The man who wlaked between the towers / Mordicai Gerstein

Mordicai Gerstein has produced a book that touches upon many difficult topics in his Caldecott Medal winning picture book "The man who walked between the towers." Gerstein dares to address the fate of the World Trade Center towers and to make that address to children. He does this task with tack and compassion while attaching it to a "joyful memory" of the towers about a daring young man named Philippe Petit. The story of "The man who walked between the towers" may also bring up issues of doing dangerous pranks, and breaking rules that children will no doubt have questions about.

The art work in this book is beautiful. The main colours of blue, black, white and yellow and the layout evoke a feelings of freedom, daring and being alone. Heights and size are portrayed vividly with the lines and perspective of the illustrations and the ever present sky and clouds frame each picture lending it a special mood. The twin towers are a great force in each frame they appear as their gleaming white walls tower over the smaller buildings nearby. This book is worth of winning the prestigious Caldecott Medal and it is worthy of consideration by children and adults alike.

Talking like the rain: a read-to me book of poems / Selected by X. J. Kennedy and Dorothy M. Kennedy. Illustrated by Jane Dyer

“Talking like the rain” is a book of some well known rhymes. All the poems in this book have a nice rhythm, interesting repetitive phrases, clever, creative imagery and there is never a dull moment. The poems are selected from authors such as; Emily Dickenson, Ogden Nash and Robert Louis Stevenson. The art work in this book is a beautiful set of water coloured images that relate directly to the poems on the page.

These poems remind me of verses a mother would chant or sing to a baby or young child. They don’t always seem to make a lot of sense, but they flow nicely and can evoke some silly and fun images. It is a beautiful book for adults, but I’m not a sure that children of reading age would appreciate it. On the other hand maybe their simplicity and imaginativeness will appeal to readers with creative minds.

Good dog Carl / Alexandra Day

"Good dog Carl" is a beautiful little board book with a wonderful premise. Mother leaves the house and tells Carl the large Rottweiler to "Look after the baby." As soon as it is clear the mother has left, the baby crawls out of its bed onto Carl's back and the two proceed to have a grand old time. Carl and baby, bounce on mother's bed, they play dress up and run through the house with abandon. Baby swims in the fish tank and the two dance on the carpet in the front room, then rob the refrigerator. After a while, Carl gives baby a bath and puts her back to bed. Then Carl cleans up the house just in time for mother to come home and tell Carl he has been a "good dog."

This is a great book. All children love dogs and see this wonderful story of Carl and the baby would lead to long periods of discussions about dogs and the fun that Carl and baby had while mother was out of the house. The lack of text is not a problem for this book, because the pictures speak volumes. The pictures are simple and subtle, because it is the story told by the pictures that is important, not the grand artwork. I love dogs and I love this book.

Helen Keller her life in pictures / George Sullivan

"Helen Keller her life in pictures" is primarily a book of black and white photos of Helen Keller, the two significant translators in her life and the important people she met in her lifetime. The photos are beautifully done and are well complimented by the white pages with black text. The text gives the highlights of Keller's life; her accomplishments, her important contacts, her charity work and even her political proclivities.

Although the text for this book is not very extensive or detailed, it is clearly written and logically presented in a chronological order. Assuming all of the facts are correct, this book would prove to be a nice introduction for any younger child that has a couple of years reading under his or her belt. This book is certainly not an highly detailed, but is just right for a child who is simply curious about Kelller's life, or for a younger child who is possibly doing a project on a famous person.

Jack and the Beanstalk / Steven Kellogg

Steven Kellogg is one of my favourtie illustrators and his version of “Jack and the Beanstalk” does not disappoint me. The story is from the basic fairy tale with which most readers are familiar. The author supplies a note telling readers that the book is based on an 1889 version titled “English Fairy Tales.” In the story, Jack trades his family’s last means of support, an old cow, for five magical beans. When the beans grow into a towering beanstalk, Jack climbs into the clouds and risks fooling a giant to steal valuables on three different occasions.

Kellogg’s illustrations fill the pages of “Jack and the Beanstalk” with colour, mood, fine details and imagination. Kellogg’s animated characters are very expressive and action seems to flow with lines and colours on every page. Each corner of every page of this book is filled with stars, or stairs, or candles, or cats, or Jack poking his head out of an oven. The giant is illustrated as a monstrous, angry, creature that is out for blood, while Jack is pictured as a handsome, happy young man who is obviously out for adventure.

DK First Nature Encyclopedia / Bingman, C. & Morgan, B. (eds)

This “First Nature Encyclopedia” is another quality publication by DK Publishing. The reading level is somewhat lower than the book about dogs that I reviewed earlier, and that is probably reflected in the classification of the earlier book as being in the “Eyewitness” series. This nature encyclopedia illustrates various habits around the world and gives details of those systems on several pages. For example Desert Regions are broken down into desert animals, plants, after dark, the Sonoran Desert, rainfall and oases.

Once again the organization and content of the text is very good. As mentioned earlier, the content is appropriate for a younger reader and as far as I can tell the facts are accurate. The illustrations are as fantastic as all DK publications. Photos are large and bold and the backgrounds are landscape photos of that typical habitat. Little touches’ like questions at the bottom of the page about the habitat and “curiosity quizzes,” add a game like atmosphere to this book.

Be Careful What You Wish for..

"Be Careful What You Wish for.." is another fast paced horror / thriller from the R. L. Stine, Goosebumps series. In this story, klutzy Samantha Byrd meets a strange woman who is lost in the woods. Sam helps the woman find her find her way to a familiar street and the woman grants her three wishes. Samantha who is perpetually picked on by some girls at her school blurts a wish to make her life better and things go downhill from there.

The elements in this book seem very similar to "Chicken Chicken" which I reviewed earlier, which suggests that this series is very formulaic. Elements like magic, a desperate quest to fix a problem, disbelief and conflict among friends, and a surprise turn-of-events ending. This book was an easy read and although it is not very intellectually challenging, it book is interesting enough that even reluctant readers would have a hard time putting down.

Eyewitness Dog / Juliet Clutton-Brock

“Eyewitness Dog” is a lush, colourful, detailed volume about dogs. This well illustrated book covers everything from; the evolution and behaviour of dogs to the class and care of this domesticated wolf. “Dog” provides the reader with large quantities of detailed and accurate information about dogs, written in a clear and somewhat scientific fashion. “Dog” does not dumb down the language for children, so a reader can not have a low level of reading skills to understand the text of this book. The images in “Dog” run from large coloured photos of and drawings of dogs and images of carvings and dog skeletons all on a white back drop. These marvelous illustrations combine to produce a visual feast for the eyes and with the excellent information, a glossary, index and list of useful websites, makes “Eyewitness Dog” a valuable reference tool for children and adults alike who what to know about man’s best friend.