PICTURE THIS!

There’s something so very special about getting a parcel in the mail – and something else special again when you know it contains books. My library got a lovely little package of books today and I was very tempted just to sit it on the circulation desk and gaze at it adoringly all day long. However (and even better!) both the library assistant and I knew it was full of picture books and neither of us could resist ripping into it and seeing what had been picked out for us.

And, honestly, who can resist reading their way through a stack of shiny new picture books? If you’re able to resist that you’re a stronger-willed person than I, that’s for sure. They were an eclectic collection today, and there were definitely some I enjoyed more than others, but there were one or two that I thoroughly loved and have already recommended to (read: pushed into the hands of) some students.

Title: Me and Moo

Author: P. Crumble and Nathaniel Eckstrom

Published: 2015

Pages: 23

This book has everything that makes for a winning picture book - adorable illustrations, an endearing narrator, and a simple, yet engaging storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Moo, chuckling along at the small jokes and absolutely fawning over the pictures. A quick read, even for a picture book, I encourage everyone to go and learn about the heart warming relationship between Moo and 'me'. 5/5

Title: Those Pesky Rabbits

Author: Ciara Flood

Published: 2015

Pages: 40

Another example of illustrations that had me delighted - I loved the huge roundness of Mr. Bear, but those little bunnies? So cute. I tried to feel sad for Mr. Bear, being swarmed by these 'pesky' new neighbours of his, but, truly, I knew where the story was going to end up and I was eagerly awaiting his happy new outlook on life. I wasn't disappointed. Charming story, adorable illustrations, beautiful all around. 5/5

Title: The Underwater Fancy-Dress Parade

Author: Davina Bell

Published: 2015

Pages: 32

Normally with picture books, it's the illustrations that really draw me in. I, naturally, always love a good story, but usually it's the wanna-be-illustrator in me that's picking up the book in the first place. This is one instance where, despite enjoying the illustrations, it was actually the story itself that I found myself loving. The central character of The Underwater Fancy-Dress Parade, Alfie, is a young boy with a rather nervous disposition. He's all set to play Captain Starfish in the school play, but at the last minute finds himself unable to go through with it. Alfie is blessed, however, with wonderfully supportive parents, who provide him with the love and wisdom needed for him to make his own progress. I don't know whether it was my own identification with Alfie's fear and anxiety, or whether it was just the virtue of the story itself, but I adored this one and am already looking forward to reading it again. 5/5

Title: Ride, Ricardo, Ride!

Author: Phil Cummings and Shane Devries

Published: 2015

Pages: 32

You never really have to go searching too far for a war-themed picture book. There are some truly fantastic ones out there, as well as plenty of mediocre ones, but I often feel that the sheer number of them out there makes it hard for any new ones to impress. I can't say that Ride, Ricardo, Ride will make it to the top of my go-to list for this theme, but it did have some interesting features of note. I particularly enjoyed that the soldiers themselves are never seen, nor even referred to as soldiers, but simply 'shadows'. I enjoyed the art work, though found the contrast between the highly saturated, almost oil-painting like main pages and the simpler, vintage-looking (think Blyton) line illustrations to be an interesting choice. 4/5

Title: This is Captain Cook

Author: Tania McCartney and Christina Booth

Published: 2015

Pages: 40

I can't quite decide if I liked this book or not, which is an uncomfortable place to be writing a review from. I thought the way in which the story was told (through the format of a school play) was quite interesting and something I'd never come across before. I really liked the quite realistic portrayal of the families, among whose silhouettes the reader is watching the play from, but the story and the play itself was quite dry and not necessarily an interesting read. I wanted to like this book more than I did, but it managed three stars from me on the basis of it's structure. 3/5

Title: Green Tree Frogs

Author: Sandra Kendell

Published: 2015

Pages: 32

Unfortunately this was another example of a book that didn't quite hit the mark. It was an excellent example of alliteration and onomatopoeia if you're looking for something for your classroom, but the story itself fell short - both as an example of a text explaining the development of frogs from tadpoles, and as one relating the beauty of growing up in a nature rich environment. Again, a book I wanted to like more than I did. 2/3

The Storyteller - Jodi Picoult

Title: The Storyteller
Author: Jodi Picoult
Published: 2013
Pages: 460
First Line: My father trusted me with the details of his death.

Fiction is like that, once it is released into the world: contagious, persistent. Like the contents of Pandora's box, a story that's freely given can't be contained anymore. It becomes infection, spreading from the person who created it to the person who listens, and passes it on.

It's been awhile since I read any Jodi Picoult novels, a realisation that surprised me as I never fail to enjoy them. 'Enjoy', however, is a word that I find so hard to use in reference to this particular novel.

Following her trademark move of picking hot button issue around which to revolve her story (capital punishment, organ donation, religion), The Storyteller introduces the character of Jozeb Weber, a more-than-model citizen in his nineties who, after befriending Sage, young local baker, confesses to being a Nazi soldier during World War II. What's more, he is asking Sage, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, to forgive him before helping him die. No small ask.

