67. Five Stories

Five Stories. Ellen Weinstein. 2024. 48 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book for older readers]

First sentence: Buildings are like people: each one has a story. This building is over a hundred years old and holds thousands of stories about the people who have lived here on New York's Lower East Side. Lots of families have come to the Lower East  Side from different parts of the world and made it their home. And though their reasons for being here are different, they still share many of the same questions, fears, hopes, and dreams. And each generation contributes tastes, stories, and sounds to the neighborhood.

Premise/plot: Five Stories tells the story of five immigrant families--five decades/generations, five cultures, one apartment building in one neighborhood. The Epsteins (1914), The Cozzis (1932), The Martes (1965), The Torresses (1989), and The Yes (present day). Each story has a child at the center: Jenny Epstein, Anna Cozzi, Jose Marte, Maria Torres, and Wei Yei. Their narratives give a slice of life view to their times and culture. There are plenty of similarities--for example--though the means of communication with loved ones change, all families want to hold onto and remember the loved ones left behind when they immigrated.  

My thoughts: This is a picture book for older readers. Definitely a good fit for elementary school students. I don't think it would be as good a fit for younger readers. I definitely liked this one. I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE if this idea had been a chapter book so we could follow the families more--longer. The concept was good. The author's note reveals she is a descendant of Jenny Epstein.

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

66. Orris and Timble: The Beginning

Orris and Timble #1: Orris and Timble the Beginning. Kate DiCamillo. Illustrated by Carmen Mok. 2024. 80 pages. [Source: Library] [early chapter book, animal fantasy, friendship, storytelling]

First sentence: Orris the rat had made a nest for himself in a hole in the wall and papered it with pages from a box of discarded books. In the rat's nest were his treasures: a red velvet slipper, a yellow marble, and a sardine can. Sometimes if the light shone into the rat's nest at just the right angle, the king on the sardine can looked Orris in the eye.

Premise/plot: Orris and Timble are unlikely friends: one is a rat and the other is an owl. But when Timble (the owl) finds himself TRAPPED in a mouse trap (in the hayloft), Orris faces a hard decision. Should he make a good and noble choice and save the owl??? Or should he leave things well enough alone??? The owl, after all, might eat him anyway after he has been freed. True, it's distressing to hear him screech and cry out, but, is it truly his problem to solve? Maybe. Maybe not. 

My thoughts: I love, love, love, love, love, love, love Kate DiCamillo. I do. I expect great things and am rarely disappointed. (Though there are a handful of books that I don't particularly like. But when you consider the vastness of her body of work, then it's clear that she's absolutely fabulous.) I love, love, love the focus on STORYTELLING, the way stories can bring two people together despite the differences in their backgrounds. I enjoyed the characterization and the narrative itself. Beautiful writing.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

65. This Baby. That Baby.

This Baby. That Baby. Cari Best. Illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh. 2024. [February] 40 pages. [Source: Library] [Picture book]

First sentence: Somewhere in the big, big city 
across a beep-beep street
along two bumpy sidewalks
up two tall buildings
to the
third
fourth
fifth
floors,
two happy babies look out their morning windows
at the very same time.
This baby.
And that baby.
This baby has a lot of curly black hair.
It bounces when he giggles.
That baby has a floppy red hat.
It falls off
when she wiggles.

I love, love, love, love, love this one!!!! It stars two babies: THIS baby and THAT baby. It chronicles their parallel lives--will these two get a proper meeting??? 

I love the celebration of family life, the ordinary moments, the oh-so-relatable moments, the blink and they're gone moments. The story is adorable. The illustrations are adorable. Highly recommended....and so rhythmic too. Loved everything about this one.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

64. Tangle-Knot

Tangle-Knot. Loretta Ellsworth. Illustrated by Annabel Tempest. 2023. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [Picture book]

First sentence: Fia refuses to brush her hair before she goes out to play. "It's a tangled mess," complains Mom. "I like it this way." Her hair always blows around like a tornado and becomes a maze of snarls and knots. The blustery air twists the curls until they're a swirl of tangle-knot, which is not a word, but which is her hair. It's perfect.

Tangle-knot is my hair as well. (Though not perhaps by choice.) I really enjoyed this playful story starring a young girl and her VERY tangled hair. How tangled is it? A bird makes a nest and hatches her three eggs in it. So VERY, VERY tangled. Will she ever brush her hair?

This was a playful and silly story which I appreciated. I love the illustrations. 

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

63. Henry's School Days

Henry's School Days. (Too Many School Days) Robert Quackenbush. 1987/2023. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [Picture book]

First sentence: When Henry the Duck was growing up, he got into a lot of trouble at school--like the time he went to hang up his coat on an overcrowded rack. Before his teacher could stop him and help him find a place for his coat...all the coats came tumbling down!

I feel seen. Henry the Duck has quite a time leading his teachers to say that Henry has too many school days. Will Henry the Duck ever have a good day at school? 

When I was growing up I loved some of Quackenbush's books. I've loved becoming reacquainted with his books as an adult. I absolutely LOVE the story, the characters, and the illustrations.

I am definitely going to see what other "new" books they have by Quackenbush.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers