Home for a Bunny (1956)

 Home for a Bunny  by Margaret Wise Brown is a nostalgic Little Golden Book. The Little Golden Books of my youth are so sweet and sunny. The illustrations by Garth Williams are realistic yet soft, as if processed through the same optimistic lens as the text. This story has a familiar theme, an animal discovers the homes of other animals before finally finding one of its own. The text is as repetitive as one would expect in a book for a very young child. Robins live in a nest, frog lives in a bog, groundhog lives in a log. Finally, bunny meets another bunny, and they settle into a home underground. 

Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson (2007)

 Nothing but Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson by Sue Stauffacher (2007) is success story. On the first page we read that Gibson “was the tallest, wildest tomboy in the history of Harlem.” She played stick ball, basketball, and anything with a paddle. One day, someone recognized her potential and bought her a tennis racket. Gibson's initial attempts at tennis drew attention. A member of "the ritziest tennis club in Harlem” invited her to learn tennis with all its social complexity. It was a struggle because Althea was nothing but trouble. Nevertheless, she persisted and eventually became the first African-American to win the Wimbledon Cup. This book has an author's note at the back which expresses gratitude to the people who helped Gibson become a success story. It recommends her autobiographies I Always Wanted to be Somebody  and So Much to Live For. Also www.altheagibson.com. The illustrations by Greg Couch capture Althea Gibson’s energy. 

Do Like Kayla (1990)

 Do Like Kyla by Angela Johnson is a day in the life of two sisters. They look to be around eight and four years old. The plot is gentle. There’s no rising action or conflict to solve. There are no more than three sentences per page. The theme is simple yet significant: the younger sister copies her older sibling, Kayla. The author doesn’t give any insight into the sisters’ relationship. The text has no emotional content, which means readers are free to imagine how the sisters may feel about one another on this day. James E. Ransome’s paintings give few clues about this dynamic family relationship.

This book is read aloud online by Story Time with Kayla.

My Teachers Pay Teachers resource for this book is here. 

Kite Flier (1986)

 Kite Flier by Dennis Haseley (1986) I picked up because David Wiesner  painted the illustrations. I saw that this story gave Wiesner an opportunity to create his magical creatures as kites. The story has a cyclical structure: father tutors son, then son follows in the footsteps of his father. We can infer that when the first page of the story says the father traveled far from home, the son will also travel far from home in the end. The father marries and builds magnificent kites. Fortunately, they live on a hill in the countryside with lots of uninterrupted airspace in which to fly Wiesner’s enormous insects, fish, and flowers. As if on cue, the son's mother dies at birth, leaving the father to entertain his son with kites. Of course, children grow and separate from their parents. And so it is that after years of teenage angst, the son moves far away. But first, together, they build a huge bird kite. The only kite the father does not reel back in. He sets it free. 

*The Sweetest Fig (1993)

 The Sweetest Fig, minus its book jacket, was an unattractive cast off  at  a library sale. Chris Van Allsburg's sepia-colored drawings of a mustachioed man and his dog made it look as if it belonged in the adult section. This was the kind of book I was looking for. Van Allsburg won two Caldecott awards. The Sweetest Fig captures the emotional drama of a callous man who’s about to learn a lesson from his long-suffering pet.

This is a clever story about empathy—or rather, the lack of it. It’s edgy and unsettling. The reading level  is preschool - grade 3, but my resource is not appropriate for those grades. It taps into the darkness of Van Allsburg’s illustrations. The main character is a dentist, Monsieur Bibot, “a fussy man”. He’s smug and violent with his little dog, Marcel, and with a mysterious old woman who seeks relief for a  toothache. She has no money to pay for his ruthless service, but she does give him two magic figs. “They can make your dreams come true,” she says with a  wink.

Van Allsburg’s pictures demand the reader imagine what happened before and what happens next. The text suggests possibilities. In an online video, Van Allsburg labels his work surreal and mysterious. I’ve seen it described as fantasy.

My resource is for the older reader. Most questions are open-ended to elicit interpretation and conversation. This book is read aloud online by Ms Garrison. In my opinion, her intonation is appropriate for  the story’s tone and respects the older reader.

My Teachers Pay Teachers resource for this story is here.

