Category Archives: Voice

Forever, or a Long, Long Time

Posted on July 10, 2018 by

Flora and her brother, Julian, live with Person and Dad, their forever family after being in several foster placements that are hazy in their memory. Person is the name Flora secretly calls her adoptive forever mom, because she’s had too … Continue reading →

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A Different Pond

Posted on May 18, 2018 by

A gently nuanced story of an early morning fishing trip shows the beauty and struggle of a Vietnamese American family. It’s a quiet story, but the words and images are so lovely, it conjures a pure picture of one day … Continue reading →

Posted in Love that art, Picture books, Voice | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Waiting for Normal

Posted on May 7, 2018 by

When Addie and Mommers move into a lonely trailer across from a parking lot filled with potholes and a minimart gas station, Mommers is less than thrilled, but Addie makes the best of it. In fact, Addie does almost everything, … Continue reading →

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The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

Posted on March 25, 2017 by

There aren’t many picture books with unreliable narrators. The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach is one that works extremely well and that even young children will understand and enjoy. Not only is the narrator unreliable, but she us unseen until … Continue reading →

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Smile Cry

Posted on December 8, 2016 by

This sweetly simple picture book goes through the types of smiles while the flip side of the book explores the times one might cry: “An ice-cream plopping down cry. A jump out of the shadows cry”. And the two sides … Continue reading →

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The Poet’s Dog

Posted on November 22, 2016 by

Narrated by a dog who can understand humans and be understood by poets and children, The Poet’s Dog is a beautifully written story about love, loss and understanding. The dog finds a boy and a girl during a snow storm … Continue reading →

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The War That Saved My Life

Posted on November 11, 2016 by

Everything about this historical middle grade works, beginning with the title. Such an intriguing title it is, and the theme of how a war can save someone weaves delicately and truly through the novel. Never bogged down in historical detail, … Continue reading →

Posted in Voice | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

How This Book Was Made

Posted on October 28, 2016 by

How This Book Was Made is first and foremost a fictionalized funny story of how picture books are made. From battling with a tiger to word battles with an editor, there is much more about the author’s process than the illustrator’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Picture books, Voice | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Memory of Light

Posted on March 11, 2016 by

There are a lot of dark themes in this book: suicide, depression, mental illness, difficult family relationships, and yet The Memory of Light doesn’t feel overly dark. Its mood is overall, one of hope and unconventional friendship. Francisco X. Stork has … Continue reading →

Posted in Teen/Young Adult, Voice | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Lightning Dreamer

Posted on January 2, 2015 by

Margarita Engle‘s biographical and historical novel-in-verse (it is a fictionalized account of the young Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda) dives into the heart and soul of a young poet who is not allowed to read books because “girls who read too much are unladylike”. Tula … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's novels, Poetry, Voice | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments