Young Minds, Big Shelves

A blog about children & teen books. ENL0051: Reader's Advisory Services - Child

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Teen Book Talk - Link sent via email

"Hope is our Only Wing" by Rutendo Tavengerwei.

This is a gripping story about Shamiso, a 15-year-old girl with a tough attitude who is struggling with grief and bewilderment following her journalist father's recent death.

Shamiso has moved with her mother from England to Zimbabwe (where she hasn’t lived since she was five years old). At her new boarding school, Shamiso meets Tanyaradzwa; the two girls couldn’t be more different from one another, but they form a friendship. Tanya’s life has been turned upside down by a diagnosis, and for her, hope is her only reason to keep fighting.

As the story progresses, Shamiso begins to confront her terrible fear of loss. She’s scared to get close to another person, especially if they seem to be hiding something. Shamiso is sacred of opening herself up to more pain. Even more, she is on a journey of truly discovering what really happened to her father on the night of the strange and deadly car crash.

With short, fast-paced chapters, this novel is character-driven with dramatic plot twists. The book is edgy and explores subjects such as family, friendship, social cliques, privilege, corruption, and politics. Without realizing it, readers can discover a part of Zimbabwe's history during an economic and political crisis. We are also going through a crisis in Canada with Coronavirus; the anxiety and stress that comes with these kinds of events can be relatable. Shamiso’s story is heart-wrenching, but you know, she fights to keep her head up ... just as we must.

Just because this novel is set in a different country and in a different year, it will connect with readers. This story will captivate teens interested in politics; if realistic, contemporary fiction is what you find yourself drawn to, I can tell you that you won't be able to put this book down!

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Good Little Wolf

Written by Nadia Shireen

Greetings parents, teachers, and readers of all ages! In this blog post, I will be introducing a fun picture book called Good Little Wolf by Nadia Shireen. Targeting 5-year-olds, this book pulls elements from the classic stories of The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood, allowing for a more meaningful impact with the child.

The story follows a good little wolf, Rolf, on his journey to becoming a real wolf. It begins with him being praised by Mrs. Boggins (the grandma) for his good behavior; then, he is warned that not all wolves are good. This foreshadows his encounter with the Big Bad Wolf and his eventual attempts to display “real” wolf behavior.

When introducing this book, consider asking the child what other stories have a wolf in it. Even if the child cannot recall a story, the very first two pages show the Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs, which are characters from fairy-tales that incorporate a stereotypical wolf figure. This is a visual clue which helps the child predict the upcoming events in the story.

The author foreshadows the introduction of the Big Bad Wolf in this story by having Rolf walk down a literal dark path. The text on this page says, “Rolf hoped he would never bump into a big bad wolf”. This is an opportunity to pause and ask the child what they think will happen next. At age five, it might be difficult for the child to come up with an answer; feel free to give them hints and suggestions.

The very next page is the big encounter. There are a couple important, yet subtle elements on this page in which you can draw the child’s attention to: light versus dark and big versus little being the most prominent. The juxtaposition of these visual elements guides the child to distinguish good versus bad in the story.

The book’s title becomes important here. Rolf is a good little Wolf and he meets the Big Bad Wolf. The Big Bad Wolf tries to influence Rolf into displaying naughty behavior such as blowing down the little pig’s house. Each time, Rolf is unable to follow through with the task.

The tuning point of the story is when Rolf is given one last chance to show he’s a real wolf. The Big Bad Wolf has Mrs. Boggins in his hand on one page and it is insinuated that eating her would prove Rolf’s worth. The next page shows Rolf transforming and it looks like good has turned bad; however, Rolf end up saving Mrs. Boggins instead! He says that he is a real Wolf, but a good wolf.

Rolf then asks the Big Bad Wolf to stop eating people, which he agrees to, but the very next page says how he’ll “start tomorrow”. Both Rolf and Mrs. Boggins are suspiciously missing from this page. A five-year old may not pick up on this subtlety but it is an opportunity to prompt them to tell you what they think happened.

A good follow-up to this story would be for the child/children to do an arts and crafts activity. Wood sticks, construction paper and crayons could be used to build a mask of their favorite character from the book. If this is a group activity, the children can play and interact with one another, reenacting the different characters. This playtime combined with the reading of the picture book make a fun and educational opportunity for children to build and refine their moral skills!

-Little Pond Blue

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Reading Beauty by Deborah Underwood

Book Review # 2 by Queen Teen

Reading Beauty is  a retelling on the classic story of Sleeping Beauty. The story is perfect for children around the ages 4-5. The original story follows a princess cursed into a death-like sleep that only true-love’s kiss will break. Deborah Underwood decides what would happen if the princess tried to break the curse herself. Lex is that princess. She leaves her kingdom to find the fairy who cursed her. The fantasy elements promote narrative skills, an addition to the pre-literacy skills discussed in my first review as well as cognitive development. 

Before beginning this story, if your child has already seen the popular Disney movie, let your child retell Princess Aurora’s story in their own words therefor getting them motivated to listen to this new take on the classic.

In Reading Beauty, Princess Lex loves to read and she even has a dog-respectively named Prince-who will fetch her books for her. Reading Beauty’s text focuses heavily on rhyme and rhythm. Focusing on those rhyming words will promote phonological sensitivity and awareness, both of which are important pre-literacy skills. Also, using expressive language will allow your children to hear the more important words such as the words that rhyme or new words that they haven’t heard before. You should definitely take this chance to explain and give them a definition or a word in comparison that they might already know. 

On this page, Lex’s mother uses the word “Dejected”, giving synonyms like sad or depressed will broaden your child’s language knowledge.

You can encourage literacy and participation by acknowledging the anticipation between pages and actions. Also having a fuzzy friend to accompany your story would help too. 

When the Fairy goes to trick Lex with a cursed book, you can ask your child what they think will happen. After finishing the story, ask your children who they thought was evil and good or you can ask them to retell the story they just heard in their own words. Maybe they can spot the differences between Princess Lex and Princess Aurora. Ask them questions like: who did the Prince Kiss? Why did the fairy curse Lex? Was it an accident? 

An activity that you could do after reading should revolve around problem solving. Princess Lex uses books to teach her how to perform task on her journey to find the fairy. Having books on hand, around the home or in the classroom that answer the many questions children ask can extend the core message from Reading Beauty. In this book, Lex travels through space. She sees many stars along the way. I used the book Why do stars twinkle, to explain the stars in Reading Beauty therefor extending the learning message from the story.

Finally, Reading Beauty is a perfect addition to your child’s library because it reflects contemporary views and tells the story of an independent and empowering female character, taking our familiar tales that are as old as time and improving on the stereotypical damsel in distress motif. Lex is a princess your children will be able to envision and look up too.

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If I Had a Gryphon by Vikki VanSickle

Book Review #2 by Secret Muggle Photographs by Secret Muggle

“If I Had a Gryphon” by Canadian author Vikki VanSickle is a boisterous picture/story book that promotes several child development literacy skills. The book has a simple plot and is about a young person named Sam, who has recently received a hamster for a pet. Themes in this book include home-and-away, animals/mythical creatures, and imagination; it also explores emotional growth, promoting appreciation and acceptance. The suggested age group for this title is 4-6 years old.

Plot outline

Sam has received her first pet: a little hamster who she finds boring as he “mostly eats and sleeps and hides.” Ignoring her new pet, Sam digs into a book entitled “Mythological Creatures” and begins to imagine what it would be like to own an animal with strange, exotic powers. The book progresses as Sam imagines what would happen if she owned a unicorn, hippogriff, sasquatch, gryphon, kraken, dragon, kirin, jackalope, phoenix, manticore, and more. As the book moves forward, Sam begins to grow more and more flustered as she realizes all of the troubles she would face if she owned such mythological creatures. Finally, at the finale of the story, Sam realizes that her hamster’s “not so bad . . . in fact, he’s rather sweet.” She now appreciates his “furry belly and his teeny tiny feet,” and is feeling content with her new pet.

This book is relevant to children’s development as it promotes language/literacy through rhyming, new vocabulary, and related illustrations of “sound” terms. For instance, in the text “Unicorns are pretty, but they’re also very shy” the words “very shy” appear smaller than the text preceding, showing the concept of being shy with being quiet – this technique can be presented verbally as a parent/adult reads the sentence to a child, using a quieter voice when reading “shy.” Other examples of this technique appear in the sentence “Jackalope needs sturdy reins for bumpy, jumpy rides,” with the typography reflecting the terms’ meaning (See two images above).

“If I Had a Gryphon” is successful in promoting cognitive/learning skills for children. The book begins with an unhappy and bored Sam and ends with the same framing - only now, after certain actions have transpired, Sam is shown as being pleased and content with her pet. The illustrations in the book establish a narrative pattern and this helps children understand how a story normally functions: with a beginning, middle, and end. Furthermore, at the beginning of the story, silhouetted images of the mythological creatures that will appear later in the book help children develop prediction/narrative skills (see image above).

Lastly, and possibly most importantly, this book helps children comprehend the idea of being grateful for what one has in life -- even the simple things. At the beginning of the story, Sam does not appreciate her small pet and wishes for something more interesting and exciting; however, by the end of the story, she realizes that these grander, more unusual animals come with many downsides that are not ideal in her everyday life. At the end of the book, Sam grasps the fact that her hamster is hers and hers alone, and that’s “enough for [her].” This is a significant concept to promote to children, as they (and adults, too), are often preoccupied with what they don’t have rather than what they do.

A framing/motivational technique that adults can use at the beginning of the book would be to ask one of the following questions: “Do you have a pet? Let’s think of some common pets! If you could have any pet in the world, what would it be?” These questions would allow a child to connect their own life to the story, as well as make emotional connections with the protagonist. An extension activity that a parent or adult could use to enhance the pleasure of the story would be to have print-outs of different animals, cut different sections (ie head, tail, feet/hooves) and have the child construct a new, unique creature. The child could name the creature and decide where in the world it hails from. This activity is hands-on, is not too information-heavy, and would engage a child’s creativity.

Overall, “If I Had a Gryphon” is a fantastic, rhyming read-aloud that taps into a child’s imagination while also tackling serious emotions and promoting literacy skills for those ages 4 - 6. The illustrations are engaging, colourful and dynamic, revealing new, fantastical beasts that a child may never have heard of and may be interested in learning more about. This title is enjoyable and entertaining for both children and adults, and would surely enhance a child’s growing library. 

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Silly Doggy!

Book Review #2 - Picture Books 

The book Silly Doggy! was written and illustrated by Adam Stower. The theme of this book is pets and the suggested age group is 3-5. 

This story follows a little girl who finds a “doggy” (an escaped bear) in her backyard and decides to keep him. After her mom says no, Lily, the little girl, designs a poster describing the “silly doggy”. Eventually someone sees the flyer and the take the escaped bear home. Lily is sad, until she see’s something in her backyard.

This picture story book is fun for kids with the colourful illustrations and a fun adventure. They get to follow a young girl and a “silly doggy” as they have fun and play and discover all the ways that “doggy” is silly. Children will be able to relate to the frustration of a pet not listening to them and the mess they can make. Kids will have fun with the words play and the different animal names. Parents will have fun with their kid’s reactions and responses to the silliness of the story.

The telling of the story Silly Doggy! uses fun words that promote to cognitive development by expanding their vocabulary and phonological awareness. The author uses this story to promote a child’s social learning. From the story, kids can learn that if they find a random animal, that it my belong to someone else and that they should try to find them, even if they don’t want to. It can teach them independence, as they watch Lily, the main character, create and put up posters to find the owner and try to train the bear, all on her own. This story conveys morality for children. Children can understand that it is right that Lily put up posters and that it was wrong for her to try to put them only where people wouldn’t see them.

Getting children interested in or focused on a story can be a difficult. To motivate the children, I would suggest asking questions before, during and after the story. At the beginning, before you start reading, ask them questions like: “what do you think is going to happen in this story?” and “do you know any other stories about dogs?”. Throughout the story, you can find way it relates to them. Such as, on the found poster, you can ask them “do you have a rumbly tummy?” and “do you know of anyone else that has a rumbly tummy?” to connect it to Winnie the Pooh as a connection to bears. When the story is finished, you can ask them “what did you think of the story?” to get them to think about what happened in the story and promote greater cognitive development.

As an extension activity, you can make paper bag pet puppets. You will need construction paper, scissors, glue and paper bags. You can tailor it the match the story by making a dog or a bear. If you are doing this in larger group of kids, you can have pre-set options for animals, like a dog, bear, cat or a tiger. To make the process easier in big groups, for each animal, if pre-set, the body parts can be cut out a head of time.  

In conclusion, this book is perfect for children ages 3-5. They will have fun with it and explore cognitive, social and morality aspects throughout the book. They will be intrigued with the questions asked and will enjoy making a puppet. All of these features make this a great book that is a wonderful tool for learning, and I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I did.

Sincerely,

It’s Ducky #4

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Little Tiger

Written by Julie Abery; Art by Suzie Mason

Hello parents, teachers, and readers! In this short blog post, I will be introducing a “First Book” that is wonderful for anyone looking for a fun, educational, and interactive opportunity for children ages 2-3 years old.

Published in 2019, “Little Tiger” by Julie Abery is the perfect board book to support pre-literacy skills. This plotless story follows a little tiger through a day in its life. Little Tiger begins by waking and shaking, does some walking and stalking, and finally ends the day by cuddling and huddling back to sleep.

The pattern most prevalent in this book is rhyming -ing words. When you open the book, there is text on one side, with complementary art that spans both pages. Every page has two -ing words to describe what Little Tiger is doing. Children as young as two can begin to understand rhyme, and the use of repetition in this case is going to help solidify the concept in the child’s mind.

Another way the words are accentuated is by colour. The text is consistently contrasted to the background it finds itself on; meaning, if the background is dark, then the text is light, and vice versa. Also, both -ing words are always red and orange. Children of this target age group have already gained the full ability to comprehend the concept of colour, which brings emphasis to the importance of these words.

About halfway into the book, the appearance of a frog becomes a recurring theme in the book. It serves as an opportunity for parents to ask a question to their child. Inquiring about what the animal is called would be a good question that could lead to further interactions on the following pages. Asking the child to locate the frog would then provide them a task that compels them to pay attention to the images on the page, without feeling like they need to follow a story-line.

This book is perfect for children ages 2-3 years old because it serves as a learning tool without being so complex that they could not comprehend. Though there is no plot, there is a linear series of events that toddlers can follow. Little Tiger’s day begins and ends the same way theirs does: by waking up and going to sleep. There is even some playtime in between. All these factors make this simple board book a wonderful tool for learning, so I hope you and your child enjoy it!

-Little Pond Blue

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Will Giraffe Laugh by Hilary Leung

First Books Review by Queen Teen

Your 3-year-old with laugh with Giraffe!

Now that your child is three, they’ve started to grasp counting, colours and letters. Will Giraffe Laugh, will promote emergent literary skills such as print and book concepts, phonological sensitivity, expressive vocabulary and alphabet knowledge, all of these are also known as pre-literacy skills.

In Will Giraffe Laugh, emphasized words like the use of the words “no”, “Giraffe ” and other animal names will help promote alphabet knowledge as familiarity between letter and word is essential to literacy. Will Giraffe Laugh comes in a sturdy board book edition which makes handling it and turning the pages easier for small hands. Allowing your child to hold the book themselves will help them learn key print and book concepts. Will Giraffe Laugh is full of rhyme, repetition and alliteration, perfect for teaching your little one’s phonemes, sounds and language. 

Will Giraffe Laugh follows a simple plot focused on the idea that grumpiness and laughter are opposites. This book is intended for an older child due to the use of complex concepts such as animals and emotions/feelings. Giraffe’s friends are trying to make Giraffe laugh but they are unsuccessful thus promoting interactions between friends.

The illustrations in Will Giraffe Laugh are colorful, cute and simple which you’re three-year-old will love. The expressions on the animals faces are adorable and expressive even with the use of such simple shapes. The artist refrained from using heavy outlining which will allow your toddler to identify the animals based on shape instead of harsh lines. 

Will Giraffe Laugh is silly which the kids will  enjoy. Parents can get their kids comfortable by asking them to name the different colours and shapes associated with the different animals in this book. They can also navigate between the following pages where Giraffe yells at his friends, making them cry. Parents can ask their children why they think all the other animals are crying thereby promoting problem-solving skills. 

In conclusion, this books is perfect for your young children. Shape and colour are used effectively and the story is told in a brief and simples manner with strong rhymes, alliterations and exaggerated sounds. The book promotes friendship and interacting between friends and also touches upon morning routine and the child’s experience of being in the company of others. The overall message is that laughter can cure any bout of grouchiness. 

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Kindness Makes Us Strong by Sophie Beer

Book Review #1 by Secret Muggle Photographs by Secret Muggle

“Kindness Makes Us Strong” by Australian author Sophie Beer is a colourful and joyful first book about compassion and the positive impact it can have on our world. In the book, a diverse range of children extend acts of kindness in various scenarios, such as saying hello to others on the playground, helping out an older adult with chores, cheering on a race, trading treats, offering comfort to those who are experiencing sadness or injury, and including those who may feel they are left out. The board book is a plotless, characterless idea book focused on the complex concept of emotion and social interaction as opposed to focusing solely on colours, shapes, and the alphabet. Thus, it would be an appropriate title for 3-year-olds. Additionally, 3-year-olds are likely entering preschool or daycare at this point as well, and this book will help them develop skills to have a healthy and positive attitude in new places or situations outside of their home.

Several emergent literacy skills are supported by this title, such as phonological awareness. For example, “Kindness is … trading treats. Kindness is … taking turns” are examples of sentences in the book which highlight alliteration as well as vocabulary development by presenting a range of “-ing” verbs. The repetition of the word “kindness” on the left-hand side of every page, followed by the action on the right-hand side, provides structure and reinforces the term and its different applications to everyday life as the book progresses. Regarding the book’s illustrations, they are each well-composed, colourful, and eye-catching with white space to juxtapose the children’s actions to the words. This book also supports the emergent literacy skill of book handling; it is large with thick pages, so a child could grasp it independently but also share the story with an adult – an important part of the OPL’s Every Child Ready to Read program. An extension activity that parents could employ with “Kindness Makes Us Strong” would be to pause at the spread “Kindness is ... offering comfort” -- which depicts the children playing different instruments, see image below -- and point at the instruments, asking: “Which instrument would you like to play? Let’s listen to each different sound!” The parent could proceed to search (on YouTube or elsewhere) different musicians playing each instrument. The child would hear each instrument and decide which they like the best. This would promote further vocabulary development as well as adding a multimedia element to the book.

Overall, this book by Sophie Beer presents a diverse range of children with different skin colours as well as different abilities (one is in a wheelchair, one has a prosthetic leg, and more than one has glasses). It is a book that promotes inclusivity and the importance of showing compassion to others, especially those who feel excluded or hurt. This concept is something that everyone, including adults, need to be reminded of in our increasingly divisive society. As social beings, empathy is crucial in our everyday world, and this title teaches children the positive effects their acts of kindness can have on others.

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Toilet Tales - First Books Book Review

It is always hard to potty train children, but the book “Toilet Tales” by Andrea Wayne von Königslöw and Brigitte Waisberg, illustrated by Ariana Koultourides, may be able to help.

This book, for children around the age of two, contains both simple and complex concepts such opposites, sizes and animals. The story contains a variety of different animals where kids can practice their vocabulary. The vocabulary is fairly easy with simple words in straight lines and large lettering to make it easy for the kids to follow.  Although the words don’t rhyme, they seem to have a type of rhythm to them. This rhythm can help children better remember the words and therefore help them practice them. As kids have small hands, this book was designed to be easy for them to hold with its small size and easy to turn pages. The illustrations are colourful, but not too busy that it distracts the attention away from the story. The colours that the illustrator uses are soft as to not be hard on the eyes. Most importantly, this book contains familiar concepts. It is on using the toilet like big kids, something they are doing everyday. It follows their routine. The simple words, fun animals, different concepts, and the fact that it adds to their daily routine, helps the child better develop literacy skills. 

I believe this is a wonderful book that every child around the age of two would enjoy with its fun story and glorious humor. Kids will enjoy the silliness that the animals present and think it is an awesome book because it contains something they do everyday. The children will think it is hilarious that the elephant, who is huge, is trying to sit on such a small toilet. When it mentions that they are big kids for using the toilet, it will boost their self-esteem, making them think that they are big kids. I have not met a child who didn’t want to be a big kid.

To extend the experience they have with this book, as parent and child, you could make it, so like the big kid in the book, they show the animals how to use the toilet like big kids do. Make it a potty party! They could set up their stuffed animals in the bathroom and receive a fun animal sticker when they finish. Make it an experience that they won’t forget.

Hope they have as much fun with this book as I did. 

Sincerely,

It’s Ducky #4

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About us

Team member #1: Secret Muggle

Secret Muggle is a Hufflepuff with Ravenclaw tendencies. She has an eclectic reading taste but leans towards contemporary fiction, memoirs, YA fantasy, and photography books. Her favourite children’s series is Harry Potter. 

Team member #2: Queen Teen

Queen Teen is your friendly neighborhood YA reader. She loves reading romance and fantasy novels and picture books with beautiful illustrations.  Her favourite authors are Jennifer L. Armentrout, Sarah J. Maas, Cassandra Clare, and Holly Black.

Team member #3: Little Pond Blue

Little Pond Blue is a mood reader who enjoys a variety of novels from YA romance to the classics. She, on occasion, will read some fantasy when a good recommendation has been received. “The Sea of Tranquility” by Katja Millay is currently her favourite book.

Team member #4: Its Ducky #4

Its Ducky #4 is the youngest of four ducklings and adores having time to relax and read. Ducky enjoys teen and historical fiction and is a sucker for a sappy romance. When discouraged by the selection in the teen area, she always turns to the 8-12 variety. Nobody is too old to enjoy the story they want.