Finding A Voice: The Lions of Little Rock by Kriistin Levine

I talk a lot. Just not out loud where anyone can hear. At least, I used to be that way. I guess I’ve learned it’s not enough to just think things. You have to say them, too.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. To understand me, and how I’ve changed, I need to go back to 1958.

Kristin Levine’s historical novel takes place in the fall of 1958, in Little Rock. The Little Rock Nine have integrated Central High School in 1957-58, under Federal order and with the National Guard standing watch. But now the school year begins again, and Governor Faubus has closed all of the high schools in Little Rock, for public safety, he says.

Marlee is only in seventh grade, so her school will open as usual, but her big sister Judy, the one who always does the talking for her, is sent off to Pine Bluff to live with their grandmother to go to high school. Marlee can speak at home, but anywhere else, her shyness limits her to one-word answers and nods and shakes of the head. Even in math class, which she loves, she never volunteers an answer and if called on, can only stammer out a number in answer.

Then, a new girl, turns up in her class. Liz has a quick smile, a ready laugh, and no problem talking to anyone, and she quickly asks Marlee to pair with her on an oral report in history.

“You seem like a hard worker. At my old school, I was the one who
always ended up doing all the work,” Liz shrugged.

I knew what that was like. I’d worked with Sally on every project since third grade.

“Okay,” I said.

Liz seems fearless and yet friendly, and soon she persuades Marlee to promise to help present the oral report, promising her a book of math squares puzzles if she does. Gradually, Marlee finds it less of a struggle to get words and then sentences out, and she and Liz become best friends, meeting at the library and then at the zoo at their favorite place, the lion exhibit.

But then, Liz disappears suddenly from school. Sally triumphantly reports that Liz had been found out, discovered to be “passing” as white, and although Marlee is startled, she soon realizes that she misses her friend regardless of her race.

In her attempts to find a way to continue her friendship, Marlee gradually finds her voice, joining with her church school teacher in the WEC, the Women’s Education Committee, working for the re-opening of all Little Rock schools. Lines are quickly drawn among whites, and although her junior high principal dad quickly adds his name to the petitions to open the schools, her mother is too fearful of loss of her job and the threats of the segregationist majority.

As lines are quickly drawn between those who want their high schools open regardless of race and those who say never, Marlee begins to speak out and even draws her mother into the effort. Still shy, she finds the courage to locate her friend, who is working in the same organization with the Negro community, and although Liz’s pastor’s house is bombed and their parents forbid them to be together because of the danger, the two find ways to meet.

The shy, mute girl who just that summer was afraid to jump off the high dive suddenly finds herself hiding in the trunk of a car with sticks of dynamite belonging to a would-be bomber, and at last finds her full voice in helping prevent a race war in her own hometown.

Kristin Levine said she wanted to write a book about what came next, after 1957 and the Little Rock Nine, and Lester's first-person narrative details how Marlee and other citizens of Little Rock found their voices, the voices of reason and justice, in the year that followed.

“Talking,” I said. I’m going to try talking... to everyone.

And if I change, maybe other things will change, too. Maybe the schools will
reopen.”

“Maybe,” said Liz, laughing, and then it was time to hang up.

I knew my talking wouldn’t change all that. But I thought about what Daddy said, how things could be different in Little Rock, if only the right people could find their voice.

I wanted to be one of those people.

Just published in a new paperback edition, Levine’s The Lions of Little Rock (Penguin, 2012, 2013) brings a poignant new voice to the body of nonfiction and historical fiction dealing with the civil rights movement in the 1950s. Publishers Weekly writes, "Successfully weaving historical events with a dynamic personal narrative, Levine (The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had) offers a riveting, frequently tense portrait."

Sums of Sheep? Lots of Lambs by Laura Numeroff

LAMBS IN A COAT...
LAMBS ON A BOAT.

Author Laura Numeroff and artist Lynn Munsinger are up to their old tricks, producing succinct but inviting text and tres charmant illustrations of appealing little animals inviting us in for a jolly time.

In this prolific pair's latest Lots of Lambs (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), youngsters are enticed to enter for a “touchy-feely, flap and fun” experience as they search for little lambs everywhere. Numeroff and Munsinger also offer wheels to turn to alter the landscape, as when the seagoing lambs get to see a changing variety of fish–flying fish in the air and long, finny fish in the water--or assorted fold-outs as when the “coat” in question opens down the line of buttons in front to reveal four lambs, arranged pyramid-style giggling with glee under that overcoat.

There are lambs behind big beach umbrellas at the seashore, and a single lamb all alone behind a bush. There are lots of lamb thespians ready to perform when the stage curtains open, and as a timely nighty-night treat on the last page, three sleepy lambs concealed underneath their quilted coverlet, ready for a snooze. Numeroff and Munsinger, co-creators of the ever-popular If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (If You Give...) and companion books, are quality collaborators and this little board book looks to be one of their best joint ventures for the very young.

Dragon Quest: The Flight of the Last Dragon by Robert Burleigh

Where have all the dragons gone, long time passing?

In the fictional universe dragons have fallen on some hard times, despite Hagrid's tender ministrations, often dispatched by heroic protagonists from their mountain keeps, their treasure troves looted to save many a mythic medieval kingdom. So if you want to find a dragon, forget rocky fastnesses and antediluvian caves. So where would a dragon-hunting child look?

Try the urban underground, a place where no one goes unless he must, and thus the last retreat of the winged lizards.

And there, there can be found... Ultimon.

Weak, alone,
He wades in the slime.

Lost in dreams
of a long-ago time.

With rust-encrusted scales, frazzled feathers, and worn talons, Ultimon is no fire-breathing fairy tale dragon. But he still has faint memories of his former power.

And then he hears a call from deep in the sky, seemingly from somewhere in space, calling him to rise and following his destiny, once again to fly among the stars.

Aha! He's up!
Then swoop, then glide.
Talons thrust out.
Wings flung wide!

The watching child runs to catch a glittering falling feather, and a late-night walker sees what looks like a shooting star against the dark sky.

But in Robert Burleigh's Flight of the Last Dragon (Philomel, 2012) this is no shakedown flight for a refurbished earthly dragon. Ultimon has a new place to fly forever in the sky, as one of the constellations. (You guessed it--Draco!)

While Burleigh's quatrains are lovely, the main attraction here are the illustrations by Mary GrandPre', the familiar artist who decorated the chapter headings and covers of the Harry Potter books. GrandPre's dragon is first bedraggled and then bedazzling, and her full-bleed pages, done in glowing greens and blues, set the pace and mood for this flight of fantasy.

"A melancholy but moving story of finding one’s way home after the world has changed," says Publishers Weekly.

Best Pet Bet: Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett

IT HAD BEEN SNOWING FOR DAYS.

WINTER WAS LASTING TOO LONG.

SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH ANNIE'S CAT. TAFFY HAD STOPPED PLAYING.

SHE ATE LESS THAN USUAL.

SHE SLEPT ALL DAY LONG. SHE CURLED UP IN STRANGE PLACES.

Annie is worried about her cat, and when Taffy suddenly fails to come home one morning Annie looks everywhere outside but with no luck.

ANNIE WAS LONELY.

I NEED A NEW FRIEND, SHE THOUGHT.

Annie takes matters into her own hands and sets out to find a new pet. Since she lives in a snow-covered forest, a pet shop is out of the question. Instead, she bakes some fragrant corn cakes and puts one outside at the edge of the woods. The next morning, there IS an animal there, waiting for more. But... it's a ... moose.

HE'S TOO BIG FOR A PET, THOUGHT ANNIE.

Annie keeps trying, putting out a corn cake each evening, but all the applicants for Annie's new pet have their issues. A wildcat is too wild to tame. A brown bear is too grumpy. Annie decides she needs more bait, scattering a whole batch of her popular corn cakes at the edge of the woods, but when a wolf, a giant stag, and a black bear start fighting over the food, Annie despairs of finding a proper pet among these rambunctious applicants.

NOT ONE OF THEM IS SOFT AND FRIENDLY LIKE TAFFY, THOUGHT ANNIE.

This re-issued Yuletide-tinted edition of Jan Brett's Annie and the Wild Animals (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2012, 1985) is a delightful blend of the picturesque and charming Ukrainian setting seen in her classic, The Mitten 20th Anniversary Edition. With its snow-covered cottage and evergreens and the pigtailed Annie's red coveralls, green, handmade sweater, and furry boots, this book is a delight to the eye, with Brett's trademark page frames providing dramatic irony as they foreshadow what comes next, espcially Annie's cat Taffy and her new kittens holed up in the hollow of a forest tree as the robin in the branches and the trilliums among the melting snow foretell Taffy's triumphant return with her three kittens. Classic Brett in a brand-new package!

Three Dojo Dudes! Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz

ONE UPON A DANGEROUS TIME
A WOLF LOVED TO HUFF AND PUFF.
HE'D GO AROUND THE TOWN.
AND BLOW HOUSES DOWN.
TILL THREE LITTLE PIGS CRIED, "ENOUGH!"

Luckily, these are three little pigs of Nippon, so instead of leaving home to seek their fortunes, they head out to the local dojo to learn some martial arts.

The first little pig chooses aikido. and masters a few militant moves, but getting bored, he moves on to build his own little thatched hut, sure that he can take on any mangy marauder. The second little pig selects a second type of martial art, jujitsu, "KIYA!," he calls, as he concludes he now knows quite enough to kayo any wolf that comes down the pike.

