When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry is a wonderful story by award-winning author and illustrator Molly Bang to help young children and their families think creatively about ways to deal with anger.  Young Sophie is busy playing with a large stuffed Gorilla when her sister snatches him away.  Her mother’s reminder that it is her sister’s “turn” in no way diminishes Sophie’s anger.  “She kicks.  She screams.  She wants to smash the world to smithereens.”  She even “roars a red, red roar” and is ready to “explode” like a volcano.  Sophie’s next response, however, may surprise young readers.  “She runs and runs and runs until she can’t run anymore.”  She even cries.  And finally, out in the woods, she looks at the rocks and trees around her.  She listens to a bird.  She climbs a tree.  “The wide world comforts her.”  Feeling completely different, Sophie returns home where “the house is warm and smells good.  Everyone is glad she’s home.”  And, best of all, “Sophie isn’t angry anymore.”

Molly Bang’s very bright and colorful illustrations speak to Sophie’s feelings—portraying the bright orange and red of her anger contrasted with the soothing greens and blues and browns of the outdoors as she runs and runs and finally calms down.  As she walks back home, birds tweet, an owl hoots, squirrels squeak, and her family greets her with smiles and open arms.  Text and illustrations fit together perfectly and provide a wonderful introduction for teachers in classrooms and families at home to discuss what we might learn from Sophie who, although she became so angry, nevertheless did nothing to hurt anyone else.  Certainly hers is not the only approach, but it is a good example.

Children aged three to seven will enjoy When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry as they anticipate what may come next in each step of Sophie’s angry outburst.  Molly Bang is to be congratulated for achieving such depth in this short and straightforward story.

Discussion Questions for When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry

Casey Back at Bat, by Dan Gutman and illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, is a continuation of Ernest Thayer’s classic story poem Casey at the Bat written in 1888.  The sequel does not focus so much on the Mudville Nine as it does on poor Casey himself and his once in a lifetime chance to get that hit.  As the story opens, Mudville, The Red Team, and Rutland, the Blue Team, are locked in combat.  To quote the opening rhyme:  “Twas the last game of the season, with Mudville tied for first.  The players fought all summer; for a pennant they did thirst.  But Rutland shared the lead as well; the teams stood face-to-face.  To the victor --- fame and fortune.  To the loser --- second place.”  As mighty Casey comes to bat he knocks the ball right over the wall and it keeps going.  And I mean going.  It hits a bird and then takes a flight of pure fancy over the wall and keeps on going.  It flies into the tower of Pisa in Italy and leaves it crooked, knocks the nose off the Sphinx in Egypt, flies back in time to the days of the Dinosaurs and passes through outer space before returning to earth, returning to Mudville, returning to the ballpark and returning to the game.

Steve Johnson’s and Lou Fancher’s illustrations are big, bold and present very dramatic perspectives.  As mighty Casey comes to bat the illustrators depict him from the feet up --- he looks like a powerhouse from this vantage point.  Again, on the double spread illustration of the Rutland pitcher throwing a second strike to Casey, the perspective is from the pitcher’s point of view.  You feel like you are right inside his head.  All of the uniforms look like they are made out of old newsprint giving wonderful satiric details to the illustrations.

Casey Back at Bat  by Dan Gutman and illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher is a visual and rhyming treat for children ages 4 to 8 (published by HarperCollins Publishers, February 6, 2007).

Discussion questions for Casey Back at Bat

The Lotus Seed, by Sherry Garland, begins in 1945 as the last Emperor of Vietnam abdicates in favor of Ho Chi Minh and those seeking independence from France.  The young girl telling the story explains that because her “grandmother saw the emperor cry the day he lost his golden dragon throne,” she wanted something to remember him.  For this, she plucks a lotus pod from the Imperial Garden, wrapping it in silk to place under the family altar.  She carries it on her wedding day “for good luck, long life, and many children.”  When the bombs of the Vietnam War begin to fall around her, she keeps the seed with her, and, finally, when she must flee her beloved Vietnam as one of the “boat people,” she carries it with her.

