Binky to the Rescue: A Mariah and Dad Review

Review by Scott Tingley

Actual conversation from tonight's bedtime:

Dad (me): I've got a new book for us to read tonight.

Mariah (daughter, age 5): It's another Binky book? Yay!

We have the Space one where he always tooted (farted).

Yeah…(sigh)...funny.

Actual comment while reading the book:

Mariah : “Human Litter Room, ” giggle, hahaha….giggle.

Actual comment after reading the book:

Mariah : I really like Binky books.

Dad: What was your favourite part?

Mariah: The tooting. No.....when Binky saves Ted....and the tooting.

Actual synopsis quoted directly from the publisher's website regarding Binky to the Rescue by Ashley Spires :

While in hot pursuit of an alien invader (a bug), Binky accidentally falls out the space station porthole (bathroom window) and finds himself in outer space (outside) for the very first time. But just as Binky begins to explore, he discovers that his copilot, Ted (stuffed mousie), is trapped beneath an enemy warship (wasps' nest)! Binky must rescue Ted from the clutches of these evil aliens. Will he be able to save his best friend? Can Ted survive his ordeal? Does Binky still suffer from space gas? KidsCanPress.com

The art is very nice and there are just enough words. Have you tried reading a comic to your kid at bedtime? Some of them can be very wordy, but Binky to the Rescue , and Binky the Space Cat , contain just the words necessary and will not make you want to hide the book away thus eliminating future readings (don't look at me that way – you know exactly what I am talking about. That Care Bears book that never seems to end didn't just walk away on its own). That isn't to say that the book is an unchallenging “Easy Reader”. The age recommended by the publisher is 7 to 10, but I think some of the vocabulary leans more towards 10 than 7. “Collateral damage”, “relentless pursuit”: great stuff. If you are going to read it to a child, I would get this for aged 3 and up.

Ashley Spires has gone 2 for 2 in the “Can we read it again” category with her two Binky books and my kids and I are eagerly awaiting number three. This one won't be available for you until September 2010. Keep your eyes peeled, or pre-order it here.

Grades: 2 to 5
Ages: 7 to 10

© 2010
4-color • 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 • 64 pages

Hardcover

978-1-55453-502-6

Paperback

978-1-55453-597-2

Hardcover
CAD $16.95

Paperback
CAD $8.95

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Cousteau, Koufax and a Mouse: Comics in the Classroom Kids' Book Podcast

Welcome to our second Comics in the Classroo podcast - our first focusing on kids books. I focused on some kids books that I had put off for far too long. Two of them are biographies with amazing art: The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau and You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!. Then I change gears and review a book for younger readers (k-2), Little Mouse Gets Ready.

Hope you hear something useful to you.

Thanks,
Scott Tingley
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Also, check out:

The main site:

The Chess Comic :

And, my new site for the comics I create for - and about my kids: We Fight Robots!

Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion: A Remembrance Day Review

Review by Scott Tingley

“I really like this book.” -said by “K” in my grade 3 class this morning.

There are a few Remembrance Day type books on the market aimed at Elementary aged school children - strong, well written and illustrated books that lend themselves to further research and writing projects. Books like this and this are excellent examples of this and I recommend them highly.

On the other hand, sometimes you are just looking for a book you can read to kids that will help explain what this whole Remembrance Day / Veteran’s Day thing is all about without having a lot of extra information. Sometimes you just want the story to speak for itself.

Well, here it is: Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion.

This book is what many of us elementary teachers end up scrounging around for at the beginning of November: a well written and illustrated book that you can read to any of the age and sensitivity ranges that you find in elementary schools.

The writer, Jane Barclay has done a great job of bringing out the feelings of war in a safe, but touching and real way. She focuses on the feelings and experiences of one WWII veteran but through this one man, the feelings and experiences of Veterans from many wars, past and present, can be felt. She uses similes brilliantly to help explain a difficult subject. Also, artist Renné Benoit brings out the imagination and memories of the book’s two principal characters in subtle and touching ways. The art completely fits the tone and feel of the story – very nice work.

As questions come from a young grandchild, his grandpa talks about how, as a very young man, he was as proud as a peacock in uniform, busy as a beaver on his Atlantic crossing, and brave as a lion charging into battle. Soon, the old man’s room is filled with an imaginary menagerie as the child thinks about different aspects of wartime. But as he pins medals on his grandpa’s blazer and receives his own red poppy in return, the mood becomes more somber.

Outside, the crowd gathered for the veterans’ parade grows as quiet as a mouse, while men and women — old and young — march past in the rain. A trumpet plays and Grandpa lays a wreath in memory of his lost friend. Just then, the child imagines an elephant in the mist. “Elephants never forget,” he whispers to his grandpa. “Then let’s be elephants,” says the old man, as he wipes water from his eyes and takes his grandson’s hand. (From mcclelland.com)


While reading Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion my own wife was brought to tears remembering what her own paternal grandfather shared with her and thinking of what her maternal grandfather would not. When she first read it, she came to me and couldn’t stop talking about it.

I actually work with the writer’s sister (a fact I discovered when talking about a book I had to read to my daughter every night, which turned out to be one of her other books) and she gets teary every time she reads it.

If you are a teacher who has to deal with Remembrance Day / Veteran’s Day at all, then this is really a book you want to pick up and put on the shelf for next year. I think it would help Middle and High School students really understand why a teen would rush off to war.

If you are a parent, this is a book that may help when your child comes asking difficult questions about the images seen on the news.

I read a lot of new children’s books every year, and this is one I want to see news reports about and, and on special displays in bookstores and being pushed by Scholastic.


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Binky The Space Cat: Protecting the World One Alien/Bug at a Time

Review by Scott Tingley

Now That’s Funny.

I’m not sure if the book will actually turn out to be funny, but I am thirteen pages into Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires and I am amused. We meet Binky (the cat…pay attention) as he gets his Space Cat Certification in the mail. Now, I’ve been staring at the cover of this book for a couple of months and I assumed that it would be a space adventure comic/kids book – a reasonable assumption considering it has the words space and cat together in the title. While that could have been fun, the concept for this book is better than that. See, Binky is an indoor cat – his house is his space station and the outdoors is “outer space” (naturally).

That’s funny.

Hang on – I have to finish the book….There. Done.

Okay, I’ve finished the book, and it stayed funny all the way through. Not only is Binky on his way to becoming a space explorer, he is already something of a superhero in his own house. See, he is vigilant in protecting his humans from aliens! Aliens = bugs, but he is not sure why his humans haven’t figure this out yet.

If you have an aversion to comics (although, if you did you probably would have stopped reading by now) just forget I mentioned that it was a comic. It looks a lot like a traditional kid’s book, with text instead of word balloons (for the most part), but the pictures are presented in a way that moves the story on – the sequential art tells the story along with the words in a way that straight storybooks rarely do. It makes the book hard to read to a large group of kids, but it makes it delightful to read to a kid or two snuggled around you on the couch.

Ashley Spires does a fine job with her first comic/graphic novel/storybook. The art is quirky and fun (hard-hitting journalism there) her writing is funny and clever, and she skillfully includes cat-tooting, cat poop, and a coughed up hairball in ways that will be hilarious to the book’s intended audience (6 years old or so, with some assistance, to 9 or 10 years old) and inoffensive to the suppliers of the book (YOU). Nicely done, Ashley.

If you get and like this book, I would recommend another Kids Can Press book, Skaredy Squirrel. It is in between a traditional kids book and Binky in the way the story is presented – less comic, more storybook, but I think they would go well together.

Binky the Space Cat
Fountas & Pinnell Reading level: N
Grade Level: 3
Hardcover
978-1-55453-309-1
Paperback
978-1-55453-419-7

BTW, Kids Can Press has just become my favourite publisher for the fact that they include the Fountas & Pinnell reading levels. This can make planning guided reading lessons a lot easier. The teacher part of me thanks you.

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Things You May Not Know About Johnny Boo & the Happy Apples

Review by Scott Tingley, September 01, 2009

Things I learned from reading Johnny Boo & the Happy Apples:

1. Eating too much ice cream makes your muscles floopy.

2. Eating apples makes you strong.

3. Apples come from trees.

4. Wednesdays are SCARY.

5. Ice Cream Monsters are not to be trusted – no matter what day of the week it is.

6. Monsters have magic tummies, but it is undetermined whether they have satelite or basic cable.

7. Johnny Boo & the Happy Apples is a comic story written and drawn by a professional cartoonist (James Kochalka) in a way that makes it read like it was actually written by a very clever six year old. No self-respecting grownup would ever create a book as awesomely silly and fun this.

8. My own kids (4 ½ and 2 ½ ) thought it was silly (which means good).

9. I (Scott Tingley) am actually quoted (from a review I did on book 1) on the promotional literature provided by the publisher – on the same sheet of paper as a quote from BOOKLIST and from DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba. Very nice - that's a keeper.

10. Johnny Boo & the Happy Apples (Book 3), out now, is a full color hardcover comic (6”x9”), costs 9.95 (a good price compared to other kid's storybooks) and is published by Top Shelf Productions (publisher of great kids graphic novels/comics like: SpiralBound, Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters and Owly).

Things I already knew about Johnny Boo:

1. Boys in my grade three class last year really liked Johnny Boo (book 1): The Best Little Ghost in the World.

2. They liked the short story in 2008's Top Shelf Free Comic Book Day issue

3. They will like this one as well.

4. This newest book (book 3) and the other two are perfect for about ages 4-9. My little girl wasn't crazy about the Ice Cream Monster loosing his cool and eating Johnny Boo and his pet ghost Squiggle, but since it all ends silly she was okay with it. Some 9yr olds might feel too cool for the cartoony art, but the cool kids in my grade three class liked it – so there.

5. James Kochalka is awesome. My class wrote to him a couple years ago and he wrote back. Very nice indeed.

6. It costs $9.95 (US), it's ISBN # is 978-1-60309-041-4, and you can see a preview and order it HERE.

Note: Johnny Boo says “what the heck?” once. Thought you might want to know.

Be sure to visit us at comicsintheclassroom.net for all-ages comic reviews, news and interviews.

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Boys of Steel: An INTERVIEW With Siegel and Shuster Biographer

Interview by Scott Tingley

While there are plenty of storybook biographies of history's most famous and important people, never have I seen one that fits both of my two book sites so perfectly (Comics in the Classroom and The Kid's Book Corner Blog): Boys of Steel: The creators of Superman . This new storybook biography, written by Marc Tyler Nobleman and illustrated by Ross MacDonald, explores Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster creation of Superman. Marc was kind enough to join us for an interview.

Scott Tingley – Comics in the Classroom : Marc, thank you for answering a few questions for us. We'll get to your new book in a moment, but please start by telling us about your career up to now.

Marc Tyler Nobleman : My first job after college was in book marketing. My first published book came out in 1996. Since then, I've written more than 70 other books for young people (and marketed many of them as well!). Much of it is nonfiction though I have done some fiction, and some of it involves humor (even some of the nonfiction). I've also written for magazines including Nickelodeon. One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is that it brings me before groups of students in schools, where I get to share with them the behind-the-scenes of an author.

CitC : Why this book? What drove you to write a story book about comics in general and about the creators of the comic book superhero specifically? Were you a comic reader growing up – are you still a comic reader now?

MTN : I chose to write on this subject on for several reasons. My fondness for Superman goes back to when I saw Superman: The Movie at age six (in my pajamas, front row). He's one of the most iconic fictional characters in the world so it's astounding how so few know who created him or when or where or why. Any setup like that—a recognizable entry point but a mystery backstory—has great potential for a book! It fills a gap in the marketplace, and luckily, it's an engaging story. I grew up reading DC Comics (and watching Super Friends cartoons) and I still do read certain comics.

CitC : When I first heard of your book I kind of assumed that it would be in the form of a comic book, but instead, for the most part, it is in the form of a traditional story book biography. Did you and artist Ross MacDonald intend for it to be like this from the beginning or was the decision to go this way made later in the creative process?

MTN : Picture books and comic books are first cousins, of course, but I wrote Boys of Steel to be a picture book. Some editors who rejected it suggested I reimagine it as a graphic novel, but I felt that was too obvious. In my mind, a comic book about comic book creators would not stand out (based on that alone), but no comic book creators had been the focus of an illustrated picture book before. That said, I did want one particular spread to resemble a comic book—the scene in which Jerry Siegel was kept awake one night by ideas that would coalesce into Superman. By having only that spread look like a comic, I was hoping it would signal to readers “Okay, this is a significant moment” and propel them with even more enthusiasm through the second half of the book.

CitC : Was this book written like a comic or like a more traditional story book? What I mean by that is, as the writer, did you control the visuals as a comic writer does or was it more like how a traditional storybook gets made with the writer just providing the words with the artist filling in the visuals (at least that is how I understand the process usually works).
I ask this because many comic fans understand the basics of how a comic is created: the writer writes and the artist follows the writer's instructions. This varies, of course, but this seems to be the basic model and I think comic fans are surprised when they find out how different kid's books / story books are created.

MTN : I tried to write the book so that the illustrations would convey some of the information. For example, the story proper (the illustrated main part of the book, not the text-only author's note) does not contain the word “ Superman ” even once—after reading it you may think it does, but you'd just be remembering the images of Superman in the book. After I sold the book and the publisher hired the illustrator, the wonderful Ross MacDonald, I was able to pass on to Ross my suggestions for art. He was under no obligation to take those suggestions, but in many cases he did, which I was thrilled about. I also passed on to Ross many historical images for reference, and he used those as well. And I got to weigh in on the sketches. But I did not have final say on the art.

CitC : Did you have a hard time selling the publisher on this idea for a biography? Were they open to this idea or did you need to convince them (which betrays my naiveté – for all I know every book is a hard sell).

MTN : The book was rejected by 22 publishers, so I'd say I didn't have the easiest time selling it! But it takes only one yes. I didn't have to convince them—they read it and either they wanted it or they didn't. I did try to be strategic about which editors I approached. I focused on ones who had experience with picture books on pop culture subjects (as opposed to what I call “textbook names,” like Ben Franklin or Rosa Parks) because I figured they'd be more open to a book on the creators of a superhero. And sure enough, it was an editor who did a book on Dr. Seuss who took on mine.

CitC : In your research for this book did you have the opportunity to speak with any members of Siegel or Shuster's family.

MTN : I tried but I did not hear back. In only the few short years since then, I've become much more determined in my research!

CitC : The main part of the books tells the story of two young men sticking with their creations and making it big. However, the final three text pages tells of their battle with DC comics to get some recognition and royalties for Superman - something comic creators were not given at the time. Why leave it to the end like this? Why not do a couple of illustrated pages to get this information across?

MTN : Great question. Two-part answer. Part 1: I probably wouldn't have had room, plain and simple, given the conventions of the format. Part 2: Comics people know the story. It's widely regarded as the industry's most profound tragedy. And most every time the story is told, it ends on a sad note: two creators who've spent much of the second half of their lives suffering. For once, I thought it would be nice to let their story end on a high note. So I ended when things were never higher: right after Superman debuted and had become an instant phenomenon. I wanted to remind people that the legacy of these two guys is not that they were martyrs but that they were visionaries, and they did get to enjoy that. To be clear, I did it this way only because I did address their hardships in the author's note—if that wasn't there, I would have had to mention it in the story proper or else it would be hugely misleading. But I feel it was a great compromise—end on a high note yet still discuss the rest of their lives in an “optional” afterword.
CitC : Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers here? Anything else about the book or about new projects coming up?

MTN : Don't get me started! Well, for those interested in the research and the promotion of the book, my blog shares many behind-the-scenes stories: http://noblemania.blogspot.com. I've got several more nonfiction picture book manuscripts in the works. One is about the secret co-creator behind Batman. Thanks for your interest!

CitC: Thanks for your time. Boys of Steel is available now and would be a great addidtion to any library, classroom or home.

ISBN: 978-0-375-93802-3 (0-375-93802-8)

Be sure to visit us at comicsintheclassroom.net for all-ages comic reviews, news and interviews.

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Duck and Goose: How Are You Feeling?...KaChow!

Review by Scott Tingley

I have a just-turned two year old boy obsessed with all things that in any way resemble a form of motorized transportation. In the fall we had to keep pulling him off the tiller which he was climbing and calling a tractor. He got the movie CARS for his birthday a couple of weeks ago and he has watched it EVERY MORNING SINCE THEN. He is a boy obsessed.

You need to understand that to understand this:

As I was putting him to bed this evening he made me stop reading his favorite book, Busy Wheels so we could read the board book Duck and Goose: How Are You Feeling?, by Tad Hills. There is really noting else I could say that would be higher praise. We just got it today and it is now at the top of the rotation.

I could go on about the very cute pictures and expressive features of the birds, but why? My son made me stop reading a car book to read it. That should be enough.

Thanks for reading.

• Publisher: Random House Children's Books
• Pub. Date: January 2009
• ISBN-13: 9780375846298
• Age Range: For infants or children in preschool
• 22pp board book
  

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Benny and Penny in The Big No-No - Reviewed By My Four Year Old

Review by Scott Tingley and Mariah

I am a terrible at telling true stories because I have an unnatural aversion to exaggerating. I say this so you will understand that what I say here is the 99.9% truth.

I wanted to write a review of the Toon Books comic for new readers Benny and Penny in The Big No-No by Geoffrey Hayes, but my daughter won't let me.

I got a copy of this upcoming release from Toon Books in the mail a few days ago and it has been in my four year olds room ever since. I have read it at least a dozen times by now. I tried sneaking it out this evening to help me with this review, but she wanted to read before going to sleep so I had to sneak it back. I guess I will have to quote the website for help on this one.

Benny and his sister Penny know it's wrong to sneak into someone else's backyard but their mysterious new neighbor—or is it a monster?—may be a thief. They go snooping and discover a lot about themselves and…a new friend. (From toon-books.com)

I like the cute characters (I love how the little platypus girl looks as she is preparing to throw a mudball…I can't remember her name and I don't have the book, remember?) and the effective storytelling. The smallish comic panels would make it a hard book to read to a group of kids, but it is perfect for reading with one or two kids gathered around you.

That's all I can say without having the book so I will quote my daughter:

This is my favorite book ever . – Mariah Tingley, age 4, reviewer for ComicsInTheClassroom.net

That sums it up perfectly.

The book is due out on May 05, 2009 and would be perfect for grades 1 and lower (on the other hand, some of my grade 3s last year really enjoyed the first book - even thought the reading level was not challenging for them, they still liked the art and story).

ISBN 13: 978-0-9799238-9-0
ISBN 10: 0-9799238-9-0

LEXILE LEVEL: GN 30

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Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-you Notes

Review by Scott Tingley

I would love to go on and on about the finer points of the second Moxy Maxwell book, Peggy Gifford’s Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-you Notes, but I can’t. Even though I found the book to be very funny, fresh and surprisingly dark (more on that in a moment), I just can’t shake this feeling of dread.

IT ISN’T AS though Moxy isn’t grateful for her Christmas presents. She is. She’s just not thrilled that she has to write a thank-you note for each one by tomorrow . . . or she will not be allowed to fly to Hollywood to attend a star-studded Hollywood bash with the father she hasn’t seen in three years. And writing thank-you notes is not something that a world-class Creative Type relishes doing.(from RandomHouse.com)

My feeling of dread does not come from anything found in the above synopsis. No, it comes from the fact that my two little kids combined equal the destructive power that is contained within Moxy Maxwell. My four year old girl is wonderful and precocious and my two year old boy is happy and very physical and together they will probably find some way to sink our house into a bottomless pit or make a beautiful collage for some Father’s Day by cutting out a single picture from every one of my many comics and graphic novels cluttering our soon to be sunk-in-a-bottomless-pit house.

Seriously.

But, I will try to soldier on...

One of the reasons I have enjoyed this Moxy Maxwell, and the first Moxy book, Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little is that in it there is a nice balance of impending doom and real life family dynamics. In Thank You there is the familiar destruction of family property that you can see coming from a mile away - and there is some wonderful frustrations that accompanies this knowledge – but there is also a darker, more troubling doom coming. This doom, unfortunately, involves the family dynamics in a way that readers will also see coming. It involves Moxy and her twin brother Mark’s absent biological father and another terribly timed let down.

I was surprised that this book went in the direction it did. Here I thought the Moxy series would continue on as just a nice thing for Junie B. Jones fans to move on to when they got older. I thought that the books would just be about the wacky adventures of a young girl and the family that tries to contain her – but this is not so. Amongst all the fun there are real issues being dealt with in real ways – it is like the comic series Amelia Rules in this way. Where I to read this to my own grade three class I know that it would hit close to home for some of them – which can be a very good thing.

But, I didn’t read it to my grade three class. I handed my copy off to the grade four teacher (who teaches the grade threes I had last year). I read the first Moxy to last year’s grade three class in September and some of the turns-of-phrases used went over their heads, but when I read it again in June they loved it. So I think this book is perfect for late grade three and up.

I truly hope that there are more Moxy Maxwell books coming, and if you or the young readers in your life have a book store gift card burning a hole in you pockets this holiday season, this is the perfect reading material to fill in the last week of the school holiday.

By the way, I didn’t fit it into the review, but I wanted to mention the fun photos by Valorie Fisher that are spread throughout the book. They are meant to be by Moxy’s twin brother and they tend to punctuate the events that are then happening.

ISBN: 978-0-375-84270-2 (0-375-84270-5)
Price: $14.99

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Piggybook: A Review

Review by Scott Tingley

I am a grade 3 teacher and I was at a Professional Development session on Guided Reading this afternoon and the teacher giving the session was one of my supervising teachers when I took my teaching degree twelve years ago (my, how time flies!). I respect this teacher a great deal, so when she started pulling out story books that we could use for specific comprehension activities I paid close attention.

Then she took out one of the ugliest books I have ever seen. It had an interesting illustration in the middle of a couple of boys and a grown man on the back of a woman (obviously the males on the back of the mother), but the when coupled with the awful looking border, I was turned off on the book right away. Yea, I was judging the book by the cover – it was so ugly, I had no choice. I wouldn’t have even read it on my own, but this teacher was bound and determined to read it to all of us.

She loved this book for a lot of reasons. She loved all of the lesson ideas a teacher could get out of it. She loved how it could be used for a grade 4 and 5 art lesson (famous paintings morph as the story progresses). She loved how even though there are amazing changes happening within story, no explanation is given, which makes the questions the kids can ask and answer richer. She really loved the vocabulary the book offered. She really loved a lot of stuff about the book.

I hated the cover.

I even hated the back cover.

Then she read the book. She was almost giddy that she had the opportunity to share this ugly looking book. I was not impressed.

Then she read the book.

Piggybook turned out to be one of the most stunning and troubling kids books I have ever had the fortune of reading. Basically the book is about a husband and two young boys that treat their wife/mother like the hired help. Like hired help that can’t ever quit…but then she quits. Left for themselves, the other three slowly morph into the pigs that they are. The house changes, the language in the narration changes. That’s the clever stuff. Anthony Browne does a really nice job of writing and illustrating these changes.

The troubling part is in how none of this really seems to be played for laughs. There are four panel scenes early on showing the mother at work – never with her family – always at work. The boys are in full colour, but the mother is always in this sepia yellow – and alone. And you never really see the features on her face. She is a non-entity – she is unimportant in her own life. She has no ears or mouth and her eyes are only slits. This is a woman beaten down. Then she leaves. The guys fall apart. She comes back – they are pigs and with her rights asserted she is the beautiful young mother she always was supposed to be.

This is a book rich with possibilities. I imagine that it might spark some hard conversations about inequalities and divorce. Some of the teachers made jokes about their husbands being like the man but that sort of thing should not be acceptable when using this book.

I don’t have a copy of Piggybook in front of me, so I may have gotten a couple of details wrong. Also, I always review brand new books on this blog, but this one came out in 1990, so you may have a copy in your school or library already, but if not, Random House has it for sale HERE.

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A Remembrance Day Flower Story Not About Poppies: A Bloom of Friendship Review

Review by Scott Tingley

Yay, PRIMARY DOCCUMENTS!!

I’ll come back to that.

Tomorrow night my wife and I plan on attending the new Canadian movie, Passchendaele. If you are Canadian and you aren’t sure if the movie is going to be set in World War I or WWII, the rule of thumb is that if you have heard the name of the battle, and that battle isn’t Dieppe, then it was in WWI.

That really annoys me. I may not have encyclopedic knowledge of Canada’s military heritage, but the majority of us Canadians have little or no understanding of what our countrymen (and women) have endured on the world’s battlefields and at home. We were feared. We were loved. In the past few years (10?) there has been a push to get people out to Remembrance Day celebrations, but I still don’t find that knowledge of specific events has gone up.

A Bloom of Friendship: The Story of the Canadian Tulip Festival by Anne Renaud and Ashley Spires does a nice job of filling a little part of this void for teachers and the young readers they...teach.

Basically, Bloom tells this story that I got from Wikipedia: In 1945, the Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa in gratitude for Canadians having sheltered Princess Juliana and her daughters for the preceding three years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, in the Second World War.

