Book Review: Ponyella by Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans, with illustrations by Lynn Munsinger

Ponyella
by Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans, with illustrations by Lynn Munsinger (jP Numeroff)

 This is a terrific re-telling of Cinderella using ponies as the characters.

 

We meet Ponyella who is a beautiful pony who is happy on her small farm with the pastures and the barn and she loves jumping. Then the farm is sold and as the new owners move in they bring along two ponies as well. And as we know the Cinderella story these ponies pick on Ponyella who ends up being moved out of her clean stall and into a small, dirty stall. Ponyella does all the work pulling the coal carts and her coat becomes dirty. She is so unhappy.

 

Then, we see the Princess driven by who will be selecting the winner of the Annual Grand Royal Pony Championship! Everyone wants to attend but Ponyella is forced to remain at home. Until…her Fairy Godmare arrives.

 

The drawings by Lynn Munsinger are excellent, you feel so sorry for Ponyella. I love the fabulous trailer she rides in to the championship (as opposed to a coach). And her horseshoes are embedded with diamonds. Sadly, the clock struck Noon and Ponyella had to dash for home, leaving behind a horseshoe.

 

The story was so creative at inserting horse-themed items yet remaining close to the original story. Adults will get a kick out of this story as much as the kids. The illustrations pull you into the emotions of Ponyella – but she gets her Happy Ending.

 

I highly recommend this clever remix of Cinderella.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca J. Gomez, or It’s Not Little Red Riding Hood (It’s Not a Fairy Tale) by Josh Funk.)

 

( official Nate Evans author web site ) | ( official Laura Numeroff author web site )

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: Ponyella by Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans, with illustrations by Lynn Munsinger

Ponyella
by Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans, with illustrations by Lynn Munsinger (jP Numeroff)

This is a terrific re-telling of Cinderella using ponies as the characters.

 

We meet Ponyella who is a beautiful pony who is happy on her small farm with the pastures and the barn and she loves jumping. Then the farm is sold and as the new owners move in they bring along two ponies as well. And as we know the Cinderella story these ponies pick on Ponyella who ends up being moved out of her clean stall and into a small, dirty stall. Ponyella does all the work pulling the coal carts and her coat becomes dirty. She is so unhappy.

 

Then, we see the Princess driven by who will be selecting the winner of the Annual Grand Royal Pony Championship! Everyone wants to attend but Ponyella is forced to remain at home. Until…her Fairy Godmare arrives.

 

The drawings by Lynn Munsinger are excellent, you feel so sorry for Ponyella. I love the fabulous trailer she rides in to the championship (as opposed to a coach). And her horseshoes are embedded with diamonds. Sadly, the clock struck Noon and Ponyella had to dash for home, leaving behind a horseshoe.

 

The story was so creative at inserting horse-themed items yet remaining close to the original story. Adults will get a kick out of this story as much as the kids. The illustrations pull you into the emotions of Ponyella – but she gets her Happy Ending.

 

I highly recommend this clever remix of Cinderella.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca J. Gomez, or It’s Not Little Red Riding Hood (It’s Not a Fairy Tale) by Josh Funk.)

 

( official Nate Evans author web site ) | ( official Laura Numeroff author web site )

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World by Eliza Boxer and Alianna Rozentsveig

The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World
by Elisa Boxer (author) and Alianna Rozentsveig (illutrator) (j 940.531 Box)

This is an attractive little non-fiction historical book for youth readers, done in picture book format, written by Elisa Boxer with illustrations by Alianna Rozentsveig. It tells a story that begins during World War II in the Terezin concentration camp but which has repercussions through today.

 

Jewish teacher Irma Lauscher risked breaking protocols in the camp by asking one of the other prisoner workers to smuggle in a tree sapling, which she could use to give the children in the camp a project to occupy their time. That fellow worker managed to conceal a small maple tree sapling in his boot as he returned to the camp one evening. Irma and her illicit class of students planted the sapling and each child shared part of their meager daily allotment of water to help the small tree flourish.

 

The book details how the tree survived, and its seeds have been shared around the world, to create other trees that are offspring of the original — to show that even during the worst possible hardships, it is possible to keep something alive through love and concerted efforts.

 

This was a moving story, and one I’d never heard about before reading the book. It provides a marvelous introduction to children on a difficult subject. And the art is terrific. Strongly recommended.

 

( official Elisa Boxer web site ) | ( official Alianna Rozentsveig web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Creep Crayon by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown

The Creepy Crayon
by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown (jP Reynolds)

The fact that the “Creepy Crayon” is purple was the first draw, as that’s probably my favorite color. And the fact the illustrations are large and uncomplicated, making it a very suitable book for storytime presentation was the second appeal. Having read the story, which combines humor, suspense, frustration, freak-outs and resolution, that really sealed the deal as to recommending it. Let’s just say that if you ever “find” a perfectly purple, perfectly pointy, perfectly perfect crayon — beware!!

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Purple Coyote by Cornette or Butterfly, Butterfly by Petr Horacek.)

 

( official Peter Brown web site ) | ( official Aaron Reynolds web site )

 

Recommended by Becky W.C
Walt Branch Library

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: House Held Up by Trees by Ted Kooser and Jon Klassen

House Held Up By Trees: Not Far From Here, I Have Seen a House Held Up by the Hands of Trees, This is its Story
by Ted Kooser, with illustrations by Jon Klassen (jP Kooser)

I had somehow missed notice of this picture book by former Nebraska and United States Poet Laureate Ted Kooser (and who at one time lived just one block over from my family home in Lincoln). It was mentioned in the profile of illustrator Jon Klassen in What’s Your Favorite Animal? (see separate review this month). An interesting take on neglect, ruin, and nature, this story certainly resonated with me as a Great Plains native. It is melancholy but softly hopeful as it chronicles not just a house and woods over time but a family unit. One of Kooser’s own descriptions of the book says it is about change as a personal and universal theme, and he further states “A reader’s own interpretation is fine, too. I have said over and over to students and audiences to whom I’ve spoken that what the author meant is not very important. It’s what the story means to the reader that really counts.”

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Bag in the Wind by Kooser, or any of the many poetry collections by Ted Kooser.)

 

( official Jon Klassen web site ) | ( official Ted Kooser web site )

 

See Scott C.’s review of Valentines by Ted Kooser in the February 2011 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!
See Meredith M.’s review of Local Wonders: Secrets of the Bohemian Alps by Ted Kooser in the June 2012 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Becky W.C.
Walt Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: City Under the City by Dan Yaccarino

City Under the City

by Dan Yaccarino (jP Yaccarino)

 

This brand-new children’s picture book felt like a throwback to my own childhood. The artistic style of this one captured the tone and feel of a book published in the late 1960s or early 1970s. This is “dystopian fiction” for children.

 

in City Under the City, Bix is a child in a futuristic city where the humans are all helped and watched by a collection of floating giant eyes…who provide all that the human beings need, but discourage individuality and actual “thinking”. Bix is a precocious and stubborn little kid, who resists the conformity that the Eyes impress upon everyone else.

 

When a friendly mouse shows Bix the way to a hole to escape the “perfect” city they live him, Bix follows, and discovers an amazing old city hidden beneath the surface of the modern high-tech futuristic reality everyone else simply accepts. There, he discovers a massive collection of pre-Eye books in a library and learns to think clearly on his own.

 

For a simple children’s story, this is actually a template for resisting authoritarianism and dogma, as Bix brings his new-found knowledge back to his family and launches as a resistance movement against the all-seeing Eyes. I enjoyed this on all the levels it was presented, but especially the cute artistic style, that reminded me of watching The Jetsons as a kid.

