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Dear Book Lovers, Welcome! I am delighted that you have found The Through the Looking Glass blog. For over twenty years I reviewed children's literature titles for my online journal, which came out six times a year. Every book review written for that publication can be found on the Through the Looking Glass website (the link is below). I am now moving in a different direction, though the columns that I write are still book-centric. Instead of writing reviews, I'm offering you columns on topics that have been inspired by wonderful books that I have read. I tell you about the books in question, and describe how they have have impacted me. This may sound peculiar to some of you, but the books that I tend to choose are ones that resonate with me on some level. Therefore, when I read the last page and close the covers, I am not quite the same person that I was when first I started reading the book. The shift in my perspective might be miniscule, but it is still there. The books I am looking are both about adult and children's titles. Some of the children's titles will appeal to adults, while others will not. Some of the adult titles will appeal to younger readers, particularly those who are eager to expand their horizons.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration: Book one hundred and thirty-one

A few months ago I reviewed my first Clarice Bean book and I enjoyed it enormously. What a delightfully quirky and unique book. Today's book is another Clarice Bean title, complete with Clarice's peculiar family, and her wonderful way of expressing herself. 

Lauren Child
Picture Book
For ages 6 to 8
Candlewick Press, 2010, 978-0763647964
   Clarice Bean is learning about planet Earth in school, and her teacher is also encouraging the children to do a project called “The Environment.” The teacher gives the students little books to write in for the project, but Clarice is having trouble coming up with ideas for her assignment.
   Clarice is busy reading comics in the laundry room when her big brother Kurt starts making a commotion in the kitchen. He has read in the newspaper that a an old tree is going to be chopped down on Navarino Street, which is Clarice’s street. Kurt is so upset about the tree, that he and his friend Morten decide that they are going to camp in, or at least next to, the tree. They are going to be ecowarriors.
   When Kurt does not come home by eight o’clock that evening, the family goes out to the tree to see what is going on, and they find that Grandad and his friend Bert are also camped next to the tree. The next day Clarice and her friends make posters that say “Free the Tree,” and when he gets home from work Clarice’s father decides to make dinner for the ecowarriors. Will their voices, posters, and presence around the tree be enough to save it?
   In this wonderfully funny and quirky picture book, Clarice Bean and her nutty…er…unique family (and friends) come together to fight for something that they believe in. Saving the tree brings everyone together, despite their differences. With an engaging and amusing text and wonderful multimedia illustrations, this title is sure to entertain young readers, and it will encourage them to think green, just like Clarice Bean.
  
  

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