Not Your Typical Dragon, Building our house, Red Kite Blue Kite, Roadwork Ahead and Room for a Little One

BAR-EL, Dan. Not Your Typical Dragon. illus. by Tim Bowers. 40 p. Viking Juvenile. Feb. 2013 Ret. $ 16.99. ISBN 978-0-670-01402-6. LC 2012014391.

PreS and up: Crispin wants to breathe fire like the rest of the dragons, but instead breathes whatever is needed at the time, including whip cream at his birthday party, marshmallows while camping, and Band-Aids at the doctor’s office. Not wanting to accept his uniqueness, Crispin runs away and meets a knight, Sir George, who wants to cure Crispin so he can slay a real fire-breathing dragon. Crispin eventually goes home and puts out a house fire with water from his snout, and realizes, along with the rest of his family, that his uniqueness makes him special. Take Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, substitute dragons, and… that’s it. What could be a more poignant lesson in being different feels formulaic, and the appearance of Sir George feels contrived and unnecessary. Children will enjoy the illustrations which can be easily enjoyed in a group setting, especially the silliness of Crispin’s non-fire breathing.

BEAN, Jonathan. Building our house. 48 p. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. Jan. 2013. $17.99. ISBN 978-0-374-38023-6. LC 2012004993.

PreS and up: A family wants a more simple life in the country, and decides to move from the city to a “weedy field, back down a dirt lane”. Adding to the sense of adventure, the family moves into a trailer on the site of their new house. Even the kids get in on the planning and construction, collecting stones from the neighbor’s pasture, helping carry and inspect the lumber, mixing the concrete, and playing as their home is built lovingly by hand. At moments beautiful, when the father uses the North Star in the night sky to decide where the walls should go, and at others highly technical. The simple watercolor and ink illustrations remind the reader of Tin Tin; however the simplicity of the artwork is somewhat misleading. The first half of the story is over-detailed in the steps taken by the family to build the home and has no apparent tempo. For example, the descriptions of framing the foundation and pouring the concrete seem unnecessarily accurate for this age group, are text-heavy, and may bore younger children, even in the intended age group. However, the second half of the story, after the extended family and friends help frame the house, becomes warm and well-paced, using a balance of illustrations and contained prose to focus on the love and determination of the family. Would work well when reading and discussing other construction titles; may require heightened dialog between reader and child initially to get to the payoff in the end.

JIANG, Ji-li.  Red Kite, Blue Kite. illus. by Greg Ruth. 32 p. Disney – Hyperion Books. Jan. 2013. Ret. $17.99. ISBN 978-1-4231-2753-6. PC 2012010000.

K-Gr2. Tai Shan and his father “Baba” enjoy flying kites- a red kite, and a blue kite- together above the bustle of their city. However, their lives are turned upside by the Cultural Revolution. Tai Shan and Baba are forced to move to the country side, and Tai Shan must live with Granny Wang while his father works in a nearby labor camp. They fly kites as a secret signal to each other, their way of communicating their love for each other from far away.  One day, Tai Shan does not see his father’s blue kite from his work camp for three days, and fears the worst. Baba escapes to see his son one last time before he is relocated to a distant work camp. However, while Baba is gone, Tai Shan flies both the red kite and the blue kite together, giving Tai Shan hope he will see his father again—and he does. The language of the past, remembering life before the Cultural Revolution, is more innocent and carefree—from Tai Shan talking about flying kites with his father “the tippy-top of our triangle roof” and describing the kites as hopping and giggling in the sky, to more stark, terse language when he is forced to relocate and separate from his father. The hues and tones of the past are warm, and there is a sense of intimacy when father and son are together. When the Cultural Revolution disrupts the family, the colors become bleak, and as a reader we are painfully aware of the distance put between the two. Best read in a one-on-one setting, especially between a parent and child, will make for a meaningful and sentimental experience.

SUEN, Anastasia. Roadwork ahead. illus. by Jannie Ho. 32 p. Viking Juvenile. Sept. 2011. Ret. $ 15.99. ISBN 978-0-670-01288-6. LC. 2011004545.

PreS and up: To get to Grandma’s fresh baked oatmeal cookies, mom, son, and dog must drive through heavy traffic and construction. We see them pass jackhammers, people trimming and planting trees, workers replacing street lights, an out of control water hose, trucks hauling dirt, the placement of telephone poles, and pouring concrete. The illustrations, in vivid, high-contrast color, are far more interesting than the narrative, which although rhyming, is frequently lost as the reader scans through each two-page spread. Young children will be able to look for common elements, including birds, dogs, rabbits, and an elderly couple. Because of the level of detail in the illustrations, children will better appreciate in a one-on-one setting, rather than a group setting.

WADDLE, Martin. Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale. illus. by Jason Cockcroft. 32 p. Margaret K. McElderry Books. Oct. 2004. Ret. $16.99. ISBN 978-0-689-86841-2. LC 2003017841.

PreS and up: Kind Ox offers Old Dog a place to rest. Old Dog assures Stray Cat he won’t chase her. Stray Cat welcomes Small Mouse and promises not to harm him. All four enjoy the peace and warmth of the stable together. Later that night, Kind Ox invites Tired Donkey to come inside and share their stable- with Mary and Joseph in tow. Finally, all the animals welcome the Little One- the baby Jesus into their company.  Many books have tackled this theme of having room for one more in spite of no room at the inn, and while the narrative of the book is adequate, it pales in comparison to the lush, detailed illustrations by Cockcroft which carries the story. The illustrations skillfully show the animals’ faces and eyes with emotion and depth, from the sense of exhaustion to fear to general contentment in being able to rest comfortably. Even the donkey carrying Mary seems at ease once the baby is being held in Mary’s arms. The use of light and texture, coupled with the familiar Nativity story will keep children interested- if only to look at the images.

Assessing Selection Tools

Part I: As I set out to review and examine the strengths and styles of six selection tools-- Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, The Horn Book Magazine, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, and Kirkus Reviews- my initial thought was to read each resource’s review of the same picture book. I was able to do this with five of the six publications, albeit in two different groups: the first group, comprised of Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, and School Library Journal, reviewing The Very Fairy Princess Follows Her Heart; and The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and Kirkus Review reviewing Chu’s Day. The Horn Book Magazine was also evaluated.

Looking at three reviews of the same book gives me, and other readers, a clearer idea on the tone and description in each publication. Each of the reviews in Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, and School Library Journal deal with the major obstacle of the title Fairy Princess- a hurried mix-up that leaves her without her handmade Valentines’ cards on Valentine’s Day at school, but all three have a different take. According to Publisher’s Weekly (2012), this is “a disappointment… that turns into an improvisational opportunity.” The exact same scenario in Booklist (2012) has the Fairy Princess believing “her day is ruined.” However, Marel (2012) in School Library Journal describes the same plot point in accessible- and empathetic- language: “What could be a huge disaster turns into a unique opportunity for Gerry to show her friends just how much they mean to her by acting out her valentines for them, telling them why they are special. It turns out to be a great day for everyone. The authors weave in everyday issues that children face…” School Library Journal was also the only review to cite the title as part of an ongoing series, as well as to describe how it could be used in a storytime setting: “This engaging story is short enough for group sharing and has a solid but subtle message.” This is an important differentiator from the other two reviews- recognizing the role of the children’s services provider in reading/sharing the title. The depiction of the illustrations in all three follows a similar pattern: Booklist describes the art as “wispy and energetic”; Publisher’s Weekly describes the “carefree color swirls and accents with precise pencil lines”; and School Library Journal describes the ink-and-pencil illustrations as “bright, sparkly, and filled with emotion,” fitting the personality of our heroine.

In stark contrast to the accessible and easily read narratives of the previous three publications, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books appears to pride itself in describing the books themselves, especially the technical nature of the illustrations. For example, Hulick (2013) reviews include the following: “the lush graphite, colored pencil, and watercolor illustrations are loaded with detail,” and “jam-packed with intricate geometric patterns and mandalas, sometimes leading to compositions that are eye-achingly busy. An attractive color palette of muted blues, turquoises, creams, and golds is enlivened by pops of fuschia and bright white.”   While I may be alone in this opinion, reading The Bulletin’s reviews feels like work—similar to listening to someone who drops big words into a discussion to prove they have a large vocabulary. For example, Stevenson’s (2013) review of Neil Gaiman’s Chu’s Day contains the phrases “splendid climax… humorous fillip… intricately fantastical.” I can’t image reading review after review like this as a collection development librarian. I feel as while the reviews may be limited by word count they are paid by the syllable.

That’s not to say the Kirkus Reviews (2012) review of Gaiman’s Chu’s Day isn’t without it’s fanciful words, but the format of the review gives the reviewer more room to play—with an initial sentence giving away the plot, and a concluding sentence bookending the majority of the review, including the book’s shortcomings: “A modest yet richly colorful day in the life of a small panda who may or may not sneeze, which may or may not be calamitous… Weigh great art and clever story against the exploitation of the old, unfortunate cliché that Asian names sound funny.” The advantage of the Kirkus Reviews, as a reader of the review, is that reading only these bookending sentences gives us a decent idea what the book entails—the same could not be said for The Bulletin’s review.

The remaining tool- The Horn Book Magazine- did not review either title, and so was assessed individually. The major advantage of The Horn Book Magazine is the inclusion of visuals- spreads from inside the book, rather than the canned and commercialized cover art. Browsing through the January 2012 issue of The Horn Book Magazine, the review text and the selected imagery reinforce each other, making the reader more aware of what’s being described. For example, in Horning’s (2012) review of 10 Hungry Rabbits, the editors select an image clearly demonstrating the narrative- “Each ingredient (including, interestingly, blueberries) is prominently featured in a countable, realistic-style portrait that takes up two-thirds of each page and is accompanied by the corresponding color-coded number, as both an Arabic numeral and written out in Roman script. Beneath the main illustration is a line of text describing the rabbit’s action.” Adjacent to the text is an image showing just this for the reader!

While I appreciated the utility of the Kirkus Reviews’ book ending strategy, I felt that the closest style of review to my own is that of School Library Journal. The language was digestible, the information was applicable in a library setting, it considered the primary target audience, the children, not the reviewer, and conveyed a sense of emotion tied in with the story while relating the plot.

With these points in mind, I deployed a strategy that accounted for the primary target audience- my two young children. I read each title three times, as suggested in Peck (2009), waited approximately 24 hours, and then read all books with my children. I was surprised that my initial reaction to these books, and how I thought they would react, was fairly accurate to how both children, especially my four year old daughter, reacted and interacted with each book. My hope and intent is to continue this practice of reading each title, allowing myself time to reflect, and then reading them with my children, to give a well-rounded perspective on each picture book I review this semester!

Chu's Day. (2012). Kirkus Reviews, 80(22), 130.

Horning, K. T. (2012). 10 Hungry Rabbits: Counting & Color Concepts. Horn Book Magazine, 88(1), 74-75.

Hulick, J.(2013). Ganesha's Sweet Tooth (review). Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 66(5), 256. The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Hulick, J.(2013). Puss in Boots (review). Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 66(5), 257. The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Leeper, A. (2013). The Very Fairy Princess Follows Her Heart. Booklist, 109(9), 124.

Marel, L. (2013). The Very Fairy Princess Follows Her Heart. School Library Journal, 59(1), 74-75.

Stevenson, D.(2013). Chu's Day (review). Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 66(5), 244-245. The Johns Hopkins University Press.

The Very Fairy Princess Follows Her Heart. (2012). Publishers Weekly, 259(50), 60.