Arriving in America, a land of “blinking lights and speeding cars and towering buildings,” she keeps it for comfort.  But as her family settles into life in this strange land and she grows older, her grandson takes the seed one day and plants it in a “pool of mud” near her onion patch.  In the spring a “beautiful pink lotus” springs to life.  The grandmother explains that it is “the flower of life and hope . . . . No matter how ugly the mud or how long the seed lies dormant, the bloom will be beautiful.”  “It is the flower of my country,” she says. When this blossom dies, leaving only a pod, she gives each of her grandchildren a seed “to remember her by,” keeping one for herself.  And now her granddaughter keeps her seed, so that she may someday plant it for her own children and share with them the day her grandmother “saw the emperor cry.”

Young children aged seven to ten will appreciate this story, while older readers will find it helpful as they study this time in our history.  Garland has provided a good summary of Vietnamese royal and political history in an afterward, while Tatsuro Kiuchi’s beautiful illustrations for The Lotus Seed add to the reality of this historical chronicle of a people forced into refugee status after civil strife and external invasions—a people who have persevered in a strange land where they have balanced new lives with deep cultural ties to their homeland.

Sherry Garland.  The Lotus Seed.  Illus. Tatsuro Kiuchi.  New York:  Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993.

Discussion questions for The Lotus Seed

Clever Beatrice written by Margaret Willey and illustrated by Heather M. Solomon is a tall tale in the “let’s out-think the giant” tradition.  The text is peppered with folktale flavor from the Great Lakes and the wooded areas of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin and Canada.

The story begins with clever Beatrice on her way to visit the strong but dull giant who lives in the woods and who has a weakness for games of chance.  She plans to outwit him and win his gold coins which her mother desperately needs in order to buy food.  And outwit him she does---not once, but three times!  First she bets ten gold coins that she can strike a blow harder than he can.  They decide to focus the blow on the giant’s front door.  She uses a clever suggestion that the huge pine tree nearby was felled by her rather than a lumberjack.  She is careful not to lie but only to suggest and let the giant make his own conclusion.  He decides to lose the bet rather than have his front door smashed.  This cycle repeats two more times as clever Beatrice bets she can carry more water from the well to the stove than he can and she can throw an iron bar further than he can.  Each time she plants an idea in the Giant’s mind and he falls for it.

Defining Feature: The illustrations are bright, attractive and as bold as the tale itself.  Heather Solomon’s use of color pits the huge giant’s orange vest against the small girl’s red dress.  Throughout the book the artist shows the giant trying to think things through by scratching his forehead, rubbing his chin and holding his head in his hands as if to clear his mind—but to no avail.

For more on the Clever Beatrice books please go to www.cleverbeatrice.com, where your child or grandchild will also find music, mazes and pictures to color.

Clever Beatrice by Michigan author Margaret Willey is ideal for children ages 4 to 8 (published by Aladdin Paperbacks, August 24, 2004).

This is Sue Ann Martin for Children’s Books. . .The Dean’s List

Discussion questions for Clever Beatrice

Under the Spell of the Moon, edited by Patricia Aldana, is, as its subtitle indicates, a collection of Art for Children from the World’s Great Illustrators.  Some of these artists will be well known by young children in the United States, while others are young and emerging artists.  Some are largely known in their home countries.  But all have donated a wonderful and original piece of art to accompany a text of their own choosing.  These texts appear in their original languages as well as an English translation if necessary.

Included are Quentin Blake’s simple and humorous “Jerry Hall is so small, a rat could eat him hat and all” and Trina Schart Hyman’s beautiful watercolor to accompany Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Hayloft.”  Brazilian Angela Lago poses puzzles to solve such as “the more of me you remove, the bigger I get.”

The answers are provided in mirrored script—for this one the answer is “a hole.”  Piet Grobler from South Africa provides enchanting birds to accompany “Everybody has a song, be it short or be it long. . . .  Everybody has a song and must sing it all life long.”  Anthony Brown portrays a sad-faced chimpanzee who recites all of the different kinds of cake he has eaten at his birthday party, resulting unfortunately in a “stummercake.”  Artists represent countries from around the world, including Mali, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Palestine, Iran, Argentina, India, Israel, Nicaragua, Slovakia, Malaysia, China, and most of Western Europe.  Perhaps Mitsumasa Anno best exemplifies this international focus through his verse “Good Night, Children” where the sun sets—“on embattled grounds” as “sleep comes to children hurt by war” or in “lands of peace,”—a world in which “the faces are different, as are the tongues,” but the sun is the same.

Under the Spell of the Moon is truly a delightful collection of international art and texts to share with young children aged five through ten.

Discussion questions for Under the Spell of the Moon

Library Lion by author Michelle Knudsen and illustrator Kevin Hawkes is an old-fashioned story about rules, roars and relationships inside a grand old library. One day a lion walks deliberately into the library, looks around and falls asleep on a big pillow in the story corner. When the story hour begins the lion listens to the story, then to the next story and to the next. After these stories, the children all start to get up and walk away.  Quoting the book: “’Story hour is over,’ a little girl told him. ‘It’s time to go.’ The lion looked at the children. He looked at the story lady. He looked at the closed books. Then he roared very loud.” 

There may not have been any rules about lions in the library but there was a rule about roaring in the library.  Not until the lion promises not to roar anymore does librarian Merriweather tell him he can stay.  So he comes every day and tries to be helpful by dusting the encyclopedias with his tale and licking envelopes with his tongue.  But one day something awful happens to Miss Merriweather that causes lion to roar again.  The primary question that shapes Michelle Knudsen’s text is:  can there ever be a time when it is ok to break a rule?  This feel good book has a happy ending and a pretty good answer to that question.

Artist Kevin Hawkes’ use of soft tan, gray-blue, muted salmon and light maize lends a warm, comfortable feel to the warm comfortable library of his childhood.  His pencil and acrylic illustrations are fashioned from a 1940’s perspective with details such as wooden card catalogues, open book stacks, library book carts, and librarian Miss Merriweather, hair pulled tightly back in a severe bun, writing out overdue notices by hand.

Library Lion has been placed on the School Library Journal’s Best Book of the Year as well as the New York Times Bestseller list and will be enjoyed by children ages 3 to 7 (published by Candlewick, July 25, 2006).

This is Sue Ann Martin for Children’s Books. . .The Dean’s List

Discussion questions for Library Lion

Math Curse

Jon Scieszka, the extremely popular author of the witty, creative, and hilarious retellings of The True Story of the Three Pigs and The Frog Prince Continued, has made another hit with Math Curse.  This story begins with the simple explanation by a young girl’s math teacher, aptly named Mrs. Fibonacci:  “You know, you can think of almost everything as a math problem.”  The next day our young student starts “having problems”—literally.  Her life is suddenly filled with those notorious word problems we all remember from math class.  She worries as she wakes up at 7:15 and takes “10 minutes to get dressed, 15 minutes to eat . . . breakfast, and 1 minute to brush” her teeth if she can still make it on time to her bus that leaves at 8:00.  She creates math problems based on the number and type of shirts in her closet, the measurement of milk for her cereal, the number of students who board her bus at each stop.  She bemoans her case—Mrs. Fibonacci has “obviously put a MATH CURSE” on her.  Everything “has become a math problem.” 

At school she ponders the number of students in the classroom, the composite number of fingers, ears, and tongues they possess, and the configuration of desks into rows.  Lunch only compounds her anxiety with pizza and apple pie and the fractional parts into which each can be divided.  Social Studies and English continue to present problems as does her P. E. class with questions of Babe Ruth’s batting average.  To finish the day, a classmate’s birthday cupcakes cause a potential hazard of fractional sharing.  She solves the problem by providing her own clever solution.After school, the Math Curse continues with a candy sale, and later she dreams of being trapped in a world of math challenges.  But in her dream she finds a way out that clearly breaks the Math Curse.  However, as she returns to school, her science teacher begins class with the challenge, “You know, you can think of almost everything as a science experiment.”  Young readers and listeners can now anticipate the dreaded Science Curse and other curses that may lie in the future—English, Art, Music.  Jon Scieszka’s frolicking and clever text, accompanied by Lane Smith’s bold and playful illustrations with exaggerated words that mirror our young student’s frustration will hold the attention of children aged eight to eleven, and older readers may be surprised that they, too, will love the witticisms included by Scieszka and enjoy imagining their own adventures in the world of learning curses.Math Curse.  Jon Scieszka.  Illus. Lane Smith.  New York:  Viking, 1995.

Discussion questions for Math Curse

Moon Plane by author and illustrator Peter McCarty is a charming book with a text that holds a direct, clear and simple story.  Quoting the text:  “Above the clouds an airplane flies into the sky.  On the ground a small boy looks up.  He wonders what it would be like to be on that flight.”  Just three simple sentences gets the boy (and the child being read to) aboard a small propeller driven airplane for an adventure flying over a car, a train, a sailing boat and right into outer space.  Destination, the moon.  One simple idea per page is followed by one simple drawing per page alternating picture then text, picture then text, picture then text until a gentle rocking rhythm is established.  The artist is in full control as he tells the story of one small boy’s dream.

Using pencil on watercolor paper, Peter McCarty cradles each picture in a shadow of grey softness.  Each page pulls you in deeper and deeper.  Especially cute is the cuddly little boy who the reader follows to the moon and back.  Every detail of this picture book is small child-friendly from the toy body of the World War II plane to the boy’s toddler-like little space suit to his mother’s welcoming arms amidst flapping clothes drying on a clothes line to the boy’s safe little bed all awash in the glow of the moonlight.  The final illustration finds the boy fast asleep with covers, decorated with rows and rows of airplanes, pulled up around him.  The whole book has an attention to detail that is charming, including the decorated end papers.  Peter McCarty is well known for his signature soft pencil drawings, having won a Caldecott Honor Award for his 2003 book, Hondo and Fabian. He feels all of his books come out of his childhood.

Moon Plane by Peter McCarty is a perfect match of illustration and text and will fascinate 2 to 5 year olds who see it and hear it while nestled in a cozy lap (published by Henry Holt and Company, August 22, 2006).

Discussion questions for Moon Plane

The Magic Tree:  A Tale from the Congo, adapted and illustrated by the award-winning Gerald McDermott, is a simplistically told morality tale with a deep underlying message about trust, love, and judgment.  In classic folk tale fashion, twin brothers are born, Luemba and Mavungu, and Luemba is the one loved by their mother who “smiled on him always” while Mavungu is treated as “nothing.”  Mavungu ultimately leaves home and discovers an amazing tree whose leaves turn into people as he removes them one by one.  The final leaf becomes a beautiful princess who loves Mavungu for freeing her people from the magic tree and wants to be his wife.  At her touch, he becomes more handsome and finely dressed.  She leads him to a magically-produced village where they may live happily forever, if he obeys one rule.  He must never disclose the source of his wealth and the “secret” of the Magic Tree.

With time, Mavungu misses his family.  He sends for his mother and brother, and, at their encouragement, he begins to tell the secret of the Magic Tree.  But with a glance from the princess, he remembers his promise and stops.  Later, when he once again misses his family and goes alone to visit them, he has no reminder from the princess of his promise.  As he tells his mother and brother the story of the Magic Tree, he watches all of his fine clothing disappear.  He runs back to the princess and the magic village, but they are vanishing into a mere shadow as he arrives.

The moral of this story is clearly stated for the reader.  “Mavungu forgot his pledge of silence.  He forgot those who loved him.  And he gave his secret to those who did not love him at all.”  The depth of this moral makes The Magic Tree a story that can be enjoyed and discussed by listeners and readers aged four to ten.  McDermott, a Detroit native who has built a strong reputation for adapting and illustrating folk tales from around the world, has provided wonderful drawings in this book that are intended to reflect the “stylized, low-relief carvings of Central Africa.”  Older readers may want to search the internet, using sites such as the Smithsonian’s Museum of African Art, to find examples of these carvings and match them with the art work in The Magic Tree, while younger listeners will enjoy this as a magical folk tale with striking illustrations.

Gerald McDermott.  The Magic Tree:  A Tale from the Congo.  New York:  Henry Holt and Company, 1973.

Discussion questions for The Magic Tree:  A Tale from the Congo

Beatrix Potter A Journal by author and illustrator Beatrix Potter is an enchanting walk through the childhood and young adulthood of Helen Beatrix Potter born in 1866.

The text indicates that Beatrix started keeping a journal in 1882 when she was sixteen years old.  This publication is fascinating, beautiful and full of many special treasures such as letters in her own hand, old family photos, family portraits and her drawings and paintings.

Beatrix often wrote to the children of her Governess, Mrs. Annie Moore, in a style that she called illustrated letters.  In fact in 1893, when one of those children, Master Noel Moore, was sick in bed she wrote an illustrated letter to him in which the full story of Peter Rabbit was contained.  When she decided to publish the story she had to retrieve the letter from the little boy as she had no other copy.  This full letter is in the journal.  Frederick Warne & Company Publishing House refused to publish the book in a such small format.  Consequently, she published a limited number of copies herself in 1900.  The small book proved so popular that Frederick Warne eagerly published it in its small and enduring format in 1902.  Success was immediate and was followed by the publication of The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin and The Tale of Benjamin Bunny.

