How The Stars Came To Be by Poonam Mistry

 

How The Stars Came To Be

By Poonam Mistry

This has got to be the most beautiful book I've ever seen! The illustrations are breath taking! The story is beautiful as well. The Fisherman's Daughter was worried about her father fishing in the dark when the moon was new so the Sun took a golden ray and shattered it into a million pieces for her to place in the sky. As she meticulously placed the stars into the sky in patterns of animals, beginning with the North Star that she called Polaris, a monkey saw the bag. The glistening stars caught the monkey's eye and he grab the bag and climbed a tree. The Fisherman's Daughter went after the monkey and she pulled the bag of stars from the monkey's grip, all of the stars fell out of the bag and right into the sky. Even though the stars lumped together and were very unorganized, they lit up the sky and allowed her father enough light to see his way home safely.

This is a perfect book for a folktale theme. Beautiful pictures and an easy to follow tale.

Trying By Kobi Yamada

 

Trying

By Kobi Yamada

This is one of my favorite authors. He has also written What Do You Do With A Problem and What Do You Do With An Idea which are also really great books. I haven't read his other books, but I'm sure they are just as good.

Trying is about a boy who walks in on a sculptor and wishes he too could sculp such beautiful things. The sculptor tells the boy that he can, but he must try first. The boy replies "I'd rather just watch. I can't mess things up if I just watch." The sculptor tells the boy that you succeed because you are willing too fail. Every time you try to do something, then you are one step closer to succeeding and that you should be proud of your failures because it means that you are learning. The sculptor takes the boy in the back of his shop and shows him all of his failed sculptures. "These are my friends. These are my failures." The sculptor tells the boy, "When we make it safe to fail, we make it safe to succeed."

Trying is such a powerful and amazing book and I recommend it for both children and adults. It provides a very different perspective on failure and the necessity to try.

Crenshaw By Katherine Applegate

Crenshaw

By Katherine Applegate

Goodreads:

In her first novel since winning the Newbery Medal, Katherine Applegate delivers an unforgettable and magical story about family, friendship, and resilience.

Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There's no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again.

Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken, and he's imaginary. He has come back into Jackson's life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?

Beloved author Katherine Applegate proves in unexpected ways that friends matter, whether real or imaginary.

The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza

The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza

By Jack Gantos

Published by Farrar Straus Giroux

Published on 2 September 2014

Ages: 10-14

Series: Joey Pigza (www.joeypigzabooks.com)

Goodreads description:

"The fifth and final book in the groundbreaking Joey Pigza series brings the beloved chronicle of this wired, wacky, and wonderful boy to a crescendo of chaos and craziness, as everything goes topsy-turvy for Joey just as he starts to get his feet on the ground. With his dad MIA in the wake of appearance-altering plastic surgery, Joey must give up school to look after his new baby brother and fill in for his mom, who hospitalizes herself to deal with a bad case of postpartum blues. As his challenges mount, Joey discovers a key that could unlock the secrets to his father’s whereabouts, a mystery that must be solved before Joey can even hope that his broken family might somehow come back together—if only it doesn’t pull him apart first."

The Scoop:

I've read one other Joey Pigza book and completely loved it! Joey is such a likable kid, but he does some really crazy things. He has ADHD and his mind is always working overtime, but in some very strange yet interesting directions. Joey Pigza books are quick, light-hearted and sometimes comical, but I'm so impressed that Gantos can cover some very serious issues like postpartum depression and ADHD in a way a child may understand. In "The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza" I loved the relationship Joey has with his ex-girlfriend Olivia who is blind and has been suspended from her boarding school. He tries to be politically correct and not offend her, but his words always seem to come out wrong. Who doesn't have THAT problem?! I loved the way Olivia explained the black box and her description of her world as a blind child. Joey wasn't afraid to ask the questions as we sometimes are out of fear of offending the person. I thought her answers were very interesting. In world where it's so difficult to get boys to read, I would definitely recommend this book to boys. I think that they could relate to Joey even if they don't share his issues. He's just a regular, normal boy.  He's not a jock. He's not popular. He's not a brainiac. He's just Joey and he's just trying to get by in his Pigza world.

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