CHOO CHOO, Stay, I Say!! How to Train a Train by Jason Carter Eaton

"IT'S ONLY NATURAL THAT YOU'LL WANT TO TAKE HOME ALL THE TRAINS, BUT DON'T JUST GRAB THE FIRST ONE YOU SEE.

TAKE YOUR TIME AND CHOOSE THE ONE THAT'S RIGHT FOR YOU."

Over the literary ages storybook kids have chosen some weird pets, all right--dragons, giant snakes, crocodiles, dinosaurs. (You know those stories, right?) So it's not too much of a huff puff down the mental track to imagine that a train might be the ideal pet for certain kids. Trains come in all sizes and shapes--hoary old steam engines with cowcatchers up front or sleek, bullet-like monorails. But whatever they look like, they need to be watered, washed, and taught how to behave just like any pet. And for that you need a guide book! Enter Jason Carter Eaton's newest, How to Train a Train (Candlewick Press, 2013).

Eaton opens with some advice about approaching a potential pet train.

"IF YOU BROUGHT SOME COAL WITH YOU, NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO OFFER IT.

TRY SAYING, 'MY, WHAT A HANDSOME TRAIN YOU ARE!'

WELL DONE!  HERE IT COMES!!"

Eaton's helpful train training instructions continue, and in no time the pet train is rolling over, listening to sleepytime train stories, and letting the child ride him. Still, trains can be contrary and there are always silly "train tricks" to be gotten through in the process. But good train owners are empathetic with their charges.

"LEARN TO KNOW YOUR TRAIN.  HOW DOES IT FEEL ABOUT BRIDGES AND TUNNELS?" 

Eaton's text catches the slightly quaint retro tone of a child's guide to pet care as he puts his young would-be train owners through their paces, with much assistance from the detailed and dramatic artwork of notable illustrator John Rocco, whose sturdy and comic pictures give this wry fantasy substance and humor. Rocco shows his pet train tracking up the carpet with coal dust, an anxious engine getting a soothing warm bath at the water stop, and a sympathetic child pulling his nervous-Nellie steam engine over a trestle above an intimidating gorge. Combining the concept of trains and pets is a novel approach, and Rocco's many humorous touches throughout make this whimsical takeoff on pet ownership a trainload of fun that will be scheduling a lot of storytime return trips.

After the Bath Comes...: On My Way to Bed by Sarah Maizes

"I AM NOT READY FOR BED.

BED IS FOR TIRED PEOPLE. I AM NOT A TIRED PERSON.

I STILL HAVE ENERGY."

Livi, the Princess of Procrastination, Milady of Dillydally, the Diva of Dawdle, is back, her fertile fancy unquenched by her debut dunking in the nightly bath, again confronts the irresistible force....

"BEDTIME, LIVI!"

Livi is hula hooping in the living room when the call comes from Mom. But Livi finds ways to make her progress toward bedtime a non-stop adventure.

"I AM IN A CIRCUS--TEETERING ON THE HIGH WIRE.  THE CROWD HOLDS ITS BREATH...."

Livi is a rolling stone of inspiration, but Mom is a rock of resolve.

Livi tries more fantasy inventions on her way to brush her teeth: she is a dentist checking her little brother's stuffed animals for cavities. On her way she snatches up a dropped towel for a cape and becomes a famous magician, until through her door she spots her sister's space project in progress, whereupon she becomes an astronaut piloting her spaceship. Livi daydreams her way slowly down the hall, while Mom waxes adamant:

"IN BED...  NOW!" 

Even in bed, Livi's ingenuity doesn't lag.

"WATER! IT'S A DESERT IN HERE!"

And when at last all the bedtime stalls are exhausted and she's snuggled down, warm and cozy, Livi's imagination doesn't fail her as she slips into her cave and begins her hibernation.

"I'M A BEAR...."

Sleep time is ever scintillating with Livi along, in Sarah Maizes' further adventures in bedtime avoidance, On My Way to Bed (Walker, 2013).  Although it may delay lights out a bit, you have to pair this one with author Maizes' first book, On My Way to the Bath (see my 2012 review here). Illustrator Michael Paraskevas' hilarious and detailed illustrations of Livi's flights of fancy are a good way to sneak up on bedtime for parent and child.  As Kirkus says, "It's hard to resist her final wail--"I don't want to miss anything!"--which reveals what's really been going on here. Livi's imaginative play takes the experience to an entirely superior level."

'S No Fun? Winter Is For Snow by Robert Neubecker

WINTER IS WONDERFUL.
WINTER IS FOR SNOW!

Big brother is a world class snow enthusiast. Waking up and seeing the snow covering the town sets him off into a frenzy of suiting up for a day in the snow.

His sister? Not so much.

WINTER IS COLD AND DAMP.
IT MUST BE TEN BELOW!

LEAVE ME ALONE!

Sis's idea of a snow day is no day in the snow, a day to stay inside with her iPad and central heating! It's almost a snow impasse, but big brother's passion gradually coaxes his sister into parka, mittens, and boots. He sweetens the deal by giving her a ride down the snowy street on his toboggan as he points out the glories of snow and rhapsodizes about the fun they are going to have.

WINTER IS FOR SNOWBALL FIGHTS,
FOR SLEDDING DOWN THE HILLS.
WINTER IS FOR SKATING RINGS
AND SPEEDY CHILLY THRILLS.

Sis grudgingly sits on the sled, but she still has to voice her opinion.

I'D RATHER WATCH A SHOW!

But winter works its wonders even on this snow resistor as the two reach the park and join the other kids in the fun of a day of snow play. Sis takes her turn sledding down the hill, building a snow fort, socking her brother with a snowball, and catching snowflakes on her tongue with delight, finally agreeing that snow's not so bad after all. Winter is for snow, and the two stick it out until it begins to get dark in the park, in Robert Neubecker's Winter Is for Snow (Hyperion, 2013).

Neubecker's homey cityscape filling up with snow appears somehow appealingly warm and inviting, despite his little sister's nay-saying, and the author's page design sets up a humorous bit of sibling rivalry by setting the dialog in different colors. It is a nice twist on the snowy day theme which gives snow lovers and snow avoiders their say and ends, as should all snowy day sagas, with hot chocolate and a warm and cozy window with snow continuing to come down outside. Even the book's cover, with its textured, sparkly flakes, makes the case for snow. School Library Journal calls this one a "simple, rhythmic paean to a city snowfall."

We Go Together....: You Are the Pea, And I Am the Carrot by J. Theron Elkins

WE BELONG TOGETHER.

A MATCH THIS GOOD IS RARE.

TOGETHER WE'RE JUST BETTER.

WE'RE AN APPETIZING PAIR.

Peas and carrots make a delish dish. But how about mac 'n' cheese, biscuits and jam, yogurt and blueberries, zesty dressing and a lettuce wedge, or a hot dog with relish?

Young readers will relish J. Theron Elkins' brand-new pea parable of perfect blendship in food and friendship, You Are the Pea, and I Am the Carrot (Abrams, 2013). Caramel and vanilla bean ice cream, ice cubes and sweet tea, pancakes and syrup, and burgers and chips, all combos that have a natural affinity for each other, are emblematic of the ways of friendship, illustrated with simple wit and and appeal by Pascal LeMaitre. But there's a little more than a salute to the Food Channel here, as Elkins' human narrators enjoy comparing their pairing with favorite food combos, thanks to LeMaitre's tongue-in-cheek cartoons. Good friends stick together like peanut butter and jelly in a lunch box sandwich. A showcase of inventive foodie anthropomorphism and sweet silliness," says Publishers Weekly.

Tripping the Light Fantastic: Fancy Nancy: Budding Ballerina by Jane O'Connor

I LOVE BALLET.  MY FRIEND BREE AND I GO TO CLASS EVERY WEEK.

WE DO NOT DANCE ON OUR TOES YET. BUT ONE DAY WE WILL.

After class Nancy and Bree show off their new moves to Nancy's family. They demonstrate their plie and their arabesque, and JoJo and even Daddy follow suit. But when Dad attempts a grand tour jete' he lands on his derriere rather than his toes!

Suddenly Nancy has a grand idea! She will open her own school of la dans, Nancy's Dancing Academy!

And in ten minutes Nancy's studio is ready, and la classe is in session. Daddy shows up in shorts and sneakers, apologizing good-naturedly:

"OH! I FORGOT MY TUTU!"

It's all in good fun as Daddy plays Le Buffoon with great humor and elan, in Jane O'Connor's latest little Nancy Clancy story, Fancy Nancy: Budding Ballerina (Harper Festival, 2013), with even Frenchy, Nancy's dog, getting into the act. Fun reading for those budding ballerinas who dote on ballet stories, one which dads should enjoy reading aloud to their en pointe-struck daughters. Pair this one with O'Connor's Fancy Nancy: Puppy Party for a perfect picture book pas de deux.

Zen in the Sands of Time: How Roland Rolls by Jim Carrey

SOMEWHERE...

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DEEP BLUE SEA,

A WAVE NAMED ROLAND CAME TO BE.

Roland first sees the light of day as a wee ripple, but as his sort do, he begins to build, and before you know it, Roland is rolling along as a swell (sorry 'bout that!) wave.

Roland rolls across the surface with big dreams and an inchoate longing for a friend. Dolphins rise and surf along on his occasional crest, but then sink beneath the sea. Passing whales breach briefly and soon slip away among the waves with only a passing comradely glance. Sea birds dive and surface around him, but sadly, their ticklish feathered friendship is flighty and fleeting, too. Roland longs for something more.

And then he meets his soul mate, a lovely wave named Shimmer, whose glimmer is beguiling and who is ready to roll along with Roland wherever time and tide take them.

But there's the rub! Roland soon learns that his ocean is not all of what there is. Somewhere there's land, and where there's land, there's a beach, and where there's a beach, waves must break. And then,... WHAT?

The sizable sales of actor Jim Carrey's new How Roland Rolls (Some Kind of Garden Media, 2013) seem to be saying, with its Zen-like premise, that primary schoolers can grasp the concept of the demise of the individual as he merges with the universal mind, a religious philosophy of venerable standing:

WE'RE NOT LITTLE WAVES.

WE'RE THE BIG WIDE OCEAN!

IN ALL OF THE RIVERS....

IN ALL OF THE STREAMS...

THE PUDDLES, THE POOLS, AND MOM'S IRON WHEN IT STEAMS.

It's not Miss Nelson's water cycle lesson, for sure.

Celebrity literary ventures tends to be a mixed lot at best. The "professional" reviewers seem to have opted out of reviewing this one, although Carrey's co-celebrities have not shared that reticence. Indeed the picture book format  seems a strange vehicle for a parable drawn from Buddhist belief, (although it can be said to work just as well as a lesson on that ever-popular science subject, the water cycle.)  Rob Nason's artwork is pleasant and engaging, doing what it can to give a wave a unique personality, a dicey proposition at best, given Roland's changeable persona. Average kids may find this one a bit bemusing, and it's definitely not for everyone, but some may find the concept novel and intriguing.

Pair this one with some of Jon Muth's Zen stories, such as his Caldecott-winning Zen Shorts (Caldecott Honor Book).

Ad Astra: How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers

ONCE THERE WAS A BOY
AND THE BOY LOVED STARS VERY MUCH.

Stargazing is good, but not enough for this boy, He wants to have a star he can hold in his hands.

He watches from his window through the night, hoping that a star will get tired and float down to him. It doesn't. He tries to lasso the star with a life preserver on a long rope. He misses.

He climbs a tree and reaches as high as he can, but he's not nearly high enough.

He knows that his paper rocket isn't really going anywhere.

It's hard to get close enough to a star to make friends.

Sadly the boy walks along the seaside and sees a star, just floating by. But when he reaches for it, it slips through his hands and away under the surface. But then on the beach, he sees a star, high and dry on the sand, one he can take home and keep for himself.

SOMETIMES YOU REACH FOR THE STARS AND MISS... AND REACH SOMETHING MUCH BETTER.

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?" wrote poet Robert Browning, and that is the boy's dilemma here. What he thinks he must have is far beyond his reach. Or is it? In Oliver Jeffers' How to Catch a Star (Philomel, 2014), his starstruck protagonist discovers that a star in the hand is worth two in the sky.

Of course, there is a lot more to Jeffers' little fable here, which youngsters will sense if not fully comprehend--the longing for a soulmate,  the conquest of the world in which we find ourselves, or the simple desire to possess something beautiful. As illustrator, Jeffers hints at the symbolic nature of his story by making his stars as asymmetrical as a child's sketch, his trees vaguely round shapes done with a couple of swipes of paint, changing from blue to gold to orange to show the time of day, and his star seeker a simple stick figure, all ambiguous enough to become whatever the viewer wants it to be and yet clearly what it represents. Jeffers' story is pensive, yet humorous, respectful to a child's yearning for something he can't quite possess.

Read this one along with Kevin Henkes' 2005 Caldecott-winning Kitten's First Full Moon, a similarly themed-story with a much different artistic execution, and ask "How are these stories the same and how are they different?" You may be a little starstruck by what you hear.

Second Grade Challenge: The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

While Billy was eating his pancakes, Papa reread aloud the letter that Mrs. Silver, the second grade teacher, had sent.

In the letter, Mrs. Silver said that second grade would be "a safe, happy year of growth" and "a wonderful, joyful, exciting challenge."

Billy stopped chewing when he heard the word challenge. He put his fork down and touched the lump on his head.  He didn't want a challenge.

"Papa?" said Billy.

"Will I be smart enough for second grade?"

Billy Miller is worried. He fell off the statue of the Jolly Green Giant on his family vacation and got quite a lump on his head.  Since then, he's been thinking that maybe he's not as smart as he should be.  And now there's the challenge of second grade.

The challenge gets off to a bad start. Fascinated with the two chopsticks Mrs. Silver wears to keep her bun in place, Billy plops down next to his best friend Ned and immediately gets on the wrong side of the new girl, Emma.

Her eyes were slits, her arms were crossed and her fingers were drumming on her elbows.

"Excuse me," she said. "You're sitting at my place." She paused. "Unless your name is Emma Sparks, too. Then we have a problem."

Emma clearly doesn't find Billy Miller up to the challenge. And when Billy tries to get even with Emma by using two markers to make horns on his head, Mrs. Silver seems to think he's making fun of her chopsticks. Second grade is not looking good so far.

Billy is determined to impress Mrs. Silver with his habitat diorama. Dad helps him line his shoe box with dark gray crumpled paper to look like a cave, and Billy works hard to make a soaring bat seem to fly though the cave, and he is pleased with his product. That is, until his pesky three-year-old sister Sal, who is in the glitter-art stage, "improves" his project by shaking silver sprinkles all over it. But Mrs. Silver tells him how clever he was to show the mica in the rocks inside his cave, and Billy thinks maybe Mrs. Silver believes he is smart enough after all.

As the days of second grade go by, Billy's lump goes away, he seems to get smarter and smarter, and by the end of the year, he is proud to recite his original poem in front of everyone for parents' day.

He read his poem into the microphone from beginning to end in a voice that was made so big and loud and wide it seemed to bounce beyond the walls of school, reaching to the world outside, to the moon.

In his latest, The Year of Billy Miller (HarperCollins, 2013), Kevin Henkes, winner of both Caldecott and Newbery Awards, has fashioned a funny, sweet, and heartwarming story of  Billy Miller's year.  Billy's story is remarkable in the way growing up, little by little, is remarkable, and Henkes shows his insight into the psychology of youngsters just as he did in his delightful best-selling Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and his poignant Newbery Honor Book, Olive's Ocean.  Pleasantly illustrated by Henkes (who earned a Caldecott Award for his art in his Kitten's First Full Moon,) this story of family and school life is a great beginning chapter book for primary graders. As Horn Book's starred review sums it up: "A vivid yet secure portrait of a boy coming into his confidence . . . [with] a comfortable rhythm perfectly suited to young readers. . . . Nuanced and human.”

Conflict Resolution: Pip and Posy: the Snowy Day by Axel Scheffler

IT WAS A VERY SNOWY DAY.  PIP AND POSY WANTED TO GO OUT AND PLAY.

WHEREVER THEY WALKED, THEY LEFT BIG FOOTPRINTS. THEY CAUGHT SNOWFLAKES ON THEIR TONGUES. THEY EVEN MADE SNOW ANGELS.  

The two friends, bundled up warmly in woolly mittens and scarves and waterproof boots, are having  all kinds of snowy day fun. They admire the distinctive snow angels they have made, and that makes them want to make something else--a snowman.

Working together happily, they roll up and stack the three snow spheres and add a smiling face.  But their warm feelings quickly cool when they try determine which kind of snow critter it is. Pip wants to make a snow rabbit with long ears like his.  Posy prefers a snow mouse with round ears like hers.

"SNOW RABBIT!"

"SNOW MOUSE!"

A compromise--one short round ear and one long pointy ear--looks simply silly. Tempers get hot and their friendship quickly chills.

POSY WAS SO MAD AT PIP THAT SHE THREW THE SNOW CREATURE'S HEAD AT HIM.

Push comes to shove, and the former friends are soon having a full-fledged snow fight!  Even the watching crow in each illustration seems to be croaking, "nevermore."

Their mittens soaked and their scarves soggy,  their friendship seemingly turned frosty, Pip and Posy are at a snow day impasse, in Axel Scheffler's latest tale of two friends, Pip and Posy: The Snowy Day (Nosy Crow Books, 2013).  It's time to leave the cold behind and warm up inside, where the two old friends chill out over cups of hot chocolate, in the fifth book in Scheffler's delightful Pip and Posy series. Scheffler's text is spare but sparkling, and his artwork and page design are admirable, with their heavy blackline drawings and font and strong watercolored drawings showing two old friends working out their differences on their own. Kirkus Reviews says, "Just the ticket for children who are developing social skills and learning what it is to be a friend."

Framing It: Drawing Out the Story: Ten Secrets to Creating Your own Comics by Brian McLachlan

Comics are all about telling stories.

Just like music, films, and novels, comics are a way to share a message. How you draw, use word balloons, and design characters are all important, but they're not the main thing. What matters is whether each element helps tell your story.

