Children's Book Review: 'My Mom is the Best Circus' by Luciana Navarro Powell

My Mom is the Best Circus
by Luciana Navarro Powell
Robin Corey Books, 2013

Just in time for Mother's Day, Random House Children's Books has released a new board book which celebrates mothers by author/illustrator Luciana Navarro Powell.

In bright, colorful images, the mother in this story is portrayed as the ultimate super-mom, gliding through domestic tasks and keeping her children entertained before heading off to work in her business suit.

The focus of the story is squarely on the home, however, with mom's time at work passing in the flip of a page. The evening is spent cooking and clowning around with the kids before bath and bedtime.

The circus theme is clever, portraying mom as a ringmaster, juggler, acrobat and magician. But the finale is slightly disappointing, with mom's best stunt being "the sandman show."

Since no other adult is portrayed in the book, My Mom is the Best Circus might be an appealing choice for single mothers with young children. The board book format will hold up well to baby and toddler play. And every mother deserves a little applause on Mother's Day.
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Luciana Navarro Powell is originally from Brazil and moved to the US in 2002. She has been a professional illustrator for about 14 years. She has worked with all kinds of media but eventually settled on the digital brush, since she loves the freedom it allows her and all the possibilities of experimentation.
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Renée Vaillancourt McGrath has worked at Montana Public Radio as a program host since 2002. Her background is in librarianship and she currently works as a freelance editor, blogger, and website developer. Check out more of her book reviews at reneesreads.com.

Children's Book Review: 'MA! There's Nothing to Do Here' by Barbara Park

MA! There's Nothing to Do Here! 
A Word from Your Baby-in Waiting
by Barbara Park
illustrated by Viviana Garofoli
Random House Children's Books

When I regularly filled in as a host for the Pea Green Boat, I discovered that there are children's songs that are popular with children, but really loved by adults, and children's songs that were popular with adults, but really loved by children. Examples of the former would be “Little Potato” or “Little Chickadee,” whereas an example of the latter would be “The Hampster Dance.”

Barbara Park's new board book, MA! There's Nothing to Do Here! is clearly designed as a novelty book for expecting mothers, but young children (especially soon-to-be siblings) will likely enjoy it, too.

Subtitled A Word from Your Baby-in-Waiting, this story is written from the perspective of a child in utero. It has the rhythm and rhyme of a typical board book for toddlers, but, like the best children's television shows, also includes allusions to popular culture that will keep grown-ups entertained (e.g. “What's a baby to do in a womb with no view?” “And I'm totally bored with this dumb bungee cord.”).

Viviana Garofoli does a good job keeping the illustrations interesting considering that all of the action takes place in a very small contained space. The images of the baby in utero are displayed in different sizes and from different angles. Sometimes the mother's body is also pictured and sometimes it is not. And several illustrations show what the baby wishes s/he were doing, rather than where s/he currently is.

The cartoon images are bright and colorful and easily held the attention of the preschoolers and early elementary school students that I shared this book with. They enjoyed the story more than I expected them to as well. But the real target audience for this book is expectant parents – particularly parents expecting their first child, who will likely be enamored by the notion of their baby communicating with them before s/he is born:

Well, that's it, I guess.
I've got your address.
Kiss Pop for me, please...
And give him a squeeze.
I'll meet him soon, maybe!

I LOVE YOU,
Your Baby

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Barbara Park is the author of the bestselling, critically acclaimed Junie B. Jones chapter books. Her middle-grade novels, which include Skinnybones, and The Kid in the Red Jacket, have won over 40 children's book awards. She has two grown sons, two small grandsons, and a medium-sized dog. She lives with her husband in Arizona.

Viviana Garofoli graduated in 1995 with a fine arts degree from Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón, in her native Argentina, and has since worked as both a fine and commercial artist. Over the last 15 years, she has illustrated more than 20 children's books. She lives in Buenos Aires with her husband and two daughters.
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Renée Vaillancourt McGrath has worked at Montana Public Radio as a program host since 2002. Her background is in librarianship and she currently works as a freelance editor, blogger, and website developer. Check out more of her book reviews at reneesreads.com.

Children's Book Review: 'I Have a Dream' by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I Have a Dream
by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
paintings by Kadir Nelson
Schwartz & Wade Books, 2012

February is Black History Month and Schwartz & Wade Books (an imprint of Random House Children's Books) has released a stunning picture book tribute to King's “I Have a Dream” speech.

I Have a Dream features some of the more accessible passages of King's call for freedom, making it an appropriate read for even young children. The entire text of the speech is included at the end of the book, and a CD of the official recording from the March on Washington delivered August 28, 1963 is also enclosed.

What makes this book stand out, however, are the larger-than-life illustrations by Kadir Nelson. The cover image of the face of Martin Luther King Jr. set against a backdrop of a blue cloudy sky is one of five portraits of the civil rights hero, some of which span over the two page spread. Other paintings focus on the faces of children, young people, and the audiences that came to see King speak, and several pages feature images of national monuments and the diverse landscapes of America.

Perhaps the most powerful painting is a two-page spread of a black hand clasping a white hand accompanied by the text, “With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”

While a full understanding of the historical impact of King's “I have a dream” speech is probably beyond the reach of the youngest school children, the first-graders I read this book to were pleased to recognize the names of the states that are mentioned, and enjoyed the repetition of the opening phrase, in addition to being captivated by the remarkable illustrations. Older elementary school children will be able to appreciate even more about this beautiful and well-crafted book.

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) is one of the most important Americans of the twentieth century. He was a clergyman, a writer, an activist, and a leader in the American civil rights movement. His speech "I Have a Dream" became the defining moment in the struggle for civil rights. 

Kadir Nelson is the highly acclaimed and bestselling illustrator of many books for children. He has won two Caldecott Honors, a Robert F. Sibert Medal and a Coretta Scott King Honor Award. Mr. Nelson lives in Los Angeles. Visit him at kadirnelson.com.

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Renée Vaillancourt McGrath has worked at Montana Public Radio as a program host since 2002. Her background is in librarianship and she currently works as a freelance editor, blogger, and website developer. Check out more of her book reviews at reneesreads.com.