The most noteworthy event during their time in Canada was the birth in 1943 of Princess Margriet to Princess Juliana at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The maternity ward was declared to be officially a temporary part of the Netherlands, so that the birth could formally be claimed to have occurred on Dutch territory. In 1946, Juliana sent another 20,500 bulbs requesting that a display be created for the hospital, and promised to send 10,000 more bulbs each year.

In telling this story the book tells a big part of the story of WWII and Canada’s part in it.

When I fist saw the cover of Bloom, I was hoping it would be a storybook that I could use with early elementary kids, but instead I got so much more. Primary Documents! I didn’t know what a primary document was until University, but this book is full of them. Newspaper clippings and photos are interspersed with chunks of text and “Instant History Facts” to tell the story of the Dutch royal family, Canada’s battle experience in Holland and the whole war in general.

I am very impressed with this book, and I am going to ask my principal to order multiple copies for next year’s Rembrance Day studies (and if I get them this year we will use it whenever).

I will be using the book with my grade 3 class over the next few weeks and I would highly recommend it for upper elementary and middle school students. Even though the cover and format will likely come across as too kid-ish for the middle schoolers it can still be a good teacher resource. As much as I like the internal pictures by Spires, I wish a different cover image was used. I wonder if older elementary and early middle school students will be receptive to a book that, at first glance, looks like a primary storybook.

ISBN: 978-1-897073-35-3, Non-fiction, Ages: 9 – 12, paperback and hardcover, 24 pages, Reading level: 7.4 (AR)

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A Review of Wilbur and the Moose, and an Accidental Review of Bubba the Cowboy Prince - Or - Get Ready for All Kinds of Cowboy Awesomeness!

Review by Scott Tingley

I teach third grade. I have a new batch of students this year and I have to decide something. When will I treat them to the greatest story reading of all time?

I think most teachers have something they secretly think they are amazing at. Maybe one thinks that no one teaches sentence structure like them, or that they teach Trigonometric Functions like a rock star. I’ve got a couple of things I do pretty well (keeping my desk clean is one of them….lying on the internet, apparently, is another), and reading Bubba the Cowboy Prince is another. I put on my black cowboy hat, my dark green bandana and my silver bolo tie; then I pull out the awful cowboy accent (including a truly horrendous John Wayne impression I use for the Fairy God Cow) – it’s awesome.

But, this is not a review for Bubba the Cowboy Prince…well I guess it sort of is, isn’t it? Bubba the Cowboy Prince, by Helen Ketteman and James Warhola is an amazing book to read out loud, with crazy cowboy slang and plenty of silly details in the art to keep the kids giggling every time you or they read it.

The dilemma I am facing is that I have all the gear: hat, tie, bandana, Roy Rogers six-shooters even…but only one cowboy themed book to read. I’ve tried. There have been some very valiant efforts by some very big names in the children’s book universe, but none have met my exacting standards…basically, if a John Wayne or Walter Brennan impression doesn’t fit in while reading it, then no go.

The question is, will the newest printing of the 1989 book, The Ballad of Wilbur and the Moose by John Stadler make it or not?

Well, does the song Big Bad John mean anything to you? If not, listen here and come back. You’re reading this on a screen, It’s not going anywhere.

Okay, so basically if you add a chorus of “Big Blue Moose” to every page you have a cowboy kid’s book at least on par with Bubba. I think the reading calls for something a little subtler than John Wayne; more Tennessee Ernie Ford – just channel your inner cowboy-poet and you will be fine.

The Ballad of Wilbur and the Moose is a cowboy story-song about Wilbur Little and his Big Blue Moose. They have cowboy adventures involving boxing matches, trains, deserts, a bad guy with one of those little mustaches perfect for twirling, a crooked card game and a gang of pig-rustlers. Oh, and lots of lime juice.

Final words? I can’t wait to read this to my students in a week or so….now if I can only train them to do the chorus…”Big Moose, Big Moose, BIG BLUE MOOSE…Big Moose.”

It will be like Rio Bravo meets The Good The Bad and The Ugly meets, I don’t know, Yo! Gabba Gabba – and that adds up to all kinds of cowboy awesomeness.

· $14.99 us
· ISBN: 978-0-375-84174-3 (0-375-84174-1)

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Two Chinese New Year Picture Books: A Short Review

Review by Scott Tingley - August 09, 2008

I have no idea why, but my-oh-my does my not-yet-four-year-old girl like reading story books about Chinese New Years. It is bed time for her; I just read Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin, My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katzby twice each, and she is in her room right now reading the two of them again. She loves books, but there is something that is drawing her to these books lately.

The sense of family is strong throughout both of these beautifully illustrated and lavishly colored picture books, which seems to appeal to my daughter. Both are jammed packed with illustrations, with Bringing in getting the edge. Both are informative, with My First getting the edge. Also, and just as importantly, they are both fairly quick reads (something that is very important for evening readings).

These are both terrific and informative picture books, and I don’t really think you could go wrong choosing one over the other. They would be perfect for introducing Chinese New Years to an elementary class, and they would be nice additions to any home’s library.

