| Ingram’s Collection Suggestions |
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Peekaboo Bedtime
by Rachel Isadora
(May 2008)
For your youngest patrons, this striking book is a must-have. A dimpled African-American toddler plays peekaboo through the window with grandparents, through the leaves at the moon, in the tub with a rubber duck, and throughout the house. Then mommy hides behind a book, and finally baby hides with a blankie and bedtime animals, peering out at the reader. The child (who could be a girl or a boy) is irresistible, the family is loving and the night is cozy. Colors are bright but toned down with texturing, and this book is perfect to set the mood for a cuddle and kiss at bedtime. Ages 1-2.--Susan Johnston, MLS
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I'm Bad!
by Kate & Jim McMullan
(May 2008)
The McMullans have come up with another big, bad character--this time a it's a huge green Tyrannosaurus rex, who is HUNGRY! Filling the first two-page spread, the T. rex glares directly out at the reader, boasting about how bad he is, and he proceeds to point out each advantage of his impressive body. “Did you just call me BABY ARMS? Long as yours, pal--20 times stronger.” Then he sets out to scare up his dinner. To our surprise, though, the animals are all too fast for him and he finally rolls over in frustration, howling for dinner. The page folds up, and suddenly the dinosaur is in perspective as a much larger T. rex stands over him, dangling a small dead creature in her paw. “Awright--takeout!” cries the young dino, and he proceeds to make a messy meal. If your readers like the McMullans' garbage truck and backhoe characters, they will love this little guy even more. Ages 3-6.--SJ
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Sipping Spiders Through a Straw: Campfire Songs for Monsters
Lyrics by Kelly DiPucchio, pictures by Gris Grimly
(May 2008)
If you can't handle giggles, don't get this book. DiPucchio has written gross and hilarious lyrics to well known songs (“Do your guts hang low? Do they wobble to and fro? Can you tie them in a knot? Can you feed them to a crow?”), and Grimly does them up without reservation in his pen and watercolor illustrations that gleefully demonstrate every concept. In “I've Been Running Over Road Toads” (to be croaked to the tune of “I've Been Working on the Railroad”), a maniacal driver sends toads hopping frantically in every direction as the unlucky ones fly in pieces from under his tires. In “Sipping Spiders Through a Straw,” two huge flies do just that and the second verse reads, “I asked him if… he'd show me how… to sip those spiders ... and share his chow ... And now I have... a fly-in-law... and lots of maggots... to call me Ma.” Kids from 5 to 10 will absolutely love it.--SJ
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Julian Rodriguez, Episode One: Trash Crisis on Earth
by Alexander Stadler
(May 2008)
First Officer Julian Rodriguez has seen his share of injustices during his time on Earth, disguised as an eight-year-old boy. But today is the last straw! As explained by First Officer Rodriguez in his official report to the mother ship, Julian's day is chronicled in every excruciating detail--from being denied his preferred midday nutrition capsule by his maternal unit, to suffering through education center torture called standardized testing, and finally, the ultimate humiliation of what amounts to slave labor. Julian's maternal unit commanded him to dispose of humanoid refuse, and refused him any nutrition until he submitted! After hearing of the indignities suffered by the Federation's illustrious Officer Rodriguez, the mother ship offered to annihilate planet Earth and its barbaric inhabitants. Julian, however, pleaded the mini-brains' case for the Federation's mercy, and bravely made his sacrifice--he would take out the trash.
