Audio Book Review: Magic Tree House #33 - Carnival at Candlelight, by Mary Pope Osborne

Bibliographic Information:

Osborne, Mary Pope. Magic Tree House #33: Carnival at Candlelight. New York: Listening Library, 2007.

ISBN-13: 978-0739331309

 

Summary:

Siblings Jack and Annie are two normal kids from Pennsylvania who have a magic tree house that lets them travel through time.  In this adventure, they are sent by Merlin to seventeenth century Venice, Italy to save the grand lady of the lagoon – if they can figure out who that is!  Jack and Annie must work their way through the riddles of Merlin’s instructions and learn to be patient in order to complete their mission.

 

Audience:

Ages 4-12

 

Strengths:

Interesting plot

Good lessons about being patient and following instructions

Unabridged version of the original book, narrated by the author - very true to the original text

 

Weaknesses:

Narrator's voice as Annie is rather obnoxious

Some children may have trouble paying attention to an audio book, having nothing to look at

Some plot points are thin – they’re being sent back in time by Merlin and use magic, why do they have so much trouble accepting that Neptune actually exists?

 

Uses:

Audiobooks in general are a great way for kids who struggle with reading to ease their way into it and learn that books are fun.  Struggling readers could read along in a print copy with the audio book and have an easier time recognizing different words, as this audiobook follows the print copy exactly.

This book is also a great introduction to Venice, as the kids read about the history and layout of the city in their research book, learning about canals, gondolas, St. Mark’s Square, and more.  This could be used as part of a geography or history unit.  Kids could also illustrate scenes from the book in an art class.  It could also be used with an English unit, as the kids spend much of the text trying to decipher the riddles Merlin has set them – children could write their own riddles and have others solve them, or read existing riddles and try and figure out the answers.

 

Read-alikes:

Bailey School Kids series, Debbie Dadey

The Magic School Bus series, Joanna Cole

Time Warp Trio series, John Scieszka

Carole Marsh Mysteries, Carole Marsh

American Girl series, various authors

 

Awards:

None

Song Collection Review: The Care Bears' Adventures in Care-A-Lot

Bibliographic Information:

The Care Bears. Adventures in Care-a-Lot. Kid Stuff Records, 1983. Vinyl.

 

Summary:

The Care Bears are having a meeting in the Hall of Hearts when they hear about a sad boy whose family and friends have all forgotten his birthday.  They bring the boy to Care-A-Lot and try to make his day better through song.

 

Audience:

Ages 2-8

 

Strengths:

Entertaining songs

Songs are simple and catchy enough for toddlers

Good lessons about using your imagination, the power of dreams, and working together

 

Weaknesses:

This recording is out of print and only available as a vinyl record, making it difficult for the average child to access.

Audio quality on vinyl will depend on the quality of the record player used

The performances range from pretty good (most of the bears) to outright terrible (the boy), and no one sounds particularly like a professional performer

 

Uses:

A good introduction to telling a simple story using only sound and music, no pictures.

Ask children how they would feel if they thought their friends and family had forgotten their birthday.

Can be used to teach young children about friendship, working together and sharing with others.

 

Listen-alikes:

There have been many Care Bears records, tapes and CDs that teach similar lessons, including:

Introducing the Care Bears

The Care Bears Care for You

The Care Bears Birthday Party

Care Bears: Let's Be Friends

 

Awards:

None

Graphic Novel Review: Cardcaptor Sakura, by CLAMP

Bibliographic Information:
CLAMP. Cardcaptor Sakura: Volume 1. Los Angeles: Tokyopop, 2003.

ISBN-13: 978-1591828785

Summary:

Sakura is a normal Japanese fourth grader until the day she finds a mysterious book in her father's library.  When she opens the book, she accidentally releases the Clow Cards - mysterious sources of elemental power created by the magician Clow and trapped in the book - and is told by the book's guardian that she must now collect all the cards she let loose before disaster befalls the world.  With the help of her best friend (and costume designer) Tomoyo and the Guardian of the Seal, Kero, Sakura sets off to recapture the cards one by one as they appear in her hometown.

Audience:

Ages 8+

Strengths:

Beautiful artwork
Strong, engaging story and characters
Dynamic panel layouts help the story to flow along at a good pace
Large, clear sans-serif font is easy to read

Weaknesses:

Format (read right to left) may be confusing, especially for beginning readers
Some readers may be put off by the artwork being in black and white rather than in color, as is standard in American graphic novels
Many of the characters act older than the ten year olds they are, which may make it hard for kids of the same age to relate

Uses:

This graphic novel would serve as a good introduction to the Japanese art of manga as well as Japanese culture in general, whether in a world cultures unit or an art class.  Students could also design their own Clow cards and decide what sort of powers they have.  This title can also be used with reluctant or slower readers, as the story is engaging with a lower amount of text than in a normal novel.

 Read-alikes:

CLAMP Campus Detectives, CLAMP
Man of Many Faces, CLAMP
Chi's Sweet Home, Konata Konami
Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi
Babymouse, Jennifer Holm

Awards:

Seiun Award for Best Manga, 2001

Magazine Review: Zoobooks

Bibliographic Information:
Wildlife Education Ltd. Zoobooks. Print.

Summary:

The Zoobooks magazines give children lots of information about a different animal of set of animals every month, from Lions to Insects to Hippos and more!  Each issue covers basic information and interesting facts about the creature in question (for example, the Insects issue talks about the criteria for an animal to be officially classified as an insect) using full color pictures, diagrams and more.  It also includes a section of activity pages for readers' drawings, stories, crosswords, puzzles, craft ideas, and more.

Audience:

Ages 6-12

Strengths:

Lots of pictures and diagrams
Includes activities such as mazes, word searches and craft ideas
Written so that kids can understand the information
Will keep kids' attention with the bright, colorful design

Weaknesses:

Page layouts may be too busy for some readers
Some kids will be too creeped out by certain issues, such as the ones on insects
A list of sources of information is not present, and would be helpful for kids who want to go beyond what the magazine offers each month

Uses:

This magazine is good for getting kids interested in and teaching them about different kinds of animals - how they're classified, how they act, what they eat, and all other sorts of interesting information.  It could be used as part of a science lesson on animals, or as part of a geography lesson on what kinds of animals live in what parts of the world.  It could also be used in an art lesson, to have students use the pictures from the magazine as a model for drawing, or to cut and paste pictures from older copies to make collages.

Read-alikes:                                                        

Ranger Rick
Kids Discover
National Geographic Little Kids

Awards:

Winner of the Parents' Choice gold award 8 years in a row

Video Review: Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension

Bibliographic Information:
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension (In Fabulous 2D). Dir. Dan Povenmire & Robert F. Hughes. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2011. DVD.

Summary:

Stepbrothers Phineas and Ferb, together with their pet platypus Perry and friends, are in the middle of the best summer ever.  What they don't know is that Perry is secretly Agent P, an operative with the OWCA (Organization Without a Cool Acronym) who constantly fights to keep evil scientist Dr. Doofenshmirtz from taking over the entire Tri-State Area.  However, when Phineas and Ferb unknowingly find themselves in Dr. Doofenshmirtz's lab, they help him finish building his Other-Dimension-inator and end up stuck in an alternate dimension where Dr. Doofenshmirtz has succeeded in his goal of city-wide domination.  The boys, their alternate dimension selves and all their other friends will have to use every trick, invention, and good idea up their sleeves to get home safely and save the 2nd Dimension - and their own.

Audience:

Rated G, 6+

Strengths:

Lots of catchy musical numbers
Cleverly written enough that parents won't mind watching with their kids
Good lesson about not trying to grow up too fast and enjoying being a kid
Excellent sound quality, animation and voice-acting

Weaknesses:

May be too scary for some
Might be a little confusing for kids who haven't seen the series, as there are a lot of call-backs to previous episodes

Uses:

One of the major themes of Phineas and Ferb is using your imagination to come up with something awesome - have kids think up some inventions of their own and what kind of adventures they might have with them.
Have kids brainstorm about what their second dimension counterparts might be like.
How would you react if your pet turned out to be a secret agent?  Have kids talk about how it would make them feel, and if they would react like Phineas did.

Watch-alikes:
Phineas & Ferb [the series]
Gravity Falls
Wander Over Yonder
Adventure Time (for older kids)
Spy Kids
Shark Boy & Lava Girl

Awards:

Emmy - Outstanding Writing in Animation 2010 [series as a whole]
Nominated five years running in the Kids Choice Awards for best cartoon [series as a whole]

Fiction Review: Coraline, by Neil Gaiman

Bibliographic Information:
Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.  Illustrated by Dave McKean.

ISBN-13: 978-0380807345

Summary:

Coraline's family has just moved to a new flat a few weeks before school starts.  It's an unusually cold summer and she's bored out of her mind when rain traps her inside.  She goes exploring and finds a door that goes nowhere in a little-used room - until she opens it a second time and it leads her to a mirror version of her home, with an other-mother and other-father that want nothing more than to play with her all day long.  There's something not right in this other-world, however, and it will take all of Coraline's bravery and resourcefulness to save herself and her family from what she's found.

