Poetry Friday with a review of Won Ton: A Cat tale told in Haiku

I am lucky enough to share my home with three wonderful felines. Legolas is a big, fluffy, ginger tabby who is easy-going and easy to please. Sumalee and Sarafee are two very opinionated Siamese cats who are fussy, difficult, and demanding. They remind me a lot of the cat whose story is told in today's Poetry title. Won Ton is also a demanding fellow and he is determined to keep the humans in his life on their toes.

Won Ton: A Cat tale told in Haiku

Lee Wardlaw

Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

Poetry Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Henry Holt, 2011, 978-0-8050-8995-0

In a shelter there is a cat. He is an elegant beast with beautiful blue eyes. In his cage the cat has a bed, a bowl, and a blanket, and he tells himself that what he has is “just like home.” Or least that is what he has been told.

   During visitor hours the cat feigns a complete lack of interest in what is going on, though he cannot resist a little peek. One person pinches him, and another pulls his tail, but then a boy comes along and he knows how to rub the cat’s chin just right. The cat tries to seem unconcerned. He grooms himself assiduously and does his best to appear as if there is “No rush.” In actual fact the cat is thinking, and hoping “Please, Boy, pick me.”

   Sure enough Boy does choose him and the cat is taken out of his cage. He is thrilled to be free, but at the same time afraid of what awaits him out there in the world. Briefly he “clings to what is known.”

   After a trip in a car, the cat arrives in his new home, and the process of naming him begins. He believes that he deserves a name fitting for an “Oriental Prince.” He ends up being called Won Ton, and he is not impressed.

   This wonderful tale, which is told using a series of haiku poems, is funny, sweet, and sometimes touched with just a little uncertainty and anxiety. It is a story about new beginnings that readers of all ages will be able to connect with.

Picture Book Monday with a review of A Good Story

There are some people in this world who think that books have no value; that they are even irrelevant in today's world. Stories, both true ones and fictional ones, have no place in their lives it would seem. The very idea of not having books in my life makes me feel sick to my stomach and cold all over. I have always loved books, and I have always wanted to have books around me.

In today's picture book you will meet a pig who lives in a world where words are not valued at all. Numbers rule, and everyone is expected to follow the rules and behave in a predictable and logical way. The pig does his best to live by the rules, but it turns out that he just isn't cut out for a humdrum life.


A Good Story

Zack Rock

Picture Book

For ages 6 and up

Creative Editions, 2017, 978-1-56846-280-6

Assistant Bean Counter No. 1138 is a numbers pig. He wrangles numbers all day, and in the world he belongs to “something only matters if it can be counted.” Though his co-workers seem to thrive on this life, Assistant Bean Counter No. 1138 does not feel as if he fits in. In fact, he has never felt like he belongs. In his world everyone is expected to toe the line “without question,” to follow the “old story” that controls everything. However, try as he might to be happy with what is “orderly and ordinary,” this pig cannot help giving in to his impulses to do things that are out of the ordinary.

   One rainy day the assistant takes refuge in a strange shop that is full of books. There are no numbers in the place. Only words. He is astonished when he discovers that the books contain the most remarkable stories, and through the stories he is transported to incredible worlds where anything can happen.

   While he is perusing one of the volumes the pig encounters something that captures his interest. He reads about an acrobat. The description of what an acrobat is tugs at him, but the old story that dictates that he must avoid anything out of the ordinary pulls him in the opposite direction.

   It is not easy to follow your own path in life, and to find the courage to turn away from what is expected of you so that you can follow your heart. This powerful book explores how one little pig discovers that he does not have to follow the crowd if he does not want to. Other options are out there, if he is willing to step off the beaten path.

   Readers of all ages will connect with this tale as it explores a timeless, ageless, and universal theme.

Picture Book Monday with a review of Every Color

Sometimes the best way to appreciate what you have is to get away from your home for a while. I know this certainly is true for me. I often come home from a vacation and see my home and my life through fresh eyes. I see that I am rich in many ways.Today's picture book explores the idea that sometimes you have to adjust the way in which you see things before you can truly appreciate the world around you.

Every Color
Erin Eitter Kono
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 6
Penguin, 2016, 978-0-8037-4132-4
Bear lives “at the top of the world” in a place that is covered with white ice and snow. Though there is beauty in his white homeland, Bear longs to see color, and gets very depressed because there is no color to be seen where he lives.
   Bear’s friends do their best to cheer him up, and when that doesn’t work a passing seagull decides to help. The seagull visits a little girl it knows and she sends Bear a colorful picture of a rainbow. The gift delights Bear, but it does not “take away his discontent.”
   When the little girl gets Bear’s thank you note, she decides that she needs to go to see him. Across the ocean she goes in a little boat and when she gets to the frozen, white north she tells the bear that she knows what he needs. She is going to take him on a trip.
   Together the little girl and the bear sail around the world and see many wondrous, and colorful, things, and the bear paints color-rich pictures of the things he sees. Each of his paintings are then placed in an envelope and they are sent off, via the seagull, to an unknown destination.
   All too often there are wonderful things in front of our eyes that we simply do not see because we don’t know how to. It would appear that there are ways of seeing that are not always accessible to us at first.
   This wonderful picture book explores a bear’s journey as he learns how to see, how to be open, and how to set aside discontent so that his eyes and heart are able to ‘see’ the world in a new way.
 

Picture Book Monday with a review of Over-scheduled Andrew

I think it is fair to say that these days many people have lives that are perhaps a little too full. They feel as if they are running on a treadmill, desperately trying to keep up, and to do all the things that are written on their to do lists. Adults are not the only ones who have this problem. Sometimes children find themselves struggling with a schedule that asks just too much of them.


