Adventures in Children's Literature

As you can see, the format is well thought out, the illustrations are fun and vibrant, and provides a lot of different scenarios to go through. What you cannot see is that the book is sturdily constructed, a big benefit for a book which is constantly handled and flipped. Some of the decisions can be difficult, for example deciding who would sell the most girl scout cookies, Copernicus or Galileo. The book helpfully provides a couple of questions to guide you to an answer. For this example, the book asks “Who has the most business sense?” and “Who has what it takes to close a deal?” Providing these questions will help guide a confused reader and shows a level of thought given to how the game is played.

The age range is a bit narrow, I know plenty of teens and adults who would love this book. Perhaps 8 and up would be a better option. I would use this book as a leisure read, party game, or as a fun lesson in debating. Sometimes you need a break from debating weighty topics such as climate change and discussing whether Booker T. Washington or Ernest Hemingway would fare better in the Wild, Wild West is a lot more fun.

Visually, the book is stunning. Though the book is quite long for middle grade nonfiction, the book will hold an interested child’s attention with accompanying photographs, scientific illustrations, bold typographic choices, and a side story presented in comic form. When the author feels the need to highlight certain statements, the text is written in a very large, handwritten font in different colors. This may be distracting for some readers and a bit heavy handed, but I thought it brings a level of visual interest to the rather wordy nonfiction book.

The comic story of Kram and Ailat fictionalizes his theories and is semi-autobiographical. Ailat is a strange name and thanks to the dedication, I noticed that Kram and Ailat are just Mark and Talia spelled backwards. The comic shows the father daughter pair exploring the ocean and trying to warn the public of the grim future that awaits them. The situation gets more and more dire and the last panel features Ailat’s daughter needing an explanation of what fish are now that they are all gone. 

But the book is not all doom and gloom. One of my favorite section in this book is the final one, titled “What can we do about this?” In it, Kurlansky explains the many ways readers can get involved as part of the solution including fish to avoid eating, writing letters to officials, and getting involved with environmental groups. I am always a fan of encouraging environmental advocacy in adolescents, it is their future after all.

Kurlansky’s book has a lot of valuable information and insights into the world of commercial fishing, but I think his theories could have used support in the form of citations and a scientific voice. In the book, he laments the fact that scientists and fisherman often do not listen to each other because fisherman are not as well educated and scientists don’t spend as much time in the field. I imagine this is true and if that is the case, the book would surely benefit from a second voice from the scientific point of view. I do not think Kurlansky is entirely wrong in his assumptions, we are devastating our oceans and the situation is not being handled in an expedient manner, but I need supporting information in order to take the book more seriously.

There are points that may be confusing for some readers, mostly having to do with either the history or daily life of the American South in the late 19th century. What we now call the Union army is referred to as the Federals at various points in the book and Callie describes their cook Viola as a quadroon, someone who is one-quarter of African descent. There are many references to slave life, though it is mentioned that Viola is paid a weekly wage and is treated as a family friend. References to slavery are made almost in passing and not much is made of it in the book, which may be upsetting to some but fits with the setting. The Tate family have lived in the south for a long time, Granddaddy mentions his grandfather was a trapper in the Oklahoma territories. Slavery was a fact of life rather than a horrible injustice to many in the American South at that time.

For example, on the page detailing the story of Theseus and Ariadne, Theseus’ poem begins;

Trust this, hero: The way in is easy, but the way out of this labyrinth is not.

Ariadne’s poem ends;

The way out of this labyrinth is not easy, but the way in is. Trust this hero. 

For children who may not be familiar with the stories detailed in each poem, each story contains a small synopsis of the tale at the bottom of the page. The color, position, and font used are designed to be unobtrusive so they do not detract from the overall effect.

The text is not too long or flowery, telling the story of a rogue whale who is punished for chasing the salmon in the river and scaring frog. Frog turns to raven for help who alerts Thunderbird to the problem. The story is moves in a linear fashion from Thunderbird to whale and to raven, salmon, and frog. This order is the same as the totem pole, an effective way to explain the meaning behind a cultural object that is also a visual story.

