Category Archives: Uncategorized

Save the Date

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Mark your calendar for the eighth annual Butler Lecture featuring award winning illustrator Bryan Collier.

When:      March 4, 2020 6 p.m.
Reception and book signing to follow

Where:     Eloise Martin Recital Hall
Dominican University, Fine Arts Building
7900 West Division Street
River Forest, IL 60305

The lecture is free and open to the public with registration required. Registration will open January 2020.

collier photo from website

Bryan Collier is a beloved illustrator known for his unique style combining watercolor and detailed collage. He is a four-time Caldecott Honor recipient for Trombone Shorty, Dave the Potter, Martin’s Big Words, and Rosa. His books have won many other awards as well, including six Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards. His recent books include By and By, Thurgood, The Five O’Clock Band, and Between the Lines. He lives in New York with his family.

 

To find out more about Bryan Collier’s art and illustration, visit him at bryancollier.com

 

 

Who’s Ready for School to Start?

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Back-to-school butterflies? First day jitters? The newest academics among us will appreciate these sweet, silly, and giggle-worthy introductions to just who and what awaits them in the classroom. This brand new class of back-to-school picture books to will ease the way for the little humans in your library, classroom, or living room as all get ready for the first day of school.

 

Bunnys book clubBunny’s Book Club Goes to School
By Annie Silvestro, illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss
Penguin Random House, June 2019

Josie is worried about making friends at school, but her book-club buddy Bunny can help—he’ll just be her school friend too. As the book club animals search the school for Josie, they’ll introduce kids to all the fun places waiting for them at school. Sweet illustrations complement this gentle story of friendship, empathy, and support.

 

clothes line cluesClothesline Clues to the First Day of School
By Katheryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook, illustrated by Andy Robert Davies
Charlesbridge, June 2019

It’s a laundry basket inspired guessing game in this guide to all the new people excited to meet you at school. A silly rhyme will help set expectations and turn anxiety to anticipation about the first day of school.

 

i will be fierceI Will Be Fierce
By Bea Birdsong, illustrated by Nidhi Chanani
MacMillan, April 2019

While not strictly a back-to-school-themed book, it follows this fierce little girl to school and back and through all the adventures in between. Brightly colored and boldly written, this is a great illustration of how a little confidence can go a long way on a big (first) day at school.

 

 

if animals went to schoolIf Animals Went to School
By Ann Whitford Paul, Illustrated by David Walker
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, May 2019

Beaver might not want to go to school, but after a day of music, learning, and his fun with his friends, he doesn’t want to go home. A perfectly inspirational story for the tiny human determined NOT to go to school!

 

king of kindergartenThe King of Kindergarten
By Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton
Penguin Random House, July 2019

An exuberant and imaginative walkthrough of the first day of school! Barnes’ pacing is just right for introducing a new routine and finding the fun in what could be a scary first day.

 

The smell of freshly sharpened pencils is in the air—Happy Back-to-School season, friends!

 

 

 

 

Woman on the Mountain: A Review of At the Mountain’s Base

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At the Mountain’s Base
By Traci Sorell
Illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre
Kokila September 17, 2019
Ages Pre K-8

In At the Mountain’s Base, Traci Sorell shares the story of a Cherokee family tucked in a cozy cabin, preparing a daily meal as grandmother weaves nearby. As the family works, they sing, focusing their thoughts on a loved one, a US Air Force pilot “protecting and defending” far away. The family’s love and worries unfold in this simple, lyrical poem. Every sentence in the poem starts with a prepositional phrase, “On that stove,” “Around that grandmother,” “Within their song.” This consistent, cohesive pattern draws the reader in and pulls them gently through the family’s actions, those centered around a warm stove and those performed far off in the sky. Weshoyot Alvitre’s realistic illustrations clearly capture the different family members’ emotions, showing their love, worry, and pride. The Cherokee family highlighted in the poem is fictional. However, Sorell’s author’s note provides factual notes on the role of women from American Indian and Alaska Native Nations within the US Armed Forces. She specifically details the role of Ola Mildred “Millie” Rexroat, the only Native woman to serve as a Women Airforce Service Pilot during World War II. As a registered citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Traci Sorell reveals the American Indian experience in a voice as authentic and respectful as in her previous picture book, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga (Charlesbridge, 2018). At the Mountain’s Base is a wonderful homage to Native veterans everywhere.

