November 2006

Puget Sound Parent Recommends:
New Books by Northwest Authors

by Wenda Reed

The Talking Vegetables

The European story of the Little Red Hen – who wants the fruits of labor without putting in any work – is transplanted to Africa in this adaptation of a traditional story from Liberia. Instead of a hen, it’s a spider who uses a surly tone when refusing to help the other animals make a garden. When Spider goes to pick some tasty vegetables, they talk back: “You can’t pick us. You didn’t clear the land. You didn’t plant our seeds. You didn’t pull the weeds. Go away!” Mercer Island writer and world-traveler Margaret Lippert collaborated with Liberian-born Won-Ldy Paye to bring this story to light. Bright, kinetic illustrations by prolific Seattle artist Julie Paschkis are a delight (Henry Holt, 2006; $16.95; preschool age).

The Patch

Five-year-old Becca has to wear an eye patch to correct a lazy eye. “Everyone is going to think I look stupid,” she bawls, refusing to get out of bed to go to school. But then Becca thinks of being a pirate, a private eye and a one-eyed monster, leading the rest of the class in role-playing. By the end of the day, everyone wants the distinctive patch. Medina writer Justina Chen Headley infuses the story with so much imaginative detail that the free-spirited girl becomes a whole character in just 28 pages. Lively illustrations by Mitch Vane are a perfect match. The book ends with an explanation of amblyopia (lazy eye) with information from local optometrists Drs. Bob Glaze and Karen Preston (Charlesbridge, 2006; $15.95; ages 3-6).

Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant

An Umbrellaphant is an elephant with an umbrella growing from the end of his trunk, and so it is “ever at its ease, no matter if the temperature is ninety-nine degrees.” Ballpoint Penguins with pointed inky noses write about ice and snow “for that is all they seem to know.” And what of the Pop-Up Toadsters? These square green creatures hop around on toad legs “and place in slots atop their heads fresh slices of assorted breads.” Animals and common objects combine in this latest offering from Puget Sound poet Jack Prelutsky, who has just been named the Poetry Foundation’s first children’s poet laureate. Carin Berger’s illustrations are appropriately strange (Greenwillow, 2006; $16.99; ages 4-8).

The Beast of Noor

Bellevue writer Janet Lee Carey turns to fantasy, creating a world of deep forests, steep crags and illusive passages into a magical alternative universe. It’s the story of a brave brother and sister and their village terrorized by a great, fierce dog, an incarnation of the fearsome creature that inhabits many old legends and fairy tales. This one is called Shriker, and he is pure evil … although he was once good and loyal … and he is not so separate from the truehearted boy … and sometimes the lines between them blur and blur and merge… He and his resourceful sister find out about inner strength and love and loyalty in this richly described fantastical world (Atheneum, 2006; $16.95; ages 10-14).

Find these books on the Seattle’s Child Reads display rack at Borders Books in Tukwila, Redmond, Federal Way, Seattle, Lynnwood and Everett (www.bordersstores.com).

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Northwest Parent Media
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