Cybils Picture Book Reading -- November

 

Whew, I just read a bunch of picture books in November! Here's most of them. I just stole my thoughts from Goodreads, because I had meant to group them into categories and be thoughtful, and then I looked at the calendar and I'm just dumping them here. Sorry!

Every Word Tells a Story: An Extraordinary A to Z of Etymological Exploration, Tom Read Wilson. This is a fun book with some interesting words and an enthusiastic delight in meanings and etymologies, but I found a lot of the poems to be more annoying than pleasant and not all that great at meter. Which is a pet peeve of mine -- they weren't fun to read aloud! Words are for saying aloud! Maybe we just have different accents.  

Just Like Jesse Owens, Andrew Young. Lovely illustrations that I'm not sure my older son would have appreciated; he would want a bit more energy. I liked both the descriptions of dignity through systemic racism, the color blindness of children, and the inspiration of a great sportsman. Not sure it's works as a nonfiction; it seems more like historical fiction, although it's based on the stories told through a family. But it's more about the emotions than the facts, and the family legacy.

Bristlecone: The Secret Life of the World's Oldest Tree, Alexandra Siy. This was a cool way to look at not only these nifty trees, but also to understand the ecologic niche they inhabit, and how that has changed over time. The beginning was a great draw in (the "that's not the secret" stuff) but then I was also impressed at the clear texts about the slow growth, the nearby animals, the way to track growth. Does a lot for its size.  

Jubilee: The First Therapy Horse and an Olympic Dream, KT Johnston. It's named after the horse, but this is really a biography of Lis Hartel, Olympic equestrian, from her childhood and early riding success, through her polio recovery and Olympic success. The richly colorful illustrations should help keep readers interested through the comprehensive text. It's also a great description of handling disability and pursuing goals. I'm left confused about which events are co-ed -- there's a big deal about the Olympic being co-ed but I have no idea if the national qualifiers were? Are there separate events sometimes for men and women? And wasn't there a war going on in Denmark in 1943? Were they still holding national dressage competitions? And learning that Jubilee died right after retirement in the afterward was a bit of a blow. I'm sentimental!  

A History of Toilet Paper, Sophia Glozh. This book is totally ready to embrace a poop joke, but it manages to stay mostly classy. It traces the history of how we clean our bums with cheerful illustrations and cheeky side remarks.  

When the Sky Glows, Nell Cross Beckerman. This is a lovely picture book I would have enjoyed reading with my kids back when they were kids. Evocative prose, lovely illustrations, and the added joy of short informational text blurbs describing how each phenomena is created. I love it when both beauty and knowledge are valued.  

Mushroom Rain, Laura K. Zimmermann. Lovely book that I would have been delighted to read with my kids back when they were kids. I learned a bit about mushrooms (not much -- I just finished an older-aimed book that covered a lot) and also enjoyed the illustrations. It also inspired me to shout out at least one fact (mushroom spores are one of the dust mites that rain drops form around) to my family, to their approval.  

Deep: Dive into Hidden Worlds, Jess McGeachin. This was a fun and lovely book, with large two spread illustrations. "Deep" is used both literally and metaphorically, so the book dives into the ocean, the mists of time, the brain, etc. Each page has a vivid illustration and well chosen information placed strategically around the images. The metaphor gets a bit strained some time, but it's all an excuse to share cook knowledge and inspire curiosity and learning.

Before Music: Where Instruments Come From, Annette Bay Pimentel. Fun to read an a ginormous size, with lots of descriptions of musical instruments from ancient times to modern times, from all around the world. The back matter explains different ways to create taxonomies of instruments and that this book is using the ancient Chinese system of sorting them by the materials they are made from, and then subdividing them by the musician's methods of getting sound like the Indian/Javanese system. So each small section is a soft portrait of people interacting with that material "Before Music", then a description of how it is transformed into an instrument, and then a page of different instruments using that material. It's gentle but effective. 

Solitary Animals: Introverts of the Wild, Joshua David Stein. Very pretty, with a dusting of science. Also a push for self awareness and acceptance.

