February Recommendations

RAMON FELLINI, THE CAT DOG DETECTIVE, written and illustrated by Guilherme Karston, is a spoofy mystery featuring a (spoiler alert) cat who poses as a dog to investigate an unfortunate fishbowl attack. The shady detective takes charge and the clueless boy hands over his fish to allow the dog/cat to investigate further. The stylized digital art ups the ante, with lots of clues that point to a fittingly noirish (offscreen) ending. Plenty of interesting angles and patterns help give it a distinctive look, and the dark backgrounds make bright foregrounds pop. This is silly, subversive fun with a fairly dark vibe.

In ADELA’S MARIACHI BAND, written by Denise Vega and illustrated by Erika Rodríguez Medina, Adela loves her family’s mariachi band—the way “the music skips and bounces,” how "her family dances and claps,” and the way “the band and the audience come together as one.” The only problem is that Adela’s not in the band. When Adela tries to play Papa’s trumpet, there’s only a small, dribbly “PFFT.” Her guitar goes “ERREEEK” instead of “PING!” And when she tries to dance—“SPLAT!” But readers will appreciate how Adela figures out a way to contribute to her family’s mariachi band sooner rather than later. Lively, mostly English text has plenty of Spanish sprinkled throughout, and the colorful digital illustrations are dynamic. An author’s note explains more and makes it personal.

THE SHIP IN THE WINDOW, written by Travis Jonker and illustrated by Matthew Cordell, stars Mabel, a little mouse who lives in a lakeside cabin with a man who has built a prize model ship, and a boy who’s not allowed to touch it. Mabel wonders what it would be like to sail it like a real ship, “navigating rough seas…using the stars to guide the way.” One day, she manages to maneuver the boat to the shore of the lake and jumps in. ’Twas a tough night to sail, but Mabel navigates it well, at least until she’s distracted by the humans loudly searching for the lost ship. The story, with its shades of Stuart Little, is engaging and evocative, as is the gorgeous art by Caldecott medalist Cordell—multiple pages are worthy of a frame.

THERE ARE NO ANTS IN THIS BOOK, written by Rosemary Mosco and illustrated by Anna Pirolli, is a meta story about a kid who thinks this “nice-looking book” would be perfect for a picnic, especially since the cover clearly states that “there are no ants in this book.” This premise, however, very quickly proves false, as one (an acorn ant), two (a dinosaur ant), three (a pharaoh ant), and seven more interesting, distinctive kinds of ants show up, to shock the narrator, who soon decides that maybe ants are cool—and worth saving from anteaters! Fun facts about all the different kinds of ants, in text and backmatter elevate this from a basic counting book into a fun outing. Uncluttered text zips right along, and bold, colorful illustrations seal the deal.

LOST, by Bob Staake, is wordless story about a girl whose cat has run off. She makes “lost” posters and soon finds that others in her community are missing pets, as well. The postman’s bird has flown away, the dog belonging to a woman on a bench has tunneled out, and a man at the grocery store can’t find his… giraffe?! The scent of a hot dog begins to return things to a satisfying, whimsical, cheerful conclusion. The busy cartoony-looking, sequential art is mostly black and white, with carefully placed color highlights to keep readers focused on the main action.

A PARTY FOR FLORINE: FLORINE STETTHEIMER AND ME, by Yevgenia Nayberg, is about how a girl sees a painting in a museum, that of an artist who looks just like her, and the girl, also an artist, decides to find out more. Through the girl’s musings, we learn about Florine and her glamorous family, who spend their time “painting, dancing, and writing poetry.” Also, “lounging around in white silk pants,” and “throwing parties!” The girl wishes she “could be like Florine,” throwing parties and not sulking in her room while it rains. Next day, the girl does go outside in the rain, where she sees “the world around [her] is full of color and full of surprise. Like Florine’s.” The text dances and sings across the page, much in the way “everything Florine painted danced and sang on a canvas.” The art is “purple socks, yellow books, skinny cats, giant flowers, darkness and light,” swooping and flying to match the text. Backmatter fills in missing biographical material, allowing the main body of the book to soar.

--Lynn

Shelf Awareness--After Life

YA Review: After Life

After Life by Gayle Forman (Quill Tree Books, 272p., ages 12-up, 9780063346147)

Gayle Foreman's After Life is an engrossing portrayal of grief and healing that revolves around a teen hit-and-run victim who comes back from heaven, hell, or "the whatever" and realizes that the lives of her loved ones have been drastically altered by her death.

Seventeen-year-old Amber Crane, "a white girl with honey-colored hair," realizes she's unsure of the day as she rides her bike home from school. When she arrives, Amber learns that she has been dead for seven years. Her at-the-time nine-year-old sister, Missy--now blue-haired and called Melissa--is almost the age Amber was when she died; Amber's mom freaks out and her atheist dad is now a believer and certain a miracle has occurred. Worse, her parents have separated, her "forever" boyfriend is a bartending, "druggy loser," and her once-close Aunt Pauline is now estranged and living in New Zealand. As Amber struggles to understand why she's come back, she begins to appreciate how her life--and her death--had far-reaching effects: on her friends, the school photographer, an English teacher, even a woman who works at a nearby pet shelter.

