Posted in Early Reader, Fiction, picture books, Preschool Reads

This is Owl flaps and taps its way into your heart

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

This is Owl, by Libby Walden/Illustrated by Jacqui Lee, (March 2019, Kane Miller), $14.99, ISBN: 9781610678964

Ages 3-7

I love a good interactive book that brings my kiddos into the storytime! Hervé Tullet got me started on the interactive book fun when I was starting out in my first preschool libraries, and it’s been something I gravitate to ever since. Here, we have Owl, asleep in a tree. Readers get to tickle Owl, play with the sun and moon, flap the pages to help Owl fly, and more. The Owl is adorable and expressive. The artwork is cartoony and bold, with bright colors leaping off a minimal background. Die cuts and half-pages make for fun reading and chances to let everyone at storytime have a turn.

There’s a mix of simple sentences and slightly more complex sentences; sight words make up a good portion of the words in the book, making this a nice read for emerging readers and a great readaloud choice for pre-readers and early readers.

This is Owl is in my storytime collection; consider it for yours. If you’re putting a copy in circulation, make sure you have a backup – this one will get passed around!

 

 

Posted in Early Reader, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Preschool Reads

Mouse takes a trip to the top of a volcano… but when can he get pizza?

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Trip to the Top of the Volcano with Mouse, by Frank Viva, (May 2019, TOON Books), $12.95, ISBN: 9781943145362

Ages 4-7

Mouse and his friend are off to explore Italy and climb Mount Etna in this second Mouse adventure! The explorer can’t wait to go start the adventure, but all Mouse can think of is pizza. Together, the friends lay out the plan: supplies (walking sticks, warm gloves, strong mountain boots, thick sweaters, and cool sunglasses) and set out for the mountain. They discover the different foods that grow at the base of the mountain (but not pizza), hike to the top, and see what types of wildlife wander around the area, before ending their day with a trip to the pizzeria.

A Trip to the Top of the Volcano is a fun mix of fiction and nonfiction, with stylish, vibrant graphics. There’s a beautiful cross-section spread, showing not only how plant life grows up the mountain, but the parts of the volcano, including the magma chamber, vents, and crater. There is information about local wildlife, plant life, and volcano characteristics, all communicated with simple, straightforward sentences that new readers will love reading and pre-readers will love listening to.

This is the second Mouse adventure from Frank Viva and TOON; the first, A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse, sees the two friends off on an expedition to Antarctica. A Trip to the Top of the Volcano with Mouse has a free, downloadable Teacher’s Guide.

Posted in Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

DC Ink: Top name YA authors and reimagined origin stories. Sign me up!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

DC Ink is a fairly new (little over a year) DC Comics imprint, dedicated to middle grade and YA original graphic novels. I only had a sneak peek at Harley Quinn’s upcoming book, Breaking Glass, and haven’t read Mera’s book, Tidebreaker yet, but I received ARCs for both Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale, and Teen Titans: Raven, and had to dive in.

As with the YA novels in the DC Icons line, every book DC Ink is written by YA royalty, so you just know you’re getting good stuff before you even open the book. They’re illustrated by graphic novel rock stars, so  you’re going to get some phenomenal artwork. Put it all together, and you’ve got a can’t-miss group of graphic novels coming your way. Let’s check ’em out.

Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale, by Lauren Myracle/Illustrated by Isaac Goodheart, (May 2019, DC Ink), $16.99, ISBN: 978-1-4012-8591-3

Ages 13+

We all know Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, has a multitude of origin stories (the comics, Gotham, Batman Returns, The Dark Knight Rises), but it’s because she’s such a captivating character: authors want to tell ALL the stories, and we want to read them! Selina can be anyone, from anywhere; her fluidity makes her a longtime fan favorite, and in Lauren Myracle’s hands, we get an entirely new Selina: a 14-year-old, living with her mother and her revolving door of awful boyfriends. The current one, Dernell, has been around for a while, and seems to be the absolute worst. He’s verbally and physically abusive, and Selina’s mother won’t say a word against him. When he goes too far in “punishing” Selina one night, she has had enough: she runs away and lives on the streets, stealing what she needs to survive. And she finds that not only is she good at it, but she enjoys it. A group of homeless kids adopts Selina, despite her desire to be a loner; she’s drawn in by Rosie, a selectively mute young girl who bonds with Selina. But Rosie goes missing, and Selina finds herself in an awkward situation as she tries to track Rosie down and keep her safe.

