PPBF: Adrift At Sea

And now on to today's Perfect Picture Book Friday pick*

The true story of Tuan Ho,
told by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch and Brian Deines

Adrift At Sea
A Vietnamese Boy's Story of Survival

Written Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch and Tuan Ho
Illustrated by Brian Deines, bio

Pajama Press, 2017
Ages 6-9, 40 pp


Themes:
Immigrants, Cultural Diversity, Vietnam


Opening:
When I come home from school today, a jug of water and bags of dried food sit by the door.
Ma gathers me in her arms. "Are you leaving me now too?" I ask.

Synopsis:
The Ho family live in Vietnam in the 1980's. This is the story of how Tuan and his sisters made a daring escape from that country, were lost at sea, and survived. The book includes photographs and details to inform the reader about Tuan Ho's family members, making the journey very personal. The author's note gives facts about the Vietnam War and the subsequent struggles of refugees.


What I Love:
This book is a beautifully written account of a harsh emigration from a young boy's perspective. The author includes sensory details to heighten the experience. The fine art paintings are beautiful, evoking a strong sense of realism.

I did think the book needed a bit more context for young readers. The enormous cast introduced in the first few pages was also a bit confusing. The solid back matter could be used by adults to provide a framework and summary before reading the story to children. There were places where I wished the art was more illustrative. I think the artist could have used some spreads to heighten the tension, reinforcing what was unsaid in the text. Yet the art was breathtaking, definitely creating a sense of mood on every spread.

Overall, this book is a much needed and honest picture of something many immigrants experience. Despite its shortcomings, I recommend Adrift at Sea for use in homes and classrooms.


Bonus: 

Culture map from Kids Press Magazine

1. Try kid-friendly recipes for fried rice, noodles, or summer rolls from A Week in the Life of the World.

2. Duolingo is my favorite app for learning languages. Try a few minutes of Vietnamese for free, and you'll be hooked.

3. Fluent in Three Months adds language games to get your kids moving and articulate.

4. Print and color Vietnamese paper dolls from education.com.

5. In case you missed the other CYBILS Award finalist reviews, I've included the links below:
Hatching Chicks in Room 6
Once Upon A Jungle
Shark Lady
Dazzle Ships
Danza!
What Makes A Monster?

6. Check out these and more Perfect Picture Books at your local library.

A Different Pond, family life
of Vietnamese immigrants

Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories,
Folk Tales

The Little Refugee,
Vietnamese Emigration

Maya Lin, Vietnamese architect

When Jesse Came Across the Sea,
Jewish immigrant story

The Wall, German escape story

Light in the Darkness,
African Escape story

The Name Jar,
Korean-American story

Have you reviewed a Perfect Picture Book along this theme? Please leave the link in the comments below. Thanks!

Check out all the recommended titles for Perfect Picture Book Friday
for Friday, May 11, 2018 available on Susanna Leonard Hill's blog.

*As a CYBILS second round judge, I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Multicultural Children's Book Day 2018

How are you promoting an interest in diverse cultures with your children?

#ReadYourWorld

Read with a child this weekend and open their world to the far horizon.


I regularly review picture books featuring different languages, cultures, and countries.

Here are some of the Perfect Picture Book Reviews from the past months.
Blue Sky, White Stars, by Sarvinder Naberhaus and Kadir Nelson
Moses Goes To The Circus, by Isaac Millman
The Shark God, by Rafe Martin and David Shannon
Sleep Tight, Snow White, by Jen Arena and Lorena Alvarez
Never Forgotten, by Patricia McKissack and Leo and Diane Dillon

For young readers, try
Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen, by Debbi Michiko Florence and Elizabet Vukovik
Alvin Ho is Allergic to The Great Wall, The Forbidden Palace, and Other Tourist Attractions, by Lenore Look and LeUyen Pham

A few of my favorite multicultural middle grade reads are
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, by Uma Krishnaswami and Abigail Halpin
Save Me a Seat, by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan
The Whole Story of Half a Girl, by Veera Hiranandani

I don't read much YA, but Nora & Kettle, by Lauren Nicolle Taylor, was fantastic—earth-shattering—a biracial love story set in a dark part of America's past.

Set in 1953, NORA AND KETTLE explores the collision of two teenagers facing extraordinary hardship. Their meeting is inevitable, devastating, and ultimately healing. 