Throughout the journal one can see the development of Beatrix Potter’s artistic style from the first drawings of her pet rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, in the late 1800s, to her development of a line of Christmas cards in 1890 and on to her classic books.  On every page of the journal her pen and ink drawings of frogs, water lilies, kittens, bunnies, mushrooms, squirrels, bats, butterflies, hedgehogs and flowers abound --- in essence, Beatrix Potter was not only a children’s author and illustrator with 23 books to her name, she was also a naturalist.

Beatrix Potter A Journal would be greatly appreciated by children ages 6 and up, and by adults who still love these wonderful tales (published by Frederick Warne & Company, October 19, 2006).

This is Sue Ann Martin for Children’s Books. . .The Dean’s List

Discussion questions for Beatrix Potter A Journal

The Art Lesson, written and illustrated by the popular Tomie dePaola, is not only an autobiographical glimpse at the young dePaola as a budding artist but is a story of encouragement for young listeners exploring their own interests and talents.  As the story begins, we learn that from childhood “Tomie knew he wanted to be an artist when he grew up.”  Drawing pictures was his “favorite thing to do.”  He is encouraged by his family who display his art everywhere, and he follows the advice of his twin cousins who are in art school—never copy and “practice, practice, practice.” 

Tomie looks forward to school where there is a real art teacher, but ultimately art class provides some real challenges for him.  He is not allowed to use his special box of sixty-four crayon colors but must use the official box of eight “SCHOOL CRAYONS,” and only one piece of paper is allowed for each student.  To make things even worse, the art teacher Mrs. Bowers directs the class to “watch carefully and copy” her Thanksgiving pilgrims and turkey.  Tomie explains his frustrations to Mrs. Bowers who ultimately allows him an extra sheet of paper for his own drawing with all sixty-four colors after he has completed the required Thanksgiving art project.

The book concludes with the assurance that “he did” and “still does” make his own art which is individually unique and uses all of the colors.  DePaola is shown surrounded by illustrations from many of his books so loved by young children.

The Art Lesson is a wonderful story to share with children aged four to eight who may already have come to love dePaola’s many books, or it may serve as a great introduction to dePaola for children not yet familiar with his work.

Tomie dePaola.  The Art Lesson.  New York:  G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1989.

Discussion questions for The Art Lesson

The end of the book is enchanting as the elephant children return home.  They immediately and enthusiastically begin to draw, paint, color and post their work all over their bedroom walls.  In other words, they make art. Babar’s Museum of Art is full of humor, bright color, familiar images and fun.  There is also a huge pull-out poster (25 x 33) included in the back of the book which depicts nine of the famous but somewhat altered paintings, which is perfect for framing. 

Babar’s Museum of Art is ideal for children ages 3 to 8 (published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., September 1, 2003).

This is Sue Ann Martin for Children’s Books. . .The Dean’s List

Discussion questions for Babar's Museum of Art

But it is the good Blanche, a Cinderella figure, who will eventually be rewarded for her kindness to an old woman she meets along the road.  In fairy tale fashion, Blanche must follow carefully the instructions of this old woman.  She must not laugh at anything she sees, even when a two-headed cow and chickens of every color appear, rabbits hold a formal party on the lawn, and the old woman takes off her head to arrange her hair.  Eventually Blanche receives eggs filled with diamonds and rubies, gold and silver coins, silk dresses and satin shoes, and a “handsome carriage.” After Blanche returns home with her rewards, her mother forces Rose to go find the old woman and get her own fancy riches.  But Rose’s greed and ill-nature will not allow her to obey the old woman’s directions, and instead she finds eggs filled with “whip snakes, toads, frogs, yellow jackets, and a big, old, gray wolf.”  Only Blanche will be going to the city “to live like a grand lady,” remaining “as kind and generous as always.”  Young children aged five through eight will delight in this story of poetic justice.  The beauty and richness of the illustrations as we observe the sparkle of Blanche’s jewels and silk clothing and the ferocity of Rose’s pursuing wasps, snakes, and toads make The Talking Eggs a delight to share with young children.Robert D. San Souci.  Illus. by Jerry Pinkney.  The Talking Eggs.  New York:  Dial Books for Young Readers, 1989.

Discussion questions for The Talking Eggs