 

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre (2021)

 Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carol Boston Weatherford (2021) celebrates Black Americans’ success for much of the book. This contributes significantly to the horror when this community was destroyed in 1921. At the time, a community called Greenwood was home to a large, segregated community. Despite segregation laws, the Black section of Greenwood thrived.It had restaurants, grocery stores, furriers, libraries, a hospital and a good school system. However, when a white teen accused a Black man of assault, hatred fueled a terrible conflict. Hundreds of Blacks were killed; thousands became homeless. Floyd Cooper’s illustrations in a sepia palette remind us of a long lost newsreel. Two pages of notes by Weatherford and Cooper fill in historical context. The inside back cover is a photograph of the devastation. 

*The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus (2014)

 The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant (2014) is a fun read. Peter Mark Roget wrote lists, so some of the narrative in this book appears in list form. The title page is accompanied by definitions in a sidebar. Five stages of Roget’s life appear as a list of portraits beside 23 words, for example, BORN, BABY, INFANT, TADPOLE, CHILD, YOUTH, LAD, YOUNGSTER…”, you get the idea. At age eight, Roget began his own book of lists. It grew as he envisioned a book with all the ideas in the world. Much later in life, Roget’s two children encouraged him to pursue his dream, and, in 1852, the first edition of his Thesaurus sold out. Melissa Sweet’s fabulous collages and mixed media illustrations keep the book in your hands to gaze at her complex designs. Back matter includes a list of events in Roget’s life and the time in which he lived. Delightful author and illustrator notes add a personal touch. There’s a bibliography, suggestions for further reading, sources, and even a page from Peter Mark Roget’s original publication. 

Good-Bye Hello (1995)

Good-Bye hello by Barbara Shook Hazen (1995) is an interesting book for the budding social scientist. It’s not just a story about a family move. It’s a story about a family moving from city to suburb. A young blonde girl waves goodbye to her neighborhood swings and corner store. She says goodbye to a pigeon, stray cat, and doorman. This white-looking family is leaving apartment neighbors who are depicted in friendly diversity. She cries as she waves goodbye to her Black friend. In her new house she’s got a yard, at least two floors, and an attic. Michael Bryant’s illustrations are fine enough.

I made a move from city to suburb almost 30 years ago. I was surprised by the homogeneity and the small town way of thinking that came with the house and yard. Most of the community attended the local Catholic church, and because I was of a different faith, it was impossible to integrate into that network of families. My child found that playmates at school were often cousins, members of families who’d  lived in the town for generations.

I closed this book wondering about how the little girl responded to a change in location. I believe it will she change her future. 

What is Punk? (2015)

 What is Punk? by Eric Morse (2015) is a “quick story about a few “ punk bands from around the world. I found the rhyme did not measure up to Anny Yi’s  fabulous clay figure photographs.This audience for this story seems to me to be middle school and older, yet the rhyme insults the intelligence of that age group. The poetry is simply simple and sometimes simply doesn’t work. IMHO. I appreciate the introduction to a genre I avoid. 

*Mrs. Tuck's Little Tune (1996)

 Mrs. Tuck’s Little Tune by Cass Hollander (1996) is a brilliant story concept. I’m surprised I haven’t seen this story idea stolen and elaborated by another author. This 16-page paperback has only one or two sentences on each page. The sentences are repetitive and not least bit poetic. (It's a Leveled Reader.) The strength of the story is its idea. Mrs. Tuck plays a tune on her flute one morning, and this tune is carried from one listener to the next all through the town. Mr. Duke hears the tune first and hums it as he waits at a bus stop. A woman waiting beside him, hears the tune, and repeats it on the bus, thereby passing it along to Mr. Ruiz, who passes it along to someone else. I especially like the ending— Mrs. Tuck has no idea that her music filled the neighborhood. Illustrations by Kate Flanagan are bright and colorful. They match the feeling of happiness as this little tune floats through the air.

A Boy Like You (2019)

 A Boy Like You by Frank Murphy (2019) is an example of how picture books have turned preachy, in my opinion. If you’re looking for a teaching text to accompany a social-emotional classroom, this could be it. There’s no story here, just an illustrated rules of the road for the perfect child. Kayla Harren’s illustrations are nice enough for a to-do list. This is a large book with cover art that falsely implies this will be a story about a neighborhood or a classroom of children. It’s not. It’s about the boy front and center with a puppy by his side. Apparently he is the role model for all the children behind him.