Louder than Hunger by John Schu

What does it feel like to eat without worry? 

Without a voice constantly 

quacking and crying 

inside your head? 

A voice 

pound, pound, pounding

yell, yell, yelling

ALL DAY.

Foreword: What if someone was brave enough to tell you the truth? What if someone dared to reveal their heart to you? The book that you hold in your hands tells a painful truth. It reveals a beautiful, broken heart. Jake’s heart. Jake is thirteen years old, and he has an eating disorder. You and Jake are about to go on a harrowing journey together; by the time you finish this book, you will be friends. Reading Jake’s story will change you. You might find that you want to reveal your heart, tell someone your truth. Telling your story can save your life. It may save someone else’s life, too. Jake knows this. John Schu knows this. That is why he wrote this book. For you. —Kate DiCamillo

Jake is thirteen. He has a voice in his head that is truly awful and it is voice that controls his actions and thought and he cannot seem to 'turn it off' or ignore it. The voice tells him he is ugly and fat and so he stops eating. He wears really baggy clothes to disguise his body and he weighs himself compulsively.

Grandma: You’re too thin. I worry. I see it even when you’re always wearing those baggy sweaters over your overalls. I don’t think you’re eating enough. You’re a growing boy. 

Me: I eat enough. I promise.

Elementary school was good, high school is torture. Jake takes some comfort though, from musicals. Louder than hunger is an autobiographical story. I used to follow John Schu when he was an ambassador for Scholastic and every time he visited a different city he would talk about the musicals he had attended - often seeing the same show many many times. This used to make me smile but now I know why. Visiting his grandmother is also a comfort. They both love musicals and the same television shows. Finally a former teacher who he visits in the nursing home where he goes as a volunteer alerts his mum that Jake is ill and after a visit to the doctor he goes into a mental health facility for adolescents. In The Pines he meet Kella

I love the way John Schu weaves into his story so many fantastic children's books (of course I would have expected him to do this!) such as Sarah, Plain and Tall; Shiloh; The Giver; Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry; and Where the Sidewalk ends. Jake also quotes poems by Emily Dickinson - I recently talked about this picture book for an IBBY Australia presentation:

Some reviewers list this book for readers aged as young as 12 but this book is so raw and distressing, I think it better suits mature readers aged 15+. The scene where Jake is fitted with a feeding tube is absolutely harrowing. My own connection to this story comes from around 1975 when I visited a mental health facility like the one in this book and I saw teens not much younger than me who were suffering like Jake - that moment had a profound impact on me. 

Written in a combination of non-rhyming poetry and prose, this elegant and unique verse-novel is propulsive and compelling. ... This visceral and raw memoir type book instantly draws the reader in and spits us out at the other end – in the best possible way. Kids' Book Review

Here is a podcast (one hour) where you can hear John Talking about his book.  You can read an extract on the Candlewick publisher page. 

John Schu (Schumacher) has made a career out of advocating for the people and things he cares about most: kids, books, and the people that connect them. He was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker for his dynamic interactions with students and his passionate adoption of new technologies as a means of connecting authors, illustrators, books, and readers. He is the children’s librarian for Bookelicious, a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University, and shares his love of reading with countless educators and students around the world. He served as the Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic Book Fairs for almost 6 years.

You know that I am not a fan of endorsements but so many very famous authors have said such profound (and true) things about this book:

“Louder Than Hunger is a powerful and important book, giving readers entry into the world of a sensitive teen struggling physically and emotionally with crippling anxiety and anorexia. Through his free verse voice, we accompany Jake into his honest, raw, vulnerable world. I think readers of all ages will empathize with him, worry for him, and root for his journey to understanding, recovery, hope, and joy. Those who know the author, John Schu, and have witnessed his boundless enthusiasm and legendary passion for reading and the transformative power of story will connect on an even deeper level upon learning that Jake’s story parallels John Schu’s own. From troubled teen to author and speaker surging with compassion and joy and willing to share it all with the world—that is John Schu.”   —Newbery Medalist Sharon Creech

I read Louder than Hunger on my Kindle but I wanted to show you the way the verse in this novel is set out - it is so sparce and so very powerful. Louder than hunger has over 500 pages but you can see from this example that you can fly through this book and you do fly through because if you are like me you just wanted Jake to feel well again and for that dread anorexia voice to at least quieten down if not completely turn off:

This is not quite the final page but I hope reading these words from Jake will help you see that he will be okay:

I say to Dr. Parker, Thank you for “forcing” me to share complicated, hard-to-think-about thoughts. You helped me see anorexia nervosa isn’t really about food.

Pookie by Ivy Wallace

Fortune - a mixture of happiness, lettuce and kind words

Pookie sets off on an adventure to find his fortune. He encounters kindness, unkindness, danger, rain, snow and wind but eventually he does find his happy place. 

"This is the story of Pookie, a little white rabbit with soft floppity ears, big blue eyes and the most lovable smile in the world."

"Mother Rabbit said he was more trouble than Wiggletail, Swifflekins, Twinkletoes, Brighteyes, Tomasina, Bobasina and Weeny One put together. This made Pookie sad."

"He hopped out of bed and found his best handkerchief. Then he wrapped up his toothbrush, three acorns and a carrot, a clean vest and his red slippers. He left a note for his mother: Gon to ceek mi 4chune. Luv from Pookie."

"Please ... what does a Fortune look like?"

"A Fortune is ... something different for everyone. For some it is Money, for some it is Health and for some it is Love."

In 1997, when I had newly arrived in my school library my then school Principal asked to borrow a copy of Pookie to read with a group of children because it was her most favourite childhood book. Oddly, I didn't take the time to read Pookie back then but I was quite pleased that we had several books from the series.  Pookie was first published in 1946. 

Fast forward to 2023 and one of the library staff where I volunteer each week is working her way through books with very low or zero borrowing statistics. The library purchased Pookie in 2004 but alas it has never been borrowed even though it is in paperback with an appealing cover (the one at the top of this post). What is the issue here? Do children look inside and feel daunted by the amount of text on each page? Or is this because the little white creature on the front cover is difficult to identify - it this a rabbit or a cat or an imaginary creature? The figure of Pookie, on the cover of the library copy, is quite small. He has his knapsack and red scarf and is navigating a wild wind or storm. The back cover has a clearer image of little Pookie so if a child did flip the book over they would see his little green transparent wings. 

Here is the blurb from the back cover: In Pookie's first adventure, the little rabbit is teased about his tiny wings so he sets out to seek his fortune. After many adventures, Pookie is rescued by Belinda and finds his fortune at last; the love of a true friend. And he discovers a magical secret about his wings!

Ivy Lilian Wallace (1915 - 2006) was a British author/illustrator. She wrote ten books about her character Pookie. The stories were broadcast in Australia in Pookie's Half-Hour and thousands of children attended Pookie rallies. (Wikipedia) Here is the web site for Pookie Productions.

• Pookie (1946)
• Pookie and the Gypsies (1947)
• Pookie Puts the World Right (1949)
• Pookie in Search of a Home (1951)
• Pookie believes in Santa Claus (1953)
• Pookie at the Seaside (1956)
• Pookie's Big Day (1958)
• Pookie and the Swallows (1961)
• Pookie in Wonderland (1963)
• Pookie and his Shop (1966)

So what is my verdict? Should the library keep their copy of the first book from the Pookie series? YES they should. This is a very satisfying adventure story with that all important happy ending. I love that Pookie is a boy "fairy".  I think this book would be delightful to read at bedtime in a family. And as a bonus Pookie has some terrific vocabulary;

• bunny hops and bouncings
• flimsy, filmy wings
• the great dark wood
• music like the tinkling of a million silver bells
• wispier
• slimy weeds clutched at his fur
• trudged
• the moon-cool wood
• Pookie's brave song wavered
• like a wisp of thistledown

I also love all the hustle and bustle of the goblin market: stalls crammed with "golden pumpkins, fancy fruits, nuts for lazy squirrels, and baskets of scarlet and orange berries for the birds. Goblin tailors, wearing tiny leather jackets made from bats' wings, were stitching away at scented flower petals making filmy fairy frocks."

And all the references to honey - honey pies, honey tea, honeysuckle sandwiches (and buttercup biscuits with strawberry jam).

And the final sentence: "But by dawn he was always safely back in Belinda's basket, fast asleep, before waking up to another day of lettuces and love"

Belinda thinks Pookie's heart is broken which feels a little like classic story of The Velveteen Rabbit and the scene when he steals a lettuce leaf is surely a reference to Peter Rabbit. The illustration style is also reminiscent of other classic fairy illustrators - Shirley Barber and Ida Rentoul Outhwaite. The other obvious connection is with the Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton. 

Take a look at this Guardian article where the author takes an even deeper look at Pookie. 

I don't want to be a frog by Dev Petty illustrated by Mike Boldt

"I want to be a cat."

"You can't be a cat"

"Why not?"

"Because you're a frog."

"I don't like being a frog. It's too wet."

"Well, you can't be a cat."

And so it all begins. Can frog be a rabbit? Can frog be a pig? Can frog be an owl? Then frog meets the Big Bad Wolf. He loves to eat cats, rabbits, pigs, owls and even badgers. BUT ... there is one animal he never eats!

This book is perfect for young readers who enjoy books by Mo Willems (Elephant and Piggie; and the Pigeon books).

Here is a bookshop blurb: Frog wants to be anything but a slimy, wet frog. A cat, perhaps. Or a rabbit. An owl? But when a hungry wolf arrives--a wolf who HATES eating frogs--our hero decides that being himself isn't so bad after all. In this very silly story with a sly message, told in hilarious dialogue between a feisty young frog and his heard-it-all-before father, young readers will identify with little Frog's desire to be something different, while laughing along at his stubborn yet endearing schemes to prove himself right.

There are three more books in the series - I Don't Want to Be Big: There's Nothing to Do!: and I Don't Want to Go to Sleep.

Here are other books illustrated by Mike Boldt. Mike Boldt comes from Alberta, Canada.  Here is the website for Dev Petty.