Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman Illustrated by Beckie Prange

Having learned about the essential illustrative elements of picture books and their vital tie to the picture book text I was enthralled with this book of poems. Most of the pages are illustrated with large framed pictures that apply the use of perspective to position the reader to most effectively experience the action within each poem written on the page. Each page requires a double-facing page spread, and a factual caption is included in the margin beside each double-faced illustration to supplement each poem's meaning with the facts that may be result from the curiousity illuminating the poems. The book includes poems about several pond creatures and living pond features including the water boatman and backswimmer, the wood duck, and a descriptive food chain among other living things. My favorite was about the water boatman (which was also mentioned in a poem from Joyful Noise by Paul Fleischman) and the backswimmer. In the poem, "Song of the Water Boatman and Backswimmer's Refrain" both water bugs are coexisting and describing their survival habits and unique ways in a back-and-forth fashion. The waterboatman uses his legs as oars, and the backswimmer spends most of his time belly-up towards the surface of the water. The woodblock illustrations enhanced with watercolor bring out the quiet, yet vivid life in the habitat of a pond. "In the Depths of the Summer Pond" is a poem that mimics the "This is the House that Jack Built" style of chain story. Starting with the algae the poet relates the food chain of creatures who feed on the smaller creatures "in the depths of the summer pond." When reading the poem about the Wood Ducks I learned about the innate bravery of the baby ducks freely jumping out of their nests to their mother in the pond below. The factual caption describes that some ducklings survive and some don't. The illustration for this poem makes the reader sense the height of the ducklings getting ready to jump far down to the pond below. Some of the poems in this book rhyme, but most employ free verse. The figurative language effectively creates the images intended for the reader in these poems.

Don't Know Much About American History by Kenneth C. Davis

An unusual format enticed me to pick up this book in the bookstore to check my knowledge of basic historical facts. Since I collaborate with a history teacher in grade 6 I'm always interested in finding catchy ways to provide outside reading for my students. This informational book published in 2003 includes updated information on George Bush's terms as President as well as the recent disaster of the falling of the twin towers in 2001. This book of ten chapters is formatted in question-answer format: Frequently-Asked-Questions about history are categorized into ten periods of history over 217 pages. I was surprised to find answers that were unknown to me. For example: In chapter 3 about the Growth of a Nation I realized that this country went eleven years without a president during the time when the Articles of Confederation were in effect. Living in the South for so many years, I never really wondered about the relationship between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. I was surprised to learn that the response is "True" to the statement, "An Indian walked into Plymouth and said, 'Welcome, Englishment.'" The Algonquian chief Samoset initiated friendly relationships with the Pilgrims from the start. Later in the book I learned the interesting response to the question, "Were the 1990s an age of rage?" Surprisingly, that period of time was full of violent events: the Oklahoma City bombing, race-related violence in 1991 and 1992, and violence in schools with the Columbine shootings. How do you think the first decade of the 21st century compares with that period of time? The book seemed to be reliable and authentic in its design and its factual details. Thorough source notes are included in the bibliography, and an index and an appendix of Presidents and Vice Presidents is included in the back. At the front of the book is a table of contents and an introduction providing background for the author in stating the purpose of his writing this book. He intended to break the "boring" tone of history books and to make history come alive. Bravo! This is a must-read for history buffs who want to brush up on important times in history.

Something BIG Has Been Here by Jack Prelutsky - Drawings by James Stevenson

This collection of poems provides several humorous poems that combine rhyming and free verse within one hundred fifty three pages. Prelutsky truly plays with language in the creative topics and antics portrayed in the poems. There is a humorous play on the types of meals served in school cafeterias that employs alliteration with catchy titles of entrees: "Fried Flying Fish Fins," "Pickled Pelican Parts," and "Cracked Crocodile Crunch" are some tasty examples. The name of the poem is "Grasshopper Gumbo." Another poem makes fun of people who thrive on complaining and disputing others' opinions: "The Disputatious Deeble." This poem quotes several retaliatory remarks from a grouchy person who is unable to see the good in a cheery adversary. "Lovely gravy!" may bring out the retort, "An awful sauce." If you say, "Sweet butter!" the Disputatious Deeble may say, "Salty Cheese." Another poem plays with phrases with multiple meanings, "I Wave Good-bye When Butter Flies." This poem is funny as it plays with common phrases in different contexts: "...It makes me sad when lettuce leaves, I laugh when dinner rolls, I wonder if the kitchen sinks and if a salad bowls..." Prelutsky entertains with his poems as the reader delilghts in the many possibilities for playing with language and conveying humor through carefree poetry topics.

But I’ll Be Back Again by Cynthia Rylant

Cynthia Rylant’s autobiography reveals a lot of feelings portrayed by some of the characters in her books. She grew up in a broken home, because her mother and Cynthia Rylant left her father when she was four years of age due to his alcoholism. Although he communicated with her with letters, she did not see him much at all after leaving him. He died of sickness four years later without saying goodbye to her. Rylant’s mother left her in the care of Cynthia Rylant’s grandparents for four years when she was off going to school for nursing. Rylant was cared for by grandparents, aunts, and uncles during this time. Her autobiography revealed the devastating emotional trauma of the loss of her father and temporarily her mother. Her experiences with loss fueled her writing, and she found writing to be a vehicle for coping with her sad childhood experiences of loss. Her grandparents, aunts, and uncles must have been loving caretakers for Rylant to emanate such a positive outlook on her life as she recalls memories of her childhood. She seems to cheerfully recall giggles with her aunts and fond memories of relationships with peers when she was growing up. She relates “crushes” she had had with some boys and her hero, Robert Kennedy. Her memories seemed to have spoken to her clearly to encourage her to want to become a writer. She notices that writing has given her the power to change things I could not change as a child.
Several of the books by Cynthia Rylant illustrate themes of loss and finding oneself: Missing May, A Fine White Dust, The Islander, I Had Seen Castles, and Waiting to Waltz. In all of these books Rylant develops the characters experiences with peers and families in a positive light. She often shows her protagonists as experiencing a significant loss and dealing with it in a steadfast way. This is evident in Missing May and in The Islander. Summer, the protagonist relates her inner struggle with caring for her uncle Ob and missing her Aunt May. Rylant also struggled with wondering as a child if her father had ever tried to communicate with her after his death. Her book Missing May describes such an experience as Summer relates missing May. The Islander related a story about a young boy who had lost his mother and father at an early age and had to learn to fit in to a community on an island while living with his grandfather. Rylant also relates in her autobiography her salvation experience in church when she was a young adolescent. Her struggles with her relationship with God become clear through the protagonist, Pete in A Fine White Dust as he pours out his emotions and soul describing his newfound commitment to God through his salvation experience from an encounter with an evangelist at his local church. I started to read Rylant’s A Heavenly Village, but I did not finish reading it. In that book I remember several implications that may relate to Rylant’s faith in God. Rylant stated in her autobiography that she chose to remember friends and places that communicated to her peacefulness and love. Most of her books seem to be illuminated with peaceful plots and caring characters. These traits are clear in many of her picture books: Thimbleberry, The Blue Hill Meadows, Little Whistle, The Relatives Came, Waiting to Waltz, and The Van Gogh Cafe.
Rylant seems to have found herself through writing, and she has shared her gift of storytelling in bringing to life her own stories to which so many of us can relate.

