2book multi

Children's & YAPicture BookMiddle Grade

Treasured books to wrap in brightly colored paper

Feature by Alice Cary

Take a fresh look at some age-old classics, or stash away some ideas for family fun. It’s a bumper year for children’s gift books, and the stars of this year’s crop include something new for Harry Potter fans, a Star Wars extravaganza and an ingenious offering from David Macaulay for budding engineers.

There’s something extra special about passing along your favorite books to a new generation of young readers. Classic children’s tales really are gifts that keep on giving.

Whether you’re a longtime Harry Potter fan or are introducing a new reader to the series, check out the superbly illustrated edition of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Award-winning British illustrator Jim Kay has created more than 100 illustrations for this gorgeous book, full of colorful visualizations of Harry’s first adventure. Kay didn’t have an easy task, as so many fans already have fully formed images of these beloved characters and scenes. Never fear: His art glimmers with all the excitement, joy, mystery and thrills of this magical tale. Rowling has given her approval, saying she loves “his interpretation of Harry Potter’s world,” which “moved me profoundly.” This special edition features an attractive layout with text that’s easy on the eyes, a bonus for young and old alike, making it perfect for reading aloud. Avid Potter fans will want—no, need—to add this book to their collections.

Another classic tale gets a redo with Gillian Cross’ retelling of Homer’s The Iliad, with striking illustrations by Neil Packer. The duo previously collaborated on The Odyssey, and both books make an excellent introduction for middle schoolers discovering these ancient tales for the first time. Cross’ text is riveting, elegant and accessible, bringing epic battle scenes to life: “The Greeks threw huge rocks down onto them, but the Trojans replied by hurling bigger stones at the wall. They flew like snow in blizzard, clanging against helmets and shields and covering the ground.” Packer’s artwork is contemporary, colorful, dramatic and just right for luring in a preteen audience. A helpful introduction, an informative afterword and a reference spread showing the names and faces of major characters and their allegiances are also included.

Tales from the Brothers Grimm features the artwork of famed Swiss poster designer Herbert Leupin. After taking the advertising world by storm in the 1940s, the late graphic artist began illustrating fairy tales. Leupin’s legacy is given new life here, and his illustrations are indeed poster-worthy. These nine fairy tales include classics like “Hansel and Gretel” and “Snow White,” along with less familiar choices such as “Hans in Luck” and “The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids.” As noted in the book’s epilogue, Leupin infused his illustrations with humor and a magical glow, and most importantly, he made sure that when “danger threatens . . . children are not just afraid but also have something to laugh at.” Leupin’s creations burst with personality and color, and children as well as adults will delight in these offerings.

MOVIE NIGHT MADNESS
Star Wars fans eagerly awaiting the release of The Force Awakens will want to get their hands on Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know. This is a book made for perusing and quizzing fellow enthusiasts, with graphics galore and numerous statistics, quotes, questions and trivia. Do you know what a nerf herder is, or the name of Hondo’s favorite ship? My favorites are the “Peek behind the scenes” tidbits, such as the fact that Han Solo was a big green alien in the original rough draft. Who knew that a termite infestation in George Lucas’ house inspired the buzzing swarm of Geonosians, and that he brought in specimens for his art designers? An index helps readers keep track of all of these facts and figures.

Planning a family movie night can be challenging, but things just got easier with 101 Movies to See Before You Grow Up: Be Your Own Movie Critic—The Must-See Movie List for Kids. Instead of trying to strong-arm your kids into watching an old favorite of yours, just hand them this book and let them decide. Suzette Valle’s interactive guide is aimed at third- to seventh-graders, but there’s something for everyone in a wide range of categories that includes everything from classics like It’s a Wonderful Life and Toy Story  to discussion-provoking choices like Life Is Beautiful and Super Size Me. Each page-long entry contains a synopsis, rating and run time, a variety of fun facts and space for viewers to make notes about their own reactions to the film. (A few classics, like The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music, get two-page spreads.) Natasha Hellegouarch’s illustrations and graphics add just the right touch of color and fun.

LESSONS THEY’LL LOVE
David Macaulay, celebrated for his best-selling The Way Things Work, has created a unique exploratory adventure in How Machines Work: Zoo Break!. First, it’s a story about two animals, Sloth and Sengi (a little elephant shrew), trying to break out of the zoo. More than that, however, it’s an interactive pop-up book that brings six simple machines to life in a wonderful way: wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw and pulley. Sloth and Sengi try to put these simple machines to work, and the book succeeds grandly as both a fun story and an educational experience just right for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) curriculum. Macaulay is a Caldecott Medal winner and a MacArthur Fellow, and his trademark humorous illustrations hold everything together with spreads that are equally intriguing and enlightening. A glossary at the end helps solidify the scientific concepts, while the madcap ending is perfectly pulled off.

Kids of all ages will enjoy SENSEational Illusions, an engaging book filled with quick and quirky activities to test your senses, as well as simple scientific explanations for each. Readers will find a variety of optical illusions, including a large pop-up sculpture with three hidden animals waiting to be found. There are scratch-and-sniff quizzes and directions for easy taste tests that require only simple ingredients. Experiments involving touch and balance include two mazes to be completed with one finger at the ready and both eyes closed, as well as a maze full of booby traps to be navigated by three small ball bearings (included). Chock-full of fun, it can be enjoyed solo or with buddies. Either way, it’s sure to be a hit.

ON-THE-GO FUN
Planning a road trip? Bring along The 50 States, a large book of fact-filled maps that allows young geographers to get lost in the many details. A two-page spread for each state includes the map, an introductory overview, a chart of key facts (capital, largest city, etc.) and a timetable of memorable moments in history. Also included are brief mentions of famous people from each state, from familiar faces to contemporary notables. Alabama’s pages spotlight Rosa Parks and Helen Keller, as well as track-and-field athlete Carl Lewis and actress Octavia Spencer. Author Gabrielle Balkan’s research and writing draws readers in with a fun mash-up of history, geography and pop culture, while Sol Linero’s illustrations make every spread a delight. I even learned a few new tidbits about my beloved West Virginia.

If you need to occupy a preschooler or an early-elementary student, grab a copy of Making Faces!: Star in Your Own Works of Art by Jacky Bahbout and illustrated by Momoko Kudo. This large, placemat-sized drawing pad has a simple, silly concept: Each page has a hole in the middle and contains drawings and a theme (party time, clown, soccer player, dragon, etc.) to which young artists can add their own details. The page titled “Moose on the loose!!!” encourages youngsters to draw their own antlers and add extra trees to the forest. Once complete, kids can tear out the page, put their face in the hole and pose for a photo. This is a great choice when waiting for restaurant meals and appointments, a creative alternative to video and phone distractions. Send the photo to Grandma and everybody’s happy!

 

This article was originally published in the December 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Take a fresh look at some age-old classics, or stash away some ideas for family fun. It’s a bumper year for children’s gift books, and the stars of this year’s crop include something new for Harry Potter fans, a Star Wars extravaganza and an ingenious offering from David Macaulay for budding engineers.
YA NonfictionYA FictionYA

Gifts for ravenous teen readers

Feature by Cat Acree

LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK
Two classic fairy tales combine with a trademark Neil Gaiman twist in The Sleeper and the Spindle. Originally published without illustrations in the anthology Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales, edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt, Gaiman’s tale melds the darkest elements of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White for something familiar yet wickedly updated. Warrior queen Snow White (though she’s not named outright) has just survived her yearlong sleeping curse and is preparing to marry a man she’d much rather not. When three dwarfs warn her that a sleeping curse spreads toward her lands, she and her short-statured companions take off to save Sleeping Beauty and the many, many people who have fallen victim to the curse. While Gaiman’s short tale offers moments of whimsy and humor, the black-and-white illustrations by Kate Greenaway Award winner Chris Riddell, gilded here and there with metallic details, make this book worthy of any bookshelf. From the delicate spiderwebs that spread over the sleeping citizens to the sagging, loose skin of a creepy old woman who guards Sleeping Beauty, Riddell’s illustrations elevate The Sleeper and the Spindle to nothing less than an object of art.

WOMEN OF SCIENCE
Women have more access to education and career advancement than ever before in history. However, they certainly haven’t achieved parity with men, with women making up only a third of scientific researchers worldwide. And all too often, the scientific contributions of women throughout history have gone unacknowledged. Following up the award-winning Magnificent Minds, Pendred E. Noyce’s Remarkable Minds spotlights 17 more pioneering women in science, engineering, mathematics and medicine. Spanning seven countries and three centuries, the brilliant heroines of Remarkable Minds are forgotten no more, from a French noblewoman to the granddaughter of slaves, from women who hesitated to call themselves scientists and those who became winners of the Nobel Prize. For all the many advancements highlighted here, perhaps what readers will remember best of all is the stories of women helping women, advising and advocating for each other and celebrating each other’s achievements.

ROOKIE’S SENIOR YEAR
Rookiemag.com is an online, independent magazine written by young women, for young women, and Rookie Yearbook Four is the latest compilation of the very best art, essays, photographs, playlists, DIY tutorials, guides and interviews from June 2014 through May 2015. In the tradition of yearbooks, this is also the last in the series, as editor and founder Tavi Gevinson grows up, graduates, moves out and waves goodbye to this format of Rookie—while promising that the mag and its community will continue. In Rookie’s senior yearbook, readers explore essays on rape culture, heartbreak, humility, role models, college admissions, sex, crushes and love; on honoring yourself, your body, your BFF and your creativity; on transitions big and small. There are themed playlists with power anthems, poetry and photography by teens, interviews with Donna Tartt, Laverne Cox, FKA twigs and Genevieve Liu (the founder of Surviving Life After a Parent Dies, or SLAP’D), plus so much more. In Yearbook Two, Tavi wrote that “the closest thing I have to the sense that someone, somewhere is watching over me is the knowledge that everything I could possibly feel has been articulated by another human being in art.” Here it is, as powerful as it is playful—everything a teen girl’s heart has ever felt and may ever feel.

Do you have a teen on your gift list whose bookshelf holds their most prized possessions, who has crushes on fictional characters and who seems more interested in make-believe lands than the real world? You’re in luck: These three new books make ideal gifts for the book-obsessed teen.

Children's & YA

Never bored with board books

Feature by Alice Cary

Since the arrival of our twin girls on Easter, board books are once again in vogue at our house. On this rainy day while the babies are napping, I've been perusing the latest crop. Here's what we'll be reading—not to mention chewing—in months to come.

Babies love to look at other babies, which means Copycat Faces is sure to be a hit. Those familiar with DK's publishing style know what to expect: vivid, enticing photographs set against a white background. There's also a fold-out mirror in which babies can imitate the eye-catching expressions of the children photographed within boys and girls costumed as a king, burglar, jester, explorer, pirate and, at the very end, a sleeping boy.

Dav Pilkey's Big Dog and Little Dog: Making a Mistake is one in a series of board books about two dogs and their adventures. Both text and illustrations are simple and cheery, showing the duo as they follow an animal they believe to be a kitty, but which turns out to be a skunk. As an adult reader, I greatly appreciate board books that manage to have a plot, simple though it may be.

Miss Spider's New Car is a superb example of a picture book that translates well to board format. The text is a short verse, describing Miss Spider's shopping expedition with her ant buddy to buy a new car. Kirk's outstanding illustrations are luminous, even in board book format.

Pooh's Pitter Patter Splash! is double fun. Not only is there a rhyming tale about rain, but attached to the book is a clear plastic case containing colorful beads. Shake the book or turn it upside down, and the beads become a rattle imitating the sound of raindrops. This is one of the cleverest board books I've seen, one bound to entertain.

More fun is waiting in Bow Wow: A Pop-up Book of Shapes. Each page contains a black and white flap showing a different shape. Lift the flap to discover a colorful pop-up illustration incorporating that shape amidst a menagerie of canines. Save this whimsical book for older, gentle toddlers who won't destroy the flaps and pop-ups.

Fill your child's day with sunshine with the Portable Universe series from Abrams. Sun, for instance, is a bright sun-shaped book containing a cheerful rhyme and illustrations about our great star.

Other easy-travel books are Fisher-Price's Move-Along Bead Book series, board books with attached carrying handles and big, colorful beads which slide along the handle. For example, Rise and Shine, Busy Bugs features bug-shaped beads in purple, yellow, blue, and pink, and the stories of bug behavior is told in clever rhyming couplets. Wonderful books to develop color recognition and eye-hand coordination, and to carry along on vacation! Yet another novelty can be found in Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around: A Spin-Me-Around Book About Opposites. Each page contains a cut-out oval that spins to reveal pictures on each side good for developing manual dexterity, not to mention just plain intriguing for little tikes. Kathy Couri's illustrations of a frolicking teddy in sailor suit garb are sweetly executed in pastel tones.

What do you call a pig's nose? A snout, of course. These and other Funfax are included in a novel series of Fold Out Floor Books from DK, one of which is Pig. A page asks a question, the next answers it, and meanwhile the book unfolds to form a large square picture of a pig surrounded by related photos. And the pigs are pink, cuddly, and cute, I might add, undoubtedly related to Babe. Finally, those with fond memories of Pat the Bunny will enjoy The Happy Book, a touch-and-feel book with such things as scratch-and-sniff flowers, a kitty's fur, a pig's tail, a boo-boo to kiss, and sandpaper to rub. My goodness, even board books are interactive these days! With luck, they'll keep my little duo happy and busy.

 

Alice Cary writes from her home in Groton, Massachusetts.

Since the arrival of our twin girls on Easter, board books are once again in vogue at our house. On this rainy day while the babies are napping, I've been perusing the latest crop. Here's what we'll be reading—not to mention chewing—in months to come.

NonfictionBusiness & Finance

Targeted self-help solutions for building a better you

Feature by Lynn Green

Anyone entering the new year with a list of resolutions needs advice on how to kickstart their commitment to personal change. We’ve looked at stacks of new self-help books and chosen six of the clearest, most practical guides to help you meet your goals, whether it’s a fitter physique or a more adventurous life.


If your resolution is to be more active:

Consider the sensible and achievable plan outlined in Younger Next Year: The Exercise Program. Building on their popular series, Chris Crowley and physician Henry S. Lodge devote the bulk of the book to the “whys” of exercise: why it works (the science) and why we should do it (the benefits). By the time you get to the actual exercises in chapter nine, you’ll presumably be so fired up you’ll plunge right into the “25 sacred exercises” of strength training. Pair those with the “magic bullet” of aerobics and you’re on your way. If you need more motivation, ponder this: People who do some kind of aerobic activity regularly have a 40 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.


If your resolution is to lose weight:

Check out Thinner in 30:  Small Changes That Add Up to Big Weight Loss in Just 30 Days. “Today” fitness correspondent Jenna Wolfe breaks the big task of weight loss into 30 small chunks that seem doable, from drinking 20 sips of water as soon as you wake up to making at least three of your everyday activities more challenging (for example, when you’re watching TV, get up off the couch and do a quick exercise during each commercial break). Yes, some of the 30 changes are harder than others, but Wolfe’s helpful tips and tricks will give you added impetus to succeed. 


If your resolution is to manage your money: 

Use your cash on hand to buy a copy of The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated. Authors Helaine Olen and Harold Pollack argue that the best financial advice for most people would fit on a 3-by-5-inch index card. The tenets of their 10-point system are surprisingly simple but effective: Saving 10 to 20 percent of your income, paying your credit card balance in full each month and making the maximum contribution to your tax-advantaged retirement savings plans are at the top of the list. The index card system started with Pollack, a public health professor at the University of Chicago who faced financial problems as a result of overspending, under-saving and accumulating costly debts. He put his family on sound financial footing with the new regimen, and the step-by-step guidelines in this book can help you follow the same path to financial freedom. 


If your resolution is to be more giving:

Explore the philanthropic ideas in Simple Giving: Easy Ways to Give Every Day. Jennifer Iacovelli, who has worked for nonprofits and writes the blog Simple Giving Lab, argues that we can all help to make the world a better place by incorporating giving into our daily lives. You don’t have to be Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg to make a difference—even small donations or simple gestures of support can have an impact. The author offers six “models” of giving: everyday acts of kindness; traditional philanthropy, such as donating your time or money to charity; shopping with a conscience; taking action on issues you’re passionate about; giving as a business model; and “giving it forward” by inspiring others to give when you do. Whether you’re holding a door open for a stranger or donating to the Red Cross, you’re demonstrating your concern for others. One satisfying note: Psychological studies have shown that giving not only helps others but ourselves, making givers both happier and healthier.


If your resolution is to live more mindfully:

You’ll be intrigued by the suggestions in 52 Small Changes for the Mind by wellness expert Brett Blumenthal. He offers one small change you can make each week to improve your mental well-being and explains how each step will help you feel less stressed and more content. During Week 1, for example, readers are advised to “Put pen to paper” and start a personal journal. The act of recording your feelings will leave you “calmer, happier and more capable of moving past negativity.” Other weekly recommendations include: sip green tea, silence your inner critic, say yes to new experiences and spend more time outside. Attractively designed and well-organized, this inspiring volume is a pleasure to browse and peppered with thought-provoking quotes. As Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh says, “The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.”


If your resolution is to live your dreams:

Pick up a copy of Gin Sander’s The Big Bucket List Book: 133 Experiences of a Lifetime. Sander’s goal is to help each of us pursue a “well-lived life,” full of rich ideas and adventures. “Participate in life, rather than observe or drown in the dreaded feeling that it’s just passing you by,” she advises. Since the well-lived life means different things to different people, she encourages readers to define their own terms for a bucket list and to think creatively about living their wildest dreams on a budget. (Travel with a group, crowdsource your project or do volunteer work at a desired destination.) The ideas listed are wide-ranging and fun to daydream about, from having dinner in a Napa Valley wine cave to ordering a pair of custom-made shoes. Before you write down your own list, the author recommends setting the mood with a glass of wine and a scented candle and letting your mind run freely. Whether it’s running a marathon or starting a humanitarian movement, adventure is right around the corner.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Anyone entering the new year with a list of resolutions needs advice on how to kickstart their commitment to personal change. We’ve looked at stacks of new self-help books and chosen six of the clearest, most practical guides to help you meet your goals, whether it’s a fitter physique or a more adventurous life.
Nonfiction

I read the (health) news today, oh boy

Feature by Sheila M. Trask

Health news: It’s everywhere. Our smartphones, televisions, friends and relatives are all standing by with updates on the latest research, though we’re often left more confused than ever. Luckily, several new books by doctors, scientists and nutrition experts take us much deeper into the science behind the headlines so we can make informed decisions about promoting and protecting our health.

Shall we start with the good news or the bad? It’s up to you in journalist Jeff Wilser’s entertaining analysis of the health claims we hear every day. Depending on which side of his lively book you start with, you’ll get The Bad News About What’s Good for You, or, alternatively, The Good News About What’s Bad for You. Wilser takes on topics from breakfast to retirement and challenges the conventional wisdom. Eat breakfast, lose weight? Maybe, Wilser finds, but most studies don’t bear that out. Think retirement will bring freedom and adventure? Possibly, but it’s also linked to higher risks of depression, divorce, stroke and heart attack. Wilser’s background as a writer for publications as diverse as The Chicago Tribune and GQ serves him well here, as he shares pop culture anecdotes and hard science side-by-side, with equal parts sincerity and humor.  

TURNING THE TABLES ON FAT
Though Wilser touches on the surprising news that some fats are, in fact, good for you, physician Steven Masley and nutritionist Jonny Bowden devote their full attention to the topic in Smart Fat: Eat More Fat. Lose More Weight. Get Healthy Now. Although a generation of Americans grew up hearing that margarine was better than butter and that carbohydrates should form the foundation of our food pyramid, that wasn’t necessarily good information, Masley and Bowden write. Their astute survey of the situation delves deeply into the question of what fats really do to our bodies and how certain “smart” fats might do much more good than harm. The science here is comprehensive but never boring; the authors write clearly and elegantly, leaving space for interesting “smart fat facts.” (Did you ever stop to think that there are no vegetables in vegetable oil, only grains and seeds?) Practical plans follow the scientific explanations. A 29-day menu, meal-by-meal advice and “diet” recipes that sound like no diet you’ve ever been on—beef stew, anyone?—round out this informative and useful volume.

OUR PREHISTORIC LEGACY
Of course, we don’t have conscious control over everything that affects our health; many traits have been passed down for generations and persist even though they’re no longer useful in the modern world. That’s the fascinating concept behind Too Much of a Good Thing: How Four Key Survival Traits Are Now Killing Us by Lee Goldman, head of Columbia University Medical Center. The habits that lead us to develop obesity, hypertension, mental illness, heart disease and stroke may have once been valuable to the continuation of the species. Some of Goldman’s examples seem like common sense—humans are designed to eat whatever’s in front of them, because not so long ago the next meal was far from a sure thing—but others are surprising. For instance, he makes a convincing case that our attraction to salt was once useful for staving off dehydration, but now serves mostly to raise our blood pressure. You may have never thought about how protective Paleolithic blood-clotting plays out in modern times (think heart disease and stroke), but this world-renowned cardiologist explains it plainly and suggests an important role for medicine in bridging the gap between our lifestyle and our genetic heritage.

SELF-HELP SOBRIETY
One thing our ancestors were not prepared to deal with was the prevalence of alcohol in everyday life. It’s something most adults today have to contend with, and something that gets many of us in trouble. Here with The 30-Day Sobriety Solution: How to Cut Back or Quit Drinking in the Privacy of Your Own Home are Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and Dave Andrews, an experienced sobriety coach. Using positive psychology and systematic instructions, the authors guide readers through each of the 30 days of their program. It might be daunting to see how much work is involved in getting and staying sober, but the upbeat tone of the book, along with a generous sprinkling of quotations and cartoons, makes it seem not only doable, but enjoyable. Don’t expect “how I hit rock bottom” stories here, but rather inspirational reports from folks who have beaten alcoholism. Canfield and Andrews cover the biology behind addiction, but their focus is on empowering people to overcome it.

LIFELONG NUTRITION
What we really want to know, of course, is indicated in the title of Michael Greger’s book, How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease, written with Gene Stone. Greger may not be able to promise actual immortality, but as a physician, author and keeper of the popular website NutritionFacts.org, he is qualified to draw connections between the foods we eat and the diseases we do or do not develop. Meticulously well documented, Greger’s guidebook provides evidence on everything from the pesticide-Parkinson’s connection to the role of antioxidants in breast cancer prevention. Gregor also offers up friendly tips, like his favorite smoothie recipe and a turmeric tutorial. Follow his advice and you may not live forever, but you’ll almost certainly live a healthier life.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Health news: It’s everywhere. Our smartphones, televisions, friends and relatives are all standing by with updates on the latest research, though we’re often left more confused than ever. Luckily, several new books by doctors, scientists and nutrition experts take us much deeper into the science behind the headlines so we can make informed decisions about promoting and protecting our health.
LiteratureBiography

Personal and political

Feature by Edward Morris

In Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage, Nicholas Wapshott tries rather too hard to draw parallels between the early lives of Reagan and Thatcher when all he really needs to do to explain why they faced the world as a united front is focus on their remarkable correspondence, much of which is revealed here for the first time. The two bastions of conservatism chatted and flirted like teenagers. It's true that both leaders pulled themselves up by imagination and hard work. But they succeeded less by their own virtues than by cashing in on the manifest failings in some quarters of liberal politics, which, at the time of their triumphs, was basically running on theory, moral outrage and a sense of entitlement.

Although their gestures of respect and affection toward each other were clearly sincere and abiding, the two clashed on the Falklands War (Thatcher was unreservedly for it, Reagan against), the U.S. invasion of Grenada (Thatcher mildly objected, Reagan deemed it essential) and nuclear disarmament (Thatcher vehemently opposed it). It may not be all that instructive but it is surely thought-provoking to compare the dismal state of the left when Reagan and Thatcher ascended to office to the similarly shaky condition of the right today as it contends with its own Vietnam.

