Fantasy

Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight By Tony Diterlizzi

Publisher: Disney (2014)

ISBN: 9781484706688

We meet a young man named Luke Skywalker from the desert planet of Tatooine.  Two robots are sold to his father as workers, named 3CPO and R2-D2.  A message was emitted from R2-D2 of a captured Princess Leia, who said "Help me, Obi-wan Kenobi, you are my only hope."  He thought of an old man named Ben Kenobi and showed him this message.  Luke accompanies Obi-Wan on an adventure in space, where he finds out (SPOILER ALERT!) Leia is his sister, and the villain Darth Vader is his father.

Rating:

I give Star Wars NO SMILE.  I am a huge fan of Star Wars, which guided my interest in reading this book, but it is episodes 4,5, and 6 condensed into a picture book.  There is a lot of text per page, and no explanation of the characters.  The plot jumped from one place to another, and plainly felt like you were rushed through the story.  I must say the illustrations are breath-taking, but quite doesn't make up for the plot. 

Art & Max By David Wiesner

Publisher: Clarion Books (2010)

ISBN: 978061875663

We meet two lizards, Max and Art.  Max stumbles upon Art painting another lizard and asks to join.  So Max begins to paint Art, then a mad Art makes him remove the color.  To do this, Max uses a vaccuum cleaner to blow it off.  What happens is a colorless Art, who only has his outline left.  Then Max pulls apart his outline, with no more Art!  Max begins to put him back together, and finishes him with blowing the color back onto him!  What results is a colorful art, who is inspired to paint objects now.

Rating:

I give Art & Max a BIG SMILE!  I loved the concept of being able to remove someone's color and pull them apart.  It was a new way of characters interacting with their environment in an abstract way.  The text is simple with a few words on each page and the art is fantastic with a realistic look. 

Zombie in Love by Kelly DiPucchio

Publisher: Anthem books for Young Readers (2011)

ISBN: 9781442402706

Mortimer is a zombie, who is very lonely.  His only friends are worms and his dead dog.  He had no luck with the ladies, so he put a personal ad in the paper.  At Cupid's Ball, a couples dance, he waited for a mystery girl to answer his ad.  He waited all night long and when midnight crept up, he was discouraged and went to leave.  As he was walking out the door, a zombie girl named Mildred arrived.  They fell in ghoul love, and lived happily every after.

Rating:

I give Zombie in Love a BIG SMILE.  This story was so cute, full of zombie puns.  The story would read that he gave a girl a ring, but then the picture would have him offering a ring with a dead finger attached.  It does not have too much text, and the watercolor pictures fit the theme perfectly.

Realistic Fiction

Horrible Harry and the Drop of Doom By Suzy Kline

Publisher: The Penguin Group (1998)

ISBN: 0670858298

It's Song Lee's birthday and she invites her second grade friends to an amusement park, that has a Halloween theme.  They all gossip about the elevator drop ride called the Drop of Doom.  This makes Harry sick to his stomach, since he has a phobia of elevators ever since he got stuck in one.  After all the teasing, Harry finally finds himself at the ride.  Quickly, the ride is over and he realizes that he loved it!

Rating:

I give this story a BIG SMILE.  The text of the story read as is though these were actual children stalking.  I enjoyed the Korean Cultural incorporation.  Song Lee's mom brought a traditional Korean food, kim-chi, that the children loved.  Though I could hear her accent as I read.  It was that generic Asian accent.  I wasn't sure if it was a hint of racism, or just an innocent accent.  None the less, I found the book enjoyable that had a lesson of over-coming your fears.

Bears Beware By Patricia Reilly Giff

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (2012)

ISBN: 9780385738897

At an assembly one day, Mitchell learns that he will be going to the Zigzag Nature center.  This field trip was planned by the art teacher, Mrs. Farelli.  Mitchell was dreading the trip the whole time, because of thoughts about all the unknown animals and bugs.  When he was searching for his friend Habib, he ran into another friend Angel.  As Angel was talking to Mitchell, a mysterious car pulled up.  Mitchell saw his friends walk up with a box.  Unbeknownst to him, it was a birthday cake!  They all surprised him on his birthday a day early.  What a great way to celebrate.