Many thanks to local author, SCBWI-IL member, and guest reviewer, Michelle Schaub. Schaub is a children’s poet and teacher from Downers Grove, Illinois. Her second poetry collection, FINDING TREASURE: A COLLECTION OF COLLECTIONS (Charlesbridge, 2019), shares a release date with AT THE MOUNTAIN’S BASE on September 17th. Learn more about Michelle and her books at http://www.michelleschaub.com

Precious Feathers: A Review of Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers

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Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers
By Celia C. Perez
September 3, 2019
Grades 3-7
Lane DiSanti comes from one of the most important families in all of Sabal Palms. According to legend, her ancestors brought the winter sun orange to south Florida, but did the DiSanti family really bring the winter sun orange to South Florida? That’s what Aster Douglas’s grandfather wants to find out. Frustrated by her overprotective parents, Ofelia goes to work with her mom at the DiSanti house looking for a story she can use for the Qwerty Sholes Journalism Contest. The winner of the contest goes to New York, and the chance to experience the world without parental supervision.  Meanwhile, Cat Garcia—an avid bird enthusiast—has decided to leave the Floras (a girl scout troupe) in protest of their use of a feathered hat for the Miss Flora pageant.
Rejecting her grandmother’s idea of joining the Floras, Lane forms the Ostentation of Others and Outsiders by leaving secret messages for potential friends to find. When the girls all come together for the first time in the tree-house, things start off a bit rocky. When Cat opens up to the other girls about her disdain for the Floras’ hat because of its use of real bird feathers, the girls rally together to stop the Floras from using the hat in the next Miss Flora pageant. Their plans initially backfire, and the girls must decide whether or not they should give up or escalate their efforts. As their convictions strengthen, so too does their friendship.
The book is phenomenal and effortlessly shifts perspectives between the girls in each chapter. The book focuses heavily on what it means to be an activist, and how often the consequences of activism are not always equal. Ofelia, Cat, and Aster are all people of color and come from various socioeconomic backgrounds. Ofelia and Cat are both Cuban, and Aster is Bahamian. Although each girl enters the group with her own hidden objectives, by the end of the book they all come together with one objective—to return the feathers.

A Cool and Sweet Summer Treat: A Review of My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich

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my life as an ice cream sandwich

My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich
Ibi Zoboi
Penguin Random House, August 2019
Grades 5 and up

 My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich, by National Book Award Finalist Ibi Zoboi, explores the imaginative world of Ebony-Grace Norfleet. While Ebony goes to Harlem to live with her father during the summer of 1984, her mother helps Ebony’s beloved grandfather back home. Her grandfather was a former NASA engineer, one of the first to be integrated into the NASA program in the 1960s. Ebony has followed in his footsteps with her fascination with space, spaceships, and science fiction. As the summer progresses, Ebony tries to adjust to big city life, a totally different world for her, coming from Huntsville, Alabama. From the start, readers will feel pulled into Ebony’s world, the sounds and excitement of New York City, and the 1980s.

Ebony battles the struggles in her life by seeing and experiencing everything as science fiction (Star Trek, Star Wars, and Wonder Woman). She then relates these challenges to the adventures she had with her grandfather (Sonic Boom, Captain Fleet, and many more) back home. It’s a summer of change for Ebony as she learns to make new friends and tries to fit in. She finds a new love and respect for her father and her roots, and she gains more self-awareness. Ebony discovers she can trust others, and most importantly of all, she learns to believe in herself. By summer’s end, Ebony realizes that she has other special people in her life besides her grandfather and that no matter what, his love will always be with her.

Zoboi’s use of space as a metaphor is effective and expertly crafted, drawing the reader more deeply into Ebony’s story. Her voice is exceptional, heartfelt, and stunning. Zoboi paints a setting that is real, palpable, and rich with imagery. She captures what it means to be at crossroads – the time when childhood and young adulthood eclipse, where dreams and reality clash, and when learning to let go is often the hardest thing of all, but a necessary part of growing up. My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich is a beautifully rendered story of identity, family, friendship, loss, and acceptance.

 

Many thanks to local author, SCBWI-IL member, and guest reviewer, Elizabeth Brown. Brown is the author of Dancing Through Fields of Color: The Story of Helen Frankenthaler, illustrated by Aimee Sicuro, (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019) – a Junior Library Guild Selection. She has additional forthcoming picture books to release soon. Ms. Brown holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College, and she is represented by Sean McCarthy Literary Agency.

 

 

Frankly Smart: A review of Frankly in Love

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Cover Image Frankly in LOve

Frankly in Love
David Yoon
Putnam, September 2019
Grades 9-12

Frank Li is in love (see what they did there?)… with Brit, then with Joy. But it’s complicated by Wu (Joy’s ex), Q (his BFF), his immigrant parents, the Apeys (A.P./smart friends), and the Limbos (Korean friends)—the list is long. Love triangle or love nonagon? Frank would know, he’s studying for the SAT. Everything else is complicated by life as a teenager and his angst over who he is as a Korean, Korean-American, or just American; because people are complex and labels are limiting.