Under the Moon is such a good origin story. The consistent thing about Selina is that she’s always capable, always collected, and always at odds with her desire to be a loner and her desire to help those less fortunate then she is. Her vulnerability is her heart, but you’ll never know it (unless you’re a third party reading her book, amirite?). Bruce Wayne is a supporting character here, and it’s fun to see him and his perfect hair in high school; it’s also nice to see he and Selina verbally spar even back in the day. There’s also an interesting murder mystery subplot, because it’s Gotham City.

The artwork is largely subdued purple-blue and white, with sound effects rendered in yellow for effect. The artwork makes excellent use of movement, perspective, and body language. Grab this one for your YA collections, but use caution if you’re thinking of handing it off to younger readers: there’s domestic violence and profanity in here, so much younger readers will be much better off with Superhero Girls trades.

Lauren Myracle is the author of the New York Times bestselling Internet Girls series, which includes ttyl and ttfn, all of which are written in textspeak. Isaac Goodhart is an illustrator whose graphic novel cred includes Postal and Love is Love. He also has an amazing sketch of Hawkeye and Kate Bishop on his Instagram.

 

Teen Titans: Raven, by Kami Garcia/Illustrated by Gabriel Picolo, (July 2019, DC Ink), $16.99, ISBN: 978-1-4012-8623-1

Ages 12+

Teen Titan’s Raven speaks to my wannabe goth girl soul. I love her on the original Teen Titans cartoon from the early 2000s, and I crack up watching her on Teen Titans GO! now. Who else could write this character but Kami “Beautiful Creatures” Garcia, who also speaks to my inner wannabe magic-using goth girl? Raven’s orphaned at age 17 when her foster mom is killed in a car accident. Raven moves in with her foster mom’s sister, who seems to know something about Raven that Raven either can’t remember or doesn’t know. She and her foster sister become fast friends, and a cute guy named Max is interested in her, so things should be settling down for Raven, but weird occurrences start happening. When Raven thinks something, it happens: a mean girl trips and falls, just as Raven wishes she would. She can hear what people are thinking. She’s having nightmares. A sprinkling of good, old school Nawlins voodoo and a Deathstroke appearance make Raven’s origin story A-plus reading.

The artwork is mainly black and white, with some color pages splashed here and there. Raven’s trademark purple and black hair shines off the page, and – Raven fans, are you ready? – she wears adorable narwhal pajama pants at one point. There are little DC winks and nudges throughout, including Raven holding a Wonder Woman doll as a child, and there are some amusing girl power-message tees.

Kami Garcia is a bestselling author and cofounder of YALLFest, the biggest teen book festival in the U.S. Gabriel Picolo is a comics artist who’s worked with Blizzard, BOOM! Studios, and DeviantArt.

Get the Raven book. Get all the DC Ink books. Your readers will be glad you did. And really, you should sit down and read through them, too.

 

Posted in Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction

Math, Loss, and Zombie Movies: A Good Night for Shooting Zombies

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Good Night for Shooting Zombies, by Jaco Jacobs/Illustrated by Jim Tierney/Translated from Afrikaans by Kobus Geldenhuys, (March 2019, Rock the Boat), $12.95, ISBN: 9781786074508

Ages 10-14

Martin is a South African teen living with loss. His father was killed in a car crash a few years ago, and his mother hasn’t left the house since. His sister is hardly ever home, usually out with her sketchy boyfriend. All Martin has is his chickens – his nickname is Clucky – and his propensity for numbers. When the neighbor kid’s dog kills his prize chicken, he goes over to say something – and ends up making a friend instead. Vusi, whose dog, Cheetah has a taste for chicken, is a horror movie fan determined to make his own zombie movie. He’s also fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but he has no interest in letting that, or his protective parents and nurse, stop him. He quickly recruits Martin as a zombie extra, and before Martin realizes it, he’s sneaking out with Vusi, shooting Vusi’s movie and even developing a crush on a schoolmate. And, bonus: the cover glows in the dark!

