A Notes from the Windowsill annotated bibliography by Wendy E. Betts. Copyright 2006
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Last Updated 10/26/05
The Boy Who Looked for Spring by Susan Fleischman. Illustrated
by Donna Diamond. Jane Yolen Books/HBJ, 1993 ( 0-15-210699-5) $15.95
"Human beings are so concerned with large things, they often forget
the small" is the moral of this original fairy tale, in which a boy
breaks a spell that has stopped Spring from coming, by observing the
small wonders that herald the changing season. A traditional fairy
tale format adds grace to the simple tale and holds the interest of
the reader. The illustrations are perhaps too realistic for the
format, but are beautifully colored, with an appropriately sad and
desolate feeling about them and a lovely depiction of Earth as a
mother who gives birth to Spring.
The Naming by Margaret Greaves. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes.
Gulliver/HBJ, 1993 (0-15-200534-X) $14.95
A lovely beginning-of-the-world story in which a leaf-clad Adam gives
names to all the animals, ending with "the secret beauty that haunts
all dreams....Unicorn." The exquisite and melodious text is simple
enough to appeal to young children, who will also appreciate the
enchanting pictures, teeming with color and detail. The depiction of
Adam with long black hair and dark skin (probably a reflection of the
Rajput manuscript which inspired the illustrations) gives the story an
unusual feeling of universality, in spite of its use of Biblical
names.
Sunday Week by Dinah Johnson. Illustrated by Tyrone Geter.
Henry Holt, 1999 (0-8050-4911-8) $15.95
A singing text and rich pastel illustrations guide readers through the
week as it's lived in a devout black community. Monday, the whole
neighborhood has the blues; the grown-ups don't want to go to work and
the children don't want to go to school. Things start to look up
Tuesday when the double Dutch champions practice, "stepping quick,
stepping high/as the rest of the world passes by." Wednesday is choir
practice at Lovely Hill Baptist Church. But Sunday is the most
special day: "the church bells/make it sound like/heaven is right
here." Johnson's lyrical text conveys the pleasures and small
excitements of a happy routine, from the first Sunday prayer to the
last slice of pie. For some, this will be a revelatory introduction
to an unfamiliar way of life; for others, an affirmation of the
richness of their world. (4-8)
Big Momma Makes the World by Phyllis Root. Illustrated by
Helen Oxenbury. Candlewick,2003 (0-7636-1132-8) $16.99
In a startlingly different, yet thoroughly winning retelling of
Genesis, Big Momma, a giant of a woman with a can-do attitude and a
baby on her hip, rolls up her sleeves and creates the universe:
"'Light,' said Big Momma. And you better believe there was light."
Having created the world and everything in it, Big Momma decides to
take some time off to rest, but you better believe she is still up
there, looking down every now and then to warn us that we "better
straighten up down there." Oxenbury's illustrations, which begin with
shades of blue and progressively add more colors as Big Momma
continues to create, effectively combine the mystical with the
mundane, particularly in images of a gloriously alive Big Momma and
her baby bursting into the light together, and a beautiful mass of
people of all ages, shapes and colors crawling and stretching out of
the mud.
All is Well by Kristin Embray Litchman. Delacorte, 1998
(0-385-32592-4) $14.95; Dell Yearling, 1999 (0-440-41488-1) $3.99 pb
When a new family moves in next door, Emmy Frailey is delighted to find that they have a daughter, Miranda, just about her age. But the new neighbors aren't so welcome to her mother, her father and her father's other wife, Aunt Zena: they're Christians, or "Gentiles," and their presence signifies a threatening change in the formerly all-Mormon neighborhood. As the two girls become friends, the families gradually learn to trust and respect one another... but life has become more dangerous for polygamous Mormons in Utah, and Emmy's pa is forced to go underground to avoid jail. Then Miranda becomes sick with typhoid and Emmy knows that only one thing can save her: a blessing from Pa.
If they can get past the painfully soppy cover, readers will find this
a pleasant, undemanding story that's most notable for providing a
perspective rarely seen in children's literature. Litchman does her
best to explain both sides of the conflict without getting into sticky
areas; the result is naturally a simplified explanation that may not
satisfy all readers. Aside from one implausible conversation, the
historical setting is well drawn, giving a good sense of what life was
like for a Mormon farm girl in 1885. (8-12)
The Glass Bird by Enid Richemont. Illustrated by Caroline
Anstey. Candlewick, 1993 (1-56402-195-5) $14.95
A lonely boy's wish for a friend brings him a wonderful secret in this sweet, warmhearted story. Adam, whose Quaker upbringing means he won't fight and doesn't watch television, feels alienated from the other children in his school. When he picks up a chestnut and finds himself imagining it's magic, he toys with the thought of wishing for an enormous t.v., or lots of money, but realizes that what he really wants is a whole bunch of friends - or if that's being greedy, "just one would do."
No friend magically appears in answer to Adam's wish but something else does: an incredibly beautiful bird that seems to be made of glass. When he realizes the bird is alive, Adam takes it home to protect it, but soon discovers he needs help. How can he find someone who'll listen to him and understand?
The Glass Bird is a warm, believable book about friendship and
caring. Richemont handles the fantasy delicately: it never overpowers
the realistic elements of the story, but gives them a special glow.
Ordinary Miracles by Stephanie Tolan. Morrow, 1999
(0-688-16269-X)
$16.00
It can be hard growing up as a PK, a "preacher's kid," especially when you realize that other people question beliefs that are integral to your way of life. But PK Mark Filkins has an extra hurdle on the road to self-identity: he's spent his whole life feeling like the shadow of his twin brother Matthew--"as if he was the real kid and I was the copy." When Mark becomes friends with Dr. Colin Hendrick, a Nobel Prize-winning geneticist, he finds that the friendship not only helps him separate from his twin, but opens a doorway to a new world of ideas about the nature of life. A clash of values seems inevitable, but the crisis unexpectedly comes not from Colin's secular beliefs, but from the fact that he is fatally ill, a problem which Mark confidently looks to God to solve.
This companion to Save Halloween! (see below) is
another caring, respectful look at an adolescent discovering
religion's meaning in his life. Tolan works hard to keep things
balanced: Colin is a sympathetic character whose views are
intelligent and resonant, particularly when he tells Mark that for him
heaven is "when we feel we're doing what were were somehow always
meant to do, being our best selves in the best-possible way." But
Mark's family--one of the few positive portraits of fundamentalists in
mainstream children's literature--also has wisdom to share when Mark
needs it most. Some readers may feel that Tolan cheats at the end, in
order to reconcile science and faith, but in context it works. This
thoughtful book again makes the touchy subject of religion accessible,
by showing its importance to people we grow to care about. (10-14)
Save Halloween! by Stephanie S. Tolan. Morrow, 1993
(0-688-12168-3) $14.00
Eleven-year-old Johnna Filkins feels out of place, both at school, where the other kids sneer at her unfashionable clothes, and at home, where she knows she disappointed her minister father by being born a girl--Johnna Josephine instead of John Joseph. Johnna eases her loneliness by having conversations with Jesus in her head, since her mom says "we should think of Him as our best friend. Of course, He doesn't answer. That can be very hard on a friendship."
When Johnna becomes co-writer of her class's Halloween play, she begins to feel like one of the gang for the first time. But then her Uncle T.T. comes to town. T.T. is also a minister, but a very different kind from her benevolent, endlessly charitable father - he's a showman, an evangelist, who gets people to give money to the church by showing them "the devil doing something directly to them...that they feel they just have to do something about." And T.T.'s current cause is Halloween--"the devil's holiday."
With her family joining whole-heartedly in T.T.'s crusade against
Halloween, Johnna is torn between the two sides - especially when the
crusade leads to all Halloween activities in her school being
cancelled. She can't believe Halloween is responsible for the evil in
the world - but can she fight for her play without betraying God or
her family?
The topic of religion is a difficult one for serious children's book writers, who have a natural horror of seeming preachy. But by creating a conflict in which Johnna must question what she does and does not believe, Save Halloween! effectively demonstrates that her spiritual feelings are as natural as her longings to be more like other kids. And although there's no miraculously happy end to the restrictive practices of her family, standing up for what she believes does earn Johnna the right to participate in her father's church services, formerly denied to her because she's a girl.
Tolan handles the sensitive issues of her story with care and
surprising subtlety, merely hinting at ideas too complex or troubling
for her narrator to comprehend fully. At times she seems almost too
even-handed in her attempt not to make villains out of any of her
characters. It's a commendable attempt at impartiality - and it fits
the voice of her young narrator - but some readers may grow impatient
with what the book carefully does not say. (9-13)
Asylum for Nightface by Bruce Brooks. HarperCollins, 1996
(0-06-027060-8); HarperTrophy, 1999 (0-06-447214-0) $4.95 pb
This quietly fascinating exploration of true spirituality and blind
following is narrated by fourteen year old Zimmerman, whose
intelligent, sincere love of God and "the design of things" has always
come between him and his worldly parents. When they unexpectedly find
religion and begin to worship him as a "living saint," Zimmerman is
forced into desperate action. (12 & up)
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