The Tide Pool Waits, Candace Fleming. Lovely book. Poetical language and soft glowing artwork shows the inhabitants of a tide pool in between the high tides, as some animals come out and others huddle into the wetness. The backmatter goes into more detail for each creature that the text follows. It would be a fun read for any marine or beach interested kid.  

What a Shell Can Tell, Helen Scales. This was really cool! I had not expected it to go so deep or so far. The oversized pages gave lots of room for color and detail, and there was a lot to cover. Really fun book.  

Rosalind Looked Closer: The Unsung Hero of Molecular Science, Lisa Gerin. I liked the bits about her childhood, and how her research was stolen by the guys who eventually got the Nobel Prize for it, although technically she wasn't eligible for the prize because she died. So it's on the guys, not the Nobel people really. I had forgotten about how she went on to do vore cool stuff with viruses. But I was surprised that her death isn't part of the picture book -- you have to go in and read the afterward and the time line for the details.   

Mr. Rogers' Gift of Music, Donna Cangelosi. I like how the title refer's both to how Rogers' was gifted music by his mom and grandfather (well, the book itself give the credit to the grandfather, but the afterward talks about his mom), and how he then gave his songs to children through his show. He gave both individual songs (many of which I know) but also the idea of music as a means of processing emotion and also as a thing of beauty. The pictures are soft and gentle, just like the show and the man. It's good picture book, although maybe not a great biography.  

Anglerfish: The Seadevil of the Deep, Elaine M. Alexander. Visually compelling account of the life cycle of the anglerfish, with lots of use of darkness and light to make the details extremely vivid. It is clear and specific, with an afterward that goes into a bit more detail. I did find myself poking at the edges a bit, wanting a reason to ask questions, to feel like a part of the learning process.

Blast Off!: How Mary Sherman Morgan Fueled America Into Space, Suzanne Slade. Fun book -- I liked the illustrations and the tone. I like seeing someone who didn't graduate college still be successful because she learned stuff by doing and by study. And how sexism pushed her back, but she pushed forward. I do find it personally aggravating how that has to be part of so many scientist's stories, but history gotta history. The back matter talks about how she quit her career to raise her kids, which I found interesting. And how van Braun sent her a thank you letter, addressed to "Unknown Lady" because her name was erased even then. Humph.

Good Eating: The Short Life of Krill, Matt Lilley. This was a lot of fun! The information was conveyed with imagination and humor, and the illustrations really worked well with it-- the amount of expression on the krill was very impressive. I learned a lot and I seem to have retained a lot of it. Also it's a bit macabre without being gruesome --- look at the cover where the krill is being viewed hungrily by everyone from penguins to the giant whale.

The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in America, Alliah L. Agostini. This is probably the best historical picture book on Juneteenth I've read (and I've just plowed through 4 or five of them), giving a good sense of what happened, how it was celebrated and by whom since its inception, why it grew and waned and then grew again in popularity. It's a little weak on current practices, and it's rather wordy for a picture book. The timeline in the back was helpful and I liked the personal note from the author as an epilogue kinda thing. 

Washed Ashore: Making Art From Ocean Plastic, Kelly Crull. Environmentalism, artwork, and a game to find specific pieces of trash combine to make this a fun book. It's especially effective if a kid saw some of the creations which toured around to aquariums and other places. More of a starting point than a lesson, but an enthusiastic one. 

The Fossil Whisperer: How Wendy Sloboda Discovered a Dinosaur, Helaine Becker. I liked how this biography showed Wendy using skills she developed as a kid throughout her career, that life as a scientist built on her life as a curious, hard-working, observant kid, not as a transmogrification into a new kind of thing. 

Infinity: Figuring Out Forever, Sarah. C. Campbell. Fun and lovely picture book that challenges kids to think about infinity -- it's not a number, but what does that mean?  

