Picture Books - Juvenile Corner

Hi everyone!

The reason why I've been MIA is because I'm in grad school!  One of the courses that I'm taking is for children's literacy and reading.  From now until May, I'll be posting reviews of juvenile literature.  I'm going to group everything under the tag "Juvenile Corner". 

This post will be focusing on 5 picture books.  The books read are listed in alphabetical order.


Alma and How She Got Her Name 
Written and Illustrated by Juana Martinez- Neal
Published by Penguin Random House
Category: Children's Picture Books
Major Awards Won: 2019 Caldecott Honor Book, 2019 Erza Jack Keats New Writer/ Illustrator Award Honor Book.
Age Range: 4-8
Pages and Spreads: 32 pages and 7 spreads

Alma and How She Got Her Name is about a little girl named Alma, who feels that her full name Alma Sophia Esperenza Jose Pura Candela is just too long!  Alma approaches her father and tells him that her name is too long (beginning), her father sits down with Alma and tells her about each person of who she's named after and why (middle). At the end of the story, the reader learns that her first name, Alma, is her own name- a blank slate to make an amazing legacy for herself! The illustrations were completed by Martinez-Neal. They were done in colored pencils and graphites, so they have a very soft and blurred look to them. Something that I noticed immediately was how each name was a different style of text associated with it.  This picture book is good for the publisher's recommended age range of 4-8.  This book would be wonderful to explain the importance of family and genealogy. 



Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut
Written by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James
Published by Agate Publishing
Category: Children's Picture Book
Major Awards Won: 2018 Caldecott Honor Book, 2018 Newbery Honor Book, 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book, Erza Jack Keats New Writer Award and Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor Book. 
Age Range: 3-8 recommended 
Pages: 32 pages and 10 spreads


Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut was very cool.  The way that the words were told with rhyme and rhythm, were like a rap and that I found to be unique.  It definitely worked with the story.  I've yet to have read a children's book like this before. The story looks a young boy who is about to get his hair cut and how the idea that getting of getting a haircut is transformative (beginning).   The middle of the story explains all of the things that possible with a haircut.  Leading up to the end where the young boy has his new "fresh cut" and he's ready to leave the shop.  The illustrations were amazing!  As the reader, you recognize that the illustrations were painted in acrylic from the brush strokes.  James captured the essence of photographs through paint which is truly amazing.  That being said, I don't feel that this book is great for young readers.  While the rhyme and the flow of the words is impeccable, it's not something that younger ones can identify with.  Little ones won't understand what be able to understand a lot of it.  This book would be best for children 8 or older.  The theme of the book is self confidence; this would be great for a child who needs that boost of just that. 



Hello Lighthouse
Written and illustrated by Sophia Blackall
Published by Little, Brown in 2018
Category: Children's Picture Book
Major Awards Won: 2019 Caldecott Medal
Age Range: 4-8 recommended 
Pages: 48 pages and 19 spreads

Blackall not only wrote Hello Lighthouse but she also did the illustrations for the book as well.  The reader will notice that the illustrations are soft but that they are very detailed. It looks like Blackall did the illustrations using different mediums: pencils, watercolors just to name a few.  I felt that Blackall tackles the tough issue of change within this story.  The reader sees that the lighthouse keeper moves into the lighthouse on his own, but by the end, he learns that he will soon have to leave the lighthouse.  The reader can sense the sorrow that the lighthouse keeper feels. The book is beautifully illustrated, I think that there is an appeal to the older readers on the recommended age range, the ones who are closer to 6-8. 

Last Stop on Market Street
Written by Matt de la Pena, illustrated by Christian Robinson
Published by Penguin Random House in 2015
Category: Children's Picture Book
Major Awards Won: 2016 Newbery Medal Winner, 2016 Caldecott Honor Book, 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book,  and the New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of 2015 (plus 25 other nods-including picks and awards!)
Age Range: 3-5 recommended 
Pages: 32 pages and 12 spreads


Last Stop on Market Street was written by Matt de la Pena and illustrated by Christian Robinson.  The way that the book was written and illustrated works well with a younger crowd.  The pictures are big, simple and colorful in their format and they're easily identified by young eyes.  The sentences are short and simple yet they allow a young reader to imagine them.  I think that this book has a lot of appeal to a young reader, because of how it is easy to follow and the pictures are very intriguing to little ones.  At the beginning of the story, the little boy and his nana are leaving church and they're heading to the other side of town by walking and the bus.  The middle of the story includes all of the other people that they met on their way to the other side of town and how there is beauty in everything.  At the end of the story, we see that the little boy and his nana reach a soup kitchen, where they help serve food to those less fortunate. I feel that the morale of this book is fantastic and something that should be taught at a young age.  This book would be excellent for a story time!

Waiting
Written and Illustrated by Kevin Henkes
Published by HarperCollins Publishers
Category: Children's Picture Book
Major Awards Won: 2016 Caldecott Honor Book and 2016 Theodore Seuss Geisel Award.

Age Range: 4-8 recommended
Pages: 32 pages and 3 spreads


Waiting was written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes.  Set in, what the reader would assume to be a child's bedroom, five little toys sit on a windowsill, watching out the window - waiting.  The illustrations are done in what one would assume to be colored pencil but they're outlined in a bold thick black ink.  The toys used to tell the story are items that little ones know and the story itself is simple. At the beginning of the book, the five little toys are introduced as is what they like best when they look out the window.  The middle of the story has the toys waiting and there is an introduction to a new toy, who tragically doesn't make it.  At the end of the book, there is another toy that was introduced who ends up bringing more toys to the window still!  I found that since the words were so simple, the illustrations were brought forward to be more of the main focus. This book would be great for story time but for toddlers (ages 18 months -3 years).  The title of the book and the nesting doll being added at the end of story, make me think that this book would be good story to share with a child who's going to be an older sibling.

- Jillian