–From the author's website

Blue Sky, White Stars,
by Sarvinder Naberhaus and Kadir Nelson

Nora & Kettle, by Lauren Nicolle Taylor
Cover by Marya Heiman

The Whole Story of Half a Girl,
 by Veera Hiranandani

Alvin Ho, by Lenore Look and LeUyen Pham

PPBF: The Shark God

And now on to today's Perfect Picture Book Friday pick

The Shark God, by Rafe Martin and David Shannon

The Shark God

Written by Rafe Martin
Illustrated by David Shannon

Arthur A. Levine, Imprint of Scholastic Books, 2001
Ages 4-8, 370L


Themes:
Folk Tales, Culture


Opening:
It was long, long ago that two children, a brother and sister, tried to find someone to help them save a shark.


Synopsis:
The Shark God is a retelling of an ancient Hawaiian fable, Kauhuhu The Shark God of Molokai.
Two children who live in a hard-hearted village save a shark from a slow death. In their excitement, they break a tribal law and are sentenced to execution. Their parents seek help from the powerful and frightening Kauhuhu. With his guidance, the children are freed and reunited with their family.


What I Love:
Master storyteller, Rafe Martin, has made this unusual tale accessible to modern readers and has tweaked the story to center on the children and to include a more concrete ending. With bold color and energetic illustrations, this Hawaiian folk tale leaps off the shelf. Kids will love the heroic nature of the sharks and the magical details.

While I planned to review a contemporary picture book featuring characters from an under-represented culture for Multicultural Children's Book Day, I couldn't resist this striking picture book with its rare tale of adventure and its strong theme of callousness vs. kindness.


Bonus: 

Make a classic bottle catch game from Krokotak.

1. Read Kauhuhu's story in the sacred texts, available on Hawaiian Legends of Ghosts and Ghost-Gods.

2. The University of Hawai'i at Manoa has created a detailed index of Shark god stories, compiled by the Hawai'i State Library.

3. DKFindOut! has created pages of Shark facts, or visit SharkSider for a compendium of sharks, detailed by species.

4. Make a shark-shaped cootie catcher origami with instructions from Easy Peasy and Fun.

5. Support Multicultural Children's Book Day and #ReadYourWorld. Find suggested reading, classroom kits, and more on their website.

6. Check out these and more Perfect Picture Books at your local library.

Reviewed by Julie

Reviewed by Vivian

Reviewed by Clar

Reviewed by Patricia

Reviewed by Maria

Reviewed by Joanne

Have you reviewed a Perfect Picture Book along this theme? Please leave the link in the comments below. Thanks!

Check out all the recommended titles for Perfect Picture Book Friday
for Friday, January 26, 2018 available on Susanna Leonard Hill's blog.

Dia de Los Ninos

Book Day is here!

El Dia de Los Libros

Join libraries and schools around the country in celebrating Dia. No events in your area? Organize an event of your own or donate some diverse books to your kids' classrooms.


I just finished Nora & Kettle, Clean Teen Publishing, 2015. This first book in the Paper Stars series had me riveted to the page despite its Mature rating. Racial prejudice and disparity are major themes in the book along with the intense scenes of physical abuse. As uncomfortable as those scenes were, each felt like a necessary part of the narrative. Though the Peter Pan veneer was forced, the characters stayed with me long after the last chapter.

Written by Lauren Nicolle Taylor
Cover by Marya Heiman

Drawing from Memory

The Inker's Shadow

Allen Say's graphic memoirs are beautiful and moving. His experiences present an opportunity to analyze some disappointing parts of our national history.



I haven't read it yet, but others have recommended A Place Where Sunflowers Grow for the picture book crowd, Children's Book Press, 2012.

Written by Amy Lee-Tai
Illustrated by Felicia Hoshino

El Dia de Los Ninos comes once a year, but Dia is a year-long commitment. Let's pledge to introducing cultural diversity to local families through books...todas las dias!

PPBF: Never Forgotten

Today's Perfect Picture Book Friday pick


Never Forgotten, a new folktale about slavery, hope, and courage

Never Forgotten

Written by Patricia McKissack
Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon

Schwartz & Wade, 2011
Random House Children's Books
Kindergarten and up
48pp, 3100 words, 710L

Themes:
Folk Tale, Culture, Poetry


Opening:
BEWARE
The drums speak
A single message—a warning:
Beware
Of pale men riding in large seabirds
With great white wings.
Beware
Of men with the blue of the sky in their eyes,
Who steal upriver
Through the Great Forest mists
And into the Savannah Lands in search of slaves—
Us.
Beware!
Hear the moans and groans of their captives—
Hundreds, thousands stolen.
We rarely speak of the Taken,
But I will, just once,
Because you asked.

Synopsis:
Told in 21 non-rhyming poems, this imagined tale of an African father communicates the pain and longing which must be felt by a parent whose child has been taken from them. The story follows Mufasa, a boy born in West Africa, the eighth in a line of skilled blacksmiths. Mufasa loves his savannah home, but one day he disappears. Back in the village, his father consults with the spirits of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind. Each in their turn tries to rescue or find the kidnapped boy, but they are powerless to free him from the slavers. In the end, the father receives some consolation, and the glimpses we see of Mufasa show him to be courageous and enterprising, shaping his own destiny as best he can, with the indomitable spirit of a lion.


What I Love:


An interior illustration of
the slave market, by Leo and Diane Dillon

The beauty of this book makes me shiver. The author's note explains how McKissack began researching slavery in the Caribbean and how she crafted a creation tale out of the pieces she unearthed. But her story goes much deeper than a folk tale. She mines the depth of human emotion
and creates layers of story, a cautionary tale to never forget the cruelties of the past. The story seed was a comment she heard in Barbados, that hurricanes are mother Africa searching for her children. She has chosen to tell the story in poetry, harkening back to the oral traditions of Mali, where the Griots kept their people's history intact through storytelling. The words are achingly well-chosen. The text is spare. McKissack makes three thousand words feel like five hundred.

Leo and Diane Dillon have painted decades of stunning artwork. The illustrations for this picture storybook are no exception. The stained glass effect of the watercolors and acrylics is a fitting accompaniment to the poems. The jewel-tones are like sun reflecting off the ocean. Like the rich fabrics of West Africa. Like the vibrancy of the Caribbean Islands. All together, this book is powerful, and lovely, and sad: one that should be read and loved by families everywhere.

Bonus:

1. The International Slavery Museum sheds more light on the stories behind the slave trade in the Carribean. You can also find more at the National Archives.


KiinderArt has instructions for teaching a kente fabric craft.

2. For further reading on slavery in early America, explore the PBS and American Abolitionist websites.

3. Did you know the rich legacy African-American blacksmiths have left to America? Start your search with the Lowcountry Digital History Initiative or the National Park Service. Trace the roots further back to the West African blacksmiths on The Metropolitan Museum of Art's website.

4. African storytelling techniques made their way to the islands. Read about Caribbean folklore history from Stabroek News. You'll find familiar folktale characters on RealJamaica and read about living storytellers who are carrying on the tradition at CaribbeanBeat.

5. TeacherVision has compiled lesson plans for teaching African folktales. Use the sample stories from the AnikeFoundation or some of those found on VictoriaFalllsGuide.

6. Brown Bookshelf has posted an enlightening and encouraging interview with the author. And you'll find a powerful interview with the illustrators on Kirkus.

7. Check out these and more Perfect Picture Books at your local library. 

Reviewed by Clara

Reviewed by Joanna



Reviewed by Susanna

Reviewed by Joanne

Reviewed by Lindsey

Reviewed by Joy via Jilanne





Reviewed by Kirsten

Reviewed by Beth



Have you reviewed a Perfect Picture Book along this theme? Please leave the link in the comments below. Thanks!

Check out all the recommended titles for Perfect Picture Book Friday
for Friday, March 31, 2017 available on Susanna Leonard Hill's blog.

MMGM: Answering the Cry for Freedom

Today's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday pick

Celebrate George Washington's birthday by reading American Revolutionary history.

Answering the Cry for Freedom:
Stories of African Americans and the American Revolution

Answering the Cry for Freedom
Written by Gretchen Woefle
Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Calkins Creek, 2016
Ages 9-12, 240 pages, 1040L

Themes:
History, Slavery, Revolutionary War, Biography

Opening:
In 1775, when the American Revolution began and colonists took up arms to free themselves from British rule, slavery existed in every one of the thirteen colonies. In 1776, when the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, declaring that “all men” were entitled to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” they didn’t really mean everyone. The American Patriots did not fight to give life, liberty, and basic civil rights to five hundred thousand African Americans enslaved in the North and South. Yet African Americans living in Boston, where Patriot passions blazed, and those living on isolated southern plantations heard talk about liberty and equality.

And those ideas were as contagious as smallpox.

In 1775 and again in 1779, the British issued a proclamation offering freedom to slaves owned by Patriots. Hundreds, then thousands of men, women, and children fled to British army territory—and freedom. Sixty thousand African Americans became Black Loyalists—loyal to Great Britain—because this was their best chance for freedom.

George Washington understood their choice. He wrote: “Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.” Among African Americans, the “liberty plant” took root in many places, in many ways. Most slaves in the American colonies did not flee to the British during the Revolution. But they sought freedom in other ways: by joining the Continental army, by buying their freedom from their owners, and by running away. Then came their struggle for equality.

This book tells the story of a hidden chapter of the American Revolution: how African Americans answered the Revolution’s cry for freedom...

Agrippa Hull

Jarena Lee

Thoughts:
Even as American Patriots fought for independence from British rule during the Revolutionary War, oppressive conditions remained in place for the thousands of enslaved and free African Americans living in this country. But African Americans took up their own fight for freedom by joining the British and American armies; preaching, speaking out, and writing about the evils of slavery; and establishing settlements in Nova Scotia and Africa. The thirteen stories featured in this collection spotlight charismatic individuals who answered the cry for freedom, focusing on the choices they made and how they changed America both then and now. Includes individual bibliographies and timelines, author note, and source notes
— from the publisher's website

 

Includes stories of Boston King, Agrippa Hull, James Armistead Lafayette, Phyllis Wheatley, Mumbet Freeman, Prince Hall, Mary Perth, Ona Judge, Sally Hemmings, Paul Cuffe, John Kizell, Richard Allen, and Jarena Lee.  Standard back matter completes the collection.

This book features important figures in history presented with striking honesty. The text is readable, enjoyable, educational. The author makes the people come alive, though the facts about them are limited. She delves into their motives and allows us to view a more comprehensive picture of early America. I had of course heard of Oney Judge and James Lafayette, but Paul Cuffe and John Kinzell were completely new to me. I appreciated the way Woefle integrated the biographical facts into the setting, grounding her portraits and making them absolutely relatable to her audience. While I definitely recommend this book for the classroom, I am sure the engaging style will appeal to recreational readers as well.


Bonus: 
 1. If you enjoyed Answering the Cry for Freedom, you may like Gretchen's historical picture books: Write on Mercy!: The Secret Life of Mercy Otis Warren and Mumbet's Declaration of Independence.



Write On, Mercy!,
by Gretchen Woefle and Alexandra Wallner

Mumbet's Declaration of Independence,
by Gretchen Woefle and Alix Delinois

 

2. To learn more about the Black Loyalists, many of whom emigrated to Nova Scotia after the war, try these links: BlackLoyalist, BlackLoyalistHeritageCenter, BlackPast.org

To read more about a full-spectrum Revolutionary War, visit Africans in America, The National Parks Service, or AmericanRevolution.org

You'll find a few more biographies on the American Thinker  website.


3. Other MMGM reviewers recommend
The Seeds ofAmerica trilogy by Laurie Halse Anderson, Covers by Chris Silas Neal.


Chains, book #1
Reviewed by Sue
and Joanne

Forge, book #2
Reviewed by Joanne,
Patricia, and
 Marsh and Emiline

Reviewed by Karen
and Patricia

 

The Underground Abductor,
by Nathan Hale
Reviewed by Aeicha

Shackles from the Deep,
by Michael H. Cottman,
Reviewed by Greg

The Slave Dancer, by Paula Fox
Cover Art by Wendy Popp
Reviewed by Pam
 

4. Calkins Creek, an imprint of Boyd's Mill Press, offers an teacher's guide to accompany the book. I've copied the link to the PDF from their website.

 

5. For more abolitionists, trailblazers, and poets...


Autobiography
 of Olaudah Equiano

The truth about
Sojourner Truth

Collected writings
 of Phyllis Wheatley

 

Have you reviewed a Marvelous Middle Grade Book along this theme? Please leave the link in the comments below. Thanks!

Check out all the Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations for February 20, 2017.

MMGM started way back in 2010 by Shannon Messenger, author of Keeper of Lost Cities. Each week, participating bloggers review our favorite books for ages 8-12. Why not join us?