The Best Christmas Ever by Chih-Yuan Chen

"The year had been tough for Little Bear's father. His business had failed and he couldn't find work. There was just enough money left to feed the family."

Christmas is coming. Everyone will expect a gift but there is no money for gifts. The family make some simple decorations from old clothes and small tree branches dusted with flour like snow. Little Bear is so worried. He is sure Father Christmas will forget his family. When they wake up on Christmas morning there are parcels under the tree but who did this? How did this happen? And even more amazing the presents are absolutely perfect. You will need to read this book at least twice to solve the mystery - I had to read it three times!

Here is a video of this book read in Cantonese.

The minimalist illustrations in a subdued palette convey the sadness of the parents, the hope of the children and the pleasure experienced in simple gifts. Kirkus Star review

Image Source: Chalk Academy

My first Christmas book for this year is so special but sadly it is out of print (first published in 2005). Chih-Yuan Chen is from Taiwan. Here is another of his recent books:

Thankful by Eileen Spinelli illustrated by Archie Preston

"I'm ever so thankful for .... you!"

There is so much to like about this picture book but the aspect I appreciated the most was the imaginative interpretation of the text. Kirkus call this a 'counterpoint'. The words say one thing and the illustrations something unexpected. In this book all of the scenes show a family, their daily activities and imaginative play. I was excited to discover Thankful is available as a board book. Some books should not be converted to board books but I think Thankful would be perfect to share in this format with a very young child. If you are looking for a gift for a new baby this is one you should also add to your list.

"The waitress is thankful for comfortable shoes

The local reporter for interesting news."

"The poet is thankful for words that rhyme.

The children for morning story time."

You can see some of the pages from this book in this brief video.

Thankful is/was the first book illustrated by Archie Preston. He doesn't seem to have done many others which is an odd discovery because the illustrations in Thankful are so joyous and lively and simply delightful.

I've made a wonderful discovery. Eileen Spinelli is married to the author Jerry Spinelli.  His book Stargirl truly did change my life and the scenes in Wringer continue to linger with me decades after I first read it. I have one his newer titles - The Warden's Daughter - on my 'to read' list.  In a previous post I talked about another special picture book by Eileen Spinelli - Someday.

You might also look for this book by the wonderful Todd Parr.

Wonderland by Barbara O'Connor

"Holly cannoli" this is a terrific book!

The title of this book is perfect. Mavis wonders if she can make a new friend. Rose wonders if she can be brave and put her worries aside. Henry (the retired greyhound) wonders how he can find a better life away from the racetrack called Wonderland. Finally there is the wonder of newly emerging friendships

Mavis and her mother, Miss Luanne Jeeter, live on the edge of poverty. Luanne follows a pattern. She gets a job, it doesn't work out and so Mavis is forced to leave another house, another school and another town and trail after her mother in the hope things can get better.  This time they have moved from Hadley, Georgia to Laundy, Alabama. Luanne will now work in the house of Mr and Mrs Tully and their daughter Rose. Luanne is the only indoor servant so she has to do the cleaning, cooking and laundry for this very demanding wealthy lady - Mrs Tully. Needless to say Luanne hates everything abut this job and so it seems Mavis may be forced to move again.

It is the Summer holidays. Mavis and and her mother move into a small apartment over the garage. Mavis has decided Rose will be her friend.  Rose doesn't have any friends among the kids in this gated community and Mavis is a "force of nature". She is fearless and truly kind. When Mavis meets Rose's friend Mr Duffy, the gatekeeper, she can feel his desperate sorrow over the loss of his beloved dog. Mavis knows what needs to happen. She tells Rose they will form a special club - just the two of them, and then they will find a new dog for Mr Duffy.

The chapters in this book alternate between three voices - Rose, Mavis and Henry. I loved the distinct personalities of Mavis and Rose but the stand out character in this story for me is Mr Duffy. I don't live in the US but I adore his turn of phrase which I am guessing is authentic to Alabama.

"Well hot dang! We should have a cupcake party."

"Jupiter, Mars and Pluto, Rose ... You're gonna scare me right into my grave."

"Truth of the matter is, this old sorry life of mine is all vines and no taters, and even my vines aren't looking too good anymore. Ain't no dog on this earth needs a pitiful geezer like me."

"You can't keep trouble from coming, but you don't have to give it a chair to sit on."

"The corn's off the cob, Rosie. Too late to come back."

I do enjoy seeing familiar author names when I am browsing in a book shop. The bonus with Wonderland came when I spied a paperback edition for a really good price.

