Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite by Anna Harwell Celenza and illustrated by Don Tate (Charlesbridge, 2011) tells the story of the creation of Duke Ellington’s unclassifiable jazz redefinition of the classic Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky. I must admit that I absolutely love the music from Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet and my husband has converted me to jazz in general, so this
Along a Long Road by Frank Viva (Little Brown, 2011) is a simply illustrated story about a man riding a bike down a long road. The illustrations are somewhat subdued graphic designs. The book uses only a few colors and a few words on each two-page spread to create a world, road, and people to
Although I’d never before heard of the collagist Romare Bearden, the fictionalized account his inspiration was not only interesting, well written, and creatively illustrated, but I’m now quite interested in the artist himself. My Hands Sing the Blues: Roman Bearden’s Childhood Journey by Jeanne Walker Harvey and illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon (Marshall Cavendish, 2011) reveals a blues-like rhythm
Tashi’s grandfather Popola is very ill in Tashi and the Tibetan Flower Cure by Naomi C. Rose (Lee and Low, 2011), but after reflecting on her grandfather’s stories of the traditional Tibetan healing power of being out in a garden, Tashi decides to help him get well by surrounding him with flowers, even in the American world they
Cinderella: An Islamic Tale by Fawzia Gilani and illustrated by Shireen Adams (The Islamic Foundation, 2011) is simply what the title indicates: a retelling of the Cinderella story using an Islamic context. I am not as familiar with Islamic traditions as I am with Hispanic or Judeo-Christian traditions and so forth, and this book was
Brother Sun, Sister Moon by Katherine Patterson and Pamela Dalton (Chronicle, 2011) is one that I love for its simple beauty, although I can’t get my son (age 4) interested in it at all. A retelling of a hymn of praise by St. Francis of Assisi, Brother Sun, Sister Moon is made spectacular by the careful cut-paper illustrations which
Baby Santa and the Lost Letters by M. Maitland DeLand (illustrated by Phil Wilson; Greenleaf, 2011) is a rather silly tale of how Santa’s son (Baby Santa) saves Christmas by finding the missing Christmas letters, which had been sent to the South Pole instead of the North Pole. This stood out to me because it emphasizes world
Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner (Chronicle, 2011) captures the fascinating natural worlds below the snow. As a child cross-country skis with her father, she learns about the animals hiding underneath her feet. In beautiful illustrations, the over and under natural worlds are revealed. Raisin loved finding the mice, bears, bullfrogs, and so forth in
For my book club this month, we decided to take it easy and read a holiday short story, since many of us feel overwhelmed and limited on time during the holiday season. We settled on “The Mansion” by Henry Van Dyke, a Christian short story about a wealthy man who has a life-changing dream, much
I feel a little silly having requested and then won from LibraryThing EarlyReviewers not just a book about homeschooling but one about homeschooling “gifted” and “advanced” learners. My son is just four years old and has more than 18 months before he’ll officially enter school. While I feel ridiculous assuming my child is a brilliant
At the risk of sounding ridiculously naive, I now turn to the transcendental context for Hawthorne’s novel, since I read it as a part of Jillian’s Transcendental Month. As I read The Scarlet Letter, I struggled to place the novel within the transcendental framework, and I’ve come to the conclusion that The Scarlet Letter is
As I mentioned yesterday, my reread of The Scarlet Letter left me with lots to think about. I was particularly fascinated by the contrasts between the main characters: Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne, and Roger Chillingworth. And then, of course, innocent Pearl’s symbolic role in the novel was the most interesting part of the moving story
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