2book multi

Children's & YAPicture Book

Brave women who made a difference

Feature by Alice Cary

Need a lift? You’ll feel inspired after reading about five women who accomplished big things, all subjects of engaging new picture book biographies aimed at young elementary school students.

A VOICE THAT ROARED

When a steamship pulls into the New York City harbor in 1903, a surprise is on board. So begins Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909. And never fear if a story about a strike doesn’t sound exciting; believe me, it is—especially in the hands of writer Michelle Markel. She begins by explaining:

“The surprise is dirt poor, just five feet tall, and hardly speaks a word of English.
Her name is Clara Lemlich.
This girl’s got grit, and she’s going to prove it.
Look out, New York!”

Instead of going to school, Clara joins other young women working long hours sewing in a factory under harsh conditions. Markel writes: “Clara smolders with anger, not just for herself, but for all the factory girls, working like slaves. This was not the America she’d imagined.” Thus the stage is set for Clara to lead the largest walkout of women workers in U.S. history.

Enriching this tale of might and right are fabulous illustrations by Caldecott Honor-winning artist Melissa Sweet, whose use of fabric and stitching within her art reminds readers that they’re reading about garment workers. In one wonderful spread, she creates an overhead shot of hundreds of tiny heads hunched over their sewing machines, while the adjacent page shows a timecard with notations of low pay and fines for being late. Sweet and Markel’s collaboration brings this strike to life in an immensely appealing way.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our Q&A with Michelle Markel for Brave Girl.

REACH FOR THE STARS

Henrietta Leavitt made an important contribution to astronomy, and Look Up! Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer does a great job of explaining her role in a way that young readers can easily grasp. Robert Burleigh writes: “In an astronomy class, she was one of the very few woman students. But Henrietta wanted to follow what she loved, wherever it took her.” Leavitt’s journey took her to the Harvard College Observatory, where she and other women worked as “human computers” who counted stars for 30 cents an hour.

Studying stars became Leavitt’s life work, and thanks to a phenomenon she noticed, she helped scientists calculate how far away certain stars are. Burleigh’s lively text brings her discovery to life, while Raúl Colón’s illustrations are not only gorgeous, but inventively luminescent, filled with swirling cosmos, colorful stars and reminders of great astronomers like Copernicus and Galileo. This well-rounded portrait contains a nicely detailed afterword that includes a glossary and resources for additional information.

A DARING DOCTOR

Young Elizabeth Blackwell didn’t like the sight of blood, and was horrified when one teacher brought in a bull’s eyeball to show students how eyes work. These are the sorts of engaging details that Tanya Lee Stone includes in her lively ­biography, Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell.

When Elizabeth was 24, an ill friend lamented that she would love to have a woman doctor, and that Elizabeth would be perfect for the job. That suggestion changed Elizabeth’s life, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer once she decided to attend medical school. She first had to face 28 “no”s before finally getting a “yes” from New York’s Geneva Medical School. There, the male students ridiculed her, but she had the last laugh, graduating first in her class in 1849.

Stone repeatedly reminds readers that Blackwell’s hardships are unimaginable in today’s world, where more than half of the medical students in the U.S. are women.

Adding to the book’s appeal are whimsical, energetic illustrations by another Caldecott Honor-winning artist, Marjorie Priceman, whose style here brings to mind Ludwig Bemelmans and his famed Madeline books. This dynamic biography is sure to speak to a wide range of young readers.

TAKE THIS BOOK, PLEASE!

My, how the world has changed. Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children describes a time when children weren’t allowed inside libraries. A young woman from Maine became one of the leading forces of change, a pioneer in her position as head of the children’s rooms in the New York Public Library system, beginning in 1906.

Jan Pinborough’s biography unfolds in storybook fashion, with the title serving as an often repeated refrain. Miss Moore allowed children to borrow books, and she got rid of the “SILENCE” signs that hung in many libraries. When the New York Public Library opened its doors in 1911, Moore had designed a warm, welcoming children’s room brimming with the best books she could find, child-size furniture and art by the likes of N.C. Wyeth. Pinborough brings this literary crusader to life, explaining that upon retirement, Moore hit the road in an effort to improve libraries across the country.

Debby Atwell’s folk-inspired art perfectly suits this story of a little girl whose big ideas helped change how children live and learn. Atwell’s final tableau, showing Miss Moore setting off across America as the countryside spreads before her, is particularly charming. No doubt Miss Moore herself would give this book quite the stamp of approval!

A LITERARY NURSE

Older students will be mesmerized by Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War Led to Little Women. Award-winning writer Kathleen Krull focuses on a life-changing slice of Louisa May Alcott’s life, when she headed to Washington, D.C., to act as a Civil War nurse.

Krull paints a rich historical portrait of both Louisa and the desperate times, infusing her text with quotes from Alcott’s own account of her experiences, Hospital Sketches. Krull describes the extraordinary difficulties Louisa experienced while traveling from New England to Washington, and Louisa’s jubilation on the night she looked out her window and saw African Americans celebrating the ratification of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Carlyn Beccia’s illustrations are equally radiant with historical details, showing Louisa’s long hair reaching down to her ankles, the broad expanse of Pennsylvania Avenue, the unfinished Capitol Building without its dome and the lush countryside around Washington as Louisa ran up and down its hills.

The impact of Louisa’s experiences stayed with her forever, leading directly to her success as a writer. While much has already been written about this famous author, Louisa May’s Battle is a fascinating contribution to the canon.

Need a lift? You’ll feel inspired after reading about five women who accomplished big things, all subjects of engaging new picture book biographies aimed at young elementary school students.

A VOICE THAT ROARED

When a steamship pulls into the New York City harbor in 1903, a surprise is…

Children's & YAPicture Book

Four picture books worth clucking about

Feature by Brooke Allen

The popularity of raising backyard chickens and other poultry is on the rise in our part of the world (and probably your part, too), which lends new relevance to children’s books about our feathered friends. We’ve taken a look at a flock of new picture books featuring chickens and ducks and selected four of the best. These books show poultry in their daily lives: laying eggs, taking care of little ones, learning lessons and bringing joy to their human caretakers.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

In Mama Hen’s Big Day, written and illustrated by Jill Latter, Mama Hen sets out to lay an egg in the “loveliest, safest, most peaceful place of all.” But she realizes that finding the best place isn’t an easy task. Among the places she rejects are a rattlesnake’s cave, a patch of tall grass where a fox lies in wait and a pile of leaves that turns out to be a porcupine’s nest. Determined to find a safe place for her egg, Mama Hen searches the whole town until she finds a soft patch of grass “on the tippy-top of the tallest mountain.” But her most important discovery is that the best place to lay her egg is wherever she is. Balancing the hen’s anxious search are happy watercolor blues, greens and reds and loose outlines to create a playful atmosphere. Mama Hen’s Big Day tells the simple tale of a mother whose greatest gift to her newborn egg is her presence.

FREE FALLING

Janet Morgan Stoeke continues her delightful series about the Loopy Coop Farm with The Loopy Coopy Hens: Letting Go. Little readers who are new to the series can jump right into the hens’ adventures without the need for catching up. Apples are falling from the tree and that can only mean one thing for these anxious hens: a fox must be throwing them. The hens summon the rooster who runs from the problem, but Dot is determined to get to the bottom of the apple throwing. She dons a helmet and climbs to the top. What she finds is a beautiful view of the countryside and no fox. After Midge and Pip join her in the tree to survey a beautiful view, all three decide to let go like apples and fall ungracefully to the ground. Fun sketch-like pencil outlines and fresh pastel colors accompany the antics of these ditzy chicks as they discover that apples fall from trees and so can they.

