1 ZANY ZOO

DegmanOneZanyZooPicture Book Fiction
Age Range: 3-7 years
Grade Level: Preschool-2
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Text copyright © 2010 Lori Degman
Illustration copyright ©  2010 by Colin Jack

AWARDS

2008 Cherrios New Spoonful of Stories New Author Contest
Mom’s Choice Awards
Nominated for the 2012-2013 South Carolina Children’s Picture Book Award

WHY 1 ZANY ZOO IS A KEM GEM

KKRISTI’S TAKE
1 Zany Zoo
by Lori Degman and illustrated by Colin Jack packs a real punch with a rhyming zoo bunch. This classical counting book’s tightly woven narration craftily uses animal antics and alliteration to recall a boy’s early arrival at a zoo. I love that the snappy Seussian text has been paired with equally fanciful hand-drawn ink sketches. The digital cartoon images elevate the hilarity of the romp, after all, it’s not everyday that elephants pack their trunks.  A contemporary classic!

Favorite line 
“9  fickle leopards are waiting in line to trade in their spots for some fresh new designs!”

KEM Sapphire
E
ELISE’S TAKE
Degman’s winning manuscript provides a much-needed example of a rhyming story that is in fact a story. Though the events of the morning are somewhat episodic, we do see a rise in action and feel the zookeeper’s growing frustration as he hunts for his stolen keys. The rhyming is not forced or generic, and the chaotic characters are anything but predictable. Degman gives opportunity for young readers to count and name a wide variety of zoo animals. Even skunks, often overlooked in animal-themed books, get some time in the spotlight.
Jack’s hilarious, expressive characters and active line work is perfect for this busy story. He provides viewers with a hidden fox on each page and plenty of details to discover each time they return to this rousing chase.

Favorite line
“7 sad hippos were making repairs, from damage they caused playing musical chairs.

KEM Diamond
MGrayMARRAS’ TAKE
Children of all ages will wait in line for good rhyming picture books. Kids, for immediate gratification, and adults, because they know how silly stanzas endure from generation-to-generation through memorization and retelling. Like colorful cotton candy, funny rhymes almost always make you happy. Yet they have extra staying and bonding power when crystallized. That’s why I’d wait in line for Lori Degman’s 1 Zany Zoo, because I know the story will stick around awhile.

Few can write humor and few can write poetry, but Degman does both. And well.

Jack Colins’ whimsical illustrations and retro color palette make me feel young again. They take me back to Hanna and Barbera, Loony Tunes, and Disney classics. And new, hilarious details jumps out with every reading. Bravo!

Favorite line
“2 sporty zebras in goggles and flippers were snipping the walrus’s whiskers with clippers.”

GEMrub

Many children’s book legends were/are also picture book poets: A. A. Milne, Theodor Seuss Geisel, Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, Judith Viorst, Dan Yaccarino, Anna Dewdney, Corey Rosen . . .

But agents and editors will beg you not to write a rhyming picture book. Why? Because they are drowning in poorly written submissions.

What makes a rhyming picture book so hard to write or publish?

  • Phrases need to read smoothly, with precise beats, using words that are fresh, original, and intriguing—not the standard “you”, “to”, and “blue”.
  • Each rhyme should be pure, but not forced. A book with too many near-rhymes, like “tag” and “bake” will annoy, not entertain its readers.
  • A good picture book requires a plot that unfolds naturally, without being manipulated to fit rhymes.
  • Rhyming stories are difficult to translate into other languages. These limitations make them a bigger challenge to market internationally.

Yet, what books do you most cherish from your childhood? We’re willing to bet there’s at least one rhyming picture book on your list.

Please share your 1 Zany Zoo comments, too!

KIRA-KIRA

KiraKiraMiddle Grade Fiction
Age Range: 10-14 years
Grade Level: 5-9
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Text copyright © 2005 Cynthia Kadohata
Cover photo copyright ©  2004 Julia Kuskin
Book design by Ann Sullivan
Jacket design by Russel Gordon

 AWARDS

2005 John Newbery Medal
ALA Notable Children’s Books
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
Blue Spruce YA Book Award Nominee (CO) Booklinks Lasting Connections
Booklist Editors’ Choice
CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children’s Book Council)
California Collections Capitol Choices List (DC)
Charlotte Award Suggested Reading List (NY)
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Master List (VT)
Garden State Teen Book Award Nominee (NJ)
KSRC Middle School Titles – Top Pick
Kiriyama Prize Notable Book NYPL
“Books for the Teen Age” Nene Award Master List (HI)
Pacific Northwest Young Reader’s Choice Award
Master List Thumbs Up! Award Master List (MI)

WHY KIRA-KIRA IS A KEM GEM

KKRISTI’S TAKE
Cynthia Kadohata’s KIRA KIRA is a shining example of a contemporary book for young readers that delves into the prejudices Japanese American kids experienced post-WWII. The first person prose reads simplistically, pointedly and often contains vignettes that feel like they have been torn straight from a journal. A journal, much like Katie Takeshima’s sister’s diary. Kadohata accomplishes this authenticity through her details that always foreshadow, from the first line, all the way to the last line. There’s just enough, but not too much. This mastery of careful observation is also evident in Kadohata’s characters that leap from the page, both perfect and imperfect. I found myself wishing for a sister, just like Lynn, even if it meant experiencing illness and loss, because in the end, the glimmering gift of hope endured.

