Round-up: January Books + Twitter

I've done it. I have a LLB Twitter Account. And I am trying to keep it strictly to blogging updates. But might post occasionally on other things that catch my fancy. Anyway, if you're a twitter-ite, then you can follow me here.

I'm taking a break for a few days. So here is a round up of the books I've reviewed in the last few weeks. I'll be back on Tuesday, February 2nd (it's February already!)

Pixar or Disney: Best Animated Film

Carl, in Pixar's UP
The first Oscar race I remember clearly caring about was in 1995* when Toy Storyshould have been nominated for Best Picture, but wasn't (It's ok, Babe was.) Then in 2001 the Academy created the Best Animated Movies Oscar, and now perfectly horrid animated films like Happy Feet win Oscars. Meanwhile, truly excellent films, like Pixar's The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and Ratatouille are bypassed into the Best Animated Feature category, and never given a chance at Best Picture.

Pixar doesn't have a monopoly on the Best Animated Feature award, but you can bet, if they've release a film, it will be nominated. This year's Uphas the very best sequence I've seen all year long (the "Carl + Ellie: A Love Story" sequence, a wordless and profoundly moving portrait of marriage). But Up wasn't a great movie. It was fun. It had sublime moments. And I can never resist Ed Asner. But the story was stretched too thin, and I hated to see Christopher Plummer as the villain. Of course, Up was a critic's darling, loved by all, and won the Golden Globe, too.

A far better film, and worthy opponent to Pixar (as the NYTimes recently suggested)is The Fantastic Mr. Foxdirected by Wes Anderson and starring Meryl Streep and George Clooney. I can safely say it was the best film I saw in the theatres last year. A brilliant, funny adaptation of a beloved book (and visually daring and perfect), Wes Anderson ought to take home his first Oscar for this film.

George Clooney stars as the fantastic Mr. Fox in this Wes Anderson feature

Pixar ought to take home a different Oscar, though, for it's short animated film: Partly Cloudy. I say this every year when my favorites don't win, but if Partly Cloudy doesn't win, then I won't watch the Oscars again. Lame-os.

"Partly Cloudy": wordless, and perfect

*Come to think of it, 1995 was the first year I really started paying attention to movies, I think. That year saw the release of Sense and Sensibility, Babe, Apollo 13, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain, A Little Princess, Sabrina, and a few other movies I remember seeing in the movie theatres but am a little ashamed to say I saw (The Babysitter's Club, anyone?). That must have been the first year I had an allowance, or something. Except that I remember seeing most of these movies with my family.

Maybelle the Cable Car, by Virginia Lee Burton

Maybelle the Cable Car works hard all day

TITLE: Maybelle the Cable Car
AUTHOR + ILLUSTRATOR: Virginia Lee Burton
PUBLISHED BY: Sandpiper (re-released, 1997)
ISBN: 978-0395840030

Virginia Lee Burton's Little House and Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel are beloved books with enduring quality. They were beloved in their time and have been loved by all the generations of children since they were first released. But my favorite Burton book is her story about a San Francisco cable-car named Maybelle.

Burton visited San Francisco once and immediately fell in love with the Cable cars--used originally because it was too difficult to take carriages (or later buses) up San Francisco's steep hills. When she discovered there had been a campaign to eliminate the Cable Cars, and San Francisco's citizens raised protest until there was a city vote that saved them, she decided to illustrate the story for a picture book, and bring one of the most magical elements of San Francisco's charm to children across the country.

And boy, am I glad she did! Her narration of the saved cable cars is vibrant and full of natural civic pride. She also has wonderfully detailed drawings describing how the cable cars operate; she was as much a draughtsman as an illustrator.

While I admit that I love the story because it is about my home, and I buy it often for friends who are from CA, but don't live there anymore, so that their children can learn something about the city, I'd like to encourage everyone to consider buying this book even if you aren't from San Francisco. Why? Because it makes far away places real and present to children. Two of my very favorite picture books when I was little were Make Way for Ducklings about Boston and The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge. While I loved the stories and illustrations, what really stayed with me was the place--so that on my 18th birthday, when I finally made it into Boston, I was thrilled to be able to ride on the swan boats, and see the duckling statues. And while I haven't been to see the little red lighthouse on the Hudson, in Manhattan, I plan to next time I am in NYC. Because, let's face it: America is filled with pretty awesome cities. And its never too early to start sharing those places with your kids!


This book is full of fine American principles, like voting

1-2-3: A Child's First Counting Book, by Allison Jay

10 sharp teeth

TITLE: 1-2-3: A Child's First Counting Book
AUTHOR + ILLUSTRATOR: Allison Jay
PUBLISHED BY: Dutton Juvenille
ISBN: 978-0525478362

Allison Jay is one of those illustrators whose books you find in chic home and garden boutiques that smell like lilies of the valley and have lots of Anne Griffith stationary. This is not a bad thing...I'm just trying to give you context.

Inspired largely by early American painting (both fine and craft, as in painted furniture), her illustrations are rather like the scenes on painted trunks, only with brighter colors and fantastic subjects. I assume she uses oil, and her drawings are overlaid with a crackle glaze. But these things can be done digitally now so I never know. Anyway, she is a true artist.

Her imaginative world transforms a simple counting book into a weathered yet vibrant and imaginative dream-scape. We start with one little girl, in bed, fast asleep. On the next page we see her riding a golden goose into the sky. And then, counting to ten and back down again (I like that: not enough books count down), this little girl rides through all the classic fairy tales. She sees the three little pigs, plays the role of Little Red Riding Hood, Gretel, Goldilocks, etc, until finally she wakes up in her own bed with the sun shining on the beautiful world.

Counting books don't often have much to recommend them besides the pictures. In this lovely book, Allison Jay has created text and a concept to match hers wonderful illustrations. This would be a great shower gift, but it would also be enjoyed by older girls who knew the fairy tales referenced.


4 royal mattresses.

LIFE!

Today is the 37th anniversary of the passing of Roe vs. Wade, and therefore a sad memorial for our country. Millions of lives have been lost because of legalized abortion in America--some estimate over one third of my generation. Who can tell how many more lives it will take until it is overturned?

I started this blog because so many of my friends were having babies. I found myself spending more and more time sitting on the floor in bookstores, reading picture book after picture book, trying to find the perfect gift. I found I loved these books so much, and wanted to share them with everyone. And, more importantly, my friends--young hard working parents--didn't have enough time to seek out the really good books.

Since then my friends have had more kids, and I am every day more and more enchanted with them, captivated by how they grow and learn and delight. Reading these books, and searching for the joyful moments of childhood, I am saddened again at the huge cost levied against our generation.Every year, when I walk in the March for Life, I walk for all of them: for their futures and for a more hope-filled world, without state sanctioned murder. I hope you'll join me in prayers for an end to Abortion, and for all those women hurt by abortion.

Caldecott Winners Announced

From Caldecott Honor Medalist All the World illustrated by Marla Frazee


Yesterday the 2010 Caldecott Award Winner was announced, and as predicted, it was bestowed upon the breathtakingly magnificent (wordless!) retelling of Aesop's fable "The Lion and the Mouse" illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.

The first Honor Medal was given to All the Worldby Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Marla Frazee (who's A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Everwon a Medal last year).

The second Honor Medalist is Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors written by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski. I have not reviewed it yet because I have not seen it in any stores, alas. I hope this award will help rectify that problem.

For reviews of other Caldecott Winners, click here. To purchase these and other award winners, click here.

A page from Red Sings in the Treetops


This majestic Lion is now a Caldecott Winner

Not Books: Flying Squirrel Co.

My friend Mary, mother of three rambunctious boys, has, amazingly, found time to open up an Etsy Shop too. It's called Flying Squirrel (which is such a great name!), and it sells baby clothing like this:



I mean, you can't start them on tweed too early!

Not your style? How about this:




Check it out here.

Diary of a Wombat, by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley

The wombat and his new neighbors

TITLE: Diary of a Wombat
AUTHOR: Jackie French
ILLUSTRATOR: Bruce Whatley
PUBLISHED BY: Sandpiper Press
ISBN: 978-0547076690

My sister had a lot of stuffed animals when she was a kid. There were cows, a handsome lion cub, no bears that I remember, and the "kissing wombat." A souvenir from Mom's trip to Australia, the kissing Wombat was just a little stuffed wombat, compact, with coarse woolly hair, and a sweet little face. But he had a startling problem. Every time he was in the hands of my father, he started attacking us kids with kisses. We would, naturally, fall on the floor in a fit of giggles.

The fact is, wombats are funny little buggers. Especially for those of us who don't have to live with them, for, charming as they are, they can be pests too. Enter Jackie French and Bruce Whatley's Diary of a Wombat. With deadpan humor and masterful understatement, Jackie French has created a hilarious portrait of these cute but troublesome creatures. Bruce Whatley's illustrations are equal parts realistic and...yes...adorable.

We hear, from the Wombat himself, the activities of the day. At first it seems he does little besides sleep. And sometimes scratch. Soon human "neighbors" move in, and his life becomes much more exciting. He digs a new home (in their flower bed), discovers carrots (by carving a hole in their door, and destroying their trash bin), and begs, a lot. But somehow he manages to win our hearts.

The Kissing Wombat would make us giggle and laugh till our sides hurt. It must be a trait of wombats, then, for I still laugh out loud when reading this wonderful book. And I think any kid would as well. And as for the kissing wombat? He still sits on my sister's desk (she's in college), ready to attack at any moment.



Wombats like to sleep.


They also like carrots.

The Animals Came Two by Two, by Christopher Wormell

Noah's Ark

TITLE: The Animals Came Two by Two: The Story of Noah's Ark
AUTHOR + ILLUSTRATOR: Christopher Wormell
PUBLISHED BY: Running Press Kids, 2008
ISBN: 978-0762427185

You've heard it before, but I'll say it again: I love Christopher Wormell. When I was home I luckily stumbled upon several of his wonderful woodcut picture books, including this new discovery: The Animals Came Two by Two: The Story of Noah's Ark. With his woodcut portraits of animals great and small, Wormell brings to life this perennial favorite biblical story of Children, with a unique perspective. His woodcuts are luminous and engaging. Likewise, his "retelling" of the story consists largely in highlighting interesting animals. Below, we see the Dodo, which was "easy to obtain." Opposite is a pair of porcupines, which are considerably more difficult to obtain.

Any child who loves animals will love this large elegant picture book. It would be good for ages 2-5, and no doubt treasured for its beauty long after the text has been mastered.


"Some were easy to obtain..."

Poetry for Young People

I am a firm believer in giving children poetry--starting at a very young age. Poetry is a challenge and a delight; it encourages careful study; is easily memorized; conveys a heightened sense of grammatical and lyrical structure, and is just plain fun.

But its hard to know how to approach poetry with your children. People get worried that the work will be too lofty, or will be unloved because it is not understood. But, did you think your infant understood Mother Goose when you read it first? Surely not. Indeed, Mother Goose is perhaps the best way to start them on poetry (a friend insists that Mother Goose kept her sane during the rearing of her first son).

The trouble begins when you get past Mother Goose. Growing up we had the McGuffy Reader and the Golden Treasury of Poetry (though, I confess, I was more entranced by Joan Anglund's illustrations than by the poetry). As it is out of print, and fairly expensive to obtain (though I found my copy at a yard sale, so keep your eyes peeled), I would like to draw everyone's attention to Sterling Press' series Poetry for Young People.

Taking major poetic figures (classics, like Blake and Dickinson, to contemporary figures, like Langston Hughes and (ick) Maya Angelou) they highlight some of their best (and yes, most appropriate) poems, add and illustrator and some useful notes, and package it all in a short book that can be sold for around seven bucks. Perfection if you ask me.

