Picture book reviews
Picture books that have a major character with a disability are hard to find. So are picture books that include people celebrating Easter. These are the books I’m most likely to review (although I do branch out occasionally, and sometimes even review books for grownups). For a quick look at titles, topics, and lists, check the index.
The Man and the Vine and the Woman and the Wheat
A dozen years ago, my kids were too old for picture books. So I didn’t see The Man and the Vine when it came out. And when its companion book, The Woman and the Wheat, came out, I didn’t see it, either. And what I have missed for not having them! If you’re looking for...
My Pal, Victor: A bilingual story with a disabled character
I thought that I would love Diane Gonzales Bertrand’s bilingual picture book, My Pal, Victor. Characters with disabilities are incredibly rare in picture books. A picture book that includes a child who has a disability and who is not white, is a rare and precious...
Saint Francis and the Wolf: A new telling of an old story
Saint Francis and the Wolf is Jane Langton’s lovely retelling of a legend from the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Perhaps you know the story. The town of Gubbio, in Tuscany, was being terrorized by an enormous wolf. It prowled around Gubbio, “clawing at the gates by...
Snook Alone: A story of a real dog and a cartoon monk
Snook Alone has a lot of words. Unusual words. Beautiful words. Evocative words. Words of longing. Words that sigh. Words that slip between prose and poetry and back again. Words as soft as prayer, as haunting as the sea. I adore the words. All the words. Because of...
Dad, Jackie, and Me: More than a baseball story
April 15, 1947. A boy in Brooklyn is glued to the radio. It is opening day of the baseball season. Jackie Robinson is about to play his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The boy dreams of going to Ebbets Field to see the Dodgers play. And when his dad, who knows...THE MAGIC OF BOOKS
Share the joy of the Pascha through the magic of a book: Catherine's Pascha.