A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck

A Long Way From Chicago teases only a glimmer of a glimpse of the setting of this historical fiction novel set in the Depression era in a small town located a train ride away from Chicago. The story is narrated by Joe, an older man as he recalls memories of his childhood when he and his sister spent seven summers with their "tough as an old boot" Grandma. Without the rural, small-town setting and the main character, Grandma there surely would not have been a story. Grandma presents as a large, rough woman who has no fear and is not afraid to stand up to anybody and to "tell it like she sees it." This characterization lends the humor in the story as the reader contrasts Grandma against the stereotype grandmother one would expect two young children to visit every summer. The reader is able to sense the span of time not only over the course of seven summers between 1929 and 1935 but further ahead to 1942 when Joe recalls attending boot camp prior to his military duty in World War II. Who else could portray the necessary resourcefulness that must have been employed during the Depression era than Grandma herself? The novel is formatted into short stories, each connected to the other as in chapters; but each story is another year's summer recalled in detail by Joe. The reader is quickly engaged into the book and introduced to Grandma when she calmly and resolutely insists that a dead gangster's coffin reside in her parlor the night before his funeral. Traditionally the family stays watch over a dead family member's coffin the night prior to the funeral, but Shotgun Cheatham had no family. Grandma went one step further and guarded the house with her double-barrel shotgun. Joe and his sister, Mary Alice seem to be "putty in the hand" of Grandma this summer and the next following summers as they are directed to join Grandma in her many escapades and trickeries with the townfolk. Picture Grandma foiling two mischievious boys from the dairy delivery truck trying to trick her with a mouse in a bottle of milk. The fun never ends as the reader is brought into the story beside Joe and Mary Alice witnessing Grandma fishing in forbidden waters only to discover some of the town's men of authority drunk in their underwear on a porch of an old shack. Later in the story a blackmail opportunity surfaces. Other adventures ensue with Grandma, each more delightful to the reader than the last. Towards the end of the book Peck gently implies Grandma's softer side. There are a few chapters where Grandma sends Joe and Mary Alice to the attic to find things for a yard sale and later for a town centenniel celebration. The reader may figure out that this is Grandma's way to reveal for her grandchildren the nostalgia from her past without her surrendering her facade of "tough as nails." Grandma is really a deeply compassionate soul who winds up helping several people in her community and impacting her own grandchildren with her "hidden" goodness. This character trait surfaces more clearly at the end of the book as Joe passes by Grandma's house in a train bound for boot camp, and Grandma waves to the train knowing Joe is on it somewhere. Joe is touched by her wave and waves back. Throughout the book Joe and Mary Alice are outstaged by Grandma. They appear only as observant onlookers to the actions until the end of the book when Mary Alice "shows her colors" dancing with Ray Veech in the centenniel celebration. Mary Alice's boldness shows clearly, a trait she must have learned from Grandma. Joe may have turned out to be a more conservative character in the way that he told his tale, but his tenacity and toughness showed his readiness to fight in the war. I'm anxious to read A Year Down Yonder to again enjoy Grandma's antics. I've been acquainted with a couple of "Grandmas" in my life, and it continues to amaze me how the facets of human nature and compassion come in so many shapes, sizes, and personnas.

Joyful Noise - Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman - Illustrated by Eric Beddows

Once again Paul Fleischman's artful genius surfaces to the top! The orchestration of words and phrases creates a harmony of meaning and description that transcends the printed word. This collection of poems about insects makes the reader empathize with the life of each insect in a celebratory way. The first poem in the collection, "Grasshoppers" gives the sensation of movement and energetic leaping with the concurrent chorus of words read by two voices. The emphasis on action verbs is evident and creates the imagery so evident in this poem. The next poem, "Water Striders" emanates the feeling of plodding along in a slow, but steady manner. There is rhythm in the phrasing that seems to emulate the sense of striding as befits the insect's name, water striders. I was particularly affected by the poem, "Fireflies" which imbues the metaphoric description comparing fireflies to writing: 'Light is the ink we use...' and 'six-legged scribblers....signing the June nights.' How long have those fireflies waited for that poem to celebrate their unique design? I always wondered how and why moths are so attracted to lights. The poem, "The Moth's Serenade" entwines the words as if two lovers are singing a duet and courting with passionate exchange - a moth and it's light, Ahhh! Again the harmony of the two voices speaking in unison to embrace the words and the solo emphasis on the meaningful words sparkles within the phrases . The poem, "The Digger Wasp" seemed to be a self-written epitaph from a martyr. She seemed so devoted to the life of her young, and she was committed to be part of the circle of life she so articulately described. The last poem in the book seemed most masterful, "Chrysalis Diary." I had never thought to try to think about life around the chrysalis as it goes through the metamorphasis of becoming a butterfly. Again, the use of two voices to share the oberservation from the chrysalis's point of view is figurative language to its utmost. Imagine the chrysalis viewing falling snowflakes from its window! What a vision! Indeed, Fleischman has set a precedent with his orchestrating words to blend and flow to create these unique images. For students who are not involved with music in any way this collection of poems enables those students to experience the sense of harmony that can be created by blending the beautiful sounds and meanings of words in these poems.

Waiting to Waltz – A Childhood (Poems by Cynthia Rylant) Drawings by Stephen Gammell.