Favorite line
“I keep her diary in a drawer next to my bed.”

KEM Sapphire
EELISE’S TAKE
Katie Takeshima may struggle to find themes in her assigned readings for school, but the themes of persistence, sacrifice, and love clearly permeate her narration. Kira-Kira is described as the Japanese term for glittering or shining, and Kadohata’s writing truly shines when she slows down to reveal a conversation, a car ride, or a family meal. I found myself rushing through Kadohata’s frequent summarizations to get to her next fully realized scene. Kadohata doesn’t focus explicitly on discrimination in this mid-century novel, nor does she leave it out. This Japanese family is not called names or physically harmed, but neither are they included in regular society or given equal opportunities in their Deep South neighborhood. The topic is subtle (often the case with discrimination). In the end, however, familial love and service outshines the community’s prejudices.

Favorite line
It was as if the house were healing Lynn. That made me love the house even more than I would have anyway.

KEM Diamond
MGrayMARRAS’ TAKE
For me, a novelist hits a home run when their story makes my laughing tears co-mingle with my sad ones. Cynthia Kadohata hit a homer. Her first- person novel, KIRA-KIRA, seems so genuine, you’d swear she’d written a memoir as a youth. Kadohata welcomes readers into the intimate and difficult lives of the Japanese-American Takeshima family as their middle child, Katie, grows from a 5 year old in the 50s into an adolescent in the 60s. Kadahota covers the topics of family, work, reproduction, friendship, marginalization, and death with such naïve, thoughtful, and inquisitive candor, I came away feeling like Katie Takeshima truly lived and breathed as my quirky childhood friend.

Favorite line
When Uncle Katuhisa knocked on the door, I made him give me a password. He said with irritation, “Open up now, young lady, or bear my wrath.” That happened to be the password, so I opened the door.

GEMrub

At the 2014 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Summer Conference in Los Angeles, Kahodata shared that her Kira-Kira inspiration came from the life and death of her beloved dog. That must have been one delightful pet.

Please share your KIRA-KIRA comments, too!

BINK & GOLLIE

BINKNGOLLIEEarly Chapter Book Fiction

Age Range:
6-9 years

Grade Level: 1-4

Published by Candlewick Press

Text Copyright © 2010 by Kate DiCamillo  and Alison McGhee

Illustrations © 2010 by Tony Fucile

 

 

AWARDS

2011 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
Starred review in Publisher’s Weekly
Starred review in Kirkus Review

WHY BINK & GOLLIE IS A KEM GEM

KKRISTI’S TAKE
Kate, Alison & Tony have struck gold!  And like gold, it’s all about the chemistry between Bink & Gollie.  There’s nothing more LOL than an ODD couple, especially when they journey into the essentials of every friendship: compromise, support and adventure.

I admire the way Tony has taken the unspoken, yet opaquely obvious dissimilarities between Bink & Gollie to an extreme by taking the time to illustrate even the finest details of a well placed hair bow or an untied shoe.  The size, tidiness and gestures are in constant contradiction.  Even the incidental characters leap from the page, both from the eager dialogue Kate and Alison have written as well as from the distant gaze, mouthfuls of popcorn or curled fins that are sketched.  This early reader fiction will delight readers of all ages, at all times.  And for this, I am certain, as even my nine and 11 year old admitted to their fondness of BINK & GOLLIE, and believe me, it’s not cool to admit you love a book your capabilities have exceeded, unless, it’s truly a GEM!

Favorite line
“It’s a compromise bonanza.”

KEM Sapphire

EELISE’S TAKE
While not catalogued in my library’s picture book section, the three stories in BINK & GOLLIE are picture books in the truest sense. Picture books celebrate a perfect marriage of image and text. Tony Fucile’s faux pen-and-ink illustrations don’t just give us these two loveable characters and their homes. They also carry us through scene changes (both real and imaginary), and all three times they complete the story with a wordless image.

While Fucile sets a high standard, McGhee and DiCamillo show they can keep up with the text’s witty back-and-forth dialogue. They rightfully leave all of the narration to Fucile’s linework and allow the girls’ personalities to shine through hilarious conversations.

Favorite lines
“Hello Gollie,” said Bink.”Do I smell pancakes?”

“You do not,” said Gollie.

“Will I smell pancakes?” said Bink.