Anxiety, Meg Gaertner. This is a great informational book for early readers or beginning about what anxiety is and how it affects us. The pictures show kids from pre-kindergarten to solidly elementary (and maybe older) and talks through the definition, warning signs, and techniques for handling anxiety. It is probably best read with an older person but could also be read independently. It gives the information in a calm, dispassionate way that reads as a good example of nonfiction reading -- it takes the reader seriously.

The Poem Forest: Poet W.S. Merwin and the Palm Tree Forest He Grew From Scratch, Carrie Fountain. I learned a lot about the poet and a little about palm trees. 

Listen to the Language of the Trees: A Story of How Trees Communicate Underground, Tera Kelley. Lovely picture book that incorporates a lot of the stuff I learned about how trees communicate through their root networks and share resources back and forth. I am a bit disgruntled because the whole story rests on the mother tree helping the sapling (and others) and then when it is hurt the forest returns the favor. And yet in the back materials that is explicitly one of the bullet points for things we don't know yet: * Do mother trees ever receive resources back from the network.*  So what is true? Humph. That should not be a question I'm pondering after a nonfiction book.

On a Gold-Blooming Day: Finding Fall Treasures, Buffy Silverman. Lovely photographs and delicious words really evoke the sense of autumn. It would be a fun read with a kid or a class, and good either for welcoming and enjoying fall or longing for it during heat or cold.  

How Science Saved the Eiffel Tower, Emma Bland Smith. Sorta a history of the Eiffel Tower and sorta a history of the guy who designed and paid for it, especially about how he tried to convince Paris and the French government to let it stay up (originally it was given a twenty year life and then due to be sold for scrap). I listened to it on digital and I have to say I'm very impressed with the technology of picture books nowadays. Much better than my youth of BEEPS to turn the page. The narrator had a good French accent. I mean, i have no idea if French people would agree, but it really called out the foreign words. I liked the tone and the details, although the focus made it a pretty small topic.

Cryptocurrency, Matt Chandler. Explanation on a basic level of crypto, aimed at elementary kids. Does what it says on the tin. 

Goodnight to Your Fantastic Elastic Brain, JoAnne Deak. A bright and accessible look into the human brain, what it does and then what it needs sleep for. It's all true, but I can see how it would be used as propaganda by parents and teachers! The brain is cute although sometimes I didn't grab how its expressions were changing. I liked the way it was willing to go a bit deep into the chemistry but also stayed understandable. There isn't a bibliography; I think because it's written by brain scientists so they just wrote what they knew.

Yay For Big Brothers!, Janet Halfmann. This was a really fun book! It shows a variety of animals, with a big sibling helping out with the care of the young. The animal care facts are fun and the pictures vibrant, and then there's a question asking if the reader does this with their sibling in some way. The backmatter follows up with a bit of detail on the facts, although it's pretty thin, and there's a bibliography for any skeptical adult readers. There's also a few pages of activities. The whole thing is a bit over-earnest, and the pictures a bit slick for my perfect seal of approval. 

    I think it works better as an book for enjoying Big Brotherhood, rather than an introduction to the animal world. I can see a bit of a gap in reading it with a toddler, since most of the activities will not be appropriate immediately when the baby arrives, but that's a common issue with new siblings! But it would be a fun read with a preschooler or early KG with a younger sibling. Big Sisters are kind of left out in the cold, but IME there are lots of books that casually assume Big Sisters are caregivers, so I'm OK with letting Big Brothers have a few chances to strut their nurturing side. 

How Can We Be Kind?: Wisdom From the Animal Kingdom, Janet Halfmann. Would make for a nice read with a child or maybe a conversation starter on classroom norms, as each page spread gives an adjective and illustrates an animal that demonstrates it. The back matter gives short paragraphs on the animals and an explanation of how the behavior looks in the wild. I'm not as keen at it for learning about the animals since it's rather personifying and doesn't give any sense of the rich nature and range of animal behavior.

Where Butterflies Fill the Sky, Zahra Marwen. The story of the emotional journey of a girl who leaves her home and immigrates to a new country with her immediate family. We see both her love for her previous home and her faith in her family, and then the willingness to settle in a new place despite being lonely. The backmatter gives the context -- her family was stateless based on some shenanigans when Kuwait was organizing itself as a bureaucracy, and eventually things became rather dire (which the child didn't notice). But it's a book about feelings, conveyed by the gentle language and illustrations. 

Stitch By Stitch: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly Sews Her Way to Freedom, Connie Schofield-Morrison. Biography of the woman who earned her freedom from her work as a seamstress and made many of the poshes dresses around the time of President Lincoln, including several for Mary Lincoln (his wife). I found it a bit grim that she ended up in poverty at the end, but then so did Mrs. Lincoln. The pictures are beautiful and really lean in to the sewing theme. Back matter is an author's note about her excitement when learning about this successful woman and her urge to share that knowledge, and a timeline. 

Blood! Not Just a Vampire Drink, Stacy McAnulty. It's a fun explanation of the components and power of blood, how it feeds and protects the body, etc., but the vampire connection feels like a bribe? Like blood isn't fun enough on it's own, so we'll sweeten the deal with this smart kid educating his starving uncle, who get converted to chocolate milkshakes at the end. Which didn't seem healthy to me, actually. I worry about uncle's teeth. 

Uncle John's City Garden, Bernette G. Ford. Lovely (in words and illustrations) story about a family growing a garden in an urban lot, with the uncle and siblings all contributing according to their strength (uncle is the strongest!) and then ending with a celebration for the whole neighborhood. It's loosely based on a childhood memory, but enhanced since she had always wanted to spend the whole summer helping but never had the chance. 

The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything: The Story of Maria Mitchell, Laura Alary. The story of a girl who found a comet, which propelled her into a world of scientists, and who faced a lot of discrimination because she was a woman. She especially disliked embroidery and how all girls had to do it. It was a bit "not like other girls" but also gave me information on a woman I hadn't known about. 

The Gardener of Alcatraz: A True Story, Emma Bland Smith. Biography of someone I'd never heard of before (or had forgotten), a prisoner at Alcatraz who found a new path in life from gardening, first at Alcatraz and then outside of prison. The writing and pictures really made the book -- the author makes clear when they are speculating (If you ask me, this was his plan) and when motivations are clearer (he asked to stay at Alcatraz rather than move to a lower security prison). And the backmatter also treats the reader seriously, giving more details about both the story and the prison, as well as the prison system. There's even a note about the illustrations and when they took artistic license. 

Honeybee Rescue: A Backyard Drama, Loree Griffin Burns. Fascinating photographs follow the procedure for rescuing a swarm that has set up in an unacceptable location, showing how the bees are found to how they are safely moved in clear photographs. Simple but amazing.

Nour's Secret Library, Wafa' Tarnowska. A story about kids facing war in Syria who try to find some joy among the hardship. I can't argue with their idea to build a library! They find books in abandoned, bombed out apartments and bring them to a basement in another building and sort and share them. It's not quite a true story, but is based on the author's experiences. zzzz

The Mother of a Movement: Jeanne Manford -- Ally, Activist, and Co-Founder of PFLAG, Rob Sanders. The story of how the family support group for the right of queer people started it all, because she always stood up for her kids. Most especially her own children, but as a teacher she saw the need to extend that support beyond her family. I liked learning details about a woman I didn't know, although her existence was predicted by the PFLAG movement. She was cool.

A Dinosaur Named Ruth: How Ruth Mason Discovered Fossils in her Own Backyard, Julia Lyon. Ruth Mason was a kid who was interested in fossils since she first started finding them in her backyard as a kid (she lived on a ranch in South Dakota, it was a big backyard). She kept writing to various scientists for her entire life as she continued to collect fossils and arrange them in a field, but was ignored, probably because of sexism and classism. Finally someone came buy on an expedition and asked for permission to look for bones and she was like "check out the back field." A museum in Wales that got one of the almost complete skeletons to display named it after her and hence this biography, which is a celebration of her with friendly illustrations and also (to the adult reader) a searing indictment of the scientific community. 

Alexander Von Humboldt: Explorer, Naturalist, and Environmental Pioneer, Danica Novgorodoff. A biography of the guy who first pushed the idea that volcanoes were connected underground, and also that stuff is all connected so deforestation affects climate and so on. The picture books really pushes his love of the idea of inter-connectedness, and also the love of investigation and curiosity. It's written with a love of language, with a repeated beat of "so different" and then a deeper understanding of "so connected". It's also deliberately respectful not only of Humboldt but of all the people and places he visits; the afterward talks about language assumptions and the efforts of the illustrator to go beyond condescending descriptions in various journal entries. The back matter also goes into how future science and scientists were affected by Humboldt's writings and theories. 

A Seed Grows, Antoinette Portis. Nice preschool or early reader book about the life cycle of a sunflower seed, with bold simple illustrations and short bursts of text. The text is mostly on a white background for easy reading, facing the illustration. It's clunky and effective art, not torn paper stuff but reminding me of that kind of art.

Make Way for Animals: A World of Wildlife Crossings, Meeg Pincus. Fun little read aloud, but not outstanding. Nice pictures and text, with large and descriptive language and then smaller more detail oriented paragraphs often scattered about. Good way to introduce the problem, need, and some solutions to young kids, preschool and a bit above I guess.

Marcel's Masterpiece: How a Toilet Shaped the History of Art, Jeff Mack. A description of the famous toilet installation at an art show that helps kids ask (as the adults did) what is art? The early pages with the set-up have less text -- it kinda lures you into the situation and then makes the reader think about what it means. The last few pages are fairly dense but still welcoming and leave the reader answering questions about the nature and purpose and definition of art. Which is pretty cool for a book that is not shy about potty humor! 

Yoshi and the Ocean: A Sea Turtle's Incredible Journey Home, Lindsay Moore. Lovely picture book that reads like a poem, the words and the visuals closely working together. It's a true story of a turtle raised in an aquarium after being found small and injured, who is released at sexual maturity and tracked across the oceans. The back matter talks in detail about all the stages of the journey and how they work with the turtle lifestyle and what was learned from Yoshi's radio transmissions on the way. It's really quite fascinating. The picture book is a great read, and the science in the back is also interesting. Do kids read these? Like, do kids who could read the back enjoy going through the art at the front? 

If the World Were 100 Animals: A Visual Guide to Earth's Amazing Creatures, Miranda Smith. I really like this tool for grasping numbers and patterns, and it's well done, with a progression of statistics that has some coherence. It starts with all animals, then vertebrates, then mammals, etc. Also the text on the page was well considered -- there are the starting explanations and then smaller info blurbs and factoids. So it works for groups or for kids of different attention spans. The illustrations were well done as well -- the pages are laid out well, so they look good but also convey the information well and it works at various levels -- you can drill down and count all the small pictures and it checks, or just see the groupings to understand the statistics. It's a great introduction to the information as well as how to convey information. And then it gently slides into action, which is apparently a necessary component to nonfiction these days. 

Harriet's Ruffled Feathers, Joy McCullough. A fun book that works as both a picture book to read and a history of the woman who founded the Audubon Society as part of the work to save birds! The inspiration was the realization of how many birds were slaughtered for their feathers to feed the fashionable hat industry. Harriet and her friend Minnie started with their friends and then expanded around the state and then the nation, resulting in changing fashion and getting laws passed to save birds. I learned a bit, although the story took precedence over the history, and the bird allusions were great. 

Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth, Alice Faye Duncan. A good history of Juneteenth (I hadn't realized that red foods were traditional!). I thought it would have more about Opal Lee and why and how she got it made a national holiday, but that is covered only in the backstory information. The pictures are warm and inclusive, and the stage setting of Opal Lee telling the kids at the event, which seems to be almost a family reunion, works well. It felt like a good picture book, either for home reading or with a class.  

