Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny

Anything you can do, I can do too!

Himmelman, John. Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny. New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2014.

Plot: Isabel, also known as the Bunjitsu Bunny, is easily one of the best martial arts students. However, being skilled does not excuse her from learning. Like everyone else in her class, she has to deal with lessons, trials, bullies, and friends. Her skills and willingness to be taught, though, ensures she will endure and thrive.

Genre: Animals, Adventure, Everyday

Reading Level: Grades 0-4

Similar Titles: More Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny, Karate Katie

Personal Thoughts: The title is a Zen Shorts for older readers. It combines old tales with new trials and realistic responses. 

Ruby Lu: Brave and True

Pay no attention to the almond butter in the background

Look, Lenore. Ruby Lu: Brave and True. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2004.

Plot: Ruby is a young magician in Seattle, Washington. She proudly offers her skills in an almost daily show after school. Yet, she cannot trick herself out of approaching changes. She has to start going to Chinese School, where she struggles with ink, pronunciation, and vocabulary. Ruby also must deal with a bratty bully, cute brother, and competitive friend. Her biggest challenge, though, is on its way from China. Her name is Flying Duck, and she will live with Ruby and share her bedroom!

Genre: Everyday, Growing Up, Humor

Reading Level: Grades 1-3

Similar Titles: Junie B. Jones series, The Talented Clementine

Personal Thoughts: Much like her Alvin Ho series, Look combines everyday events, exaggerated reactions, and over-the-top situations to create a fun title. Additionally, the book references some aspects of Chinese culture, such as language and food, without loosing the characters or story.

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters

I wonder if he's also allergic to dragons...

Look, Lenore. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters. New York : Schwartz & Wade Books, 2009.

Plot: Alvin suffers from multiple phobias, fears, stresses, and siblings. So when his father decides to take him camping, the second-grader is mortified. While his brother helps him purchase supplies, Alvin still lacks courage. His uncle offers a series of secret tips and an ultra-powerful Batman ring. The trip still seems doomed, though, even with Alvin's little sister joining in. Still, he may manage well, particularly since he is not the only one afraid of his first camping trip.

Genre: Everyday, Growing Up

Reading Level: Grades 4-9

Similar Titles: Romona and her Father, Rocket Ride

Personal Thoughts: Romona meets Year of the Rat. The title bears all the appeal of the second-grade, slice-of-life manner of Beverly Cleary with the cultural references of Grace Lin. Also, much like Lin's work, Chinese culture is an aspect of the story, not its definition. A lot of titles with minority protagonists tend to focus on the culture or, more often, prejudice against the culture. While such topics certainly need consideration, they tend to lead to a depressing story.

Alvin is Chinese. He uses Chinese terms to address his family. He eats Chinese food. He celebrates Chinese New Year. He also likes superheroes, Harry Houdini, and playing. He is a talented writer and with a good sense of humor, even though he does not quite realize it yet. He fears the dark, spiders, and acts of God. Alvin is a complete character, not just a slate for lessons on culture. Characters are fun to read about, and Alvin's perspective adds to the trials and tribulations of camping.

Finn Family Moomintroll

Take me on adventure!

Jansson, Trove. Finn Family Moomintroll. New York: H. Z. Walck, 1958.

Plot: Moomintroll and his family wake up to a beautiful spring after a long winter's sleep. They also discover a large, black top hat. The hat leads them on a series of misadventures by changing everything placed within it, including eggshells, cherries, and pink flowers. Eventually, the potential of the hat is recognized and guarded. However, other treasures work their way into Moomintroll's world, some of which tempt uninvited guests.

Genre: Everyday, Fantasy

Reading Level: Grades 4-6. However, some of the terms are slightly dated, so newer readers may need some assistance.

Similar Titles: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Yotsuba&!

Personal Thoughts: The story is a nice adventure into the yearly life of a happy family in a supernatural setting. Strangely, it works! The characters accept the unusual in a casual, matter-of-fact manner, while enjoying trips to the beach, camping, and parties as enthusiastically as any family.

The series was the inspiration for musicals, comics, cartoons, movies, and theme parks. It is a little like Peanuts, in a way. The stories are simple, but pleasing and memorable.

The Little Prince

 Almost Alone in the Universe

de Saint-Exupery, Antone. The Little Prince. San Diego : Harcourt, 2000.

Plot: While desperately trying to fix his broken airplane in the middle of the desert, a pilot is found by a determined child who requests a picture of a sheep. The boy remains elusive, but he eventually reveals his story to the frustrated pilot. His story is one of a flower, a snake, a fox, and friendship. The prince learns the bittersweet joy of making friends through rites and taming. He shares his secrets with the worried pilot. Yet, while the pilot eventually opens up to the prince, he receives several warnings about becoming close. Being friends always brings the risk of tears.

Genre: Fantasy, Everyday

Reading Level: Grades 4-9

Similar Titles: What Is My Song?, Sky Sweeper

Personal Thoughts: The title is a charming, haunting, and surprisingly serious. Concepts like friendship, loss, purpose, and relationships find their place through lighthearted concepts like roses, wells, and foxes. As a result, the story provided the basis for films, operas, and plays. Additionally, some of the title's concepts influence science, art, songs, and video games.

Junie B. Jones is (Almost) a Flower Girl

Silly Junie. 

Sprite is the prettiest flower dragon.

Park, Barbara and Brunkus, Denise. Junie B. Jones is (Almost) a Flower Girl. New York : Random House, 1999.

Plot: Junie is thrilled to learn she is invited to her aunt's wedding. She decides to become the flower girl at the festivities. However, her aunt already picked someone else for the role. Junie attempts to prove her superior capacities as an understudy flower girl by maintaining a proper, grown-up lady personality. A squabble at the wedding seems to shatter her efforts, though. She must prove her six-year-old maturity to her family...or just dance with her shoes off.

Genre: Growing Up, Everyday

Reading Level: Grades 3-6

Similar Titles: Junie B. Jones and the Stupid, Smelly Bus, Ramona series, D.W. Thinks Big

Personal Thoughts: The book expertly follows the six-year-old mentality of Junie. She is enthusiastic, curious, creative, and a little self-absorbed. She also tends to make up words and phrases to describe her feelings. While some argue such qualities make for a bad protagonist, they allow Junie to respond to situations like a realistic character. At the risk of dating myself, the appeal of Junie B. Jones seems to parallel to that of Rugrats. The titles make sense to readers currently experiencing kindergarten while allowing older readers to feel the nostalgia of an earlier age. As such, the title is a relevant view of early school years.

A Bear Called Paddington

Bond, Michael. A Bear Called Paddington. 1958.

Plot: At Paddington Station, Mr. and Mrs. Brown discover a small bear. While the bear describes his travels, Mrs. Brown finds a note requesting for assistance tied to his back. The Browns decide to adopt the brown bear cub, much to the delight of their children. The bear, named for the station where he was discovered, quickly creates new adventures when he fails to understand basic household items. The incidents continue through the subway stations, stores, shopping windows, beaches, and birthday parties. Paddington manages to earn some friends through his polite demeanor, kindly attitude, and bearish charm.

Genre: Animals, Everyday, Fiction

Reading Level: Winnie the Pooh, Roverandom, My Father's Dragon

Personal Thoughts: The book launched a fandom. Paddington's adventures eventually lead to a cultural phenomenon, creating toys, shows, books, commercials, and upcoming movies. The charm is understandable and relatable since the bear's adventures play on common everyday events, such as shopping or visiting the beach, with the not-so-everyday inclusion of a floppy-hatted, marmalade-loving bear.

Emma Dilemma and the Camping Nanny

Hermes, Patricia. Emma Dilemma and Camping Nanny. Tarrytown, NY : Marshall Cavendish Children, 2009.