The Storyteller is a layered, multi-generational story, weaving in the narrative voices of Jozef, Sage, her grandmother Minka, and Leo, the DOJ attorney from whom Sage is seeking counsel. The reader experiences the atrocities of WWII and life (and death) at Auschwitz, not only through the eyes of Minka, a then nineteen year old girl, but also through the eyes of the Jozef, a high ranking the Nazi officer at Auschwitz. These overlapping stories are, in turn, heart wrenching and sickening, tear inducing and angering. And through it all you cannot help but feel for Sage and the role she must play in drawing out these stories and finding herself in a position to pass judgement.

I make no claims to be a WWII historian, nor do I descend from family on either side of the war. I say this because I am aware that books dealing with narrative voices from the holocaust often provoke strong reactions in those with real life connections to events. I read this from a point of view of interest and as such, found the book to be a compelling and emotional read. There were points in the book that I had to put it down and walk away because it had upset me so.

I would have to say this this is one of Picoult's best works. While I find all of her novels moving, The Storyteller, undoubtedly because of the subject matter, carried a weight that I was not expecting when I started it.  5/5

Read if you enjoyed:

• The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

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9-11: Artists Respond, Vol. 1

9-11: Artists Respond, Volume 1 Will Eisner
Published: 2002
Pages: 196

This is probably not a book I would have picked up on my own accord – or rather, it’s not one that I would have gone looking for, but I was talking to my friend Denise, a fellow 00English teacher, about how she would like to use some of the images in the classroom and I was intrigued.

I’m not terribly (okay at all) politically minded and was a little concerned that the collection of comics contained within this volume would be more politically charged than I was prepared to deal with (particularly since this was on the top of the pile for my holiday reading). I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that the large majority of the comics and images – in fact nearly all of them, focused on the stories of individuals and their experiences. There were quite a few images that had me transfixed – by both the beautiful imagery and the message it contained, and there were even those that had me in tears.

The artistic style employed throughout this collection was extremely diverse, and I would have to say this was a large part of its appeal and, what’s more, one of its biggest strengths. With its large number of contributing artists, many of the submissions are shorter, one page images or strips being the norm and the occasional double or three page spread appearing throughout. I can certainly see what my friend was talking about regarding using it in the classroom, but it made for an intriguing personal read also. I highly recommend it, and will be tackling the second volume next.

Dear Father...

MarchGeraldine Brooks
346 pages; published 2005

I think if I point out one more time that Little Women is my favourite book, this blog may just explore. So, instead, let’s just say that when I heard about Geraldine Brook’s March last year (this is a reread for me) I was both very excited and very scared to read it – I mean, what if it ruined it?

March tells the story of the abolitionist March, the father whose only presence in Little Women comes in the form of letters from the war. As a young man he made his way through the South as a pedlar – meeting people and learning from life and its range of inhabitants. Now, older but no less idealistic, March finds himself back in the South, but this time as a chaplain and soldier.

Determined to do what he can for the freed slaves he encounters, March teaches many to read and write. But, despite all his attempts, March is faced with the dogged reality of war time life at every turn. And he just may be forced to make a choice between what he holds most dear: his ideals or his family.

As I said, March was a reread for me (book club) and so it shouldn’t surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed it. In providing a back story for March (and Marmee) and recounting his war efforts, Brook found the perfect balance between loyalty to an old classic (which she had clearly studied closely) and telling her own story. Her representation of the war was, at times, painfully honest and her eye for detail could not be faulted.

Since this was a book club book, I will say that one of the elements fellow blogger and club member Wendy and I disagreed on was the portrayal of Marmee. While I loved the more natural, almost wild approach (as the forerunner to the tempestuous Jo), knocking her off her pedestal a little, Wendy (and others, no doubt) felt it was too far removed from her character. Perhaps you could persuade her to put forward her views…

Overall, I thought March a wonderful read; beautiful in language and engaging in story. It is with great pleasure that I issue my first full ranking of 2009 to this book. 5/5

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Ender's Game

Orson Scott Card

226 pages; published 1977

"I am your enemy, the first one you've ever had who was smarter than you. There is no teacher but the enemy. No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong. And the rules of the game are what you can do to him and what you can stop him from doing to you. I am your enemy from now on. From now on I am your teacher."

After two invasion strikes from an insectoid alien race, the "Buggers", Earth's reluctantly allied nations and militaries are fearful of the next, and likely final, strike to come. Their best chance of success, they feel, is in the training of a whole generation of amazingly gifted children.

And so it is that, at the age of six, Andrew "Ender" Wiggins is removed from his home (his parents signing him over to the government) and taken to Earth's orbitting Battle School, never to step foot on Earth again until the age of sixteen. Unlike the rest of his extraordinarily peers, however, Ender has caught the eyes of those in charge. He's not just another would-be soldier; in Ender is the potential for so much more. The potential to plan, the potential to lead ... the potential to win.

Ender's days at the Battle School are filled with trial after trial, each worse than the one before as the ones in control hack away at his childhood, sculpting him into the war commander they need him to be. The war commander they need to save Earth. 4/5

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Almost Forever

Maria Testa

69 pages; published 2003

The four of us

gathered

with other families,

we all gathered

in a building

on the Army base,

all in a special room

set aside

for saying goodbye.

