The Wolf by Steven Herrick

The Wolf is an example of what I mean by children's books being amazing in their complexity and simplicity. It's the simple story of two teenagers who live in the Australian outback on sheep farms, who come together one memorable day to find the wild dog -- or perhaps it's a wolf? -- that they hear howling at night. It's not a very long book -- it's written in free verse and took me a lunch hour to read -- but it packs a pretty big punch. So much happens in the story with so few words it is amazing. Herrick's spare style realistically conveys Lucy's isolation from her family and Jake's closeness to his.

The conclusion is satisfying without being didactical or cloying. I enjoyed this book and hope to read more from this Australian author.

2006, PA: Front Street

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

I've read the Mysterious Benedict Society (2007) and the sequel, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (2008). I see there is a third one coming soon: TMBS and the Prisoner's Dilemma. The MBS consists of four children -- Reynie Muldoon, Kate, Sticky, and Constance -- who are specifically selected by a stranger, Mr. Benedict, to foil a heinous plot by the sinister Mr. Curtain, who is planning to take over the world. Each child has special abilities -- Reynie is able to think through problems logically; Kate is physically fit and has a bucket full of contraptions that would make McGyver drool; Sticky can remember everything he ever read or heard (information sticks to him) and Constance -- well, Constance is good at being grumpy -- which helps to save the day in the end.

Stewart does a great job with Reynie -- he is an orphan who really appreciates being part of this small, quirky family -- but as with all families sometimes you get a little tired of your siblings. Reynie is a very realistic character -- he displays a great ability to think things through, but he is also very conscious of his role of leader of the little group. I really like Kate, too -- she is the swashbuckling type who always has a way for getting out of trouble.

I think boys in particular would like this series, as the books move along at a great pace, there is a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter, and Reynie is a very likeable hero.

NY: Little, Brown and Company

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, by Jeanne Birdsall

The Penderwicks is an example of what I would call an " good old-fashioned read". It's a recent book (published in 2005) and it happens in modern times -- but the only reason I know that is because there is a brief reference to a computer owned by Mr. Penderwick. Otherwise, it's one of those secret garden kind of books where the kids enjoy the summer by having great outdoor adventures, not by watching tv or shopping at the mall or playing Wii.

The Penderwick family consists of four girls, Rosalind, 12, Skye, 11, Jane, 10, and Batty 4, their Dad, a widower, and the dog Hound. The story follows them on summer vacation at a small cottage that sits on the grounds of a large old house, owned by a rich lady who doesn't care for the rollicking Penderwicks. My favorite characters were Skye, who is a total tomboy, and Jane, who narrates aloud everything around her because she is writing a book. They meet Jeffrey, the son of the rich lady, and through the course of the book they help Jeffrey gain the courage to communicate openly with his mother -- he wants to be a pianist, but she wants him to go to military school.

The characters are well written, the pace is great, and there's a little bit of something for everyone -- romance, games, dress-up, and of course a satisfying conclusion. I see that Birdsall has already written a sequel and I can't wait to visit with the Penderwicks again.

2005, NY: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Coraline the graphic novel

I found this copy in our campus library; it's the graphic novel version. This is actually the first graphic novel I've read. The story itself is pretty creepy -- just thinking about the parents with black buttons for eyes is spooky, but seeing it on the page is downright gross. I'm not sure if reading it as a graphic novel is good or not, as you don't get to let your imagination make it scarier and grosser than the pictures in the novel. Now I want to read the "regular" version.

Coraline, adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell, 2008, NY: Harper Collins

Author Emily Gravett

I just read several of Emily Gravett's picture books: Wolves, Orange Pear Apple Bear, Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears, and Meerkat Mail. Emily is an author/illustrator from Brighton, England. Her books are charming and very clever. My favorite is Wolves, in which a young rabbit borrows a book about wolves from the local library. While she is immersed in her book she doesn't realize that she is being followed by one herself.

A Fistful of Pearls and other tales from Iraq by Elizabeth Laird

This small little book contains nine folk tales from Iraq. It reminded me of one of my very favorite books from childhood, The Case of the Marbled Monster, about an old judge of China named Oona. These tales have the usual folk tale characters, from the smart, beautiful but poor girl to the trickster rabbit to the demanding Caliph. With the state of the world today, it's nice to read something that helps us understand and appreciate a culture that we don't really know that much about.

The author, Elizabeth Laird, is not Iraqi herself but spent six months in Iraq and then moved to Beirut with her husband, who worked for the British Council.

2008, London: Frances Lincoln Children's Books.

Skellig by David Almond

Skellig is the first children's book by British author David Almond, who has gone on to write several more outstanding children's books. He was nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2008, which is given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) each year to outstanding authors and illustrators of children's books from around the world.
Skellig is a very simple, rather short story that packs a big wallop. Michael and his family have moved from town to a run-down house in the outskirts of town. Between the work that needs to be done on the house and the fact that his baby sister is sick, Michael's parents don't have much time to spend with him. When he explores the old shed in the back of the property, he finds a strange being who calls himself Skellig. The story follows Michael and his new friend, Mina, a different sort of girl who lives next door and is home schooled by her mom, as they try to help Skellig survive. Is Skellig an angel? A bird? A strange new --or old -- type of being? Whatever he is, he helps heal Michael's family in their grief.

I couldn't put this book down. David Almond's writing style is spare and clean, making the magical realism of the book completely believable. I like the development of Michael and Mina's friendship; she is a particularly well-developed character. Skellig himself remains a mystery, which allows the reader to decide for herself what he is. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of David Almond's books.

I'm going to start adding the publishers information about the books I read so you can look them up yourself!

London: Hodder Children's Books, 1998.