Ashley Bryan has hand-selected a dozen poems by Nikki Giovanni that cover the theme, “I Am Loved” then illustrated with their signature style artwork. Other than saying how beautiful the poems are or saying how amazing Giovanni’s words are, there is little to say about the lyricalness of them. They are classic Giovanni. They portray depth, feeling and show how much Giovanni cares about the theme and the subject. Other than saying how beautiful the illustrations are or saying how amazing Bryan’s work is, there […]
Lorraine’s Lesson
When I saw the title, Lorraine: The Girl Who Sang the Storm Away, I assume it was going to be a fictionalized story of a famous singer. But it turns out to be a fun story about a grandfather, granddaughter and overcoming fear with the song in your heart. The fact that the characters are black and in a non-traditional family setting is never brought to the forefront of the story. It is just “there” which makes this a nice book for anyone. Ketch […]
What do you do with a book like Captain Starfish?
Sometimes when you find a rated three book it can be hard to write a review. “It is a nice book. It is pretty. You should read this book.” The end. However, with Captain Starfish there is more but how does one describe the fact that the classic feel of the illustrations sets the tone of the story? How do I say that the modern theme of overcoming fear has a slightly different take this time? Is it possible to say that this time the […]
Just Listening
The Rabbit Listened has a lot of the things I dislike in a book: sparse text and illustrations. However, this time, they fit the theme perfectly. The theme is a young child, Taylor, does not know how to proceed with dealing with their feelings when something bad happens. But all his animal friends know how to handle it. Yet, nothing really fits until the rabbit has the perfect solution. Rabbit listens. The sparseness of the text and art is just that: listening. You do not […]
Bork, Bork!
I have a newish part time job teaching an ethics class for kids on Sunday mornings. I thought I was going to be teaching 10 – 13 yr olds, but instead I have 4 – 6 yr olds. I was taken aback at first, but now I am delighted. The kids are great and they make me laugh every session. One morning recently, three of the 4 year olds came in with mothers who were clearly at the ends of their respective ropes. I was […]
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