Over-scheduled Andrew
Ashley Spires
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Tundra Press, 2016, 978-177049-484-8
Andrew loves to perform in plays, and so he decides to join the school drama club so that he can “wear costumes and perform on a real stage.” Andrew’s best friend, Edie, helps him learn his lines as they walk home from school together. Sometimes they end up climbing a tree or playing a game along the way and that’s always fun.
   Though Andrew is a natural when it comes to acting, his drama teacher suggests that he try public speaking so that he can learn how to project his voice more. Andrew joins the debating team so that he can work on making his voice stronger. It turns out that Andrew is so good at debating that his friend Calvin suggests that he join the chess club.
   When Andrew has a hard time keeping up during the dance routines when he is rehearsing, he decides that what he needs to do is to “improve his coordination,” so he attends ballet and karate classes.
   Somehow Andrew then finds himself joining the tennis team, working on the school paper, and learning how to play the bagpipes. He joins the French film club, takes singing lessons, and signs up for Spanish lessons because knowing another language is “just plain useful.” Up until now Andrew has been able to manage his extremely full schedule, but now he hits a wall. Andrew is just doing too many things.
   Many people over-schedule their lives. They fill every spare minute with an activity of some kind until they barely have time to eat or sleep. They cannot have a social life and are constantly running from activity to activity.
   With humor and sensitivity Ashley Spires (who brought us the graphic novels about Binky the cat) shows us how a young owl’s life turns into a nightmare when he takes on too many activities. Everything Andrew does is important and interesting, but together they are just too much. Children, and their grownups, will enjoy seeing how Andrew solves his problem and how he finds a schedule that works for him.

Busing Brewster - A review

This morning my daughter had her first day of school. I tied her hair ribbons and admired her outfit, took her photograph by the front door, and watched her bounce around with her friends in her new classroom. I was reminded that we are so lucky to live in a place where going to school is easy. My daughter does not have to go to school secretly the way girls in some counties have to do. Her African American classmates can come to school knowing that they will be welcomed and appreciated. As I looked at my daughter's happy and excited face I was reminded of a book that I read just a short time ago about a little boy who had a very different first day of school. 

Busing Brewster

Richard Michelson

Illustrated by R. G. Roth

Picture Book

Ages 4 to 8

Random House, 2010, 978-0-375-83334-2

   This fall Brewster is going into first grade at Franklin elementary, and Miss Evelyn is going to be his teacher. Brewster’s brother Bryan teases him, telling him that Miss Evelyn is mean, but Brewster knows that in real life Miss Evelyn is a very nice teacher.

   Then one day Brewster’s mother tells her sons that they will be going to Central instead of Franklin. Central is a white school where there are “rooms for art and music and a roof that doesn’t leak.” Bryan is very upset about this change in his life. He does not want to have to ride on a bus for an hour to get to the new school. He doesn’t want to go to a school where there “Ain’t no Negroes.”

   When Bryan, Brewster and the other African American students arrive at Central, they are given a very rude welcome. Rocks are thrown through the bus windows, white people are demonstrating outside the school, and two policeman are standing on guard at the door. The school day hasn’t even started before Bryan gets into trouble with a white boy called Freckle-face. One of the policemen escorts Bryan, Freckle-face, and Brewster to the library, and Brewster discovers a whole new world that inspires him to dream of new possibilities.

   This memorable book looks at what it was like to be a part of the desegregation of schools in America. In addition, it shows readers how books can open up doors in the minds of children; books can help children to see that they do have the power to change their world if they want to.

You can visit the author on his website and on his Facebook page. 

   

Elsie's Bird Blog Event Day Two - Elsie's Bird Review

Here is my review of Elsie's Bird.

Elsie’s Bird

Jane Yolen

Illustrated by David Small

Picture Book

Ages 6 to 8

Penguin, 2010, 978-0-399-25292-1

   Elsie has a happy life living in the city of Boston with her Mama and her Papa. She loves to explore the city, and she knows the names of all the birds. As she skips and runs through the streets, she loves to sing the songs of the birds “back at them.”

   Then a dark cloud covers the sun in Elsie’s life. Her mother dies and Elsie’s Papa decides that he needs to leave Boston to go somewhere far away so that he can leave behind “the sadness in his heart.” When they get to their farm, which lies in the middle of a sea of grass in Nebraska, Elsie realizes that her new home is going to be nothing like her old one. She misses the sight and sound of the sea. She misses being around other people. Elsie dreams “of Boston cobbles and bells.” The one thing that lifts her spirits is the presence of Timmy Tune, a little canary. Throughout the day Elsie and her pet sing “back and forth.” Timmy Tune’s little voice injects some sunshine into Elsie’s otherwise sad and lonely life.

   Then one day Timmy Tune gets out of his cage and Elsie runs out into the grass to find her beloved pet. How will she survive in this place without him?

   In this magical picture book, Jane Yolen takes her readers back to a time in American history when many families left the places they knew and went west. They gave up much that was familiar to build a new life on the open prairies. Eagerly or reluctantly, children went to these new places, and for many of them it was a shock to discover that their new home was nothing like the one they had left. With sensitivity and lyrical writing that beautifully captures the essence of Elsie’s world, Jane Yolen has once again created a book that will delight readers of all ages.    

   David Small’s expressive illustrations perfectly capture the essence of Jane Yolen’s story. With changing perspectives and flashes of color, David Small’s paintings are full of movement, and readers will come to understand how a “sea of grass” can be beautiful