Lynn: I had forgotten what a milestone losing a tooth is for kids until my grandsons developed wiggly teeth. Suddenly teeth were falling like rain and they and their kindergarten classmates seemed to have more gaps than teeth. I instantly started looking for good loose tooth books to share with them. I found Arthur’s Tooth and A Time of Wonder (which the boys loved) in my own collection but I knew there had to be something more recent. Cindy joined in the search and we found quite a few. Of course we tested them on the twins and I also read many of them to their kindergarten class. So far three have come out on top.
The clear favorite with the extended focus group is Tabitha’s Terrifically Tough Tooth (Random, 2001) by Charlotte Middleton. Tabitha’s wiggly tooth just won’t come out no matter what she does! She tries chewing gum, attaching the tooth with a string to her pet turtle, jumping and dancing but nothing works. It takes a big sneeze to shoot the tooth across the room. The kindergarten class asked for this book over and over.
A close second is The Lost-and-Found Tooth (S&S, 2008) by Louise Borden. Everyone in Mr. Reilly’s class has a loose tooth story except Lucy. She longs to write on the Loose Tooth Calendar but she hasn’t lost a single tooth yet. Finally in February Lucy’s first tooth comes out and she promptly drops it onto the snowy playground. The kindergarten class loved the story of how Lucy’s class rallies to find her tooth and the children who hadn’t yet lost a tooth were cheered to know they weren’t alone.
Cindy: I’ve been fans of our focus group since they were born (attended their first birthday party, watched them get off the school bus after the first day of kindergarten) so when Lynn emailed photos of missing teeth smiles I had to come celebrate. Hayden lost his first and made me this great drawing. He explained that the blue lines were sweat since he was so hot and he has “cracked eyes.” Mine look like that too from all the reading I’ve been doing, but I’ll never call them bloodshot again. “Cracked” it is!
But I’m supposed to be reviewing books. Sorry. When I think of books with tooth fairies, first to mind is Jean Ferris’ hilarious take on classic fairy tales, Once Upon a Marigold (Harcourt, 2002) in which Edric the troll thinks the tooth fairy should be replaced (she gets sidetracked and forgets to deliver). But that’s a minor subplot in a novel for 5th-8th grade. For the tooth-losing set, I’d recommend the newest in the Horrid Henry series, Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy by Francesca Simon (Sourcebooks/ Jabberwocky, 2009).
“Why me?” moaned Henry, stomping on the petunias. “Why am I the only one who hasn’t lost a tooth?”
Horrid Henry sat in his fort and scowled. He was sick and tired of other kids flaunting their ugly wobbly teeth and disgusting holes in their gums. The next person who so much as mentioned the word “tooth” had better watch out.
When Henry learns that his YOUNGER brother, Perfect Peter, has lost a tooth first, he sets out to trick the tooth fairy into thinking it is his tooth. This is the first of four beginner reader stories in this collection featuring the exaggerated archetypes of Horrid Henry, Perfect Peter, and Moody Margaret. Young readers will delight in the horridness of being horrid AND being perfect and, will know there is a place in between for them. The comic illustrations by Tony Ross are delightful, but it is Hayden’s that is hanging on my refrigerator door!
Cindy and Lynn: We’ve rounded up a few books to leave under our pillows for the Tooth Fairy but know we must be missing some good ones. Please leave us a comment if you have a title to recommend.
Books that make you want to flip back to the beginning and start an immediate reread. Books you actually take the time to reread. When You Reach Me (Random House/Wendy Lamb, 2009). Books you want to read a third time. Books you want to clutch to your chest.
Things You Care About
Sixth graders Miranda and her best friend Sal living in Manhattan in the same apartment building. Miranda’s mother, a frustrated lawyer-wanna-be legal secretary studying for an upcoming appearance on the TV game show, $10,000 Pyramid and who is struggling with a decision about whether or not she should marry her steady, nurturing boyfriend, Richard. Miranda’s favorite book, Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, which she reads over and over again, despite her teacher’s attempts to broaden her scope.
Things That Are Puzzling
Who stole the key to Miranda’s Apartment? Why does the crazy man who kick boxes into the busy street mumble “bookbag, pocketshoe” over and over again? Who is leaving mysterious notes for Miranda that appear to know what will happen in the future? Why won’t Sal talk to Miranda anymore?
Things You Admire
The 1979 setting that is just right without trying too hard. The small details like the mother calling bad tasteless strawberries SSOs (Strawberry Shaped Objects), Dick Clark, Madeleine L’Engle, creative teachers, adults who are real characters (flawed in real ways but supportive and caring), books that make you think and wonder. Rebecca Stead.
P.S. For the unenlightened, you can find many clips of Dick Clark hosting the Pyramid show online. I am old enough to remember it as the $10,000 Pyramid although inflation increased it over the years to $25,000 and $100,000 (although Dick Clark never seemed to age). Here are a few to get you started:
If you get sucked into watching more clips it will soon be evident that you’d rather have Loretta Swit over Barbara Feldman as your celebrity partner!
Lynn:
Things That Are Impossible
Following Cindy’s post! Trying to say how brilliant this book is without either gushing hopelessly or giving away the premise.
Setting aside the Pyramid fun for a moment, let me wind up our post by saying that this is a wonderfully crafted book. I frequently complain about the dearth of sf for young readers and Stead has stepped up to the plate with this remarkable piece of writing. Stead clearly expects her readers to handle the complexity of her plot and her careful construction ensures that happens. Every detail is important and everything fits together to complete a perfect explanation and a very satisfying conclusion to the mysterious events. While the excellent plotting might be enough for any book, there is much more for readers. The characters, as Cindy, has said are all multi-dimensional and Miranda’s authentic voice will propel readers into some wonderfully realized themes such as friendship and the assumptions we make about people. This is one of my favorites of the year so far and I am itching to read it again. All I have to do is wrench out of Cindy’s hands!
Cindy: It’s no small feat to take the events of the Holocaust, Anne Frank’s life and diary, and Wiesenthal’s lifelong work as a Nazi War Crime hunter and present them in 40 pages in a form accessible to elementary students. In the capable hands of Rubin, though, The Anne Frank Case (Holiday House, 2009) does just that.
Wiesenthal was called to Linz, Austria in 1958 where a theater production of The Diary of Anne Frank was being disrupted by a group of teen Holocaust deniers. The teens were disputing the authenticity of the diary, and even, Anne’s existence. Wiesenthal began a five year search for the Gestapo officer who had arrested the Frank family and the others hidden in the Annex. Young readers learn the cursory facts of the events of Hitler’s reign, and also get a significant portrait of a heroic man who not only survived the Holocaust himself, but worked tirelessly and in poverty to bring justice to those who deserved it.
A solid choice for upper elementary students, this book will also find a niche in the middle school classroom as a read aloud supplement to the teaching of Anne’s diary or the events of World War II.
Lynn: Susan Rubin makes an excellent choice in framing her introduction to the Holocaust in Simon Wiesenthal’s careful methodical search for proof that Anne Frank’s diary was no hoax. It allows her to present the history and background material, the facts of the Holocaust and its horrors and Wiesenthal’s own experiences in a somewhat detached manner, as in constructing a court case and laying out proof. Another noteworthy feature is the information about the post-war resistance to uncovering the reality of the Holocaust and Wiesenthal’s important role in ensuring that the reality be understood. Bill Farnsworth’s haunting illustrations are a perfect accompaniment. Young readers will not miss the darkness that lies beneath the factual manner nor the sense that there is much more to learn and understand when they are older.
Cindy and Lynn: If you haven’t checked out the Nonfiction Monday roundup, click the logo below. Many bloggers are celebrating youth nonfiction with posts on Mondays. Rotating hosts compile blogger comments letting readers know who is blogging nonfiction each Monday. The host schedule is posted here so you know where to start each week.
Lynn: We have a problem. It’s a totally great problem but there definitely are some down-sides to it. We have books, books, books stacked EVERYWHERE! You can hardly walk through my office. It all started with serving on YALSA committees, increased when we started reviewing for Booklist and has gotten completely out of hand now that we are blogging. Generous kind publishers send us books that we can’t wait to read. They arrive in boxes on our porches, packages crammed into our mailboxes and we haul them home by the dozens from conference. We want to read them all and although we take them into school to share with our teens, we have a shameless number stacked everywhere at home, ready to be read. At times the stacks are positively life-threatening! We definitely don’t mean to taunt or brag - we know how lucky we are! We just wish we could read faster. We also try hard not to blog about books too far ahead of their publication. Some people like to know about upcoming books, though, so we thought we’d post a list of a few of the books we’re excited about. With ALA coming soon, many of these arcs will be available in the exhibit hall. Here’s what is on the top of my towering stacks:
Hamlet byJohn Marsden (August 2009)
I’ve read everything Marsden has written multiple times and I can’t wait for his take on one of my favorite plays.
Exposure by Mal Peet (October 2009)
Keeping the Shakespeare theme going here, a soccer star called Otello falls for a white pop star Desmerelda. Paul Faustino is back in business reporting a murder.
The Lost Conspiracy by Frances Hardinge (September 2009)
I fell hard for the quirky clever Fly By Nightand can’t wait for this new book set on a jungle island.
Bad Apple by Laura Ruby (October 2009)
I’m not sure whether I love Ruby’s fantasies or her realistic Good Girls most, but I will read WHATEVER this gifted writer creates!
Forest Born by Shannon Hale (September 2009)
Another Bayern book - what else do I need to say?
Another Faust by Daniel & Dina Nayeri (August 2009)
I adore faustian books and this one looks like a winner. We were sent this in the winter and I’ve somehow managed to avoid reading it because the pub date is August. I’m not waiting any longer!
The Giant Slayer by Iain Lawrence (November 2009)
Iain Lawrence is a god. This one set in 1955 tells of a young storyteller who visits her friend who has contracted polio. Her on-going story of a rampaging giant changes the lives of the listeners in their iron lungs. OMG!
Raven Summer by David Almond (November 2009)
Did I mention writing gods? Almond always challenges me as a reader. I am often baffled but I am always rewarded.
A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck (September 2009)
Grandma Dowdel returns. Nothing else needs to be said.
Books I am itching for but do not have to yet (it’s an addiction):
Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Cindy: My family is starting to grouse about my books taking over the house. I just give them an evil eye while thinking that if they would only move out I’d have room for more books! (Just kidding, honey!) I have three books going right now, but here are some of the new titles that are in my stacks (in addition to the ones that Lynn has listed):
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness (September 2009)
Book one, The Knife of Never Letting Go won numerous awards and left readers hanging by their fingernails. I’m clawing my way up my stack of books to read this one pronto before my teen readers learn I have it.
Going Bovine by Libba Bray (September 2009)
Bray is hilarious in person, and I’m intrigued to read this departure from her Victorian Gemma Doyle Trilogy. The cover promises that this “dark comedic journey poses the questions: Why are we here? What is real? What makes microwave popcorn so good? Why must we die? And how do we really learn to live?” Sign me up.
Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd ( October 2009)
A foster child takes flight in what is promised to be a bittersweet, gritty, and humorous book. In the hands of this talented author we lost too soon it’s almost guaranteed to be a success.
Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko (September 2009)
I have an Alcatraz Warden’s mug on my desk that gullible sixth graders assume I got “on the job.” I can’t wait to read this sequel to the Newbery Honor winning Al Capone Does My Shirts.
Malice by Chris Wooding (October 2009)
I was mesmerized by Storm Thief and besotted with Poison. I can’t wait to read the newest title about three kids trapped in a deadly comic book world.
Scurvy Goonda by Chris McCoy (November 2009)
They had me at the title and the cover art, but then there’s the description of Scurvy as an “outlandish invisible pirate with an insatiable love for bacon.” How can you NOT read this?
As for titles that I don’t have and want? I need Lynn to hurry up and share our copy of the new Grandma Dowdel book. And, I’m lusting for Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood by Tony Lee, a new graphic novel that I’ve heard Jen Hubert of Reading Rants raving about. Other than that, I’m all ears. What upcoming books do YOU know about that I should add to my exhibit quest next month at ALA?
Lynn: Our focus group is starting to throw their weight around. Ever since we read The Sleepy Little Alphabet (Random/Knopf, June 2009) in galley several months ago, they’ve been asking if we have written about it yet. Explaining that we like to blog books closer to the publication didn’t impress them. They adored this book and the nagging was wearing me down! I had to reassemble the loose pages of the arc from their loving attention more times than I can count. Thank goodness the book has been released and I can buy a print copy, write the blog and get them off my back!
Actually I loved this book as much as the twins did. Harassed adult capital letters shepherd their lower case children toward bedtime while the children resist in familiar ways: bouncing on the beds, fencing with toothbrushes and slowly getting sleepier. Judy Sierra’s bouncy rhyming text makes a wonderful read-aloud and is filled with humor guaranteed to delight Pre-S-2nd grade readers.
t tucks in her teddy bear.
u takes off his underwear.
Melissa Sweet’s comic illustrations are a perfect pairing. The letters have googly eyes and wide mouths and each scene is accessorized with appropriate alphabetic items rewarding sharp-eyed readers. A yawning little y carries a yo-yo and q relaxes on a quilt. Naughty n is of course a favorite. A concluding two-page spread shows all the little letters tucked into bed and some of them are even asleep! The twins have been giving this book a big thumbs up for months and I agree! This clever book is a capital choice!
Cindy: For those who are newer readers to the blog, we should clarify that our focus group consists of Lynn’s two 5 3/4 year old twin grandsons, Mason and Hayden. We first introduced them to the blog in this post, and books that they really like get added to the “Twins’ Thumbs Up” category. If you haven’t seen their photo, it’s worth a quick look. They are quick to tell me that they are not 5 anymore, they are ALMOST SIX. It’s a huge difference as I remember from my own youth. I’ve long since stopped listing my age in 1/4 years.
I fell in love with this book on my first read back when the galley arrived and we’ve eagerly awaited publication to blog this one. I admired Melissa Sweet’s collage art last year in A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant (it went on to win a 2009 Caldecott Honor) and while this book has a very different look, some of the collage that I love is evident. Flowered, polka dotted, striped and plaid clothing elements yield variety to the 52 upper and lower case letters. My favorite touch, though, is the notebook paper striped clouds, bedcovers and pillows.
As Lynn notes, there are many details to observe on repeat reads and I am still finding new delights while not tiring of Sierra’s bouncy rhymes. I just noted that n is still being naughty in the final full spread when all other letters are sleeping. I also just noticed the odd shape of u’s underpants that he removes. Hilarious.
Lynn has expressed surprise on numerous occasions about our focus group’s enthusiasm for alphabet books. She doesn’t remember liking them much herself or her sons getting excited about them years ago. I’m betting that they just didn’t have access to the creative alphabet books that talented authors and illustrators such as Sierra and Sweet are producing today or they would have joined the alphabet book fan club with the same exuberance shown by The Sleepy Little Alphabet children!
Lynn: One of the best things about reading is learning cool facts to share. Secret Subway (National Geographic, May 2009) is packed with interesting facts and fascinating stories that will enthrall readers - teens and adults. How can you not love a book that shares the story of how the first subway was dug in secret under a department store?
Sandler begins by describing the truly horrific traffic congestion on the streets of New York City in the 1860’s. Commuting even a few blocks took hours and there were so many horse-drawn omnibuses in fierce competition with each other, freight wagons, and throngs of people that not only was there gridlock, it was literally life-threatening to try to cross a street. Onto this scene came a truly remarkable man, Alfred Eli Beach.
Young Alfred Beach knew that something had to change if his beloved New York City was going to thrive and prosper and he had a vision. Not yet 40, Beach had already done noteworthy things. Purchasing the struggling magazine, Scientific American, Beach transformed the journal into the respected and influential magazine it still is today. After helping struggling inventors as an editor, Beach launched a patent agency that would guide inventors through the notoriously difficult patent process, assisting such notable inventors as Allen Wilson and Thomas Edison. Beach was an inventor himself, developing the forerunner of the typewriter. It was Beach’s vision of a subway system for New York City however that reveals the broad scope of his abilities and foresight.
Huge challenges in three categories had to be overcome: the engineering and design of the subway system and tunnels, negative public perception and the determined opposition from one of the most powerful and corrupt individuals in American history. Sandler writes with equal skill about all three areas and engaged me as completely in the science and technology as in the descriptions of Beach’s maneuvers to outfox the infamous Boss Tweed. This riveting book reads like a thriller! I could go on and on about this superbly written and fascinating book but I’ll stop and let Cindy get a word in. I only have one quibble - I wish National Geographic would stop using that light colored font for the captions!
Cindy: Years ago I read Jim Murphy’s Blizzard: The Storm that Changed America and when I booktalk that with students I mention that it was the 1888 blizzard that was the impetus for the building of the subway in New York City. Now I know the rest of the story. Whenever I am driving through a tunnel, especially significant ones, I am amazed by the engineering involved. The thought of tunneling under the streets of skyscrapers on an island and under the river to Brooklyn is almost incomprehensible. Just as in the building of our state’s great engineering feat, the Mackinac Bridge, there were injuries and deaths before the project was completed. But there were miracles, too:
Marshall Mahey was working in a compressed air tunnel under the East River when it collapsed. Mahey was jettisoned out of the tunnel by the force of the compressed air but somehow survived. “I closed my eyes,” he later recounted, “and managed to get my hands over my head when I realized I was in sand and was being pushed by a tremendous force. I was being squeezed tighter than any girl had ever held me and the pressure was all over me, especially on my head…the last thing I recalled was seeing the Brooklyn Bridge while I was whirling around in the air!”
The scope of Beach’s ingenuity is inspiring, and I was cheering as he helped to bring down the corrupt “Boss” Tweed. The interesting side information about cartoonist Thomas Nast and the origins of Scientific American (who knew they used to publish poetry and religious articles before Beach took over and changed the focus to science and invention?) is a bonus. I’ve made one trip to NYC and marvelled at the mosaic tiles decorating the walls of the stations, but I never saw a grand piano or a chandelier like Beach used to outfit his sample waiting station! One last thing: I’m sorely torn between liking the idea of Beach’s pneumatic subway station being sealed beneath the streets of Broadway, and wishing that it had been recovered and put on display in a museum. I’d like to see them! I wonder what Beach would think of the busy streets of Broadway being closed to traffic and lawn chairs now being available for pedestrians where once it was life threatening to cross the street!
Cindy: There’s a girl licking chocolate frosting (or Nutella spread) off her finger on the cover. That’s all I need to pick up The Sweet Life of Stella Madison (Random/Delacorte, July 2009). Actually, one of our BBYA teen readers reviewed this at book club and it was her comments that spurred me to read it. Stella’s father is a famous NYC chef and her mother owns a restaurant that provides guest chef cooking instruction along with your meal. Stella prefers Burger King Whoppers and chicken fingers with Cap’n Crunch breading. She gets a summer internship at the local newspaper and is given the food beat! The girl who isn’t a foodie is off to review local restaurants. Add to this, her faithful but predictable steady boyfriend is professing his love and Stella is conflicted by her feelings for the new hottie intern at her mom’s restaurant. Our teen reader said she was rooting for Stella to pick the hottie so she could have the steady nice guy! This is a very “sweet” story about a girl navigating through the messy details of relationships, both her own and her parents, but also one about a young woman coming to draw upon her own talents. A great summer read. And back to the cover….my only beef is that Stella agonizes over her heat-induced prone-to-frizz curly hair throughout the book–doesn’t match the tresses on the cover. I hate that. But did I tell you there is chocolate on the cover? Yum.
