Return by Aaron Becker; illus. by the author Primary Candlewick 40 pp. 8/16 978-0-7636-7730-5 $15.99 This third, wordless installment (Journey, rev. 9/13; Quest, rev. 9/14) brings the story full circle, beginning and ending in the same city brownstone shown in the first book. While Return can be enjoyed on its own, fans will find rewarding […]
Review of The Singing Bones: Inspired by Grimms’ Fairy Tales
October 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The Singing Bones: Inspired by Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Shaun Tan; abridged and adapted from translations of Grimms’ fairy tales by Jack Zipes; sculptures and photos by the author Intermediate, Middle School Levine/Scholastic 186 pp. 10/16 978-0-545-94612-4 $24.99 g In the hands of creative teachers, librarians, and parents, this book-lover’s book will find its way […]
Review of Du Iz Tak?
October 10, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis; illus. by the author Primary Candlewick 48 pp. 10/16 978-0-7636-6530-2 $16.99 g Picture books have traditionally been a rich source of neologisms. Grinch, knuffle: plums in the puddings of picture book texts. In this story, told in dialogue, Ellis pushes that tradition and invents an entire language. On the […]
Blood, Bullets, and Bones: The Story of Forensic Science from Sherlock Holmes to DNA
October 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Blood, Bullets, and Bones: The Story of Forensic Science from Sherlock Holmes to DNA by Bridget Heos Middle School, High School Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins 259 pp. 10/16 978-0-06-238762-2 $18.99 g e-book ed. 978-0-06-238764-6 $9.99 Each of eleven chapters chronologically traces the development of one branch of forensic science and the experts who practice it. Methods […]
Review of Ashes
October 4, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Ashes [Seeds of America] by Laurie Halse Anderson Intermediate, Middle School Dlouhy/Atheneum 296 pp. 10/16 978-1-4169-6146-8 $16.99 g e-book ed. 978-1-4424-4508-6 $6.99 It’s been five long years since Isabel’s younger sister, Ruth, was stolen away by hated slave owner Madam Lockton (Chains, rev. 11/08), but as Isabel continues her fraught journey south in June 1781 […]
Review of King Baby
October 3, 2016 by 1 Comment
King Baby by Kate Beaton; illus. by the author Preschool Levine/Scholastic 40 pp. 10/16 978-0-545-63754-1 $17.99 g Heavy is the head that wears the crown, but this ruler can’t yet support his own neck. A king (really a newborn baby) greets his loyal subjects (really relatives and friends of the family): “I am King Baby!…I […]
Review of The Princess and the Warrior: A Tale of Two Volcanoes
September 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The Princess and the Warrior: A Tale of Two Volcanoes by Duncan Tonatiuh; illus. by the author Primary Abrams 40 pp. 10/16 978-1-4197-2130-4 $16.95 After a string of award-winning picture-book biographies (Separate Is Never Equal, rev. 7/14; Funny Bones, rev. 11/15), Tonatiuh turns to folklore for this adapted pourquoi story that explains the origins of […]
Review of Lucy
September 27, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Lucy by Randy Cecil; illus. by the author Primary, Intermediate Candlewick 144 pp. 8/16 978-0-7636-6808-2 $19.99 In the fictional, old-fashioned metropolis of Bloomville, store-clerk-by-day Sam moonlights as a (stage fright–suffering) juggler. His daughter Eleanor lavishes attention on the neighborhood dogs, including a stray named Lucy. When Lucy — who is often in survival mode — […]
Review of Owl Sees Owl
September 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Owl Sees Owl by Laura Godwin; illus. by Rob Dunlavey Preschool, Primary Schwartz & Wade/Random 40 pp. 9/16 978-0-553-49782-3 $17.99 g In this elegantly simple picture book, a little owl leaves its nest and flies out into the deep blue night of the forest. Each double-page spread has just four words, each on a separate […]
Review of Anything but Ordinary Addie: The True Story of Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic
September 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Anything but Ordinary Addie: The True Story of Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic by Mara Rockliff; illus. by Iacopo Bruno Primary, Intermediate Candlewick 48 pp. 4/16 978-0-7636-6841-9 $17.99 Rockliff and Bruno (Mesmerized, rev. 1/15) bring the now-all-but-forgotten female magician Adelaide Herrmann back to center stage. Bold and spunky, Addie, in Rockliff’s strikingly vivid depiction, was […]