This book is a series of short poems about significant people, events, or places in the town of Beaver. The poems are written in free-verse and seem to describe meaningful memories in Cynthia Rylant’s life. I connected with the poem about “Wax Lips,” because I remember those from my own childhood and the fun we had with them around Halloween. I remember sending letters to my uncle in Quincy, Indiana where everyone knew him just with the General Delivery address. I always thought he must be very important to have mail delivered that way. I was grateful for Rylant’s poem about “Sam the Shoe Shop Man,” and I wanted to cheer in celebrating with her the heroic qualities of the simple man who must have been an optimistic light to those who knew him. The poem about “Band Practice” showed Rylant’s persistence in working on fitting in and finding her own place. That must be one of her telling qualities even as a writer. She evidently learned a lot about playing in more ways than one. The illustrator inspired mood and hints about the town’s simple qualities. Especially revealing was the illustration showing looking out from inside Sam’s Shoe Shop. The double page spread of the thunder storm following the poem, “The Rescue” shows the stark desolate backdrop of the lone house amid the thunderstorm. The pencil sketch sets the mood appropriately.

Long Night Moon by Cynthia Rylant Illustrated by Mark Siegel

This book seemed to be a similar book to Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London. The book describes the names and legends of the Native American Moons that describe seasons or periods during the year. The January Moon must have been very bright to be able to show your way home. The March Sap Moon must be the dawn of spring, since small green trees and melting ponds are mentioned with it. The May Flower Moon is described as bright and cheerful. The illustration effectively shows it to light up the night. I like the description of the August Harvest Moon compared to a “big ripe melon” and “blessing the calm fields of hay.” The creatures must look up to the September Coon Moon for guidance as Rylant aptly describes thee moon showing creatures a “better path.” The title of the book seems to be named after the December moon, the Long Night Moon that must guard us through the night until morning in its faithfulness to light up the sky. I appreciated the illustrator’s note about how he chose his medium for illustrating Rylant’s poems about Long Night Moon. She brought out the unique night magic that the moons highlight over nature.

Bull Run by Paul Fleischman

This historical fiction novel is formatted similarly to Fleischman's Seedfolks but with fewer connections evident among characters. I started reading the book by simply opening the front cover and beginning reading, so when I realized that different characters begin to narrate again on subsequent pages I found myself turning back to the character's previous story to try to make connections. Having an interest in music I chose to follow Toby Boyce's depictions of the war. It seemed that by his fifth narration he had matured and had seen enough of war to make one's toes curl. I also discovered a stark truth about myself. In reading and comparing the narrations of southern Flora Wheelworth and northern Lily Malloy I found myself identifying more closely with Flora. This realization surprised me, because I've always identified myself as a "transplanted Yankee," having grown up in my first 12 years in Massachusetts and New York. Flora's straightforward religious faith and resolve to stay strong seemed to show values that I try to live. Lily seemed to live a lonely life mentally distanced from her father and family. She so suffered the loss of Patrick, but she seemed not allowed nor able to share her emotions openly with her family. What a travesty! Yet in all my recent years visiting back in Massachusetts and New York I've noticed the same "aloofness" or "distance," if you will among members of some families. The close-knit bond is not as evident as that with families in the South. This is probably just my perception and opinion. I would hope it is really not so.

I Had Seen Castles by Cynthia Rylant

The horrors of the World War II period became immediately real and vivid with the backdrop of our country's stance in the war with Iraq. Cynthia Rylant showed a different side of herself in her writing of this book. Others of her books that I have read show her writing style as simple yet reflective with children as her main characters in situations requiring reflection and/or deep soul-searching. In her typical style of narrating a story simply and without needless rhetoric she effectively crafted the story of a young man's experience becoming involved in the war with a series of flashbacks and flashforwards strategically placed throughout the story. The character of Ginny brought out the passionate, caring side of John as they grew to be close friends and lovers. John's family members were clearly experiencing stations in life common through the World War II times. Rylant's portrayal of John through his war experiences showed the ugliness of war but John's steadfastness in dealing with each new challenge of it. The reader knew from the beginning of the book that John survived the war, but the terrors and tragedies of the war were no less gruesome as the reader was felt to be standing beside John witnessing those horrible deaths and tragic wounds. The castle appeared to be an icon of hope for John, and he seemed to associate the castle with hopes and dreams that he allowed himself to realize in his adult years living in Europe. He must have seen a need to be needed there. That is one common feature that is becoming evident to me in Rylant's books: the perceptive ability for the main character to endure tough times yet to feel needed by one or more characters around him/her. This book is a to-the-point "must-read" in the genre of historical fiction to enable the reader to connect present stresses of war with stresses of times past in war.