ReFoReMo 2018 - Day 1 Book Reviews

A LOUD WINTER'S NAP by Katy Hudson

Tortoise just wants a quiet place to sleep during the long cold winter. But, when he finds a quiet spot, he is disturbed by a robin, and then a rabbit, and then by squirrels, and then by a beaver, each time forcing him to find another quiet spot. He finally finds what he thinks is the perfect spot, but he is in for a big surprise. What happens next will make you smile. The great illustrations and the wonderful repetition make this a wonderful book for kids.

GO SLEEP IN YOUR OWN BED! by Candace Fleming and Lori Nichols

None of the animals on the farm are in their own beds. Cow is in Pig's bed. Hen is in Cow's bed. Horse is in Hen's bed....Eventually everyone gets back to their own beds, where they belong. The expressive language, rhythmic repetition, and delightful illustrations work together to make this the perfect book for those youngsters who love to sleep in someone else's bed.

THE GIANT JUMPEREE by Julia Donadson

The Giant Jumperee has taken over Rabbit's burrow. Rabbit is too scared to go in after him. So is Cat and Bear and Elephant. But, Mama Frog isn't. A little bit of rhyme, a lot of repetition, and wonderful illustrations are a winning combination.

ONE PLASTIC BAG by Miranda Paul

Isatou lives in Gambia. Her family and people in her village are very poor. When Isatou finds a plastic bag on the ground, she is grateful to have it because her basket is broken and can no longer be used. But, when the bag gets a hole in it, what is she to do with it? When her basket broke, she just threw it on the ground where it would rot back into the earth in a short time. But when she throws the used plastic bag on the ground, it stays there, for a very long time.

Over time, many more plastic bags end up on the ground. They they soon become a problem. The ground is covered with them. Goats who eat them die. They are just a mess. But, what can Isatou do about it?

This is a story about how people in a village figured out how to overcome a problem and turn it into something good. It's a great lesson for everyone.

The story is well-written and has some great repetition, and the story is based on real events. Author Miranda Paul uses some foreign words in the text. She provides a glossary of the words at the end of the book. She also provides an author's not about Gambria, West Africa.

KNOCK KNOCK: My Dad's Dream for Me by Daniel Beaty

Author Daniel Beaty tells a moving story about a young boy who waits every morning for his father to knock on his door. The young boy pretends to be asleep until his dad walks into the room, comes up to the bed, and tells his son, "I love you." This is the best part of the child's day, and he looks forward to it.

But, one day, his father doesn't knock on the door. The boy waits and waits and waits, but there is no knock. The father has gone away and the boy doesn't know why. All he knows is that he needs his father and that he misses him very much.

Beaty wrote this book to acknowledge the pain he felt when his own father, his caregiver, was taken away and put in jail. It took Beaty years to realize that he had to come to terms with the pain of losing his father this way. Writing this book was his answer. It not only served the purpose of providing an outlet for the author to cope, but Beaty also hopes that the book might offer hope to other children who are left in similar situations.

The emotional language, coupled with the images created by illustrator Bryan Collier with watercolor and collage, convey a powerful message of love, loss, pain and hope.

SIT-IN: How Four Friends Stoop Up By Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney

The picture book was published in 2010, 50 years after the incident that inspired it. On February 1, 1960, four black males sat at the "Whites Only" lunch counter in Woolworth's in Greensboro, NC. They sat their all day long, until the business closed for the day; they were not thrown out, but they were not served, either. The next day, more black students joined them. As word spread, this peaceful protest became the nexus for protests all around the country, culminating in the signing of, more than four years later, of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

This picture book was written by well-known author Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by her equally-well-known husband, Brian. The expressive language and moving pictures tell a story about how Blacks in America were finally able to break through the "Whites Only" barriers.

The end matter of the book contains a section called "A Final Helping," that gives more information about the Civil Rights era. There is also a list of books and website where readers can find more information about the subject.