MISSING CHICK

Nora’s Chicks, written by Newbery winner Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Kathryn Brown, uses lyrical text and muted watercolors to tell Nora’s story. In Russia, there were beautiful hills and trees, but on Nora’s new farm in America, only one cottonwood grows by the river. Her brother Milo is not old enough to talk, and her neighbor Susannah is too shy to call a friend. “I need something all my own,” Nora tells her parents. When Nora’s father brings home some chicks and two geese for eating, Nora insists on keeping them as pets. Later, one of the treasured chicks goes missing, an event that serves as a catalyst to bring shy Susannah and Nora together as friends. Nora’s Chicks is the heartwarming story of one girl’s assimilation to America, and a reminder that animals can be true friends in lonely times.

PULLING TOGETHER

Based on a true story, Lucky Ducklings recounts a real-life duckling rescue in Montauk, New York. Nancy Carpenter’s illustrations pay homage to Robert McCloskey’s classic Make Way for Ducklings, though her bright colors and detailed faces instill the book with a modern sensibility. Eva Moore’s narrative focuses on the struggle of baby ducklings caught in a storm drain and the rush of the townspeople to help them. With each new development in the crisis, Moore repeats a phrase: “That could have been the end of the story. But it wasn’t, because…” This structure propels the story along nicely and gives readers and listeners a sense of just how lucky these ducklings really were. Eventually, Mama and her ducklings make it safely back to their pond, and we learn in a brief note that the town later replaced the drain for safer duck crossings. Lucky Ducklings is an inspirational tale of cooperation and a quiet meditation on the importance of family and community.

The popularity of raising backyard chickens and other poultry is on the rise in our part of the world (and probably your part, too), which lends new relevance to children’s books about our feathered friends. We’ve taken a look at a flock of new picture…

Picture BookCookbooks

Hands-on fun with paper engineering

Feature by Robin Smith

Is it just me, or are there a lot more fancy-schmancy engineered books being created today? By this, I mean pop-up books, books with unusual structures and even books that ask a child to do something that “changes” the book. If you want to see what I’m talking about, look at the book trailer of children reading the best-selling Press Here by French author Hervé Tullet.

That was so 2011! But Tullet and others have some captivating new books that will amaze readers and keep them crawling up on their parents’ laps, asking for more.

WORMING YOUR WAY IN

For the youngest book enthusiast, Tullet’s Let’s Play Games board book series is sure to please. My favorite of the newest bunch is The Finger Circus Game. With a hole drilled through the book, the reader’s own fingers (with eye and nose and mouth drawn on if desired) become the “world famous finger worms,” swinging on trapezes, juggling and even putting their little worm heads in a lion’s mouth. One can imagine older children drawing the worms themselves and making up adventures outside of the circus.

A child’s finger becomes part of the action in Herve Tullet’s The Finger Circus Game.

 

THE WORLD OUTSIDE

For slightly older readers, author-illustrator Lizi Bond creates a child’s world on brown Kraft paper in Inside Outside. The book is a festival of amazing die-cuts that work together to wordlessly tell the story of a boy—inside and outside his home—and show the range of his creativity. The story begins in winter, and the unsuspecting reader might not even notice the cunning die-cuts until she turns the first page. Here we see snow people looking into the boy’s window. With so much to notice—the muted blue and red gouache paintings on the wall, the mittens on the floor, the mice driving the play cars—it’s easy to miss that those are real openings in the page, not just drawings of windows. But, with the page turn, the boy is now outside with the snowmen and the paintings are visible inside that same window.

This homey book is carefully constructed so that each turn of the page brings a real surprise. The pieces fit perfectly and the pacing is gentle. As the seasons change, the boy enjoys the beauty of nature outside—splashing in puddles, planting a garden, raking leaves—and creates art for the walls of his house that reflects what he has experienced. This is a clever book about the child’s need to create and the inspiration that nature can provide. Children will want to turn the pages back and forth again and again—and perhaps grab a piece of their own Kraft paper to see what they can create.

Lizi Bond's Inside Outside uses die-cuts to create windows on the page.

 

GOTTA DANCE

Molly Idle, who spent five years as an animator for DreamWorks Studios before turning to children’s book illustration, brings us another sort of carefully constructed book, using flaps and foldouts to tell the story of Flora, a chubby little girl wearing a pink leotard and a yellow swim hat who wants to be a ballerina. Flora and the Flamingo is a must-have for children who are just learning to dance. Flora’s mentor is one very confident flamingo. At the beginning, we see the flamingo looking straight ahead and Flora imitating him. Bend down the flaps and both dancers look behind them. Flora is wearing swimming flippers, which make her moves appear ungainly, but her spirit is (pardon me) unflappable. The vast amount of white space—the page is just the two dancers with a frame of pink branches—serves as a stage for Flora and her pink friend, for dancing or falling or encouraging. One magnificent gatefold at the end is so joyous that youngsters will want to waltz around the room, just like Flora and the flamingo.

In Molly Idle's Flora and the Flamingo, flaps conceal a second view of the figures.

 

A RAINBOW OF BOOKS

Open the first page of Jesse Klausmeier and Suzy Lee’s amazing new book, Open This Little Book, and you might be tricked. Is this a book with just two pages? No. Inside the page is a little purple book and inside that is a smaller red and black polka dotted book and inside that is a smaller green book . . . all the way down to a teeny little rainbow book! A giant’s hands are too huge to handle this tiny book, so all the critters who have read the rainbow of books (for that is what the edges of the books have formed) help turn the pages and close all the little books, until “Ladybug closes her little green book . . . You close this little red book . . . and . . . open another!” The final illustration shows all the animals from the little books reading, reading, reading. The grey raindrops from the opening endpages have turned rainbow colored as well! This is a magical book that pays tribute to books and reading in a way that is neither preachy nor silly. Open This Little Book has the feel of an instant classic.

One little book lies inside another in Open This Little Book, written by Jesse Klausmeier and illustrated by Suzy Lee.

 

Clever paper engineering adds to the appeal of each of these books, drawing children into the stories, or inviting kids to create their own. These kinds of books are intriguing to read and will stand the test of time. It’s a good thing too—they will be requested by children over and over again!

Robin Smith teaches second grade in Nashville. She reviews children's books for several publications and was a member of the 2011 Caldecott Committee.

 

Watch a demonstration of Flora and The Flamingo.

Watch a trailer for Open This Little Book.

Is it just me, or are there a lot more fancy-schmancy engineered books being created today? By this, I mean pop-up books, books with unusual structures and even books that ask a child to do something that “changes” the book. If you want to see…

Children's & YAPicture BookMiddle Grade

Having fun with rhythm & rhyme

Feature by Alice Cary

These six sparkling poetry books speak to young readers of all ages, addressing a symphony of subjects with creativity, humor and style.

STARTING SMALL

In the introduction to Wee Rhymes: Baby’s First Poetry Book, longtime collaborators Jane Yolen and artist Jane Dyer explain how vital poetry is: “Children who are given poetry early will have a fullness inside. Mother Goose rhymes, baby verse—that kind of singsong, sing-along rhythm—is as important as a heartbeat.”

In this charming collection, Yolen includes a few Mother Goose rhymes alongside her own poems for babies (such as “Five Little Fingers” and “Baby Snores”) and toddlers (“My Slide” and “Soap Dragons”). All are filled with warmth and sometimes a dose of well-placed humor, such as these lines from “Sitting in the Quiet Chair”:

When you’re bad
And make a riot
You must go
And be real quiet.

Dyer’s pencil-and-watercolor illustrations are lovingly sweet and a perfect blend of classic nostalgia and modernism.

