Strega Nona

Strega Nona
written and illustrated by Tomie de Paola
Simon & Schuster, 1975. 32 pgs.
Reading Level: ages 4-8
Hardcover: $18.99

Annotation: When Big Anthony uses Strega Nona's magical pasta pot the whole town becomes endangered.

Summary: In the tiny Italian village of Calabria, Strega Nona (Grandma Witch) performed all sorts of magical potions for the villagers, but Strega Nona was getting old in need of someone to help her with her house and garden. Big Anthony applied for the job and did fine work, but Strega Nona warned him never to touch her big pot. One day Big Anthony spied Strega Nona making pasta in her pot from the window. Strega Nona sang a song and the pot began making pasta all be itself, then she sang another song and the pot stopped, providing just enough past for Strega Nona. It was magic! Big Anthony was delighted. One day Strega Nona had to travel to a neighboring village and as she departed, she warned Big Anthony not to touch her big pot. But Big Anthony did not obey and as soon as she left he sang the song and sure enough, the pasta started growing like magic. When he had enough, he sang the song to make the pot stop cooking, but he had not seen Strega Nona blow three kisses that day he spied on her through the window. The pasta kept growing, and growing and growing and growing until the entire village was overrun with the thick strands of pasta. Horrified, Big Anthony kept singing the song to make the pasta pot stop, but to his frustration it would not work without the three kisses he had never seen Strega Nona deliver. As the village was about to be destroyed, Strega Nona appeared and realized what Big Anthony had done. She immediately sang the magic song, blew three kisses and the village was saved. But, Big Anthony got in very big trouble and Strega Nona made sure his punishment fit the crime.

Evaluation: De Paolo does a fantastic job turning this Italian folktale into a charming story that readers in the present day continue to enjoy. His illustration style relies heavily on folkart and thus the tale and the illustrations complement each other perfectly. The images are subdued, a bit simple, but so engaging. I love how the strands of pasta curve and wind thickly around the villagers homes and belongings. De Paolo is spare in the illustration details, but if you look closely, the expression on Strega Nona's face as she returns to her village overrun with pasta is priceless.  As one reader relay's, "it is a fun blend of magic, fantasy and adolescent mischief". I have to agree. This title is a classic tale, ever popular and undenyingly relevant, despite it's having been published in the 70's. With a strong moral and excellent drawings, this title should remain a hit for years to come.

Significance: Big Anthony learns there is often a very good reason you are told not to do something and when he chooses to defy the rules he is forced to pay a high price for his disobedience.

Personal Choice: I learned this was one of de Paolo's most beloved books when I was reading about the Wilder award and I had to see what all the fuss was about. I found out it was published the year I was born! Shhh, don't tell--now it has a very special place in my heart.

Awards: Wilder Winner, 2011 / Caldecott Honor Award, 1976 / ALA Notable Children's Book / Kirkus Choice / Horn Book Honor List / Nakamori Prize / Brooklyn Museum & Public Library Art Books for Children Citation (N.Y.)

Big Red Lollipop

Big Red Lollipop
by Rukhasana Khan
Illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Viking, 2010. 40 pgs.
Reading Levl: ages 4-9
Hardcover: $16.99

Annotation: When Rubina is invited to a birthday party, will she be forced her to take her little sister?

Summary: When Rubina is invited to her very first birthday party, (Ami is puzzled as to why they would celebrate the day of your birth) her little sister, Sani, begs to go. Ami tells Rubina that if she wants to go she must take Sani, but Rubina knows no one else will have their little sister there. But, she reluctantly drags her along and sure enough, everyone thinks she is weird. The girls play games and eat birthday cake and are given a big bag full of goodies at the end of the party, complete with a large, delectable red lollipop. Sani gobbles hers up, but Rubina wants to save hers. However, the next morning she awakes to find Sani has eaten most of her red lollipop as well! Life is so unfair and Rubina is very angry. But Ami scolds her and tells her she must share. Later on though, Sani receives an inviation to a birthday party and the girls' little sister Maryam begs to go, creating the same dilemma all over again. Ami says both Rubina and Maryam must acompany Sani to the party, just to be fair. Luckily, Rubina is mature enough to realize this will be tragic for Sani and so she convinces Ami that Sani must go alone as the culture dictates. After the party Sani brings home a big green lollipop and gives it to Rubina as a peace offering and the girls are friends again.

Evaluation: The storyline is wonderful and discusses the hardships, as well as the joys, that having a sister brings. It is especially interesting as the family is Arab-American, with the mother garbed in a hajib and Middle-eastern dress while the girls wear American clothing. There is a bit of culture misunderstanding when the mother decides all the girls must go to a party if one of them is invited. It demonstrates the solidarity of Middle-eastern family life and offers a rare glimpse into what must be commonplace for the author and unusual for an American audience. The illustrations are irresistible, and the cover art is especially eye-catching with its bright primary colors and the red lollipop that covers Rubina's eye is artfully placed. I loved inner cover at the beginning and end of the book with their multi-size circles of all different patterns and colors: poka-dots, stripes, checks and spirals. The colors are bright and fun and Ami's saris are so alluring with their fancy patterns and exotic design. The story and the illustrations work together beautifully to create a well-awarded picture book that's sure to be a winner, now and in the future.

Significance: The story's protagonist is an Arab-American which makes the book a welcome addition to a world that is currently in the midst of turbulent political and emotional battles. The story serves to humanize a people and culture that is often misunderstood and demonized. It's an important work and perhaps our mutual culture's children will learn to understand and accept one another, even when the adults can do nothing but fight.

Personal Choice: Let's be honest, I have a sugar addiction and if it's a book about candy, I'm there.

Awards: Charlotte Zolotow Award Winner, 2011 / Children's Notables, 2011 / Golden Kite Award Winner for Picture Book Text, 2011

April and Esme: Tooth Fairies

April and Esme: Tooth Fairies
by Bob Graham
Candlewick Press, 2010. 36 pgs.
Reading Level: ages 3-8 pgs
Hardcover: $16.99

Annotation: April and Esme are tooth fairies who desperately want to convince their parents they are old enough to collect their very first tooth.

Summary: April gets a call on her cell phone from Daniel Dangerfield's grandmother saying a tooth needs collecting. They fly home to convince their parents they are old enough, at 6 and 7, to collect their very first tooth. Mom and Dad are reluctant, but finally give permission if the fairies are very careful, especially of the new highway. As the fairies spy Daniel's house they scoot under his doorway and follow the trail of toys up to Daniel's bedroom. Uh-oh! Daniel wakes up, but the fairies carefully close his eyelids and whisper in his ear that they are spirits of the air and he has only dreamed them. They exchange the coin for his tooth and fly successfully home, welcomed by mom and dad with lots of hugs and wing crackles. They've passed their first tooth test and are ready for a good day's sleep.

Evaluation: I can't say enough about Graham's utterly charming tooth fairy tale. The mixture of technology and magic is simply delightful as April, a 7-year-old tooth fairy, receives tooth communication orders via cell phone. It's a combination of old and new world magic. The images are nice and whimsical with details that simply charm your socks off. At one point the girls' mother is getting ready and turns her blowdryer up so April can float on the cloud of air it produces. And the toilet has a picture of a chicken on it! I was enchanted by the teapot the girls' mother uses for a bath and the tiny little sink is a beautiful golden thimble. And the humor can be appreciated by adult and child alike; Daniel's tooth has been placed in a cup of water and as the girls leave they go and visit his grandmother, who has her false teeth placed in a cup besisde her bed as well. April reminds Esme that they don't take those kind of teeth, though. Ta-da! And the tiny touches Graham adds to his images add lots of interesting character details, such as Esme's glasses and their dad's hippy-esque ponytail, two things you wouldn't normally expect of fairy creatures. And these fairies hang their collected teeth from the rafters of their tiny little stump home (established in 1691). In essence, it's charming, fanciful and a perfect explanation of just how tooth fairies really work in this day and age.

Significance: Losing your teeth and setting them out for the tooth fairy to collect is a right of passage for all young ones and this story addresses a common occurrence that everyone can relate to.

Personal Choice: I remember when I first learned the truth about the tooth fairy and I wanted to see Graham's interpretation of the "truth". Plus the cover art was so enchanting!

Awards: Charlotee Zolotow Honor, 2011 / Children's Notables, 2011

The Dreamer

The Dreamer
by Pam Munoz Ryan
illustrated by Peter Sis, read by Tony Chiroldes
Scholastic Press, 2010, 384 pgs.
Reading Level: ages 9-12
Hardcover: $17.99

Annotation: Far from being siple-minded, Neftali is merely dreaming up ways to use the beautiful words that he collects.

