[BOOK REVIEW] Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott

Title:  Arrow to the Sun

Author:  Gerald McDermott

Genre:  Native American / Parental Issues / Folktale / Fantasy

Year Published: 1974

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: The Viking Press

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Themes of Parental Abandonment)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Arrow to the Sun” is a Caldecott Medal Award winning book by Gerald McDermott that relates an old Pueblo Indian tale about a boy who tries to find his father, the Lord of the Sun and prove himself worthy to be his son.  “Arrow to the Sun” is a fun and creative book that many children who love Native American folktales, will easily get into!

Gerald McDermott has done many wonders with both the illustrations and the writing.  Gerald McDermott makes the story dramatic and simple at the same time as the writing is often shown on one side of the page and the other side of the page contains mainly images and many children who are adopted can easily relate to the boy as he tries to find his real father and many children can sympathize with the boy as some children might feel like they have to find their real parents to find out about their real heritage, so this story is similar to an adoption story for children who were often adopted and they want to learn more about their real parents.  Gerald McDermott’s are extremely colorful as they show all the colorful vibes that you would find in a 70s show as this book was made during the 70s and the illustrations are also highly creative as the characters are all block shaped and there is no real figure to the characters to identify them as human beings as they look like blocks rather than human beings.  The image that stood out the most was the image of the boy being turned into an arrow and being shot out into the heavens towards the sun and you can see that the stars also look block shaped but are also done in rainbow colors making the illustration look truly magnificent.

“Arrow to the Sun” is a brilliant folktale about the power of courage and determination and many children who love hearing various folktales from the around the world will definitely love this book.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book unless smaller children might worry about the boy’s misfortune with the other boys for not having a father in his life.

* 1975 Caldecott Medal

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• Princess Scargo and the Birthday Pumpkin by Eric Metaxas
• Sootface by Robert D. San Souci

[BOOK REVIEW] The Love that Split the World by Emily Henry

Title:  The Love that Split the World

Author:  Emily Henry

Genre: Science Fiction Romance

Year Published: 2016

Number of Pages: 390 pages

Date Read: 4/23/2017   

Publisher:  Razor Bill

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Some Sexual Abuse)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

“Love is giving the world away, and being loved is having the whole world to give.”

I must admit that I rarely read romance novels that deal with time traveling since time traveling stories tend to confuse me due to trying to figure out what events are going on in the present versus what events are going on in the future and sometimes, the line between past, present and future can be blurred in certain stories.  One such novel that I had read called “The Love That Split the World” by Emily Henry actually dealt with time travel and I have to tell you that it was one doozy of a read!

Natalie Cleary was your average high school student who is friends with her ex-boyfriend Matt Kincaid and Megan and lives in a happily adopted family with her siblings Jack and Coco and life was going well for Natalie.  One night however, Natalie meets up with a mysterious boy named Beau at her high school football game and the two instantly fell in love with each other.  But then, Natalie starts noticing some weird things going on around her small town in Kentucky, such as a preschool suddenly appearing where the garden store should have been and when the people in town suddenly disappear before her very eyes.  It was then that a mysterious old woman called “Grandmother” came to Natalie’s dreams and gave her a warning that she has three months to save someone she really cares about.  So, Natalie spends the majority of the book trying to find out who she is going to save while spending some time with Beau and trying to figure out these weird events happening around her town.

I have to admit that for a time traveling story, Emily Henry has definitely done a great job at putting a unique spin to the usual time traveling story as its core focus is the romance between Natalie and Beau and how they try to stay together throughout the different time rifts that goes on throughout their worlds.  I also enjoyed the relationships between the characters, especially between Megan and Natalie and Natalie and Beau.  I loved the fact that Natalie usually confides in Megan about her various visions that she has and how Megan is so understanding about Natalie’s “odd” dreams and visions as it is nice to have another character who knows about the main character’s secret abilities without having the reader go through the entire book wondering if the main character will ever reveal their secrets to anyone else.  I also enjoyed the relationship between Natalie and Beau, although I found it a bit too contrived at times that Natalie suddenly thinks that Beau is her true love upon their first meeting.  I loved the fact that Natalie and Beau truly love each other and I really like their cute little bantering with each other, despite the turbulent situation that they are stuck in.

The reason why I gave this book a three-and-a-half-star rating is because while the story had a strong start at the beginning, the story got a bit confusing once the time travel elements got introduced and I started to lose a bit of interest in the story due to being constantly confused about what is really going on with Natalie and Beau’s time traveling shenanigans.  I also got a bit annoyed with Natalie throughout certain parts of the story as it seems like all she does is whine and complain about how bad her life is and how she is indecisive about her feelings about Matt when it is obvious that she would rather be with Beau in pursuing her relationship.  Also, there were times where the pacing was a bit slow, especially during the scenes where the time traveling aspects were being explained in full detail and I was hoping for these scenes to be shorten so that we could get to the action sequences much faster.

Overall, “The Love that Split the World” may had had a strong start, but the story came apart once the time traveling aspect was introduced and it might be difficult for some fans of time traveling stories to get into.  However, it is an interesting read for anyone who is a fan of time traveling romances!

[BOOK REVIEW] We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy by Maurice Sendak

Title:  We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy

Author:  Maurice Sendak

Genre:  Homelessness / Friendship / Surrealism / Nursery Rhyme

Year Published: 1993

Year Read:  2008

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Violent Imagery)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy” (whew, long title name!) is a Mother Goose nursery rhyme along with illustrations by Maurice Sendak.  This book tells the tale of two guys trying to save a kid and a lot of kittens from a band of shrewd rats.  This book may not be a classic like “Where the Wild Things Are” and “In the Night Kitchen,” but it is still full of good humor and excitement!

The nursery rhyme is surreal yet creative to read because the characters themselves are not what you would expect from a normal nursery rhyme.  The characters seem to be tough and even cruel to a certain extent but they are also brave and even friendly especially when Jack and Guy seem to hate the kid at the beginning of the book but they risk their lives to save the kid at the end.  The moon is the most surreal character of all as it tortures anyone who harms the kittens and the kid such as when the rat bites the kid and the moon ended up carrying Jack and Guy towards the rye field and when Jack tried to hit the kid, the moon transformed into an intimidating looking cat. Maurice Sendak’s illustrations are truly surrealistic yet beautiful as he makes the main characters dress up in old rags and running around the streets with no shoes to wear.  The moon’s image is surreal as it has a grumpy looking face throughout the whole book and looks menacing when it transforms into a cat that is white all over and has intense looking eyes.

“We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy” may not have the comforting tone as “Where the Wild Things Are” or light humor like “In the Night Kitchen,” but it is certainly a truly unique and creative little book as it is in a nursery rhyme format.  Many children ages five and up would greatly enjoy this book as soon as they get pass the violent images and understand the confusing plot.

You might also like:

• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

• In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

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[BOOK REVIEW] Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss

Title:  Horton Hatches the Egg

Author:  Dr. Seuss

Genre:  Animals / Responsibility / Drama / Family

Year Published: 1940

Year Read:  2010

Series: Horton the Elephant #1

Publisher: Random House

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Some Irresponsible Parenting)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

"Horton Hatches the Egg" is one of Dr. Seuss' most memorable classics as it stars everyone's favorite elephant, Horton!  This time, Horton has his hands full as he tries his best to take care of a lazy bird named Mayzie's egg while she goes off to take a vacation.  Unfortunately, hunters come in the jungle and they got Horton trapped!  Will Horton get out of this dangerous predicament and still protect Mayzie's egg?  Read the story to find out!

Dr. Seuss had done a great job at both illustrating and writing this book.  What was so unique about this book were the illustrations.  The main colors used for the images were blue, black, white and red, which makes the book extremely creative as few books use only three or four colors to color the images.  Horton the elephant always wore a smile on his face, despite his horrendous situation, making him a truly innocent and friendly animal.  A great trait that this book has shown is how loyal and determine Horton is as he was willing to take care of Mayzie's egg and he refused to let anyone tease him about taking care of the egg since he wanted to follow on his word that he will take good care of the egg.

The only problem this book has, in terms of if it is appropriate for children, is that Mayzie was being selfish around Horton and she refused to take responsibility for taking care of her egg at the expense of Horton.  But, don't worry, Mayzie's irresponsible actions are shown in a negative light and the story strongly encourages children to be more responsible and to not follow Mayzie's example of irresponsibility.

"Horton Hatches the Egg" is truly a memorable classic about the importance of being loyal and keeping your promise to people and this book will easily be an instant hit for children everywhere.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book unless you count Mayzie's irresponsible behavior being unsuitable for children to learn from.

* 1958 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

[BOOK REVIEW] Zella, Zack and Zodiac by Bill Peet

Title:  Zella, Zack and Zodiac

Author:  Bill Peet

Genre:  Family / Animals / Adoption / Drama / Africa

Year Published:1986

Year Read:  2016

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Intense Scenes and Parental Abandonment)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

I have read many of Bill Peet’s works in the past, but I had never read a story from Bill Peet that dealt with family issues such as adopting a child and handle the issue with such care.  “Zella, Zack and Zodiac” has proven to be one of Bill Peet’s most heartwarming books that I had ever read!

The story starts off with a baby ostrich chick named Zack who had just hatched out of his egg and it was then that he discovered that his mother had left him when she heard a lion’s roar in the distance and had taken the other chicks with her.  Suddenly at that moment, a zebra herd came zooming by and Zack tried to yell up at them to help him, but none of the zebras took any notice of Zack.  However, one zebra managed to hear Zack and came to his aid.  The zebra was named Zella and she decided to raise Zack as if he was her own child and the two had so many dangerous and heartwarming adventures on the savanna together.  But unfortunately, as Zack the ostrich chick got much older, he started to ignore Zella and Zella started to worry about whether or not Zack remembered how she raised him for all those years and if he still considers her his mother.  Luckily, it turned out that Zack remembered Zella and how she raised him and he ended up greeting her after a few years apart from her.  It turns out that Zella is pregnant and she is expecting a baby soon and she planned to call her child Zodiac.  When Zodiac was finally born, Zella was overjoyed, but then she realized that there was something different about Zodiac…

What is so unique about Zodiac and are Zella and Zack still together? 

Read this book to find out!

In all the times that I had read Bill Peet’s books, I never would have thought that I would stumble upon a Bill Peet book that would detail the importance of family while also discussing about adopting a child who is different from you. Bill Peet has done a splendid job at portraying the relationship between Zella the Zebra and Zack the Ostrich as they truly care for each other, despite their different appearances and I loved the way that Zella went to great lengths to protect Zack from any danger in the savanna as it shows how much of a good adopted mother she is towards Zack.  I also loved the fact that Bill Peet made this book much more heartwarming than most of his works as it focuses on a zebra mother’s love for both her adopted child and her real child and it made the book extremely touching to read through.  Bill Peet’s artwork is as beautiful as ever as we get to see the savanna in all its glory and I loved seeing the images of Zack riding on Zella’s back as they run across the savanna as it makes it a truly iconic image for this book!

Overall, “Zella, Zack and Zodiac” is a truly heartwarming book about the importance of family and how two unlikely species managed to become a truly close and effective family.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book, unless the scenes of the various predators going after Zella, Zack and Zodiac might scare some children.