Plot: Emma is in a dilemma. She has the very best nanny in the world, but her nanny has started spending her free time with someone else. His name is Bo, and he and the nanny are dating seriously . At school, Luisa, Emma's best friend, spends more time with Katie than Emma. A weekend of camping may offer the solution to the nanny problem, especially since Bo is terrified of bears. However, a mix of talent show drama, missing ferrets, sisterly tantrums, dancing questions, journal readings, and close encounters of the skunk kind may keep Emma's dilemmas from ever being solved.

Genre: Growing Up, Everyday, Relationships

Reading Level: Grades 4-9

Similar Titles: Emma Dilemma and the New Nanny, Julia Gillian (and the Quest for Joy), Forever Amber Brown

Personal Thoughts: The book provides a pleasing blend of humor and seriousness. Emma manages to create some funny situations around her and her relationships. However, the book also addresses issues continuously facing people, particularly younger people. The primary problem blooms from the delicate balance of sharing friends. When the people in Emma's life start meeting others, she learns, through trial and error, that the people she cares about can love her while loving others, which everyone needs to learn. 

Judy Moody

McDonald, Megan. Judy Moody. Cambridge, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2000.

Plot: Judy begins her first day of school in a bad mood. She did not get any interesting shirts from her summer vacation, unlike everyone else in her school. Determined to vent her rage, she attempts to taunt her new teacher, Mr. Todd, who catches her every attempt to disturb the class. He even manages to improve her mood. She, and every other student in the class, will make a "me" collage. The next few months follow Judy's collage creation. Her ups, such as her prank on Stink, creation of the T.P. club, and purchase of her new pet find there way on the project. Unfortunately, the collage also documents her worst moments and a very large juice stain, courtesy of Stink.

Genre: Everyday

Reading Level: Grades 4-8

Similar Titles: Clementine, Frindle, Stink

Personal Thoughts: A story of a quirky girl with a slightly unusual name and high expectations. The basic plot has been a staple of tween literature since Beaverly Clearly, but for a good reason. Readers can sympathize with the enthusiastic but trouble-prone Judy's daily victories and failures while appreciating the slightly over-the-top adventure of novels.

Owly: Volume 1

Ruton, Andy. Owly: Volume 1. Marietta GA : Top Shelf, 2004.

Plot: Owly is a lonely owl living in a forest. Despite his good intentions and generous nature, he remains widely distrusted among other birds. His life begins to change after he finds and assists a drowning worm. As he breaks from his routine to assist the worm, he gradually finds acceptance and adventure. Ruton clearly spent considerable time producing a book with a cute story, lovable characters, and attractive graphics. Yet, he also adds an additional challenge. Most of his work is done in pantomime, with little or no written dialog. The lack of written words do not inhibit the story. If anything, Ruton manages to use the lack of diction to draw more attention to the emotions portrayed by the characters.

Genre: Comics, Graphic Novels

Reading Level: Aimed at ages 9-11, but younger children and adults will enjoy it as well

Similar Titles: Yotsuba&

Personal Thoughts: It always annoys me when people treat comics as a lesser or inferior writing style. A good comic often takes as much effort as a good novel. Yet, like novels, everyone thinks they can make a comic.

Personal rant aside, the novel manages to produce a likable story reflecting on the glory of the everyday.

It's a Magical World

Watterson, Bill. It's a Magical World. Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1996.

Plot: The last book of Calvin and Hobbes comics, the collection includes classic storylines and excellent endings to the series. This particular volume includes arcs such as Susie's visit to Calvin's house, Calvin's adventures in leaf collecting, and the finale of Rosline verses Calvin. The book provides an amusing read and a found farewell to Calvin and Hobbes' fans.

Genre: Comic Books

Reading Level: All ages, but more enjoyable for someone with a large vocabulary

Similar Titles: Peanuts, Foxtrot

Personal Thoughts: It's amazing how one comic still finds so much popularity fourteen years after its final publication. The title still finds multiple buyers online and in bookstores. Yet, it makes sense. True, readers, particularly older readers (why are you looking at me?) tend to glorify the comics, noting philosophical or imaginative thoughts as an echo of the wonders of childhood. Yet, kids enjoy it, too, because Calvin acts like the kid people would like to be if they could get away with it. Calvin is super-smart, but does poorly in school, gets into trouble, and stresses his parents. The toy tiger also has his share of fans, since he combines natural wisdom and animal instincts. Hobbes provides more knowledge than most of Calvin's perceptions, but never fails to tackle Calvin on his way home. The story of a kid and his stuffed toy tiger captures the wonder, craziness, and frustrations of being a kid.


