Bud, Not Buddy

Curtis, Christopher Paul (1999). Bud, Not Buddy. New York: Delacorte. ISBN 0-385-32306-9.

Bud, Not Buddy is a rarity – a laugh-out-loud funny Newbery winner. Bud is a vibrant character who stays firmly on the bright side of his challenging circumstances, and his “rules” for life, sprinkled throughout the first-person narrative, are both funny and profound.

It’s the middle of the Great Depression, and Bud is being sent to yet another foster home. His mother is dead, but he’s convinced that his father is the great African-American musican Herman Calloway, leader of the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! (Six exclamation points come with the name, at least on the flyer that Bud uses as a clue.) Bud runs away to track down his father, and then actually does find Herman Calloway and his band. There’s kindness, misunderstandings (often hilarious), and of course, great music. Any depression I might have been feeling was definitely devastated by the time I finished the book!

Curtis does an excellent job of staying in Bud’s point of view yet still explaining things that modern readers might not understand. Of course segregation is a fact of life to Bud, and Curtis demonstrates it through details that Bud would genuinely be expected to notice and comment on, not things that are so familiar to him that he wouldn’t mention them. In the process, Curtis brings home not only the reality of racism but the ingenuity that it took to overcome it – by strategems like sending the one white band member to book gigs for white audiences who would refuse to hire the band if they knew they were black.

One of the best things about this book is that two of the most interesting characters – Negro Baseball League pitcher Lefty Lewis and Herman Calloway himself – are based on Curtis’ maternal and paternal grandfathers. In an afterword, Curtis tells their real-life stories and shares photos of the men (and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!!, the real name of Curtis’ grandfather’s actual band). Knowing that a search into family history has the potential to turn up such great stories is bound to make at least some readers of this book interested in finding out more about their own families.

Bud, Not Buddy is a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book. PW says, "While the harshness of Bud's circumstances are authentically depicted, Curtis imbues them with an aura of hope, and he makes readers laugh even when he sets up the most daunting scenarios.”

I would pair this book with The Journal of Biddy Owens by Walter Dean Meyers (from the My Name is America series) for readers who want to know more about the Negro Leagues and read about another optimistic, resourceful hero like Bud.

Publisher’s Weekly. Qtd. in Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0440413281/ref=s9_asin_title_3-hf_favarpcbss_2238_p/103-0423122-5982232?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=10CT73B2PE3DC8NQVMT4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278240701&pf_rd_i=507846.

Lincoln: A Photobiography

Freeman, Russell (1987). Lincoln: A Photobiography. New York: Clarion. ISBN 0-89919-380-3.

As a biography subject, Abraham Lincoln can’t really be said to need more exposure. Perhaps it’s because of this that Russell Freeman’s biography is so immediately engaging. Freeman begins his book by acknowledging that, paradoxically, it’s very difficult to know what this supposedly well-known president was really like. People who knew Lincoln said he was funny and animated and even handsome when he was speaking, something that the serious posed photos of the day couldn’t capture. And Lincoln was a very private person. In the end, what we think we know about Lincoln might be obscuring what Lincoln was really like. The legend of Lincoln “hides the man behind it like a disguise” (2).

Freeman tries to lift the mask by, among other things, including the words of Lincoln’s friends and family as well as news reports of the day. I loved Mary Todd Lincoln’s comment on portraits of her and Lincoln: that they were precious to her because they were “taken when we were young and so desperately in love” (26). And many kids (and I, too) can relate to the fact that one of his law partners once found a bunch of Lincoln’s papers marked “When you can’t find it anywhere else, look here” (37).

Of course, any biography of Lincoln has to discuss the Civil War. If this book bogs down at all, it’s in the sections where Freeman tries to summarize major battles and their implications in a few pages. I found myself either wanting to know more detail so that I could make sense of the information (were the northern generals really as incompetent as they sound? Why?) or not to hear about it at all.

But the sections that discuss the war’s effect on Lincoln are the most poignant of all. His lament at the loss of life is illustrated with a series of pictures taken each year from 1861 to 1865, in which he seems to age at least ten years. It’s a vivid reminder that Lincoln wasn’t an icon but a real human being.

I think kids can understand Freeman’s premise that what we think we know about a person can keep us from really knowing them. Freeman uses a more complex vocabulary than in many of the books we’ve examined so far, but the text is broken up by photos on nearly every two-page spread, helping readers to picture the people and events Freeman is discussing. (I found the documents in Lincoln’s own handwriting to be particularly amazing.) The book includes three appendices: well known quotes by Lincoln, a listing of historical landmarks related to Lincoln, and a bibliography for further reading. Any one of these could fire kids’ imaginations and make them interested in knowing more.

Publisher’s Weekly said, “This Newbery Award-winning study of our 16th president is highly readable and meticulously organized.”

As an activity for this book, I would love to try something I used to do with my students when I taught college. (Not very many things would carry over to grade schoolers, but this might!) I would bring in several fictional books set in the same time period, like the Addy books in the American Girls series, or Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco. Then I would ask the kids to pretend to be any of the fictional characters and react to one of the events in the book as if they were that character. They could write their reaction, act it out, draw it, or whatever their character might actually do. It’s a surprisingly tough thing to do, since it means putting yourself into someone else’s mindset, but the results can be amazing and something to really be proud of!

Publisher’s Weekly. Qtd. in Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Photobiography-Russell-Freedman/dp/0899193803/ref=ed_oe_h/103-0423122-5982232?ie=UTF8&qid=1175206639&sr=1-1 .

A Single Shard

Park, Linda Sue, read by Graeme Malcolm. 2002. A Single Shard. Listening Library. ISBN 978-0807207017.

In twelfth-century Korea, the orphaned Tree Ear lives under a bridge with his de facto guardian, the homeless Crane Man. Crane Man shares with Tree Ear not only his meager physical possessions but also his much greater stock of kindness and wisdom. Life is hard but manageable – except that Tree Ear longs to learn how to make the celadon pottery for which his village is known.

While spying on Min the potter, Tree Ear breaks a pot and in reparation becomes Min’s quasi-apprentice… except that in a society in which jobs are passed on from father to son, Tree Ear will never be allowed to follow in Min’s footsteps. When Min’s chance at gaining an important royal commission depends on Tree Ear’s efforts, Tree Ear must apply Crane Man’s lessons and test his own character on a harrowing journey.

Park evokes the historical setting with descriptions of clothing and food. In a story that centers around the art of ceramics, it makes sense that Park describes the process of making celadon pottery in detail, from digging the clay through firing in a communal village kiln. Historical facts arise naturally in the story and don’t seem forced. And while readers won’t be able to identify personally with what seems like Tree Ear’s main obstacle – the fact that custom won’t allow him to take up a profession that hasn’t been handed down in his family – the truth is that Park broadens the issue believably until the book is about identity, belonging, and what makes us who we are.

All of the historical fiction I read as a child was set either in Europe or America. I enjoyed experiencing a novel that was set not only in a different part of the world, but also in a time period that doesn’t often get treated in historical fiction for young people.

Graeme Malcolm does a good job of narrating this audiobook by Listening Library, changing his accent and tone subtly to differentiate among the different characters. I did wonder why the producers didn’t choose a Korean narrator for the story. It’s not as if there aren’t Korean actors to choose from!

I think it would be really neat to set up an audiobook listening station like the ones music stores have to let people preview albums. If I could do such a thing, I’d put the first disc of this audiobook on it along with other excellent historical audiobooks like Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy or LeVar Burton’s recording of The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963.

Francesca Goldsmith writes in School Library Journal, “This book will engage both individual readers and discussion groups; the audio version makes it accessible to a broader audience, while giving style and substance to those who have read the print version.”

Goldsmith, Francesca. School Library Journal. Qtd. in Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Single-Shard-Linda-Sue-Park/dp/0807207012/ref=sr_1_1/103-0423122-5982232?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175042647&sr=8-1 .

The Universe

Simon, Seymour. 1998. The Universe. New York: Morrow. ISBN: 978-0688153014.

This beautiful book starts with a poetic thought: “The universe is everything that exists, now and in the past….. You are truly part of the universe. Every atom, every particle within you, is billions of years old.”

And with that thought to intrigue them, readers are off on a tour of space, illustrated with gorgeous photographs taken through telescopes. Simon starts with an explanation of the Big Bang and then explains the formation of our solar system. Then he takes readers farther out on grander scales – describing the birth and death of stars, the Milky Way and other galaxies, and finally, black holes and quasars.

The last page of the book is as intriguing as the first, as Simon lists questions about the universe that are still unanswered, and concludes, “[W]ith the Hubble Space Telescope and other new methods of gathering information, we are just at the beginning of a golden age of discovery. No one knows what fantastic places we will see.” In a review in School Library Journal, John Peters says, “This book, along with the others that it leads to, will give children the solid background they will need to understand - and perhaps even participate in - those discoveries.”

Simon’s gift for making informational writing come to life is evident here, as he strives to make readers feel like they are “truly part of the universe.” He gives plenty of comparisons to help readers understand the enormous scales he’s describing (the distance between the earth and the moon is over ten trips around the world!). He also makes it clear how much scientists still need to learn, explaining that the process of discovery itself leads to new questions. This book seems likely not just to give kids facts but to get them excited about the process of scientific discovery and interested in doing it themselves.

Last year at our library, I made a display of space books on April 12th (the date Yuri Gagarin was the first human being to go into space, in 1961). Since all the spring holidays tend to be over by then, it’s a good time for something different, and “Yuri’s Night” has been gaining ground slowly as a global space holiday. This year I’ll make sure to include this book in the selections!

Peters, John. School Library Journal. Qtd. in Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Universe-Seymour-Simon/dp/0688153011/ref=sr_1_82/103-0423122-5982232?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173471844&sr=1-82 .

Ice Cream: The Full Scoop

Gibbons, Gail. 2006. Ice Cream: The Full Scoop. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 978-0-8234-2000-1.

This book, with its clear description of the ice-cream making process and its ice-cream-hued illustrations, is both fun and informative. Gibbons begins by describing the invention of ice cream (in China 3000 years ago!) and following its various permutations through the ages up to the advent of the hand-cranked ice-cream maker in 1841. Then she describes the modern ice-cream making process from start to finish. Throughout the book, labels on the cheerful cartoon-style illustrations give more information, such as describing the parts and functions of the ice-cream maker.

The design of the book is simple but clever. A repeating pattern of colored tiles – the logo for the “Full Scoop” ice-cream company – runs across the bottom of each two-page spread. It’s repeated on the lids of the ice-cream cartons being made at the factory and the truck that delivers the ice cream to the store.

Kids at the target age of this book might not understand everything Gibbons describes (what are emulsifiers, anyway?), but there’s plenty here to keep them interested and informed.

There is one area where Gibbons’ facts might not be totally accurate – the hotly-contested matter of who invented the first ice-cream cone. Gibbons tells the story of a waffle vendor at the St. Louis World’s fair who made his waffles into cones when the ice-cream vendor next door to him ran out of cups. This is one version of the story, the claimant in this case being a man named Ernest Hamwi who was selling crisp waffles called zalabias. But there are at least five other people at the World’s Fair alone who also claimed to have invented the ice-cream cone, among them Abe Doumar, who said he put ice cream in his zalabias and sold them as “Syrian ice-cream sandwiches,” Nick and Albert Kabbaz, who might have invented the ice-cream cone while working for Hamwi, a man named Charles Robert Menches, and a man named David Avayou, who said he got the idea from seeing people eating ice-cream out of paper cones while he was in France (Powell 2006). No one has ever been able to prove who was telling the truth.