 

( official Dan Yaccarino web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Simon and Chester juvenile series by Cale Atkinson

The Simon and Chester series
by Cale Atkinson (jP Atkinson and j Atkinson)

This absolutely delightful series of children’s graphic stories began with the 2018 picture book Sir Simon, Super Scarer, in which a blobby little ghost named Sir Simon Spookington is looking forward to his first assignment to haunt an actual house (he’s previously haunted a forest, a boat, a bus stop, and…a potato. But Simon is concerned to discover that the house he’s been transferred to is newly occupied by not only a kindly little old lady (great for hauntings) but also by a curious little boy (Chester), who quickly sees Simon and tries to befriend him. The picture book covers Simon showing Chester all of the “ghost chores” he must accomplish each day (spooky animal noises, chain clanking, mysterious footsteps in the attic, etc.) and Chester shows Simon the human chores he’s responsible for (cleaning, vacuuming, laundry, etc.).

 

The two later volumes, both released in 2021, are rebranded as part of the “Simon and Chester” series, and take the form of juvenile graphic novels — the art, while still terrific, is a bit less detailed and more restrained, and more emphasis is placed on the storytelling. In the first, Simon and Chester: Super Detectives, Simon and Chester are bored and borrow some costume to take on the role of detectives in search of a mystery. In the second, Simon and Chester: Super Sleepover!, Chester (an introvert) accepts an invitation to a friend’s sleepover birthday party, and Simon nervously awaits his annual “haunting” review by a notoriously picky ghost supervisor. Both are nervous about their respective appointments, but both train each other on how to be successful.

 

The artwork, while a bit cartoonish, is excellent, with both Simon the ghost and Chester the kid being very expressive. The storytelling is amusing, and each book has a positive message for kids. I really enjoy this series, and can’t wait for more Simon and Chester adventures from this author/illustrator. Simon is a particularly engaging little spook!

 

( official Cale Atkinson web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Your Mama by NoNieqa Ramos

Your Mama
by NoNieqa Ramos (jP Ramos)

This book takes the format of “Your Mama…” insults that many children say to each other on the playground and beautifully spins them towards the incredible aspects of motherhood. This book would be wonderful for families to read together to reflect on the invisible labors that mothers take on for the good of the family. Children of single mothers and single mothers themselves will likely feel very seen in this book. My only warning about this book: fathers, non-binary parents, and other caretakers might also want similar books about themselves. This book has so many loving and powerful statements in it, it’s hard to not be joyful after reading it. I can’t wait to see an older child pick this up and read it to their mom as an expression of gratitude.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try In My Anaana’s Amautik by Nadia Sammurtok, Dad By My Side by Soosh, Yo Soy Muslim by Mark Gonzalez, Saturday by Oge Mora, Birdie’s Beauty Parlor by Lee Merrill Byrd, In Your Hands by Carole Boston Weatherford, Me & Mama by Cozbi Cabrera, and Just Like a Mama or Honey Baby Sugar Child, both by Alice Faye Duncan.)

 

( official Your Mama page on the official NoNieqa Ramos web site )

 

Recommended by Naomi S.
Eiseley Branch Library

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Grand Jete and Me by Allegra Kent an Robin Preiss-Glassner

Grand Jeté and Me
written by Allegra Kent with art by Robin Preiss-Glassner (jP Kent)

Not having kids of my own, I don’t often read juvenile picture books. But sometimes, the art on one of them is so compelling that I can’t help but indulge. That was the case with Grand Jeté and Me.

 

This gorgeous picture book was written by Allegra Kent, who danced for 30 years as a prima ballerina with the New York City Ballet. The illustrations are by Robin Preiss Glasser, the artist responsible for the incredibly popular series of “Fancy Nancy” picture books.

 

A(n unnamed) young girl is dropped off by her mother for a day out with her grandmother, whom she calls Grand Jeté — since the grandmother was a former prima ballerina. Grand Jeté and granddaughter fix lunch, get dressed up, and head out of her apartment to attend a performance of “The Nutcracker” at the New York City Ballet. At every step along the way, they use ballet movements, which Grand Jete explains to the granddaughter, and during the ballet, the granddaughter narrates the plot of The Nutcracker for us, the reader.

