Tandem Insights

Best of the Year Round Up

2007 has been a great year in kidlit land. Here at Tandem Insights we’ve highlighted several of our favorites: see our posts on Elephant & Piggie, Elijah of Buxton, or Long May She Reign. The best-of-the-year lists are now available from Publisher’s Weekly and School Library Journal, two sources we know and trust. We came up with our own Tandem version of a Best of 2007 list, and then decided to compare notes and see which titles everybody agreed on.
There are four unanimous choices: (Drumroll, please!)

Orange Pear Apple Bear, by Emily Gravett

Knuffle Bunny Too, by Mo Willems

The Arrival, by Shaun Tan

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

You can find all three complete lists in the Tandem online bookstore:
2007 Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Books
2007 Best Books from SLJ
Tandem Best Books of 2007

Book of the Week: Orange Pear Apple Bear

Who knew a book comprised of just four simple words could be so much fun? Try saying it aloud: this title has a lyrical, song-like quality. British author Emily Gravett is one of our favorite authors of late, and her newest title does not disappoint. In Orange Pear Apple Bear, pastel watercolors illustrate variations on the word groupings. Gravett says the inspiration for this book came from reading Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots and Leaves, which promotes proper grammar. I recently shared this book with a group of preschoolers, who delighted in “reading” along with me by using the pictures as clues.

Gravett’s forthcoming picture book, Monkey and Me, is scheduled for US release in March 2008.

View other titles by Emily Gravett: Wolves and Meerkat Mail

Itchy Feet? Take a Trip with a Book!

If the holiday season has you itching for travel but you can’t actually get away, check out these great travel-themed books. 

                      

John Green’s Printz Honor winning An Abundance of Katherines takes us to Tennessee with Colin and Hassan since, of course, a road trip is the ultimate cure for a broken heart.  They end up in Gutshot, TN, a town as unique as the name makes it sound.  If you like Tennessee, you can also find yourself there in Tallulah Falls by Christine Fletcher when Tallulah gets stranded there on her way to Florida.                                                                 

If you’re feeling spontaneous, you might hop a bus to Alabama like Erin in In Search of Mockingbird   by Loretta Ellsworth.  Harper Lee has been her hero for a long time, and she is determined to meet the reclusive author.  Erin finds more than she was looking for on her trip.  Much like Sophie in Red Glass, who travels to Mexico with her great-aunt, but soon is on her own in Guatemala.  It turns out she’s much stronger than she thinks she is.

             

Another Sophie takes a trip in The Wanderer by Sharon Creech.  This Sophie sails across the Atlantic with her three uncles and two cousins to see her grandfather. We read Sophie’s journal of the trip as she talks about her grandfather and the sea, but we also get her cousin Cody’s journal entries, which provide a much different look at the trip and give us a different perspective on Sophie.  This is a personal favorite of mine, great for upper elementary or middle school readers.

Don’t leave the kids behind!  The Year I Didn’t Go to School, Giselle Potter’s autobiographical picture book based on the journal she kept while her family traveled around Italy when she was seven, proves that travel is just as exciting for kids as it is for adults.  This book is a great opportunity to share the idea of keeping a “travel journal” with kids. 

Or take a trip in your imagination with Rainstorm. In Barbara Lehman’s latest picture book, a boy finds a mysterious key, which leads him on a magical journey one rainy day.  This wordless story will change the way you look at gloomy days. 

Whether it’s a real vacation or just an afternoon daydream, happy travels to you!

Pig Out on Books!

In honor of the vast quantities of food that will be consumed on Thanksgiving, we thought we’d highlight picture books featuring PIGS!

First there is the (relatively) new classic: Olivia by Ian Falconer. Her latest adventure, Olivia Helps with Christmas, which has just been published, is all about getting ready for the holiday—how she “helps” her family prepare for Christmas while watching for Santa…and waiting for Santa…and watching and waiting for Santa some more, all in true Olivia fashion.

Our two newest pig favorites are the Elephant and Piggie early reader series by Mo Willems, and The Adventures of Max and Pinky picture books by Maxwell Eaton III. Lovable characters, humorous stories, and brilliant, deceptively simple illustrations make these books irresistible.

           

In the twisted tales category, two outlandish versions of the Three Little Pigs story stand out: David Wiesner’s The Three Pigs, in which the wolf blows the pigs right out of the story, and Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith’s The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!, in which the wolf finally gets to tell his side of the tale.

Here's a list of more prime pig picture books.

Book of the Week: The Golden Compass

Anything I can say about The Golden Compass will be overshadowed by both the awards it has won—ALA Notable, ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults, Horn Book Fanfare Honor, BCCB Blue Ribbon, Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, Booklist Editor’s Choice, Carnegie Medal (England), Carnegie of Carnegies (best children’s book of all time in England), Guardian Prize for Fiction (England), not to mention four starred reviews—and the book itself.

The Golden Compass is the first book in an incredible trilogy, featuring 11-year-old orphan Lyra and her daemon, Pantalaimon. The daemon is the first of author Philip Pullman’s amazing creations. A daemon is a sort of soul/conscience made physical; it takes the form of an animal, but the form isn’t fixed until adolescence, so children like Lyra have daemons that are constantly changing from one animal to the next.  (Confession: I so want a daemon!)

Lyra lives at Jordan College in a world very close to ours, yet very different also. Her adventure begins when she hides in a wardrobe and sees her Uncle Asriel show the college scholars some mysterious photos and artifacts that show evidence of Dust from the far north. Then, in quick succession, her best friend is captured by the Gobblers, and Lyra is taken in by the gorgeous, very charming, and very very frightening Mrs. Coulter, who is also chasing Dust. From there, Lyra's quest to save her friend sweeps her into the far north where she befriends gyptians, witches, an aeronaut from Texas, and even one of the panserbjorne, the talking armored polar bears of the north. The bear, Iorek Byrnison, and Pan, her daemon, and the mysterious golden alethiometer that answers questions through symbols are Lyra’s truest companions in this vast fantasy.

So what is this Dust? That question takes the entire trilogy to answer.  Lyra, a stubborn, charming, willful, innocent girl, comes to believe that it must be good because all the grown-ups around her who keep telling her it’s evil do such bad things themselves, like separating kids from their daemons which is infinitely painful.

And yes, it is the Church that is behind this horrible separating.  Talk has been swirling around The Golden Compass, as the opening date of the movie approaches, that it is anti-Christian. Here is what Pullman had to say in response: “In the world of the story — Lyra’s world — there is a church that has acquired great political power, rather in the way that some religions in our world have done at various times, and still do (think of the Taliban in Afghanistan). My point is that religion is at its best — it does most good — when it is farthest away from political power, and that when it gets hold of the power to (for example) send armies to war or to condemn people to death, or to rule every aspect of our lives, it rapidly goes bad. Sometimes people think that if something is done in the name of faith or religion, it must be good. Unfortunately, that isn’t true; some things done in the name of religion are very bad. That was what I was trying to describe in my story.”

While the main character of this story is an 11-year-old girl, so 11-year-olds might enjoy it, this book, the entire trilogy, is so rich and complex that I believe older readers, YAs and OAs (old adults) will get the most from it.

A movie based on The Golden Compass is coming out on December 7, 2007, so check back for a review of the movie and how well (or poorly) it compares to the book.

View this book in the Tandem Library Books online Bookstore

First-Time Authors

First-time authors are getting a lot of press lately with The Class of 2k7 and now The Class of 2k8 ready to roll, as well as the new William C. Morris YA Debut Award. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) will announce the first recipient in January 2009. With hundreds of debuts by young adult novelists each year and new ways to celebrate and spread the word about these debuts, we’d like to chime in with our favorites from 2007 that are not to be missed:

Linda Urban’s A Crooked Kind of Perfect is a middle grade novel about what happens when reality doesn’t quite match up with your expectations.  Both funny and heartwarming, A Crooked Kind of Perfect is a potential pick to win the Newbery.

More intermediate level author debuts from 2007

Skulduggery Pleasant is an ace detective, a snappy dresser, a crackerjack sorcerer with razor-tongued wit, and a skeleton. He also happens to be the Tandem Collection Development Team’s Favorite Hero of 2007.  How could he not win an award just for being him? Watch for all of our team’s 2007 Award picks in our upcoming Spring Must-Have Titles catalog, coming January 2008.

More middle school level author debuts from 2007

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr is a great read-alike for Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books.  This incredibly popular 21st century faery tale is void of vampires, and unlike Bella in Meyers’ books, Aislinn desperately wants to stay human.

More high school level author debuts from 2007

Book of the Week: Elijah of Buxton

Middle schoolers studying slavery and the Underground Railroad or just looking for a solid coming-of-age fiction adventure will be glad they picked up Christopher Paul Curtis’ newest gem Elijah of Buxton. 

Set in 1860, Elijah of Buxton is the story of eleven-year-old Elijah who goes from “fra-gile” to “growed-up” in the settlement of Buxton, Canada.  Teachers will appreciate Curtis’ tremendous historical research of Buxton and its original settlers’ lives and may be pleased as I was that the Author’s Note provides more background on Buxton’s history. 

Young and old will take away the very formidable message of how ultimately every person in Buxton has some relationship to a past of slavery and how it is “something inside so strong that it flies forever.”  High-spirited and humorous, engaging and important, Curtis once again makes the grade.

Here's a list of companion MS novels which complement Elijah of Buxton.

88th Annual Children’s Book Week – Rise Up Reading!

Since 1919 communities around the country have been dedicated to celebrating the love of reading and spreading the word about children’s literature.  Join librarians, students, teachers, families, and booksellers nationwide to help celebrate Children’s Book Week.  Need some ideas?  Visit the Children’s Book Council website!  You will find lots of activities from holding a Children’s Book Week party where you dress up as your favorite character (see 10/30/2007 post for costume ideas) to organizing a school-wide Read-In where EVERYONE in your school reads silently at the same place and time – school staff included. 

Here at Tandem, we had a discussion about some of our favorite books.  Titles including The Paper Bag Princess, Pippi Longstocking, and Drummer Hoff were a few titles mentioned.  The general consensus was that there were too many great books to choose from, we each couldn’t just pick one!  Here are a few favorites from a couple booklovers at Tandem:

Mindy said:

"Before there was the adorable little bunny in Not a Box making a plain old cardboard box into anything he could imagine, there was Christina Katerina.  Originally published in hardcover in 1971, Christina Katerina and the Box has been a childhood favorite of mine for years.  As a kid, I loved watching the box transform from a castle to a clubhouse to a racecar to whatever else Christina Katerina could dream up.  A new generation can get to know this imaginative heroine in paperback or Tandem-bound versions of this classic picture book."

Kristi added:

"My favorite childhood book(s) are the Ramona Quimby books. I loved them all for their realistic way of telling great stories. I will never forget many of the illustrations and descriptions used in the books.  The descriptions of Ramona’s feelings are so real, for example, Ramona cracking an egg on her head and feeling so upset when she had to sit in the nurse’s office afterwards and heard the adults calling her a “nuisance.” The feeling of adults not understanding you was perfectly captured in that story."

Don’t forget!  Next year and going forward, Children’s Book Week will be moving to May and will be celebrated in the first or second week of that month.

Bring Nature Into Your Classroom

Last year, I was able to sit in on social studies and art classes in a small school here in the Twin Cities.  The best part was getting to know the kids and watching them experiment with new painting techniques or eagerly talk about the history of the National Road during class.  But it was also neat to see books in action in a classroom.  Ever since then, I’ve been more aware of what a book might do. 

