KREX BOOK OF THE MONTH, MAY 2013, BEST OF THE WEST featuring LITTLE RED HOT, COWPOKE & DIRTY DAWG, AND COWBOY UP!

     What are the odds of having three newly released children’s’ books about the West land in your mailbox at the same time?  May has unfolded as an ace high hand of three very different and wonderful books.  COWPOKE CLYDE AND DIRTY DOG by Lori Mortensen, COWBOY UP! RIDE THE NAVAJO RODEO by Nancy Bo Flood, and LITTLE RED HOT by Eric Kimmel provide a trio of five apple books.

 

     Award winning author, Eric Kimmel is a master storyteller and re-teller.  LITTLE RED HOT with text by Kimmel and illustrations by Laura Huliska-Beith takes a classic and turns it into one creative hot read.  Set in Texas, Little Red Hot likes chili peppers.  Fearless and cleaver, she stands her ground with Senor Lobo.  What stands out in this book is Kimmel’s focus on his character’s uniqueness and strength allowing her to solve her own problem.  LITTLE RED HOT is a 1500 word, picture book. Heavy on the text like most classic tales, this book is for readers or is to be read aloud to school age children.  There are interesting facts about chili peppers placed strategically in the beginning of the book that make it clear the heat of chili peppers is serious business.

 I give this book 5 apples, outstanding. It takes a master storyteller to re-tell a story that has been over-told. LITTLE RED HOT feels new with just the right amount of heat.


     This book is a partial retelling of a classic tale, picture book that has a high word count. It is for children 6 and up.  It has high appeal for boys and girls.  The themes in the book are helping and helping your-self, and actions and consequences. 


     If you want to find out more about author Eric Kimmel, check out his website at: Eric’s Website.  LITTLE RED HOT is published by Amazon Children’s Publishing and is available online and through your local independent bookseller. 

 

     A cowpoke and his dog coupled with the rhythmic, rhyming, humorous romp of award-winning author Lori Mortensen and the dynamic, action oriented illustration of award winning illustrator, Michael Allen Austin energizes the reader in Mortensen’s latest book, COWPOKE CLYDE AND DIRTY DAWG.  Mortensen is a first class, wordsmith with seamless rhythm and rhyme.   This fast paced, page-turner, pleases the eyes, ears, and hearts from children to adults, including cowpokes and dog lovers of all shapes and sizes.  COWPOKE CLYDE AND DIRTY DAWG is a 32-page picture book for school age readers and is a fun and fast read aloud for adults.  Page after page, readers will smile and wonder what’s going to happen next.  How will Clyde solve his dirty problem? 

     I give this book, 5 apples, cream of the crop. COWPOKE CLYDE AND DIRTY DAWG is a one of a kind, creative book with topnotch writing and illustration.


     This book is a picture book that has an average word count with complex language.  It is for children 6 and up and will appeal to boys and girls.  It could be used in teaching about poetry, rhyme and rhythm.

The theme is about sticking to resolving problems, humor, and knowing things will work out.


     If you want to find out more about author Lori Mortensen, check out her website at:Lori's Website.  COWPOKE CLYDE AND DIRTY DAWG is published by Clarion Books and is available online and through your local independent bookseller.

     COWBOY UP! RIDE THE NAVAJO RODEO by award winning author, Nancy Bo Flood with photography by Jan Sonnenmair combines narrative poetry with detailed description of rodeo events that makes accessible a unique view of the Navajo rodeo.  COWBOY UP! is a non-fiction, story, picture book that captures what feels like the heart and soul of not just any ole rodeo, but a Navajo rodeo.  Bo Flood’s life on the Navajo Nation Reservation paired with research and skilled writing are precisely placed with poignant photographs that bring a charge to the page.  This nonfiction portrait is laced with narrative poetry and narrative from the rodeo announcer balanced with active description of the events.  Bo Flood not only carries out the task of writing from three different voices bringing them powerfully together She does it with the execution and confidence of the riders she depicts in her words. 

