Martina the Beautiful Cockroach (Picture Book 6/6)

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach
Carmen Agra Deedy, author
Michael Austin, illustrator
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers (September 1, 2007)
Pura Belpre Award, Honor Book, 2008.
Category: Folk tale.
Style: Cartoon style/traditional style.
Media: Acrylic on illustration board. 
5/5 stars


Martina the Beautiful Cockroach  is a retelling of a traditional Cuban folk tale.  In this version, Martina (the beautiful cockroach) is beset with inappropriate suitors and, following her Grandmother's advice, pours coffee on each one's shoes to see how he would respond to her when angry.  Thanks to Abeula's test, Martina is able to dismiss the terrible suitors and find true love.  

Deedy often pairs important words with their Spanish counterparts in a casual and friendly way which teaches Spanish words without appearing to teach at all.  She makes great use of repetition in the song sung to Martina by the suitors.  She also uses humor and occasional puns.

Though cartoon-like, in that these are anthropomorphic animals and insects, Austin has carefully and delicately crafted both the characters and the scenes, so that it often appears as lovely as a traditional painting.  He has carried the humor of the story into the illustrations, especially in the objects used in the cockroach household: cigar boxes for the grand staircase, for example.  He uses rich, full colors but soft lines.   The perspective changes often, though not drastically. He makes use of a variety of techniques; the illustrations are at times in frames, occasionally they cross the gutter into both pages,  and sometimes they are straight-forward one page illustrations.  It is a pleasure to view.

This is a truly amusing book and sounds lovely when read aloud. This age group will have no connection with the idea of finding a proper husband, but should enjoy the humor.   It is most likely too hard for typical readers of this age group to read alone.  It could be used in the classroom when learning about Cuba, or about folktales.

Tuesday (Picture Book 5/6)

Tuesday
David Wiesner, author and illustrator
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Sandpiper (August 18, 1997)
Winner: Randolph Caldecott Medal, 1992.
Category: Picture Storybook/wordless/fantasy.
Style: Surrealism/realism/Impressionism
Media: Watercolor on Arches paper.
5/5 stars


In Tuesday, Wiesner tells the humorous story of a group of frogs on a Tuesday evening.  They are delighted when their lily pads suddenly begin to fly them around the countryside and nearby town.  The frogs are seen by shocked animals and people, and are quite disappointed when their new found magic stops and they return to sitting in the pond.  Wiesner uses very few words, and those only to tell the time of day, relying on his art to tell the story.

Wiesner’s painting style is dreamy and soft, incorporating elements of the  Impressionist style: soft lines, gentle colors, faded backgrounds.  His anatomy (animal and human, alike) is realistic, as is the architecture and flora.   Encompassing both those styles, however, is the surrealism of the story he is telling.  The expressions on the various frog faces are especially delightful.  The colors he uses clearly denote the time of day: blues and purples at night, with yellows and whites becoming more prominent as day breaks.   He uses a variety of layouts: panels inside full page illustrations,  double page illustrations that cross the gutter, and single page illustrations.

Tuesday  is certainly appropriate for the intended age group.  A preschooler would be able to “read” this story to herself, thanks to Wiesner’s explicit expressions and easy-to-follow sequence of events.  For any age group, this book could be used to start a conversation about fantasy and reality.  It could also be used to work on the skills of memory, sequencing and retelling. 

Shadow (Picture Book 4/6)

Shadow (From the French of Blaise Cendrars)
Marcia Brown, author and illustrator
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 40 pages
Publisher: Aladdin (November 1, 1995) 
Winner: Randolph Caldecott Medal, 1983.
Category: Myth/poetry
Style: Folk art
Media: Woodblock/papercraft/collage
Grades: preschool- 2^nd grade. (Ages 4-8)
4/5 stars


In Shadow, Brown translates Blaise Cendrars’ poem explaining various native African myths surrounding shadows.  She uses free verse, and it often has a flowing rhythm.  There is no plot, just a series of myths about “Shadow”, some contradictory, and all rather creepy.  She employs descriptive language to add to the eerie feeling.

