Mitali Perkins's Blog, page 26

Lent Read #13: SWEET MOON BABY: An Adoption Tale by Karen Henry Clark

"Was it something I did?"



"Is something wrong with me?"



A child who is adopted asks questions, some aloud and some in secret, about why she doesn't find herself with her birth family. In SWEET MOON BABY (Knopf), a peaceful picture book by Karen Henry Clark, illustrated by Patrice Barton, the text starts with a clear declaration about the worth of the child: "One summer night in China, a baby girl was born. She was perfect."



Next, in a tribute that's rarely found in books dealing with adoption, Clark and Barton devote two full spreads to the child's birth parents. They are both "happy and sad," acknowledging the difficult gains and losses of adoption for a family unable to keep a child. A wise reader will pause, let the child's eyes dwell on the loving hands tucking the baby into a basket, and wait for questions.



If none come, we move on, reading and seeing the miracle of protection through the baby's wait for a family, and the growing love and desire of the waiting parents (also "happy and sad," as are most people waiting for babies through adoption.)



With each quiet spread, the reader and hearer of the story are given space and grace to comment, notice, and question—a key part of healing in the adoption journey. Through this soft, loving story the child grasps the fact that for her, too, the adoption experience is allowed to be both "happy and sad."

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Lent Read #12: THE WAKAME GATHERERS by Holly Thompson, Illustrated by Kazumi Wilds

Cook up a steaming pot of Wakame Miso Soup (recipe included in the book) and settle down to read this tale of two grandmothers. THE WAKAME GATHERERS by Holly Thompson, illustrated by Kazumi Wilds (Shen's Books), introduces us to the joy of gathering wakame seaweed in the surf crashing on a Japanese shoreline. Thompson's heartfelt story and Wilds' lively art illuminate the tension of inheriting two cultures which in the past have been enemies, as well as underline this generation's call to retain a costly peace.

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Lent Read #11: YUMMY by G. Neri, illustrated by Randy DuBurke

Can a children's book help redeem a senseless tragedy? It can certainly play a part, at least in the case of YUMMY: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri, a graphic novel stunningly illustrated by Randy DuBurke (Lee and Low). In this gripping true story, we're introduced to a Chicago boy who at age 11 not only murdered but was murdered. Was Yummy villain or victim? In either case, he did have some choices, and young readers must grapple with the reality of them as his story goes from bad to worse.



As I read it, I was struck by the fact that now, through the gift of a many-starred and lauded story, this young man's life is given meaning and value of which he had no inkling when he died. Readers who reflect on the circumstances, challenges, choices, and consequences of Yummy's short life are likely to "choose wisely," as Neri advises in his postscript, and help others to do the same.
















Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty from Greg Neri on Vimeo.

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Lent Read #10: WAITING FOR THE BIBLIOBURRO by Monica Brown, illustrated by John Parra

I remember how much I anticipated Saturday afternoons, when my sister would walk me to the Flushing Public Library for my weekly fix of books. Ana, a girl growing up in rural Colombia, shares that eagerness for stories in WAITING FOR THE BIBLIOBURRO (Random House) by Monica Brown , illustrated by John Parra . Like me, Ana also discovers the joy of creating her own stories.



Recommended by my librarian, Jean Holmblad of the Newton Free Library , this gorgeous picture book is inspired by another librarian, Luis Soriano Bohórquez. A visionary man who grasps the power of books to change the world, Bohórquez spends hours transporting them to children around Colombia on two donkeys, Alfa and Beto.



I'd love to read this story to kids and let them feast their eyes on Parra's paintings. Then I'd ask, "Why did the man go through so much trouble to bring the children books to read?"



Check out this trailer of a 2011 PBS documentary on the mission and work of Bohórquez:



















































Watch Biblioburro - Trailer on PBS. See more from POV.

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Lent Read #9: FRIDA by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand

A feast for the eyes and mind, FRIDA: ¡VIVA LA VIDA! by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand (Marshall Cavendish), portrays the life of painter Frida Kahlo through poetry, photographs, and reproductions of the artist's work. Bernier-Grand's terse, powerful verses convey Kahlo's strength, beauty, and passionate need to paint, despite a life of suffering and sorrow.



Inspiring for teens and adults alike, this Pura Belpré Honor book explores the tension between love and art—apparently they can feed and destroy each other, but can never live apart, much like Kahlo and her husband, painter and muralist Diego Rivera.

