Book review: Twas the Night Before Christmas; Or Account of a Visit From St. Nicholas, by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Matt Tavares

Moore, Clement C. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas; Or Account of a Visit From St. Nicholas. Illustrated by Matt Tavares. Candlewick Press, 2022. Unpaged. $17.99. ISBN 9781536217995. Ages 3-6. P9Q9

Want to know the origin of the “Twas the Night Before Christmas” story? Pick up a copy of this book and find out. A beautiful big picture book, the cover features an iconic picture in black and white pencil sketch featuring Santa in his sleigh over the rooftops with eight reindeer aloft. The title features bold gold and red lettering, and is beautiful to behold. The book opens with a note from the illustrator, Matt Tavares. Tavares details the origins of the story which appeared in a newspaper in December 1823. The note explains that while many other versions have altered the words of author Clement C. Moore, this book uses all the original words, spelling and punctuation. Each page of the story contains a verse from the poem and a corresponding picture. The large text is bordered by narrow strips of decorative red ribbon that add color to the otherwise black and white landscape. The shading of the pictures and the different perspectives of the incredibly detailed sketches create an enchanted atmosphere. There are some noticeable differences from the story most of us know including some of the reindeer names.

Verdict: this book will be a holiday favorite at home and at the library. With the large text and pictures, it is a perfect book for story time. It would be a fun project to use this book in comparison with other versions to find the differences. Also, this is a wonderful book for art class to use and appreciate pencil sketch illustrations.

Review by Denyse Marsh.

Book review: The Winter Bird, by Kate Banks, illustrated by Suzie Mason

Banks, Kate. The Winter Bird. Illustrated by Suzie Mason. Candlewick Press, 2022. Unpaged. $18.99. ISBN 9781536215687. Ages 3-7. P8Q9

The Winter Bird is a beautifully illustrated picture book with an endearing message of friendship and perseverance. All the spring birds are headed south for the winter, except the nightingale, who has a broken wing. Being left behind brings many emotions including fear and sadness. Forest animals including an owl, a rabbit, and other winter birds all show up to help the nightingale survive its first winter. The nightingale, while unfamiliar with surviving a winter, does know how to sing and starts with a song of winter’s woes, that turns into a song of winter’s wonders.

Verdict: This sweet gentle story would make a great story time book which could be coupled with a craft of making winter bird feeders. I can see teachers using this book when talking about the importance of kindness and helping others. It could also be a great book to introduce birds that migrate vs birds that are equipped to survive in cold environments.

Review by Denyse Marsh.

Book review: You Can! Kids Empowering Kids, by Alexandra Strick, illustrated by Steve Antony

Strick, Alexandra. You Can! Kids Empowering Kids. Illustrated by Steve Antony. Candlewick, 2022. Unpaged. $18.99. ISBN 9781536225433. Ages 3-10. P6 Q9

The story in You Can! Kids Empowering Kids follows a group of diverse students with different abilities through school. Each page gives words of encouragement and shows images of the same group of students doing activities both together and separately as they grow older with each page turn. One of the best images is of two of the students crossing the finish line of a race together. One of the students is acting as the Guide Runner for his classmate who is blind. The text was inspired by conversations with a group of young people and the author shares about the experience on the final two pages of the book. 

Verdict: The book is a great example of inclusion and representation and would be a wonderful addition to any elementary library. The simple yet powerful text combines with illustrations that show a diverse group of students that any student can relate to. The book could be used by any K-5 teacher or even with slightly older students along with a lesson about inclusion, perseverance, and teamwork.

Review by Michelle Cottrell.

Book review: The Lodge that Beaver Built, by Randi Sonenshine, illustrated by Anne Hunter

Sonenshine, Randi. The Lodge that Beaver Built. Illustrated by Anne Hunter.  Candlewick Press, 2022. Unpaged. $18.99. ISBN 978-15362-18688. Ages 4-8. P8Q8

In a life of a beaver family, there is much to do each day. In the style of “The House that Jack Built” with its singsong lyrics, this portrays a typical activities in a beaver lodge and the life around it. The illustrations are quite gorgeous, and full of realistic life.

VERDICT: This was so enjoyable. The illustrations would be lovely framed and depict many birds and animals around the beaver lodge, showing a clear interconnectedness to life there. The glossary and beaver facts in the last few pages added to the experience.

Review by Lynne Wright.

Book review: Kookaburra, by Claire Saxby, illustrated by Tannya Harricks

Saxby, Claire. Kookaburra. Illustrated by Tannya Harricks. Candlewick Press, 2021. 24 pages. $17.99. ISBN 9781536215199. Ages 4-8. P8Q8

What a beautiful and informative book! I thought of the old childhood song about kookaburras as I read about the habits and life of this interesting kingfisher relative, the laughing kookaburra of Australia. The text is poetic while conveying a lot of factual information. The thick, textured oil paint illustrations beautifully communicate the riverside landscape and busy motions of the birds. The last pages have a “More about Kookaburras” section and an index.

VERDICT: This is an excellent choice for a public or school library- it will fit into the bird section nicely, but will also get picked up by parents and children looking for a good picture book. I highly recommend this one. (go to https://rangerrick.org/rr_videos/a-kookaburra-call-or-laugh/ to hear a kookaburra song)

Review by Carol Schramm.

Book review: A Day for Sandcastles, by JonArno Lawson, illustrated by Qin Leng

Lawson, JonArno. A Day for Sandcastles. Illustrated by Qin Leng. Candlewick, 2022. Unpaged. $17.99. ISBN 978-15362-08429. P8Q8

It is a great day to go to the beach, and a trio of siblings takes their pails and shovels to the sand to make sandcastles. What is fun about this book is that the story unwinds with no words through effective illustrations. We see a lady’s hat swept away to the children playing, and the tide that comes up to wash the sandcastle  away. The illustrations are light and one can almost smell the salty ocean breeze.

VERDICT: Books that engage young readers without words are always a fun, since all ages can sit and look at a book without having to have a reader interpret. The story is light and fun and would be great fun to share in a group to exclaim about what is happening in the story with one another. Most of us have had a day like this at the beach.

July 2022 review by Lynne Wright.

Book review: Saving the Butterfly, by Helen Cooper, illustrated by Gill Smith

Cooper, Helen. Saving the Butterfly. Illustrated by Gill Smith. Candlewick, 2022. Unpaged. $17.99. ISBN 978-15362-20551. Ages 4-7. P8Q8

Two children are rescued in a boat, where they are the only two left, big one and little one. As refugees, this story progresses through both of them finding a place to live, and a new life. Little one is able to move on more easily by adjusting and playing outside. Big one remembers the troubling past and is fearful of going outside and hides in the house. But when little one brings a beautiful butterfly inside, it helps show big one the way. The illustrations are full of grays and starts out appropriately bleak in appearance, but has a nice evolution when the butterfly comes into the plot.

VERDICT: This story is a bit heavy but effectively shows the path of refugees and how some might cope, in an age appropriate way. It is a good story to read together and have a way to discuss this real life drama for adults and children. The illustrations very nicely bring the dark into the light.

July 2022 review by Lynne Wright.

Book review: Scribbles, Sorrows, and Russet Leather Boots: The Life of Louisa May Alcott, by Liz Rosenberg, illustrated by Diana Sudyka

Rosenberg, Liz. Scribbles, Sorrows, and Russet Leather Boots: The Life of Louisa May Alcott. Illus. by Diana Sudyka. Candlewick, 2021. $24.00. ISBN 978-0-7636-9435-7. 408p. Ages 13+. P7Q9

Most people recognize Alcott only as the author of Little Women, popularized several times through movies and television. Yet she was far more than that in her diverse writings from romances to ? through her drive to make enough money for her impoverished family. Rosenberg begins with the well-known story of her life for anyone having read other biographies about her—a 19^th-century New England childhood of impoverished periods and an adulthood searching for a career and writing while frequently forced from her desired path to raise money to support her parents and three sisters, as in her famous novel. Copious quotations from Alcott’s journals and letters accompany some from her frustrated mother who would like to be more than a servant for the family. Alcott adored her father whose single-minded ambition to reform American education and quirky views about diet and minimalist lifestyle caused much of the pain suffered by his wife and children as he constantly let them down. Her experiences as a nurse during the Civil War caused her physical decline because she was prescribed the poison mercury for her bout of typhoid fever.

Verdict: Reading the book can be emotionally difficult because of Alcott’s pain, both physical and emotional, and Rosenberg stresses her difficulties, sometimes with repetition. It does, however, provide a thorough understanding of Louisa May Alcott, the person.

Informational books 2020-2021, review by Nel Ward.

Book review: The Suffragist Playbook: Your Guide to Changing the World, by Lucinda Robb and Rebecca Boggs Roberts

Robb, Lucinda & Rebecca Boggs Roberts. The Suffragist Playbook: Your Guide to Changing the World. Candlewick, 2020. $16.99. ISBN . 142p. Ages 12-16. P5Q8

The granddaughter of President Lyndon Johnson and the daughter of renowned journalist Cokie Roberts have combined their knowledge and skills to produce a blend of women’s suffrage history and an activist guide for young people that includes steps to take action for moving women ahead. The history includes stories of icons in the suffrage movement, both Black and White, as well as the violence toward them and the racism embedded in the struggle for women to gain the vote. This brief history of women’s suffrage describes the work of both relatively well-known white suffragists and of powerful women of color like Sojourner Truth. The tactics used to gain the vote through the past century are useful in the 21^st century—fundraising, writing articles, speaking, lobbying, etc. Each of the nine chapters provides a different strategy such as “Tell Your Story” and “Recruit the Allies You Need.”

Verdict: The small format of the book and use of yellow highlighting enhances its accessibility as does the conversational tone of the text.

Informational books 2020-2021, review by Nel Ward.

Book review: Zion Unmatched, by Zion Clark and James S. Hirsch

Clark, Zion, and James S. Hirsch. Zion Unmatched. Candlewick Press, 2021. $17.99. ISBN 9781536224184. Unpaged. Ages 8-12. P8Q8

Are you ready to meet the most amazing young man? Pick up Zion Unmatched and get ready to be inspired. This large non-fiction picture book examines the life of Zion Clark, a young African American man born with a disability. The first pages are both picture and text filled, explaining Zion’s challenging story starting with being born without legs due to a rare medical condition. Upon birth Zion was immediately orphaned by his mother, who was in jail at the time. He grew up in the foster care system experiencing abuse and neglect, but during his senior year was adopted by a loving mother. Through tenacity and perseverance he learned to move with grace using his arms, and became an elite wrestler. The rest of the story is told through vivid photography of Zion growing up coupled with inspirational quotes enhancing the pictures.

Verdict: this is a story of hope and resilience. I can see this being an important addition to both the library and the classroom. Students often face challenges in their lives, and this book will give them inspiration to persevere and pursue their hopes and dreams despite the obstacles life presents.

March 2022 review by Denyse Marsh.