Summary: Shy and timid, Neftali Perez likes to read books and collect every interesting thing imaginable (including the words which he writes down on scraps of paper and saves in his dresser). However, Neftali is not strong and this, along his constant daydreaming, infuriates his father who runs the household like a tyrant. Neftali and his brother, sister and stepmother all jump whenever the train whistle sounds the impending arrival of this formidable man. Constantly battling his father's demeaning negativity, Neftali continues to dream and to write, winning school contests and penning love notes the neighborhood bully forces him to write to the prettiest girl in the village. A trip to the sea brings further conflict and Neftali is pulled between disgust for his father--who forces the children to swim in the cold, choppy waters until he blows his whistle--and the beauties of sitting on the sand and listening to the waves swoosh out to sea. But Neftali's uncle is sympathetic and a positive role model. As a newspaper man he encourages Nephtali's writing and introduces him to the plight of the native Mapuche people. In the end, despite his father's glowering opposition, Neftali is offered an internship at his uncle's newspaper and his first published essay is only the beginning of a long career for Chile's most beloved poet and politician.

Evaluation: To be successful, a book about the famous Pablo Neruda should be as beautiful as Neruda's poetry. Luckily, The Dreamer is just such a book. In a gorgeous collaboration, Ryan supplies the prose while Sis illustrates the book and introduces three magical drawings done in a pointellist style found at the beginning of each chapter, foreshadowing what is to come. Ryan's prose is rhythmic and poetic and a perfect compliment to the life of Neruda. While the biography is fictionalized, the magic and imagery Ryan use conveys a life of beauty and Nephtali / Neruda emerges as a sympathetic character the reader yearns to protect and champion. In short, Ryan manages to convey the wonder of a inquisitive, sensitive mind and demonstrates that dreaming isn't always a disdainful waste of time.

Significance: The book is a beautiful, magical--although fictionalized--introduction to the younger years of Pablo Neruda and it demonstrates that even with severe oppostition to your goals, if you perservere you can achieve wonderful things. In a society where doctors, lawyers and businessman are trumpeted, it is refreshing to see that the product of dreams isn't always measured by money. Moreover, the book fosters an interest in Neruda that will hopefully lead children to examine the beauty of his poetry.

Personal Choice: I fell in love with Pablo Neruda after watching Il Postino--which tells the story of a simple postman who learns to love poetry as he delivers Pablo Neruda's mail each day.

Awards: Pura Belpre Winner, 2011 / Children's Notables for Older Readers

Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave

Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave
by Lavan Carrick Hill
Illustrated by Bryan Collier
Little, Brown & Company, 2010. 48 pgs
Reading Level: ages 4-8
Hardcover: $16.99

Annotation: Even though he was a slave, Dave the Potter made beautiful pots inscribed with his own special poetry.

Summary: Dave the Potter was an extraordinary slave artist living in South Carolina in the 1800's. This exquisite picture book tells the story of his art, how he took earth and clay, combined them with water and then threw pots large enough to hold more than 20 gallons. Afterwhich, he inscribed them with his short, fascinating haiku-like snatches of poetry. Sometimes he only signed his name but other times he wrote lines such as "I wonder where is all my relation friendhsip to all-and, every nation". At the end of the story proper, the full story of Dave and the making of the tale add a more definitive look into the life of the artist and complement the book's main body.

Evaluation: The book is a must read for anyone interested in the history of African American art. The illustrations are subdued, using darker, muted colors for the most part and exhibiting a layered effect that is visually interesting as well as gorgeously rendered. Dave's face and his hands are life catching glimpses into this man's soul and I loved the fold out pages that let you see the steps a potter follows when creating a pot. It's an important work in that it documents a unique man in history and his extraordinary talent and the illustrations are a triumphant celebration of Dave's life.

Significance: Slaves were normally forced to remain unskilled and illiterate, the fact that Dave was both shows special privilege and  remarkable talent.

Personal Choice: I have a degree in art history and was curious to see Dave's creations and how this author and illustrator team portrayed this remarkable man.

Awards: Coretta Scott King: Illustrator Award, 2011 / Caldecott Honor, 2011 / Children's Notable for Middle Readers, 2011