Esmé Raji Codell's Blog, page 11

TURTLE, TURTLE, WATCH OUT! (NONFICTION)

NONFICTION
TURTLE, TURTLE, WATCH OUT! byApril Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Annie Patterson (Charlesbirdge 2010)Oh, the peril of being a small, small thing in a big, big world!  From the moment the endangered sea turtle is planted in its egg into the damp sand, it takes a combination of good luck and good friends to bring the life cycle full-circle.  Pursued by sharks and caught in nets, the journey is both harrowing and beautiful, with the refrain "Turtle, turtle, watch out!" lending itself...

THIS LITTLE BUNNY CAN BAKE (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOKS
THIS LITTLE BUNNY CAN BAKE by Janet Stein (Schwartz & Wade) "Eager students have come from far and wide to study with the master pastry chef." Enter Chef George, an austere but expert owl epicurean set on helping a motley menagerie discover their inner foodie through a series of kitchen exercises. Poodle mistakes a loaf of french bread with a bone, and the cat's choice to add cheese puffs to a cake may be suspect, but the cream of the class' crop rises to the top: quiet...

THE EASTER EGG (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK
THE EASTER EGG by Jan Brett (Putnam,2010) The great egg decorating contest is on, and all the bunnies are trying to "bring it!" so they can win the honor of helping the Easter Rabbit deliver the eggs. Page after page, we find bunnies in creative throes via panoramic chocolate eggs, painted eggs, Ukranian eggs, marbleized eggs, straw eggs, golden eggs, beaded eggs...how can Hoppi hope to compete? Finally, he decides, "I guess I don't have to win. I just want to make an egg I am ...

PLANETESME PICKS: A 2009 INDEX

PLANETESME PICKS:  A 2009 INDEX
It's spring, and that means it's time for our tradition: to salute the successes of the recent past that usher in this new season of children's books!  The prior year in the industry has weathered a fairly harrowing horoscope; massive layoffs and streamlining in the children's publishing industry in December of 2008 shifted talents to new and independent arenas, and many editors, designers and publicists were lost, though some rose in Phoenix-like form to...

After the Love Has Gone: Read-Aloud for the Young and Restless

At the invitation of the inimitable Jen Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page, I am so proud to be a participant in the Share A Story, Shape a Future initiative, an "annual blog tour for literacy." For five days, "we harness the power of the Worldwide web to share ideas about ways to engage kids as readers." If you haven't been following all along, look forward to a weekend of delving into inspirational posts about the power of print, discovering amazing real world booklists, and connecting w...

WHO WILL I BE, LORD? (PICTURE BOOK)

Today, the spirit of African American history...and an African American future.

PICTURE BOOK
WHO WILL I BE, LORD? by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by Sean Qualls (Random House)
Great-Grandpap was a mailman. "He knew everybody in town and everybody knew him." He married Great-Grandma, a white woman who "mama'd five children and made the best cakes in the county. She wore pants when other ladies mostly only wore dresses...Mama says Great-Grandma knew more about love than most folks....

MY ABUELITA and PEENY BUTTER FUDGE (PICTURE BOOKS) plus GRANDPARENT BOOK GIVEAWAY

PICTURE BOOK
Hmm, most women over sixty that I know these days color their hair, but these storybook seniors are so fabulous they may be setting some new trends. Today, it's a grandma-a-go-go (with a grandpa or two for good measure)!

MY ABUELITA by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Harcourt)

Then my abuelita booms out words, loud and clear. She always says the words should be as round as dimes and as wild as blossoms blooming.

A little boy helps his grandmother get ready for work...

MILO ARMADILLO (PICTURE BOOK) and VALENTINE'S DAY GIVEAWAY

Happy Valentine's Day! Nobody likes squishing a chocolate in the box and finding the wrong flavor, so you'd better check out the PlanetEsme list of unlovable love stories to make sure your storytime stays sweet for elementary school children. Also, check out "Ten Ways to Use Books to Say I Love You on Valentine's Day," and these pitch-perfect new picture books for when love is in the air...and in the library.

PICTURE BOOK
MILO ARMADILLO by Jan Fearnley (Candlewick)
Talullah really wants a...

SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY (NONFICTION) and CHINESE NEW YEAR PICKS

NONFICTION
SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY by Paula Yoo, illustrated by Lin Wang (Lee & Low)
To escape taunting at school and the workaday world of the laundry, young Anna May Wong hides out in the movie theater and hangs out on sets in Los Angeles. Wong's allure and diligence eventually earn her roles in moving pictures, but in the 1930's, are they the kind of parts that would allow her to hold her head high? With studios forbidding mixed-race love scenes and perpetuating stereotypes...

GROUNDHOG WEATHER SCHOOL (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK
GROUNDHOG WEATHER SCHOOL by Joan Holub, illustrated by Kristin Sorra (Putnam)
When a rabbit hears a weather report that spring has arrived, he is chagrined to find snow outside his abode. The good citizen writes a letter suggesting a more regional approach, thus inspiring a nationwide search for talent and the best newspaper ad since art schools asked wanna-be's to sketch Tippy Turtle. "Have you got what it takes to be a weather forecaster? Take this quiz and check all that...