty Flynn and Lolly Robinson, along with our web team in New York, are busy readying a revamped www.hbook.com. Go take a look. There’s some neat new stuff there, including some children’s book satire inspired by Project Runway and an interview by Leonard Marcus with Maurice Sendak about the great artist’s new picture book, Bumble-Ardy.

And don’t miss our new blog, Calling Caldecott. Helmed by Lolly and Horn Book reviewer Robin Smith, the blog will consider all matter of things to do with the Caldecott Medal, including our team’s appraisals of what’s going for this year’s gold. We are hoping that you will be enlightened by the posts and join in the discussion.

Books in this issue

TeachingBooks.net curriculum resources

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

Big Nate on a Roll by Lincoln Peirce is the third (mis)adventure of hapless Nate Wright. Here the sixth grader finds himself in fierce, albeit one-sided, competition with Artur, the all-around good guy who always wins everything. Nate is not about to let Artur win a new skateboard (the prize for a scouts fundraising drive), so he cooks up some inventive, mostly self-defeating, schemes to beat him. The interplay between text and drawings remains fresh, and Nate’s own cartoons are almost as funny as Peirce’s. (8–12 years)

Caldecott-winner Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret) again plays with form in his latest book, Wonderstruck. Text and art tell two separate stories that eventually meet: the wordless pictures (pencil, double-page spread) follow a young deaf girl, Rose, living in 1927 Hoboken; the text is set in 1977 Minnesota where Ben struggles with the death of his mother and the loss of his hearing. For different reasons, both children strike out on adventures to New York City and end up at the Museum of Natural History. Ben and Rose are openhearted and easy to love, providing this intricate puzzle of a plot with a generous and welcome shot of emotion. (9–12 years)

In Eugene Yelchin’s Breaking Stalin’s Nose, ten-year-old Sasha Zaichik wants to become a Young Pioneer and show his devotion to Stalin and the Communist party. But when his father, a member of the secret police, is arrested in the middle of the night leaving Sasha all alone, and things go from bad to worse for him the next day at school, Sasha’s illusions about his life begin to unravel. Yelchin’s menacing illustrations add an ominous tone to the briskly paced story that slowly peels off the layers of Sasha’s naiveté to expose the brutality of the system he blindly followed. (9–12 years)

—Cynthia K. Ritter

From Notes from the Horn Book, September 2011

The post Illustrated middle-grade fiction appeared first on The Horn Book.

And don’t miss our new blog, Calling Caldecott. Helmed by Lolly and Horn Book reviewer Robin Smith, the blog will consider all matter of things to do with the Caldecott Medal, including our team’s appraisals of what’s going for this year’s gold. We are hoping that you will be enlightened by the posts and join in the discussion.

Roger Sutton
Editor in Chief

From Notes from the Horn Book, September 2011

The post From the editor appeared first on The Horn Book.

In 1936 Berlin, Karl Stern is surprised when he’s beaten up by Nazi bullies: he’s blond and fair-skinned, and he and his family aren’t observant Jews. Then German boxing champion Max Schmeling offers him boxing lessons in exchange for one of Karl’s artist father’s paintings. Robert Sharenow’s The Berlin Boxing Club is a meaty, readable account of the perils and pitfalls of daily life in Nazi Germany. (14 years and up)

When thirteen-year-old Piotr is orphaned during the Soviet invasion of Poland, his Aryan features and German ethnicity destine him for a fate different from that of his Polish peers. In The Ausländer, Paul Dowswell’s portrait of Nazi Germany stands out because of its less-familiar elements: the invasion of Poland, the Soviet front, and the scientific theories and experiments of the Nazis. The characters are rich and nuanced; the action is swift and suspenseful; and the juxtaposition of wartime nobility and wartime cruelty is timeless. (12 years and up)

Invaders take over her world, ignore her gods, are responsible for the deaths of her parents, and haul her off to a world with strange customs, languages, and beliefs, where a “great black-coated beast” threatens to swallow her. The latest dystopian novel for teens? Nope: it’s the story of Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Cleopatra VII, the last queen of Egypt. Vicky Alvear Shecter’s Cleopatra’s Moon is an intelligently written and stately meditation on fate, free will, and political power. (14 years and up)

Thirteen-year-old Maks Geless hawks newspapers for The World in 1893 New York City. A gang has been roughing up the newsies; Maks’s sister Agnes seems to have the “wasting disease”; sister Emma has been arrested for theft; and his father is about to lose his job at a shoe factory. Avi’s prose in City of Orphans is face paced, muscular, and informal. Careful attention to setting, plenty of action, a comfortably complex mystery, and a personable, streetwise omniscient narrator make this a satisfying adventure. (10–14 years)

A biography for middle schoolers, Andrea Warren’s Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London features a narrow but effective focus: how Dickens’s own impoverished childhood led to a deep sense of empathy for the working poor. Warren sticks to her focus for the most part, but the engaging narrative takes some interesting diversions in the middle. (10–14 years)

—Jennifer M. Brabander

From Notes from the Horn Book, September 2011

The post YA historical fiction (and one biography) appeared first on The Horn Book.

