Sunday, March 31, 2019

Where the Heart Is by Jo Knowles


It's the first day of summer and Rachel Gartner's 13th birthday. But this year it appears that her family, including younger sister Ivy, 8, have forgotten. Instead of the usual birthday pancakes, there's a welcoming pie in the oven...for the new neighbors just moving in. Later that night, however, Rachel is surprised to see her birthday wasn't forgotten after all, and that her present is an almost new, better-than-the-old-one bicycle, cleaned, repaired and greased by Ivy. Getting a second-hand present is nothing new, but Rachel doesn't mind. Ever since her mother lost her job as a school librarian, money has been super tight, and bills have gone unpaid, including the mortgage on their home, Bittersweet Farm.

Money isn't the only thing on Rachel's mind. Her relationship with best friend Micah Sasaki has been feeling different these days. Micah has let Rachel know that he would like to be more than best friends, but Rachel doesn't feel the same way. In fact, she's not attracted to any boy and is beginning to think she never will be. Needless to say, things are tense between the two friends.

To help out her family financially, Rachel takes a job caring for the new neighbor's animals, - two horses, two sheep, two goats, chickens, a baby steer named Ferdinand, and a pig named Lucy, the only animal being raised "for meat."

The job gives Rachel lots of time to spend with Micah at the beach, almost always taking Ivy along. But when a new girl named Sierra shows up with Sam, a girl from school, and starts to flirt with Micah, Rachel finds herself feeling angry and sad and doesn't understand why. As the summer passes, she and Micah are invited to parties, but Rachel's feelings become more complicated as she sees her classmates having typical boy-girl fun and fooling around together, causing her to feel more and more different and afraid to admit what it can mean.

To add to her stress, Rachel's parents are fighting more than usual until they are all finally forced to face the fact that the bank is going to foreclose on Bittersweet Farm. It means moving into a small apartment, giving up beloved mementoes, and finding new owners for their pony Rainbow, an elderly rescue Rachel was given for her 10th birthday. But there is a bright spot in all of this for Rachel - a budding friendship with Cybil Jackson, and a clearer sense of her sexual identity.

This is a coming of age story that really explores what it is like when a family has serious financial problems after a parent loses a much needed job and the impact it has on the children. It's an area that isn't really dealt with in quite the same way it is in Where the Heart Is. And the family's economic difficulties certainly might lead you to think this is a story about coping and just getting by. Or that it is a story about loss - of a job, a home, a best friend. And it is all these things, but...

I think it is more of a story about change. For one thing, the book begins on Rachel's 13th birthday, a milestone birthday, one of transition from childhood to adolescence. Over the course of the novel, Rachel's relationship with her sister Ivy changes as she becomes more responsible for her when her parents can't be. And her friendship with Micah changes as he explores relationships with other kids, especially girls, and as Rachel begins questioning her sexuality, and her passing acquaintance with Cybil. But not all change is bad. Consider the name of the Gartner home, Bittersweet Farm, named for the wild bittersweet that grows along their property line, and which serves as a well chosen metaphor for Rachel's life, which is, to say the least, bittersweet.

Where the Heart Is is a realistic novel, and though it doesn't have a big, major conflict, dealing with the constant stressors that are thrown at Rachel is enough. And, I suspect many kids will relate to Rachel's situation and take comfort in her growth as a person.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was a EARC received from NetGalley

Be sure to check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle.

Thursday, March 28, 2019

The Bear, the Piano, the Dog, and the Fiddle written and illustrated by David Litchfield


It wasn't so very long ago, in a book called The Bear and the Piano, that the bear who found a piano in the woods learned to play and became a worldwide sensation. And wasn't it wonderful that his bear friends from the woods missed him and kept track of what he was doing, then welcomed bear home for a visit, reminding him that they were the most important audience of all because they were his friends.

Now, somewhere on Bourbon Street in the brightly lit city of New Orleans, Hector plays his fiddle and Hugo the dog is his biggest fan. They have  spent a lot of years traveling and fiddling, but now Hector feels his act is old news and he packs away his fiddle. But Hugo isn't ready to give it all up. Unbeknownst to Hector, Hugo unpacks the fiddle and learns to play - and his music was toe-tappingly, finger-clickingly, whistle-blowingly AWESOME!

Meanwhile, Bear has decided to put together a band of musical animals and invites Hugo to join them. But even though he supports his friend Hugo, Hector feels mighty jealous. He really doesn't want Hugo to leave, and in his sadness and jealousy, he says some bad things to Hugo, things he is sorry about but  it's is too late to take back. 

Bear's Big Band is a hit everywhere they go. Hector listens to them on the radio, and misses playing his fiddle and making music, and really misses Hugo. When Bear's Big Band has a concert in New Orleans, Hector wants to go, but is afraid Hugo won't want him there. But he decides to buy a ticket anyway. And the music that Bear's Big Band plays is indeed mind-blowingly, toe-tapplingly, finger-clickingly AWESOME! But when Hector feels himself being led out of the concert hall by two security bears, he fears Hugo is still mad at him.

But no, Hugo has a big surprise for Hector, reminding him that they had some good times, some bad times, and some times apart, but that they would always be friends, "[b]ecause good friendship, just like good music, lasts a lifetime."

The Bear, the Piano, the Dog, and the Fiddle is every bit as charming and heartwarming as the first book. Litchfield deals again with the theme of friendship, but adds in themes of sadness, jealousy and forgiveness and all in language and pictures that are totally accessible to young readers. And though all the emotions dealt with are human, the fact that the characters are a mix of human and animal doesn't feel at all awkward and Litchfield cleverly doesn't put words into the mouths of bear or Hugo. I think doing that would have broken the mood he was trying to create and taken this story to a very different place.

Litchfield's mixed-media illustrations are colorful and energetic, just as the music of New Orleans is.

Pair this with The Bear and the Piano for a story time that will certainly please your readers, young and old.

This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was provided to me by the publisher, Clarion Books

Friday, March 22, 2019

Poetry Friday: Daffodowndilly by A.A. Milne


My dad was a Welshman and we always had lots of daffs in the house and garden in the spring. When we were kids, he always called that daffodowndillies, which we loved as kids. And this is my favorite poem about this happy springtime flower. I hope you like it, too.


Poetry Friday is a weekly blogging event in which poets, writers, readers, and lovers of poetry share blog posts about poetry. Poetry Friday is being hosted today by Rebecca at Sloth Reads

Thursday, March 21, 2019

New Kid by Jerry Craft


Here is an honest school story based on author Jerry Craft's own experiences as a new kid of color in a predominately white school.

Jordan Banks, an African American 12-year-old has always gone to school in his Washington Heights neighborhood with his friends. Jordan is a smart kid and a gifted artist and really wanted to go to art school. Instead, as he enters 7th grade, Jordan finds himself in a new school, Riverdale Academy Day School or RAD, a black student in a nearly all-white school in the Bronx.

Mrs. Banks works in publishing and is dismayed at the underrepresentation of people of color in it. She's very excited about her son attending RAD, convinced it will open doors for him, and a chance at opportunities she and Jordan's dad didn't have, and couldn't give him themselves. But Jordan's dad isn't quite on board with it, having left the corporate world to work in the neighborhood community center, and promises Jordan, if he's still  want to go to art school by 9th grade, he will be allowed to.

While being shown around on the first day of school by Liam, a rich white boy, the first thing Jordan notices is that everyone is wearing pink or rather 'salmon' colored shirts. The second thing is that there are very few kids who look like him in his grade. There's Maury, who has been at the school since kindergarten and whose father is a CEO, and there's sophomore Deandre and his sidekicks, who likes to bully the younger kids. And there is Andrew - actually there are two of them, one is a braggy white boy who likes to use black slang thinking it makes him sound cool; the other Andrew, called Drew, is a black student on financial aid and who is, like Jordan, constantly being called by the wrong name by teachers and fellow students. Most of the teachers are white, but there is one African American math teacher, Mr. Garner, who is sometimes mistaken for the football coach by the school's white administrators, even after 14 years of teaching.

Resigned to the fact that he's in RAD at least for 7th grade, Jordan slowly begins to make a few friends and I use this term loosely, settle in. Jordan does worry about drifting away from his old friends from the Heights, but eventually reconnects with his oldest and best friend, Kirk. Slowly, as he is pulled into this school and its activities, Jordan begins to realize he can bridge the two different parts of his life. Throughout it all, he chronicles everything in his sketchbook.

My Kiddo and I were both educated in New York City public schools, in my case right up to my PhD, and I've always taught in public school, so I can't speak to the authenticity of what I read in New Kid, though I do believe that Craft has created a very authentic experience at RAD for Jordan Banks. Jordan is part of a strong, loving family that provides him with lots of support. He has a wonderful relationship with his father and his grandfather, and while the family isn't as wealthy as the other kids in RAD, they aren't living in poverty either. And most importantly, Jordan does not come across as a stereotype.

The story covers the whole 7th grade year of school, a year in which there is not one big conflict that Jordan has to deal with and where he comes out a changed person at the end. But that's the point - it is a year of almost daily insults, of often feeling lost and alone, and of micro-aggressions at every turn. Jordan is a great kid, creative and imaginative, observing everything around him and capturing it all in his sketchbook, much of it done with humor. For example, there's the two page black and white spread of his mother trying to take pictures with a camera using film, or his father's instructions for shaking hands, and how about the one called "Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones But at Least Get My Name Right."

In addition to Jordan, Craft has created a grade full of characters that at first might be seen as stereotypical (and in some ways they are) but, as you get to know them, they also have their own individuality. The teachers, well...hmm, they were painfully awful.

New Kid is a funny accessible book but one that takes its social commentary very seriously. It is a book that will be appreciated by middle grade readers regardless of their circumstances, either because they will relate to Jordan or because it will enlighten them about what it is like to feel like a fish out of water.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL


Monday, March 18, 2019

Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise, illustrated by Paola Escobar


After hearing Anika Aldamuy Denise speak about one of her heroes, Pura Belpré, at the Bank Street Latinx Mini-Conference last week, I knew I had to read her book. And what better place to do that than the place where Pura Belpré had such an immense impact - the NYPL.

Pura Belpré first arrived in New York in 1921, leaving her native Puerto Rico for what she thought would be a to visit to celebrate her sister's wedding, but she decided to stay. Her first job was in the garment factory, but she left that to work in the library.

When Pura came to NY, she brought all the stories her abuela taught her, stories that she loved so much from her homeland. At the library, she discovered there were no stories from Puerto Rico, and decided it was time to change that. 

Pretty soon, Pura was telling her stories to the kids visiting the library, stories about Martina, the beautiful cockroach and Pérez, a gallant mouse.

Later, she made puppets for help bring her stories to life, and soon, more and more people came to hear the wonderful tales Pura had brought with her from Puerto Rico. She began writing down her stories and Pérez y Martina became a book.

This is a beautifully written book about a woman who made such a difference to the children of New York as she told her stories, visiting not only different library branches, but also churches, classrooms, and community centers "planting her story seed in the hearts and minds of children new to this island who wish to remember la lengua y los colores of home."

The idea of planting stories is consistently carried throughout Anika Aldamuy Denise's lyrical text and Paola Escobar's brightly colored folk art style illustrations, with flowers floating over the each of the pages. Scattered throughout the book are Spanish words and phrases, all of which are easy to understand even if you don't speak Spanish. And although this is a biography of Pura Belpré, there is an important subtext at work at well. That subtext reminds us that we don't have to leave our culture behind when we settle in another country, but that we can plant what we bring with us and it will once again thrive.

Back matter consists of an Author's Note (be sure to read that), a Selected Bibliography, the location of the Archival Collections for both Pura and her husband, musician Clarence Cameron White, Articles and Films, suggestions for Further Reading, and the Stories by Pura Belpré Mentioned in This Book.

This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

There is a Discussion Guide for this book, which I can't find online, but have scanned it for your use:

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Hedy Lamarr's Double Life: Hollywood Legend and Brilliant Inventor by Laurie Wallmark, illustrated by Katy Wu


When my sister and I were kids, there was nothing we liked better than to watch an old black and white movie on a rainy, snowy, and/or cold Sunday afternoon. And among the films we watched were more than a few starring Hedy Lamarr. She was a wonderful actor. We never would have guessed that she had led a double life as an inventor and that one of her inventions would impact our lives years later.

In her picture book biography for older readers, Laurie Wallmark looks at both sides of Lamarr's life - the actor and the inventor. Born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna, Austria, Hedy was fascinated by two things as a child - acting and science. She was especially interested in how things worked, discussing them with her father as they strolled around Vienna.