Audience:

Ages 8-12

 

Strengths:
Excellently written
Very atmospheric
Great themes about bravery, the power of imagination and the importance of family

Weaknesses:

May be too scary for some children

Characters other than Coraline are a bit thinly characterized

Uses:

There are several possible uses for this book.  It would serve as an excellent introduction to the horror genre and/or "other world" speculative fiction books.  It would also be a good jumping-off point for readers to practice discussing books.  As they read, children can try and guess what will happen next from the clues given in the story - such as what object Coraline has that will protect her, or where her parents might be hidden.  It could also be used as part of a unit on families and how parents and children relate to one another.

Read-alikes:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There, Lewis Carroll
The Wolves in the Walls, Neil Gaiman
Down The Rabbit Hole,  Peter Abrahams

And a bonus Watch-alike:

Spirited Away, dir. Hayao Miyazaki

Awards:

Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers, 2002.
American Booksellers Book Sense Book of the Year (ABBY) Award, 2003 Finalist Children's Literature
Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla Award, 2003 Winner
Locus Award, 2003 Winner Best Young Adult Book
Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Award, 2005 Winner Grades 6-8
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature, 2003 Finalist
Thumbs Up! Award, 2003 Nominee

(award info from the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database)

Nonfiction Review: How Do You Burp in Space? by Susan Goodman

Bibliographic Information:
Goodman, Susan. How Do You Burp in Space? And Other Tips Every Space Tourist Needs to Know. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013.  Illustrated by Michael Slack.

ISBN-13: 978-1599900681

 Summary:

How do you burp in space?  Not easily!  How Do You Burp in Space? answers this and other questions you may have regarding space travel, including how you would get to space, how hard it would be to get used to living in space, the effect on your body, what you would eat, how you would use the bathroom, and what kinds of things there would be to see and do up there.  Utilizing a combination of real photos by astronauts, illustrations, and diagrams, Goodman gives readers an idea of just what going to space might entail in the not-too-distant future.

Audience:

Grades 3-6
 
Strengths:
Very colorful
Lots of interesting information
Engagingly written
An informative timeline at the end of the book gives readers some helpful context on the space program
There is also a very useful index and list of further reading, split into fiction and non-fiction choices

Weaknesses:
Some children may not understand that space travel isn't possible yet
Sometimes plays a little too loose with what is possible now versus what may be possible in the future
Could perhaps be organized better

 Uses:

This book would be a good introduction to several topics, including the solar system and outer space in general.  It could also serve as an introduction to how astronauts are trained and how space travel works.  Another use could be as a jumping off point to have readers write short stories about their adventures in space travel, using the science presented in the book as background information.

 Read-alikes:

A Trip Into Space: An Adventure to the International Space Station by Lori Haskins Houran
 Space Exploration by Carole Stott
 The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System (Magic School Bus Series) by Joanna Cole

Awards:
Junior Library Guild Selection

Author's Website:
http://www.susangoodmanbooks.com/, book page includes lesson plans to use with this book.

Picture Book Review: The Wall, by Peter Sis

Bibliographic Information:
Sis, Peter. The Wall: Growing Up Behind The Iron Curtain. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.

ISBN-13: 978-0374347017

Summary:

Peter Sis recounts growing up in Cold War-era Czechoslovakia in a mix of pictures, text, and excerpts from his childhood journals.  As a child, he loved to draw, and drew anything that he wanted.  As he grew older and started school, he learned to draw only what he was told, before he learned to question what he was told and started drawing the things he wanted to draw again.  This simple story is interwoven with the much more complex recounting of the political situation in Prague and the world, from the end of World War II to the Prague Summer to the fall of the Iron Curtain.

 Audience:

Grades 3-7

Strengths:

Lots of information
Can be read on many different levels
Excellent use of color as symbolism

Weaknesses:

Too complex for younger readers, while older readers may be turned off by the picture book format
Lots of things happening on every page
Not well suited for read-alouds

Uses:

This book would be great used in history lessons on the time period, especially since schools tend to gloss over life in Soviet Bloc countries outside of Germany.  It would work as an excellent introduction for younger students, as it talks about day to day life, not just the politics - although it covers that as well.  It could also be used as part of introductory lessons on communism and the cold war, more specifically.  It could also be used as an examination of the idea of censorship for younger kids, as part of a unit in an English class for example.

Read-alikes:
Dr. Seuss. The Butter Battle Book. New York: Random House, 1984.
Hesse, Karen. The Cats in Krasinski Square. New York: Scholastic Press, 2004.
Hoestlandt, Jo. Star of Fear, Star of Hope. New York: Walker, 1995.
Raven, Margot Theis. Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot. Chelsea: Sleeping Bear Press, 2002.

Awards:
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 2008 Winner Nonfiction United States
Cuffies: Children's Booksellers Choose Their Favorite (and not-so-favorite) Books of the Year, 2007 Winner Best Nonfiction Treatment of a Subject United States
Cybil Award, 2007 Finalist Non-fiction (Middle Grade and Young Adult) United States
New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Year, 2007 Winner United States
Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, 2008 Recommended Book United States
Randolph Caldecott Medal, 2008 Honor Book United States
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, 2008 Winner United States

(award info from the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database)

Early Reader Review: Little Bear, by Else Homelund Minarik

Bibliographic Information:
Minarik, Else Homelund. Little Bear. New York: HarperCollins, 1957.  Illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

ISBN-13: 978-0064440042

Summary:
Little Bear, written by Else Homelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, is one of the classics of the Early Reader genre. In this set of four related short stories, Little Bear prepares to play in the snow, makes "birthday soup", tries to visit the moon, and asks his mother to tell him a bedtime story. Sendak's classic illustrations flow well with the text and help to illustrate why the Little Bear stories have endured through the decades.

Audience:
Grades K-3

Strengths:
Print is large, with plenty of space between sentences
Illustrations and words work well together to give context clues
Lots of repetition of key words
Uses short words and sentences
Each sentence starts on a new line

Weaknesses:
May be a bit slow or dated for modern children
Four separate stories may be confusing, especially when Little Bear's friends only show up in the second story and never before or after

Uses:
This early reader can be used for children to learn new words and get practice in seeing them multiple times.  Relatedly, early readers are good for learning how to read in general, as the repetition, use of short words and amount of white space makes it easy for children to focus on just the words and understand what's going on.  This is aided by having pictures on every page that illustrate what is happening in the written section, so that the words and pictures work together to help children understand what is going on on the page.

Read-alikes:
Lobel, Arnold. Frog & Toad are Friends. New York: Harper & Row, 1970.
Minarik, Else Homelund. Father Bear Comes Home. New York: HarperCollins, 1959.
Minarik, Else Homelund. Little Bear's Friend. New York: HarperCollins, 1960.
Minarik, Else Homelund. Little Bear's Visit. New York: HarperCollins,1961.
Minarik, Else Homelund. A Kiss for Little Bear. New York: HarperCollins, 1968.

Awards:
ALA Notable Children's Book

Blog Review: Abby the Librarian

Abby the Librarian, http://www.abbythelibrarian.com, is a blog run by Abby Johnson, a children's librarian in Indiana. As she explains, her blog aims to give an idea of the day to day life of a children's librarian, as well as ideas for programming: "I'm also a firm believer that all librarians benefit from the sharing of program ideas, program outlines, and general posts about how things are done at different libraries. I try to give you a slice of life at my library here." She also reviews children's books.

Audience:
The audience for this blog is other children's librarians as well as students who are aspiring to become children's librarians.

Strengths:
Offers varied content
Well-written and informative
Lots of good ideas for all levels of librarianship, from beginners to the experienced librarian

Weaknesses:
It can be difficult to find what one is looking for, especially if one can't remember how it was tagged
Some of the tags are not descriptive enough
Some of the content is a bit thin

Uses:
One really good use for this blog is for students in library schools, especially those who want to become children's or young adult librarians, to get an idea of the day to day life of a children's librarian, something that can be very hard to envision from a classroom. These posts are tagged as "day in the life." The "So You Want to be a Librarian" tab also contains many useful sources on this topic. Another good use for this blog is for current children's librarians, especially those who are just starting out - Abby provides many idea for programming, collection development, and staff development. She also reviews materials with an eye toward children's services (although this is currently suspended, until after the voting for the 2015 Newberry).

Similar Blogs:
Some other blogs that might be of interest to those who like Abby the Librarian are The Adventures of Library Girl and Confessions of a Real Librarian.
A great resource for these and other blogs is the KidLit Blogosphere, which is a curated listing of blogs that focus on children's and young adult's services and materials, including blogs written by authors, illustrators, publishers, and editors as well as those blogging about the field as a whole. Another interesting place to look is Salem Press's list of Quirky Library Blogs. This blog list does not focus on children's services, but several of the blogs listed are focused on children's and young adult resources and services.

Awards:
Abby was recently named a member of the 2015 Newberry committee and was one of the 2011 ALA Emerging Leaders.  The blog itself has not won any awards.