Books | Page 44 of 82

The People’s Painter, chaotic, beautiful images to match Ben Shahn’s life

Illustrated books have the capacity to teach us so much. Those non-fiction illustrated books, when done well, can introduce real-life figures or events to young audiences in a way that makes them want to learn more. The People’s Painter, How Ben Shahn Fought For Justice With Art by Cynthia Levinson with pictures by Evan Turk is like that. I was familiar with Turk’s work from his great book You Are Home. The style in The People’s Painter is different because it’s in the style of Ben Shahn. For us, and possibly many young readers, Shahn is an artist whose work they won’t know. He had an amazing life, as a young child railing against Czar Nicholas II’s soldiers, escaping to America in 1906 and creating illustrations that documented workers and the poor.

The People’s Painter is a beautiful illustrated book about Ben Shahn, an immigrant painter who documented social change in the 20th century.

Non-fiction with jarring paintings to teach elementary and up

Space Adventures, Let’s Tell A Story free-range, yet controlled stories

You get what you deserve when you as an open-ended question to a class of elementary school students. I have a cat. We went to the beach. My sister threw up last night. As a teacher, you will get any response under the sun, most likely not at all related to what your initial query was about. The Let’s Tell A Story series of books on Wide Eyed Editions provides the framework for kids to build their own stories, without going entirely off the rails. Space Adventure lets kids choose from one of over a dozen characters, and then guides them with locations, plot devices, and more so that they can verbally tell their story.

Let’s Tell A Story! Space Adventure sets kids up for storytelling success providing all the elements to tell a fun, engaging story from start to finish.

This is the way to have kids tell wacky, creative stories

The Art of The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, is movie-book love

I was working at Walt Disney World when they were phasing out hand-drawn animation. The word started out as a rumor when The Little Mermaid was released and graduated to a poorly kept secret when The Lion King hit. Around that time Toy Story came out and ushered in an entirely new look for animated films. The Mitchells Vs. The Machines is a movie that is as big of a leap forward in animation as that one. It’s original, timely, has a story that will appeal to anyone, and a look that will dazzle the senses. The Art of The Mitchells Vs. The Machines is an oversized book that breaks down the inspiration, production, and artwork for the key elements from the film.

A deep, visual dive into the style, development and work behind this stunning film

The One and Only Sparkella, celebrity-authored meh

I was at a big box retail store and saw about ten copies of The One and Only Sparkella on the shelf. For comparison, the other picture books on the shelf had one to three copies of them. The book is written by Channing Tatum, whose name is in font almost as large as the title and listed above it. I’m torn on my opinion about this for a couple of reasons that boil down to book advances, celebrity status, and the overall impression that the book leaves on children. At the end of the book (or day), is The One and Only Sparkella something that kids will want to read, or will they enjoy it?

The One and Only Sparkella, an illustrated book from Channing Tatum that’s bright and happy, but has been covered better previously.

A forgetable celebrity author’s turn at illustrated commerce

Fluffles, impossibly cute illustrated reader for mid-elementary

Remember the Australian fires in 2020? How about the lungs of the Earth are on fire during the Brazilian wildfires of 2020? You may be thinking of the Californian wildfires of 2020? It could have been one of the other years, they blend together. Fluffles, The Brave Koala Who Held Strong Through a Bushfire gives you some idea of the location for this book. The True Stories of Animal Heroes series on Frances Lincoln Children’s Books are fascinating, often unheard of stories that mid-elementary school kids will be able to read by themselves.

Fluffles, the story of a brave koala who survived the 2020 Adelaide fires and was given mittens is impossibly cute for mid-elementary readers.

Resistance is futile

If Dominican Were A Color, is poetic, color driven love

If Dominican Were A Color is a beautifully illustrated book that has a lot to love with a message that will introduce the Dominican Republic to many elementary-aged readers. The colors in the book are big, vibrant, and will be attractive to poetry fans through middle school and their younger students who will be stimulated by the colors, as the words relax their minds. The book operates on two levels. One of them is immediate and universal, while the other one channels Deee-Lite.

If Dominican Were A Color is a beautiful illustrated book that uses poetry to demonstrate the Dominican Republic and its people.

Poetry, with standout art on the Domincan Republic

Stuffed Into Darkness, perfect scares, adventure and friends for 9 and up

It can be a dicey thing when you read the second book in a series without reading the first. In a way the party has already started, you won’t know the characters, setting, or how the previous entry ended. What if it ended on a cliffhanger and you’re immediately thrust headlong into a series of events that leave you confused? Then there’s the other side of the coin where you jump into a book series that picks up as its own stand-alone story but also makes you want to read the other books involving the characters or story. Stuffed Into Darkness easily falls into that second category. It starts with a short prologue that is in a very dark place. Strange named creatures are speaking in phrases, they’re angry, planning some sort of grand attack, and are intent on causing pain. If this four-page prologue were colored it would be black, with orange, blue, and red highlights to draw attention to the chaos want to see happen, much like the cover of the book.

Don’t worry if you didn’t read Stuffed, as Stuffed Into Darkness is a hoot that will leave you looking for the first book to see how the journey started.

Age-appropriate scary aweseomeness for ages 9 and up

The Dragon Ark makes you want to believe in them

Statement or impact books are those literary things that draw you into it even if you’re not at all interested on the subject. They can have a cover so beautiful or alluring that you simply must open it. Alternately, the book could be so large or unique that you’re curious about its content. The Dragon Ark, Join The Quest To Save The Rarest Dragon On Earth is an oversized book that works on both levels. The book is huge and its size alone will make people want to see it. The illustrations on the front cover are also incredibly detailed. It features nine dragons flying near an island while a Chinese Junk is sailing below them. There are subtle glossy gold lines that make aspects of the dragons, trees, or boat further pop off of the page.

An impact book that wears its passion for dragons on its sleeve