A review in honor of Ramadan

Today is the first day of Ramadan, a special month-long holiday celebrated by Muslims all over the world. In honor of this holiday I have review for you of a delightful picture book that was published this year.

Nabeel's New Pants

Fawzia Gilani-Williams
Illustrator:  Proiti Roy
Marshall Cavendish Children's Books, 2010   ISBN: 978-0761456292

It is the day before the Eid, and Nabeel has completed his day’s work making shoes. One his way home, Nabeel stops at Hamzi’s clothes shop. He buys his wife a burqa and his mother a dupatta, and his daughter some bangles. Then he decides to buy himself a new pair of pants so that he too will be well dressed on the Eid. Unfortunately, the pants are four fingers too long, but perhaps Nabeel’s wife can hem them for him.

   When he gets home, Nabeel gives his wife Yasmeen her gift and then he asks her if she can fix his pants for her. The Eid is a busy time though, and Yasmeen has cooking to finish. At his mother’s house, Nabeel gets a similar response. His mother is delighted with her gift but she has cooking to do. What is poor Nabeel to do? Will no one fix his pants for him? Perhaps he should do the job himself.

   In this amusing holiday tale, children will not only be entertained by the narrative, but they will also see what some of the traditions of this holiday are. In addition, they will see how the members of a close family share their love for each other, and how it is a wonderful thing, even if things don’t work out quite as everyone expected!

You can find more books for young readers about Ramadan on the TTLG Ramadan page

A message from the Screen Actors Guild - Help support children's literacy initiatives

This summer, the Screen Actors Guild Foundation has an exciting opportunity to benefit our global children’s literacy initiatives. We are partnering with the Clothes Off Our Back Foundation to sponsor our second annual online auction of celebrity-authored signed books and your involvement would really help our cause!

Between August 2 and August 17, you can bid on autographed books written by your favorite actors. To support our efforts, celebrities including Sir Sidney Poitier, Kirk Douglas, Julie Andrews, Tim Allen, Sting, Carol Burnett, Mickey Rooney and many more have donated their signed books to be part of this auction. Take part in this auction by bidding on books that will make for great summer reading or the perfect gifts for friends and loved ones.

Please visit http://www.clothesoffourback.org/sagfoundation beginning August 2, 2010 to view the selections and make your bid to support children's literacy.
 

Thank you

Help write Loser/Queen, an online interactive serial book

Cammy Hall is what anyone would describe as a loser. She lives with her grandparents and has adopted their way of life . . . right down to the comfortable shoes and early bedtime. And can she help it that she actually likes to knit?

At school, her skills with knitting needles and some yarn go completely unappreciated: People like Bekka Bell reign while Cammy and her best friend, the fearless Danish exchange student Gerdi, watch from the sidelines. Cammy’s used to being an outsider; after years of humiliating moments, her goal is simply to fly under the radar. Then she suddenly starts receiving mysterious text messages that lead her right to all the embarrassing secrets about the most popular kids in school. Cammy never expected to be able to climb up the high school food chain, and the agenda of the texter may be questionable—but how can she possibly give up the chance to be queen?

Loser/Queen is an online interactive serial and a groundbreaking publishing event. The beginning of the story has been written and posted—but it’s up to you to decide what happens next. Cast your vote by 5 p.m. (EST) Thursday night of each week. Then, check back Mondays at 10 a.m. (EST) to see the poll results—and how the story was affected by your choice!

When the voting—and the book—are finished, Loser/Queen will be printed as a paperback and packed with extras from the author… and you will have the opportunity to own the book you helped create.

Visit the Loser/Queen website to read the story so far and to cast your vote to help decide what happens next.

Resistance - An interview with Carla Jablonski

Yesterday I posted a review of Resistance, a graphic novel that was written by Carla Jablonski. Today I am posting an interview that I had with her.

1. How did you get interested in the world of children’s books in the first place?

I actually never stopped reading children’s books! Long after I was a “grown-up” I continued to love books for all ages. And I was lucky enough to land a job soon after college working in children’s publishing -- and never left!

2. Tell us a little about the books you have written.

I’ve written a wide-range of books -- from humorous chapter books to intense YAs, from fantasy to historical fiction, along with movie tie-ins and adaptations. Most of what I write tends to be for middle-grade or teen readers. My most recent books have been Thicker than Water, a very dark YA for older teens about a goth girl who is drawn into an underground “vampire” lifestyle scene (out now in paperback!) and Silent Echoes, a YA novel set in both contemporary New York and the New York of the 19th century. Resistance is my first graphic novel, but I’m already at work on several more. I’m also a playwright/director and I think that’s why the comics medium felt very natural to me -- I understand “staging” and how to tell a story through dialogue.

3. Where did the idea for Resistance come from?

I love writing (and reading) historical fiction and I love research, so I was casting about for a subject that would allow me to use those skills and tell a compelling story for kids. The Resistance allowed me to pose the question “what would I do?” which I think is a very powerful place to start from when writing. The situation is inherently dramatic, so finding ways to make my characters active was easy. I also was interested in the idea of secrets -- when to keep them, how to keep them, their danger -- and the Resistance certainly supplied me with a situation rife with them.

4. How did you research the story? Did you go to France at all?

Oh, how I wanted to go to France! But no, all the research was done here in New York. I did LOTS of things - I read and read and read: histories of the war, memoirs written by resistance fighters as well as autobiographies of people who lived through the times, read up on winemaking in France; I also watched movies (documentaries and fictional films about the war and the resistance in particular) as well as films simply made during that period. I also looked at many images (The New York Public Library picture collection is a great resource!) for visual inspiration.

5. Did you work with the illustrator, Leland Purvis?

Leland was great to collaborate with. When we first started working I gave him character descriptions and he showed me sketches for my input. Because he is such an experienced artist, I left many decisions up to him. My “script” broke the scenes into pages so he would know what I wanted to happen on each page, but, unlike some comics writers, I only rarely told him how I wanted each individual panel to look. I did specify what I wanted the pictures in Paul’s sketchbook to look like, though I often gave him multiple ideas to choose from.

6. When can we expect the second book in the trilogy to be available?

Spring 2011. It’s called Defiance: Resistance Vol. 2.

7. In addition to writing books, you also edit them. Do you like doing this kind of work, and if so why?

I do. I think it’s kind of a left-brain/right-brain thing. I like being able to switch back and forth between the two modes of thinking. I also find doing the editorial work really helps me with my own writing when it’s time to revise.

8. For fun, you perform on the trapeze. How did this start?

As research! I was writing about circus performers and felt I would understand the characters better if I could experience what they did. For some reason I took to it, and I wound up performing in all kinds of shows in New York and in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was not exactly what I thought I’d wind up doing professionally with my masters degree…. But what a great -- and surprising -- detour!

Thank you Carla!

Resistance - A review

Not long ago I read a fantastic graphic novel - the first book in a trilogy - about what it was like to be in France during the German occupation. Here is my review of the title. 

Resistance: Book 1

Carla Jablonski

Illustrated by Leland Purvis and Hilary Sycamore

Graphic Novel

Ages 12 and up

First Second, 2010, 978-1-59643-291-8

   Paul, his sisters, and his mother live in a small French village. Paul’s father is a prisoner of war in a German camp somewhere, and Paul is doing what he can to help his mother. Though no battles are taking place anywhere near their home, life in Paul’s village is still very hard. Everyone is afraid of being denounced to the Germans, and feelings of suspicion and distrust are rife.

   One day Paul goes to the hotel that his family owns, and he sees that the Germans have taken it over. He is immediately worried because the family who runs the hotel, the Levy’s, are Jewish, and if the Germans catch them who knows what will happen. Later that day that Paul finds Henri Levy in the woods and he tells his friend what has happened. Henri’s parents have disappeared, and Henri has nowhere to go where he will be safe. Paul decides that the only thing to do is to hide Henri in the family wine cave. He and his sister Marie have to keep Henri’s presence a secret, no matter what.

   Later that same day Paul discovers that Jacques, the family vineyard helper, is a member of the Resistance, an underground group of people who are doing what they can to make life difficult for the Germans. Paul quickly offers to join the Resistance. He wants to do his part as loyal French citizen. At first Jacques refuses to consider Paul, but later he agrees to let Paul, and his little sister Marie, join the Resistance. After all, the Germans will never suspect that two children might be a threat.

   This powerful and often disturbing graphic novel gives readers a very true to life picture of what it was like to live in France during World War II. No one, not even the children, are untouched by the terrible things that are happening around them. They live in fear, and on occasion, they are called on to risk everything for a cause that is bigger than they are.

Tomorrow I will be posting an interview with the author, Carla Joblonski.

July is Classic Books Month on TTLG - Day Thirteen

My memories of my early childhood are fragmentary, but there is one that is incredibly clear. I am sitting in my father's lap and he is reading The story of Ferdinand to me. I can almost hear his lovely reading voice. The memory makes me miss my father, but it also warms me and makes me feel very grateful that I had such a wonderful person in my life.   

