WON TON: A CAT TALE TOLD IN HAIKU

POETRY
WON TON: A CAT TALE TOLD IN HAIKU by Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin (Henry Holt) 

All right. So far in the past year or so I've seen GUYKU, DOGKU, WABI SABI and THE HOUND DOG'S HAIKU, and the hard-to-find A CAT NAMED HAIKU, and I like checking book reviews on EmilyReads (try that for a book report!), all amicable thematic treatments of the 5-7-5 poetic syllabic form that is haiku, but plentiful offerings all the same, so I hope you will excuse me if I wondered if this latest had anything new and worthwhile to add.  Mee-wow, what sets this one apart is its lovely story arc, as a mysterious Siamese is adopted from an animal shelter and undergoes the indignity of being named:

Won Ton?  How can I

be soup?  Some day, I'll tell you

my real name.  Maybe.

After this feline stretches and claws his way most fetchingly across the pages, deciding inconstantly whether to be in and out of dresses (or yards or cars or under the couch), leaving presents in shoes and finding resting places in socks and on tummies, the pet's real name is revealed; one we should have guessed all along.  In a few short pages and in shorter lines, the author and illustrator conspire to create a strong characterization of what starts out as a cat and ends as a member of the family.  By the last page, this pet is bonded both to his owner and to us, his readers.   What started out as "not another cat book!" ended with "this is not just another cat book," a unique addition to a collection and an excellent storytime read-aloud to boot. (6 and up)

With the plethora of haiku books available and the propensity for teachers to let students try the format on for size, please also do consider sharing Demi's biographical picture book GRASS SANDALS:  THE TRAVELS OF BASHO, and COOL MELONS, TURN TO FROGS! THE LIFE AND POEMS OF ISSA by Matthew Golub, illustrated by Kazuko Stone (more of Issa's poems in TODAY AND TODAY illustrated by G. Brian Karas), lest we forget that the format, while short, is far from flippant, requiring a concerted attunement to nature and a thoughtful economy of words that represents real craft. 

Also of interest:

Remember, every month can be poetry month!  Here are more excellent poetry books with a sense of play.

LEMONADE AND OTHER POEMS SQUEEZED FROM A SINGLE WORD by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Nancy Doniger (Roaring Brook)
This book promises "part anagram, part rebus, part riddle," and delivers, by inventively rearranging letters from one potent word to create a whole poem:

"Moonlight"

hot
night

thin
light

moth
in
motion

or how about "Spaghetti?"

papa
has
a
pasta
appetite

he
eats
heaps

Wait, wait, one more!  "Television!"

set
is
on

I
sit

Each page depicts the letters falling down the page a la cousin to the concrete poem (see Paul Janeczko's A POKE IN THE I for more on that), inviting the reader to decode the clever text which is clearly revealed with minimalist force on the following page.  Not since the board game Scrabble or Marilyn Singer's MIRROR MIRROR:  A BOOK OF REVERSIBLE VERSE has there been such a fresh squeeze on language, and with over twenty examples, how can we resist trying our own?  Maybe using the word "September" for a first day start?  Or "Homework?" (All right, maybe not homework.) (7 and up)

A LITTLE BITTY MAN AND OTHER POEMS FOR THE VERY YOUNG by Halfdan Rasmussen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes (Candlewick) Published post-mortem by the award-winning Danish children's poet, how can I not recommend a book of verse  with the kind of joyful lilt that I imagine would have been right at home in Margaret Wise Brown's classroom collection?  A bit more fanciful, though...for example, "The Elf":

The elf puts on his winter coat

and puts his winter hat on,

finds a muffler for his throat

in his drawer--puts that on,

packs his pockets full of mice

and then, before he goes,

puts on a empty ice-cream cone

to insulate his nose.

and lines from the title poem, "A Little Bitty Man":

The little bitty man

bought a little bitty house

for a little bit of little bitty money.

The little bitty lady

grew very, very big

with a little bitty baby in her tummy.

