Review: Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla

Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I'll be disappointed if this book gets serious Caldecott action.

It was a bare-bones full-timeline biography, already treated so much better in Applegate's novel [b:The One and Only Ivan|11594337|The One and Only Ivan|Katherine Applegate|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1326506063s/11594337.jpg|16536239]. The story wasn't really interesting, except as a visual follow-up to the novel (which was good, but I really disagreed with its Newbery award). I wish Applegate had focused in on a slice of the story that could have been developed more roundly, like the transition to the zoo being difficult, or what one might think of Ivan's paintings.

Karas' work is interesting to look at. His most intriguing choice was to make the humans cartoonish and flat while making the gorillas realistic and expressive. He used both space on the page and painting/drawing techniques to create shifts in tone as the narrative moved along--also somewhat of a separate, complementary narrative (not so for every spread, but for many).



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Review: Grandfather Gandhi

Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This was a pleasant slice of history from a primary source. The interesting turn is that it is less about Mahatma Gandhi, and more what it was like for the grandson to grow up in his shadow. Expectations were thick in the telling, and Evan Turk's fiber work was a brilliant way to illustrate the boy's fomenting anger and frustration. It felt human to see the doubt and anger be the object of the story and take up the bulk of the time. While the lesson his grandfather taught him was probably important, this felt less important than Arun's mismatch to the big world of expectations.

It felt a bit cheap that the worst moment of anger was almost throwing a rock at someone. I'm not sure what to think. It makes him seem like he's inflating himself some by giving us an 'almost' moment, and then solving it by going directly to his wise grandfather for advice. While this may be the true memory, is it the best story about learning to work with anger? I wasn't so convinced.



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Review: A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina's Dream

A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina's Dream by Kristy Dempsey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Cooper's palette, settings, clothing are spot-on. It looks like a 1940s-1950s set and cast! Once in the 70s when everyone was all romantic about the 50s I asked my mom what those days looked like, and she said she remembered almost everything was brown. All the pink and candy-apple red in the tv shows and movies was exaggerated, rare color for a very muted time. Cooper does much to set the tone and to emphasize accuracy as an expectation for this historical fiction piece.

The best thing about Dempsey's story was that she displaced the story of Janet Collins into the point of view of a little girl inspired by Collins' 1951 debut at the Met. This slice into an everyday telling of this story captured me. This move sets Kristy Dempsey apart from recent biographers of Josephine Baker ([b:Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker|17043027|Josephine The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker|Patricia Hruby Powell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1365397015s/17043027.jpg|23361239] and Florence Mills ([b:Harlem's Little Blackbird|13531513|Harlem's Little Blackbird|Renée Watson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333578009s/13531513.jpg|19093186]), who went for the rags to riches formula. There was really only one 'moment' in the words that grabbed me, when the Ballet Master noticed the unnamed narrator dancing. Even in historical fiction, I expect the storyteller to show me instead of just telling me. And in a story about hope I wanted Dempsey to build on the one moment and craft something evocative in unfolding the visit to the Met.



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Review: The Snow Show

The Snow Show by Carolyn Fisher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This kind of presentation is a great way to keep the storybook alive as greater demand for informational text pushes forward. There are a lot of good narratives in science, including how snow is made. Given how 'just right' things have to be in place for it to happen, it's amazing we have so much snow in the world!

All of this was made even better when we brought Carolyn in by Skype from Calgary to talk to our class about storyboarding, illustration, and production for the book! Exciting to have this kind of insider perspective. She did a fantastic presentation, with drawing included, and via Skype it was so reasonable.



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Review: Buried Sunlight: How Fossil Fuels Have Changed the Earth

Buried Sunlight: How Fossil Fuels Have Changed the Earth by Molly Bang

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I was not drawn in as strongly to this book as I was [b:Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas|13039569|Ocean Sunlight How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas|Molly Bang|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344693911s/13039569.jpg|18203420]. Maybe it was the palette, maybe it's because I had been looking for a good book on plankton and hadn't been searching for a good book on CO2.

While reading I had a hard time remembering the sun was the narrator because Bang only kept a subtle visual presence on each spread. The little yellow dots in the fossil fuel areas was not quite enough to remind me sunlight was supposed to be a character. I liked the way [a:Carolyn Fisher|1312768|Carolyn Fisher|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png] kept her Snowman narrator visually present throughout her presentation on how snow is made in [b:The Snow Show|4414904|The Snow Show|Carolyn Fisher|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328834459s/4414904.jpg|4463068], even when in vapor form.

Still, I like Bang & Chisolm's series, and this felt like a clear and even-handed description of how carbon emissions are related to climate.



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Review: The Slug

The Slug by Elise Gravel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Funny dialog between narrator and slug lightened up the facts, and the animation-style cartoon illustrations brought a great tone. This was a good way to do an informational presentation about slugs. I hoped at first this was going to be a sample of an under-represented animal getting a picturebook dedicated to it. While that's partially true, I was disappointed to see it was part of a series on disgusting animals. The others in the series: worm, fly, rat would be fun to read, too! I'll have to get them. This disgusting animal series is an interesting and fun thing to see in its own right, so I still found it very enjoyable!

Why no back matter or sources for the research?



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Review: The Slug

The Slug by Elise Gravel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Funny dialog between narrator and slug lightened up the facts, and the animation-style cartoon illustrations brought a great tone. This was a good way to do an informational presentation about slugs. I hoped at first this was going to be a sample of an under-represented animal getting a picturebook dedicated to it. While that's partially true, I was disappointed to see it was part of a series on disgusting animals. The others in the series: worm, fly, rat would be fun to read, too! I'll have to get them. This disgusting animal series is an interesting and fun thing to see in its own right, so I still found it very enjoyable!



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