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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.
Showing posts with label Nonfiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nonfiction. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Women's History Month - Emma Lazarus, an activist and author of poetry and prose.


In 1883 and American poet called Emma Lazarus wrote a sonnet called The New Colossus. She wrote the poem to raise money for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World). In 1903, the poem was cast onto a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal's lower level.

The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"


Below is a a review of a marvelous award wining book that tells the story of Emma Lazarus and her famous poem.

Emma’s Poem: The voice of the Statue of Liberty 
Linda Glaser
Illustrated by Clair A. Nivola 
Nonfiction Poetry Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013, 978-0544105089
When Emma was little she had a very comfortable life living in a lovely, large home with her mother, father, and siblings. She lacked for nothing, and was able to indulge in her love of books. She had the time to read, and spent many hours writing stories and poems. The people she spent time with came from similarly comfortable backgrounds, and the world of New York’s well-to- do people was the only one she knew.
   Then one day Emma visited Ward’s Island in New York Harbor and there she met immigrants who had travelled across the Atlantic as steerage passengers. They were poor and hungry, and many of them were sick. They had so little and had suffered so much. Like Emma, they were Jews, but unlike her they had been persecuted and driven from their homes. Friends and family members had died, and now here they were in a strange land with no one to assist them.
   Emma was so moved by the plight of the immigrants that she did her best to help them. She taught them English, helped them to get training so that they could get jobs, and she wrote about the problems that such immigrants faced. Women from her background were not supposed to spend time with the poor, and they certainly did not write about them in newspapers, but Emma did.
   Then Emma was invited to write a poem that would be part of a poetry collection. The hope was that the sale of the collection would pay for the pedestal that would one day serve as the base for a new statue that France was giving to America as a gift. The statue was going to be placed in New York Harbor and Emma knew that immigrants, thousands of them, would see the statue of the lady when their ships sailed into the harbor. What would the statue say to the immigrants if she was a real woman? What would she feel if she could see them “arriving hungry and in rags?” In her poem, Emma gave the statue a voice, a voice that welcomed all immigrants to America’s shores.
   In this wonderfully written nonfiction picture book the author uses free verse to tell the story of Emma Lazarus and the poem that she wrote. The poem was inscribed on a bronze plaque that is on the wall in the entryway to the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal. It has been memorized by thousands of people over the years, and has come to represent something that many Americans hold dear.
   At the back of the book readers will find further information about Emma Lazarus and her work. A copy of her famous poem can also be found there.

The plaque inside the statue of liberty


Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Happy Birthday Ruth Bader Ginsburg


“It’s an unconscious bias. It’s the expectation. You have a lowered expectation when you hear a woman speaking; I think that still goes on. That instinctively when a man speaks, he will be listened to, where people will not expect the woman to say anything of value. But all of the women in my generation have had, time and again, that experience where you say something at a meeting, and nobody makes anything of it. And maybe half an hour later, a man makes the identical point, and people react to it and say, ‘Good idea.’ That, I think, is a problem that persists.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

I was talking to a friend the other day and we were talking about this very thing, about the way in which women have to work so much harder to be  'heard and seen in this world.  I honestly believe that Ruth did a great deal to fight against this bias, and it is important that we all learn about her and the work that she did. 

Debbie Levy
Illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley 
Nonfiction
For ages 5 to 7
Simon and Schuster, 2016, 978-1481465595
It is 1940 and Ruth Bader lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York. Ruth’s neighbors are mostly immigrants, and though they speak different languages, celebrate different holidays, and eat different foods, there is one important thing that they all have in common: In these families the boys get to “go out into the world, and do big things,” and the girls stay a home and get married.
   Thankfully for Ruth, her mother Celia thinks that girls should be allowed to “make their mark on the world” too, and so she takes Ruth to the library. Through books Ruth finds out about many women who have done interesting and meaningful things with their lives. Ruth discovers that contrary to what society seems to believe, girls and women can do anything. They can even take charge if they want to.
   As she grew up, Ruth saw for herself how women, people of color, and Jews like her, were discriminated against. As a child there wasn’t much Ruth could do about these injustices, but she did not forget them.
   Nor surprisingly, clever, hardworking, and hard headed Ruth went to college. There she met Martin Ginsburg, a young man who made her laugh and with whom she fell in love. The couple decided that they would both go to law school because as lawyers they could “fight unfairness and prejudice in courts.” People approved of Martin’s choice of career, but they did not think that Ruth should try to be a lawyer.
   Ruth did not listen to those who disapproved of her career choice. She went to law school and did brilliantly. Surely now Ruth would get the opportunity to bring about the changes that she had dreamed of. Unfortunately, the fact that Ruth was a woman, that she was a mother, and that she was Jewish meant that no one wanted to hire her.
   This wonderful picture book biography tells the story of one of America’s greatest woman, a woman who has fought for justice and equal rights, and who showed the world that a woman can be a lawyer, a judge, and a justice on the Supreme Court.
   At the back of the book readers will find further information about Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life and her work.

 

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Women's History Month - The story of Libba Cotten

More than twenty years after the death of folk guitar legend Elizabeth Cotten, her music is still heard everywhere. Cotten, who began her public career at the age of 68, became a key figure in the folk revival of the 60's and a National Heritage Fellow. In 1985, at the age of 93, Cotten won a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording for her album Elizabeth Cotten — Live! 

Laura Veirs
Illustrated by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh 
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Chronicle Books, 2018, 978-1452148571
Libba Cotton has music running all the way through her. Everywhere she goes she hears music. Even the sound of the freight trains clattering down the tracks near her house is musical to her ears.
   Libba’s brother has a guitar, which she is not allowed to play. However, when he goes to work Libba sneaks into his room and plays the guitar, even though she has to play it “upside down” and “backwards” because she is left-handed. This is certainly a strange way to play a guitar, but Libba does not care. Somehow this unusual way of playing works for her and she is able to create music.
   After Libba’s brother leaves home, taking his guitar with him, Libba starts to save up to buy a guitar of her own. Earning seventy-five cents a month Libba saves and saves until she has enough to buy a Stella guitar. How Libba plays that guitar! It becomes an extension of her arm and she still plays it backwards and upside down because she is left-handed and the guitar was built for a right handed player. When she is only thirteen Libba writes her first song. It is called Freight Train.
   Then life gets busy and Libba stops playing the guitar because there are too many other things that need to be done. Libba never guesses that one day, when she is a grandmother, music will come back into her life and it will change her future in the most wonderful ways.
   In this beautifully written and very moving book, Laura Veirs, who is herself an accomplished guitar player, performer, and songwriter, tells the story of an extraordinary woman who was a self-taught and very gifted musician. Libba’s song Freight Train is known by musicians and music lovers all over the world, and it was a firm favorite in Laura’s childhood home.
   In addition to the main story, Laura provides her readers with further information about Libba at the back of the book in an author’s note. She also tells us how she became get interested in Libba’s remarkable story.



Friday, March 4, 2022

Women's History Month - With a review of Mary Walker Wears the Pants


I still remember the first biography - written for youngsters - that I read. My parents bought it for me at the library sale, and it was the story of Florence Nightingale. The book had a plain, dark blue, linen cover and the only illustration in it was an etching of Florence on the frontispiece. The story completely transfixed me. First the first time I learned how hard it was for women in the 1800s to enter a profession, and how restricted their lives were. I remember feeling furious because I read that Florence's parents wanted her to be a 'good girl' and marry a suitable young man; they were appalled when she announced that she was going to become a nurse. I was appalled at their behavior and attitude and I still seethe every time I hear someone belittle a girl or a woman.

Today I bring you a biography of a women who, like Florence Nightingale, wanted to be a healer. Like Florence she pushed against the establishment that wanted to deprive her of that opportunity. The book was written by my dear friend Chery Harness. 


Mary Walker Wears the Pants: The True Story of the Doctor, Reformer, and Civil War Hero 
Cheryl Harness
Illustrated by Carlo Molinari 
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 6 to 9
Albert Whitman & Company, 2013, 978-0807549902
In the 1800s, tradition dictated that men wore pants and women wore long dresses, and under thesedresses there were layers of petticoats and tight corsets. At that time men alone were allowed to vote, women were not allowed to participate in politics of any kind, and as a result women had little to control over their own lives. They were also not allowed to becomes doctors, lawyers, bankers, or business owners; indeed the only jobs that they could take on was teaching, nursing, cleaning, and working in a factory.
   Then Mary Edwards Walker came along and she refused to accept these rules and societal restrictions. “Her parents taught her to think for herself,” and this is exactly what she did, even if it meant that people talked about her behind her back. She dared to become a doctor, one of the first women in America to do so, and she dared to wear pants because they were a lot more comfortable and sensible than those silly dresses.
   When the Civil War broke out, Mary went to Washington D.C to do all she could to help. Wounded men were pouring into the capital city, and there were not enough doctors to tend to them all. Though she was a trained doctor, she was not allowed to be a surgeon in the army. Instead, for a while, she did what she could to make the soldiers more comfortable working as a nurse. 
   This kind of nursing was something other determined women did, women like Clara Barton, and Louisa May Alcott. After a time, Mary decided that her skills were being wasted and even though she was not allowed to serve as an army surgeon, she went to the field hospitals and offered her help. The medical staff at these facilities were stretched so thin that Mary’s help was accepted. By some. Eventually, in 1863, she was allowed to become an assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army. Thrilled to finally be allowed to work as a proper doctor, Mary set off for the front lines. She never imagined then that all kinds of adventures, some of which were dangerous, lay in her future.   
   In this wonderful picture book biography readers will meet a woman who believed that everyone had the right to wear what they wished, think what they wished, and say what they wished. She wore pants in public to make it clear to everyone that she met that she would not be bound by accepted societal norms. 
   Cheryl Harness tells Mary’s story with evident admiration, spirit, and touches of humor, thus helping us to get to know a woman who was courageous and determined. 

Thursday, February 3, 2022

Happy Birthday, Norman Rockwell

 

I did not grow up with Norman Rockwell's artwork the way so many of Americans did; his art did not make its way to the Middle East. Then, when I was in my teens, my American grandmother sent us a lovely book full of his artwork, and I often looked through it; I had never seen art like that before. 

In 2018 my husband and I flew out to Rhode Island to take our daughter to her university orientation. We took a few days to explore the area, and one of the places we visited was the National Museum of Illustration in Newport. There I got to view some Norman Rockwell paintings 'in person' for the first time. It was timely because we also went to visit Wendell Minor who illustrated the book I have reviewed below. Brian and I had a wonderful visit with Wendel and his wife Florence, and got to visit his studio, where the artwork in this book was created. 

Illustrated by Wendell Minor
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Simon and Schuster, 2019, 978-1-4424-9670-5
Long before Norman Rockwell was a famous illustrator, he was a child who didn’t play ball very well, a child who could not jump over three orange crates like his big brother did. What Norman could do, even then, was to draw really well. The children in his neighborhood would ask Norman to draw them a picture, and so he would. With pieces of chalk, he would draw something marvelous on the sidewalk, which would delight his friends. 
   Drawing was in Norman’s blood, which meant that he didn’t always find it easy to pay attention in class when he was in school. You would think that a person who loves to draw so much, and who was so good at it, would find art school easy, but he didn’t. It turned out that Norman had a lot to learn, and he had to accept his teachers’ criticisms with humility and equanimity. He “listened, learned, and got better and better,” working hard at his craft.
   Out in the “real world” Norman took every illustration job he could find. He needed the work to pay the bills, and he needed the practice. As he created illustrations for booklets, textbooks, and a children’s book, he felt that he was chasing his “dream of becoming a great artist,” but he was also “being chased by the fear” that he wasn’t “good enough.”
   At the age of twenty-two Norman decided that it was time to see if he had what it took to be an illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post. This publication was the most popular magazine in the United States at that time, and every week there was an illustrated “picture-story” on the cover. Norman took five of his illustrations to the magazine’s editor and was floored when the man said that he would take all of them. 
   Norman went on to illustrate more than three hundred covers for the Post. Creating an illustration that told a story was not easy, and it took a lot of work on Norman’s part. He had to come up with a concept, draw sketches, and find models when needed. Dealing with his animal models could be quite challenging as they would not always cooperate. How do you get a turkey to sit still?
   Norman’s covers, which usually portrayed everyday people doing everyday things, were hugely popular with the American public, and he became famous. His paintings were charming, often funny, and so easy to relate to. In an imperfect and often unpleasant world they presented “the best side of things.” 
   Later in life Norman began to use his art to address issues that were dear to him. Some of the things he painted were controversial, but he created them anyway. He realized that he had to paint the truth, even if that truth was distressing or grim. Sometimes painting what was good and right in the world was not enough. 
   The narrative and artwork in this wonderful book tells the story of a man whose art delighted many thousands of people every week for years. It is clear to sense how deeply the author and illustrator connect with the story of Norman Rockwell. Their affection, respect, and admiration for the artist can be felt in every sentence and every piece of art. 
   At the back of the book readers will find a biography of Norman Rockwell, notes from the author and illustrator, a timeline of Norman’s life, and some examples of his paintings. 






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