Review by New York Times Review
Barely a chapter into this novel, readers may feel as if they're deep inside the black hold of an oil tanker - in a good way. The author painstakingly evokes a dystopian future where rising waters have submerged the Gulf Coast and salvaging scrap from ships is one of the few honest jobs left. Nailer, small for his age, is "good scavenge," but he stares at the mile-high clipper ships of the wealthy "slicing across the ocean" in the distance. He dreams of being on one: the ambition to bring down the system they represent comes later, amid an epic storm and a screen-ready chase scene. SHARK VS. TRAIN By Chris Barton. Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. Little, Brown. $16.99. (Ages 3 to 6) Who will win the face-off between two favorite toys: the shark or the train? (A dinosaur must be waiting in the wings.) Lichtenheld's high-energy drawings are the main appeal in a series of contests that could have built to more drama. (The opponents bowl, trick or treat and . . . make lemonade?) At the end, two boys drop the game and break for lunch: "Next time, you're history!" as the shark says, face-first in the toy box. STUCK ON EARTH By David Klass. Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $16.99. (Ages 11 to 14) "We are skimming over the New Jersey countryside in full search mode, hunting a 14-year-old." Ketchvar III, who resembles a common snail, is here from another planet to inhabit the mind and body of "an infinitely lower life-form," an American teenager. The mission: to judge whether the human race is worth saving. A witty and penetrating satire of American life follows, as Ketchvar, having taken over Tom Filber, burrows into a typical unhappy suburban family and high school. It's easy to sympathize with both of them. THE DREAMER By Pam Muñoz Ryan. Illustrated by Peter Sis. Scholastic. $17.99. (Ages 9 to 14) Ryan's hypnotic text, inspired by the childhood of Pablo Neruda, is brought to life by the extraordinary art of Peter Sis. Image after image - a locomotive in woods, an angry father in pointillist silhouette -give shape to the imagination of a lonely boy, Neftalí. Ryan captures the way in which the world is a dream to him; even the numbers in his math homework "hold hands in a long procession of tiny figures" before they fly through the window and escape, just as he one day will. THE SIXTY-EIGHT ROOMS By Marianne Malone. Illustrated by Greg Call. Random House. $16.99. (Ages 8 to 12) Malone's first novel is a smoothly written fantasy with an appealing premise. Ruthie and Jack, best friends on a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago's Thorne Rooms - 68 perfectly realistic miniature chambers - find a magic key to get inside them. Not only can Ruthie lie in an elegant canopied bed, she can also step into the painted landscape visible through the window ("Being outside in 18th-century France felt surprisingly normal"). There are few great surprises along the way, but the fantasy of a parallel world is irresistible nonetheless. POETREES Written and illustrated by Douglas Florian. Beach Lane. $16.99. (Ages 6 and up) Florian's richly watercolored collages, accompanied by verse, evoke a whole forest of trees. Sometimes it takes just a handful of words. "From the acorn grows the tree - slowly, slowly," he writes, as an oak fills a two-page spread, stained onto paper. JULIE JUST BEST FRIENDS A podcast with Jon J Muth and Mo Willems on creating "City Dog, Country Frog," at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [July 18, 2010]
Review by Booklist Review
Starting with the book's title and ending with a final glossatree, the wordplay in Florian's latest poetry collection provides plenty of fun. Each of the 18 poems celebrates the wonder of trees, from the giant sequoia (the world's tallest trees) and the Banyan (an acre in its canopy) to the bristlecone pine, one of the oldest trees on earth (alive for fifty cen-trees). Each poem is printed on a vertical double-page spread illustrated with mixed-media artwork in gouache, watercolor, colored pencil, rubber stamps, oil pastels, and collage on brown paper bags. The dramatic swirling visuals sometimes swamp the words, but the blurry images do leave room for kids to use their imaginations as they interpret the poems. The big pages are well suited for group sharing, as are the playful puns (Lovely leaves / Leave me in awe). The final fascinating notes on each tree, and on leaves, stems, and roots, spell out the call for conservation that is part of the poetry and pictures.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this unusual collection, Florian focuses on several types of and parts of a tree, with poems about seeds, roots, bark, leaves, and tree rings ("Tree rings show/ how trees grow./ Wide rings: fast growth./ Narrow rings: slow"). Solid in their meter and rhymes, the poems are idiosyncratic rather than comprehensive, creating a hybrid of information, wordplay, and artistic invention. Appropriately enough, Florian's sophisticated collages are created on primed paper bags allowing him to combine interesting textures, chalk, colored pencils, stamps, and oil pastels. In addition to familiar oaks and birches, Florian (Dinothesaurus) explores more unusual trees, including the dragon tree, monkey puzzle tree, and baobab. The book is designed to be held and read vertically, allowing Florian to showcase the height of trees like the giant sequoia ("Never destroy a/ Giant sequoia") or banyan from treetop to root bottom. However, some may find this makes for awkward lap reading. Teachers in particular will find Florian's "Glossatree" at the end useful. Filled with facts about the trees described in the poems, it also includes a brief bibliography and author's note describing Florian's lifelong fascination with trees. Ages 6-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Florian focuses on trees (seeds, bark, leaves, roots, and tree rings) and introduces readers to 13 species from around the world. An oversize, double-page illustration accompanies each poem. Some are read lengthwise, which enables the artist to highlight the awesome height and size of trees. The selections are accessible and concise, with child-friendly wordplay and artful design: of the "spreading," "treading," "always-outward-heading" banyan tree, Florian concludes: "It's not a tree-/It's a forest!" The primitive illustrations-crafted on "primed paper bags" using mixed media including gouache watercolor paints, colored pencils, rubber stamps, oil pastels, and collage-range in nuance from whimsy to mystery and reverence. In "The Seed," Florian highlights the symmetry of trees by laying out the short text in a figure eight, an eternity symbol; this dovetails neatly with the overall theme of recycling and renewal. He concludes with a "Glossatree," a thumbnail sketch of each tree, and an author's note and sources. This exquisite collection, with its thoughtful wordplay and timely subject, rewards careful reading and should resonate with a wide audience.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Swiveling his pages ninety degrees for tree-tall vertical spreads, the popular poet/illustrator celebrates the utility and diversity of trees in thirteen poems on a variety of species, plus five on such features as seeds, roots, and bark. His reach is broad, from the exotic baobab to the familiar paper birch. Bits of information laced with puns ("moles, and voles /... tunnel under roots of trees / And root there for their families") share time with other lore (yews are "home to gnomes and elves and trolls") and advice ("Never destroy a / Giant sequoia"). The handsome, freely rendered multimedia art is more evocative than representational, incorporating intriguing references to human forms (both Japanese cedar and bristlecone pine recall hands, the yew an Ent-like head; a pair of eyes weep willow leaves). A "glossatree," brief note, and list of five sources extend the information. Trees need all the help they can muster in today's world; this quirky entry may well enlist interest. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Trees receive a witty and informative rhyming appreciation. Starting with a concrete poem about "The Seed" (which brilliantly snakes its way into the shape of the infinity sign) and moving into species both familiar"Oak," "Giant Sequoias"and less well known"Scribbly Gum," "Bristlecone Pine"Florian also introduces readers to such individual elements as "Roots" and "Bark." The author renders his illustrations on crinkly, brown paper bags in a diverse assortment of mediagouache watercolors, colored paints, rubber stamps, oil pastels and collageand incorporates images of humans (hands, faces, whole bodies) into many of them. Equally effective is the large double-page layout of the book, which opens top to bottom rather than left to right, giving each tree room to grow. His style is looser than in previous books, in keeping with the organic, natural theme. Although some of his wordplay falls flat (sequoias are "Ancient seers / Of three thousand years"), by and large the poems live up to his usual high standard. The author is careful to include a "Glossatree," an author's note and a bibliography. Readers and listeners will learn and laugh. (Picture book/poetry. 5-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
