Sloat, Teri. 2009. THERE WAS AN OLD MAN WHO PAINTED THE SKY. Ill. by Stefano Vitale. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 9780805067514 [Suggested Grade Levels K- 3]
REVIEW
A young girl looks up at the paintings in the Altimira cave and begins to wonder how an old man “painted the sky – its up so high!” Planets spinning, animals and birds, a multitude of people of varying colors and shapes help build a repeating text that weaves the story into a question, “How did the old man paint the whole sky? How did he do it? It’s up so high!” With a vibrant retelling of creation, the story captures the natural questions of a child, as the brilliant images project a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes.
Unlike previous materials from this author, Sloat has created musical art through her words. This picture book captures the beauty and mystery of creation in the prehistoric artwork found in the Altimira caves. With strong, repeated text that mimics “There was an old lady...” Sloat brings to life the childlike wonderment of our past. This story is supported by the vibrantly moving artwork by Vitale, as the illustrations share in the telling of the tale. From the illustrations of the young girl to the depictions of life, children will be caught by the beauty of this picture book and its story.
CONNECTIONS
After viewing cave paintings in books and Web sites, discuss why these were done and what they represent. Readers can create their own paintings of their lives and family, sharing their stories with others through their artwork.
RELATED BOOKS
Gregory, Curtis. THE CAVE PAINTERS. ISBN 9781400043484
Lauber, Patricia. PAINTERS OF THE CAVES. ISBN 9780792270959
Ramos, Pedro A. Sauro. THE CAVE OF ALTIMIRA. ISBN 9780810919891
By Christine J. Rayl
Monday, March 15, 2010
Bones of Faerie
Simner, Janni Lee. 2009. BONES OF FAERIE. New York: Random House. ISBN 9780375845635 [Suggested Grade Levels 7- 10]
REVIEW
Liza is living in an unusual time. There has been a war between humanity and Faerie and both sides are suffering. On earth, trees and plants have extraordinary powers and are dangerous to humans. Nature itself is often the enemy. Many humans born with Faerie powers are mistrusted and misunderstood, and therefore often killed, just as Liza’s baby sister had been. And Liza realizes that she is developing Faerie powers and that her father will kill her once he finds out. His harsh view is that the killing is justified in order to protect everyone else. Liza strikes out on her own to escape her father and becomes a catalyst for bringing both worlds together and starting the healing process.
Even though it may be hard to understand the meaning and symbolism of everything, the story is still spell-binding. This story of an apocalyptic tragedy and magic infiltrating our world is a dark, fairy-tale type novel that will keep the reader wanting more and involved until the end. And more is to come, as a planned sequel has been announced.
CONNECTIONS
This book can promote discussions of the effects of war, showing that there are always two sides to everything. War affects everyone and the repercussions are felt by all. A great tie-in to political discussions.
RELATED BOOKS
Other books that are similar in nature:
Kizer, Amber. MERIDIAN. ISBN 0385736681
Ryan, Carrie. THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH. ISBN 0385736819
Ryan, Carrie. THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES. ISBN 0385736843
Stiefvater, Maggie. LAMENT: THE FAERIE QUEEN’S DECEPTION. ISBN 0738713708
By Kaye E. Bray
REVIEW
Liza is living in an unusual time. There has been a war between humanity and Faerie and both sides are suffering. On earth, trees and plants have extraordinary powers and are dangerous to humans. Nature itself is often the enemy. Many humans born with Faerie powers are mistrusted and misunderstood, and therefore often killed, just as Liza’s baby sister had been. And Liza realizes that she is developing Faerie powers and that her father will kill her once he finds out. His harsh view is that the killing is justified in order to protect everyone else. Liza strikes out on her own to escape her father and becomes a catalyst for bringing both worlds together and starting the healing process.
Even though it may be hard to understand the meaning and symbolism of everything, the story is still spell-binding. This story of an apocalyptic tragedy and magic infiltrating our world is a dark, fairy-tale type novel that will keep the reader wanting more and involved until the end. And more is to come, as a planned sequel has been announced.
CONNECTIONS
This book can promote discussions of the effects of war, showing that there are always two sides to everything. War affects everyone and the repercussions are felt by all. A great tie-in to political discussions.