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Lent Read #8: BLACK AND WHITE by Larry Dane Brimner

Ever wondered why Birmingham airport was


The best children's non-fiction history books chronicle events by combining arresting visuals with lucid prose. Thanks to Brimner's gifts of storytelling and research, a meticulous collection of photographs and letters, and a design that brilliantly pleads the case for the traditional codex, BLACK AND WHITE transports readers into the heart of the civil rights movement. The book brings two characters to life--Shuttlesworth and his nemesis, Eugene "Bull" Connor--as well as the town of Birmingham in the middle of the twentieth century, helping us remember the sacrifice and determination that secured changes we might start taking for granted.



A rousing portrayal of what faithful Christians can and have endured to bring about justice, BLACK AND WHITE singlehandedly makes me proud of our vocation to nourish the imaginations and intellect of the next generation.

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Lent Read #7: BUSING BREWSTER by Richard Michelson

How do you present the complexity of busing in the 1970s to young children? With an even-handed, character-centered picture book, of course. Richard Michelson's BUSING BREWSTER (Knopf) jumpstarts the conversation, introducing children to spunky first-grader Brewster, drawn with chin held high on the cover by R.G. Roth.



At his new school, an Irish-American teacher named Miss O'Grady inspires Brewster by not laughing at his dream of becoming President. I couldn't help wondering, though, if Miss Evelyn, the first-grade teacher in his own neighborhood, couldn't have encouraged the same dream in Brewster. That's the question Michelson seems to be hinting at when he writes through Brewster's eyes: "Miss O'Grady's the librarian. She looks just like Miss Evelyn."



A window into a time in history when children participated in one of the
United States' most controversial social experiments, this picture book
is also a mirror for a sweet relationship between a protective big
brother and a happy-go-lucky little one.



Richard Michelson was born in a mostly Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn that became mostly black by the time he was 12. His family stayed, and his father was shot and killed in the family's hardware store by a black man. Michelson has dedicated much of his writing for children to reconciliation between the two communities , and informs each books with extensive research as well as his own lifelong relationships.

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Lent Read #6: A LONG WALK TO WATER by Linda Sue Park

Newbery-Award winning author Linda Sue Park puts her formidable craftsmanship to beautiful use in A LONG WALK TO WATER (Clarion), the true story of Salva Dut,  a "lost boy" from Sudan dedicated to providing clean water in South Sudan .



This book won the 2011 Jane Addams Children's Book Award , and is a great example of why there can't be any kind of apartheid in storytelling. If we required Park to write only about Korean or Korean-American characters in the name of "authenticity," we wouldn't have the gift of this book. She crossed borders of race, culture, and power to write it, no doubt about that, but she did so with her trademark empathy, imagination, and research .



Park's spare writing suits the barren landscape and honors the intense suffering endured by the main character. Dut's life is a mirror of perseverance for young people facing any kind of challenge, and a window into the tragic journeys of young Sudanese forced to flee to Ethiopia and Kenya.



In small scenes scattered throughout the book, set apart by a different font, Park skillfully introduces us to Nya, a girl in a Nuer village waiting for the gift of clean water. Dut is a member of the "enemy" Dinka tribe, and when the two meet around a new well, the story soars with the hope of redemption--and all the more so because it's true.



Although Dut is eventually able to settle in America, essentially he isn't
"saved" by a powerful outsider. His determination to survive and to honor his heritage ring throughout Park's story. By the end of A LONG WALK TO WATER, we celebrate the
capacity in each one of us to "save," no matter how powerless we might be at
the start of a hero's journey.

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Lent Read #5: JESUS STORYBOOK BIBLE by Sally Lloyd-Jones

Years ago, I started college without knowing any Bible stories at all. It was a challenge understanding themes and references in many novels and classics.  Many children today find themselves in my situation. Since they might not learn or read the Bible before encountering it in a college class, we can offer them the JESUS STORYBOOK BIBLE , an accessible compilation of biblical stories by Sally Lloyd-Jones. As a bonus, Jago's illustrations actually feature people who look Middle Eastern. I'd also recommend this book if the Bible seems confusing or boring to you, as Lloyd-Jones gives a brilliant overview of the narrative arc in a Book that has shaped so many other great stories.

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Lent Read #4: GOYANGI MEANS CAT by Christine McDonnell

Many picture books portray the gains of adoption, but few celebrate it while admitting the reality of all that a child loses. GOYANGI MEANS CAT by Christine McDonnell (Viking) gently and lovingly allows a child to grieve the experiences that came before. Parents who read this book aloud tacitly permit their child to express the grief that is an inevitable part of adoption.



The author is an adoptive parent and a school librarian, and her understanding of and respect for children shines throughout this lovely book. Child-centered illustrations by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher echo the theme of a safe space to explore loss.

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