I only own the Lewis Carroll version, though I have almost bought the Shakespeare edition several times and keep saving it for another day. As you can see, by the photo above (click for larger), each poem has a short informative introduction, as well as a glossary at the end for any unknown terms. The watercolors are imaginative and vivid, differing wildly in subject, but not execution, from poem to poem.


These poems are classics, and have been cherished, memorized, savored, and laughed at for generations. You might beg to differ, but I don't think it is ever too early to start kids on poetry. These books will, therefore, be a great help.

Kitten's First Full Moon, by Kevin Henkes

From Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
TITLE: Kitten's First Full Moon
AUTHOR + ILLUSTRATOR: Kevin Henkes
PUBLISHED BY: Greenwillow Books, 2004
ISBN: 9780060588281

I'm not going to lie to you: I am a cat person. And I really don't see how anyone can deny the utter cuteness of kittens. Especially Kevin Henkes' Kitten in his 2004 Caldecott Honor Book, Kitten's First Full Moon.

Henkes' books are dependably good: charming, well illustrated, with adorable story-lines. And this is my very favorite of his--about a kitten who mistakes the full moon for a bowl of milk.

Well...actually, first the kitten thinks firefly's are edible, and is sadly mistaken (see left illustration). Then she sees the moon, full and round and white like a bowl of milk. She chases it, but it never comes any closer (remember that magical feeling when we were kids? We'd be driving down the road, and the moon would never come closer, no matter how far we went!). Finally, when she climbs up a tree to catch it, she sees its reflection in a pond. Joyfully, she dives down, and, of course, gets soaked. Luckily, as she trots back home, sad and wet, her owners give her a bowl of milk to enjoy.

Needless to say: all these mishaps are pretty adorable when Kevin Henkes is the one illustrating them. His drawing is almost like a comic in its simplicity; he expresses an entire range of emotions with a few brush strokes. (This comic-strip characteristic is enhanced by the black and white color scheme, and his framing of events in think black panels.) His kitten is in turns curious, confident, on the hunt, surprised, and...wet (there is nothing sadder than a wet kitten).

My edition of the book is in Spanish, so I cannot quote it for you, but never mind all that. The story--which is essentially about learning through experience--is told mostly by the pictures. The illustrations I show here ought to be enough to encourage you to purchase or borrow the book. This little kitten will tickle your kid's imaginations, and delight their hearts.

(Read Henkes own thoughts about composing this book here.)


No seriously, who can resist this cutie?

* Why in Spanish, you ask? Well, thanks to everyone who purchased books from The LLB Bookshop this Christmas, I was able to purchase a number of books for a mission library in Honduras, called La Biblioteca de la Florcita, including this book. If you would like to learn more about the Biblioteca, click here. Also, you can donate to the project through their Amazon Wish List or through The Missioners of Christ website.

The Elephant's Child

I guess this week is just randomness, but when randomness means awesomeness, ya'll don't mind, do you? I figure you are a bit burnt-out on book reviews--since you spent a good month scouring them to try to find the best books for Christmas gifts. (I'd love, by the way, to get reactions from those who bought books based on my recommendations!) You're probably also pretty cold (since winter seems to have decided to be nasty this year). Well, best beloved, let me warm you up with this feature.

Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories were always a favorite when we were little. A family of cat lovers, we liked "The Cat that Walked By Himself" best. My second favorite was "The Elephant's Child" which is about a curious elephant who gets into a lot of trouble (and thus we learn, best beloved, how the elephant got his trunk).

In college I discovered that Jack Nicholson had recorded a version of this story, with famed vocalist and jazz musician Bobby McFerrin doing the sound effects and music. Who knew that Uncle Jack could be sweet enough to read a children's story aloud? Let me tell you: he is perfect.

Well, the album is almost impossible to find anywhere, but you can view the story on youtube. The sound quality isn't the best, and the animation is pretty cheesy, but it is still well worth your time. (And will, perhaps, give you some ideas for your own read-aloud time.)

