It's a Book by Lane Smith

Smith, L.  (2010).  It’s a Book.  New York City, NY: Roaring Book Press.  ISBN: 978-1-59643-606-0.

Annotation

In this digital age, a Monkey, Jackass, and a mouse make a bold message about technology and books.

My thoughts

I thought that this book would be too simplistic, but after reading it I’ve decided that it is a good way to promote books to younger tech happy generations. This story pokes fun at the tragic outcome of the technological era as the jackass is unable to grasp the simplistic beauty of books. This book, however, might not be appropriate for classroom settings since ‘jackass’ might be offensive to some people. This would be a good book for library displays for Banned Books Month or humorous picture books.

Literary devices

Use of Repetition: “It’s a book.” Is repeated numerous times.

Reading level/ Interest Age

Ages 6-10 (older readers will find this story humorous).

Reviews and Awards

IRA Children’s Choices, 2011

NY Times Notable Children’s Books, 2010

Goodreads Choice Award for Picture Book, 2010

Author website: http://www.lanesmithbooks.com

Media: Oil paint and ink

Genre: Juvenile picture book

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi

Satrapi, M. (2005)- author and illustrator. Embroideries. New York, N.Y.: Pantheon Books. ISBN: 0375423052.

Annotation

Ten close-knit Iranian women get together to sip samovar tea, ‘ventilate the heart,’ and gossip about sex.

My thoughts

Embroideries examines a facet of Iranian women’s lives and introduces the reader into the inner chamber of a section of feminine discourse. What is really great about this book is that is takes the delicate topic of sex/sexuality and a group of women who are cross culturally believed to be reserved and demure, and illustrates all the bawdy and very funny discourse in a skillful narrative that puts “Sex in the City” to shame.

This is a biographical memoir from the best-selling author of Persepolis. It opens with the family sitting at the family table with Marjane’s grandfather thanking her grandmother for such a great lunch. The grandmother humbly and primely replies that “Satrapi” flatters her. (Using his last name out of polite respect.) The tone changes after they leave the table. Marjane makes a special tea (opium based) for her grandmother. The afternoon and night tea includes discussions where the female member of the family, friends, and neighbors get together to speak and ventilate the heart. The book is the discussion that follows. And the reader is the lucky wallflower to these secrets of the heart and other regions.

Oh, and do they ventilate the heart. They tell stories of lost lovers, lovers that need to get lost, nagging husbands, adulteresses and husbands, husbands who are adulterers, inadequate sex, bad choices, lies, and personal wishes. Some of the stories are really funny while others reveal a patriarchal society where women are sometimes forced into arranged marriages. Importantly, the arranged marriage part of the story has a character (an aunt) who is modern and presents her point of view and encourages the mother to let her child marry for love and not wealth.

It is so nice to get a perspective from Tehran and Iranian women. In recent years, they have been forced around a shroud of secrecy and misunderstanding. It is really revealing to pull that shroud to see these extraordinary very modern women. Few books capture similarities rather than just showing the differences. This should be recognized as important in itself.

Curricular connections

Literary devices

Use of allusion:

“That’s life! Sometimes you’re on the horse’s back, and sometimes it’s the horse that’s on your back.”

Metaphor: The title and the association with historical female sewing/embroidery circles and the surgical restoration.

Reading level/ Interest Age

High school (Embroideries refers to the surgical restoration of one’s vagina to appear virginal. The mature ideas and the discussions about sex might be reserved for older high school students/ female readers interested in sex and gender).

Reviews and Awards

Best-selling author

Author website: No website found.

Media: Black sharpie

Genre: Graphic novel

The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snicket and Carson Ellis

Snicket, Lemony – author, Carson Ellis - illustrator, and Nathaniel Stookey -. music The composer is dead. New York: HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN: 978-0061236273

Author website: http://www.lemonysnicket.com/

Ilustrator website: http://carsonellis.com/

Media: Oil paints and ink

Genre: juvenile picture book, music

Annotation

The composer is decomposing and an investigator is called in to investigate in this whodunit of the music world. In this perplexing murder mystery, everyone seems to have a motive, an alibi, and everyone is a musical instrument.

My thoughts

Everyone loves Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. Many have grown up on it without really questioning the appropriateness of the classic because it is a classic. Well, this is a witty “Peter and the Wolf” for the 21^st century. It is contains the same lessons of the instruments and parts of an orchestra but without the gun-toting toddler out to shoot an instinct driven wolf. Now, don’t get me wrong, Peter the Wolf still is a classic. This performance/book/disc, however, can join it as another unique classic in this genre of music picture books. It certainly is a classic and is a humorous mystery that teaches different instruments.

Memorable quotes:

“Everyone forgets about us,” said the Violas bitterly. “We play the notes in the chords that nobody cares about. We play crucial countermelodies nobody hears.”

“We were doing bird imitations,” said the flutes, the shiniest and highest pitched of the woodwinds. It seems like that’s all we ever do.”

“Of course,” he said, “the Conductor! You’ve been murdering composers for years! In fact, wherever there’s a conductor, you’re sure to find a dead composer!” Snicket points out. "Beethoven — dead! Bach — dead! ... Schubert — unfinished, but dead!"

Curricular connections

Music (kindergarten and up) for teaching different instruments.

Reading level/ Interest Age

K and up/ Age 5 and up

Reviews

"It's funny, buoyant and engaging, and like Snicket's brilliant "Series of Unfortunate Events," it trusts children's taste for the sanguinary far further than many timorous parents and children's authors are inclined to."— SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (March 22, 2009)

"You'd be hard pressed to find a sym-phunnier crime story than this."— TIME MAGAZINE

The Cartoon History of the Modern World: Part II: From the Bastille to Baghdad by Larry Gonick

Gonick, Larry. (2009). The Cartoon History of the Modern World: Part II: From the Bastille to Baghdad. Harper, New York, NY. ISBN:  978-0-06-076008-3.

Author website: http://www.larrygonick.com/

Media: pen and India ink

Genre: nonfiction, history, cartoon, graphic novel

Annotation

The last volume of Larry Gonick’s 30+ year magnum opus Cartoon History of the World series. Like the other volumes, this volume takes Modern history presents assiduously diligent research and scholarly data, while illustrating finer historical nuances, then adds memorable twists and scintillating comical information, then puts it all into graphic novel format.

My thoughts

Voila. This is a history book that is anti-textbook boredom and provides insights, perspectives, wisdom, irony, and humor. There are disasters, near disasters, and should have been disasters. Along with history that does not make it into the typical world history book. Importantly, this book takes textbook history and condenses it into memorable easy-to-learn history in a contemporary format that will appeal to teenagers and adults.

It starts by covering China and Japan then continues to Enlightenment then propels forward onward for the next 300 pages to conclude the journey of modern history with the recent economic crisis. The panels don’t sugarcoat history or try to leave out unpleasant details. It’s real history really funny.

Curricular connections

Larry Gonick interview* quotes- 

“Humor is a teaching tool. The best humor, the best jokes, the most meaningful are the ones that come out of some unexpected connection in the narrative.”

In response to why do people respond to the cartoon histories, Larry Gonick comments “because in general history is such a dull subject and people are so happy and relieved to find something that treats it in a way that entertains them and makes it come alive. To me, history is the record of all the best stories that have happened to human beings. Everything that you want in good literature.”

*This is from a video accessible on youtube see below.

Reading level/ Interest Age

Teen and up

Reviews and Awards

“Lively cartooning and pretension-puncturing wit.” (Booklist )

“The final installment of Gonick’s deeply funny and impeccably researched series has finally arrived... Brilliantly funny, the series finds the inherent humor in history...” (Publishers Weekly )

“Funny, informative, and comprehensive, Gonick’s history concludes with this second volume. His unique wit, sense of irony, and passion for humanity’s complex story of triumphs, compromises, and disasters are as evident here as they are in his previous books... An insightful review of history.” (School Library Journal)

… and many other positive reviews.