"BUT, PIG-SAN, YOU MUST STUDY MORE," THE MASTERS SAY.

But it's Sayonara, Sensei! as the second little pig becomes another dojo dropout, and settles down in his comfy little stick-built house.

The third little pig is more perseverant. She stays in karate school until she becomes herself a master of all the moves.

BY THE TIME SHE WAS THROUGH,
SHE COULD BREAK BOARDS IN TWO
BY PERFORMING A PERFECT PORK CHOP!

Confident in her karate skills, she builds herself a sturdy brick hog home and settles down. But before she can even invite her brothers over for a cup of swill, the Wolf decides it's time to pester pigs again.

The first two pigs face him bravely, but find that they are somewhat lacking!

YO, BACON!" HE HOLLERS.

The imperfectly prepped pigs are soon., shall we say, "blown away" by the Wolf.

"PIGGONE! I WISH I HAD BEEN MORE PREPARED!"

And in the best tradition of this familiar story, it's all up to the third little pig, who quickly teaches the Big Bad Wolf not to mess with a pig in a gi!

Corey Schwartz' fractured fairy tale, The Three Ninja Pigs (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2012) is an unique re-telling of this traditional oft-told tale with an original setting, done up in limerick verses that kids will love. Inventive artist Dan Santat contributes another set of his unique cartoon-styled illustrations that keep the plot moving along until the ninja pig knocks off that pesky predator and provides him with a well-deserved comeuppance.

THREE PIGS FOLLOW THEIR OWN MOJO,
THEY RAN THEIR OWN DOJO...

And presumably live happily ever after.

Gatito Daredevil-ito!: Skippyjon Jones and the Circe de Ole' by Judy Schachner

OH, MY NAME IS SKIPPITO FRISKITO,
AND I'M ONE HANDSOME DARE-DEVILITO.

I'M PHYSICALLY FIT.
EVERY PART. EVERY BIT.

JUST RIGHT FOR A CIRCUS POOCH-ITO.

Circus Berzekus! When her risk-taking kitty boy takes to the heights, Mama Junebug Jones is as worried as a worm in a wading pool and orders Skippy to timeout in his room. But Skippyjon Jones, the Siamese kitty who fancies himself a Chihuahua, vaults from his highwire walk on the telephone wires into his closet-ito, where he travels again  to the land of the Chimchanga Gang, this time in the circus-ito!

Skippyjon, never lacking in derring-do, decides he has the right stuff to challenge superstar Putzi Shtrungleboot, commandeering his costume and mustache-ito and "pumping up" his musculos in preparation for his performance on the flying trapeze and highwire. But Putzi has his own trick under his tights, and the performing pooch-ito finds himself fired from the circus cannon, and the furry, feline acrobat-ito soars out of the tent on a trajectory that takes him back home again.

"SMACK-A-DOODLE-DO!"

Judy Schachner's latest story of her Spanglish-spouting Siamese is back in Skippyjon Jones Cirque de Ole (Dial Books, 2012). Skippito and his Chi-wu-lu imaginary friends are as cheeky as ever in his seventh closet Chihuahua fantasy adventure, and as an added attraction, Schachner adds her own reading of this newest sequel in an included CD. (See the book's perky poochito preview here.)

For double the fur-raising adventures, pair this one with Skippyjon's feline predecessor, Mary Calhoun's beloved Siamese hero, High-Wire Henry.

Snow Time! A Perfect Day by Carin Berger

June's so rare days deserve all the credit they get, but in Carin Berger's brand-new A Perfect Day (Greenwillow, 2012) snowy days in December get their due.

It snowed and snowed, and snowed, and snowed.

The whole world was white.

In Berger's literary day trip, a troop of neighboring kids come out of their cottages into a grand, white world, to engage all in all the wonderful games that children everywhere play when there is a deep new snowfall. They build tall, tall snowmen, graceful snow angels, race downhill on well-laden sleds, and form teams to take on each other in massive snowball fights. The joyous kids play all day, until at last the cold and dark drive them in to dry clothes, hot chocolate, dinner, warm baths, and deep dreams, perhaps of more snow days.

Reminiscent of Ezra Jack Keat's classic The Snowy Day: 50th Anniversary Edition, but with somewhat older children as her subjects, Carin Berger's glowing, softy stylized scenes complement her spare text as her snowfall fills most of each double-page spread, sometimes even inundating the page with pure white against which her cozy cottages, evergreens, and figures seem small, with an almost Grandma Moses primitive landscape ambience.

The New York Times says, "Its images—stark trees and strangely shaped clouds—capture something more elusive, the eerie otherworldliness of a landscape transformed."

Out of a Hat: Baby Penguins Everywhere! by Melissa Guiion

ONCE THERE WAS A PENGUIN.

SHE WAS VERY LONELY.

ONE DAY, SHE SAW SOMETHING FLOATING IN THE WATER...

A HAT.

When that lone penguin on a single ice floe picks up that floating top hat, little does she know that her lonely days are over. An irresistible baby penguin pops out and puts its tiny arms up for her to hold it, and the penguin’s (and the reader’s) heart melts. But then things begin to change fast....

One after another, baby penguins continue to emerge from that magic hat, and soon the penguin is surrounded by a flock of babies, all romping and reaching out to her. She clearly loves playing with them, as they skip with a rope of multicolored ribbons and juggle and toss their little colored balls back and forth. It’s great for the new adoptive mommy, but

SHE WAS VERY, VERY BUSY.

And getting tired, too! She realizes that she is beginning to dream of a few quiet moments to herself, maybe on her own ice floe for a change!

Instant motherhood (which is the way it always seems, actually) can be a matter of adaptation and conditioning, even when the babies are as unbelievably appealing as Melissa Guion’s in her timely snow-filled tale, Baby Penguins Everywhere! (Philomel Books, 2012). Guion’s debut picture book has enormous appeal, with its simple but telling text and elegantly simply and engagingly lovable subjects. A perfect snowy winter tale for January.

What's What? Tell Me about Colors, Shapes, and Opposites by Aurelie Guillerey

WHERE ARE YOU HIDING?

Where can that tricky cat be?

Is he below the bed, on top of the cabinet, or on the bottom? How about beside the chair? Actually, keen observers can point him out, just sneaking out the door of the kids’ bedroom. Did he turn left or right? Is he inside the house or outside? Is he behind the rug on the clothesline? In front? One sharp-eyed tot is pointing up, up to the spot, where a turn of the page shows him in the tree, “Up there!”

With the cat and a curious bird leading the way, the kids go on to more complex concepts, not just size, but–thin, thick, long, twisted, straight–as they help clean up the fallen sticks under the tree, where the cat is still hiding–in their tree house!

From there, the cat takes the kids on to the fun of colors–black, grey, white-- on the street as they make their way to the open air market where they find all sorts of colors in flowers, fruits, and vegetables, and the companionable cat keeps up the pace until they’ve seen them all..

Back at home, it’s time for quiet crafts. The cat curls up in a round ball for a cat nap, modeling the first of the shapes–the circle--followed by the rest of the usual suspects–rectangle, square, triangle.  Kids settle down with their art supplies and cutout shapes and encounter a few other concepts as well–dots, loops checks, stripes, and spots. as they construct pictures from the patchwork pieces.

Now it’s time for a party, and the black cat is on it in a flash as preparations begin. One girl,  alone, works the phones calling up guests, and soon they are all together for the festivities. A line dance is followed by swinging your partner two by two in a do-si-do. And then it’s time for the refreshments–a whole birthday cake, a slice, a section, or a piece! Candy? Many? A few? None at all?

What about going on a little day trip? (The little black cat opts to stay at home when the family heads for the beach. All that water? Ne-ow!)  But the kids are up for sand castling from morning till evening! Their sand sculpture is seen in progress–before and during--the construction process, and sadly after a wave retakes their sand castle.

At last it’s time for good-bye to the beach and hello to home, where you-know-who is waiting for them on their doorstep!

A charming little black cat is the guide, putting tots through their paces in Delphine Badreddine’s Tell Me About Colors, Shapes, and Opposites (Owl Kids Press, 2012) which offers plenty of opportunities for more than vocabulary building in the lively activities illustrated by Aurelie Guillerey,with chances for questions and predicting what will come next. This is a dandy concept book which help teach those important language-linking words, and with their friendly feline guide, kids will want to see what that little black cat is up to next.

Mine! This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers

WILFRED OWNED A MOOSE.

HE HADN'T ALWAYS OWNED A MOOSE.  THE MOOSE CAME TO HIME AWHILE AGO, AND HE KNEW, JUST KNEW, THAT IT WAS MEANT TO BE.

HE THOUGHT HE'D CALL IT MARCEL.

But the trouble with meese, er, mooses, uh,  moose is that they require some training in being a proper pet.

And Wilfred is just the lad for that. He's a boy for whom rules are a pleasure, not a pain in the patootie. He draws up a list of moose maxims, such as

RULE 1: NO MAKING NOISE WHILE WILFRED IS LISTENING TO HIS RECORD COLLECTION.

Marcel seems to find it amenable to remain mum during music appreciation time, but he absolutely ignores RULE 7.

GO WHICHEVER WAY WILFRED WANTS TO GO.

Marcel is a total scofflaw on that one, and Wilfred finds himself doing more following of Marcel than leading, trekking in his moose's tracks over the mountains and through the woods until he comes to a cottage where a woman runs out the door and greets his moose too enthusiastically:

"RODRIGO! YOU'RE BACK!"