I give this book, 5 apples, cream of the crop.  COWBOY UP! RIDE THE NAVAJO RODEO is unique and beautiful in its’ depiction of this rodeo slice of life on the Navajo reservation.   The themes in the book are rodeo, family and community.


     This book is a story, picture book that has a long word count and complex language.  It is for school age readers.   It will appeal to boys and girls.  It could be used in teaching about rodeo, native cultures, and poetry.


     If you want to find out more about author Nancy Bo Flood, check out her website at: Nancy’s Website.  COWBOY UP! is published by the WordSong an imprint of Highlights and is available online and through your local independent bookseller.

A BEST OF THE WEST BOOK is being given away this month to a lucky winner who posts a comment on this blog or signs up as a follower or likes the Book Wisdom by Diane Facebook page.  If you sign up as a follower please let me know you did, I do not have access to your name or use your information as I value your privacy. Drawing happens in June.

Book Wisdom, March 5, 2013, Book of the Month, Award Winning, The Queen of Water

THE QUEEN OF WATER by Laura Resau & Maria Virginia

    There are times when I solicit authors and illustrators for their work, and there are authors who solicit me with their books.  Both ways of submission bring in good children's books.  Last June, I was approached by Colorado author, Laura Resau who offered to send me her award winning young adult novel, THE QUEEN OF WATER.  Laura had looked at my site and felt I might be a good match for her book.  From reading this book, I have determined a third way of books arriving at my doorstep.  This book was simply meant to be.  It's the perfect book for me, my background, and passions.  I'd like to think that it was many indigenous children and children of poverty who I have worked with over the years calling out to Laura saying please send this to Mrs. Hower.  This story speaks for many unheard voices of children and adolescents who have lived and are living in difficult situations.

      Award winning, THE QUEEN OF WATER by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango is a young adult novel based on the true story of Maria Virginia's life growing up in Ecuador.  The names and places have been changed in respect of privacy.  Laura has embellished a bit to make this a fictional novel based on true life. THE QUEEN OF WATER wraps  the reader's fingers into the tiny hand of 7 year old Virginia, an indigenous child, living in rural Andean Ecuador.

      THE QUEEN OF WATER begins with the forced departure of Virginia who has to leave her family and everything she knows and loves, including her beloved Cheetah. "It's good to have someone love you so fiercely. Even if that someone is a goat." The reader quickly experiences the sharply contrasted reality of Virginia's indigenous life and the upper ruling class of Spanish descendants as she is thrown into the role of servitude as a child to a middle class family. Virginia is a fiery, tenacious, intelligent girl whose sheer will and fortitude guide her in dealing with the ugly side of humanity.  Laura's co-creation of Maria Virginia's voice as a child moves consistently and with clarity through the thread barren warp of Virginia's tapestry of life from childhood through puberty and into adolescence, the colors and textures of the tapestry's weft only strengthen it by creating a story of hope and inspiration.

Maria Virginia and Laura

       Laura  and Maria Virginia do a superb job of staying true to childhood development stages through three distinct stages making an already authentic story, exceptionally real.  Another strength Laura and Maria Virginia bring as a writers is the questions many children ask themselves about life, love, and family when found in the dark places adults knowingly and unknowingly place them.  Sharing just enough emotion and information, the reader is touched by raw reality without going over the edge.  It takes understanding and caring, respect for others, and sheer writing skill to pull together this tightly written, compelling story with the level of integrity and beauty it brings.  Understandably so,  Laura and Maria Virginia six years to write THE QUEEN OF WATER.

I give this book five apples, cream of the crop.  THE QUEEN OF WATER takes an incredible story about will power and resiliency to a very high level through skill and understanding of children and their development into adults.  It is a 350 page, fictional novel based on a true story for mature young adults.

The themes in the story are will power, cultural identity, resiliency, child servitude, freedom, family, class structure and barriers to learning. Parts of the story involve abusive situations which are handled with integrity and respect.

This book is published by Delacorte Press/Random House and is available through your independent bookseller, Barnes and Noble, and online.  It is available in ebook, hardback & paperback. You can find about award winning author, Laura Resau and her other books at: LAURA'S WEBSITE with additional information about Maria Virginia at this location too.