Review: The True Meaning of Smekday

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The jokes are laugh-out-loud, and keep coming throughout the book. This kind of sustained comedy is unusual, especially since the funny moments here are conversational, more than just situational. There's a sense of voice and timing that worked really well for me. BTW, my daughter and I both had completely different voices for J.Lo--mine is more like Andy Kaufman's Latka and Pearl's is more of a gravelly Frank Oz. At any rate, the book was very good for read-aloud--either he's a natural or Rex really worked hard on the dialog and pace. Maybe both? There are a lot of popular authors who write page turners that just flop as read-alouds. Adam Rex made this one very friendly to perform!

I enjoyed the sprawling American setting (shown on a map on the back of the book), which was really great for supporting the underlying colonial allegory. It was really fun to see touchy historical themes such as conquest, relocation, and internment done up in comedy. When I worked in a middle school, we always tried to find the ways of talking about difficult history without making the kids dread coming to class. This book is an excellent way of showing that you can have fun without making fun of real issues. Science fiction and comedy can be a knockout combo, and I hadn't had this much fun with sci fi since Doug Adams.



View all my reviews

Review: Nana in the City

Nana in the City by Lauren Castillo

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Another book about what kids don't need to be afraid of? And an honor medal? Jeez. Last year's Caldecott committee...



View all my reviews

Review: Viva Frida

Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Much like Melissa Sweet's illustrations in [b:A River of Words|3238642|A River of Words The Story of William Carlos Williams|Jennifer Fisher Bryant|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347836624s/3238642.jpg|3273289] Yuyi Morales was able to make the book about the art. This was far more than a biographical telling, it was an exploration of imagery and sounds that Frida Kahlo's work and biography evoke. In fact, some people (not me) might be disappointed by the sparse biographical material. The picturebook format is a kind of poetry, in that it has severe limitations on scope (32 pages). Authors and illustrators of informative genres can either embrace that economy and go for something poetic, or they can try to squeeze in the most important factual information. There are plenty of other places to go for facts and specific stories about Frida Kahlo. The 3D and multimedia work Morales did here was enchanting! She walked me through a number of different explorations of art media, with none of them appearing weaker or stronger than the others. I loved looking at especially her 3D dolls, and the entire book drew me back to look again.



View all my reviews

Review: Are You My Mother?

Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Bechdel was in masterful control of the pace and narrative. While it was a difficult, long read, she kept me coming back and I needed to talk about it a lot afterward. There is a clear thread of self-indulgence in her telling the story. But being annoyed by that was balanced by the craft.

Also, it seemed like she was thinking about the relationship between picture and text on every panel. Yes, there's a lot of text, but it's not thick. The book took me a long time to read, so the only way I can explain that is that Bechdel drew me to look a bit longer than usual at each of the panels, looking for the visual story. Nice example of complementary pictures-words.



View all my reviews

Review: Little Roja Riding Hood

Little Roja Riding Hood by Susan Middleton Elya

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



(Thanks for the recommendation, Lu!)

Skeptical to start, convinced by the end!

I worried this would be just another jazzed up tale with modern setting and some token multicultural trappings. This was partly true, but let's focus on the surprises!

On the jacket flap, Elya wrote that the whole woodcutter scene was not one of her favorites and that she wanted to write a version where Roja solved her own problem. She did it by combining with The Scalded Wolf! (See [b:Folktales Of France|4488058|Folktales Of France|Genevieve Massignon|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|4757068].) This was a charming meld of a standard folk tale with a classic that is not well known (but a favorite of mine for storytelling). This brings it to a 4 instead of 3-star rating!

The blend of a couplet-based narrative with the Spanish phrases worked well. Elya kept a nice pace and rhythm to the words, and the Spanish felt seamless. That was also a nice surprise, because a new rhyming picturebook is one of the standard warning signs.

Finally, [a:Susan Guevara|453672|Susan Guevara|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s illustrations were a good match. She peppered in a Greek-chorus-style subtext between a group of magpies and a couple of fairy-sized imps (drawn to look like Punch!). These elements along with the eyes in the sunflowers added a menacing undertone that balanced the lighthearted and relatively safe version of the text.

Biggest criticism? No one gets eaten, which means the wolf wasn't really dangerous. In a story about predator and prey, a suggestion isn't enough. If she had really wanted to move away from the woodcutter rescue, she should have had Rojo save Abuelita from the wolf's belly.



View all my reviews

Review: Coyote Run

Coyote Run by Gaetan Doremus

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This book was missing the frenetic action and the superbly illustrated emotion of [b:Bear Despair|13592095|Bear Despair|Gaetan Dorémus|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344718349s/13592095.jpg|19180178]. Doremus' storyboarding and pacing are good, but the plot changes weren't really believable. His colored pencil work is very interesting, and kept me looking at the features of each spread for a while and going back to some favorite pages just to look again.



View all my reviews

Review: The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Eh. Santat had a good time making a raft of imaginary friends, all of whom were creatures instead of people. The little marshmallowy, pokemonny main character can't wait around for someone to imagine him. This is a fun concept, but the story itself has little to it other than that concept. An uneventful and fairly boring search ends just right. Eh.

Santat's sensibility for how to compose a double-page spread is very good--it was especially interesting to see some of what he did with contrast in the backgrounds in the middle spreads. The figure illustrations are in a normalized style, very much a tv animation style. I thought it was okay, but not terribly interesting to look at over and over again. (Which reminds me: Cartoon Network's "Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends" does a much better job at playing around with the imaginary friend concept.)

Overall, this book doesn't really match up to some of the other Caldecott contenders this year ([b:Draw!|20759593|Draw!|Raúl Colón|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394422502s/20759593.jpg|24510862], [b:The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus|20696727|The Right Word Roget and His Thesaurus|Jennifer Fisher Bryant|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424201895s/20696727.jpg|40016232])...and yet it won the medal. Eh.



View all my reviews

Review: The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Eh. Santat had a good time making a raft of imaginary friends, all of whom were creatures instead of people. The little marshmallowy, pokemonny main character can't wait around for someone to imagine him. This is a fun concept, but the story itself has little to it other than that concept. An uneventful and fairly boring search ends just right. Eh.

Santat's sensibility for how to compose a double-page spread is very good--it was especially interesting to see some of what he did with contrast in the backgrounds in the middle spreads. The figure illustrations are in a normalized style, very much a tv animation style. I thought it was okay, but not terribly interesting to look at over and over again. (Which reminds me: Cartoon Network's "Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends" does a much better job at playing around with the imaginary friend concept.)

Overall, this book doesn't really match up to some of the other Caldecott contendors this year ([b:Draw!|20759593|Draw!|Raúl Colón|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394422502s/20759593.jpg|24510862], [b:The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus|20696727|The Right Word Roget and His Thesaurus|Jennifer Fisher Bryant|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424201895s/20696727.jpg|40016232])...and yet it won the medal. Eh.



View all my reviews

Review: Everywhere Babies

Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I liked this, because Frazee paid so much attention to making each of the babies stand out as unique--which is the story line. But it was missing the powerful backgrounds I loved in [b:Boot & Shoe|13547235|Boot & Shoe|Marla Frazee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1407162471s/13547235.jpg|19112375] and [b:A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever|2769831|A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever|Marla Frazee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1420785202s/2769831.jpg|2795555]. It looks like her work is coming out in a boxed set where she will be paired with Helen Oxenbury--that's good company for babies!



View all my reviews

Review: Mrs. Biddlebox

Mrs. Biddlebox by Linda Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The idea for this story was tired, and the cute name for the main character either too kitschy or too schmaltzy. But man, did Frazee bring energy to this project! I think the page where Mrs. B hooks a ray of sun and yanks on it with a broomstick is among my favorite picturebook pages ever, and the next one where she rolls up the sky is right behind it. I could look at this book over and over again. The words, not so much. I can still give it a four, because I'd definitely re-read it and would certainly consider it as a read-aloud.



