DANCING HANDS: TERESA CARRENO PLAYED THE PIANO FOR PRESIDENT LINCOLN by Margarita Engle and RESTART by Gordon Korman

 We began our January discussion with our picture book, Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreno Played the Piano for President Lincoln by Margarita Engle (2019). Some of us thought this book was wonderful; and no-one actually disliked it. We all loved the colorful illustrations, and the way that they portrayed the mood of Teresa's story through the physicality and expressions of the characters and the depictions of the scenes. A couple of people were confused by the illustration of the Civil War soldiers, since it was difficult to recognize the difference between the Union and Confederate uniforms. Several of us also noticed the colorful little bird that appeared on many pages, and found it interesting when President Lincoln requested that 10-year-old Teresa play "Listen to the Mockingbird," even though she was miffed by the fact that the White House piano was out of tune, but we wondered why the bird wasn't on every page. Most of us liked the poetic language of the story, but one reader noted that there had been an abundance of similes, which she found somewhat jarring. We all liked the "Historical Note" that was actually shown on the back endpaper and we were all pleased to learn a story about a person about whom we had never heard, and felt that it would be a good story for young readers -- or -- as a read-aloud.

We all had positive things to say about our novel, Restart by Gordon Korman (2017), which tells the story of Chase, a 13-year-old boy suffering from amnesia after a bad fall, who was trying to figure out who he really was: the football-playing bully he had been before or the nice guy he was becoming now. We agreed that the writing, although not literally magnificent, was quite straightforward and accessible for young readers -- specifically middle-schoolers, the target age group. We felt that the story was plot-driven rather than character-drive, and we didn't really feel any true connection with any of the characters. But we did feel that it portrayed the angst and impulsivity of kids of that age as we read accounts by Chase's 'friends' and 'enemies' and learned of the events of his 'before' and 'after' lives. We all knew how it would end, and several of us felt that there were too many scenes to get through before arriving at the satisfying conclusion. We thought it would be a good kickoff for a discussion about bullying and the "nature vs. nurture" issue: could one's behavior really change in a situation like this? One reader who had not heard of Korman before was now eager to read all of his books, and to introduce them to middle-school students...so that is a good thing!

BUNNY'S BOOK CLUB by Annie Silvestro and PRAIRIE LOTUS by Linda Sue Park

We began with our picture book, Bunny's Book Club by Annie Silvestro. We all loved this book for the following reasons: 1) the poetic, flowing, clever, sometimes alliterative language; 2) the warm and loving illustrations which fit the story perfectly; 3) the fact that it was a perfect read-aloud; 4) the titles of the books that each animal chose to check out from the library; and 5) because anything that encourages young children to become readers is a good thing. That pretty much says it all.

For our novel, Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park, we basically all liked it, with a few caveats. Some readers felt that this re-imagining of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder was a bit didactic, as the author tried to 'right some of the wrongs' from the historical series. A couple of readers felt that the language was a bit too sophisticated for the protagonist, Hanna, a bi-racial Korean-American 14-year-old girl who had migrated from Los Angeles in 1888 to the Dakota Territory with her white father after her Korean mother had been killed in the Chinese Massacre of 1871. We loved the stress on the importance of school and reading, and the many mentions of the wisdom Hanna remembered from her deceased mom. We liked Hanna's bravery, her growth as she found her own voice, and learned to deal with bullying, racism, communicating with her dad, and the work it would take to reach her own goal of becoming a dress designer and seamstress for the town in which she lived. We also liked the role of the teacher, who, though seemingly nonjudgmental, ultimately acted in ways that were very helpful to Hanna's endeavors. One reader was enchanted by the title, but then became disappointed that was an "issue book." Some felt that Hanna's 'inner voice' was great, and really felt for her, while others were not moved by Hanna's voice at all and felt that it didn't really come from her heart. A couple of readers thought there were too many scenes that could have been more fully developed. We all liked the Author's Note at the end, where Park explained why she undertook the writing of this story, as well as all of the first-hand research she had done related to Native tribes, their language and culture, and Asian-Americans who settled on the Prairie in the late 1800s. We thought it was an important book, and look forward to a Native American writer perhaps creating another version of this time and place in history.

SCHOOL'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL by Adam Rex and INSIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A CACTUS by Dusti Bowling

We started with our picture book School's First Day of School by Adam Rex (2016). We all had generally positive feelings about this book. We all loved the voice of the newly built Frederick Douglass Elementary School, who was trying to figure out why he was even there. His morning and afternoon conversations with Janitor, helped him to figure out what a 'school' was and what he was supposed to be and do. We liked how his 'personality' evolved, as students arrived and went through their first day, where he also learned a few things, played a couple of tricks on the students -- a fire drill and a water squirt -- and felt empathy for a little freckled girl who didn't even want to be there -- but by the end of the day changed her mind. One reader felt that the beginning and ending were somewhat 'flat' but she liked the middle and main part of the story. A couple of other readers felt that the ending was quite abrupt and unsatisfying. We all liked the illustrations showing a multicultural group of children a lot, and one reader pointed out that reading the book and looking carefully at the illustrations several times made her notice new details in the pictures each time. All things considered, we all basically liked the book and felt it would be a great read-aloud for a new kindergarten class on the first day of school, and could help children to compare their own feelings with those of 'the school' as well as the students in the story.

We had mixed feelings about our novel, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (2019). We felt that it was an important story, since it dealt with the main character, Aven, who was born armless and had been adopted, and her two best friends, one of whom had Tourette's Syndrome and the other who was dealing with obesity. These are areas not frequently handled in most middle grade fiction, and we thought that the story could provide good information for young readers about differences, acceptance, self-reliance,and friendship. But we also felt that some of the text that described the kids' different situations was a bit too 'explanatory' and didn't add much to the emotional feeling of the story. We all agreed that this story's strength was in the characters -- not the plot. One reader was disappointed that it was not really about a cactus, but she kept reading it anyway. We felt that as a story, the plot lacked moments of real excitement or intrigue, even though there was a mystery that the main character, Aven, wanted to solve, and even when she solved it, there was minimal emotion, and it almost didn't really matter. We all agreed that the plot could have been developed better, and that it could have been a 'dynamite' book -- but, sadly, it wasn't.

 

TODOS IGUALES/ALL EQUAL--A Ballad of Lemon Grove by Christy Hale and SCARY STORIES FOR YOUNG FOXES by Christian McKay Heidicker

We began our October discussion with Todos Iguales/All Equal -- A Ballad of Lemon Grove by Christy Hale (2019), the story of the first successful school desegregation case in the United States in Lemon Grove, CA in 1921. We all agreed that this narrative of Roberto Alvarez -- an excellent student -- who, along with his other Mexican-American schoolmates was denied access to the local public school, and sent instead to an "equal" (but actually quite inferior) school for Mexican students, was an important story that had to be told. We felt that it was a good companion to a book about a similar case in 1947, involving Sylvia Mendez in Westminster, CA, Separate is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh. We loved the illustrations which were brightly painted and reminiscent of the labels on the wooden crates of citrus fruits that were used in the 1920s-1940s. We also liked the pictures of the various children, and especially liked the several pages of  'Back Matter,' which presented photos of the actual people involved, more details about the case, the school board, the judge, the decision, maps, quotes, etc. What we felt was missing from this book was emotion...it was told in alternating sections of English and Spanish in a very straight-forward journalistic manner, and attempted to include too many details, while neglecting any real evidence of the feelings of the children (and their parents) involved in the lawsuit, which they finally won. We were also a bit confused by the fact that the book was based on a Corrido -- a traditional Mexican-style ballad about a historical event -- the music and lyrics of which  were produced in their entirety on the first two pages, but never mentioned again. We wished that the text of this important book had been wonderful and compelling, but we were still happy that it had been created, and we felt it had an important place in classrooms, both in 3rd-5th grade, and even in middle or high school when the issue of school desegregation was a topic of discussion as a part of the Social Studies curriculum.

Our feelings about Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker ran the gamut from, "I loved it" to "I couldn't finish it." Readers who loved it loved everything about it: the writing, the fact that -- although a fantasy -- it depicted descriptions and facts about the behavior of actual foxes and the places where they live, and its connections to human emotions. Other readers felt it was hard to get 'into' it due to the confusing multitude of characters, the seemingly disjointedness of the events and hopping around between genres. A couple of readers who were normally not fans of any type of horror story were completely turned off by some of the violence, and couldn't even continue reading. We felt that there would be young readers who would probably love it -- either because they love animal stories or scary stories or both, but that it wasn't a book for every reader.

BROWN ANGELS by Walter Dean Myers and THE VANDERBEEKERS OF 141st STREET by Karina Yan Glaser

We started with our picture book, Brown Angels by Walter Dean Myers (1993). The book presents many black-and-white or sepia-toned photos of African-American babies and young children that appear to have been taken in the early 20th century. Myers began purchasing these photos in second-hand stores years ago, and had amassed a collection of thousands when he was inspired to write poetry for several of them and combine them in an album-like book. We all loved the photos showing beautiful children in their Sunday-best as they probably posed for professional photographers. We felt that each photo had a story to tell, but that, sadly, Myers -- brilliant writer that he was -- fell a bit short when it came to poetry. We did single out two that we liked: "Pretty Little Black Girl," -- a counting rhyme -- and "Jeannie Had a Giggle," which was humorous, but very real. We weren't sure that young readers would relate to the rest of the poems, since their observations seemed much more adult-like. We thought that young readers today would probably enjoy looking at the photos, and that in a classroom setting it might be fun to have students write their own poetry or stories after seeing them.