Sand Animation

You all have probably seen this already--it made the rounds several months ago. I just rewatched it, and found it as moving and compelling as the first time I watched it. This young woman won the Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent" or "Britian's Got Talent"--won because of her beautiful storytelling through sand animation. This particular video shows the ravages of war on family and home.

What I love most of all about this is the grace and magic with which she tells the story. Through her magnificent artistry she makes the tragedy real and immediate, but also allows children to see and understand it. We don't see graphic bloody bodies, indeed, I don't think many children would even be scared by these 8 minutes. But, I dare say even a child could see the pathos in the story and be moved (and therefore wiser) after seeing it.

I think we'd all be surprised at what children can see and understand. With art like this we can help them to understand the darker harder parts of life.

King Bidgood by Dan and Audrey Wood

A perfect lesson in nonsense, King Bidgood in the Bathtub will delight any child.

Ah! I've been meaning to write about husband and wife author/illustrator team Audrey and Don Wood for ages now, but haven't found the time. Their books are hilarious and strange, with overworked illustrations that delight children's souls (and will keep them occupied for hours on end). I am especially fond of their counting book Piggiesand their nonesense tale of a demanding king, King Bidgood's in the Bathtub(a Caldecott Honor Book).

There are many successful husband-wife teams in Children's literature (most notably, to my mind, the Ahlbergs--Don and Audrey's storytelling grew out of their life together. She began writing children's books when their son Bruce was born, and he, as an illustrator of magazines and newspapers, naturally joined in on the fun.

And FUN is really the best word to describe them. Their stories are intensely silly, with overwraught illustrations and glorious rhymes. King Bidgood, for examples, sits in his bathtub ALL DAY, while the court tries to get him out, he makes outrageous demands. Each spread involves a new scenario (taking place in and around his bathtub)--there is a huge banquet, a war, roaming minstrels (if I remember correctly). Each scenario gets sillier, the women get more faint, and the men more frustrated, while the king sits, perfectly content with his bath and ignorant of the fury surrounding him.


Here are a few more of their best titles:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Get me out of this film, thinks Michael Gabon, as Dumbledore

When I was home, I caught up on several movies I'd been meaning to see (though, still not Wall-Ealas!)

Well, one morning Mom and I watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Princeand, I am sad to tell you, it was unbelievably boring. I mean it was really really really really really boring. They used emotive music and dark lighting as shortcuts for honest to goodness suspense building storytelling.

At first I thought the fault must lie solely with the director, David Yates, and the screenwriters, Steve Kloves. Kloves, however, has written all the previous HP movies, and Yates directed Order of the Phoenix (and will be directing Deathly Hallows 1 & 2). The actors were the same, but failed to shine in their roles (are we tired of Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith? I can't imagine it!). And visually, though the magic is considerably darker, it is as it ever was.

Jim Broadbent, as Slughorn, delivered the only fine performace of the movie. Of course, he's awesome.
Well, if everything is the same as last time, then why was this film so very bad? I hate to say it, but I think some of the fault lies with Rowling's novel.

At 652 pages, it is one of the shorter of the later books. But of those 652 pages, only about 50 are of value. In the book we discover only three things: 1) There are horcruxes, 2) Draco cannot kill Dumbledore, but Snape can, and 3) teenagers have raging hormones that sometimes hit the right spark.

Since one of the horcruxes has already been destroyed (Riddle's diary, in Chamber of Secrets), and Dumbledore already has the incomplete memory of Prof. Slughorn (played excellently by Jim Broadbent) that reveals the secret, the horcrux discovery could have been made much sooner. Like, in book 4, which, though fun, was also essentially a waste.

As for the relationships...well...this is a book for teenagers and they must have their romance. Rowling does this well enough, bringing the people we want to be together together just in time for the sacrificial 7th book. The film for the most part gets this right too. The scene where Hermoine and Harry discuss their unrequited loves for Ron and Ginny (when did she become so wooden?) is the most poignant in the film. I wouldn't change a word of it. As for Ron and Lavender...I think we all agree that whole relationship was perfectly icky, both on screen and off.

