Duck! Rabbit! is the perfect read-a-loud book with its two narrators.  In fact, it was read very energetically by two librarians and it was well received by the kids.  When I got my hands on my own library copy, my husband and I both read it out loud together to the kids.  A fun book to read either on its own or in a group.

In Duck! Rabbit! the off page narrators debate whether or not the animal in question is a duck or a rabbit.  Where one sees ears, another sees a bill.  Where one hears rabbit sounds another hears duck sounds.  The illustrations vary little which I think is fantastic.

But really, no need for me to ramble on about it.   The video says it all:

A great book for kids to think about shapes in new ways.

Links of interest:  Amy Krouse Rosenthal website, Tom Lichtenheld website, more book blogger reviews.  Duck! Rabbit! is a  fiction picture book Cybil’s nominee for which I’m a panelist.
Genre: Fiction Picture Book, approx age 4-8.
Publisher:  Chronicle Books.  March 11, 2009.
Hardcover, 40 pages. ISBN 0811868656
Duck! Rabbit! is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

In fact, I’ve just handed the book to my husband who’s looking at it for the first time.  He’s giggling.  He’s making comments.  He’s engrossed.  He’s just told me, “I like this one.”  Fun for kids, fun for adults.   The design is awesome.  Fantastic text.   Can’t really get much better than this.

I’m thinking that this book is worth adding into our collection.  But is it safe?  The book does eat people.  If it even catches a whiff of peanut butter and jelly on your fingers then you are in BIG trouble.  You don’t have a chance.  And do not let your little ones read this book – especially when it’s hungry.  (You should always assume that it’s hungry.)  You would be very  lucky indeed if you come away from the reading of this book unscathed.

So if I disappear it’s pretty much safe to assume that I have become a victim and will never be heard from again.  Here’s wishing me luck . . . .

Links of interest:  Mark Fearing website, The Book That Eats People is a fiction picture book Cybils nomination for which I’m a panelist.
Genre: Fiction Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: Tricycle Press. August 11, 2009
Hardcover, 38 pages. ISBN 1582462682
The Book That Eats People is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

After the funeral Becky and her family are expected to go back to normal.  But normal doesn’t exist anymore.  No one is happy anymore.  Becky stopped playing soccer and at school her friends don’t know what to say.  By the time winter rolls around again, Becky doesn’t feel so sad when looking at pictures of John.  One morning she laughed while watching her dog roll around in the snow.  And then one day, she had so much fun at a birthday party that she came home feeling guilty for “forgetting to miss John.”

Becky’s parents help her realize that John will always be her brother and that he’d want her to be happy.  While John’s memories would always make him a part of their family, Becky comes to know that she can still enjoy the things that they used to do together.

My only regret for the book is the cover art.  I don’t care for the orange and green background with the scrapbooking type photo holders.   It feels as though it doesn’t give justice to the story.  The illustrations are lovingly and realistically portrayed in watercolor.

I’d highly recommend Always My Brother for those who are seeking a  sensitive story that doesn’t discount the memory of a loved one after death and addresses the complex subject of loss, grieving and the recovery process.  I found myself very touched with Becky’s and John’s relationship and appreciated that the journey wasn’t an easy one by any means.

Jean Reagan is able to give an authentic voice to the book as she lost her own nineteen-year-old son a few years ago and draws upon her grieving experience and that of her daughter.   Jean is a local Utah author and it’s been my pleasure to chat with her a couple of times.  It is also my pleasure to have an interview with Jean which will be posted today.  Jean’s story is fascinating and it’s an interview that you don’t want to miss.

Blog Comment Prizes: Tilbury House will draw 7 lucky winners from all of those who leave comments on any of the participating tour posts (Nov.1-13) to win one of the following prizes:

• A copy of Always My Brother signed by author Jean Reagan (5 available)*
• A set of 10 winter notecards with art by illustrator Phyllis Pollema-Cahill (2 available)

* Winners are welcome to designate a grief center, school, or library to receive their signed copy in their place.  All winners will be announced after the tour.  US/Canada addresses only, please.

Twitter Prize: Everyone that tweets about the tour using the hashtag #AlwaysTour from November 1-13 will be entered to win a set of three children’s books from Tilbury House — your choice! Winners will be announced after the tour, US/Canada addresses only, please.

Do you have any additional titles to recommend on this subject?  Jean will be sharing her own, but I’d be curious to hear yours as well.   Any other ways that literature can help ease a child’s pain?

Links of interest:  Jean Reagan website.  Always My Brother is a fiction picture book Cybil’s nominee for which I’m a panelist.
Genre:  Picture book, ages 4-8.
Publisher:  Tilbury House.  May 21, 2009.
Hardcover, 32 pages.  ISBN  0884483134.
Always My Brother is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

In The Curious Garden, Liam is out exploring his very gray city in which there isn’t any kind of gardens, trees or greenery.  Nobody ever went outside.  Why would they?  It’s dark and dreary.  But Liam discovers a railway that had long stopped working and on the railway was the most startling discovery.  A little patch of struggling wildflowers and plants that are in desperate need of a gardener.  Liam didn’t know anything about gardening but he figured it out and as he did so the garden began to grow.  It wasn’t content to stay in one place and so the garden began to “explore.”  Slowly the garden began to overtake all that was barren and to turn the gray city to green.  And more gardeners began to pop up as well.  The entire city had blossomed.

I loved how many of the spreads were wordless.  I loved the illustrations.  They are just perfect.  Absolutely perfect.  I just want to pour over this one.  Obviously, this book is about taking care of the earth but it’s not preachy.  If anything, it’s about being thoughtful.  About nurturing something and reaping the awards.  It’s about creating something beautiful out of something that once was dreary and ugly.

The adult in me thought that this book was wonderful.  I want it all for me.  One that I will enjoy sharing with my boys and to let them know how important greenery is to me.  And man . . . the illustrations are killing me.

Links of interest: Peter Brown website, more book blogger reviews, The Curious Garden is a Fiction Picture Book nominee for the Cybils for which I’m a panelist.
Genre: Fiction Picture Book. Approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: Little Brown. April 1, 2009.
Hardcover, 40 pages. ISBN 0316015474
The Curious Garden is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

From the criticisms that I’ve read of the book and a discussion that we had at book club is the fact that the braille text is virtually unreadable as braille.  The raised dots simply are not raised high enough off of the paper.  I’d be curious to know if a blind individual could actually read the book.

But the book isn’t intended for the blind but rather those with sight and it’s very cool.  I enjoyed feeling the raised line art.  I knew what I was feeling for as I could see the image that the line art created but I would often close my eyes to see if I could figure out what I was feeling.

Thomas thinks that without the sun, water, doesn’t amount to much.
It has no color, no taste, no smell.
He says that green tastes like lemon ice cream and smells like grass that’s just been cut.
But black is the king of all the colors.  It is as soft as silk when his mother hugs him and her hair falls in his face.

How does one describe a color?  A very creative book that would be a welcome addition and a different type of reading experience for any children’s library.

Links of interest:  More book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: Groundwood Books.   June 28, 2008.
Hardcover, 24 pages. ISBN 0888998732
The Black Book of Colors is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

But first let’s talk about the story.  The text by Liz Garton Scanlon flows from one page to the next with a thoughtful tone that makes the reader pause to let the words sink in.  The story follows the day of a family beginning with a morning on the beach and their daily routine until the evening which is spent with family and friends.  The words are simple but convey that each moment is to be savored and is special.  That each of us have a place in this world and that simply by being a part of the world we are all connected.

All the world can hold quite still.
Nanas, papas, cousins, kin
Piano, harp, and violin
Babies passed from neck to knee
All the world is you and me
Everything you hear, smell, see
All the world is everything
Everything is you and me
Hope and peace and love and trust
All the world is all of us.

The illustrations add so much to the beautiful text.  Frazee shows the  young, the old, and different cultures.  I love how she also included a nursing mother.  It was the little touches like that that made me stop and linger over the pages.   This book is beautiful.  Simply beautiful.  The illustrations are visually stunning, cute, humorous, and breathtaking all in one roll.  It’s hard to pick a favorite spread but I remember gasping a little at this one:

Oh  my.  I’ve fallen in love again . . .

Links of interest:  Liz Barton Scanlon website and blog,  Marla Frazee website, more book blogger reviews,  Maw Books reviews of  Santa Claus, The World’s Number One Toy Expert, Walk On! A Guide for Babies both by Marla Frazee and  the Clementine Series by Sara Pennypacker illustrated by Marla Frazee.   All the World is nominated for a Cybils award in the Fiction Picture Book category for which I’m a panelist.
Genre:  Fiction Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher:  Beach Lane Books.  September 8, 2009.
Hardcover, 40 pages. ISBN 1416985808
All the World is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

The Pires, who live in Pennsylvania aren’t getting along with their new human neighbors.  Can you believe that the new neighbors stay up all day long, sunbathe (disgusting!), and lock their windows at night (how inconsiderate) among other things that this family of vampires find disgusting.  In fact, things get so bad that the Pire’s pack up and move back home to Transylvania.

The clincher for this book was the closing page which shows the new nieghbors saying, “It’s a pity the Pires are moving, dear.  It’s so hard to find good neighbors.”  A full moon is shown and the family has transformed to werewolves.  I chuckled out loud.  It was very clever.

Loved how the vampires were black and white and the rest of the story was all color.  Dear Vampa is a new picture book, just published last month.  It will make for a fun addition to your Halloween reading the next couple of weeks.  Speaking of Halloween, I have a few Halloween picture book reviews that I’ll be featuring until Halloween.  My boys and I have been having a great time with them.

Links of interest:  Ross Collins website.
Genre: Fiction Picture Books, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books. August 25, 2009
Hardcover, 32 pages. ISBN 0061355348
Dear Vampa is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

And to tell you the truth that’s all of the jacket copy I read.  Because I tend to only read the first sentence of jacket covers in fear of knowing too much about the book.  But that was just enough to make me anxious to dive into the book right away.  A book set during World War II.  Score!  A book set in India during World War II?  Double score! I’ve never read a book set in India during the war that I can recall.

Let me go ahead and share the rest of the summary from the dust jacket with you.  Simply because I’ve written three reviews in a row tonight and well, despite my own avoidance of them, this particular summary does a fine job.

When tragedy strikes, Vidya and her brother, Kitta, are forced to move into a traditional household with their grandfather and their extended family, where men live separately upstairs and the women who live below are meant to be married, not educated.

Breaking the rules, Vidya finds refuge in her grandfather’s second-floor library.  There she meets Raman, a young man also living in the house.  Surprisingly, he treats her like and equal and encourages her intellectual curiosity.  But soon it’s clear Raman wants more than just friendship, and when Kitta makes a shocking choice the family cannon condone, Vidya’s life becomes a whirlwind of personal and political complications.  Will she be strong enough to survive the storm?

What a wonderful book.   I loved Vidya sneaking upstairs and reading Oliver Twist, Hans Brinker, Ivanhoe, Pride and Prejudice, The Mayor of Castorbridge and more.  I loved how Vidya defied all conventions that was expected of her.  She desperately wanted to go to college, she did not want to get married young, and she wanted to be treated as an equal with her male counterparts.  I hated that women in her society were meant only to serve the men.  Vidya wanted so much and stood up for her rights.  I love a girl who can stand up for herself.   I desperately wanted to see her hopes and dreams come true.

A great historical fiction novel set in India.  It was wonderful.

Links of interest:  Padma Venkatraman website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile.  May 1, 2008.
Hardcover, 256 pages. ISBN 0399247467
Climbing the Stairs is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Twelve-year-old Jason Blake has been diagnosed on the autistic spectrum disorder and in this story Jason shares with us what his life is like.  Incredibly intelligent and talented, Jason has a difficult time communicating with others.  Having a conversation with somebody takes all of his concentration.   He’d rather not say anything at all.

But the thing people see the most is his silence, because some kinds of silence are actually visible.

Anything can go go wrong at school.  It’s difficult for him to remain in control.  But there is one place where he can always control his environment and that’s at an online writing message board.  He writes stories and posts them online.  He can interact with others in this space called the internet without having to deal with all the extras.  He has a voice:

When I write, I can be heard.  And known.

But nobody has to look at me.  Nobody has to see me at all.

And he can listen to others more easily:

Neurotypicals like it when you look them in the eye.  It is supposed to mean you are listening, as if the reserve were true, which it is not; Just because you are not looking at someone does not mean you are not listening.  I caan listen better when I am not distracted by a person’s face:

What are their eyes saying?

Is that a frown or a smile?

Why are they wrinkling their forehead or lifting their cheeks like that?  What does that mean?

How can you listen to all of those words when you have to think about all of that stuff?

He develops a connection with a girl on the writing site who calls herself PhoenixBird.  He likes to think of her as his girlfriend and they exchange a few messages back and forth and critique each other’s writing.  For Jason’s birthday his Dad registers him for a large writing conference, one that he’s excited for but also very apprehensive about.  So when PhoenixBird writes to say that she’ll be at the conference at well, he reaches a crisis.  That means that she wants to meet him and while he’s curious about her, that’s the last thing he wants to do.  Will he be able to show her his true self?

I remember reading Nicola’s review at Back to Books after I finished reading Anything But Typical.  Nicola’s son has also been diagnosed on the Autistic Spectrum and she herself has Asperger’s.  I appreciated her review because it made me realize that Nora Raleigh Baskin got it right.  I’d highly recommend checking out her review but I’ll quote two points here.

The author has the inside feelings of an autistic person down to a “T”. She has either researched very well or lived with someone on the spectrum herself”

and

It would be a great read for teens on the Autism Spectrum so they can relate to what the main character has gone through and for other teens interested in the subject matter. I also recommend the book to adults with any interest in the field of autism as I can personally vouch for the validity of the feelings and inner turmoil portrayed by one with ASD. A rather bittersweet ending but then such is life.

I particularly liked getting inside Jason’s head.  I loved how his little brother loved him so much that he also picked up some of Jason’s behavior so he could be just like him.

So glad that I picked this book up on a whim.  It’s a winner!  And one definitely worth adding to any book list for those who want further reading that feature characters with Autism.

Links of interest:  Nora Raleigh Baskin website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Juvenile Fiction, approx ages 9-12.
Publisher:  Simon and Schuster.  March 24, 2009
Hardcover, 208 pages.  ISBN: 1416963782
Anything but Typical is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s and Amazon.

Benny is a young Behemoth.  But he has a major problem.  In fact, it’s a very colorful problem.  In a black and white world, Benny is full of color and he doesn’t like to feel different.  For each emotion that Benny feels he turns a different color.  For example, “On Monday at the carnival, Benny’s friends didn’t share any cotton candy with him.  Benny turned bright red with anger and breathed furious fire from his mouth.”  A different emotion is conveyed for each day of the week and each night Benny goes to bed and wonders “Why was I created so colorfully?”

While at Sunday School, a wise old behemoth notices Benny’s sadness and reminds Benny that “Your King Creator made you to be a member of His family and to reflect His glory!  Every one of those colors will serve a purpose in your life.  You are a royal prince and never forget it.”  It was then that Benny’s heart glowed a bright and beautiful royal purple and the book ends with the scripture 2 Corinthians 3:15-18.

The illustrations by Trish McKinney are a combination of sketches and watercolor and matched the feeling of the book.  There were however two instances where the text flowed across the spread of two pages and I found it difficult to read without holding the book completely flat, which was difficult to do as I had one child in my lap and trying to show another one sitting on the floor.   At the back of the book is a page that encourages interaction and dialogue about how emotions are often paired with colors, how is the reader like or not like Benny and further study about the King Creator,  as well as background about the word Behemoth.

A portion of the profits from Benny the Baffled Behemoth goes to Heart for Africa, a faith-based humanitarian organization focused on bringing HOPE to Africans by targeting the areas of Hunger, Orphans, Poverty and Education.  If you would like to serve in Africa or get more information visit www.heartforafrica.org.

This is the second title of Melissa’s that I’ve reviewed, the first being The Sudan Project. Melissa is an author that is inspiring in that she her writing to make a difference. I’m THRILLED to have Melissa guest post for us today about writing with multiple purposes and you will find that post next!

(Remember that African Bookworms Carnival?  If all goes well, I should have it posted tomorrow.)

Links of interest:  Heart for Africa, also reviewed on the Maw Books Blog by The Sudan Project: Rebuilding with the People of Darfur, A Young Person’s Guide and an interview with Melissa Leembruggen.  Melissa serves as the president of Clay Bridges Communications and can also be found on Twitter @ClayBridges.
Genre:  Christian Picture Book, approx ages 9-12
Published:  Claybridge Communications, February 16, 2009
Paperback, 40 pages.  ISBN:  0615232043
Benny the Baffled Behemoth by Melissa Leembruggen is available from Powell’s and Amazon.