Thankfully, a mini-brain at Scholastic intercepted Julian's transmission to the mother ship, resulting in this laugh-out-loud account of one day in the life of a seemingly normal third grader. The format of this gem is hybrid, not quite a graphic novel, but something more than a book with interesting pictures. The illustrations move the reader through Julian's day as an Earthling would observe it, and the text is First Officer Rodriguez's own account. The text and illustrations work off each other with exquisite hilarity--your kids will most definitely come back for more. Thankfully, Julian's adventures on Earth are just beginning as this is the start of a new series from Scholastic. Also available in Spanish, this novel is recommended for ages 7 to 9.--Jill Barton
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Steel Town
by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Terry Widener
(May 2008)
Steel Town, in Widener's full-bleed acrylic illustrations, lies dark and smoky in the rolling mountains, backlit by the hot glow of the furnaces and streams of molten metals. Rain falls on the workers as they trudge the long steps up to the mill under street lamps that are always lit, for it's always dark in Steel Town. Jonah Winter's spare lines of poetry emphasize the stark, bleak existence but along with the pictures give a sense of strength and purpose to the steel workers' lives as they perform their dangerous, important work. The reader is drawn through the steps of the awesome process--the scraping and dumping of the iron ore, coke, and limestone into “the mighty, fiery Blast furnace” that heats to 3,000 degrees and roars so that no talking is possible and “You can't do anything except for work, work and sweat, work and sweat.” Each worker's role is shown as the pig-iron is transformed into steel and is hauled away in five-ton vats. At the end of the day, the workers trudge back through the dark, rainy streets, perhaps stopping off for a game of pool before climbing back to Goat Path Hill, where “the skinniest houses in the world stand side by side,” and where they will find their women cooking Polish dumplings or steamy spaghetti sauce. This beautiful book gives a real sense of the town that is built around the mill that never sleeps, and of its place in the story of our country. Ages 7-10.--SJ
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The Underneath
by Kathi Appelt
(May 2008)
Kathi Appelt's tale opens with a wandering calico cat while the narrator declares that “there is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for a while, and then abandoned on the side of the road.” This lonely, wandering cat is then transfixed by the bluesy howling of an old hound dog and his song: “Oh I woke up on this bayou/ Got a chain around my heart/ Can't you see I'm dyin'?/ Can't you see I'm cryin'?/ Can't you throw an old dog a bone?” So begins a heartwarming friendship between two creatures who need each other; despite the ominous presence of the hound's evil owner, Gar Face, the calico decides to stay with Ranger the hound and have her kittens underneath the porch. Interwoven with the loving story of Ranger, the calico, and her two kittens is that of the East Texas bayou and its magical inhabitants. Grandmother Moccasin, a lamia of legend, has her own story narrated; it is a story of love, loss, and hate spanning centuries and continents. Somehow Appelt manages to merge the legendary and mundane stories so that both are important, thrilling, and touching--not at all at odds with each other.
The Underneath is a diverse novel, filled with a delicious sense of suspense and mystery; it is both poetic and magical. The epic animal adventure pulls along the narrative while the tale of mythical, legendary shape-shifters gives weight and meaning to the novel. Appelt's storytelling is wonderful, but one of the biggest draws of this book is the absolute loveliness of her prose; the story is no doubt original but has the feel of a familiar tale sung by a legendary bard. Adding to the tale are David Small's (So You Want to Be President?) illustrations--rendered in simple pencil line drawings. They offer a pleasurable bonus to this fine tale. Highly recommended for ages 9-12.--JB
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Girlwood
by Claire Dean
(April 2008)
Thirteen-year-old Polly and her family are haunted by her older sister Bree's disappearance. Bree, a troubled teen, told Polly before she left that she was going to woods to “try to be alright,” and Polly thought it was exactly what Bree should have done. The forest around Polly's house is a refuge to her, a place where all things are possible; this belief was instilled by her grandmother, Baba, who has taught Polly all she knows about the power and nature of plants and how to survive in the wild. Her mother and father however, are frantic about Bree's continued absence, and hope that she will return wanes for them. Polly believes that Bree is surviving in the woods, and she leaves edible plants and clothes for Bree to help her through the winter. Baba shows Polly a secluded grove of larches in which Polly finds a fire pit with charred chunks of blond hair, and Polly is convinced that Bree has been there. Polly and her friends christen this gove Girlwood, and it becomes a magical place for them to learn reliance on themselves and the land to provide them with food and sanctuary. But when developers want to build houses on the land, what lengths will the girls go to save Girlwood, and what will Polly do to save her sister?
