Book Reviews
Board Books
This delightful board book highlights several types of birds that will likely be new to children and adults alike. Odd Birds: Meet Nature's Weirdest Flock written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Gareth Lucas, lives up to the title as the simple language tells children one unique fact about each bird. Some of the lines are humorous and bring a lightness to the otherwise non-fiction content. The wink at the end is a fun surprise and is what I think, makes this book perfect for even the youngest readers. The artwork is stunning. The vibrant colors of each bird are deeply saturated while remaining true to the real coloring of each bird. Geometric prints, overlap and create texture in the image creating a visually rich illustration on each page. The pages are butter smooth and very pleasing to touch, which is an underestimated draw for young hands when they are reading. The backmatter is condensed and clearly written, with photographs of the actual birds featured in the book. I believe the backmatter can be enjoyed by adults and children who are eager to learn more. Even the youngest readers will be drawn to the photographs. From start to finish, this book is a treasure and should be added to home and school libraries alike.
Picture Books
The Moonlight Zoo
By Maudie Powell-Tuck and Illustrated by Karl James Mountford
I was immediately drawn to this book when I saw it at the library. The color palate is gorgeously rendered in cool pinks, purples, and blues. The colors are not only aesthetically pleasing, they also create a magical feel so that the reader can expect a magical tale. I noticed right away that the main character wears hearing aids. It's a small detail in the illustrations and is never mentioned in the story, so the addition is seamless in the story. I love that this is just a part of the character and does not define her or change the story in any way. When Eva discovers a secret zoo under her bed, the reader travels with her on a search for her lost cat. With the help of a friendly wolf, we meet a multitude of beautiful animals along the way. Die cuts offer glimpses onto the next page and unique page shapes increase reader motivation to turn that page. Will Eva find her lost cat before dawn arrives and the zoo disappears? Pick up this book to find out!
Milo’s Mirror:
Mock Caldecott Nomination for Milo Imagines the World
Illustrated by Christian Robinson. Written by Matt de la Peña.
How do we learn to recognize and confront our own biases? In Milo Imagines the World, author Matt de la Peña and illustrator Christian Robinson offer a collage-style vision of this process through Milo, a young, brown-skinned protagonist on a journey to visit his mother in prison. Alternating between images he sees and those he draws in his notebook, the story asks us to question how we perceive others and whether those thoughts can be challenged by staring at our own reflection.
Robinson’s artwork exemplifies “excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed,” (“Terms” 11) in his skillful combination of acrylic paint, collage materials, drawings, cut paper, and “digital manipulation” (Copyright page). As Milo watches people on the subway, the reader encounters Robinson’s boxy bodies with some people painted with details and others without heads or facial features, depicting the anonymity in the city. Milo appears as a small figure in comparison to the collage materials used to create the look of an authentic subway ride. Milo’s ability to draw his thoughts and feelings brings the intraiconic text into stark contrast with his wordless drawings.
Robinson’s collage materials immerse the reader in the setting during Milo’s journey with his sister. The duo pass colorless, angular, and straight buildings. Robinson creates tension in the pictures by showing Milo and his sister in warm, bright colors in contrast to the cold colors of the city. At their destination, the walls of the prison visiting room are gray, institutional, and tightly boxed. Despite this, the mother’s prison jumpsuit does not carry a negative connotation because it blends in so well with the bright colors of Milo’s hat and the sister’s shirt.
In “recognition of a child audience,” (“Terms” 11) Robinson includes Milo’s drawings of his surroundings. The first time we see Milo drawing coincides with the first time we see him centered on the page. The notebook drawings have a celebratory, child-like crayon quality, and shifts the perspective, placing readers in Milo’s shoes. The image of Milo’s hands, created out of painted cut paper, holding his pencil, strengthen the feeling of the readers who see the same scenes not from our own eyes, but from those of Milo’s. The center of the notebook, drawn just off center from the gutter of the book, further sets these drawings apart from the collage work on the other pages.
Most importantly, Robinson demonstrates “excellence of pictorial interpretation of story, theme, or concept,” (“Terms” 11) by creating a diverse world inhabited by a variety of races and ethnicities, abilities, and ages. Milo’s drawings reflect his biases about people: When he sees the bride, he imagines a heteronormative wedding; the haggard white man is portrayed as lonely and unloved; the talented subway dancers are later drawn being watched by security personnel in a “fancy” store. Milo knows they are followed because of how they look and how others perceive them, evident by the gray cloud on the edge of this picture and the text, “Milo doesn’t really like this picture.”
Milo’s most prominent misconception occurs when he encounters a white boy of his age. When we witness their first exchange of glances, we see what Milo sees, which is the boy wearing “bright white Nikes,” as Milo envisions him in his castle home. It is not until Milo sees himself in the reflection of the train window that he begins to wonder how others see him. How would others draw him from a first glance on the train? Would they draw him excelling in science, or sharing a book with his mother? Michelle Martin writes about, “The importance of self-love and self-acceptance, especially when the face looking back in the bathroom mirror is brown” (5). Milo sees his own brown face and recognizes how many people may not see the good in him because he too is judged as the subway dancers are.
When Milo sees the young white boy in the same line at the prison as him, his whole perception shifts. Robinson draws Milo reimagining all of the different scenarios he drew in his notebook: The bride marries another woman; the man goes home to a loving family, and the boy from the castle has a mom in jail just like Milo. The final image of Milo sharing an ice cream with his mom envisions a different scenario for her as well. The reader no longer sees her in her prison outfit, but as the loving and warm mother Milo sees. Robinson’s artwork forces readers to confront biases as they see the world through the eyes of an astute and loving child and acknowledges the power in each of us to question our own beliefs and reimagine the people we draw in our own private notebooks.
Works Cited:
​
Robinson, Christian. Milo Imagines the World. Written by Matt de la Peña. G.P. Putnam’s Sons,
2021.
​
Martin, Michelle H. “Facing the Black Child: The Bold Direction of Twenty-First Century Picture
Books.” Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to
Children. Fall 2018, vol. 16, issue 3, pp. 3-6.
​
"Terms, Definitions, and Criteria." Randolph Caldecott Medal Committee Manual, Association
for Library Service to Children, 2009.
Comet Goes To The Farm By Nancy Ronan
This delightful picture book is written by a friend and neighbor in my small town. I have had the pleasure of meeting both Comet and Clementine, and my children have practiced reading with them at their school! So, my disclaimer is that I have a personal connection to this book before even opening the cover. In this story, real photographs are used to describe all of the adventures that Comet has when he visits a local farm. He meets many different farm animals and the text is simple but fun. One spread shows some barn kittens perched on pumpkins, and the text reads: "Some animals have jobs. The barn cats catch mice." On the recto, Comet and his cat at home snuggle in for a nap, highlighting the difference between farm animals and pets. Ronan draws contrasts like this throughout the book and also demonstrates some of the similarities. It is a sweet book, filled with real world pictures, which are always a delight for young readers.
Middle Grade
Young Adult
The Getaway by Lamar Giles
This YA thriller does not disappoint. A dystopian horror novel that begs the reader to examine how society functions right now. Giles builds a futuristic world that feels all too familiar in most ways. The reader knows that something is wrong, from the very beginning, but it's not until the story unfolds in meticulous pacing that we begin to understand the implications. With social justice themes woven seamlessly throughout the novel, the experience of reading feels effortless. If you are looking for your next read, please give this one a look.
Melanie Gillman's graphic novel explores what happens to fairy tales when we thwart the patriarchy. Each beautiful tale is gorgeously illustrated in pastels that are at times soothing and others, vibrant and eye-catching. It was drawn with colored pencils and "hand-lettered with Microns" (Copyright page). The hand lettering adds to the intimacy of the book and pulls the reader in as if they are reading a story written by a best friend. The colors used in each illustration play on the emotions in the panel, creating a dynamic reading experience. Small, detailed line drawings frame the top and bottom of each page, adding to the stunning aesthetic of this novel. The characters are drawn with care to show a variety of skin tones, body sizes, and gender expressions. While Gillman bills this as, "New queer fairy tales," the messages are nuanced enough to appeal to all audiences. There is something for everyone in this book and each character will settle in your heart in just a few pages (or at least until they pop up in another story!). The content highlights and puts into conversation the marginalization of queer folks in a way that is supportive, gentle, and loving. I cried at some moments and was amused at others. The last page took my breath away and covered my arms in chills- it is seriously the perfect line to end this enchanting collection of stories. Bravo Melanie Gillman. Special thank you to my friend Amalia who introduced me to this novel.