I would use this book in an ice-cream themed event, maybe including a tour of the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham (yum). Unlike Gibbons, I would tell the story of all the people who claimed to have invented the ice-cream cone and have the kids decide which they think is the most plausible.

In Booklist, Jennifer Matson says, “Adding to the author-illustrator's reliable oeuvre of informational picture books, this will provide solid support for ice cream-themed field trips or classroom projects.”

Matson, Jennifer. Booklist. Qtd. in Amazon. com. http://www.amazon.com/Ice-Cream-Scoop-Gail-Gibbons/dp/0823420000/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-0423122-5982232?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173392670&sr=1-1.

Powell, Marilyn. 2006. Ice Cream: The Delicious History. New York: Overlook Press. Pages 145-149.

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World

Armstrong, Jennifer. 1998. Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-80013-6.

In February I was fortunate enough to take the online class “Bringing History to Life at Your Library,” taught by Jennifer Armstrong. Although most of her examples came from Photo By Brady, a book about the Civil War, she did spend a little time discussing Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World. Just hearing her mention the amazing true story made me want to read the book, and I’m glad I did.

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World tells the story of explorer Ernest Shackleton’s failed attempt to lead the first expedition to cross the continent of Antarctica. Before the explorers could even reach land, their ship was trapped in ice and crushed. Shackleton and his men survived the shipwreck and five months of living on the antarctic ice, and then, even more incredibly, Shackleton and a small crew sailed one of the ship’s boats through the Atlantic Ocean to an island with a whaling station so that the rest of the men could be rescued.

In her class, Armstrong explained the process by which she uses photos and other period information to gain a picture of a historical event. She examines details in pictures for clues about the weather, the time of year, whether the photo is candid or posed, and what each person might have been doing immediately before or after the photo was taken. She examines period texts for more concrete details: sights, sounds, smells, and even tastes. All of this helps Armstrong find a connection with the people who were there, so that she can imagine feeling what the people who were present must have felt.

I think that this process must have been easier for Armstrong in Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World because of the amount of documentation of the trip. Each man on the expediton kept a diary (Shackleton had sold the rights to their accounts prior to the trip to raise collateral), and the expedition photographer, Frank Hurley, documented the voyage with photos, many of which are included in the book. Armstrong often quotes from the diaries. She doesn’t give a source for all her quotes, especially when she is quoting conversations between two or more men – one example is Shackleton’s nightmare, when the boat’s crew has finally reached land and he shouts in his sleep that a wave is going to crush them - but with everyone in the crew keeping diaries, it’s easy to imagine that these conversations might have been reported in one diary or another.

The book is largely organized as a chronological account of the expedition, although Armstrong also includes facts about Antarctica and explanations of things that might otherwise be puzzling, like why exactly the weather is so bad and the sea is so dangerous. She makes the science interesting with comparisons and a lively writing style – the largest iceberg on record was as big as Belgium – and, in contrast, she reports the experience of the men with an understated dignity that perfectly matches the tone of their own diaries.

Additional material in the book includes detailed plans of Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, a map of Antarctica with the track of the expedition superimposed, and a bibliography.

This is a brilliant book that I think many people, both kids and adults, can appreciate. I would use it in a display on explorers and adventurers, along with books like Team Moon by Catherine Thimmish and Russell Freedman’s The Adventures of Marco Polo. The stunning photos would also make good subjects for a drawing class for older kids.

Kirkus Reviews says, “This unbelievable story is enhanced by the vigorous prose; from the captivating introduction through the epilogue, it is the writing as much as the story that will rivet readers. The black-and-white photos, taken mostly on glass plates by the expedition's photographer, Frank Hurley, survived along with the men and are of exceptional quality.”

Kirkus Reviews. Qtd in Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0375810498/ref=dp_proddesc_0/103-0423122-5982232?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books .