Beginning Readers/Chapter Books - Upper Elementary Grades - Non-Fiction

REVIEWERS: Alida Allison, Jay Katz, Naomi Lesley, Marie Soriano, John Whitt

* denotes San Diego writer and/or illustrator
** Age levels, when provided by the publishers, are included in the bibliographical information. Otherwise, category placements are our best approximations.

Heller, Esther S. Menorah Under the Sea. Minneapolis, MN: Kar-Ben Publishing, 2009. ISBN #ISBN: 978-0-8225-7356-9 . Audience: Children’s, ages 5-9.
Kimmel, Eric A. A Picture for Marc. Illus. Matthew Trueman. New York: Random House, 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-83253-6. $11.99 U.S./ $15.99 CAN. Ages 7-12.
Thong, Roseanne. Wish: Wishing Traditions Around the World. Ill. Elisa Kleven. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8118-5716-1. $16.99 US. Ages 4-8.
Tillage, Leon Walter. Leon’s Story. Illus. Susan L. Roth. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000. ISBN: 978-0374443306. $5.95 U.S. Ages 7 – 12.
Yolen, Jane. Sea Queens: Women Pirates around the World. Illus. Christine Joy Pratt. Watertown MA: Charlesbridge, 2008. ISBN 1-58089-131-8. Sturdy hardback.

Heller, Esther S. Menorah Under the Sea. Minneapolis, MN: Kar-Ben Publishing, 2009. ISBN #ISBN: 978-0-8225-7356-9 . Audience: Children’s, ages 5-9.

The book documents a true story about David Ginsburg, a marine biologist, and his visit to the McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica. Ginsburg is studying sea urchins in December, summertime in Antarctica. The book describes his role as a marine biologist, and his interest as a man of the Jewish faith in celebrating Hanukkah. He faces one significant problem in celebrating Hanukkah: the sun never sets during Antarctica’s summer, and candles on the traditional Hanukkah menorah can only be lit during sundown. Ultimately, Ginsburg solves this dilemma by creating a display of sea urchins and starfish under the sea, and takes photos of this display. He shows others at the McMurdo Research Station the photos, and they form a small community to celebrate Hanukkah together.

The story is well-written and engaging. I think it does an excellent job of blending information about what a marine biologist does, what life is like in Antarctica, and how Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah. The story’s conclusion attempts to tie together the mystery of how sea urchins survive in dark and frigid water, and the struggle of the Jewish people in surviving the fight against their enemies.

The photos accentuate the story well. Included are a blend of artistic photos, portraits, and action shots. The photos provide readers a visual of what life is like in Antarctica. They also show a scientific expedition in progress, including the gear the scientists use, and what life is like under the sea. The clear highlight of the book is Ginsburg’s photo of the underwater menorah of sea urchins and starfish.

The end of the book provides more information about sea urchins, and about McMurdo Station and Antarctica.

I am surprised that the book is recommended for children no older than nine years old, as I think the story has some universal themes that would also interest pre-adolescent children. The information and photos actually will provide parents with a glimpse into life on Antarctica, and spur genuine conversation with their children about the topic.

Jay Katz

Kimmel, Eric A. A Picture for Marc. Illus. Matthew Trueman. New York: Random House, 2007. ISBN 978-0-375-83253-6. $11.99 U.S./ $15.99 CAN. Ages 7-12.

Don’t you ever wonder what artists were like when they were young? Did they always like painting or drawing or singing? How did they get started? Eric A. Kimmel’s A Picture for Marc tells the story of a very young Marc Chagall, the famous Russian painter (1887-1985).

Marc is the only son of a poor Russian-Jewish family. His parents are determined that their son get an education. Although Jews are not allowed in Russian schools, his mother bribes a teacher so Marc can learn science, math, history, geography, and Russian. But Marc is mostly bored with school, except geometry class where he likes to draw shapes. One day in class, when Marc sees his friend Victor tracing pictures in a magazine, Marc decides to try it, too. Then he gets an even better idea: drawing his own pictures. Victor encourages Marc to learn about being an artist from the local art teacher who has a shop in town: Yehuda Pen. Pen thinks Marc has potential and tells Marc to speak with his parents about lessons. But Marc does not get the response he hopes for. His parents think drawing and art are frivolous. To their way of thinking, Marc should be practical and concentrate on his studies so he can be financially successful. How will Marc ever convince them to let him follow his dream?

This short book “loosely based” on Marc Chagall’s childhood is incredibly moving. Kimmel captures the sadness and disappointment that children, as well as adults, feel when their creativity is not supported by those they love. Kimmel addresses the fact that we tend to think of art as a luxury rather than something that is essential for personal and spiritual fulfillment, and we have this myth of the starving artist, which is just that—a myth. In addition to addressing the importance of art in people’s lives, Kimmel does an awesome job of critiquing gender roles. Marc’s sisters want to go to school but cannot because girls are not allowed in school, Jewish or Russian, as was true during that time period. Instead of skirting around the issue, Kimmel gives Marc the opinion that this is terribly unfair.

The lively illustrations by Matthew Trueman give readers an idea what a small Russian town was like in the 1890s. Trueman also illustrates Marc and his family, Mr. Pen and his studio, and the pictures Marc draws which fit the adult Chagall’s style of painting perfectly. Trueman pays attention to detail, including finely drawn maps in a picture of Marc’s classroom and tiny script that looks very much like Hebrew or Russian in Marc’s open books and magazines.

A Picture for Marc is a great book for beginning readers (and for any other reader who’s interested in art!). It is a small book, only 101 pages long, including the Author’s Note. There is more text than illustrations, enough to have chapters, yet not so much as to be overwhelming.

Marie Soriano

Thong, Roseanne. Wish: Wishing Traditions Around the World. Ill. Elisa Kleven. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8118-5716-1. $16.99 US. Ages 4-8.

Wish combines poetry, description, and illustration to explain the wishing traditions of a variety of cultures, including Japan, Guatemala, Thailand, South Africa, and the United States. Each two-page spread contains a brief verse, followed by a prose description of a wishing custom, such as Guatemalan kite flying on All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, and accompanied by a detailed colored illustration depicting children partaking in the celebration. The back of the book contains a brief background of each wishing tradition described in the book, for further information, and also provides a map and a visual scavenger hunt of lucky symbols to be found throughout the book.

Classroom teachers will enjoy using this book, especially as it covers such a wide range of holidays from a variety of different cultures. The verse segments are in a difficult-to-read print, and are somewhat awkward, but the prose descriptions are brief, clear, and interesting. Kleven’s multimedia illustrations are rich and appealing, allowing readers to visualize the various traditions without making the children or the settings appear unduly stereotyped or “folkloric.” The map and the lucky symbols at the back would be more useful in front, but they serve to make the book both more interesting and also more potentially useful for classroom use or for older children.

Naomi Lesley

Tillage, Leon Walter. Leon’s Story. Illus. Susan L. Roth. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000. ISBN: 978-0374443306. $5.95 U.S. Ages 7 – 12.

Leon’s Story is an autobiographical account of Baltimore janitor Leon Walter Tillage’s struggles, before, during and after the fight for civil rights. Leon recounts his younger days growing up on a farm with Jim Crow laws in full effect, sharecropping along with his family and dealing with a harshly hostile, racially motivated society. The only refuge is Leon’s home where his parents offer him an environment filled with unconditional love and support. The story is told as a first-person narrative and feels as though Leon is talking directly to the reader. As he states, many of his experiences during those radically charged times were horrific. Yet his parents strictly and religiously driven moral upbringing not only allows for his future success, but ultimately, his survival. What makes Leon’s story different from other, more prominent voices of the time is the sense of familiarity and personalization he invokes. The events he describes are raw and unfiltered by modern niceties. Leon eventually joins the marches for racial equality and illustrates the events, circumstances and citizens who helped him along with his struggle.

Leon’s Story is applicable to all readers simply because of its timeless nature. Leon is a wonderful storyteller, encapsulating his audience without the slightest notion of anger or bitterness. Even while describing his father’s brutal death and ‘compensation,’ he still evokes a sense of hope and quiet reservation. Susan L. Roth’s illustrations only add to the turbulent atmosphere, allowing the reader a personal glimpse into the world of Leon and the appalling Jim Crow South. Leon’s acceptance of his life’s events and his peaceful protests during the 1960’s will continue to inspire younger readers to drive on despite the many hardships of reality.

John Whitt

Yolen, Jane. Sea Queens: Women Pirates around the World. Illus. Christine Joy Pratt. Watertown MA: Charlesbridge, 2008. ISBN 1-58089-131-8. Sturdy hardback.

Jane Yolen can tell a story, and here her material is ripe, raunchy, and riveting. Yolen enlivens cultural and biographical history with her crisp, quick prose. My fav Sea Queen is Queen Teuta—(you have to say the name out loud). She was a 3rd century B.C. Illyrian Greek who did well as a pirate queen… until she took on Rome. Other fascinating women are Mary Ann Talbot, an Englishwoman, who was born in 1778 but died just thirty years later. She lived mostly disguised as a boy; she wrote her autobiography as “John Taylor.” The large, well laid-out book is handsome black type on cream paper, with distinctly satisfying medieval woodcut-looking art.

A. Allison