USA
53
DiCamillo, Kate (text)
Ibatoulline, Bagram (illus.)
The miraculous journey of Edward Tulane
Cambridge, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2006. – 198 p.
ISBN 978-0-7636-2589-4
Rabbit – China doll – Odyssey – Change of owner
Ever
since he can remember, Edward has been living in the large house at Egypt
Street with young Abilene who treated him with respect and loved him dearly.
Yet when the vain and cold-hearted china rabbit in his fashionable attire goes
overboard during the family’s ocean crossing, his comfortable life ends
abruptly. Rescued from the bottom of the sea, Edward spends the following
years on a dump, as a travelling companion for a hobo, with a terminally ill
little girl, and has his head bashed in by a wrathful pub owner, until he
happily returns, completely transformed, to the hands of his first owner’s
daughter. This quiet, fairytale-like story about the power of true love is
told in spare yet lyrical prose and is accompanied by melancholic
sepia-coloured drawings. (8+)
54
Jeffers, Oliver (text/illus.)
Lost and found
New York : Philomel Books, 2006. – [32] p.
ISBN 0-399-24503-0
(orig. publ. in Great Britain by HarperCollins, 2005)
Penguin – Sadness – Help – Loneliness – Friendship
When
a sad and forlorn-looking penguin turns up on the doorstep of a small boy, the
child eagerly tries to help the little animal. But neither the lost-and-found
office nor his rubber duck are very forthcoming. So the boy fixes his rowing
boat, and the two adventurers float through storms and mountainous waves until
they reach the South Pole. Here, they have to say good-bye to each other –
or do they? This charming story about loneliness and friendship is told in a
quiet text and powerful, bright watercolour illustrations. The moon-faced,
spindly-legged child and the smooth black-and-white blob of a penguin make a
perfect pair of friends to brave the vast wide world together. (3+) (Nestlé
Smarties Book Prize; 2005)
55
Na, An
Wait for me
New York : G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2006. – 169 p.
ISBN 0-399-24275-9
USA/Korean immigrant – Cultural identity – Mother – Daughter – Expectation – First love
From
the outside, Mina’s life looks perfect: The 17-year-old Korean-American
allegedly is a straight-A student, diligently studies for her exams, and
willingly helps out in her parents’ dry-cleaning shop. Not even her
hearing-impaired younger sister Suna suspects that Mina is trapped in a web of
lies woven to satisfy their strict, overbearing mother’s expectations. Yet,
when she falls in love with Mexican worker Ysrael, Mina realises that she must
face the truth and start living her own life. This riveting, carefully crafted
story told in alternating chapters from Mina’s and Suna’s points of view
draws readers into the world of a teenager who struggles with a dysfunctional
family life and her own dreams. (14+) <>
56
Newman, Jeff (text/illus.)
Hippo! No, Rhino!
New York : Little, Brown and Co., 2006. – [32] p.
ISBN 978-0-316-15573-1
Zoo – Rhinoceros – Sign – Mistake
Poor
Rhino is dumbfounded: How can all the dim-witted zoo visitors actually believe
that he is a hippo, even though it’s perfectly clear that he is not! And all
this because the mischievous zookee-per has (deliberately?) put up the wrong
sign in front of his pen. Yet all the outraged pachyderm’s desperate efforts
to knock down the hateful sign (including using one of the tick birds on his
back as a dart) are useless, until his peace of mind is finally restored by a
sympathetic child. The uproarious story is conveyed in boldly coloured
mixed-media illustrations with only a few words of text in »rhyme-o«. The
graphic pictures, drawn in a style reminiscent of 1950s poster art, depict the
animal’s growing frustration and eventual relief.
A visual treat for readers of all ages. (3+) ¤
57
Pennypacker, Sara (text)
Frazee, Marla (illus.)
Clementine <proper name>
New
York : Hyperion Books for Children,
2006. – 133 p.
ISBN 978-0-7868-3882-0
Girl – School – Everyday life – Friendship – Helpfulness – Accident
Ingenious
third-grader Clementine seems to suffer a particularly bad week at school. Yet,
is it her fault that she is allergic to sitting still, that there are no gifts
in the gifted class for math, or that Margaret has a serious hair problem and
she helps her chop her mane off? Instead of lecturing and punishing her,
adults should be glad that so many »spectacularful ideas are always
sproinging up in [her] brain«. This fresh story, written in first-person and
interspersed with a lot of dialogue, describes all the trouble-prone girl’s
brainwaves and the ensuing catastrophes. While young readers will giggle at
the quick succession of hair-raising events, adults will love the
straightforward, dryly humorous style of the diverting narrative. (6+)
58
Prelutsky, Jack (text)
Berger, Carin (illus.)
Behold the bold umbrellaphant and other poems
New York : Greenwillow Books, 2006. – 31 p.
ISBN 978-0-06-054317-4
Imaginary animals – Portmanteau-word – Poetry
Have
you ever heard of the wondrous clocktopus or encountered the panthermometer in
its natural habitat? Have you wondered why the bizarre alarmadillos can’t
fall asleep or what makes the fearful zipperpotamuses weep? If so, the
nonsensical texts in this whimsical collection of poems, introducing the most
bizarre creatures imaginable and their strange characteristics, will certainly
satisfy your curiosity. The exotic bunch of portmanteau-animals described in
sparkling rhymes spring to life in powerful and quirky double-page collages.
They confidently stride and leap across the pages buzzing with energy. Young
and old readers will gleefully stroll through this eccentric zoo again and
again. (4+) ¤
59
Schade, Susan (text)
Buller, Jon (illus.)
Travels of Thelonious
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006. – 214 p.
(Fog Mound; 1)
ISBN 0-689-87684-X
Getting lost – Search for home – Friendship
This
book, the first part of a trilogy, is an unusual combination of illustrated
prose story and graphic novel. It introduces young children to a world where
humans have been wiped out by some catastrophe and anthropomorphised animals
inhabit the earth. When a torrential rainstorm floods the home of Thelonious
Chipmunk and washes him away to the legendary City of Ruins, the inquisitive
little animal soon befriends a porcupine living in a deserted human library, a
technically well-versed bear, and a cunning lizard. Together, the four friends
mount a helicopter and go on an adventurous quest for the idyllic community of
Fog Mound. The easy-flowing narrative and the charming drawings in
black-white-and-blue will draw in even the most reluctant readers. (8+)
60
Sturtevant, Katherine
A true and faithful narrative
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. – 250 p.
ISBN 978-0-374-37809-7
London/1681 – Girl – Bookshop – Education – Writing – Professional ambition – Love
Unlike
most other girls her age, headstrong Meg isn’t really interested in
household chores or in quickly securing a suitable husband for herself. Rather,
the well-educated 16-year-old daughter of a bookseller and publisher in
Restoration London is fascinated by the power of words, and her greatest
ambition is to become a writer like Aphra Behn, the first English professional
female writer. Yet, for the time being, all that she can hope to achieve with
her passionate scribbling is to collect enough money to free her best
friend’s brother, whose ship was attacked by pirates, from slavery in
Algiers. In this sequel to »At the sign of the star« (2000), the author
follows the fate of an unconventional girl and once again offers readers a
believable glimpse into everyday life in 17th-century England. (12+)
Special Mention
61
Wiesner, David (illus.)
Flotsam
New York, NY : Clarion Books, 2006. – [40] p.
ISBN 978-0-618-19457-5
Beach – Camera – Mystery – Photograph
Award-winning
author and illustrator David Wiesner’s latest picture book is another true
gem. In a quick succession of magical watercolour illustrations in various
sizes, this outstanding textless work chronicles a young boy’s adventurous
day at the beach. Exploring the edge of the sea, the inquisitive child happens
upon an old-fashioned underwater camera washed ashore complete with film
inside. He quickly has the pictures developed and gapes open-mouthed at the
fantastic scenes opening up before him: an ancient octopus holding a
story-telling session in an underwater parlour; or a giant blown-up puffer
fish gliding balloon-like across the ocean. In the end, the boy takes his own
snapshot (just like other chance owners of the camera seem to have done before)
and returns the camera to the sea for the next child to share its miraculous
treasures. This fascinating visual adventure won’t release its grip on the
readers until they have turned the last page. (5+) ¤ (Caldecott Medal;
2006)
62
Yang, Gene Luen (text/illus.)
Pien, Lark (col.)
American born Chinese
New York [et al.] : First Second, 2006. – 233 p.
ISBN 978-1-59643-152-2
USA/Chinese immigrant – Outsider –Loneliness – Cultural identity – Search foridentity – Self-esteem
This graphic novel cleverly links three seemingly independent plotlines relating the desperate struggles to fit in of Jin Wang, the son of Chinese immigrants; the tale about American teenager Danny whose loud-mouthed Chinese cousin’s annual visit makes him cringe with embarrassment; and the story about the much-beloved Chinese folk hero Monkey King who is unsatisfied with his lowly status and longs to be hailed as a god. All three tales cunningly explore issues like race, cultural identity, assimilation, and self-acceptance. The clear, expressive line drawings, coloured in a cool palette and placed into linear panels in the centre of the pages, make the three stories unfold rapidly until they eventually come together in an unexpected post-modern twist. (12+) (Michael L. Printz Award; 2006)