Comics can tell any kind of story. Whether you want to create horror or comedy, biography, or fantasy, all comics use the same building blocks to move the story from your mind to the page.

Telling stories in comic form has a visual language all its own, and for kids who dream of creating the next superhero or the next Wimpy Kid series, Brian McLachlan's Draw Out the Story: Ten Secrets to Creating Your Own Comics (OwlKids Books, 2013) unpacks the visual language of comics, beginning with the simplest concept  (time passes from left to right in cartoon strips) to the most complex literary allusions (teen vampires go to Bram Stoker High).  McLachlan's slim book, divided into easily assimilated sections, is aimed at the young adult novice and is packed with  a lot of information that the casual comics reader scarcely notices.

Take format for example: Comics can consist of one panel (think The Far Side), with or without caption, a vignette, or strip of several panels (think Calvin and Hobbes, or For Better or Worse), manga and graphic novels (think Dogs of War) and hybrid comic/novel (think Big Nate or Diary of a Wimpy Kid).

The author takes the reader through the cartoonist's toolkit: the panel, frame, thought and speech balloons, sound effects, movement marks, and use of icons as visual shorthand. Then he leads the reader through the sources of plot inspiration: McLachlan advocates keeping an original brainstormed list of accumulated story ideas until the mood strikes. Lacking that, he also reminds readers that there is a relatively short list of story topics that make up most of the world's literature. For example, the orphan who makes his way in the world, the core of Jane Eyre and Harry Potter, not to mention Annie, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Oliver Twist, and Huckleberry Finn, is a story line that, unlike its setting, never grows old. Similarly, McLachlan also turns would-be cartoonists on to the venerable trope, (viz., a magical item--ring and coins are big--which alone can defeat evil), inviting the young artist to use imagination to twist or tweak the trope to his or her own ends.

Illustrated throughout with humorous cartoons, black-and-white and full color, single panel or full story, Draw Out the Story: Ten Secrets to Creating Your Own Comics is a highly readable book with lots of ideas that may inspire young artists to put the book down and try out a suggestion, such as playing with the concept of letting comic characters escape from their confines of their frames, right away. While young readers will recognize each of McLachlan's ten secrets from their own experience, their eyes will be opened to the many possibilities of the cartoon to tell a story. For kids who have gone through the many how-to-draw books, this one is a great jumping-off place for the next step in using art to tell a story.   "... A useful and accessible primer for the next generation of comics artists and writers," says Publishers Weekly.

Pony Dreams: Galoop-a-Doodle by Audra Coldiron

IRIE WAS HAPPIEST PLAYING WITH HER HORSES.

SHE HAD PLASTIC HORSES, WOODEN HORSES, GLASS HORSES, STUFFED HORSES, ROCKING HORSES, PILLOW HORSES, AND EVEN BOUNCY HORSES.

THE ONLY KIND SHE DIDN'T HAVE WAS A REAL HORSE.

And, of course, a real horse is what Irie really wants, a horse she can brush and feed and ride, holding to its mane.

When Dad points out that they have no place for a horse to sleep, Irie offers her own bed. Mom counters with a ride on the carousel horse at the boardwalk, and points out that she will get to ride one of Grandma's horses when she goes to visit. But Irie wants to ride now. She tries riding their big dog, White Dog. She tries riding their goat. Dad offers piggyback rides. It's not the same.

During an afternoon nap, she dreams she is riding as fast as the wind on a beautiful white horse named Galoop-a-Doodle. Irie remembers how things that Harold drew with his purple crayon became real, and she picks up her own purple crayon and fills her bedroom walls with pictures of horses. But they are not REAL.

Then Irie's curious ears hears her Dad saying something really interesting on the phone to Grandma:

"WELL... I GUESS WE COULD USE THAT SHED I JUST CLEANED OUT."

And then, when she comes home from an outing with Mom, she sees something inside their fence. It is bigger than a big dog and it has a long tail.

But when she dashes over the fence for a closer look, she sees that this horse is not exactly like the Galoop-a-Doodle of her dreams. He doesn't have a blue stripe in his glorious tail or a full and flowing mane. He is small and he doesn't look as if he has ever galloped as fast as the wind.

But he is really really really a horse, and Irie can climb right onto his back and hug him. He's her Galoop-a-Doodle and he will do!

Audra Coldiron's Galoop-a-Doodle: A story about a little girl who really really REALLY wanted a real horse. (Karma Gardens Books, 2013) tells the true story of Irie, who imagines a gallant white steed and finds that a small mini pony is really the horse of her dreams. There is humor and hope in Irie's magical thinking about her dream horse, as well as the joy of the three rescue mini-horses that she can really really really ride, shown in Coldiron's color photo of Irie mounted upon one of her minis. Galoop-a-Doodle's story is actual one, the story of one of the fortunate rescue horses who really really really find a home, and there are a lot of Galoop-a-Doodles everywhere, just waiting to find their Irie.