The pond gets crowded when Ken Kimura’s 999 Tadpoles transform into 999 frogs, but relocation is hazardous: a hungry hawk nabs Father. Mother’s quick thinking saves the day as she and all the young ones grab on. The wiggling, complaining string of frogs becomes too much for the hawk, which drops them right into a commodious new pond. There’s not a word misplaced in the funny text, and Yasunari Murakami’s illustrations are full of lively movement. (3–6 years)

The teeny protagonist of Kristen Balouch’s The Little Little Girl with the Big Big Voice has such a big, booming voice that she scares off potential playmates (elephant, snake, crocodile). When she comes upon a lion, she meets her match — and makes a friend. Collage-like digital illustrations in a fluorescent palette as loud as the girl’s voice are funky and invigorating. Parents beware: this boisterous book emits an energy unbefitting a bedtime read. (2–5 years)

Gentle rhyme provides a quiet atmosphere for bright cut-paper collages in Bill Martin Jr and Lois Ehlert’s Ten Little Caterpillars, which serves as both counting book and introduction to ten members of the Lepidoptera order. The last caterpillar (a tiger swallow tail) becomes a chrysalis before maturing into a butterfly. Lush illustrations show the caterpillars amid the labeled flora and fauna of their habitats; back matter gives more information about each species included. (2–5 years)

A Little Bitty Man and Other Poems for the Very Young, translated by Marilyn Nelson and Pamela Espeland, features thirteen of the late Danish poet Halfdan Rasmussen’s poems. While the absurd situations and characters (like the titular miniscule man and his wife) of these short selections will elicit laughter, much of the humor comes from Nelson and Espeland’s perfect combinations of words and meaning. Kevin Hawkes’s illustrations get the mix of whimsy, innocence, and childlike dignity just right. (3–6 years)

—Katie Bircher

From Notes from the Horn Book, September 2011

The post Size matters in picture books appeared first on The Horn Book.

Back to school
   • Hornbooks and Inkwells by Verla Kay, illus. by S. D. Schindler, Putnam, 5–8 years.
   • The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray, illus. by Mike Lowery, Putnam, 5–8 years.
   • Clementine and the Family Meeting by Sara Pennypacker, illus. by Marla Frazee, Disney-Hyperion, 6–9 years.
   • 7 x 9 = Trouble! by Claudia Mills, illus. by G. Brian Karas, Farrar, 6–9 years.
   • Fractions = Trouble! by Claudia Mills, illus. by G. Brian Karas, Farrar, 6–9 years.

Size matters in picture books
   • 999 Tadpoles by Ken Kimura, illus. by Yasunari Murakami, North-South, 3–6 years.
   • The Little Little Girl with the Big Big Voice by Kristen Balouch, Little Simon/Simon, 2–5 years.
   • Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin Jr, illus. by Lois Ehlert, Beach Lane/Simon, 2–5 years.
   • A Little Bitty Man and Other Poems for the Very Young by Halfdan Rasmussen; trans. by Marilyn Nelson and Pamela Espeland, illus. by Kevin Hawkes, Candlewick, 3–6 years.

Illustrated middle-grade fiction
   • Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin, Holt, 8–12 years.
   • The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, both by Brian Selznick, 9–12 years.
   • Big Nate on a Roll by Lincoln Peirce, Harper/HarperCollins, 9–12 years.

YA historical fiction (and one biography)
   • The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow, HarperTeen/HarperCollins, 14 years and up.
   • The Ausländer by Paul Dowswell, Bloomsbury, 12 years and up.
   • Cleopatra’s Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter, Levine/Scholastic, 14 years and up.
   • City of Orphans by Avi, illus. by Greg Ruth, Jackson/Atheneum, 10–14 years.
   • Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London by Andrea Warren, Houghton, 10–14 years.

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

1. Who or what was the inspiration for the character of Bear, and does he bear (get it?) any resemblance to you?

Leo Landry: Years ago, I took a stand-up comedy class to get over my anxiety about public speaking. The final class was a five-minute live performance at a local comedy club! My bit was about the things you find yourself saying or overhearing as an adult working in a children’s bookstore (such as how many times you might say the word bunny in a day or, in one case, being told by a mother, “it’s only little girl pee!”). I got through the five minutes, but I’m not sure I could do it again. “Write what you know,” people have always told me. And so Bear was born.

2. Your illustration style seems perfect for early chapter book readers; the pictures are spare and entertaining without being distracting. How do you find illustrating a book for this audience differs from picture book illustration?

LL: First, thanks! With early chapter books and early readers, a child relies on the pictures as clues to deciphering words in the story as he learns to read. I discovered this with my own daughter. The Green Queen by Nick Sharratt was the first book that she read on her own, and it was so simply drawn, no clutter, no distractions. So I try to do the same. With picture books, illustrators have the freedom to expand on a story, and even create a story-within-the-story in the artwork that you wouldn’t know if you just read the text alone.

3. What did managing a bookstore teach you about what works (and what doesn’t) in books for new readers?

LL: It certainly gave me an exposure to the genre as it grew over twenty years! When I first started working at The Children’s Book Shop, there was a rack of I-Can-Read and Dr. Seuss books, a handful of Patricia Reilly Giff’s Kids of the Polk Street School books, and David Adler’s Cam Jansen series. And that was it. Now there are so many more great individual books and series for early readers. I’m still partial to Syd Hoff (especially Grizzwold, another inspiration for Bear), who wrote many I-Can-Read books when I was learning to read forty-some years ago. My most favorite has got to be James Marshall’s series of books about Fox. The dialogue is so snappy and full of wit, and he really does make you laugh out loud.

4. Did you write Bear’s jokes yourself or did you enlist the help of six-year-old joke writers?

LL: As a kid, I used to go the library every day after school, take all the joke and riddle books off of the shelves, and sit down and read for hours before going home. They were full of the classic “groaners” that six- to eight-year-old boys love, and I still remember most of them! The jokes that Bear tells are a combination of those memories and the classic “why did the chicken cross the road” variety that still survive today among the same age group. I particularly remember taking out one book dozens of times — Jokes for Children by Marguerite Kohl. It’s a must-read.

5. Who is Bear’s favorite comedian?

LL: Fozzie Bear from The Muppet Show, of course. Wocka, Wocka, Wocka!

—Kitty Flynn

From Notes from the Horn Book, September 2011

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