My Heart Will Not Sit Down

My Heart Will Not Sit Down by Mara Rockliff
Illustrated by Ann Tanksley
Published by Alfred A. Knopf
2012

     It's the 1930's at the hight of the Great Depression in America.  On other side of the "great salt river," in Cameroon, a young girl, Kedi, is at school.  Kedi finds out from her American teacher that people are starving in New York and she knows she must do something to help.  "All day, Kedi thought about the hungry children in New York, America, and her heart stood up for them in sympathy."  Her heart would not sit down until she had found a way to help.  She spent the day going all over her village asking everybody for money to send to America.  Her mother gives her the only coin she had, and Kedi is sad that she has such a small amount to give to the teacher.  But then, everybody she had talked to arrived at school to give the money they had.
     Based on a true story, My Heart Will Not Sit Down is moving and memorable, with crisp text and vibrant illustrations.  In the extensive author's note, we learn more abut the true event: "In 1931, the city of New York received a gift of $3.77 to feed the hungry. It came from the African country of Cameroon."  The note also includes other stories from around the world, of people helping each other across continents.  My Heart Will Not Sit Down is a wonderful read aloud to share in classrooms and inspire students to find a common cause and help.  Beautiful book!

Bandits

Bandits by Johanna Wright
Illustrated by Johanna Wright
Published by Roaring Brook Press
2011

     "When the sun goes down and the moon comes up, beware of the bandits that prowl through the night." Wearing their black masks, the raccoons are ready to sneak around and do whatever they please. They'll go through our trash and they'll steal the fruit from our trees. And then they'll "head for the hills to split up the loot."
     The cast of Bandits, is a family of raccoons that will change the way you look at those nighttime creepers.  After taking the loot, they sit down as a family to have a picnic (using one of the clothing articles they've stolen as the picnic blanket). While the humans are waking up, the bandits are packing up and heading to their hideout, "laying low through the day," reading and playing at home. "But just until the sun goes down."
     The illustrations by Wright are delightful and offer many details to engage the young readers.  Cool group of Bandits. 

Say Something, Perico

Say Something, Perico by Trudy Harris
Illustrated by Cecilia Rebora
Published by Millbrook Press
2011


     Little Perico, the parrot, lives at the pet store.  A woman came to the store, saw Perico and asked if he could talk. She tried to get him to say "Polly-wants-a-cracker", but Perico was thristy so he said "Agua."  Unfortunately, neither the pet store owner, nor the woman, spoke Spanish and they thought he said "opera."  The woman, who loved opera, bought the parrot thinking it would accompany her to a performance that same evening.  As expected, the trip to the opera was a disaster, and Perico was returned to his cage at the pet store.
     The scene repeats with different potential owners.  Everybody misunderstands Perico because they don't know he's speaking Spanish. So he's always returned to the store. Perico, afraid he'll never find a home, starts practicing at night all the English phrases that people have wanted him to say.  Finally, a boy comes to the store and hears Perico speaking English and Spanish and, being bilingual himself, finds him to be the perfect pet.
     Say Something, Perico is an entertaining and thought provoking picture book.  I love the fact that at the end of the story, Perico is valued for being a bilingual bird.  But the road to that resolution was heartbreaking at times, especially when he's called dumb by one of the people at the store, and we see the bird lowering his head, sad and feeling unwanted.  At the end, though, there is a happy ending, and Perico is now considered a "clever bird," by the boy's mother.

     

School for Bandits

School for Bandits by Hannah Shaw
Illustrated by Hannah Shaw
Published by Alfred A. Knopf
2011

     Ralph was very well behaved, with impeccable manners, sweet, and tidy.  Unfortunately for him, that's not what is expected of you when you are a raccoon.  How could he ever become a great raccoon bandit like his Grandpa Cutlass or his Uncle Whiskers? His parents were really worried, so they decided there was only one solution: to send Ralph to Bandit School. With his necktie and peaceful spirit, Ralph didn't fit in at all.  He failed all his classes miserably. He just didn't seem to get the idea, and his teacher Mrs. Mischief scolded him: "Ralph Raccoon! You MUST learn to take things that aren't yours WITHOUT asking.
     At the end of the term, the teacher gave each raccoon a loot bag to fill during the break. Whoever gathered the largest loot, would win the BEST BANDIT IN SCHOOL competition.  Ralph wasn't a bit interested, but when his good deeds around town earn him enough rewards to fill his loot bag, the rest of the raccoons find out that they can learn a thing or two from Ralph.
     School for Bandits is a very witty picture book.  Young readers will love the crazy bandit school and will root for the misunderstood Ralph.  There is plenty of funny details in the illustrations to enjoy during multiple reads. Nice to see a raccoon with a behavior we can stand behind!

