This week we are celebrating families, especially the relationships children have with their moms and dads. In each of these titles the influence of mothers and fathers is shown differently. These books reviewed by the International Reading Association’s Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) could be read aloud, book talked or displayed in our classrooms.
GRADES K-3
Allen, Kathryn Madeline. (2102). A kiss means I love you. Photos by Eric Futran. Chicago, IL: Albert Whitman & Company.
In appealing and colorful photographs a son kisses his mother and a daughter tugs her mother’s arm. The simple rhyming text says, “A kiss means I love you, a wave means hello, a smile means I’m happy, a tug means let’s go!” Other photographs depict emotions or actions such as: laughing, crying, pouting, shivering, clapping and hugging. Each action is accompanied with what they mean, sharing more feelings. During a read aloud teachers could pause and let students infer or predict what a kiss means or what a wave means to them. Students could also dramatize each action or emotion. Children could be invited to write and create their own I love you books discussing how they love their parents.
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver
Buzzeo, Toni. (2012). One cool friend. Illus. by David Small. New York: Dial.
While visiting the aquarium with his father, the very proper Elliot falls in love with the elegant penguins, reveling in their antics and their physical appearance. In some ways they remind him of himself. When he politely asks his National Geographic-reading father if he can have a penguin, his father assumes that he wants a stuffed one, and provides the cash for it. Once Elliot and the kidnapped penguin he names Magellan have arrived home, Elliot does his best to make things comfortable for his new friend. Claiming that he has a social studies project on Magellan the explorer, he even heads to the library to find out more about penguins. This delightful title is reminiscent of the 1938 title, Mr. Popper's Penguins, but its slyness provides its own appeal. Created with pen and ink, ink wash, watercolor, and colored pencil, the illustrations are every bit as enjoyable as the story itself. The staring stand-off between Magellan the penguin and Ms. Stanbridge, a librarian who has likely seen sights much stranger than a penguin in her library, is priceless. There are misunderstandings aplenty in this appealing title.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman
Kittinger, Jo. S. (2012). The house on Dirty-Third Street. Illus. by Thomas Gonzalez. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree.
Because it’s all they can afford, a mother and daughter prepare to move into a run-down house in a neighborhood that has seen better days. Although both are disappointed by its appearance and how much work it will take to renovate their new place, they see its possibilities and dream of how it might look once it has been cleaned up. New friends from church and the neighborhood pitch in to refurbish the house, and the dirty place becomes a home. As the two reach out to others for help, and their neighbors respond with the assistance they need, their dreams begin to come true. The pastel, colored pencil, and airbrush illustrations capture perfectly the anticipation, hope and discouragement on the face of the mother as well as her joy in finally achieving her dreams--with a lot of help from kind neighbors.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman
Lyons, Kelly Starling. (2012). Ellen’s broom. Illus. by Daniel Minter. New York: Putnam.
Ellen is fully aware of the importance of the broom that hangs on her family's wall since it signifies her parents' marriage. Prior to Reconstruction, slaves were not allowed to marry, and jumping the broom was how they honored their commitment to each other. Now that the laws have changed, her mother and father want to legalize their union. Ellen brings the broom on the family’s trip to the courthouse, and decorates it with flowers. Clearly, the family honors their past as well as looking toward a hopeful future for Ellen and the other children. An author's note provides additional information about jumping the broom and the 1866 Cohabitation List of Henry County, Virginia, which inspired the story. The family’s love for one another is evident in the illustrations which consist of richly-hued linoleum block prints that were hand printed and painted.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman
Patterson, Rebecca. (2012). My no, no, no day! New York: Viking.
Today is not a very good day for Bella. It starts off with her being awakened by her little brother licking her jewelry and goes downhill from there. Breakfast is not to her taste, and her shoes annoy her. In fact, everything seems slightly off somehow, and Bella adds to the unpleasantness by misbehaving and saying no to everything. Still, her harried but ever-patient mother ends the day with a bedtime story and the promise her that tomorrow will be much better. And it is! Bella’s most unpleasant day may remind readers of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day in Judith Viorst’s children's classic since most of us can relate to having a day during which very little goes according to plan. Through facial expressions and even the characters’ hair, the soft-colored illustrations show the inconvenience of a day that doesn't measure up to Bella’s expectations.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman
Reichert, Amy. (2012). Take your mama to work today. Illus. by Alexandra Boiger. New York: Atheneum Books.
Violet is off to work with her mother. Sometimes it is a snow day or the baby-sitter is sick day but it also happens on Take Your Child to Work Day, and Violet is an office manager to contend with! Answering the phone, shredding paper that makes confetti, and helping the boss with his presentation that she comments is like show and tell, Violet enthusiastically offers her assistance to the entire office staff. Even her mother’s umbrella comes in handy to spear the doughnuts or shield her from the confetti fallout she made from the paper shredder. Boiger’s playful watercolor illustrations add to the childlike atmosphere that Violet creates during her day at the office with her mother. The illustrations reveal that the other office workers might be glad the day when the day is over and Violet can go back to school. This will be a great read aloud for those days when parents come to school.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant
Saudo, Coralie. (2012). My dad is big and strong, but…: A bedtime story. Illus. by Kris Di Giacomo. New York: Enchanted Lion Books.
Originally published in France, this picture book will captivate young children because father and son have switched roles. On the first page a big strong dad says, “I don’t want to go to bed!” The son tries reasoning with his father, explaining that it is late and he needs to be in good shape for tomorrow. The father springs to a handstand and yells, “No, no, no, I won’t go to sleep!” On the next page the father is hanging from a chandelier and the exasperated son offers to read a story. Children will chuckle when they notice the father sitting on top of the teeny tiny son as he reads aloud. Next, dad begs, “One more story pleeease, just one more!” The son has had enough and exclaims it is time for bed. Once dad is beneath the covers he requests that the lights stay on. Dad may be big and strong but he is afraid of the dark. Children will request multiple readings of this hilarious book and giggle with glee as dad tries to stall bedtime.
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver
Ward, Lindsay. (2012). When blue met egg. New York: Dial.
A snowball that lands in her nest brings out the maternal side of Blue who is surprised but also somewhat delighted at the early arrival of an egg. As she tries to find Egg’s mother, she takes readers up and down on a wonderful visual tour of New York City. Over the next months, Blue becomes increasingly attached to Egg as they play in the park and visit art museums and the opera. But April’s warmer weather spells death for snow, and despite Blue’s tender care, Egg shrinks and eventually disappears. In her place, though, is a beautiful flower, reminding readers that something beautiful can arise from almost nothing with enough tender loving care. Readers will be touched by the affection that Blue lavishes on a handful of snow. The illustrations in the book show her affection for Egg as well as the author/illustrator's fondness for the city where Blue and Egg live. Memorable in its quirkiness, this picture book is likely to appeal to adults just as much as to children.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman
GRADES 3-6
Smith, Anne Warren. (2012). Bittersweet summer. New York: Albert Whitman.
As readers head into summer, Bittersweet Summer will appear on many summer recommended lists. Nine-year old Katie ad her five-year old brother Tyler begin their summer in Oregon with their single dad announcing they may have to move. Katie’s mother has put career before family and left to pursue her country music singing stage dreams. With her best friend gone for the summer, Katie is left with the scheming next-door neighbor Claire, whose idea is to get their former fourth grade teacher to marry her widowed father, but Katie had hopes that Ms. Morgan might be interested in her own father and they would not have to move away. With a gentle touch, a bit of humor and a lot of reality, the author has dealt with the scenario of today’s divided families in a way that many children will relate to but can also find hope for new family relationships. Teachers’ guides are available for these books at the publisher’s website.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant
GRADES 6-8
Geithner, Carole. (2012). If only. New York: Scholastic.
With the death of her mother from cancer before the start of her eighth grade year, everything in her life changes for thirteen-year-old Corinna Burdette. Even her best friend seems uncomfortable around her, and she finds commonalities with a classmate whose father died earlier. As her father tries to cope with tasks once handled by her mother such as grocery and clothes shopping, Corinna deals with school bullies and her fear that something bad will happen to her father as well. As her classmates grouse about their own mothers, Corinna simply wishes that she and her mother had had more time together. For solace, she even leaves voice messages on her mother's cell phone until her father cancels the phone. The book is filled with Corinna's raw emotions vacillating from anger, depression, and confusion to uncertainty and pleasure in remembering the good times the family shared. Amid the pain and loss, she somehow finds room in her heart for a crush on a classmate and reaches out to others in a school support group. Once Corinna asserts her own needs and even defends another classmate who is being called "Shamu" because of her size, she is on the right track. Although her mother is no longer with her, Corinna knows that a part of her is still around.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman
Gennari, Jennifer. (2012). My mixed-up, berry blue summer. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books.
Twelve-year-old June and her mother have lived happily on Lake Champlain in Vermont all of their lives. But now that her mother and her significant other, Eva, plan to wed, everything seems to change. As the women's relationship becomes more open, many of the area citizens turn on them, and they find themselves at the center of an anti-gay firestorm with signs extolling Vermonters to "Take Back Vermont" and others advocating that citizens support the rights of gay couples to marry with signs saying to "Keep It Civil." Torn between loving her mother and resenting her relationship with Eva, June is wonderfully imperfect and real. When she behaves hatefully toward Eva, she sounds exactly the way many girls in her situation might sound. As June prepares to enter a pie baking contest at the fair and ponders the possibility of love blossoming between her and best friend Luke, the author describes an idyllic setting beset by division over same-sex marriage while also including mouth-watering descriptions of fruit pie ingredients that make readers' mouths water. The thoughtful juxtaposition of sweet and sour in the book’s pages leave much upon which to ruminate.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman Stone, Phoebe. (2012). The boy on cinnamon street. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic. 
Seventh grader Louise Terrace gives up just about everything that matters after her mother’s suicide. In fact, she has buried so deeply all memories of the event and her mother that she barely remembers them. With little to hold onto, she succumbs to the efforts of some of her gymnastics teammates to isolate her and to make her quit the team. But when her best friend Reni convinces her that she has a secret admirer, her heart begins to warm again. The only problem is that the secret admirer is not the boy she thought it was. During her efforts to pursue her crush—she convinces herself that the crush is actually mutual—she relies on the support of her best friends, Reni and Henderson. One of the best parts of this novel is how the author clearly shows how hard it is to recover from the loss of a loved one. Sometimes, as in the case of Louise, the death of a parent makes a child lose her way for awhile. The romance itself is sweet and likely to appeal to many middle grade readers who will be gently reminded to love their mothers despite their flaws while keeping their hearts open to life’s possibilities.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman
GRADES 9-12
Resau, Laura. (2012). The jade notebook. New York: Delacorte Press.
Zeeta and her globe-wandering mother, Layla, have settled in Mazunte, a small but beautiful town in coastal Mexico, where her mother has started a new job managing cabanas. Though Zeeta is hoping for a quiet new life that will satisfy her mother as well as herself, several mysteries come into play. She has come to this town in hopes of learning more about her father and his background. Zeeta’s boyfriend, Wendell, works as an intern at the local Turtle Center photographing rare sea turtles. As in the previous novels, Zeeta records observations of life around her and the reader begins to meet secondary characters that add to the suspense of the mysteries surrounding her father as well as the ecomystery in this seeming tropical paradise.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant