Book Review - Absolutely Beastly Children

Author/Illustrator: Dan Krall
Publisher: Tricycle Press (September 28, 2010)
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 years
Source: Copy for Review
Rating: Undecided

Description from GoodReads:
In this book you’ll find 26 children who are almost certainly nothing like you. You always eat your peas and say please. You, unlike Oscar, would never tell lies. And in your wildest dreams you wouldn’t play with your food the way Nancy does. But even the sweetest child can be tempt-ed to behave badly. Thankfully, Dan Krall has put together this collection to remind us just how unpleasant beastly behavior can be.

When I first read this book, I wasn't sure if I was completely grossed out by the ick factor of this book, or just morbidly fascinated by the illustrations and supporting text.  I shared it with someone at my school because I think I was really puzzled and was curious about what her reaction would be.  Things got busy and I don't think I ever got her reaction, but I put the book aside. I needed to think about this one.  


My initial reaction as an educator was "Uh-no, this is not going into my preschool or kinder classes. I do not need to encourage inappropriate behavior or have parents questioning my judgment."  But something kept nagging at me as I would come across the book at various times.  At first, I couldn't put my finger on it, but then I realized what it was.  Topps Wacky Packages.  I remember back in elementary school going to the corner store and picking up Wacky Packages - there was a stick of bubble gum in the pack and several trading card/stickers in them.  Wacky Packages were designed to be a play on name brand products such as coffee, and soda but with a really gross twist.  As kids, we loved them.  Fortunately, this moment of nostalgia made me take another look at the book.


In re-looking at the book, I realized that Krall's illustrations (think Tim Burton meets Jay Lynch) are extremely creative in a morbid & somewhat macabre manner.  Several of the supporting lines of text are fairly benign (such as "F is for Florence the Queen of Demands" or "G is for Gertrude who stays up too late").  Some are just plain silly (such as "J is for Jeffrey He knows how to whine").  But there were a few that have me debating (such as "S is for Sigmund who still wets the bed").  


As a result, I am still undecided about this one.  I probably won't be placing this in my kindergarten classrooms, but I know some 8 & 9 year olds who would find this simply hysterical.  I know my 8 year old self would have cracked up over this.  But my adult-self has decided to share this carefully.

Book Review - Five Flavors of Dumb

Author/Illustrator: Anthony John
Publisher: Dial (November 11, 2010)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Source: Copy for Review
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars


Description from GoodReads:

The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.
The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?
Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.



With a great concept and a very cool looking cover, I wondered whether Anthony John's new book FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB would be a shining star or hit a flat note.  Could he pull it off in a way that was believable and entertaining?  Or would there be a significant amount of creative license taken to make for a good story?

Honestly, I approached this book with a critical eye.  After the first 6 or 7 chapters, I sent an email to a graduate school friend of mine who works with deaf teens.  We had both attended Gallaudet (note: the main character in the book has a goal of attending Gallaudet University - the world's only University for the Deaf).  I peppered her with questions, and I thought seriously about her answers and my experiences with the Deaf community.

My initial protest began when Piper (the main character in the story who is Hard of Hearing) claims that she has had the same hearing aids for nearly 10 years, I rolled my eyes.  Yes, hearing aids are expensive. Yes, they come in all kinds of bright colors which young children like. But seldom would a 17 or 18 year old be wearing the same pair of hearing aids as when they were 7 or 8 years old (i.e., the character would have physically outgrown her hearing aids automatically necessitating new ones). And even with "olympic precision" lip-reading, we are talking about someone getting only 46% of spoken language?! I was concerned that if John had taken some creative licenses to fit his story or failed to get some basic details correct where would the rest of the story go? So I took a deep breath, reminded myself that the average reader would not know these facts and pushed on.

It wasn't hard to move on with FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB.  Despite my initial irritation over some technical stuff, I was really enjoying John's writing.  The short chapters made it feel like I was flying through the story.  But there was so much more about this book that kept propelling me forward.

First, I like books that I would call "ensemble" stories. Meaning that all of the characters truly play an important role in the book and develop along with the main character. This is an ensemble book - Piper may be the main character but her family, and the members of the band all have significant roles to play and they all grow and develop over the course of the story.

Second, yes, there is some romance in the book...but we don't spend page after annoying page reading about every detail of how wonderful, or beautiful the lusted after romantic target is. It is subtle and appropriate to the story.  Plus I really found myself wanting the two of them to get together.

Third, not only does the book focus positively on a character with special needs but also has characters of various ethnic/racial/socio-economic backgrounds. Yay for diversity that is not overly done but included in just the right way.

Fourth, I actually appreciated many of the adults in this book even with their flaws. Piper's relationship with her parents is one of the things in the story that seemed the most honest and real.  There is a natural conflict when you are a deaf child dealing with hearing parents - this is one part that I felt John nailed. Along with how John describes Piper's reaction to her sister's cochlear implant.

I also liked the interesting advice and mentoring she received from Baz, Mr. Belson, Tash's mom, etc. And though Piper's brother Finn is not an adult (so maybe this should go under another point but...) - I found myself pleasantly pleased with how that relationship developed. It was surprising in a very good way.

Finally, despite my initial irritation over the technical details and sometimes wondering if John was trying to fit some of his thoughts about deafness to his story, I definitely found myself loving the book. The book's back drop of Seattle, mentions of Nirvana & Cobain, and Hendrix provided a complimentary and story enhancing references. Once I started it, I pretty much couldn't put it down resulting in several hours of lost sleep that evening.

After completing the book and pondering the technical vs. the literary, I am giving this a 4.5 out of 5 stars.  I will say that I was a little relieved to discover through an email conversation with the author that he had actually based some of the things I had questioned on real incidents.  Yes, sometimes reality is stranger than fiction.

In 2009, the stand out YA Realistic Fiction story for me was Allen Zadoff's FOOD, GIRLS & OTHER THINGS I CAN'T HAVE.  I loved that book. It made me laugh and it moved me emotionally.  I know that we haven't gotten to the true end of 2010 yet, but I would have to say that Anthony John's FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB is currently sitting in my top spot for YA Realistic Fiction for the current year.  It is funny, smart, touching, and just a great read.  I would encourage to find this book and read it.  And I look forward to future books by this author.

Book Review - When Wishes Come True

Author/Illustrator: Per-Henrik Gurth
Publisher: Lobster Press (October 1, 2009)
Age Level: 3 to 6 years
Source: Copy for Review
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Description from GoodReads:

The touching story of Little Bear will show children that wishes really do come true. Little Bear closes his eyes and wishes and wishes and wishes to become an astronaut in outer space … a pirate on a ship … a king in a magical castle! But when he opens his eyes, his wishes haven't come true. He is still Little Bear living in the Arctic tundra. Mother Bear helps him see that many of his wishes do come true, from swimming with playful belugas to watching the dazzling northern lights. And much to his surprise and delight, Little Bear discovers that he was Mother Bear's own wish come true! Children and adults alike will be touched by this reassuring tale of love and hope by celebrated children's book author and illustrator, Per-Henrik Gürth. 

 Some books are simply "awwwww" books.  You read them and you say "awww".  Per-Henrick Gurth's When Wishes Come True has that effect on the reader.  As I read through the book, I found that I really enjoyed the easy back and forth between the mother polar bear and the baby bear.  Little Bear like any young child has wishes of becoming an astronaut, or a pirate, or a king.  And as I read the pages, I could almost hear the voice of a small child speaking those exact words.  The beautiful illustration lend both a sense of realism and magic to the book and compliment the text. 

Mother Bear's response to Little Bear is gentle and at first practical.  Her reminders of small wishes that he experiences on a regular basis help Little Bear to see that all is not lost.  However, it is in the ending when Mother Bear lets Little Bear know that he was her big wish come true, that the "awww" factor increased for me.  

When I thought further about the book, I realized that Gurth's story is a solid contender in this category of books that speak to the bond of mother and children geared for our youngest readers but does not pull ahead of other books.  Unfortunately, I can easily list about a dozen picture books that have been just as solid. This led me to give the book 4 stars instead of 5. With that said, it is a beautiful book and would be a welcome addition to any collection of books.

Book Review - Poop Happened!

Author:  Sarah Albee
Illustrator: Robert Leighton
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (May 11, 2010)
Reading Level: 5th grade and up
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Description from GoodReads:

History finally comes out of the water-closet in this exploration of how people’s need to relieve themselves shaped human development from ancient times to the present. Throughout time, the most successful civilizations were the ones who realized that everyone poops, and they had better figure out how to get rid of it! From the world’s first flushing toilet invented by ancient Minoan plumbers to castle moats in the middle ages that used more than just water to repel enemies, Sarah Albee traces human civilization using one revolting yet fascinating theme.


A blend of historical photos and humorous illustrations bring the answers to these questions and more to life, plus extra-gross sidebar information adds to the potty humor. This is bathroom reading kids, teachers, librarians, and parents won’t be able to put down!

I am not sure I ever realized how interesting reading about human excrement could be.  Most teachers and parents truly discourage "potty talk" in children.  Author Sarah Albee even acknowledges this in her preface, and yet as she mentions, toilet talk is funny.  There are reasons, both as a child and an adult, that we laugh at those jokes.  In her book Poop Happened! A History of the World From The Bottom Up, the reader gets history mixed with trivia and fun facts.  The book moves from the past (Ancient Greece) to the present day which allows the reader to develop a sense of what each culture has or has not done with the ever present human waste by-product.  Woven through out the pages are trivia facts pointing at practices and customs in history.  Did you know that "the Romans had a goddess of sewers named Venus Cloacina"? Or that before dumping out your chamber pot from an upper story window it was only polite to yell out "Look out below"? 

Throughout Poop Happened!, Albee deals candidly with the regular practices of both the rich and poor.  Hygiene practices were far from what they were today and the increased exposure of human excrement caused frequent illnesses.  I found myself thinking several times that I was glad I didn't live 4 or 5 hundred years ago or well, even 100 years ago.  Thank you Alexander Cummings for inventing the flush toilet that we have today.  However, for all the fun and lightheartedness of the tone of the book, Albee reminds readers that we need to think about how we presently dispose of waste and the impact things such as diapers or dumping waste in waterways impact lives today.

When I read Poop Happened!  I thought about the audience for this book.  Boys and some girls would love it, especially your favorite kid who adores trivia facts and odd bits of information.  The photographs, artwork, and illustrations add appeal to the book.  However, I would recommend it to upper grade readers, with solid reading skills, (4th or 5th graders) all the way through high school.  Whether you choose to read only one or two chapters at a time or to finish the book in one sitting, this is a book that works to engage its readers.  I would certainly recommend it to a students and teachers alike. 

For more information about Sarah Albee, check out her website sarahalbeebooks.com 

She can be found on twitter: @sarahalbee