Review: Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rules!

Title: Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rules! 

Authors: e.E. Charlton-Trujillo and Pat Zietlow Miller

Illustrator: Joe Cepeda

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Review copy: Final copy via publisher

Availability: On shelves now

Publisher summary: When Lupe Lopez struts through the doors of Hector P. Garcia Elementary in sunglasses with two taped-up Number 2 pencils—drumsticks, of course—poking from her pocket, her confidence is off the charts. All day, Lupe drums on desks, tables, and chairs while Ms. Quintanilla reminds her of school rules. Lupe has her own rules: 1) Don’t listen to anyone. 2) Make lots of noise. ¡Rataplán! 3) Have fans, not friends. But with her new teacher less than starstruck, and fans hard to come by, Lupe wonders if having friends is such a bad idea after all. Can it be that true star power means knowing when to share the spotlight? With its spirited illustrations and a simple text threaded through with Spanish words, this picture book is proof positive that being a strong girl moving to her own beat doesn’t have to mean pushing others away. 

When a sassy drummer starts kindergarten, the rules of school cramp her style. What’s a young rock star to do?

My Thoughts: Lupe is full of confidence and excitement as she bounces through the door into her kindergarten. I could help but be entertained by her. Though Lupe and her teacher don't see eye to eye, the teacher does seem to keep a smile on her face even when she was delivering information Lupe wouldn't appreciate. Young readers seem to enjoy mischievous characters and here they will definitely see someone who stands out and pushes boundaries. The illustrations are bright and upbeat and add a lot to the story. 

Recommendation: This would be a nice story to use at the beginning of the school year to have a discussion about rules and why we have them and/or why we choose to follow or break them.

Review: The Blue Songbird

Title: The Blue Songbird
Author: Vern Kousky
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Pages: 40
Availability: On Shelves Now
Review Copy: Final copy provided by publisher

Summary: A little blue songbird longs to sing like her sisters. But whenever she tries, she cannot get the tune right. Her mother encourages her to leave home and find a song that only she can sing.

With courage and tenacity, she travels the world, seeking advice from a crane, an owl, and a mean-looking crow, and other birds, hoping they will lead her to her special song.

Told in gentle, lyrical prose and with bright, beautiful watercolor illustrations, The Blue Songbird is an empowering story for kids of all shapes, sizes, and singing ability.

Review: The blue songbird is on a quest to find her song. She is finding her own voice. More than just about music, the book is about telling our own story and showing how important and empowering it is to use our voice. I liked the message that the bird had a different story and sang it in a different way, but was still connected with those around her.

The illustrations are sweet and add to the quiet feeling of the book. I love the blues and yellows. I also appreciated the playfulness with the text. Sometimes it is straight, but at times the text is also in a variety of shapes.

Recommendation: If you want more stories to encourage young readers to share their own stories or songs, this would be a nice one to add to your collection.

Review: When I Carried You in My Belly

Title: When I Carried You in My Belly
Author: Thrity Umrigar
Illustrator: Ziyue Chen
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Pages: 40
Availability: On shelves starting today
Review Copy: Final copy provided by publisher

Summary: The special bond between a mother and her child begins well before the baby is born. But once the baby is born and starts to grow into her own person, traits from both parents begin to show themselves in delightful and humorous ways. When I Carried You in My Belly is a mother's song to her growing daughter, capturing the warmth and magic of the time when her daughter was housed inside her belly. The girl's laugh, her love of music, her sweet disposition, and her carefree attitude can all be traced back to her time in her mother's tummy, when her mother would laugh, sing songs, eat yummy treats, and dance the day away.

Thrity Umrigar's lyrical and playful text are well complemented by Ziyue Chen's soft and delightful illustrations, and together they create a sentimental and insightful book about the special bond between parents and children. With a similar tone to On the Night You Were Born and the spirit of I Loved You Before You Were Born, When I Carried You in My Belly is primed to become a new timeless classic.

