Piano Piano

Sometimes parents try to live their dreams through their children. “Piano Piano” by Davide Cali is about a mother like that.
Marcolino has to practice the piano every day at 3, but he hates it. He forces himself to practice for just 13 minutes, but then he escapes to the television.
“Get back to the piano now!” his mother orders.
But in another couple minutes, “Aarrh! I’m sick of this!” he yells.
Marcolino’s mother wants him to practice so he can become a grand pianist. She tells him she used to practice for hours as a child, but she never became a grand pianist because after he was born, she didn’t have time to practice. He feels guilty, even though it really wasn’t his fault. So he practices, but he doesn’t like the piano. He wants to be anything but a grand pianist.
Does Marcolino escape the piano and get to become what he really wants to be?Read this very entertaining book!

The Tie Man's Miracle

It's Christmas week, but this is also the season of Hanukkah, which this year happens to be celebrated during this same week!
In honor of Hanukkah, also spelled Chanukah, I read The Tie Man's Miracle , A Chanukah Tale by Steven Schnur.
It's a haunting, beautiful story that doesn't tell you everything. You have to use your imagination.
The tie man is an old Jewish man, Mr. Hoffman, who sells neckties for a living. He comes to Seth's house when the menorah candles are about to be lit to begin the eight days of Chanukah. Seth's mother lets him inside and buys a few ties. The family invites the tie man to stay, and participate in their celebration. He does so, humbly.
He particularly seems fascinated by Hannah, the baby.
Seth asks questions, and finds out why.
Curious? Read the book!

Pollyanna

Ever seen the old Disney movie Pollyanna? Did you know it was was based on a book?
I loved the movie when I was a child, and even bought a copy on VHS years ago so my kids could see it too. I have to admit they weren't as excited about the movie as I was, years ago. So it may be a generational thing. Whatever.
I remain confident that the story is timeless. Admittedly, it's a little goofy at times. Pollyanna can be almost Amelia Bedelia in her deliberate misunderstanding of people's words and actions. She's determined to put the happiest, kindest, gladdest spin on everything and everyone she encounters.
This past week I've been reading the book Pollyanna, by Eleanor H. Porter, for the first time. I happened to notice it as I was looking for something to read during one of the library's slow times. I found out that the book was first published in 1912 -- almost 100 years ago!
But I still liked it.
Pollyanna Whittier is the daughter of a missionary and his wife, both of whom die fairly young. She's then sent back from the West to a little town in Vermont to live with her aunt. Polly Harrington is wealthy and bitter. She's about 40 and has never married. Pollyanna, with her loving, bubbly and overwhelmingly positive nature, is a shock to Aunt Polly's life, as well as to the entire town.
But it's a good shock. Pollyanna teaches one person after another to find something to be glad about in everything that happens. In doing so, she changes the sour outlook of the village residents, as well as her aunt, to one that's more loving and kind and hopeful.
The story may be a little difficult for elementary school children to understand, but girls in fifth and sixth grade should enjoy it. It even has a little romance!
Has anybody out there read Pollyanna? Or even seen the movie? Write and tell me what you thought of it!

Fairest

In Ayortha, a kingdom of singers, Aza has the most beautiful, magical voice of all. She has even learned how to throw her voice – a skill she names illusing.
Yet she spends most of her time fretting because she’s not pretty and because, in a country of small people, she is tall – two inches taller than the king.
“Fairest” by Gail Carson Levine is a fantasy about a girl who’s gifted, uniquely talented, but who just wants to be attractive in the most obvious way there is: physically.
Aza wants to be pretty, but in her own view, and that of most of her fellow Ayorthians, she’s ugly.
Still, life gets better, and more complicated, for Aza. She’s befriended by a cat-loving duchess, and the new queen makes her a lady-in-waiting. There’s a prince, too, named Ijori, who seems to like Aza.
Then the king is injured and cannot rule. The people want to hold a Healing Sing for him, but the queen, Ivi, is not a singer. Knowing Aza’s talent, she wants her to illuse for her – to make it seem that Aza’s voice is her own. Despite reservations, Aza finally agrees to do so.
Then Aza finds a magic mirror. When she looks into it, she sees herself as the fairest in the land. To find out how the mirror changes Aza’s life, you’ll have to read the rest of the book!

Wishes

Santa Claus has everything, right? Well, not quite. When a thoughtful boy writes to Santa, asking him what he wants for Christmas, it turns out that there is something the jolly old elf desires, more than anything else.
A daughter.
And in response to his wish, he and his wife are blessed with a baby girl, Holly Claus, who has “the purest and most compassionate heart of anyone ever born.”
But then the land of Forever, where Santa Claus reigns, is invaded by an evil warlock. He curses the land and encases Holly’s heart in ice. If she ever leaves the frosty land of Forever, her heart will melt and she will die.
Santa, his family and all the inhabitants of Forever are forced to stop their annual travels to the human world. Christmas is suspended, indefinitely.To find out how Holly manages to conquer the curse, save Christmas and find her own destiny, you’ll have to read Holly Claus: The Christmas Princess,

If you had been granted just one wish, what would you wish for? That’s the dilemma faced by a woodcutter in The Faerie’s Gift, a story retold by Tanya Robin Batt, with pictures by Nicoletta Ceccoli. For sure, the woodcutter has plenty of needs and wants. He and his wife have longed for a child for many years. His mother has grown blind in her old age. Life is hard, and every winter his family is cold and near starvation. If you were the woodcutter, what would you do? How would you choose? To find out what the woodcutter wished for, you must read the book!

Hans Brinker lives!

One of my favorite books from childhood was “Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates” by Mary Mapes Dodge. First published in 1865, the book has long been a classic.
But like many children’s classics, it’s a hard read for today’s kids. It has 289 pages, for one thing. The plot is long and involved, which makes it very satisfying for those with the patience and reading ability to see it through. But it’s a challenge for children who’ve been used to reading Captain Underpants or the Backyardigans.
In my view, it’s a challenge that ought to be taken up far more often. This book is full of old-fashioned morals, character models and useful information – all things that aren’t in high demand these days.
But even the pictures in the book aren’t that great. In the library’s copy, which has a 1945 copyright, some of the reproduction is blurry and the colors are dull.
What a delight it was to find a new “Hans Brinker” book, condensed into only 30 pages and packed with stunning artwork by Laurel Long. The pictures alone would keep any child’s attention. They are simply gorgeous.
The story is retold by Bruce Coville, a popular children’s writer. It’s a very basic, skeleton outline of the original story, but in tandem with the pictures, it’s still touching and inspiring.
Maybe it will even inspire some children to want to read the original book.

The Mozart Question

Sometimes books make us cry. Michael Morpurgo’s “The Mozart Question” did that to me.
It’s the story of a famous violinist, Paolo Levi, who’s being interviewed by a young reporter for a newspaper story. The reporter, Lesley McInley, has been warned not to ask “the Mozart question.” But she doesn’t even know what the question is.
So when she talks to Paolo, she innocently asks him to tell how he got started playing the violin. Because she has kind eyes, and because Paolo was once told “all secrets are lies,” he decides to tell her the truth – the tragic yet beautiful story of how he became a violinist, and the origin of the battered old violin on top of the cupboard in his parents’ bedroom … and why Mozart’s music is off limits.
I can’t tell you the whole story without spoiling it for you. But this wonderful book is one of the best I’ve read all year. The illustrations by Michael Foreman are perfect. If you don’t mind getting a little choked up and sad, read this book!