Rating: 5 stars
With “La Madre Goose” Susan Middleton Elya crowns herself as the queen of bilingual books. Some bilingual books have an English page facing a translation of the page in Spanish (or some other language). What Middleton Elya does is much more creative — and much more difficult. In this book, for example, she takes familiar Mother Goose nursery rhymes and adds a soupçon of Spanish.
For example, Little Miss Muffet becomes “Little Miss Amarilla.” Instead of rhyming “spider” with “beside her,” the rhyme becomes “big araña” and “very extraña.” They are all clever and culturally appropriate. Instead of putting his thumb in a pie, young Juan Ramón puts his dedo into green guacamole.
Kids who speak English and Spanish or just English will enjoy the combinations of the languages. The rhyme and meter remain true to the original versions of the rhymes. Middleton Elya is also the author of the fabulous “Little Roja Riding Hood,” which is a favorite in dual language classrooms.
Please note: This review is based on the final hardcover book provided by Putnam for review purposes.
In “Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer (Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement),” author Carole Boston Weatherford (Candlewick Press) shares the story of a woman who was born to sharecroppers in the Mississippi Delta. From such poor beginnings, she became one of the most important women in the civil rights movement. Malcolm X called her “the country’s number one freedom-fighting woman.” Weatherford carefully researched Hamer, and the story, in first person narrative, has some lines of actual quotes in italics. Each page has a different heading. For example, under “Delta Blues” it says, “I was just six when I dragged my first bag down a row of cotton. My family — all twenty-two of us — worked in the field.” She described in painful detail what it was like to pick cotton in hundred-degree heat. The plight of the sharecropper — to be always indebted to the owner of the land — is explained. That page ends with “Sharecropping was just slavery by a gentler name.” On the page headed “Literacy Test,” she explains how a group of African-Americans went on a bus to all register to vote together. It was 1962, and during a church meeting, some young men from out of town had explained their rights. She had not even known that blacks could vote. She was not able to register, and she lost her job as a result of the effort. She describes how when blacks finally passed the test to vote, their names were published in the local paper, thereby subjecting them to further intimidation and danger.
“Miss Colfax’s Light” by Aimée Bissonette (Sleeping Bear Press) is a story of Harriet Colfax, who became a lighthouse keeper in 1861. She had moved with her brother to Indiana, and when his business folded, she was determined to stay in Indiana, where, according the author, “women could do nearly anything men could do.” Her best friend, Ann, was a schoolteacher there. The book tells how Harriet tended the lantern (first with whale oil, then with lard) each and every night. Every morning she climbed the stairs to put out the light. There were also other lanterns she had to tend — in all kinds of weather. Harriet kept a journal, and excerpts from that journal are included on the pages. She didn’t retire until the age of 80! Talk about perseverance. She is truly an example of determination for all students.
Tree in the Courtyard” by Jeff Gottesfeld and illustrated by Peter McCarty (Knopf Books for Young Readers) is an example of a picture book that crosses the line between nonfiction and fiction because of the way the story is told. The tree in the story is the horse chestnut tree that stood outside Anne Frank’s window. It’s mentioned in Anne’s diary. This story is told in third person narrative from the tree’s perspective. “The tree loved the sight of her,” and “Once, through the curtains, the tree watched the people light candles and sing.” The ending is beautiful — the tree finally dies, but “Just like the girl, she lives on.” The horse chestnut tree that animated Anne Frank had given seeds and saplings that were planted all over the world. This is a perfect book to use as an introduction to the Holocaust or a study of WWII.
“Steamboat School” by 
In spite of her pain, she has been sweet and gentle. Look at her picture — all she wants is to be held and loved and feel safe. She urgently needs to be with a rescue so that she can get the medical care that she needs immediately! Her leg and eye need to be treated. The shelter cannot provide the care she needs.