Wild Turkeys by illustrator, Johanna van der Sterre
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Friday, November 17, 2017
The Journey that Saved Curious George
by Louise Borden; illus. by Allan Drummond
96 pages; ages 7 - 10
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016 (reprinted)
Eight-year-old Hans A. Reyerback loved to visit the zoo. He would imitate the sounds of animals, and loved to draw the animals. After serving in the German Army (WWI) he traveled to Brazil where he wore a broad hat and watched monkeys along the Amazon.
Margaret Waldstein loved art and studied photography. When Hitler came to power, life changed in Germany so she eventually traveled to Brazil. She was seeking new work and adventure and had heard that an old family friend (Hans) was living in Rio.
They teamed up as artists, eventually married, and traveled to Paris. They planned to visit for 2 weeks; they stayed for 4 years. In 1939 they began working on a story about a very curious monkey. That year war broke out. Paper was scarce and typesetters had joined the army. And war was marching closer! They had to flee Paris on bicycles, sleeping in barns, and narrowly escaping the bombing.
As refugees, waiting for visas, they were questioned by officials: what were the papers they were carrying? Were they spies? No, just writers.... Four months later they arrived in New York City and after another year they published the first book of many about Curious George.
What I like about this book: Adventure! Danger! Escape from Nazis! and Curious George! It's got history and mystery and biography all rolled into one exciting story.
Review copy provided by publisher.
Friday, November 10, 2017
Two Wild Adventures, mostly true
The Wildest Race Ever
by Meghan McCarthy
48 pages; ages 4-8
Simon & Schuster, 2016
The first Olympic marathon held in America happened on august 30, 1904, in Saint Louis, Missouri. It was part of the World's Fair exhibition.
Thirty-two runners started that day, representing the US, South Africa, Cuba, France, Greece, and Newfoundland (now part of Canada). The first American Indian to run in Olympic Games was there, from the Seneca Nation. It was hot, and the cars carrying judges, doctors, and reporters stirred up so much dust that racers had a hard time breathing!
What I like about this book: Meghan McCarty tells stories about individual runners - like the guy who stole peaches from a car, and the runner who was chased a mile off course by an angry dog. It's a true story, so there's a couple of pages of back matter - and you know how much I like back matter!
by Matther Olshan; illus. by Sophie Blackall
40 pages; ages 4-8
Farrar Straus Giroux, 2016
This book is subtitled: the (Mostly) true story of the first international flight by balloon in 1785. It tells the story of Dr. John Jeffries, an Englishman, and his pilot, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a Frenchman, to be the first to fly from one country to another.
There's only one problem: they can't stand each other!
Okay, there are a lot of problems. They lose tools. They lose altitude. They lose their tempers.
What I like about this book: It's FUN! I like the dialog balloons that reveal their bickering. I like that they had to pee over the side to lighten the balloon so they wouldn't crash land. And I really like the notes in the back matter that clarify what's fact in this very imaginative story.
Beyond the Books:
What would it be like to balloon across the English Channel? Here's a tale about two guys who recreated the trip of Jeffries and Blanchard.
Build a "hot air" balloon using helium party balloons, a plastic grocery bag, and a paper cup. Put two balloons into the plastic bag. Tie a ribbon from each handle of the plastic bag and attach the paper cup. Fill it up with pennies and send it on a journey around the house.
Run - or walk - a marathon. A marathon is a bit over 26 miles. Elite runners can finish in just over two hours; walkers take 8 hours or longer. Why not do your own marathon, but a couple miles a day? Plot out a two-mile loop (if you walk a mile to school, that's perfect). Then draw a race course on a sheet of paper and mark it off into 26 squares. Each day, color in a square for each mile you run or walk. When you finish your marathon, give yourself a gold medal.
Today is PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. Review copies from publishers.
Friday, November 3, 2017
Mountain Chef
by Annette Bay Pimentel; illus. by Rich Lo
40 pages; ages 6-9
Charlesbridge, 2016
themes: Exploration! Adventure! Food!
Tie Sing was a frontier baby, born high in the mountains in Virginia City, Nevada.
America was a tough place to be Chinese when Tie Sing was growing up. Chinese workers were paid less than white workers, and many people with Chinese names ended up cooking in restaurants or working in laundries. But Tie Sing had BIG dreams. He got a job cooking for mapmakers as they explored and mapped the Sierras. And he got a reputation as the best trail cook around.
So when a party of Congressmen and others who interested in creating a National Park Service hired him as their trail cook, Tie Sing wanted to fix them meals that would make them remember the beauty of the peaks. No s'mores for this crew; it was English plum pudding with brandy sauce, eggs for breakfast, box lunches, and sourdough starter in the saddle bags for dinner loaves.
What I like about this book: I love camping and hiking, and the National Parks! I enjoyed Annette Pimentel's depiction of Tie Sing - he really worked hard to plan menus and pack ingredients. I like that she shows a typical day in the life of a trail chef. And that she includes the obstacles Tie Sing has to overcome - like when a mule wanders away with the food and he has to improvise a simple (yet elegant) meal. The words and illustrations take us on the journey with Tie Sing.
I also like the back matter - and there is plenty: information about immigration, how Tie Sing kept his food from going bad, and short biographies of the people who went on the expedition. End papers feature maps of the journey.
Beyond the Book:
Make some granola for your next camping trip; it also makes a good "carry along" breakfast for when you're traveling.
Learn more about our National Parks - and if you have the chance to visit one, do it.
Take a virtual hike up Sing Peak - here is a map, and wonderful photos of what you would see if you were hiking there. During a rest break - while you catch your breath - read up on the history of Tie Sing and the adventurous Mather Party.
Today is PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. Review copy from the publisher.
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