THE NATURAL WORLD

Older children and even adults will be charmed by the short, thought-provoking poems in Pug: And Other Animal Poems. These short verses were crafted by the late poetic virtuoso Valerie Worth, whose talents are apparent in each selection. Take, for example, the last lines of “Fox”:

Streaking the
Dark like
A fabulous
Comet—
Famous, but
Seldom seen.

Illustrator Steve Jenkins’ bold illustrations are a vibrant match for each poem, filled with color, texture and depth. Never cutesy, Jenkins creates animals whose fur can practically be touched, such as an opossum “Staring with serious/Eyes at nothing.” The eyes of Jenkins’ creatures will grab your attention, including those of a soulful pug, a fierce fish and a singing wood thrush.

Although no one has ever seen the imaginary critters in Stardines Swim High Across the Sky, they are indeed intriguingly beautiful. This creative venture by the king of children’s poetry, Jack Prelutsky, and fine artist Carin Berger is presented as though it were a naturalist’s field guide.

As the cover flap cheerfully explains: “While many creatures (two dozen species in all) were discovered and recorded and their precise qualities examined, we are presenting sixteen here for the first time and for the enjoyment and education of the general public.” Berger’s illustrations continue the ruse, consisting of dioramas, shadow boxes and a variety of other materials, giving this book unique visual appeal.

“Chormorants,” for example, are birds who never stop doing chores, and you can easily guess the characteristics of “slobsters,” “jollyfish” and “sobcats.” Prelutsky brings humor and verbal acrobatics to his poems, as would be expected, while Berger has created perfect pairings of artistic wit and cleverness.

Very much back on terra firma, Forest Has a Song is a lovely compendium of woods-related poems by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. A girl and her dog wander through the forest in a variety of seasons, inviting readers to share their discoveries.

Poems such as “Bone Pile,” “Colorful Actor” (about a cardinal) and “First Flight” (chronicling an owl) nicely convey the discoveries that an observant hiker might make. Gentle watercolors by Robbin Gourley add just the right suggestion of realism, while bringing the poems together into a narrative whole.

FOR OLDER READERS

The zany poems found in If You Were a Chocolate Mustache remind me of Prelutsky’s beloved antics. Instead, they are written by J. Patrick Lewis, the current children’s poet laureate. He is certainly deserving of the title, judging from the smiles you’ll see if you put this volume into the hands of any elementary student.

Fun is the operative word here, with plenty of poems, some very short, such as “Rules for Tightrope Walking Between Tall Buildings”:

1. Whatever you do, don’t laugh.
2. Avoid looking down at the traf—

Matthew Cordell’s simple line drawings add plenty of whimsy—in this case showing a terrified tightrope walker making his way over honking traffic.

There are riddle poems, too, to keep readers engaged, and slightly snarky humor throughout, such as the short and sweet “A Special Bond”:

Each time a child folds her hands,
She may be saying prayers for you,
Or else she just misunderstands
How to use the Elmer’s glue.

Young readers will also relish the abundant humor in Tamera Will Wissinger’s Gone Fishing: A Novel in Verse, also illustrated by Cordell. The poems here tell the story of a memorable summer day of lake fishing.

Young Sam is excited to spend the day with his dad, and righteously dismayed when his younger sister decides to tag along. What’s worse, she quickly catches eight bluegills while Sam still has none.

Happily, Sam soon lands a big one, and the trio ends up having an unforgettable day. Using varied poetic forms, Wissinger captures the fun and family dynamics of this fisherman’s tale.

These six sparkling poetry books speak to young readers of all ages, addressing a symphony of subjects with creativity, humor and style.

STARTING SMALL

In the introduction to Wee Rhymes: Baby’s First Poetry Book, longtime collaborators Jane Yolen and artist Jane Dyer explain how vital poetry is:…

Children's & YAPicture Book

Kids celebrate Earth Day with a garden of picture books

Feature by Robin Smith

Tom Chapin’s children's song starts winding itself into my brain this time of year, making me think of the joys of living on our planet: “Happy, happy Earth Day . . .” Schoolchildren will play cooperative games with giant Earth balls and spend time cleaning up their environment and helping out with community service projects. It’s a great time to celebrate our planet and think of ways to protect the life it sustains. Here are some wonderful new books to help children connect with nature.

CHERISH THE SEA

Alison Formento and Sarah Snow add another excellent book to their series about nature in These Seas Count! Mr. Tate’s class gathers for a field trip to a local beach where they learn about pollution, trash and the need for beach cleanup. Part counting book, part ecological wake-up call for the young, this book gently informs children about animals who live in or near the world’s oceans. Glorious colorful collages grace each spread, allowing the readers to feel the movements of all the animals. I especially loved the jumping dolphins and swimming jellyfish. Mr. Tate and Captain Ned make the case for interconnectivity, giving the worried children a solution. Cleaning up the beach, counting the giant bags of garbage and scooping trash out of the ocean make the children think about the importance of the water cycle for all creatures.

THE LITTLEST CREATURES

Beginning readers with a penchant for eggs will love Lynette Evans' Whose Egg? On the left is a riddle, perfect for the youngest scientist to ponder: “My egg is emerald green. It lies like a jewel in the dry, red land. I will hatch with wings and feathers, but I will never fly. Who am I?” On the right is a clever piece of engineering—an open-the-flap book that slowly reveals the egg’s contents. This time, the egg contains an emu, but other critters are born from eggs, too—alligators, penguins, butterflies, platypus, snakes, turtles and plovers. The sturdy paper will hold up through repeated readings; it’s a good thing, because youngsters will read it over and over. Illustrator Guy Troughton's warm, highly detailed watercolors fill each spread, and sharp readers will notice little clues as to the animals' identities on the left–hand page. Is that a little turtle arm poking out? Yes, it is! This one is a charmer.

GREEN AND STRONG

Plasticine artist extraordinaire Barbara Reid has outdone herself with Picture a Tree. Just stop and take a gander at the end pages. Each little square is part of an illustration to come—a tiny hand-created paean to trees. Accompanied by sparse text, the illustrations are a marvel of movement, detail and emotion. Starting bare in winter, a nod to the cycle of the seasons, Reid asks the young reader to imagine trees as more than trees. They are shadows, drawings, tunnels, oceans, homes . . . even a friend. The scenes with children playing in the trees are particularly enchanting for young readers, and Reid's nod to the human life cycle grabbed this adult. The adolescent tree blooms next to a group of eye-rolling teens, making me smile in recognition. One spread shows a modern boy, reading in a tree over a river. The reflection is another child, from an earlier time, also reading. Every page invites the reader to look closely and marvel, “How did she make this art?”

IMPOSSIBLY CUTE

Older children love sloths. Why is that? Is it the fur? The smiling eyes? The long arms? Whatever it is, kids love sloths, and A Little Book of Sloth by Lucy Cooke has sloths aplenty! Costa Rica is home to Slothville, a sanctuary for sloths. Buttercup was the first sloth in Slothville, but now, 20 years later, she is the “queen of Slothville.” She lives in in her hanging wicker throne, watching other sloths hang around. Though there are interesting facts galore (Sloths are Xenarthrans, not bears or monkeys; their top speed is 15 feet per minute; wild sloths are actually green; some have an extra vertebrae; it takes four weeks to digest a meal), the photos are the stars. I found myself shouting “LOOK AT THIS!” when I turned each page. Like a viral video of puppies, these photos just are so dang adorable that your eye never tires of looking at them. Three sloths in a basket are accompanied by the text, “Baby sloths are the Jedi masters of the hug. Their innate hugability helps them cling to their moms for the first year of their lives. They love to hug so much; collectively, they form a cuddle puddle.“ Really? Cuddle puddle? That phrase alone makes me feel happy all over. Slide this onto the shelf with the puppy and kitten books, marked "A" for Adorable.