Tale of Two Kitties: Bits and Pieces by Judy Schachner

For a cat, Tink was an Odd Duck.

Perhaps it was because he had been raised by a grannyman.

Or maybe it was because his brain was the size of a frozen pea.

In her latest cat tale, Bits & Pieces (Dial Books, 2013), author-illustrator Judy Schachner brings back Tink, the tiny kitten cared for by an old tomcat, The Grannyman , who gives him to a family with two little girls to keep. They love their kitty boy to bits and pieces, but they can't help noticing that Tink is, well, a few bites short of a bowlful of kibble.

He tries to eat strange things--a plastic pool noodle, a flip-flop, and even a Slinky--and winds up at the Kitty Klinic, returning home little wiser for the wear, and remembering only the exhilarating vision of the outside world. And when the girls peer into each ear, they confirm their suspicion that their kitty boy has nothing between the ears.  He sits on top of books or newspapers that people are trying to read and leaps into the middle of board games, and even loves to lick the butter in the butter dish while the girls are setting the table.

To give their kitty boy something to keep him out of mischief, the family gives the grown-up Tink his own kitty to raise, and the two become inseparable companions. Still, as the years roll by, Tink never forgets the lure of the outside world, and one day, on his twentieth birthday, he makes his break through the front door, left ajar.

For the first time in his life, Tink was an outdoor cat.

And it felt intoxicating.

But after a pursuit by barking dogs, raucous diving crows, and a chilly and rainy night sleeping inside an old tire, Tink is not so sure about the outdoor life.

"I'm going home now," announced the old boy.

Or so he thought.

For a cat of little brain, it's not an easy thing to find his way home, but Tink's family and his co-kitty love their wandering boy, and after some misadventures in the wild, all's well that ends well. Schachner's illustrations and storytelling style will be familiar to fans of her best-selling Siamese kitty series, SkippyJon Jones, with her curved lines and soft mixed media (a collage of torn paper and smudged watercolor, charcoal, and pastel crayon) and her jaunty narrative. Loving cat owners will recognize their own kitty boys and girls in Tink's eccentricities, and this story of a lost cat with a happy ending is sure to please Schachner's target audience.

A Winter's Tale: Trouper by Meg Kearney

BACK IN THE BEFORE TIME
BEFORE I LICKED YOUR NOSE,
BEFORE YOU BOUGHT MY BED AND BOWL,
I RAN WITH A MOB OF MUTTS.

Trouper's hardscrabble pack of strays lives on the streets, scavenging  from dumpsters, sometimes fed by a handout from kindly passersby, sometimes stoned by hard knock gangs of boys, "who thought the world was mean so they had to be."

Then the pack is lured by bits of steak into approaching a strange-looking truck. Hunter, Digger, Tugger, Dice, Big Bear, Sweet Girl, Curley, Boo, and Trouper are captured, caged, and taken to a large building full of the smell of strange dogs and echoing barks.

Trouper is comforted by the nearness of  the others of his mob, but one by one, strangers walk among the cages, choose one, and leave with one, until the last of his group, Boo, is taken. Trouper has always had the others, no matter what. Now he is alone.

MY HEART WAS COLD,
THAT STARLESS NIGHT
UNTIL YOUR FACE
SHOWN THROUGH THE BARS.

A skinny boy comes along and reaches, unafraid, through the bars to pet him gently, and the two know that they are meant to be together. Trouper goes home, to his own bed and a full bowl of food.

And after lunch the two head outside into the snowy yard for a game called "RUN!"

AND LEAVE FIVE FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW.

In her latest, Trouper (Scholastic, 2013), Meg Kearney tells an appealing rescue dog story, based on the story of her own shelter dog, but saves a telling detail for the last page, the one that explains why Trouper was the last dog to be adopted--he has only three legs.  The powerful realistic illustrations of peerless award-winning artist E. B. Lewis (for Coming on Home Soon (Caldecott Honor Book)) evoke the full range of emotion suggested in Kerney's narrative in his inimitable way.  As Kirkus Reviews says, "Sure to tug the heartstrings, this is a lovely and satisfying tale."

Working on the Chain Gang: Cy In Chains by David L. Dudley

A light but urgent touch on his shoulder woke him out of sad dreams. He flinched, but then he recognized Uncle Daniel's voice whispering in his ear.

