LIS 721 Books to Inspire Childlike Wonder

Heidicker, C. (2019). Scary Stories for Young Foxes. (J. Wu, Illus.) Henry Holt and Company.       An adventurous tale with a tinge of horror, this book follows three separate plots that slowly come together as one. Our first plot is one of a litter of kits wanting to hear a story that is so frightening it will turn the tips of their tales white. They go to the den of an older fox that is known for sharing this kind of tale. This plot is what mainly pushes the book forward, coming in between each scary story to serve as a palette cleanser and to engage the reader. The kits listening to and engaging with the story serve as surrogates for the reader, asking the questions they are bound to be asking themselves and sharing reactions. Encouraging the kits to keep listening and paying attention, the old fox is also engaging with the reader, compelling them to continue reading as well.     The other two plots alternate until they come together, one followin...

Mbalia, K. (2019). Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky. Disney Hyperion.         Inspired by West African gods and African American folk tales, this book takes a stab at the tried and true formula of integrating old myths and tales with a modern world to give new life to the stories that have already inspired many. Right away, we see that this book will be magical even though it begins with very human troubles. The magic is hinted at by the glow that seems to come from the journal Tristan’s late best friend wanted him to have which only he seems to be able to see. The introduction of magic early on allows the reader to understand what kind of book this is and not be surprised when it jumps into a magical world a few chapters later. Also introduced early on so the readers are aware that it will become a major component of the story are the tales shared by Tristan’s grandmother and best friend. Based on Tristan’s emotional connection to them, the reader start...

Marshall III, J. (2015). In the footsteps of Crazy Horse. (J. Yellowhawk, Illus.) Amulet Books. This book is a historical fiction novel retelling the legends of the famed Native American warrior Crazy Horse that uses a parallel plot structure with the overarching plot of a boy taking a road trip with his grandfather to learn the history and find a solution to his bullying problem. This plot structure provides context for the stories told and gives this history a modern breath of life to keep readers invested and make the story relevant to their lives even though it happened generations ago. By connecting Crazy Horse’s stories to the life of the protagonist, the relationship between past and present are clear to the reader helping them understand the importance of learning about this history. An integral part of this story is the setting. Throughout the road trip, the boy and his grandfather hit different geographic locations which are the real settings of the historical stories being...

Tan, S. (2017). Cilla Lee-Jenkins: future author extraordinaire (D. Wulfekotte, Illus.) Square Fish. This is the story of a girl who is against the idea of sibling coming into the world because she is afraid to share her life.  Written in first person, the book is meant to take the form of a journal that the protagonist is writing to make into a bestselling novel believing that is the best way for her to stay important and remembered after her baby sister is born. This is immediately established by a letter from the author (Cilla) to the reader which opens the book to inform the reader of what to expect and why the book was written. Because it is written this way, the tone is very conversational and light, for the most part. There are moments where Cilla learns a lesson or experiences an issue which can lead to a more somber tone, but it always returns to a lighter tone. It also always stays in the realm of what is easily understandable to young readers, sometimes branching off wit...

Holm, J. & Holm, M (2005). Babymouse: queen of the world. (J. Holm & M. Holm, Illus.) Random House         Babymouse: Queen of the World is an introductory graphic novel to a series about a young mouse with lofty dreams and a strong imagination. The series includes many titles, but each is a standalone story, so you don’t need the entire series to understand the plot of one of the books. In this particular story, we get to learn a bit about who Babymouse is and how she goes about living her life. We are provided with a character breakdown page right at the beginning of the book so as not to slow down the story with introductions to the world and characters. The story takes on a plot that many children will be able to relate to: wanting to be invited to a popular kid’s event and discovering who your true friends are. This plot is similar to many others in children’s media, so a child should be able to understand it and learn the life lesson it is trying to tea...

Kibuihi, K. (2008). The amulet: the stonekeeper. (K. Kibuishi, Illus.) Graphix.       The Stonekeeper is the first book in The Amulet series, a magical fantasy series that revolves around family. From learning about ancestors to rescuing family members, the theme of family stays at the forefront of the story with a number of relationships the reader can relate to. This allows the story to stay grounded even with the crazy fantastical elements that are constantly present. To assist in portraying the unique qualities of the created world, the color scheme is unorthodox but pleasant rather than distracting. A mix of warm and cool colors like blues, purples, oranges, and browns fills each page. The illustrations also help keep up the forward momentum; there are many panels drawn with action lines which lets the readers eyes glide across the page with ease, making this a quick and fun read. Though it begins pretty somberly with a car crash resulting in the death of the fathe...

Craft, J. (2019). New kid. (J. Craft, Illus.) Quill Tree Books. New Kid follows the story of a twelve-year-old Black boy, Jordan, who starts to attend a new mostly white private school in graphic novel format. Each illustration is full of color bringing to life the wide range of characters and the many New York settings. In a full page spread split into three panels describing the crowd of students arriving to school as zombies, the street setting as a background shines through with rows of unique bodegas that could actually exist on a New York City street. Alongside the typical comic panels, this book also features sketched illustrations that are meant to represent the sketches that Jordan draws in his journal throughout the story. These spreads are black and white and look to be drawn with pen or pencil to look as close to a journal sketch as possible. The only bits of color on these spreads are items that are on the border of each image to really enhance the perspective the reader i...

James, L. (2017). Safari pug: the dog who walked on the wild side. (E. Ceulemans, Illus.) Bloomsbury Children's Books. This book can be categorized as something between a Level Three book and a Transitional Level book though it leans closer to the Transitional Level. The book includes chapters that span up to fifteen pages and tell their own short stories with simple plots like understanding a nightmare and getting tickets for the safari. Each problem introduced is resolved by the end of the chapter, but they still leave a lingering idea to encourage children to read on to the next chapter. The illustrations are not completely black and white but are also not full color either. They are a unique mix of this being mainly grayscale with the inclusion of yellow and green to give the images a little more life and math the safari theme. The typeface is large and there are a few spreads with only text or very minimal pictures. One spread is three quarters filled with text with a simple i...

Hale, D. and Hale, S. (2014). The princess in black. (L. Pham, Illus.) Candlewick Press. The Princess in Black is between a Level Three and Transitional. Most of the characteristics match Level Three but I would mark it as in-between because the content feels slightly more advanced and the book includes chapters. The words and their structure are what would mark it at Level Three with no more than eight words per line and fifteen lines per page. Pages with only text only take up about twenty percent of the book, but there is never a full spread without illustrations. These illustrations are often decorative, never really necessary but more used to break up the text into smaller looking parts. Most of the illustrations are smaller and placed in the middle of a page of text describing a reaction or action. They are more placed to bring the story to life rather than help define the text which is what brings the book up to a Level Three. This book also gets more advanced by including cha...

Tabor, C. (2018). Fox the tiger. (C. Tabor, Illus.) Balzer and Bray. Fox the Tiger is a Level 1 book meant for emergent readers. Each sentence is simple in composition consisting of recognizable words and easy noun-verb structure. Sentences like, “Now Turtle has an idea” and “I zip and zoom” include words that a young child will recognize and onomatopoeia which will help make the book more understandable and enjoyable to read. Most pages have one to two lines of text on them, which a few reaching three. In the instances where the amount of lines reaches three, the sentences are even simpler, often only consisting of three words each: “Soon Turtle is Turtle,/Rabbit is Rabbit,/and Fox is Fox.” There are only a few instances where an unfamiliar word is used. Words like, “sneaky” and “prowl” may not be as easily recognized by young readers, but their association with the animal and the illustrations will help the child understand the general definition of the word. They can remember what p...

Maillard, K. (2019). Fry bread: A Native American family story. (J. Matinez-Neal, Illus.) Roaring Brook Press.       Using the various aspects of fry bread, a culturally significant food for Native American people, Maillard describes the history and lives that make up Native American culture today. Maillard is Native American himself and grew up with fry bread as a tradition and surrounded by family with stories of being Native American in our society through the years. This gives him some authority on the tradition he writes about. His writing is very respectful towards the subject and makes it obvious to the reader that there was care involved in it. Each spread begins with the phrase, “Fry bread is…” which keeps a consistent rhythm throughout the book even as the writing gets more abstract and strays from the food itself. The abstract parts may get a bit confusing for younger readers like in the spread for “Fry bread is place.” A younger reader might have a challe...

Burcaw, S. (2017). Not so different: What you really want to ask about having a disability. (M. Carr, Illus.) Roaring Brook Press.         Shane Burcaw was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy as a baby and has been living with this disability ever since. This also means he has been dealing with the curiosities of people regarding what it is like to live with a disability since then which encouraged him to author this book on himself and his experiences. Though the title may imply that it is a book on disabilities in general, it is more specifically about Burcaw’s life with SMA describing a unique experience that cannot be applied to everyone, making him the best authority on the subject. The book is written in a conversational tone with every subject being introduced by a question he is commonly asked. The book then follows the flow of how a typical conversation revolving this subject with follow-up questions to better explain mentioned facts that many may no...

Denis, A. (2019). Planting stories: The life of librarian and storyteller Pura Belpré. (P. Escobar, Illus.) Harper. This book tells the life story of Pura Belpr é , the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City, from her visit to America in 1921 to the end of her life. The author, Anika Aldamuy Denise, felt a connection to this story because she is also a storyteller in a family of immigrants. Pura Belpr é brings a sense of pride to Denise, encouraging her to tell Pura’s story well and accurately, and she does. Spanning through the entirety of a life may seem like too large a scope, but Denise makes sure to mainly focus on the most impactful moments like creating puppets for her stories, sending her stories to a publisher, and getting married. This allows the reader to witness the full impact and scope of Pura’s life in the small amount of space a picture book provides. To keep the culture alive within the text, Denise includes Spanish words and phrases often allowing the context ...

Weatherford, C. (2021). Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre (F. Cooper, Illus.) Carolrhoda Books. This book covers the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, a topic that has only recently begun to be discussed among the general public. Written by Carole Boston Weatherford, an author known for writing about Black history in America, this book uses a narrative writing style to explain what this area was like before the massacre and how the massacre took place. There is a repetition of the phrase “Once upon a time…” inviting the reader to revel in the prosperous community of Greenwood when it was known as the “Black Wall Street.” Weatherford is able to seamlessly list all the ways in which Greenwood was almost magical, being a place where the Black community was striving and achieving more than the white community across the tracks at a time when racism and segregation were still prominent. The tone in the first half is meant to invite the reader to build a connection and admiration for this part...

Hamilton, V. (1985). The people could fly: American black folktales (L. Dillon and D. Dillon, Illus.). Alfred A. Knopf.  This is an anthology made with the pure intention of preserving a history often told incorrectly and educating the masses on a culture that rarely receives the spotlight, especially in creative histories. This comes through immediately because of the introduction Hamilton provides. In this introduction, she describes the challenges that came with keeping these stories alive within the community during times of enslavement. This introduction provides two important things for appreciating this anthology. The first is a history to prove an authority to retell and preserve these stories. The second thing is a lens in which to read the stories to truly understand them. Hamilton reminds us to keep in mind that these stories were meant to be told orally, so colloquialism are necessary to keep the spirit and tone as well as to stay the most accurate. She makes sure the r...

Campoy, F. Ada, A. (2006). Tales our abuelitas told: A Hispanic folktale collection (F. Davalos, V. Eseriva, S. Guevara, L. Torres, Illus.) Atheneum Books for Young Readers.      From the first page, one can tell that this anthology was made with a lot of heart. Written by two authors, the twelve stories included are from a range of Hispanic cultures showcasing the diversity within the Hispanic label itself since it spread to multiple countries. This is clearly part of the purpose of the anthology, which is explained in an introduction that goes through the history of Hispanic culture as a whole with all of its influences and the importance of story. The authors state, “Through stories people share their dreams, their hopes, and the lessons they learn from life, and also their celebration of the imagination and the ingenuity of a well-told tale.” Their stance on stories is clear which illuminates their reason for putting this anthology together and for retelling the stori...

Singer, M. (2010). Mirror mirror: A book of reversible poems (J. Masse, Illus.). Dutton Children's Books               Every story has more than one side. We have been raised with fairy tales only hearing one character’s perspective but what of the others? What was going through the prince’s mind when he went to save Sleeping Beauty? What did Goldilocks think when she awoke to three bears? Singer decides to explore these perspectives alongside the ones we know through her unique and original reversible poetry. A short note about this new form of poem is provided at the end of the book, though she does not share why she chose to rewrite fairy tales. Each poem is written with careful consideration for the form which allows it to be read and understood forwards and backwards. To clarify, backwards means reading line by line going up rather than down. To make this easier for the child reader, each pair of poems is written side by side so that they can be r...

Thomas, J. (2008) The Blacker the Berry (F. Cooper, Illus.). Joanna Colter Books.      A book of original poems where Joyce Carol Thomas uses her beautiful language to describe and appreciate the array of skin colors in the world. Each poem takes on a different form going from short dialogue-heavy lines to longer more imagery-filled ones. The poems take on the voices of various children expressing their appreciation for the skin they were born in and the culture that surrounds them, both attributed to their family and ancestors. From the first page, the purpose of the collection is clear: celebrating diversity in black skin colors and cultures. It takes on this goal using nature as a theme drawing comparisons between beauties in the world to the beauties of being brown or black skinned. It appreciates the positive moments of self-love and family (“I nod between bites of berries/ because/ My mother long ago/ When she nursed me with first milk/ Said, ‘You are beautiful.’ A...

 Mak, K. (2002) My Chinatown: One year in poems (K. Mak, Illus.). Harper. This book of poems describes a year in the life of a boy who just immigrated from China to America. With sections separated by the seasons, we watch this young boy slowly become accustomed to his new life and learn to embrace the joys that this new place has to offer. Through the imagery of the language, we can see the world the way the young boy does, sometimes told explicitly while other times hidden in the word choice of the poems. Right from the beginning, we can tell that the boy is not happy to have left his home for America. The first poem gives us the lines, “But it isn’t home,” and “It must be someone else’s luck this year./Not mine.” These lines explicitly tell us that the boy is unhappy to be away from Hong Kong, but there are moments where the imagery speaks for itself as well. This is seen in lines like “…where the English words taste/like metal in my mouth.” Everyone can imagine how unpleasant i...

 Morales, Y. (2018). Dreamers (Y. Morales, Illus.). Neal Porter Books             This is a book about an immigrant mother and son finding comfort in a strange new world at their local library. The language used to tell the story is beautiful poetry that utilizes Spanish words to keep the culture present. The Spanish vocabulary is not confusing and is often presented with context clues that can help the reader decipher their meaning. For instance, in the lines, “You and I became caminantes. Thousands and thousands of steps we took around this land, until the day we found…” the Spanish word is “caminantes” meaning walkers. This can be understood by the reader even if they don’t know any Spanish because of the sentence that follows and the illustration that surrounds these words. The sentence following the Spanish word implies that they are walking a lot which would make them walkers. The image shows the two walking down the street with many footprints b...