Take a look here to read a text extract. Listen to an audio sample.

A richly satisfying exploration of the logic and determination with which children work to make things right. Kirkus

Readers will love Rose and Mavis with all of their hearts. Colby Sharp

It's a heart tugger and a short lesson in believing in yourself and standing up for what you think is right even if it means facing your own mother.  You may need a tissue or two but you'll definitely feel like you have two new best friends  A book and a hug

Here are three previous books by Barbara O'Connor which I have shared here at momotimetoread:

The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis

Wish

How to steal a dog

You might like to dip into the blog by Barbara O'Connor called Greetings from Nowhere, where she interviews authors of middle grade books.

Finding Kindness by Deborah Underwood illustrated by Irene Chan

 

Simple acts of kindness that warm the heart. Kirkus

When you read this book with a preschool aged child you need to be prepared to linger over every page. The rhyming text is appealing but so much more in happening on each page. Kindness comes when we help others - a ladybird trapped inside is released; a cat stranded at the top of a tall tree is rescued; a lady is given a seat on the train; money is shared with a busker; holding open a door; and taking some soup to a neighbor. On each page it feels as though a camera is quiety filming each scene while people, with no need for prompting, beautifully express kindness in so many perfect and often practical ways.

You can watch a video of the whole book here. In this blog post for Nerdy Book Club Deborah talks about the writing of this book.  Students of English literature might like to know rhyme in this book is called anapestic verse. I have a Pinterest collection of picture books on the theme of Kindness. Here are my favourite lines from this book:

"Kindness is sometimes just taking a break or sitting with someone who's sad, forgiving yourself when you've made a mistake or forgiving a friend who got mad."

Deborah Underwood is the author of some of my favourite books - The Quiet Book; The Loud Book; and The Christmas Quiet Book.

You can see some art from children's books by Irene Chan here.

Pierre's not There by Ursula Dubosarsky illustrated by Christopher Nielsen

"Lara had always wished she was a dog, and one day, 

just for a short time, she actually became one."

From the first few pages Ursula Dubosarsky had me intrigued. Where were Lara and her mum going for the day? Why were they going there? And most pressing of all -  why is there a the cast list on the first page? I love that the opening of this book is clearly in Sydney starting at our Circular Quay ferry wharf but the story also has a universal feel. Perhaps the ferry is heading to Rose Bay or is this Manly? 

"In front of the wharf was a long, green park with thick grass and tall Norfolk pines with drooping dark-green branches. Beyond the edge of the grass was a smear of beach with white sand, sparkling like glitter."

Lara's mother has come to clean a house. She has clearly been here previously as she knows where to find the hidden key. Lara is on holidays so she has come along too. Standing in the garden, Lara notices a small boy at an upstairs window. How is this possible? The house is supposed to be empty. Lara heads up stairs and she finds a boy - Pierre - and he shows her something very special:

"It was a puppet theatre! Made of wood, painted with curls and columns in faded gold and silver, like a temple from ancient Greece. At the front there were two velvet curtains and behind them a sheet of scenery gleamed in the darkness, snow on top of a mountain."

Pierre needs Lara to help him. He tells Lara his whole family have been eaten by a pack of wolves. His mother has told him, if he is ever alone, he must find his grandmother. Pierre grabs a puppet from his collection and begins to tell a story. He tells Lara to find a puppet too. She reaches into the box without looking and picks up the wolf puppet. 

Lara is transported into the story as a wolf. Pierre is terrified of her but Lara can talk (luckily) and she explains that she is not really a fierce wolf, she is actually just a friendly dog. It is time for the play to really begin and so the text now changes form into a script. Lara and Pierre have a long way to go, there are dangers to overcome and new friends to help them. Pierre must find his grandmother and as a reader we must reach that all important happy ending.

If you've never read a play before you are in for a treat. The really delicious parts I think, that add so much to this format, are all the little stage directions. I didn't ever write plays the way Ursula did as a young child but I did love reading them in one of my first books - The Youngest Child's Ominbus and also in the NSW School Magazine. And later as an adult I did enjoy acting in a few small town amateur theatre productions too. There is something very satisfying about reading a play script - the action just zooms along and before you realise it you have reached the final act.

I think this one would make a great first chapter book or even a story that could be read together over several nights. BookBook Owl

Here is an interview with Ursula by Joy Lawn and a link to a set of teachers notes.