Uncle Daniel put his hand on Cy's shoulder. "I know you boys got you a secret hideout somewhere not too far off. Ain't I right?"

How did Uncle Daniel know? Cy and Travis did have a place, down on the river, but they'd sworn a blood oath not to tell anyone.

"I's right, ain't I?" Uncle Daniel asked again.

"I bet if you go there, he follow you home like a little lost puppy. Please, Cy! Go and fetch him home!"

Yes, Travis would listen to him, but Cy felt uneasy. This was between Travis and his father. How many times had his own father said that the black man must never get in the middle of white folks' business? If he did, when everything was settled, somehow the black man was the one who ended up in trouble.

In a drunken rage, John Strong beats his horse for losing a race upon which he had wagered everything, and his twelve-year-old son Travis steals the horse out of the barn and hides him out in a place by the river. Thirteen-year-old Cy reluctantly goes to try to bring the younger boy home, but when Travis' father discovers them together and tries to beat them both, Travis jumps into the river and despite Cy's efforts to save him, drowns. That night Cy learns that he should have heeded his father's advice.

Cy was swimming to reach Travis, whose body kept floating away from him, just beyond his grasp. The force of rough hands woke him from his nightmare.

He looked up into Jeff Sconyer's eyes, and their gray emptiness frightened him. Cy tried to sit up, but two more hands forced him back. Burwell Sconyers. Cy struggled, but the brothers flipped him face-down and bound his hands.

"Quit, 'less you lookin' to die, which would be a shame after how hard you worked to save that sorry kid this morning," sneered Sconyers.

Cy in trussed and thrown into the back of a wagon and taken to Georgia, where he is sold to Cain, the boss of a chain gang of young boys clearing palmetto thickets, all supposedly serving sentences for minor offenses. Treatment is brutal, and the half-starved boys are chained as they work and as they sleep and whipped for any infraction.  After three years of brutal life under Cain and his overseers Stryker and Prescott, Cy has almost given up any hope of release.  When an epidemic of whooping cough spreads in the close quarters, Cy comes near death and several of the boys die.  As he recovers, Cy realizes that all of them will likely die there one way or another, and there is no way out except to plan an escape.

Fear was the master, not white men with whips, horses, bloodhounds, guns. Get past the fear, and Cy and the others could be free. Or die trying to be.

Life and death were hard in the post-Reconstruction South. Set in the 1890's, David L. Dudley's Cy in Chains(Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2013) is a grim narrative which may open the eyes of readers to the injustices of that world that came before the story of the civil rights movement that they know so well. Dudley spares few of the facts of life on a chain gang in a lawless time in this novel, which reveals brutality, caring, and ultimately great courage in an almost forgotten time. With searingly realistic detail and vivid and moving characterizations, for mature young adult readers this one will be a hard but memorable read.

Dudley's earlier books are The Bicycle Man and Caleb's Wars (see my review here).

Snow or NO? Big Snow by Jonathan Bean

"MOM," SAID DAVID, "WHEN WILL IT SNOW?"

"I THINK SOON," SAID MOM.

"WHY DON'T YOU HELP MAKE COOKIES WHILE YOU WAIT?"

Christmas is not far away and Mom is getting ready for company, but David's mind is on the promise of snow.  Outside the trees are almost bare, the clouds are lowering, and there's that hushed expectancy in the air.  David gets out  his red sled and looks at the sky, the houses on his street, the grass browned, the streets swept bare. It seems as if they, too, are waiting.

Back inside, it's warm and bright, and David tries to help Mom bake to fill the cookie jar, but the flour that he spills on the floor just reminds him of snow.

"MOM, DO YOU THINK IT WILL SNOW TALLER THAN THE GRASS?"

Mom says it could, cleans up the mess, and goes upstairs.  David tries to help Mom spread fresh sheets on the bed in the guestroom, but the settling white top sheet reminds him of a clean blanket of new snow.  Outside, he spots a few scattered flakes.

"MOM, DO YOU THINK THE SNOW WILL COVER EVERYTHING?"

Mom says it certainly might, straightens and tucks the sheet, and heads for the bathroom. She lets David spray the bubbly white tub cleaner while she scrubs. It's fun, but it only reminds him of snow once more. Mom wipes up, and he heads outside and sees that there is a little snow coming down, just sticking to the dead flower stalks.

There's no big snow yet, so Mom suggests that they have lunch and David agrees to just a little nap if he gets to sit in the big chair by the windows, but his dreams are big--A BIG SNOW which piles up higher than the windows, a snow that pushes the doors open and fills the living room with drifts, drifts so high that David tries to shove the doors shut to help, grabbing the snow shovel to clear the way, while his valiant Mom has to pull out the vacuum to suck  the snow up.

A THUMP SHOOK THE HOUSE.

DAVID WOKE UP. THERE WAS STOMPING AT THE DOOR. IT WAS DAD, HOME FROM WORK EARLY!

Dad has come and so at last has the big snow. The snow is now deep and ready for David's sled, in Jonathan Bean's warm account of waiting for the first snow, Big Snow (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013). Bean's evocative palette transforms from the yellows and browns of a neighborhood in late autumn to the gray, blue, and white magic of new snow at twilight, as the family ventures outside, hand in hand, to leave the first sled tracks down their street.  Snow has its travails for grownups, but for preschoolers the wait for first snow has plenty of dramatic tension, worth the wait. Bean's slowly developing plot, contrasting the mundane housekeeping chores with the the boy's growing excitement, makes this snow story a great early winter read, along with the classic snow tales such as Keats' The Snowy Day and Brigg's The Snowman.

Publishers Weekly says Bean's "subtly rhythmic prose and elegant, astute watercolors hit just the right notes of comedy, suspense, and fantasy."

Walkin' the Dog: Dog Days by Karen English

Gavin dashes to the window. No Danielle stomping back home.

"Come on, let's hurry," he says over his shoulder. He reaches way underneath Danielle's bed, and pulls out the candy.

"Why does she keep it under her bed?" Richard whispered.

"To hide it from me," Gavin laughs his cackle laugh. Richard smiles.

"No touching Danielle's things, Richard," he warns.

He picks up the tin and gets the top off. He picks two, then carefully spreads out what's left to fill the empty spaces, and pushes the tin back under Danielle's bed. Then, just as he stands up, he hears, "Hey, CATCH!"

Richard is sailing Danielle's snow globe--the one she got when her middle-school choir traveled to New York, the one made of heavy glass and not plastic--right at Gavin.

Gavin thought that having Richard over after school meant that at last he had found a friend at his new school, Carver Elementary. But when Richard pronounces his educational video games boring, Gavin comes up with something he thinks will impress Richard, a chance to fool his bossy big sister and have some candy besides. But when Danielle's snow globe shatters on the floor, his impromptu plan lands him in big trouble.

Danielle knows instantly who was in her room, and Gavin finds himself grounded. Worse still, his Aunt Myrtle shows up for a short visit with her disagreeable dog, Carlotta, just as Gavin's parents are looking for a suitable punishment for the snow globe incident.

And true to form, Aunt Myrtle has a unwelcome suggestion.

"Why, I think Gavin here should pay his sister what that thing cost.

I'll let him walk Carlotta.  It'll be his little job, to learn the value of a dollar."

Carlotta is a pampered Pomeranian who growls and shows sharp little teeth that look as if they would like to sink into Gavin's ankles whenever he walks by. And she never goes out without two pink bows on her ears, a pink sparkly collar and leash, and her beloved slimy Chew-Chew in her mouth.

Gavin knows right away that the kids in his class are not going to be impressed when they see him dragging Carlotta along, and to make things even worse, Aunt Myrtle makes him carry a special plastic bag to pick up her poop. Gavin hates to think what horrible nickname class bully Harper is going to hang on him when he sees him scooping dog poo at the park. Not cool. Gavin knows that'll be the kiss of death for ever making friends at Carver.

But despite himself, Gavin begins to enjoy the dog walking just a little, especially when he figures out that he can skateboard while he walks Carlotta. Richard admits that trick is sorta awesome, and Gavin begins to hope he can make it through the five days of Aunt Myrtle's visit without any more damage to his reputation.

And then, while Gavin is at school, Carlotta digs under the backyard fence and disappears. Despite himself, Gavin is worried about Carlotta and feels that it is his job to find her and is happy that Richard loyally offers to help him search the neighborhood.

In the first book of her Carver Chronicles series, Dog Days: The Carver Chronicles, Book One (Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2013), Karen English's Gavin is a typical third grader, trying to thread his way through the social situation in a new school, complete with bossy girl Deja and her best friend Nikki, and the overgrown Harper, who knows Gavin saw him shoplifting and is looking for a chance to catch him alone, and a bunch of other kids who don't yet see Gavin as a good friend. Gavin is an likable character and English's setting and artist Laura Freeman's many humorous illustrations promise plenty of possibilities for future adventures on the school and home front for young readers, especially boys, looking to move up to beginning chapter books. Karen English, who has already set the scene for this new series in her popular Nikki and Deja books, has shown the writing chops for this genre and has made a promising start in this first book in her new series.

Another proven series for boys ready to move on to easy chapter reading is Andrew Clements' funny, poignant and altogether estimable Jake Drake books.