Children's Book Reviews: Week of 6/11/2007

When one of her little piggies wants potatoes, Mamma is willing to oblige in this husband and wife collaboration, a debut for the author. Two other siblings and then Pappa arrive on the scene requesting potatoes as well, so Mamma enlists them as peelers (the piggy children use the detritus to create a wig of potato peelings for their very patient father). Then three friends drop by, so Mamma increases the number of potatoes to nine, adding “one for good measure/Splash!/ In goes number ten!” Children may have trouble keeping track of whether they ought to be counting pigs or potatoes, but ultimately it doesn't matter much: Christopher Denise's (The Wishing of Biddy Malone) acrylic and charcoal pictures are the main draw here. With soft, smudged colors and a keen, loving eye for domestic detail, the illustrator makes readers feel instantly at home in this porcine household. He has a gift for communicating the smallest gesture or subtlest emotional nuance, whether it's the thoughtful way Mamma regards a recipe or her boiling pot or the impish flip of a piggy hand as it sends a potato peel flying into the air. Even after youngsters are adept at counting to 10, they'll find much to cherish here. Ages 2-up. (June)

This handsome volume offers a charming interpretation of the 1960s folk song, written by Yarrow and Lipton and famously recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary. Featuring a soothing palette highlighted by greens and blues, Puybaret's graceful acrylic on linen paintings are intermittently misty and sunny. Echoing the gentle cadence of the song, the sweeping landscapes and seascapes reveal Honalee to be a magical place indeed, with faces appearing on trees, flowers and rocks. Other whimsical flourishes include the book's affable ancillary characters, including diminutive winged fairies and red-and-white striped dolphin-like critters that wear graduation caps. There is, of course, the inevitable somber moment when “One gray night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more,/ And Puff, that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar”; the dragon gazes wistfully upon the departing boy and then slips sadly into his cave. But at the creative hand of Puybaret, a French illustrator who here makes his American publishing debut, the song's potentially sad denouement takes an uplifting turn. As the chorus is repeated one final time, the delighted Puff spies a girl approaching—ostensibly Jackie's daughter—a new friend to frolic with in the autumn mist. Youngsters concerned about the fate of Puff's first playmate will be comforted to see a smiling, grown-up Jackie looking on. Adding to the appeal of the book is a CD presenting a new recording of the song (and two others), sung by Yarrow and his daughter Bethany, accompanied by cellist Rufus Cappadocia. An impressive performance all around. Ages 3-7. (Aug.)

This wordless sequence of comic panels, the first in a planned Bow-Wow Books series, is an eminently charming and surreal twist on what might otherwise be just another of the dog days of summer. Garbage Pail Kids creator Newgarden and Cash (What Makes the Seasons?) create a kind of silent feature, composing each orderly panel with a beefy black line and saturated digital colors. Bow-Wow himself, a golden-yellow terrier, has oval-dot eyes and an expressive brow that convey a broad range of emotions as he goes about his day. The action centers on his pursuit of a pesky black bug, which hops to the edge of his dog dish in the morning. With his nose to the ground and brow furrowed in concentration, Bow-Wow tracks the bug down the sidewalk where, in swift succession, gags pile up and absurdities bloom. Bow-Wow encounters a Doppelganger and the duo (as well as their respective insects) engages in an increasingly zany series of mirrored movements. Bow-Wow then meets an enormous lookalike who has been pursuing an equally oversize insect; when Bow-Wow flees this pair of behemoths, he rounds a corner to find a wild convoy of dogs sniffing after bugs. (Turning yet another corner, he is stunned to discover an array of giant insects chasing after minuscule dogs.) Newgarden and Cash use a varied layout of panels to great effect (three spreads are dedicated to close-ups of Bow-Wow's blinking disbelief as the enormous creepy-crawlies charge toward him), making this outing, which in less skilled hands might have read like a Sunday comic strip, feel enormously fresh and modern. Ages 3-7. (June)

Caldecott Honor artist Isadora (Ben's Trumpet) offers a visually vibrant version of this Hans Christian Andersen classic, which she sets in Africa. Created with oil paints on printed and palette paper, the stylized collage-like art features an array of rich hues and intricate patterns. The spare narrative introduces a prince who travels the world in search of a “real princess” to marry. Readers see the hopeful fellow greeting three princesses, each of whom says hello in a different African language (translated at tale's end). Alas, “there was something about each princess that was not quite right, so the prince came home again and was sad.” One stormy evening a woman who claims to be a real princess arrives at the royal family's gate. After a pea is placed under 20 mattresses and 20 feather beds—in a variety of cheerful fabrics—the guest climbs a ladder to the top layer. After a sleepless night, she announces that she's “black and blue all over.” A festive, flower-strewn spread reveals the prince and princess marrying, after which the portentous pea is seen on display in a museum, resting atop an elephant statue's raised trunk. An innovative interpretation of a timeless tale. Ages 3-up. (June)

In a picture book well suited to families on the go, a young swallow who “couldn't get the hang of” flying migrates via jet. Louie, a wide-eyed black bird with crescent-moon wings and a white breast, enjoys watching planes through binoculars. But rather than take wing, he “always felt much chirpier playing hopscotch or flying his kite.” The situation doesn't improve when falling leaves herald the coming winter. “Too bad you can't fly like normal birds,” Louie's father grumbles when the family leaves Louie and his red suitcase at the airport for his southbound journey, as the rest of them begin their more traditional migration. One of the book's funniest images is the flight-challenged bird sleeping on his back in a red airplane seat, wearing oversize headphones. A mishap involving his round-trip ticket and a hotel balcony finally makes Louie soar (and introduces him to a genuinely terrestrial penguin at the zoo). First-time children's author Morison tells Louie's story with gentle humor and a clear flair for all things retro: nearly devoid of contemporary reference points, this is a book that feels as though it's been around for decades. Morison's illustrations exude a 1960s vibe with images that seem faded by time; watercolor washes of faint blue and pale peaches and pinks contrast with supple, jazzy pencil lines. Though this story breaks no new ground, it brims with charm that should attract devotees. Ages 4-7. (June)

McCarthy (Aliens Are Coming!) mines history in this profile of bodybuilder Charles Atlas. As a boy, Italian-born Angelo Siciliano arrives in a Brooklyn neighborhood of “Irish, Jewish, Polish, and Italian immigrants. Life on the streets was tough” for the puny lad. McCarthy pictures the quintessential moment when the “98 pound weakling” gets sand kicked in his face on the beach at Coney Island, although her onomatopoeic “Splat!” fails to convey sand's grit and the teasing bully in his Chaplin-era two-piece swimsuit is none too scary. Slender Angelo takes to admiring Greek heroes; inspired by watching a zoo's muscular lion, he develops his own fitness regimen. Before long, a friend compares him to an Atlas statue, bestowing “a new name for a new body!” McCarthy's acrylic portraits of Atlas emphasize big soulful eyes, a happy grin and ballooning muscles; a closing “Try It Yourself!” section recommends exercises for interested readers. Much is made of Atlas's being named “The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man,” yet given his notable transformation, McCarthy's cartoonish portrayal hardly seems to do his accomplishments justice. Additionally the paintings of physical activity have a listless, static quality; the immobile characters barely appear to exert themselves. But the story of how Atlas inspired millions worldwide to live healthier lives is captivating in itself—eager readers can find additional historical details in a comprehensive endnote. Ages 5-8. (June)