Annette Feels Free: The True Story of Annette Kellerman, World-Class Swimmer, Fashion Pioneer, and Real-Life Mermaid, Katie Mazeika. A biography of Kellerman that starts with swimming as therapy for her injured legs, and then moves through her career as a professional swimmer (shows, dives, dances, races -- she did it all), pausing to examine her role in changing women's swimming costumes to things that actual make swimming comfortable. The title refers to both -- how swimming opened a career to her, and how she feel free to wear functional clothing. The final pictures showing modern swimwear carefully includes a modest option -- it's not about showing off one's body, but about not dragging oneself down. The back matter gives more information and details, and then a personal note on the author on how Kellerman's disability was personally important to her. 

How to Say Hello to a Worm: A First Guide to Outside, Kari Percival.  A simple and attractive picture book that covers gardening at a preschooler level. It would have been a fun bedtime book for us, especially since my oldest did a lot of gardening with his dad at this age. 

The Secret Life of the Sea Otter, Laurence Pringle. The life and habitat of California Sea Otters is explored through the focus on one example, Lutrus, and her pup. The illustrations are gentle and enticing, showing the water, plants and waves that make up their lives. Danger is mentioned although our main characters live a charmed existence. It's a good way to convey information and a good early nonfiction book. 

Feasts and Festivals Around the World: From Lunar New Year to Christmas, Alice B. McGinty. This is a fun picture book, with each spread highlighting the food and any other activities associated with the chosen holiday. The name and location get big print, and then a slightly denser paragraph gives more details. It's organized a bit oddly. At first I thought we were working through the year -- it starts with Lunar New Year. But then Christmas shows up between June and August, apparently because it's featured in in Australia and so takes place in the summer. Of course, summer takes place in December there, so hmmm. Ramadan gets placed in spring, because that's where it falls in 2022, which fair enough. Hey, I didn't notice any Jewish holidays! And I thought St Patricks Day was fairly low key in Ireland, honestly. Anyway, it was a fun way to turn some pages.

Marine Biologists on a Dive, Sue Fliess. An earnest exploration of what marine biologists due. The team of five each have a specialty, which they demonstrate in the field and then apply back in the lab at home. The idea of a hypothesis and testing is covered, and then the back matter goes into details and gives suggestions for reading and the steps of the scientific method. It would be a fun read.  

Feel Your Feelings, Scott Stoll. I can see this being a fun read with preschoolers, or read to a class of early school kids in the schools my kids attended, where one of the lessons is how to deal with emotions. Not much more to say... 

Free At Last: A Juneteenth Poem, Sojourner Kincaid Rolle. This is not actually a Cybils book, but I accidentally grabbed it from the library. Rich illustrations, words that sound good to read -- a good, serious picture book that tells a real story.

Herorat!: Magawa, A Lifesaving Rodent, Jodie Parachini. 

Archeologists on a Dig, Sue Fliess.

I'm Trying to Love Garbage, Bethany Barton. 

Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond. This was beautiful to read -- lovely illustrations that worked even on my ipad screen. It also did some cool stuff with history and science -- showed how they influence each other, and how simple things have resonances and consequences. By tracing the different ways the color blue was created as a dye, and how the difficulty made it value, and then how it tied into plantations and oppression, it showed a thread of history that can be repeated for many questions.

I Am Ruby Bridges, Ruby Bridges. I loved seeing the famous incident told by the person most directly involved -- what she understood as a child, how it happened and what it meant to her. I guess kids won't come to it with the weight of all the history around it, but it still works as a line between history and individuals. And the illustrations are great and work to tie both the theme of civil rights and the idea of seeing a historical event through the eyes of the people involved together. 

Just Wild Enough: Mireya Mayor, Primatologist, Marta Magellan. Another new person for me to learn about! But I wasn't interested in the same things as the author.

