The Tiger Rising: What is left unsaid

Title: The Tiger Rising
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Age Range: 9-12
Genre: Realistic Fiction

One of the reasons I love this book is the restraint that Kate DicCamillo uses in the telling of it.  Rather than flooding the reader with tons of words, she chooses to use as few words as possible.  She exercises restraint and as a result, it is just as much what is unsaid that makes the language powerful.  The main character in the book, Rob Horton, is bullied at school, has no friends, and truly no hope for his life, following the death of his mother.  The book shows his transformation from that person to one at the end who is different and changed from how he has begun.  The book is beautifully written, with wonderful language and engaging characters such as Sistine, the girl who will become his friend, and Willie May, a wise woman with whom Rob discusses the more tricky points of his life.

There are many deep issues that are touched upon in the book.  One is the death of a parent, and how to recover from it.  Secondly is the issue of bullying and how to survive and possibly even avoid it.  Rob is bullied mercilessly and the taunts that he has to deal with are not easy ones. The book touches on loneliness, finding friends, being an outcast and the search for hope.  There theme of people and animals in cages, an idea that many students may not fully understand, but an important point of discussion nonetheless.  It is a book for your more mature reader, not because of the language, but because of some of the content.

Seals on the Bus: Because I like to sing about the ridiculous

Title: The Seals on the Bus
Author: Lenny Hort
Illustrator: G. Brian Karas
Genre: Picture books, rhyme
Age Range: 2-4

My son's attention span with books is not the same as my daughters. He likes looking at books of cars, but isn't all that interested in hearing the words...unless I sing them and unless they rhyme. Suddenly he curls into my lap, sits patiently and wants me to read to him.  Therefore, this book was perfect for him, because it was a song he knew (Wheels on the bus) with fun pictures of animals invading a bus with an unsuspecting family of four on it.

The book invites you to sing the words like "The seals on the bus go ..." and then you make a series of animal sounds include sheep, geese, and tigers. (which is my son's favorite.)  It is a quick rollicking read with lots of opportunities to admire the animals as they take over the bus and the family inside is forced to make it with the animals.  The last verse is about helping the family who cry "Help help help" and get off the bus.


Paperback...amazon has paperback books on their 4 for 3 deal, so you could pick up a few and give them as gifts. :)

All Creatures Great and Small: The Joys and Trials of being a Vet

Title: All Creatures Great and Small
Author: James Herriot
Age Range: 12+
Genre: Autobiography

Growing up, my mom had this book, along with the sequels, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, and The Lord God Made Them All, on a bookshelf in the family room.  It was in a boxed set, and up on a higher shelf.  My brother and I, based on the covers, weren't all that interested and so it stayed up there.  However, both my brother and I were very strong readers as children, and at one point, I think when my brother was about 10 years old, he picked it up and started reading it.

And I have this distinct recollection of him in his tight polo shirt and tight Op shorts, lying on the sofa reading this book and giggling.  He later tried to convince me to like it, but for whatever reason I COULD NOT get past the cover.  He assured me over and over I would like it, and when I asked him what it was about, he told me it was about a veterinarian.

Mind you, i'm not that interested in animals.  Our family had a dog when I was much older in life, and I think I might have wanted a dog at some point but I am not an animal lover in terms of wanting to be around them all the time.  So why in the world would a book such as this, appeal to me?

My brother, smart man that he is, turned out to be right.  On a day when I just couldn't find anything to read, I picked the book up.  Brother was already on the third or fourth of the series, which mean the first one could be read by me.  I picked it up and was immediately engrossed in a world so foreign to me - in Yorkshire, England, countryside, post WWII, reading about a man who was newly out of veterinary school, trying to get a job with a practice.

The stories - things like delivery a cow, fixing a prolapsed uterus, helping a spoiled pampered dog fix his glands, horses that need to have their shoes fixed - the whole set of them are told my a master storyteller.  His words, his humor, his total sense of the shape of a story make for for a great read.  Each chapter is filled with interesting pictures of the people who hire him (like REALLY ornery men who don't to trust "modern" veterinary medicine) juxtaposed against self-deprecating moments of personal humiliation and shame. 

This is a great book for all to read - about a different time and place, a different life, a different lifestyle,but it is absolutely a wonderful read.  It's not just for animal lovers, but it is for people who love a great story. 

Rooster Can't Cockle-doodle-do: Animal sounds make my kids laugh

Title: Rooster Can't Cock-a-Doodle-Doo
Author: Karen Rostker-Gruber
Illustrator: Paul Ratz de Tagyos
Age Range: 2-5

This book completely cracked me up.  As I was reading it to my 4 year old daughter, my 2 year old son heard the funny animal sounds I was making and crawled into my lap and wiggled his butt until he was comfortable.  He was pointing at all the animals and laughing as I read the story with the different animal sounds.  It is udder-ly charming and pretty funny to boot.

In the story, Rooster wakes up with a sore throat and is unable to perform his duties to wake up the entire farm.  Realizing that he HAS to do something to help get the farm up, he goes from animal group to animal group, waking them up with a cough and whispering for some help.  Each animal group then sympathizes with Rooster, but also realize that if he can't do his job the farm is in trouble.  Consequently they all begin walking through the farm waking up hens, cows, sheep and pigs all in order to keep the farm going. The final person they have to wake up is Farmer Ted and their approach is funny.

I really liked the underlying message of the book.  Everyone has a responsibility and if someone doesn't fulfill it, the rest of the people relying on that person can't do their jobs either.  It was refreshing to read that when so many kids (including mine) say, "It's not my fault and I don't care."  Rooster is concerned about not being able to fulfill his duties and the rest of the animals support him and try and help him find a way to do his job.   The end has a funny twist where the animals are concerned about the Farmer being able to do his job so they all chip in to help.