SANTA CLAUS IN BAGHDAD by Elsa Marston

Marston, Elsa. Santa Claus in Baghdad and Other Stories about Teens in the Arab World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-253-22004-2: $15.95.

What do you know about Iraq, Libya, and Palestine? What do you know about the young teenagers who live in those countries or others like Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Jordan? You've heard about the uprisings and for years you have seen footage and read headlines. Have you really thought about the teenagers there, however? I thought I had, but after I read Santa Claus in Baghdad and Other Stories about Teens in the Arab World, I realized that, despite my attempts to be broadminded, I have pigeon-holed Arab teenagers into an existence defined by political upheaval. In her introduction, Elsa Marston states that what "[Arab] young people want is what people everywhere want: A secure home and loving family, good friends, teachers who care about their students, the chance to grow and express themselves, and hope for a better future." Read Santa Claus in Baghdad and you, like me, will be convinced Marston is right.

Santa Claus in Baghdad and Other Stories about Teens in the Arab World consists of eight short stories about a teenager from his or her country. The first short story which is the source of the book's title is about an Iraqi teenager who learns the rewards of selflessness when she sells her dearest belongings to earn money to buy a gift. In "Faces" we meet Suhayl, a Syrian teenager, who is struggling to navigate the complexities of living with divorced parents—especially after his father decides to remarry. His efforts to help his overworked mother are heartwarming and a bit humorous as mishaps threaten to thwart his surprise for her. I was most touched by "Honor" and the lengths its Jordanian heroine, Yasmine, goes to protect the honor of a friend—even if she doesn't understand or agree with the importance of hijab. Similarly admirable is the Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, Rami, and his determination to once more inspire his older brother.

As heartwarming as many of the stories might be, Marston does not shy away from difficult issues such as honor killings, jihad, limited education for girls, cultural schisms, growing generational gaps, poverty, divorce, and refugee camps. What makes Santa Claus in Baghdad so powerful is the consistent attention to and a focus on the humanity that unites us. I highly recommend this book; in fact, a friend and I plan to use this in conjunction with selections from Arabian Nights as the basis for a high school reading group.

Stephanie Ashley

KALI'S SONG by Jeanette Winter

Winter, Jeanette. Kali's Song. New York: Schwartz & Wade, 2012.ISBN: 978-0-375-87022-4. $16.99. Ages 4-8

Whenever I finish a Jeanette Winter book, I find that I have just a bit more faith in the human being and society, so I was very excited to see Kali's Song. I am glad to say that I was not disappointed. In fact, I found myself smiling when I finished Kali's Song because of the warmth expressed in the central characters' relationships with each other and the community's respect for the importance of art and the artist. This book is a reminder of the power of art, in this case music, and how it can change people's actions and possibly even history.

Set thousands and thousands and thousands of years ago, this is a story about a little boy, Kali, who finds that he has a very special gift and doesn't have to be like everyone else. Like all the young boys that Kali knows, he is groomed to become a great hunter. His father gives him a bow and arrows, and his mother encourages him that it won't be that much longer before he can join the men to kill the animals—if he practices every day.

Kali finds that it's not practicing to hunt that brings him joy, but it's something else entirely. It's the sounds his bow makes when he plucks the strings and puts the bow to his mouth. Kali is not the only one mesmerized by the sounds he makes. Every day, animals "listen and are still" and "birds listen and are still" and "the stars come close to listen" as Kali plays. And every day when his father asks, Kali says that his practice went well.

The day of the big hunt arrives and Kali takes his bow and arrows and joins the other men and boys. When they reach the animals they are hunting, however, Kali sees the magnificent herd of mammoths below them and forgets all about the hunt. He is so filled by the music he hears within himself in response to their beauty that he puts down his arrows, lifts up his bow, closes his eyes, and begins to play. When he opens his eyes again, all the mammoths are surrounding him. The other hunters are so amazed at the sight of mammoths gathering around one little boy and moved by the beauty of Kali's music that they put down their bows and arrows. They declare Kali to be a shaman, because "only a shaman can do this." From then on, Kali plays a very important role in the community and they look to him for guidance. To the very end, "every evening, even when he was a very old man, Kali went to the hills with his bow, closed his eyes, and played his bow-harp until the stars came close to listen."

Like all of Jeanette Winter's books thus far (see Biblio-Burro and Wangari's Trees of Peace), I enjoyed Kali's Song. There is not an unnecessary word on each page, and yet it is full and lyrical. Similarly, there is not an unneeded line in any picture. Winter is a consummate artist—both author and illustrator. The colors used are predominantly browns, grays, greens, blacks, and deep reds—certainly appropriate choices for a community and culture closely associated to nature. Despite the careful thought that must have gone into her illustrations, I must admit I missed her bright, embroidery-like designs that were replaced with almost all textured paper and ink.

One thing that was absent from Kali's Song was the brief background at the end of the text. Kali is certainly no actual individual; nonetheless, a few notes about the possible setting and other emerging forms of music would have been nice. That, though, is from an adult's perspective, and I don't think there's a four year-old or eight year-old out there who is going to throw a temper-tantrum at the lack of a lecture on pre-historic, ancient human history! This book is definitely staying in my library and I can't wait to continue adding to my Jeanette Winter collection.

Stephanie Ashley

THE NIGHTS OF THE WORLD by Corinne Albaut

Albaut, Corinne. The Nights of the World. Illus. Arno. La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller, 2005. ISBN: 1-929132-79-4. Interactive Picturebook, Ages 2-5.

I picked this book off the shelves to review because I wanted to give it as a gift to a friend expecting her first child. The book, which takes its reader on a journey through five different regions of the world, is beautifully made, with a thick, sturdy cover, double-thick pages made of cardstock-weight paper, brightly colored art, sliding panels, and simple text that seemed perfect for bedtime read-alouds.

The story introduces the reader to five different children: Kendé, Kamanga, Melisse, Siiku, and Machiko. Each child is featured on a one page spread, with sliding panels on the right-side page that pull out to reveal a secondary picture and text. Each page follows the same pattern: “At night, Kendé falls asleep on a woolen carpet. By day...[pull out picture panels]...he marches through the desert, in step with the camels.” For each new region, the background and font changes to reflect traditional ethnic patterns.

I have two major concens with this book. First, the pages don't mention the actual location of that child. For example, Machiko sleeps on a futon, and by day, lets the wind steal her kite. As an adult, I know the author intended her to be from Japan. But some of the others are more ambiguous. Secondly, I would be concerned that, as young readers get older, this book might reinfornce traditional stereotypes about people in faraway cultures. The seemingly Inuit Siiku, for example, sleeps inside an igloo, hugged by a polar bear. While this makes for a pretty picture, it's not at all the lifestyle of modern Inuit people. In fact, I can't imagine they EVER slept with live polar bears!

That being said, I will still give the book as a baby gift. The pictures are pretty and the pull-out tabs are a great way for young children to interact with a text they can't yet read. It's sturdy enough to withstand the rough play of a baby or toddler. I can easily foresee this being a fun way to create a bedtime “community” of characters – all of whom bunker down at night without a fuss.

Marisa Behan

TOSS OF A LEMON by Padma Viswanathan

Viswanathan, Padma. The Toss of a Lemon. Canada: Random House Canada, 2008. ISBN: 978-1-15-101533-7.

To begin, I would not necessarily consider The Toss of a Lemon a young adult novel. I don’t believe that was the author’s intention, nor would it be appropriate for most high school students. As a former teacher, I can think of a select few girls who would absolutely love it, and many more for whom it would be obtuse, irrelevant, and difficult to engage.

The third-person-omniscient narrative style initially seems detached, as if I, the reader, am too far away, too far removed, from the action. The book is 640 pages, so if the action is slow to start, I suppose I can forgive! By the end, I felt like the characters were part of my own family, and I certainly stopped feeling so far away from the action on the pages.

At heart, the story is a generational saga. Sivikami, a young Brahmin girl, is married at 10, widowed at 18, and spends the rest of her life as an orthodox Brahmin widow: wearing only two white saris, shaving her head, and not appearing in public from dawn to dusk. She raises her two children, then her daughter’s brood of six children, who bear their own children by the end of the novel. Born in 1896, Sivikami deals with the problem of changing times in India, particularly Indian independence and the end of Brahmin social prominence.

The Toss of a Lemon will disappoint those looking for fast-paced narration, a quick-moving story, or suspense. But for readers looking for an experience, a way to immerse themselves in a different culture, The Toss of a Lemon is an excellent read. The meandering narrative, rich in cultural information, characterization, and description, is easy to put down, but just as easy to pick up again. It’s an ideal bedtime read.

Reviewed by Marisa Behan

CELEBRA HANUKKAH CON UN CUENTO DE BUBBE by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy

Ada, Alma Flor and F. Isabel Campoy. Celebra Hanukkah con un cuento de Bubbe. Illus. Mariano Epelbaum. Miami: Santillana USA Publishing Company, Inc., 2007. ISBN 1-59820-122-0. $11.95.

Categories: K-6 Social Studies/Language Arts/Math; Family, Food, Generosity, Multicultural, Myths and Legends, Expository Text, Dialogue, Character, Parts of a Story, Number Sense.
More info: www.santillanausa.com

Renowned children’s book authors Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy take us around the Hanukkah table at Bubbe’s (Yiddish for grandma) house where three siblings learn about generosity as they are each tempted by the golden fried latkes laid out before them. In true culturally Jewish fashion, Bubbe tells a traditional Hanukkah tale of two brothers during the time of Jewish slavery that mirrors the generosity the children are displaying to one another. The first part of the book is written in dialogue as it tells its story.

Originally written in Spanish, this book also has an English translated version available. Older readers could work on translation skills by analyzing the text of both copies. For both versions, Mariano Epelbaum provides bright and inviting illustrations, with many clearly articulated details ripe for student questioning. Translations for Yiddish words are provided at the bottom of each page where they are used in a text size that may require teacher assistance depending on the age.

The second part of the book reads as expository text about the aspects of Hanukkah. It has much more of a textbook quality in that it features photographs in place of Mariano Epelbaum’s illustrations. Readers may want to know that the majority of the photographs are of Ashkenazi Jews, in other words light skinned, as opposed to providing the reader with a more representative picture of multicultural Jewish identity. Even with this critique, however, this seems to be the only children’s book about Hanukkah written in Spanish in current circulation. The section on the dreidel game can also be easily converted into a collaborative math lesson on number sense. In the end of this informational section, a variety of other winter holidays that feature lights are presented. This can be used to encourage multicultural dialogue and further analyzed with the use of a Venn diagram.

This book is perfect for K-6, depending on the intention of instruction. Social Studies topics of family, food, generosity, and multicultural awareness can all be easily addressed. Language arts in either English or Spanish, depending on the copy, can cover myths and legends, expository text, and elements of a story. As mentioned earlier, math lessons on number sense can also be found within these pages. It is also simply an entertaining read for learners of all ages who would like to learn more about the Hanukkah holiday.

Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Aspen Shirley-Dancoff


This review is part of the Special Section: Books in Spanish, featuring a collaboration with Policy and Language Studies students at San Diego State University. Read more about it here.

WANGARI'S TREES OF PEACE by Jeanette Winter

Winter, Jeanette. Wangari's Trees of Peace. Orlando: Harcourt, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-15-206545-4. $17.00 US.

Awards: ALA Notable Children's Book, Winner of the Bank Street College of Education Flora Strieglitz Strauss Award for Nonfiction, a CCBC Choice, and a Parents' Choice Recommended Title.

See also Jeanette Winter's Biblio-Burro.

Wangari Maathai earned a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her efforts to bring about a greener Africa. This book is about Wangari's life and how she changes the face of Kenya and improves the lives of many Africans. Wangari, born just below the slopes of Mt. Kenya, spends her days playing and working beneath the trees surrounding her home. When Wangari is older, she wins a scholarship to America. In America she gets a bachelor's and master's degree in biology and returns to Kenya. When she returns to Kenya, she is shocked and saddened by the deforestation that has occurred. Where there were once trees, there is now barren and dry ground. As more and more trees are cut, the land continues to erode, crops fail, and women have to walk farther and farther to get the firewood they need. Wangari is overwhelmed by the thought of all the trees that have been cut down and never replaced to make room for cities, but she decides something must be done. She starts by planting nine seedlings in her backyard. As she watches the trees grow, she is further inspired: if she can plant a nursery and get other women to do the same, she can make a bigger change.

Wangari successfully convinces other Kenyan women to plant their own seedlings as part of her Green Belt Movement. Despite being laughed at and told they can't succeed, the women continue to plant their small forests. For each tree that survives for three months, Wangari pays each woman a little bit of money. Changes start to occur, and women from other villages decide they want to be part of the movement. Wangari soon realizes that it is not just enough to replace trees that are cut down. She attempts to educate the government about the importance of trees. When that doesn't work, she protest and gets in the way of the loggers. Despite being beaten and thrown in jail, Wangari doesn't give up. While Wangari is held in jail, her dream and movement continue to spread.

One after another, women join the Green Belt movement until more than 30 million trees cover Kenya. Not only are there trees in Kenya, other African nations hear about Wangari and the women who believed that they could make a difference no matter what other people said. As trees have returned, soil has improved, gardens are once more productive, and women no longer have to travel miles and miles to get firewood.

In Wangari's Trees of Peace, Jeanette Winter's provides yet another inspirational true story (see review of Biblio-Burro). While one person or one tree might not seem to make that much difference, this book is a reminder of the importance of uniting with other people to create change and an excellent early introduction to ecology and the role everyone can play as responsible members of society. It is also a great book to read as Arbor Day approaches, or to be used to kick off a garden project at any time of the year. In keeping with the theme of the book, Wangari's Trees of Peace is printed on 100% recycled paper with 50% post consumer waste.

Stephanie Ashley

THE LILY POND by Annika Thor

Thor, Annika. The Lily Pond. Trans. Linda Schenck. New York: Delacorte Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-385-74039-5. $16.99 US/$18.99 CAN. Ages 10-12

Delacorte Press has earned its reputation as a publisher of high-quality adolescent literature, particularly their translations. While Annika Thor’s The Lily Pond didn’t blow me away with quite the same force as Anne-Laure Bondaux’s A Time of Miracles (2009), it lives up to the high standard set by Delacorte.

Stephie Steiner is a Jewish refugee in Sweden during WWII. While historically Sweden was one of the few safe havens for these refugees, not all Swedes felt pleased about the influx of “visitors” to their cities, schools, and culture. Stephie faces an anti-Semitic teacher, who attempts to frame her for cheating, a chilly host family,who treats her like a servant, and even a prejudiced fellow Jewish friend, a long-time resident of the city who blames new refugees like Stephie for the recent growth of anti-Semitism.

In addition to anti-Semitic/anti-immigrant prejudice, Thor explores class identity. While Stephie’s parents were rich in Vienna, the Anti-Semitic legislation had taken all of their assets. Her meager stipend doesn’t compare to that of her peers. Her “fancy address” hides the fact that she’s simply a lodger. In addition, she befriends another girl, even poorer than she, who lives in a very small apartment with her six siblings and parents. These two factors set her at odds with many of the social butterflies at her school.

Along with these weightier issues, Thor addresses the familiar young adult problems of self-identity, first love, and friendship. Stephie’s unrequited crush (and complete misreading of this fellow’s actions) is innocuous and entirely age-appropriate.

Through these challenges, Stephie grows in self-assurance, finding her own way in a new land, largely on her own, without the help of a parent-figure.

The prose translation reads smoothly, and one scarcely notices that it is a translation at all. Stephie’s character and emotions are well-developed; I identify easily with her indecisive moments and her guilt, and her anger resonate with me as a reader. A lovely exploration of a unique episode in European history, I’d be proud to put this book on the shelves in my classroom.

Marisa Behan

TIKKI TIKKI TEMBO by Arlene Mosel

Mosel, Arlene. Tikki Tikki Tembo. Illustrated by Blair Lent. Tarrytown, NY: Square Fish, 1968. ISBN 9780312367480. $6.95. Ages 4-7.

This Tikki Tikki Tembo is a 2007 re-issue of an old Chinese folktale published in 1968. It is about an old tradition in which the eldest son in a family is given an honorably long name. Mosel’s protagonist  is named Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo, meaning “the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world,” while his younger brother is just named Chang, meaning “little or nothing.” The two boys enjoy playing near the well while their mother washes clothes in a nearby stream. One day Cheng falls into the well. When Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo tells his mom, she tells him to fetch the old man with the ladder to get him out. The old man retrieves Cheng and all is good again. Then, on another day, when the two boys are playing by the well again, Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo falls in. Cheng runs to tell his mother, but he so is frantic and out of breath that he can barely say his brother’s name. By the time his mother understands and Cheng is able to communicate the news to the old man with the ladder, Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo has been in the well for quite a while. As a result, his recovery time is much more lengthy than Cheng’s. And thus, as a result, Chinese parents from then on give all their children short names.

Children and parents have enjoyed this book together for decades by getting caught up in the fun of reciting Tikki tikki tembo’s full name. Blair Lair’s illustrations consist of line drawings with watercolor, making the artwork look similar to old classic Chinese art. I don’t particularly like how the mother names her children according to how she values them, but she does show that she cares for Cheng by being properly concerned when he first falls in the well. His rescue is then followed by a double page spread illustration of the mother, old man, Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo and Cheng all celebrating. Overall it is an entertaining story.

Joyce Myers

Review: THE WEDDING THAT SAVED A TOWN by Yale Strom

Strom, Yale. The Wedding that Saved a Town. Illus. Jenya Promitsky. MN: Kar-Ben, 2008. ISBN 0-8225-7380-7. $7.99 PB.

Yale Strom is an internationally-acclaimed musician and a professor at San Diego State University; he is also a gifted story-teller. His publisher, Kar-Ben, specializes in Jewish-themed children’s books, and the collaboration here of writer, artist, and publisher is ideal.

Strom’s vibrant, culturally-representative tale takes place in old Pinsk, located now in Belarus, but back in the old days it was in the “Pale of Settlement,” the territory Jews were confined to during the reigns of the Czars. (Pinsk is where my own grand-parents came from). In Strom’s story, the little village’s problem is an epidemic of cholera, not an uncommon phenomenon in the swampy, humid land of the Pale. OY! What to do? Cleaning the streets, boiling water, even prayer have not yet helped.

Time for the rabbi to call in the itinerate wedding musician Yiske and explain to him the need for a “Black wedding”: the marriage in a cemetery of two orphans whose deceased loved ones will bless the wedding and thus the town. The problem? Only the bride has been found. As the town contributes wedding cake, a wedding gown, and a wedding dinner, the story moves to finding a suitable orphaned groom. The criterion? Goodness of heart. Yes, such a person exists, and, moreover, he already loves the bride.

The wedding happily happens, accompanied by klezmer music (the thrilling music traditional in Jewish Eastern Europe) and hopeful villagers. Guess what else—the leader of the klezmer band gets a telegram shortly afterward letting him know the cholera epidemic has ended. The story closes with a smiling Yiske thinking to himself, “… maybe miracles do happen!”

Strom’s prose captures the expressive cadences of the Old World, for example, not just one “Oy!” but three—“Oy! Oy! Oy!” making for a most enjoyable read-aloud experience.

Promitsky’s art is perfect, comical and warmly expressive of life in a shtetl (small Jewish town) from the cobblestone streets to the water buckets carried on people’s shoulders to the horse-drawn wagons. The art fits the story and adds enjoyable little details to the text, like Yiske’s cat scratching itself and, later in the text, the rabbi himself dancing to the klezmer music at the wedding.

A glossary of Yiddish words is appended, e.g. “shtetl” and “klezmer.”

I hope to see more collaborations between Strom and Promitsky published by Kar-Ben.

Alida Allison

Review: MARCEL MARCEAU by Gloria Spielman

Spielman, Gloria. Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime. Illus. Manon Gauthier. MN: Kar-Ben (Lerner), 2011. ISBN 0-7613-3961-8. $7.95 PB.

Spielman’s excellent biography of the Master of Mime engages one from the outset by introducing young Marcel as he is raiding his father’s wardrobe to dress up as Charlie Chaplin and entertain neighbors on the streets of pre-World War II France. We see that Marceau was, from his own outset, a performer and much in demand.

He was also a Jew, and this fact altered his life, which is an understatement. His father died in Auschwitz. At the age of 16, he and his older brother worked for the French Resistance in Limoges. The artistic young Marceau forged documents and dangerously led groups of Jewish children secretly to the Swiss border. At 20, Marceau was in Paris studying mime and later performed for Patton’s troops in Germany. Once the war was over, Marceau concentrated on his art, honing his clown character Bip. His fame spread worldwide, and many of us have been privileged to see him on one medium or another. His legacy, through his school for mime and also through the lives of the children he saved during WWII, is assured. His mime communicated beyond language. (Oh, and BTW, he spoke excellent English.)

Speilman’s language in this book soars, even poetic when describing what Marceau could do through mime. And the art is outstanding, very expressive and using the page space gorgeously through color, placement, and design. Gauthier fits the palette to the prose, making for a very successful collaboration.

Alida Allison

Review: THE SHABBAT PRINCESS by Amy Meltzer

Meltzer, Amy. The Shabbat Princess. Illus. Martha Aviles. Minneapolis: Kar-Ben (Lerner), 2011. ISBN 0-7613-5142-9. $17.95.

This isn’t your typical spoiled princess book; you know the contemporary fairy tale versions in which Cinderella becomes a princess without paying any dues first. Contemporary princess just stamps her little feet and gets what she wants.

Nope, this book shows a family working/playing together to make Shabbat even more special by inviting not only the Queen of Shabbat (Shabbat itself is the Queen) but also the princess, none other than the little girl who loves Shabbat but wonders why there’s no princess. She and her parents all contribute to making their little girl the princess by finding dress-up clothes, taking out their best candlesticks, polishing the silver, and having the first of some very special Friday nights. The little girl might wish for diamond decorations but is very happy with what the family can provide.

This lovely story is enhanced by warm, colorful illustrations, notably depicting not fair-skinned Ashkenazi Jews but brown-tone Mexican Jews, reminding us all of the geographical and cultural reach of Judaism.

Alida Allison