This earth is filled with all sorts of wonders, and it’s a deep pleasure to read books celebrating these wonders. Be like the sloths: Just chill out with these books and marvel at the magic of this earth.

Tom Chapin’s children's song starts winding itself into my brain this time of year, making me think of the joys of living on our planet: “Happy, happy Earth Day . . .” Schoolchildren will play cooperative games with giant Earth balls and spend time cleaning…

NonfictionParentingMemoir

A mother’s gifts last a lifetime

Feature by Alice Cary

How do you approach Mother’s Day? With reverence and joy, or sorrow and trepidation? Are you fulfilled, exhausted or both from being a dutiful child or caretaking parent? No matter what your emotions, these engrossing books about mothers, children and parenting are bound to speak to you.

Particularly wonderful is a collection gathered by Elizabeth Benedict, What My Mother Gave Me. Benedict, who had a trying, distant relationship with her mother, found herself surprised by the intense feelings she had about a long woolen scarf her mother gave her in the last years of her life. She began to wonder: “If this one gift meant so much to me, if it unlocked the door to so much history and such complicated feelings, might other women have such a gift themselves?”

Indeed they do, and their answers come to life in stories from such writers as Ann Hood, Mary Gordon, Elinor Lipman and Mameve Medwed. Lisa See’s mother taught her to pen “a thousand words a day and one charming note,” a work ethic that involves writing steadily and aiming high. Joyce Carol Oates describes the first days of her widow­hood, when she wrapped herself in a rainbow-colored quilt made by her late mother. The quilt became “a sign of how love endures in the most elemental and comforting ways.” And Emma Straub ponders gifts less tangible, such as tickets for a rainy, rather miserable but memorable cruise around a Wisconsin lake. Straub writes: “My own happiness during every terrible minute of the Betty Lou Cruise came from knowing that when it ended, I would get to tell [my mother] about it.”

BIG FAT GREEK LOVE

For some, the road to motherhood can be fraught with formidable roadblocks, as was the case for actress Nia Vardalos, the famed actress and writer of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. She tells her story in Instant Mom, which is as compelling, witty and wonderful as her now-classic movie about Greek family life. While Vardalos filmed the movie, went on press tours and was eventually nominated for an Oscar, she was desperately enduring a series of fertility treatments and heartbreaking miscarriages. Her dream of becoming a mother was finally fulfilled in 2008 when she and her husband became the unimaginably proud parents of a 3-year-old daughter that they adopted via the foster-care system. “After years of praying to be parents,” Vardalos says, “this little miracle simply appeared.”

The first few months involved exhausting efforts by all to acclimate and build trust, and Vardalos never sugarcoats the details, though she always buffers them with her and her husband’s complete joy and adoration of their headstrong, vivacious little girl. Vardalos brings readers along for a delightful ride as she navigates the toddler and preschool years, ending the story with a helpful question-and-answer section about the adoptive process. Her goal is to educate her readers about adoption, and she achieves it in an endlessly entertaining fashion.

SHARED LAUGHTER

Comedian Carol Burnett also has a powerful mothering story to share. Like many, I grew up watching “The Carol Burnett Show” and still grin at the thought of her Tarzan yell and the unflappable Mrs. Wiggins. Now Burnett bares her soul in her touching memoir, Carrie and Me.

Carrie Hamilton was the oldest of Burnett’s three daughters, a young woman who shared both her mother’s looks and her wide-ranging talent as an actress and singer. Burnett highlights the great triumphs and tragedies of her beloved daughter’s life, filling in details with stories, diary entries and letters. The pair went public in 1979 about Carrie’s adolescent struggle with drugs and alcohol—a multi-year battle from which she ultimately emerged victorious. Mother and daughter later collaborated on a play about Carol’s early life, and the adult Carrie lived in a Colorado cabin while writing a story called “Sunrise in Memphis,” which is included in the book.

Sadly, Carrie’s bold spirit and artistic talent were cut short by lung cancer in 2002. Carol and Carrie were lucky to have each other, and their ironclad bond shines through in this short but sweet memoir.

A LIFE RENEWED

Like Nia Vardalos, Glennon Doyle Melton became something of an instant mom, but in a very different way. On Mother’s Day 2002, this unwed 26-year-old was shocked to discover she was pregnant. What’s more, she was battling bulimia, alcohol and drug addiction. Happily, her life of struggle has become one of triumph, which she describes in Carry On, Warrior.

Becoming a wife and mother was a turning point for Melton, who is now the mother of three and the successful creator of the blog Momastery.com, some essays from which are collected here. She calls herself a “reckless truth teller,” and like Anne Lamott (one of her favorite writers), Melton has dedicated her life not only to her family but to religious faith and humor. She explains that once her husband and first child entered her life, she realized, “If two such good, kind, full people needed and wanted and loved me, could I really be so worthless? Suddenly, it seemed that there might be parts of life that were beautiful and good and meant for ME.”

All four of these books will make readers laugh and cry in recognition, and think more deeply about their own roots and relationships.

How do you approach Mother’s Day? With reverence and joy, or sorrow and trepidation? Are you fulfilled, exhausted or both from being a dutiful child or caretaking parent? No matter what your emotions, these engrossing books about mothers, children and parenting are bound to speak…

Nonfiction

Getaways for armchair travelers

Feature by Heather Seggel

Will you be vacationing at an exotic locale this year or staycationing in your own backyard? If your journey is limited to armchair explorations, consider these four travel memoirs, reviewed with tips to help you find the perfect read, be it a dip into history or a high-speed adventure.

FUN ON TWO WHEELS

Amsterdam is widely known for its relaxed laws where drugs and prostitution are concerned, but it’s also heaven on earth for cyclists. In the City of Bikes: The Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist recalls Pete Jordan’s simple plan to spend a semester abroad, which immediately gets complicated when he falls in love with the city and its bike-friendly ways. Instead of returning to his wife, Amy Joy, he convinces her to move to Amsterdam and they work at building a life and starting a family. While Pete enjoys their freewheeling moves from one sublet to the next, Amy Joy discovers an aptitude for bike repair that leads first to a job, then a place to stay, and ultimately a family business.

Travel Tip: The memoir is at most 10 percent of the story here; this is really a meticulously researched history of cycling, in both Amsterdam and the U.S. Dig in for the stories of bike theft (even Anne Frank wasn’t exempt from having her bike stolen) and the wartime use of bikes to ferry the injured to safety. Before long you’ll be dusting off your Schwinn and trying to “dink” your sweetheart on the back (that is, carry her seated sidesaddle behind you). Just watch out for fire hydrants.

GLOBAL ROAD TRIP

When Dina Bennett felt the intimacy fading from her marriage, it seemed like throwing herself into a project with her husband, Bernard, would be the perfect fix. Some couples take up swing dancing, some study gourmet cooking; these two chose to participate in an 8,000-mile road race from behind the wheel of a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle. Peking to Paris: Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World follows the pair as they break down and rebuild not just the car, but their ideas about one another. Bennett agrees to the rally despite having no mechanical aptitude and a propensity for carsickness. When it’s all over, she misses the cramped quarters of their beloved Cadillac (nicknamed Roxanne) so much that they take to the road again—this time in a rental car. The camaraderie between participants in the race is a secondary character: “I look around the table and note Americans, Swiss, French, Dutch, Greek. And the one nationality we now have in common: Rally.”

Travel Tip: Start at the end. The book’s glossary and numerous appendices spoil nothing, but give you a clear sense of what goes into a project like this, which only enhances the fun once you actually hit the road. And get out a world map, just to put one finger on Peking (Beijing) and one on Paris to visualize the distance these cars crossed, often over no road whatsoever.

