#IMWAYR August 15, 2016

Oh Monday, I'm so glad you are here. There has been blog writing and soon there will be blog reading! Hurrah for Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers who host this weekly event. If you are interested in learning more about kidlit, then this is your ticket to ride!

I have not been reading enough text. I've been house cleaning. I've been dealing with the boxes of peaches we brought home from the Okanagan. Numerous jars of peaches have been canned. I made peach salsa for the first time - both fresh and canned. Fresh is best, but what are you going to do in February if you don't can some? 

The garden looks like a jungle has erupted while my back was turned. I'm not looking forward to scrabbling in the dirt amidst the roses next week. It's too hot to wear armor.

I have been trying to get my netgalley account under control. For some reason I had books on my list that I read and reviewed but didn't leave feedback for. This meant I had to find all those draft reviews here on this blog, clean them up, and publish them. So while I got a lot of blog posts complete, my reading life doesn't quite compare.

It is just pure happenstance that three of the books I read this week feature Qin Leng as illustrator. She is a remarkably gifted artist. Go check out her work. I'll wait. 

PICTURE BOOKS

 Happy Birthday Alice Babette by Monica Kulling & Qin Leng (illustrator)

4 stars

This book is delightfully charming. It is an imaginary vignette from the life of Alice B Toklas and Gertrude Stein. Alice wakes up on her birthday expecting a surprise, but it appears that Gertrude has forgotten. When she heads off for a walk through the streets of Paris, Gertrude gets to work to surprise Alice by cooking her favourite foods and writing her a special poem. Unfortunately, as the food is cooking, Gertrude gets lost in her poetry writing and the meal ends in a disaster. 

Qin Leng's beautiful watercolour illustrations capture the essence of Paris and the characters of the two women.

I only wish that their relationship was more fully acknowledged. Kulling refers to them as friends. Even in the endnotes wherein she says they lived together in Paris for forty years, provide no additional information. I don't understand this and question why she didn't refer to them as spouses or even partners.

Dear Baobab by Cheryl Foggo & Qin Leng (illustrator)

4 stars

Maiko has had to leave his home somewhere in Africa to come and live with his Aunt and Uncle in what looks to be North America somewhere. (I assume Canada since both the author and illustrator live here)

He has a lot of challenges: grieving for his dead parents, going to a new school and dealing with bullying, loss of his community and especially the baobab tree at its heart. When he discovers the young spruce by his new house is the same age as him, he connects to it and confides his troubles to it.
When the tree must be cut down because of its proximity to the house, Maiko does what he can to save it. When this doesn't work, he tries to run away.
I like that Maiko's aunt and uncle are kind and loving and ready to listen and act on Maiko's concerns once he articulates them.
Qin Leng's digitally coloured illustrations articulate the difference between where Maiko lived in Africa, and where he is now. I love how she captures emotions in the characters' faces and body language.

The problem with this book is that there is a lot of text on the pages. This will dissuade many younger readers. However, because the book portrays the experience of a young immigrant to our country, it is an important title to share with readers of all ages. It would make a good read aloud as part of a family or immigration unit.

A portion of the proceeds from this book go to a foundation that supports children like Maiko around the world.

Magic Words: From the Ancient Oral Tradition of the Inuit by Edward Field (Translator), Mike Blanc (Illustrations)

1 star

I got this from Netgalley. I was taken by the illustrations. Honest, they are spectacular. 
It's just that I have so many reservations about this book now that I have read it. 
First, It is both written, translated and illustrated by white men. 
I have to wonder why there was no Inuit input. Why not an Inuit illustrator? 
What this seems to be is essentially cultural appropriation. 
I wouldn't purchase it for my library. 




NOVELS

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

3 stars

Emily Jenkins did a fine job narrating this book. There are some interesting things going on in this story, but it is also flawed. Had it not been an audiobook, I would have turned to the last few pages to see if it was going to be worth it. 
The books begins with a young girl being bullied by a new student at the town school. 
I am not a fan of bullying books, so that was its first strike against it. As I got into it, I was sorry to see no real character development of Betty, the mean girl. There was not even a hint as to how she had become this person. On top of this, I'm just not sure I could get readers at our school really interested I this kind of book. It's historical, which isn't a problem, but I'm not sure they would be able to connect to these characters and experiences. 

Piper Green and the Fairy Tree: Too Much Good Luck by Ellen Potter and Qin Leng

5 stars

I adore Piper Green. I wish I could have had a daughter just like her. Hopefully one of my sons will some day reproduce and have a daughter with her character. If they have a girl, I will advocate for calling her Piper. Perhaps I will advocate for Piper no matter the gender!
In this tale, what starts out as a good day, soon goes bad when Piper's tooth comes out in her cinnamon bun on her way to school. When she gets there she discovers the class rabbit is missing. This is because a new girl, Camilla, is starting on the next day and is allergic to bunnies. Piper ends up doing something nasty to Camilla. Thankfully there are responsible adults around to help Piper repair the damage and do the right thing. 

CURRENTLY

I put aside For Today I Am A Boy, since I can only deal with one bullying book at a time. I'm nearing the end of One Native Life, but still savouring it and reading it in small chunks. I checked my Netgalley account and discovered I had Still A Work in Progress by Jo Knowles available so I'm almost finished that. I'm listening to The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. I'm having a hard time with it, probably because I'm not a huge fan of fantasy to start with, I'm not into these star crossed lover themes, and I can already anticipate where the story is going. 

UP NEXT

Since I am finished canning peaches, I hope to have more time for actual reading next week. I’ve got quite the pile waiting. I need to get back to reading from my #MustReadin2016 list. I know that Carrie Gelson is going to put out a call for an update soon. Luckily I am still ahead of schedule there!

How has your week been?