View all my reviews

Review: Roller Coaster

Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is right up there with the best visual work I've seen from [a:Marla Frazee|122662|Marla Frazee|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. She isn't at her strongest when she's in charge of both words and pictures, but her best visual strengths are clear for me in this book. A cinematic, almost IMAX picturebook! In her first two pages she gave me no less than sixty-nine unique figure drawings. On the next page turn, she pulled out all the stops and gave me the expanse of a full coaster filling the spread. The back and forth between the figures and the dynamic guiding lines is amazing. She either used the whole spread to contain something expansive, or else suggested the expanse by framing things to bleed off the edge of the page. A lot of fun to look at repeatedly.



View all my reviews

Review: The Farmer and the Clown

The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Ehh. I really like Marla Frazee. She has a charm reminiscent of greats like [a:Virginia Lee Burton|15450|Virginia Lee Burton|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1301112042p2/15450.jpg] or [a:Wanda Gág|5051196|Wanda Gág|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1324138406p2/5051196.jpg], and the draftsmanship of [a:Robert McCloskey|14635|Robert McCloskey|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1201020229p2/14635.jpg]. She usually uses sweeping curved lines that draw my eyes through the expanse of the double-page spread. Her pages are usually packed (but uncluttered) with unique figure drawings that belie so much work and study. So I have to say I was disappointed she gave these visual traditions up in Farmer & Clown in favor of a plain horizon line and mostly two repeated figures. Sure, there're plenty of dynamic visual elements, and a train full of clowns. But...

I respect her for trying something different, but now that this book is a strong contender for Caldecott (this coming monday), I have to say I'll be disappointed if she wins gold for this when she and Scanlon only got the silver for [b:All the World|6562659|All the World|Liz Garton Scanlon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1261156591s/6562659.jpg|6755510]. Well okay, that's too harsh. I should be happy for her overall for an awesome professional life. But I didn't like this as much of her past body of work, and I happened to read it right before the awards get announced.



View all my reviews

Review: Christopher Mouse: The Tale of a Small Traveler

Christopher Mouse: The Tale of a Small Traveler by William Wise

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This charming read-aloud was required for Pearl's Battle of the Books list, and we read it aloud in the car on the way to and from skiing this weekend. It was a nice car book, and maybe we should have tried audio!
Wise played with Dickensian themes of loss and abandonment (as in so many other animal fantasy novels), but he didn't do the usual fixup at the end, instead leaving it to our imaginations! I liked that restraint, similar to what Lowry did at the end of [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver, #1)|Lois Lowry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342493368s/3636.jpg|2543234].



View all my reviews

Review: The Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane

The Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane by Polly Horvath

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm kind of glad I didn't read this Horvath first, because it's not as well done as a lot of her other novels. I am an uber fan, so I gave it four stars--at this point because I am enjoying figuring out her writerly 'moves'. The problem was that she seemed to be writing this (and the cover illustration didn't help) to be a plot-driven story. But then it seemed like bait and switch into a character-driven story. The loose ends of the plot threads were all tied up in exposition in the last 35-page chapter. Boo.

It was her inimitable style that still kept me charmed all the way through--and her fearless handling of dark human themes. I love her voice, and that she doesn't shy away from it when she thinks the best direction for the story is not pretty. She has a knack for making me want to follow unlikable characters! This is deeply difficult to pull off, and I know she can do it. Yet [b:The Vacation|978795|The Vacation|Polly Horvath|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316727369s/978795.jpg|963683] was a much better example of her drawing me into identifying with difficult people.

Over time, I've grown to think [a:Polly Horvath|11187|Polly Horvath|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1241013597p2/11187.jpg]does character development in ways that remind me of [a:Donna Tartt|8719|Donna Tartt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1409871301p2/8719.jpg] or [a:Michael Chabon|2715|Michael Chabon|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1345835784p2/2715.jpg]. But she is unique in the children's & YA market!



View all my reviews

Review: My One Hundred Adventures

My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



One of the most memorable book scenes ever is Jane throwing bibles out of a hot air balloon. I'll never forget that, and the rest of the story is just about what happens when you let yourself get roped into throwing bibles out of a hot air balloon. If there's a moral to the story, it's intended to apply to that specific group of people. And if there isn't a moral to the story, well, then it's a good story.



View all my reviews