vol. 1, no. 1, p. 2
100TH DAY WORRIES by Margery Cuyler, illus. by Arthur Howard. Simon & Schuster, 2000. Ages 4 to 8.
This is a book your first grader might relate to, since it seems to be a standard first-grade project to bring in a hundred items (pennies, buttons, cotton balls--you name it) on the hundredth day of school. This book is about a worrywart named Jessica who can't decide what to bring. She rules out several possibilities, for good and not-so-good reasons, and becomes a nervous wreck.
Of course we all know there will be a happy resolution to her quandary. My critical six-year-old in the hotel room didn't have much sympathy for Jessica and felt the solution was not totally kosher. A member of the first grade class I read the book to thought one of the illustrations--a kind of spooky "100" hanging over Jessica's head in bed--was scary. But basically the kids liked the book.
THE THREE SILLIES by Steven Kellogg. Candlewick Press, 1999. Ages 4 to 9 (or adult!).
This is only the latest retelling--and illustrating--of a British folk tale. It is also the most elaborate one I have seen. I didn't read it to the classes, because there is so much going on on each page, with comments and sound effects from so many different observers, that I thought one-on-one enjoyment would be best. I have no doubt that the classes would enjoy it too, however, at a number of grade levels. The critical six-year-old, Katie, absolutely loved it. She was especially delighted by the uproarious laughter on a couple of the pages, which she made me do over and over again.
An eight-year-old in another hotel room looked at me as though I was crazy the first time I did the laughter, but he liked the book so much that he asked me to bring it the next night and read it again. His five-year-old brother fell asleep early-on, the first night, but it was late and the boys were tired. I'm sure he would have stayed with us till the end the next night, if the parents hadn't returned before we reached it. The book is an ode to silliness. Only the cynical cat shows any real sense. I don't think I need to say any more than that.
PAINTED WORDS/SPOKEN MEMORIES by Aliki. Greenwillow Books, 1998. Ages 5 to 9.
Katie gave mixed reviews on this two-in-one book. From one direction, the story is called Painted Words and tells how Marianthe, an immigrant girl, copes with being put into a school in the US when she knows no English. One of the ways she communicates is by painting, and it becomes clear from the pictures that there is tragedy in her past.
If you turn the book over and upside down, it becomes Spoken Memories, in which Marianthe tells of many hardships in her country of birth, which led to her family's emigration. The story made Katie sad, and this marred her enjoyment of it, though she thought it was a good book overall.
I got a similar reaction from a third-grade class I read another book to: BEST FRIENDS by Loretta Krupinski. Hyperion, 1998. Ages 6 to 9.
This story tells how two young girls, one Native American and one white, become friends. The white girl is able to help her friend's tribe escape capture when she sends a message via a beloved doll.
I wasn't sure how the class would like the book, because in general the action is slow. I thought the boys, especially, might be bored by it, because it was about girls and a doll. But those things seemed to be less of a factor than the aspect of injustice toward Native Americans. The girls and boys both liked the book, but that negative aspect definitely took its toll. Yet our children need to know about injustice in the world, and we should be glad that they react negatively to it.
Speaking of social injustice, I'm glad I didn't try to read the children Eve Bunting's SO FAR FROM THE SEA (Clarion, 1998) about the internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. I'm also glad I didn't attempt her SUNSHINE HOME (Clarion, 1994) about a grandmother in a nursing home; or THE WALL (Clarion, 1990) about the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial; or SOMEDAY A TREE (Clarion, 1993) about a venerable but doomed old oak tree someone turned into an illegal toxic waste dump. The thing is, I hate to have the kids see a grown woman cry.
Bunting is a prolific writer of books for children and young adults, and by no means are all of them sad or focussed on social issues. The reason I didn't read her A PICNIC IN OCTOBER to the kids (illus. by Nancy Carpenter; Harcourt Brace, 1999) is that I was afraid it wouldn't hold their attention. It tells of an immigrant Italian couple who every October 28th take their American children and grandchildren on a picnic to celebrate the Statue of Liberty's birthday. Grandma is profoundly in love with the imposing lady, and makes her sometimes reluctant grandchildren fall into line, even when they would rather be warm and cozy at home.
The only thing 6-year-old Katie liked about the book is one illustra- tion showing the young narrator casting a jaundiced eye upon his family as they blow kisses to Lady Liberty. She would not even let me finish the last two pages, short as they were, despite my coaxing. When I finally finished the book by myself at home, after reading the above Bunting offerings, the young narrator's dawning realization at the end as to what the big deal is almost brought another tear to my eye. Maybe the other books had just softened me up.
All of these Bunting books are for ages 4 to 8 or 9. I looked up the earlier ones, not to review, but for comparison purposes. Was A PICNIC IN OCTOBER the only one the kids might find boring? It seems like it. I recommend all the others. and I hope I'll be able to introduce some of Bunting's future works to the students. Well, to be on the safe side, maybe I should let the teachers do the reading. . .
Yangsook Choi is an immigrant herself, and her story NEW CAT (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999; ages 4 to 8) takes place in a tofu factory in New York. New Cat has an important job in the factory, serving as mouser, taster and paper weight, and--without realizing it--cleaning the computer screen with her tail. But one night she proves herself even more valuable to her owner and best friend, Mr. Kim, when she unwittingly saves the whole factory. I didn't care for the author's rather crude illustrations, but the children liked both the pictures and the story.
I'm not sure what I think of the flamboyant batik artwork in Robert Sabud's THE BLIZZARD'S ROBE (Atheneum, 1999). Ages 4 to 8. This is a legend explaining where the northern lights came from. My biggest complaint is that I don't know how to pronounce the name of the young heroine, robemaker Teune. Nor are we told who the people are--other than the People Who Fear the Winter Night--but they're probably Aleut.
Anyway, the kids liked the book, and it gives parents and teachers a chance to explain what really causes the northern lights. One outspoken first-grader said the story made her dizzy. Could this be attributed to the overwhelming artwork? More likely it's the fact that the girl is on medication for attention deficit disorder, and I was rushing to finish the story in the allotted time.
