Nothing Rhymes with Orange by Adam Rex

Poor orange. In a rhyming picture book about fruit, he feels left out. But even when Friedrich Nietzsche gets a rhyming couplet, orange starts to feel even more excluded.

This is an absolutely hilarious picture book that will appeal to both younger and older readers. Younger readers certainly won't get the Nietzsche reference, but they will get that it's meant to juxtapose the unfairness that orange doesn't get to rhyme with anything while a long, unusual name like Friedrich Nietzsche gets a mention?

This page took the book from funny to me laughing so hard I was crying

Nothing Rhymes with Orange by Adam Rex
Published: August 1, 2017
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Pages: 48
Format/Genre: Picture Book
Audience: Primary/Middle Grade/YA/Adults
Disclosure: Library Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

A Cooked-Up Fairy Tale by Penny Parker Klostermann, illustrated by Ben Mantle

"Although William lived in the magical land of fairy tales, he preferred pastries to princesses, kitchens to kingdoms, and recipes to the Royal Reporter."

And in the very first sentence, Penny Parker Klostermann had me hooked. But then again, this blog does have the word Foodie in the title, so you know, captive audience and all.

Fractured fairy tales are one of my favorite genres of picture books because I'm a fan of subversion, what can I say. But with the genre becoming so saturated these days, it's hard to find a fractured fairy tale that stands out. But Penny Parker Klostermann found her niche in her main character, William, who manages to upend all of the fairy tales by taking the apple from Show White, the beans from Jack and the Beanstalk, and the pumpkin from Cinderella and turning them into Baked Apples with Caramel Drizzle, Bean Soup with Smoked Ham, and Pumpkin Pie with Cream and Candied Pecans.

Well whatever will happen in the fairy tales now when the very source of conflict has been completely changed? The answer is sure to surprise and delight you.


A Cooked-Up Fairy Tale by Penny Parker Klostermann, illustrated by Ben Mantle
Published: September 5, 2017
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 32
Genre/format: Fractured fairy tale/picture book
Audience: Primary/Middle Grade
Disclosure: Finished copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Madeline Finn and the Library Dog by Lisa Papp

 
Madeline Finn hates reading. Because every time she tries, she always gets a heart sticker instead of a star sticker, and she wants to be a star.

But one day she goes to the library and meets Bonnie. Who is a great listener. And doesn't judge her when she struggles.

Bonnie is a dog.

And reading this book has made me even more determined to get my dog certified to be a therapy dog so I can bring him to our school library and have kids read to him every day. That would make me happy, him happy, and the kids happy. It's a win-win-win. :)

Madeline Finn and the Library Dog by Lisa Papp
Published: October 1, 2016
Publisher: Peachtree
Pages: 32
Format/Genre: Picture book
Audience: Primary/Middle Grade
Disclosure: Library Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

The Music in George's Head by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Stacy Innerst

George's Rhapsody in Blue was smooth and sultry.
Brash and bouncy...
No one had ever heard anything like it.
Except George.
He'd been hearing beautiful music all his life.

As a youngster, beautiful is certainly not the word I would have ever used to describe George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. But just as my palate for different, more sophisticated foods has expanded as an adult, so too has my ear for music. Now instead of groaning every time I hear the introductory shrieking notes of the clarinet that signals this piece of music, now I just smile, sit back, and enjoy this 17 minute piece of Americana.

The moody blue palate of the illustrations are somehow both brooding and uplifting at the same time. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. And if you are not familiar with this brilliant piece of music, take 17 minutes out of your day and go fix that problem right now. I'm actually listening to it as I write this review because I was tired of it being stuck in my head. I may as well just listen to it outside my head.


The Music in George's Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Stacy Innerst
Published: September 8, 2016
Publisher: Calkins Creek
Pages: 48
Genre/Format: Picture Book Biography
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Library Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Orphan Island blog tour + giveaway

Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder

To be published by Walden Pond Press on  May 30, 2017

·         ISBN-13: 978-0062443410

 

On the island, everything is perfect. The sun rises in a sky filled with dancing shapes; the wind, water, and trees shelter and protect those who live there; when the nine children go to sleep in their cabins, it is with full stomachs and joy in their hearts. And only one thing ever changes: on that day, each year, when a boat appears from the mist upon the ocean carrying one young child to join them—and taking the eldest one away, never to be seen again.

Today’s Changing is no different. The boat arrives, taking away Jinny’s best friend, Deen, replacing him with a new little girl named Ess, and leaving Jinny as the new Elder. Jinny knows her responsibility now—to teach Ess everything she needs to know about the island, to keep things as they’ve always been. But will she be ready for the inevitable day when the boat will come back—and take her away forever from the only home she’s known?

Please oh please let there be a sequel! I know that Laurel said in her Nerdy Book Club post yesterday that she didn't mean for this book to frustrate grownups, but I want so badly to know that origin story she speaks of in the unpublished prologue. At the same time, I understand and honor why she left it a mystery.

For people who scoff at adults who read and study children's literature because it isn't literary enough, this is one of the first books I will point them to. There are so many unanswered questions  and important themes that will lead to quality discussions with students. This would be a fantastic story for book clubs or literature circles because there isn't much that is certain in this story, and with so much uncertainty, that also means this isn't likely to be a book that will bode well for classroom busywork: crossword puzzles, word searches, comprehension quizzes, etc. Just good, old-fashioned authentic book discussion. Who'da thunk it?

I'm looking forward to seeing Laurel at nErDcamp this year because I have SO MANY QUESTIONS for her, but I have a feeling she will tell me to draw my own conclusions. 

About the author:

Laurel Snyder is a poet, essayist, and author of picture books and novels for children, including, Charlie and Mouse, Bigger than a Bread Box, and Swan, the Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova. She is also a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and a faculty member of Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Atlanta with her family and can be found online at www.laurelsnyder.com.

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Blog Tour Stops

 

May 15	Laura Given
May 16	Pernille Ripp
	Writers Rumpus
May 17	Teach Mentor Texts
May 18	Novel Novice
	Bluestocking Thinking
May 19	The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
May 20	Book Monsters
May 21	Maria's Melange
May 22	Read, Write Reflect
	Walden Media Tumblr
May 23	Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers
May 24	Nerdy Book Club
May 25	A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust
May 26	Kirby Larson

 

Cookbook Review: Cravings by Chrissy Teigen

Supermodel, social media maven, and John Legend's better half, Chrissy Teigen has written a cookbook full of easy, practical, and mouth-watering recipes. I know what you're thinking. A supermodel writing a cookbook? What's in it? Salads and juice cleanses?

That is where you'd be wrong.

It takes a lot for me to perk up and take notice of a new cookbook. After a while, the genre of the cookbook gets rather tiresome because it feels like not only are the recipes regurgitated, but nothing new or innovative in terms of writing or format is being published.

Chrissy Teigen's cookbook, however is different. Even if you don't make a single dish from this book, it will have been money well spent because the writing in this book will have you belly laughing, as evidenced by Teigen's description of my favorite dish in the whole cookbook, Yellow Cake Baked Oatmeal:

Watching us come up with this recipe was like watching a group of stoners, except I am not into pot or weed or ganja or whatever it is called these days. I mean, I dip pizza bagels into Cholula butter and second-course it with Top Ramen salad dead sober. Can you imagine what weed does to me? Actually, maybe I go full opposite and am like, "Duuuddddde let's go get a saladddddd.

And if you're wondering what Yellow Cake Baked Oatmeal tastes more cake or oatmeal, that would be the former. It's one of the most delicious, ingenious things I have ever made for breakfast.

But this cookbook is more than just a one dish wonder. Every dish I have made so far has been more delicious than the next. I can't get enough of it. I'm waiting for Chrissy to get her own show on Food Network or Cooking Channel. I'd be setting a season pass all up in my DVR for that show.


Cravings: Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat by Chrissy Teigen
Published: February 23, 2016
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Pages: 240
Genre: Cookery
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Purchased Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

My Kicks: A Sneaker Story! by Susan Verde, illustrated by Katie Kath

These sneakers have soul in their soles.
Joy in each hole. A certain stick-to-the-sidewalk
from gooey gum. 
They might be soggy and funky, the tongue flapping,
the laces dragging, but they are irreplaceable,
a perfect fit, molded to my feet! I can't let them go. 

A young boy's mother wants him to get new shoes since his current ones are dirty and falling apart, but he just can't bear to part with them... or can he? 

As you can see above, this book has wonderful writing,. I kind of love the somewhat contradictory nature of waxing poetic over a pair of old, worn-out sneakers. I'm not entirely sure a child as young as the main character would have that ability to reflect and wax poetic on all the memories he had with his favorite sneakers but it's still a fun read and worth reading aloud to students. 

My Kicks: A Sneaker Story! by Susan Verde, illustrated by Katie Kath
Published: April 11, 2017
Publisher: Abrams
Pages: 40
Genre/Format: Picture Book
Audience: Primary/Middle Grade
Disclosure: Library Copy 

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

The Music of Life: Bartolomeo Cristofori and the Invention of the Piano by Elizabeth Rusch illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

Cristofori spends the rest of his long life perfecting his invention, coaxing it to respond precisely to a musician's touch. He hopes that someday someone will use it to capture the music of life... [his] invention, eventually called simply the piano, becomes a powerful tool in the hands of brilliant composers everywhere.

One of my earliest memories is that of having a piano in our house. My sister's short-lived piano lessons meant that it sat unplayed for many years. But I was fascinated with this unusual piece of furniture in our living room that made noise when I plunked my fingers down on it.

It wasn't until I was nine years old that I finally began taking piano lessons, but I can remember as early as three or four begging my parents to learn how to play it.

So it is no surprise that this book both spoke to me and fascinated me. As someone who actually spent time during a trip to Vienna touring a piano workshop, it's safe to say that I am the perfect audience for this book. In fact, I couldn't even finish this book before I had to stop in the middle because I immediately felt compelled to go and play my own piano.

Not only does The Music of Life tell the story of how the first pianoforte (later shortened to piano) was created, but it also has a lot of great backmatter that includes links that will take you to sound clips of the original Cristofori pianos, which sound much different than they do today.

I highly recommend this book for the budding pianist or musician in your life... or just someone who likes to know how things work.

The Music of Life: Bartolomeo Cristofori and the Invention of the Piano by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Published: April 18, 2017
Publisher: Atheneum
Pages: 48
Genre/Format: Picture Book Biography
Audience: Middle Garde
Disclosure: Library Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

The Bombs That Brought Us Together by Brian Conaghan

Charlie Law lives in Little Town and his new neighbor, Pavel Duda, is a refugee from Old Country. The people of Little Town hate Old Country. So Charlie quickly discovers that his budding friendship with Pav causes him all kinds of problems both at school and while he's out and about. As life in Little Town further deteriorates after a bombing and invasion from Old Country, Charlie finds himself in a life or death struggle to save his family at the sacrifice of someone else's.

The Bombs That Brought Us Together is both a beautiful story of friendship in the gravest of circumstances and a chilling dystopia that feels not too far into the future from our own reality. It gets to the heart of people's tendencies to fear what is different and to allow that fear to turn into hate.

     "Can't they just live here with us... in harmony or whatever? I said. "It's not as though they're perfect."
     "It's not as easy as that, Charlie," Dad said.
     "It's not charlie," Mom said. 
     "Why?" I said. 
     "The fact is, they don't like us, and we don't care much for them. We're not compatible. End of story. And anyone replacing one controlling Regime with another is hardly a progressive move, is it?" Dad said.
     "Our ways are different, Charlie," Mom said. 
     "But how can I not like them when I don't even know them?" I said. 

For those students (and adults) who love dystopia and are struggling with the state of the world, this would be a great book to include in a middle school or high school library. The vague and allegorical nature of the setting lends itself to lots of interpretation and connections to many conflicts in the world right now. This book has my highest recommendation to share with students and to read for yourself.


The Bombs That Brought Us Together by Brian Conaghan
Published: September 13, 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 361
Genre: Dystopia
Audience: Young Adult (Middle School and High School)
Disclosure: Finished copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Martina & Chrissie: The Greatest Rivalry in the History of Sports by Phil Bildner, illustrated by Bret Helquist

Phil Bildner writes about the rivalry between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert with the enthusiasm of the sports lover that he is. This book reads in a conversational way that makes you feel like you're talking to your friends around the watercooler instead of reading a picture book biography.

This book also has the added benefit of having a demonstrable thesis statement to show students as an example of what it means to make a thesis and then support your argument. The thesis being this:

"...these two women formed the greatest rivalry in the history of sports. No, not the history of women's sports -- the history of ALL sports."

I can't wait to share this book with students. I may even challenge them to create their own thesis to argue whether they agree with Phil's or not. I'm sure there will be many students in my neck of the woods who would say that Michigan/Ohio State football is the greatest rivalry in sports, but as long as they can back up their thesis, at least I got them fired up and ready to argue. 

So not only is this a great picture book biography that gets students talking, but it is one that a teacher can approach as a mentor text in a variety of ways. I love when picture books give me easily identifiable writing lessons. 


Martina & Chrissie: The Greatest Rivalry in the History of Sports by Phil Bildner, illustrated by Bret Helquist
Expected publication: March 14, 2017
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pages: 40
Format/Genre: Picture book biography
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Advance copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Advance Review: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

When Will's brother Shawn is killed, Will knows that he must avenge his brother's death. So he grabs the gun out of Shawn's dresser drawer, gets on the elevator to leave his apartment building, and over the course of the next six floors and 60 seconds, Will is stunned by who gets on the elevator with him at each floor.

The fact that this novel takes place over a single minute AND is a novel in verse is both innovative and gusty. Major props to you, Mr. Reynolds. However, I'm sure there will no doubt be people who read this book and spend their time overanalyzing the time frame,  saying, "This couldn't possibly have happened over a single minute." I was certainly temped to do that very thing. And who knows? Maybe those overanalyzers are right. But here's why I chose not to overthink Reynolds's stylistic choice: If I did, I'd be missing the point. The point is that Will has only six floors convince himself that he's doing the right thing by following "The Rules" of his family and neighborhood. In a single minute, he is on his way to enacting vigilante justice for his brother and possibly ruining his own future. This complex moral crisis is not the time to nitpick on timelines. It's a literary convention. As readers, let's just appreciate how it helps move the story forward.

I was elated that a friend of mine who works for Simon & Schuster and knows what a huge Jason Reynolds fan I am sent me the bound manuscript of his newest YA novel. I can't go too long without getting my Jason Reynolds fix, you see. But here is the downside of getting to read such an early copy of the book: I HAVE NO ONE TO TALK TO ABOUT IT! And I need to talk to someone. What the heck happened at the end?! I guess I'll just have to wait until someone else reads it before a consensus can be reached (or perhaps a spirited disagreement. Who knows?)


Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Expected Publication: October 17, 2017
Publisher: Atheneum
Pages: 240
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel in Verse
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Bound manuscript provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Green Pants by Kenneth Kraegel

There is nothing Jameson loves more than green pants. He has a whole closet full of them. Every time he is offered the opportunity to try out a different color of pants, he manages to find creative ways to get rid of them.

When Jameson's cousin Armando and his fiancee Jo ask him to be the ring bearer in their wedding, Jameson must make a difficult choice: wear a tuxedo with BLACK PANTS or don't be in the wedding at all. Whatever will Jameson do?

Green Pants is an absolutely delightful picture book about the ways in which young children attach themselves to beloved objects like a blanket or stuffed animal. In this case, Jameson's love for green pants is not only his source of affection and attachment, but these pants are what give him the chutzpah to be the unique and fun kid that he is. Wearing black pants to a wedding feels like a betrayal of his identity. Jameson's decision is not just about being in a wedding to him. It is an existential crisis for the kindergarten set.

And as an added bonus, you'll never be able to read this book again or look at the cover without singing this song in your head, with an obvious word substitution. This earworm has burrowed itself into my brain ever since I opened the box from Candlewick with the advance copy of this book inside. And now I've burrowed it into yours. You're welcome.

If you want to read the most entertaining review ever to be written about Green Pants, head on over to 100 Scope Notes and read Travis Jonker's review. I mean Travis's Green Pants's review.


Green Pants by Kenneth Kraegel
Expected Publication: March 21, 2017
Publisher: Candlewick
Pages: 40
Format/Genre: Picture Book
Audience: Primary
Disclosure: Advance copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.