KEM Diamond


MGrayMARRAS’ TAKE
Sweet synergy! The magic in this book came in threes:  three phenomenal friends created three subtly silly chapters for three times the fun.

BINK & GOLLIE delivers distinctive characters that reach out and grab hearts through intentionally sparse, yet plump and lively text. Fucile’s illustrations capture DiCamillo and McGhee’s real-life essence and charm–compatible and interesting, because they are different. They ARE BINK & GOLLIE in Fucile’s BINK & GOLLIE world. Fucile comes to life in the observant, scene-watching fish, Fred. We, the readers, can enter the pages through Fred, too, for a sweet, unpredictable ride.

DiCamillo and McGhee prove how the savviest writers leave ample room for the illustrator. Through trust, they were able to give BINK & GOLLIE more of themselves than they ever could have imagined.

Favorite lines
“Fish know nothing of longing,” said Gollie.
“Some fish do,” said Bink. “Some fish long.”

GEMrub

Award-winning Disney and Pixar illustrator Tony Fucile helped bring LION KING, RATATOUILLE, and THE INCREDIBLES to life. Both DiCamillo and McGhee are New York Times best-selling authors; and McGhee, a Pulitzer Prize nominee. 

2010 Minneapolis Star Tribune article featuring Bink & Gollie

Please share your BINK & GOLLIE comments, too!

MICK HARTE WAS HERE

MICKHARTEWASHEREMiddle Grade Fiction

Age Range: 8-12 years

Grade Level: 3-7

Published by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books

Copyright © 1995 by Barbara Park

Cover photo © 2006 by Michael Price/Veer

 

 


WHY MICK HARTE WAS HERE IS A KEM GEM

KKRISTI’S TAKE
MICK HARTE is an example of Barbara Park’s great wisdom; she takes an awful outcome and creates a beautiful story about a fully dimensional 12 year-old boy.  It is difficult to start a novel with the death of a boy, a sibling, a friend….unless, he’s a prankster. Mick’s trouble-making ways get you laughing from the start.  His strong-will and propensity to tease kept me laughing, even though I was grieving right along with his polar-opposite sister, Phoebe.  It is not until Phoebe shares her frustration about losing something that will never be returned, that I truly felt the weight of Mick’s death, right in the gut.  But Barbara saved me, with utter wisdom, by suggesting that Phoebe, “Put him everywhere, why don’t you?”, just like God’s presence.

Barbara Park has aptly woven a story of past and present, through recollections of a boy’s relationship with his cowboy dog, Wocket; a mail carrier; a florist deliverer and a school assembly.  MICK HARTE WAS HERE will stick with me, like printed letters in cement.

KEM Sapphire
EELISE’S TAKE

One of my favorite aspects of Barbara Park’s writing is her ability to observe, and then word those observations in such a way that each reader can relate. Even in harsh, unfamiliar territory, such as the painful, sudden loss of a young loved one, we have a companion in Park’s characters.

Having lost a dear friend at age 15, I experienced first-hand Phoebe Harte’s emotions and questions. Zoe Santos was also a reminder of the priceless sympathy of a best friend.

Phoebe’s story is not only helpful for young readers needing assurance that they’re not alone in their grief. Its insights are poignantly enlightening for those who have thus far remained unscathed by the death of a peer.

Favorite lines
Zo picked up on the first ring. “H’lo?”

I didn’t say anything. She knew it was me, though. Me and Zoe sort of have a psychic thing going, sometimes.

“Phoebe?”

I nodded.

“You okay?” she asked.

I took a shaky breath. “No.”

She came right over.

KEM Diamond


MGrayMARRAS’ TAKE
When discussing favorite children’s books, my Black Sheep memoir friend, Davis, a drug addiction counselor, said his was the fictional middle grade novel, MICK HARTE WAS HERE. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the 1995 treasure was written by the author of the beloved JUNIE B. JONES series, recently deceased Barbara Park.

Park wrote this conversational story with such heart and humor, I’d swear narrator Phoebe Harte really was Park’s 13-year-old self. As a storyteller, Park knew and loved her audience. She tackled the complex subject of death candidly, yet compassionately, without being overdramatic or condescendingly romantic about the deceased person’s life. We felt Phoebe’s pain and we marveled in her hope. MICK HARTE WAS HERE is the perfect writer’s resource  on how to be real. I can see why it was Davis’ favorite.

Favorite lines
But I can still remember the exact conversation I had with Santa Claus when I was in kindergarten.

He said, “Ho ho ho.”

I said, “Your breath smells.”

And he said, “Get down.”

GEMrub

EXCERPT FROM MICK HARTE WAS HERE

I don’t want to make you cry.
I just want to tell you about a story about Mick.
But I thought you should know right up front that he’s not here anymore.
I just thought that would be fair.

This recommendation is our tribute to Barbara Park who died of cancer November 15, 2013.

Please, share your MICK HARTE WAS HERE comments, too!