A PERSONAL JOURNEY

As the author of the Frugal Traveler column in the New York Times for four years, Matt Gross focused on getting where you want to go as cheaply as possible. In The Turk Who Loved Apples: And Other Tales of Losing My Way Around the World, his concerns are more philosophical as he examines why we travel and what our travel experiences can tell us about ourselves. The narrative gathers stories from his stops all around the globe, but strings them along a continuous thread: the tale of his first solo sojourn after college, a trip to Vietnam where he lived for a year and began to eke out a living as a writer.

Travel Tip: While this book makes more far-flung stops than any other here, it’s less about any of the people and places Gross visits than about how they shaped his growth as a man, a writer and a traveler. What has kept him on the go for so long? “I want to be uncomfortable, to be an outsider not just in my own mind but in the eyes of everyone who glances at my awkward, bumbling self,” he writes. His accounts here bear much of that out, from engaging the services of a Southeast Asian prostitute to suffering through numerous bouts of giardia, a vicious intestinal parasite. There are sweet moments as well, as when the Turk of the title refers to the author as both friend and brother after their brief time together. After confirming the meaning of the second word by consulting his phrasebook, Gross is suitably wowed.

ONCE MORE TO AFRICA

The Last Train to Zona Verde: My Ultimate African Safari follows noted travel writer Paul Theroux on a final tour of the African continent, winding north from Cape Town into Botswana, Namibia and Angola, often despite warnings not to bother. At the age of 70, Theroux reflects on changes he’s seen in Africa—for every improvement in one area, the poverty and pain seem to have grown elsewhere—while also taking stock of himself and his fitness for further travel. Initially dismissive of travelers who go “animal watching in the early morning, busybodying in the afternoon,” he revises his view after visiting Tsumkwe, an outpost long ignored by the Namibian government, whose language and oral history would not have been preserved but for the efforts of outsiders.

Travel Tip: Theroux is a master storyteller; his prose seems workaday, but every scene is alive on the page, and he delivers travel and memoir in a near-perfect balance. Read this book if you enjoy getting lost in language as much as scenery. You’ll hate coming to the end, but it’ll be a beautiful journey.

Will you be vacationing at an exotic locale this year or staycationing in your own backyard? If your journey is limited to armchair explorations, consider these four travel memoirs, reviewed with tips to help you find the perfect read, be it a dip into history…

Children's & YAPicture Book

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

Feature by Robin Smith

I live in a city neighborhood: not one with subways or streetcars, darn it, but one with houses and businesses and schools. Walking to the village for coffee or to visit the bookstore was a daily routine when my children were young and is still part of my schedule as an empty-nester. These four new picture books offer a perfect introduction to neighborhoods, and will help to get young readers (and listeners) thinking about the communities they call home.

CHILD’S-EYE VIEW

For the youngest, Jean Reidy’s All Through My Town, illustrated by Leo Timmers, is an amusing, brightly colored trip through one such community, as seen by a little bunny from his stroller. Starting with the school bus outside the bakery, we meet a little bear who’s excited about school. Each page contains a simple rhyme to describe the action. The first page sets the tone: “Rising, waking. / Bread is baking. / School bus honks its horn.” Close inspection of Timmers’ super-saturated paintings will bring a smile: The mother bunny is yawning so much that her tonsils show, crumbs are falling from the little bear’s hunk of bread, and a giraffe sticks out from the top of the school bus. Each page is a snapshot of life—the farmers, the shops, the train station, the park, the hospital, the fire trucks— eventually bringing our tour back to the home of the little bunny, who is playing with toys that look an awful lot like his town. With so many details to discover, parents who grew up with Richard Scarry will enjoy a similar experience here.

WACKY NEIGHBORS

Another ’hood, with a similar rhythm and a bit more quirkiness, comes from the Dutch team of author Koos Meiderts and artist Annette Fienieg in On My Street. “Come along with me and meet, / All the people on my street. / Some are strange and some are lazy, / Some are silly and some are crazy!” And, indeed, some of these homes do look a tad crazy! On the first page showing all the houses, one appears to be a fishbowl and another might be knitted. Makes a girl want to turn those pages and see more, that’s for sure. The reader is taken on a trip down the street, from #1, where Mrs. McQueen lives in her castle, to #2 where “Lightfingers” Louis lives with his stolen loot, on down the street filled with delightful characters. There is a ballerina, a sailor, a tea-drinker, a cowboy, a knitter, a collector of bottles, a shell-clad voluptuous mermaid, and finally to the house where the poet and illustrator themselves live. While some of the poems suffer in translation, the idea of a street with a cast of amusing characters does not.

EVENING STROLLS

Wendy is a young collector in Cari Best’s new offering, When We Go Walking. Wendy joins her family (mom, dad, baby Abe and Abby the cat) on nightly walks and always takes her collecting bag along—because who knows what treasures will turn up? While her parents notice the surroundings of their neighborhood, Wendy is busy finding her own sort of treasures: a metal numeral, a broken butterfly, a flag, a bucket and all manner of interesting bits and bops. Brooker’s paint-and-photograph collage illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to the family’s walks, with rich blues and aquas adding a delicious warmth to this tender tale. Wendy’s clothes are put together with bits of fabric and knitted sweaters—possibly leading some readers to wonder whether she found her outfits on a walk.

A DAY AT THE PARK

It’s clear that Emily Jenkins has spent many hours near a Brooklyn park. Her latest picture book, Water in the Park: A Book About Water and Times of the Day, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin, invites the reader to consider the activities that happen in the park on a hot summer day. And there are a lot! A picture book that will appeal to children as well as adults reading it aloud, this special gem is a celebration of water—from the little turtle pond to the water fountain to the sprinklers and gardening hoses and the many buckets that move water onto the slides, into the sandbox and onto hot feet. Children who don’t live in a big city will be surprised to see so many people at the park, and will love finding characters and following their movements during the course of the day. I especially love the variety of folks at this park: senior citizens, young dads and their children, nannies and grandparents. There is even an Hasidic couple pushing an old-time carriage next to the ice cream truck. The story moves slowly, an hour at a time, bringing the reader from sunrise to darkness. Graegin’s detailed illustrations invite readers to slow down and create their own stories about the people at the park. This is people-watching at its best!

I live in a city neighborhood: not one with subways or streetcars, darn it, but one with houses and businesses and schools. Walking to the village for coffee or to visit the bookstore was a daily routine when my children were young and is still…

Children's & YA

CREEPY CRAWLY CORNER: Don’t bug me, I’m watching bugs

Feature by Michael Sims

If you want to take your children to an exotic planet and show them alien monsters worthy of Jurassic Park, you don't need to go back in time or book a family jaunt to Alpha Centauri. You don't even have to visit a movie theater. All you need to do is aim a magnifying glass at any insect on its home turf. Grains of sand become boulders; mosses tower like Cretaceous ferns; and wonderful, terrible creatures prowl for prey.

Four recent books for young children—three nonfiction and one story—capture this Lilliputian world in all its glory. The largest, bearing a frightening close-up of a grasshopper's big-eyed face, is Theresa Greenaway's Big Book of Bugs. In this oversized hardback, children will learn some fascinating tidbits queen bumblebees frequently nest in the abandoned burrows of voles (common mouse-like rodents); even the tiny shield bug has enough maternal instinct to guard its own children; the water boatman clings upside down to the surface film of ponds. The photo and text about the flower mantis alone are enough to impress the reader. This camouflaged killing machine is a praying mantis whose body is mottled pink and green to blend with flowers, while its front legs resemble an unopened bud. All of the photos, as usual with DK's books, are excellent, lushly textured against crisp white backgrounds.