RELATED BOOKS
Other books that are similar in nature:
Kizer, Amber. MERIDIAN. ISBN 0385736681
Ryan, Carrie. THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH. ISBN 0385736819
Ryan, Carrie. THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES. ISBN 0385736843
Stiefvater, Maggie. LAMENT: THE FAERIE QUEEN’S DECEPTION. ISBN 0738713708
By Kaye E. Bray
Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors
Sidman, Joyce. 2009. RED SINGS FROM TREETOPS: A YEAR IN COLORS. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780547014944 [Suggested Grade Levels K - 3]
REVIEW
Poet Joyce Sidman once again delights – this time with short poems about colors found in nature throughout the year. The poems interact with illustrator Zagarenski’s lush paintings as in the picture of baby birds in a nest, mouths wide: “And here, / in secret places, / peeps Pink: / hairless, featherless, / the color of / new/ things.” Succinct yet beautifully stated. Colors are block-highlighted in the text of each poem and the colors featured are not of immediately obvious embodiments. Page headings alert the change in seasons. In a double-page spread for winter, the left page is pale pink and the right is pale blue. Zagarenski’s androgynous character is dressed in red and green with pink nose and fingers: “In the WINTER dawn, / Pink blooms / powder-soft / over pastel hills. / Pink prickles: / warm fingers / against cold cheeks.” Not only do we see pink, we also feel it.
Zagarenski’s paintings are stunning. Her stylized folk art vividly explores color in a whimsical interplay with Sidman’s poems. The flashes of color, the layers of texture, and the quirky characters all work together to inspire a love of the natural world and to underscore the intimate relationship with the poems.
CONNECTIONS
Before reading the poems aloud, show the pictures to children and ask them to write short poems based on what they see, hear, feel, or taste.
RELATED BOOKS
Books by the same author:
Sidman, Joyce. BUTTERFLY EYES AND OTHER SECRETS OF THE MEADOW. ISBN 978061856135
Sidman, Joyce. SONG OF THE WATER BOATMAN & OTHER POND POEMS. ISBN 9780618135479
By Cay Geisle
REVIEW
Poet Joyce Sidman once again delights – this time with short poems about colors found in nature throughout the year. The poems interact with illustrator Zagarenski’s lush paintings as in the picture of baby birds in a nest, mouths wide: “And here, / in secret places, / peeps Pink: / hairless, featherless, / the color of / new/ things.” Succinct yet beautifully stated. Colors are block-highlighted in the text of each poem and the colors featured are not of immediately obvious embodiments. Page headings alert the change in seasons. In a double-page spread for winter, the left page is pale pink and the right is pale blue. Zagarenski’s androgynous character is dressed in red and green with pink nose and fingers: “In the WINTER dawn, / Pink blooms / powder-soft / over pastel hills. / Pink prickles: / warm fingers / against cold cheeks.” Not only do we see pink, we also feel it.
Zagarenski’s paintings are stunning. Her stylized folk art vividly explores color in a whimsical interplay with Sidman’s poems. The flashes of color, the layers of texture, and the quirky characters all work together to inspire a love of the natural world and to underscore the intimate relationship with the poems.
CONNECTIONS
Before reading the poems aloud, show the pictures to children and ask them to write short poems based on what they see, hear, feel, or taste.
RELATED BOOKS
Books by the same author:
Sidman, Joyce. BUTTERFLY EYES AND OTHER SECRETS OF THE MEADOW. ISBN 978061856135
Sidman, Joyce. SONG OF THE WATER BOATMAN & OTHER POND POEMS. ISBN 9780618135479
By Cay Geisle
All the World
Scanlon, Liz Garton. 2009. ALL THE WORLD. Ill. by Marla Frazee. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781416985808 [Suggested Grade Levels Pre-K- 1]
REVIEW
Scanlon’s poem is a charming exploration of the inter-connectedness between people. She shares the beauty of everyday life featuring a family who enjoys a morning at the beach; others working in a community garden, riding bikes in the town, and playing around a lake. A sudden downpour threatens to disturb their enjoyment but Scanlon writes: “Slip, trip, stumble, fall / Tip the bucket, spill it all / Better luck / another / day / All the world goes round this way.” The gentle rhythm is as comforting as the message.
