Fox, Mem. Time for Bed. Illustrated by Jane Dyer. Gulliver Books Harcourt Brace and Company, Singapore, 1993. ISBN 0-15-288183-2
Summary: In this children’s picture book, there are various species of animals preparing to go to sleep. No matter the multiple environments and habitats, all the animal parents are essentially trying to get their babies to fall asleep for the night.
Cultural Analysis: This book does a great job in inclusion to the animals that aren’t necessarily “cute and cuddly.” For example, it includes a mouse (most people are disgusted by mice or rats), a bee (most kids and even some adults are scared of bees), and a snake!! Need I explain the fear of snakes?? Another diversity criticism is that it portrays various habitats and environments. Children’s cultures sometimes connect with the regions they live in and that has an effect on their daily lives and the things they value. In other words, a child who lives near an ocean, a river, or any body of water, might value the importance of fish and sea creatures, which was included in the book. Another example, a child who lives near farmland might appreciate the cow, sheep, and horse.
Reviews: A gentle litany of good nights, ostensibly from various animals to their young ("It's time for bed, little mouse, little mouse,/Darkness is falling all over the house") but mostly more apposite to their human counterparts ("It's time for bed, little calf, little calf,/What happened today that made you laugh?"), ending, inevitably, with a human mother tucking in a child. Fox's couplets seem offhand compared to her best (e.g., Shoes from Grandpa, 1990); but some of Dyer's expansive double-spread watercolors are charming; their points of view are so close in that some animals appear life-size (the bees are oversize). Best are the shaggy, drowsy, contented ewe and her lamb; repeated on the jacket, they guarantee a constant audience for this appealing bedtime boo
Kirkus Reviews
Connections: To me, it felt as if almost every type of habitat was included in this book to represent the different areas in which children live. When children see an animal that resides in their living spaces, they are able to recognize and draw connections between what they see in the book and what they see around them. Similarly, it gives them exposure to the animals that they don’t regularly see or necessarily “appreciate” in their lives.
Hardinge, Frances. Island of Whispers. Illustrated by Emily Gravett. Amulet Books and imprint of ABRAMS. New York, NY, 2023. ISBN 978-1-14197-7433-1
Summary: Milo is faced with an unexpected quest when his father is killed, causing Milo to take over and finish his father’s job of transferring the souls across their journey. He faces challenges both internal and external such as not feeling good enough and criticizing himself to battling his emotions and sympathy for the death to having to escape from the lord and his men who are trying to regain his daughter’s shoes and body. Milo has a coming of age journey in which he breaks conventional norms of what a “ferryman should be,” and grows into his own unique role.
Cultural Analysis: There are a lot of culturally relevant themes in this book. Starting with relationships with the dead. Death always varies with each culture and religion. Ghosts, spirits, the afterlife, magic, these are all different in each culture. This is a kid that is taught to stay silent, don’t cause trouble, do as he’s told, don’t show pain or too much of anything. A lot of symbolism. The birds, the footprints in the sands, the shoes, the storm, the birds. Coming of age. Paving your own way. Customs of poetry and writing, show art form through written expression,
Reviews: What happens when an unlikely hero must transport the Dead to their final destination?
Fourteen-year-old Milo’s not cut out to work with dead people, or so his father is quick to tell him. Though his dad is the Ferryman, entrusted with taking the newly deceased by ship from their island, Merlank, to the Island of the Broken Towers, where they can move on, Milo lacks the right disposition. But right or not, that’s precisely what he’ll have to do when his father is slain by a man working for the Lord of Merlank, who’s desperate to keep his daughter in the land of the living. What follows is a chase across the sea. In the front is Milo, piloting his father’s ship, the Evening Mare, and trying to remember all the rules involved in this voyage. In hot pursuit are the lord and his magicians, all attempting to keep one dead girl from leaving. Hardinge treads a delicate line between horror and hope. Milo’s abilities shine through his doubts, even as he faces trial after trial. The result is part fairy tale, part contemplation of life, death, grief, and the comfort that comes when others listen. Accompanying Hardinge’s poignant prose, Gravett’s pen-and-ink art taps perfectly into the book’s tone, highlighting moments both big and infinitesimally small. Most characters have skin the white of the page. A deftly told, bittersweet story of loved ones lost and remembered, tinged with hope and courage
Kirkus Reviews
Connections: There are a lot of real life connections that students can make with this magical and spiritual book. Some of the connections include sibling comparisons and wanting to meet fatherly expectations or expectations from parents in general. Milo feels he isn’t as fit for the job as his brother would be in filling in his father’s shoes. There is also a sense of crave for adventure that Milo experiences through magic and spirituality. By sailing and experiencing the open ocean, Milo grows a sense of faith after battling with grief and pain. Ultimately, he knows he must believe and have faith in his quest, in his leadership skills. Through his sympathy, the poetry and writing of Gabrielle, the friendship and company of the other ghosts, he is able to experience a coming of age and pave his own way
Thor, Annika. The Lily Pond. Translated from the Swedish by Linda Schenck. Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, New York, 2011.
Summary: Stephanie is a thirteen year old Jewish girl who has to move away to a new city in order to attend school because the time period is in the 1940s, during Hitler’s regime. Stephy has a hard time adjusting to the new school and living with a family that is hosting her for a while so she can attend school. The new family is very different from what Stepy is used to seeing in a family, especially between the husband and wife that are fostering her. She also struggles with that family because she has feelings for their son, who is much older than her and in the end he only sees her as a little sister. She struggles with her emotions for him throughout the book. She also struggles in keeping friends. Friendship is a big part of the book, as it’s what causes her to get in trouble at school at some point in the story, and it helps her meet a friend who is genuine and kind to her that helps her get through the mean, prejudice teachers and ill-intentioned friends she meets in that new school. Lastly, she struggles a lot with worrying for her parents. They stayed behind in Sweden because they didn’t allow adult refugees, only children who are attending school. Throughout the story, she exchanges letters with her parents, trying to stay positive as she keeps up with their separation and dealing with the cruel government against the Jewish people.
Cultural Analysis: There is a lot of culture shock from Stephy when she moves to Gothenburg. She is struggling with both internal and external factors. She is judged by her German teacher and some of her classmates because Stephy is Jewish. They tell her to silence her accent and even that she is embarrassing and making the other Jews that were already here look bad, simply because Stephy is a refugee. Stephy also struggles with the strict laws her foster parents and aunt Martha enforce on her. She is trying to be respectful and mindful, as she is a guest in their homes, while also trying to be herself. When it comes to May, her friend that she stays with towards the end of the book, May is like her good conscience reminding Stephy that she must not lie to others and be proud of who she is and stand firm by her beliefs. The setting of the story also shows a cultural display of the differences in how people are treated in the shops and schools and neighborhoods around towns due to the nazi rising in power. It shows a great example of the point of view of a little preteen/teen girl experiencing the time period. She struggles with understanding what’s going on with her parents and hoping they are safe, but still trying to be strong for herself and for her little sister. Stephy knows she must continue to be grateful for what she has rather than give up and just stop going to school, no matter how hard things might get for her.
Reviews: “...does an excellent job of evoking all the emotions of a teenager who wants to be accepted by her classmates, fall in love, and do the right thing for her family. It is easy to picture Nellie's enthusiasm at Stephie's weekend visits and Aunt Marta's displeasure at learning of Stephie's attendance at the cinema. She gives each character a unique voice, and seamlessly blends the narration and the dialogue, drawing listeners into the drama and the historical significance of the time. Listeners will eagerly await the next book.”—Sheila Acosta, Ed Cody Public Library, San Antonio, TX
School Library Journal
Connections: Friendships. Growing out of friendships, making new ones. Teenager relationships. Romantic Relationships. Teenage crush. Being ashamed of your culture sometimes because someone makes you feel down about it. Parents struggling to share world information, wanting to shield children from reality. Rejection. Making decisions. Coming of age. Growing into your own decisions and your own identity.
Antinuke. Too Small Tola Makes it Count. Illustrated by Onyinye Iwu. Candlewick Press, Somerville, Massachusetts, 2023. ISBN 978-1-5362-3815-0
Summary: Tola resides in Lagos Nigeria, in which she faces a few obstacles surrounding her and her family. She tries to always do what’s right and please her grandma and her neighbors, but she faces challenges such as others believing her, getting her neighbor to have a bottom floor so that she can have more exposure to companionship, and making the most out of a visit to the beach and wondering why it looks so dirty and not the other vacation tour spots. However, these obstacles don’t stop her from making the best she can from her experiences with her friends and family. Ultimately, she learns from these rising issues in the community and tries to give a helping hand to others no matter what. By helping others, she grows stronger and is able to believe in herself a bit more and others.
Cultural Analysis: There is an unspoken rule in many lower socioeconomic households of minorities that pretty much everyone contributes in the household. There is a sense of survival that everyone must help out one way or another. Whether it’s in their own home or in someone else’s house or school or business, they work and learn and help out, there is no other choice. Such is the case for Tola and her siblings who live with their grandma. In the book, there is an awesome inclusion of language phrases like “pata pata,” “ye-ye,” “o-ya,” “nko,” and “moi-moi.” This sparks an interest in most readers’ minds. Additionally, the repetition such as “shaky-shaky,” and “every-every day,” (7) and alliteration such as “her head held high,” and “Mrs. Shaky-Shaky shakes her head sadly” (13). Each of these styles of writing helps envelop the reader into the book and the story and the culture in which Tola is surrounded by. Lastly, the book showed a big gap in economic status between Tola’s daily life and the other people that visit or frequent the beaches. As mentioned, some were able to rest or relax during COVID or enjoy a trashless beach, but not Tola and her family.
Reviews: Lockdown is over and Too Small Tola has returned to the crowded family flat in Lagos, Nigeria. Even though she is back home and safe, there are still plenty of problems for Tola to solve - including her own. She may be small, but she is also thoughtful and kind and clever – and there really is no problem too big for Too Small Tola.
Goodreads
Connections: Talks of COVID lockdown and how it affected the lower socioeconomic classes is something that students may relate to. Everyone had a different experience with COVID lockdown, and it’s eye opening to read about others’ experiences. Tola struggles in getting people to have empathy for others such as Mrs. Shaky-Shaky, and getting others, especially her classmates, to believe her that she worked for the Diamonds. Tola keeps repeating to herself that she wants to find a solution to life problems, even though it cannot always have solutions because that’s life. Ultimately, Tola is trying to find the perfect answer and solution to the problems that surround her and her family, and in the end, she shows us that she is resilient and optimistic.
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