America the Beautiful
By Katherine Lee Bates. Illustrated
by Chris Gall. Little, Brown. Chris Gall, poet Katherine Lee
Bates's great-great grandnephew, has illustrated her 1895 Congregational
hymn lyric with engravings done in a muscular 1930s, WPA style.
This dignified (if not pious and somber) series of historical
vignettes stretches diversely "from sea to shining sea"
and from the early years of our nation's native American history
to September 11, 2001. A short explanation of each vignette is
included at the back of the book. (Ages 5-adult)
Diary of a Wombat
By Jackie French. Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Clarion Books.
A lighthearted story for younger readers about the low-key meanderings
of a wombat's (the sturdy, brown-furred marsupial sometimes called
"the little bear of Australia") day: sleeping, digging
holes, and getting the neighboring humans in the habit of supplying
food like carrots and oats for the easygoing creature. There
aren't many books available for wombat fans; at least this one
isn't drawn as an out-and-out cartoon. (Ages 3-6)
Goodnight Me, Goodnight You
By Tony Mitton. Illustrated by Mandy Sutcliffe. Little, Brown.
This collection of rhyming couplets, trailing a little girl and
her younger brother as they get ready for bed, is one of the
best books for younger readers to come along in quite a while.
Outside the children's house, we see autumn leaves swirling under
a full moon as sheep, rabbits, and birds settle in for the night;
while indoors the children parade through their playroom and
bedroom, followed by their two cats, with teddy bears, building
blocks, and a sailing ship nearby. Mandy Sutcliffe's soft-colored
oils depict details like a patchwork quilt and toys arranged
on a windowsill in warm light. Goodnight Me, Goodnight You
is somewhat reminiscent of Robert Louis Stevenson's A
Child's Garden of Verses in its gentle summing up of
a day's close-to-home adventures of the imagination and anticipation
of more tomorrow. Recommended. (Ages 3-7)
Vote!
Written and illustrated by Eileen Christelow. Clarion Books.
Although this book is more didactic and more geared to a strictly
educational purpose than are books usually reviewed in these
pages, I am including it because, as its author notes, there
isn't much on this important topic available for children. Vote!
packs a lot of information about the American electoral process
into its attractive sketches and lively running explanations
provided by a little girl (who may be too relentlessly parent-pleasing
for many readers) whose mother is running for mayor and by the
family's two dogs. Concepts such as voter registration, the freedom
to choose any political party or none, the secret ballot, and
the recount are covered. (I doubt that the extensive back matter,
which increasingly seems almost obligatory even in children's
fiction, will genuinely interest children who aren't using it
for school research.)
For a complementary perspective, however, readers would also
do well to seek out Virginia Lee Burton's 1952 classic Maybelle the Cable Car for
an unequaled presentation of participatory democracy in action,
embodied in the form of a superb story and pictures (and still
published, coincidentally, by Clarion Books' parent company,
the venerable Houghton Mifflin). This pairing of books would
make a fine Election Day lesson. (Ages 5-8)
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