Jaco Jacobs knows how to pack a book. While A Good Night for Shooting Zombies is primarily about Martin’s and Vusi’s friendship, it’s also about coping with loss, as Martin and his family grieve in their own ways; it’s about potential loss, as Vusi and Martin cope with Vusi’s lymphatic cancer, and it’s got a quietly compelling subplot about a group of troublemaking teens and Vusi and Martin bumbling their way into their sights. Martin is comforted by his mathematics equations, which he uses as a coping mechanism, very similar to Willow in Counting by 7s. He and Vusi each have their comforts – Vusi’s is horror movies – and as they share these pieces of themselves, they build a deeper friendship. Jim Tierney’s black and grey illustrations add some visual interest, and Jaco Jacobs’ writing keeps pages turning; the end of the story will stick with you long after you close the book.

I became a Jaco fan after reading last year’s A Good Day for Climbing Trees. A Good Night for Shooting Zombies just sealed it. I can’t wait to read more.

A Good Night for Shooting Zombies has a starred review from Foreword Reviews. There’s a free, downloadable readers’ guide available from publisher OneWorld Publications.

Posted in picture books

An unexpected nature preserve crops up in the DMZ

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

When Spring Comes to the DMZ, by Uk-Bae Lee, (March 2019, Plough Publishing), $17.95, ISBN: 9780874869729

Ages 4-8

Established in 1953, The DMZ – the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea – has, over time, become a nature preserve, with plants and animals living and thriving amid the razor wire, soldiers, and military machines. When the Spring Comes to the DMZ introduces readers to the DMZ throughout the seasons, illustrating how wildlife lives almost effortlessly – razor wire ever-present in the background, husks of man-made machinery now home to animal families – and through the eyes of a boy and his grandfather, who visit the DMZ so grandfather can look out at his former home with bittersweet longing. It’s a reaffirmation that life goes on for some, but for others, that life is painfully halted in place, while years pass.

The artwork is beautifully subdued, with soft greens and browns dominating the pages. The story is told in simple, sweet, almost heartbreaking statements: “When spring comes to the DMZ, green shoots spring up in the meadows./But you cannot go there because the razor wire fence is blocking the way”. This spread, viewed as through a telescope, puts us in grandfather’s place, and communicates some of the heartache he must feel; having home be so close, yet unreachable.

When Spring Comes to the DMZ is a book that works for social studies and current events read-alouds, and would pair nicely with similar books about refugees and immigrants, including Anne Sibley O’Brien’s Someone New and I’m New Here and Bao Phi’s A Different Pond. Reading When Spring Comes to the DMZ alongside Nicola Davies’ When War Came allows for a discussion about the aftermath of war; while DMZ doesn’t mention the Korean War in the story itself, the back matter fills in necessary information, along with an exhortation for peace. There is little in print for children about the North Korea and the DMZ, making this an important book to include in social studies and current events collections.

When Spring Comes to the DMZ has a starred review from Kirkus. Shelf Awareness has a wonderfully detailed review.

 

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Nico Bravo and the Hounds of Hades – graphic mythology gone wild!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Nico Bravo and the Hounds of Hades, by Mike Cavallaro, (April 2019, First Second), $12.99, ISBN: 9781626727519

Ages 8-12

This fun new graphic novel adventure is perfect for mythology fans. Vulcan is a kid working at Vulcan’s Celestial Supply Shop, serving all the gods’ and goddesses’ needs. He works with a sphinx named Lula and Buck, a unicorn with PTSD, and things are fine and dandy until Eowulf – descendant of Beowulf himself – targets a monster for slaying, to keep the family name going. The problem? The monster happens to be Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld! If Cerberus isn’t there to guard the gates, there’s about to be a whole lot of dead folks invading our world. Nico has to get it together and stop Eowulf from bringing on a zombie apocalypse!