With the main character's belief that the world around her is as magical as she allows it to be, readers are inspired to believe the same thing of Polly's tale. Girlwood is Claire Dean's debut novel, and her loving and uplifting message about standing up for one's beliefs, girls' empowerment, and respect for the natural world show hers to be a wonderful new voice in young adult fiction. Arriving at a time when America is growing increasingly environmentally conscious, this novel provides a way for young people to think about our demands upon the environment, and its costs. At the beginning of each chapter Dean provides us with a small but pleasurable bonus--she outlines the properties and uses for plants commonly found in the woods of North America. Highly recommended for ages 12 to 15.--JB
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Sunrise Over Fallujah
by Walter Dean Myers
(May 2008)
Sunrise Over Fallujah is the story of a young man, Robin (Birdy) Perry, from Harlem who enlists in the army at the start of the Iraq War and his fellow unit members. There is Marla, a hard-nosed, wise-cracking blonde with a crack-hand at the squad's Humvee gun. Jonesy is another, a most endearing character, with an enduring love of and talent for the blues--his dearest wish is to open a blues club back home after he gets out of the army. Robin and his Civil Affairs unit are supposed to act as a liaison between the military and the civilians in war zones, but often find themselves questioning this role as they are in combat one day and cleaning up after it the next. Increasingly, Robin wonders what the meaning of “winning” is in this war, but finds there are only tallies of the dead on the “scoreboard,” and the goals of his unit become ever more elusive. Through letters written to his Uncle Richie, the main character from Walter Dean Myers' Fallen Angels, Robin describes his experiences in Iraq and wonders whether they might be similar to Richie's experiences during the Vietnam War.
Sunrise Over Fallujah is another glimpse of America at war in which Myers' prose is readily accessible, and his characters wonderfully real and believable. At times, the absolute arbitrariness and futility of meaning in war comes through Robin's narrative, reminiscent of Joseph Heller's Catch-22. Indeed, Myers pays tribute to Heller when his character Marla names a four-foot stuffed monkey that rides in the squad's Humvee Sergeant Yossarian. At other times the camaraderie between the soldiers and the tasks that they succeed in doing despite obstacles seem to be the most important thing in the world to Robin. One of the things I most enjoyed was the context this novel gave me about the problems we are still having in Iraq, five years on from when the war and this novel begins. Many young readers, I predict, will feel the weight of this book and have a better understanding of what war might mean for us, and think about what America is actually trying to accomplish with it. Highly recommended for ages 12 to 17.--JB
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Benny and Penny: Just Pretend
by Geoffrey Hayes
(April 2008)
This launches TOON Books--graphic novels written especially for beginning readers. As the story begins, readers meet Penny the adorable, little mouse decked out in her princess regalia as she searches for her big brother Benny who is deeply engrossed in a thrilling but solitary game of let's pretend. He's too busy being a brave, swashbuckling pirate to be bothered with Penny. His sister pleads desperately to join in the fun. Havoc ensues as she continues to bug her brother. As a ploy to get rid of her, Benny tells Penny to hide in a big box and he will try to find her. After some time of playing alone Benny begins to wonder why Penny hasn't called out to him wanting to be found. It's then that he discovers Penny is no longer hiding in the box. He becomes fearful that something dreadful has happened to her. He frantically searches everywhere before Penny allows herself to be found. By story's end, big brother realizes three important things: he really loves his sister; she is far braver than he ever imagined because she can shoo away big, scary dragonflies; and little sisters can be a lot of fun! Soft, pastel, full-color illustrated panels of various sizes and shapes fill the pages, while word count contained primarily within dialog bubbles is kept to a minimum letting facial expressions and action enhance the storyline. These two warm, fuzzy characters will be lovingly embraced by emergent readers, parents, and teachers alike.--Jeannine Wiese
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