Senor Parrot's Perch

Little Rat Sets Sail by Monika Bang-Campbell, illustrated by Molly Bang.

Little Rat Sets Sail introduces kids to sailing without really downplaying their ambiguous feelings. The book depicts learning to sail pretty much the way they will experience it for themselves.  As Little Rat grows in experience and overcomes some of her fears, she grows in confidence, too. It’s also very entertaining for young readers along the way. The illustrations are great. Illustrator Molly Bang has fantastic fun exaggerating Little Rat’s fears, and she shows what it’s like to be out in the boat, the way sailing really is.

In Monika Bang-Campbell’s book, Little Rat’s parents enroll her in a sailing class, much to her dismay. She shouldn’t have been surprised, though. Pictures of sailing scenes hang from every wall in her home, evidence that her parents are passionate about sailing. But Little Rat finds danger and distress everywhere, from the steep descent from the top of the hill down to the boats, the deep water that she thinks is filled with eels and jellyfish, and even having a life jacket different from what the other kids wear, not dorky like hers. But she has a good teacher who recognizes her fears and helps her to grow in confidence and courage as the summer progresses.

Sailing can be scary for little folks. Sailboats rock. They are never level. Things happen all the time. The wind strengthens or wanes and changing direction means changing sides and ducking heads to avoid the boom, changing which line is held, and on and on.

For my kids, it wasn’t so much the depth of the water or the thought of what might be waiting just below the surface that upset them. It was the tipping and rolling with the wind and the constant sense of losing their balance. The boat would not stay level or at even the same angle. But these things, disconcerting or not, are much of what later becomes the fun of sailing.

After a while, my kids became eager to get into the boat and spend a few hours out on the lake. As long as they have enough to keep them busy, its a lot of fun. Now they’re old enough to spend some time steering at the rudder, or holding the jib or main sheets to control the sails. Videos can also be helpful. We’ve acquired several and we review them in the spring, or watch them snowy nights when we’d rather be on a warm lake soaking up the sun.

Here’s a video clip from Youtube, cut from a popular video Teaching Kids How To Sail:

Rapunzel’s Revenge is a graphic novel that had plenty of good press before it made it to the shelves of your local book store. Written by girl’s favorite Shannon Hale, along with her husband, Dean Hale, and illustrated by a non-relative coincidentally named Nathan Hale, it started out with an advantage. Later, it won the Cybils award for best graphic novel for the elementary/middle grades.

When I first heard about it, some time before the Cybils, I was excited to get it, thinking my girls would go for this tale. I had, out of curiosity picked up my oldest girl’s copy of Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale, and was very surprised that it was intelligent and well written, instead of some sort of boy-hungry clone. Now I’m a dad who doesn’t want his girls growing up to be vapid boy-hungry clones, so this left me predisposed to hunting out Rapunzel’s Revenge. Then, like a busy dad, I forgot about it.

I came across it a few weeks ago and finally picked it up. Oldest daughter couldn’t put it down, and ended up finishing it that day before she went to bed. She still lights up when I ask her about it. So I read it. It was great. Jammed with action and adventure on every page, it was a truly exciting revision of the well known fairly tale, and far more fun to read. The illustrations were an easy match for the well told tale.

And it is a revision. Somehow, Jack, of Jack and the Beanstalk fame – an occasionally cross-dressing Jack! – even gets messed up in the whole affair, too.

I generally dislike graphic novels/comic books. Usually they have a story not worth bothering to tell. If they have any value, its usually because of the illustrations, but even then, that’s not always the case. I love opera, and in many ways comic books are like opera. The music of opera is unparalleled in western civilization, but if you take the time to learn the story, that can wreck the whole experience because it can be so stupid. Take Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, for example. The story is beyond stupid and confusing, but the music is so transcendent you can’t pry it out of your head with a two-by-four! Comic books are like that. The story is too often beyond stupid, but the drawing can somehow redeem the work.

However, Rapunzel’s Revenge is a great exception to the rule. It’s story is very well told. The characters are engaging and funny. The drawing is fantastic and imaginative. I have no qualms recommending this to anyone.