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Michael Recycle: A Review - or - We Rock and That Other Grade 3 Doesn’t Rock Quite As Much - or - They Won’t Take the Cans Here If We Crush Them First

Article by Scott Tingley - July 25, 2008

This year my grade three class turned about a fifth of our classroom into a class-garden. We had tomatoes and green and jalapeno peppers, basil and cilantro, cosmos and five-foot + sunflowers, very tiny carrots and corn from Orville Redenbacher corn kernels (which made tiny, but real ears of corn). We didn’t start until after the Christmas break, and curriculum responsibilities and an unusual number of snowstorms meant that we were not able to transplant the small plants in a timely manner, but we ended up with a pretty impressive spread.

The grade one teacher at my school from this past year is transferring to a grade three class at another school. We were talking back and forth about 3^rd grade stuff and the idea of having competing class gardens came up. The idea, I think, will be to grow enough peppers, tomatoes, and maybe even onions/garlic to make a pot of class grown – homemade spaghetti sauce.

We are going to win, by the way.

This teacher was in charge of our school’s recycling program and that job is passing to me this coming year, so I’m thinking of including a mulch challenge to our competition. We’ll make our own fertilizer and grow some awesome plants. Worms and rotting produce = a well rounded education. We are going to wipe the floor, in a very friendly way, with that other class.

I mention all this for a couple reasons. Firstly: Any longtime readers will know that it takes me a log of meandering to actually get to a review. I sort of take my time portaging my way around my stream of thought before finishing off with something resembling a review. Secondly: Michael Recycle, by Ellie Bethel and Alexandra Colombo inspired the concept of our little two-school competition….that we are going to win.

Michael Recycle is set in a grimy town that has been overtaken by trash - that is, until a green-caped crusader, Michael Recycle, arrives, declaring "You must stop this now! You've got to act soon. The towers of trash reach up to the moon!" Inspired by the "super-green hero," town members react by creating a "Be Greener Campaign," which includes recycling, growing their own vegetables and collecting rain for reuse. (From IDWpublishing.com)

The title character doesn’t really do a whole lot in the story, which is actually kind of nice, and because of this it gets a higher recommendation than it would if the hero fixed all the problems, or if the hero “held the hands” of the townsfolk while they made the changes. Michael provides the inspiration by telling the town that they need to change, and the town does the rest. This is what is happening now. We are being told to change by reliable sources and then it is up to us to listen and change.

The common sense lesson that I take away is that we can’t expect anyone to be the hero besides us. We can make a difference. I like it.

Michael Recycle was actually out in time for this past Earth Day, but I never got around to it until now….I mean I left it until now so that you interested teachers could pick up this book over the summer and make a plan to implement the concepts and ideas into your own class and/or school. Recycle cans and paper? Of course. Reuse old junk? What teacher/school doesn’t find uses for everything until it falls apart? But we can maybe do more. Grow food? Great idea, especially if you have windows in the right spot, or the right climate for a school garden. Save rainwater to water plants? What a great idea! It wouldn’t take much, and snow, for us, would be even easier to collect. A general change in attitudes? It’s worth a try.

I thought it was clever of the book to include GREEN ideas after the conclusion of the story. Some are pretty obvious, but there are some that are pretty obvious and often ignored: like turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth, or turning off the computer when you are not using it (are the computers shut off in your school when everyone goes home?).

I like this book, and it is going to be one of the first ones I read to my class this September. Collecting rain water at school. Brilliant!

IDW Publishing

· ISBN-10: 1845392817

· ISBN-13: 978-1845392819

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Nit-Pickin’ -or- My Wife Is Not Allowed to Read This Book.

Article by Scott Tingley - May 10, 2008

My wife is not allowed to read this book.

When he gets married, the responsible, yet tricky husband will grab up all the jobs that need doing – but that he doesn’t really mind doing. The big chores I snapped up were: dishes, laundry and cooking; leaving my wife the various floor jobs and a few other things that I am horrible at. It has worked out for us pretty well over the years. Unintentionally this time, I did the same thing when our kids were born. I am now the main ‘accident’ and throw-up cleaner. But my wife is in charge of all hair related duties.

My wife is not allowed to look at this book.

Ever.

Well, maybe not NEVER ever, but certainly not until after.

After what? After she has to pick and wash and pick and wash all the nits out of our little girl’s hair. See, change its colour from red to blonde and the girl in Nancy Van Laan and George Booth’s, Nit-Pickin’ looks pretty much the same as my own daughter. Curlier than curly hair with easy to tangle ringlets. This would be like a horror book for my wife. She truly dreads that first batch of lice that our kids will inevitably get at some point in their school careers.

I am bringing this book to work and I will bring it home after.

I had a lot of fun reading Nit out loud to my students. The text is written as a poem or a song and its beat made for a good reading experience. The art is kinetic and funny, but I almost missed the best part. All along the top border we see what is happening at nit-level as they are picked out, smeared out, and washed out. This leads to a funny and slightly…troubling final page.

Teachers and parents, you will want to have this one on hand during the inevitable school nit season. It may actually take away some of the fear of lice kids and parents/teachers have.