Another hardback stuffed with color photographs zooms in even more closely and stares bugs right in the eye. Darlyne A. Murawski's Bug Faces. It begins, "Chances are you've seen a bug today." Yes, the odds are good. But you've probably never been this close to them before. All those compound eyes and viselike mandibles can be pretty scary and, for that reason, fascinating. Many children will find this book irresistible.

Slightly older readers will enjoy a paperback that is illustrated with handsome line drawings, Sally Kneidel's StinkBugs, Stick Insects, and Stag Beetles. By examining 21 insects or kinds of insects from burying beetles to army ants, from tsetse flies to the Madagascan giant hissing cockroach Kneidel provides a comprehensive introduction to the insect world. She uses recurring sidebars in categories such as "That's Strange!" and "Why Do They Do That?" to compare various kinds of insects. Perhaps the most fun is each insect's treatment in the category "What You Can See and Do." This is a perfect hands-on way for children to learn how to listen to musical insects such as cicadas and katydids or how to watch for "a parade of ants carrying green parasols." And now for the fiction among the facts. Janell Cannon, author and illustrator of such beloved picture books as Stellaluna and Verdi, is back with a suspenseful and amusing new tail, the story of a cockroach named Crickwing. Barely escaping from a hungry toad, a young cockroach is left with a twisted wing and the nickname Crickwing. (We never learn what his name was before his disfiguring accident. Bob? Irving?) Despising his nickname, he becomes reclusive, avoiding his acquaintances and spending his time creating sculpture out of parts of plants. A root here, a leaf there and voila another Crickwing masterpiece. As always with Janell Cannon, the illustrations made with acrylics and colored pencils on illustration board are splendid, bursting with color, life and energy. No wonder both children and adults love her books.

At first Crickwing is not a pleasant fellow and seeks revenge on creatures smaller than himself. In time, of course, like a certain glowing-nosed reindeer and other misunderstood outcasts, Crickwing redeems himself and turns his talent to the good of his comrades. The most realistic aspect of this book might be Crickwing's constant near-death experiences with monkeys, ocelots and other creatures determined to either eat him or torment him. The lesson of all of these insect books is clear: It's a jungle out there.

And these books also pose a question: Are entomologists just children at heart, people who never lost their fascination with insects? Or are children natural-born entomologists who eventually lose their sense of wonder and become accountants?

If you want to take your children to an exotic planet and show them alien monsters worthy of Jurassic Park, you don't need…

Children's & YAPicture Book

The special place between Mom and me

Feature by Robin Smith

Mother’s Day (or Mothers’ Day, if you have more than one) is the aw-shucks holiday of choice for young children. Teachers go crazy with big colorful cards, painted flowerpots and handprints pressed onto everything that is not nailed down. And the books! Around February, books about mothers start arriving and this year is no exception. Don’t miss these particularly stellar offerings celebrating mothers and their families.

NO ONE LIKE MOM

In the sweet department, we have There’s No One I Love Like You by Jutta Langreuter and illustrated by Stephanie Dahle. Brayden Bunny loves his mom but bristles at some of her rules. When she lets him know it's time to get out of bed, he wishes aloud that he could go and live with his friends. His mother overhears, and soon Brayden tries living at a number of his friends’ houses. Missy Mouse’s house is fun—but messy. The Badger family smells of unwashed badgers. The Squirrel family lives so high up that Brayden instantly knows it will not work out. He loves being with Auntie Grace, but still . . . something is not right. What is missing? Of course, it’s Mommy Bunny’s big hug and her special way of scratching his ears. Dahle’s sweet watercolors, filled with the kinds of details that will invite young readers to slow down and explore, elevate this story beyond the expected. On one spread, the text page is framed with daisy fabric which careful observers will see again on the opposite page as the rug under Brayden’s bed. Lettuce lamps adorn the living room, and Easter eggs hang from the children’s room. This charmer is sure to become a family favorite.

A CLASSIC LULLABY

More sophisticated, but no less loving, is Sean Qualls’ treatment of Langston Hughes’ poem Lullaby (For a Black Mother). Collage and watercolor play well together here, inviting little ones to sleep while introducing them to the poetry of Langston Hughes. Qualls’ palette is calm and filled with overlapping circles, mirroring the repeating nature of the poem itself. The mother is front and center, wearing her lace dress, collaged with words from books. She is always looking right at her beloved diaper-clad baby, which is just where children expect their mother's gaze to fall. I especially loved the winding musical notes with the chubby baby singing in delight. The repeating words, displayed in a pleasing, stylized large font, will invite older brothers and sisters to read right along with baby—always a plus!

MOMS IN THE MILITARY

When I saw Melinda Hardin's Hero Mom, I thought, “Finally, someone has written about mothers in the military.” Magazines and newspapers have been running stories about women in combat, but there has been little to offer for children, who are impacted so much. In this companion book to her earlier Hero Dad, Hardin addresses the issue through the straightforward voice of children. Without much fanfare, the children talk about their mothers as superheroes. Six children, holding six photographs of moms in uniforms, are the narrators of this winning book. The moms fly planes, build buildings, fix and drive trucks, aid the injured and lead a battalion. We see the modern face of the army where moms video chat with their children, taking a little of the pain out of deployment. The children and mothers are painted wearing their uniforms, and both the soldiers and their children are from no particular ethnic group, making this universally appealing. Simple. Direct. Honest. Just like these soldiers.

GIFTS FOR HER SPECIAL DAY

A funny take on Mother’s Day will keep the youngest listeners chuckling and making up their own ideas about What Not to Give Your Mom On Mother’s Day. Martha Simpson and illustrator Jana Christy introduce a sassy little boy with red rainboots and hands on his hips who's ready to let the reader know what Mom does not want for her big day. The fun starts with “Do NOT give her a bucket of big, fat worms . . . unless she is a bird.” The pages that follow are a recitation of a number of items that would work just fine for a dog or spider or salamander with hilarious mixed media illustrations. The mother can hardly contain her glee and later, horror, as her little boy suggests more and more unexpected gifts. Little ones will treat this book as a riddle book, and parents will enjoy making them guess at the punchline on each page. Just hope your children don’t bring you a bucketful of mosquitoes . . . unless you are a bat!

DON'T MESS WITH MOM

The world’s most protective squirrel lives in a heart-shaped hole in the city in David Ezra Stein’s newest offering, Ol’ Mama Squirrel. With a loud “Chook! Chook! Chook!” she lets any creature know that she will protect her babies. It’s hard not to laugh when Stein draws Mama with so many menacing faces and stances, her little arm raised in a fist to scold a dog that got too close or let an airplane know who’s in charge. It's as if she is channeling the classic old man chasing kids off his lawn, only funnier. Readers will see Mama from multiple perspectives, demonstrating that she is always on the job. When one HUGE grizzly bear tries to move in on Mama’s territory, it looks like she might have finally met her match. The babies’ eyes, poking out of their hole, show terror, but Mama knows just what to do. When all the mama squirrels get together to beat back the interloper, the little ones will know for sure that they are always safe as long as their mother is there to protect them! Ink, watercolors and crayons come together in a loose, energetic style, and I know I will never look at squirrels at the park quite the same way again! Chook! Chook! Chook!

Mother’s Day (or Mothers’ Day, if you have more than one) is the aw-shucks holiday of choice for young children. Teachers go crazy with big colorful cards, painted flowerpots and handprints pressed onto everything that is not nailed down. And the books! Around February, books…

ParentingMemoirFilmBiography

Special treats for special dads

Feature by Martin Brady

Father’s Day 2013 brings with it memoirs, nostalgia pieces, books on child-rearing (specifically from Dad’s POV) and also interesting volumes related to golf’s singular, imaginative hold on the father-son bond. We can’t review every item that made it over the transom, but here’s a sampler of our favorites.

