Mom and Me – Page 3 – Derby Public Library's Blog

Mom and Me Reviews: Sometimes People March

First Line: “Sometimes Ants March”

Summary: Tessa Allen uses this book to explain the reasons people march (or protest) in terms your littles are more likely to understand. It does not argue that people should march, it simply explains why they choose to in as simple of terms as possible. For the older littles, there is also a reference at the end of the book listing which marches and protests are presented by the different illustrations, and what the main purpose of these protests were.

Ratings:

Maggie: 9 out of 10

Conor: Did not participate in this storytime

Mama Lala: 10 out of 10

Their Thoughts: “I wouldn’t read this regularly. It’s not a ‘fun’ book, it’s a ‘life-lesson’ book. It’s a good book to know (of); read once. It’s about standing together, for justice.”

My Thoughts: I love that Tessa Allen has put these complex issues into understandable chunks of information. She makes the issues relatable and simple. I also appreciate the list of protests in the back, and especially the page numbers listed alongside them. When Maggie asked me what a sign meant, I could explain it to her because of this!

FYI: This book covers many controversial issues, past and present.

Happy Reading our friends,

Mama Lala, Maggie, & Conor

Mom and Me Reviews: Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses

First Line: “She’s got a smile that it seems to me reminds me of childhood memories,”

Summary: In this storybook telling to the lyrics of Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child O’ Mine, a father and daughter bond over their love of music.

Ratings:

Maggie: 8 out of 10

Conor: Did not participate in this storytime.

Mama Lala: 10 out of 10

Their Thoughts: It’s amazing that they put (the song) into words (storyform)! I think this isn’t for little kids– it’s for my age and older. Maybe more for the parents than for the kids. “It reminds me of a place that is beautiful, and keeps me warm and safe.”

My Thoughts: I love when artists of different genres work together. I’ve known this to be a wonderful song for, well, a very long time. It is easier to share that with my littles in this form– a storybook. Accompanying each line is a beautiful illustration, something to help them understand what it means.

FYI: Another great version of this to share with your children comes in song form! Check out the original, or the lullabye remake by Rockabye Baby!

Happy Reading our friends,

Mama Lala, Maggie, & Conor

Mom and Me Reviews: One Little Bag

First Line: This is a WORDLESS book!

Summary: This book is difficult to summarize, as each reader finds a different story within the image. My daughter and I interpreted the story as this (SPOILERS!):

A Tree is cut down then driven to a paper mill. The tree is shredded, made into paper, and folded into brown paper bags. The bags are boxed then shipped to different locations. One bag is given to a father and son while purchasing a flashlight. It is reused as a lunch sack, and a LOT of other things. The boy grows up using and reusing his brown paper sack. He even takes it to college, where he meets a girl. They fall in love, get married, and have a baby. Now, the baby grows up with the brown paper bag. He takes it to his grandpa, the original boy’s father. They make memories together with it. They put new memories into the bag. Grandpa’s chair is empty now, maybe he died. They look at the memories the little boy made with his grandpa, stored in the brown paper bag. They plant a new tree in the old brown paper bag. Full circle!

Ratings:

Maggie: 10 out of 10

Conor: Did not participate in this storytime.

Mama Lala: 8 out of 10

Their Thoughts: It would be easier to understand if it had words, but (I) like that it let (me) decide the story. I wish the grandpa didn’t die. I like that he grew up with (the bag), and he didn’t throw it away.

“Can we read it again, mama?”

My Thoughts: I love how my little loved this story. Her heart seemed to sink into the book. The author’s note at the end of the story was interesting, but I wish I hadn’t read it aloud to my daughter. It confused the story for her. She had trouble remembering which details were in the story, and which happened to the author.

FYI: There is the possibility of death as a discussion topic in this book.

Happy Reading our friends,

Mama Lala, Maggie, & Conor

Mom and Me Reviews: Stand Up! Speak Up!

First Line: “Wake Up.”

Summary: A girl is inspired to make change. She is part of a protest for the climate change revolution. She sees stories on the news: the protest, wildfires, pollution, floods. She is discouraged, but she finds a way to do something about it.

Ratings:

Maggie: 10 out of 10

Conor: Did not participate in this storytime

Mama Lala: 9 out of 10

Their Thoughts: “It made me know (and feel bad) about what we’ve done to the planet. I dont know how to fix it. It’ teaches us how we can fix it. I like that the pictures are mostly black and white, with a little green. Like “green”, get it!?”

My Thoughts: My daughter is moved by the conservation movement. My husband and I try to do what we can and, most of all, try to remain educated on the issue of climate change. I’m sure this affects her passion for the issue. I like that this book can show children that the issue isn’t too big for them. Everyone can make (at least) a small difference– even small people. The content is complex enough for older children, but the phrasing is right for the preschool aged children as well.

FYI: This book discusses climate change and protesting.

Happy Reading our friends,

Mama Lala, Maggie, & Conor

Mom and Me Reviews: Jim Henson’s Labyrinth The ABC Storybook

Labyrinth: The ABC Storybook by Luke Flowers

First Line: “Sarah wants to be an actress.”

Summary: If you’ve seen the movie by the Jim Henson group (with David Bowie), then you know the storyline.

