0 and Up

Came across this book at the library and was happy to see content like this making it mainstream (and not niche!). It's well written, also real and optimistic. "Mothers are superheroes when they're battling cancer, and this empowering picture book gives them an honest yet spirited way to share the difficult experience with their kids."

A neat compilation of the lives and achievements of 52 heroes of color across borders and over many decades. Two things I really liked about the book: 1) the breadth of talents - we read about athletes, entertainers, astronauts, activists, leaders, and writers, and we also have a millionaire, an arctic explorer, a chess player, and a nurse 2) the countries we get to tra vel - from the U.S and UK to Jamaica, South Africa, France, Ghana, short bios introduce us to inspiring black achievers all over the world. The illustrations are bold and colorful. My favorite spread however is the "Hall of Fame" that showcases real photographs. A final note - this book is wonderful but also important, almost necessary, because young dreamers of color need role models too. As the author puts it, "if you can't see it, you can't be it." #0andUp #RepresenationMatters #WeNeedDiverseBooks

Title: A Black Hole is Not a Hole Author: Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano Illustrator: Michael Carroll We picked up this book on black holes around the time we lost one of Science's brightest stars, Stephen Hawking. My 9 yr old and I have been thoroughly enjoying the fundamentals of something so absolutely intriguing, humbling, and fascinating! I highly recommend it to any adult or child that wants to get a first grip on the concept of black holes.   #PictureThis #0andUp

#PictureThis "No, don't stop...keep reading, read more," my son insisted several times. And when we got to the finish line, we slowed down...sighed...and smiled. Outstanding. Thank you, Jason Reynolds.

HAPPY MULTICULTURAL CHILDREN’S BOOK DAY! Here’s to bringing more books from around the world to bookshelves everywhere! #ReadYourWorld This is my book review for MCBD 2018. TITLE: HIDDEN WOMEN – The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race (Ages 8 +) AUTHOR: Rebecca Rissman PUBLISHER: Capstone Press On this exact same day (Jan 27 th ) in 1967, Apollo 1 swallowed up three NASA astronauts. NASA came out with a plaque: A rough road leads to the stars , to learn from the tragedy and to stay inspired. The quote, however, aptly captures the spirit in the lives of the women this book explores. In a time of social and cultural oppression in America, in a time when few women pursued higher education or worked in STEM, in a time when racism was rampant, in a time when the nation raced to reach the moon, brilliant black women persevered and succeeded, but were never celebrated. This sums up why we need this book – why it is impo...

by Eleanor Estes and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin Ages: 7+ Realistic Fiction Polish-American Wanda Petronski is the target of ridicule in her school, mostly for her name. But more significantly for wearing the same shabby blue dress to school every day. When picked on, Wanda claims to have a hundred dresses lined up in her closet. Popular classmate Peggy is in the habit of grilling Wanda about this every morning for harmless pleasure. The silent accomplice to this, Maddie, on the other hand can see how the ritual can impact Wanda. However she chooses to do nothing, to simply stand and watch. Until one day Wanda and her family move away to the big city where they think they will be better accepted. When the "hundred dresses" finally surface, Maddie     feels awful. Sleepless and restless she wishes she could have done something. Maddie and Peggy go on a mission to let Wanda know how they truly feel, and in the process are in for a surprise!

By Madhur Jaffrey, Illustrated by Amanda Hall Age:7+ Fantasy, Adventure It starts off with Kabbi Wahabbi (the mouse) running around frantically for help. It's understandable considering he is drenched in smelly orange paint so much so that he is unrecognizable! And who did it? The wicked Slimey Kimey. Robi Dobi, the genial elephant, promises to help him. And that's how an exciting adventure gets kicked off! An escapade in which a horde of engaging characters join the caravan, like Kamla-saurus (The Great Painter) and Maya Wishkaya (of The Dancing Butterflies). There is also an edge-of-the-seat segment when the entire team joins General Aman and his Great Parrot Army to rescue Princess Tara from The Wicked Purple Panthers. The journey continues steadily with two more brave rescues enroute, and that of course includes the downfall of Slimey Kimey!

By Kevin Henkes Age:8+ Realistic Fiction It is a tradition for Alice to vacation in winter and celebrate her birthday with other regulars, in a seaside cottage in Florida. But on her 10th birthday things are a little different. Some of her "extended family" is missing. Instead, 6 year old Mallory enters the scene, and makes everything less perfect for Alice. But Mallory's own story has a tinge of sadness. Henkes authentically brings out Alice's struggle, swinging from girlhood to adoloscence - a trip into the internal psyche trying to balance genuine conflicting emotions. Wrapped tightly around all of this is Alice's passion for shells and the hunt for the rare junonia shell she covets. Kevin Henke's writing - choice of words, similies, simplicity, and style of language. The beach backdrop filled with sky, sea gulls, sun, pelicans, dolphins, cottages, sand and shells! Picture:HarperCollins

By Scott O'dell Age:10+ Based on a true story Newbery Medal in 1961 Riveting. Powerful. Moving. Classic. Timeless. Twelve year old Karana who jumps off a ship to rescue her little brother, only to find him dead on the shore. While the ship and her clan sail away for safer shores, Karana is left stranded on the desolate island for several years. Her survival saga is shrouded in hope, loneliness, courage, perseverance and strength, to stay alive and live beyond! Scott O'dell is a master - a three time Newbery award winner and the recipient of the highest global honor, the Hans Christian Anderson Author Award. Need I say more? Picture: Author Website

By Holling.C.Holling Age:7+ Geo-fiction Caldcott Honor in 1942   I am grateful to destiny for leading us to this book. I am duly presenting it here. As my 7 year old promptly adds  Paddle-to-the-sea  to her list of favorites, I see us both recommending and reading this book several times in the future, and not many books are  that compelling. The book was published in 1941. It was a Caldecott Honor Winner. The movie version was an Oscar nominee as well.  Holling.C.Holling  is generous with natural details in the story and fluent in writing it with a geographic pitch. A young native American boy carves a wooden man-figure on a canoe and names him  Paddle-to-the-sea . After addressing the mechanical needs, he etches the words  Please put me back in water – I am Paddle to the sea , along the underbelly of his “toy”. He sets him on a mound of snow in the wild, in Nipigon country in Canada. He hopes and waits for Paddle to start his t...

By Patricia Maclahan Age:7+ Realistic Fiction Newbery Medal in 1986 Sarah, plain and tall, comes to join the family in the Prairies, in response to Jacob's ad for a wife, for a mother to his two motherless children Anna and Caleb. However Sarah misses her own home back in Maine - the smell of the ocean, the gulls, and the mist over the cliffs. The children fall in love with Sarah but are soon overcome by fear of being abandoned once again. At one point, it seems like Sarah might never come back. However Sarah comes back and reassures them how much she'll miss them (even more than Maine!) if she left. Narrated in the voice of Anna, this is a story of love and hope in small children,  it is gentle and heartwarming. Skylark, Caleb's Story, More perfect than the moon, Grandfather's dance , all belong to a series following this book. Patricial Maclahan has several wonderful novels to her credit. Picture: Wikipedia

By E.B White , Illustrated by Garth Williams Age: 8+ Fiction Newbery Honor in 1953 The realization that he is going to be slaughtered for a meal one day, leaves Wilbur, the naive and fun loving little pig, in a stupor. While the other gabby animal neighbors are supportive, Charlotte an affectionate and wise spider, goes to great lengths to protect friend Wilbur. She promises to save him. And she keeps it up by making him an overnight celebrity. Wilbur soon becomes the pride of the Zuckermans' and the talk of the town. But Charlotte's passes on doing what she does best - weaving magic words that keep Wilbur alive! A heartwarming tale about friendship and commitment. Picture:HarperCollins

Title: Gilberto and the Wind Author & Illustrator: Mary Hall Ets Publisher: Puffin Books Age group: Preschool or 4-8 yrs Little Gilberto runs outside with a balloon hearing the wind call him you-ou-ou . But Wind snatches his balloon away and leaves it on top of a tree. Just like he takes away the clothes from the line or the umbrellas in the rain. Or sometimes Wind is so moody that he wouldn’t even help his kite go up high! But then we also read of all the good times, of how Gilberto and Wind play together with paper sailboats, bubbles and pinwheels. The book ends with a picture of Gilberto flat, with face to ground saying, Oh Wind! Where are you? Sh-sh-sh-sh , answers the Wind, and he stirs one dry leaf to show where he is. A small boy, a list of fun things, and the friendly breeze thrown in – what more to lift the spirits in a child? Sketches using just three colors, the illustrations more than “capture” the invisible friend for us. Personifying wind with all its tempe...

Title: A Tree is nice Author: Janice May Udry Illustration: Marc Simont Publisher: Scholastic Age Group: 4-8 Picture : Wikipedia A Tree is nice seems rather too plain for a title for children. Nothing fancy or funny. But its this quality that's held in all earnestness up until the end that also makes the book enjoyable, without laboring to interpret or analyze. The book is a Caldecott winner and this calls for dissecting the illustration. Color and black-and-whites alternate; ink drawings draped in gray, follow and precede beautiful watercolors. Especially the watercolors, they glorify the foliage in varying seasons with splurges of warm greens, sometimes with flaming reds and bright yellows in their midst. The book is 11x7 inches in size. This allows for generous detailing of the trunks and twisted branches in varying dimensions, in browns that remind us of barks of dark chocolate. Something about the book gives us that warmth - the thick dirty white paper with rawness resem...

Title: Earth Mother Author: Ellen Jackson Illustrator: Leo & Diane Dillon Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers Age Group: 4-8 Picture: Mother Earth is Bhoodevi , bejeweled and fertile, in Hindu mythology. She is a young African woman in this book. Both epitomize Earth, like a mother - gentle, beautiful, giving. Earth Mother wakes up and walks across deserts and mesas, touching the lives of bugs, flowers and birds. Soon she meets Man. Man is preparing to catch a frog for breakfast. He thanks Mother for Frog. But he goes on to complain about the Mosquito that annoys him. Nonchalantly, Earth Mother moves on to savannas and plains, tending and caring for her creations on the way. She filled the water holes and sharpened the thornbushes. Her hand guided a sunbird to a blossom sweet with nectar. In the north, Earth Mother powdered the trees with snow. Tiny crystals gleamed in the air like diamond dust. The depth and beauty with which the writing evokes calmness and vigor, that ...

Title: Back of the bus Author: Aaron Reynolds Illustrator: Floyd Cooper Publisher : Philomel Age group :4-8 Last year my daughter and I had read Woodson's "The other side" during the week of MLK Jr. day. It had served our intent very well, while ensuring that we stayed in the comfort of Subtlety, and the warmth of a story of two little girls in the countryside. I remember how the girls of different skin tones, afraid of crossing "boundaries", had rightfully chosen to sit on the fence together. I had immediately reviewed it here. This week we brought home a few books celebrating MLK Jr or what he stood for. Among them I found a gem. It was perfect for us, in that, it helped me inch forward in the right direction on the same subject. This, it did, in two solid ways. For one, we read about actually "crossing a boundary" this time around. Secondly, it was more than subtle. It carried a bit of history and eased me into introducing civil rights and the figh...

Title: Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings Author: Deborah Hopkinson I llustrator: Terry Widener Age Group: 4-8 Publisher: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books Pictures : Amazon (front and back cover images) When the Independent's crusty old coach took one look at her long, blue skirt, he spit hard on the ground. "Go home missy. You're a girl - and this is baseball". Athletes and sports figures, and their stories are always inspiring. They are invariably people of determination and hard work. But if they are also people who have fought for change, then to say that their stories are empowering almost becomes an understatement. And I am caught up in such a predicament to describe this book. Alta Weiss was the first female pitcher in an all-men semipro baseball team in 1907 in Ohio. This book has been inspired by her life. The story itself is laid out as nine "innings", pointing to various time segments in her life. Baseball was in her blood, clearly demon...

TITLE: When Mommy was mad AUTHOR: Lynne Jonell ILLUSTRATOR: Petra Mathers AGE GROUP: 3-5 yrs PUBLISHER: G.P.Putnam's Sons Picture: fantasticfiction.co.uk Don't some of us, sometimes, hang up on an annoying telemarketer and carry over the frown to the innocent one demanding a snack? Or nod in affirmation to an interrogative from the little one while we are pensive or depressed. Or realize we just said yes to using the permanent marker while we were busy playing back in our head an incident from work! For a multitude of reasons, and sometimes not involving kids, we just don't seem to be our usual selves. And to make it worse, we are made to realize this by our own children. Picture books are wonderful when the child can relate to it. This book accomplishes that and more - it actually makes the parent and child exchange perspectives. While it can be difficult to see how parental moods impact children, it can also be important for children to see how it can be a struggle for ...

TITLE: Tacky and the winter games AUTHOR: Helen Lester ILLUSTRATOR: Lynn Munsinger AGE GROUP: 4-8 PUBLISHER: Sandpiper Picture: Amazon.com Penguins in training for the Olympics. Of course it has to be the winter Olympics! Add loads of wit. And we have an entertaining, educational and athletic package! Some of us are probably familiar with Tacky - Tacky the penguin . And this one belongs to the same series of books. It begins with Tacky's friends declaring T he winter games are coming, we must must must be in shape to win win win. And that's when the riot starts! The next few pages show fluffy creatures with sharp beaks jumping ropes in a row, lifting weights, and even doing sit-ups. But not Tacky. He is digging into his junk food and watching too much TV while his counterparts are loading up on 'training meals' and good sleep. Its soon time for the opening ceremony and the athletes walk in with their chests thrust out. The anthem is played (which by the way goes With o...