Marla Frazee composes lovely water color-and-line illustrations and creates the perfect color palate of soft pastels with lots of white space to surround the illustrations in the early pages of the featured day. As the day winds down, her vibrant colors exuberantly extend to the edges of the page and harmonize with the verse: “Hope and peace and love and trust / All the world is all of us.” The text is hand lettered in large simple type which floats throughout the spreads. Her endearing drawings underscore Scanlon’s theme of unity – individual families, communities, and the world. The old-fashioned feel of both the poem and the illustrations produces a captivating, reassuring whole.
CONNECTIONS
Distribute four cards to each child and invite them to draw themselves, their families, school, community buildings, and world. Mix up the cards and deal them out to each other to emphasize their connectedness.
RELATED BOOKS
Books by the same illustrator:
Frazee, Marla. A COUPLE OF BOYS HAVE THE BEST WEEK EVER. ISBN 9780152045548
Frazee, Marla. ROLLER COASTER. ISBN 9780152045548
By Cay Geisler
REVIEW
Scanlon’s poem is a charming exploration of the inter-connectedness between people. She shares the beauty of everyday life featuring a family who enjoys a morning at the beach; others working in a community garden, riding bikes in the town, and playing around a lake. A sudden downpour threatens to disturb their enjoyment but Scanlon writes: “Slip, trip, stumble, fall / Tip the bucket, spill it all / Better luck / another / day / All the world goes round this way.” The gentle rhythm is as comforting as the message.
Marla Frazee composes lovely water color-and-line illustrations and creates the perfect color palate of soft pastels with lots of white space to surround the illustrations in the early pages of the featured day. As the day winds down, her vibrant colors exuberantly extend to the edges of the page and harmonize with the verse: “Hope and peace and love and trust / All the world is all of us.” The text is hand lettered in large simple type which floats throughout the spreads. Her endearing drawings underscore Scanlon’s theme of unity – individual families, communities, and the world. The old-fashioned feel of both the poem and the illustrations produces a captivating, reassuring whole.
CONNECTIONS
Distribute four cards to each child and invite them to draw themselves, their families, school, community buildings, and world. Mix up the cards and deal them out to each other to emphasize their connectedness.
RELATED BOOKS
Books by the same illustrator:
Frazee, Marla. A COUPLE OF BOYS HAVE THE BEST WEEK EVER. ISBN 9780152045548
Frazee, Marla. ROLLER COASTER. ISBN 9780152045548
By Cay Geisler
Dust Bowl Through the Lens: How Photography Revealed and Helped a National Disaster
Sandler, Martin W. 2009. DUST BOWL THROUGH THE LENS: HOW PHOTOGRAPHY REVEALED AND HELPED A NATIONAL DISASTER. New York: Walker. ISBN 978080279548 [Suggested Grade Levels 4- 8]
REVIEW
The Dust Bowl is known as one of the United States’ greatest tragedies, in which the entire “bread basket” of the nation was devastated. DUST BOWL: THROUGH THE LENS, visually chronicles the lives of the inhabitants of the Great Plains as they try to recuperate from their loss of crops, land, and money. Mind-boggling photos of once-fertile lands reduced to dust inhabit each page, along with highly explanatory, well- written captions to further explain occurrences. The beginning of each passage contains a quote from an inhabitant; some expressing sadness, others hopefulness for the future. The final entries explain the resolution of the nation after the Dust Bowl's end to prevent such an event from occurring again.
Sandler tells an extraordinary tale through the use of black and white photos taken by revolutionary photographers of the era, that blends together history, science, sociology, and art. Factual narrations and quotes from inhabitants of the area are supported and cited in the extensive bibliography, which makes this book an invaluable resource for research. The Dust Bowl is painful for many to remember, but Sandler creates an atmosphere that acknowledges pain, while hope still takes the upper hand.
CONNECTIONS
Readers can create a journal entry based on a photograph taken during the Dust Bowl. Using factual data and emotional content, readers can explore the truth conveyed in the photo and translate into words through their journal entry.
RELATED BOOKS
Other books for children about the Dust Bowl:
Cooper, Michael. DUST TO EAT: DROUGHT AND DEPRESSION DURING THE 1930s. ISBN 9780618154494
Marrin, Albert. YEARS OF DUST. ISBN 9780525420774
By Brandi D. Grant
REVIEW
The Dust Bowl is known as one of the United States’ greatest tragedies, in which the entire “bread basket” of the nation was devastated. DUST BOWL: THROUGH THE LENS, visually chronicles the lives of the inhabitants of the Great Plains as they try to recuperate from their loss of crops, land, and money. Mind-boggling photos of once-fertile lands reduced to dust inhabit each page, along with highly explanatory, well- written captions to further explain occurrences. The beginning of each passage contains a quote from an inhabitant; some expressing sadness, others hopefulness for the future. The final entries explain the resolution of the nation after the Dust Bowl's end to prevent such an event from occurring again.
