Review: Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain

Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain by Russell Freedman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



While I think this book would make an extremely valuable contribution to a collection of immigration books, it is also very discomfiting. I must admit that I had to skim a lot of it, because it was a bit too painful for me to think about.

From a technical standpoint, this book is less about narrative than it is about presentation. The pictures and the poems tell a lot of the story. History is not my biggest interest and I usually prefer story. This book doesn't have quite as much story as I generally prefer.

I wonder if Australia will, in the future, have an analogous experience with their asylum seekers on Manus Island.



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Review: Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel

Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel by Melody Carlson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I found the premise of this book interesting, but the story got to be a bit too predictable and saccharine for me. I didn't realize that this was a so-called Christian book. If that appeals to other people, they might enjoy the book more. It isn't bad - just not quite my type.



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Review: Maria Had a Little Llama / María Tenía Una Llamita

Maria Had a Little Llama / María Tenía Una Llamita by Angela Dominguez

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is a sweet book that takes the familiar nursery rhyme, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and changes it to be about a little girl named Maria, who has a white llama. The illustrations look to be Peruvian (or perhaps Bolivian). The text is in two languages, English and Spanish.

Recommended for teachers who have their students re-write familiar folk tales and nursery rhymes for different cultures and time periods. Pair with a book that has the original, in case the children are not familiar with it.



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Review: The Snow Queen

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



After seeing the movie Frozen, I decided it would be interesting to compare various versions of The Snow Queen. Now, after having looked at three different picture book versions, I have decided that I really don't particularly like the story. The various vignettes of action along the way just don't seem to hang together very well. It reminds me of the way some children write: first this happened, then this happened, then this happened, and finally this (slightly more interesting thing) happened.

I was going to read some of the longer book adaptations of the story, but I am reconsidering the idea now. I think I will move on to something else. So many books; so little time.



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Review: The Snow Queen

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



After seeing the movie Frozen, I decided it would be interested to compare various versions of The Snow Queen. Now, after having looked at three different picture book versions, I have decided that I really don't particularly like the story. The various vignettes of action along the way just don't seem to hang together very well. It reminds me of the way some children write: first this happened, then this happened, then this happened, and finally this (slightly more interesting thing) happened.

I was going to read some of the longer book adaptations of the story, but I am reconsidering the idea now. I think I will move on to something else. So many books; so little time.



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Review: The Irish Cinderlad

The Irish Cinderlad by Shirley Climo

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I wish I had the money to collect Cinderella tales, as I find the cultural variations rather interesting. This one is, of course, most notable because the "Cinderella" is male. But a further variation is that the "fairy godmother" is a bull.

Unlike Gundula, I rather liked the illustrations, although the colors are very stereotypical (pink for girls; green and brown for boys).

This would be a good book for teachers to add to their collection if one of their writing projects is to take a familiar fairy tale and change it in some way. I have seen this done with the Cinderella tales, but also with The Three Little Pigs and other standard kids' fare.

Fun.



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Review: Over the Moon: A Musical Play

Over the Moon: A Musical Play by Jodi Picoult

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I really wanted to like this better than I actually ended up liking it. The reason I was so interested in it is that I am trying to write a musical for kids, too. I really wanted to see what the format was of such a venture. I wanted to see how much story there was and compare that to how much music there was. How are stage changes made? How many characters can be effectively used? Who writes the play part? Who writes the music? Who does the lyrics?

I am not at all sorry that I bought the book. It has helped me a lot with my ideas about my musical and has helped me figure out answers for my own efforts (I currently have too much story and once I flesh out the parts that I still MUST include in order for the story to make sense, I will also have too much music. That makes me a bit sad, but I think I am right in my assessment.)

Nevertheless, I must admit, I was disappointed in the story. It is clever and amusing and fun, but, for me, it lacks depth. It is mostly just clever, amusing, and fun. That is probably great for getting real students in real schools to perform it. Middle school crowds love humor and light drama. I am not sure why I am not quite satisfied with that.

My music teacher and I have played through some of the songs in the book and there are a couple that I really like. It could be that there is the depth I long for when I put the musical and the theatrical parts together.

For now, I like the story my musical is based on better (Patricia Wrede's Dealing with Dragons), but my music isn't nearly as competent as Ellen Wilber's and my lyrics also need polishing, compared to Jodi Picoult's. I guess that is about what I would expect. I still need to do a lot of work.



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