Grand Jeté and Me is a truly beautiful book, and the love between the characters shines through Glasser’s illustrations. Kent’s simple, yet effective, explanations for complex ballet terminology make this an excellent introduction to the world of classical dance for young readers. I really loved this book, and I highly recommend it for both ballet fans and for those looking for charming stories of grandparents and grandkids interacting!

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor, with illustrations by Robin Preiss Glasser, or Allegra Kent’s earlier picture books (with other artists), Ballerina Swan and Ballerina Gets Ready.)

 

( publisher’s official Grand Jete and Me web page ) | ( Allegra Kent page on Wikipedia ) | ( Robin Preiss-Glassner page on Wikipedia )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Ruby's Sword by Jacqueline Veissid

Ruby’s Sword

by Jacqueline Veissid (jP Veissid)

 

This book is for all those little sisters who continually get left behind. Ruby’s brothers always race ahead of her and won’t include her in their adventures. As she is left trailing her brothers once again, she happens upon three perfect sticks — no, they are swords! She imagines the swords could make for great quests. She is quick to share her discovery, but yet again her brothers won’t let her join in their sword play.

 

Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Ruby goes off on her own adventure: battling cloud dragons, harvesting apples for hungry squirrels, and assisting ants across a stream. And then it happens. A sheet blows off the drying line and Ruby catches it with her trusty sword. An idea takes shape. Ruby uses her sword as a tent pole and makes a shelter for herself and her animal friends. This time the brothers want in. But not so fast. First they have to bring her “honorable offerings” such as rocks, dandelions, and even their swords. Together the three siblings turn Ruby’s meager tent into a magnificent castle with three sword peaks. And finally they find an adventure they can experience together.

 

Ruby’s Sword is a sweet picture book, beautifully illustrated by Paola Zakimi. It teaches the lesson that our best adventures are the ones we make for ourselves. Don’t follow someone else’s path, blaze your own trail.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try I am the Storm by Jane Yolen, or My Papi Has A Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero.)

 

( official Ruby’s Sword page on the official Jacqueline Veissid web site )

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Bench by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex

The Bench
by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex (jP Meghan)

Although I am not a huge Duchess Meghan (formerly Meghan Merkle) fan, I recommend her children’s book The Bench, not necessarily because of the story, but the illustrations are simply beautiful. Illustrator Christian Robinson, a Caldecott artist who also illustrated the books Last Stop On Market Street, You Matter, and my favorite, Milo Imagines The World, has created some incredibly beautiful multicultural images of fathers holding, watching, napping, building, and playing with their young sons.

 

The book features images of all kinds of fathers and their children on benches, of all shapes and sizes, experiencing all sorts of moments of happiness and sadness, growing and loving. The Bench offers a lovely message from a mother’s point of view of the remarkable relationship of fathers and sons.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Milo Imagines The World or Last Stop On Market Street by Matt de la Peña.)

 

( publisher’s official The Bench web page ) | ( Wikipedia page for Meghan, Duccess of Sussex )

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Saving the Countryside: The Story of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit by Linda Marshall

Saving the Countryside: The Story of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit

by Linda Marshall (jP Marshall)

 

Charming and informational juvenile picture book biography about Beatrix Potter, exploring how and why she came to write the iconic children’s tale Peter Rabbit, and all the other little picture books that explored the British countryside.

 

Marshall’s artwork perfectly captures the personality of Potter, her family and friends, and the other people in her orbit. That artwork also does a remarkable job of capturing the idyllic qualities of a simpler country lifestyle, which Potter wished to save, in the face of technological advances and increasing urbanization of British farmlands. And, on a third level, the art harmonizes well with Potter’s own illustrations from her classic books.

 

For anyone who’s ever loved reading Potter’s tales — I grew up on the little green hardback volumes! — and for anyone who doesn’t believe one person and their actions can actually make a difference.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Beatrix Potter’s Art and A Celebration of Beatrix Potter: Art and Letters by More Than 30 of Today’s Favorite Children’s Book Illustrators, both cataloged as under Potter as author, Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature by Linda Lear or Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children’s Tales by Marta McDowell.]

[ official Saving the Countryside page on the official Linda Marshall web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Services

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!