Newbery Medalist Perkins's (Criss Cross) latest picture book centers on a child's summer visit to her grandparents' farm, though drolly humorous moments throughout will ring familiar to anyone who has embarked on a family vacation. As they set out, the narrator's mother gives her and her brother instant cameras and notebooks to hold the photos they take. The sights from the car are hardly scintillating (“Once in a while there was a bridge or some cows”), but the narrator busies herself imagining an elaborate motel she'd like to own someday. Arriving at the farm, “Our dad saw happy memories everywhere he looked. All we could see was old furniture and dust.” A game of badminton with warped racquets is interrupted by rain that lingers for days. When at last the sun shines, the family, after one thwarted attempt, finally finds a place to swim—and then a storm strikes. Though Perkins seems to be setting readers up for a dramatic about-face in the narrator's attitude, the gaggle of extended family that descends for a relative's memorial service may strike some as too little too late. But for the narrator, this interlude is sufficiently rewarding that she doesn't feel the need to snap photos (“it's hard to take a picture of a story someone tells, or what it feels like when you're rolling down a hill or falling asleep in a house full of cousins and uncles and aunts”). In the warmhearted conclusion to this homespun tale, which Perkins has illustrated with brightly hued, detailed pen and ink and watercolor pictures, she wisely observes, “those kinds of pictures I can keep in my mind.” Ages 5-8. (May)

A mother and daughter's homegrown relief effort, which spanned a year and a half and aided numerous German families after World War II, is the subject of Judge's debut picture book. Judge's lyrical prose tells the true and poignant story of her grandmother and mother's endeavor to find shoes, clothing and foodstuffs for hundreds of Germans devastated by the war. When Judge's grandmother receives a letter from German friends describing their poverty, she sends them a Christmas package and promptly receives back additional requests for help. These appeals for assistance often include tracings of feet (sometimes cut from German newspapers) so that shoes might be found to match. “The men fought their battles during the war./ Now Mama and I fought our own battle./ A battle to keep families alive.” The young daughter's narration offers a child's perspective on the tragedies and hope of the era, making the story especially accessible to young audiences. Softly rendered watercolor bleeds portray the quiet emotions of mother and daughter, often in close-ups, as they match donated shoes to the tracings or call upon neighbors to help. Photographs of some of the actual tracings and of several families who were helped are included in endpaper collages. The book is a powerful testament to one family's ability to affect the lives of hundreds. A concluding author's note describes the lasting friendships this goodwill effort fostered. Ages 5-9. (July)

The namesake of the fifth day of the week gets a fresh look in this compilation of Thor stories by Lunge-Larsen (Noah's Mittens). The Norwegian-born author drew upon the tales of her youth in putting together this collection that features the revered Thunder God. The opening sentence explains his stature: “The Vikings worshiped many gods, but Thor was their favorite because he was the biggest, strongest, and bravest. He kept everyone safe from the evil giants.” The ensuing eight stories detail Thor's family, the origins of his strength and some of the battles he fought, as well as relate a few of the humorous pickles the mighty god found himself in, such as when he had to dress as a bride to get back his stolen battle hammer. Despite the book's length and a sprinkling of Norwegian words (a glossary is given at the end), the conversational narrative reads easily, providing enough details about each character to avoid confusing audiences. Madsen's (Call Me Little Echo Hawk) majestic digitally rendered illustrations bring the tales to life, echoing their humor, with many characters portrayed in caricature. While some scenes resemble lush oil paintings (including a spread of giants stalking the land against an imposing purple mountain backdrop), others (such as bits of spot art that capture a character's emotion or introduce a new setting) could pass as animation stills. These retellings offer an accessible and engaging doorway into the world of Norse mythology. Ages 6-10. (June)

First-time novelist Gardner reinvents the Pied Piper story, imbuing it with plenty of charm. Storm lives with her parents, absent-minded dreamers who “had simply used up all their love on each other and had none left to spare for her.” Older sister Aurora is the de facto head of the house and they are soon joined by baby sister Any (short for Anything). On her deathbed, Storm's mother gives her a tin pipe, with an admonition to “use it wisely and only if you have desperate need.” Meanwhile, the villagers are fed up with a profusion of rats, and a sinister man named Dr. DeWilde is called in to solve the problem. Before long, Dr. DeWilde shows up at the girls' house—where they now live alone, their father having fled the scene—demanding the pipe, which Storm refuses to relinquish. The girls escape into the woods where a series of misadventures separates them from Any; they learn that their sister is being taken to Piper's Peak, where children “become slaves in the Piper's kingdom.” As the girls attempt to rescue Any, Storm learns the pipe's real value, and the doom it would spell should it fall into the evil doctor's hands. Gardner has crafted a fast-paced and entertaining adventure filled with cheeky humor and wordplay; even if the book's playful tone precludes the possibility of a dread ending, it's a blast of a journey. Ages 8-12. (June)