The Story of Ferdinand

Munro Leaf

Drawings by Robert Lawson

Picture Book

Ages 4 to 6

Penguin, 1977, 0-14-050234-3

   There once was a little bull who liked to sit “quietly and smell the flowers.” He had no interest in running or jumping or butting heads with the other little bulls. Ferdinand liked the quiet life. Even when he became a big bull with strong muscles and pointy horns, Ferdinand had no interest in changing his simple lifestyle. The other bulls were all eager to fight in the bull ring, but Ferdinand was happy to sit “quietly under the cork tree and smell the flowers.”

   Then one day, five men wearing “funny hats” came to pick the bull that would fight in the bull fights in Madrid. The other bulls in the field did their best to look fierce so that they would be picked. Ferdinand, not surprisingly, walked over to his favorite cork tree to sit in the shade. Which is when something dreadful happened, something that would dramatically change Ferdinand’s life.

   This timeless picture book has charmed several generations of children since it came out in 1936. With its beautiful illustrations, its simple text, and its meaningful story, this book is a must for young children. 

July is classic books month on TTLG - Day twelve

When I was about eight or so, my American grandmother sent me a boxed set of the Little House books. As soon as I began to read Little House in the Big Woods I became a devotee of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, and I have read everything she wrote - I think. 

Little House in the Big Woods

Laura Ingalls Wilder
Illustrator:   Garth Williams 
Nonfiction
For ages 8 and up
HarperCollins, 1971   ISBN: 978-0064400015
   Laura is a little girl who lives in a log cabin in the woods of Wisconsin with her Ma, Pa, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and the brindled bulldog Jack. The family is so isolated that Laura has never seen a town, and she rarely gets to play with other children, but she loves her life and enjoys all the new activities that come with the changing seasons.

   With Laura we are going to see what it would have been like to live in the north woods in the late 1800’s. We are going to share the special events that mark the year; Christmas, Laura’s birthday, cheese making time, maple sugar time, harvest time and more. We are going to laugh at Pa’s wonderful stories, and sympathize with Laura when she is punished for being a naughty girl on a Sunday. We are going to discover what it must have felt like to see a town for the first time when Laura and her family go to the lake town of Pepin, and we are going to feel a sense of loss when Pa decides that it is time to leave the Big Woods.

   This first title in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s famous autobiographical books, will get readers of all ages well and truly hooked on the Little House series. Readers will long to know what happens next to this hardworking and loving family. Children will be amazed to read about how people like the Ingalls family had to manage with what they were able to grow, make, or hunt. They will be fascinated to read about how people in Laura’s world made their own cheese, got their “everyday” sugar from maple trees, and how children were not allowed to play or shout on Sundays.

   Garth Williams has created some wonderful black and white illustrations for this book, which capture the essence of Laura’s north woods life, and which give the reader a real sense of what it might have been like to live in a tiny cabin in an enormous forest.

July is Classic Books Month on TTLG - Day 11

Whenever I am feeling down or in need of a little comfort I almost always turn to one book: The wind in the willows. Recently Candlewick Press released a delightful new version of this timeless book. Inga Moore's abridgment and her glorious illustrations make this a title that will delight readers who have a fondness for Toad, Mole, Ratty, and Badger.

The wind in the willows

Kenneth Grahame
Illustrator:  Inga Moore
Fiction
For ages 8 and up
Candlewick Press, 2009   ISBN: 0763642118

The Mole is fed up with spring cleaning. In fact he is so fed up that he throws down his white-washing brush and he digs his way through the earth until he reaches the spring meadow above, the warm sun, and the soft breezes. Elated by the beauty of the day, Mole goes off for a walk. His ramblings lead him to the astonishing and delightful River, a place he has never seen before. It also brings him to the doorstep of the Water Rat. “Ratty,” being a terribly friendly and easy-going sort of animal, invites Mole to go for a picnic with him. The two new friends set out in Ratty’s little row boat, and they have a truly “enchanted afternoon” together.

That very evening Ratty invites Mole to live with him. He offers to teach the Mole how to row and swim,  and all in all, how to appreciate the River and all its mysteries and beauties. Mole accepts this wonderful invitation, and he is soon part of the river community.

One glorious day, some time after their initial meeting, the Mole and the Rat decide to go and visit Toad at his very grand home, Toad Hall. Before they quite know what has hit them, the ebullient and excitable Toad has convinced them to go on an expedition with him in his “canary coloured cart.” The cart is Toad’s latest fad - his newest hobby - and the two friends agree to go along. Unfortunately, the adventure ends badly, and Toad is infected with a new interest. Carts are a thing of the past, they are “common” and not worthy of his attention. No indeed, now Toad is obsessed with motor cars, and as we soon find out, they are the cause of his downfall, and what a fall it is too.

