Jane of the Jungle: Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell

JANE LOVED TO BE OUTSIDE.

ONE DAY CURIOUS JANE WONDERED WHERE EGGS CAME FROM.

SO SHE SNUCK INTO GRANDMA NUTT'S CHICKEN COOP.

SHE STAYED VERY STILL.... AND OBSERVED THE MIRACLE.

IT WAS A MAGICAL WORLD, FULL OF JOY AND WONDER AND SHE FELT VERY MUCH A PART OF IT.

In Patrick McDonnell's just published Me . . . Jane Little, Brown, 2011), this nature-loving Jane is, of course, our Jane Goodall, whose landmark studies of chimps and gorillas have broadened our understanding of primate life.

In McDonnell's soft, unassuming little vignettes, we see the young Jane with her cherished toy chimp Jubilee (who comes to life when alone outside with Jane), climbing her favorite tree ("Beech") and with cheek pressed to the trunk, dreaming of all she wants to see, inspecting birds' nests, watching squirrels and the barnyard animals, and reading all the books she can get. Reading Tarzan of the Apes, dreaming of being that Jane and living in her jungle, seeing those animals for herself. Her dream is to learn all she can.

And then McDonnell shows little Jane, climbing into bed at home with Jubilee beside her, the stars outside her window...

AND FALLING ASLEEP...

TO WAKE ONE DAY TO HER DREAM COME TRUE.

And with the turn of a page, rising from a camp cot inside her tent is the grown-up Jane, signature ponytail in place and her studies behind her, ready to begin her historic life's work where she always longed to be.

McDonnell's previous picture books, such as Hug Time, are pleasant, popular works, a touch sentimental, but with this first venture into nonfiction, he hits one over the fence. Yes, lovable as it is, with little Jane enjoying a walk in the woods hand-in-hand with the come-to-life Jubilee, this one is pitch perfect, capturing the essence of Goodall, a person for whom nature and its creatures are infinitely fascinating and worthy of our respectful attention, in a way young children will absolutely get. Patrick McDonnell deserves all the starred reviews in Kirkus, Horn Book, School Library Journal, and Booklist that he garnered for this one, with its wonderful photos from Jane's childhood (especially Jane with the real Jubilee) which show that, to paraphrase the poet, the child is mother of the scientist!

With "A Message from Jane" in its brief appendix, Me . . . Jane is a rare early childhood biography, a staple for Earth Day activities and for the every nonfiction shelf.

Eye of the Beholder: The Monster's Monster by Patrick McDonnell

GROUCH, GRUMP, AND LITTLE GLOOM 'N' DOOM THOUGHT THEY WERE MONSTERS.

THEIR LITTLE HEADS WERE FILLED WITH MONSTER THOUGHTS...

SMASH! CRASH! AND BASH!

The three little creatures have their monster accouterments all right: Grouch has two horns, the shrouded Grump has a pitchfork tail, and little Gloom 'n' Doom has two heads. They live in a mountaintop castle constantly shrouded in dark clouds, overlooking a village of fearful inhabitants. They spend their days arguing over who is the "baddest" and specialize in terrible tantrums, constant complaints, and an excess of miserable moods. But still their monster aspirations--to scare the pants off the villagers--are not fulfilled.

So the terrible trio decide to up the ante by building the biggest, baddest Monster's Monster ever seen. First they assemble the ingredients:

GROUCH GOT SOME TAPE, GRUMP FOUND SOME GOOK AND GOBS OF GOO.

GLOOM 'N' DOOM GRABBED A SMELLY OLD SHOE.

The three whip up a large, scary figure and swath him in mummy wrappings, and a serendipitous lightning bolt morphs their creation into a moldy green monster--a Frankenstein's monster on steroids.

There's just one problem. Their creature is big... but he's not BAD! He seems preternaturally sweet and loving! His first uttered sounds are strange to the ears of Grouch, Glump, and Little Doom 'n' Gloom.

"DANK YOU, DANK YOU, DANK YOU!"

The three bad-guy wannabes are horrified. Their monster is everything they abhor! He pets their spiders and snakes and smiles sweetly at the local serfs. Can they teach their creation the monsterly arts before he embarrasses them in front of the villagers?

Caldecott-winner (for Me . . . Jane) Patrick McConnell's new book for the scary season, The Monsters' Monster (Little, Brown, 2012) plays delightfully with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein monster trope, as these three silly little monsters find that kindness and goodwill perhaps have their own power. McDonnell's beguiling comic illustrations of small but stinky little monsters and a large but loving big one make this story a great choice for Halloween reading.

This Just In! American Library Association Youth Media Awards Just Announced

ALA has just completed their annual awards program announcing the prestigious 2012 Newbery and Caldecott Awards


I am especially pleased with the Newbery Medal winner, Jack Gantos, for his wonderful serio-comic/mystery/coming of age novel, Dead End in Norvelt (Farrar, Strous, and Giroux, 2011), reviewed here only last week. Gantos is no stranger to the Newbery Awards lineup, but this top award is indeed well deserved, both for this excellent book and for his entire body of work.

Newbery Honor Books include Thanha Lai's National Book Award winner, Inside Out and Back Again (see my recent review here,) and Eugene Yelchin's Breaking Stalin's Nose.

The 75th annual Caldecott Medal, given to illustrator Chris Raschka, is A Ball for Daisy. Raschka is also a repeat winner for this award. Caldecott Honor Books are Patrick McDonnell's Me . . . Jane, (reviewed here April 14, 2011), Lane Smith's Grandpa Green (see my November 11 review) and John Rocco's Blackout.

Taking both the author and illustrator Coretta Scott King Awards is the peerless Kadir Nelson for his historical and personal narrative, Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans, with my recent review here.

Taking the Theodore Seuss Geisel Medal for excellence in books for beginning readers is Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider. Taking second honors for this award are former Geisel winner Mo Willems for his I Broke My Trunk! (An Elephant and Piggie Book), (see review here) and John Clausen's best-selling I Want My Hat Back.

The Sibert Award for children's informational books goes to author-illustrator Melissa Sweet for her delightful Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade. My review of November 7 is posted here.

The Andrew Carnegie Award for Excellence in children's videos goes to Weston Woods' production of Peter Brown's book Children Make Terrible Pets, review posted here.

A complete listing of all of the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards has just been posted here. If you, like me, missed a few of these winning titles, we've got something to look forward to!