SEEKING TO UNDERSTAND

In an epic mix of sprawling journalism and personal memoir, veteran magazine writer Stephen Rodrick presents The Magical Stranger: A Son’s Journey into His Father’s Life, in which he searches for clues to the mystery of his dad, a U.S. Navy pilot who crashed into the Indian Ocean in 1979 during maneuvers that were part of America’s response to the Iranian hostage crisis of that year. Rodrick, only 13 at the time, here acknowledges the resulting emotional gaps and confusion in his family’s life, and sets out to grapple with his own dysfunction while also investigating his father’s past to gain perspective on the man and on the military lifestyle in general, especially as it affects spouses and children. Rodrick’s approach is nothing if not frank, and at the risk of alienating those he loves, he emerges triumphant, purging some personal demons and seeming to gain a better understanding of what family means.

There are some interesting thematic similarities to Rodrick’s work in The Wolf and the Watchman: A Father, a Son, and the CIA, in which former Newsweek foreign correspondent Scott C. Johnson recounts his curiously peripatetic upbringing and makes an effort to understand his father and his unlikely profession. It wasn’t until he was a teenager that Johnson learned his dad was a CIA agent. Looking back, Johnson recounts the veil of deception that always seemed to shroud his father’s attitudes, demeanor and social activities. Questions remain unanswered for years, yet some clarity emerges right before 9/11, when son elicits from father an understanding of his notions of patriotism and morality. Later, while working as an international reporter in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, Johnson begins to find parallels in his own work, mainly in its secretive nature and its reliance on a certain kind of trust. With a scope spanning the Cold War and the war on terror, Johnson’s father-son memoir offers a rare glimpse of family, from separation to hard-won reconciliation.

LIFE ON THE LINKS

In Loopers: A Caddie’s Twenty-Year Golf Odyssey, professional golf caddy turned journalist John Dunn offers an engaging and surprisingly gritty approach to the sport’s literature. Against his father’s wishes, Dunn takes up the life of an itinerant caddy, and this volume essentially covers his episodic, two-decade journey across the U.S. working at golf courses great and small. Dunn makes it inside Augusta National Golf Club, manages to cross paths with celebrities and titans of industry, even travels across the pond to St. Andrews. It’s a gypsy existence that sometimes demands a scrappy persistence and a lot of compromises, yet Dunn’s account makes clear that his “a breed apart” personality is a good match for the vagabond lifestyle, which includes its fair share of fun and adventure. The book comes full circle when Dunn must confront his father’s imminent death from cancer. Closure occurs as the book reaches its poignant end, and golf’s linkage to the relationship between fathers and sons resonates once again.

TWO BIG DADDIES

Actor Steve Schirripa has had some great roles. Formerly the entertainment director of the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, he then parlayed his connections there into both TV and big-screen roles, mainly on “The Sopranos” as Bobby Bacala. Fact is, Schirripa is bigger than life. And while his new book, Big Daddy’s Rules: Raising Daughters Is Tougher Than I Look, written with Philip Lerman, definitely has a tongue-in-cheek feel to it, the tough-guy approach he espouses to child-rearing is heartfelt and refreshingly commonsensical. For Schirripa, it’s about protection—plus it’s his conviction that when parents assert an authoritative stance, kids will push boundaries more reasonably (and hence maybe end up with fewer tattoos!). This is parenting the old-school way, laced with tales from the trenches and committed advice on how to bring kids through the tough years, including discussion of topics like dating and sex, drinking and drugs, the value of money and hard work, and more.

“Today, big families are like waterbed stores; they used to be everywhere, and now they are just weird.” So says popular comedian and actor Jim Gaffigan, the author of Dad Is Fat but more tellingly the father of five young children, who, as of this writing, live with him and his “very fertile wife, Jeannie” in a two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Unsurprisingly, Gaffigan’s new book reads like one big extended stand-up routine about family life in general and the challenges of parenting a large brood in particular. Fans of the author’s sharp, dry wit will definitely be amused. The book is peppered with warm, candid photos of Gaffigans young and old.

AN AMERICAN ICON

Finally, there’s John Wayne: The Genuine Article, a coffee-table book suitable for the movie legend’s fans. Wayne was a dad, of course—son Ethan provides the preface here—and certainly was an authoritative film figure who epitomized the rugged American male. Michael Goldman’s text offers a welcome rundown of Duke’s life, from his almost accidental entry into the movies to his iconic rise in celluloid and later status as patriotic figure, with concluding chapters sharing a glimpse into Wayne’s personal moments and memories as a father. The plentiful graphic material includes reproductions of rare personal documents, family photos, letters to and from Hollywood stars and politicians, shooting-script excerpts from various Wayne flicks and other memorabilia.

Father’s Day 2013 brings with it memoirs, nostalgia pieces, books on child-rearing (specifically from Dad’s POV) and also interesting volumes related to golf’s singular, imaginative hold on the father-son bond. We can’t review every item that made it over the transom, but here’s a sampler…

NonfictionMilitary History

Bravery among the bullets

Feature by Pete Croatto

War is a complex subject with many aspects to explore, but one thing is clear: It makes for good books. Four new releases examine the American experience in three wars through the remarkable stories and objects that survived them.

A GENERATION PASSES

Richard Rubin (Confederacy of Silence) roamed the country to interview The Last of the Doughboys, the only surviving American veterans of World War I. Just a few dozen of them remained when he began his research, including a man who transferred bodies to Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and another who regretted not serving in combat. Though not all of the subjects are chatty, their remembrances give Rubin the opportunity to provide dignity to the elderly and show how a simpler time was actually quite complicated.

Rubin reminds us that 1.3 million men were killed in just one battle, the Somme. The era of WWI saw segregation as the norm, as well as the marginalization of women, who could not serve in combat. Immigrants were a significant presence in America, but the culture of the day was to support the U.S.—or else. Those are among several themes explored by Rubin, who is so determined to detail the battles and tasks of his interview subjects—while discussing other topics such as the challenges of interviewing 100-year-olds—that he’s nearly foiled by his own ambition. Still, he manages to fashion a nice ode to a generation whose role in shaping modern-day America is fading from public consciousness.

HITLER’S ART HEIST

Robert M. Edsel’s Saving Italy examines the United States’ attempt to save valuable artistic works in WWII-ravaged Italy. Bombings and gunfire were not the only threats: The Nazis were smuggling art from various Italian cities, including works by the most famous artists of the Renaissance. Salt mines in Austria were converted into a hideout for thousands of pieces of art, some of which belonged to Adolf Hitler himself.

Saving Italy works best in showing how a picture is worth more than a thousand words. For the Nazis, the paintings and sculptures were spoils of war. For the Italians, art was a crucial part of their history, one that the Americans recognized. Out of that concern rose “a new kind of soldier charged with saving, not destroying, what lay in the path of the conquering army.” Among these soldiers were the book’s two protagonists, “Monuments Men” Deane Keller and Fred Hartt.

Though some readers may grow impatient with the book’s structure, which loads the story with a detailed accounting of military strategy (including the Nazis’ surrender), Edsel tells a readable and ultimately triumphant story.

WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME
Junius and Albert’s Adventures in the Confederacy: A Civil War Odyssey possesses the juiciness of a beach read. Peter Carlson’s excellent book covers the plight of two reporters from the New York Tribune, Junius Browne and Albert Richardson, who were captured by Confederate troops in the Battle of Vicksburg.

Since both men were non-military personnel, they were quickly paroled. But getting released was another matter entirely. Because the Confederacy so loathed the Tribune and prisoner exchanges between the North and the South had stopped, Browne and Richardson were stuck in purgatory. After 20 months, escape on foot and horseback to Union territory near Knoxville, Tennessee—a 340-mile journey laden with potential enemies—was their only option.

Carlson works with wonderful efficiency, describing the political and social environment both men faced but never losing sight of the story and its momentum. The writing is compact and vivid as readers are escorted to the hell both men endured. “Freezing rain fell all night,” Carlson writes, “and in the morning the corpses piled outside the dead house glistened with a thin coating of ice.”

THE WEIGHT OF HISTORY
I’m guessing the New-York Historical Society doesn’t have corpses, but it probably has everything else. The Civil War in 50 Objects, written by Civil War historian Harold Holzer, is a fantastic museum tour of a book. Fifty items out of the Society’s nearly one million Civil War items are presented in mostly chronological order. Holzer provides historical background and context for each piece, which range from a pike used by John Brown’s freedom fighters to a footlocker belonging to Lt. Col. William H. Paine of the Fourth Wisconsin.

The beauty of the book is its format. Readers familiar with the Civil War can head to an item of particular interest—as a reformed beat reporter, I flipped right to the prison newspaper—while casual readers will enjoy an inviting atmosphere for a historically intimidating subject. With such an effective strategy, it’s no wonder that Holzer is an editor. Perhaps he should have been a general.

War is a complex subject with many aspects to explore, but one thing is clear: It makes for good books. Four new releases examine the American experience in three wars through the remarkable stories and objects that survived them.

A GENERATION PASSES

Richard Rubin (Confederacy of Silence)…

FictionDebut Fiction

Your guide to noteworthy debuts of 2013

Feature by Trisha Ping

Is there anything more nerve-racking than publishing a first novel? For authors and publishers alike, it’s a nail-biting moment of sink or swim. Here are 10 debuts from the year (so far!) that signal the start of promising careers.

THE HOUSE GIRL
By Tara Conklin
For fans of: Tracy Chevalier, Kathryn Stockett, Geraldine Brooks
First line: “Mister hit Josephine with the palm of his hand across her left cheek and it was then she knew she would run.”
About the book: The stories of a runaway slave and a modern-day lawyer intersect in a quiet, emotional and thought-provoking tale.
About the author: Conklin worked as a corporate lawyer before moving to Seattle with her husband and children to write this novel.
Read more: Interview from our February issue.

GHOSTMAN
By Roger Hobbs
For fans of: Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Dan Brown
First line: “Hector Moreno and Jerome Ribbons sat in the car on the ground level of the Atlantic Regency Hotel Casino parking garage, sucking up crystal meth with a rolled-up five spot, a lighter and a crinkled length of tin foil.”
About the book: This thrilling heist novel is full of nonstop action and includes incredible detail on everything from casino operations to armored cars—as well as an unforgettable, amoral antihero.
About the author: Just 24 years old, Hobbs finished the novel while still attending Reed College in Portland.
Read more: Interview from our February issue.

THE SUPREMES AT EARL'S ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT
By Edward Kelsey Moore
For fans of: Maeve Binchy, Terry McMillan, Fannie Flagg
First line: “I woke up hot that morning. Came out of a sound sleep with my face tingling and my nightgown stuck to my body.”
About the book: The 40-year friendship of three women from the small town of Plainview, Indiana, is celebrated in a big-hearted story that’s full of laughs—and inspired by the “smart, and interesting, and not foolish” women in Moore’s own life.
About the author: Moore was an accomplished cellist and college professor when he decided to try writing at the age of 40 (he’s now 52).
Read more: Interview from our March issue.

A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA
By Anthony Marra
For fans of: Téa Obreht, Adam Johnson, Jonathan Safran Foer
First line: “On the morning after the Feds burned down her house and took her father, Havaa woke from dreams of sea anemones.”
About the book: Set against the backdrop of the Chechen Wars, an exhausted doctor fights to protect a young girl whose father has been taken away by Russian soldiers for a crime he didn’t commit.
About the author: Currently a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, Marra holds an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and has lived in Eastern Europe.
Read more: Review from our May issue.

THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI
By Helene Wecker
For fans of: Susanna Clarke, Deborah Harkness, Michael Chabon
First line: “The Golem’s life began in the hold of a steamship.”
About the book: A golem, a jinni and the evil wizard that links them star in Wecker’s imaginative blend of Jewish and Arabic folklore. The supernatural characters are grounded by the novel’s detailed, vibrant setting in 1899 New York City, where immigrants and wealthy citizens mingle on teeming streets.
About the author: Wecker spent seven years working in the corporate sector before attending Columbia University’s writing program.
Read more: Interview from our May issue.

THE OTHER TYPIST
By Suzanne Rindell
For fans of: Amor Towles, Zoë Heller, M.L. Stedman
First line: “They said the typewriter would unsex us.”
About the book: Rose, a prim and proper typist working in 1920s Manhattan, forms a friendship with mysterious, fun-loving Odalie that borders on obsession. With Rose as its sly and slightly unreliable narrator, this suspenseful story will keep you guessing.
About the author: A former employee of a literary agency, Rindell is finishing up a Ph.D. in modernist literature at Rice University.
Read more: Review from our May issue.

THE EXECUTION OF NOA P. SINGLETON
By Elizabeth L. Silver
For fans of: Lionel Shriver, Gillian Flynn, John Grisham
First line: “In this world, you are either good or evil.”
About the book: We know from page one that Noa is guilty of murder. Silver’s psychologically acute narrative probes the all-important question of why—and provides a breathtaking answer.
About the author: Silver earned her legal knowledge as a judicial clerk and research attorney for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She also has an M.A. in literature.
Read more: Review from our June issue.

THE GHOST BRIDE
By Yangsze Choo
For fans of: Lisa See, Eowyn Ivey, Jamie Ford, Erin Morgenstern
First line: “One evening, my father asked me whether I would like to become a ghost bride.”
About the book: In 1893 Malaysia, Li Lan finds herself betrothed to a ghost—and in love with another man. Her quest for freedom takes her through the land of the dead.
About the author: Choo got a degree in sociology from Harvard before launching her writing career.  
Read more: Interview in this issue.

THE FIELDS
By Kevin Maher
For fans of: Roddy Doyle, Jennifer Haigh, Nick Hornby
First line: “When Jack died I was real young, younger than I am now, and I said, in a temper, that I would never let it happen again.”
About the book: This ambitious coming-of-age story set in 1980s Dublin is told in the memorable voice of Jim Finnegan, the youngest of six in a working-class family.
About the author: From Dublin himself, Maher now lives in England and is a film critic for several papers, including the Guardian.
Read more: Review in this issue.

THE PEOPLE IN THE TREES
By Hanya Yanagihara
For fans of: Donna Tartt, Ann Patchett, Barbara Kingsolver
First line: “I was born in 1924 near Lindon, Indiana, the sort of small, unremarkable rural town that some twenty years before my birth had begun to duplicate itself, quietly but insistently, across the Midwest.”
About the book: Told through the annotated journals of Dr. Norton Perina, this sprawling tale has an old-fashioned feel. Perina has discovered the key to longevity on a remote island—but at what price?
About the author: Yanagihara is an editor for Condé Nast Travel—which explains Perina’s fantastic descriptions of island paradise.
Read more: Review in this issue.

Is there anything more nerve-racking than publishing a first novel? For authors and publishers alike, it’s a nail-biting moment of sink or swim. Here are 10 debuts from the year (so far!) that signal the start of promising careers.

Sign Up

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.

Sign up now

Trending Features

All Features