Hedy also liked to see plays, often acting them out at home. When she was older, Hedy became a script girl, and was soon getting small parts in plays. After landing the lead role in one, she was "discovered" by producer Louis B. Mayer, and moved to America with a movie contract and a new name - Hedy Lamarr.

While here, she met George Anteil, a composer and former weapons inspector. Remembering a discussion she had overheard before leaving Europe about a problem with the guidance system for torpedoes, she and George began working together to see if they could solve the problem, getting their inspiration from the behavior of piano wire while playing the piano together.
Hedy and George did solve the problem with a system based on frequency hopping like that used in walkie-talkies, but more sophisticated. They patented their invention and offered it to the United States Navy. Unfortunately, World War II had already begun and the Navy didn't have the time or money to implement the new system, but they did classify it so no one else could use it. Hedy and George must have been so disappointed, but Hedy decided to use her celebrity to sell war bonds for her adopted country, wanting to help defeat the Nazis, who had invaded her homeland Austria. Hedy also volunteered at the Hollywood Canteen, dancing and talking to soldiers on leave and where Friday night were Hedy Lamarr Nights.

And the frequency hopping invention? Forty years after classifying it, it was declassified, the patent had expired so anyone could use it and Hedy and George received no credit for their invention. But Hedy's idea is basically the technology that keeps cell phone calls and text messages private, and allows secure wireless communication between computers and the Internet.
Finally, in 1997, Hedy and George were give the Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation for their invention - Hedy's response to the award - "It's about time." Can you blame her?

Hedy Lamarr's Double Life is a wonderfully inspirational STEM book, ideal for reading now during Women's History Month, or anytime, really. The text describing the development of the frequency hopping system and the complex communication that would then have to occur between a ship and it's torpedo is presented in clear, easy to follow language and illustrations. But author Laurie Wallmark makes clear that this was not the only invention of Hedy Lamarr's, that she was a woman with a creative mind combined with an understanding of engineering. 

The digitally created illustrations are rich and vibrant, reflecting the art of Hedy Lamarr's times, and capturing some of the glamour befitting a Hollywood legend, but without diminishing her intelligence and creativity.

Back matter includes a Timeline of Hedy's life and invention, a short explanation of the frequency hopping communications system, a Selected Bibliography, Additional Reading About Other Women in STEM, and a list of Hedy's movies. 

Hedy Lamarr's Double Life is an entertaining biography that celebrates both the inventor and the actress equally.

An extensive Discussion Guide for this book is available courtesy of the publisher, Sterling Children's Books.

This book is recommended for readers age 7+
This book was sent to me by the publisher.

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

The 2018 Cybils MG Fiction Winner: The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson


Candice Miller, 12, isn't too happy to be spending the summer in her deceased grandmother's house in Lambert, South Carolina with her mom and away from her dad in Atlanta, especially now that her parents are divorced. Candice's grandmother Abigail Caldwell had been Lamert's first African American city manager but her notoriety came from being the person who ordered the town's historic tennis courts dug up while looking for a hidden treasure, a/k/a the Parker inheritance. Needless to say, Abigail lost her job as town manager.

Candice has been missing her friends back home, and the only possible would-be friend is shy Brandon Jones, the 11-year-old bookish kid living across the street. They don't really click at first, but when Brandon is picked on by two boys who get a little rough, he finds himself in Candice's house. With nothing else to do, they head up to the attic looking for books. While rummaging around up there, Candice finds a letter containing the first challenge that began her grandmother's search for the buried treasure ten years earlier, and it was in a box marked For Candice. After the reading the letter, Candice is also convinced that there is buried treasure somewhere in Lambert and she sure would like to find it, then maybe they wouldn't have to sell their house in Atlanta. But who are the people mentioned in the letter: Enoch, Leanne, and Siobhan Washington, and the Allen family? And why did the letter writer want to ruin the Allen family? And why did certain people in Lambert fail to protect the Washingtons and against what? And how could Abigail Caldwell have made right what once went so utterly wrong? Oh, yes, and who wrote the letter in the first place?

Most importantly, how was Candice supposed to find the answers to her questions with only her father's old iPod and not cell phone or computer to connect to the internet? Candice decides it's time to share her discovery with Brandon, and as the two investigate the mystery of the buried treasure, they also begin to become friends.

Candice also has her grandmother to thank for sending her all those puzzle books year after year or was she being primed for this mystery? And then there's her grandmother's guiding words of wisdom: "Just because you don't see the path doesn't mean it's not there." (pg. 28).  The more Candice and Brandon research, the more they discover, and the puzzle surrounding the mystery of the buried treasure in Lambert, South Carolina reveals the the town's racial history of bigotry, segregation, and hate, attitudes that are still present among some of its citizens. So, why would anyone ever want to leave a treasure worth $40,000,000 to this town?

The Parker Inheritance is one of those books that will keep you reading simply because you can't put it down. I love a good mystery and I particularly loved this one because to the way it shows readers that, as William Faulkner once wrote, "the past is never dead. It's not even past," it may just be buried as Lamber had buried its past until two determined, smart kids come along and dig it up, forcing the citizens to finally really look at their past history. As each new puzzle piece is solved, a flashback to earlier times reveals the backstory of those people mentioned in the letter, including the mysterious letter writer.

Candice and Brandon are great characters. Candice's desire to solve the mystery and hopefully save the house she grew up in and her parent's marriage and her wish to clear her beloved grandmother's name are the driving factors for her obsession with the hidden treasure. She is a nicely flawed protagonist, as is Brandon, who is bullied by kids who believe he is gay. The town of Lambert is a third character, a place of hidden secrets under a thin deceptive, decorative veneer just waiting to be exposed.

The interjection of Lambert's history and its treatment of the Washington family give depth to Candice and Brandon's discoveries, and also provides a very realistic picture of what live was life for African Americans in living there. Johnson explores themes of race relations, racial identity, social injustice, preconceived ideas, acceptance, divorce, and sexual identity. This makes it sound like an issue-heavy book, but Johnson expertly keeps a light touch when needed. Also, you may wish to read or reread The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, which gets more than a passing shoutout.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was purchased for my personal library

Friday, March 8, 2019

Under My Hijab by Hena Khan, illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel


Under My Hijab by Hena Khan, illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel
Lee & Low Books, 2019, 32 pages

Little girls love to look up to and try to emulate their mothers and other women they admire, often wearing their jewelry, scarves and/or shoes, or carrying their purses. And why not? These are the women who love them and care for them, and who try to make the world a safe place for them. Here is a book that invites readers into the world of a young Muslim American girl who also looks up to the women around her who follow the teachings of Islam and choose to wear a hijab as part of their daily life outside the home. For young Muslim readers, this book is a chance to see and celebrate who they are, and for non-Muslim readers, it is an opportunity to learn about and dispel some of the mystery and negative connotations surrounding the hijab that they may have heard.

The narrator, a young girl, introduces the reader to the six influential women in her life that wear a hijab whenever they are in public. Each person is depicted on a two page spread going about her usual activities and wearing a hijab. Turn the page, and readers see the same person at home where they do not have to cover their head around family. Her grandmother folds her hijab carefully when she bakes bread at work, but at home she puts her hair up in a bun while she bakes cookies.
Mama, a doctor, tidily tucks her cheerful pink hijab into the white lab coat while at work, but a long braid at home. Auntie, an aritst, wears a silky hijab with a handmade jewel and who would ever suspect that underneath her hair is striped pink and purple. Likewise, the narrator's troop leader Jenna wears a sun hat over her hijab, but lets it hang free while telling scary stories at night in a tent. Stylish sister Zayna wear her hijab in a cute way for school, and at home, the sisters pick out what she will wear the next day, matching outfit to hijab. Cousin Iman knows how to keep her sporty hijab in place while working on getting her first black belt in karate but at home she lets it down while they listen and dang to music. The book ends with a gathering of family in a park, and a gathering of the six women the narrator introduced us to and the young narrator now wearing her own hijab.

Under My Hijab is told in cheerful four line rhyming stanzas and each page is illustrated soft gentle illustrations that really depict the difference in each women and how personality comes through in the way she wears her hijab. I also like the way the illustrations depicts what isn't said in the text. Readers doing a close reading of the illustrations will notice that the narrator's family is multiracial, grandmother and father appear to be black, while other characters have various skin tones. Be sure to read Hena Khan's About the Hijab at the end of the book to learn more about why these head coverings are worn by some women but not by others of the Islamic faith.

