I LLINOJ S UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Large-scale Digitization Project, 2007. --.....- :----- -- · · Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Illinois Press ...- ~. .... IIP ~i :_ ~_ f'" - Y 'vALA Booklist stars -year-old Elvin, a wise- rweight incompetent iduding wrestling. vers-with grit and wn place for himself nny, poignant coming- As finely tuned as any s, this wry, thoughtful iks with wisdom and tto the victim and the outsider in us all." -Booklist Age12 up. $13.95TR (0-06-023584-5) $13.89LB (0-06-023585-3) .. s ---- i Vucr riung taIuuei nouumw y ,rmnnsLynchn GYPSY DAVEY ICEMAN A 199 5 ALA Best Book for You Adults A 1995 ALA Best Book for Young Adults Al 995 ALA Recomended Book A 1995 ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Young Adult Readers for Reluctant Young Adult Readers $14.00TR (0-06-023586-1) $15.00TR (0-06023340-0) $13.89LB (006-023587-X) $14.89LB (0-06-023341-9) $3.95PB (0-06447144-4) SHADOW BOXER A 1994 ALA Best Book for Young Adults A 1994 ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Young Adult Readers $14.95TR (0-06-023027-4); $14.89LB (0-06-023028-2) $3.95PB (0-06-447112-8) 8 HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks 10 East 53rd Street, New York 10022 _ __~ ___ THE BU L L E T I N OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS December 1995 Vol. 49 No. 4 A LOOK INSIDE 117 THE BIG PICTURE Winter Rescue written by W. D. Valgardson; illustrated by Ange Zhang 118 NEW BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE Reviewed titles include: 121 * The Stories Huey Tells written by Ann Cameron; illustrated by Roberta Smith 123 * Whatjamie Saw by Carolyn Coman 125 * The Middle Passage: White Ships, Black Cargo illustrated by Tom Feelings 128 * Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales written by Virginia Hamilton; illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon 140 * Rebel written and illustrated by John Schoenherr 147 PROFESSIONAL CONNECTIONS 148 SUBJECT AND USE INDEX EXPLANATION OF CODE SYMBOLS USED WITH REVIEWS * 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. The Bulletin of the Centerfor Children's Books (ISSN 0008-9036) is published monthly except August by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Illinois Press, 1325 S. Oak, Champaign, IL 61820. STAFF Roger Sutton, Editor (RS) Deborah Stevenson, Assistant Editor (DS) Elizabeth Bush, Reviewer (EB) Susan Dove Lempke, Reviewer (SDL) Heather McCammond-Watts, Reviewer (HMW) Betsy Hearne, Consulting Editor and Faculty Liaison (BH) Tara L. Rivera, Editorial Assistant Reviewers' initials are appended to reviews. THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS ADVISORY BOARD Leigh Estabrook, Dean, GSLIS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Selma K. Richardson, Professor Emeritus, GSLIS Christine Jenkins, Assistant Professor, GSLIS Richard C. Anderson, Director, Center for the Study of Reading, UIUC Jean Osborn, Associate Director, Center for the Study of Reading Violet J. Harris, Associate Professor, College of Education Nancy O'Brien, Education Subject Specialist, Library, UIUC Peggy Miller, Associate Professor, Department of Speech Communication, UIUC Ann D. Carlson, Associate Professor, GSLIS, Rosary College Janice Harrington, Head of Children's Services, Champaign Public Library Elizabeth Huntoon, Director Systemwide Children's Services, Chicago Public Library Janie Schomberg, Librarian, Leal Elementary School, Urbana, Illinois SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 year, institutions, $35.00; individuals, $29.00. In countries other than the United States, add $7.00 per subscription for postage. Japanese subscription agent: Kinokuniya Company Ltd. Single copy rate: $4.50. Reprinted volumes 1-35 (1947-1981) available from Kraus Reprint Co., Route 100, Millwood, NY 10546. Volumes available in microfilm from University Microfilms, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Complete volumes available in microfiche from Johnson Associates, P.O. Box 1017, Greenwich, CT 06830. Subscription checks should be made payable to the University of Illinois 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, University of Illinois Press, 1325 S. Oak, Champaign, IL 61820. Subscription Correspondence. Address all inquiries about subscriptions and advertising to University of Illinois Press, 1325 S. Oak, Champaign, IL 61820. Editorial Correspondence. Review copies and all correspondence about reviews should be sent to Roger Sutton, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Children's Research Center, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign, IL 61820 Second-class postage paid at Champaign, Illinois © 1995 by The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Drawings by Debra Bolgla. This publication is printed on acid-free paper. Cover illustration by Ange Zhang, from Winter Rescue ©1995and used by permission of Margaret K. McElderry Books. DECEMBER 1995 * 117 THE BIG PICTURE Winter Rescue by W. D. Valgardson; illustrated by Ange Zhang Children's books that celebrate the bond between children and their grandparents are many and convenient, allowing the affirmation of family ties without the messy intensity of parent-child relationships. Two pitfalls, though, present themselves: idealization, where granny and gramps, their own lives unrealistically child-cen- tered, only serve to impart gentle wisdom to the young; and sentimentalization, where a visit with the old folks means a cozy stroll in the park (or, given the season, the "bestest" present under the tree). And too often, the "specialness" of the relationship seems to be enough-who needs a plot? Winter Rescue not only has a plot, it has a pair of grandparents who actually make their young descendant do things he doesn't want to do, such as work. Visiting his grandparents for the Christmas holidays, all Thor wants to do is watch television, but no such luck. Grandfather is an ice fisherman on Lake Winnipeg, his hired man has taken sick, and Grandmother, over both her husband's and her grandson's protestations, insists that Thor will have to forego his usual Saturday morning cartoon-fest and go out onto the ice to help: "I helped my father when I was his age." Author Valgardson and illustrator Zhang know something we suspect Grandmother knows as well: attention to details makes things interesting, and involvement with them becomes its own reward. Thor learns what he has to wear ("long underwear, two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, two shirts, a sweater, a jacket, gloves, and mittens"-plus a really cool hat) and once he and Grandfather get out onto the frozen lake, he learns what he has to do ("We have to set a gang of nets,' Grandfather said, pointing at some boxes of nets. 'We have to take them under the ice for eighty yards'"). While the jigger pulls the net under the ice, Thor must trace its progress from above. If you don't know anything about jiggers and nets, the text, the pictures, and Grandfather tell you everything you want to know- and that's a lot, because by this time you're as hooked as the jigger and Thor. Thor's successful assistance with the fishing is but a prelude to his real triumph, when, on the way back home, he and Grandfather discover that one of the feckless snowmobilers they encountered earlier in the day has fallen through the ice. Grandfather is too heavy to get close enough to the man to help, so guess who has to come to the rescue: "'Me?' Thor said." Yup, and his newly awakened skill and courage make Thor the hero of the day. Grandfather sums it up: "He can find the jigger and he's brave. I'd take him fishing with me anytime." I was recently consulting with some first-graders who are constructing a classroom library, and two girls asked me, "What kinds of books will boys read?" (Even then, it starts.) I asked the one boy in the group what he thought, and William replied, "I don't know. Good books, I guess." If the kind of book a boy 118 * THE BULLETIN will read is one about a boy doing manly things with his grandfather, learning to work, and learning to be brave (and coming home to ponnukokur-Icelandic- Canadian pancakes, recipe included--cooked by his grandmother), then, well, this is that kind of book. But more than boys will like a story with this much action, focus, and the kind of danger that's allowably exciting for its parallel assur- ance of safety ("I won't let anything happen to you," says Grandfather when Thor begins the rescue). The art, too, sustains the adventure by keeping an attentive eye on the events, and it provides comfort: the colored-pencil pictures have a cozy homespun quality that plays bulky figures against the harsh lines of the icy Manitoban landscape. The text and the pictures both know that getting warm counts as a plot-point only if you've been cold in the first place, and that's an adventure anybody can appreciate. (Imprint information appears on p. 142.) Roger Sutton, Editor NEW BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE ADLER, DAVID A. One Yellow Daffodil: A Hanukkah Story; illus.