As a side note: We have photographic confirmation of the blog author. She has not been seen since King of the Wind. Approach with caution.

Zits

Scott, Jerry and Borgman, Jim. Zits. Kansas City, Mo. : Andrews McMeel, 1998.

Plot: A newspaper comic strip following the (mis)adventures of Jeremy, a fairly average 15-year-old boy. He shares his story with his understanding but clueless mother, his strict but goofy father, his best friend Hector, his on-again-off-again girlfriend Sara, and a host of other high school characters. Most of the comic focuses on strange, over-the-top situations, but it also brings up important issues such as peer pressure, school pressure, parental pressure, and life in general pressure. Still, it manages to focus on the real-world concerns of teens while allowing them to realize the strangeness and humor in this weird stage of life.

Genre: Comics

Reading Level: Ages 11 and older

Similar Titles: Foxtrot, Luann

Personal Thoughts: I like how the situations remind me of my teen years while messing with my expectations of the time. By this, I mean that it plays on the stereotypes while exposing more likely outcomes to the situations. True, with his high grades, good looks, band ability, and technological wizardry, Jeremy does have the potential to become a Mary Sue (see my notes for Seekers for further details), but his impatience, spaztic behavior, insecurity, and tendency to get in trouble quickly remove him from the danger. As a side note, Charles Schultz, the author of Peanuts, apparently said "Zits is the worst title for a comic since Peanuts" (he never did like the title given to his work by newspapers). It may take some work to get readers over the misconception of the comic's title, but it is well worth the effort.

My Neighbor Tototro

Miyazaki, Hayao. My Neighbor Totoro. Burbank, CA: Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2006.

Plot: The film follows the everyday adventures of Satsuki and Mei, two young girls who recently moved to the country with their mother and father. While exploring, Mei discovers Totoro, an owl-eared, bear-bodied guardian of the forest. Mei and Satsuki discover the magic and power within their own backyard. Yet, their mother's health continues to fall. Can the girls and their unseen friend help her?

Genre: Anime, Fantasy

Reading Level: Rated G

Similar Titles: Ponyo, The Cat Returns, The Iron Giant

Personal Thoughts: This movie features what is probably the most iconic of all anime scenes - a little girl standing next to a fluffy monster with an umbrella. As bizarre as the mental image is, the film provides a good story with believable characters. The newer dub, featuring Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning, captures the interactions between the two sisters wonderfully. Some older tweens may dismiss the film as too childish, but due to the film's influence in more popular culture (such as the Studio Ghibi logo and cameos in Futurama, Sandman comics, and Toy Story 3), it is definitely recommended.

Yotsuba&!

Azuma, Kiyohiko. Yotsuba&!. New York : Yen Press, 2009.

Plot: When 5-year old Yotsuba moves in, the neighborhood will never be the same! Living with her adopted father, Koiwai, Yotsuba experiences and shares the process of growing up with her neighbors and her friends.

Genre: Manga

Reading Level: 8 and older

Similar Titles: Azumanga Diaoh

Personal Thoughts: Like Azuma's previous project, Azumanga Diaoh, Yotsuba&! celebrates the glory of the everyday. The plot seems perfectly realistic with just a twinge of the unexpected. Still, it reminds readers of the discoveries and the fun that exist in living and growing. It also mentions issues such as concerns with appearance (especially from Fuuka, Yotsuba's teenage neighbor) and worries about the environment. Most of the art, especially the backgrounds, are more detailed than Azumanga Diaoh. As a side note, the "door" in the picture is the cover of my favorite book, 3. In this book, Yotsuba goes to the zoo, acts as the "flower cupid," and sees a fireworks show for the first time. Also, the book used to be published by ADV Manga.