This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was an EARC received from Edelweiss+

Monday, March 4, 2019

The Great Grammar Book by by Kate Petty, illustrated by Jennie Maizels

The Great Grammar Book by Kate Petty, illustrated by Jennie Maizels
Candlewick Press, 2018, 14 pages

Today is National Grammar Day, and that means it's a great day to share this completely fun interactive grammar book. Kids can play while they learn what nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions,plural, possessives, punctuation and the sentence are and how and when to use them.

If you've ever had to teach grammar to young kids, you know how quickly just the word can turn them off. Here, however, kids will have fun lifting the flaps, pulling the tabs, and turning the wheels as they learn. Heck, even I had fun playing with this book and I know the different parts of speech.

I particularly liked how the use of adjectives, adverbs and prepositions were presented. These are probably the three parts of speech kids (and lots of adults) have the most trouble with. Petty cleverly uses a  flip book to demonstrate adjectives:

 a lift the flap for adjectives:

 and a wonderful pop-up show when to use the right preposition:
And yes, the prepositions is my favorite because they are harder for kids to grasp. 

Each part of speech in given either a single or double page spread with lots of activity for all of them. Each part of speech is defined and its use is simply and clearly shown. The engaging book takes the struggle out of learning grammar and what could be better than that.  

This book is recommended for readers age 7+
I would like to thank Candlewick Press for providing me with a copy of this book.

Saturday, March 2, 2019

A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks by Alice Faye Duncan, illustrated by Xia Gordon


A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks by Alice Fave Duncan,
illustrated by Xia Gordon
Sterling Children's Books, 2019, 48 pages 

In this beautifully illustrated picture book for older readers, author Alice Faye Duncan celebrates the life of poet Gwendolyn Brooks from 1925 to to 1950. In 1925, at only 8 years old, Gwendolyn was already writing down the rhymes she first created in her head. Many of her rhymes came from standing alone, watching the other kids playing, and the people in her neighborhood going able their business. Her parents realized early on that Gwen was an unusually talented poets and allowed her to skip chores, giving her time to sit on the backyard porch and listen to the sounds of her neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago.

Sometimes, when her poems disappointed her or she doubted her ability as a poet, Gwen would bury what she had written under a backyard bush. Then, one day, she was accused of plagiarism by her teacher. After reading the note the teacher sent home, Mrs. Brooks took on the teacher and together mother and daughter proved her wrong - Gwendolyn Brooks wrote an original poem on the spot:

Forgive and Forget by Gwendolyn Brooks 1928 (age 11)

If others neglect you,
Forget, do not sigh,
For, after all, they'll select you
In times by and by.
If their taunts cut and hurt you,
They are sure to regret.
And if in time, they desert you ,
Forgive and forget.

Point made, don't you think?

Even during the Depression years, teenaged Gwen was allowed to sit and think instead of going out to find work like the kids around her had to do. But Gwen worked hard on her poetry, learning to really love words. Her parents believed she was gifted and so did The Chicago Defender, Chicago's African American newspaper, who published her poems. Soon, Gwendolyn's poems are being published in books and then in 1950, she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her poetry. What an honor and celebration of the child Mr. and Mrs. Brooks had nurtured because they had so much faith in her.

A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks is a beautiful introduction to the life of this great poet that includes not only the author's lyrical text (set off by Roman numerals), but also includes some of the poems Gwen wrote in her youth. This book will leave no doubt that author Alice Faye Duncan is a fan of Gwen's poetry as evidenced in her loving portrayal of the poet. Duncan has really captured her parent's pride in their daughter, and luckily for us, they allowed her to explore and develop her talent.

The text is complimented by Xia Gordon's bold illustrations done in bright pinks, soft purples as well as gold and brown earth tones add to the celebration of Gwendolyn Brooks' life and poetry.

This book is recommended for readers age 7+
This book was provided to my by the publisher, Sterling Children's Books

Friday, March 1, 2019

Poetry Friday: March by John Updike


Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted today by Linda at Teacher Dance, a poet in her own right. 

I don't share poems my young readers and I really love often enough on Poetry Friday, even though we read a poetry all the time. One of our favorite poetry books is A Child's Calendar by John Updike and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman and so I thought that since today is the first day of March, I would share the poem by the same name. Holiday House has just released a 20th Anniversary edition of A Child's Calendar and just in time, our old copy is falling apart. I hope you enjoy this poem as much as we do:

Today is also St. David's Day, and, for anyone out there who are Welsh, I wish you a 

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus
 
Imagination Designs