The various adventures of Toad, Mole, Rat and their other friends are both gripping and delightful. Toad’s misadventures are sure to amuse readers of all ages.  This is a superb abridgement of Kenneth Grahame’s marvellous, timeless, and often magical prose; it is filled with the beauty of nature, the mystic powers that lie beneath the surface of every river and behind every tree. Just as Mole is “spellbound” by his first sighting of the river, so too is the reader of this book spellbound by its magical language.

Inga Moore has created artwork that is a tribute to Kenneth Graham’s world and to the power that his words have had over generations of children. With her soft colours and highly detailed panoramas, Moore has perfectly created the atmosphere set in Graham’s words. Her art leaves one in no doubt that the world is full of beautiful places and that adventures can and do lie just around the nearest corner if you know how to look for them.

July is Classic books month on TTLG - Day ten

A little princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett was one of my favorite books. It made me sad every time I read it, and yet I always felt uplifted when I came to the end. Though some good films have been made of the book, none really capture the magic of this memorable story. 

A Little Princess

Frances Hodgson Burnett
Illustrator:Tasha Tudor
Fiction
For ages 9 to 12
HarperCollins, 1991   ISBN: 978-0064401876
Sara Crewe is the kind of little girl who catches your attention when you see her. With her bright green eyes and thick black hair,  she is not pretty in the traditional sense, but there is something about her that is special. She is the daughter of a very rich young man, and now the time has come for her to go to school in England. She is not very keen on attending Miss Minchin's School for Girls, but this is what her Papa wishes and Sara will do anything her Papa asks of her.

   So Sara begins her schooling, and her poor Papa returns to India heart-sore and lonely without his precious little girl to be his "little missus." Sara quickly makes friends in her new home, taking the littlest child, the slowest child, and a servant girl called Becky under her warm and loving wing. The others flock to her to hear Sara's wonderful stories, for Sara loves to tell stories about magic, far of places, and princesses.  Sara always tries to behave like a princess, showing dignity, respect for others, and kindness.

Then the unthinkable happens - Sara's father dies of fever and she is left penniless. Miss Minchin, who never liked Sara, turns the little orphan into a skivvy, and she also uses Sara to teach the smaller children. Sara discovers what it is like to be servant, and now she and her friend Becky are just the same. And yet, as Becky and some of the other children see, Sara is still a little princess and she is still as giving and generous, even though she has so little of her own. Often cold, tired and hungry, Sara struggles on, being the princess and doing her best not to give in to her grief and despair. Often her stories help her and Becky when things are particularly bad. The girls imagine warm clothes, hot food, soft beds, and a crackling fire as they snuggle up together up in the freezing attic rooms in Miss Minchin's school.

   Then something truly remarkable happens and Sara begins to wonder if it is possible for stories and dreams to come true after all.

   First published in 1905, this incredibly moving story has not lost any its power over the years. Sara and her adventures are still as real and as fascinating as they were at the turn of the century. Readers will be shocked to see how servants were treated back then, and will be grateful that some things have changed for the better. The wonderful, seemingly magical, good fortune that finds Sara is thrilling, and will have younger readers begging to hear the story all over again.

July is Classic Book Month on TTLG - Day Nine

This picture book was a huge favorite with my husband when he was a little boy. We still have his tattered and battered copy. This is the board book version of this wonderful story. It is also available as a picture book. 

Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel

Virginia Lee Burton

Board Book

Ages 4 to 6

Houghton Mifflin, 1967, 0-618-840192

   Mike Mulligan has a red steam shovel whose name is Mary Anne. Mary Anne and Mike have been working together for years, and they have worked on all kinds of projects including canals, highways, and cellars for skyscrapers. However, nowadays new electric and diesel motor shovels are being used for construction work, and no one wants to use steam shovels any more. Poor Mary Anne and Mike are very sad, and they are worried about their future What on earth are they going to do?

   Then Mike reads that the town of Popperville is going to build a new town hall. He knows that the hall will need a basement, and he decides that he will offer his and Mary Anne’s services to do the digging.

  The two friends go to Popperville, and when they get there Mike says that he and Mary Anne will dig the basement for the town hall in just one day. Can Mike and Mary Anne keep this promise?

   This picture book was first published in 1967, and it has lost none of its charm. It still has the ability to make children cheer for the red steam shovel who has a big heart, and for her driver who loves her far too much to let her get broken up for scrap. Wonderful drawings, and the perfect solution to a sticky problem perfectly compliment a delightful story. Best of all children discover that even when people – and steam shovels – are past their prime, they still have a great deal to offer us all.