I like Mike Cavallaro’s storytelling. He’s great at worldbuilding – something I discovered when I read his fencing graphic novels, Foiled and Curses! Foiled Again, where he created a side-world filled with fantasy and myth. There are mythological references throughout the book that kids will recognize, and some possibly new ones to draw more readers in. Have your Rick Riordan books ready, and your mythological reference books on hand – you’ve got great display possibilities! The cartoon art reminds me of popular animation on TV, with book expressive eyes, colorful artwork, and fantastically cool monsters and beasts for everyone to enjoy. There’s a lot of mythology available, and kids love reading about it – I hope we get some more adventures with Nico Bravo soon!

Posted in Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Teen, Tween Reads, Women's History

Taking Cover: Growing up during the Iranian Revolution

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Taking Cover: One Girl’s Story of Growing Up During the Iranian Revolution, by Nioucha Homayoonfar, (Jan. 2019, National Geographic Kids), $18.99, ISBN: 9781426333668

Ages 10-14

Nioucha Homayoonfar’s memoir of life in Iran during the Iranian Revolution is equal parts joyful and heartbreaking. In 1976, at the age of 5, her family moves from Pittsburgh to Iran, where her father can be with his family again. For several years, Nioucha and her expat friends are educated in a progressive French-Persian school and enjoy the things most kids do, including listening to music, dancing, and swimming. But the revolution changes all that. Nioucha and her friends are segregated; they have to wear robes and hoods that cover their hair (and are threatened with burning in Hell, hanging on every visible thread of hair), and live in fear of being kidnapped by the Moral Police: a group called the Zeinab Sisters. Nioucha refers to them as The Black Crows, which brings a colorful, tongue in cheek image to mind, but these women are anything but humorous. The women patrol the streets in a van, capturing women and teens they deem immoral, hiding them in prisons, and beating them until they feel redemption is earned.

But there are wonderful moments of family and friendship in Taking Cover, too. Nioucha recalls her first Iranian Christmas, when she hopes Santa Claus will remember that she’s moved to Iran, so she’ll get her presents, and her family decorates her aunt’s house with a beautiful tree and presents. She talks about her relationship with her grandparents, who adore her and comfort her during her first sleepover away from her parents; going to concerts and driving around with her cousin, Sara, even learning French in an underground school run by her mother and her best friend’s mother. In the midst of explosions and oppression, Nioucha and her family managed to take joy where they found it.

Parallels to Persepolis are expected, and should be encouraged. Taking Cover is an excellent memoir and lead-in to Persepolis, allowing middle graders to expand their worldview and start a conversation on how the Iranian Revolution changed the world. The book includes a map of Iran and surrounding areas, and a timeline of Iranian history. There is a free, downloadable Educator’s Guide available.

Posted in Graphic Novels, Guide, Middle Grade, Non-fiction, Tween Reads

Comics: Easy as ABC! is essential kid and grownup reading!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Comics: Easy as ABC! The Essential Guide to Comics for Kids, by Ivan Brunetti, (Apr. 2019, TOON Books), $16.95, ISBN: 9781943145447

Ages 8-12

Ivan Brunetti and an all-star cast of comics luminaries put together a compulsively readable guide to cartooning and comics for kids and grownups alike. An Understanding Comics for younger readers, Comics: Easy as ABC! introduces kids to the joy of cartooning and doodling; drawing characters whose faces and body language communicate emotion and personality; perspective; point of view; lettering, and so much more. There are quotes and excerpts of comic panels and drawings by such comics and graphic novel notables including Neil Gaiman, Elise Gravel, Liniers, and Jeff Smith. TOON Editorial Director and New Yorker art editor Françoise Mouly notes, in her introduction, that she hopes Comics: Easy as ABC! encourages more people to fall in love with comics and to inspire budding cartoonists.