There seems to be a question of ownership here, and Wilfred seems to have lost out to the old woman's apple supply. Marcel ignores him and Wilfred sadly heads back through the wilderness for home. Is this the end of the road for Wilfred and Marcel?

Nope. There's one more rule that Marcel unexpectedly manages to follow:

RULE 73: RESCUE YOUR OWNER FROM PERILOUS SITUATIONS.

If there is a moral to this pet-owner's parable, it is surely that you can't be a master to a moose. But he can be your friend--when he wants to.

Oliver Jeffers latest, This Moose Belongs to Me (Philomel, 2012) abandons his minimalist style in his Stuck or The New Sweater: The Hueys, Book 1 (see my reviews here), choosing instead rather a lavish natural setting of what resembles Rocky Mountain backdrops, with snow-topped peaks and rows of evergreens, while his Wilfred, who somehow resembles a rather stiff and reserved Charlie Brown, tries to impose a rigorous regime upon his unconcerned would-be pet. It is Jeffers' wry approach that makes the absurdity of this tale of a boy and his adopted moose both preposterous and totally natural at the same time.

As Publishers Weekly puts it, "The moose may not belong to Wilfred, but the laughs certainly belong to Jeffers.

Procrastinator's Progress: On My Way to the Bath by Sarah Maizes

"BATHTIME!"

I DO NOT LIKE TO TAKE A BATH.

BATHS ARE BORING. EVERYTHING IS MORE FUN THAN BATHS.

And everything is what Livi does on the way to the bath. Her mom is waiting. The water is warm and sudsy. Her yellow rubber duckie is ready to ride the waves. But Livi has a few more things yet to do.

ON MY WAY TO THE BATH, I PASS THROUGH A JUNGLE.

A THICK, DARK JUNGLE.

OH, NO! QUICKSAND! I SWING TO SAFETY!

Mom grows ever more exasperated with her tardy daughter as the bath water grows tepid.

"TODAY, LIVI!!"

But the Livi's inventive imagination finds lots of ways to get to the bathroom. She turns into a snake and slithers out of the living room, flicking her long forked tongue at her brother. She decides to stop off at the TV room and construct a complete effigy of herself from her blocks, left conveniently all over the floor. She marches down the hall, a tuba player in a brass band.

BWWWAAAH!

"I MEAN IT, LIVI!!! DO YOU HEAR ME!!!"

But on the way she hears music from her big sister's room and steps inside to do her impression of a rock 'n' roller. Then she is a world class gymnast, executing perfect moves, a military leader rousing her guinea pigs to follow her to victory, Finally she arrives at the bathroom door, her fuming mother waiting beside the still unoccupied tub.

I AM A JUNGLE CAT.

I WAIT. I STALK.

I POUNCE!

ROOWWRR!

"GET IN!"

As parents know, the only thing harder than getting a procrastinating kid into the bathtub is getting the kid OUT! Suddenly the now-cooling suds are the most fun thing in the world because--(as all kids know) the next event is bedtime, and who wants to go there when there's so much fun still to be had? Sarah Maizes' new On My Way to the Bath (Walker, 2012) is a fresh and funny look at the battle of the bath, ably and comically illustrated by Michael Paraskevas, who brings Livi's suds-time fantasies hilariously to life as she slowly faces the inevitable dousing. And true to kid form, once in the water Livi's imagination is further fired by the possibilities. She's clean, she's still having fun, and she's staying put.

"OKAY, LIVI! TIME TO GET OUT!!

LIVI?"

I'M A SHARK....

This clever new addition to the annals of bathtime lit is a real charmer, right down to its delightful endpapers, with the opening vista a clueless rubber duckie, placidly swimming the suds, and the closing endpapers showimg that same oblivious duckie with a shark's fin cutting through the water, heading straight for him.

"... sure to be a crowd-pleaser in storytimes, classrooms, and laps everywhere," says School Library Journal.

DON'T FORGET TO WAKE THE DRAGONS BEFORE SCHOOL.

LOVE,
MOM

“Let sleeping dragons lie” is the watchword of fantasy tales, but in this little knight’s case, that is NOT an option. MOM SAID!

But a dragon is a drag to get out of bed. Even the smoke from his nostrils is barely rising!

DRAGONS WAKE UP.

DRAGONS RISE.

DRAGONS OPEN

DRAGONS’ EYES.

Already up and at ‘em and in his armor and greaves, our little knight still quails a bit, looking eyeball to eyeball with a bleary-eyed dragon who would rather stay in bed. But his mom said to wake the dragon, and our knight knows his duty and is determined to do it. He drags the dragon’s covers off and get him to the sink for a fang-brushing, with the little knight manhandling the dragon-sized toothbrush, and then it’s off to the kitchen to break their fast.