ON- AND OFF-CAMERA
Peter Jennings took over the anchor spot at ABC's World News Tonight early in the Reagan/Thatcher era and held that position until 2005. Friends, family members and colleagues of the late Canadian-born ABC-TV newscaster have combined their memorial statements and reminiscences into Peter Jennings: A Reporter's Life. As one would expect from such sources, the portrait that emerges is unwaveringly positive. Jennings is depicted as a fierce editor who demands both flair and substance from his reporters. But that's about as rough as it gets. By all accounts, Jennings had an insatiable curiosity, an urge to see for himself the world's hotspots and a genuine affection for the downtrodden. More than any other network anchor, his colleagues claim, he attempted to bring balance to his reports from the Middle East. The chief flaw here is that so many of the same tales and viewpoints are repeated that they end up sounding more like character references than personality sketches. Included are a list of contributors, a Jennings chronology and a selected list of his documentaries and news specials.

TELLING TODAY'S STORIES
Edited and introduced by public radio host Ira Glass, The New Kings of Nonfiction are united only by Glass' zeal for compelling narratives. [W]e're living in an age of great nonfiction writing, he asserts, in the same way that the 1920s and '30s were a golden age of American popular song. Giants walk among us. It's a big tent these giants occupy. Michael Lewis spotlights the Security and Exchange Commission's absurd war against a teenage stock trader. Gambler James McManus whisks the reader into his world of high-stakes poker. Mark Bowden presents a stomach-turning prewar glimpse into Saddam Hussein's mad and gratuitous cruelty. Gay activist Dan Savage chronicles his thwarted efforts to become a good Republican. On the frothier side, Coco Henson Scales tells what it's like to be the hostess for a trendy New York restaurant at which the customer is always wrong or at least made to feel so.

THE WAR 40 YEARS ON
Doyle D. Glass' Lions of Medina is a splendid piece of historical reporting. He traces a group of young men from their joining the Marines, through their basic training, to their week-long ordeal by fire in northern South Vietnam during a 1967 campaign labeled Operation Medina, to their less than glorious homecoming, either to be buried, hospitalized or to face the hostility of war protesters. Glass' battle descriptions are nerve-wracking. His account is richly illustrated with battleground maps and photos. There is also a helpful list of principal characters with identifications, a glossary and an index.

In Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage, Nicholas Wapshott tries rather too hard to draw parallels between the early lives of Reagan and Thatcher when all he really needs to do to explain why they faced the world as a united front is…

Children's & YAPicture Book

Talented new artists make their marks in picture books

Feature by Robin Smith

Though I have my own favorite illustrators, it is always exciting to see new artists find their way into children's books—and it is a treat to find young illustrators who feel like old friends.

I'm a fan of letterpress and block prints, so my eye was immediately drawn to Kazuno Kohara's stunning illustrations in Ghosts in the House!. With orange, black and white three-color illustrations, Kohara tells the just-right bedtime tale of the little girl in her new (haunted) house. Luckily she is no ordinary girl; she is a witch who knows how to catch ghosts. Young readers will be fascinated to see what the heroine does with the freshly –washed ghost and will snuggle down in their beds with this decidedly un-scary Halloween book that works for any time of year. The woodcuts, with smiling girl and ghosts, sometimes flying out of the frames, are a charming introduction to this special kind of printing. Especially interesting is the way the artist seems to lay tissue-paper ghosts over the illustrations, gently obscuring the amusing scene underneath. I imagine many children will want to try this technique in their own artwork. Let's hope for more from this talented young artist whose vision seems such a delicious throwback.

When I received a copy of Hyun Young Lee's Something for School, I was immediately taken with the round child on the cover, fore-finger lifted to lips as if keeping a secret. Yoon's first day of kindergarten is ruined when the teacher divides the class, "Boys come here, girls go over there." Yoon lines up with the girls, but her classmates, seeing her pants and short hair, push her into the boy group. Frustrated, she crumbles to the floor in tears and cries and cries and cries, all the way through the class picture. Happily, Yoon figures out a way to show she is a girl without compromising, and things turn out well for her and her classmates. The very round, short-legged Korean children fairly bounce through kindergarten. These new illustrations, reminiscent of Taro Gomi (Everyone Poops, etc.), seem just right for today's child. This is a perfect book for children who are starting school.

The School of Visual Arts in New York City has a long, influential line of graduates (Gregory Christie, Lauren Castillo and Jonathan Bean come to mind) who have made their mark on children's books. Three new artists from the school have their first books coming out this fall: Shadra Strickland, Hyewon Yum and Tao Nyeu. It's amazing to think that each of these illustrators did their graduate work at the same school at almost the same time.

Bird is the poignant story of one young boy who uses the power of art to cope with the realities of his beloved brother's drug addiction. Zetta Elliott's tender, understated story of Bird and his older brother Marcus is illustrated with grace by newcomer Shadra Strickland. Capturing the tragic story with her own nuanced paintings and the pencil sketches of the young Bird, Strickland strikes the right chord between serious and joyful. Many spreads have pictures of birds—flying and free—that remind the young Bird that his brother, while no longer on Earth, is flying in Heaven. For Bird's brother has died after a lengthy addiction to drugs. Bird has a grandfather and then an uncle who help him cope and understand the incomprehensible. This is a story that needs to be told, and telling it with illustrations makes it more accessible to younger readers.

At first, Hyewon Yum's remarkable illustrations in Last Night threaten to overwhelm the wordless story of a young girl who retreats to her bedroom where she spends time romping with her stuffed bear. I was so distracted by the beauty and technical pizzazz of the linoleum block prints that I needed to look through the pictures a few times to take in the depth of the story. We start with an angry-faced girl eating her vegetables, and move with her to bed and eventually to the dream world of running away with her bear. The details that Yum is able to wring out of a challenging form—right down to the peeking shadows of moonglow on trees—made me feel that I was in the hands of a master. This paean to Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are will amuse young readers familiar with the story line and allow them to narrate the story themselves. Parents will have a wonderful feeling watching the young girl hug her mother at the end—forgiveness is that sweet.

Gorgeously oversized Wonder Bear has the same dreamlike quality of many wordless picture books. Silkscreened illustrations colored with a bright palette of blues and oranges, straight from Tao Nyeu's M.F.A. thesis, tell the story of magic seeds, a special bear and one ordinary-looking blue and red hat. From this hat come all sorts of wonders: creatures, bubbles in the shape of lions, even flying porpoises! This childhood fantasy of adventure in an oversized format will amuse the young reader as she "reads" the story over and over and discovers new details each time. At times the art reminded me of Wanda Gag's work, with its back lines and graphic elements, and at other times the imaginary worlds of Dr. Seuss seemed to be Nyeu's inspiration. These illustrations, simple and complex at the same time, offer much for the reader who revisits its rich world.

Though I have my own favorite illustrators, it is always exciting to see new artists find their way into children's books—and it is a treat to find young illustrators who feel like old friends.

Children's & YAPicture Book

The poetry petting zoo

Feature by Crystal Williams

Along with April showers comes National Poetry Month! This month's selections are akin to a poetry petting zoo: Kids can get up close and personal with poems that represent everything from sound and meaning to simple rhymes to haiku. Each selection emphasizes the way words interact with each other and can be used as developmental tools.

I Heard a Little Baa, written by Elizabeth MacLeod and illustrated by Louise Phillips, is composed of nine vignettes in which sounds are explored. For example, the sound eeeeek is represented by the following rhyme: I heard a little squeak; I searched around the house. First I saw two shiny eyes, And then I saw a . . . Well, you get the picture. Very young children will find this book loads of fun, not only because the author has a great sense of humor but because each vignette has a page pull-out. The animal making the sound is hidden, and children must uncover it to find out what makes the sound. The book's bright, fun illustrations and interactive qualities practically guarantee that this small book will get a lot of use.

Similarly, Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round also explores the sounds of animals and is a personal favorite. Meant for children in the 2-5 age range, very old children (like me, for instance) will also delight in the adventures of Farmer Brown and his rowdy charges as they are thrown into a tornado. The ensuing mayhem causes his cows to oink, the pigs to moo, and his sheep to cluck. When Farmer Brown tries to shout, What's wrong with you?, the words come out, COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO! He soon finds himself taking orders from the rooster who is, ahem, demanding, to say the least. Luckily, another tornado comes to town, and that's the salvation of Farmer Brown. Teri Sloat's writing is so exuberant that children won't stop laughing. And the illustrations are superb! Nadine Bernard Westcott's characters are quirky, expressive, and unforgettable. This book is a testament to fluidity and sound.

A Child's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes is the largest of this month's featured books, which is good because children will certainly use it for years. The book is broken into sections. Welcome, Little Baby is composed of rhymes about babies. Kady McDonald Denton has done a good job of compiling globally representative rhymes, and she includes illustrations that reflect the diversity of our world's children.

Toddler Time, the second section, contains old favorites reminiscent of parents' own childhoods, with rhymes such as Rub-a-dub-dub and Humpty Dumpty. Denton also provides a particularly useful index of titles and first lines. This book is designed to accompany your child throughout his youth, and becomes a valued friend in the process.

Following the theme of diversity, I Call It Sky is different in tone than the other poetry books featured this month. Here is a contemplative book that will introduce children to new ways of considering our natural surroundings. I Call It Sky explains to kids not only how the weather is produced, but how it affects human beings. For example, Will C. Howell has gracefully captured how rain is made: Sometimes wet air gathers in big black bunches of clouds. When the clouds get too heavy, they squeeze out rain. Howell then moves from the literal to the figurative by emphasizing that every child experiences weather, thereby pointing young readers to a more global view of the world. John Ward has captured the expansive nature of the book's subject with his broad and generous illustrations. Each grouping of pages represents whichever weather pattern is being discussed: fog looks and feels foggy; breeze looks and feels refreshing. Essentially, if your child has had questions like, Why does it rain? or What is fog? you'll find this book useful.

Isn't My Name Magical: Sister and Brother Poems written by James Berry and illustrated by Shelly Hechenberger, explores the world of Dreena and Delroy, the sister and brother poetry-writing characters. Children will read poems with titles that are (thankfully) beyond cute: Dreena's Notebook That Makes People Laugh and Delroy the Skateboard Roller, for example. Soon we learn that Dreena and Delroy live with their schoolteacher mother and train-conductor father, and enjoy a typical sister and brother relationship. Their poetry is anything but typical, however. The insightful verse makes this book a special treat for any young reader. James Berry and Shelly Hechenberger capture the essentials of personification and provide a glimpse of the beauty in normal lives while depicting those lives with vivid and robust coloration.

Cool Melons—Turn to Frogs: The Life and Poems of Issa may be the most beautifully crafted of all of these books. A combination of story and haiku translations, illustrations, and calligraphy, Cool Melons offers children a glimpse into the life of Kobayashi Yataro, otherwise known as Issa a poet American children may know little about. This resplendent story captures the joys and sorrows of Issa's life, including the loss of his mother, his seven-year walk around the Japanese countryside, the reunion with his father, the loss of his daughter, and the uniting thread of it all his love of and respect for nature. Throughout his life, Issa wrote more than 20,000 haiku, several of which Gollub includes. To further add to the book's loveliness and significance, Kazuko G. Stone, a native of Japan, has created exquisite illustrations that effortlessly weave into the text. Additionally, every haiku included in the book is also written in Japanese calligraphy, creating a sophisticated story and an equally elegant presentation. If there is another book on the market which so successfully combines narrative, poetry, and art, I've not found it. Issa, I think, would be proud.

Finally, King Honor Book The Other Side: Shorter Poems is, within this grouping of books, a title best suited for older children. Angela Johnson writes clear, concise poetry about growing up in Shorter, Alabama, and includes a cast of characters both specific and universal. In her preface, Johnson says, "My poetry doesn't sing the song of the sonnets/but then I sing a different kind of music." Those words accurately foretell the experience young readers will have with these full-bodied and sassy poems. Following a clear narrative, the journey begins when Johnson's grandmother writes, "They're pullin' Shorter down." We soon discover that the small town has been steadily sold off to a large company who has plans to move out the remaining residents and move in a race track. The ensuing poems reveal that, like most people, Johnson has a complex relationship with her hometown. She writes: "You'd have to be/crazy/to want to live/your life in/a place like Shorter, Alabama . . . /You'd have to be crazy/to want/to wake/up every morning to sweet/magnolia and moist red/dirt . . . "Johnson offers contradiction and implication of loving and hating, wanting and despising, themes relevant to adolescents. The Other Side is a work of honesty, depicting a generosity of spirit. Children deserve poetry that's a fact. Gone are the days of poetry that is too complex and inaccessible for kids. In are the days of fun and exciting poetry. Thank goodness.

 

Crystal Williams is currently pursuing her MFA in poetry at Cornell University.

Along with April showers comes National Poetry Month! This month's selections are akin to a poetry petting zoo: Kids can get up close and personal with poems that represent everything from sound and meaning to simple rhymes to haiku. Each selection emphasizes the way words interact with each other and can be used as developmental tools.

NonfictionFamily & RelationshipsArts & Culture

Booking for love

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Valentine’s Day plans (or lack thereof) got you down? Whether you’re in the mood for love or would prefer to take comfort in the lovelorn misery of others, we’ve got the perfect read to snuggle up with. 

IT ENDED BADLY
The perfect Valentine’s Day read for: Anyone who’s still daydreaming about setting their ex’s car on fire.

Between the covers: Maybe the lovey-dovey mush of Valentine’s Day isn’t your bag. Maybe you’re a heartbroken mess. For you, there’s Jennifer Wright’s hilarious survey of 13 of the worst breakups in history. From Nero and Poppaea in Rome to Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, these are some truly horrible splits, but Wright’s commentary will have you crying from laughter.

Best advice for the lovelorn: Even if you’ve gone a little insane after a breakup, it’s OK, because you’ve (hopefully) never done anything as bad as the people in this book, and “heartbreak is almost never the defining moment of one’s life.” 

Strangest tidbit: Russian empress Anna Ivanovna forced a prince to marry one of her maids and then locked them in an ice palace for their wedding night. His offense? Falling in love with the wrong woman.

Choice quote: “TV is great. Don’t let anyone tell you different. It is the only thing stopping wealthy, idle people from forcing underlings to dress up as chickens and pretend to lay eggs in their foyers—another real thing that happened.”

LOVE: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ATTRACTION
The perfect Valentine’s Day read for: The shy or self-doubting dater who needs a confidence boost and practical strategies for finding the right companion.

Between the covers: For those who need a remedial course, this textbook-style guide has plenty of bright graphics and informative charts to make the lessons more palatable. Readers will learn how to think positively about their attributes and ditch bad habits. Once you’ve entered the dating phase, you’ll find out how to look your best, keep your cool and communicate successfully.

Best advice for the lovelorn: Being introverted shouldn’t prevent anyone from finding love. By learning to manage your shyness and feelings of inadequacy, you can become more comfortable dating.

Strangest tidbit: “Mental illness is usually not something to bring up in early dates.”

Choice quote: “Is blushing bad? Not at all. ‘Blushes are very useful for conveying apologies,’ says UK psychologist Ray Crozier. If your face is burning, try not to worry: it may actually defuse the situation by showing you didn’t mean any harm.”

YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T WRITE THAT
The perfect Valentine’s Day read for: Singles who filled out their online dating profile with generic descriptors like “fun-loving” and can’t seem to find their match.

Between the covers: The founder of ProfilePolish.com, an online dating profile makeover service, provides step-by-step instructions and strategies for presenting your best self online, from picking a username to writing a profile that sums up who you really are.

Best advice for the lovelorn: No more sweating the dreaded first impression, as online dating provides an opportunity to take control.

Strangest tidbit: A profile that mentions the zombie apocalypse is a deal-breaker. “Because it ain’t gonna happen.”

Choice quote: “[P]iss-poor profiles point to one thing: you’re copping out. You may say that you’re looking for a real relationship, but your refusal to put the necessary effort into crafting your profile shows a potential match exactly the opposite.”