This is such a great volume to have as a desk reference for librarians, parents, and educators, because it’s a crash course in understanding comics. It gives a language to the artwork, letting us look at all art – comic books, naturally, but picture books and illustrated chapter books, too – and explain to readers how to read art; how to decipher facial expressions and body language, how to read a landscape and understand a setting for a panel or spread. The book encourages readers to “draw their own conclusions” by letting them fill in the ending of a comic strip drawn by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and artist Art Spiegelman, and “find their own voices”, with guidance from author Eleanor Davis. A section dedicated to parents, teachers, and librarians guides us grown-ups through the process of how to read comics with kids, with examples, advice, and callout tips like, “The child who makes informed guesses is reading. Enjoy, and hold back from correcting”. Information about the TOON Into Reading Program explains TOON’s leveled reading (also broken further into Lexile, Guided Reading, Reading Recovery, and grade levels). An index, further resources, and a bibliography round out this information-packed guide to the world of comics and graphic novels.

TOON! does it again. This is an essential volume for your graphic novels shelves, and for your desk reference. There’s a 7-page free, downloadable Teacher’s Guide available on the website.

Posted in Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Intermediate, Middle Grade

Big Nate meets Medieval Times: Max and the Midknights

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Max and the Midknights, by Lincoln Peirce, (Jan. 2019, Crown Books for Young Readers), $13.99, ISBN: 978-1-101-93109-7

Ages 8-12

From the creator of Big Nate comes Max and the Midknights, a story about Max, a troubadour in training who really wants to be a knight; a mean king, and a group of kids determined to make things right. Throw in a magic sword and a bumbling magician, and you have Max and the Midknights, a clever blending of graphic novel and middle grade novel. Max and Uncle Budrick visit Budrick’s childhood home in the kingdom of Byjovia, only to discover that the kind King Conrad is missing and presumed dead, and his awful brother, King Gastley, is on the throne. The villagers all seem cruel and distant, and routinely rounded up and thrown in Gastley’s dungeons. Max and new friends Kevyn, Millie, and Simon, hatch a plant to save Budrick and have some exciting adventures on the way, including some interesting background on Max, epic poetry, dragons, and haunted forests.

The book is loaded with humor, very likable characters, and adventure. Big Nate fans will be happy to see Nate show up in the book’s very beginning: Max and the Midknights is his book report. I loved spending time with Max and friends, and I’m hoping to see another installment soon. Put this right up there with Dav Pilkey, Jeff Kinney (both of whom blurbed Max), and Jeffrey Brown’s books. This could be the book that gets your reluctant reader to embrace fantasy fiction!

 

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Intermediate

Polly Diamond heads to the Super Stunning Spectacular Book Fair!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular Book Fair, by Alice Kuipers/Illustrated by Diana Toledano, (May 2019, Chronicle Books), $14.99, ISBN: 978-1452152332

Ages 7-10

Polly Diamond and her magic notebook, Spell, are going to the school book fair in Polly’s latest adventure! As we learned in Polly’s first story, Polly Diamond and the Magic Book, Spell has the special ability to bring to life whatever Polly writes in it. So when Polly decides to liven up the book fair with some book-related excitement, it’s a lot of fun: she turns a mean babysitter into a squirrel, she calls up a roller coaster, and a Title-Tastic photo booth. But writing things down can often lead to misinterpretation, and Polly discovers things have gotten way out of control! Just imagine what Amelia Bedelia would be like if she had magical powers, and there you have it. Polly has to get things under control, and keep her kid sister safe in the process!

Polly is a biracial child of color with a white father and dark-skinned mother; her baby brother and kid sister are also children of color. Loaded with black and white illustrations, this second book in the Polly Diamond series is great fun, and filled with book-related humor and references. There’s even a list of Polly’s current favorites at the end of the book, which I love. It not only lends itself to a creative book display, but gives you a ready-to-booktalk guide for readers who want to read like Polly does. These chapter books also make for fun read-alouds; you can do a chapter a day with no problem, and let your audience’s imaginations run wild in their own (less powerful) Spell notebooks! Ask kids what they’d have Spell create for them, and invite them to contribute their own book ideas to make lists similar to Polly’s. This is the kind of series that turns readers into book lovers. Make sure you have this one on your shelves.

Alice Kuipers is an award-winning author and offers information for writers on her author website. Diana Toledano is an award-winning illustrator whose art you can see on her website.