Review - The Lady with the Books

The Lady with the Books
by Kathy Stinson
illustrated by Marie Lafrance
Date: 2020
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Inspired by true events, a fictionalized retelling of how one woman brought a world of books to children in Germany after World War II, and changed their lives forever.

Anneliese and Peter will never be the same after the war that took their father's life. One day, while wandering the ruined streets of Munich, the children follow a line of people entering a building, thinking there may be free food inside. Instead, they are delighted to discover a great hall filled with children's books --- more books than Anneliese can count. Here, they meet the lady with the books, who encourages the children to read as much as they want. And she invites them to come back the next day. Eventually, she will have a greater impact on the children's lives than they could ever have imagined.

This moving picture book, written by beloved and award-winning author Kathy Stinson, is based on the real-life work of Jella Lepman, founder of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) and the International Youth Library. Lepman's collection of children's books from around the world traveled throughout Germany after World War II in the hope of building "bridges of understanding" between countries. Brought to life by highly acclaimed illustrator Marie Lafrance, this book carries an important message about international cooperation that still resonates with world events today. It includes further information about Lepman and her work as well as historical photos. This story of the children who survived the war offers a unique and often unexplored perspective for history lessons. It also makes an excellent choice for character education lessons on resilience. A portion of the author's royalties will be donated to IBBY's Children in Crisis Fund.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

The Lady with the Books is a fictionalized account of how Jella Lepman brought books to the children of war-ravaged Germany. It follows Annaliese and Peter, two young children who are struggling after the loss of their father. One day, they stand in what they think is a line for food, only to stumble into an exhibition of children's books.

The story itself is well written and the subject matter is fascinating. Of course, books like this often have a section of notes at the back, and this one is no exception. They're just as interesting as the main narrative, and I learned some interesting facts (including that there's a "Book Castle" in Blutenburg Castle; it's also known as the International Youth Library, and has the largest collection of children's literature in the world).

I would definitely recommend this book to those who love to read. It underscores the importance of having books to read... and being able to read them freely.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 5/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 5/5

Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.5 out of 5

Review - Rubi's Best Friend

Rubi's Best Friend
by Sonya Thompson
Date: 2019
Publisher: River of Life
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 28
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

When seven-year-old Rubi’s dad is stationed in Germany, she wonders how her family will ever live happily in a foreign country. But when she meets Peter and his loving German family, Rubi and her parents forge great friendships that will go on to span a lifetime—and the globe—no matter the distance!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is a rather cringe-worthy picture book that had the potential to be a lot better than it was. Unfortunately, the execution is severely lacking, making it an almost painful read.

Let's talk about the look of the book first. The illustrations are quite awful. Not only that, but some of them actually repeat (which I find rather lazy). The people are kind of creepy, with their huge eyes and noodly appendages. In one illustration, Peter's hand even appears to be on backwards! The pictures don't take full advantage of the text, either. The German food (schnitzel and spaetzle) just looks like a few pieces of torn cardboard on a plate, and Rubi's green-and-red "German dress" is described but not shown. The German car that Rubi's father buys is also completely out of proportion; the roof of the sedan barely comes up to the men's waists!

There's also a weird bit of formatting near the beginning when Rubi's sister is first mentioned by name. The author chose to break up little Diamond's name with a hyphen. This is a picture book--a self-published picture book, no less--and the author would've had complete control over where to put the text. Hyphenating words in a picture book is completely unnecessary, and potentially confusing (I had to wait until the sister was mentioned again before I knew whether her name was Diamond or Dia-mond).

The writing is insipid and uninspiring. Aside from the little touches of German language (which I did like... although, a pronunciation guide would've been nice), the text is pedestrian and a little bit condescending. I really don't understand why so many picture-book authors feel the need to simplify their stories and text so much. Rubi is seven at the beginning of the book and around nine at the end; kids that age are likely going to feel like they're being talked down to with a book like this.

The message of friendship gets kind of lost in the boring story. There's no real conflict, and no problem for Rubi to solve. She's tossed around by the hands of fate (well, her parents and the US military, really) and doesn't have any agency in the story. Everything happens to her. That doesn't exactly make for an interesting character... or an interesting story.

Thank you to NetGalley and River of Life for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 1/5
Originality: 1/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.33 out of 5

Review - From Anna (DNF)

From Anna (Anna Solden #1)
by Jean Little
Date: 1972
Publisher: Scholastic Canada
Reading level: MG
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 211
Format: e-book
Source: library

Anna hated being different. Special, though, was something else... She did not look special, she knew. She was too big and not one bit pretty.

Anna Solden, with her wispy braids and prickly personality, is nothing like her tall, likeable sisters and brothers. She's always the odd one out. Everyone but Papa seems to expect so little of her — even Mama — she comes to believe it herself. What could she, Anna, possibly have to give?

(synopsis from Goodreads)

DNF @ 31%

I like to try to read books by Canadian authors every once in a while. There are some really good ones out there, and I hoped this would be another. I think I read one of Jean Little's books many years ago, though I couldn't tell you anything about it now. I'd never heard of From Anna, but the library had a copy of the 40th-anniversary edition, so I thought I'd give it a try. I read the first few chapters, took a break, and procrastinated about ever going back to it.

The problem with this book is that it comes across as one of those books that we had to read back in elementary school. It's the kind of book that kids are supposed to read, because it'll be good for them. But this literary equivalent of broccoli has a few problems that are obvious even in the first third of the book.

The first problem is that Anna's disability is not entirely believable. She obviously has some sort of severe visual impairment. I have no problem with this at all as a character trait... but it was handled surprisingly badly, especially considering the author is visually impaired herself. Anna's issue was so obvious, and I could not for the life of me figure out how this kid's problems could've gone unnoticed for so long. It was 1933 in a developed country, not 1133 in the middle of the jungle. People did wear glasses back then, so they must've had people who could diagnose vision problems. But poor Anna is left to be bullied by her siblings and viewed as simply clumsy... even with obvious issues like not being able to thread a needle (she thinks it odd that her mother can do so, because for her, the eye of the needle simply does not exist), ending up completely illiterate because she can't see the blackboard at school, or even tripping over a footstool. (I didn't skip ahead to find out what, exactly, Anna's problem was... but I'm fairly certain she was legally blind.)

This unbelievable portrayal of Anna's disability leads to yet another problem: the way things are described. The prose is visually bare... which makes sense. I thought perhaps this had been done on purpose, because the story was told from Anna's point of view. However, I then realized that none of the other senses picked up the slack. This led to some very lackluster worldbuilding. You wouldn't have known the first part of the story took place in Frankfurt. It could've been anywhere. There were no particular sounds or smells or even a feeling in the air that would've given the reader a sense of time or place. Perhaps the worldbuilding got better when the family arrived in Canada (since it would be a more familiar setting to the author), but I didn't get that far.

It was kind of the last straw for me when the family was on the boat and, out of nowhere, the third-person limited omniscient point of view suddenly switched to Anna's father for a couple of paragraphs before going back to Anna. It was so weird, and it really threw me out of the story. That was the only point-of-view switch in what I read, so I'm assuming it was just a mistake. Still, it's one that shouldn't have been there.

The book also shows its age, with the intentional avoidance of the word "said"; it almost comes across as a school writing assignment where the teacher instructed the students to avoid that word as much as possible... and use anything else instead. On one page alone, the characters muttered, probed, wheedled, and growled. It might've been an amusing exercise to see what other dialogue tags the author came up with... but I found it too annoying to really want to bother.

This book might pick up later, but it just didn't hold my interest enough to make me want to find out. There are better works of historical fiction for kids out there. For books with a similar theme about children coming to Canada, I'd recommend the Guests of War trilogy by Kit Pearson (another Canadian author) instead.

Review - The Book Thief

The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
Date: 2005
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Reading level: YA
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 442
Format: e-book
Source: library

HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE

1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier.

Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.

SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH

It's a small story, about:

a girl

an accordionist

some fanatical Germans

a Jewish fist fighter

and quite a lot of thievery.

ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I've been putting off reading this book for a long time.  I'm not sure why.  Every time I said, "I need to read this one," I'd get sidetracked by something else.  Then the movie came out, and I said, "I really need to read this one," and I even avoided watching the movie or reading too much about it for fear of spoilers... but I still didn't read the book.  I finally picked it up and, even though I was a little daunted by the length and the subject matter, I worked my way through it.  I'm glad I did.

Please, dear author, I want some more...

Even though I might say (if asked) that my favourite genre is fantasy, I usually end up enjoying historical fiction when I do tackle it.  This book is definitely historical fiction, but at times there is a whiff of fantasy, as the narrator is a personified Death.  That aspect alone makes this book unlike anything I've read before, and I thought it was well done.

But, really, this is a story about books and words and how they have the power to affect -- and even save -- lives.  In that respect, it's kind of a bibliophile's dream.

It's all a matter of taste...

If you're not a fan of sad books, be forewarned.  Although nothing comes unexpectedly, thanks to Death giving us lots of warning about what's about to happen (and thank goodness for that; I think it would be too much if it hit the reader all at once), it's still gut-wrenching and heartbreaking.

Let's get technical...

Markus Zusak seems to play a little fast and loose with the rules of grammar, and even sometimes changes the definitions of words to suit his own needs.  I've come across this in other books -- where it really bothers me -- but here, I didn't mind so much.  I got the impression that, rather than making unintentional mistakes, Zusak was simply breaking rules that he was already familiar with.

The verdict...

On the whole, I enjoyed this book quite a lot (if "enjoyment" is even the right word for a story like this).  A simple-yet-complex plot, memorable characters, and a strong pace (despite the length) make it a great read.  I can see why so many people love this one.

Quotable moment:

The accordion's scratched yet shiny black exterior came back and forth as his arms squeezed the dusty bellows, making it suck in the air and throw it back out. In the kitchen on those mornings, Papa made the accordion live. I guess it makes sense, when you really think about it.

How do you tell if something's alive?

You check for breathing.

Premise: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4.38 out of 5 ladybugs