Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
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U I LLINO I S UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Large-scale Digitization Project, 2007. THE BULLETIN ()F 1T1 CENI' FRIL)R (NIL ) RIS B )t KS JULY/AUGUST 1989 VOLUME 42 NUMBER 11 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO GRADUATE LIBRARY SCHOOL EXPLANATION OF CODE SYMBOLS USED WITH ANNOTATIONS * Asterisks denote books of special distinction. R Recommended. Ad Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. M Marginal book that is so slight in content or has so many weaknesses in style or format that it should be given careful consideration before purchase. NR Not recommended. SpC Subject matter or treatment will tend to limit the book to specialized collections. SpR A book that will have appeal for the unusual reader only. Recommended for the special few who will read it. C.U. Curricular Use. D.V. Developmental Values. ** * THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS (ISSN 0008-9036) is published monthly except August by The University of Chicago Press, 5720 S. Woodlawn, Chicago, Ilinois, 60637, for The University of Chicago Graduate Library School. Betsy Hearne, Editor, Zena Sutherland and Roger Sutton, Associate Editors. An advisory committee meets weekly to discuss books and reviews, which are written by the editors. The members are Isabel McCaul, Hazel Rochman, Robert Strang, and Elizabeth Taylor. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 1 year, $24.00; $16.00 per year for two or more subscriptions to the same address; $15.00, student rate; in countries other than the United States, add $3.00 per subscription for postage. Japanese subscription agent: Kinokuniya Company Ltd. Single copy rate: from vol. 25, $2.50; vols. 17 through 24, 500. Reprinted volumes 1-35 (1947-1981) available from Kraus Reprint Co., Route 100, Millwood, New York 10546. Volumes available in microfilm from University Microfilms, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. Complete volumes available in microfiche from Johnson Associates, P.O. Box 1017, Greenwich, Conn. 06830. Checks should be made payable to The University of Chicago Press. All notices of change of address should provide both the old and new address. Postmaster: Send address changes to THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS, The University of Chicago Press, Journals Division, P.O. Box 37005, Chicago, Illinois 60637. SUBSCRIPTION CORRESPONDENCE. Address all inquiries about subscriptions to The University of Chicago Press, Journals Division, P.O. Box 37005, Chicago, Illinois 60637. EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE. Review copies and all correspondence about reviews should be sent to Betsy Hearne, 1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637. Second-class postage paid at Chicago, Illinois. © 1989 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.48-1984, effective with volume 40, number 1, September 1986. Are you reading someone else's copy of The Bulletin of thu Center for Children's Books? Onler your own subscription and save 15% The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO GRADUATE LIBRARY SCHOOL Volume 42 JULY/AUGUST, 1989 Number 11 Announcement Since the University of Chicago's announcement that the Graduate Library School will close next year, many subscribers have asked what will happen to The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. The journal will continue to be published by the University of Chicago Press but will be based in the English and Education departments, where the editor has a joint appointment. Both the editorial staff and the committee will remain the same with one exception: Hazel Rochman has resigned and will be replaced by Alba Endicott, a teacher with longterm experience incorporating trade books into a suburban grade-school curriculum. Both critically and financially, The Bulletin enters its forty-third year as sound as it's ever been. As always, we owe much to the subscribers who support us, the publishers who send us review copies, and the committee of librarians and teachers who give time each week to evaluate the reviews in terms of how children use the books. Betsy Hearne, Editor New Titles for Children and Young People Adler, David A. A PictureBook of Abraham Lincoln; ISBN 0-8234-0731-4. A Picture Book of George Washington; ISBN 0-8234-0732-2. Each book: illus. by John and Alexandra Wallner. Holiday House, 1989. 