The Thing About Jellyfish

The Thing About Jellyfish
Ali Benjamin

My rating: ★★★½

ISBN: 978-0316380867
Publisher: Little, Brown
Date of publication: September 22, 2015
Age: Grades 5 - 8
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Themes: death & grief, friendship, jellyfish,

After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting—things don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory—even if it means traveling the globe, alone.

I do want to express that this book is well-written and the format was really well done, but all I can think is why do these acclaimed middle-grade books have to be SO DEPRESSING. And I'm not saying that MG authors should avoid the difficult topics. I can appreciate novels dealing with death of a loved one, disability, or whatever the case may be. But my goodness, inject a little bit of humor, give the reader some hope already! This book didn't have the pick-me-up I needed. It's more my personal reaction and feeling, so take it with a grain of salt.

It is well-written. It starts off after the death has occurred, so the whole focus is on Suzy dealing with the grief. And that grief is very multi-layered, with the author going deeper and deeper into the two friends' history as time goes on. The process of revealing bit by bit makes the story more gripping. It also helps the reader understand just why Suzy goes to such lengths to study jellyfish—the characters are believable and well done. I did question the ending a bit; Suzy flipped her grief switch off a bit too easily, in my opinion. But overall, excellently written.

So yes, it's got the technical elements down pat. But I was just SO depressed/disgusted by the end, that I forgot to love it. I feel mixed. I'm not telling you not to read it...just be prepared.

My preferred friend-died-and-I-don't-know-how-to-grieve book would be Lost in the Sun. Other readalikes are All the Answers and Secret Hum of a Daisy. If you want more of the girl-drama aspect and changing friends, there's How to Outrun an Alligator With Your Shoes Untied or Roller Girl or A Year Without Autumn.

Find it at your library or on Amazon

Picture Book Month

Guess what? It's the most wonderful time of the year!

...Yes, Christmas is coming and the holiday season is wonderful, but I'm talking about:

Yay! Picture book month!

I could go on and on about why picture books really do deserve a whole month of celebration and why they're so important for kids and how everyone should run to their libraries and read and the whole shebang (stop for a breath) but for now, I'm just going to point out some different sites and old posts that do just that.

Hoot, Owl!

Hoot, Owl!
(National Geographic Readers)
Shelby Alinsky

My rating: ★★★★

ISBN: 978-1426321252
Publisher: National Geographic Children's Books
Date of publication: July 14, 2015
Age: 4 - 6 years
Genre: Nonfiction

Themes: snowy owls, habitat, behavior,

Information all about snowy owls! Flying, swooping, gliding, they hunt for food—usually an unsuspecting mouse. They live in the snow where their color helps them blend in. Hoot!

National Geographic lists this book as a pre-reader—"just right for kids who are ready to read"—but there are some pretty long sentences that could be difficult for a beginner. The vocabulary is pretty basic, but some words like "doesn't" and "listen" might be troublesome, too. I'm not sure if I agree with their ranking.

But if we ignore that (mentally, you can put it at a bit higher of a level) then, really, there's a lot to appreciate about this book. To have a nonfiction book—truly informational and educational—for beginning readers is really empowering. At the beginning, Alinsky lists key vocabulary to look for when discussing "where they live" and "what they do." There's also follow up activities. But the best part? They somehow managed to capture the cutest/coolest photographs for the book. This is my favorite:

Is that not so adorable?? I know, I know, it's a powerful bird of prey—but it's just so CUTE. Yes, my four stars is in part due to my love of owls. As well as the technical details. So give it a try; if not owls, remember that National Geographic has all sorts of nonfiction early readers.

Find it at your library or on Amazon

McToad Mows Tiny Island

McToad Mows Tiny Island
Written by Tom Angleberger, illustrated by John Hendrix

My rating: ★★★★

ISBN: 978-1419716508
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Date of publication: September 1, 2015
Age: 3 - 6 years

Themes: transportation, vehicles, lawn care, toad

McToad likes Thursdays. Why? Because on every other day of the week, McToad mows Big Island, but on Thursdays, McToad mows Tiny Island. To do so, he puts his mower on the back of a truck, which drives to a train, which goes to a helicopter, which flies to a boat, which uses a crane to put the lawn mower onto Tiny Island. There McToad mows and drinks some lemonade, and before you know it, it’s time to turn around and go back home.

It's complete and utter nonsense in the silliest way possible—but what else would you expect from Tom Angleberger? Basically, it's hilarious, and storytimes everywhere are going to love it. For me, the lack of a real story made it four stars instead of five, but don't let that stop you from enjoying it. It still has a great pattern in text (perfect for a readaloud) and a thorough rundown of transportation vehicles. But what's even better? The illustrations. Hendrix made sure each page was rich with detail and some hidden jokes--and, I might add, some mighty fine hand-lettering. Even the end pages are fantastic.

For the vehicle-loving tot or for the librarian looking for another fun storytime readaloud, this is a definite must. Really, just everyone should at least give it a read-over.

Find it at your library or on Amazon