ReFoReMo Day 10 Book Reviews

BLOCKHEAD: The Life of Fibonacci by Joseph D'Agnese

Leonardo Fibonacci was a mathematician who lived in the middle ages. He had a penchant for numbers and all things mathematical. His nickname was Bigollo, which is loosely translated to mean, Blockhead. Fibonacci is best known for what is called the Fibonacci Sequence, a sequence of numbers that describes how things like flowers grow in an orderly fashion. It is also prevalent in architecture, music, poetry and art.

A page at the back of the book provides some additional biographical information about Fibonacci. The last page of the book makes this an interactive picture book. First, it challenges the reader to go back through the book and find a flower with eight petals, a lemon with eight sections, and a clover with three leaves. Then, the reader is instructed to continue looking through the book to see if they can find any additional items that have Fibonacci numbers in them. There are also several other math and number related activities listed on the last page.

FINDING WINNIE: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick 

This wonderful book was written by Lindsay Mattick, the great-granddaughter of Captain Harry Colebourn. Captain Colebourn, a vet, was on his way to tend to the soldier's horses during the war, when he came upon a man with a bear cub. The captain bought the cub and named her Winnipeg, calling her Winnie, for short. He trained her and she became the mascot for the Second Canadian Infantry Brigade. When the troops were sent out to fight, Capt. Colebourn had to leave Winnie behind. He was in  England at the time, and he drove Winnie to the London Zoo, where she lived out the rest of her days.

She became a favorite attraction at the zoo. One day, little Christopher Robin Milne went to the zoo with his father. Christopher Robin fell in love with Winnie. He and the bear became great friends. Christopher Robin had a stuffed bear at home that he named Winnie-the-Pooh. His father, A.A. Milne, wrote great stories about the adventures of Christopher Robin, Winnie-the-Pooh and their friends in the Hundred Acre Woods.

Mattick writes the story in a refreshingly creative way. She begins by having a young boy curling up with mom while mom reads the story. The little boy keeps interrupting the mother as she reads, as children often do. In this manner, Mattick tells the story of how Winnie-the-Pooh became famous.

IRA'S SHAKESPEARE DREAM by Glenda Armand

Ira Aldridge wanted to be an actor, and not just any actor. He wanted to act in Shakespeare plays. There were problems with this: (1) He was black. (2) He lived in the United States during a time when slavery was still legal. Even so, he pursued his dream at an all-black theater located in New York City. He eventually left the United States and went to England, where he became the first black man to play the part of Othello on a stage there. He is also the only black man to have his name inscribed on a plaque at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in England.

LOST AND FOUND CAT: The True Story of Kunkush's Incredible Journey by Doug Kuntz and

Amy Shrodes

When an Iraqi family leaves their home to flee for safety, they want to take their cat, Kunkush, with them. They are being smuggled out of the country by various people, any of whom would either not permit them to take their cat, or who would charge them a lot of extra money to do so. Because they can't afford to pay more, and because they can't bear to leave Kunkush with them, the family manages to hide the cat in a basket where no one would see or hear him.

This arrangement works well for much of the journey. But, after a perilous voyage across the waters to Greece, the latch on the cat's basket becomes undone. The cat is frightened when they finally reach land and he sneaks out of the basket when no one is looking. Although they search and search, the can not find Kunkush. They are then forced to continue their journey to their new home in Norway, without Kunkush.

Kunkush was found a few days later by a couple of people who volunteered to help Iraqi refugees. Although they had found the cat, they were unable to contact the family directly. They turned to the only means they had - the Internet. Finally, after a few months, they found Kunkush's family and he was returned safely to them.

This is both a remarkable story about a cat's journey, as well as a heart-warming one about strangers coming together to reunite a family with their beloved pet. Their is a page in the back of the book by the authors explaining more about Kunkush's journey. There are also four pages of color photographs at the back of the book.

NINA: Jazz Legend and Civil-Rights Activist Nina Simone by Alice Brière-Haquet

Author Alice Brière-Haquet present the story of Nina Simone, a singer of soul music who made her mark in both music and civil rights. Nina was black, and because of the color of her skin, she lived in a world where she was discriminated against. She was a talented singer who longed to bring the world together through her music. This book celebrates Nina's life and her accomplishments. It also shows how much we have accomplished in terms or civil rights as well as how far we still have to go before all people are treated equally. The book is  done all in black and white as a statement to how Nina saw her world.