Lynn: I agree with you about the hair, Cindy, but at least the girl on the cover has a face instead of being one of those headless torsos on so many covers! This really is a sweet book and a perfect summer read. Many of the chapters start out with the most mouth-watering menus and all the food descriptions made me ready to head to the kitchen. There is some real substance to this book, though, especially in the portrayal of a young woman trying to understand her very real attraction to two boys at the same time. The highlights for me were the sections involving Stella’s attempts to become a restaurant critic. I would have loved to have seen more restaurant visits and read more of Stella’s reviews! I don’t want Lara Zeises to give up writing books for teens but she obviously has a real flair for food writing Stock up on Ding-dongs and savor this charming book.
Lynn: It’s not every fourteen-year-old girl who can successfully work as a Perditorian (finder of lost things) on her own in the teeming dangerous streets of London. Enola Holmes is no ordinary girl and she is doing quite nicely, thank you, solving cases that baffle even her famous brothers. Before she disappeared, Enola’s eccentric mother told her, “Enola, you will do quite well on your own.” Using a dizzying variety of disguises, Enola solves mysteries and eludes her brothers who wish to send her off to a boarding school where she can be prepared for a woman’s proper place in society. Independent Enola who equals her brothers in intellect has other ideas, failing so far only in solving the case of her mother’s whereabouts.
Enola is a delight! Springer’s obvious fondness for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s wonderful stories shines through these intriguing mysteries. Enola’s spot-on syntax and fascinating historical details make these books a pleasure from beginning to end. I pounce happily on each new book, delighting as much in watching Enola’s character blossom as in each intriguing new puzzle. In the fifth and latest book, The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline (Penguin, May 2009), Enola comes home to discover that her dear old landlady, Mrs. Tupper has been kidnapped! Egad! The Crimean War and Florence Nightingale add to the mystery as Enola is once more on the case. This Series Star shines especially bright.
Cindy: Sometimes I wonder where I’ve been! I read hundreds of youth books a year and somehow never picked up one of these, even though I’m a fan of Springer and booktalk mysteries for our 7th grade curriculum every year. I have promoted them, badly, but that will improve now that I’ve read the first one and can highlight the elements that my students will like. I listened to this one on audio with a fabulous reader, but that kept me from puzzling out the ciphers on my own, so the next volume I’ll read in print as I continue to follow this great heroine on her next adventure. I love discovering series once they are established because then I can leap to the next installment without having to wait for slow authors and publishers to deliver the goods.
Cindy: Johannes Vermeer was a mysterious 17th century Dutch painter with only 34-36 existing paintings and very little known about his life and work. His painting, The Girl with the Pearl Earring, became the subject of a lauded adult novel by Tracy Chevalier. In The Vermeer Interviews (Millbrook, 2009), Bob Raczka attempts to ferret out information about Vermeer and his art by “interviewing” the subjects of a few of his favorite paintings. The milkmaid, the geographer, the couple in the music lesson and even the artist in his studio are questioned about Vermeer and their paintings. Bob questions The Geographer (one of only two paintings of scientists):
BOB: Many historians think the model for both you and The Astronomer was Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (AHN-ton-ee vahn LAY-ven hook), the famous Delft scientist.
GEOG: Yes, I have heard that theory.
BOB: Wasn’t he born in Delft in 1632, just like Vermeer?
GEOG: Yes, I believe he was.
BOB: Also, he would have been about thirty-six years old at the time you were painted–the same age you appear to be. Not mention that when Vermeer died, van Leeuwenhoek as the one who carried out the instructions in his will. Based on all this, I have to believe that you are Antoni van Leeuwenhoek.?
GOEG: As a man of science, I must admit your evidence is compelling.
The interviews cover different aspects of Vermeer’s life and features of his paintings and are an intriguing way to teach art appreciation. Raczka sticks to the known facts, but leaves readers wondering and guessing at their own interpretations. From his interview with Woman in Blue Reading a Letter (How to read a painting):
BOB: Is there a right way to read your painting?
WOMAN: Only Master Vermeer knows for sure. And he never told me.
Lynn: I love this book! I’ll try to move to more professional comments but let me say again how much I love this book! It’s not easy to write about art for young people, especially seventeenth century Dutch art and make it exciting and interesting. Sadly few teens have probably seen much of any kind of art and even fewer have seen Vermeer’s exquisite portraits. Bob Raczka’s unique interview approach is lively and entertaining. “You look like you are humming a tune to yourself. Do you ever hum?” he asks the maid. The subjects of the paintings suddenly seem like real people with intriguing stories to tell. Raczka not only brings Vermeer and his time to life but he also helps young readers understand how to look at a painting. This is a beautifully designed book too. The reproductions of Vermeer’s art are stunning and the pages are enlivened by wonderfully chosen realia that tie to the painting and perfectly illustrate Vermeer’s culture and historic time.
The breezy conversational tone of the interview at first seemed at odds with the classical subject. That feeling disappeared by the second interview and I was completely engaged with the style. Hand this to the nearest teen and watch them look at art in a whole new way! I am mortified to admit that I have not read any of Raczka’s other Art Adventure books but I am planning to track them ALL down! Have I mentioned that I LOVE this book?
Lynn: We live on the Lake Michigan shore where winter starts in October, hangs on through April and where feet and feet of snow pile up. Our summers may be short but they are glorious! So I often find myself shopping for a new bathing suit, staring horrified at pale wobbly parts of my anatomy that have been blissfully covered for months. It is at times like these that I think dark murderous thoughts at swim suit designers. I’ve just survived this annual rite so a tiny part of me thinks Annette Kellerman has a lot to answer for! I know however that on the first sunny beach day I’ll be very grateful to this courageous persistent woman for freeing me from the wool stockings, bloomers, corsets and bathing dresses of her time! Mermaid Queen (Scholastic, 2009) is an exuberant picture book biography about a woman who may be unfamiliar to many of us. From the first page that states,”Annette Kellerman loved to make waves,” we are introduced to a brave and energetic woman who took on the restrictive conventions of her time. She did design a swimsuit that provided women with the actual freedom of movement but more importantly she championed women’s rights to athletic opportunities. Edwin Fotheringham’s bold illustrations reflect Kellerman’s enthusiastic spirit and love of the water with graceful swoops, bright palette and a large scale that often sweeps across two pages. There is a sense of joy within this book that carries the reader through Annette’s many achievements including overcoming physical difficulties as a child. Don’t miss this terrific book that is guaranteed to make a splash with readers.
Cindy: As much as I have been enjoying this dueling blog format, there are times, like now, where I loathe having to follow Lynn’s excellent reviews. I really have little to add. I know some of you are itching for us to disagree more in our reviews, and we’ll work on that, but my opinion is perfectly synchronized with hers on this one. I’m going to buy Mermaid Queen for my middle school picture book collections, too. It will make a great read-aloud for homerooms or Women’s History lessons with illustrations that will share well with large groups. One of my favorite spreads shows Kellerman attempting a swim across the English Channel. To keep her energy up, sandwiches are delivered to her in the water speared at the end of a stick like a marshmallow. This boating season, I’ll try not to cringe when I expose my cellulite, but instead toast my boating beverage to the bravery of Annette Kellerman!
Lynn: I had forgotten what a milestone losing a tooth is for kids until my grandsons developed wiggly teeth. Suddenly teeth were falling like rain and they and their kindergarten classmates seemed to have more gaps than teeth. I instantly started looking for good loose tooth books to share with them. I found Arthur’s Tooth and A Time of Wonder (which the boys loved) in my own collection but I knew there had to be something more recent. Cindy joined in the search and we found quite a few. Of course we tested them on the twins and I also read many of them to their kindergarten class. So far three have come out on top.
The clear favorite with the extended focus group is 
A close second is 
Cindy: I’ve been fans of our focus group since they were born (attended their first birthday party, watched them get off the school bus after the first day of kindergarten) so when Lynn emailed photos of missing teeth smiles I had to come celebrate. Hayden lost his first and made me this great drawing. He explained that the blue lines were sweat since he was so hot and he has “cracked eyes.” Mine look like that too from all the reading I’ve been doing, but I’ll never call them bloodshot again. “Cracked” it is!