After Life tackles love and forgiveness, interconnectivity, and the possibility of a "different sort of existence" tangential to life and death. Foreman (Not Nothing; If I Stay) uses flashbacks to enrich Amber's narrative and also weaves in past and present accounts of family members, as well as people who seem at first to be only marginally involved. Earnest and absorbing, After Life describes how one individual may touch the lives of many, in life as well as in death. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.

January's Book of the Month--Poetry Comics

January’s Book of the Month is the musing, meditative POETRY COMICS, written and illustrated with sequential art by Grant Snider.

“I want to put down/on paper the feeling/of possibilities.” So begins this gentle collection of poems, broken into seasons. Spring allows for imaginings and growth, what-ifs like Reflections (in the still pond/the same world/but blurred), If I Were a Tree, and Becoming. Summer is a “festival of fireflies,” a time for “sinking baskets/to the applause/of the setting sun;” it’s time to ride a Roller Coaster and engage in Cloudspotting. Fall brings Fishing, and “stars in conversation,” and waiting for the Late Bus, while Winter offers “a new page” where “words huddle close/to keep warm.”

The text is thoughtful yet full of activity, and offers a nice balance between exploring inner and outer worlds. Pen, marker, and Photoshop illustrations are laid out in inviting panels, with plenty of earth-and-sky pastels punctuated by primaries; characters are rendered simply yet expressively. Both text and art are uncluttered and accessible, and the book feels fresh and inspirational—like an ode to creativity and pondering the universe!

--Lynn

Shelf Awareness--What Makes a Bird?

PB Review: What Makes a Bird?

What Makes a Bird? by Megan Pomper, illus. by Maia Hoekstra (Owlkids, 32p., ages 5-8, 9781771476133, February 18, 2025)

What Makes a Bird? is a wonderfully thought-provoking picture book debut that ruminates on the surprisingly difficult question of how one defines a bird: Is there a single, preferred way, or is a bird, perhaps, more than simply the sum of its parts?

Through a series of well-considered questions, a brown-skinned child wearing a blue cap and kerchief and carrying binoculars tries to understand what, exactly, makes a bird. Is a bird "a bird" because of its feathers? But each feather the child finds on the beach is "not on a bird anymore," so does that make the bird "one part less bird?" Does it make the child holding the feather "one part more bird?" Maybe a bird is a bird because of its beak: there are many kinds of beaks, and whether they're "small and pointy" or "flat and rounded," every bird seems to have one. But if octopi have beaks, does that mean they are birds, too? Wings seem important, but bees also have wings. Perhaps a bird is defined by hatching from an egg. But a snake also hatches from an egg, as does a platypus, a fish, a lizard, and a turtle. If flying is the answer, "what about ostriches and emus and kiwis?"

Readers then begin to reach the crux of the matter, because now the child wonders if being a bird is "all of these things" or "none of them." And, really, who should get to decide? This book and its wise protagonist ultimately conclude that perhaps what exactly makes a bird doesn't matter; "they can be similar, different, ordinary, unique.../ and they can all still be birds."

Megan Pomper's child-friendly, contemplative text encourages scientific, empathetic, and poetic thinking that ponders deeply about the essence of bird-ness. Indeed, her story may even prompt some savvy readers to reflect on what constitutes a human being and who gets to decide. Maia Hoekstra's dynamic illustrations use natural tones combined with swirls of bright color as well as close-ups and active angles to create an impressionistic sense of a wide variety of birds and their habitats. Back matter identifies the many species pictured in the book and invites readers to create names for the three made-up birds "from the artist's imagination." What Makes a Bird? is an excellent and accessible meditation on identity. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness Pro.

Shelf Awareness--Fortune's Kiss

YA Review: Fortune's Kiss

Fortune's Kiss by Amber Clement (Union Square & Co., 368p., ages 13-up, 9781454950219)

Fortune's Kiss is a riveting, radiant, and often bloody YA novel that features two young women in dire straits who compete for their hearts' desires in a gambling house with unbelievably high stakes.

Best friends Lo and Mayté made a pact as children: if the magical gambling hall, Fortune's Kiss, ever returned to Milagro, they would work together to win the ultimate prize of "life-changing fortunes and their most desperate wishes granted." Now, a decade later, Fortune's Kiss reappears, and the girls are more determined than ever. Seventeen-year-old Lo dreams of finding her mother while also escaping unwanted suitors and her abusive father. Mayté, also 17, who has watched her father drink and gamble away her family's fortune, dreams of becoming a famous painter. But the casino's stakes are enormous--losers return "a mess" (if they return at all) and the steep price of entry is "a large sum in golden coins," a person's "most prized treasure," or, rumor has it, blood. Nonetheless, Lo and Mayté try their luck. The young women enter "El Beso de la Fortuna," where they are immediately drugged, pitted against each other, and forced to play by the house's own secret--and deadly--rules.

Fortune's Kiss is Amber Clement's vivid, colorful, and intense debut, a tale steeped in a magical Latine culture, peppered with Spanish words and phrases, and chock-full of the macabre. Gripping and gory, the novel features two strong heroines who struggle to hold on to what's most important to them while at the mercy of magic, a seemingly sentient gambling house, and even each other. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.