Category Archives: Book Notes

Reading about The Boy from Clearwater over on Global Literature in Libraries prompted me to instantly reserve copies at the New York Public Library. Does your public library own this graphic novel duology? I hope it does.

Helen Frost knows how to Play with poetic forms AND how to tell a story with heart, heartaches, and hope.  It took 23 years for me to finally read it.  Thanks to a young colleague who loved the book when he was in middle school who gifted the book to me. 

It definitely feels like a precious gift, just considering how precise Frost had to be while composing each line, stanza, and poem, with the strict rhythm and rhyming schemes of sestinas and sonnets.  And how much she cared about these young characters’ stories to be that diligent in telling their tales.

Did you read it? How did you find it? Comment below and we can discuss!

For a few years, I have not read many books in paper, due to problems with my eyesight. Listening to audiobooks and reading on devices with backlit text was easier.  But now, after the recent cataract surgeries, reading books printed in paper is once again possible. 

So I got a little carried away.  These are the books that I am reading right now.

Mostly are nonfictions in short segments so it is easy to pick up and put down.  Can’t wait to write about each one as I finish them.

I’ve been slowly reading the catalog put together by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in LA to accompany a retrospective exhibit of Hayao Miyazaki from 2021.  The short essays capture and explain Miyazaki’s creative process and philosophies.

This morning, I felt specially moved by this quote from him, “Children are filled with…things so ancient that only their DNA remembers” when referring to the seemingly wise intuitions in children, and in his young characters. (Unfortunately the source isn’t clear.)

Children cannot name why or how they know what to do or how to connect to the world but they often seem to be more in tuned With the world while adults have mostly shed or hidden those connections in our DNA. 

At this, what I think of as, my third stage of life, I would love to rediscover those intuitions and ancestral memories that maturation under societal directives might have concealed or stolen from me. 

It could be a fun journey.

The last post on this blog is from 2019. COVID 19 happened. Life took on a different hue. Reading became harder. Thinking and writing about books, which was an unshakable habit for a couple of decades, became almost a foreign concept. To be honest, I also lost interest in many of the newly published books for middle grade from 2020 on. What an unfortunate situation for me, a devoted Middle School Librarian who breathed and lived children’s and YA literature since 1989 when I started the Master’s in Children’s Literature program at Simmons.

For the last 3 years, I switched to serve as a High School Librarian at the same school and slowly rebuilt the habit to read (mostly to listen, since my eyesight deteriorated a lot) all kinds of books – thanks to the passionate reading community of colleagues and students. And now, I feel that I can finally come back to jot down thoughts about books and media again. Even if just as a record for myself.

Luckily, wordpress kept all my previous posts intact – unluckily, fairrosa.info is no longer mine. A new URL – fairrosa.press – seems a nice way to start anew for this stage in my life as a retiree.

So, after 6 years, hi and hello again. I’m still here.

Over at Heavy Medal, devoted readers have spoken and made their March Suggestions of 2020 Newbery contenders.  Click on this link and see the March list.  Excited about many of them.  And super impressed with New Kid by Jerry Craft.  Happy Reading!

The Chinese bilingual picture books published by Candied Plums are now widely available through various book wholesalers and retailers: including Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble online.

The editor and rights manager Lisa Lee attended BEA in New York and met many librarians and booksellers who all marveled at how well made, original, and beautiful these bilingual (and some English only) books are.  As a consultant to the company, I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.  It has been a joy to work with Candied Plums and especially Lisa and a privilege to provide a service to a much needed corner of the children’s literature field.

It’s FINALLY happening!!  So excited to report that the first group of books (20 titles) from Candied Plums, an imprint of Paper Republic, located in Seattle and Beijing, are finally available in the U.S. marketplace.

You can purchase the titles through Amazon or Baker and Taylor (and hopefully more venues in the immediate future.)

I have proudly served as Candied Plums consultant for the last year and a half and am impressed by the diligence and vision of those who venture into this new territory with me.  Manager Richard Li (Li Yun), editorial and rights coordinator Lisa Li (Li Xiaocui,) and editor Nancy Zhang (Zhang Tong) have poured their heart and soul into bringing the best contemporary children’s picture books to American readers: both Mandarin Learners and non-Chinese readers.  Some titles are available in both English and Bilingual Chinese (with English translation at the back of each book) versions while some are only available in Bilingual Chinese version.

Kirkus has reviewed some of titles and it seems that the reviewers all adore the stories and illustrations but worry about the fact that the English translation of the bilingual version does not appear along side the Chinese text.  This is a deliberate choice by the editorial team.  We want to present the books as close to their original version as possible while still giving the English readers a completely clear sense of what each page conveys.  It is a bold and risky choice — but perhaps it is also a chance for readers of all ages to get excited about something new and groundbreaking.  The company’s budding website will include companion audio recordings of each title.  I can see a fun library program where the librarian can play the audio version, stopping to translate each page with the provided English text, and give the young audience the pleasure of the storyline, the illustrations, and hearing an unfamiliar but widely used language in the world.

To give a bit of a taste of what the books are like, here are two titles and links to their reviews by Kirkus.

Who Wants Candied Hawberries?

Buddy is So Annoying

Candied Plums’ Winter 2016/2017 Catalog also offers detailed information, description, and language learning levels.

Please also visit the Candied Plums’ Website.  Spread the word and give us feedback so we can continue bringing the best of Chinese children’s books to American young readers, schools, libraries, and families.

I woke this morning and looked out the window.  I saw three flying cars and two tooth fairies. I closed the blinds and SHRIEKED!  Suddenly one of the tooth fairies busted through my window and grabbed one of my teeth.  She pulled it straight out of my mouth, blood gushing, and then my house turned into a cat.

At least I made 10 bucks!

I used the money to buy another cat.  It was green and I named it Bob.  Then, with my leftover money, I bought a unicorn. The cars were still coming at one of my cats (my house!) Suddenly, my cat (the house) collapsed and it fell on me!

My unicorn bought ice cream and pizza for us so we can come back to life.  (Cause it’s yummy.)  When we were revived, we started to pass gas, used the bathroom, and barfed everywhere.  Then the ice cream and pizza came to life and said, “What’s your favorite color?”  Then we ate the cat and the unicorn.  

Next, we had a funeral for the cat and the unicorn.  It was a very sad and depressing ceremony.

Can you guess what my name is?  (Hint: DJT)

(This is an extremely silly story made up by 4th grade students as part of a “Search Engine” experiment.)

This morning I woke up and looked out the window. It was snowing like crazy! Mayor Miranda decided that it would be a snow day. All the kids who attend schools were excited that it was a snow day. Then all of a sudden, a giant monster ate Mayor Miranda!!! The monster stomped around causing fear and destruction.

Everyone stayed inside all day because of the monster. Some kids could see the monster stomping around the city. The monster burped and destroyed most of the houses. Then, Bob the Builder the Assassin killed the monster with a bomb. Even though he killed the monster, he also destroyed the city with the bomb.

Then, a mutant underwear ate the bomb. But there was another assassin and the two assassins tried to kill the mutant underwear. Bob the Builder called the Pink Fluffy Unicorn to help. But Dumbledore was so mad that he started shouting the elder curse but without saying all the “beeeeeeeeeps.”

A new assassin, the Poop Assassin, came and killed the Pink Fluffy Unicorn and it called for all the mutant fingernails to kill every other underwear and toxic poop. The wizard guy trapped the people into the Underworld and killed all the people and then killed himself.

But then, since the monster that ate Mayor Miranda didn’t chew her but only swallowed her, so when the monster died, Mayor Miranda survived.

That was a Nasty Dream!

(This is a 4th grade class exercise for Search Engine efficiency, strategy, and reliability.)

This morning, I woke up and looked out the window. It was pouring rain.  My neighbor was practically swimming.  My eyes wandered around my backyard when they landed on something shiny.

I put my raincoat on and went outside to check it out.  It was this weird piece of rock.  I picked it up and something strange happened.  Jake Paul came by, surfing somehow in the air.  Then magically, Madeleine G. flew in the air and dabbed, whipped, and nae-nae’ed. She fell and got run over by a car.

She ran!  Something dropped out of her pocket: A POTION!  I ran to it and picked it up. It wasn’t marked poison, so I took a sip.  Two things happened: first, my eyesight got really good, and then I fell through a trapdoor!  I woke up and Jake Paul said to me, “I am Jesus in disguise.”  Then he disappeared and a cross took his place.  

I passed gas and a bomb fell from the sky to blow me up.  At the last second of my life, I thought, “How could this happen to me?”

THE END

(A story composed as part of an internet/information literacy unit by my 4th grade students.)

This morning, I woke up and looked out my window.  I saw a bird that flew into my window.  There was a big crash and it slipped down the window pane slowly. The bird yelled at me, “You’re NOT MY DAD!”  I was shocked that the bird could speak!

Then the bird said to me, “Hey, I’m hungry; can you get me a block of cheese?”  I replied, “But you said I’m not your dad so why should I get you a block of cheese?”  The bird said, “You’re mean,” and started making an annoying wailing sound that broke the window!

The next thing I saw was that he called a giant gorilla named Harambe.

The next morning, I woke up my mom and I walked into the window and told my mom that I want a block of cheese. But she made me pancakes instead.  I walked down to the kitchen but the bird was following me asking for a block of cheese for a second time!  The gorilla Harambe was following the bird even though Harambe was 150 times larger than the bird.  The bird stole the cheese and said, “Cash me ousside, how ‘bout dat?”

I was confused from what the bird said.  My mom was confused THE WHOLE TIME!  Both of us almost fainted.

Suddenly I realized that the bird was totally an illuminati and I gave him some fresh-avocado.

(Made up story in a ROUND during Library Class by my 4th grade students.)

“When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!” This is the time when all of us working with children, children’s books, and education must toughen up and keep on going!

It is heartening to see that hundreds of signatures by children’s book creators have been collected at The Brown Book Shelf for A Declaration in Support of Children, and that a live version of this document that allows for more signatures and support can be found on their Facebook page.

Today, I publicly echo my support for all the sentiments expressed in this document, adding here my continuing commitment as an educator, a school librarian, and a children’s literature advocate that:

I will read widely works created by a diverse group of writers and illustrators that both reflect authentic lived experiences of today’s children and offer genuine opportunities to understand and empathize with experiences unfamiliar to their own.

I will constantly highlight and promote these titles directly to my students and their families and also on social media in an effort to strengthen the innate capability of hope, courage, and compassion to bring about true social justices via the power of literature.

I will create curricula and take advantage of teachable moments both in the classroom, during casual interactions, and on social media to combat the ever-growing threat of Untruth-Telling in the digital and mass media sphere.

I will model my commitment to social justices and compassion by addressing injustices intentionally, openly, and truthfully in the classroom, during casual interactions, and on social media.

Fellow librarians, educators, and children’s literature champions, join me in our work together for a better and brighter future!