My favorite thing about this book is the woodblock illustrations. My aunt lived in Alaska for a time and the art style reminds me of many of the prints and trinkets she sent us from that part of the world. The final page of the book describes the different tools and materials Native Americans used to carve and paint totem poles. I very much enjoyed this addition, not only because it is something I have an interest in but because it ties the fantastical tale to real people and their lives.

One of the things that impressed me the most was how Gerald McDermott merges the text into the illustrations to clarify the story. Text is positioned based on the story and artwork on each page. For example, when the six sons of Anansi are introduced, the text is situated next each one. This may seem like a little thing, but since we are dealing with spiders it is helpful to see which markings each son has.

As I mentioned earlier, McDermott’s artwork mirrors traditional African art and culture. Anansi’s face is very reminiscent of African masks. The colors are bright with bold slashes of black line and shapes throughout. This style is very appealing to the eye for both children and adults.

The poems chosen by Yoon all fit the theme well and are child friendly. The nuances of William Blake’s “The Tiger” will go over the children’s head, but the meter and rhyme will be enjoyable for children. Some of the pages feature an additional leaf to pull out and reveals more of the illustration which will be a treat for many younger children.

Yoon’s illustrations really make this book a unique collection. The mix of modern and classic poets can be found in many collections, but the way Yoon’s electric illustrations interact with the poems gives old classics new life. The bright colors will appeal to children of all ages and her unique style singles this anthology out from the pack. I don’t even need to have the exact call number when I look for it. I just go to the poetry section of nonfiction and look for the distinctive yellow and blue spine.

I particularly like that every creator associated with this book from the authors to the illustrators are Japanese. I can trust the veracity of the translation and the inclusion of cultural references. The illustrations are done in traditional Japanese style which further lends an air of authenticity to the book. Though the book does explain many of the Japanese terms that are not translated with asides that give the definition, this is not universal. In the first story, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, it is explained that ojiisan mean grandfather, but it is not explained that obaasan means grandmother. I think a glossary would have been a good addition to this book.

Most of the story takes place through Fly Guy’s imagination via large, illustrated thought bubbles. The text is mainly interaction between Buzz and Fly Guy with some onomatopoeic interjections from Fly Guy such as “yikezz!” The artwork is very stylized and the text is illustrated on the page which is helpful for young readers who may not know all the words or are having a hard time following the story. The story is fairly straightforward, but the words handsome, beautiful, and porridge are a bit beyond what I would consider vocabulary for a level 2 book. 

Though the book is clearly boy oriented with two male protagonists, one an insect, and rough around the edges artwork, it’s the rescued princess who ends up saving the day by knocking out the giant with her crown. The role reversal was surprising and a welcome surprise from a story where I did not expect to find any.

The story is fairly straightforward, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Starfire leave Super Hero High take part in a Model United Planets when the meeting is suddenly under attack. They are able to thwart the attack and make some new friends along the way. There is a defined beginning, climax, and resolution with a fast moving pace and actions, but this is a book for younger readers who appreciate shorter stories. 

A lot of the genre specific vocabulary such as asteroids, heat vision, and force field may be a bit difficult for some readers to understand, but the illustrator does a good job demonstrating the action. I only wish the cast was a bit more diverse, blue skinned people don’t count.

Though this book was released more than twenty years ago, its popularity continues today because it caters to children who are just learning to read. The illustrations are large and colorful, the font clear and big, and each page rarely has more than 10 words.

Capucilli uses repetitive words and patterns to help young readers follow the story. The first page we meet Biscuit, the text states: 

This is Biscuit. Biscuit is small. Biscuit is yellow.

The way this is phrased is much easier for early readers to understand than if all of that information was contained in one sentence. Capucilli continues to use short sentences and repetitive phrases throughout the entire book. I would highly recommend this series for parents looking to start reading with their child. The illustrations are so sweet and the situations are identifiable for most readers, whether they have a dog or not. 

This book is a Ready to Read level 3 book and would be ideal for children who are already reading independently. The vocabulary is more difficult and the sentence structure is more complex than other early readers. As it is a history book, many new terms are introduced but the author does a good job of explaining new terms in ways children will understand. Words that are not phonetically straightforward have very helpful pronunciation guides. I never knew until this book that the Celtic festival of Samhain is pronounced [SOW-in].

This book is a great example of how to make nonfiction fun for young readers. The illustrations are fun, colorful, and add a lot of value to the book. Every spread has at least one illustration which not only helps to describe the content, but keeps the text from being too overwhelming for children who may not yet be reading chapter books. Extras such as as extra trivia and a quiz in the back of the book show that the publishers know their target audience. 

Categorized by the publisher as a “bright and early book for beginning beginners,” the book does incorporates more complex words to stick with their theme than I would consider for beginning readers. Words like beautiful, backward, breadbasket, and banjo-bagpipe-bugle band are far too complex for readers just starting out on their own. 

Each book in the Flip-a-Word series contains words from three different word families. Wet Pet contains words from the “et” family such as wet and pet, the “ed” family such as bed and sled, and the “am” family such as ham and jam. The three families are introduced on their own title page and each successive page contains a different word and illustration of that word. At the end of each word family section, the words are put together in phrases which is also illustrated. 

The story begins when the eponymous little red cat walks out the door and goes on an adventure. Right away he is confronted by an alligator! Turn the page and a bear and chicken join the fun. So you see where this is going, each new letter adds a new element to the story or furthers the plot. Some pages are very obvious, for example the U page features a unicorn. Other pages are not so straightforward and could be taken more than one way. The end of the book contains a chart with all the letters and the word associated with each page. I interpreted the “O” page differently, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I was wrong. I think children will have a good time guessing what the word is for each letter.

I could not find any age listed on the publisher’s website and online sources vary. Publisher’s weekly suggests an age range of 3 - 6 and Amazon’s suggested reading age is from 4 - 8. I don’t know how much a three year old will fill in the blanks in this book, but having the letters written in both upper and lower case is a good learning tool for that age. Older and younger siblings can read this book together and get something different out of it. I would suggest this book would be good for children ages 3 - 7.

The book is illustrated with ink and watercolors, which enhances the fantasy quality of the story. Using color and the girl’s body posture, we get the idea that she is not happy in her daily life very quickly. Once she enters the fantasy world, that changes very quickly. While the girl’s real world is full of browns and greys, the fantasy world is full of rich, beautiful color. This effect is very similar to what Dan Santat utilized in The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. The “real” world is dull and colorless and the fantasy world is bold and saturated. Becker also uses scale to differentiate the two worlds. Most of the illustrations of the real world are single pages whereas most of the illustrations in the fantasy world are a full spread. This gives the fantasy world a sense of scale and grandeur.

The story is told in a linear fashion and does not utilize a series of panels like a comic or graphic novel would. I think Journey’s format is right for its intended audience as younger children sometimes have trouble following a panel format intuitively. Using a bright red to signify the girl’s creations also helps children to make sense of the story. The artist does a good job of limiting bright red colors to only what the girl creates with her magic marker so there is no confusion.

I do not see this working as a story time book unless the presenter wrote their own story to go along with it. It may be a failing of mine, but I rarely see wordless picture books that I think would work in a story time. Especially not one with as complex a story as Journey. I would love to use this book in a creative writing class and ask children to make their own script for the book. It would be very interesting to see how each child interprets the story differently.

Awards

To get the full experience, users must move the book into different positions.  Images like the chair, piano, and laptop can be propped up into an “L” shape and played with. The butterfly spread can be manipulated so that it flaps its wings. The tent took me a second to work out, but once I identified the image it all came together. I can see children putting little figures underneath the book to join the fun. Jullien’s artwork is simple and bold with thick black outlines. This is not a book for subtlety and the illustrations work perfectly to capture an image simply without extraneous details.

The age range is perfect because at these ages, children are really starting to physically interact with the world around them. They figure things out by moving, touching, banging, and yes, biting. Luckily, This is Not a Book is sturdily constructed or it would have fallen apart in a library setting. This is not a good choice for presentation to a large group, but individually the book works perfectly. I would even put this out during a play time or sensory play.