locomotive. brian floca. (185)

i picked up locomotive by brian floca because it was the caldecott medal winner for 2014.  i discovered this new via nypl's instagram:

i have to admit that i didn't read the book,  partially due to laziness, but i am going to go on record by saying because i wanted to base my judgment on the illustrations alone.  i only looked at the illustrations which in my opinion were great were not medal worthy.  i think the medal should have gone to journey by aaron becker.  the illustrations in locomotive but i found the fact that journey was a picture book sans words made it more worthy. 

from what i saw locomotive was filled with great facts about trains and i am sure would make a great gift for a young boy (i might get it for my uncle karl), but it was not my cup of tea.  the illustrations were nice and i included some of my favorite below:  

(i loved the shakiness of these photos.)

i mean maybe i should read it to give it a full evaluation, but i'm not.  it's already overdue, i own like $1 for it.
but i will say that i am disappointed with both the newbery medal and caldecott medal winners this year.

henry's freedom box. ellen levine. kadir nelson.

i purchased henry's freedom box from the beale library book sale.  i bought it because it was a caldecott winner and only 50 cents. in retrospect, i feel that the library should have charged more for it.

i didn't read it immediately and then while coming across it while packing, decided to save it to read for black history month.

it is a beautiful story based on the actual events of henry "box" brown's escape to the north.  i had never heard of brown prior to this book and was impressed yet sadden by the risk he took for freedom.

the book opened with henry as a child, not knowing his age because he was a slave.  his master died and he was separated from his family.  with his new master, he found a wife and they had children.  then one day, his wife and children were sold.  henry was devastated and decided to escape to freedom in the north.  his plan was to mail himself.  thankfully his plan was successful and he made it to philadelphia.  his first day of freedom then became his birthday.

the afterword explained in that brown mailed himself from richmond, virginia and his journey was twenty-seven hours.  his story was shared in newspapers in europe and america. it amazed me that his plan worked, it seemed too outrageous but then again any risk is worth it if the end result is freedom.

although it ends with henry gaining freedom, i was still sadden by the fact that brown had lost his family.  henry lost not only his wife and children but his mother and siblings as well.  it still saddens and outrages me that  slaveowners could take separate child and parent without an remorse.  it is so cruel and inhumane.

i was appreciative that the book shed light on the dividing of the family unit.  it included many aspects of slavery, even though a children's novel, henry's freedom box gave an honest portrayal of slavery.  it did not shy away from the mention of abusiveness and violence of slaveowners.  and interesting enough, many of the themes presented reminded me of the toni morrison beloved.  in beloved, the division is family is the cause for their escape to freedom.  also henry's admiration of the free bird he saw on the day he left his mother reminded me of the envy of the rooster's freedom from beloved, both demonstrating the low status of slaves.  another theme that the book did not ignore was the willingness of slaves to harm themselves in

hopes of freedom.  henry burning his hand to help him escape, and the act of

running away itself.  slavery diminished the human spirit so individuals did all they could to be free and to feel and be treated as human.  

i all got all this from it and though i did not go into as deep a conversation with my brother when we read this, we did discuss some of the themes.  he enjoyed the book because it a a great story.  but it also brought up some questions about slavery on his end, which we discussed. and this is why henry's freedom box is a great story, it is an engaging story but provokes kids to think about slavery in a different way than just something they learn about in school.

oh and as mentioned before, this is a caldecott medal winner, here are my favorite illustrations:  

outside over there. (129) and higglety pigglety pop! or there must bemore to life. (130). maurice sendak.

in the maurice sendak documentary "tell them anything you want", sendak discussed two books i hadn't read before, "outside over there" and "higglety pigglety pop!".  they both meant a lot to him so i had to read them.

as i discussed in the post about the documentary, sendak was traumatized by a newspaper photograph he saw as a child of the lindbergh baby's remains.  as a result of this photo he became obsessed with the case and was quite knowledgable about it.   as he explained in the documentary, this book was about the lindbergh baby and also his sister who took care of him.

the story is the tale of a sister who is charge of her baby sister and who resents the responsibility a little.  one day goblins came in and took away the baby to make her into a bride.  the sister crawled out backward but after the advice of her father's song from his ship and sea, discovered the way to save her baby sister.  the older sister played her own and the goblins danced until they became a stream.  then, the sisters returned safely home.  the older one proud to take care of the younger one.

it is a scary story especially for children but with a happy ending.  sendak's giving the lindbergh baby a safe return home.

"outside over there" received a cadecott honor for its illustrations.  the book is filled with beautiful yet dark pictures.  haunting yet lovely, like this one of the baby being kidnap and the ice replica left in her place.  

in the documentary, sendak points out that there is an drawing of the actual

lindbergh baby:

such a sad fate for the lindbergh baby but "outside over there" demonstrated how book are therapy for writers.

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in the documentary, sendak also mentioned how he wished he had written another book like "higglety pigglety pop! of there must be more to life." after reading it, i wish he had written more like it.  it reminded me of "alice in wonderland" with it's clever word play and puns.  in addition to its cast of colorful animal characters.

as sendak shared in the documentary, it featured his dog, jennie.  jennie was in a handful for sendak's books but in this one she was the featured character:

in the story, jennie has it all.  everything she needs and would want and a master that loves her.  but she is nagged by this feeling that there is more to life so she lives on an adventure.

i would retell the story but its really one you need to experience firsthand because there is a bit of wordplay.  lets just say in the end, jennie gets her adventure!

i will say that i did expect jennie to return home to her master, having discovered there really wasn't much to life as she had expected.  i thought the book was going to be a warning against wanting too much of life. but luckily i was wrong.  i was disappointed with myself for the conclusion i had expected.  kids and adults should be encouraged to go out into the world and discover it.  growing up in a small town it was an easy option to stay home.  thank my lucky stars, i went out into the world, like jennie, and was able to have experiences that would have never occurred if i stayed in delano.  i realized that kids need to told there is more to life than what they have seen.  they need to be adventurous.  it's in important lesson for kids of all ages.

(ps i think this would make a greater graduation gift than "oh the places you will go.")

books featuring the art of jon klassen. (108-110)

one of the things i enjoy about subbing at albany park school is when the kids have reading time with mrs. perigo.  she used to the school librarian and now goes once a month to read classes for a half an hour.

one day she brought in jon klassman's new book "this is not my hat" by jon klassman because it won the 2013 caldecott medal for its illustrations.  i knew of klassman's first book "i want my hat back" but decided to check it out along with his new book.  i also saw he illustrated a book for lemony snicket and checked it out too.

"i want my hat back" is the story of a bear who can not find his hat.  he asks a handful of animals who have not seen it.  he even asked the rabbit who took it (but he didn't notice).  the bear eventually get his hat back by sitting on the rabbit.  lol

my auntie always tells me if people mess with me, i can just sit on them. so i liked the bear's style:

in "this is not my hat" a tiny fish is swimming around in a hat that is not his. but who is the owner?!?! turns out to be quite a large fish that eats the thief.  

"the dark" was written by lemon snicket and is the perfect story for a child that is afraid of the dark.  the dark beckons the little boy throughout the dark, dark house to the dark, dark basement . . . to give him a lightblub!  how friendly the dark actually is!

i also loved how the book was filled darkness (not scary things but actual dark) as seen in the photos below.

i really enjoy klassman's art.  a gallery in so cal featured his art.  i also found a website that sells birthday cards designed by him.   i might get some for decor when i finally move into an apt.

but I'd you have a kid, you should check out these books.  and if you like art, you should check them out too.