The woodblock/paper collage illustrations are stunning in both their intricacy and their simplicity.  Simple, smooth lines belie the fact that they are meticulously crafted.  A use of bold colors for day time and rich dark tones for night invoke the time of day perfectly. Shadow itself is most often a faded, translucent gray, tissue paper in appearance, enhancing the mysteriousness of Shadow.  The texture of the paint in the background creates mountains and plains that one expects to be able to touch.  Brown uses the folk art style, imitating traditional African art in the illustrations.  The perspective is often stylized, as is often the case with folk art, and most all of the illustrations are two-page, unframed illustrations that cross the gutter.

Though visually stimulating, I can’t find that this is appropriate for the recommended age group.  It is, at times, a frightening book both in story and pictures.  The lack of plot and often contradictory nature of the myths could make it most confusing, even if it wasn’t scary.  It also depicts a stereotypical type of “noble savage” image for native Africans that is not considered appropriate now.   For older children (8-12, perhaps?), it could be used as a tool when discussing African history and myths, as long as it was balanced by other information.  It would make a good discussion tool for preteens when discussing how myths can have many explanations for one phenomenon.  I think it would be most enjoyed by (and appropriate for) adults, who can appreciate the free verse and the spectral nature of the topic.
 

Duke Ellington: the Piano Prince and His Orchestra (Picture Book 3/6)

Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra
Andrea Pinkney, author
Brian Pinkney, illustrator
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (December 12, 2006)
Coretta Scott King Book Award, Honor Book, 1999.
Randolph Caldecott Medal, Honor Book, 1999.
Category: Picture Biography.
Style: Expressionist
Media: Mixed: scratch-board renderings with luma dyes, gouache, and oil paint. 
5/5 stars

Duke Ellington: the Piano Prince and His Orchestra is a brief biography of Duke Ellington, the great jazz pianist and orchestra leader. It only mentions the happy, good events in Ellington's life and seems intended to spark an interest in jazz music in general, and Ellington in particular.

Mrs. Pinkey writes in vernacular, dropping the“-ing”, talking directly to the reader and using slang from the jazz era. This gives the book a quick rhythm, a jazzy feel, and makes it a joy to read aloud. Her metaphors for the music are colorful and descriptive, at times poetic.

Mr. Pinkney uses bright colors and bold lines to express the feeling of music being played. The colors add to the jazzy, joyful rhythm of the words. The texture from the scratch-board technique gives depth to the illustrations. The bold, curving lines propel the eye around the page, following the drawn music. Overall, the art gives the impression of movement, vitality and most of all, of music.

The intended audience is preschool age up to around age 8. This is too dense of a book, both in amount of words and amount of story covered, to be appropriate for a typical four year old. On the other hand, it is such a lively book to read out loud, it might hold a preschooler's attention despite a disinterest in and lack of understanding about the subject. For the school age child, I don't think it would be an appropriate read-alone book, for the reason mentioned above but also because many of the slang words will need an explanation.  It would be most effectively used as a read-aloud book to celebrate famous African Americans or to introduce jazz.

Baboushka and the Three Kings (Picture Books, 2/6)

Baboushka and the Three Kings
Ruth Robbins, author
Nicolas Sidjakov, illustrator
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Sandpiper (October 27, 1986)
 Winner: Randolph Caldecott Medal, 1961..
Category: Folk story.
Style: Folk art
Media: Tempera, felt tipped pen
4/5 stars


Robbins retells a Russian folk tale in Baboushka and the Three Kings, in which the three Wise Men from the Christmas story stop at Baboushka’s house and invite her to come with them. She says she is too busy, but after they leave is filled with a yearning to see the child of which they spoke. The next morning, she leaves to find them, asking everyone “Have you seen the Child”; not having found him, she still searches every Christmas season, leaving gifts for children on her way. Robbins tells the story in a very straight-forward way, using no rhyme or repetition, and the story has no particular rhythm to it. It is intentionally Christian in theme, as well as didactic. Regardless, it is a lovely story and well told.

Sidjakov is obviously influenced by Russian traditional art. Babouska is drawn to look like a Matryoshka doll, with the traditional red cheek circles, head scarf, and 19th century Russian clothing. The illustrations are simplistic and stylized and perspective is generally skewed. Once the medium is known, the use of felt tip pen is obvious in his heavy black lines. Blue, yellow and red are used to fill in some parts of the illustration, but he used the negative space to color others. This is especially effective in the snowy village scenes. The end result is rustic and charming, and yet reminiscent of a majestic Byzantine icon. All in all, the illustrations give the book a most distinct Eastern European feel, and accentuate Robbins’ story.

Robbins uses large words in her narrative, most likely too difficult for the intended audience; certainly too difficult for early reading alone, and most likely so for read aloud as well. It would not be appropriate as a classroom teaching book in most public school settings, given the overt Christian tone, though it could perhaps be used in classrooms of students older than the intended audience to discuss Russian folk stories.

Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions (Picture Books 1/6)

I've been a bit busy this summer, with the classes I've been taking.  One of which is a Literary Criticism course, focusing on Children's Lit.  So, I've still been reading, but it's been all juvenile lit instead of for pure pleasure, though I have to stay I'm loving it and the books.  I worked hard on these six "reading responses", so I thought I might as well share them; got a perfect score for them, by the way. :)

Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions
Margaret Musgrove, author
Diane and Leo Dillon, illustrators
Reading level: Ages 4-8*
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Puffin; P edition (July 15, 1992)
Winner: Randolph Caldecott Medal, 1977.
Category: Non fiction concept book.
Style: Realism/traditional/folk art
Media: Pastel, watercolor, acrylic, ink
5/5 stars


Musgrove uses the alphabet book concept to showcase 26 traditional African cultures. For each one, she explains a custom about that culture in one paragraph. Each entry emphasize the variety in the cultures she has chosen. There is no particular rhythm to the prose, she does not use rhyme or repetition, and for that reason it is not an exciting book to read aloud.

For each culture represented, the Dillons illustrated a detailed, realistic family or community scene. Each scene is framed with the same knot design, and each contains a male, female, and child of that particular people, as well a depiction of their home and fauna native to their part of Africa. Despite this planned similarity, each scene is unique. The Dillons depict each tribe with varying skin tones and facial features, use a wide variety of colors and patterns and apparently did extensive research to make each scene accurate. Though they have attempted to be realistic, their style is also traditional, reminiscent of a fairy tale book, with soft lines, gentle shading and muted colors. In addition, the perspective is somewhat stylized, adding a folk art feel. Their illustrations combine well with Musgrove’s writing, as they both work together to bring out the beauty and mystique of a culture foreign to most readers.

It is intended for the standard picture book age*, and may not be appropriate. Preschoolers may not be mature enough to understand or be interested in other cultures yet, though these illustrations could be enticing enough to make them want the book read aloud. Many of the terms will be too advanced for early readers, making this one that will need to be read with an adult for the majority of those in the intended age range. A teacher could use this when discussing African history, and it could certainly spark discussion about the difference in cultures and traditions.

*note: I have since found out that Amazon has this rated for the wrong age group; according to the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database it is intended for grades 4-5.

The Penelopiad (and the end of the Once Upon a Time Challenge)

The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus

Margaret Atwood

Hardcover: 224 pages

Publisher: Canongate U.S. (October 5, 2005)

The Penelopiad is a retelling of the Iliad and the Odyssey from Penelope's point of view. It is told in first person by Penelope, thousands of years after the event as she drifts through Hades, and by the twelve maids who serve as a sort of Greek chorus, telling their version in a variety of ways from poetry to rhyme to courtroom drama.  Atwood turns the traditional story of Odysseus around on it's ear, when she makes Penelope the center of the tale.  New angles and possibilities arise, both from Penelope's telling and from the accusations of the maids.  Odysseus's twenty year absence becomes, not a rousing adventure tale, but a burdensome trial for a wife to bear and Atwood skillfully takes the reader through a spectrum of emotions as Penelope and the maids deal with this ordeal.

A knowledge of Greek mythology and Homer's original tale is a must to appreciate the changes, both subtle and dramatic, that Atwood has made.  Without that background, I doubt the reader would find any enjoyment in this novel.


Atwood's talent is clear in The Penelopiad as she deftly uses a variety of narrative styles.  The result is a retelling that is at times shocking in it's difference, and believable enough to become entangled with the original, leaving the reader questioning.

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This was read for the "mythology" category of the Once Upon a Time Challenge, finishing the requirements for "Quest the Second".  I read two super good books for this challenge, this one and American Vampire.  I wouldn't have read this one, but for this challenge, and I'm grateful for the challenge for making me look at American Vampire in a different light.  Many thanks to Carl V for hosting this excellent challenge!