Rating:

I give this story a BIG SMILE.  I feel that I experienced Mitchell's fear of the unknown while camping.  He kept saying to himself "Bears beware."  He thought a bear could destroy their tents and leave them helpless.  This is another great story written in the perspective of children.  It was helpful to see on the inside overs, that each character was drawn and labeled.  That helped to create a visualization of the story.

The Great Hamster Hunt By Lenore Blegvad

Publisher: Harcourt, Brace, & World Inc. (1969)

ISBN: None

A little boy named Nicholas wanted a hamster, but his parents simply refused.  To his enjoyment, his friend Tony was leaving town and needed someone to watch his hamster.  Nicholas was ecstatic and took very good care of the hamster.  The last day, when he was cleaning out the cage, Nicholas dropped the glass siding, which smashed into a million shards.  He temporarily used a piece of cardboard, but in the morning a hole was chewed through.  The hamster was lost.  Searching all day without luck, his mother went to buy a replacement.  When they got home, it was night.  Nicholas remembered that hamsters are nocturnal and he should be waking up.  Nicholas heard the pitter patter of the little nails and found Tony's hamster.  His parents let him keep the new hamster, which made him a very happy boy.   

Rating:  

I give this title a LITTLE SMILE.  It was a cute book, but beside the stress of losing the hamster, it made me lose interest from time to time.  The parents were nice yet stern, but it was hard for me to believe that he lost a hamster and his parents had to buy a new one and they weren't made.  This book was published in 1969, so I could tell it was dated, since not many people have a phonograph in their home anymore.

Traditional Tales

The Legend of the Panda By Linda Granfield

Publisher: Tundra Books (1998)

ISBN: 0887764215

The story begins in China, a shepherdess named Dolma takes her flock of sheep to the mountainside.  A white cub befriends the flock, and grazes with them every day.  Unfortunately, a snow leopard attacks the cub and Dolma leaps to his protection.  She passes away from the attack and the whole village mourns.  The cubs cover themselves in ash in mourning, everywhere they touch is stained black.  

Rating:  

I give The Legend of the Panda a little smile.  I enjoyed the art, containing realistic representations with rich texture.  This Chinese tale tells of the selfless sacrifice of the shepherdess and the pandas who mourn her, but is a little weird for the American reader.  After Dolma dies, her sisters do not want to live without her. So the mourning mountain they are standing on crumbles and the women fall inside to their deaths.  That ending was too melancholy for me.  From that, I also think the ending is not entirely appropriate for the child listener/reader.  

The Magic Horse of Han Gan By Chen Jiang Hong

Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books (2004)

ISBN: 1592700632

Han Gan grew up as a poor boy in China, but he loved to draw horses.  One fateful day, he met a great painter who saw immense potential in Han Gan.  This allowed him to go to a great art academy, where he honed his talents for drawing horses.  The legend is that a warrior came to his home, and asked him to paint him a horse.  When the horse did not come to life, Han Gan threw his picture in the flames in disappointment.  The mighty horse lept from the flames, and fought with the warrior.  All the deaths made the horse sad and disappeared.  When the warrior returned to Han Gan's home, they discovered that the horse returned to a painting on the wall.

Rating: 

This book gets a BIG SMILE.  The art is reminiscent of the real Han Gan's art style, which is painted on silk.  It takes the reader back to ancient China, over 1200 years ago.  The story displays the love a man has for his craft and his dedication to it.  It is an exciting story for the imagination and those who enjoy ancient Chinese legends.

Cinderella By K.V. Craft

Publisher: Sea Star Books (2000)

ISBN: 1587170043

A girl named Cinderella was left with her wretched step mother and step sisters after her father's passing.  She went into the woods and found a wounded bird, who she mended back to health.  While she was out there, she met the prince, who she fell in love with.  The next night, she stayed at home while her step sisters went to the prince's ball.  The bird that she cared for appeared as her god-mother and granted her wish of going to the ball.  There she had the most marvelous time with the prince, but had to scurry home at midnight to hide her identity.  She left behind her glass slipper, which the prince promptly picked up.  He went around his kingdom searching for the owner of this shoe.  When it was Cinderella's turn, he recognized her from the woods and wanted to get married immediately.  They lived happily ever after...

Rating:

Cinderella deserves a BIG SMILE.  This classic fairy tale brings me nostalgia from the Disney movie that I watched as a child.  The illustrations look very medieval, with the text on a separate page.  The story is easy to follow at any age.  The lesson that I took at the end was to forgive those who were mean to you, and this makes you a better person.