Like Beetle Bop by Denise Fleming, for example.  This brightly colored picture book by Caldecott wining author/illustrator is part field guide, part poetry.  Young audiences with bugs on their minds will be fascinated by the simple presentation of all the different types of beetles, where they can be found, and what they do (crawl up walls, hide from predators, munch on leaves, etc.)  Add this one to your buggy science classes for a visual treat to pore over with your students.

Think spring with Bob and Otto by Robert Bruel.  A caterpillar and a worm are best friends.  They don’t notice any differences between them until nature takes them in opposite directions--literally, Bob climbs a tree and forms a cocoon while Otto digs into the ground spending all his time eating, sleeping, and digging. Bob transforms into a beautiful butterfly while Otto, of course, remains an earthworm.  Eventually the two friends realize how much they rely on each other in this gentle nature lesson perfect for preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Classics like Miss Rumphius and The Gardener illustrate the many benefits of planting gardens, but On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole shows the benefits of preserving gardens that already exist.  Caroline finds a flower in her yard and decides to protect it.  Then she finds more.  Soon she is protecting her whole yard and it is full of flowers, birds, and butterflies.  Perfect to read aloud to accompany units on the environment or gardens, this may be an inspirational title for young naturalists.

Urban Fiction for High School

Looking for more like Tyrell?  Urban fiction is a hot topic for teens right now, and many libraries are looking for titles that show the harsher side of city life from a teen’s perspective, much like Tyrell does. 

These are stories that include drug use, violence, sex, teen parenthood, crime, etc.  These aren’t necessarily pretty stories, and they definitely aren’t “safe” or “clean.”  But, for many teens, this is reality.  Inner city librarians or those working with young people who are incarcerated have reported that these books are “flying off the shelves” – or at least that’s how an article in Young Adult Library Services put it last fall referring to Philadelphia Public Libraries.  These books may or may not be appropriate for your library, but you’ll definitely want to be aware of this trend in YA lit.

One title that does fit most collections for teens while depicting the less pretty side of urban life is Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff.  First published in 1993, this novel and its sequel, True Believer, have remained relevant and readable.  Perhaps the staying power can be attributed to the format.  The story is told in simple, spare verse that tells just enough to keep the reader interested.  Or maybe it’s the characters.  LaVaughn is a teenager who is under a lot of pressure from her mother—a single parent—to go to college.  LaVaughn understands why her mother wants her to go to college, and she wants that for herself too.  But the idea of “College” has become too big to be real.  She describes the word college like furniture in their living room you have to walk around.  People in her neighborhood don’t go to college.  People in her neighborhood end up like Jolly.  Jolly is 17, with two kids, no high school diploma, and no money.  Jolly’s life is the sort of future that LaVaughn is trying to escape.  But the two young women become inextricably intertwined, and the result is a novel that has broad appeal and is full of hope.

LaVaughn learns from Jolly that the life of a teenage mother isn’t easy, but in Broken China by Lori Aurelia Williams, China learns that lesson herself.  China became a mother at twelve years old, and now, at 14, she is struggling to be a good mom to her little girl.  But finds that she is trapped by the choices she has made.  In Baby Girl by Lenora Adams, Sheree makes a different decision.  Like China, she too had gotten pregnant at twelve years old, but she decided to have an abortion.  Now, at seventeen, she is pregnant again, and looking at the life before her with the eyes of a mother as best she can. 

Give your collection an international feel with Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow.  Doria and her mother live just outside of Paris, France. Sounds glamorous, but life isn’t like the movies. The screenwriter of their life doesn’t know about happily ever after, says Doria.  Her world in the Paris projects isn’t actually all that different than that of an urban American teen. The international and multicultural elements of this book make it standout from the crop of urban fiction featuring African American characters in American cities.  And Doria’s precocious cynicism will speak to many teen readers. 

These are just a few options, check out this list for more urban titles for high school.