Courtesy of Anova’s Pavilion Books for children (www.anovabooks.com), the vehicle books are making a surprise return to the bookshops this autumn (fall). First published over a decade ago, they were bright, bold and very interactive and proved to very popular with pre-schoolers and their parents. I was pleasantly surprised to see them in the new catalogue!
Ken
Splash Joshua Splash by Malachy Doyle and Ken Wilson-Max
Joshua and his grandmother spend a day experiencing H2O in its many forms. The delighted boy feeds ducks on the river, runs through puddles, plays at a drinking fountain, swims in a pool, and snuggles up for a rainy “cosy, dozy” bus ride home. The child speaks only three words but his favorite is “splash,” which appears hand-lettered in block form. The lines of type are set at slight angles to one another to mimic flowing water. Though not a rhyming story, the words flow with easy-on-the-tongue phrases such as “Deep down, under the water,/under the water, deep down./Into the froth and the foam,/and the bubbles,/splashing and crashing,/fizzing and sparkling.” The bright, saturated illustrations are eye-catching in their colorful simplicity. One slight discrepancy: Joshua appears to change sizes, sometimes only coming up to Granny’s waist while at other times almost to her shoulders. Very young children who are fascinated with water will enjoy hearing about Joshua’s day.
-Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI
Booklist review
The Little Plant Doctor: A Story about George Washington Carver.
Marzollo, Jean (Author) , Wilson-Max, Ken (Illustrator) Apr 2011. 32 p. Holiday, hardcover, $16.95. (9780823423255). 630.92.
Told from the viewpoint of a talking tree on the plantation where George Washington Carver spent his young childhood, this handsome picture-book biography tells how the famous African American scientist always nurtured plants and studied them, but the law did not allow black children to go to school. Finally, at age 12, Carver tells his beloved tree the exciting news that he is leaving for school. Today, the tree is part of the national historic site where crowds come to see for themselves where Carver grew up. The fantasy elements distract from the amazing details of Carver’s life. It is Wilson-Max’s beautiful, unframed acrylic paintings that will grab readers with images of the boy with his beloved plants and delighting in books, as well as the clearly labeled images of the peanut plant on the end pages. Extensive final notes with questions and answers for young children and for older readers fill in more fascinating facts about science and history, including the note that Carver discovered more than 300 uses for the peanut.
— Hazel Rochman
Detail from Lenny has Lunch, published by Frances Lincoln, UK
Row, row, row the boat
gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily merrily
Life is but a dream.
I had terrible problems with email for a few days this week. I couldn’t send or receive any messages and couldn’t see where the problem was. Remaining calm took some effort. I tried to think if there was ever this much frustration with letters and the postal service and realised it seems like ancient history…
And yet, receiving a letter in the post is still a very special occasion, isn’t it? Anyway, I decided to take the time to write more, on paper, with a fountain pen.
“The only reason I made a commercial for American Express was to pay for my American Express bill.”
- Peter Ustinov, actor.
Kimane Maruge was the world’s oldest student, starting in his eighties because he wanted to be able to read the bible. His story has inspired millions from his humble existence in Kenya. He showed that when the spirit is will ing the mind and body will comply.
If you live in Europe or the US but don’t come from there, chances are that you will be buying and reading stories to your children that won’t always reflect their background. Publishers in these areas will naturally be targeting the market that will bring them the largest profit so smaller communities, or should I say less financially strong are going to be left out to a certain extent. I don’t believe its a conspiracy or anything, just business.
Business is changing though, especially the business of publishing, and there is a shift towards companies servicing a communities that they have nurtured with the products they want. The communities, aren’t fixed. They they have a multitude of interests and stories that define them so can belong to several communities through the internet and in real life.
What do you if you can’t see yourself in the stories? The answer is simple. Make you own. Share your stories with your friends. Let your community tell its own stories. It’s not always about money, but it should be about how you measure success and how high you set the standard for your project.
Think about the tools available to you; your brain, your work experience, the home computer, video camera, pencil and paper. Make your own definition of a story, and then a book so you know exactly what you are aiming for.
Everyone has a story to tell and a particular way to tell it
