Helen's Big World

This very different look into Helen Keller's world, her truly big world, is breathtaking.  

Reading the illustrator's note explains what Matt Tavares was thinking as he pictured Helen Keller and what she COULD do instead of focusing on what she could not do.  

Like the author, Doreen Rappaport, I am most familiar with Helen Keller through the story of her relationship with Annie Sullivan via The Miracle Worker.  Though there is an epilogue, for me her story ended when she understood that w-a-t-e-r meant water, the substance being poured over her hand from the pump. Rappaport and Tavares open up a whole new world for me of what Helen Keller went on to do in and for the world.  It's also remarkable what she went on to do at such a young age still.  Writing by the time she was eight, reading braille, and even more impressive - reading lips.  More that I did not know about Helen - that she spoke out against war, child labor, in favor of worker's unions, women's right to vote, and equality for black Americans.

Doreen Rappaport weaves together the story of Helen's life and her ability to explore the world along with quotes from her very own writing about her life.  My favorite quote is: 

"I do not like the world as it is; so I am trying to make it a little more as I would like it."

I couldn't agree more!  I was able to see a social activist speak today who focused on the importance of free speech and reading Helen's Big World made me happy that even though Helen may not have had the audible words, she did not let that keep her from speaking her mind, learning more, and standing up for those who could not stand up for themselves.  She is a remarkable figure and this book is a remarkable telling of her story.  

Helen's Big World

ISBN: 978-0-7868-0890-8

Published 2012 by Disney Hyperion Books

I borrowed this copy from my public library to read and review.

That's a Possibility! A Book About What Might Happen

Sadly, I was not a math whiz as a kid.  I also wasn't exposed to much math based nonfiction as a kid either.  I like to think that if I were I might have had a better understanding of some tricky concepts.  Bruce Goldstone does an excellent job of explaining possibility, probability, certainty, impossibility, improbability, and permutations in his book "That's a Possibility!".  The accompanying photographs help to illustrate each concept.  

That's a Possibility: A Book About What Might Happen

ISBN: 978-0-8050-8998-1

Published 2013 by Henry Holy and Company

I borrowed this copy from my public library to read and review.

Gandhi: A March to the Sea

Mind. Blown.  I love learning what I didn't know I didn't know.  I knew that Gandhi was a peaceful protester.  Maybe the first famous one who inspired many others like MLK, and I thought I knew why he was protesting.  In reading this book, I realized I actually had no idea.  Sad, very sad, but that situation has (at least partially) been rectified.  British colonization was pretty bad stuff, generally speaking, but I never realized the extent to which they took their rule in India.  Gandhi's march to the sea, the main story of "Gandhi: A March to the Sea" by Alice B. McGinty and illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez, was his effort to draw national and international attention to the injustices of foreign rule and taxation of materials Indians could have literally scooped from the earth, or the earth right next to the salty sea at least.  British rule made it illegal for Indians to scoop salt from the sea to make their own salt and they forced Indians to buy British salt and taxed it.  Sound familiar?  This reminded me (loosely) of our very own Boston Tea Party.  Likewise, Gandhi taught the people to weave their own cloth so as to avoid buying British cloth that was also being highly taxed.

Enough about the story itself and onto the book, writing, and illustrations.  

The refrain "One more step toward freedom" ties the pieces of Gandhi's march together highlighting not just the trek to scoop salt but also the stops along the way to treat the "untouchables" as equal and to preach peace among different religious groups.  Each small step brought the country together and that much closer to freedom.  The illustrations by Thomas Gonzalez are  vague and dream-like.  They feel breezy.  I can feel the change in temperature as the sun sets on another day.  The spread with photographers from around the world documenting the march's end at the sea is jarring and perfect.  Each illustration is unique as each step of Gandhi's journey must have been.

Gandhi: A March to the Sea

ISBN: 9781477816448

Published 2013 by Amazon Children's Publishing

I borrowed this copy from my public library to read and review.

Hoop Genius

"Hoop Genius: How a Despatate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball" by John Coy and illustrated by Joe Morse tells the story of the origination of the sport of basketball (as the title implies).  The endpapers show the first set of rules created by teacher, James Naismith.  Naismith's flash of genius is explained when he was inspired by a childhood game he played called "Duck on a Rock."  

I found it interesting that the game could spread just by the boys going home for the holidays and teaching their friends, but the Author's Note gives some more pertinent information that the school Naismith taught at was the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts and the YMCA helped to spread the game around the world.  

Hoop Genius

ISBN: 978-0-7613-6617-1

Published 2013 by Carolrhoda Books

I borrowed this copy from my public library to read and review.

Frog Song

Frog Song, written by Brenda Z. Guiberson and illustrated by Gennady Spirin is gorgeous.  Lyrically written, featuring an abundance of onomatopoeia for the reader, Frog Song offers opportunity for teachers to incorporate engaging nonfiction with beautiful figurative language.  Readers will be fascinated with some of the frog behavior surrounding hatching their young.  The Darwin's Frog was also featured in "My First Day" and I was intrigued to learn more about the frogs hopping out of papa's mouth which had protected the tadpoles in a sac in his throat.  Mission accomplished!  I now know a little more than I did before.  Like "My First Day," Frog Song includes information about the habitat, size, and a quick fact about each featured frog (11 in total) in the section titled "Frogs of the World."  The section titled "Frogs in Trouble" helps the reader to draw concrete personal connections between the loss of habitat of these frogs and the impacts on human life as well as the impact humans have on the frog's habitat.  A bibliography and online resources help readers to learn more.  

Spirin's illustrations capture the details of these beautiful creatures and their surroundings.  At first glance, the cover looks photographic as Spirin captures the beauty of a Strawberry Poison Dart Frog and the seeming reflection off its slick skin.  Gorgeous.

Frog Song

ISBN: 978-0-8050-9254-7

Published 2013 by Henry Holt and Company

I borrowed this copy from my public library to read and review.

Nelson Mandela

 Kadir Nelson's artwork is stunning in  "Nelson Mandela."  Kadir always uses the expanse of a spread to convey emotion and depth.  The first illustration of two boys sparring on a hillside above a village features a sun rise.  It seems symbolic to me of Nelson Mandela's rise to lead his country.  His given name, Rolihlahla, translates to "troublemaker" as explained in the author's note.  Never was these a better kind of trouble to make than the fight to end apartheid and inequality in South Africa.  Kadir Nelson does an artful job of summing up a spectacular story to capture its essence.

Nelson Mandela 

ISBN: 978-0-06-178376-0

Published 2013 by Katherine Tegen Books

I borrowed this copy from my public library to read and review.

CYBILS 2013

For the second year, I am honored to be a part of the first round panel for what is now known as Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction for the CYBILS.  Public nominations are rolling in and will continue to until October 15th.  Don't miss your chance to nominate a favorite book published from October 16, 2012 and October 15, 2013.  The categories are:

• Book Apps
• Easy Readers
• Early Chapter Books
• Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novels
• Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction
• Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction
• Fiction Picture Books
• Middle Grade Fiction
• Poetry
• Young Adult Fiction
• Young Adult Graphic Novels
• Young Adult Nonfiction
• Young Adult Speculative Fiction

You can click on any of the category links to see what has already been nominated to date.

Make sure to load up my "to read" list!!