We had mixed feelings about our novel, The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (2017) by Karina Yan Glaser. We all agreed that it was a very 'old-fashioned' book, reminiscent of The All-of-a-Kind Family or Little House on the Prairie, and that factor was a plus for some readers and a minus for others. A couple of us loved this story of a family of Mom and Dad and five children: Jessie and Isa,12-year-old twin girls; Oliver, 9; Hyacinth, 6; and Laney, 4 3/4. The family was losing their lease of their dad's childhood brownstone home in Harlem (NYC) by their seemingly grouchy landlord, Mr. Beiderman, who was feared by all. As the children tried various plans to circumvent this dire situation, five days before Christmas, they became individuals -- each with their own quirks -- and there were several plot twists that brought out each of their personalities as well as those of their parents. Everyone agreed that once they 'got into' the actual story there was suspense, and even though we knew the family would probably be able to stay in their house at the end, there were several surprises before that was actually assured. But some readers felt that the language was just too old-fashioned, and that even though the story takes place sometime after 2007, it just wouldn't grab the interest of today's kids in the 9-13-year-old reading crowd. Some felt that there was a disconnect between the language of the narrative and the way kids actually talked during the time of the story. We basically agreed that it was definitely a very 'wholesome' story and that it was great that the children were given space to figure things out and to solve their problems without hovering parents. Another issue was the fact that this seemed to be an interracial family, but that was never really clearly dealt with, which seemed unrealistic, given the time and the place. Some readers felt that this story could have taken place anywhere; and even though it was in Harlem, in New York, they really didn't get a feeling of that from the story. We learned that this book is the first in a series, and that three sequels follow. Some will read them; some will not. This discussion was a great example of why the differences in opinions and reactions to books makes our group so interesting and fun!

BIG PAPA AND THE TIME MACHINE by Daniel Bernstrom and THE OLD TRUCK by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey

At our last meeting we discussed Big Papa and the Time Machine by Daniel Bernstrom (2020) and The Old Truck by brothers Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey (2020). We realized that these two books had many things in common: Each dealt with three generations of an African-American family; each had a vehicle that made imaginary trips; each dealt with the strength and persistence of particular family members.

But the books were quite different. 'Big Papa's' strength was shown in the title character -- a grandfather -- who, while driving around Chicago with his grandson who was afraid of starting school, recounted various events in his life, and emphasized that every time he was scared, he also realized that he was brave. Their magical car went back to Arkansas, 1952; Chicago, 1955 & '57; Chicago, 1986; and Arkansas, 1941. In each instance, Big Papa recounted his fear, and how what he had learned had made him brave.The lyrical writing and the conversation between the two of them was a pleasure to listen to aloud. The emphasis on learning from life and in school were evident throughout. We all agreed that the strength of this story was in the language, but  we also liked how the 'historical' parts were shown in dreamlike/foggy/pastel colors, while the 'today' parts were in bright colors. We all felt the book was a 'hit'!

The Old Truck was completely different. In this book, the illustrations tell the story. The very spare, simple, straightforward text only works well if one can clearly see the illustrations, which were made using 250 different ink stamps in various combinations to create a farm through three generations of one family, where a red truck is used, discarded, and then brought to life and used again through the ingenuity of the last daughter. Here the strength was shown in the young girls who became women who continued the work of the farm. Sadly, the text was not a thrilling read-aloud, and since everyone did not have a copy of the book in hand, the illustrations did not come through well in a Zoom situation. We agreed it could be used with a small group of children who could see the pictures closely, and on each double-page spread there was much to notice and discuss. Although a wonderful story, it had to be seen closely to be properly understood and enjoyed.

FEARSOME GIANT, FEARLESS CHILD by Paul Fleischman and THE TABLE WHERE RICH PEOPLE SIT by Byrd Baylor

We had a small but engaged group for our July (and third) Zoom meeting. It appears that we are all getting used to this way of meeting, and learning new things each time about how it all works.

One of our members read aloud: Fearsome Giant, Fearless Child: A Worldwide Jack and the Beanstalk Story by Paul Fleischman (2019). It is an interweaving of archetypic characters and motifs of JandtB from around the world. The book turned out to be a less-than-wonderful read-aloud because the beautifully colored illustrations are such an important part of the story, and must be viewed closely for best impact. Each page contains a small (usually 4"x6") box with a scene that illustrates the accompanying text, framed by wide 2-colored border art containing the name of the country depicted and motifs of that country as well as symbols related to that part of the story. Without being able to see these beautiful illustrations closely and clearly it was difficult for the listeners to really "get" the author's intent. We all loved the concept and the weaving together of different cultures showing the parallel developments of the story from each place. We also loved the end papers of the book which presented a flat map of the world, which pinpointed the locations from which the parts of this story originated. And we loved the idea of the illustrations when we were able to see close-ups of a few of them that were available online. However, as for the story itself, we unanimously agreed that it might not work well with young children if they were not completely aware of the original JandtB story and its variations. We felt that jumping around from place-to-place/story-to-story was somewhat confusing. However, those of us in education felt that it would be very helpful to use with kids after they had heard various iterations of the story, and they could then compare the various elements depicted from one place to another. We also thought the end paper maps would be very helpful in discussing how fairy tales changed from one location to another.

One member called our attention to a book The Table Where Rich People Sit by Byrd Baylor (1998). It's the story of a young girl who is unhappy about her family's lack of money as they sit around their old raggedy kitchen table. But as they all talk together, she discovers that actually they DO have many riches -- those provided by the natural world around them. We felt that this is a good book for these times, when there is a lot of "stuff" that we suddenly DON'T have, but there are still plenty of wonderful things all around us that can bring us joy and contentment.