32p. $13.95. Ad 5-8 yrs. The first in a projected series of picture book biographies that will include Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, these two books are tailored to preschool and primary grade children for holiday occasions and American history units. The continuous texts are simplified in short, straightforward sentences without anecdote or detail. Although they sometimes seem dry and choppy ("In Springfield Abraham fell in love with Mary Todd. She was lively and smart. They were married in 1842"), they're neither excessively adulatory nor condescending. The full-color illustrations, too, are stiff in pose and composition but have a kind of traditional, tidy appeal. Useful. BH C.U. History-U.S.--pictorial presentation [ 267 ] Allen, R. E. Ozzy on the Outside. Delacorte, 1989. ISBN 0-385-29741-6. [224p]. $14.95. Reviewed from galleys. M Gr. 9-12. Mom had always exhorted Ozzy to be someone special. Now, shocked and angry after his mother's death in a car accident, Ozzy lights out for New Orleans, his first stop on the way to becoming a Famous Writer. This first novel has a predictable plot (a young woman on the bus gets Ozzy to admit his grief and go back home) and narrative voice (horny teenager with big dreams) that is wearingly patronizing but altogether authentic. While we are meant to understand that Ozzy's dreams of fame are delusory, we are also supposed to take seriously his self-identification as a writer, which isn't really supported by the shallow characterization. The girl Ozzy meets-Maysie Perlmutter-is a bit of a down-home stereotype, but the caricature is enlivened by some funny repartee: "I don't call black people niggers and I don't call Mexicans spics and I don't call Jews Jews, so you can just stop your lecture right here and now." In fact, it is the secondary characters here who are most sharply delineated, giving some life and color to the familiar story. RS D.V. Death, adjustment to; Self-evaluation Amadeo, Diana M. There's a Little Bit of Me in Jamey; illus. by Judith Friedman. Whitman, 1989. ISBN 0-8075-7854-1. [32p]. $10.50. Reviewed from galleys. R Gr. 3-4. Softly shaded brown and white pictures illustrate a story that is touching albeit told without sentimentality. Brian, who looks to be about nine or ten in the pictures, is the narrator; his ambivalence between his loving concern for younger brother Jamey, a leukemia victim, and his irritation at how little time his parents now have for him are equally convincing. When Jamey's doctor suggests that Brian might be a good enough match, physiologically, to give Jamey a chance to live, Brian agrees to a bone marrow transplant. The story makes it clear how much all of the members of a family in which a child has cancer are involved. One of the strong aspects of this candid book is that the ending is quite realistic: Brian knows the transplant is a hope, not a cure, and he does hope. "Because of that little bit of me in Jamey," he ends, "he may come home, to stay." ZS D.V. Brothers Ammon, Richard. Growing Up Amish. Atheneum, 1989. ISBN 0-689-31387- X. 102p. illus. with photographs. $12.95. Ad Gr. 5-8. Focusing on sixth-grader Anna and her family, this intersperses an account of day-to-day Amish life with general information about Amish history, religion, and traditions. Transitions are abrupt; for example, Anna's school day is interrupted twice for chapters on Amish origins and language, and scattered through the text are boxed explanations of "myths" and "facts" about the Amish. The tone throughout is adulatory, occasionally cloying ("Most of the children have done chores in the barn before coming to school, so there's a faint scent of horses mixed with the sweet aroma of body odor accenting the classroom"), and the author tends to gloss over contradiction and conflict. After stating that the Amish "do not encourage or seek" non-Amish ("English") friends, Ammon goes on to mention Elizabeth, "valued as a trusted 'Englisher' [ 268 ] friend." Amish children never shirk work---"they actually look forward to their chores"-and adolescent rebellion is quickly dismissed: "some teens may engage in some 'worldly' activities, such as sneaking into a movie or drinking. Once they become baptized, though, they give up such foolishness." But the customs and details of clothing, language, and play, including rules for a few games, will prove fascinating for more secularized children, who may not be easily convinced that a society with no TV, bicycles or Daylight Savings Time can still exist. Photos are pertinent but of variable quality; an index, bibliography, and reading list are appended. RS C.U. Religious education D.V. Intercultural understanding Blackwood, Gary L. The Dying Sun. Atheneum, 1989. ISBN 0-689-31482-5. 213p. $13.95. Ad Gr. 7-10. Life has become crowded and dangerous in Matamoros, where Mexicans have started to rebel against settlers from the U.S., so James decides to follow his parents lead and move to the cold north- Missouri.