Tandem Insights

Book of the Week: Lady Liberty

In March of 1885, the newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer launched his second fund-raising campaign to help erect the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. The French government was prepared to donate the statue, but a pedestal needed to be built and the U.S. Congress had rejected a proposal to publicly fund it. You can discover the fascinating story behind the Statue of Liberty in Lady Liberty: A Biography. First-person prose poems give insight into the many people who were involved, from the French designers and engineers to the American contractors and advocates like Pulitzer who raised awareness of the project. Through the eyes of those who were there, readers learn how the massive statue was constructed and what its symbol of freedom meant to immigrants, then and now. A helpful timeline and bibliography will encourage readers to learn more. This book is a great picture book choice for older readers. View this book in the Tandem Library Books online bookstore.

Book of the Week: The Willoughbys

The tag along the bottom of the front cover—A Novel Nefariously Written & Ignominiously Illustrated by the Author—piqued my curiosity.  I was hooked by the end of the first chapter. The discussion therein of what to name a baby found on the Willoughby’s front porch sealed the deal. The baby is named Ruth because, as the oldest Willoughby child notes, they “are the ruthless Willoughbys.”

Hand this hilarious book about four children trying desperately to become orphans—while at the same time their parents try desperately to become childless—to fans of Lemony Snicket.

Author Lois Lowry pokes fun at various conventions found in orphan-heavy children’s books, even providing a bibliography at book’s end with amusing annotations for a handful of such books. Her Glossary is also not to be missed for those seeking to suck every last morsel of humor from this book. The nanny she has conjured up is a delight; instead of the horrid, mean type the Willoughby parents were seeking, this nanny is kind and an excellent cook to boot. Naturally, Lowry uses the nanny to take aim at yet another famous character: Mary Poppins. When asked if she is like the sugar- and song-dispensing caregiver, Nanny sniffs back, “Not one bit like that fly-by-night woman. It almost gives me diabetes just to think of her: all those disgusting spoonfuls of sugar! None of that for me.”

Book of the Week: Oggie Cooder

In the past, comments from teachers on Oggie Cooder’s report cards have included words such as “unique,” “quirky,” “one-of-a-kind,” and “marching to his own drummer.”  His peers have been satisfied calling him “weirdo,” “dork,” “doofus,” “dweeb,” and “loozer.”  One description for Oggie readers of Sarah Weeks delightful middle-grade novel won’t be able to deny is leader.  But it isn’t until partway through Oggie’s fourth-grade year that anyone would dare follow this natural-born leader.  What turns things around?  He doesn’t begin to care about the clothes he wears or the games he dreams up.  He’s not suddenly interested in being friends with only the most popular kids in school or what all the people in Hollywood are doing.  It is Oggie’s unusual talent for charving cheese that unknowingly puts him on the path to fame and fortune.  Suddenly he’s the star of Truman Elementary School, his home town of Wauwatosa, and beyond--just being himself.

Oggie’s zany lust for life, along with an interesting story with true boy appeal, will strike a goofy chord with readers in grades 3-6 who have encountered changes and new experiences, as well as worries about friends and friendship.  After spending some time with Oggie, we all can look to the beat of our own drummer for inspiration.

Book of the Week: Pippi Longstocking

November 13, 2007 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sweden’s best-loved children’s author, Astrid Lindgren. Lindgren is best known for creating Pippi Longstocking, the spunky heroine whose adventures are chronicled in three bestselling books. The original English translations have remained in print since the 1950s, but for a new generation Penguin is now offering a brand-new translation. Fans of Pippi will be pleased to know that the new translation is not drastically different from the versions they remember. Scandinavian scholar Tiina Nunnally stays true to the original text and retains Pippi’s hilarious phrasing. Lauren Child’s witty illustrations also convey the essential “Pippi-ness” from the original versions: giant shoes, patchwork dress, and all. Extra attention should be paid to Child’s depiction of my personal favorite character, the monkey called Mr. Nilsson. His big eyes and jaunty cap express his mischievous nature. A large trim size makes this version great for reading aloud to groups or one-on-one.

View this book in the Tandem Library Books online bookstore.

Book of the Week: Grayson

Imagine swimming in the ocean at the break of dawn. Marine life swirls around you as the salty water keeps you floating near the surface. Sounds are amplified while your vision is clouded by goggles and dark water. Now imagine that you realize you’re swimming side-by-side with a baby gray whale...

This is the true account of distance swimmer Lynne Cox’s encounter with the whale she named Grayson when she was seventeen years old. Cox was training at her hometown beach in southern California and was just getting ready to swim to shore when she saw the whale. Knowing it had been separated from its mother and needed to be reunited in order to survive, Cox decided to keep swimming with it until the mother could be found. Spoiler alert: the book does have a happy ending, and in addition to the amazing true story, it is also a fascinating look at ocean life and a testament to the power of human-animal connections.

Grayson is a quick, engaging read and will make a great read-aloud for classrooms and libraries. Readers of all ages will enjoy this remarkable story. Pair it with a unit of study on oceans or marine animals, and be sure to read the epilogue for ideas on how teachers and librarians have integrated it with curriculum.

View this book in the Tandem Library Books online bookstore.

Book of the Week: The Year of the Rat

The Chinese New Year starts February 7, 2008 and goes through January 25, 2009.  First in the cycle of twelve animal signs, the Year of the Rat will be a time of hard work, activity, and renewal.  Some may find it a good year to begin a new job, get married or make a fresh start.

The Year of the Rat by Grace Lin is the sequel to The Year of the Dog and Pacy is not happy about the big changes the Rat Year has in store.  Students in Grades 3-5 will find it easy to relate to Pacy as throughout the year she finds the courage to face up to one change after another.  Near the end of the book Pacy’s attitude towards the Rat Year improves after she chooses to be ‘brave like a tiger’.  By reflecting on the changes through the year that had made her uncomfortable or nervous Pacy finds how much she's grown up during the Rat Year.  What's more, she finds she has the power to shape her own future and appreciate the differences between fate and destiny as well as wishes and resolutions.

What will the Year of the Rat bring for you?

One great book recommendation deserves another and another.  Check out these titles:
Great Picture Book Titles with Asian-American characters 
Great Elementary School Titles with Asian-American characters 
Great Middle School Titles with Asian-American characters 
Great High School Titles with Asian-American characters 

Book of the Week: Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky is powerful take on Lewis Carroll’s well-loved nonsensical poem and a sure fire hit for today’s young readers.  Illustrations come alive in electric color, framing and taking charge of Carroll’s bold verse.

An urban basketball court is the setting for a face-off between an epic challenger and hopeful contender.  Lime green, yellow, fuchsia, red, orange and sky blue text color the mood as the bold young hero takes on the Jabberwock in a game of one-on-one.  Control and thought arm the hero in what should be an impossible match-up versus the fourteen-fingered slam-dunking beast.  Students and teachers in grades four and up will find many lessons in this picture book for all ages: analysis of the setting for Myers’ illustrated interpretation, study of the use of portmanteaux in Carroll’s poem from his novel Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There (1871), or defining words of poems even if they are beyond definition.

Christopher Myers delivers a poem with punch.

Click here to view other books written and/or illustrated by Myers, one of today’s most talented children’s book illustrators.  Included on the list are: Harlem which earned a Caldecott Honor for illustrations, as well as Black Cat and Jazz which both earned Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honors.

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.

Book of the Week: The Arrival

There’s been a lot of talk lately about authors and illustrators from Australia. Shaun Tan, an established artist from Western Australia, offers his newest book this month to an American audience. The Arrival is a stunning wordless graphic novel. (The Arthur Levine version is a reprint of an earlier Australian edition.) The story follows the journey of a man from his unnamed home country to a confusing new world which, despite presenting immense obstacles, offers the hope of a better life for his family. Because there are no words, the sepia-toned drawings carry the narrative, relying on the reader’s interpretations to complete the experience. I think this is what I appreciated most about the book: There are a lot of images and concepts that don’t make sense on first inspection, so as a reader you have to apply your own powers of perception, and you get to take part in the creation of the narrative.

In an essay for Viewpoint magazine, Shaun Tan had this to say:
“I am rarely interested in symbolic meanings, where one thing ‘stands for’ something else, because this dissolves the power of fiction to be reinterpreted. I’m more attracted to a kind of intuitive resonance or poetry we can enjoy when looking at pictures, and ‘understanding’ what we see without necessarily being able to articulate it.”

As a librarian and an avid reader, I’m surrounded by powerful words and their meanings. Reading The Arrival, I felt liberated from the obligation to make meaning, and enjoyed being able to let the pictures speak to me without making up a linear storyline. Questions came up, and my ideas about what was going on were constantly changing. For me, reading this book was a very emotional experience. In a manifestation of the old adage, a picture truly tells a thousand stories.

View this book in the Tandem Library Books Online Bookstore

Book of the Week: Owly: The Way Home & The Bittersweet Summer

Owly is the charming star of these nearly wordless graphic novels for all ages. Being an owl, he finds it’s hard to make friends.  All the other birds, animals, and insects in the forest where he lives run away in fear when he approaches. They don’t wait around long enough to find out that all Owly wants to do is find a friend. Owly makes his first and best friend, Wormy, when he rescues the squiggly little worm from a thunderstorm and nurses him back to health. Even Wormy is afraid of Owly at first. This makes Owly’s big round eyes droop with sadness. But slowly, Wormy comes around, and then the two of them try to befriend some hummingbirds, which turns out to be a little trickier…

Andy Runton’s drawings are deceptively simple, just black and white, but they express a multitude of emotions. You can easily “read” Owly’s sadness, Wormy’s fear, and then Owly’s glee when he finally makes a friend.

And, because one volume of Owly will be nowhere near enough of this cute critter, Runton has kindly followed up with three more volumes that are just as enchanting as the first: Owly, Volume 2: Just a Little Blue; Owly, Volume 3: Flying Lessons; and Owly, Volume 4: A Time to Be Brave. These are the graphic novels to hand to someone who claims not to like graphic novels; the not-yet-persuaded will be won over. I may be exaggerating slightly, but it’s worked with everyone I’ve handed them to so far. (So consider this a handing to…and don’t let me down!)

View this book in the Tandem Library Books Online Bookstore