Ollie & Moon

Ollie & Moon by Diane Kredenson
Illustrated by Diane Kredenson
Photographs by Sandra Kress
Published by Random House Children's Books
2011

     Ollie and Moon are best friends living in Paris.  "Moon loves surprises, and Ollie loves to surprise Moon."  And the one thing that Moon loves even more than surprises is trying to figure out what they are.  One day Ollie comes to Moon's house and tells her he has a new surprise for her. While trying to figure out what the surprise is, Ollie and Moon take us on a tour of Paris including the metro, a fromagerie (with what looks like a Camembert cheese purchase), a farmer's market, and even a boulangerie.  Each step, gives Moon a new clue as to what the surprise might be: it's round, musical, it has lots of colors, fur, hooves, feathers, it's bright with lights and it spins. Can you guess what it is? And no, it's not "an elephant on a unicycle juggling animals while playing the French horn."
     Ollie & Moon is a very entertaining picture book with two fun and likable characters.  The mix of photographs of Paris (by Kress) with the illustrations on top of them (by Krendenson) works very well and gives the whole book a very cool feeling.  Young readers will enjoy the character's antics, the cumulative tale, and will definitely try to guess what Moon's surprise will be.  Great new friendship to explore in follow up books.

Snow White and Seven Dwarfs

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs translate by Wanda Gág
Illustrated by Wanda Gág
Originally Published in 1938
Caldecott Honor Book in 1939

     In response to the Disney's version of Snow White (1938), Wanda Gág offered a "freely translated and illustrated" Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  Her translation brings back the original darkness of the Brothers Grimm.  In Gág's translation, Snow White is visited three different times by the Queen. The first time she is suffocated by the Queen tightening her bodice until Snow White lost her breath. The seven dwarfs came home in time to cut the laces and save her. The second time, the Queen tricks Snow White into wearing a poisonous comb, but once again, the dwarfs are back in time to remove it from her hair and save her. The third time, the Queen tricks Snow White with the poisoned apple, and when the dwarfs find Snow White, they are unable to identify the source of her malaise and she lays unconscious for years.   They stand watch everyday, while she lays inside a crystal casket, until a prince finds her and begs them to let him take her back with him to his castle. On the way to his castle, one of the Prince's servants who was carrying the casket, trips over a root. "This joggled the casket, and the jolt shook the piece of poisoned apple right out of Snow White's throat. And lo! she woke up at last and was as well as ever."  Snow White and the Prince plan their wedding and when the Queen shows up at the gala, "she was given a pair of red hot shoes with which she had to dance out her wicked life." No kissing and no old witch falling off a cliff.
     I was completely engrossed in Wanda Gág's translation and her wonderfully detailed illustrations.  This is a classic worth revisiting and sharing.

Many Moons

Many Moons by James Thurber
Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin
Published by Harcourt Brace and Company
1943 (Caldecott Medal 1944)

     Once upon a time, there lived a ten year old princess named Lenore.  "Lenore fell ill of a surfeit of raspberry tarts."  The King came to see what could be done to help his daughter and offered to get her anything her heart desired. "I want the moon. If I can have the moon I will be well again." The King called, one by one, his most trusted advisors, but all explained that it was impossible to bring the moon to the Princess.  Only the court jester ends up being wise enough to solve the problem (with a lot of help from the Princess herself).
     Many Moons makes me glad I joined the Caldecott Challenge (I might not have read it had it not been on the list of Caldecott winers). I loved it!  The story is long (I prefer the longer picture books) and truly entertaining...and hilarious.  The list of things/accomplishments that each of the King's advisors shared is priceless: from the most outrageous claims (blue poodles), to the last items on each list which, they explain, were added by their wives.  Also, for those of us that carry Harry Potter on our brains forever, I couldn't help smiling when I came across the Royal Wizard listing a philosopher's stone and an invisibility cloak.
     Here is a little taste of the sense of humor in its pages:

The Lord High Chamberlain was a large, fat man who wore thick glasses which made his eyes seem twice as big as they really were. This made the Lord High Chamberlain seem twice as wise as he really was.

The Royal Wizard looked at his list again. 'I got you,' he said, 'horns from Elfland, sand from the Sandman, and gold from the rainbow. Also a spool of thread, a paper of needles, and a lump of beeswax -sorry, those are things my wife wrote down for me to get her.' 

      Many Moons will be undoubtedly added to my shelf of favorite picture books. Don't miss it!