Krulik (the Katie Kazoo Switcheroo series) treads on tried-and-true turf in the first installment of the How I Survived Middle School series, but does so credibly and affectingly. Having read the middle school handbook cover-to-cover, likable narrator Jenny arrives on the first day of sixth grade confident that she knows the ropes. And she's wearing a t-shirt from the sleepaway camp she attended over the summer—how cool is that? Not in the slightest, she realizes, as she spies her best friend Addie sporting a stylish, sophisticated outfit (“Middle School Rule #1: A big green t-shirt with a lizard on the front is not mature”). Things go downhill from there: searching for the cafeteria, she gets “punked” by eighth-graders who give her directions to a nonexistent elevator, and she eats the lunch she's brought from home (another faux pas) in a phone booth while pretending to chat on the phone after Addie abandons her for the popular crowd. Readers will cringe at—and sympathize with—Jenny as her earnest attempts to fit in with Addie's new gang fail miserably. But a group of warm, independent-minded kids befriend her, raising her spirits and self-esteem and helping her gain perspective on Addie's snobby, superficial clique. Also guiding Jenny through the middle school quagmire is a Web site she discovers, www.middleschoolsurvival.com, which contains school- and friend-related quizzes (Scholastic will supply an actual Web site at this address). Jenny and Addie vie for the class presidency in Madame President, due out this month as well. Ages 9-12. (June)

Launching the Al's World series, this madcap tale introduces an unlikely—and rather reluctant—hero. Al, who boasts a “firm C-minus average” and futilely attempts to hide the “zit the size of Mount Fuji” on his forehead, is waiting for the school bus with his amusingly air-headed friend, Keith, when a man dashes by and knocks him down. At school, Al discovers a flash drive in his jacket and concludes that the fellow (who, unbeknownst to Al, is a government agent) slipped it into his pocket when they collided. When Al asks a computer-whiz classmate to decode the encrypted information on the drive, the boy refuses to divulge what he discovers (“You don't want to know, man”). As it turns out, the drive contains schematics for every U.S. waterway, and terrorists are determined to get their hands on it. In a dark twist that Leonard's slapstick style manages to leaven, terrorists run Al's school bus off the road, after which the agent arrives in a helicopter and a showdown ensues. Amidst the chaos, Al, in a fittingly frivolous turn, hides the flash drive by sticking it in an olive loaf in a deli, emerging as a hero for “twenty seconds,” in his words. Studded with throwaway gags and goofy repartee between Al and Keith, this will appeal to boys who like their fiction with a silly streak. Al gets a shot at another 20 seconds of fame in Killer Lunch Lady, due out this month too. Ages 10-14. (June)

At the start of this witty, quick-moving tale from the Newbery author, a 12-year-old receives an unexpected birthday present from his grandmother: his late grandfather's riding lawn mower. Since his family's lawn is postage-stamp size with grass that “never seemed to grow enough to need mowing,” he's initially unsure what to do with the machine. But he soon realizes that he can earn money mowing neighbors' lawns—perhaps even enough to buy a new inner tube for his bike. As the young entrepreneur's lawn-mowing business booms, he sees green in more ways than one, making enough money to buy countless inner tubes and learning a lesson about capitalism and investing. His teacher, a colorful ex-hippie named Arnold, is a down-on-his-luck stockbroker who brokers a barter deal with the lad, offering to invest his earnings for him in exchange for grass-cutting services. Repeatedly remarking how “groovy” Lawn Boy's success is, Arnold instructs his young pal in the rules of the business road, humorously reflected in Paulsen's chapter titles (such as “Capital Growth Coupled with the Principles of Production Expansion” and “Conflict Resolution and Its Effects on Economic Policy”). Adding further wry dimension to the plot are a tough-talking thug who threatens to take over the kid's business, the prize fighter whom Arnold (through another investment) arranges for Lawn Boy to sponsor, and the boy's delightfully—and deceptively—dotty grandmother, who gets the novel's sage last line: “You know, dear, Grandpa always said, take care of your tools and they'll take care of you.” Readers will find this madcap story a wise investment of their time. Ages 10-up. (June)

Avi lifts a few facts from Charles Dickens's biography to spin this action-packed tale of secret identities, double-dealing and betrayal, set in mid-19th-century London. John Huffam (the middle names of Charles J.H. Dickens) is 14, reluctantly attending Muldspoon's Militantly Motivated Academy, when his father (like Dickens') is sent to debtor's prison. His mother is a layabout who does nothing but complain of her husband's fecklessness, and his sister's sole concern is how this family crisis impacts her marital prospects. It's left to John to unravel a mystery involving a military invention that his father, a naval clerk, has information about and a web of foreign spies willing to pay for specifics. John is a bit too good to be true: although he's horrified to uncover his father's various deceits, he refuses to listen to his estranged, rich great-great-Aunt Euphemia bad-mouth the man (“Your shame speaks well of you,” she says, misunderstanding him). Though idealized, John is also thoroughly empathetic, a child with hefty concerns thrust upon him, unsure of who he can trust. At least one character's motivation remains murky at the end, but the twisty plot keeps the pages turning and the rich period detail—as well as debut illustrator's Raude's delicate pen and ink illustrations scattered throughout—places readers right in Victorian England at a time when the serialization of David Copperfield had London abuzz. Ages 11-14. (June)

This bland but sweet-natured tale centers on Flan Flood, younger sister of notorious Patch, a central character in Minter's Insiders series, from which this novel has been spun off. Tired of living in the reflected glow of her glamorous siblings, Flan has left her private all-girl school to attend Stuyvesant High School, the competitive public high school in downtown Manhattan. There she befriends Judith and Meredith, two thinly characterized girls who are also refugees from private schools. A love interest effortlessly materializes in the form of “the second-cutest boy in tenth grade.” Predictable hijinks ensue as Flan attempts to keep her cooler-than-thou background a secret from her new crowd, while also accommodating the needs of three glitzy pals (including a needy teen star on the run from paparazzi) who have set up camp in the Flood family's Greenwich Village brownstone. It's assumed that Flan's high school friends will be intimidated if she reveals the truth about herself, yet some of the book's most humorous (and oddly touching) bits revolve around the fashionista set's fascination with the down-to-earth details of ordinary teenage existence. Fans of the Insiders series will likely welcome Flan's slightly more down-to-earth take on New York City life. Ages 12-up. (June)

Sitting through months of probing therapy sessions can be an intense experience—especially when you're not the patient. In her abused-girl-on-the-run story, debut novelist Phillips piles on the requisite ingredients of a teenage melodrama: sexual abuse, prostitution, an incompetent mother and a brief stint in foster care. The story begins as 17-year-old Chloe is placed in the Madeline Parker Institute for Girls following an arrest for prostitution. She is belligerent, indignant and won't open up to anyone. But as her therapist chips away at her steely exterior, Chloe begins to reveal memories she never thought she'd share with anyone: her mother's dizzying train of live-in boyfriends, her stepfather's wandering hands and the first time she pleasures a john for money after running away from home. As Chloe relives each of these moments from her past, teens are given full access to her thoughts and emotions, thanks to Phillips's clear understanding of Chloe's tough yet vulnerable character. Unfortunately, the most shocking revelation of all—the reason Chloe severs ties with her family in the first place—isn't explained until the very end, which may leave many to wish they had learned the truth earlier. An exhausting but nonetheless authentic read. Ages 15-up. (June)