Basically, a teenage girl is left to babysit her little brother. She becomes annoyed by him as she is trying to read and rehearse lines from her play. She wishes that the “goblin king” would take her brother away, like the girl in the story she’s reading does. The Goblin King grants her wish, and Sarah has to solve a labyrinth within 13 hours to get her little brother back. As expected, the labyrinth is filled with magical tricks that make her journey even more difficult.

Ratings:

Maggie: 9 out of 10

Conor: Did not participate in this storytime

Mama Lala: 7 out of 10

Their Thoughts: I like the movie, and the story! It gives you such an imagination. I like all of the magical characters. It’s an ABC book, but it reads like a storybook instead of a baby ABC book. The pictures are good. If you haven’t seen the movie, the story doesn’t make sense… it doesn’t “fill in the gaps”. It just didn’t “move me” enough to get a “10”.

My Thoughts: I appreciate that this book is both an abc book, AND a storybook. It helps to bridge the gap between my two kiddo’s wide age range (2 and 9). My kids have seen and, as they should, LOVE this movie. IF they hadn’t i’m not sure it would be clear what happens in this story. Some characters are introduced, but their presence isn’t explained. All in all, I’m grateful this has been made into a storybook, but I had higher hopes for it. The illustrations are magically marvelous, though.

Happy Reading our friends,

Mama Lala, Maggie, & Conor

Mom and Me Reviews: The Tempest

William Shakespeare’s The Tempest by Georghia Ellinas

First line: “My noble master, Prospero, is a clever magician.”

Summary: This book retells William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest as a Children’s picture book. If you haven’t read Shakespeare’s play by the same name, here is a quick overview: Prospero, duke of Milan, is overthrown by his jealous brother, Antonio. Alonso and his brother Sebastian help Antonio accomplish this. Antonio puts Prospero and his daughter in a boat and casts them out to sea. The boat washes ashore an island where an evil witch and her son rule. He rescues the spirit (our narrator) from the witch, then uses him for his own gain. Years pass. One day a boat carrying the people who wronged Prospero passes by. Prospero calls on the spirit (our narrator) to seek revenge on them– not to kill but to scare, and possibly abandon on an island, the way his has been abandoned. The spirit and prospero try to manipulate the island’s inhabitants to a fate of their choosing.

Ratings: Maggie gives this picture book 6 out of 10 stars. Conor did not hear this story. Mama Lala also gives this picture book 6 out of 10 stars.

Their Thoughts: I shared this book with my oldest, Maggie. She is nine. She liked that “it was magical”, and “it was colorful”. She had trouble understanding the book also because “my age group doesn’t read those kinds of things.” She had trouble connecting with the book, she said.

My Thoughts: The illustrations are beautiful. This retelling, though shortened for the benefit of a younger reader, still seems out-of-range for most picture book readers. I’d say this one is more for the parents, than the children it was intended to be read to. That said, Ellinas did a decent job of shortening the story to important plot points, in an understandable language for children.

Happy Reading, our friends!

— Mama Lala, Maggie, & Conor

Mom & Me Reviews: A Super-Heroine Guide

If you are a lover of the comic superhero realm, you’ve likely been asked this classic question:
Marvel or DC?

It is a timeless question with many variations of answer.

Sam Maggs, a comic book maker, suggests we might love both. She wrote both Marvel Fantastic and Fantastic– Female Super Heroes Save the World, AND Brave and Bold!– Female DC Super Heroes Take on the Universe.

The Top 10 Greatest Female Superheroes In The History of Comic Books

First Line:

(Brave and Bold): “In a universe filled with adventure and danger, the brave female Super Heroes of DC’s comic books change the world and shape the future.”

(Fearless and Fantastic): “Students, warriors, secret agents, inventors, crime fighters, journalists… the inspiring female Super Heroes of Marvel Comics make their marks in many different ways.”

Summary: The two books aver compatible in organization, illustration, and writing. If you are looking for a brief introduction to the heroes of both the DC and Marvel world, these two books are a decent place to start. If you are particularly interested in the FEMALE superheroes, this is a GOOD place to start.

Considering the size of each book, Maggs does a good job choosing which POPULAR FEMALE COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS FROM MARVEL AND DC - Comic Book and Movie Reviews characters to introduce to the audience. Fresh artwork of each character fills one of two pages allotted to them. About two paragraphs lie on the adjacent page– words devoted to a brief description of WHY this character got into the superhero business, and where their abilities lie. One of the most interesting features of these books, is the footnote at the bottom of each entry, directing the reader to two to four other superheroes who are “friends, allies, and role models” of the character in question. Of course, only other heroes listed within the book are included. Pepper Pots might love Tony Stark, but he is not listed among the allies at the bottom of her page.

My Thoughts: One caveat of these books are the age directed, when reflecting the writing. Carrying a Lexile of approximately 1200-1400, one would suggest this book be directed to 5th graders (at the youngest). However, because the content is at such an introductory level it could also be directed to younger age groups. In these cases, I’d suggest the content be read aloud by an adult to the young ones. (My daughter is in 2nd grade, at the time of reading, and this worked well for us. Every once in awhile I had to explain the meaning of a word, but it wasn’t often enough to make it not worth the while.)

Today is a great day to introduce your littles to these “wonderful women”. Boy or girl, young or old, having women worth looking up to is important. Though fictional, these women are a great place to start.

Happy reading, my friends!

Mama Lala (Chelsea) & Maggie