I am going to make one of my predictions and say this book Pierre's not There will be one of the titles on the CBCA 2021 Notable list and I also hope it might make the final six short listed titles too. I think I smiled through the whole story. This book would be a perfect addition to a school library or home collection and teachers could consider buying multiple copies to use with a group of children so they can act out the play! You will probably want to investigate a few fairy tales (Little Red Riding Hood) and also find out more about Punch and Judy shows too. Punch is such a diabolical fellow - boo hiss.

Ursula Dubosarsky is our 2020-2021 Australian Children's Laureate and in this Covid year she has been an amazing ambassador for kids and reading and libraries and Australian books and so much more!

In our NSW School magazine you can find other plays written by Ursula. She also wrote this little Nibble title many years ago about a puppet show:

You should also look for these - just a handful of titles which I loved written by Ursula:

Tales of all Kinds

Leaf Stone Beetle

Jerry

I found some other plays by Ursula Dubosarsky on the NSW School Magazine site:

• The fastest Girl in the World
• Arachne Spider girl
• The boy who could fly

October, October by Katya Balen illustrated by Angela Harding

Have you (adult readers) seen the movie Captain Fantastic?  This book echoes that plot with October and her dad in a remote forest "off the grid".  October does have a mother but she could not cope with life in the wilderness and so she leaves when October is quite small and heads back to live in the city.

Here is the blurb: 

"October and her dad live in the woods. They are WILD. They only need the trees and the lake and the stars and each other. Until the year October turns eleven. The year everything changes.That’s the year October rescues a baby owl. It’s the year Dad falls out of the biggest tree in their woods. The year the woman who calls herself October’s mother comes back. The year everything changes.

Written in Katya Balen’s heart-stoppingly beautiful style, this book is a feast for the senses, filled with the woodsmoke smell of crisp autumn mornings and the sound of wellies squelching in river mud. And, as October fights to find the space to be wild in the whirling chaos of the world beyond the woods, it is also a feast for the soul."

October is filled with anger that her mother left the family. She refuses to even open the regular letters sent by her mother. On the day of her eleventh birthday when her mother comes to visit (this has happened before) October is determined not to see her. October climbs a high tree. Her father tries to get her down and there is a terrible accident. October cannot be left on her own in the woods and her father will be in the hospital for many months so October is forced to move to the city to live with her estranged mother. Adjusting to this new relationship; the lights, noises and crowds of the city; and coping with going to school each day is almost too much for October. She does have a tiny owl baby as a companion but then little Stig is taken away to an animal rescue centre and it feels as though her world is crashing all around her. Over the year we watch October grow and change from an incredibly angry girl into a girl who can make new friends and into someone who can adjust to change. Thank goodness for that all important happy ending.

Take a look at the beautiful art by Angel Harding. I do love the cover of this book and the small lino cuts inside. In this video Katya Balen reads an extract from her book. Here is a UK Podcast where Katya talks about her book.

The Time Traveller and the Tiger by Tania Unsworth

Elsie is sent to stay with her Uncle John. Her mother is busy with work. In one of her uncle's upstairs rooms she sees a huge tiger skin rug. 

"Did that tiger come from India?' Elsie's mother had told her that John had lived in India when he was a boy, when the country was still ruled by the British ... He nodded. 'It did, yes.' Elsie thought of the tiger's roaring mouth. It was meant to be frightening, yet it just looked strange and sad. 'Why do you keep it in that room?"

"I have to keep it because I was the one who killed it,' he said at last. 'I shot it when I was twelve years old.' Elsie stared at him. 'It was the worst thing I ever did,' Uncle John said."

Can events of the past be changed? Elsie wanders into Uncle Johns garden late at night and finds herself transported to India. The year is 1946. The tiger has not yet been killed. 

There are a couple of problems with having a character go back in time. Altering history for one event, such as the hunting of the tiger, surely will have ramifications for other future events. And there is the problem of bringing the character back to the present.

Both of these issues are handled really well by Tania Unsworth. I recommend The Time Traveller and the Tiger for readers aged 10+. I especially enjoyed the way the relationship between John and Elsie grows and changes; the chapters told from the point of view of the tiger; and the vivid jungle scenes.

The resolutions for all characters, and for the tiger, are very satisfying and make this a title to recommend to readers who will enjoy a mix of adventure, fantasy, and conservation. Books for Keeps

... this is an atmospheric adventure story with a strong message about the importance of conservation. The writing is sophisticated and memorable and will keep older readers thoroughly engaged. Book Trust