Book Log (Picture Books, Traditional Tales, and Poetry)

González, X. & Garcia, A. M. (2022). Where wonder grows.

New York, NY: Cinco Punto Press.

Genre: Children's Picture Book

Summary: A group of young grand-daughters follow their grandmother into her garden. What awaits inside is a collection of Earth materials like crystals, rocks, seashells, and meteorite bits. Each have a name. All tell a story. The story is that we are all connected to the Earth and our power is great because of it. 

Comments: The characters in the book are ones we know - grandmother and grandchild. The relationship is depicted by the youth in the children’s faces and the way they circle around the grandmother and give their full attention to her as she teaches them. The illustrations in this book are rich with detail and show the movement of the grandmother and her granddaughters through the garden. The colors are deep and rich emphasizing the life and vibrancy of both the people and the objects on the pages. 

Idea for Library Programming: Make your own Terrarium with crystals, geodes and shells. A specialist who knows about the special powers of crystals and geodes could come in and talk about the ones that are offered. Guests would make a terrarium and place whichever (2-3) they choose to place within the terrarium. The idea would be that they make their own garden to escape to with crystals, geodes, and shells to help them harness their powers/connect them to the earth. 

Wenzel, B. (2016). They all saw a cat.

San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. 

Genre: Children’s Picture Book

Summary: This book follows a cat as it walks around its neighborhood. When a new creature sees the cat, we see how the cat’s image changes according to what each creature sees. 

Comments: Time and setting are very apparent in this book. What signals time is the gait of the cat. The cat always has a paw forward as if it is in the process of taking its next step. The setting moves with the cat and changes for each encounter with a new creature. This also helps show that time is passing. 

Idea for Library Programming: Draw a cat! This would be a short program and could even be part of a display that patrons participate in after reading the book. Children would read the book with their caregiver and then when they returned the book, they would post their own picture of a cat onto the display. This would encourage checkouts as well as promote patron engagement. 

 

Goble, P. (1978). The girl who loved wild horses.

New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 

Genre: Traditional Tale

Summary: This Caldecott Medal book tells the story of a young Native American girl who longed to be wild and free like the horses that occupied the land alongside her people. With a little magic and the acceptance of her family, her wish comes true.

Comments: From the thunderstorm that causes the young girl to seek shelter among the horses to lounging along a beautiful waterfall where she meets her stallion counterpart to getting the blessing over her family, this story moves along in episodes and is full of action. The main character, a young Native American girl, represents youth and the desire for independence and adventure with a tinge of naivete. 

Idea for Library Programming: Create a dreamcatcher or a necklace with an animal that aligns with how each child feels or what each child wants to be like. Let the child take this home and find comfort in their dreams. 

 

Merriam, E. & Ratzkin, L. (1969). The inner city mother goose.

New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. 

Genre: Poetry

Summary: This is a book of poems that are based on popular Mother Goose rhymes. The twist is that they cover hot topics like crime, homelessness, and poverty in the inner city. The poems are definitely made for more mature children (teens).  

Comments: The emotional impact of this book of poems is strong as the poetry within tackle some major societal injustices that commonly occur to those living in inner cities. Because they are based off of Mother Goose poems, rhythm and rhyme are rampant, qualifying most of these words as more traditional poems even though their topics are anything but. 

Idea for Programming: Slam poetry night for teens! Teens create their own spoken word poems or read from The Inner City Mother Goose to address issues of injustice in the community or the world at large.