One year

is not

such a long time,

Daddy said,

kneeling on one knee

in front of me,

squeezing

my shoulders.

In one year, Baby

you'll be in

second grade,

not first,

and you'll be

seven years old,

not six,

and then

I'll be home.

One year

is not

such a long time.

I did not

tell Daddy

that he was wrong -

that second grade

was half a hallway

and a whole world

away from first,

that seven

was everything

six was not,

and that one year

was forever.

There are literally hundreds of war books told through the voice of the soldier. Almost Forever, however, speaks through the unique (to me at least) voice of the soldier's child.

The innocent, six-year-old narrator watches as her father, a doctor, goes off to fight in Vietnam. Far from the horrors her father is undoubtedly witnessing, his young daughter is dealing with the impact the war has had on her and her family back home: moving house, letters from her father, seeing her mother cry, and, worst of all, starting to forget what her father really looks like.

This book is told entirely through verse, short beautifully simple poems that convey both her sense of loss and hope to see her father again. 3/5

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How I Live Now

Meg Rosoff

186 pages, published 2004

Dad was one of those Never Mention Her Name Again type of fathers which if you ask me was extremely unpsychologially correct of him. [...]

I sometimes wished someone would just fill me in on the simple boring things like did she have big feet or wear make-up and what was her favourite song and did she like dogs or have a nice voice and what books did she read etc. I made up my mind to ask Aunt Penn some of these questions when she came back from Oslo but I guess what you really want to know are the things you can't ask like Did she have eyes like yours and When you pushed my hair back was that what it feels like to have your mother do it and Did her hands look serious and quiet like yours and Did she ever have a chance to look at me with a complicated expression like the one on your face, and by the way Was she scared to die. (p20)

How I Live Now
was certainly a unexpected novel, with a very unique voice. I didn't really know what it was about when I started reading it (assigned reading, again) and I was very suprised by what I found.

Daisy (much to "plain" to be 'Elizabeth') is fifteen and suffering from both an eating disorder (somewhat glossed over) and a new stepmother. "Shipped off" to London to live with her Aunt Penn and her four odd cousins she is actually quite pleased to be away from the noise of the city and her evil stepmother, even if it does mean giving him her cell phone reception. Daisy settles in quite easily with her cousins and, when her Aunt is called to give a peace talk, the kids take to enjoying their parent-free life.

Their fun parent-free weekend, however, turns indefinate when her Aunt is unable to return home, blockades obstructing her way home. It seems that the war (completely undefined) has finally broken out. Still, as the war has yet to truly touh their lives, the kids find enjoyment in the preparation and hustle of the town war efforts.

But when their house is taken as a base of operations and the children are separated this all changes. They are torn apart and want nothing more to be together and help protect each other, but can Daisy and her youngest cousin, Piper, make their way back to the others and survive the war at the same time?

Staying alive was what we did to pass the time. (149)

I really enjoyed How I Live Now. It was unusual to read a war-time book where the war is almost entirely skimmed over - all the side effects, but none of the causes. Rosoff's characters were fascinating, almost fantastical, and added an almost indescribable element to the book - it's definately not fantasy, but it's not a straight realist novel either. I did have some issues with the book though - namely that the romantic interest (a fully-fledged sexual affair, at that) was between Daisy and her fourteen year old cousin Edmond. Aside from a small acknowledgement that this was an odd or unusual relationship it was completely accepted - even by the others as they learn of it. 3/5

Nothing more dispiriting than looking up the track

Break of Day

Tony Palmer

205 pages, published 2007

"Admire who?" I said. "Who do you have to admire?"

Sid looked down at the freshly filled grave and let his outstretched hand fall to his side.

"The Japs," he said. "They never give up." He looked up at me. "And they never run away."

I held his gaze for a moment. Did he know who I was? I knew how different I must have looked - unshaven and so much thinner than when we'd last seen each other. [...]

"You know what, mate?" he said. "You could learn a lesson from this bloke you just buried."

I hated him. I hated Sid Archer more than I ever had. Half a world away from Hammersley and here he was, still making my life a misery.

"You see," he said, "a coward's better off dead than alive."

A sudden chill descended upon me. Sid Archer knew who I was. (111-112)

The problem with assigned reading is that you're never guaranteed a book that you're going to like. When I picked this book up out of my pile and started reading I was sure I was going to hate it. The first chapter introduced me to the main character, Murray, a young man fighting on the Kokoda Trail ... and having already read several war based books over the past fortnight, this one with its soldier's language and abrupt start ("Bugger it, Murray!...") didn't exactly grab me right away. And so back into the pile it went.

That was a mistake.

Having forgotten all about it, I picked it back up the day of my class, thinking I'd give it a quick read and found myself ploughing through it, reading the whole thing in about two hours.

What appears at first as a somewhat singular war story, is much more the story of a boy's - a young man's - experiences of growing up: his dealings with the town bully, his brother's budding romance with the girl next door, and, most importantly, his ever ongoing search for the truth. All of which come to a defining culmination as all the boys involved reunite on the trail. 3/5