Book Buds Kidlit Reviews

Inside a dream

The Girl in the Castle inside the Museum,
by Kate Bernheimer; illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli
Schwartz and Wade

reviewed by Kelly Herold

Castle is a beautiful pearly-white onion. This dreamy picture book, aimed at readers ages three to seven, invites children into a layered world, and moves them from observer to participant in incremental stages.

The Girl in the Castle inside the Museum opens as a fairy tale would: "Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in a castle." Then we discover that the castle is in a museum, inside a glass globe. "When children came to the museum, they pressed as close as they could to the glass globe in which the castle quietly sat. "

Once we look inside the globe, we learn more. The girl inside is sometimes lonely, but her world is beautiful and she takes pleasure in its beauty. She also dreams and tells stories.  Sometimes she even dreams about the reader and invites her into her world: "Now in her room and in her dreams, inside the castle inside the museum, inside this book you hold in your hands, you keep her company in a magical world. "

And the reader will want to keep the girl company. Berheimer's text is dreamy and rhythmic, drawing you in as the layers of the onion are peeled back to its core. And Ceccoli's illustrations? Swoon. Ceccoli's illustrations are heartbreakingly lovely and she has composed them with a childlike perspective--from above and looking in to the center. She has created a magical world a child will only be too happy to join. It's a world of lush browns, oranges, greens, roses, and grays. A world of Escher-like staircases and rooms with animate toys jumping and spinning around its center. A world with a magical, beautiful princess just looking for a friend.

I dare you not to enter the castle inside the museum.

Rating: *\*\*\*\

Blown away in Iceland

How the Ladies Stopped the Wind
By Bruce McMillan
Illustrated by Gunnella

Reviewed by Ilene Goldman

The idea that ladies could stop wind intrigued me when I saw this book. I might have expected a superhero tale had it not been for the cover image of a woman clinging to a pram, blowing in the wind next to similarly-afflicted chickens, while a baby smiles and waves.

The ladies of this small Icelandic village have a problem—the wind gusts so strongly that it is nearly impossible to walk.  They come up with a creative and environmentally-sound solution; plant trees to block the wind. They enlist the help of the chickens (to make fertilizer). But, the village’s naughty sheep keep eating the trees. Can the cows help the ladies keep the sheep away?  Will the chickens continue to produce fertilizer?  Will the trees block the wind?

This is a story about problem-solving, planning, and perseverance. Even when the sheep eat the trees and the chickens overproduce (yuck), the ladies remain dedicated to their goal.  Ultimately, they cooperate to improve the quality of life for their village and, the book tells us, their solution is adopted across Iceland.  A bit awkwardly told in places, the story charms and teaches.

Gunnella’s artwork adds whimsy and quaintness to this tale. One can’t help but giggle at seeing ladies and chickens singing to sheep to beg them not to eat the trees.

Rating: *\*\*\

Next week: Robie Harris will be here

I've never done a blog tour, but I like author Robie Harris, who isn't afraid to tackle subjects like misbehavior, raw feelings and even human sexuality in her picture books.

That last one's gotten her banned in more than a few spots, I can tell ya.

Her latest book, "Maybe a Bear Ate It" looks at how one character diffuses a meltdown situation, which Kelly will be reviewing for me. "It's Not the Stork" tells even little kids where they came from.

Ms. Harris will be dropping by Book Buds on Super Tuesday (that's Feb. 5) to answer questions about what it takes to write honestly for kids. Some other terrific bloggers are also signed up, and each of us is tackling a different angle (you can tell a little about our personalities from the topics we chose).

See you then!

POETRY FRIDAY A garden of poetic delights

A Poet's Bird Garden
by Laura Nyman Montenegro
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

I had the pleasure of meeting Laura at our very first kidlitosphere conference back in October, where we had an eye-opening chat about what it's like to be both author and illustrator.

I envied her ability to see a book from the first sparkle of inspiration through the many drafts of verses to the final jot of color, knowing that every comma and brush stroke flows solely and completely from her vision.

I took home a copy of this book but somehow didn't get to review it until now, when its bright cover and amusing premise reminded me of my long-ago promise to review it.

In it, a girl opens the door to her pet bird Chirpie's cage, and it flies into a tree. Whoops. Time to call--well, a bunch of poets. Who else? Poets do seem to inspire loopy logic, as in this book from France.

The Poets try to lure the bird back with yoga poses or bird songs, finally deciding to create a serene, bird-friendly "poet garden"--but will Chirpie take the bait?

We must try to imagine
the mind of the bird,
complex and quick-witted,
quite brilliant, I've heard.

If I were Chirpie
fancy and free,
what beauty would beckon me
down from the tree?