CRUSH
The perfect Valentine’s Day read for: Anyone looking to reassemble that shrine to Jared Leto that used to occupy your sixth-grade locker.

Between the covers: It’s hard to forget, or really get over, your first celebrity crush. In this hilarious and poignant essay collection, popular writers such as Jodi Picoult recount their first taste of infatuation and dish about the obsessive and embarrassing ways they expressed their love.

Best advice for the lovelorn: “We worship perfection because we can’t have it,” wrote Fernando Pessoa. “If we had it, we would reject it.”

Strangest tidbit: Even a few video game characters (Laura Croft from “Tomb Raider” being one) make the list for first-crush material.

Sample quote: “It doesn’t matter that he’s a character in an epic film played by a famous movie star. Or that I’m a gawky thirteen-year-old with giant buckteeth and wads of scratchy toilet paper stuffed in my training bra. I believe that when we meet . . . my tiny breasts and big choppers will be of little consequence.” 

121 FIRST DATES
The perfect Valentine’s Day read for: Anyone discouraged after spending too much time in the dismal depths of the dating world.

Between the covers: Bay Area author Wendy Newman, a “relationship expert” who went on the titular 121 first dates before meeting her partner, encourages the downtrodden to stay in the dating game. She offers (sometimes cringeworthy) personal anecdotes alongside practical advice and tips to help readers date efficiently and avoid the worst dating mistakes—and promises that it is possible to have an amazing first date with anyone. 

Best advice for the lovelorn: “No matter how steamy he is, if he doesn’t think I’m hot, he’s no longer hot to me.”

Strangest tidbit: “Don’t go hiking on a first meet-and-greet date. He could be a recovering drug addict and felon who has been known to carry a hammer in his back pocket.”

Choice quote: “My way (or couple of ways) may not be The One True Way, if there is such a thing. If the shoe doesn’t fit for you, it ain’t your shoe. Don’t cram it on; this could be a long hike.” 

 

This article was originally published in the February 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Valentine’s Day plans (or lack thereof) got you down? Whether you’re in the mood for love or would prefer to take comfort in the lovelorn misery of others, we’ve got the perfect read to snuggle up with.
NonfictionReligion & Spirituality

Observing the seasons of faith

Feature by Howard Shirley

An early Easter brings the hope of spring and the promise of seasons to come as winter’s shadow slowly recedes. It’s a time of faith, a time to remember and renew, a time to reflect on the promise of Christ.

EMBRACING CHANGE
The cycle of life and the wonder of nature rest at the heart of Christie Purifoy’s Roots and Sky: A Journey Home in Four Seasons. When Purifoy and her family left Florida for Maplehurst, a 19th-century farmhouse in Pennsylvania, they dreamed of experiencing the full spectrum of changing seasons. From the August day they opened the old front door to a year later and a new August day, Purifoy found not only the beauty of the seasons, but also a growing appreciation for God’s gifts, asked for and received, looked for and unexpected—a year of faith as well as a year of nature’s bounty. Roots and Sky is Purifoy’s memoir of striving to make a home and face the ins and outs of life as it moves from one moment to the next. Throughout the year, she sees how God is speaking to her, touching and teaching in every event〞a faith lived in the metaphors of life. 

Purifoy refers to her experience as “a pilgrimage in one place,” which perfectly captures this beautifully written book. Her memoir celebrates ordinary life, but does so with the depth and power of a river, flowing ever onward.

EMBRACING POSSIBILITY
Finding God in everyday life, or despite everyday life, is Logan Wolfram’s mission in Curious Faith: Rediscovering Hope in the God of Possibility. Like Purifoy, she ponders the seasons of life, which offer opportunities for growth and understanding. Every moment lived with God is a moment to discover something new, Wolfram suggests; it’s not a route to a destination, but a path of constant discovery that never ends. In these discoveries, we can find peace from our worries, strength for our trials, celebrations of our triumphs and comfort in our tragedies. Wolfram shares her personal stories of pain and fear, including a time when she suffered several miscarriages, and reveals how she learned to embrace the discovery God has for her.

Insightful and challenging, but filled with encouragement, Curious Faith reaches into the reader’s life, calling for a renewed faith in a God who is trustworthy, faithful and good, the leader on a journey worth the risk and a life worth the search.

CLOSE TO HOME
Renovate: Changing Who You Are by Loving Where You Are is both a challenge and a call to full involvement in faith and community. For Léonce B. Crump Jr., this call came personally, as he and his wife left a ministry in Tennessee to move to a depressed, neglected neighborhood in downtown Atlanta. Bemoaning the process of gentrification, Crump set out not to change the neighborhood, but instead to honor and uplift the community that was already there. Passionate and uncompromising, Crump doesn’t hold back in either his criticisms or his call to action. His challenge isn’t always comfortable to read, nor may the reader agree with every point, but since when were challenges comfortable, or passion perfect? The point is to be involved where you are, with whomever surrounds you, to be a servant of God not after a drive across town, but right next door.

A BIBLICAL JOURNEY
In Apostle: Travels Among the Tombs of the Twelve, journalist and fiction writer Tom Bissell chronicles his journeys to the tomb sites of Christ and his Apostles. Bissell’s eye for detail shines as he recounts his explorations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. From a Greek Orthodox priest who communicates with broken English and expressive gestures to the startling contrasts of India, Bissell’s memoir is a modern-day pilgrim’s tale of Old World churches and historic sites. Throughout, Bissell presents the history and cultural traditions behind the sites and the Apostles themselves, both in Christian teaching and secular scholarship. Although he grew up Catholic, Bissell reveals in an author’s note that he experienced a “sudden and decisive” loss of faith as a teenager. The book is framed by that perspective, but it’s a fascinating read for believer and nonbeliever alike. Bissell’s sense of place is evocative, vividly casting images in the reader’s mind of the catacombs, ruins and cathedrals he sees, as well as the variety of faith he encounters.

THE GOSPEL TRUTH
A search through the history of Christianity is also the focus of The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ. In the view of skeptics, the Gospels are unreliable tales, altered by numerous hands to suit a constantly changing early theology. These theories hold that the authors of the Gospels are unknown, that the works were written nearly 100 years after the events and that they are not intended to be accurate records of Jesus’ teachings and actions. With skill, logic and exceptional research, Brant Pitre, professor of sacred scripture at Notre Dame Seminary, argues that such theories are based not on scholarship, but on assumption and speculation〞and a lack of understanding of 1st-century Jewish thought. To affirm the Gospels as truthful biographies, not tall tales, Pitre establishes the credibility of the claimed authorships, dates the time the Gospels were written to within 30 years of Jesus’ life and asserts that the four Gospels fundamentally agree on the divinity of Christ. Reminiscent of C.S. Lewis’ famous works, The Case for Jesus brings sound historical authority to any discussion on the nature of New Testament scripture and the beliefs of early Christianity.

 

This article was originally published in the March 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

An early Easter brings the hope of spring and the promise of seasons to come as winter’s shadow slowly recedes. It’s a time of faith, a time to remember and renew, a time to reflect on the promise of Christ.
Children's & YA

Freddy the Pig makes it big

Feature by Michael Sims

"Let joy be unconfined!" cries Charles the rooster in the children's book Freddy the Detective. Fans of the Freddy the Pig books, by Walter R. Brooks, are echoing Charles' exclamation. In 1997 Overlook Press began reissuing the much-loved but long unavailable series. Thirteen are now back in print, with several more per year coming in the near future. Soon the entire series will be restored to its proper status in the pantheon of immortal children's books. Everyone from the New York Times to USA Today has hailed the resurrection of the literate and witty Freddy books. Recently even CBS News taped material for an upcoming broadcast.

In Freddy the Detective, poor henpecked Charles has been appointed judge of the animals on Bean Farm. To escape his sharp-tongued wife Henrietta, Charles sentences himself to jail time, claiming he feels guilty about a secret past offense. Freddy applies his best detective skills to searching for Charles only to find the rooster in Freddy's own makeshift jail, leading a dance with the above-quoted exclamation.

This is a typical occurrence in the world of Walter R. Brooks. Imagine Charlotte's Web meets Animal Farm; throw in an ensemble cast and affectionately satirical tone worthy of The Andy Griffith Show; and spice with adventures that would impress Indiana Jones. "Some pig," a spider named Charlotte once wrote of Wilbur. She would have said the same of Freddy. Poet, newspaper publisher, detective, pilot, politician, Freddy is, as the New York Times once noted, a "Renaissance pig." Walter R. Brooks has the distinction of having invented two of the 20th century's enduring animal characters. He also created Mr. Ed, the talking horse who first appeared in a short story Brooks wrote for The Saturday Evening Post. Freddy, and his comrades at the Bean Farm in upstate New York, first appeared in a novel published in 1927. Twenty-five more volumes followed before the author's death in 1958.

Brooks had a wonderfully unfettered imagination. Take, for example, the adventures in Freddy the Pilot. A villainous comic book publisher named Watson P. Condiment is terrorizing Mr. Boomschmidt's Stupendous and Unexcelled Circus. To help, Freddy must learn to fly a plane. Along the way he also disguises himself in a woman's garden party dress and a veil, and speaks with a high-pitched Spanish accent. The dialogue is pure Walter Brooks when the famously multisyllabic hotel owner discovers Freddy under the veil and says, "Well now ain't this an unanticipated gratification! And these modish habiliments! Well, well; command me, duchess." Not that most of the characters speak that way. That's why Freddy replies, "I wish I had time to swap polysyllables with you, Mr. Groper, but I've got a lot to do." Walter R. Brooks loved words.

In their initial outing, first published under the uninspired title of To and Again (and later republished as you'll find it in the new reprints, as Freddy Goes to Florida), the characters decide to be the first farm animals to migrate. Naturally they have wonderful adventures on their way southward. In the second book, Freddy Goes to the North Pole, the ever-entrepreneurial pig launches a travel service for animals. The Bean Farm gang heads northward.

Later adventures include Freddy the Detective (one of the best in the series, full of nonstop adventure), Freddy the Pilot (also just about perfect, and one of the funniest children's books around) and Freddy the Politician (which preceded Orwell's Animal Farm by several years in its satire of political chicanery). Incidentally, unlike Orwell's characters, the animals of Bean Farm never have to revolt and overthrow Mr. Bean. That broad-minded farmer has the sense to permit his extraordinary animals great freedom, and they respond with affection and loyalty. One of the triumphs of the series is the way human beings are only mildly surprised to find that the animals speak. Mr. and Mrs. Bean accept that their pig not only talks and walks upright, but also prints a newspaper, learns to fly a plane and becomes famous for his many adventures.

The jacket and interior artwork of recent children's books have metamorphosed Tom Sawyer into a millennial brat and recreated Alice as a blonde moppet in sneakers. Overlook Press understands that the ageless Freddy requires no such cosmetic surgery. They have brought back our porcine hero exactly as he was in his prime. No small part of the series' charm comes from the witty illustrations by Kurt Wiese. Seldom do authors find such a perfect match. The illustrator of everything from Bambi to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Wiese was especially fond of the Freddy books. He was to Walter Brooks what Garth Williams was to the children's books of E. B. White, or what Ernest H. Shepard was to Pooh. Apparently the facsimile reprints were also a labor of love. The jackets look and feel exactly right. The lovely old two-color endpapers have been precisely recreated. The cloth (not cardboard) bindings are stamped with charming illustrations. Text is printed in its original friendly Baskerville typeface, a look that almost brings a tear to the eye of the bookish child that lurks inside many bookish adults.

If you were a Freddyphile in your youth, these lovingly resurrected books will make you curl up on the sofa with Freddy and renounce the adult world's shallow distractions. There is also a brand-new volume to add to your Freddy shelf. No, Overlook Press hasn't stooped to farming out new adventures. They have wisely limited themselves to fashioning an anthology of greatest witticisms from the famously epigrammatical canon, supplemented with many amusing Wiese drawings. The collaboration of several editors, some of them quite young, The Wit and Wisdom of Freddy the Pig and His Friends distills the best remarks of the characters Mrs. Wiggins, the modestly commonsensical cow who both runs for president and becomes Freddy's partner in the detective business; Jinx, the skeptical cat; Charles, the vain rooster; and of course Freddy himself and many others. A second new volume, a collection of Freddy's delightful poetry and songs, is in the works.

Most of all, the books are about friendship. "Why should we have to put up with his nonsense," Jinx asks Freddy of one character, "just because you think that way down inside him there's some good qualities?" And the good-hearted and (usually) patient Freddy explains: "It's like digging for buried treasure." Not that Freddy is perfect. He is lazy, vain and occasionally short-tempered. But he is also courageous, inventive and devoted to his comrades. As a result, he and his friends have wonderful adventures adventures that finally are available to a new generation of readers.

A total of 13 Freddy titles are now available from Overlook Press. Each one is $23.95.
Freddy and the Bean Home News
Freddy Goes to the North Pole
Freddy and the Space Ship
Freddy and the Flying Saucer Plans
Freddy and the Baseball Team From Mars
Freddy and the Dragon
Freddy the Politician
Freddy Goes to Florida
Freddy the Detective
Freddy and the Ignormus
Freddy and Mr. Camphor
Freddy the Pilot
The Wit and Wisdom of Freddy and His Friends

 

Michael Sims writes about animals both real and fictional, but few mean as much to him as Freddy.

"Let joy be unconfined!" cries Charles the rooster in the children's book Freddy the Detective. Fans of the Freddy the Pig books, by Walter R. Brooks, are echoing Charles' exclamation. In 1997 Overlook Press began reissuing the much-loved but long unavailable series. Thirteen are now…

Nonfiction

The big business of our national pastime

Feature by John C. Williams

Baseball players are commodities. Many are high-priced commodities, to be sure. Stars and solid regulars are routinely traded in high-profile deals and signed to lucrative contracts. Meanwhile, bushers and journeymen toil in the minors and must seek new buyers when they are inevitably cut. This business aspect of the game—so easy to forget in the glow of Opening Day or in the heat of a pennant chase—rises to the surface in several new baseball books. 

THE RISE OF THE PITCHER
With every new season comes another tome touted as the next Moneyball, Michael Lewis’ influential story of baseball’s statistical revolution. Usually these books are just Lewis lite. Jeff Passan’s The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports is the real deal—a book that’s both readable as hell and that has something meaningful to say about the way the game works. Passan’s subject is the pitcher, more specifically the pitcher’s elbow. The past few years have seen an uptick in injuries to the ulnar collateral ligament, or UCL, the string that binds the upper and lower arm. The use of Tommy John surgery, the corrective procedure developed 40 years ago and named after the pitcher who pioneered it, has skyrocketed. Passan sets out to learn why this epidemic has stricken the game, how it has affected players and whether it can be stopped—an especially urgent question given the money teams spend on top wings. His quest is exhaustive. He talks with the country’s best surgeons; he visits America’s elite youth tournaments, where 13-year-olds are scouted and ranked; he travels to Japan, where youths throw hundreds of pitches a day; and he observes work at labs for the study of pitching mechanics. The next analytics revolution in baseball, Passan suggests, is focused on understanding and preventing pitching injuries. Most memorably, Passan follows Daniel Hudson and Todd Coffey, the first an up-and-coming starter, the second a 30-something middle reliever, as they try to bounce back from their second Tommy John. This human element lends the book its propulsive quality, but every part is fascinating. The Arm is a must-read.

THE RISE OF FREE AGENCY
Krister Swanson examines the game’s broader labor market in Baseball’s Power Shift: How the Players Union, the Fans, and the Media Changed American Sports Culture. The book is a tight study of how professional players fought against management to ensure better treatment and fair compensation. Swanson brings us all the way back to 1885, when John Montgomery Ward formed baseball’s first union, the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players. The union’s primary target was the reserve clause, the feature of the standard contract that blocked players from signing with other clubs and deflated their pay. The Brotherhood failed. So did other attempts at unionization, until Marvin Miller—the most important baseball figure not in the Hall of Fame—became head of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Under Miller’s tenure, the union ended the reserve clause and ensured the system of free agency and salary arbitration that’s in place today. Swanson deftly shows how the media influenced these changes. Much of the battle was fought in the papers, where writers wed to romantic (and often paternal) notions of the game argued with those who saw the MLB as the big business it is. At the same time, the explosion of television revenues made significant salaries possible for the utility man as well as for the star. One is left wishing that Swanson’s study had covered 1994, when a work stoppage cancelled the World Series. Still, Baseball’s Power Shift is an essential primer for anyone who wants to understand the sport’s labor dynamics. 

HOME RUN DEAL
Of course, even the most famous name can be traded or sold, and in the early 20th century there was no bigger sale than the one that sent Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees. Glenn Stout covers the deal in The Selling of the Babe: The Deal That Changed Baseball and Created a Legend. By 1919, Ruth was a star pitcher with a spark in his bat—he had hit 49 homers with the Sox in five dead-ball seasons—but he was also ungovernable. In hindsight, the sale looks idiotic, but in the moment, Ruth was hardly a sure bet. What’s more, the deal made a lot of financial sense for Harry Frazee, the Red Sox owner, who got full ownership of Fenway Park. Stout occasionally plows through the details, but that’s the price of a brisk portrait of Babe on the brink. 

AN INFLUENTIAL MANAGER
The historian Maury Klein takes a more meticulous approach in Stealing Games: How John McGraw Transformed Baseball with the 1911 New York Giants. The subtitle contains a bit of overselling, as these Giants don’t really appear to have changed baseball. Sure, this team stole a lot of bases—347, the most in the modern game—but so did the 1912 and 1913 squads (319 and 296, respectively). The 1911 campaign seems more a convenient framing device, as a third of the material covers previous Giants seasons. Really, this book is more about McGraw, who managed the Giants for 30 years, starting in 1902. Never one to shy from trading a player if he could find a better fit for his speed-based schemes, McGraw was perhaps the greatest manager in the history of early baseball. There’s a lot of blow-by-blow here—perhaps too much—but Klein provides a robust portrait of what the sport was like during the dead-ball era.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Baseball players are commodities. Many are high-priced commodities, to be sure. Stars and solid regulars are routinely traded in high-profile deals and signed to lucrative contracts. Meanwhile, bushers and journeymen toil in the minors and must seek new buyers when they are inevitably cut. This business aspect of the game—so easy to forget in the glow of Opening Day or in the heat of a pennant chase—rises to the surface in several new baseball books.
NonfictionChildren's & YACookbooks

Great gift books for kids

Feature by Joanna Brichetto

Making history

If the working portcullis on the cover doesn't convince you, the gorgeous pop – up castle, cathedral and medieval bridge will: A Knight's City by Philip Steele is one nifty book of knights. Guided by Sir Hugo, readers ages six and up are privy to the sights, smells, sounds and sensibilities of Northern Europe in the year 1325. Labeled color illustrations, illuminated manuscripts and photographs of contemporary tools, games, weapons and wares complete the "you are there" depiction of a journey to knighthood.

Fast-forward to the Dakota grasslands during the 1870s for The Story of Yellow Leaf: Journal of a Sioux Girl by Gavin Mortimer, illustrated by Tony Morris. The date is no accident: Yellow Leaf's intimate account of her ordinary life coincides with the extraordinary disruption of Sioux tradition by white prospectors, settlers and soldiers. Presented as an illustrated journal, the story flows around detailed watercolors, pop – ups and flaps showing scenes of Sioux home life, ceremony, hunting and eventual war. For readers eight years and up, this is an appealing introduction to an important chapter in American history.

For more chapters of American history, try yet another personal journal: America: The Making of a Nation. Imaginatively presented as the scrapbook of an anonymous, patriotic history freak (and a veteran, to boot), the book takes readers of any age through a tour of America from Independence Hall in 1776 to the present day. Maps, illustrations, facsimile souvenirs, song lyrics and memorabilia practically spill off of every page, and countless flaps, pull-outs, inserts and other paper tricks just keep coming. A must for any kid studying American history in school, or for any history-minded household.

Anatomy lessons

Two body books in one gift roundup? Yes, because this reviewer could not be induced to ignore either one. The first, The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Human Body is by David Macaulay. This in itself is reason enough to run out and buy it. Macaulay is a master of bringing intricate structures to vivid life, and he is no less suited to expose the human body than the buildings and machines he is famous for. Peppy, brilliant and oh-so-fun, Macaulay's latest ensures that kids (and grown-ups) finally stand a darn good chance of understanding this stuff for real.

Dr. Frankenstein's Human Body Book: The Monstrous Truth About How Your Body Works by Richard Walker is just as informative, but worlds apart in presentation. The Dr. Frankenstein connection compels even a reluctant learner to peep inside various body parts, but once there, classic DK style takes over: attractive, busy, organized and clear as a bell.

Visual treats

Now, really, can anyone get excited about a new dictionary? Yes, if it's Merriam-Webster's Compact Visual Dictionary. The key word here is "visual." Many dictionaries have the odd illustration here or there, but in this one, every single word gets a glorious color illustration bristling with captions and details. The thematic arrangement is practical for specific queries, but it also makes browsing fun: Universe and Earth, Sports and Games, Animal Kingdom, and so on. Any book with in – depth info on wildly disparate entries like the greenhouse effect, locking pliers, a kumquat, a mitochondrion and a deep fat fryer is supremely satisfying.

The Food Network's reigning queen whips up Paula Deen's My First Cookbook for the very young. Though sprinkled with Deen family lore and photos, this is a solid beginner's cookbook full of kid-friendly recipes and treats. The artwork is particularly cute, and goes a long way toward making each recipe look fun and doable. Each ingredient is illustrated, so even non – readers can see at a glance what to collect. The list of Good Manners is a priceless addition, and just what you'd expect from an icon of Southern hospitality.

Classics retold

Anthologies of children's stories are typically good bets for gifts, and The Kingfisher Book of Classic Animal Stories is a fine example for kids ages six through 10. Selected with care by children's author Sally Grindley, the stories are an inventive mix of favorite classics. Aesop's Fables and Just So Stories make an appearance, as do self – contained excerpts from Farmer Boy, The Wind in the Willows, Born Free, The Cricket in Times Square and more. To round out the treat, each of the 16 stories is paired with new illustrations from a different contemporary artist.

Fifteen years in the making, The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry was worth the wait. Each of these 200 poems was hand – picked by much – loved and much – missed children's author Bill Martin Jr., who hoped to share his love for words and poetry with children of all ages. Mother Goose, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Christina Rossetti and Jack Prelutsky are just a few of the selected authors in this dream of a collection. Plus, many of the artists Martin loved best have contributed all-new artwork, which makes this anthology a visual and verbal delight.

If your kids already know these nursery stories by heart, or, heaven forbid, think they're too old for nursery stories at all, whip out There's a Wolf at the Door: Five Classic Tales by Zoe B. Alley.

The best best friends

Writer James Marshall gave us a lifetime of characters who will never stop being funny, dear and spectacularly spot – on. The Stupids, the Cut – Ups, Eugene, Fox, Portly McSwine and Space Case are just a few from his more than 75 books, and don't forget his hysterical renderings of fairy tales like The Three Little Pigs and Hansel and Gretel. To rank them in order of wit and wonder would be an impossible task. However, too much can never be made of the particularly perfect duo of George and Martha. Marshall, who died in 1992, wrote and illustrated seven George and Martha books – 35 stories altogether – and all are collected in George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends. The adventures of the two hippos range from mild to outrageous, but always involve some kind of insight into the ups and downs and sideways of real friendship. The stories are super short – indeed, that is part of their charm – and always leave readers and listeners wanting more. The best reviews come from the little experts who sit on laps and hear these stories for the first or 500th time. George and Martha are, quite simply, tons of fun.

Making history

If the working portcullis on the cover doesn't convince you, the gorgeous pop - up castle, cathedral and medieval bridge will: A Knight's City by Philip Steele is one nifty book of knights. Guided by Sir Hugo, readers ages six and up are privy to…

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