Newbery Winner: The Graveyard Book by Neal Gaiman

<This review contains spoilers>

I read this book (on my new Nook Color) thinking it was a fresh, upbeat novel and it just astounded me.  For some reason, not until I read the acknowledgement at the end of the author giving credit to Rudyard Kipling did I make the connection that this was The Jungle Book reset in a graveyard.  The 2010 Newbery winner, The Graveyard Book is another bildungsroman of young Mowgli--err Nobody Owens; a young child orphaned by a murdering Sheer Khan/Jack Frost.  He escapes to the jungle/graveyard where he is raised by a family of wolves/ghosts along with the help of a bear/vampire and a black panther/werewolf.  The young boy learns tricks that make him different from other humans, interacts with a young girl who he loses to civilization, is kidnapped by a group of monkeys/ghouls and fights the member of the group that killed his family--tiger/Jack of All Trades.  I feel like a moron for not noticing this as I was reading, the titles are even the same!  I don't think it would have distracted me from enjoying it.  It is definitely a macabre book. 

Despite the obvious similarities, the book was an excellent read and one that I would highly recommend to any age group above about 8 years old.  There is some gruesomeness, murder, violence and paranormal activity. 

Neil Gaiman reads from The Graveyard Book: 

Blogger's Note:  Just picked up a Nook Color to read this with.  This thing is going to cost me money!   I've rooted the Nook to run as an Android tablet, and prefer it's 7" width because I can palm it with one hand and read it versus the iPad.  I read the whole book and did some internet browsing for a couple of days before having to recharge it, it doesn't power down too quickly if you lay it down for a moment, it holds your place, is easy on the eyes to read and my 5 year old is reading his own books (and playing Angry Birds) on it now. 

My local library didn't have this book and it took like 20 seconds to find the book, buy it and start reading!

Newbery vs Caldecott Medals

The Newbery Medal is an honor awarded by the ALA for the most distinguished children's novel written the preceding year, Caldecott involves children's picture books.  Simplistically put, Caldecott awards are given to early readers, with few words and mostly pictures.  For example, previous winners are:

According to the ALA

"The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children."

Read more at the ALA's Caldecott Website

Video on Caldecott Award;

The Newbery medal is geared more toward pre-teens and are almost always short novels. 

From the ALA: "
The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Read more at the ALA's Newbery website. 

Previous winners: 

Video on Newbery winners:

Coretta Scott King Award winner: Dave the Potter

Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier is the story of an enslaved potter who lived most of his life between 1800-1860 in rural South Carolina.  His story is interesting in that he was both a very skilled potter who worked under slavery, and he could also write poetry that was included on several pots.  Many of his pots are still around and in museums and collections--a testament of his hard work and skill. 

Half of the book is the actual storybook, telling in prose how Dave the Potter worked under enslavement and yet was a testament to the human spirit.  The 2nd half of the book is background history on who Dave the potter was and what it is we know about him. 

I checked this book out from the elementary library I work at as a computer tech.  It was on the storybook table, the librarian reports that she just started reading this one and the kids love it. 

I found the artwork exceptional and should be perfect for young audiences.

More info on Dave the Potter. 

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

I never really cared for Raold Dahl's work and this is no exception.  It's the story of a fox, his family and their fox-like ways of stealing food from farmers.

I read this book to my 5 year old, he paid respectful attention, and liked a few parts, but didn't love it.  It's a long book, probably better suited for a 7 year old, and shouldn't be read in one setting. 

The movie is a stop-motion affair that respects and follows the book, but also embellishes and expands on the story.  The son has a name, they go into why Mr. Fox feels the need to steal, and there is quite a bit more rivalry going on.  My son watched for about 20 minutes, then lost interest, preferring to go play.  The wit was very good, but dry and some things most children wouldn't "get".

I found the book and the movie to be tedious, slow and drawn out at times. 

Julius Lester/Jerry Pinkney: John Henry

This 1995 retelling of the tall-tale/folk song is inspirational at best.  Julius Lester embellishes the story with a flair in true tall-tale fashion, John Pinkney illustrates in his usual bright, elaborate style. 

Of note is the detail told in most John Henry stories where he is working on the railroad "for the man." In this story of African-American strength and perserverence, John Henry works for himself.  I like this and think it's a great addition to the story.  Both authors are African-American and have covered African-American subjects--including the once taboo Brer Rabbit tales--and molded them to their own liking. 
I liked the fact that they included background for adults in telling this story, references of John Henry used and how they came to create this book. 


I read this book to my 5 year old, he liked it well enough but didn't love it.  He appreciated the exaggerations (Ferret-Faced Freddy was so mean, he cried if he had a nice thought) and liked the artwork much like that from The Lion and the Mouse. 


Just for fun, here is Leadbelly's version of the eponymous song.

Laurence Yep book: Dragon's Gate

Another Newbery Honor book (1994), Dragon's Gate is the story of a young boy who grows through adversity.  Our protagonist, Otter, is forced to leave turbulunt 1860's China after an accident.  He goes to the US to live with his own father and uncle in California, to work on the transcontinental railroad. 

Dragon's Gate is a bildungsroman of the first order--going from young, immature to tough, stout man--along with learning some hard cruel realities.  The book invokes conflict amongst cultures-both in China with the Manchus and in America with the American, Irish and Chinese laborers.  It also invokes how big men in one society can be little peons in another. 

The book is a bit old for most elementary students, and a bit young for anyone below high school.  The language can be lively and poetic at times.  Regardless, I highly recommend it for it's bildungsroman, strength through adversity and heartache, and doing the right thing regardless of how you might suffer themes. 

Meet the Author, Laurence Yep:

Newbery Winner~ A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

After reading, A Long Way from Chicago, I wanted to follow up with another Richard Peck book.  This one, using the same characters, is a sequel with a different protagonist.  The first book was told from the point of view of brother Joe, the sequel is told by sister Mary Alice as she comes of age after being sent to live with  her grandmother during the Great Depression.  Her parents are struggling to make ends meet in Chicago, and her brother has gone out west to work with the CCC--the best thing for her to do is to go live with her ever-resourceful grandmother. 

And resourceful she is, Grand Theft Granny rams a tractor into a pecan tree to honor an agreement (she gets whatever hits the ground), purloins some pumpkins and traps foxes in the winter in order to make ends meet. 

Trickster granny definitely has several tricks up her sleeve; bringing down the snooty townspeople, helping the poor, and taking advantage of a WPA artist. 

I found this book to be enjoyable and think most older kids around 5th grade would enjoy it.  For this copy, I'm going to pass it onto my mother who I think will enjoy it .



Here's a 5 minute clip from the audiobook: