scrounge: /skrounj/ informal verb: to actively seek [books] from any available source
This afternoon my five-year-old son asked what I was doing on the computer. I explained that I often write up book reviews to put on this blog. Then he asked if he could write one, so I told him to go find the book he most wanted to write about.
I'm not surprised that he picked The Usborne Big Book of Stars and Planets, because it's one of his favorites. For kids who are interested in outer space, this book contains a great deal of information (don't be fooled by the "16 pages" -- several of them fold out to twice their length). It also contains many lovely and realistic illustrations.
He dictated his review to me, with a little prompting in the beginning to try to get him to focus on what he likes best about the book. By the end he was just going through it and talking about what struck his fancy. I didn't write down every word, but I got the gist of what he was saying.
Me: Why do you like this book?
T: Well, it's about planets and I like planets.
Me: What did you learn about planets?
T: Well, I learned that a long time ago, when two things crashed together, they made something new, a very very long time ago. Before my parents were even born. [referring to the Cartwheel Galaxy]
Me: What else?
T: There were robots that drive on Mars. And I like what they do. They're cool machines.
Me: Do you remember the names of any of them?
T: Constrosity? [Curiosity]
Me: What else did you learn from the book that you thought was interesting?
T: Meteors are little tiny space rocks that burn up in the earth's atmosphere. I like that we have an atmosphere on the earth so we can breathe.
Jupiter is big. And there's a belt with asteroids called the asteroid belt, and it goes around the sun. And they shouldn't get too close to the sun because the sun is HOT HOT HOT. So don't ever go into space just to touch the sun. I wouldn't want to touch Venus either.
There are super giant stars that are even bigger than the sun. And they run out of life. And when they die, they blast into a big explosion, just like a volcano has an explosion. And the stars come from the nebulas. And probably there wouldn't be stars if there wasn't nebulas. And probably I wouldn't like space if there wasn't stars and nebulas. Stars make the page best, so it's good for looking at.
Giant galaxies are in the book too.
So, there was a thing that maybe even went out of our solar system. [Voyager 1] But, it took a few pictures, but there's still another thing that takes pictures, it's the space telescope -- it takes pictures and sends them back to earth with the antenna. I'm not sure how it does that, but somehow it does that.
And parachutes carry astronauts back to earth.
The robots are on Mars. They pick up rocks and discover them to see if they were ever covered with water or ice on Mars. And when you're looking at the sky you can see all kinds of shapes. And you can see the dog star. And at last, the lion, the big dipper, and a lot of other things. You'll find this book pretty interesting if you look at it ever in your life.
Scrounged From: Usborne
Format: Hardcover
Author: Emily Bone
Illustrator: Fabiano Fiorin
Pages: 16
Content Advisory: None
James Herriot wrote many wonderful animal stories for children, from his perspective as a veterinarian. While Herriot is present in his stories as the narrator, the focus is on his clients and their relationships with their unique pets and farm animals. One of my all-time favorites of his is The Christmas Day Kitten. It portrays both sadness at the death of an animal friend, as well as the joy of the new life of a unique and playful little kitten (I've also discovered that this may not be the best book to read while pregnant and feeling more emotional than usual!).
As in Herriot's other stories, Ruth Brown's warm, realistic illustrations capture each scene and feeling perfectly. The text is a bit wordier than some picture books, so it might not hold the attention of very young children. While this story doesn't really get into the practical aspects of celebrating Christmas, it's still a sweet glimpse of the hope of life springing from sadness.
Scrounged From: My parents' house
Format: Hardcover
Author: James Herriot
Illustrator: Ruth Brown
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: Death of a stray/pet cat is described.
When I saw Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas at the library, I knew I had to read a picture book that combines two of my favorite things: books and Christmas. When I was a girl growing up in Scotland, there was a bookmobile that would come to our little dead-end street every few weeks, and I used to love climbing up into the back of it and looking for more books. I haven't seen a bookmobile since, but I enjoyed reading this reminder that they do indeed still exist.
This story is about a girl named Hannah who likes to ride along with her Aunt Mary who, along with her cat named Dickens (!), drives a blue bookmobile named Blue Bird. We follow them along to several stops, witnessing the enjoyment and sense of community that are built around this mobile library.
When a snowstorm keeps them from getting up a hill, Hannah realizes she might have to spend Christmas Eve stuck in the bookmobile. But really, is that such a bad thing?
Scrounged From: Our local library
Format: Hardcover
Author: Sally Derby
Illustrator: Gabi Swiatkowska
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None
The Bee Book is a visually appealing introduction to bees, focusing on the honey bee, and emphasizing how important they are to the world.
I love the full-page illustrations with the lovely contrast of blue and yellow, and the way the information is spread out -- the book covers a lot of bee-ish topics without becoming too verbose about any of them. (And for what it's worth, I think they hit the sweet spot as far as bee-related puns go -- a couple at appropriate times without overdoing it.)
We learn about the life cycle of the honeybee as well as the different roles of each type within the hive. I had no idea that worker bees' lives and tasks were so well organized based on age. At the end of the book are some ideas for ways to help bee populations such as making a "bee hotel" and planting more flowers.
(Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced review copy.)
Scrounged From: NetGalley (and later Amazon)
Format: Kindle
Author/illustrator: Charlotte Milner
Pages: 48
Content Advisory: None
While sad and ultimately triumphant, Stepping Stones is made even more real by its close ties to current events, including the fact that Nizar Ali Badr, whose art has inspired so many, is a native of Syria. Though he has remained in his country, he says his heart is with the refugees who have needed to flee.
The story of how this book came to be is detailed in its introduction, but in short, the author came across a beautiful image of stone art by chance on social media, and went on a quest to track down the artist. She eventually found Nizar Ali Badr and was able to contact him via a friend who could translate their messages. He agreed to collaborate with the author on this book, which has now generated more than $60,000 to aid refugees in Canada, and includes an Arabic translation right below the English text.
I can't say I've ever seen a children's book with art this unique, but at the same time stones are a very tangible medium. Children's imaginations certainly don't need a huge technological production in order to be inspired, and the texture and depth apparent in these images can convey so much to all of us on a basic level -- fear, loss, love, determination.
Many of the images feature people journeying as the text recounts a story of a refugee family fleeing war and death, and seeking peace. The story in this book is detailed enough to portray characters with names and specific memories, but general enough to be applicable to many different times and places, thus showing a universal aspect of refugee journeys -- many human families yearning for peace.
Scrounged From: Our local library
Format: Hardcover
Author: Margriet Ruurs
Illustrator: Nizar Ali Badr
Pages: 28
Content Advisory: There is mention of war and death (sans details) -- one image depicts people in a boat while others are in the water.
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