NOTES FROM THE WINDOWSILL ISSN 1078-8697 An electronic journal of book reviews. Copyright 1997 Wendy E. Betts. Reproduction for personal and non-commercial use is permitted only if this copyright notice is retained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission. Mail web@armory.com with comments or questions. For info and archives, see http://www.armory.com/~web/notes.html
This simple novelty book takes a family of bears on a treasure hunt for their Christmas gifts. Turning flaps reveals pictures and clues to help readers find the missing presents, a game which enlivens the nondescript illustrations. Very young children may need help with some of the harder items; more advanced searchers can also look for the Christmas decorations hidden throughout the book. (2-5)
(reprinted from the hardcover review, volume 4, number 11b)
This lively wordless book offers a less dreamy, more realistic view of Christmas than most holiday picture books. Crowded, bustling scenes show a family shopping at a mall, making decorations and addressing cards, picking a tree, going to church and so on. After Christmas dinner, we see that the childrenŐs bedroom is overflowing with toys, and the kitchen is overflowing with dirty dishes--but the mother and father wash up, and enjoy a cozy evening by the fire. Finally the decorations have to come down and the pine needles get vacuumed up, Christmas lights go on sale, people flock to the "returns" counter, and a mound of trash is left to be collected. But amid the rather sad debris of the holiday, there are reminders that Christmas will come again: new trees are sprouting among the stumps, and the Christmas Club payments begin anew. This cheerful book is a nice conversation starter; it could even spark discussions about good reasons to make holiday celebration more environmentally friendly. (3-8)
Written with a surprising, delightful touch of irreverence, this book succeeds in being both an amusing story and a loving depiction of the Nativity. It's told from the point of view of a grumpy innkeeper who is having a very bad night: first he's disturbed by people wanting lodging, next a bright light wakes him up ("That's _all_ I need," he grumbles), and finally a chorus of heavenly voices sends him out to the stable in a rage. But when he sees the baby that was born that night, he rushes to wake up everyone else in the inn, so that they can see the beautiful baby too. And what with all the singing and rejoicing, "no one got much sleep that night." This book will be most enjoyed by readers who already know the basic story and can appreciate the humorous perspective. Unsophisticated but very expressive sketches add a lot to the fun, as in the picture of the three wise men, whose crowns are knocked right off their heads by the force of the innkeeper's cry, "AROUND THE BACK!" * (4-8)
(reprinted from the hardcover review, volume 1, number 53)
A little boy gets a trip in Santa's sleigh and a special wish granted in this warm and pleasant story. When Edward finds the book Santa dropped one Christmas Eve--the book that holds the names and addresses of all the children in the world--Santa asks him to come along and help out by holding the book. But when Santa's glasses fall off, Edward, who has never been able to read, has to try to read the book for him. By morning, Edward can proudly read the new book Santa left him. Sympathetic characters and cozy, beautifully designed illustrations make this an enjoyable family story. (4-8)
(reprinted from the hardcover review, volume 4, number 11k)
To give background on Kwanzaa, this book offers a very simplified introduction to the history of African Americans, from the beginning of slavery to the civil rights movement. "In 1966 a man named Dr. Maulana Karenga was one of the people involved in the civil rights movement. As part of his fight for African America he created a festival. He called this festival Kwanzaa." The book then explains the basics of the Kwanzaa celebration. Each page features a colorful segment of an African design and faces an illustration; although most of the pictures are straightforward depictions of the text, some make interesting uses of symbolism. But overall, this isn't a very engaging book and its description of Kwanzaa is pretty limited: for example, all it says about the fourth day, ujamaa is "this means that we support African-American businesses." One craft project and recipe at the end of the book seem like afterthoughts. (6-10)
(reprinted from the hardcover review, volume 2, number 140)
The first of Breathed's children's books not based on his "Bloom County" characters is probably also his very best, a marvelous story about a nine-year-old Scrooge who learns the value of faith and caring in a most bizarre fashion. The "Guaranteed True Christmas Story" is told in the words of Breathed's father, Red Breathed, called that not because of "the thatch of orange debris atop his head that made it look like a freckled ostrich egg on fire," but because of his overriding passion for Buck Tweed, the Red Ranger of Mars, a thirties movie hero. It's the middle of the Depression and young Red Breathed is as depressed as anyone else, longing for an Official Buck Tweed bicycle, knowing he won't get it, and blaming the adults in his life for failing him. But when he discovers a mysterious old man named Saunder Cloešs, who has the power to make dogs levitate, if not reindeers fly, it seems that Red may get his deepest wish after all. What happens next is a wonderful surprise, a heartwarming, magical ending impossible to forget. Breathed's rich, surreal illustrations bring out both the sophisticated cynicism and the childish fantasy in the story, playing with textures, dimensions and perspectives for a multiplicity of effects and making the most of the 1930's setting with a barrage of visual references. The text, though, is even better, filled with irony and imagery and a biting wit that keeps its warmth from ever becoming soppy sentimentality.* (8 & up)
(reprinted with permission from The WEB: Celebrating Children's Literature)
There are few children's books that manage to meaningfully connect Christmas and Chanukah; this is one of them. Based on the author's relationship with Elijah Pierce, a barber who won international renown for his woodcarvings, it is a deeply personal and moving story about a true friendship that crossed age, racial and religious barriers. Michael Rosen, as a young, white, Jewish boy, never thought it was strange to be friends with a 84 year old black man who was also a devout Christian. But when Elijah gives him a Christmas present, a carving of an angel, Michael is troubled. How can he keep a Christian symbol--even worse, a graven image--in a Jewish home? With his parent's help, Michael finds the perfect resolution to his dilemma, one which shows that friendships have room for all kinds of differences. This first-person, reminiscent narrative has a voice which is warm and true. The bold, colorful paintings by Aminah Robinson--another friend of Elijah's--are sometimes too oddly proportioned to be successful, but the visual drama they bring to the story nicely completes the loving tribute to a man who was obviously a very special person. (8 & up)
-- Wendy E. Betts, Editor, "Notes from the Windowsill."
"One of the last books I read was _Slaughterhouse Five_...Before that, I read _How to
Eat Fried Worms_ again, and before that, _Tales of the
City_." -- Anne Fine, _The Book of the Banshee_.