Laura states on the back flap she drew inspiration from Vincent Van Gogh's The Poet's Garden (there's even a character named Vincent), but her palette is mostly subdued and warm, though borrowing perhaps more from Matisse with his tilted picture planes and love of patterns and texture.

The poets are a nice mix of ethnicities, without drawing attention to that fact. She uses rhyme and meter when it suits the narrative, though not always consistently, and most often breaking free when Chirpie remains stubbornly up her tree (perhaps symbolically?).

Rating: *\*\*\

A gay ol' time

Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle
by Pija Lindebaum
R&S Books

Fascinating that a Swede should come up with a book about a gay uncle that feels so, well, American.  He lives in a hip city that is obviously New York or San Fran or San Diego or, well, Miami, except that's where Mini Mia's M&D are off vacationing while various relatives babysit.

Uncle Tommy's her favorite, and no wonder. Lindenbaum draws the other three uncles and even grandma in the dullest beiges and grays, while Tommy leaps off the page with his multiple earrings, goatee and funky wardrobe. He dyes her hair a different color every day, takes her people-watching at cafes or to sad movies.

Of course she adores him, spending every parent-free moment with him, until boring, badly dressed Fergus shows up. He's obviously Uncle Tommy's new partner, though it's never stated. As an adult, I can appreciate what a momentous decision it is for Tommy to introduce his favorite niece to his beloved, but guess who has hissy fits, pouts, sulks, and generally makes everyone miserable? Thankfully, not Tommy or Fergus, or I'd have taken points for stereotyping.

Lindenbaum keeps a careful reign on Tommy's swishiness and what emerges is a grown-up/child relationship with a unique cast. I haven't googled it, but I'm pretty sure there aren't any other picture books about gay uncles. And yet if you substituted, say, a divorced Dad and his new girlfriend, it'd feel about the same, but without breaking such new and important ground in showing kids that grown-ups fall in love on their own terms.

What makes this book so American, despite its European origins (this is a translation) is the general blue-state sensibility toward gay men, that there's something inherently more fun about them, that their sexuality is a happy fact and in no way threatening, and no apology's needed for loud pants or disarming affectations.

Someday, inevitably, this sentiment will spread to red states, or at least to the more urbane parts. All the adoring Mini Mia's out there will make it so.

Rating: *\*\*\

Setting little girls' hearts a-flutter

Fancy Nancy: Bonjour Butterfly
by Jane O'Connor; illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser
HarperCollins

Here I go again, reviewing a book that doesn't need my help here at Book Buds. But, I ... I ... I ... can't help myself. It's Fancy Nancy! I have the new Fancy Nancy and you don't. Neener neeners!

Oh, I'm going to be so popular at Seth's school. All the cool girls will love me and want to be my friend.

Okay, so the teachers will probably look at me peculiarly until my back is turned, when they'll be snatching this out of Seth's backpack and slipping it into their book nook. Hah! Let 'em try.

I never read the original, which is supposed to be superb, (a fancy word for good), but I do have Posh Puppy, which everyone says isn't quite as impressive. By everyone I mean all the little girls who love Fancy Nancy. Which, y'know, is everyone.

The series gives little girls a (usually) well-behaved, truly feminine girl who isn't a princess or a Barbie, doesn't need rescuing, isn't out to snare a prince and loooooves playing dress-up. In the series' third book, she and best, interracial friend Bree love butterflies and plan a butterfly birthday party for Bree. Alas, Nancy must attend her grandparents 50th wedding anniversary instead. Oh, the horror!

Take tantrums and sulking to an extreme and dress it up in taffeta, crinoline and dangly beads, with a glittery tiara seemingly floating in cotton candy tufts of red hair, and that's our ethereal--if temperamental--heroine.

Preiss Glasser's* Nancy is a dazzling confection of jelly-belly colors and dramatic gestures who gets it right in the end, and we forgive her when O'Connor gives her the right touch of humility.

She even gets her butterflies, which makes it way better than Posh Puppy, which has no butterflies at all.

Ooooh ... I can't wait to share this with the other girls.

Rating: *\*\*\

*Special bonus: Here's Preiss Glasser from the 2006 LA BookFest.

POETRY FRIDAY A step between brothers

Oh, Brother!
By Nikki Grimes; illustrated by Mike Benny

Greenwillow

One of the most powerful poetic storytellers has done it again. With a few keystrokes, a rhyme here and there, she's woven a moving story of how two very different boys become brothers in more than name.

We don't learn the narrator's name--Xavier--until late in this collection, but we do get plenty of his opinions about his mother's remarriage. He loves his new Dad, but not the boy, Chris, who comes as extra baggage, getting in the way, acting all perfect, taking up space, throwing his small family off balance:

STEPS
Everyone in this house
is a step, now.
Stepmom.
Stepdad.
Stepson.
Stepbrother.

In my mind,
I turn them into steps
I can climb
And when I reach the top,
I rule.

Several of the poems are told in rhyme, others are simple, quick dabs of free verse, meant to convey a fleeting emotion. Few kids' poets are as adept as Grimes in exploring their emotions with such range and empathy, and in so few words.

At last, the two boys have their breakthrough, and if you're not crying as their bond strengthens, you're probably dead. And when we do learn the narrator's name, as Chris practices writing it, Grimes creates a magical moment for Xavier to grow. She respects her character enough to know he probably has a tough time expressing emotions, and instead gives us his actions:

I swipe his pen
and write H-E-R-M-A-N-O
"Huh?"Chris can be slow.
"It means brother," I say.
"That's my name now,
one you already know how
to spell."

We know immediately what's going on in Xavier's head, because Grimes respects our intelligence too. 

Benny's illustrations follow through on Grimes' many hints that this is a multiracial family--Latino and African-American--but this could be any boy's blended family today. Kids have a tendency to recover, to patch together a new life and a mended heart. Grimes takes us there, until we want to adopt this new family and make it our own.

Rating: *\*\*\*\

Spinning legends

The Silk Princess
by Charles Santore

Random House

Reviewed by Kelly Herold

Charles Santore takes an ancient Chinese legend about the discovery of silk from silkworms and turns it into a story of magic and adventure for the school-aged child.  Indeed, The Silk Princess is a picture book best suited for children who already enjoy The Magic Treehouse or The Spiderwick Chronicles.  It's a picture book for children
entranced by wonder of myth and enchantment.

Princess Hsi-Ling Chi is the lone and ignored daughter of The Emperor Huang-Ti.  Even though Hsi-Ling is an obedient and well-behaved child, she can never live up to her brothers in her father's eyes.

One day, Hsi-Ling is enjoying her tea in the royal gardens when a cocoon falls in to her tea.  The cocoon begins to unravel in the hot tea and Hsi-Ling tells her mother, "'I will tie this end of the thread around my waist, and you, Mother, will hold the cocoon.  I shall walk away from you, and we shall see how long this fine thread is.  I will go to the end of the gardens, should the thread reach that far.'"  The thread--not only a silk thread perfect for weaving, but also a symbol for one's first steps away from home--reaches much further from the garden.  Hsi-Ling walks as far as the Palace, the Holy
Mountains, and a bridge, under which a fearsome dragon lives.  When Hsi-Ling crosses the bridge and defeats the dragon, she meets an old man who teaches her the secret of silk thread and promises to accompany her home. 

Santore uses the language of myth and legend in The Silk Princess, never simplifying for the sake of genre. Moreover his palate is sophisticated--full of browns, oranges, reds, and dark greens--perfect for readers beginning to learn more about art.  What is most striking about the visual aspect of The Silk Princess is how Santore highlights Princess Hsi-Ling's face.  While all the characters are painted in a realistic style with
only slight exaggerations, Hsi-Ling's face is mobile and infused with light.  In every illustration, she is the focus as light and shadow play upon her beautiful, expressive face.

The Silk Princess is highly recommended for readers ages six to ten.  Don't be afraid to give it to older children as well--children who may be studying legend or China in the fifth and sixth grades.

Rating: *\*\*\

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Happily before and after

Previously
by Allan Ahlberg; illustrated by Bruce Ingman

Candlewick Press

What if you told a few fairy tales backwards? Y'know, started from the end, and then tried to figure out where that beanstalk had come from, or why Goldilocks was running through the forest.

That's the premise behind this fresh, funny take on the Brothers Grimm, with Ingman's sprightly acrylics and Ahlberg's playful free verse creating links between the stories. So Goldilocks runs into Jack and his magic beans, who's argued with his sister, Jill, and before that tumble had seen a frog, who'd been a prince, and so on ... 

It's not an easy job to make these stories new, but they take on unexpected, and wholly contemporary meanings, that leads to where the gingerbread boy begins, in a field of wheat, and even beyond that, to beginnings a child must imagine.

And while Goldilocks and all the others' tales may wind and wend backwardly into one, it's designed leave us at loose ends rather than tie things up, a book of possibilities rather than plots.

The book's humor rests on knowing the original fairy tales--not always a given in a post-Shrek culture. As with Stinky Cheese Man, kids can sense from an adult's reaction that there's something funny going on that they're not quite getting, and may demand to know more. That's always a good thing.

Rating: *\*\*\*\