The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend
By: Dan Santat
Medal Winner
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Santat’s illustrations for this book are done with great variety in pencil, crayon, watercolor, ink, and photoshop, and the text is hand-lettered. The illustrations are appropriately imaginative to match the story well. The imaginary friend waits and waits but is never chosen to be someone’s friend. What child hasn’t felt sad about that at some point in his life? He then decides to set out on his own to find a friend and eventually reaches the real world. He experiences all new things, searches and searches, and finally finds a friend. He gets a new name, Beekles, and off they go to explore the world together. This book is perfect for very young children, many of whom have an imaginary friend; perhaps a toy bear, or a Lego man, or some other character toy. This book displays the value of friendship and the delight that friends bring to life when shared together.
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Nana in the City
By: Lauren Castillo
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Also read and recommended by: Sherry Early
This story portrays such a sweet, sensitive relationship between a grandmother and her grandson. She is not too busy to truly recognize and understand his fears of all the new aspects of city life and makes him a red cape to help him be brave. What little child doesn’t feel like a superhero when wearing a cape! This book will be enjoyed by both little ones facing new circumstances as well as by grandmothers. The text is short and simple and just right for very young children. Castillo's drawings are made with thick heavy lines and then painted with watercolor. Lauren even sprinkles the paint with salt to create texture. That would be fun to try at home! She has lived in the city and loved it so her illustrations here come from personal experience. I highly recommend it.
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The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art
By: Barb Rosenstock
Illustrated by: Mary GrandPre
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
This book presents such an interesting look at the early life and eventual notoriety of Vasily Kandinsky and his art. Some believe he may have had a genetic condition called synesthesia, in which one sense connects with another to "hear colors, see music, taste words, or smell numbers." Kandinsky was a Russian-born who was first a lawyer and economics professor. He once saw an exhibition of Monet’s paintings. While listening to Wagner’s opera Lohengrin, he saw colors as he listened. He first painted an abstract painting in 1910 which "sparked a revolution in the art world." I am not really a fan of abstract art, perhaps because I don’t really understand it, but I do recommend this book because of the influence of synesthesia on his work. Such a fascinating concept!
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The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus
By: Jen Bryant
Illustrated by: Melissa Sweet
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Also read and recommended by: Sherry Early
I am a list-maker so I totally "get" Roget. I, too, have loved words since I was little, and the thesaurus was a book used many times in our homeschool days as I taught my own children to write. During the years when I taught English/Language Arts in schools, I would have my students help me make lists of synonyms for good, said, and other non-descriptive words. I thoroughly enjoyed The Right Word and learning about Roget’s childhood tendencies and how they blossomed into such a powerful tool still used today, albeit now on the computer at the click of a button. I have several other books by Jen Bryant, all wonderful picture book biographies: Georgia’s Bones, about Georgia O’Keefe, A River of Words, about William Carlos Williams, and Abe’s Fish, about Abraham Lincoln. I can highly recommend The Right Word.
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Sam and Dave Dig a Hole
By: Mac Barnett
Illustrated by: Jon Klassen
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
One of the true tests of a picture book is how children respond to it. In this case, my four-year-old grandson loved it and wanted it read over and over. Sam and Dave? Are they brothers, twins, or friends? They set out to dig a deep hole. They dig and dig and dig. And their dog digs with them. The illustrations are done with a cross-section view of their hole, created digitally and in colored pencil in soft tones. The reader can see a large diamond gem that Sam and Dave keep missing as their digging changes course just at the wrong time. They eat chocolate milk and animal crackers. Wouldn’t it be fun to serve those while reading this book to a child? At the end, the boys are in their home again. How? Or were they dreaming? Let your child decide.
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This One Summer
By: Mariko Tamaki
Illustrated by: Jillian Tamaki
Honor
Reviewed by: Tanya Arnold
For parents who wish to put in the hands, minds, and hearts of their children only the best books, those which seek goodness, truth, and beauty and to which living ideas spring forth, then I would suggest you avoid this book in which the content leans toward the tide of realism and in displaying the base nature of humanity. Not only did I not find the illustrations to be of note (they honestly feel a bit basic), but the content of the story was not what I would hope for my children, nor for yours, as we seek to guide them toward becoming their best selves.
The story is filled with swearing and crude language, from multiple uses of the F-word to calling girls "sluts" and more. The two female protagonists (Rose age 12, Windy age 10) discuss breast sizes, oral sex, teenage sex, rape kits, condoms, and pregnancy. Drinking and smoking are prevalent at a local movie rental store where the girls check out and watch R-rated movies such as "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Nightmare on Elm Street", and "Jaws", they also discuss watching movies available at home such as "Sex in the City". Rose's parents fight a lot and come to find out the mom is mourning a miscarriage which Rose is unaware of. In the end, a pregnant girl (most likely teen) is saved from drowning. The question of whether or not she purposely tried to drown herself due to the pregnancy is not answered. Then the summer is over and the two girls head their separate ways until the next summer.
The dust jacket states, "This One Summer is a vibrant view into girlhood and growing up." It makes my heart break to consider that this book may be representative of a majority of youth during a summer vacation. While there were some positive themes such as friendship and the saving of life, overall, the negatives far outweigh any positive themes. At the end, I couldn't imagine what the future might hold for these two girls or how they might go on to live lives full of happiness. The book lacked any sense of purpose or ideas of how to live one's life with intention. It seemed like these two girls would just continue to live in the same cycle as those around them because nothing that was presented held any values worth aspiring to, and there were not any adults showing up as mentors. Poor food for nourishing the hearts, minds, and souls of children indeed.
Viva Frida
By: Yuyi Morales
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Yuyi does a lovely job of portraying the story of the life of the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, whose husband was also the artist and muralist Diego Rivera. The book's text is very simple and is written in both Spanish and English. While I don’t personally care for Morales' illustrations, I do understand her purpose here and appreciate the honor she gives to the life of Frida Kahlo. As always, I like the picture book biographies that are being written in our current time and am gladly adding them to my library. Also, for those families studying art, why not gain some knowledge of those artists from Mexico and other countries, not just those from Europe in times long ago. And for any family learning about Mexico, this book adds more to the understanding of the country's culture.
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