Dragon is still draggin’, but luckily there is a handy labor-saving device for those tasty waffles. Our knight knows his way around siege machines and soon puts his toy catapult to work tossing waffles right into dragon’s mouth. Then it’s time to jam the used jammies into the hamper, find their backpacks, and then–forget the big yellow bus: it’s time to get to Knight School the fun way:

INTO THE SKY,

WHERE DRAGONS
GET TO FLY.

It’s a light-hearted look at getting off to school on dragonback for Jane Yolen and Derek Anderson in their delightful new book, Waking Dragons (Simon & Schuster, 2012). Award-winning fantasy writer Jane Yolen knows from dragons, and to her rhythmic rhymes Derek Anderson plays the trusty illustrative squire in this eye-opening humorous morning tale which really takes off. A cheery morning read-aloud or a fine book for those "early" emergent readers to try out their word attack skills.

Meet the PuzzleMeister: The Puzzler's Mansion by Eric Berlin



Winston Breen had never been in trouble before–-not this much trouble.

His lab partner was a girl named Pamela Cassetti. She was absent the day Winston landed in the principal’s office, and that was probably half the problem right there. If Pamela had been around, Winston might have paid more attention to today’s experiment.

But no. Winston’s eyes settled on some glass beakers, drying by the sink. They reminded him of a puzzle he had seen, and he wondered if he could recreate it. There was plenty of time left to get his experiment done, so he took the three beakers to his table and examined them.

It’s an intriguing puzzle, involving one water-filled 8-ounce beaker, one empty 5-ounce and one empty 3-ounce beaker from which the solver has to produce one with exactly 4 ounces in one without discarding any liquid. Winston is soon totally zoned out, and Mrs. Haider notices he’s totally off-task. And when she calls him down on it, Winston is so befuddled that he manages to break all three beakers in his haste to put them away. Mrs. Haider goes ballistic.

Winston’s parents lower the boom on him. This is not the first problem Winston has been having during the first weeks of seventh grade, all because of his tendency to lose himself in  puzzles when classes gets boring. Faced with a grounding and moratorium on puzzles, even Winston wonders if his penchant for puzzles is turning into a mal-adaptive compulsion.

Will Winston be compelled to give up puzzling?

But just as Winston finishes his puzzle-free punishment, he gets an amazing opportunity: his mentor, curio-shop proprietor Mr. Penrose, invites him and his friends Mal and Jake to a puzzle weekend at the mansion of Richard Overton, virtuoso pianist and dedicated puzzlemaster.

The mansion is everything the boys imagine, and the guests and their ‘tweener children, mostly celebrities of music and show business, turn out to be skillful puzzle-solvers, too. Winston is in near nirvana.

But there is trouble in puzzle paradise. Overton’s valuable puzzle prizes are stolen, one at a time, the first one from a locked room, and Winston and his buddies are soon deep into a puzzling crime mystery. The other young guests, the sulky Zook, a shoplifter by his dad’s own admission, is the first suspect, but then the supercilious Amanda is caught snooping around in the many nooks and crannies of the huge house, and it seems that almost everyone is both a suspect and a sleuth.

Between solving Richard’s puzzles, the kids find themselves turning into a team of detectives in a case which eventually leads them into secret passageways beneath the mansion and its grounds and a completely unlikely suspect, in Eric Berlin’s third puzzler novel, The Puzzler's Mansion: The Puzzling World of Winston Breen (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2012). As always, Berlin builds in lots of brainteasing puzzles along with a a mystery plot which accelerates, slowly at first, to culminate in a (literally) smashing climax. Along the way Winston learns more than new puzzling skills as he sees how Overton, a world-famous concert pianist, and his other accomplished guests have managed to integrate their careers and puzzle mania into successful lives. As Overton tells him,

“Whatever your passion is–even if you’re great at it–it can’t be the only thing you do. If you do, you’ll be great at that one thing...and bad at everything else.”

Eric Berlin not only fills his narrative with engaging puzzles to please his readers, but includes an extensive appendix of  even more brain twisters (with answers) . The puzzles from the story can also be downloaded and printed at www.winstonbreen.com.

The previous puzzle-themed books in this series include The Puzzling World of Winston Breen and The Potato Chip Puzzles: The Puzzling World of Winston Breen.

Careful What You Wish For! Rabbit's Snow Dance by Joseph and James Bruchac

Rabbits didn't always have short tails, you know.

LONG AGO RABBIT HAD A VERY LONG, BEAUTIFUL TAIL.

BUT EVEN THOUGH HIS TAIL WAS LONG, HIS PATIENCE WAS SHORT.

You see, Rabbit was gifted with great big, showshoe feet, and in winter when the snow was very deep, he could jump up to  the  spring buds sleeping on all the branches and make a fine meal of them. Rabbit prefers the buds above all other foods. But in summer, when there was no deep snow, he can't quite leap high enough to get all he wants.

All the other animals are quite pleased with summer, but Rabbit is too impatient to wait for the changing of the seasons.

"I WANT IT. I WANT IT. I WANT IT... RIGHT NOW!" HE WOULD SAY.

AS EVERYONE KNOWS, IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO SNOW IN THE SUMMER.

RABBIT, THOUGH, WAS IMPATIENT.

"I WANT SNOW. I WANT SNOW. I WANT SNOW!"

Now, in addition to his long tail, Rabbit is gifted with a special drum and some magical words, and he is not afraid to use them to get what he wants when he wants it.

I WILL MAKE IT SNOW!

AZIKANAPO! AZIKANAPO! AZIKANAPO!

YO YO YO!"

Although Rabbit knows that what he is doing is wrong for the season, he continues to beat his drum and chant, and sure enough, snow begins to fall on the summer woods. Rabbit keeps it up despite the warnings from Otter, Chipmunk, and Squirrel that bringing snow too soon is going to end badly.

As the snow piles deeper and deeper over the grass, Rabbit is soon gorging himself on the tender leaves and buds, and when the snow reaches the upper branches, he is too full and too tired to keep up his chanting, so he falls asleep in the treetops.

But Rabbit doesn't control the sun, and when the summer day breaks the next day and the sun's heat reaches the snowfall, it begins to melt quickly, so fast that when Rabbit wakes up, he finds the deep snow gone and himself high and dry in the tiny branches at the top of a tree. Now, Rabbit is a great jumper, but he is not a great climber like Squirrel and Chipmunk, and when he tries to get down, his big feet trip him up, and he falls down, down, down, through the branches he has stripped, leaving tufts of his glorious tail behind him. By the time he hits the ground, his tail is tiny and his proud willfulness has shrunk as well.

TO THIS DAY, RABBIT HAS A SHORT TAIL.

In his latest, Rabbit's Snow Dance (Dial Books, 2012), Joseph Bruchac shares his considerable skills in translating Native American folklore into the modern idiom, assisted here by son James and by artist Jeff Newman, whose angular, modernistic cartoon illustrations bring the point of this porquoi (why) story home to roost. As many another cautionary tale from many cultures teaches, "be careful what you wish for" (because you might get it!). Bruchac is the master of the "It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature" tale, as many of his popular folklore stories show.

Modern kids will love chanting Rabbit's toddler tantrum lines along with the book, but will also get the theme behind this seasonal snow story. As the Rolling Stones told us, "You can't always get what you want!"

Houston, We Have a Problem: Mousetronaut by Mark Kelly

The space shuttle was set for a launch and the astronauts are doing their last-minute training.

NASA is sending along some special guests for this flight, and they are training, too!

One mouse was smaller than the rest. His name was Meteor.

Being a lightweight is actually not a bad thing in space, but Meteor knows he has to be the best mouse he can be to qualify for the mission, and he is proud when he succeeds in making the team.

The launch goes well and soon the whole crew is in space, each one busy with his duties, and Meteor discovers that he loves free-floating around his enclosure just like the rest of the crew. But then, something happens that could bring disaster to their whole mission:

...One astronaut noticed the key to the control panel stuck between the monitors.

When he tries to get it out, it gets wedged farther down.

"This isn't good," he said.

And for squeezing into a very narrow space, there is only one on board who has the right stuff!

Meteor retrieves the key and saves the mission, in astronaut Mark Kelly's Mousetronaut: Based on a (Partially) True Story (Paula Wiseman Books) (Simon & Schuster, 2012). Kelly tells this "partially true tale" well, appropriately illustrated by noted artist C.F. Payne, who is equally facile with the astronautical hardware, the spacescape outside, and the characters, both human and rodent, in this story. Kelly's afterword points out that his inspiration for his intrepid mouse hero was the smallest mouse on his Endeavor mission, the only one who refused to cling to his cage and seemed to enjoy weightlessness throughout the mission. Kelly's afterword also includes links to space-related games, activities, and information for small would-be astronaut readers.

..."sure to please many fellow pipsqueaks back on Earth," says The New York Times reviewer.

Meet the Prince!: Ella Ballerina and the Nutcracker by James Mayhew

ELLA BALLERINA’S BALLET CLASS WAS ABOUT TO BEGIN.  OUTSIDE THE OLD THEATER IT HAD STARTED TO SNOW, WHILE INSIDE, THE CHILDREN WERE VERY EXCITED.

“IT’S THE PERFECT WEATHER FOR TODAY’S LESSON,” SMILED MADAME ROSA, LEADING THEM TO THE STAGE.

On the stage is a glittering tree, and the students are surprised to begin their warm-up on stage with holiday scenery, but with a mysterious smile, Madame Rosa motions for them to follow her backstage, all the while relating the story of the Nutcracker and Clara’s visit to a fairy kingdom.

“I’D LOVE TO TELL YOU MORE OF THE STORY, BUT THEN  WE WOULDN’T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR SURPRISE.... FOLLOW ME!”

“A PARTY!” GASPED THE CHILDREN.

Beautifully decorated tables laden with Christmas treats await them, and the students are delighted, but then Madame Rosa remembers something left behind.

“ELLA BALLERINA, WOULD YOU FETCH THE MUSIC BOX?” SHE ASKED.

“THEN WE CAN HAVE SOME MUSIC FOR DANCING AT OUR PARTY!”

Ella hurries back into the darkened theater for the music box, but can’t resist opening it to hear that tinkling music that reminds her of the snowflakes outside. But when she does, she notices a figure under the tree, that of an older girl in a white nightdress, clutching a large nutcracker, and just waking up. She tells Ella her name is Clara and begins to tell her a story that sounds so familiar, how her mischievous brother Fritz has broken the clever nutcracker her uncle had given her. Then suddenly Ella notices something frightful.

"WE ARE SURROUNDED BY MICE!”

As so Ella finds herself part of the story of the Nutcracker as she and Clara defeat the Mouse King, release the Prince from the evil spell, and travel with him to the Land of Sweets for a whirlwind tour led by the Sugar Plum Fairy.

James Mayhew’s just-out installment in his ballet series, Ella Bella Ballerina and The Nutcracker (Barron’s, 2012) introduces young ballet fans to the famous Christmas ballet that all young dancers yearn for this time of year. Mayhew’s lovely watercolor illustrations set just the right fanciful tone for this dreamlike reenactment of the well-known story, the wonders of the land of the nutcracker king
as seen by a young ballerina like themselves.

Other books in this series include Ella Bella Ballerina and Cinderella, Ella Bella Ballerina and Swan Lake, and Ella Bella Ballerina and The Sleeping Beauty, a collection that is sure to delight balletomane fans of Marilyn Singer’s Tallulah books and Grace Maccarone’s Miss Lina's Ballerinas series.

Boom Boom Boom! Christmas Parade by Sandra Boynton

BOOM biddy BOOM biddy BOOM BOOM BOOM!

WHAT'S THAT SOUND THAT FILLS THE ROOM?

We're in luck! It's a Christmas parade!  A little pig hurries to peer out the window and see the players go by with their instruments.

Marching at the head of the formation is Elephant on the bass drum, followed by chickens on bassoons, hippos on snares, ratta-tat-tatting. Next come two cows on saxophones and three mice on piccolos, tootling away, Sliding their slides over the heads of the mice are ducks on trombones. A Santa Claus Rhino rides royally by on his own special float, followed by none other than a bird blurping loud tuba notes.

And then, just as quickly as it came, the Christmas Parade is over! The little pig is  sad. Now what does he have to look forward to?

The red-and-while stocking just waiting to be hung on his bedpost should give him a clue about what to do on Christmas Eve, in the bright-new board book edition of her classic, Christmas Parade (Simon, 2012), complete with jolly hippo drummers marching by on the endpapers and filled with that irresistibly charming  Boynton rhymes and illustrations for the holiday season.

On the Feast of Stephen: Good King Wenceslas illustrated by Omar Rayyan

From a tall, narrow window, King Wenceslas watched the sun hang on crimson clouds and die away. There, against a row of shadowy trees was a dark speck--a man, perhaps, stooped and serching for wood to warm his family.

"Come quickly, lad," called the King. "Look! Do you see him?"

"Is he one of us?"

"No, Sire," said his page. "None of us would be out there!"

On a mission to teach his young page the meaning of Christmas, King Wenceslas takes him out into the snow and darkness to bring food and cheer to the home of the peasant they see from the window of the king's chamber. This newly illustrated version of the familiar carol, often heard but not so often sung in its entirety.  Good King Wenceslas (Deseret, 2012), is retold by Jane Seymour and extravagantly illustrated by Omar Rayyan, both narrative and lyrics  illustrating the old carol's evergreen message:

Therefore, Christian men, be sure,
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor,
Shall yourselves find blessing.

Seymour's stately retelling and Rayyan's sumptuous medieval-style illustrations make this one more than just another holiday story, augumented as it is by text boxes explaining the history of knights, castles and pages and with an accompanying CD of actress Jane Seymour's reading and the music of the carol performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Each Christmas brings its own beautiful book, such as Newbery authors Kate DiCamillo's Great Joy and Linda Sue Park's The Third Gift, both coincidentally and exquisitely illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. Good King Wenceslas, with its glorious illustrations and timely retelling of the blessings of charity, seems to be that book for this season.