When Henry learns that his YOUNGER brother, Perfect Peter, has lost a tooth first, he sets out to trick the tooth fairy into thinking it is his tooth. This is the first of four beginner reader stories in this collection featuring the exaggerated archetypes of Horrid Henry, Perfect Peter, and Moody Margaret. Young readers will delight in the horridness of being horrid AND being perfect and, will know there is a place in between for them. The comic illustrations by Tony Ross are delightful, but it is Hayden’s that is hanging on my refrigerator door!
Cindy:
Cindy: It’s no small feat to take the events of the Holocaust, Anne Frank’s life and diary, and Wiesenthal’s lifelong work as a Nazi War Crime hunter and present them in 40 pages in a form accessible to elementary students. In the capable hands of Rubin, though, 
Lynn: We have a problem. It’s a totally great problem but there definitely are some down-sides to it. We have books, books, books stacked EVERYWHERE! You can hardly walk through my office. It all started with serving on 
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness (September 2009)
Lynn: Our focus group is starting to throw their weight around. Ever since we read The Sleepy Little Alphabet (Random/Knopf, June 2009) in galley several months ago, they’ve been asking if we have written about it yet. Explaining that we like to blog books closer to the publication didn’t impress them. They adored this book and the nagging was wearing me down! I had to reassemble the loose pages of the arc from their loving attention more times than I can count. Thank goodness the book has been released and I can buy a print copy, write the blog and get them off my back!
Lynn: One of the best things about reading is learning cool facts to share. Secret Subway (National Geographic, May 2009) is packed with interesting facts and fascinating stories that will enthrall readers - teens and adults. How can you not love a book that shares the story of how the first subway was dug in secret under a department store?
Cindy: There’s a girl licking chocolate frosting (or 
Stock up on Ding-dongs and savor this charming book.
Lynn: It’s not every fourteen-year-old girl who can successfully work as a Perditorian (finder of lost things) on her own in the teeming dangerous streets of London. Enola Holmes is no ordinary girl and she is doing quite nicely, thank you, solving cases that baffle even her famous brothers. Before she disappeared, Enola’s eccentric mother told her, “Enola, you will do quite well on your own.” Using a dizzying variety of disguises, Enola solves mysteries and eludes her brothers who wish to send her off to a boarding school where she can be prepared for a woman’s proper place in society. Independent Enola who equals her brothers in intellect has other ideas, failing so far only in solving the case of her mother’s whereabouts.
Cindy: Johannes Vermeer was a mysterious 17th century Dutch painter with only 34-36 existing paintings and very little known about his life and work. His painting, 
Lynn: We live on the Lake Michigan shore where winter starts in October, hangs on through April and where feet and feet of snow pile up. Our summers may be short but they are glorious! So I often find myself shopping for a new bathing suit, staring horrified at pale wobbly parts of my anatomy that have been blissfully covered for months. It is at times like these that I think dark murderous thoughts at swim suit designers. I’ve just survived this annual rite so a tiny part of me thinks Annette Kellerman has a lot to answer for! I know however that on the first sunny beach day I’ll be very grateful to this courageous persistent woman for freeing me from the wool stockings, bloomers, corsets and bathing dresses of her time! 
Cindy: As much as I have been enjoying this dueling blog format, there are times, like now, where I loathe having to follow Lynn’s excellent reviews. I really have little to add. I know some of you are itching for us to disagree more in our reviews, and we’ll work on that, but my opinion is perfectly synchronized with hers on this one. I’m going to buy Mermaid Queen for my middle school picture book collections, too. It will make a great read-aloud for homerooms or Women’s History lessons with illustrations that will share well with large groups. One of my favorite spreads shows Kellerman attempting a swim across the English Channel. To keep her energy up, sandwiches are delivered to her in the water speared at the end of a stick like a marshmallow. This boating season, I’ll try not to cringe when I expose my cellulite, but instead toast my boating beverage to the bravery of