Under the thin veneer of a love story (do teenagers even fall in and out of love that fast?), David Yoon explores the much deeper and more interesting themes of racism, code-switching, and community. Frank is thoughtful, introspective, and nerdy-in-a-good-way, while still authentically awkward and impulsive. His well-rounded character is a much-needed counterpoint to the common teen stereotypes in YA lit. His internal monologue is both funny and perceptive and keeps the book from veering too far light or dark. With the exception of a slightly rushed resolution, the 400+ pages are an easy read that “manages to be a love story, treatise on racism, and welcome to Korean-American culture all at once.” And, yes, that is a quote from the author endorsement on the ARC cover, but Jodi Picoult has it right.


 

 

 

Butler Youth Services Scholarship

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Are you interested in becoming part of a diverse and engaged youth-services focused community?

Are you starting your MLIS at Dominican this fall?

book shelves Pexels

YES — then the Butler Center is looking for you!

Applications are being accepted for the 2019 Butler Youth Services Scholarship until July 24th. Visit our website for requirements and application details.

 

 

At Last I See the Light: A Review of This Was Our Pact

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This Was Our Pact
Ryan Andrews
First Second
June 11, 2019
Grades 6 and up

In Ryan Andrews’s graphic novel, This Was Our Pact, the agreement Ben and his friends made was simple “No one turns for home”(1) and “No one looks back”(2) to follow the lanterns of the night of the Equinox Festival. Despite the arrangement, only Ben stayed along with the outcast Nathaniel as they traveled by following the river. Along the way, they meet a talking bear tasked with bringing back the fish for the feast. After the boys got lost they go on a side quest to obtain a star for the renowned chemist, Madam Majestic. Ben and Nathaniel discover more than they could ever dream on their journey. For now, Andrews leaves it up to his readers to decide where Ben and Nathaniel will wander to next. This graphic novel was illustrated in pen with a watercolor backdrop and layered using Photoshop. Andrews uses shades of blue, red, and yellow to create the whimsical magical realism environment, which brings the story to life and adds to the mood. These illustrations have an enchanting wondrous, effect with an unsettling undertone of creatures and monsters lurking in the pages. It is a relatively fast-paced book, but there is enough development to see the friendship between Nathaniel and Ben grow. Each of their personalities felt well-distinguished, helping the characters come to life and more natural to emphasize with them. This book is a phenomenal addition to any middle-grade collection, exploring themes of friendship all within an astonishing adventure.

ALA Recap–2019 edition

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Flipping through the pictures from my weekend in DC for ALA Annual might lead one to think I’d spent all my time watching PowerPoint presentations. I won’t bore you with those pics–snooze! I’d prefer to think I was so present in all the book-ish excitement that I couldn’t be bothered with documentation.

That said, I did snap a few shots of the highlights…

opening session 1This year’s Opening General Session with Jason Reynolds was an awesome example of his ability to take a reader (or listener) down a series of winding paths (or several at once), then surprise you with the way they all converge. His multi-part speech led to a challenge to librarians: To create a generation of “walking, talking libraries” full of the stories and information they and others need. To be the architect that builds a “building that services the world.”

Watch out for his next twisty tale, Look Both Ways (Atheneum, October 8, 2019).

CSK Breakfast
CSK Dewey Deciabl Podcast

2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and ALA spent the weekend celebrating! From the anniversary gala to the awards breakfast, to panel discussions, podcasts, and programming ideas–CSK was everywhere. I was so lucky to participate in several of the sessions, hear from many of the celebrated authors and illustrators, and chat with the dedicated people that helped pull it all together. Stop by the Butler Center for a peek at The Coretta Scott King Book Awards: 50th Anniversary edited by Carole J. McCollough and Adelaide Poniatowski Phelps (American Library Association, 2019).

ALA exhib floor

ALA Exhibit Floor

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t fangirl at meeting a few authors in DC, but not quite enough to ask for selfies. You’ll have to take my word for it that I talked to Christopher Myers about Effie Lee Morris and the Butler Center collection. To Don Brown (The Unwanted, HMH) about Brooklyn vs Chicago real estate prices. And Ngozi Ukazu (Check, Please! Book 1: # Hockey, First Second) about how she never has a business card with her when she needs it.

 

It has taken a week to get my books unpacked and my thoughts together on a whirlwind weekend in DC, but it was a wonderful and rewarding trip. Now on to summer vacations with some of those lovely ARC’s!