Available July 1, 2008

By Nancy Van Laan
Illustrated by George Booth
This Edition: Hardcover
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
ISBN-10: 0-689-83898-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-689-83898-9
Ages: 4 - 8
Grades: P - 3

The Clouds Above: A Comic Review....Or Not

Article by Scott Tingley - March 24, 2008

This is not a comic. Comics don’t belong on this site, so that must mean that this book, The Clouds Above is not a comic book. Comic books belong on my other site…This is not a comic book. It has one illustration per page, meaning there are no panels, meaning this is not a comic.

So there.

…..Except, that in the Clouds Above, by Jordan Crane, the words that tell the story are encased by white bubbles that point at the speakers….Wait a minute! Those are word balloons! This is a comic book. There is no text along the bottom or top of the beautifully, Maurice Sendak-like illustrations, only word balloons. Tricked!! This is a comic.

Nonsense!

Blast it!

Bear with me reader(s ??? is there anyone out there?), I’ve had this wonderful little hardcover on my shelf for well over a year, and every month or so I flip through it or maybe read it again, all the while wondering if I am ever going to find a hook that would allow me to write this piece. I knew when I started this kid’s book review site that I was one step closer to being able to do something with this book.

Clouds is an edgy little (its dimensions, not its page count. It is actually 208 pages long) book featuring Simon and his boy-sized pet cat, Jack. Think: Calvin and Hobbes meets Where the Wild Things Are.

On the way to school, Simon and his cat Jack take shortcuts that lead them through the kind of fantastic world that lurks just around the corner from reality and that only children believe exists. From Fantagraphics.com

There is a fairly evil teacher, an odd bunch of classmates, a magic staircase, evil storm clouds, and a scene right out of The Birds. This book is kind of weird and kid-friendly, and dark. Kids like a bit of darkness in their literature. Everyone knows the thing about all of the big Disney movies featuring the loss of a main character’s parent, but even writers like Robert Munsch have a bit of an edge to them, if you look for it (Come on! Dad almost freezes to death in 50 Below Zero, and don’t even get me started on A Promise is a Promise.)

This is a surreal book with images and conversations that will intrigue and engage readers young and old; reluctant or eager. How can you pass up a kid’s book that contains the lines: “Do we still exist?” “I’m starting to wonder.” I want that on a t-shirt!

I just bought a copy for my grade three class, and I will pass on what the reaction to it is.

It has been available in hard cover for a while ($18.95), and it is available now in soft cover ($16.99).

Oh, and it’s a comic.

Author: Jordan Crane, Pages: 208 Dimensions: 6.25" x 6.75" Colors: full-color Publisher Fantagraphics ISBN-10: 1-56097-627-6

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DUCK!!

Article by Scott Tingley - March 15, 2008

“Jack likes the Ducks.”

“Jack likes the Ducks,” she says. That is the sole contribution by the other senior staff member of this blog. I’m not sure if the Mom is pulling her weight on this one, but she speaks the truth.

My son is 14 moths old. He has been walking since 9 ½ months, running since 10 ½ months and climbing EVERYTHING since 12 months. I went to the bedroom for 15 seconds last Saturday and I come back to find him standing in the middle of the kitchen table. Not a chair in sight! I have no idea how he does it. My older daughter didn’t even start to walk until about 14 months, but she was chattering away at 9 months. They are sort of opposites that way. My boy, Jack is really picking up steam with the talking though. In just the last couple of weeks he has begun to say the usual beginner stuff, but his favorite word is DUCK. Most things are “duck”. His toy motor bike is “beek”. Trucks (his favourite thing – how do boys know this? I couldn’t care less about trucks. He has lots around, but where does the obsession come from) are “ucks”. But everything else is a duck. Actual ducks, however, are “DUCK!!!”

With that in mind, when a book comes along called, What’s Up, Duck? I have to show it to the junior member of the staff to see if it passes muster.

He said, “DUCK!”

Sold!

Really though, Tad Hills’ follow-up to his bestselling Duck and Goose and Duck, Duck, Goose (neither of which I have read though) is brilliant. The previous two are storybooks, while this newest is a board book for very young children, which I think is a very good move for publishers. I know my daughter loved the David Shannon David board books, which paved the way for her to fall in love with the regular series. Hills’ art style is perfect for young readers. The vibrant colors and adorable birds should make this a favorite for anyone that comes across it.

What’s up Duck? is a book of opposites (with a near-far page that should make fellow Grover fans smile) and while I know there are plenty of those around, this one set itself apart by sheer adorableness. Duck reminds me a bit of the graphic novel series, Owly by Andy Runton. Hills, like Runton, has a strong ability to convey the emotion of his characters through a few simple lines. It is a skill not every illustrator has, but it seems so simple to Hills and Runton, which is important since there is no dialogue in Owly and no words to help with emotions in Duck.

I see from Hills’ page at Random House.com that he has another board book coming out in August. I say give this newest one a try if you have appropriate aged kids in your life, and you may just find that you want to pre-order the next one.

Written/ Illustrated by Tad Hills; Board book, 22 pages; Price: $6.99; ISBN: 978-0-375-84738-7 (0-375-84738-3)

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