That leaves us with the Draco-Snape-Dumbledore trifecta. To see Dumbledore dead, by Snape (who we were all hoping was a hero) was a heartbreaking surprise ending to the novel. It was mitigated slightly by the fact that Draco isn't wholly bad: he cannot bring himself to kill Dumbledore. This story-line marks a turning point in the series--and was tremendously satisfying. But it could have just as easily been put into a boarder novel with more substance and more answers than The Half Blood Prince. That is Rowling's failing, and hers alone, and I think it dramatically weakens the series.

Rickman and Smith revist their old roles of Snape and McGonagall, with considerably less grace. This, I think, is the fault of the writers.
The film's treatment of this storyline lacks all of Rowling's subtlety. It's true, we the viewers all know Dumbledore dies, and by Snape's hand. And we know why too. But this film failed to capture any of the power or pathos of that scene. I was surprised to find that, by the time it came along, I really didn't care.

Furthermore, we get none of Rowlings clues about Snape. (There were enough clues that I continued to hope he wasn't all bad while reading book 7--and even bet on it!) The book is named for Snape; his conceited childhood nickname was "the Half-Blood Prince". And, while Harry uses Snape's nasty spells in the film, we don't see how dangerous they really are. Nor do we see the parallels in their respective lives. Harry has tremendous power, and therefore walks always along the line of good and evil--especially when he lets his temper carry him away. So too did Snape, though Snape found his revenge in mastering magic, creating evil spells, and foolishly following Voldemort in his youth. As Snape turns away from evil, it is hard work that he treasures (and therefore Harry's lazy successes make him angry). By the time Snape reveals himself to be the "half-blood prince" in the film, we really don't care.

The subtitle of this novel--weak as it was in itself--could be "there, but for the grace of God, go I." Harry turns out to be much more like Snape than he is like his own father. And without the discipline the older wiser Snape tries to instill (albeit with a snarl) in him, and the love of his friends, family, and, of course, Dumbledore, Harry could have very easily done great harm in the world of magic.

But in this mess of a movie, Harry's soul doesn't seem to be on the line. Nor does the fate of the entire wizard world (or, by extension, the Muggle world). Here's hoping for better storytelling in the final two chapters. (At least we'll have Bill Nighy to console us.)

The Order of the Phoenix, watching the Weasly's house burn, but not really seeming to care.
(Photos from Rolling Stone)

Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti

Today is the 12th day of Christmas, the feast of Epiphany--the day that commemorates the arrival of the three magi to Bethlehem, called by the Star, to worship the newborn Christ. In many cultures (certainly in Russia, Greece, and Eastern Europe) Epiphany is the culmination of the Christmas festivities--not an afterthought as it is here in the USA.

Still, the Magi are some of the most intriguing characters of the Nativity story. Thus, in 1950, when NBC Opera Composer Gian Carlo Menotti was told to create something for the 1951 Christmas Special, he drew inspiration from Bosch's Adoration of the Magi for his composition Amahl and the Night Visitors. First performed Dec. 24th, 1951, It tells the story of a crippled shepherd boy, and his mother, who are desperately poor. In the night three glorious kings come to visit them--the three wise men on their way to due homage to the newborn Christ.

Written in English, it was an instant classic. Amahl is an accessible hero--young, joyful in spite of hardship, and the kings are as exotic and entrancing to the audience as they are to Amahl. This opera, more than the carol "Little Drummer Boy" shows how we can only offer what we have to Christ, and that what we offer in love is quite enough.

I highly recommend checking out the original cast recording, the 1955 Historic Telecast, and the score. It will likely become a very worthy addition to your annual Christmas celebrations.

Online, the Milwaukee Opera has a video of a 2007 dress rehearsal which seems to be the entire opera. You can also read the full script here. And below is a YouTube video of one of my favorite tunes from the opera.