Sandler tells an extraordinary tale through the use of black and white photos taken by revolutionary photographers of the era, that blends together history, science, sociology, and art. Factual narrations and quotes from inhabitants of the area are supported and cited in the extensive bibliography, which makes this book an invaluable resource for research. The Dust Bowl is painful for many to remember, but Sandler creates an atmosphere that acknowledges pain, while hope still takes the upper hand.
CONNECTIONS
Readers can create a journal entry based on a photograph taken during the Dust Bowl. Using factual data and emotional content, readers can explore the truth conveyed in the photo and translate into words through their journal entry.
RELATED BOOKS
Other books for children about the Dust Bowl:
Cooper, Michael. DUST TO EAT: DROUGHT AND DEPRESSION DURING THE 1930s. ISBN 9780618154494
Marrin, Albert. YEARS OF DUST. ISBN 9780525420774
By Brandi D. Grant
The Snow Day
Sakai, Komako. 2009. THE SNOW DAY. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 9780545013215 [Suggested Grade Levels PreK- 1]
REVIEW
One day a little rabbit wakes to learn that snow has caused school to be canceled. In many snow day books, this news would be followed by exuberant cheers and the mad rush to go outside and play. This is not that book. In THE SNOW DAY, author Sakai takes a quiet and contemplative look at the things that don’t happen. The little rabbit’s father can’t get home from the airport; the mother can’t go to the grocery store; he can’t go outside and play until the snow stops. Instead the little bunny and his mother watch the snow, play cards and wait. There is a hush that surrounds the text and is carried over into the art.
Dark, muted, colors are occasionally relieved by pops of red and yellow. The illustrations have a textured look, done in heavy pencil followed by layers of brushed paint. The page space is used differently, with indoor scenes done in smaller, tighter oval frames, while the outdoor scenes expand fully to the double page spread. The mother and child’s emotion are displayed through their expressive ears; up with excitement, or downwardly contemplative. But even in this quiet, subtle book, snow is magic.
CONNECTIONS
Because this book appears to be set in another county and culture, the little bunny makes “snow dumplings” and “snow monsters.” What do your children make? Did they notice this? Why? What do you imagine are made in other countries, or even in our own?
RELATED BOOKS
Other magical snow books:
Keats, Ezra Jack. THE SNOWY DAY. ISBN 9780670654000
Rohmann, Eric. A KITTEN TALE. ISBN 9780517709160
Rylant, Cynthia. SNOW. ISBN 9780152053031
By Marianne Follis
REVIEW
One day a little rabbit wakes to learn that snow has caused school to be canceled. In many snow day books, this news would be followed by exuberant cheers and the mad rush to go outside and play. This is not that book. In THE SNOW DAY, author Sakai takes a quiet and contemplative look at the things that don’t happen. The little rabbit’s father can’t get home from the airport; the mother can’t go to the grocery store; he can’t go outside and play until the snow stops. Instead the little bunny and his mother watch the snow, play cards and wait. There is a hush that surrounds the text and is carried over into the art.
Dark, muted, colors are occasionally relieved by pops of red and yellow. The illustrations have a textured look, done in heavy pencil followed by layers of brushed paint. The page space is used differently, with indoor scenes done in smaller, tighter oval frames, while the outdoor scenes expand fully to the double page spread. The mother and child’s emotion are displayed through their expressive ears; up with excitement, or downwardly contemplative. But even in this quiet, subtle book, snow is magic.
CONNECTIONS
Because this book appears to be set in another county and culture, the little bunny makes “snow dumplings” and “snow monsters.” What do your children make? Did they notice this? Why? What do you imagine are made in other countries, or even in our own?
RELATED BOOKS
Other magical snow books:
Keats, Ezra Jack. THE SNOWY DAY. ISBN 9780670654000
Rohmann, Eric. A KITTEN TALE. ISBN 9780517709160
Rylant, Cynthia. SNOW. ISBN 9780152053031
By Marianne Follis
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