Tag: read your world

A Different Pond (Bao Phi)

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Hello, friends! Today, we’re reviewing A Different Pond, written by Bao Phi and illustrated by Thi Bui, a quietly powerful story of family and fortitude.

A young boy wakes early with his father, both moving quietly so as not to wake the rest of the family. He helps his father load the car with their fishing supplies. They drive to the bait shop, where the owner remarks that they are up very early this morning. The boy’s father explains that he got a second job, and when he and the boy arrive at the lake, the boy wonders aloud: if his father has two jobs now, why must they still fish for food? The father explains that in America, everything is very expensive, and the boy helps him ready his line and light a fire for warmth. In the quiet solitude of the dark morning, the boy’s father tells him about the pond he would fish in when he was the boy’s age, with the brother he lost in the war. The boy and father catch enough fish, and return home to an apartment filled with the warmth and love of their family. The boy takes great pride in their bounty – he helped to provide dinner.

Wow. This was an incredible book. The story of father and son and their early-morning fishing trip is moving on many levels, but what makes it remarkable is its broad appeal across ages. The text on each page is chosen carefully, openly appealing and interesting to little ones yet conveying meaningful subtext to older readers in an economy of words. It’s beautiful and powerful, and leaves those of any age with much to think about. The art is perfect, capturing the mood and and emotions of the characters and environments in soft, soothing tones, making the reader feel as safe and at home as the little boy in the story. The length was fine for JJ, and we both loved it. This is a piece of art in picture book form, and a must-read for all ages. Baby Bookworm approved!

Harlem (Walter Dean Myers & Christopher Myers)

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Hello, friends! Today’s review is another favorite from our library that we’ve been wanting to review for a while, and with everything in the news recently, it felt like a good time to shine a spotlight on this phenomenal book: Harlem, a poem written by Walter Dean Myers and illustrated by Christopher Myers.

Told in free verse, the evocative words of Myers’s poem tells the story of Harlem, the home of a great history and greater hope. It dashes between past, present and future, peeking into windows and through doors at the citizens of Harlem as they go to church, wash vegetables in their kitchens, ride the subways and play games in the streets. It celebrates Harlem’s one-of-a-kind history of jazz, literature, activism and culture, and writes a love letter to a community built out of a desire for freedom; freedom of expression, freedom from discrimination, and the freedom to achieve. 

Harlem can be a challenging read for some little bookworms, with much of the text being names and places written in a syncopated free verse style. However, the gorgeous mixed-media art, which captures as much an emotion as a people and place, is colorful and exciting enough for any little one. Then, once the reader is familiar with the words and rhythm of the text, there is a passion and life to the poem that is impossible to deny, and becomes more affecting with each repeat reading. This is a book that captures the soul of a vibrant, and vital, place in American history, and it’s simply wonderful. It’s a good length, a favorite of ours, and emphatically Baby Bookworm approved!

Golden Domes And Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book Of Colors (Hena Khan)

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Hello, friends! Today’s book is Golden Domes And Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book Of Colors, written by Hena Khan and illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini, a gorgeous book that teaches children about the colors that fill Islam’s objects and traditions.

A young Muslim girl guides the reader through the bright, vibrant colors that she sees as she and her family practice their faith. Red is the color of the prayer rug she and her father kneel upon to pray, facing Mecca. Blue is the color of her mother’s hijab, the head covering she wears. Green is the color of her Quran, the holy book her grandmother reads to her, teaching her Allah’s lessons. Beautiful colors are present wherever her faith is reflected, and she loves her colorful Muslim world.

This was a very informative and interesting book! It acts as both a primer for basic colors, which were very easily identifiable for a baby bookworm like JJ, and introduces many elements and traditions surrounding Islam in a way that is approachable and easily identifiable for young readers of all levels of familiarity with the faith. Using the language of color, the purpose and appearance of mosques, kufis, and henna are all introduced, offering a unique window into the world of Islam for those unfamiliar, and giving young Muslim children an opportunity to identify with their culture and faith as they learn their colors. The art is, obviously, radiant and vivid, making each color the page’s theme and easy to spot for little ones. The length is just perfect, and JJ really enjoyed this. This is a fantastic way to introduce children to color through the world of Islam, or vice versa, and we liked it a lot. Baby Bookworm approved!

I, Too, Am America (Langston Hughes)

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Hello, friends! As you know, February is Black History Month, so in honor of that, we will be reading a book every Friday that celebrates black heritage and culture, as well as black authors and artists. Today’s book is I, Too, Am America, a retelling of a poem by Langston Hughes with a story told through art by Bryan Collier.

Using the text of Hughes’s classic poem, Collier uses his art to tell a story of a Pullman railway porter, one of the first American jobs to offer black men decent pay and comparatively dignified work. Hughes’s words describe black Americans as a member of the American family, but one who is treated with scorn and shame. Yet despite this treatment, he will “eat well,/ And grow strong,” text that is juxtaposed with images of the porter releasing discarded magazines and newspapers from the back of the train, spreading knowledge to other black people as he travels. The art moves seamlessly from past to present, and in the face of a young black boy on a subway train with his mother, peering through the stripes of an American flag at what comes next, the future.

This was a superb book, featuring layers of meaning and interpretation through both Hughes’s words and Collier’s art. Visual and textual metaphors blend together perfectly, creating a story that both examines a very specific part of African-American history with the grand scope of growing up as a black person in America, and the indefatigable spirit doing so requires. The length is perfect for baby bookworms: there is limited yet impactful text, and JJ was so enamored of the art that she spent a solid twenty minutes staring at the pages after our initial read-through. It’s a fabulous book to share with little ones, and discuss afterwards, and we highly recommend it. Baby Bookworm approved!

People (Peter Spier)

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Hello, friends! In honor of Multicultural Children’s Book Day, we read People by Peter Spier, a stunningly illustrated exploration of worldwide cultures.

There are a great many people that share our earth, billions to be exact. And those billions of people come in all shapes and sizes, colors, cultures, religions, and more. People eat different foods, they celebrate different holidays, they speak different languages. All of these things are beautiful, unique, and part of what makes our diverse, multicultural world wonderful.

Visually, this is a stunning book. Spier’s detailed, intricate illustrations are endlessly fascinating, and you could spend an hour picking out the fine details included on every page. Plus, the core message, that diversity is one of the great and precious elements of our world, is important and treated with earnest reverence. But in a book published nearly 40 years ago, there are some cringe-worthy bits (outdated statistics, Inuits referred to as “Eskimos,” a depiction of Black Peter, to name a few). It’s also an overtly honest book, discussing death, inequity of power, poverty, and other realities of life, a fact that can be viewed positively or negatively based on your preference. It even features a bit of nudity in a title page that depicts a tiny Adam and Eve (just their bare tushies, but still).

I’ve heard that in later editions, some updates to the text were made, but I cannot speak to them (we read the original 1980 copy). Overall, this is a gorgeous book that means well, but shows its age. JJ really enjoyed it, too, so I’m torn. I would say give this one a read first (the updated version would likely be preferable), and see if it’s right for your child. But for its art and overall message, we’ll call this Baby Bookworm approved (with an asterisk).