TE 849, Instructor: Laura Apol
Rating:
2
Lower Elementary
The prairie setting of Dakota Spring is quite incidental to the strained family relationships that are the focus of D. Anne Love's novel. It is through the sensitive awareness of thirteen year-old Caroline that the reader learns of her father, younger brother Jess, and their hardships after the death of their mother. Caroline and Jess, farm children at the end of the nineteenth century, assume more responsibilities when their father is injured. Invited to take care of them is their estranged grandmother, a stern and sturdy woman from Charleston. Abigail's tough exterior melts as she comes to know her daughter through her grandchildren. As Love's characters endure daily life and survival on the farm, a sense of family develops. Love's story improves from an uneven beginning as it continues. The somberness of Himler's ink drawings which introduce each chapter reflect the sparseness and severity of the life which is experiences by love's characters.
Teresa Purvis
Peterson, Chris. Photographs by Alvis Upitis. HORSEPOWER. NP. Honesdale: Boyds Mills Press, 1997. ISBN: 1-5639-7626-9
Rating: 2
4 - 8 Years
This informational book takes a popular children's topic, horses, and casts it in a somewhat different light. There is no mention of race horses or riding horses. Instead, beautiful colored photographs combine with lots of quirky information to describe draft horses and the people who love them. We learn how three powerful breeds of draft horses (Percheron, Belgians, and Clydesdales) are used by people to pull everything from plows to sleighs. This book brings forth a time when horsepower meant actual horses and not the power of an engine. Two cautions are necessary with this book: (1) While the book attempts to develop a narrative with each type of horse, it does not really succeed, and (2) This book is not a serious history of draft horses and why people continue to use them. However, if children love to look at horses in warm, beautiful photographs, this may be the right book.
Blisse Lorenson Adams
Baron, Alan, Author/Illustrator. Red Fox and the Baby Bunnies. NP. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 1997. ISBN: 0-7636-0085-7
Rating: 3
Lower Elementary
Red Fox and the Baby Bunnies is a comical trickster tale about a red fox planning to eat baby bunnies for dinner. The cartoonish artwork, with its heavy line and full color, enhances the story, creating movement and humor to the text. The dark, heavy print makes it easy to read for young children. This book receives a thumbs up as a recommended read!
Pamela Johnson
Rating: 3
6 months - 6 years
Vibrant colors and page-size pictures provide lasting impressions of the alphabet in this picture book! Detailed illustrations and expressive characters captivate readers of all ages, while contrasting light and dark colors seems to radiate from this delightful book. Paintings of the author's favorite large things are labeled in uppercase letters, while favorite small things are labeled in lowercase for each alphabet letter. A large gray "ELEPHANT" holding a small white "egg" against a bright background bearing the letters "E e", is one example of this creatively implemented pattern. This witty and lively presentation is a wonderful way to welcome young children into the world of words.
Lynette Pemble
Voake, Charlotte, Author/Illustrator. Ginger. 32pp. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 1997. ISBN: 0-7636-0108-X
Rating: 2
Lower Elementary
Ginger the cat faces a new predicament when a pesky kitten arrives to share his dwelling. The author's style falls short of meeting the reader's expectations. The theme is one which is familiar to young children and has the potential to appeal to the reader's emotions. However, the plot is shallow and characterization is static while details related to the setting of the story are conspicuously absent. Further confusion for readers is created by the lack of a consistent point of view; while early readers will find even greater difficulty with the inconsistent lay-out of the text on the page. Illustrations are watercolor and ink, and vary in size and amount of detail. Although Voake's knowledge of her subject is apparent is the drawings, her illustrations lack vitality and do little to strengthen the story.
Ali Turfe
Wojciechowski, Susan. Susan Natti, Illustrator. Beany (Not Beanhead) and the Magic Crystal. 94 pp. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 1997. ISBN: 0-7636-0052-0
Rating: 4
7 - 10 Years
The one thing that Beany's know-it-all, have-it-all friend Carol Ann doesn't have is a magic crystal. Knowing that the crystal is good for only one wish, Beany really has to give considerable thought as to what she wishes for. In this charming, humorous tale, Susan Wojciechowski describes a young worrisome girl whose daily adventures are quite funny and familiar to reading audiences of all ages. The pen and ink drawings of illustrator Susan Natti nicely enhance this hilarious account. This story would create the perfect opportunity for children and adults to discuss the everyday growing pains that go along with childhood.
Ann Smith