So, is someone’s birthday coming up? Find out if she’s read it, and if not, go buy this book and give it to her. (That’s right, “she”. I really don’t think many “he’s” are going to really be thankful, deep down in their hearts, if they were to receive this book. Buy him Artemis Fowl instead!)

Here’s an odd little video from YouTube:

Here’s few we liked that we picked up from the library. All of these were picked by the 5-year old:

The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson and illustrated by Jonathan Bean. Told in pictures and verse, The Apple Pie that Papa Baked is a fun view of the farm at harvest time. The story is about a young girl and her father who bakes an apple pie for his daughter with the apples he has picked from their tree.

Illustrated in blacks and browns and reds, it has an earthy look and feel. The hills and paths, trees and sun have that round, plump feel, almost like a Grant Wood Iowan landscape, but I wouldn’t go too far with that comparison. If I were smarter, I’d know the style of the verse – you’ve seen it before, but here’s an example from one page:

These are the clouds,
heaped and round,
that dropped the reain,
cool and fresh,
thatwatered the roots,
deep and fine,
that fed the tree,
crooked and strong,

and on it goes.

Two by Caldecott Medal winner Eric Rohmann: Clara and Asha and My Friend Rabbit

In Clara and Asha (Ala Notable Children’s Books. Younger Readers (Awards)), Clara is a young girl who has lots of friends, one of whom is Asha, a big fish she met in the park. Asha was a part of the giant fountain, but she brought him home. Now, inseparable friends, Asha follows Clara everywhere. The story is very fun, all of a child’s imagination, and the illustrations are even more fun, and the true spark in the book.

My Friend Rabbit is the story of a rabbit and a mouse, both friends. Enthusiastic Rabbit get his friend stuck in a tree and, to try to get him down, he builds a ladder of animals. Not so good an idea, as it turns out. Mostly in pictures, the silliness abounds, and there’s really no need for words here. Eric Rohmann won the 2003 Caldecott Medal for this book.

Cat & Mouse: A Delicious Tale by Jiwon Oh

This book was the most fun of the bunch. Cat and Mouse are best friends. Cat takes cooking lessons and discovers that mice make delicious dishes, and, no big surprise, a rift in the friendship ensues. The book is delightful. Jiwon Oh’s illustrations are a combination of modern manga and ancient Chinese landscape. Go to the library or the bookstore to look for this one.

Veterans’ Day isn’t much anymore. When I was a child, all our fathers served in one way or another in WWII or the Korean War and helped build the world I grew up on. Some of my friends were children of their mother’s second husband, the first remaining somewhere in Europe or at the bottom of the Pacific. That world died with Viet Nam.

The Children’s Book Review-Growing Readers has provided a nice list of books that remember those who bravely put their lives on the line for us. Now, many of the children reading thises books would have grand parents and great grandparents who served in WWII or the Korean War, or in the Viet Nam or first Iraq wars. Many will have fathers who have or continue to serve in Iraq or Afganistan. And since Viet Nam, they have grandmothers and mothers serving as well.

Let’s always remember their great sacrifice.

Diane Petryk Bloom, the Children’s book reviewer at the Examiner.com, of Milwaukee, has put together a nice list of new Christmas books. I love these lists. Now its off to look around for them to check them out and see what’s worth buying, and what’s worth leaving behind. I already know that the Hannah Montana entry will be left behind. But Lemony Snickets’ The Lump of Coal will probably make the list.

The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer, the 5th book in the Artemis Fowl Series is as exciting as ever. Maybe his best book yet! Once again the underworld is in jeopardy of exposure to humans. This time the 8th Family of fairies is at risk of exposure.

A twelve year old genius, Artemis’ match, has discovered their existence and has calculated how to catch them. Her plan is to expose them to the scientific world and win a Nobel prize. Sher is determined and will let nothing stop her, including Artemis Fowl. Hence the whole underworld fairy realm is at risk of being discovered and exploited. The fairy realm seeks Artemis’ and Butler’s assistance.

Has Artemis met his match? Will the Fairy world be exposed? Do not assume you know the outcome. This volume will not disappoint you: it is the most thrilling the the series and is filled with all sorts of twists and surprises. A must read? It can be easily read alone, but for the most impact, read the Artemis Fowl series in order. Be careful, however. Don’t start this book if you have impending deadlines or tests! Once you start you won’t want to stop.

Review by Senora Parrot.

Senor Parrot’s Note: Found sitting under about 2 years worth of stuff that should have been dealt with then. The review should have been posted long ago. Sorry!

Anyone with kids knows how much they want a pet of their own. And, anyone who was a kid remembers wanting and hoping for a pet of their own. There’s a magic that exists between a child and his pet that adults never have with their own pets. Much of that magic is in the mind of the child, but mostly it seems to be a bonding of peers, becoming close and best friends.

But when the child is very young, they don’t understand their pets and often are unwittingly harmful to them. Its hard to teach them ahead of time. We catch them picking up the cat by the hind leg and getting scratched, or scrunching the dog’s ear and getting bitten.

Children need to learn how to live with their pet, and that’s where Tails Are Not For Pulling comes in handy. Simply and clearly written by Elizabeth Verdick and perfectly illustrated by Marieka Heinlen, it is a great, fun read for young children already have or will be getting a pet soon.

It starts with the simple, fun, question for your child, “If pets could talk, what do you think they’d say?” Then it delivers the answers, teaching your child to think about what his or her pet is saying with their posture, actions, and noises.

Like most of the other books I write about, I’ve tested, this one on #2 the five year old, still young enough to misunderstand what Sherlock the cat is telling her, and not yet realizing how she might be hurting him. It was a real eye opener for her. The lessons are so simply presented. The illustrations are so appropriate. The message really took hold. It’s an excellent pick for a young child who will be receiving a new pet in the house.

Tails Are Not For Pulling is part of a series from Free Spirit Publishing for teaching behavior to young children written and illustrated by this same duo.

Some time last summer I got the bug to build a robot. I wanted to get my oldest daughter, age 11, involved, too. Lots of things about robots appeal to me. They are very much the nexus for a lot of cool, current and emerging technology: (more…)

Just over a week ago I was with the family at the bookstore. The kids were looking at books that interested them and I was browsing in the kid’s poetry section. There I found John Updike’s A Child’s Calendar, and perfectly illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Until then I hadn’t any idea that John Updike had written anything for children. I opened it and began reading, and after half-way through the first poem decided I had to have this book. You should have it, too.

The poems are simple rhymes perfectly suited for children, one for every month. Each captures the essence of that month in the way a child sees it, experiences it, and remembers it. Each poem in turn develops and carries forward the rhythm of the year as it opens and closes and opens again. And each awakens in you your own memories. (more…)

For a couple years now we’ve been reading King Cat, written and illustrated by Tracy Gallup, to the kids at night. Its a frequent choice. Perhaps because King Cat is a bit like our own cat, sometimes a wild animal exploring and hunting the neighborhood yards and the woods out back, sometimes aloof and snooty, other times affectionate and companionable, winding himself around our legs and trailing us everywhere.

Gallup’s King Cat lives the comfy life with the Petticombs. Riding comfortably on the shoulders of Mr. Petticomb as if he were a piece of clothing, it occurs to King Cat that he might be seen. Other cats might get the wrong impression, thinking him a mere pet. Petulantly leaping from Mr. Petticomb’s shoulders, he declares himself King Cat and sets off to romp and rule in the garden … for a while, at least, until a few things change.

The illustrations excellently expand the story telling the story as much as the text written mostly in rhyming couplets. This makes it a great lap book that can be returned to many times.

We have a couple other books by Tracy Gallup from her “A Crazy Little Series” of books. Each of these unique little stories is illustrated with her curious dolls and natural objects; Shell Crazy with shells and sand and Tree Crazy with twigs, bark, seeds and roots. The girls are fixated by the fun little stories and  the amusing little characters.

Any of these would be great gifts for young kids and the books from the “A Crazy Little Series” would be excellent for some adults, as well.

Tracy Gallup’s books are published by Mackinac Island Press.