A Perfect Fit: How Lena "Lane" Bryant Changed the Shape of Fashion, Mara Rockliff. I had no idea Lane Bryant was a real person, let alone Lena Bryant, a Lithuanian immigrant! And that she was one of the early pioneers in maternity clothes and plus sizes -- clothes that fit real people. This was a informational and also lovely -- the soft colors bring out the idea of new clothes.

Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, A Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion, Shannon Stocker. I'm always glad to learn about a new person and this was a fun book to do it with. I'm a little leery of the antagonism towards learning sign, but she was clearly committed to staying in the hearing world, even if on her own terms. I looked up some of her music and enjoyed it!
    I'm not sure how she changed percussion though. But she definitely expanded many people's musical horizons and helped destroy some stereotypes and barriers. 

How Not to Get Eaten: More Than 75 Incredible Animal Defenses, D.K. Publishing. This was a lot of fun! Lots of pictures, varied text, and tons of examples of how various animals (and a few plants) strive to avoid becoming prey. The grouping worked for me -- it meant that there was an easy shift between lots of animals on a page and a more detailed look at a complex technique from a single creature. The topics listed in the top right served to keep me oriented. Nothing too deep, but the kind of book where you want to have people around so you can share some of the cool facts with them. It would be fun for kids reading alone as well as in a group.

Dig, Dance, Dive: How Birds Move to Survive, Etta Kaner. Great illustrations and clear language make this a fun picture book. The steady rhythm of an action verb ("Birds dance" "Birds toboggan" "Birds jump") on each page spread stands out over a painted (? art is hard) picture demonstrating while smaller text details how this behavior helps this specific bird survive. It's a fun picture book as well as a fun read. 

Gaudi: Architect of Imagination, Susan B. Katz. Lovely book, but I don't really have a sense of how his works look in real life. It would be good to read with someone who does know Gaudi's stuff, I guess. 

All Star: How Larry Doby Smashed the Color Barrier in Baseball, Audrey Vernick. I always like learning stuff in picture books. Larry Doby was a new name to me, but now I know about the 2nd Black man in major league baseball, the first one in the American League, the one who hit the winning run in a World Series, the one who played against Buzz Aldrin in high school football (another famous 2nd guy).

    I like the illustrations, and how it referenced national norms but focussed on Doby's experiences, noting when they differed from the norm (he played integrated baseball in the south) but showing the variety of possibilities. And noting the slow course of progress, especially with current issues in baseball, including the recent change to the Cleveland Indians' name and mascot. 

The Wolves of Yellowstone: A Rewilding Story, Catherine Barr. This is a large book with room for its illustrations. The font is a handwriting, suitable for the intimate teaching tone. The book describes how wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone, backtracking to show what the park was like without them, then following their first year and looking at what they do, and then pulling back to show how that affects the whole ecosystem. It's a great way to see how apec predators work in a system, and also how the system has so many interdependencies. 

    I liked how it was good at details and big pictures -- we both get the fate of the first 14 wolves and also how the species list at Yellowstone changed before and after wolves came back. A few pages were hard to read (night makes for dark pages) but the beauty of the presentation made it worthwhile.

Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild, Jacqueline Briggs Martin. I liked the background of moving from just liking pickles to making it a centerpiece of your life, and the feeling at the end that I could make my own kraut-chi now (probably won't, but I could). I would have liked a bit more science as well as the biographic part. The pictures were amusing and helped keep me turning the pages.

Gracie and the Radar Girls, Karen J Moore & Lyn Meridith. This felt very authentic, like listening to a grandmother telling stories. Well, more like reading the book her kids or grandkids made about those stories. The details on life during the war, and what the radar girls expected and were expected to do and want were interesting. 

Swoop and Soar: How Science Rescued Two Osprey Orphans and Found Them a New Family in The Wild, Deborah Lee Rose & Jane Veltkamp. The first half is a gripping nonfiction book -- gripping story, sharp and exciting photographs, good basic science. And the back half gives a lot more meat -- details on what is going on, what it means, who is doing the work, past and future implications. I'm a little concerned about the audience -- the front is a lot more accessible, the back is not quite as gripping. But it's a good read.