Review: I've read several of Thrity Umrigar's novels and was excited to see she has ventured into the world of picture books. This is a beautiful book in both illustration and text. The mother shares many wonderful experiences from her pregnancy that seem to be reflected in her child now. These are lovely connections between her parent's life before she was born and the person she is becoming. Grandparents even have an effect on the child's life with the grandpa baking and the grandma building a crib. There is much love and joy expressed throughout the book. I especially love the spread showing the expectant mother dancing. It's nearly impossible to keep from smiling. This is a book that would be delightful to share between parent and child that could lead to discussions of what may have influenced their own personality.

Recommendation: This is definitely a book that would work well as a gift for a family expecting a child or with a new child. It's also a great one to have available for young children to check out and take home. It's a book to inspire hugs, kisses and smiles.

Review: Song for Papa Crow

Title: Song for Papa Crow
Author: Marit Menzin
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
Pages: 32
Availability: On shelves now
Review Copy: Final copy via publisher

Summary: Little Crow loves to sing, and Papa Crow loves his song. But when Little Crow shares his crow songs with the other birds at the big, old tree, they laugh and scatter. Maybe Mockingbird can teach him to sing songs with the finches, flycatchers, and cardinals—and help him make some friends. But Little Crow should be careful what he wishes for...

Using Mockingbird’s tip, Little Crow quickly becomes the most popular bird on the block but, in a moment of danger, he learns that singing someone else’s song can have terrible consequences, and that his own voice—and his father’s love—is of the greatest value. Paired with colorful collage illustrations, this inspirational story is complemented by fun facts about North American birds and their sounds.

Review: Song for Papa Crow is a sweet book about being true to yourself and the love of a father. Little Crow has his own unique song, but because the other birds make fun of him, he tries to be like everyone else. Initially he is popular, but ultimately it brings some scary results. The text includes different bird calls that would make this fun to read aloud. The unusual font is likely to make this challenging for beginning readers, but it does add an artistic quality to the text.

The strength of the book is the collages. They are filled with a wide variety of patterns and textures. The beautiful illustrations invite the eyes to wander through leisurely to enjoy the birds and their surroundings. There is an oddity though on one page. The illustration doesn't match the text. A bird is said to have something in its talons, but in the picture, there are no talons and the bird has something in its beak instead. It didn't really affect understanding of the storyline, but it could jolt the reader out of the story to wonder about the difference.

The inclusion of 'Fun Facts' about birds at the end of the story is definitely a plus. With the story, beautiful illustrations and a small bit of non-fiction at the end, Song for Papa Crow would be an  additional purchase for a library looking for more books about common North American birds. There are other books about birds that I would choose first though such as Have You Heard the Nesting Bird and Mama Built a Little Nest or Feathers: Not Just for Flying.

Tuesday Trailer and Review: Frank!

Title: Frank!
Author: Connah Brecon
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Pages: 32
Review Copy: ARC from publisher
Availability: September 30, 2014

Summary: 
Try as he might (or might not), Frank is a bear who is always late. And when he starts school, the trouble really begins. 

Frank has very good reasons, like the time he had to save a cat stuck in a tree and the morning he found himself challenged to a charity dance-off, and even the time he had to rescue a family of bunnies from a huge, smelly ogre.

Frank's teacher has heard enough of Frank's excuses, but what happens when a giant zombie lizard king really does attack the school? 

Sometimes there is truth to the most unusual of circumstances, and being helpful can pay off in the most unexpected ways.

My Thoughts: I have a large measure of sympathy for Frank. I am quite often five to ten minutes late everywhere I go. Things have a way of taking longer than I expect or distractions appear at the very last minute. There are surely many readers in the same boat, but even people who manage their time a little better than that can appreciate the humor in this quirky book.

The illustrations are fun and have a few hidden treasures. The first two-page spread has a store that is a "One-Stop Watch Shop" and the newspaper boy hints at things to come as he announces the headline "Reptile Rampage." The pictures are childlike and imaginative.

Frank arrives to school late every day and tells stories of wild and crazy adventures. I wasn't certain  whether readers were meant to believe them or not. As an adult, I wasn't sure I understood the subtext or the conclusion, so younger readers may be a bit confused. In the end, children will probably enjoy the silliness of the story, especially the giant zombie lizard king, and likely won't care if they know what's true or if the resolution is clear. Adult readers may be left scratching their heads though.