Hawkes' illustrations, wonderful and jocular as ever (WESLANDIA, LIBRARY LION), might unfortunately be just a wee bit visually small and detailed to be considered a perfect developmental match for "the very young" to which the book is ascribed (see Polly Dunbar's broader strokes and bigger pages in Jane Yolen's HERE'S A LITTLE POEM:  A VERY FIRST BOOK OF POETRY to know what I mean), but this book still is perfectly endearing on its own terms.  It offers invigoration to a tired nursery rhyme repertoire, works well for laptime, and has both a visual and verbal humor throughout with room to grow into, even if you are an itty bitty boy or girl. (3 and up)

LIKE PICKLE JUICE ON A COOKIE by Julie Sternberg, illustrated by Matthew Cordell (Amulet)
When Bibi the babysitter has to move away from her job in order to care for her ailing father in Florida, it represents a major loss for Eleanor, who has counted on her all her life.  Starting a school year and transitioning into many more new relationships is part of growing up, Eleanor discovers, as is letting go...at least a little bit.  Cordell, (no relation and with an "R" in his name) is always an illustrator to watch,  and uses line drawings as direct as Eleanor's emotions.  There is a clarity and honesty in everything about this book, and children, even if the situation is not one they share, will appreciate the gravity with which Eleanor's situation is treated, and the high note of hope on which the story ends..  Meanwhile,we in the market can appreciate a thematically-appropriate tome for pre-teen readers (thank you very much, more, please!). 

Okay, here's what I don't exactly "get."  My brilliant high school English teacher advised us once that good prose should read in parts like poetry, as if it could be broken down into lines.  There are a lot of narratives that are formatted into lines of poetry (REACHING FOR THE SUN, JAKE AND MINN), and LIKE PICKLE JUICE, too, is one.  My question is, if my English teacher was right (as she has always been so far), then why?  Why don't the authors just tell a prosaic tale with lines that read like poetry? When is a realistic story suddenly compelled into the arrangement of free verse?  Is it just a feeling?  What would be lost by more conventional structure on a page?  What makes poetry poetry?  Perhaps there is no right answer, but that, mes amis, is a worthwhile discussion... another teachable moment offered by this sensitive book.  (8 and up)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.
More Esmé stuff at www.planetesme.com.

CINNAMON BABY (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK
CINNAMON BABY by Nicola Winstanley, illustrated by Janice Nadeau (Kids Can Press)

LOVE love love love LOVE love LOOOVE, what could be more romantic than a family?  And that's exactly what comes about after Sebastian the violinist falls for Miriam the baker.  But alas, for all the affection in the family house, their baby won't stop crying like crazy.  It isn't until Mama Miriam bakes every loaf in the cookbook that the baby recognizes the warm and sugary-sweet smell remembered from time spent cooking in the oven of the womb. Collage and curlicued watercolor lines wend through the pages, graceful as filigree.  The illustration of all three cozied up on a family bed, and Miriam wandering worried (and maybe a little embarrassed?) on a walk while the baby's wails inspire the opening of umbrellas to protect from tears, are recognizable and human.  Descriptions of Miriam's bounty ("She made a spicy bread, studded with little peppercorns and basil, and a sweet bread with ginger.  She made a light, white loaf with dill, and a crusty brown one with sunflower seeds and honey") add to the feeling of warmth and plenty that abound in these pages.  Romantic and readable, this pretty pick is a stand-out also because of its natural depiction of a bi-racial family in the context of a story that any child can enjoy.  What a treat.  (4 and up)

Also of interest:

More fun with baked goods.

THE BLUEBERRY PIE ELF by Jane Thayer, illustrated by Seymour Fleischman (Purple House Press)

It is so delicious when a vintage children's book is properly reprinted. First published in 1959, we are allowed to revisit the magical story of an invisible elf who savors a bite of a family's blueberry pie, but has no way to ask for seconds.  Hoping beyond hope that they will be encouraged to bake another one, he tries helping around the house, to no avail.  When the family sets out less desirable cherry and apple pies, the poor elf can barely contain his disappointment.  But with a little help from the tracks he leaves from his tiny elfin shoes, after tasting lesser pies, he realizes what all good readers know: writing can make all the difference.  The elf is gracious through all of his frustrations, and if you have a taste for a story is sweet and straightforward, this is a little slice of heaven.  (4 and up)

THE BAKE SHOP GHOST by Jacqueline Ogburn, illustrated by Marjorie A. Priceman (Houghton Mifflin)

Cora Lee Merriweather bakes such delicious pies and cakes, her bake shop customers are willing to forgive the fact that every bit of sweetness seems to go into her work. When mean Madame Merriweather finally gives up the ghost, that's all she's willing to give up. As a prankish poltergeist, she successfully drives away anyone who seeks to inhabit her former kitchen, but when former cruise ship pastry chef Annie Washington rents the storefront, it is going to take more than a little flying flour to drive her out. When Annie finally asks what she can do for Cora Lee to settle her spirit, she says, "Make me a cake so rich and so sweet, it will fill me up and bring tears to my eyes. A cake like the one I might have baked, but no one ever made for me." Will Annie spend the rest of her life trying to bake this magical cake, or will she find the bittersweet ingredient that will free them both? Superb storytelling and ebullient illustrations are a recipe for read-aloud in this perfectly delicious ghost story about empathy and cooperation. (7 and up)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.
More Esmé stuff at www.planetesme.com.

QUEEN OF THE FALLS (NONFICTION)

NONFICTION
QUEEN OF THE FALLS by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin)
The talented illustrator who has brought us classics like THE POLAR EXPRESS and JUMANJI does not churn them out, but rather, delivers a gem every few years.  In a departure from his usual fantastical fare, Van Allsburg turns his attention to a biographical story in which truth is stranger than fiction.  In 1901, Annie Edison Taylor, a 62-year-old marm at a charm school, found her financial resources depleting and without any prospects for her old age.  Fearing the poorhouse, she devises a daredevil stunt that verged on madness:  to be the first to go over the drop of Niagara Falls in a barrel of her own special design, and then reap the benefits of subsequent fame on a tour circuit.  But between nefarious managers and onlookers who are disappointed that Annie is more grandma than glamor-girl,  the bumpy trip down the mountain of water is not all Annie will have to survive.

Van Allsburg's signature nostalgic sepia or black-and-grey pencil lines are especially befitting the turn-of-the-century feel, and the startlingly detailed expressions of the people are haunting and tell another story of a thousand words, hearkening back to his prowess in POLAR EXPRESS, each pose begging the question:  what are they thinking? (Though I couldn't help wondering if a woman as modest as Annie would have appreciated Van Allsburg's uncomely depictions of her and her petticoats a-flying as she tumbled inside her barrel.) The double-paged spread of the vessel teetering at the fall's edge is genuinely suspenseful, and will literally have readers holding their breath.   In turns fascinating and exciting, this outstanding read-aloud book captures the roiling falls and all of its harrowing height, but also the poignancy of the decision of this unlikely adventurer; from the lie Annie tells about her age that nobody really believes, her understated reply of "all righty" when the barrel is about to be cut from its rope and swept into the rapids, the injustices she suffers after the fall, and the pensive interview she gives to a reporter toward the end of her life, after musing over a memory of being a child and staring at the falls:  

"I stood here with my father, in this very spot.  I'd never seen anything like that waterfall.  It looked like the end of the world, dreadful and beautiful, all at once.  My father took my hand and asked if I was frightened.  I told him I was, then asked if we could get closer...That's what everyone wonders when they see Niagara...How close will their courage let them get to it?  Well, sir, you can't get any closer than I got."

Be sure to share this unusual piece of history with middle elementary children and ask why Annie made the decisions she did, because with an aging population, a suffering economy and lack of public health care, this book about an event a hundred years ago is sure to inspire some timely discussion today.  It seems that growing older may be the bravest trick of all.  Author video and general info about the falls here.  (8 and up)

Also of interest:
SUNNY BOY!:  THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A TORTOISE by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf (Farrar Straus Giroux)

When you live as long as a tortoise lives, you can expect a few owners. Sunny Boy lived as the pet of several agreeable, docile domesticators: a horticulturalist, a philatelist and a scholar, but ultimately falls into the hands of a daredevil bent on taking Sunny Boy with him on a descent over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Will he ever survive to live out his days in the lap of the little girl in the museum library to whom he feels more suitably matched? Based on actual, if unfortunate events (articulated beautifully in "The Truth Behind the Tale," an author's note at the story's finale), this genial and surprising story demonstrates a love of life, even with all its unexpected twists, turns, losses and leaks. (7 and up)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.
More Esmé stuff at www.planetesme.com.

FLESH & BLOOD SO CHEAP (NONFICTION)

FLESH & BLOOD SO CHEAP: THE TRIANGLE FIRE AND ITS LEGACY by Albert Marrin (Knopf, 2011)

In these pages, we follow the arrival of 19th century immigrants past the Statue of Liberty and into the ghettos of New York City, where some would find employment with the notorious Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.  Demonstrations to draw attention to poor working conditions failed; protesters were beaten down and then returned to work, only to have their complaints written into the annals of history in a fire where one hundred and forty-six unfortunate workers lost their lives in most terrible ways.    A plethora of maps, photographs, primary source materials and related sidelines (such as autobiographical material about Jacob Riis, and "sweatshop steps in making a cotton garment") bring the past to life, offering a steady flow of historical detail that emphasize the humanity of the situation and keep the topic from becoming solely a sensational retelling of a disaster ("the story of the Triangle fire is not the story of one accidental moment in time.  It is the story of immigration and the hard work necessary to make it in a new country..."). The text is generous in an amount that may be overwhelming for some readers, but the columnar layout makes it more manageable, and the material is engaging, told in almost a play-by-play fashion that pulls no punches, with conversational, age-appropriate explanations throughout.  With the hundredth anniversary of the fire upon us on March 25th (and a PBS program already aired), this book does great honor to the ghosts of that tragedy, and while it is a serious subject for young readers, it is worth keeping in mind that child labor is their history, too.  Notes and index are included; the care that went into the book's creation is clearly scholarly.  If you know a young reader interested in the subject, this book is the most thorough, and if you know any child interested in the history of the American people, this book is most outstanding.  (10 and up)

Also of interest:

No doubt, the kiddies are hearing the word "union" and "strike" bandied about more than usual these days, the news buzzing about Wisconsin state workers' recent demonstrations against Governor Scott Walker.  Here's a pick that helps children to understand what a strike and a union are, in the context of children's history!

KID BLINKS BEATS THE WORLD by Don Brown (Roaring Brook)

In 1899, it was not uncommon for boys to work as "newsies," peddling the consignment copies of newspapers published by millionaires Hearst and Pulitzer. When those magnates decided to charge an extra penny against their workers' wages, this was more than the little boys could bear. "I'm trying to figure how ten cents on a hundred papers can mean more to a millionaire than it does to newsboys," Kid Blink tried to figure. "If they can't spare it, how can we?" So begins the wa r between the newsies and the moguls, and a war it is, complete with protests, battles, leaders and ploys, many led by surprisingly articulate and earnest children. Peppery dialects and sobering history help to bring this early union battle to life in sepia tones. You wouldn't go wrong to share every one of Don Brown's wonderful picture book biographies with children, always affecting, but this one packs a special punch. Youths of our day will surely be inspired by Kid Blink's righteous indignation and awed by his bravery…can you imagine a child speaking his heart to a mob of five thousand? It was done. (6 and up)

Also, check out COUNTING ON GRACE by Elizabeth Winthrop (Dell Yearling). If you are into American history at all, you know the photograph: a weary young girl standing in front of rows of bobbins, a smock askew, hair pulled up, leaning on one elbow, a child pausing from her twelve hour workday. This moment captured in black and white by artist, social reformer and advocate Lewis Hine was the inspiration for Elizabeth Winthrop's latest historical novel.

Grace and her best friend Arthur are forced to leave school to work in a mill, replacing full bobbins with empty ones. Grace is glad to have the chance to earn some extra pennies for her family, who depend on this contribution for their very survival. When a teacher encourages the children to write a letter of complaint to the National Labor Committee, Grace understands that outcomes of such an action could put her family in terrible jeopardy. Arthur, however, cannot bear the conditions in the mill. He sees opportunity in education and he is willing to do anything to get it, even if it means purposely mangling his hand in a machine. It seems the work of Lewis Hine has come too late for some. The experiences of the people around her, however painful, lead Grace to make a stunning choice about the path of her own life.

There are so many strong points about this novel. One is the tension. We care about all the characters, and every one of their choices reverberates in the lives of those they love. It is a powerful thing to read, as a child, the impact of decisions upon others in ways we don't expect. The situations, though painful, are done realistically, and convey the conflict of child labor so very powerfully in the context of the character's place and time. Which brings us to the research, which lends both believability and flavor to the prose and does just what good historical fiction should do: carry us away, make us feel as if we are there. The inclusion of Lewis Hine as a character in the story will lead children to delve deeper, in books like KIDS AT WORK: LEWIS HINE AND THE HISTORY OF CHILD LABOR by Russell Freedman (Clarion) and KIDS ON STRIKE! by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (Houghton Mifflin). And the last great feat of this book is voice, which she has given to this Vermont farmgirl faced with the need to do the right thing in the face of contradictions. If you enjoyed the bold candor of the period writing in Jennifer Holm's OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, you will love Grace's genial, colloquial point of view as well.  I'm very excited for author Elizabeth Winthrop, who gained acclaim for her unique mix of fantasy and historical fiction (CASTLE IN THE ATTIC).  With over fifty books under her belt, her work is stronger than ever. This is a special contribution to the shelves of children's literature, and offers children a first-person view into history that could have been them, in another place and time. (10 and up)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.
More Esmé stuff at www.planetesme.com.