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What is a Child? Beatrice Alemagna. 2016. Tate. 36 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: A child is a small person. They are only small for a little while, then they grow up. They grow without even thinking about it. Slowly and silently, their body grows taller. A child is not a child forever. One day, they change.

Premise/plot: "What is a Child?" That is the question asked and answered by author, Beatrice Alemagna. Her answers are thoughtful, and, at times poetic. She definitely takes the question seriously.

My thoughts: I really found myself loving the text. Here's a phrase that caught me: "The children who decide not to grow up will never grow up. They keep a mystery inside them." And another, "Children want to be listened to with eyes wide open."

While I loved the text, I didn't love the illustrations.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 2 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

A Child of Books. Oliver Jeffers. 2016. Candlewick Press. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: I am a child of books. I come from a world of stories and upon my imagination I float.

Premise/plot: Books are celebrated in Oliver Jeffers' newest picture book. The illustrations are both simple and complex. Many illustrations feature a young girl and boy. Most pages also feature illustrations crafted out of the text of many, many books. For example, a path is created using the text of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Or a mountain is created using the text of Peter Pan and Wendy. Or tree branches are created using the text of several fairy tales. Each two-page spread is well-worth an adult's time.

My thoughts: I really liked this one. The narrative itself is beautiful, definitely poetic. I think the narrative is simple enough that it could work as a read aloud for almost any age. (Well, maybe not babies and toddlers and preschoolers with almost nonexistent attention spans.) The illustrations add a lot of depth and complexity. This element would probably be lost for a group read aloud, but, perhaps preserved in reading one on one with a child. Adults could definitely spend a LOT of time looking carefully at every single page. If you've read a lot, you may recognize phrases from the illustrations that 'jump' out at you.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy. Richard Michelson. Illustrated by Edel Rodriguez. 2016. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Lenny took a deep breath and looked out at the playhouse stage.

Premise/plot: Richard Michelson has written a picture book biography of Leonard Nimoy. The book opens in 1939 with a young Lenny preparing to sing "God Bless America" at a talent show. He was the son of Russian immigrants--Jewish, and raised so. In fact, his inspiration for the Vulcan hand gesture--live long and prosper--came from a priestly blessing.

Readers learn about his interest in photography and acting. Both would be life-long pursuits and interests.

The book closes with Leonard Nimoy taking on the role of Spock and making it truly his own. The last illustrated spread depicts the first use of the "live long and prosper" from the episode Amok Time.

The next two pages fill out the rest of his life. He was an actor and a director. He was a photographer who displayed his photographs for the public, and, in fact published them as works of art. He was also an author.

The end brings a smile to my face. Before he left home, his mother encouraged him to learn to play the accordion. Acting jobs may come and go, she warned. But musicians can find a way to work. The book ends, "But he never did learn to play the accordion."

My thoughts: I LOVED this one so much. I thought it was very charming and well written. I did indeed find it fascinating. The author's note was great. I love that this book was written by one of Leonard Nimoy's close friends. I loved the personal touch--knowing that Nimoy read and approved of the project.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 10 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

B is for Big Ben. Pamela Duncan Edwards. 2016. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: A is for the Anglo-Saxons...

Premise/plot: The book is an alphabet book for a much, much older audience. The "main" narrative perhaps is simple enough that it could be read aloud to elementary students. But each page has paragraphs of side text that are weighty indeed. This information would not be of interest to say, first graders or second graders, and perhaps even of limited appeal to older children, say fourth and fifth graders. Emphasis on limited: there will always be readers--no matter their age--who do love HISTORY and are interested in CULTURE.

My thoughts: Well, I really wanted to love this one. I did. I didn't dislike it by any means. I preferred the weighty "side" text that is packed with a LOT of information. I was not overly impressed by the alphabet side of it. For example, "F is for Famous Folk." It goes on in poetic form to add: "There have been many famous people from England through the years--many artists, poets, and writers, scientists, and engineers." Now in the aside, readers learn about Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Charles Kingsley, William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, Winston Churchill, Florence Nightingale, Emmeline Pankhurst, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Margaret Thatcher, Queen Victoria, and Robert Scott.

Some of the choices seemed both random and generic. (For example: "Historic Sites" and "Famous Folk." Others seem to be specific and meaningful. (For example, "London," "Guy Fawkes," "Domesday Book," "William Shakespeare," and "Union Jack.")

I found it very informative. But I'm not sure how kids would really respond to it.

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Shrunken Treasures. Scott Nash. 2016. Candlewick. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Love picture books? Love literature? Love the idea of loving literature? Shrunken Treasures might be just right for you. Here's why: Scott Nash has condensed nine literary works into verse 'for children.' (I'm not absolutely convinced that this one is truly for children, and that it will be appreciated by children.) Am I convinced that it can and will be appreciated by adults? It's much easier to say YES to that one.

So which books are condensed?

• The Odyssey
• Frankenstein
• Moby-Dick
• Jane Eyre
• A Thousand and One Nights
• Hamlet
• Don Quixote
• The Metamorphosis
• Remembrance of Things Past

I believe two of these can be sung to nursery rhyme tunes. Not all were written with singing in mind. The shortest of the condensed works is Remembrance of Things Past.

How "useful" are these condensed stories? (I mean "useful" for students wanting to avoid reading the originals for their school assignments.) Not very! But I'm not complaining about that...at all. Hamlet, for example, is about a dog--a Great Dane--with a habit of digging holes. A Thousand and One Nights stars a tiger and a mouse. Don Quixote covers about one or possibly two chapters of a very, very long novel.

I enjoyed this one. I didn't love, love, love it. I think one thing that kept me from loving it was the fact that I didn't really "like" the illustrations.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Wildest Race Ever. Meghan McCarthy. 2016. Simon & Schuster. 48 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The first Olympic marathon held in America happened on August 30, 1904, in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Premise/plot: This nonfiction picture book tells the wild-but-true story of the first Olympic marathon. McCarthy introduces us to ten runners out of the thirty-two that started the race. This story has plenty of twists and turns. It's never dull!

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. It appears to be well-researched. A select bibliography is included. And a link is provided for a full bibliography. It is well-written in my opinion! The story is lively and fun. I really liked the end papers!

It is probably best suited for slightly older readers. (Elementary perhaps instead of preschool.) It might make for a slightly awkward group read-aloud because there are a lot of sidebars and such in addition to the main narrative.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews